Royce seeks 13th term in Congress; candidates compete for school and water district positions

Among the attendees at the open house celebrating the impressive 100-year history of Yorba Linda Boy Scout Troop 99 was Republican Congressman Ed Royce, who serves this city and all or parts of 14 others in three counties in the 435-member House of Representatives.

Of course, I asked Royce, a Fullerton resident and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who often appears on cable news outlets, about supporting Donald Trump; he confirmed he's backing “the Republican nominee for President.”

Royce, a Cal-State Fullerton graduate who sends constituents a holiday card each December – “not printed or mailed at government expense” – is a popular politician in Yorba Linda, based on the votes he amasses in elections.

He took 77.2 percent of the Yorba Linda vote in 2014, while his district-wide total was 68.5 percent. In the June primary, he won 67.8 percent in Yorba Linda and 60.5 percent district-wide. He faces Democrat Brett Murdock of Brea Nov. 8, seeking a 13^th two-year term.

In other election news:

--Three challengers – all from Yorba Linda – filed to run against three incumbent trustees of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, but they didn't submit 200-word candidate statements to be mailed with sample ballots to the district's 84,000-plus voters.

Trustee contenders can deposit $1,292 with the county Registrar of Voters to pay for costs associated with translating and printing the statements in five languages (Chinese, English, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese). All three incumbents paid for statements.

To date, since election law has allowed statements in the mailed sample ballot packets, no candidates in this community running against incumbents who've paid for statements have won without also including a statement.

The challengers are registered nurse Susi Khan, community volunteer Helen Kingsbury and businesswoman Irene Yezbak. Incumbents include six-year trustee Judi Carmona and eight-year trustee Eric Padget, both of Yorba Linda, and 16-year trustee Carol Downey of Placentia.

--Challengers and incumbents for an Orange County Water District directorship and a North Orange County Community College District trustee slot representing Yorba Linda did pay for statements.

Incumbent Roger Yoh of Buena Park and La Palma Councilman Peter Kim paid $1,584 for statements to Division 3 voters in the Orange County Water District, which manages groundwater supplies.

Most of the city is in the college district's Area 7, with two candidates competing for a seat now held by Tony Ontiveros of Anaheim Hills, who is not seeking a fifth term: Yorba Linda Library Commissioner Ryan Bent and former four-term trustee and Brea attorney Barry Wishart paid $1,185 for statements.

--Future columns will note interesting aspects of the first-ever recall ballot and regular election in the Yorba Linda Water District and the always-contentious ballot for three City Council slots.

City investment policy, senior mobility program, emergency notification change, vet bill claim, city's annual chamber of commerce subsidy is paid

These five topics should interest Yorba Lindans:

--The city's investment policy for the current fiscal year has been modified to permit the use of financial institutions and brokers throughout the United States, changing the prior requirement that the city partner only with establishments physically located in California.

Finance Director Scott Catlett reported that investment relationships are now “largely digital,” making physical location “of little importance.” He also noted bank certificate of deposit rates in other states often exceed rates available in California.

The city's current investments total nearly $95 million.

--An agreement extending the 14-year-old Senior Mobility Program, also known as TRAILS, “taking retired adults into local services,” into 2021 has been signed with the Orange County Transportation Authority. The program operates 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Some 310 seniors use the door-to-door transportation system monthly, noted a report from Recreation Superintendent Jeff Ruth, operating within and one mile beyond city limits. This year the county agency will pay about $72,000 and the city has budgeted $21,000.

--A new provision in the no-cost agreement for participation in the county Mass Notification System, known as Alert OC, allows the city to use the system “to disseminate 'government-related' notifications to citizens and businesses within its jurisdiction,” a city report stated.

A “non-emergency notification situation” is defined as “instances when a participant deems non-emergency information to be of significance to a participant's jurisdiction and the partic-ipant uses the system to distribute such information.”

The city-county agreement has been extended into 2021 for emergency – and now non-emergency – notifications through landlines, cell phones and e-mail for registered users.

--Spraying a generic version of Roundup herbicide in city medians along Vista Del Mar near Via Sanlucar resulted in a claim filed with the city to reimburse a sick dog's veterinarian bills.

The $1,529 claim was denied by the city. Officials noted the spraying occurred Oct. 27, 2015, and the first evaluation and treatment of the pet was on Jan. 29, with follow-ups February and March.

The herbicide was sprayed under EPA and county regulations and “has a drying time of approximately 25-30 minutes, so the herbicide had likely dissipated over a three-month period,” with mandated signage used during the process, officials reported.

--The usual $25,000 annual city payment to the Chamber of Commerce has been approved, along with some minor revisions in the 103-year-old organization's contract with the city.

Still in the contract is a page-long provision prohibiting various political activities, added after a smaller $16,000 payment was questioned in 2007 because two City Council members and some residents accused the chamber of involvement in local campaign issues.

Veterans memorial addition; damages claim; conflict of interest code; new city, police radios

Here's a mix of new topics and updates of past columns:

--A battlefield memorial statue will be added to the Veterans Memorial Monument area at

Veterans Park on Valley View Avenue north of Yorba Linda Boulevard in time for this year's Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11, according to plans by the Veterans Memorial Association.

The 38-inch high statue of boots, rifle and helmet will be placed atop a 24-inch high piece of unfinished black granite or a concrete base with granite overlay similar to the memorial. The five-sided base will match the existing flag poles.

Additional work includes an extension of the patio next to the Gold Star walkway, additional lighting fixtures and another concrete bench. Estimated cost of the work scheduled to begin in October is $22,000, funded by the memorial group.

Planning for the original memorial started in 2008, with the Gold Star walkway added in 2009. Memorial bricks honoring individual veterans and active military were part of the initial design, with new bricks available for purchase at $200 and $375 from the association (714-777-7894).

--A claim for damages related to Town Center roadwork filed by business owners Walt and Jeanne Tamulinas of ERA North Orange County Real Estate has been settled with a $42,000 payment to the long-established firm on Yorba Linda Boulevard just west of Lakeview Avenue.

The Tamulinas claim alleged $261,882 in lost business income due to road construction for the Town Center project during a six-month period in 2014-15. Sales at the firm plummeted 35 percent during an upswing in the county real estate market, according to Walt Tamulinas.

He cited “limited or no access” to his real estate and escrow offices and noted that clients, agents and vendors couldn't get in or out of the parking lot during the construction project. “New sales soared” after construction vehicles and traffic congestion were reduced, he said.

--A review of the city's conflict-of-interest code is underway, with results scheduled to be presented to City Council members before an Oct. 3 deadline for submission to the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

The code lists the city's elected and appointed officials, employees and consultants required to submit the Statement of Economic Interests each year and “assigns disclosure categories specifying the types of interests to be reported,” noted a report by City Clerk Marcia Brown.

--Upgrades and replacements for 44 city and 52 police services 800 megahertz radios will cost $393,791 for equipment, installation and programming to meet required standards for the county's coordinated communications system for police, fire and public works agencies.

The cost includes a 40 percent discount from list prices if purchased before Nov. 26 from the sole-source vendor Motorola Solutions. A competitive bidding process was waived, since the proprietary equipment and technology is available from only one company. 

Yorba Linda's draft general plan lists city's 'build-out' numbers for low, medium, high density areas

One of the more interesting aspects of Yorba Linda's newly written General Plan – now in draft form – is an analysis of this city's anticipated growth and the “assumed build-out” for residential, commercial and industrial properties under existing land use policies.

The draft document, with 338 pages and 529 pages of appendices, has its next hearing at an Aug. 10 Planning Commission meeting, after hours-long discussion at a July 27 session, with possible City Council action scheduled Aug. 16.

City officials see the plan as “a long-term document that serves as a blueprint to guide the city's vision for land use and development over the next 20-plus years” and depict it as an expansion and update of the current 1993 plan.

The 1993 plan is the city's second, revising the original 1971 plan that established a low-density identity, which was voter-endorsed when placed on the 1972 ballot and approved 2,317 to 1,902 in a heated campaign.

The 2016 draft is considered “a minor amendment” because it “does not involve the rezoning of any property” or modify the current plan in a way that would trigger a public vote under the city's 2006 “right-to-vote” Measure B initiative, officials note.

Of course, such a massive document can't be summarized in one column, but readers might find the analysis of the city's eventual build-out informative, especially the residential figures.

The plan notes Yorba Linda's potential residential build-out could add 3,913 residences, consisting of single- and multi-family units, to the current 21,958 total. That includes development on land now in county territory but within the city's sphere of influence.

The plan also shows 72,244 square-feet of commercial development could be added to 14.5 vacant acres, supplementing the existing one million square-feet on 158 total acres in one of the city's three commercial-zoned areas.

And 1.8 million square-feet of non-residential space and 441 residential units could be added on 137 vacant acres in industrial manufacturing zoning, supplementing an existing 1.5 million square-feet on 275 total acres.

The most interesting numbers are in a breakdown of the city's five residential zones.

Low-density zones allow one unit per acre and now have a total 412 acres with 530 homes, with 31 more possible on 31 vacant areas. Medium-low density zones allow up to 1.8 units per acre and now have a total 2,356 acres with 4,031 homes, with 201 more possible on 112 vacant areas.

Medium-density zones allow up to three units per acre and now have a total 1,956 acres with 6,176 homes, with 168 more possible on 56 vacant acres. Medium-high density zones allow up to four units per acre and now have a total 1,169 acres with 5,791 homes, with 34 more possible on nine vacant acres.

Finally, high-density zones allow from four to 30 units per acre and now have a total 546 acres with 3,627 homes, with 2,365 more possible on 79 vacant acres.