Melanie Shatzer's 3rd grade class donated $55 to Cops For Kids They started saving their recyclables from the first day of the school year, and redeemed them last week.
The taller people in the photo from left to right: Assistant principal Mrs. Christina Crain, Wildomar City Councilman Joseph Morabito, Lieutenant Aaron Kent, teacher Melanie Shatzer.
The class was eager to pose for a picture where they were presenting Lieutenant Aaron Kent with the money. If that wasn't enough fun, then the kids were ready for question and answer time.
Mrs. Shatzer keeping the eager questioners to one at a time.
They must have asked Lieutenant Kent 50 questions ranging from how many people he's arrested in his (25 year) career, to, "Have you arrested anyone for littering?" The answer was, "No, that offense gets a ticket/citation."
Gotta love the reverse angle shot.
My favorite one was when they asked if he'd ever arrested a kid. At first they seemed to quietly gasp when he responded, "Yes." Then collectively sighed in relief when he added, "By 'kid', I mean someone 16 years old." But then the questions were aimed at me They asked how many people I was the boss of... ummm... I had to break it to them that even the mayor isn't the boss. We share the duties and it takes 3 votes to make a decision.
What an honor and a pleasure to answer questions from local students.
I then asked them if they knew the population of Wildomar. The low guess this time was 9,000 and the high guess was 10,000,000. The next question I asked was if they knew the names of the streets that Wildomar Elementary sits on. When the answer of "Central" was given, I let them know that we have changed it to Wildomar Trail, and we have to wait for Caltrans (I told them that was the name of the people that work on the freeways) to change the freeway signs first, then we'll change out the others. To end the session I asked them if they knew what was happening in Wildomar tomorrow morning. Many of them knew... Breakfast With Santa at the fire station. ☺
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Correction does much, but encouragement does more. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Wildomar Rapis willing to offer a carrot, but is just as happy to go with the stick when it's insisted upon.
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The meeting began with Mayor Marsha Swanson asking Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez to lead us in the pledge of allegiance.
Apologies for a subpar photo. My camera can be a jerk at times.
The Assemblywoman then spent about five minutes giving a legislative update, warning us to be careful for a pending ballot measure that aims to revise Prop 13. Look for it as soon as the March Primary election.
"If they can change it for commercial [property], the very next thing that's coming is residential. I guarantee you, as sure as I'm standing before you today."
—Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez
We then had our quarterly police update, complete with several slides (please check this link for all the slides and video). Wildomar Elementary School update Principal Michael Hoffman honored two teachers, Roddy St. Yves and Gay St.Yves, who have taught for 34 years and 35 years respectively, at the school.
Mr. Hoffmann salutes Gay and Roddy St.Yves.
Quarterly Library Update (summed up in the image below). Our library is a great community asset, be sure to take advantage of all they have to offer.
If you've been ignoring code enforcement (parking RVs, disabled cars, and other disconnected trailers in the street, or blocking the right of way) I'd suggest remedying it now. You've been warned.
You're welcome... I made this graphic readable.
3.1 CEQA Negative Declaration Budget for Cannabis Ordinance (1:11:45 in the video) Here's the skinny on this item. Due to a recent California Supreme Court case that mandated San Diego County to include some type of CEQA review in their cannabis ordinances, which was then applied to all other municipalities in the state, Wildomar must do so too. It's not retroactive, so cities that have already hammered out such an ordinance, like Lake Elsinore, don't have to backtrack and can continue with their exemption if that was the path they took. This state mandate has added $56,000 to the process. Basically doubling the original budget that had been set at $50,000. I didn't anticipate there being much discussion on this. Seemed like another typical ding that the state likes to hit local government with... but I was wrong. There were three public comments and then a fair amount of council discussion.
Wildomar Rap Reminder: This is where being on the city council clips my blogger wings to the bone. In the past I would have quoted all the council members, and pointed out any shortcomings in their arguments. But that style went out the window when nearly 58% voted me to represent them on the dais. If you're interested in the council discussion, I invite you to watch the video (at the bottom of the blog) beginning at the 1:23:00 mark.
During the public comments, the question of liability came up, "just say no", and "I believe you're doing this because of the money, I don't know what other reason you would consider, and it could bring in a large chunk of money to Wildomar." When it was my turn to speak I asked for clarification when it came to the issue of liability, Planning Director Matt Bassi answered:
If the council does end up approving this funding, and we go forward with the negative declaration, just like any other action by council, it can be challenged. It's not a developer driven code amendment, so we would take on the burden of defending it.
—Matt Bassi Planning Director
This was my response to the question of motivation:
I heard one comment talk about, "It could bring in a sizable chunk of money to Wildomar, are you doing it for the money?" I want this (commercial cannabis) to be regulated. Currently... the marijuana is already here and it's unregulated. I don't know why people would be in favor of having an unregulated market.
—Councilmember Joseph Morabito
A survey done nearly two years ago was brought up during a public comment.
During her public comment, Gina Castanon mentioned that the survey that has been used as the primary reason to keep commercial cannabis banned was, "flawed, in my opinion". Shortly thereafter, the same survey was used as a key reasoning point for opposing the regulation of cannabis in Wildomar during council discussion.
Opinion Time
The survey was done to see if Measure AA would pass or not (the sales tax increase that was approved by a vote of the people in 2018). The survey came back with the claims that AA would get 68% of the vote, but in reality, it only got 58% of the vote. Those 10 percentage points equate to being off the mark by 17%. That is a staggering miscalculation in my view. The same survey asked a handful of questions, to less than one thousand registered Wildomar voters. It came back with 55% saying they were opposed to any commercial cannabis businesses in the city. If the first part of the survey (about taxes) was wrong by 17%, then can't we assume that the second part was also wrong to one degree or another? If it wasn't off by the same 17%, how about a third of that... 5%. Which makes the survey an even split. That said, since when are major issues decided by a survey of less than 10% of the voters?*** Still more arguments against the flawed survey It only asked registered voters their opinion, not the residents that choose not to register to vote for one reason or another. There are many people that choose NOT to register based on their religious beliefs. Aren't their opinions important on matters that don't get settled at the ballot box? I sure think so. How about longtime permanent residents? I won't name any, but for example, before my wife took the oath of citizenship back in 2007, she could not register to vote. There was no outreach made to those that cannot register to vote, but are every bit as much a part of our community as the registered voters. ***Due to Brown Act considerations, I will not elaborate on my opinions, in this blog, as to whether the city council should put this measure on the ballot, though I'm certain I did post about this in the past, and believe you me... I'll have both barrels primed if that topic comes to the dais.
The only other thing from this item that I'll report on was Councilmember Ben Benoit's response to the threat of litigation.
We have run this council, for a long time, under the threat of lawsuit, and I'm tired of it. I'm tired of hearing that. I'm tired of feeling like we have to only go that one direction because of a lawsuit.
—Councilmember Ben Benoit
Again, I encourage you to watch this item in the video at the bottom of the blog.
3.3 2019 California Building Codes Adoption For many things a city has no choice in, and one must adopt the edicts of the state. This is one of those. I'm not saying the 2019 building codes are bad, I'm saying there was no choice in the matter. Take a look at my favorite line in the agenda packet:
Moreover, State law provides that the 2019 Building Codes will take effect in the Cityeven if the City does not adopt this ordinance,as is required by law.
I only added this item to the blog as an illustration of how much (or how little) latitude a city council actually has when it comes to most things. But buried deep in that item was something I didn't understand being part of "building" in the first place. Fun factoid from the agenda packet on this topic, found on page 226
308.1.6.3 Sky lanterns or similar devices. A person shall not release or cause to be released a sky lantern or similar device.
Somehow I think that free floating flame driven devices aren't the best thing for our fire prone patch on the planet.
All kidding aside, I can't imagine why this was listed in the 2019 Building Codes. 3.4 Holiday Lights Home Decorating Contest 2019 There are two categories, Traditional and Clark Griswold (meaning: crazy over the top amount of lights, where the electric company really loves you). I'm still waiting for three new categories, Scrooge, Grinch and Al Bundy. ☺☻ See flyer for details.
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It is impossible to make people understand their ignorance, for it requires knowledge to perceive it; and, therefore, he that can perceive it hath it not. – Jeremy Taylor Wildomar Rapis among those that can perceive it. Hence, it hath it not.
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The city of Wildomar officially turned 11 years old today.
John Lloyd keeps the line of bell ringers moving in an orderly fashion.
Wildomar Elementary had about 30 to 40 people in attendance, around its historic bell, for this year's ceremony.
The crowd was addressed by former Mayor and City Councilmember Bob Cashman, who is currently the president of the Wildomar Historical Society... which was serving up slices of watermelon and root beer floats.
Wildomar's first mayor, Bob Cashman, gave a brief history of the bell.
Here are some interesting facts about the bell • It weighs 640 pounds. • The bell is made of cast iron • It had to be lifted about 40 feet in the air to be installed in the belfry. They built a structure next to the tower, and along with a crane, got it up to a platform and then slid it across to a structure that resembles the existing one, that was atop of the old school. • The bell used to be rung at the beginning of school. It alerted the students to line up for class. The bell was also rung at recess, the end of recess and at the end of the school day. • There are two time capsules under the Bell to be opened in 2058.
Wildomar will be having a birthday celebration on Saturday, July 13th... I think this day was chosen because it's my mom's birthday too. ☺ It's going to be a great time at Marna O'Brien park to be sure. Live music (Cougrzz Rock), TapSnap Photo Booth, face painting, car show, local vendors, carnival games, and more... mark it on your calendar now!
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A bad neighbor is a misfortune, as much as a good one is a great blessing. – Hesiod Wildomar Rap tip of the day: If you're the former, it's never too late to become the latter.
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Knock, knock... Who's there? Your neighbor the smoke shop guy.
The bottom line is that it is up to each local agency to adopt its own distance requirements….our current Wildomar city code does not have any such standard.
Just a hop, skip and a jump away.
Also, the applicant has told the city that he already has his state license and will be providing that with his next Tenant Improvement submittal to the planning department.
One question remains, will they be fixing that bad paint job or not?
At this point, once the shop owner complies with the requirements outlined in Section 5.64 of the Wildomar Municipal Code and addresses plan check comments, the city will issue Tenant Improvement permits and this use will be permitted.
Opinion Time: For those that want to spend time talking about Wildomar not updating these codes before now, go right on ahead, I won't stop you. For me, talking about the horses that left the barn (then closing the barn door) has never been high on my list of things to do. The wheels have already been put in motion to update the city codes where this type of business is concerned.
You may be saying, "I thought you didn't like wasting time talking about water under the bridge?" Why bother updating the codes regarding this now?
Good point, but let's look a little further down the road. There is a mostly empty strip mall right across Bundy Canyon from the High School (I've been corrected... there is a barber and a new taco shop that are getting ready to open). And though it seems as if the long term business plan over there is to keep most of that center empty, eventually those vacant units will get tenants. (I'm leaving the verbal jab in there, they earned it after all the years of empty units) We want to be ahead of the issue, not finding ourselves in a similar situation that we face today, with an adult-centric business opening right next to a school. Which leads me to a thought on commercial cannabis in Wildomar. The state legislature is busy with AB 1356 which will remove most of the local control in municipalities that passed Prop 64 (Hello Wildomar - 52.8%). The language in the bill has changed a couple of times, and it still may change before it gets voted on, but the gist of the bill wants there to be one retail cannabis licence for every six liquor licenses. Without counting on your fingers, what's your quick guess as to how many liquor licenses are currently held in Wildomar. If you guessed more than thirty, you were right. That would suggest about 5 retail cannabis licenses be issued... but there is a alternate provision that asks for one licence for every 15,000 residents... or whichever is lower. Wildomar has 36,000 residents, so depending on where numbers get rounded up, that's a minimum of two to three retail cannabis licenses that Sacramento wants Wildomar to have... if it passes, and Governor Newsom signs it. There are a lot of moving parts to this, but if we aren't anticipating them, we could easily get caught flat footed again. This is a key reason for the city to write municipal codes dealing with commercial cannabis now, and not scramble after the fact, while dealing with some decree from Sacramento. If we don't restrict where such businesses can go, they'll be able to go wherever they want... like the new smoke shop. Correction: It was brought to my attention that Prop 64 does restrict distances from schools to a minimum of 600 feet. Still, the point stands as we currently have no restrictions on the books regarding this industry.
Language of AB 1356 link to full bill here The bill would require the local jurisdiction to issue those licenses as otherwise required by this bill within a specified period of time if a local jurisdiction subject to the requirements of this bill does not submit a local ordinance or other local law regarding the lower amount of licenses to the electorate, or that local ordinance or other local law fails to receive more than 50% of the approval of the electorate voting on the issue. The bill would provide that these provisions are prohibited from being construed to require a local jurisdiction to authorize adult-use retail cannabis commercial activity. By imposing additional requirements on local jurisdictions the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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There are some experiences in life which should not be demanded twice from any man, and one of them is listening to the Brahms Requiem. – George Bernard Shaw Wildomar Rappities those that have endured this blog more than once.
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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 Rapis neither smoke nor fire... if anything, it's closer to steam coming off a demitasse of espresso.
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