Yjorba Linda's longest-serving councilman--30 years and two months--honored with park name

A five-acre park on northern Lakeview Avenue in the Visa Del Verde region will be named to honor Yorba Linda's longest-serving City Council member and five-time mayor Hank Wedaa, who died Nov. 18 at age 95.

Wedaa's council service totaled 30 years and two months – April 1970 to December 1994, December 1996 to December 2000 and June 2007 to December 2008 – a tenure that can not be repeated unless voters repeal a three-term limit law passed in 1996.

On the council, Wedaa advocated for the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Community Center and Black Gold Golf Club. As an official at the Southern California Association of Governments, he played a key role in preventing a major airport proposed for Chino Hills.

Wedaa is the 11^th individual to be posthumously honored with his name on one of the city's 44 parks and facilities. Facilities named for individuals are Phillip Paxton Equestrian Center, Sus-anna Bixby Bryant Museum, Thomas Lasorda Jr. Fieldhouse and Virginia DeLand Theater.

Six parks named for individuals include pioneer resident and author Jessamyn West, first city treasurer Hurless Barton, first mayor Roland Bigonger, volunteer civic leaders Jean Woodard and Lucia Kust and developer and philanthropist Nathan Shapell.

Interestingly, during Wedaa's second term as mayor in 1976, he signed a council-passed resolution to establish “a policy” that city-owned parks, streets and facilities “shall bear environmentally appropriate names rather than the name of any person, living or dead.”

The resolution was adopted in memory of early Planning Commission and City Council member George Machado, considered the chief architect of the city's 1972 low-density General Plan.

The resolution noted Machado, elected to the council in 1970 on a slow-growth slate with Wedaa and Rudy Castro, supported a 1974 policy that parks be named for the “trees and other flora indigenous to Yorba Linda and the entire Southern California region.”.

A memorial to Machado was placed on the horse trail southeast of the intersection of Imperial Highway and Casa Loma Avenue after his death in 1976. Council also suggested other areas be designated for future memorials.

However, a city official in 2016 said the sentiment expressed in the resolution “was never established or adopted as part of the City Council Policy Manual,” and noted that a policy council “received and filed” in 2009 stated names should be considered on a “case-by-case” basis.

The council approved a formal policy in 2018 outlining procedures for naming parks and facilities, which was used to name the Checkers Dog Park and Virginia DeLand Theater.

The Wedaa park had been designated as Vista Del Verde II. Planned amenities include playground equipment, picnic shelter, basketball courts, restrooms, parking lot and land-scaping, but timing is uncertain.

Added costs will be about $3,000 for a dedication plaque and pedestal and $300 for signage.

Three Yorba Linda City Council members seeking re-election begin 2020 with sizable contributions

Three Yorba Linda City Council members who have announced intentions to seek re-election to the city's governing body in the November general election are beginning the year with sizable cash balances in their campaign treasuries.

Tara Campbell, Beth Haney and Gene Hernandez report a total $75,748 in 2020 election- year accounts, according to state-required finance disclosures filed by a Jan. 31 deadline.

To date, no potential opponents have opened accounts eligible to receive contributions to help finance campaigns for three council seats scheduled to appear on the Nov. 10 ballot. A four-week filing period for the positions opens mid-July at the city clerk's counter at City Hall.

Campbell, who will be seeking a second term, reported collecting $28,761 during 2019. After adding her cash balance at the beginning of 2019 and subtracting 2019 expenses, she reported $33,431 on hand to begin 2020.

Haney, also seeking a second term, reported collecting $24,774 during 2019. After adding her cash balance at the beginning of 2019 and subtracting 2019 expenses, she reported $20,314 on hand to begin 2020.

Hernandez, who will be running for a third term, reported collecting $23,797 during 2019. After adding his cash balance at the beginning of 2019 and subtracting 2019 expenses, he reported $22,003 on hand to begin 2020.

Campbell and Haney have outstanding loans they made to their campaigns. Campbell's loan is $5,000, and Haney's seven loans total $37,670 from her Luxe Aesthetic & Wellness Center business. Candidates are legally allowed to repay loans from future contributions, if any.

Each of the three incumbents will be holding more fund-raisers this year, which will provide plenty of additional cash to pay for mailers, roadway signage, computerized telephone calls and endorsements on “voter information” brochures, also known as slate mailers.

The fund-raising prowess shown by the incumbents so far this election cycle might deter possible contenders from joining the race, but all of the city's 29 council elections since incorporation in 1967 have drawn at least some challengers.

The most funds ever raised by a single candidate for a council election in Yorba Linda was in 2018, when Carlos Rodriguez reported collecting $102,722, including $84,731 in cash; a self-made loan of $9,500; and $8,491 worth of non-monetary “in-kind” contributions.

In that election, Rodriguez ran second out of three candidates for two positions, earning 35.2% of the vote. Peggy Huang was first with 41% and Lourdes Cruz third with 23.8%.

In 2016, Campbell ran first out of seven candidates for three positions with 19.7% of the vote, and Hernandez was second at 17.2%. Haney topped single-term incumbent Craig Young for third place 15.5% to 15.1%.

Hernandez won his first term in 2012 in a contest with seven candidates seeking three positions. He placed third by edging first-term incumbent Nancy Rikel 16.9% to 16.7%.

What is SCAG? Why does it have the power to set housing goals for Yorba Linda and other cities?

What is the Southern California Association of Governments – normally known as SCAG – and why does the organization have the authority to assign housing goals to cities in a six-county region?

These are questions many Yorba Linda residents are asking after SCAG's unfathomably high number of 2,322 housing units was assigned to the city for a 2021 to 2029 planning period, to include units for 735 very low, 433 low, 440 moderate and 714 above-moderate income levels.

Residents of six other north Orange County cities are asking the same questions after the numbers were announced for their cities: 2,301 for Brea; 9,004 for Buena Park; 13,272 for Fullerton; 803 for La Habra; 792 for La Palma; and 4,337 for Placentia.

The numbers will be final in August, after cities have through July to appeal. However, since SCAG is responsible for distributing 1,344,740 new housing units to six counties, a reduction for one city would be made up by increasing numbers for other cities.

SCAG was formed in 1965 by local elected representatives from 56 cities and five counties to initiate regional planning for Southern California's future. The group has joint powers authority under state law and is a Metropolitan Planning Organization under federal law.

The organization's responsibilities have grown under state and federal directives, and SCAG now has authority in 191 cities and six counties with a 19 million population, 48% of the state.

SCAG is governed by an 86-member Regional Council, comprised of locally elected officials.

Brea Councilman Marty Simonoff is the representative for Brea, La Habra, Placenita and Yorba Linda. Buena Park Councilman Art Brown represents Buena Park and Fullerton. Cypress Councilwoman Stacy Berry represents La Palma, Cypress and Garden Grove.

Yorba Linda's Councilwoman Peggy Huang represents the Transportation Corridor Agencies and chairs SCAG's 49-member Community, Economic and Human Development Committee.

SCAG has responsibilities regarding transportation, greenhouse gas emissions, demographic projections, air quality, waste treatment management, environmental impact reports, land use, housing, employment and preparation of a Regional Housing Needs Assessment, or RHNA.

RHNA (rhee-nah), one of many SCAG housing programs, is mandated by a state law that requires cities to plan for future housing needs, with non-compliance resulting in penalties.

The 2,322 unit housing number recently announced for Yorba Linda is part of RHNA's sixth 2021-2029 cycle. The city number for the fourth 2008-2014 cycle was 2,039 and for the fifth 2014-2021 cycle 669.

Yorba Linda's City Council selected Councilman Carlos Rodriguez as the city's delegate and Huang as alternate to a regional conference and general assembly meeting May 6-8 in Palm Desert to help set the SCAG working agenda for the coming year.

And a six-member RHNA subcommittee chaired by Huang will meet Feb. 24 in Los Angeles.  

Yorba Linda faces major challenge in identifying housing sites to meet goal-setting state mandate

Yorba Linda's officials might face a major challenge identifying sites for 2,322 housing units, a mandate now under consideration by the Southern California Association of Governments.

That organization, most often referred to as SCAG, is charged by the state to require the 197 jurisdictions in six Southern California counties to make plans for 1,344,740 new units to meet the area's housing needs during the upcoming October 2021 to October 2029 planning period.

While Yorba Linda's 2,322 number is not final, the figure is coming close to adoption, given the outsized influence Los Angeles County has in determining housing numbers that will be assigned for planning purposes to cities in neighboring counties.

The timeline calls for SCAG to establish an appeals process for the assigned numbers this month, consider appeals in July and make a final decision in August. Cities are required to identify sites for the assigned numbers in a housing document due October 2021.

Yorba Linda's assignment includes 735 units for very low-income, 433 for low-income, 440 for moderate-income and 714 for above-moderate income levels. The city has objected to SCAG methodology in a four-page letter to the state Housing and Urban Development Department.

Income levels are based on “area median income,” or AMI, which varies by household size ($97,900 for a four-person household in Orange County). Very low is less than 50% of AMI, low is 50-80%, moderate is 80-120% and above-moderate is above 120%.

The city's appeal will need to outline specific criteria for reducing the final assignment and not just say, “We're built out,” according to officials, who will study the appeal process adopted by SCAG.

Last year, city officials responded to a SCAG survey seeking input on factors that could impact providing sites in the city's 20-square-mile territory to meet future housing needs.

One response noted: “The majority of land suitable for urban development...has already been developed and the city is nearing build-out conditions. As of today, there are approximately 15 vacant properties (totaling less than 10 acres) remaining in the city that have not been developed, entitled or are in the process of entitlement....”

Further, “The majority of these properties are undeveloped single-family parcels averaging 0.5 acres in size. The only remaining large vacant or underutilized property (is) a 26-acre...parcel that is restricted through a development agreement for public use purposes.”

Other limits mentioned were cost of converting from septic systems to sewers, already having more housing units than jobs, limited public transportation and restrictions on converting state and county parkland and oil production acreage to other uses.

Interestingly, before a last-minute revision, the city was facing a mandate to identify sites for only 207 units, with 66 very low, 39 low, 39 moderate and 63 above-moderate income levels.