Pacific Progressive

Want to Sing at a San Juan Capistrano City Council Meeting?

San Juan Capistrano is seeking local church, school, service, youth and other organizations and individuals interested in the opportunity to singpatriotic songs before the beginning of City Council meetings in 2011.

The idea, which is the brainchild of Mayor Sam Allevato, would give choir groups and individuals a chance to showcase their talent, get exposure to City government, and the experience could instill more civic pride and involvement in the community.

The City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto. Individuals and groups interested in singing at City Council meetings starting in January should contact Cathy Salcedo in the City Manager's office at 949-443-6317 or [email protected]. 

Free Vision Screening and California Telephone Access Program Equipment - May 4

The San Juan Capistrano Senior Center on May 4 will offer free vision screening and CTAP telephone equipment for folks who have trouble with vision, hearing, memory and mobility.

The screening and distribution program is from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the San Juan Capistrano Community Center, 25925 Camino del Avion. Optometrists Ryan Onishi and Joseph Kikumoto will offer free vision screenings.

Qualified participants can receive telephone equipment from the California Telephone Access Program (CTAP). Just come with a CTAP application that has been signed by a certifying agent to certify your disability.

The specialized telephones and devices make dialing easier, allow for hands-free operation, flash incoming calls and more.

Reservations for this free program are required and are available by calling the San Juan Capistrano Community Services Department at 949-493-5911.

Students and Teachers Back to Class in CUSD - Courageous Strike Won Tentative Agreement

Victorious in their struggle to achieve a negotiated settlement, Capistrano teachers and their students will return to their classrooms Tuesday, April 27, ending CUEA’s five-day strike, the first such action by teachers in southern California in almost ten years.

“It is the courage and determination of CUEA members on the picket lines and the thousands of supportive district parents and community members that resulted in the tentative contract agreement with the CUSD Board of Education,” said CUEA President Vicki Soderberg.

Brief details of the tentative agreement are as follows:

• Restoration of salary and furlough days as revenues increase
• Health benefit POS rates based on district 2010 level of contributions instead of imposed 2009 level
• Contract language that improves working conditions that contains more objective surplus transfer language and improvements in leaves
• A three-year agreement with bargaining reopened in the 2011-2012 school year.

 

“The CUEA bargaining team and leadership cannot find words adequate to express their appreciation for CUEA members’ solidarity and support during this difficult time,” said Soderberg. “It is without question that this victory could not have been achieved absent our unity and collective action. When we go back into the classroom together, we can hold our heads high.”

Members of the CUEA Executive Committee will meet at CUEA offices Tuesday afternoon to learn the tentative agreement’s details and to vote on recommending it to the CUEA’s Rep Council that will vote Wednesday on sending it to the CUEA general membership for a possible ratification vote. CUEA members will have the opportunity to participate in informational meetings at times yet to be determined prior to a ratification vote.

CUSD Board Continues to Force Strike to Gut School District

The CUSD Board, which is supported by the Education Alliance, wants to gut CUSD's teaching staff by making them take a permanent pay cut and a permanent cut in the number of work days.  The other districts in Orange County have given their teachers temporary paycuts and temporary reductions in workdays. This is what CUSD teachers want, but the CUSD Board, adhering to the Education Alliance goal of killing public education, wants to make the teachers take the permanent cuts.

This strike was entirely avoidable.  After 6 hours of negotiation, the CUSD Board declared an impasse. The Board also refused to meet with teachers to discuss closing the gap on the contract language. This strike was caused by the CUSD Board.

Here is a great video about the strike.

Killing the CUSD - Education Alliance Strategy for Permanent Paycuts

The teacher strike in Capo Unified has been caused  by a refusal of the Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD)  to engage in reasonable negotiations and give the teachers the same deal other public school teachers in Orange County got:  a temporary paycut and temporary furlough days.

This deal is good enough for other public school teachers in Orange County, but not good enough for CUSD.  The CUSD board has to go one further and make the paycuts permanent. The board also wants to cut the number of work days, permanently.

 Why, when others in Orange County are agreeable to temporary paycuts and temporary furloughs, would the CUSD board want the teachers to take worse terms?

First, the Capistrano Unified school board is lead by members of the Education Alliance.  Ellinorianne does a great job explaining the issues and exposing the hand of the Education Alliance  Attack on Public Education - Education Alliance - A National Issue on the Daily Kos.  The Education Alliance believes public schools are broken, English should be the only language of instruction, and wants more charter schools.

This deal offered to the CUSD teachers would make their pay not attractive to new teachers. Also, the lower pay would encourage experienced teachers to move to other districts where they can get a more "industry standard" payscale.  The long term strategy here is to lower pay, get experienced teachers to leave, get less experienced and less desirable teachers to take the jobs, and then, when academic performance goes down, point at the schools and say, "Look public education doesn't work."

If the CUSD board doesn't really intend to do this, they will negotiate in good faith the the teachers.  CUSD will agree to a pay reduction package which has the same terms and conditions as similar pay reduction packages for comparable districts in Orange County.  They can do that this Friday afternoon.  It should take about 30 minutes to present the idea and come to an agreement. Then, the attorneys can hammer out the language over the weekend. On Monday, the language written by the lawyers for the temporary paycuts and cuts to workdays can be reviewed and agreed to. 

And then the strike is over on Monday.

And seniors can get ready to graduate.

And students can get ready for their STAR tests.

And high schoolers can get ready for their AP Tests.

This is do-able by Monday.  CUSD, do it and show you actually care about education, not ideology.

Ambiguous Offer to Negotiate Leading Towards a Strike in Capo Unified

“If you’re really serious about bargaining, you don’t start out by threatening legal action. Once again the Capistrano Board of Education is attempting to equivocate and obfuscate instead of negotiate,” said CUEA President Vicki Soderberg.

“Despite the board’s vague offer to commence negotiations ‘regarding various issues,’ they are flatly rejecting to bargain CUEA’s specific, unambiguous proposal. We clearly gave them a chance to avert a strike and their refusal leaves teachers no choice. CUEA members will walk the picket lines beginning Thursday, April 22. At the same time, our bargaining team will accept the board’s invitation to talk on Thursday. If we determine that they are serious about reaching a settlement, teachers and students can be back in the schools Friday. It’s up to the board to prove they’re serious about reaching a settlement.”

In a formal request delivered early Monday, April 19, giving the Capistrano board a 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 20 deadline to respond, CUEA asked the board to come back to the bargaining table to negotiate based on the following specific proposals:

1.    The board will reverse the permanent nature of salary and benefits cuts they imposed March 31 by making them temporary;

2.    There will be no increase in class size;

3.    The board will restore salary, unpaid work days, and benefits cuts if unforeseen funds are received;

4.    The board will implement already agreed to contract language that deals with working conditions, transfer of teachers, and leaves as stipulated to in the fact finding hearing.

“Where in the board’s response is the mention of making the permanent cuts temporary and of being willing to enter into the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the board has informally offered in public throughout the last two weeks? Where is a clear, unambiguous offer to restore the cuts if unforeseen funds become available? The teachers’ proposal was explicit. Given the board’s history of duplicitous behavior, they have to make unequivocally clear that they want to reach a settlement. Teachers are far beyond ‘sham bargaining’ cloaked in vague, confusing, and ambiguous promises,” said Soderberg.

“The board’s rejection of our clear proposal and their continued ambiguity has put us where we never wanted to be. It is unfortunate that the board wants chaos instead of clear communication. It has never been the teachers’ goal to strike, but if it takes walking the picket line to bring the board to a place of clarity and mutual respect, then teachers have no choice. We must stand firm for our profession, for our students, and for the long-term stability of the district.”

Call Vector Control and Tell Them No Private Pest Control Companies

 The Orange County Vector Control District (OCVCD) helps to control little critters who carry diseases.  (These animals are called "disease vectors" because they move the disease around, hence the name.)  If you have a problem with a dead bird and there is West Nile Virus in the area, you call Vector Control.  Same thing for a neighbor who won't take care of their pool which is now a mosquito farm - call Vector Control and they will work with the neighbor so you don't have to.

A plan is being considered to privatize rat control services. Currently, if you see rats around, Vector Control will come out and give you (for free!) traps and bait and show you how to properly use them. They will also help you find the openings the rodents are using to get into your house and show you how to close them off.

These services are paid by an assessment of about $6.98 per year per residence in the County.  Taxpayers are able to get a lot for their $6.98.

Now, some members of the Vector Control board want to let private extermination companies (Terminix, Orkin, Truly Nolen are some common names) provide the rat control services. The plan is to send the companies out on calls to homes to provide the rat control services to the home owners.  Then, the pest control company can then sell the homeowner services to control pests on the inside of the home.

Smell a rat?  Does turning Vector Control into a marketing company for private pest control companies sound like a bad deal to you?  Call and write your representative on the Vector Control District. Each of the 34 incorporated cities has a representative. If you live in the unincorporated areas, your rep is Supervisor John Moorlach.

The representatives for each area are listed.  If you have a relationship with them, please use that to tell them "No to Private Pest Control Companies."  You can also call, fax and write them at the Vector Control Board.  Sending faxes works very well because it creates a paper trail of who objects and carries more weight than an email.

Orange County Vector Control District (OCVCD), 13001 Garden Grove Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92843

Phone 714-971-2421 949-654-2421  Fax 714-971-3940

Aliso Viejo - Mayor Phillip B. Tsunoda 

Capo Unified Teachers Ask District to Back Up Words with Action

Challenging the Capistrano Board of Education to back up vague offers to “entertain discussion” related to bargaining, the 2,200 members of the Capistrano Unified Education Association invite the board back to the bargaining table to negotiate, based upon the following proposals:

1.The board will reverse the permanent nature of salary and benefits cuts they imposed March 31 by making them temporary;

2.There will be no increase in class size;

3.The board will restore salary, unpaid work days, and benefits cuts if unforeseen funds are received; 

4.The board will implement already agreed to contract language that deals with working conditions, transfer of teachers, and leaves as stipulated to in the fact finding hearing.

“It has never been the goal of Capistrano teachers to strike,” said CUEA President Vicki Soderberg. “We have always been willing to bargain in good faith, and we immediately accepted the neutral fact finder’s settlement recommendation. Although the CUSD school board’s unilateral imposition forced us into voting a strike authorization, we much prefer to settle our differences through bargaining.”

“In recent media reports and direct communications to teachers, the CUSD Board of Education has implied that they are willing to bargain with the teachers, but the board has yet to make a formal, direct proposal to CUEA. We want our members, our students, the public, and the board to be perfectly clear that we do not want to strike and that we want to reach a negotiated settlement. We challenge the board to live up to their recent statements and accept our proposal for an agreement,” said Soderberg.

CUEA has given the District until Tuesday, April 20 at 5 PM to confirm in writing that this proposal is acceptable.  CUEA is ready, willing and able to return to the bargaining table, once the District confirms the proposal is accepted.

Earth Day Fair in San Juan Capistrano - April 22

Make plans to celebrate San Juan Capistrano's ninth annual Earth Day Fair on Thursday, April 22, a daylong affair that is expected once again to be the largest environmental-friendly event in South County.

San Juan Capistrano continues to take the lead in promoting the importance of caring for the environment by enlisting several organizations and groups to participate.

The fair will feature an array of new and returning exhibitors including Goodwill of Orange County, SDG&E, Green Castles and Worm Composting. Organizations such as the Dana Point Ocean Institute, The Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley,Caspers Wilderness Park, Mission San Juan Capistrano, South Coast Water District, The Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy and others will also take part in an effort to educate south Orange County residents about ways to preserve and improve the environment.

Youngsters and adults can learn from hands-on displays, environmental computer games and more. Honda will bring a couple of Hybrids to display, and there will be plenty of free giveaways and information.

The Earth Day event will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the San Juan Capistrano Gymnasium at 25925 Camino del Avion. For more information, call&nbsp949-234-4564 or send an e-mail to [email protected].

San Juan Capistrano E-Waste, Compost and Shredding Event - April 24

San Juan Capistrano is teaming up with Goodwill of Orange County to host a free E-Waste Collection and Document Shredding Event on Saturday, April 24.

Residents and businesses can dispose of electronic waste such as old cell phones, computers, monitors, printers, scanners, VCR/DVD players, TVs, microwaves and other small appliances free of charge. Large appliances, batteries, oils, solvents, tires and other household hazardous waste will not be accepted.
Folks will also have the opportunity to have their sensitive records securely destroyed for free.

Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation, and shredding documents with personal or financial information can be an effective measure of prevention. Goodwill will collect documents in a lock box and transport them to its secure shredding facility. For more information, visit www.ocgoodwill-documentdestruction.org.

The event is from 8 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto.

In other environmentally friendly news, folks who drop by the E-Waste event can also receive free compost from 7 to 10 a.m. To commemorate Earth Day, the City is teaming up with CR&R and other south county cities to host the compost giveaway in the parking lot of City Hall. Simply bring the coupon in your CR&R bill (or download it fromhttp://sanjuancapistrano.org/Index.aspx?page=25&recordid=3468) to the event to receive up to two free bags of compost.

For more information, visit www.sanjuancapistrano.org or contact Betsy Dubois at 949-234-4414 or email [email protected] or [email protected].

Will Orange County's Congress Members Support Critical County Water Projects?

Representatives from Irvine Ranch Water District, Mesa Consolidated Water District, San Juan Capistrano, the Municipal Water District of Orange County and the County of Orange met with Representatives Loretta Sanchez, Ed Royce and Ken Calvert to discuss crucial water projects in Orange County.  Representatives John Campbell, Gary Miller and Dana Rohrbacher sent staff to the meeting.

This issue needs to be watched because how badly the Orange County delegation is in bringing home money to their districts. For instance, Rep. Sanchez brought in the  bucks for dredge the Newport back bay even though the project is in Rep. John Campbell's district.  The Orange County Business Council (OCBC) recently pointed out in an OC Register article that Orange County received $439 per capita in stimulus money compared to $687 for Los Angeles County and $8021 for Sacramento.

The projects that need federal money are:  

• Syphon Reservoir Project at Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) - $7.5-$10 million needed to convert the facility from seasonal to year round use.  $40-$50 million is needed to increase the storage capacity from 500 acre feet to 5000 acre feet.  The reservoir is currently used for irrigation water and would be used for recycled water once the work is completed.
• IRWD is seeking to use Clean Renewable Water Supply bonds (CREWS) to finance water recycling, desalination and groundwater contamination clean up projects.
• Mesa Consolidated Water District (MCWD) wants $1 million to upgrade the Colored Water Treatment Facility which uses ozone and biofiltration to remove a sulfur smell and amber color from groundwater to make the water drinkable.

San Juan Capistrano Plannng Equestrian Park

Since San Juan Capistrano closed escrow Jan. 20 on 132 acres at the southwest corner of Ortega Highway and La Pata, officials have been working to review what site and contractual conditions exist in anticipation of future planning for the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park at San Juan Capistrano.

The riding park is renowned for its year-round equestrian events, especially hunter/jumper shows. The property is currently under license agreements with two separate tenants - Blenheim Facility Management, which operates the equestrian and soccer properties, and The Oaks, which leases the property adjacent to their private property along Ortega Highway. A City subcommittee, consisting of Mayor Pro Tem Laura Freese and Council Member Mark Nielsen, is meeting with the tenants to evaluate the existing agreements and discuss what the future may hold. 

"We are planning to review a number of options with the current tenants to make sure the City and our taxpayers receive the greatest long-term benefits from this property acquisition," said Council Member Mark Nielsen, who also chairs the City's Open Space Committee. "Early indications from the tenants confirm their willingness to discuss all options, though both have expressed a desire to stay active with the property as long as the City desires." 

The rodeo/polo grounds is a premier venue for competitive recreation events, shows and other activities in Southern California such as English horse shows, Western horse shows, the annual Rodeo, soccer tournaments, antique car shows, dog shows, and several other youth athletic events.

$1.2 Billion in Stimulus Spending in Orange County

This information is published by ProPublica.

OC has received over $1.2 billion in stimulus spending.  Even though  many local electeds needed to grandstand that they wouldn't take stimulus money, they did. The money kept OCTA busses running, students going to college, built roads, and created jobs.

Here is the Top 10 OC Stimulus Projects

1. $76.8 million to OCTA including $7.6 million for operations 
2. $60.7 million to Hensel Phelps Construction for building Bachelor Enlisted Quarters at Coronado Naval Base
3. $50 M to Sapphire Energy for renewable energy research and development of Sapphire Integrated Algal Biorefinery (IABR)
4. $47.8 million to CalTrans for highway planning and constructino
5. $32.9 million in Cash for Clunkers - $2 billion of stimulus money was used to extend the program.  Tom's Truck Center - South County received $1.3 million, Oremor of Tustin - $1.2 million, DWW III Co - $1.1 million.  An complete list of dealers is here.  The names listed are the corporate names, not the dealer names on the signs, so a little digging will turn up which car dealers benefited.
6. $19.3 million to Santa Ana Unified School District
7. $17.6 million to Capistrano Unified School District
8. $17.5 million to Garden Grove Unified School District
9. $15.2 million to Anaheim Union High School District
10. $13.2 million to the County of Orange

The full list of Orange County recipients is here.  

$20 Million in Quality Education Investment Act Funds Coming to OC Starting This Week

Assemblyman Jose Solorio's (D-Anaheim) call to California's Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell to release Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) funds immediately apparently has paid off. Sources confirm that the allocated funds to California's lowest performing schools will begin to roll out this week.

"In a recent letter to the superintendent, I made it clear that those funds should go out now. I'm happy the matter seems to be resolved. If my cajoling the superintendent to act had anything to do with it, then I did my job. The important thing is that the schools have their funding," said Assemblyman Solorio.

QEIA is a comprehensive effort to improve the conditions in the California schools that face the enormous challenges that result from high percentages of low-income, minority and English-learning students. This budget year, AB 56 X3 was signed into law stating, "The sum of $355,000,000 shall be allocated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the 2009-10 fiscal year to school sites selected to participate in the QEIA program."

Chevron Receives Notice of Violation for Failing to Clean Up MTBE in San Juan Capistrano's Water

The California Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a notice of violation to Chevron U.S.A., Inc. for failing to take responsibility for contaminating and treating San Juan Capistrano wells from its methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) contamination.

The notice dated Feb. 2 subjects Chevron to possible enforcement action by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, State Attorney General and the Orange County District Attorney's office for criminal prosecution if it continues to ignore its responsibility to clean up the contaminate. Chevron is also subject to civil liability of $5,000 per day per violation.

The board's move is significant for the City, which has long been trying to get Chevron to take responsibility for the MTBE plume in the City's groundwater that has curtailed use of the Groundwater Recovery Plant. MTBE spilled into City's aquifer years ago from two Chevron gas stations in town. The fuel additive was detected two years ago in City groundwater wells.