After being fierce competitors in Dana Point for over twenty years, Donna Kalez, General Manager of Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching, and Gisele Anderson, Vice President of Captain Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari, have joined forces to let the world know that Dana Point is officially now the Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World®!

To that end, I had the great pleasure of attending the Dana Point City Council meeting this week to present each of them a proclamation in honor of this outstanding achievement, as they have set aside their differences for the greater good of Dana Point, as well as the dolphins, and whales who live and visit our ocean waters off Dana Point and the people who need to know. 

Presenting proclamations to Gisele Anderson (left) and Donna Kalez (right)
with Dana Point Mayor Joe Muller.

Together the pair are now co-directors of Dana Point Whale Watching Company, Inc., with a sole purpose to promote Dana Point as the Dolphin & Whale Capital of the World®. To that end, the company hired a trademark attorney and after a year-long process was successfully awarded six trademarks from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. During the City Council meeting, they presented the City with a copy of the official trademark  declaring Dana Point as the Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World®. 

Gisele Anderson and Donna Kalez presenting the Dana Point City Council
with the official trademark.

There were nine criteria cited in the evidence to trademark Dana Point as the Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World®. Beginning with the NOAA report that Southern California has more than 450,000 resident common dolphins and more dolphin per square mile than anywhere else in the world, the criteria adds that Southern California’s almost pristine weather make it a year-round whale watching experience.

The waters off Orange County are also frequented by five species of dolphins and five species of whales throughout the year. Other criteria that separate Dana Point from other Orange County locales are, having the closest access to the deep offshore underwater coastal canyons that are just minutes from the Dana Point harbor, as well as Dana Point’s annual Festival of Whales, the oldest and longest-running Whale Festival in the World.

With Donna Kalez and Gisele Anderson. 

Congratulations to Donna Kalez and Gisele Anderson for their outstanding achievement, and the City of Dana Point upon officially being recognized as the Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World®!

I'm pleased to report the Orange County Board of Supervisors last week approved the OC Health Care Agency’s (HCA) application to the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) for the County of Orange’s share of one-time housing funds for Whole Person Care (WPC) pilots.

HCA has received word that the DHCS approved the application and will provide $3.4 million in funding to be used in collaboration with the Jamboree Housing Corporation to rebuild/redevelop an existing property located in the City of Orange for transitional supportive housing for people living with mental illness and experiencing homelessness.

The redeveloped property will house five to six individuals at a time for an average estimated time of four months, ultimately serving 15 to 18 clients per year. Transitional services would target WPC enrollees who qualified for a housing voucher and would benefit from a stable environment in which they can readily access their assigned housing navigator and receive housing sustaining services, such as budgeting, landlord/tenant relations, etc.

WPC is the coordination of physical, behavioral health, and social services in a patient-centered approach with the goals of improved health and well-being through more efficient and effective use of resources for Medi-Cal beneficiaries struggling with homelessness.

WPC also promotes increased communication between hospital emergency rooms, CalOptima, community clinics,  HCA Behavioral Health Services and Public Health Services as well as recuperative care providers to improve access and navigation of services for the homeless population. To learn more about the County’s Whole Person Care program, please click here.

As reported in my newsletter last week, the Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance that will provide greater oversight over group and sober living homes in the unincorporated areas of Orange County.

Under the ordinance, sober living homes in the 5th District unincorporated communities of Coto de Caza, Emerald Bay, Ladera Ranch, Las Flores, Rancho Mission Viejo, Stonecliffe and Wagon Wheel cannot be within 650 feet of any other sober living home or State-licensed alcohol or drug abuse treatment facility.

Historically, our County lacked a mechanism to identify and track the location of sober living homes. With this ordinance, sober living homes in unincorporated areas must obtain permits that require them to have 6 or fewer occupants with a house manager on site 24 hours and develop a good neighbor policy.

To report sober living homes or other group homes out of compliance with the ordinance, please call the Neighborhood Preservation number at 1-866-552-8120.

John Wayne Airport (JWA) has announced the introduction of Viewpoint, a new user-friendly platform for community members to submit noise events.  Fully integrated with the Airport’s Noise and Operations Management System, this streamlined system automatically submits noise event information to the Access and Noise Office, improving consistency and facilitating more efficient data collection.

The Viewpoint portal allows users to submit questions or concerns about a noise event directly from their mobile device or computer and users can create a personal profile where a historical log of noise event submissions is stored. There is also an interactive telephone voice response system, including voice to text transcription. For more information and to download the Viewpoint portal, click here. To access the Viewpoint automated telephone system, call 949-252-5185.

Community members can also utilize the VOLANS flight track viewer, where users can view aircraft data including origin/destination, altitude, aircraft type, heading, and flight number. VOLANS allows users to view flights in near real-time, or to playback historical data. For more information about the John Wayne Airport Access and Noise Office, click here. 

Cox Communications and The Trust for Public Land has announced Laguna Bluebelt environmental leader Jinger Wallace as the “California 2019 Cox Conserves Hero” with an award of a $10,000 contribution to the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition – a community based non-profit dedicated to protect marine life and restore coastal “hope spot” habitats.  

Jinger is now a candidate for the National Award of $50,000 to also be donated to the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition. Voting by the public has begun and runs through October 15 at www.coxconservesheroes.com/vote.   

Jinger was honored for her work to reduce dry weather urban runoff, which endangered public health, polluted Aliso Creek, and impacted the nearby State Marine Conservation Area. 

After observing children playing in the polluted pond water at the beach, Jinger sought out partnerships with surrounding water districts, county and city agencies to address the source of the problem – inland urban runoff. 

Through her efforts and collaboration with my office, new signage at Aliso Beach now warns the public of the pollution dangers of urban runoff in the creek. 

Further success this summer resulted from working with inland cities and Moulton Niguel Water District to reduce the flow of dry weather urban runoff in Aliso Creek by 50%. 

The Aliso Beach Sand Berm now remains in place for longer periods of time to provide greater public access and safeguard public health from urban runoff. Jinger encourages local residents to become a “Berm Buddies” and speak up in support of protecting the Aliso Beach Sand Berm.

Jinger’s dedication to a healthy ocean has won the support and accolades of many, as she was also recognized by the OC Register as one of Orange County’s 100 Most Influential People in 2018. 

Ongoing community events raising public awareness include the Annual Laguna Bluebelt Photo Contest organized by Jinger’s dynamic team. Now in its 10th year, the contest engages talented photographers to capture the beauty and vitality of the ocean. The contest boasts over 500 entries and gives generous prizes from local businesses.

Other education events include the Laguna Art Museum’s “Art & Nature” Family Day, KelpFest at Main Beach, and presentations to regional government ocean water quality agencies. 

Congratulations to our very own Jinger Wallace! For more information, please click here. Let's all help Jinger now win the National Award and vote for her no later than October 15! 

Recycling is more important now than ever, and we all need to do our part to recycle right. To help, OC Waste & Recycling (OCWR) has launched a new online tool, the OC Recycle Guide. The simple and easy-to-use site makes figuring out where to bring items you want to recycle as easy as 1-2-3!

1.       Visit OCRecycleGuide.com

2.       Type in the item you want to recycle

3.       Click for details on where to take the item

Can’t find the item you need? Click here to contact OC Waste & Recycling. Together we can learn to recycle right and keep unnecessary waste out of our landfills.

For more information, click here. For more tips on waste management and recycling, follow OCWR on social media @OCWaste.

I'm pleased to report John Wayne Airport (JWA) will embark on a multi-year project to replace compressed natural gas (CNG) powered vehicles with electric zero emissions vehicles, funded in part by the Airport Zero Emissions Vehicle and Infrastructure Pilot Program (ZEV) administered by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The $2.1 million grant will provide 80% funding for the purchase of three zero emissions shuttle buses, charging equipment, and infrastructure modifications.

The ZEV program is designed to facilitate the implementation of zero emissions vehicles at airports, encouraging technology advancement and raising community awareness. By switching to electrically-powered shuttle buses, the Airport will reduce emissions and improve Airport air quality.

JWA shuttle buses provide transportation between the Airport terminal and the public and employee parking lots on Main Street. Based on the estimated timeline for procurement, installation and infrastructure improvements, the new electric shuttle vehicles should be operational in early 2021.

For more information, click here. For more information about JWA's Environmental Policies and Practices, please click here.

The Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector (TTC) reminds us that the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 Secured Property Tax Bills were mailed to taxpayers the week of September 30. THE TTC will be mailing approximately 850,000 property tax bills over a seven-day period. The property tax bills are now available to view, print or pay on the TTC website. 

The first and second installments are due on November 1, 2019 and February 1, 2020 respectively. The last day to make your timely payment for the first installment will be December 10, 2019 and for the second installment will be April 10, 2020.

Payments made or postmarked after these dates will be assessed a late penalty. If you receive a RED property tax bill, you have a prior year’s property tax bill that is unpaid. To check to see if you have any delinquent property tax bills or any property tax refunds on your property, view your online property tax statement by inputting your parcel or address.

We encourage you to use the ease and convenience of paying your property taxes by eCheck at no cost through the TTC's secure website. You can also pay online using debit/credit cards (service charges apply). 

Please note that the property tax bills for the previous ten years and payment details for the last two years are also available on our website and you can view properties on a GIS map on our new “Mello” app  or at our other GIS site. You can also sign up to receive an email or text reminder!  

For more than 30 years, Southern California families have marked their calendars for the first Sunday in October in anticipation of Seafest, a great day fun in San Clemente with a surf contest, arts and crafts show, and a U.S. Coast Guard rescue demonstration. For more information on San Clemente Seafest, click here.

This year, the popular annual event takes place October 6. The best way to get there is by train. The Seafest venue is right next to the Metrolink station at the San Clemente Pier station. Step off the train, and you’re there – relaxed and ready after avoiding traffic by riding the train.

Taking Metrolink to the event is very affordable. Adults can travel all day on Saturday or Sunday for just $10. Have kids 5 years old and under? Each paying adult can bring up to three free. You can also enter to win two free Metrolink tickets. 

OC Public Libraries invites to join historical fiction author Anne Cleeland at Foothill Ranch Library on Monday, October 7 at 5:30 PM, as she discusses how to get started writing your own book, including basic structure and the elements of goal, motivation and conflict. For more information, call (949) 855-8072.

The Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association has released the October edition of its e-newsletter, The Doheny UPDATE, featuring information on upcoming events and activities at Doheny State Beach.

• Attended the Dana Point City Council meeting to present proclamations to Donna Kalez and Gisele Anderson for successfully trademarking Dana Point as the Dolphin & Whale Watching Capital of the World®.
• Participated in the Permanent Supportive Housing Working Group, which advises the Council of Regional Homeless Advisors.
• Participated as 1st Vice President of CSAC at the Executive Committee Retreat.

Presenting proclamations to Gisele Anderson (left) and Donna Kalez (right)
with Dana Point Mayor Joe Muller.

With Ridley Thomas, Co-Chair of the Governor's Council of Regional
Homeless Advisors.

• Participated in the opening ceremonies for the 2nd Annual Greek Festival in San Juan Capistrano.
• Presented a certificate of recognition in honor of the ribbon cutting ceremony for Lake Forest Grooming & Pet Spa.
• Attended the Orange County Vector Control District's 2nd Annual Legislative Open House.

My Community Relations Advisor, Sergio Prince, with (L-R) San Juan Capistrano Chamber of Commerce CEO George Peppas III, Mayor Brian Maryott, and Fr. Bill Tragus of Saint Basil Greek Orthodox Church, at the Greek Festival in San Juan Capistrano.

At the ribbon cutting for Lake Forest Grooming & Pet Spa.
(Photo courtesy of Takata Photo & Design)

At the Orange County Vector Control District's Legislative Open House.