City Council Candidates on the Issues
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CHECK OUT THE ALL-NEW WWW.SANCLEMENTETIMES.COM North Beach Steve Barrett Tritons Fall Referendum Honored as Life- Sports Preview Qualifi es guard of the Year 2010 EYE ON SC/PAGE 3 SC LIVING/PAGE 20 SPORTS/PAGE 23 SEPTEMBER 16–22, 2010 LOCAL NEWS YOU CAN USE VOLUME 5, ISSUE 37 VIEWPOINT: City Council Kick-Off Candidates on the Issues EYE ON SC/PAGE 7 www.sanclementetimes.com SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO DANA POINT The Planning Commission on Tuesday reluctantly This Friday, September 17, all three can- EyE on SC forwarded a downtown San Juan Capistrano 124- News didates—Richard Runge, Bob Moore and LOCAL NEWS & IN-DEPTH REPORTING room hotel, retail and commercial project on to Richard Dietmeier—competing for two seats the City Council. Many see the project as crucial Next on the South Coast Water District Board to reviving Capistrano’s historic downtown, but will speak at the Dana Point Civic Associa- the Planning Commission remains unsatisfied Door tion Coffee Chat. Issues such as future water with the project. “It’s just not there yet,” Com- sources, desalinization and land use of the What’S going on in mission Chairman Sheldon Cohen said. Gretchen our NeIghboring water district property adjacent to Stonehill Stroscher Thomson, a member of a longtime towns Blvd. will be discussed. SCWD provides water Capistrano family, proposes the Plaza Banderas and sewer service to over 40,000 residents Hotel; a mixed-use development that includes a and more than two million visitors each year in 74,973 square foot hotel and 4,500 square feet the communities of Dana Point, South Laguna of commercial land uses, including 6,509 square and areas of north San Clemente. The Dana SCSan feet of retail commercial floor area, a 5,747 square Point Civic Association presents Coffee Chat Clemente foot restaurant, and a 1,971 square foot private on the third Friday of each month beginning at office on the 3.18-acre parcel. The Planning Com- 8:30 a.m. at Coffee Importers, 34531 Golden mission moved the project to the council, but Lantern in the harbor. The public is welcome. with a requirement it return to the Design Review Free coffee will be served, courtesy of Coffee Committee and Planning Commission. Importers. San Clemente’s Top1 5 Hottest Topics What’s Up With... content areas into points on the API scale. 1 …North Beach 2 …SCHS Fees Cited 3 …Target Officially a Go? These points are averaged across all students and all tests. Referendum Qualifying? in Lawsuit? In San Clemente elementary schools, Clar- THE LATEST: Target’s capital expenditure ence Lobo saw scores drop 25 points to 822; committee has approved the Target store Concordia gained seven to 877; Las Palmas THE LATEST: The San Clemente City Clerk THE LATEST: A requirement that San Clem- project in San Clemente. dropped five to 785; Marblehead gained three confirmed Tuesday that a petition effort to ente High School students purchase books “This is great news for the city and to 817 and Vista del Mar dropped four to 906. stop the North Beach development gathered for English classes is among the examples citizens of San Clemente who look forward In the middle schools, Bernice Ayer gained enough signatures to force City Council ac- in an ACLU lawsuit that cites 40 school to expanded neighborhood retail services. 18 to 894; Shorecliffs dropped five to 817 and tion. districts statewide for allegedly violating the And, as a result of the completion of the Vista del Mar jumped 23 to 887. The City Council on September 21 can state’s Constitution requirement of a free entitlement process and other important San Clemente High lost nine points to 820. decide to withdraw its approval of the retail education. milestones, the new sports park and aquatic San Juan Hills was the lowest high school at development, or place the issue before voters. Capistrano Unified School District is one center can now be fully funded on a cash 810, while Tesoro was highest with 878. More than 7,800 signatures were submit- of six Orange County districts named in basis from this $13.8 million transaction,” ted, while only 4,095 from registered San the suit, which was filed Thursday in Los Mayor Jim Dahl said in a statement after WHAT’S NEXT: District officials said they Clemente voters were necessary. Angeles Superior Court and names the State Target’s September 9 decision. will work harder to improve scores among “We had over 50 signature collectors that of California and Governor Arnold Schwar- The land sale to Target included 14.79- students with special needs and English- are dedicated to making our village different,” zenegger as defendants. acres located across the street from the learners. said Charles Mann, a leader in the effort to The ACLU investigated several school future La Pata/Vista Hermosa Sports Park overturn the approval. “It is to them that we districts and discovered “a widespread & Aquatic Center at 987 Avenida Vista Her- FIND OUT MORE: See the district’s entire need to thank and recognize for their unself- practice” of forcing students to purchase mosa. After the land is graded, the site is statement and all of the district scores at the ish dedication and passion for seeing through textbooks, workbooks, and assigned novels expected to yield a 9- to 10-acre pad that will Beyond the Blackboard blog at www.sanclem- the mistakes and doing something about it.” for academic courses. School districts also support a 145,000-square-foot store. entetimes.com. —JV According to the city, the LAB Holding’s charged students to take Advanced Place- initial proposal included a one- and two-story ment examinations, which were course WHAT’S NEXT: Target is reviewing its mixed-use project with 65,000 square feet requirements and affected students’ grades. schedule but city officials said they an- 5 …A DUI Arrest at 8 a.m.? of retail, office and restaurant use. The LAB “School districts know they cannot ticipate construction will be completed by proposed to develop the Marblehead site and charge students for an education; this winter 2011. the adjoining Gallery property as a 75-room practice was struck down by the California THE LATEST: A 20-year-old San Clemente man hotel. The LAB offered to pay $3.7 million for Supreme Court in 1984,” Ramona Ripston, FIND OUT MORE: See www.sanclement- was arrested on suspicion of driving under the city-owned land necessary for the project. Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern etimes.com for past reports. —JV influence Wednesday after an 8 a.m. crash on On July 19, the City Council approved a California said in a statement. “The court the San Diego Freeway. scaled-down alternative of the Playa del Norte said no to pay-to-play then, and it should be California Highway Patrol officers respond- project that was just shy of 49,000 square feet. no different now.” 4 …San Clemente ed to a two-car collision in the southbound The project would go next to the Ole Hanson lanes of Interstate-5 just north of Camino Las Beach Club on what is now a parking lot. WHAT’S NEXT: CUSD officials are looking API Scores? Ramblas at 8 a.m. The crash had three lanes Developer Shaheen Sadeghi was unavail- at this issue closely, but has not had time to blocked and traffic backed up for miles in able for comment. fully investigate the ACLU examples listed, THE LATEST: Capistrano Unified School both directions. CUSD Chief Communications Officer Mar- District remains the top-scoring large district CHP Officer E. Barnard said a white Toyota WHAT’S NEXT: The City Council will discuss cus Walton said in a statement. in the state when it comes to the standard- Tacoma carrying two men from Norco was the issue at its meeting Tuesday, September “Of the three items listed for CUSD, we ized performance index, but San Clemente rear-ended by a black Audi. The driver of the 21. are concerned about the accuracy of some schools showed mixed results. Audi, Jesse James Matheny, 20, from San The issue comes too late for the November of the examples,” he said. “While we cannot The district’s Academic Performance Clemente, was taken into custody under suspi- election, and could be carried over to the comment on potential legislation, we are Index (API) rose to 862, a six-point increase cion of felony DUI. He was uninjured. next regular municipal election in November in the process of analyzing our practices to from 2009. Each of the 54 schools has an API The victims sustained moderate injuries but 2012, City Clerk Joanne Baade said. A special both comply with state rules and regulations above 750 and 91 percent have a score above refused ambulance transport to the hospital. election could also be scheduled at a much and ensure every student has access to the the state-mandated target of 800. Across the All lanes were reopened and traffic was higher cost. educational opportunities available in our state, just 46 percent of schools have reached flowing by 9:30 a.m., authorities said. district.” that mark. FIND OUT MORE: See the staff report for The API is a single number from 200 to WHAT’S NEXT: The District Attorney’s Office Tuesday’s meeting at www.sanclementetimes. FIND OUT MORE: See the lawsuit at the 1000 that reflects academic performance will decide whether to file charges against com. Beyond the Blackboard blog at www.sancle- level and growth based on the results of Matheny.