By DAVID ROSS
A recorded message on VC Fire Recovery’s phone pleads for help: “My loan from FEMA is all messed up!”
That’s a fairly typical problem for Michelle Scheid and fellow volunteers, the last remaining people at the Local Assistance Center that opened days after the Paradise fire ravaged VC.
LAC looks deserted these days compared to weeks ago when you could see a hundred cars or more in the parking lot at any one time.
Last they may be, but Mrs. Scheid is moving heaven and earth so that they will stay there for the foreseeable future.
County staffers favor the LAC remaining open, she says, although it must be downsized. The land belongs to the County, however it is unwilling to pay rent on a double-wide trailer office. That could be as much as $1,800 a month.
They might have to make do with a single wide trailer for $1,200 a month, but it won’t have any private rooms, which are invaluable for counseling and giving displaced families a quiet place to work filing applications or compiling documentation for insurance companies.
In reality, there are no “typical” problems; each is unique.
Last weekend Mrs. Scheid helped deliver furniture and linen to a family that needed it.
On Friday she helped a survivor family get into an affordable mobile home.
Some displaced families have been renting small guest houses. Others are staying in existing households, with families doubling or even tripling up.
Some, helped by FEMA benefits, live in cramped quarters.
Some are staying at local campgrounds in travel trailers. Some of these have been told they must leave by April to make room for seasonal campers.
Some families who convinced themselves that their homes would be rebuilt by insurance in a couple of months have been roughly struck by the reality of the situation. Or, as Mrs. Scheid puts it, “that’s a mirage.”
It also may have been a mirage when representatives of FEMA and the SBA told 750 people in the middle school auditorium in early November that all made homeless would “be helped.”
But that’s why organizations such as VC Fire Recovery, whose goal is to assist as many people as possible, sprang into being.
Some families put into temporary housing by the Red Cross again need a place to stay since funding has run out for them.
Ever since the Red Cross closed its operation at the LAC, Scheid and the VC Fire Recovery organization have been helping with immediate needs of survivors, such as temporary housing. even clothing.
“People think that three months after the fire that things should be in hand, but they aren’t always,” Mrs. Scheid told The Roadrunner this week.
She was sitting in the trailer that has served as a resource for fire survivors for three months. Her only co-worker this day was Barbara Adair.
VC Fire Recovery works hand in hand with the VC Fire Relief Fund and the Wildfire Recovery Project (a County project). Together they have helped over 60 families.
On Wednesday 16 families came in seeking assistance.
There are many bright spots.
Two men, one from Wisconsin, one from Florida, came to volunteer with clean-up efforts.
A woman who hadn’t heard that they weren’t soliciting clothes anymore, brought 50 pairs of shoes.
Lake Wohlford Resort, where over 20 families lost homes, is starting to rebuild. Volunteers from Ridgeview Church helped clear away the mess, preparing sites for new homes.
Scheid and her volunteers act as a referral to connect survivors with assistance.
“A young couple with three children came in. They had lived on a ranch in a mobile home. They couldn’t go back. They were looking for a place to rent,” she said.
Rentals, as might be appreciated, are at a premium these days.
The family is looking for a parcel on which to put a home.
That’s the case for many people.
“If anyone is a large land owner and would like to make land available, please contact us, because people are asking for land,” said Mrs. Scheid.
At the community Thanksgiving held for survivors at the middle school, Mrs. Scheid met a mother with two boys who cried as she said she didn’t know where her family would be staying after that Monday.
Mrs. Scheid knew of a small casita and orchestrated a rental agreement with the owner.
Mrs. Scheid and her husband, Jack, have no trouble empathizing with these survivors.
During the big wind a year ago they had the roof of their house ripped off and then suffered water damage.
A large percentage of the people who Mrs. Scheid helps speak Spanish.
“A couple came in and due to their legal status were shy to ask for help.” They had lost a trailer and two vehicles.
A few phone calls and they were able to replace the trailer.
Many survivors are from the two reservations, which were both hit hard by the fire. Many of these are not being allowed to return to their old homes if they were renting.
Some who are still on the reservations need help getting power or water turned back on.
Many of the calls the volunteers answer are regarding insurance complications.
One woman had closed escrow on her house a month before the fire. The lender was trying to change the insurance policy—without telling the home owner.
Mrs. Scheid told the woman to call to get a full text of the insurance policy and referred her to someone who could help.
In at least ten instances, families who had been living on one of the two reservations are not being allowed to return because of changes of rules for how many families can live on a reservation property.
In many instances families are having a very difficult time finding affordable used mobile homes to purchase or rent.
“Sometimes people just need a quiet place to think. That was what one woman wanted. She asked for a place to use the phone. It was a very touching situation.”
Many living in nearby campgrounds don’t have phones. Cell phones don’t work there and often there’s just one public phone for many people.
One woman came in a week ago Tuesday just to use the Fax. She didn’t have a phone.
A man came in looking for a place to live. His friends didn’t want him staying with them any longer.
Mrs. Scheid has only turned away one family: “They weren’t too happy with me about it.”
The family had not lost their home although they had lost landscaping. They had been given $7,000 in FEMA and Fire fund money and clothes to replace clothes that they had not lost. They were asking for an additional $600 to help replace landscaping.
“I asked what they had done with the $7,000. They said they had used it as a down payment on a condo and that they planned to move next month.”
Mrs. Scheid hopes to get an item on the docket at the Board of Supervisors sometime soon to change zoning on some large parcels to allow for the placement of affordable housing for some of the displaced families.
She feels that if permanent housing isn’t found for some of these families that there will be a financial impact on the local school district. Not to mention the draining of their morale and spirit.
“If you live in a small space the feeling of desolation will come back again and again,” she says.
If you need help from VC Fire Recovery or want to offer help, call them at 749-9584 or 749-7927.
By DAVID ROSS
Imagine that an earthquake hits and victims have to be rescued from a crack in the earth.
Or floods occur and people have to be rescued from swiftly running water.
Or small child falls into a well.
Or a trench collapses around a water district or road worker, requiring a rescue.
Performing such rescues are over and above what normal firefighters are trained to do.
Units that engage in such rescues are called Technical Rescue Teams. They consist of a small group of specialists highly trained in technical rescues.
Two veteran technical rescue team members, CDF battalion Chief Ray Cheney and CDF Capt. mark Haffner, want to create one of these specialty units to operate out of the Valley Center Fire Protection District.
The fire board voted Jan. 15 to become the conduit for funding to create such a unit.
They say they have the funding so that the special unit would not cost the district a dime to operate.
Cheney noted that some fire departments have “paid heavy fines” for going beyond their training capability.
“If we can get at least one technical rescue member there within 30 minutes we’ll be beneficial to the engine company, and will mitigate outside hazards,” said Cheney. “Time is the biggest thing in such rescues.”
The team would include 10-20 members who would be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It would be the first such unit in San Diego County. Although it would initially be used only in Valley Center, the hope would be to eventually make it available countywide.
Funding would be through private donations, including matching funds from Homeland Security.
“Very little, if any, funding, would come from Valley Center,” said Cheney.
He added, “We have an individual who has the potential to seek private donations for a concept such as this. We have someone very prominent and willing to donate large sums of money toward the team concept. This will take a lot of time. This person is willing to go to bat for us, but we need a mechanism to spend that money.”
Asked why they were approaching the VC fire district, Cheney commented, “We thought we would approach you first because, quite honestly, you’re very progressive in what you do.”
To actually set up the team would require creating a joint powers agreement between the district and California Dept. of Forestry & Fire Protection.
The board was asked to set up a fund. If and when funding becomes available it would have an account.
Cheney explained that if the unit was created as part of CDF that the money would automatically go into the general fund and local residents would never see it.
The vote was 3-1, with Director Mike Pacheco voting no.
Pacheco, who is a fire captain with the City of San Diego, commented, “I have some major concerns. It’s a very grandiose plan without a secure funding source. We may have the funding one year and when that dries up we are left holding the bag.
“Second, the infrastructure of these types of teams are very complex. The equipment is not going to just sit there, it has to be maintained. These sources and upkeep on this equipment is mind-boggling. You can’t just throw a unit together and have it drill from time to time without throwing a lot of money at it.”
Fire Chief Kevin O’Leary, asked to comment by the board, said, “I see advantages. I don’t see real disadvantages. They are looking for a funding source. I’d be looking for the unit chief to say this is what we want to purchase. I think this is something that we need to start looking at from a CDF standpoint, because our mission is changing over what it was 20 years ago.”
Director Mel Schuler commented, “We’re being asked to take the lead. It seems to me that we can take the lead to be the accounting agency but not to make any commitment of manpower or equipment without that coming back to us. I have no problem with us being the conduit.
Attorney Mark Anderson, who has long been active in Valley Center has decided to open a satellite office in his home town.
He’s put up his shingle at the Courtyard center. He bought Ed Jones’s old office, 28714 VC Rd., Ste. E.
Anderson specializes estate planning which encompasses drafting trusts, wills and powers of attorney.
He also oversees trust administration, does probate work, guardianship work, anything having to do with helping people to pass wealth from generation to generation as quickly and inexpensively as possible.
Anderson will keep his office in Escondido, which he opened in 1990.
Mark and Cathey Anderson have lived in Valley Center since 1989 and have raised all four children here. Their oldest, Kallie, is a senior at VCHS and the current ASB president. Cathey, well known as the teacher who developed ag programs for K-middle school age students, just recently returned to teaching fourth grade at the lower elementary school.
Mark has been very much involved with the VC chapter of the Kiwanis Club and is a past president. He was the first president of the high school foundation.
He’s in charge of men’s ministries for Ridgeview Church and has been involved with the members of that church who are working on erosion control for the burned areas. Cathey is in charge of women’s ministries for the church
Both were involved in all of the bond campaigns, to build a middle school and high school, and he was part of the unification transition team.
“I was just sitting in my Escondido office one August afternoon when Ed Jones called and said he was interested in hanging up his files and would I be interested?”
Anderson didn’t have to think too long before saying yes.
“It made sense. I live here. My wife works here.”
He split his staff between the two offices. He migrates between the offices depending on where he’s needed.
His two oldest children are starting law school this year, and his oldest son works as his assistant in the escondido office. His daughter, who specializes in trust administration, works out of the VC office.
While he’s not a trial lawyer, Anderson does mediate disputes.
He’s planning on announcing an open house in the near future, and, as a new member of the Chamber, hopes to host a sundowner in the near future.
Not a trail lawyer but he does mediate disputes.
To acquaint Valleyites with his services, Anderson offers free consultations for anyone who has an old will or trust that they would like to have reviewed.
“Or if you have been thinking about planning, feel free to call for free consultation to get to know us and the benefits of good estate planning.”
Call 760-489-2938.
The “smallest post office in the United States” has taken a place of honor at the Valley Center History Museum.
The sign in front of the building says that it was recognized as that by the Guinness Book of World Records, and VC historian Bob Lerner says that he has read that attribution in the 1955 edition of Guinness.
Other communities lay claim to having the smallest post office, such as the tiny Everglades area post office in Ochopee, Florida.
However that post office, still functioning, is only 7-foot-by-8-foot, whereas the Lilac post office is 5-foot-by-8 foot.
Another candidate is the Hodge Post Office in Hodge, California, which was on skins so it could be moved easily. It was listed in Ripley’s Believe it or Not as the smallest federal building in the U.S.
Moosa also had a small post office, but according to Mrs. McHenry, it was just a box on a post.
There’s another even smaller “post office” in the museum, a desk, once manned by longtime VC resident Frank Hagata, that was the “post office” for Vineyard, a community that once existed near Rancho Guejito.
There’s no denying that the post office, which served the community of Lilac for several decades, is pretty small, just barely enough room for one person to work in it. From the outside it looks like a children’s playhouse.
But the post office boxes are real, and so are the locks that haven’t been removed. The museum director will direct a clean-up of the little office in upcoming weeks. The inside will be sealed off so that no one tries to use it as a unauthorized residence.
For decades the little post office was preserved on Rancho Lilac, the sprawling ranch now owned by Louis M. Wolfsheimer and Abbe S. Wolfsheimer Stutz. They hope to turn the land into a large scale development.
The land was acquired in 1945 by Col. and Mrs. Irving Salomon.
The museum was made possible by a $250,000 grant by the Wolfsheimers
The Valley Center Municipal Water District (District) has been advised by its supplier, the Metropolitan Water District (MWD), that from 8:00 a.m. January 31, 2004 through 11:59 p.m. February 10, 2004 all treated water aqueducts that deliver water to the District will be shut down to perform inspections on the San Diego County Water Authority pipeline and to make piping modifications at the Skinner Treatment Plant.
As a result, water flow to customers served by the District will be severely restricted beginning January 31, 2004 at 8:00 a.m. The water that remains in storage will be available only for domestic use and fire protection.
For this period, the District has declared the need to implement the Emergency Water Management Plan and the following water conservation provisions must be observed:
1. USE OF WATER FOR ALL AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES, except for livestock watering, IS PROHIBITED.
2. ALL OUTDOOR LANDSCAPE IRRIGATION IS PROHIBITED.
3. ALL UNNECESSARY DOMESTIC USE SUCH AS SPRAYING DRIVEWAYS, WASHING VEHICLES AND FILLING FOUNTAINS OR PONDS IS PROHIBITED.
Unless otherwise notified, normal service will resume Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 12:01 a.m. Please note that the District does not determine the actual shutdown schedule and it may be subject to revision as determined by MWD.
For more information and updates, call (760) 749-1600 M-F between 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. or check the District’s web site at www.vcmwd.org.
VC 2004 Western Days Parade Committee has announced the theme for this year’s parade, “United We Stand.”
The parade will be dedicated to all the citizens of our community who rallied together during adversity to provide support and love while overcoming incredible challenges.
Volunteers are still needed for several parade subcommittees. All area service organizations, youth groups, clubs and individuals are encouraged to show up with positive energy and enthusiasm at the next parade planning meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Coldwell-Banker offices, located at 27301 Valley Center Road (the corner of Valley Center Road and Woods Valley Road).
Parade applications will be mailed out the first week of February, with the deadline for return no later than April 30, 2004.
In an ongoing effort to make this the best parade Valley Center has seen to date, the parade committee is looking for live bands, marching bands, more horse entries, floats, groups / organizations and official “pooper scoopers.”
All applications must be filled out in their entirety with announcer comments written. Announcer comments are subject to editing.
To receive your parade application contact the Valley Center Chamber of Commerce at 749-8472 or Chairman Sandra Rockefeller - Farmer at (760) 638-0311. If you reach voicemail leave your name, your entry idea, a complete mailing address, e-mail address and contact number.
The Western Days Parade, “United We Stand” will begin promptly at noon on Saturday, May 29, 2004. Parade entries will begin registration early that morning.
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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