• Changes in uniform, organization to build unit morale—
• CDF contract approved
• Grant writer ApprovedBy DAVID ROSS
Fire Chief Kevin O’Leary is taking a page from the military handbook to bind up the wounds of the fire department, which has been riven in recent months by an abortive effort to form a union and by long-standing friction between CDF administrators and VC reservists.
Thursday O’Leary revealed his plans to create unit solidarity between California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection members and reserve members of VC Fire Dept.
“We need to do everything we can to bring people together,” the chief told directors of the VC Fire Protection District Board Thursday. “For a long time we’ve been separate.”
Any veteran will tell you that the camaraderie between a “Band of Brothers” in the field is the glue that binds fighting men together.
That’s also true for quasi-military organizations like fire departments. Unit solidarity and identity are vital.
The chief’s reforms consist first of some purely symbolic changes, such as having both CDF and VC reserve firefighters wear the same CDF patch on their uniforms, the same VCFPD tee-shirt and baseball caps, and have all eat their meals together.
“I find it very valuable to eat together at a fire station,” O’Leary said. “We have faced in this organization our greatest challenge. I believe we need to be an integrated, cohesive unit.”
“Think of it as ‘team building,’ ” said Director Mike Pacheco, himself a captain with the San Diego Fire Dept.
In addition to symbolic morale boosters, the chief has instituted a platoon system that will eliminate ranks in the reserve firefighters. Each reserve platoon will have a platoon leader. The only personnel with ranks will be CDF.
All these changes will bring the VC fire department in line with most CDF administered fire departments in the state.
One of O’Leary’s proposals was controversial: phasing out the two Squad Units except as reserves. (NOTE: The squads are the smaller, boxy engines that are most often seen at medical aid calls).
O’Leary’s reason for this was that he insists that each engine be staffed with at least two officers, and on at least four occasions in May, it only had one.
The upside of this proposal, he said, is that the remaining engines will be staffed with more people.
Fire Board Pres. Mel Schuler was skeptical of some of O’Leary’s proposals, such as the uniform changes, which will cost an estimated $2500.
“On the one hand you tell us that we need to develop new funding sources and at the same time you talk about spending $2500 on patches,” said Schuler.
He was also reluctant to phase out the squads. “I think that just at the drop of a hat to eliminate two of our vehicles is wrong,” he said.
“I believe I’ve been discussing this issue for more than a year now,” said O’Leary. “In my opinion it is not professional for a squad to be operated by one firefighter.”
The board voted to support all of O’Leary’s proposals, except the proposal regarding the squad. This was tabled until next month.
CDF Contract
The board approved a contract with California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection to administer the district at a cost of $2,128,244 over the next three years.
CDF will provide six officers: One battalion chief, two captains, one engineer and two firefighters.
The contract runs July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2005.
CDF has administered the district for almost two decades, but for the first time the contract included the “Amador Plan.” This plan, named after the County of the same name in Northern California, gives the district coverage by the CDF station on Cole Grade Road during non-fire season (CDF personnel are there anyway during fire season.).
“The community will get far more service in the wintertime because they will get staff that is dedicated to us, plus supervisory staff,” commented Schuler.
He noted that each of the three years that the payment to CDF increases substantially, mainly because CDF will start paying time and a half for overtime.
“On the positive side, for what we are getting for our money the Amador plan really expands our work force,” commented Dan Thornton, chairman of the finance committee. “From all ways of looking at it the Amador plan was the cheapest thing we could do.”
The district will get three additional personnel designated for Valley Center for an additional $134,000 a year. “And that’s a good deal!” said Thornton.
Grant Writer Hired
The board voted unanimously to hire Linda Maag to be the district’s grant writer
Thornton forcefully argued for the position, and for Maag to fill it, a decision postponed from May.
“What really hit home,” he said, was when he signed warrants to buy safety equipment that grants were available for.
“Safety equipment that we need is quite expensive, and much of that can be offset with grants. We have safety gear, breathing apparatus, pumps and hose that we need to replace,” he said.
“I don’t think we will gain anything by waiting any longer. We need to act and to act now. We need to get in line for these grants. The longer we wait the more it will cost.”
He argued that Mrs. Maag had been good enough to use as a grant writer to obtain funding for paramedics when her services were free.
Her services earned her a public service award from VCFPD.
“When she’s willing to do it for free, we award her, but when she offers to do it for a small stipend, we grill her.”
Thornton concluded, “I firmly believe that grant writing is the way to go. Whatever risk, the downside is outweighed by the substantial gain we stand to get.”
Director Patrick Garcia supported the motion. “Safety gear is something that comes back over and over. It’s something that we need, so why not have someone who can help us procure this?”
Director Stan Johnson commented: “I feel that we have to get money in any manner we can. If we can get it for engines and whatever, then maybe the money we have assigned to that equipment can be assigned for staffing.”
Pacheco also “fully supported” the concept.
Schuler, who had asked many questions at the May meeting, said, “My only comment last time was that I wanted to see someone bring in something that she [Maag] had done in relation to fire grants, and research other people who write fire grants.”
He also wanted to make sure that her “job description” would spell out that she’s to look for the grants that the fire chief identifies as having the highest priority.
O’Leary had a list, which included protective clothes, breathing apparatus, rescue equipment, trench rescue equipment, ropes, station facilities, training facilities and fire engine replacement. “Part of what I see her job as is looking for anything that’s out there and bringing it to us to decide,” he said.
Storage Refurbish
Johnson gave a report on remodeling the storage area at Station 73, to make it more secure and extend it to the main building where it could be accessed from there.
The storage capacity could be doubled, he said. He was given approval to look at the cost and bring an estimate back to the July meeting.
By DAVID ROSS
Imagine you’re a student who has a problem grasping a particular point in a math lesson.
Rather than compete among 30 others to get the teacher’s attention, you log onto your computer and talk with a math tutor located 50 miles away at the University of California, San Diego.
Because a little video cam is mounted over the computer screens at both ends of the dialogue, you see the tutor and the tutor sees you.
You do your math problems real time on the screen, also on a little “pad” that mimics white paper.
With such personalized instruction whenever you need it, your possibilities are endless!
The hardware to make this possible was installed a couple of months ago at Pauma Elementary School, where they got the opportunity to give it a test before the end of the school year.
Twenty-five computers with cams are connected to the university via the Internet.
Ours is the second school district in the country to test this system, which serves middle school students as part of a teaching lab.
The program, called a web cam tutoring program, was made possible through a five year $3 million GEARUP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) for Pauma School.
The Roadrunner interviewed Luciano Corazza, director of K-14 academic outreach for University of California at San Diego, Chris Sommer, principal of Pauma Elementary and John Purdue, the district’s director of learning and information.
Corazza explains, “We devised a system to allow tutors to be at UCSD and mentor and monitor the progress of the students here as they are working.”
The kids use a basic math software. When they encounter a problem the tutors at the other end can help. The tutors are undergraduate math students.
How cutting edge is this?
“Cutting edge becomes dull edge pretty quickly,” says Corazza with a chuckle. “But at this level and with this system this is the second school in the country to use it.
The program links the educational resources of the university with a small, rural school.
“It’s kind of like having the university next door to you,” says Mrs. Sommer.
“We have the resources at the university that can really have an impact,” says Corazza
Twenty-fvie graduate students rotate in and out between classes. They have one hour free between class to be a tutor. At any time five are available to tutor.
They intervene when they decide a child needs help. They monitor their math work on the network. This is recorded on the server at UCSD so the tutor can access the student’s work.
He can go into the system and say, “Well, this kid isn’t doing well in fractions. I’m going to call and work with him on it.”
Corazza says this is more effective then asking for help.
“In principle, I don’t think that works very well,” said Corazza. “A young kid is not going to call up somebody and say, ‘I need help,’ and he won’t be able to explain exactly what he needs help on, with a few exceptions.”
Conversely the teacher might say, ‘This kid needs help, can you get on the network with him?’ The tutor can also say, “This child getting 25 or 30 on the quiz in this area. I’d better call and make sure we plug those holes.”
This doesn’t eliminate the teacher in the Pauma classroom who conducts the lesson and then assigns problems to the children.
According to Mrs. Sommer, “Students are taught a lesson and then they get into guided practice to where the teacher can walk around and monitor how they are practicing using the software.”
Their progress is recorded in Pauma for the teacher to access and at UCSD.
Every time a student logs onto the software the data is updated. It also gives guided practice, instruction and a second point of view for the student.
Not every child learns the same way. Some are aural learners, some are visual and others are tactile. The computer system gives more than one form of instruction.
The university chooses tutors after an interview and gives them training.
The same tutor won’t stay with the same child. Whoever is available at the time will take on whichever child needs help.
“But it turns out that it’s not a bad thing. The kids don’t seem to mind having different tutors and different styles of explanation. It’s actually more interesting,” says Corazza.
What results do they expect?
“We’ll know where they have problems and how to give them tools to address these problems. There’s never any one solution for instruction. But this is one more tool that we can use,” says Mrs. Sommer.
This is part of the overall GEARUP grant of $3 million that partnered UCSD, the school, County Dept. of Education and local Indian tribes.
The five year grant also provides for tracking the children through high school, to give them counseling and to make sure they know what colleges and scholarships are available to them.
Another program, La Clase Magica, introduced in January, works with kindergarten and first graders via the computer with one on one instruction and support from tutors who visit three days a week. This will be eventually extended to the third grade.
Tracking is important. “We want to track the ‘cohort’ all through high school and make sure that there is intervention, says Corazza.
Poorer students are not often aware of the true costs of college and that it is very possible for them, given scholarships and grants.
In October Mrs. Sommer took eighth graders to a college fair to meet representatives of colleges from all over the country. “It gave them a great opportunity to see what was out there. They would not leave! ” she says.
Students that are tracked will have access to a wide range of information and people to remind them that it’s available.
This program is helping the university to develop more effective strategies in the classroom.
Imagine a kid having problems with something that was taught three or four years earlier. That is blocking him from moving forward. You can’t do advanced math if you can’t add and subtract or multiply.
“Such a situation is not unheard of,” says Corazza. “But a child won’t raise his hand in the classroom and say ‘I don’t know how to add or subtract.’ ”
But he might tell a tutor who can handle the situation in such a way that the child isn’t embarrassed.
The tutor is not very imposing. He’s just a little picture on the screen.
“Is that on purpose?” we ask .
“Yeah, but also because of bandwidth,” says Corazza.
“You have the chance to have a group of kids that you think needs help and put them here and see how we can work through their problems. You have a class reduction effect,” says Corazza.
John Purdew, the district’s resident computer guru, is excited. “We’re finally catching up with the technology. We’re getting content. That’s what we’ve been lacking. The quality of the educational material available was very poor, basically electronic worksheets. The excitement starts when you start to see some content. Grants like this allow some of that to happen.”
The Donald & Darlene Shiley family has donated $10 million toward building the University of San Diego’s new Center for Science and Technology.
The Shileys are well-known Pauma Valley philanthropists and longtime supporters of USD.
To commemorate their gift, and to honor Mr. Shiley’s life achievements in science, the building was named The Donald Pearce Shiley Center for Science and Technology at a ceremony on June 14.
USD broke ground in May 2001 for the $46 million center that will help meet the demand for skilled employees by the region’s biotech and high-tech firms and serve as a national model for science education and training.
The 150,000 square-foot Science Center will be the largest academic building on campus. Focusing on interdisciplinary collaboration, it will unite USD’s departments of chemistry, biology, physics, and marine and environmental sciences, and will also house aquariums, an astronomy deck, an aviary and a greenhouse. The Center is being built in the 16th Century Spanish Renaissance style of USD’s campus, and is scheduled for completion in Fall 2003.
Darlene Shiley has been a member of USD’s Board of Trustees since 1990. She has served on numerous influential committees, and currently chairs the Committee on Trustees. She and her husband have been generous benefactors of USD, supporting its Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Arts program, a joint venture with the Globe Theatres; the University’s staging of a Presidential Debate in 1996; and numerous scholarships.
This gift is among the largest ever made to USD and is believed to be the largest private donation ever to support undergraduate science education in the San Diego region.
“There are many who have contributed their scientific skills and their heart to improve the lives of us all,” said Mrs. Shiley.
“Those like my husband who apply their talent and entrepreneurship quietly are often not those in the headlines, but their accomplishments touch our lives daily. It is to honor Donald that this gift has been made to USD’s new Science and Technology Center. The values of the University are understood, appreciated and shared by our family.”
“We are very grateful for this wonderfully generous gift that will help make the vision of our Science Center a reality,” said USD President Alice B. Hayes. “This outstanding Center will serve every student that passes through USD for decades to come.”
The Shiley’s have supported many local organizations, in education, medicine and the arts, including KPBS, UCSD Shiley Eye Center, Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, The Globe Theatres and several Alzheimer’s disease research programs.
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By DAVID ROSS
Pala-Pauma Sponsor Group has thrown the County’s GP2020 Draft Plan into the dustbin and come up with its own “iteration,” as planners call them.
Sponsor Group Chairman Joe Chisholm, whose group, June 5, voted unanimously for its own version of GP2020, told The Roadrunner this week that the County’s draft map doesn’t address current realities in this area of mostly groves that has been hit by casino traffic like a wet mackerel in the face.
One thing the group’s Country Town Concept Plan calls for is to apply for a Scenic Highway designation for Hwy 76.
“One of the other odd things is that we’re doing planning in Pala-Pauma like Valley Center, where everything is being driven by the casinos, except that it’s blank bubbles on the map, except that that’s what’s driving all the changes. It’s like having Liechtenstein in the middle of the planning area,” said Chisholm.
The County, says Chisholm, is planning as if the Pala Casino, Casino Pauma, Valley View Casino and Harrah’s Rincon Casino were not there.
“Basically, because we felt that the County’s planning was unresponsive to our needs, we came up with our own plan that’s driven by circulation and traffic. And in the future will be driven even more so by traffic,” said Chisholm.
“When you add to that the inability of Caltrans to fix Hwy. 76 then you become even more frustrated with the fact that we aren’t fixing what’s wrong. It’s as if we are in a vacuum,” said Chisholm.
The Pala-Pauma group has reacted more to its perception that the County’s plan ignores Hwy 76’s planning problems than to the “across the board” down zoning of large areas of the planning area, which includes Pauma Valley and the non-reservation part of the Pala region, all part of the rivershed of the San Luis Rey.
Chisholm commented on the plan’s decreased density: “It seems odd that we started out the process trying to accommodate more growth and all we've seen to date is a down zoning of all the areas.
But his group decided they couldn’t fight those changes, which include taking most land designated one dwelling unit per four, eight or 20 acres and changing them to one dwelling unit per 40 or 80 acres and changing most parcels that were one dwelling unit per two acres to one dwelling unit per four or ten acres.
The group’s land use density doesn’t differ that much from the County’s, says Chisholm. “Rather than fight what seemed acceptable to the community, we saw things as driven by physical problems. Our plan is designed around trying to come up with a transportation solution.”
So the group “got creative.” One suggestion is to separate casino traffic from local through traffic by extending Cole Grade Road, which most Pauma residents use to leave their town, and which VC people use to get to Pauma, separate it from Hwy 76 and to go around behind Pauma Village Center to link that business center with local traffic.
The separate road would allow the local residents to come and go and not fight casino traffic.
It also calls for a four-way intersection at the existing country club entrance to access the village core and its associated parking and connect to the village commons/Cole Grade Road extension.
The group calls for Hwy 76 remaining a two lane “Scenic Highway,” but for “new separate lane(s) should be sited for the use of shuttle buses or trolleys only. Transit Centers/stations could be located at each casino as well as a major park and ride facility located at I-15 to handle casino visitors as well as employees.”
Will the County take this departure from its plan seriously?
“I think they have to recognize the plan we wrote,” says Chisholm.
Hwy 76’s traffic has increased from 5000 trips a day a year ago to 10,000 today, says Chisholm. “It’s going to double again and nobody knows what to do about it. Caltrans says Hwy 76 is not even in line for capital improvement. They can’t figure out how to do an EIR for it because of the environmental restraints. The Pala Indians offered $4 million to Caltrans to fix the road and they wouldn’t take it!”
The San Luis Rey River is home to the Least Bell’s Vireo, a bird on the Endangered Species List whose habitat is treated with kid gloves.
“Good plans are something you work to rather than accepting that it’s bad and it’ll get worse,” said Chisholm. He advocates making the Indian reservations partners with the County and the State in dealing with the increased traffic, since they will benefit too.
“The point is that we need to be creative. If, for instance, there was a separate lane devoted to alternate transportation, it might attract special funding.”
The Valley Roadrunner
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