FCA Annual Meeting-2009

The FCA Annual Meeting is held on the first Monday in March every year. This year the meeting was held at Hewes Middle School.

Richard Nelson, FCA President, discussed the increasing involvement by members in the association via a

number of committees, and the increasing membership of FCA.

Tracey Vander-Hayden, Principal of Hewes Middle School, summarized some school activities and the recognition of the scholarship of students.

Hal Marshall, FCA Airport Committee Chair, and Mark Hopkins discussed the efforts to reduce airplane noise over North Tustin during landings. The committee is working with the City of Tustin, The management of John Wayne Airport, the FAA, and airlines to identify mitigation approaches.

Bill Campbell, OC Third District Supervisor, described County activities. Bill Campbell has been a friend of FCA and North Tustin during his tenure as Supervisor.

He described his intention to improve roads in Panorama Heights. This problem surfaced at the 2008 FCA Annual Meeting and the County is now going to improve these roads (some going back to the 1920s).

Planning is underway to create additional emergency egress from Cowan Heights.

Many members and non-members made clear their opposition to the Senior Living Facility being proposed for the 7.5 acre property on Newport Avenue just North of 17th Street. It was expressed by many that this type of large facility is not compatible with the surrounding low-density single-family residences.

Sandra Hutchens, OC Sheriff, discussed the following:

The roles of the Sheriff's Department and the CHP in unincorporated areas. Basically, the Sheriff's Department provides policing functions, except for Traffic Enforcement, which is provided by the CHP.

A concern was expressed about Sheriff's Department helicopters on a particular evening and what information could have been available about the activity. A member was concerned about whether she should stay in her residence when a helo is overhead. A subsequent check showed that there was no record of their Helicopter, Duke I, being in the vicinity during the quoted time and date. If a community member were to call the Sheriff’s Department Dispatch Center, they would be advised whether their helicopter was in the air. We were advised that

if this happens again to telephone the Dispatch Center and report the helicopter’s presence. If the Center advises that the Sheriff's helicopter not in the air, notate the date time, location and FCA can request an investigation to attempt to determine what helicopter was involved.

The Department has 3 patrol cars that are patrolling the general foothill area at all times. During the hours of 7:00 pm – 2:30 am they have 5 units in the field. In addition, there are an additional 3 units that work in the surrounding North East Communities that are utilized in the North Tustin Area as needed. The deputies are all assigned to one person patrol cars. Often times when you see two deputies in one car, one of the two is being trained. They also have the availability of a canine unit and air support to respond to assist the ground units. A strength is having the availability of resources to handle any incident that presents itself.

A question was raised about whether basketball hoops can be placed in the street. Residents are not allowed to leave the portable basketball hoops on a public roadway. This type of violation is not handled by the Sheriff’s Department. If a resident chooses to make a complaint they should contact the Orange County Public works Division/ Operations and Maintenance Bureau at (714) 955-0200.

After the meeting, some members mentioned that our new Sheriff made a very solid impression on the audience.

Andy Sechrist, CHP Captain and new Commander of the Santa Ana Office, discussed the roadway code enforcement. Interestingly, he started his career patrolling the streets of North Tustin.

Brock Wagner, Deputy Superintendent of Tustin Unified School District, discussed Measures L and M and the need for school maintenance. He expressed gratitude for the $750,000 in matching funds provided by the County for repair of the pool at Foothill High School. Supervisor Bill Campbell made the first public announcement of this at the 2008 FCA Annual Meeting.

Kathie Nielson, Chief Academic Officer of TUSD, discussed student performance. International comparisons of student achievement can be confusing because comparable data may not be supplied by all countries. For example, US scores will include special education students, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, etc. while international studies may only include students who attend and are successful in school systems which generally do not serve all populations.

In two years, the first students will graduate from the program with Irvine Valley College where students can graduate from high school with an A degree. The allows them to enroll in college as a third year student. They can graduate from a four year college in two years (students should love it) and at half of the expense (parents should love it). Thus far the students enrolled in the program are doing well.

Kathie also discussed a number of charts that will be posted here later.

We are grateful for displays and materials provided by FCA Committees promoting compatible land use, the FCA Airport Committee, the Sheriff's Department, and Jeff Dickman (providing charts and maps of OC Parks and trails).

Here are more pictures of the meeting.

Here is Press Coverage from the Foothill Sentry Newspaper (714-532-4406).