Tuesday, February 10, 2015


"Specific Plan" continued from page 1


have been fighting the senior fa- cility every step of the way ap- plauded Spitzer for his proposal. Following the board’s 2011 ap- proval, the Foothill Communi- ties Association sued the devel- oper, Kisco Senior Living, and the county, challenging the SRH amendment and the veracity of the environmental impact report. A lower court found in favor


of FCA, calling the zone overlay “illegal spot zoning,” that was “capricious and arbitrary.” The developer took the decision to the appellate court, but the county did not join the appeal. The higher court reversed the lower court decision, deferring to the board of supervisors and its legislative authority to change zoning. Spitzer told his colleagues that


their responsibility was to repre- sent the will of constituents, not the will of a single entity. And in this case, third district constitu- ents were overwhelmingly op- posed to the commercial develop- ment.


Seniors have their say During the Jan. 13 board meet-


ing, several North Tustin con- stituents supported the project, noting that seniors need a place to live, and that rescinding the SHR amendment was discriminatory against older people. Nelson disagreed, noting that


his original objections to the proj- ect had nothing to do with seniors, but everything to do with the in- tent of the specific plan and the act of changing it to benefit one owner. “You can’t use a shoehorn and Vaseline to cram stuff into a plan that everybody has lived by for decades,” he said. Newly elected supervisors Mi-


chelle Steele and Lisa Bartlett asked for a closed-session dis- cussion of the legal ramifications of rescinding the amendment. Spitzer agreed with the closed session, but asked that a vote be taken in advance to “let people know where we’re leaning.” The board voted 4-0 to rescind the amendment and stayed with that decision after the closed session. This isn’t the end of it; it’s the


beginning of a process. The is- sue must go back to county plan- ning staff, then to the planning commission and ultimately back to the supervisors who will make the final call.


Foothills Sentry


LETTERS to the EDITOR


Dear Editor: Al Mijares is the superinten-


dent of schools with the Orange County Department of Educa- tion (OCDE). He will soon be the highest paid elected official in Orange County, with $293,250 in salary, before benefits, fol- lowing a two percent increase -- despite the terrible condition of the bathrooms in the Orange Unified School District (OUSD) and all of the safety and mainte- nance issues that remain due to a lack of capital. At the same time superfluous salaries and benefits are found throughout the school system. The mission statement for


OCDE is “to ensure that all stu- dents are equipped with the com- petencies to thrive in the 21st century” and that OCDE holds it- self accountable, “for the highest level of efficiency and resource management,” where efficient re- source management is defined as munificent taxpayer-financed sal-


aries, while OUSD is still in need of 21st century competencies. California has the fifth highest


teacher salaries, but is the 12th lowest in per-pupil spending. Yet time and again we see the politi- cal apparatus and its "for the chil- dren" collaborators circle back to refill their canteen from the tax- payer trough, only to water the weeds. In 2012, the CTA and the SEIU privateers spent $22 mil- lion on a successful Prop 30 cam- paign ransacking the “wealthy” to secure $6 billion in additional bounty for the state. The OUSD has since received $8.9 million for 2012-13 and $18.9 million for 2013-14 in plunder from Prop 30, all of it evaporating into the instructional salaries and benefit expenses ether. Concurrently, for the three years ending 2015, the Orange County Superintendent and his three supervisors, will have "earned" over $2 million. That's $30 million in plunder and four salaries not being spent on


Page 7


the “21st century competencies” of faulty electrical, leaky plumb- ing, dripping roofs, seismic safe- ty, upgrades to science labs and the career training facilities that Measure K supporters were le- gitimately concerned about. It is disingenuous, surreptitious


and intellectually disrespectful to continue ignoring the elephant in the classroom. We must hold accountable all efforts to avert taxpayer funds away from the dire and necessary repairs and upgrades that our school systems need, and these efforts should start with Mijares. I am calling upon the fire and


brimstone of our Measure K sup- porters to focus that incredible en- ergy we saw during the midterms to contact Mijares with purpose and conviction to ask that he pro- vide his detailed compensation information to the OUSD trust- ees, so we, the taxpayers, can de- termine if an almost $300K wage is “the highest level of efficient resource management” while our schools are in desperate need of 18th century competencies like working plumbing and sound roofs, let alone 21st century mod- ernization.


Scott Logue North Tustin


Santiago Canyon Road may soon be up for adoption


By Rich Gomez Orange County’s “Adopt-A-


Roadway,” modeled after simi- lar programs in California and other states, promotes civic pride through the removal of unsightly blight along our roadways.


It


is standardized and managed to provide a safe operating model and accountability (along with recognition) of those participat- ing as volunteers by clearly de- fining areas with a “recognition placard.” Anine-mile stretch of Santiago


Canyon Road between Irvine Lake and Cooks Corner is being considered as a testing ground for the road adoption program. The Adopt-A-Roadway concept for Santiago Canyon Road was inspired by the Sil-Mod Specific Plan (Aug. 31, 1977; Resolu- tion 77-1436). In that plan, the concept of a scenic corridor is presented in detail.


In 2007,


several canyon community mem- bers presented the concept to OC Roads staff. The third district supervisor and county staff en- dorsed the project. The Santiago Scenic Corridor Group (SSCG) was formed, and began meeting regarding this project shortly af- ter that endorsement. The recession of 2008 slowed


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progress considerably, but meet- ings continued and small advanc- es were made in project devel- opment. Special thanks are due to John Harris (Orange County Public Works) who continued to collaborate with SSCG on the program despite budgetary con- straints. In 2012, John retired, and Public Works Director Shane Silsby assigned Eileen Depuy as the project manager for the coun- ty. She was instrumental in fin- ishing the manual, establishing a budget, and getting the pilot proj- ect ready for presentation to the OC Board of Supervisors. Su- pervisor Todd Spitzer and Silsby have both been supportive of the effort. They, along with county staff and SSCG, continue to be-


lieve it is a program that can ben- efit Santiago Canyon Road, and can be implemented throughout the county.


Try it, you’ll like it This pilot program is a one-


year trial that will allow staff and the public to try it out, while retaining the ability to amend, delete or increase the aspects of the project. An example of this latitude would be community concern over the blue recogni- tion placards that are to be in- stalled as an integral part of the program. While county staff and SSCG agree that a more compat- ible sign format would be more appealing, the regulations re- garding signage are limiting that effort. No new program is without


flaws, or room for improvement. SSCG believe staff and Supervi- sor Spitzer were very perceptive in making sure this was imple- mented as a “pilot.” It is the opinion of the SSCG


that once the pilot program is implemented and the signs are in-


stalled, it will be possible to mod- ify their appearance as part of the process. This effort will engage not only the canyon community, but also a larger segment of the population who currently use this corridor and enjoy its unique beauty. This is a program for ev- eryone, not just canyon residents. The SSCG is partnering with


the county to create awareness among all canyon residents and visitors that use this corridor. The hope is that this project will pro- duce a much broader stakeholder base, and will help preserve the unique rustic beauty of this sce- nic drive. Remember, Santiago Canyon Road is the last unfet- tered road in Orange County. It has been reduced to just nine contiguous miles over the years, and as a legacy to our “children’s children,” SSCG would like to see it remain as a reminder of what this county looked like in the not too distant past. Rich Gomez, along with Bob


Hunt and Mark Levy, is a found- ing member of the Santiago Sce- nic Corridor Group.


Dear Editor


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