Elected Yorba Linda leaders endorse council member Peggy Huang for seat in Congress

Several of Yorba Linda's elected leaders are backing Councilwoman Peggy Huang's bid to run against a Democratic incumbent and win back an Orange County Congressional seat for the GOP next year.

City Council colleagues Tara Campbell, Beth Haney, Gene Hernandez and Carlos Rodriguez – all Republicans – have endorsed Huang's candidacy in the March 2020 primary election.

Also in Huang's corner are Yorba Linda residents Ryan Bent, elected in 2016 to represent most of the city on the North Orange County Community College District board of trustees, and Brett Barbre, elected in 2018 to a sixth term on the county Municipal Water District board.

Bent also is president of the city's Library Commission, and Barbre is president of the Municipal board, an appointed member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California board and assistant general manager of the Yorba Linda Water District.

However, Huang's Yorba Linda supporters won't be able to vote for her, since Yorba Linda is in the 39^th Congressional District, and Huang is running in the 45^th Congressional District. (Members of Congress aren't required to live in the district they represent.)

The 39^th District, represented by Yorba Linda resident Gil Cisneros, a Democrat who defeated Republican Young Kim for the seat vacated by Ed Royce last year, includes Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, Yorba Linda and cities in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

The 45^th District is all in Orange County and includes Irvine, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Tustin, Villa Park and parts of Anaheim and Orange.

Other announced GOP candidates in the 45^th District primary are second-term council members Don Sedgwick of Laguna Hills and Greg Raths of Mission Viejo.

Democrat Katie Porter, a UC Irvine law professor, defeated two-term GOP incumbent Mimi Walters for the seat last year, winning 52.1 to 47.9 percent. The district's current registration percentages: 35.7 Republican, 30.7 Democratic and 29.5 no party preference.

The 39^th District registration percentages: 33.8 Democratic, 32.7 Republican and 29.4 no party preference. Cisneros beat Kim 50.7 to 49.3 percent last year, with Kim edging Cisneros in Orange and San Bernardino counties and Cisneros winning Los Angeles County.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the 39^th by 8.6 percent and the 45^th by 5.4 percent. GOP governor candidate John Cox won the 39^th by 0.8 percent and the 45^th by 1.2 percent in 2018.

Huang won a Yorba Linda council seat in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018, placing first each time. Her 2018 vote – 18,764 – is a historic high for the city's council elections.

A state deputy attorney general, Huang was elected to the county Republican Central Committee representing Brea, La Habra, Placentia and Yorba Linda in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. She's first vice chair of the 61-member official party organization.

Yorba Linda has Orange County's third-lowest per capita cost of police services, according to study

Yorba Linda has the third-lowest per capita cost of police services of Orange County's 34 incorporated cities, according to a report commissioned by the 13 cities that contract with the Orange County Sheriff's Department for law enforcement.

Yorba Linda pays $178.41 per person, with only retirement-oriented Laguna Woods and Aliso Viejo paying less, at $156.50 and $160.38, respectively. Costs range to a high of $802.75 in Laguna Beach, according to figures from Matrix Consulting Group.

The per capita cost in Yorba Linda is based on a 2017 estimated population of 68,229 and fiscal 2018 budgeted police expenses of nearly $12.2 million. The Laguna Woods population is 16,200; the Aliso Viejo count is 51,671.

The average per capita cost for the 13 contracting cities is about $215, and the average per capita cost for the 21 non-contracting cities with their own police departments is about $395.

Contracting city costs range from the $156.50 in Laguna Woods to $363.18 in Dana Point (population 33,934), while costs in self-policing cities range from $275.59 in Irvine (population 277,453) to the $802.75 in Laguna Beach (population 23,147).

Per capita costs and populations of north county cities listed in the report include $511.61 and 42,777 in Brea; $338.20 and 83,015 in Buena Park; $323.29 and 140,392 in Fullerton; $301.52 and 62,466 in La Habra; $307.53 and 15,722 in La Palma; and $366.63 and 52,157 in Placentia.

The report also listed cost increases for contracting cities from fiscal year 2016 through 2018. (Cities can contract for differing levels of service.)

Yorba Linda's increase was 4.8 percent from fiscal 2016 to 2017, third-lowest of the 13 cities, and 6.42 percent from fiscal 2017 to 2018, fifth-highest. The range for fiscal 2017 to 2018: a 1.45 percent decrease in Laguna Woods to a 17.26 percent increase in Laguna Niguel.

The county's highest policing cost is in Anaheim, with a 2018 fiscal year expenditure of nearly $144 million ($408.36 per capita), and the lowest is in Laguna Woods, with about $2.5 million.

According to the report, other north county cities spent the following for fiscal 2018 police services (rounded): $21.9 million in Brea, $28 million in Buena Park, $45.4 million in Fullerton, $18.8 million in La Habra, $4.8 million in La Palma and $19.1 million in Placentia.

The 15-page report from the Mountain View-based consultant concluded that “overall,” the “use of a contracted law enforcement service is cost effective for the 13 contract cities” and added some recommendations.

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One was that department leaders “should consider utilizing actual hourly rates for personnel cost instead of a standardized rate, to ensure that each city is paying for the actual costs for all employees assigned.”

Yorba Linda's share of the $143,316 report cost is $15,100.

Sheriff's deputies policed Yorba Linda through 1970 and again since 2013 after a 42-year arrangement with Brea ended.

Traffic citations in Yorba Linda jump more than 50 percent; 31st fireworks display set for July 4

A large jump in citations issued for traffic violations on Yorba Linda's more than 200 miles of roadways was one highlight of the Orange County Sheriff's Department annual report on enforcement presented at a recent Traffic Commission meeting.

Citations increased more than 50 percent last year over the previous year, from 1,483 to 2,246. Hazardous citations were up 14.9 percent, from 680 to 781, while non-hazardous citations jumped 82.4 percent, from 803 to 1,465.

Hazardous citations are defined as moving violations, including those detected by radar or lidar (laser-related) devices, and non-hazardous citations are defined as “all others,” which include equipment, registration and seatbelt infractions.

Arrests for suspicion of driving under the influence remained about the same in the 20-square-mile city, dipping from 66 to 65. Interestingly, just one DUI arrest occurred in the holiday month of December, with arrests ranging from three each in May and July to eight in April.

Hit-and-run collisions dropped 12.7 percent, from 55 to 48, while injuries from hit-and-runs increased from two to seven. The total number of collisions fell from 234 to 216, while collision injuries were up from 70 to 84. Two deaths were reported in each year.

Collisions attributed to driving under the influence increased from 23 to 29, with one death and eight injuries last year compared with eight injuries the previous year. Collisions due to unsafe turns dropped from 43 to 28, while unsafe speed factors dropped from 37 to 30.

Statistics for the first month this year: 30 hazardous and 84 non-hazardous citations, four injury and four non-injury collisions, two hit-and-run collisions and four arrests on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The five City Council-appointed traffic commissioners also have paved the way for the 31^st year of the July 4 celebration at Veterans Sports Park and the fields at Yorba Linda Middle School.

They approved closures of Valley View and Casa Loma avenues between Imperial Highway and Yorba Linda Boulevard and waived parking restrictions on Valley View Avenue for the event beginning at 5 p.m. The 20-minute fireworks display is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.

Total cost for the event is estimated at $75,000, including personnel, equipment, fireworks, stage, sound, lighting and live entertainment, according to a recent report to the council by Mike Kudron, parks and recreation director.

The fireworks component for the city's most-watched event since 1989 will cost some $24,000. Last year, the city collected $22,000 in corporate sponsorships, which city staff “hopes to maintain or exceed” this year, Kudron noted.

The $27,300 annual revenue from the cell tower at Brush Canyon Park is designated to help offset July 4 expenditures.

The city outlawed individual fireworks use in 1987, after a 1986 advisory ballot with 8,651 votes in favor of a ban and 4,207 opposed.

Yorba Linda city commissioners list priorities for budget considerations for 2019-20 and 2020-21

One of the more important duties of Yorba Linda's 20 city commissioners is to make formal recommendations to the City Council on priorities for spending the dollars the city collects each year in taxes and fees.

Currently, the city is implementing some of the suggestions commissioners made related to the new library and arts center projects underway on Lakeview Avenue, north of Yorba Linda Boulevard.

(Despite some rain delays, the library and arts center openings are “on target” for 2020, according to officials.)

Now, two of the five-member, council-appointed commissions are developing other priorities to submit to the council for consideration in the budget that will be adopted for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The Parks and Recreation Commission is working on priorities for park improvement projects to be suggested for funding, with a final listing expected to be adopted at an April 18 meeting at city hall at 6:30 p.m.

However, commissioners examined a city staff-developed list of potential priorities and possible funding mechanisms at a March 21 meeting.

The list included Adventure Playground renovation, Jessamyn West Park picnic shelter replacement, Kingsbriar Park playground equipment replacement and pickleball courts.

Others on the list: athletic field lighting, exercise equipment at existing parks and prefabricated restroom, seating, artificial turf and shade structures at Checkers Dog Park.

Many parks projects are funded by park in-lieu fees paid by developers in place of providing land for future parks. The fees, recently increased, are $16,716 for single-family residences and $10,718 per unit in multi-family developments.

The city has about $2 million in the park in-lieu fund now, with $3.2 million more expected in the next few years, according to figures provided commissioners by Parks and Recreation Director Mike Kudron. He noted funds needed for “all existing projects totals over $4 million.”

Kudron also reported the current list doesn't include all future projects that need funding, citing past recommendations to the council in 2014 and later years, plus unfunded items already included in a “second tier” of projects and “major maintenance to existing parks.”

The Traffic Commission has established priorities for signals at nine intersections that meet complex traffic signal warrants outlined in state regulations and are based on data from a 466-page study completed last month by a city-hired consultant.

Priorities suggested for the next two budget years, in order: Bastanchury Road and Eureka Avenue, Bastanchury Road and Casa Loma Avenue, Lakeview Avenue and Oriente Drive and Lakeview and Buena Vista avenues.

The others: Fairmont Boulevard and Yorba Linda High School near south parking, Buena Vista Avenue and Van Buren Street, Village Center Drive and East Lake Shopping Center south driveway, Lakeview and Mariposa avenues and Esperanza and Yorba Ranch roads.