• City Council Meeting February 2019

Highlights from the February 13th city council meeting.

There were several presentations

One by Mr. Hoffman of Wildomar Elementary highlighting the current happenings at his school, and he gave mention to Mikayla L's Bronze Award project on his campus (link to blog about it).

David Pereyea, senior at Elsinore High School, was honored for completing his Eagle Scout project. It involved cleaning and organizing the hundreds of trophies that the EHS music department has earned over many years. 

Starting on the left is Glenn Miller of Senator Jeff Stone's office, then a representative of Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez's office, Brenda Dennstedt of Congressman Calvert's office, David Pereyea, Council Member Bridgette Moore and Mayor Marsha Swanson.

We also said goodbye to both our Fire Chief (Todd Phillips) and Police Chief (Dan Anne). The new top cop in Wildomar is Captain Michael Lujan, and the current title of Wildomar Fire Chief is unfilled.

Two good guys that will be missed. Good luck in your new digs, fellas.

There were several public comments on non agenda items, please take a look at the video at the bottom of the blog to see them as they were spoken, but I'm only going to highlight one of the comments here.

5th grader Indiana Purkiss, of Ronald Reagan Elementary, spoke to the council about her desire to clean up and reopen an abandoned park near her home. Her cheerful attitude was very endearing.

An aerial view of the spot she is referring to.

Her closing comments were:

"A lot of kids live here and we would love a place to run around and play. It would be really great if you would consider letting us build up this abandoned park into a useable space for us kids to play."           —Indiana Purkiss, February 13, 2019

Indiana "Indy" Purkiss addresses Wildomar City Council.

1.5 Vacancy on the Planning Commission
This meeting had the appointment of a new planning commissioner (Item 3.3, Eric Filar by Joseph Morabito) as it was announcing another opening. 

Last time (December) we had only three qualified candidates. There are many things to consider when applying for the position, and residency is a bare bones minimum of 12 full months (in common parlance, a year... sorry, but rounding up isn't allowed).

2.1 The Village at Monte Vista
This is a mixed use project that will come with 80 single family homes, 136,000sf commercial/business park and a 76,000sf - 4 story - 155 room hotel. 

This was approved 5-0. 

I had walked the site the day before. It's where the infamous "graffiti house" used to be. This area would never be confused for the Santa Rosa Plateau when discussing its environment.

I found this area to be anything but "natural".
This development will be a tremendous improvement and feather in the cap of Wildomar.

If you watch the video
you'll hear how bad my
voice was. 

My characterization of the area is that it looks like an abandoned motocross track, that was also used as an illegal dumping ground by scofflaws (I would have said all that if I didn't have laryngitis and sounded like Froggy from The Little Rascals).

This item didn't meet much resistance. 
Speaking for myself, I told the developer that I liked the project, but I had a problem with the traffic issues it would cause, especially at the Bundy Canyon/Monte Vista intersection. (Council Member Bridgette Moore also voiced concerns about traffic, but I'm not going to be covering meetings where I quote all the council members anymore. It's labor intensive, and I don't want to step on their toes by mistake).

Just to the north of the blue star is a new development of 70 homes, already under construction.

Through my nearly inaudible voice I said that I would prefer a signal at Monte Vista and Bundy Canyon to be a precondition for the entire project, being that there are already 70 homes going in directly to the north, but, that I'd be willing to compromise if the the traffic signal was a precondition for the opening of the hotel.

The developer thought about it for a moment, and then agreed. The language was read into the resolutions (or was it the ordinances?) and approved. 

That doesn't mean a traffic signal can't go in before the hotel (which is a long way off), but it will work as a fail safe in the event that one hasn't been installed by the time the hotel is ready for business (whew... that seemed confusing).

This item begins around the 57:00 mark of the video, with council discussion beginning at about 1:20:00 mark.

2.2 Zoning Ordinance Amendment
This was necessary because there was no previous provision for craft fairs/open air markets. The fun part about government is that if something isn't specifically permitted, it's not allowed until it is specified in writing.

The first thing you need to know is that the actual costs to the city to process the paperwork for a temporary event is between $661 and $725. 

There are several departments that must sign off on it before it's a go... seems like a lot of money (I almost fainted when I first read the raw figures), but that's the type of unanticipated collateral damage that comes from a litigious society.

Here are the fees as I remember them. The graphic used wasn't in the agenda packet.

The fees established were reasonable, and so were the number of times an event can happen within the year (6).

There was one sticking point when it came to this item, and it revolved around the discounts for the non profits. 

Resident Kenny Mayes suggested that if a non profit were going to get a discount, that they should also be in compliance with the State Attorney General, having all their paperwork up to date. 

I concurred and wanted that to be part of the ordinance amendment, Councilmember Dustin Nigg agreed too.

Item 2.2 was approved except for the part about non-profits, that part will come back to council later with more clarification.

You can bet I have a lot of opinions about this, but our friend "The Brown Act" is keeping me from sharing them here. ☺

Skip to the 1:29:00 mark of the video for this item.

3.1 Wildomar Little League Ball Field Modifications at Marna O'Brien
This was a tricky item for me. Like I tried to squeak out at the meeting, I'm a long time baseball and softball player, having played baseball well into my forties, and last played softball in 2010 (I was on the championship team that Winter). 

I played all levels of youth baseball, and managed or coached several Little League teams between the early '90s and the mid '00s. Plus, I know and like the leaders of Wildomar Little League.

That said, we only have one legitimate park in Wildomar, Marna O'Brien Park, and a 60/90 baseball field (one that adults can play on) simply is a mismatch for the spot suggested. 

I would love to have high end baseball fields —of all sizes— in Wildomar, but I'm not in favor of closing off portions of our only park to all others when a game or practice is going on... and that's what it would take to ensure other park goer's safety.

This was tabled, so I will reserve more opinions for the next time it comes back to council. 

To see the discussion, go to the 1:50:30 mark of the video.

3.2 Establishment of Measure AA Oversight Committee
Applications for this committee will start to be accepted in March (after the next city council meeting). If you're interested in being on this committee, then email the city clerk, Debbie Lee (dlee@cityofwildomar.org) at that time.

3.3 Panning Commissioner Appointment
This is where I nominated Eric Filar to serve on the commission. I tried to introduce him, but my raspy voice was hard to hear so I invited him to the podium to speak for himself. 

After a few questions from council, a couple about his relation to the President of Wildomar, he was unanimously approved. (If "the President of Wildomar" has to be explained, chat me up in person next time we meet) 

Item 3.3 picks up at the 2:13:30 mark of the video. 

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If you burn your neighbors house down, it doesn't make your house look any better.
– Lou Holtz

If you say patently false things about Wildomar Rap or its writer, it doesn't make your weak point any stronger.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• Bronze Award Project at Wildomar Elementary

Let me begin by saying that one of the best parts about writing Wildomar Rap is being in a position to meet interesting people. Sometimes they're older and very accomplished, other times they're young and basically just starting out in life. 

Mikayla alongside the finished mural

Today meet ten year old Mikayla. She's a 5th grader at Wildomar Elementary and recently completed a Girl Scout Bronze Award project on the campus. The idea stemmed from the theme of a school assembly: Be Your Own Superhero.

During the early stages of the project, drawing the image onto the wall.

It was originally going to be one mural, but then blossomed into more than half a dozen murals throughout the school.

Being the current secretary of the Wildomar Rotary Club, I had the chance to chat with Mikayla before she started the project. She was looking for donations and I was the one that heard her presentation.

This meeting was at The Bean in early October when Mikayla discussed the project she had in mind, looking for donations. She was well prepared for the meeting, as she was the day she showed me the finished project.

She's been in the Girl Scouts for a year and a half, in the junior level. (Hint: junior level wears a green vest).

Mikayla poses with the supplies.

Mikayla gave me a tour of the work she oversaw and then answered some questions for this blog.

Her inspiration for this project was her own experience with being bullied. As she explained it, she's been bullied and seen others suffer bullying at the hands of others. She wants to bring awareness to her school and the community.

More than thirty people helped Mikayla with this project.

I asked her which part of the project she enjoyed most, her response was, "My favorite part about this project [has been] meeting all the people that have helped me. Without them, none of this would have been possible." 

Time for a group shot... say "Cheeeeeese"! ☺

She told me that the most difficult part of the project was "learning how to communicate [...] with people in person and in email" but now feels confident in such situations. 

This No Bullying mural can be seen from the blacktop.

In addition to learning how to communicate better during this project, she also listed, "how to manage a project from start to finish, how to express myself [...] through art and painting, the importance of how you treat people, and friendship."

Posing under one of the finished murals.

She received donations from Wildomar Rotary ($100), Lowe's donated much of the supplies, Diversified Landscape and Consultetech also chipped in. 

If only people would pay attention to such advice...

I asked her if she had any additional thoughts to add to the blog and she said, "Yes, I want to thank everybody who helped me through this project. My mom and dad, Ms. Connelly my Assistant Principal, Mr. Hoffmann my Principal, Wildomar Student Council, Britney Drysler and the Interacters from Temescal Canyon High School, April Watkins, (I might say your last name wrong) Joseph Morabito and the Wildomar Rotary, Miss Grace, Lisa Cabrera in Lakeland Community Center. For the materials Lowe's, Diversified Landscape and Consultetech." 

It's not all that difficult to be nice to people... 

Mikayla has been part of THINK Together at Wildomar Elementary for a couple of years now. As it happens, back in Spring of 2017 she was one of the key participants in a promotional video for the Justine Lee Pesicka Memorial 5K at Marna O'Brien Park.

Mikayla is part of a new Girl Scout troop lead by her mom Sonni LeGault, Troop 1929. The girls are in grades 4th through 8th, and go to schools in both Wildomar and Lake Elsinore. They meet once or twice a month on Sundays. 

Words to live by.

If you have a daughter that age, and are interested in her possibly joining Troop 1929, be sure to send Sonni an email: slegault1118@yahoo.com

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Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke.
– Benjamin Disraeli 

Wildomar Rap is neither smoke nor fire... if anything, it's closer to steam coming off a demitasse of espresso.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• Girl Scout Troop 447 on the Bronze Award Trail

Wildomar girl scout troop 447, comprised of local 5th graders, was learning about runoff the other day, and my wife and I were invited along by Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore to watch as they were completing their Bronze Award project at William Collier Elementary School.  The project was to put warning emblems near drains, reminding people Only Rain Down the Storm Drain.

Matt Bennett getting the tiny town ready for impending doom.

Deputy City Engineer Matt Bennett is shown as he illustrates the pollutants that gets into run off and ends up in storm drains. They were using cinnamon and sugar to represent pesticides, fertilizer and dog droppings.

Then the girls used spray bottles to simulate rain and we watched as they brought what must have equated to a cat 3 hurricane to the tiny plastic town. They all seemed to enjoy watching/making the dog poop flow down to the storm drains.

While this was going on, Bennett was teaching them about storm drains and the value keeping trash (and other nasty things... ie dog poop) from getting in the runoff that ends up in the drains. Once the classwork was complete, the troop headed outside to do the fieldwork.

Matt Bennett and Julianna at the first drain.

This was the girls' chance to get some hands on work with some tools that many of them hadn't seen before. Specifically the caulking gun. Watching them try and work in gloves that would have been too big for me was fun too. ☺

Here you see Shelby prepping another warning disk with adhesive.

Rowan is putting the protective gloves on.

In all there are 10 members of troop 447, though only 8 were present for this project. Each of the girls had a chance to wear the oversized gloves and then squeeze out the industrial strength caulking. After which they affixed the emblems by applying pressure and twisting them downward.

I asked troop leader Connie Nader how they came up with this idea for their Bronze Award. 

To earn a Bronze Award the girls have to do what is called a 'journey' first and their journey involves studying the environment. Then they did their animal habitats badge and that involves studying what's happening in the Gulf of Mexico and water pollution. Bridgette Moore was nice enough to let the girls interview her and to pick her brain, and this came up as a possibility. Then the troop voted yes this is definitely what they wanted to do.

What's the next step in the Bronze Award process?

After this they have to write a report of the process and what they did. Then they will have earned their Bronze Award. Which is the highest award that a junior girl scout can earn.

Back row (L-R) Noelani Tupua, Connie Nader, Bridgette Moore, Matt Bennett.
Front row (L-R)  Alyssa C., Morgan, Melokia, Rowan, Shelby, Julianna, Leah and Lindsay.  
Not in this photo include Allyssa L. and Allison.

Way to go troop! It's good to see the future generation of leaders learning to care for our environment from an early age.

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If you want a quality, act as if you already had it. Try the "as if" technique. — William James

Wildomar Rap has gotten more scouting in during the last year and change, than the previous 49 combined. Thanks ☺