Warm rains that totaled more than six inches last week in some parts of Valley Center (according to weather data at the Valley Center High School weather station) and more than 20 inches on Palomar Mountain, left the area relatively unscathed compared to similar storms in recent years.
This, despite the fact that the governor declared a state of emergency for several Southern California counties, including San Diego County.
To see some of the images from the storm, check out our Web site at www.valley center.com/
Of course, “unscathed” is a relative term since the downpours apparently caused the Internet and email interruption that pushed The Roadrunner back to the last century in terms of communications for most of last week. Many other residences in town were also affected.
According to Cristina Wallace, administrative chief for Valley Center Fire Protection District, two vehicles were stuck in the mud near Couser Canyon Road and Hwy 76. Pala Fire assisted the occupants.
Valley Center CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) was activated to assist in patrolling and the Cal Fire swift water team was stationed in VC in the event of a rescue. CERT members kept an eye out for hazards such as flooded roads, debris slides/flows, rock on the road, etc.
Typically during storms there are problems with roadways being closed where the road are designed to have large streams cross them by flowing over the road, such as where Cole Grade Road crosses the San Luis Rey River. Such a crossing is referred to as an “Arizona crossing.”
Lake Wohlford Road was closed for several hours during the storm, isolating some residents who live along the lake.
Chief Wallace, Fire Marshal George Lucia, CERT and the swift water team monitored the VC area throughout the storm.
On Palomar Mountain, South Grade Road was closed a few times due to fallen trees and boulders. Some telephone service was also reported, although no power outages.
However, according to Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Dept. Chief Lucia, “I was pleasantly surprised. There were no emergency calls except for a few rocks in the road.”
The Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department CERT team was also activated to assist local residents and firefighters during the severe weather.
Rainfall totals seemed to vary depending on the elevation where the rain is measured, as well as how close a place is to a major mountain.
For example, Jim Courter, president of VC CERT recorded 5.26 inches for the storm as of midnight Tuesday, Dec. 21, with 2.46" of that coming down on Tuesday itself.
The Valley Center Planning Group will hold its annual organizational meeting on Jan. 10.
The January meeting is the first time all of the newly elected and continuing members are sitting as a single group.
According to this year’s chairman, Oliver Smith, the first major item is to elect chairman, vice chairman, and secretary from members of the group. (There is no treasurer as they have no funds to control.)
The next item will be to re-establish, as necessary, the Planning Group subcommittees. Those subcommittees review and make recommendations to the full Planning Group in the following areas:
GP Update: Local planning documents, General Plan Update documents.
Mobility (aka Circulation): roads and related issues within Valley Center, including input on the GP Update Mobility areas.
Equine: Participation in development of an updated countywide equine ordinance and its impacts on Valley Center.
North Village: Projects and issues around Valley Center Road between Miller Road and Cole Grade Road and along Cole Grade Road from Valley Center Road to about the library.
South Village: Projects and issues along Valley Center Road between Banbury Road and about Sunday Drive.
Parks and Rec: Maintain contact with the Valley Center Parks & Rec District group and present items that come up from time to time.
Nominations: Candidate identification and preparations for voting in the event a Planning Group seat becomes vacant.
Tribal Liaison: Maintain contact with local tribes on issues that affect the Planning Group.
Web site: Continued development and maintenance of an active Web site for the Planning Group.
Additionally, specific projects and related issues having subcommittees in the past include:
Accretive VCSC (aka Las Lilas)
Orchard Run
Live Oak Ranch
Spanish Valley Ranch (aka Spanish Trails, Segal Ranch)
Castle Creek Condos
Rancho Lilac
When formed, each subcommittee will have a chairman that is a member of the Planning Group plus other members from the public and the Planning Group. Note that some of the areas listed above may be deemed inactive. The group may decide not to form a subcommittee until such time as the specific project becomes active again.
Once the formal Planning Group organizational work is completed, there will be updates on San Diego County Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission activities since the last meeting plus several individual project reviews presented by continuing members of the Planning Group.
According to Smith, “One item of interest I see on the agenda is an update on the FONSI (finding of no significant impact) for the land FTT (fee to trust) request by the San Pasqual tribe.”
The meeting will be held on Jan. 10, 7 p.m. at VC Community Hall, 28246 Lilac Rd. The public is invited to attend.
What Valley Center or Pauma resident or person making news in those areas made the most impact in the news in 2010? Who was the greatest force for good or ill in our community?
We want your nominations!
Think of this person as being the local equivalent of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
You have the chance to put in your two cents’ worth with the seventh annual Newsmaker of the Year.
It will recognize the person who has been in the news most frequently, had the greatest impact or done something of great benefit to the community during the year.
The Newsmaker of the Year award is not an award for merit, so much as it is an award, like Time’s Person of the Year used to be, that recognizes the most newsworthy person. The winner is chosen by the newspaper.
The possibilities are wide. The only restriction is that this person needs to have taken his or her actions during 2009 and that they have an effect on our local community.
There is no prize money, or even a physical award of any kind, associated with this recognition. It is a metaphorical laurel leaf.
Previous winners have included a VCHS athlete, the entire congregation of Ridgeview Church, VC-P School Supt. Lou Obermeyer, VCHS Coach Rib Gilster and four Valley Center Fire Relief “angels”: Terry & Mimi Van Koughnett, Michelle Schied, and Diane Conaway.
We invite nominations for this award. We will make the final determination from the nominees received. So please feel free to write an essay as to why this person should be given the award. Deadline is Dec. 31, 2010.
Drop nominations off at The Roadrunner office, mail them to POB 1529, Valley Center CA 92082, or email them to editor@valleycenter.com.
The longest serving employee of the Valley Center Municipal Water District (VCMWD), Kathy Stetson, retires this week, after 33 eventful years.
Mrs. Stetson has served as executive assistant to the general manager and board secretary during most of her tenure at the district.
When she first came to the district in 1978 she worked for then general manager John Hennigar, the general services director (a position that no longer exists) and for Chuck Dacus, then director of operations.
For many of those years her husband, John, also worked at the district as pump and motor supervisor.
During her 33 years at the district Mrs. Stetson has seen VCMWD change from being largely agricultural to having a growing number of domestic accounts (note: the majority of water sold is STILL to farmers, however).
The first ag area to transition to residential was Paradise Mountain, which was once largely planted in avocados. It changed over in the 1980s. “That was the first area where groves left,” she recalls.
For a time she was in charge of personnel and insurance. In the early 1990s the district began to emphasize water conservation and personnel became its own division, so she was put in charge of the conservation program.
Her main job has always been to provide support for the general manager and the board and to serve as public information officer.
She has worked on district newsletters and on conservation programs. One program she has always enjoyed putting together is the conservation poster contest for elementary school kids. It is held in cooperation with the other North County water agencies.
“The teachers appreciate it as well as the parents!” she says.
Another project she worked with was the low-flush toilet rebate program. When the rebate was being offered the district would often provide rebates for 160 toilets a year.
She has also worked on employee awards and general manager’s awards that recognized employee contributions. Suggestion awards go to employees who have helped save operational costs.
“Our district is progressive and has always addressed the needs and implemented necessary changes. I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved in that,” she says.
She admires the board she has worked with. “The board is so credible, with such integrity. I have been in those meetings for many years and have seen them make tough decisions. They weigh what is best for the community while considering the facts. They govern with the interests of the community at heart.”
Her boss, Gary Arant, will be sorry to lose her. “This is the end of an era,” he says. “She has been an integral part of district administration. She has always been the type of person who is one or two steps ahead of me and always knows exactly what needs to be done and when it needs to be done.
“I never had to worry about things she was in charge of. I was confident that they would be done. She was my assistant but also a confidant whose perspective I sought because of her time and knowledge of the community. She’s a consummate pro and a really great person to have spent almost 22 years with. She will be missed.”
Mrs. Stetson and her husband plan to take advantage of retirement to do more hiking, kayaking, and backpacking.
Over Thanksgiving they went hiking at Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness in Arizona. This is a natural preserve. They hiked along a spring fed creek where they had water above their ankles.
They will also visit her parents in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. “My father will be celebrating thirty years of retirement this coming January. They are also avid outdoor enthusiasts, so I guess it's an hereditary trait,” she says.
The couple lived for 23 years in the Couser Canyon area, where they had a small grove of avocados and fuyus. Now they live in Carlsbad.
It’s in one year and out the other as 2011 replaces 2010! While it may not have been the worst of times, we doubt that many of us would list the past twelve months as being the best year of our lives.
It was a year that began with rains “of Biblical proportions,” and is going out in much the same way.
JANUARY
As the year began, the new president of the VC Parks & Rec District, Tom Litchfield, began his term by talking about how cash strapped the district was going to be and how one of its greatest challenges was to find a home for the Vaqueros horse club.
* * *
As is now traditional for election years, Supervisor Bill Horn got himself in trouble with a verbal faux pas that made many people think that he had had an ex parte communication with the proponents of a project that he was hearing: Merriam Mountains.
* * *
Diane Conaway was honored as Citizen of the Year for her activities in raising money for worthy causes and for being an active member of the Valley Center Music Boosters and North San Diego County Assn. of Realtors.
* * *
One of Valley Center’s giants, Glen Bell, founder of a massive restaurant chain, but beloved locally for Bell Gardens, which he lovingly maintained for a decade, died at the age of 86.
* * *
During this month, especially in the second half, a man’s best friend was his sandbag and authorities warned residents to stock up on food and water for possibly a week. Some chose to disregard warnings, and several foolhardy motorists were caught trying to cross some of the raging waters that closed some roads in town.
* * *
Appropriately enough, given the hazardous times, a new organization devoted to rescuing animals from disasters formed: Large Animal Safety Team. The group began gathering facts from local animal owners to form a database so they could know where the animals were in case of an emergency.
FEBRUARY
Former Hidden Meadows resident, author of 16 books, and former Roadrunner columnist Caryl Krueger died at the age of 80.
The home of Chris “the woodcutter” Marszalek, local artist, on Palomar Mountain, began to rise out of the ashes more than two years after it burned down.
Jags Grill and Spirits was sold to Kale & Cheryll Evans of 4S Ranch.
The San Pasqual Band of Indians sued the State of California in federal court for $115 million, money that it claimed it lost when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was enforcing his interpretation of a ceiling on the total number of slot machines in the state.
The Rincon tribe and the Catholic Church consecrated the St. Bartholomew Chapel that had burned in the 2007 wildfires, but which rose triumphantly from the ashes.
Valley Center’s first 24-hour business in many years—the United Oil gas station and convenience store— held a grand opening. The festivities included a ribbon cutting coordinated by the Valley Center Chamber of Commerce.
MARCH
The ‘Year of Accretive’ began in earnest when the Planning Commission began holding hearings on the controversial development proposal for Valley Center’s west side. Also on the Planning Commission’s plate was the Orchard Run development.
The commissioners voted to postpone action for 60 days in order to take a “field trip” out to Valley Center to take in the lay of the land as it related to the Accretive proposal.
* * *
The Chamber of Commerce announced that the Stampede Rodeo and Western Days would be back together after several years of being run by different organizations.
* * *
The VC Municipal Water District approached the State to petition for a low interest loan that would make a small sewer possible that could serve a proposed Major Market. The loan would come from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and would help fund the Woods Valley Ranch Water Reclamation Facility Phase II.
* * *
Palomar Mountain held a grand opening to celebrate the completion of its Community Center, which had been overseen for many months by the dedicated Earl Walls.
* * *
The Valley Center History Museum began planning an expansion, complete with blueprints.
* * *
Kelsey Schwarz was named Miss Valley Center 2010 and Brittney Usher became Junior Miss Valley Center 2010.
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The Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians Thursday dedicated a 1 Megawatt solar plant that provides enough power to run about 90% of the Rincon casino property’s heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and reduces grid consumption.
* * *
Max C. Mazzetti, former Rincon tribal chairman, and the man who many called “The Senator,” died March 25 at the age of 88.
* * *
The Board of Supervisors Tuesday, voted 4–1 (Horn voting no) to cut the supervisors’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund for each supervisor from $2 million per year to $1 million.
* * *
Third grade instructor Karen Bassett was named Teacher of the Year by the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District.
* * *
After nearly 30 years of equestrian shows and family fun at Aerie Park, the Valley Center Vaqueros officially began their move next to the community center on Lilac Road. This was seen as only a temporary move, and the Vaqueros were to find that the County was standing in their way to prevent them from holding any shows at that location without paying for a prohibitively expensive major use permit.
* * *
The Planning Commission endorsed the draft documents of the General Plan Update that included the Valley Center Community Plan.
The VC Planning Group’s proposed downsizing of the Villages was mostly approved. This is a reduction of the amount of up-zoning in the villages that the County Dept. of Planning & Land Use (DPLU) originally proposed—and which the group successfully fought.
* * *
Valley Center High School sent three of its grads to top military academies. ASB President Kord Roberts was selected to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, while Lance Bell and CSF President David Macfarlane were selected to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
TO BE CONTINUED.
The Valley Center Trail’s Assn. is inviting residents to start 2011 off right by participating in the first annual Valley Center Heritage Trail New Year’s Day Resolution Walk (VCHTNYDR Walk).
According to the club’s president, Rich Rudolf, “Our slogan is, ‘Resolution Walk: the One Resolution You Can Keep.’ ”
The event has no sponsors, no starting time, no T-shirts and no porta-potties. Just round up the kids and some friends and come. The trail surface is fine for strollers. Bring the dog, but do leash him or her, and tote some poop bags. Traffic should be light, so horses might feel comfortable, too.
According to Rudolf, walkers can start anywhere between Woods Valley and Cole Grade roads on the trail, which runs along Valley Center Road. Park at VC Community Center, for instance.
“Enjoy the new trail, get some exercise and greet your neighbors,” says Rudolf.
In case of rain, the VCHTNYDR Walk will be unofficially postponed and rescheduled for Jan. 1, 2012.
By DAVID ROSS
Ronald Reagan used to say that the government powerful enough to give you anything you want can also take away everything that you have.
The new year of 2011 may be the year that we determine if our government has any limits to what it can do—and maybe a limit to what it can do to us.
Liberals (they like to call themselves progressives these days because liberalism has acquired a bad odor with a large part of the population) have been known to laugh out loud when someone might suggest that there is a constitutional limit to what the federal government can do. Nancy Pelosi famously replied, “Are you serious?” when a reporter asked her last year if the federal government had the power enumerated in the constitution to require that people buy health care.
President Obama while he was still an Illinois legislator said in an interview that he thought the problem with the Bill of Rights was that it prevented the government from doing certain things and that he would like to see a revised Bill of Rights that stipulated what the government could do.
As some recent lower court decisions show, the U.S. Supreme Court may be asked to rule, perhaps even this year, whether the Commerce Clause of the Constitution empowers Congress to force people to engage in an act of commerce, i.e., to buy health insurance.
You might think that it’s no stretch to demand that people buy something, when added onto powers that the courts have held that the federal government CAN do, such as force farmers to destroy crops rather than sell them on the market. But actually no American government has ever claimed that power to force people to engage in a commercial activity. If the government can do that, can it, for example require that we buy certain foods? Can it make us buy a Chrysler in order to keep the car companies in the black?
Michelle Obama might say, “Yes,” since she recently opined that, “We can’t just leave it up to the parents,” when it comes to childhood nutrition.
Liberals themselves acknowledge that what may be decided this year or next is whether there is a limit to federal power in our lives. On Monday Paul Waldman of the American Prospect wrote: “Health care reform actually held two promises for progressives. The first was affordable health care for (almost) all Americans; the second, less obvious promise, was to vindicate the role of government in our everyday lives.”
Interesting question. Is there a limit to the role of government in our lives? We may find out.
Liberals think it is ever so droll that there are people who think that maybe government has too many powers. Why, after all, would anyone but a simpleton want to limit the government’s power to do good?
In New York magazine, Christopher Beam, who regards libertarians, Tea party activists and people who want their “junk” to be grope free with the same condescension that he might reserve for a 5-year-old expressing opinions about national politics writes in “The Trouble With Liberty” this week: “For all the talk about casting off government shackles, libertarianism is still considered the crazy uncle of American politics: loud and cocky and occasionally profound but always a bit unhinged.”
Yeah, that’s right. Saying that there are some things that is not the government’s business is obviously one step removed from being declared mentally incompetent.
Some people, many of them liberals, like to complain about the ubiquitous presence of lobbyists in Washington and state capitols. Put aside for a minute the fact that the First Amendment protects lobbyists (i.e., the right to petition), just as it does free speech and the press (take that, Senator McCain!). Lobbyists are ubiquitous because the government’s reach into every facet of our existence is ubiquitous. Take away the government’s right to meddle in our everyday lives and there will be far fewer lobbyists.
This is obviously a basic philosophical difference and difference in worldviews between ourselves and our liberal friends. They have a hard time understanding why I, as a libertarian, would not want to have the government in charge of my health care. My answer is that anything that Uncle Sam pays for, Uncle Sam wants to control, and that sooner or later Uncle Sam, and my neighbors, will want to control my eating habits, how often I exercise and whether I smoke cigars.
You women who think it’s so important that “a woman’s right to choose” is sacrosanct ought to understand this concern. You want to control your body? Well, I want to control mine as well!
And that is why I will be one of those waiting impatiently to find out if there is any limit to federal power.
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
Copyright © 2010, Palomar Community Newspapers, dba Valley Roadrunner. All rights reserved. This content may not be archived, retransmitted, saved in a database, or used for any commercial purpose without the express written permission of the Valley Roadrunner.