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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-02-2008 Council Minutes - Adjourned Regular MeetingAPPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL ON DECEMBER 9, 2008 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES ORANGE, CALIFORNIA OF AN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING December 2, 2008 The City Council of the City of Orange, California convened on December 2, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. in an Adjourned Regular Meeting in the Council Chambers, 300 E. Chapman Avenue, Orange, California. 7:00 P.M. SESSION OATH OF OFFICE CEREMONY 1. OPENING 1.1 INVOCATION Given by Father Cirilo Flores, St. Norbert's Catholic Church 1.2 PRESENTATION OF COLORS Presented by Orange Police Department Color Guard 1.3 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG Led by Noelle Freeman, Miss City of Orange 1.4 ROLL CALL PRESENT - Smith, Murphy, Cavecche, Dumitru ABSENT - Bilodeau 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS - None.3. LEGAL AFFAIRS RESOLUTION NO. 10343 A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange, California, reciting the fact of the General Municipal Election held on November 4, 2008, declaring the results and such other matters as provided by Law.MOTION - Dumitru SECOND - Smith AYES - Smith, Murphy, Cavecche, Dumitru ABSENT - Bilodeau ACTION: Approved Palle I CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 2, 2008 4. OATH OF OFFICE Oath of Office administered to City Clerk-Elect Mary E. Murphy Oath of Office administered to Treasurer-Elect Helen Y. Walker Oath of Office administered to Councilmember- Elect Jon Dumitru Oath of Office administered to Councilmember- Elect Teresa "Tita" Smith Oath of Office administered to Mayor-Elect Carolyn V. Cavecche Comments by newly-elected Mayor and Councilmembers.Councilmember Jon Dumitru Good evening and thank you all for attending. I first would like to thank my family - my mom Charlene, my brother James, my brother Joseph, and of course my fiance Gina. I'd like to express my thanks to them first. Being an elected official here in the City of Orange is such a great honor, but it's amazing what the toll is on families sometimes when you have to miss dinners, or you're late for an event, or you have to rearrange your entire schedule because something is occurring in the City that you have to attend to first. So to them, I want to express my undying appreciation. I want to thank my friends - Eric, Laurie, Mike, Gayle, Doug, the Bills, Brian, Arianna, Susan, Jim, Jeff - everybody, for their dedication not only to reelection for myself but in some cases, lifelong friendships; and that's going to be stronger and more solid than anything else ever will be. That's what is truly important - a friendship that lasts. I also want to thank my colleagues up here on the dais, as well as the many officials throughout Orange County who rallied behind me and endorsed me for reelection. They were solid in keeping me motivated in making sure that our friends all supported an action here in the City of Orange to keep what we have beautiful and pristine and wonderful. But I especially want to thank the residents of the City of Orange for their support, their well wishes, and their criticisms at times;but just in general, getting out and letting their voices be heard. To get to the polls and actually vote and do what is the fundamental right of every God given born American, which is to cast a vote. That is so very important and I thank each and every one of them.As we look forward to a new year I'm going to continue to ask for that support of our residents.I'm going to continue to ask for constructive criticism and I want to ask for their active participation in the business of our city. I think that our community is a proud community with a rich history and a profoundly exciting future. We have the opportunity and huge potential as long as our citizens playa role. It's not just five folks getting up here and voting every other week, it's actually an involvement of our community which inspires vision and inspires direction. Only then can we truly obtain what is capable. As I always do every day, I ask everybody to commit themselves to this community, to our city. It's what we call home. Let us remain confident that nothing can stop or block our path to our success. It may not be easy - it never is. There are times and decisions that we've all had to make that have been tough, but in the long run, they've always been for the benefit. Over the last 4 years, we have had amazing Page CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 2, 2008 accomplishments, but we didn't reach them always in the first go-around. A number of them we had to keep going back to and we've had success upon success.Orange works - and that's what's amazing. Orange works because we have dedicated employees for the city that commit and sacrifice themselves - our Water Department, our Public Works, our Library Services, our Firefighters and Police Officers with their amazing bravery every day and yet always still holding a compassion for our community and its people. The City of Orange works because of the vision of our business leaders for their ideas, their entrepreneurial spirit,their willingness to step forward to help whenever we need it. The City of Orange works because together our children, our young adults, our husbands, wives, our families, our senior citizens all believe in a dynamic future in the City of Orange. They all believe that is what we need and that this is an amazing place to live. The pride in our community is an absolutely amazing and wonderful thing, and over the last 4 years I've gotten to see it from a front row. I've gotten to see people step up and volunteer at Rotary, at Kiwanis groups, the Library Foundation, the Community Foundation, July 3rd, the Street Fair, which we all know takes a toll on every single one of us, and it's simply a citizen getting involved and saying, "I want to make a difference in this City."I know that as I reflect on my last four years, I reflect on a journey with many, many milestones and incredible progress. Yet with all that we've accomplished, we have a lot more that remains to be done. Our future will be filled with familiar challenges and new found obstacles with everything from the state having its budget issues and trickling down to us, to traffic, parks and services in general. I believe that we as a council will continue to find success. We will continue to look forward. We will continue to be fiscally responsible and innovative in our ideas. We will be an amazing force in this city, in this county, and in this state. We will continue to be leaders amongst our colleagues in other cities as we have done these last four years. That's because I call this place home. That's because you call this place home and you deserve the absolute best.Thank you again for the blessing and the opportunity to serve each and every one of you. My neighbors, my friends, my family, our city. God bless each and every one of you. God bless the City of Orange. Thank you.Councilmember Teresa Smith Indeed it is my humble honor and pleasure to be elected again in service to the people of our cherished community of Orange, California. Again, in this campaign, like last time I put on this little bracelet of mine with orange crystals and four letters that spell HOPE. H-O-P-E. I wore it with my hope and prayers for Orange - for our health, success and prosperity and especially for peace in our community and in our world. I wore it with a prayer that if it were God's will and your decision, that I would be elected to a second term. First of all, I thank God for the gift of representing and serving the people of my hometown, beautiful Orange. Next, I thank you for your vote of confidence in placing me in this seat. It is a role and responsibility I do not take lightly.Page CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 2, 2008 I pledge to you my attention and dedication to the many issues large and small facing us today and in the future. If we listen to the news much these days, it can be very scary, but please remember that we live and work in Orange - a community that is over 120 years old, and that has weathered storms before by a conservative and thoughtful approach to finances, challenges, and good planning. Our city government is prepared to maintain our safe and stable way of life here.We will get through this rough economy again like we have before by planning and preparation,by listening to each other, by neighbors helping where we can, and by always sharing our faith in the spirit so much greater than ourselves. I believe that we will be strong together because that's the way we live in Orange. A city of 140,000 residents that still insists it's a small town with a voice and a role for everyone. We prove it by gathering with a parade in Orange Park Acres,Fireworks at Fred Kelly Field in July celebrating our American Independence, summer concerts at Hart Park, and a tree lighting in the Plaza each Christmas, our Street Fair, the OP A Fall barbeque, and the Little League and Girls Softball opening days - where hundreds of families turn out. We do seem to like to gather up like a small town.Speaking of community, by sitting here I am again reminded that democracy in our nation is indeed the work of many. No one takes elected office by himself or herself. I would just like to take a moment and offer a huge thank you to all the people who supported our campaign in so many ways. My heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you for your time and effort. My apologies for not naming you tonight - after all, I cannot divulge all of our campaign strategies.But you know that your names are written in my heart and I thank you. I do want to introduce to you the two people whose love for Orange rubbed off on me many years ago. Lifetime Orange residents, last week they celebrated 63 years of marriage. A couple of Panthers who met at Orange High, my dad and mom, Gene and Joan Smith. I thank the rest of my family for doing all those things in a campaign you can only ask of your family, especially my sign guys and the everlasting event cleanup committee. You are awesome! I love you all, my precious family. A very special thanks to our daughter Angela and son Patrick for standing up with me tonight - that means so much to me that you flew in. And my appreciation to a very special, understanding,and ridiculously patient Orange resident, my esteemed husband of 40 years, Mr. Billy Smith.I also want to thank my colleagues on this council for all of your support these past four years and for all you have taught me about this role. Each of us brings our own perspective and expertise to this table and I think we balance out nicely as a council. I miss Denis Bilodeau here tonight but I want to thank Denis for his experience with water and with traffic and of course his keen eye at identifying fire ants here at City Hall. He found them you know.. .out in the parking area. I thank Mayor pro tern Jon Dumitru for his passion and his experience with public safety.Jon, I recognize your ability to get our news on the radio or in the newspaper at a moments notice. We thank you. I thank Councilman Mark Murphy for being the keeper of the collective wisdom of recent council - his having served in this seat the longest. I appreciate your ability to guide us towards compromise and I love the convenience of my not carrying a calculator to council meetings because you can do all the math in your head so very fast, and I love that.Thank you. I thank Mayor Carolyn Cavecche for your creativity and your vision for our city.You have mentored me as a woman in elected office and I am deeply and truly appreciative for that. You delight in transportation and infrastructure issues - and I don't know why - and you're very good at that. To me, you epitomize grace under pressure and I thank you. I would be remiss Page 4 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 2, 2008 if I did not also acknowledge the ever too short 18 months I first served on this council with Steve Ambriz. Steve's passion for Orange's non-profits and community service groups still lives on and I thank Steve for carrying that torch in Orange.When I took office in 2004, I set six priority goals that responded to what I heard folks in Orange say that we needed. They were - adding police officers to our police department, enhancing our fire safety equipment, providing more code enforcement to our neighborhoods, reestablishing the position of an historic preservation planner in Community Development, building more trails along the Santiago Creek, and establishing a rail safety quiet zone. Together as a council and a community, and I agree with Mayor pro tern Dumitru, with the expertise of a truly great staff, I am pleased to say that we accomplished the first four; and we have the last two currently under way with our trails project that will take us from Main Street all the way to Santiago Hills Regional Park, and the Quiet Zone which we look to have completed within the next two years. Great accomplishments that we're very proud of. Am I happy about that.. .you bet! Proud of Orange, without question. I am so excited for the next four years with new goals, new challenges, new successes. I look forward to continuing the work of public safety with now familiar partners: the City of Orange Police Association and the Orange Firefighters. Thank you for your support and endorsement again during this campaign. I know we stand side by side for public safety for our community. Thank you to the Orange Chamber of Commerce for your endorsement and your strategy for business in Orange. I think we might have our work cut out for us in the next couple of years. Indeed I welcome the challenge to keep our City bright, safe, and enjoyable. I am ever aware of the interests and needs of all neighborhoods in Orange - from Orange Park Acres and East Orange to our early neighborhoods of West Orange; from Old Towne to North Orange and Olive Heights. The City built around the Plaza, 120 proud years of vibrant family and business activity. I would just like to close with sharing a couple of simple snapshots of life in sweet, sweet Orange that I collect in memory on days that are tough and maybe even a little discouraging.One scene that always warms my heart is thinking of the fun of the Orange Park Acres July 4th parade with all of the homemade floats and the horses and animals dressed up. It is usually quite hot weather, but at the end, there was Diane Siebert and her committee ladies who hand each and every parade participant an ice cold popsicle - and does that hit the spot after an hour or two in the parade. Another scene is that of one very hot day during the first summer I was in office. I happened to be driving around the Plaza at lunch time and as I went around, I looked into the fountain like I usually do for that little assurance that it gives me that says "Hey! I'm home in the loveliest city I know". When I looked at the fountain, Dana Robertson, our Parks Superintendent was standing in the fountain wearing a long sleeved shirt and tie on a 90 degree day. Of course, I gave it a second look and discovered gladly there was no water in the fountain,but Dana was pointing here and there and obviously directing a crew to do something. What struck me was his clothing. It was 90 degrees and he was working on the fountain, our city employee, working in public, of course, in shirt and tie. Our staff takes pride in their jobs. After my third spin around the plaza, laughing at what I was seeing there and saying "This only could happen in Orange", I proceeded up North Glassell and saw a group of about six Red Hat Society ladies. There they were, walking along. We've all seen them - laughing and smiling, arm and Page 5 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 2, 2008 arm, teasing each other and generally enjoying themselves, They were actually causing quite a scene in our plaza district, simply delighted to be in Orange, enjoying friends, shopping, our city visitors enjoying our businesses, our history, our hospitality. Continuing north, suddenly a whole flock of white birds circled up in the sky. I had seen them before in the neighborhood. They were just gorgeous and they kept circling and swooping and now I felt I was not really driving home; I was really in a movie of some sort. But I proceeded the couple of blocks home, and when I got to our house I signaled to turn left into our driveway. I waited a moment as an Orange High football player who had been practicing football in July in 90 degree weather was obviously walking home. He was walking on the sidewalk across our driveway so I had to stop. He was wearing Bermuda shorts and flip flops, and in the 90 degree weather, a brand spanking new orange and white thick, heavy, leather lettermans jacket. All buttoned up, shoulders back, puffed out. The buttons were about to pop for the pride of this Panther who was sporting the block "0" for Orange. I thought to myself there is really something good about this place called Orange. We learn about it when we're young in Orange and we still celebrate it when we're wearing red hats. I simply ask that God bless you and your families, your work and your play, and that God bless our sweet, sweet Orange. I thank you so much for the opportunity to serve as your councilwoman once again. God bless you. Mayor Carolyn Cavecche It has been a privilege to serve over these past two years as Mayor of this wonderful city; and I am so honored to be able to continue that service for another term. My prayer team, that we put together for every election, started praying during the Summer for an easy election for us this year. So I really need to thank them first given the election that I had. That is Sherri Clemens, Robin Frazier, Shaumeeron Paur, Susie Wallace, Adrienne Gladson, Mary Dargatz, Jeanie Wronski and"Nancy Collins. You have all been there from the very beginning and your commitment of support to my family is so very much appreciated. Thank you so very much. To my family - my mom is here today and although we're missing two this year, to Steven, Willy,Kendra and Rick - thank you so much for allowing me to do this. I love you very, very much.Two years ago when I was sworn in as Mayor, I stated that I had received a loud and clear message from the citizens of Orange and that protection of our neighborhoods and our quality of life would be my number one goal - and we really have accomplished that. We have increased code enforcement and police staffing, we've concentrated on graffiti removal efforts, we've passed ordinances to restrict the loitering of day laborers, we're renovating parks, building a new city gymnasium, and finally, a dream of a lot of us up here, a new trail system along Santiago Creek. Over these past two years, this council that is sitting up here with me, and our wonderful City staff, have worked hard to fulfill that promise and I would like to thank them and my colleagues very much. The next two years will bring many challenges and tough financial decisions. We will have to preserve and maintain our strong public safety unit, our police, our fire and public works. We have to have adequate staffing and strong policies in place to encourage and expedite economic development in our city. Now, we're going to need to accomplish this in a weakening economy Page 6 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 2, 2008 and as all cities are now facing across our nation, rapidly dropping revenues. We have to do all of this while protecting what makes our city so unique and special, which is preserving that hometown community, that feeling, that sets Orange apart from any other city in Southern California. I know that we are ready for that challenge. This is the best place to live. It is the most wonderful city to work in. I am just so pleased to be able to sit here for another two years. I'd like to congratulate my reelected colleagues, Councilmembers Tita Smith and Jon Dumitru, and also our City Clerk Mary Murphy and our Treasurer, Helen Walker. Congratulations. It is such a privilege to hold this office and to work for the residents of our incredible community and I would just like to thank you all very much. 5. ADJOURNMENT The City Council adjourned at 7:45 p.m. to the George Weimer Room for a reception in honor of the newly elected officials. Declaration of City Clerk, Mary E. Murphy, declaring posting of a City Council agenda of an Adjourned Regular Meeting of December 2, 2008 at Orange Civic Center kiosk, Police facility at 1107 North Batavia, and the Main Public Library at 407 E. Chapman; all ofsaid locations being in the City of Orange and freely accessible to members of the public at least 72 hours before commencement of said adjourned regular meeting. Page 7