By DAVID ROSS
For many folks, “the good is oft’ interred with the bones,” but Ernie Allen, the late longtime Valley Center dairyman, will always be remembered by the students who use and the staff that manages the little college library that bears his name.
A picture of the stern-looking Mr. Allen in his later years hangs next to the entrance door, but the whole library is actually a tribute to the man whose bequest made its existence possible.
“Instead of a cold, impersonal plaque to remember Mr. Allen, the library is full of dairy memorabilia from the Allen farm and cow folk art,” says Dan Arnsan, lead librarian, whose brain child the library was and is. Arslan himself has a “cow skin” mouse pad at his computer.
When you enter the library you find yourself face to face with a stuffed milk cow (not actual size.) The library has a very homey, welcoming feel to it.
The library has several special collections: an Alamo collection, a Native American collection, and a “How To Do It,” art collection.
The Ernest J. Allen library is located in the college’s largest off-campus education center, in Escondido, on Valley Parkway. It serves about 9000 college students, many of whom are from Valley Center.
It began operating in the fall of 1997, funded by a grant from Allen’s estate, along with nine other beneficiaries, chosen after a very public process in which worthy organizations were asked to submit applications for grants.
It continues to receive grants from the Allen Foundation and each year sends a report to the Allen family, which reportedly follows the progress of the library with interest.
It has a core reference collection and a circulating collection of about 6000 volumes, a collection of ETV tapes, CDs, DVDs and internet access on eight computers.
Working with Arslan are five staffers, including 32 year Palomar library veteran Bonnie Corzine and library technician Joan Morse.
“Bonnie is the heart of this library,” says Arslan. “She’s beloved by the students. She knows everybody. She’s our catalyst for success.”
An ex-Marine, the colorful Arslan is a man of cheerful enthusiasms. He’s a film buff and most particularly a history buff whose personal favorite time in history is the Battle of the Alamo. He’s built a 187/1 scale model of the battle that rests at his summer home in Montana and where history buffs come to visit and pay homage to, like visitors to a shrine. You can visit his website at:
http://voyager.palomar.edu/dan/
He’s perhaps not as well known in golf circles. Arslan likes to tell the story about how, when he was a young man, he was a caddie in the 1960 PGA Open.
He gave Jack Nicklaus his windbreaker after his wife pulled him aside and said, “Will you give Jack his jacket?”
To which he replied, “Which one is Jack?”
“He’s the blond guy.”
Outspoken as well as personable, Arslan is quite blunt about the little library’s needs.
“We really need more room!” he says. More room for books and computers and for a quiet study area. “We’ll run out of space in two years.”
So he was incredulous when a key administrator at the college reportedly said that she didn’t see the need for a library at this location.
The room crunch already has some effect on classes that come in to learn how to use the library’s resources to do research. They are limited to one hour sessions because the library has to shut down the other students during that class.
But meantime the library continues to provide an invaluable service to hundreds of students a week. Ernie Allen would probably be very proud.
By DAVID ROSS
Those square boxy fire trucks called “squads” are a favorite among VC reserve firefighters, but the fire board Thursday voted to try to get along without them for six months.
Last month Fire Chief Kevin O’Leary gave directors recommendations for improving the reserve program.
Among them was retiring the squads and combining all crews on the department’s two pumper fire engines (one at each station).
Squads are not equipped with pumps or hoses and normally respond to medical emergencies. However, O’Leary said the district could save money by sending a pump engine alone, fully manned to all calls. Pumpers can respond to both medical emergencies and fires.
This was the most controversial of O’Leary’s recommendations, and because directors weren’t initially comfortable with it, a vote on the program reorganization was postponed until Thursday’s meeting.
Other recommendations included eliminating reserve “ranks” except for platoon leaders, requiring that both CDF and reservists working at the VC stations wear Valley Center Fire Protection District patches and eat their meals in common, and implementing a new grievance policy.
The purpose of these reforms was to improve morale and create a unified esprit d’corps among a reserve program badly battered in recent months by a bruising, unsuccessful attempt to form a firefighter’s union.
Most of the reservists are against getting rid of the squad, the chief told the board.
The squad gives them a chance to get experience driving an engine, which is a requirement for becoming an engineer.
“It was very successful for many, many years,” said O’Leary. “VC firefighters do more than normal firefighters in other organizations. It is a valuable unit. They like it because they can go out to an incident separate from a CDF supervisor.”
Pat Taylor, one of VC’s longest serving reservists, and the VC Firefighters’ Assn. representative to the board, commented: “You have to go through intense training with a CDF overhead to qualify to drive a squad. They have to sign your paperwork, which they won’t do if they don’t think you are qualified. For me and the other guys the squad is a stepping stone up to an engineer’s slot.We feel that the squad should stay as long as drivers are competent.”
Board Pres. Mel Schuler, who initially opposed the idea, said that he ran into one of the founding directors of the district, Bill Palmer, and asked how the department first came to use squads.
“Palmer said the squad served the purpose of not sending everyone out at the same time. But today everything rolls at the same time so the original intent of the squad seems to have been degraded since then.”
Eliminating the squad saves wear and tear on engines, he said. “I’m wondering if our role in operation has changed. Sounds like the chief’s intent is to have more men on the engine and to achieve unit integrity.”
One reason the chief wants to eliminate the squad is because he is concerned about have just one firefighter manning a squad, which has happened a few times.
“I’m very uncomfortable with that,” he said. “I understand where the reserves are coming from, but I think that the advantages outweigh the dissatisfactions.”
He wants to give reservists every chance to drive the fire apparatus and advance their personal training.
“On most departments, engineers don’t drive the apparatus. Here in Valley Center CDF personnel drive and pump and supervise. I envision having reserve firefighters drive the apparatus. I believe that will give them a big challenge. It’s a difficult thing to do. You need a Class B driver’s license, and you need to go through a special school.
“We need to make that the emphasis if we go forward with this. If we make it our primary focus then we’ll have success. Right now if you want to be a driver engineer, there’s no focus within the department, only an individual focus.”
Schuler noted that other directors are concerned about reserve morale. “. . .but I hope that our decision is based on the operational readiness of the organization and whether we can best serve the community and carry out our mission.”
Eliminating the squad will reduce mutual aid responses to neighboring fire districts, said the chief. VCFPD has had a mutual aid agreement with San Pasqual Fire Dept. because both fire districts needed each other to meet OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) “two in, two out” requirements that mandate having two firefighters outside of a burning building in order to be able to rescue the two that are inside.
Responding with one engine, but being able to staff the engine with four or five firefighters would end this need.
“I like being able to send one engine to any problem,” said O’Leary. “A squad can’t put out a fire. An engine company can do anything it has to.”
Fewer vehicles responding means cost savings in inventory, maintenance and fuel.
The disadvantage, said O’Leary, is increased mileage, cost and maintenance on the one engine. “But the squad and engine are going on 98 percent of the calls anyway,” he said.
He proposed trying it for six months.
Mike McDonald, an audience member who rents out his fleet of fire engines to CDF and fire departments all over the state, commented: “The trend is away from squads at fire departments all over the county.”
Squads were popular at one time because they could get to places that bigger engines couldn’t.
“It was mainly an access thing, to get the people to the scene. But now with these KME fire engines’ you can get five people to a scene. I do think you will lose some access because there are roads in VC where there is no way you’ll get a KME in there,” he said.
Another factor that has reduced the need for a squad is the presence of the Sycuan ambulance service, he said.
Director Dan Thornton commented, “We’re constantly told that we need more manpower to respond to an incident, but I see this as a decrease in manpower.”
“The responses we are talking about are just the run of the mill accidents,” said O’Leary. “Of course, in a structure fire you’re going to get everyone rolling. Your most common medical emergency, instead of sending the squad you’re going to send the engine. “
“I don’t see what we lose by trying it,” said Schuler. “It does seem to be the trend.”
Opposing the move was Director Mike Pacheco, who is a fire captain with the San Diego Fire Dept.
An advantage of a squad, he said, is that it must be staffed by EMTs (emergency medical technicians). “I think we would save money if we increased the use of the squad alone. The chief says he’s concerned about the squad being out alone, but but his own admission this is only 2 percent of the time. We (San Diego) send engines out all the time with only two people. We are understaffed and we are talking about lowering the amount of people responding. I think those on squads can play an integral part at a scene. I don’t think we are gaining much in efficiency in getting rid of the squad.”
Director Stan Johnson commented, “I’d like to see us try this and run it on a six month basis and see if it works and see if the morale drops.”
Pacheco added, “I’d like to point out that one of the largest fire departments in the country, Los Angeles city fire, responds with squads.”
Nearby Ramona also continues to operate a squad.
Schuler asked why.
“They have a larger rescue unit. Which I don’t agree with,” said O’Leary.
Four of the five directors agreed to back their chief in his professional judgment.
“I’ve always been a strong supporter of the chief and we hired him to run the district, even though I think we’ll be running the same amount of equipment,” said Thornton.
“In my opinion we need to give him the backing,” said director Pat Garcia.
Taylor said that Valley Center has many places where it will be difficult getting a large engine in.
Schuler said he hoped they will record the types of incidents where it would have been useful to have sent the squad. “We need to hear the downside of this,” he said.
The vote was 4-1 (Pacheco voting no).
2002-2003 Budget
The board voted to adopt a 2002-2003 budget of $1,163,153 for operating expenses and $126,000 for capital expenses.
This breaks down to $637,957 for administrative costs (the district’s contract with CDF); $374,000 for personnel (Fire marshal, office staff and reservists); $14,500 for training; $43,700 for services; $35,000 for vehicle maintenance; $43,700 for office and station operation; $19,000 for miscellaneous; $9000 for fire prevention and $68,667 for paramedic expenses.
More Revenue
The district ended the fiscal year with more revenue than anticipated, said finance committee chairman Dan Thornton.
At the same time the district came in 12.5% under budget for operations and 14.5% under capital budget.
Inadequate Coverage?
During the open forum portion of the meeting Christy Bench, a resident, presented a fire safety report that she prepared as part of the GP 2020 public facilities section.
In her view, Valley Center, “has half the service it should have.”
She added, “I’m so not blaming you,” she told the board. “I’m blaming this community and I need your help to better our situation. It’s a crisis issue.”
She would like to see a moratorium on building in VC until the issue of fire safety is adequately addressed.
Readers may read the full text of Bench’s report on our website: valleycenter.com
Although all utilities from Banbury to Cole Grade Road will be put underground when VC Road is widened, most (maybe all) owners along the road won’t have to pay to connect.
The utility companies themselves will bear most of the financial brunt of putting their cables underground.
Soon the County Dept. of Public Works will be checking the incoming wiring of homes along VC Road to determine if they are sufficiently grounded.
Those that are not may have to pay to have proper wiring installed, but they won’t have to pay to connect to the incoming cables.
“We don’t anticipate people having to pay anything extra,” said Pat Petersen, senior civil engineer, with DPW, who manages all underground utility districts in the County.
The road project will cost taxpayers $11 million. The cost of undergrounding the utilities will be borne by the utility companies. The estimated cost for this is $4-$6 million according to Dr. Mandayam Rajan, project manager for the road project.
“Right now we have six or seven such districts that are in design and new ones are being formed,” said Petersen.
A special district is being created to fund the undergrounding of Valley Center Road’s utilities. It is not a taxing district, land owners along the road won’t pay into it. The special district is a legal vehicle for the utility companies to pay for and do the work. It will cease to exist once the undergrounding is completed.
An area has to meet one or more of several criteria to be eligible for underground utilities. These criteria were created by the Public Utilities Commission.
Having a road widened in an area of heavy traffic use and having a lot of overhead lines moves a community to the top of the list, said Petersen.
Roads through scenic areas like parks or beaches are also eligible for undergrounding if extensive road work is done.
Undergrounding of utilities has been going on in California since the 1960s.
Petersen doesn’t have figures on exactly how many houses and businesses this project will affect.
“We haven’t got the utility plans yet. A lot of that area doesn’t actually have building along the frontage,” she said.
Property owners who will be affected have presumably known about it for the last year and half, when they were invited to a public meeting.
Closer to construction they will be notified again, by both the County and the utility companies.
After eight years of trying, Aaron Nicholas finally won the Grand Championship for Rabbit Meat Pens at the San Diego County Fair.
As a member of the Valley Center 4-H Rabbit Group he stayed and competed at the Del Mar Fair each year and won Reserve Grand Champ twice before.
He told The Roadrunner, “This year didn’t look good when the babies of our best doe died early. It came down to only having four black New Zealand bunnies to choose from for the three necessary for a meat pen. The three rabbits must meet breed criteria and be consistent with each other in size and confirmation and weigh less than five pounds each.”
Over the years his family developed a line of black New Zealand rabbits, which have a hard time competing with the more prevalent white type. Another problem is that many black rabbits will be born with white hairs somewhere on their bodies, which can disqualify them or lower their overall score.
“This is the first time black New Zealand rabbits have won a grand championship anywhere as far as we know. I won Reserve Champ last year with white New Zealands, but the year before that I only had three rabbits for the meat pen and one of them was .08 pounds overweight,” said Aaron.Aaron’s 17 pound Flemish giant rabbit “Bowser” was the hit of the small livestock barn this year, winning Best of Breed and Best Heavyweight rabbit and getting everyone’s attention as they passed by. I was born in Valley Center and am a junior at Charter High School. My other interests include playing Nintendo with my friends and raising sheep.
Aaron, who was born in VC, will be taking another meat pen to the Ramona Junior Fair rabbit competition Saturday, July 27. Champs will go through the auction on Saturday, Aug. 3 with the other livestock. He has always had better luck at this fair, winning both Reserve and Grand Champion in the past with both black and white bunnies.
The rabbit show will feature many different breeds as will the auction at the Ramona Fairgrounds. Questions? Call the Livestock Office at 789-1111.
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The 32nd Annual Ramona Country Fair Days will take place on Aug. 1-4, 2002 at the Ramona Outdoor Community Center located at 5th and Aqua.
The fair, sponsored by the Ramona Chamber of Commerce, will feature the carnival, food, fun, vendors, crafts and entertainment for all.
Fair hours are Thursday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Friday, 5 p.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Admission to the fair is free.
As in past years, carnival rides and game booths will be provided by Christiansen Amusements. Their popular “wristband deal” allows riders to enjoy unlimited rides during special hours at one low price. Even better, a discount coupon can be purchased in advance for additional savings. These coupons will be available for sale from July 17 through July 31 at The Ramona Chamber of Commerce, 960 Main Street; Ramona Pharmacy, 677 Main Street and Albertsons, 1459 Main Street.
Carnival hours for the weekend are Saturday, 1 p.m. - 12 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. - 10 p.m. Unlimited rides available from 1 p.m. - 8 p.m. on those two days. Ticket purchase is required for the rides and advance ride ticket packages go on sale July 17 through July 31. Individual ride tickets are also available.
Advance Ticket Purchase: Thursday or Friday Unlimited Rides from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.: $9 (or $12 at the gate).
Saturday or Sunday Unlimited Rides from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.: $12 (or $15 at the gate).
This year’s entertainment will include Thursday night karaoke, Friday night Band Jam. Saturday night from 7 - 10 p.m., Barry Van Wie will play inventive blues rock n’ roll style on the violin and lightning speed on the fiddle. Primo, well known freestyle skateboarder/DJ will perform on Sunday evening from 5 to 9 p.m.
California’s premiere band Kyniption, who have taken the pop music scene by storm, will put their five-part harmony together along with their high-energy stage show to wow you. They’ll be around to sign autographs too. Come see them Saturday from 5 - 6 p.m. and Sunday from 3 to 4 p.m.
The annual parade will kick off Saturday at 10 a.m. and proceed down Main Street from 13th to 6th Street. Registration forms are still available. For parade information, call Jo Fox at 760-803-8306.
For additional fair information, contact the Ramona Chamber of Commerce at (760) 789-1311 or the Event Hotline at (760) 789-1484 or visit the website at www.ramonafair.com.
The Valley Roadrunner
P.O.B. 1529, Valley Center, CA 92082
Tel. 760.749.1112 Fax 760.749.1688
Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
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