April 12, 2006 - Top Stories
“I’m so pleased to see this kind of support!” Sue Stockton, president of the Pauma Valley Community Assn., told members and guests at the annual meeting Monday, April 3.
The meeting April 3 brought out many movers and shakers of this small community, about 80 of them, for dinner and a chance to hear local issues discussed by local community leaders including Sheriff’s Lt. Sean Gerrity, Yuima Water District Gen. Mgr. Lin Burzell, Pala-Pauma Sponsor Group Chairman Joe Chisholm and Supervisor Bill Horn.
New directors were elected, including Nancy Placencia, Tamara Kelich and Sue Stockton (accepting another term). They join currently serving board members: Nancy Barrett, Jack Hall, Nancy Rick, Fritz Stumpges, Marilyn Woods, Paul Ward, Bob Wheelock and Connie Vlasis.
Guests feasted on Mexican fare of enchiladas, chile rellenos, tamales (homemade by Ofelia Placensia) and beans and rice.
Jack Woods, a local semi-retired radio personality, was MC.
He called the group representative of all America. “This is the USA right here. We are worried about things like potholes. This is an organization that two years ago just about didn’t exist anymore. But it got the things done that needed to be done.”
He pointed out work that has been done on the ballfields as an example of new vitality that has taken hold of the organization.
He introduced Lt. Gerrity, who talked about the challenges associated with policing an area of 333 sq. miles, an area that generates 9,000 calls a year.
Joe Chisholm talked about how “We live in an incredible place, especially if you look at what’s outside of us.
“Forces outside of us are going to continue to look for a place like this,” said Chisholm. They have to be resisted.
He talked about the area’s diversity being part of its strength. He talked about his oft stated dream that local people should work with the casinos to help preserve the area, because it’s in both of their interests.
“If we join with it and work with it we might be able to save what we’ve got,” said Chisholm.
Burzell talked about the future of the water district, which is working to bring imported water from the San Diego aqueduct into Pauma Valley.
The district plans to have this water connection in place by about 2011, he said.
“This will provide us with water for the next forty years,” he said. He called this effort “central to the future of the valley.”
Burzell added, “We’re probably taking more water out of the San Luis Rey River than is being replaced.” He noted that 90% of the water that the district sells goes to farming.
Bill Horn, current chairman of the Board of Supervisors, gave what he called a “mini-state of the county” talk.
He noted that this area, “is in the unique position of having more casinos within the area than any state.”
These casinos are very profitable, he said. “We estimate that Pala Casino is taking in a billion dollars a year and that Harrah’s is doing much the same.” No one outside of the tribes and federal government know the exact figure since they are not required to disclose this information.
The issue that the County has with casinos, said Horn, is roads.
“We would like to see the state and federal government get involved in this issue,” he said.
The tribes want a vote on the SANDAG (San Diego Assn. of Governments) board, which oversees local road construction.
“However, they don’t pay property taxes or dispense any road money,” he said.
Casinos have caused the trips and DUIs to increase along Hwy 76, said Horn.
He noted the work he has been doing to create a San Luis Rey River Park, and mentioned contributions by the Rincon tribe to this effort, including purchasing 82 acres for the preserve.
The County is “extremely solvent,” the supervisor bragged. “Our bonds are triple A. We just won a lawsuit in the Supreme Court against the state on unfunded mandates.”
The state must pay the County $43 million over the next 15 years because it forced the County to pay for mental health care without giving it the funding.
“Even though it will take fifteen years we are at least teaching the legislature a lesson,” said Horn.
The biggest problem in the County, said Horn, is illegal immigration. “One half of those locked up in the Otay Mesa are illegals. I would say that illegals are taking $1 billion a year out of county budget.”
Finishing up the evening was an address by Pauma Assn. Pres. Sue Stockton.
It is printed below:
President’s Message
The Annual Meeting! I’m so glad to be back here representing this wonderful Community Association. We have had a busy, productive year.
What’s happened this year? We still have two groups that rent from us, the church and the health center. They are both very important to the community with the services that they offer the people in this valley. Their combined rent just about covers our monthly expenses.
We have an award winning baseball team, the Zorros, and we are host to a variety of soccer teams. Our team is El Centro. The soccer field should be completed for this season. Come to a game. Both teams play on Sundays. Our other full-time tenants are the gophers. Maybe the Caddy Shack can help us.
General maintenance is a continuing project. A number of days were spent in the lower part of the property grinding up trimmings and branches that had collected from many pruning jobs. The piles were a problem as they were a safety issue for adults as well as children. Also a perfect spot for critters to hide. The accumulation of stuff made our future park look pretty bad. Another area is our driveway that we keep trying to hold together with patches.
Up here where we are now, the bathrooms were painted by the church and all of the water closets were reset with new beeswax rings. We hired a plumber to do repairs in the men’s bathroom.
Our building is freshly painted and the fascia boards have been replaced as needed. We are lucky that the workmen found minimal termite damage and were able to treat the spots as they made the repairs around the building.
During this past year other groups have rented this building. The Garden Club has met here a couple of times, and the Pala/Pauma Sponsor Group meets here once a month on a regular basis. We are learning what works best for rentals for our older building and older plumbing.
Nancy Rick, from our board, [will] lead us in the Western Days Parade again this year. Fritz Stumpges and his children walk the route. Real troopers!
License plate frames have added a new, stylish look to the valley as well as given us extra revenue. If you haven’t purchased yours, they are still available. You probably walked past them at the door as you came in. Not too late to reconsider that purchase.
Paul Ward is constantly looking for grant money. We have a grant from Supervisor Horn’s office for 35 hundred dollars that was earmarked for the ballfield. Paul is now investigating other avenues of financial support so we can do more improvements to the property. Our most recent project is the backstop, fencing and players’ benches. Thirty-five hundred dollars of the cost is from the grant that I already mentioned from Supervisor Horn and the remaining seven thousand dollars is from your generous donations. We have more fencing and finishing touches to do on the baseball field and soccer area. Watch them grow.
We are building an area for the future of Pauma Valley. A site where all ages can play safely whether it be a sport of a child waiting for a parent or a picnic under a tree. I cannot fully express our appreciation of your membership, donations and the faith that you have shown in this board. We are able to do these projects because of your wonderful help. Your financial support and donations of your talents are what let us complete these projects. Thank you so very much.
Looking ahead: We welcome two new directors to our board who have fresh ideas and lots of enthusiasm. In June we are sponsoring a compost workshop where you can learn about composting and purchase compost bins as well as worm composting equipment at a discounted price. Look for more information in The Roadrunner in May. We are working on a Community Celebration with games, food and fun for the whole family. If you would like to help with this please sign up on the “Getting Involved” sheet.
In closing, I want to thank this board for their dedication to our community and their jobs on the board. You are all great people to work with and I love the “I will do it” attitude. Marilyn and Nancy, you will be greatly missed. Please keep sharing your ideas. And to our community, thank you for coming this evening and making it possible for the center to grow. Your donations are what make it happen.
The second candidate to declare for the VC Honorary Mayor’s race is Eddie Hatzakis, known to friends as “Left Eddie.”
You’ll see Eddie cracking jokes or demonstrating magic tricks at the Country Junction deli, or the bank or the library. Like the Visa card, he’s everywhere you want to be!
He even has his own entry in the Western Days parade.
Eddie’s hat has been thrown into the ring by the VC Optimist Club, whose recently installed president, John McGlynn, president, noted that the Optimists are returning to the mayor’s race after a hiatus of three years.
“We wanted to be part of Western Days again and we wanted to select a candidate that not only our club but the community could rally around,” sad McGlynn.
“Patsy Fritz’s article about Eddie was one of the reasons why I proposed him to the club. He’s extremely excited.”
He added, “If more people can understand Eddie’s story it will be beneficial to him. Whether you see him at the deli, the library or the ballfields, he's part of the community. The more people that know his story the better off they will be for knowing him.”
Among events that the Optimists will be putting on to raise money for the mayor’s race is the May 6 Arts & Music festival, where they will be cooking.
“We’ll use those proceeds and we’re looking to do T-shirts as well with the caricature of the candidate on them.
‘I love dealing with public policy. I love fighting for taxpayers,” says 66th Assembly District candidate Kevin Jeffries, who dropped by The Roadrunner office the other day to talk about the election.
Jeffries is one of four assembly candidates for the GOP nomination (we’re hoping to interview them all) for the seat now held by GOP assemblyman Ray Haynes.
His Democratic opponent, if Jeffries wins the nomination, is Laurel Nicholson of Hidden Meadows, who will publish an interview in a future edition.
The 66th Assembly District is a political entity for whom the word “gerrymander” might have been invented. It does have a reptilian or insect-like shape and stretches from up north near the Ontario Airport back down and over to Julian and Cuyamaca near I-8.
Yet Jeffries is trying to visit the entire district, which, from end to end, is a two and a half hour drive.
Jeffries and his wife Christina are residents of Lake Elsinore. Together they own a commercial real estate investment firm.
Jeffries was for seven years chairman of the Riverside County Republican Central Committee. He has served as a water board director, parks & recreation board director and is a volunteer fire captain of the Riverside County Fire Dept.
He is a commissioner of Riverside County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).
Because of his familiarity with water issues, the bringing of water from Northern California into Southern California is “near and dear to me,” says Jeffries.
“Trying to get our tax dollars returned to Southern California for infrastructure is one of my prime concerns,” he says.
Asked if he meant to show support for the notorious “Peripheral Canal,” an issue for which northern politicians would rather embrace a sidewinder than support, Jeffries said he prefers to couch the argument in these terms: “I’d like to develop new sources for moving water from Northern California to Southern California.
He would do this “mainly through new sources of water, and trying to relax some overzealous environmental regulations that prevent developing new storage.”
He also talked about transportation gridlock.
“In the state as a whole, legislators have been negligent in funding infrastructure to fund growth needs,” says Jeffries.
“We have been ripping off funds from state and local jurisdictions to spend on social welfare programs instead of spending them on critically needed infrastructure. We need to get those tax dollars back in our communities and build the projects that are needed.”
California, says Jeffries, “doesn’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem, a priority problem.
“Our money is not being used for the projects that need to be completed,” he says. “An example is the gas tax where we as taxpayers agreed to tax ourselves at a higher rate and two out of three years it has not been used for what we collected it for.”
He knows where the roads need to be built, based on a lifetime of traveling in Southern California. “But having said that I would be very concerned if the legislature tried to dictate to local government where infrastructure is needed in local communities.”
He adds, “We need additional lanes going both ways on freeways. We need state highways to be straightened, turn lanes, wider shoulders. Just about every state highway needs significant improvements.”
Having said that, Jeffries thinks it’s good that Gov. Schwarzenegger’s state Strategic Growth Initiative did not get on the ballot.
“It’s good it didn’t get on the ballot in the form proposed. It was too big, too much debt and no significant reforms. We had no guarantee that the projects proposed would have ever been built under the current regulatory environment.”
We asked why voters should choose him over the others Republican candidates.
“I’m a big believer in Reagan’s 11th Commandment [Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of Another Republican]. Having said that I believe that my experiences in local government, fire service, private enterprise and conservative core Republican values fit this district very well,” says Jeffries.
Some have accused the current occupant of the seat of not working well with other lawmakers in Sacramento. Does Jeffries consider himself a “coalition builder”?
“My seven years as the Republican party chairman in Riverside county provided me with great experience in building coalitions within the GOP. Which sounds unusual but we are known for eating our own and not being united.
“My 15 years of water district experience has taught me that if you want to get projects for your constituents you need to practice a little diplomacy when you are not in agreement with someone's’ proposals. A month later you might need their vote. You don’t have to sacrifice your principles, but you can smile and be diplomatic.”
One issue that upsets him “are the benefits we give to illegals at the expense of critically needed facilities and programs.
“I don’t believe our tax dollars should be used for people who are here illegally. Our federal government has failed us miserably in protecting our borders and in reimbursing us for tax dollars we have spent on people who are unchecked.”
He also supports using the California National Guard to help secure California’s borders.
“I think Gov. Schwarzenegger should follow the lead of other border states who are taking positive steps to control the border because the federal government won’t,” he says.
“I’d be part of a large, growing Republican and independent coalition in this state that is tired of our federal and state governments not doing anything and who want to force our leaders to make changes that are long overdue.”
He adds, “You look at the success of the Minutemen who are just acting as eyes and ears, and imagine how effective National Guardsmen and more Border Patrol agents would be.”
He supported Ray Haynes’s unsuccessful effort to get an initiative on the ballot that would have authorized a California Border Police force.
“We may not have seen the last of that initiative,” he says.
Jeffries espouses other core Republican issues, such as private property rights.
“What the U.S. Supreme Court did in the Kelo decision was a disgrace,” he says. “We’re going to see an initiative on the ballot to protect landowners from government’s taking one man’s property and gving it to another private party. That’s not the intent of our founding fathers.
“It’s a hot button issue. In Riverside the citizens are circulating an initiative to prevent their city council from taking land and giving it to a private land owner. We are looking at a similar initiative statewide.”
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You can contact the Jeffries campaign by calling (951) 678-4730 or visiting the Web site at www.kevinjeffries.com.
The long awaited widening of Valley Center Road began April 10 as the contractor set up traffic controls and storm water pollution prevention devices.
In the preceding weeks the roadwork contractor has completed clearing of the creek and removing vegetation and SDG&E and AT&T have finished relocating utility poles and completed some vegetation removal.
All has gone according to plan, says Brendan McNabb, project manager for the County Dept. of Public Works although the contractor has elected to start a little later than originally expected. This is to ensure that he has all available personnel and equipment on hand in order to maximize productivity when work begins.
The initial roadwork will concentrate on two areas:
1) From Woods Valley Road to just south of Old Road. This is referred to in the overall scheme as Seg. 2 of the project.
2) From Cole Grade Road 800-900 ft. to the west on VC Road. This is referred to as Seg. 4.
McNabb told The Roadrunner, “We purposely will have the contractor focus on these two areas because that's where the businesses are concentrated.”
The idea is to finish the parts of the roadwork that will inconvenience the most businesses soonest. In addition, work will also begin now on the reconstruction of the Keys Canyon Creek bridge, north of Chaparral Terrace.
Seg. 2 is allocated 18 months to complete. Seg. 4 is allocated 12 months to complete.
The overall project is scheduled to be completed by December 2008, according to McNabb.
For the next four weeks the work will consist of the contractor setting up traffic controls and erosion control measures and installing some temporary paving.
In Seg. 2 the contractor will do temporary widening on the east side of the road.
In Seg. 4 the contractor will do temporary widening on the north side of the road.
After the four weeks traffic will be shifted over slightly to the east allowing the contractor to start the main work on the west half of the road, which is expected to take about six months to complete.
McNabb explained, “When that is complete you'll have the west half of Seg. 2 completed and then we'll shift traffic onto this new west half and start construction work on the east half.
If your head is spinning after reading this explanation, it might help to know that the same principle was utilized in the phase that was completed last year.
“The goal is to keep open one lane in each direction as much as possible," said McNabb. "There will be certain instances when we have to close a lane and use a flagman, particularly during the first four weeks. We'll keep that to a minimum.”
Slowdowns of that type will occur outside of peak hours, i.e. between 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. No night work is being scheduled for this project.
The reason for no night work is because so many homes are in the vicinity. It would be difficult to obtain a noise ordinance variance to allow night work, said McNabb.
During roadwork, the speed limit is 35 mph. Fines for infractions within the construction zone are doubled.
“We ask that the community adhere to the construction zone speed limit,” said McNabb.
Th1e road construction hotline number is 619-232-2640. The County’s community outreach consultant will be in touch with business owners prior to and during construction.
Despite his initial refusal, Supervisor Bill Horn amended his Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700) for the years 2004 and 2005 on Wednesday, April 5.
He was assisted by his campaign attorney, James Sutton of San Francisco, whom Horn referred to as an expert in FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) requirements.
At issue for Horn was his omission of the names for “single source(s) of income of $10,000 or more,” on March 14, in response to questions by activist Ian Trowbridge at the Board of Supervisors meeting. Horn replied “Any real estate transaction that I have been involved with is on my 700 form, has always been, every piece of property that I own.
“As far as the tenants and as far as my managers, and as far as those operations go, those are not public information other than the fact I have to declare what I own. Thank you.”
Horn’s amendments note a new apartment building in Escondido (his third; two were reported on earlier forms) plus a previously reported apartment building in San Marcos. Acquisition dates were missing for all. Also reported, by a new attachment, were the names of 25 tenants for the years 2005 and 2004, each of whom paid $10,000 or more.
Earlier in this series we had questioned the lack of reporting for Horn’s agricultural produce—especially important for a candidate running for re-election this year under many hats—one being “rancher.”
Income levels are required to be reported only by broad bands: "$0-$499; $500-$1,000; $1,001-$10,000; $10,001-$100,000 and “over $100,000.”
For 2004 and 2005, Horn now shows over $100,000 income from “tangeros” (sic) sold to Sundance Natural Foods and over $100,000 income from avocados sold to Mission Produce.
The issue had been raised over a house Horn purchased in Carlsbad in 2003 in which his Chief of Staff Joan Wonsley has lived since 2004. Ms. Wonsley has acknowledged she used other addresses on reports to avoid disclosing her residency at that location.
Prior to amending his Form 700s, Horn had listed the property as being part of the Horn Trust, despite the fact that he has held ownership since purchase as “a married man, as his sole and separate property.” The amendments now move this property to Schedule B, “Real Property” showing 3212 Avenida La Cima, Carlsbad “as of 9/04, jointly owned with Joan Wonsley.”
Ms. Wonsley’s amended Form 700 notes “property jointly owned w/William G. Horn. Property is personal residence; disclosure not required.”
No deed showing this change of ownership, however, has been filed with the San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. “Joint ownership” would specify the percentage owned by each, and be noted on a deed.
At the March 14 Board Hearing, Horn stated “My Chief of Staff has a lease option agreement which was signed over two and a half years ago on a piece of property that she placed a down payment on.”
While no property was specified by Horn, this answer was given to Trowbridge’s question about Horn's Carlsbad house.
A “lease option agreement,” is usually recorded with the County to protect the financial interests of all parties, but is not mandatory.
Both Horn and Wonsley have refused media requests to review their agreement, although Horn stated it was “notarized.”
Both Horn and Wonsley have since acknowledged she gave and he received a certified check for $349,261 in 2004 and that she makes monthly payments to Horn of $2,733. This matches his mortgage payments of $2,733.
While Horn insisted Wonsley paid “rent, at market rate” when interviewed on radio by Roger Hedgecock, she later denied it was rent and referred to it as payments toward an investment. On his Statement of Economic Interest, Horn does not report it as income, rental or otherwise.
Form 700 is required by the FPPC from office-holders and high-level staff members in various jurisdictions, plus candidates for office when they file their election papers.
According to Chris Espinosa, FPPC spokesman in Sacramento, 21,594 individuals in California filed in 2005. The responsibility to amend statements, where needed, cover the prior seven years.The Valley Roadrunner
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