Welcome to this issue of Janet’s Journal, a First District Report designed to keep you updated on issues and events concerning our communities in Orange County especially in the First District.

I am proud and honored to represent over 600,000 people within the First District covering the cities of Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Westminster and the unincorporated community of Midway City.

I hope you will find this journal informative. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,
Supervisor Janet Nguyen

Janet.Nguyen@ocgov.com

IN THIS ISSUE...

1. Board of Supervisors

2. Health Bulletin

3. Youth Connection

4. Janet Around the First District

5. Local Issues

6. Requests for Proposals

7. Community Events

Click here to subscribe.

Click here to unsubscribe

On Friday, February 26th, I had the opportunity to attend the 50th Anniversary celebration at Bolsa Grande High School. While I am a proud graduate of Garden Grove High School, I was happy to present a proclamation recognizing Bolsa Grande for its long history in our community.

As we enter into the early spring season, it is difficult to believe we are already a third of the way into 2010. I hope you will find the information below helpful, especially the information regarding the upcoming Census and the community events in our First District cities.

Orange County Ranked in Top 10 in Recent Health Study

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin's Population Health Institute recently released new county health rankings for every state in the country. Out of the 56 California counties ranked, Orange County came in seventh for health outcomes and ninth for health factors.

Health outcomes measure how health a county is based on mortality and morbidity and health factors measure influences on the health of the county such as residents' education, smoking and the environment.

Researchers used five measures to assess the level of overall health: the rate of people dying before the age of 75; the percentage of people who reported being in fair or poor health; the number of days people reported being in poor physical health; the number of day sin poor people reported being in poor mental health; and the rate of low birth weight infants. Researchers then looked at factors that affect people's health within four categories: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.

For more information about this study, visit www.countyhealthrankings.org/california. For more information about the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, visit www.rwjf.org.

Compassionate Allowances Expanded by Social Security Administration

In its effort to improve and expedite the disability determination process, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced on February 11, 2010, that it will add 38 more conditions to its list of Compassionate Allowances.

Launched in 2008, with a list of 50 diseases, the Compassionate Allowances Program quickly identifies diseases and other medical conditions that clearly qualify for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability benefits. It allows the agency to electronically target and make prompt decisions for the most obviously disabled individuals. In developing the expanded list of conditions, Social Security held public hearings and worked closely with the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer's Association, the National Organization for Rare Disorders and other groups.

The Social Security Administration's proactive efforts to "fast track" certain conditions will help to reduce the backlog of disability claims and, more importantly, ensure those claims that fall under this initiative will be decided within days instead of months or years. A complete list of the new Compassionate Allowance conditions is available, here.

Child Safety Seat Mini-Grant Program

As part of a countywide effort to prevent injuries among Orange County's children, the Health Care Agency has announced a Request for Applications (RFA) for the Child Safety Seat Mini-Grant Program. Organizations selected to participate will not receive funds, but will receive child safety seats to hand out to low income families, and training for child passenger safety.

In order to be considered, the original, signed application and five copies of the application must be received no later than 4 p.m. on Monday, March 22, 2010.

Applications should be personally delivered or mailed to the following address:

Mary Pritchard, Contract Administrator
County of Orange Health Care Agency
405 West 5th Street, Suite 600
Santa Ana, CA 92701

Youth Speak Contest

Orange County Human Relations invites students in Grades 8 - 12 to prepare a short, inspirational speech on why young people should take a stand against oppression and injustice.

The Rules:

• The competition is open to all Orange County students in grades 8 through 12 provided they are not related to an Orange County Human Relations Commissioner, Board member, employee or Human Relations Associates Program member or have not won previously.
• The speech is to be about the importance of young people taking a stand against oppression and injustice.
• Applicants may use example(s) of a time(s) they, or another young person, defended the rights of others.
• The speech must be the original work of the contestant, should be inspirational or motivational and be between 300 and 400 words long.
• A double-spaced, printed version of the speech and a separate contest entry form must be submitted to OC Human Relations by 9 a.m., March 15th. Click here for the entry form.
• The three finalists must deliver their speech at an OC Human Relations reception at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 8th.

Workers begin to lift the new gateway arch into place at the South end of Main Street in downtown Garden Grove at the corner of Main Street and Garden Grove Boulevard. The arch is the first capital improvement to Main Street in more than 30 years.


At the official ceremony, Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, lifts the veil from the new gateway arch, marking the entrance to Historic Main Street in downtown Garden Grove. Supervisor Nguyen allocated the funding necessary to make the arch project a reality.


Utilizing LED lighting to conserve energy, the new gateway arch on Main Street is lit up for the first time on February 26, 2010. Historic Main Street is the home of many long-time Garden Grove businesses and restaurants. Main Street also hosts a classic car show on Friday evenings (weather permitting).


Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, is joined by Garden Grove City Councilman Andrew Do, Scott Weimer of Weimer and Associates, Dan MacLeith of Pacific Westline, Chris Canzone of C & C Signs, Garden Grove Mayor Bill Dalton, Planning Commissioner Tom Bonikowski, Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Lecong and Orange County Airport Commissioner Cheri Pham at the unveiling of the new gateway arch to Historic Main Street in downtown Garden Grove.


Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, joins Garden Grove Planning Commissioner Tom Bonikowski, Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Lecong and USO Ride to Recovery participants in the annual TET Parade in Westminster on February 13, 2010.


Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, joins Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Lecong, Garden Grove Planning Commissioner Tom Bonikowski, Orange County Airport Commissioner Cheri Pham and Garden Grove City Councilman Andrew Do at a TET Lunar New Year Mass at the Dien Ngu Temple in Westminster.


Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, presents a proclamation to Bolsa Grande High School principal Denise Jay and student leaders at the 50th Anniversary celebration on February 26, 2010.


Supervisor Janet Nguyen, Chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, joins County CEO Tom Mauk and Chief of Protocol Joanne Sokolski in presenting a certificate of recognition to Mr. Jaesuk Bae, the General Secretary of the GCS and his delegation.

* The following articles are for informational purposes only and are not necessarily intended to imply endorsement or support.

Orange County

Census 2010

Garden Grove

Stricter Fines Imposed on Graffiti and Other Violations to City's Municipal Code
Beginning March 1, 2010, Garden Grove officials will begin issuing administrative citations for possession of graffiti instruments with new fines ranging up to $1,000. If the violator is a juvenile, the parent or guardian receives the citation and becomes financially responsible for the fine.

In 2007, the Garden Grove City Council passed an ordinance allowing police officers to issue administrative citations for illegal fireworks violations, with fines up to $1,000. On July 4, 2007, 150 citations with the $1,000 fine were issued. In 2008, only 67 citations for the same amount were issued. Last year, police officers responded to 45 percent fewer fireworks calls than the previous year.

Since the administrative citation process proved effective in reducing illegal fireworks activity, in June 2009, the process was expanded to include all Garden Grove Municipal Code violations. The City is currently undertaking a major, multi-lingual informational campaign on the new administrative citation process and fines. Information is available via the City's website, here.

Santa Ana

KaBOOM! Project Unites Bishop Manor Neighborhood
Supervisor Janet Nguyen is proud to announce the building of a new playground in the Bishop Manor neighborhood. The playground, part of project KaBOOM, will be built by volunteers in two phases. This playground will be a tremendous asset to this community. The neighborhood is in the process of transformation and the children of Bishop Manor, and their parents, will now have a new, safe place to play and congregate.

After several months of interviews, the Bishop Manor Homeowner's Association, in partnership with America On-Track, was chosen to be a part of the KaBOOM playground project. Over the past 12 years, project KaBOOM has built more than 1,300 playgrounds in communities like Bishop Manor across the United States.

The project at Bishop Manor truly is a community effort, as participation has included Bishop Manor residents, community partners such as Supervisor Nguyen, as well as business leaders. "We are all a part of the community and it is important that we all come together to make this playground a reality for the residents of Bishop Manor," said Chair Nguyen.

The playground will be completed in two phases, the first of which involves the prep work for the playground. On Thursday, March 11, 2010, volunteers will gather from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to begin some of the assembly required. Phase two involves the actual build day and will be held on Saturday, March 13, 2010. Volunteers will arrive at 7:45 a.m. to begin the final stages of the project, with the ribbon cutting ceremony taking place at 2:30 p.m.

For more information about the KaBOOM project, visit http://kaboom.org/.

Westminster

New Telephone System for City Hall
Effective February 10, 2010 City extensions were changed and are now four digits in length. The new telephone system allows the public to dial City departments directly.

Please refer to the list below for department telephone numbers:

All numbers are in the 714 area code:

Water Service (General Line): 548-3250
Code Enforcement: 548-3246
Graffiti Hotline: 548-3253
Mayor & City Council: 548-3240
City Manager: 548-3242
City Clerk: 548-3237
Community Services: 895-2860
Economic Development: 548-3235
Public Information: 548-3236
Building Division: 548-3254
Planning Division: 548-3247
Housing & Grants: 548-3248
Human Resources: 548-3244
Public Works: 895-2876
Public Works Engineering: 548-3243
Senior Center: 895-2878
Finance Department: 548-3238

The Westminster Police Department will keep their existing number at: 714-898-3315. For additional information on how to reach a specific department or employee, please dial the City's telephone number 714.898.3311. Please listen to the entire message as you will be instructed on how to reach the desired department/employee you wish to speak to.

Westminster High School Wins O.C. Academic Decathlon
Westminster High has won the Orange County Academic Decathlon, the third time in the last four years the school has claimed the championship in the annual competition. The decathlon took place January 30th through February 6th at various high schools throughout the county. The ceremony was held on February 11th at Orange Coast College.

The Orange County decathlon features a two-day, 10-event competition. Teams from all 39 Orange County private and public high schools take part in the event. Students are tested in math, economics, language and literature, science, music, art, speech, interview, social science and essay. Each nine-member team includes three "A" students, three "B" students, and three "C" students.

The Academic Decathlon program was pioneered in Orange County 41 years ago by then-Orange County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Robert Peterson. The late Dr. Peterson founded the California decathlon in 1979 and the U.S. decathlon in 1981, all while working as Orange County schools superintendent.

As the Overall Team Winner, Westminster High School will represent Orange County at the California Academic Decathlon competition in March in Sacramento. The overall winner of the California competition will go on to vie in the U.S. Academic Decathlon in April.

Congratulations and best of luck in Sacramento!

County of Orange
There are currently many new bids to contract with the County of Orange. For more information, please click here.

To contact Supervisor Janet Nguyen, please call 714-834-3110 or email Janet.Nguyen@ocgov.com.