Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/author/mandrade/)
Indigenous activists and community members are calling on the San Juan Capistrano City Council to move forward on the development of a cultural park they say was promised to them by the city, after the plan to create an open-air park to honor one of the area’s original villages, Putuidem, was suspended in April.
Stanton residents will have a chance to vote on a marijuana tax Nov. 5 which, if approved, would lay the framework for marijuana-related businesses to come into the city.
Plans to construct a 16-foot barrier-fence around parts of the former Ascon Landfill site in Huntington Beach start this week, although the project intended to clean 46 years of oil waste and debris from the location remains at a standstill.
Huntington Beach officials are moving to investigate the noise impacts from nearby Long Beach Airport.
The San Clemente City Council, facing a fiery public comments session during a special meeting where several of the 12 speakers expressed frustration with council inaction over the city’s contract with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), unanimously approved the $16.3 million contract.
The San Clemente City Council will hold a special meeting Wednesday, June 26 at 1 p.m. to renew their contract with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) before their current agreement expires July 1. This abruptly-scheduled meeting comes after council members failed to adopt the 2019-20 agreement June 18.
Residents expressed frustration with what they said was an increased number of homeless people loitering in the park during Tuesday’s City Council meeting, where the dais unanimously agreed to put an expiration date on the encampment. Jinhy Yoon, a San Clemente resident, said she no longer feels safe bringing her five-year-old daughter to the park.
Council members will also be hearing updates on the toll road extension project and San Onofre, both of which have also generated much community discussion.
The installation is the city’s latest effort to control trash flow into the bay. Other projects, such as monthly beach cleanups and the recently-purchased $1.7 million trash-filtering water wheel approved by the City Council members on Sept. 25, focus on removing existing trash from the bay’s waters.
Residents in the audience voiced concerns about the budget item not being made public to them until the meeting, and some cited possible Brown Act violations committed by the city. Public commenters called for transparency on the dais. The Brown Act is California’s government open meeting law.