Please allow me to introduce to you Declan Wolfgang Klotz.
After 14 hours of labor he finally decided to join us and I couldn’t be more excited, happy, and overcome with emotion upon entering this new chapter in life.

 I had the honor of offering congratulatory remarks to the eight Inductees of the 2019 Surfing Walk of Fame Class at the Induction Ceremony. The event took place across the street from the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing at Pacific Coast Highway/Main in Surf City USA.

The Woman of the Year Inductee is 27-year old Courtney Conlogue. To be eligible for Induction you have be a U.S. or World Champion for ten years. Courtney won her first championship at age sixteen. Wow!

I had the honor of giving the welcoming and introductory remarks for the Orange County Sanitation District’s Centrifuge Facility Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, as well as the District’s 65th Anniversary.

The new facility brings online some of the largest centrifuges in the world used in wastewater treatment, and implements technology that reduces the volume of biosolids produced. This will not only save the District approximately $4 million per year, it also reduces their environmental footprint.

It was a pleasure to have staff on hand to present a certificate of recognition to Bill Lyon and Mark Foster, President of Martin Aviation and Lyon Air Museum, on behalf of the Museum for receiving the Patriotism Award from AmVets.

This award is presented to businesses who properly and proudly display the American Flag outside everyday, thereby demonstrating their love of country and honoring our nation’s Veterans.

Lyon Air Museum does that and so much more. As you can see by the pictures, they immaculately preserve and display WWII aircraft for all to enjoy. And, everyone of the planes are airworthy and still fly.

It was an honor to participate in the Official Grand Re-Opening of the Seal Beach Pier with the Mayor, City Council Members, and staff of my hometown of Seal Beach.

Our iconic Pier has been destroyed or damaged six times since 1904. The latest incident happened three years ago which closed down a portion. Capable City Leadership and staff maneuvered through the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the California Coastal Commission to bring us the new, improved Pier.

I want to congratulate the Mayor and City Council as well as city staff and the contractor for working hard together to ensure our Pier re-opened in time for summer. What a great job! I’m proud of you all!

This July 22nd I had the pleasure of participating in the Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce 2019 Legislative Breakfast. This great annual event is an opportunity for residents to come out and hear from their local elected officials, as well as ask questions.

Chamber President/CEO Memory Bartlett, Her Board of Directors and staff were excellent hosts. Master of Ceremonies Larry Crandall kept us in line and on time. Congratulations on another successful Breakfast!

On July the 18th I hosted my annual Commissioners Breakfast to bring together my appointees to the various County Boards and Commissions for a round table discussion.

While a number of them are on vacation, we still had a great turnout and very productive dialogue. This Breakfast is a great opportunity for the Commissioners to share with me and one another. We all learn a lot.

I’m blessed to have such high-caliber ladies and gentlemen serving the County. I appreciate their dedication and am proud of all of them!

This August, John Wayne Airport is partnering with Make-A-Wish® Orange County and the Inland Empire to help grant wishes for local children battling critical illnesses through the ‘Trips that Transform’ campaign encouraging travelers to donate their unused, low balance or soon-to-expire airline miles for American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, or United Airlines.

Every donated mile helps Wish kids and their families travel to destinations across the Country. Help the local chapter accumulate the more than 44 million air miles needed each year to grant a life-changing wish by visiting www.ocair.com/wish. Once donated, airline miles never expire.

Have you ever been a Wishcycler?

Wishcycling is placing an item in the recycling bin without being certain it belongs there. Although well-intentioned, it can cause more harm than good. Items that do not belong in a recycling bin can potentially contaminate a good batch of recyclables or damage sorting machinery at collection facilities. According to OC Waste & Recycling, some common wishcycled items are:

• Wire hangers
• Cardboard pizza boxes with leftover grease
• Razor blades
• Batteries
• Laminated paper

Recycling the right way will benefit the environment. To stop wishcycling you can:

• Contact your hauler or local recycling coordinator for more information on what goes into your blue bin
• Learn what goes into your recycling bin versus what needs to be taken to a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center
• Research recycling and upcycling online

For more information on waste and recycling, visit oclandfills.com and follow OCWR on social media @OCWaste.

Stay Informed: With the new 405 Project App, you will be able to stay up-to-date with project-related traffic closures and the latest photos and videos. Plus, OCTA has partnered with Waze. You’ll be able to find real-time traffic and road updates on the Waze app directly from OCTA and other drivers. You can also, visit OCTA.net/405map for an interactive live schedule of the improvement project as its happening. You’ll be able to check your travel routes for detours or construction-related impacts. Here are some other helpful resources:

Facebook.com/405improvement
Follow @405_Improvement on Twitter and Instagram
Email 405project@octa.net
Call 888-400-8994

The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday finalized the County’s strategy to end veteran homelessness by December 2020, directing County staff to contract with a housing navigator to assist veterans in their search for housing.

“We must take care of the men and women who served our country. We are making progress with Marching Home, by connecting homeless veterans to the resources and services they need, including their families,” said Vice Chair Michelle Steel, Second District Supervisor.

Marching Home: A Strategy to End Veteran Homelessness in Orange County will develop a systematic, intentional and sustainable multi-sector response to veterans in need of assistance and promote coordination of and collaboration with many partners to meet veterans’ needs.

After the 2019 Point In Time counted 311 veterans experiencing homelessness, the Board directed the Office of Care Coordination to create a strategy to end veteran homelessness.

The strategy aims to reach out to and provide all veterans access to available housing resources by December 2020. The County has collaborated with the Department of Veterans Affairs to host Veteran Housing Resource Fairs in all three regional Service Planning areas to engage veterans experiencing homelessness. Central and North Service Planning Areas had their resource fairs in June and July. The South Service Planning Area resource fair is scheduled for August 30.

Resources for veterans include vouchers for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing, or HUD-VASH. Currently 80 veterans have a HUD-VASH voucher and are searching for available housing unit. The Orange County, Anaheim and Santa Ana housing authorities have another 400 HUD-VASH vouchers to issue to veterans seeking housing.

To provide more housing by December 2020, 139 HUD-VASH project-based units are under development, including the 75-unit Santa Ana Veterans Village opening in March 2020, 49-unit Placentia Veterans Village in August 2020 and the 15-unit Salerno at Cypress in September 2020.

Click here to read the full strategy, and for additional information please visit the Office of Care Coordination’s website, www.ocgov.com/gov/ceo/care.