• Water Safety Awareness 5K Recap

This event was several months in the making, and it was spearheaded by Wildomar resident Jodi Pesicka along with Toni Bravo-Rousseau. Both of these brave women are the mothers of children that survived near drownings.

You'd never imagine the amount of time, prep work, sweat and worry that goes into an event that is less than two hours from the public's point of view... unless you've done something similar yourself.

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The event was named after Jodi's daughter Justine Lee: The Justine Lee Pesicka Memorial Foundation Water Safety Awareness 5k Run/Walk. 

Here are the two shirts that were seen at the 5K. The black and purple one was worn by the volunteers and staff. The white with blue lettering was worn by the runners.

Justine died in 2013 at the age of 24, more than 20 years after the incident that forever changed the Pesicka family's lives.

Toni's seven year old daughter Summer is in hospice, though she was brought out to Marna O'Brien park to be at the event, she faces many challenges daily, and needs round the clock care.

Toni Bravo-Rousseau, Robin Dixon, Jodi Pesicka and Summer.

According to WHO, in the United States: drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death in children aged 1-14 years.

It's as silent as it is avoidable, and Jodi and Toni want to get the word out to parents and caregivers of children to not take their child's safety around water lightly. 

It only takes a moment for a drowning to occur, and the damage lasts a lifetime... if the child lives at all.

Toni Bravo-Rousseau, in the black shirt, looks at one of the exhibits that showed many near drowning survivors. The names of the survivors, and the number of years since their near drownings goes as follows. From Left to Right at the top: Ashleigh (11); Isaiah (7); Joey (10) ; Ivan (1); Owen (6) ; Damion (17); Summer (6); Angelina (4). Down the right side: Blake (2); Gabriel (3); Aiden (6). From left to right on the bottom: Adam (19); Bradley (25); Harper (2); Kurt (16); Matthew (4); Lucy (2). Down the left side: Noah (1); Niel (18).   

Water Safety Awareness was the point of the event. Though it was also a chance for the community to get together and have a great morning too. 

It was a good showing for a inaugural 5K. There were more than 75 timed runners, and about half that many walkers.

The first finisher, Mario Trujillo of Lake Elsinore, made the run in 18:03.

The snack bar was dispensing free Go-Nutz donuts, bananas, coffee, water and other things. There were also many different vendors and exhibit booths to visit. Take a look at the promotional video that THINK Together from Wildomar Elementary did for this event. It's as informational as it is cute.

All the money raised from the event will be going to help pay for infant float lessons for families that can't afford them. 

One family made the run in good time, and still had the energy to give a thumbs up.

Please visit the facebook page for more information about the foundation or where to get local infant float lessons. Just leave a message and you're sure to get a timely response.

Link to The Justine Lee Pesicka Memorial Foundation FaceBook Page

Jodi and Toni were grateful for the tireless efforts of many different volunteers. Also key were the Wildomar Rotary and the Elks. Thing about volunteers, they don't do it for the recognition, but for the value of being a service to others, so no one is getting named here. ☺

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The only reason I started swimming was for water safety. Then, once I started falling in love with sports, I got more comfortable with it.

– Michael Phelps   

Wildomar Rap was glad to be a part of this event. 

• City Council Meeting April 2016

Interesting meeting, different than usual in that there weren't any of the traditional agenda items (such as future housing developments).  

It opened with an update from city attorney Thomas Jex in regards to the Walmart project.

The report there is that the judge recently, in that case (against the Wildomar Walmart), granted a motion to have the case dismissed. So that matter has been dismissed. The parties are working on preparing the judgment document. once that judgement is entered, which should be in the next couple of weeks, the plaintiff will have 60 days to file an appeal. 

Again, when it comes to sue happy litigants, they have no common sense and though CREED-21 (the one(s) in question here) has no case, I wouldn't be surprised to see this get appealed. We shall see.

Next up was an Eagle Scout proclamation for Elvin Schlanger from Troop 2011. 

From left to right, from Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez's office Mario Herrera, from Congressman Ken Calvert's office Brenda Dennstedt, Eagle Scout Elvin Schlanger, from State Senator Jeff Stone's office Megan Locke and Wildomar Mayor Bridgette Moore.

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We met two girls from David A. Brown middle school who were being recognized for their quick action.

"Early afternoon on Friday March 4th a call came over the school radio about kids and a truck and 911. Kylee Soliman and Jordan Rodriguez had reported to their PE coaches that a neighbor of the school was in trouble."

A person was stuck under a truck. While working on the transmission it got put into reverse and came off the jack stands and pinned him.

They each received a certificate of commendation for "quick heroic actions that helped save the life of a man, and being a shining star in Wildomar."

Upfront are Kylee Soliman and Jordan Rodriguez.
They are flanked by members of the David A. Brown staff and Mayor Bridgette Moore.

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• Lisa Almilli, from RTA, discussed Veterans Express Transit System (VETS) which assists vets in transportation to the VA hospital in Loma Linda.

• Wildomar's new Fire Chief, Todd Phillips, was introduced —though he's actually been a member of the community for many years... having graduated from EHS back in 1988.

Public Comments 
• Ken Mayes requested that a Sheriff's report be (re)added to the regular city council agenda.

• George Cambero mentioned that he's having a community coffee at the west side Starbucks, at 6:00pm next Friday, April 22nd. If you have questions about water, he'll be there to answer them.

Item 1.9 of the consent calendar came as a surprise to me. Planning commissioner Gary Brown has resigned and there will be advertisements for a replacement. 

If you think you'd like to be part of the planning commission, give city hall a call and ask for an application. 

Though this commissioner vacancy is the seat tied to Councilmember Marsha Swanson, you do NOT have to be from her district to apply. Planning commissioners are still selected on an at-large basis. 

There were no public hearings this week (2.0 on the agenda).

The rest of the meeting dealt with things that had been discussed at the parks subcommittee meeting, and all three items passed 4-0 with Councilmember Bob Cashman absent.

3.1 Health and Fitness Fair
A local couple is spearheading the efforts to put on a 5K run, with hopes of having it turn into an annual event. It will be part of the planned Community Health and Fitness Fair on June 4, 2016. 

The 5k is named ONE RUN FOR LIFE.

With all proceeds going to the ALS One Foundation. More information and testimonials about their efforts can be found at www.alsone.org.

I spoke to them, Erin and Ken Hartley, as they were leaving the meeting with their three youngsters. We exchanged contact info and I hope to put together a blog in regards to the coming 5k.

It's a big undertaking, and though I'm the one that taught Thomas how to doubt, I'm hoping they can make it a big success.

3.2 Community Meeting Room 
Not really much here. Just affirming that the rental rate is $30 for the first hour, and $8 for the second hour.

The only discussion was if the rates should remain at that level for non-profit orgs too. 

Councilmember Cashman had discussed with Mayor Moore that he would like to see a lower fee for non-profits, if any fee at all. 

Since the fees are to offset the costs, which include a city employee being on hand to make sure the facility is secure, Cashman wondered if the rate could be lowered if a Councilmember were to take that responsibility.

Like Councilmember Swanson said, that would just end up being an additional demand on Mayor Moore's time. 

Maybe if Cashman would volunteer to take on that task, they can revisit the issue. (insert suppressed giggle here)

Below you'll see comparisons to costs in other cities. I heard that to rent the private room up at the plateau is a C note per hour.

My only question would be 'why isn't there a break for Wildomar residents?', or more properly, 'an increase for out-of-towners?'

3.2 All Wildomar 2017 Calendar-Photograph Contest
This topic will get it's own blog coverage shortly. All you need to know is that there will be a city calendar and that you're being asked to participate. 

It's not a true contest because there are no prizes to be won. Just a chance to have an image you've made used in a 2017 calendar that will be given out at the State of the City address in October.

If you like to take pictures, and are interested in participating, keep watch for the details of the contest once they are available. Well, actually they are already available, just not in a very user friendly way yet. They are part of the agenda packet (LINK) and can be found beginning on page 236.

City Manager Report 
The new sign/wrap coming to the Marna O'Brien park water tower is set to be installed Thursday, April 14th.

Future Agenda Items
Councilmember Swanson would like to see breweries allowed in commercial areas in addition to industrial areas. 

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The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.

— Helen Keller

Wildomar Rap reminds you: that black helicopters will not swoop down upon you if you mosey on over to facebook and like the page named after this blog. 

• Upgrades Slated For Marna O'Brien Park

There were a few interesting tidbits of info at the most recent Wildomar Parks Subcommittee meeting.

Key among them is that the ornamental water tower at Marna O'Brien park is going to get a face lift... or more accurately, a wrap.

The first image is from 2011. The second one is how it currently looks. The bottom two are PhotoShop specials giving an idea of how it might look once it's done.

On the lower left is a shot with the image that was in the agenda packet, though it was decided that Wildomar shouldn't get top billing, and possibly have the entire lettering in white. So I made a quick mock up of how that may look, which is the fourth panel.

Artwork from the agenda packet.

The new signage should be installed before the Rotary BBQ that is scheduled for April 16th.

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Also discussed for Marna O'Brien park is the need to bring the snack bar up to code (environmental health requirements). 

You should see the laundry list of things the inspectors have in mind, just to be able to sell hot dogs and pizza made elsewhere. I'll attach the info that was in the agenda packet. 

You'd think that there was a restaurant there or something.

Hopefully it's legible. If not, it's on the city's website as part of
the agenda packet for the Parks Subcommittee meeting.

Some of the things listed are simply ridiculous, but in our brave new world, that seeks to protect people from themselves, this kind of nanny state intervention is to be expected. 

I can't imagine how much it would cost to get all of those things installed, but I can guarantee you none of it would be cheap, and will likely raise the prices of snacks to the point that it may not even be worth it for some groups to apply to run it during city events.

This isn't a front burner issue, and isn't slated to get done anytime soon, but I just thought I'd share with you some the things the city has to deal with.

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June 4th there is to be a Community Health and Fitness Fair at Marna O'Brien Park, and an ALS 5K run is planned too.

The former is fairly self explanatory, but I'll have to get more info about the 5K. 

I've run about ten of those in my life and have been to events in San Clemente and Carlsbad where there were a veritable sea of runners, for every age group, and I've also been to a few that didn't even have 100 participants total.

With such a short window before the June 4th date here's to hoping for the best, and that they can gather a good deal of interest. 

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Last on the list is an addendum to the last blog. The one regarding the Easter Egg Hunt at Windsong park. (link)

It was a fun time for all, except for the immediate neighbors that live around the park, that dealt with parking issues and music that was above the legal limit. 

If you read my blog, you saw where I praised the promoter, Joseph Onello, for his readiness to correct the decibel output of the music; he's a good guy.

What we didn't know was that city permits for the event were never gotten. Ouch! Say it ain't so Joe!

Imagine that, putting on such a grand party and not getting a permit. Which would have addressed the music levels and parking issues before they happened. 

Other Joseph, next time at least go with the Ron Swanson homemade permit, a la Parks & Recreation, that says, "I can do what I want." ☺

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Leslie, I tried to make ramen in the coffee pot and I broke everything.
—Andy Dwyer

A Wildomar Rap isn't something that get's put around ornamental water towers at local parks.