Recall, regular ballots overshadow recent decisions

A number of local government actions impacting Yorba Linda have been overshadowed by the turmoil surrounding the city's first-ever recall ballot targeting two City Council members Oct. 7 and the regularly scheduled general election to fill two council terms Nov. 4.

One key decision deserving wider recognition involves the repeal of the city's three-year-old “child safety zone” law restricting a registered sex offender's ability to visit city parks and recreation facilities without first obtaining permission from the chief of police services.

The law, similar to ordinances passed by other cities as recommended by the county's district attorney, was preempted by state laws dealing with registered sex offenders, according to the Court of Appeal decision that was left standing by the state Supreme Court in April.

This city's ordinance repealing the prior law noted council “declares that the city shall rely up-on enforcement by the Orange County Sheriff's Department...of applicable state law with respect to registered sex offenders.”

Other recent decisions:

--Council has contracted with Urban Land Institute to analyze uses for city-owned property on Bastanchury Road, most of which was leased for the unrealized Friends Christian High School, with a final report due by September at a cost of $15,500.

The non-profit group will use a panel of volunteer land-use experts to study the 40-acre site based – in part – on input from “selected public and private officials, representatives of other relevant organizations and other individuals familiar with the issues or problems involved....”

The site's three properties include 13.5 acres zoned residential estate with oil overlay worth $16.5 million; 19.37 acres zoned planned development with restrictions worth $19.9 million; and the 7.63-acre “tank farm” zoned planned development with restrictions worth $7.8 million.

--The state's July 1 minimum wage boost affects starting wages in four city worker classifications. Initial wages for maintenance worker trainee, office aide, office clerk and recreation aide jump to $9 per hour from $8.50 and $8.66.

School crossing guards, hired by a private company under a city contract, also will see an increase, and the city will pay the company an added $10,000 for the 2014-15 school year.

--City-owned palm trees will be trimmed each year instead of during the usual three-year cycle applied to the city's other tree types at an added annual expense of $15,000. A report from Public Works Director Mike Wolfe noted yearly palm trimming “is an industry standard.”

The city has about 315 palm trees of 11 species, according to Wolfe. He noted removing the palms and replanting other types would cost about $157,000. Annual trims would provide “better maintenance of the trees and mitigate any issues that would support their removal.”

--Yorba Linda has been declared a Purple Heart City to show respect for American soldiers wounded or killed in line-of-duty assignments, according to a council resolution. Orange County has more than 400 living recipients of the Purple Heart, a medal established in 1782 by George Washington that was revived in 1932 to honor war casualties.