COMMUNITY Fullerto♥ n bsCeALErNDAvR Peage 1r 4-15 O EAR FULLERTON’S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS • Est.1978 (printed on 20% recycled paper) • Y 38 #15 • MID SEPTEMBER 2016 Submissions: [email protected] • Contact: (714) 525-6402 • Read Online at : www.fullertonobserver.com CANDIDATES FOR LOCAL OFFICE Meet & Greet Sept. 19 at Fullerton Public Library NUFF Event Members of the public will have a unique opportunity to speak one-on-one with candidates for Fullerton City Council and Trustees of the 2 local school districts at a “Meet and Greet” forum hosted by Neighbors United for Fullerton. The forum will be held in the Osborne Room of the Fullerton Public Library from 6:45 to 8:30 on Monday, September 19. Voters everywhere sometimes become engaged in public issues after decisions have been made or are on the brink. Often this becomes a matter of too-little- too-late. NUFF offers this free public forum with the intention of supporting the public in selecting the most thought - ful and informed candidates to carry our city and schools forward. At this event individuals may meet informally with the local candidates and discuss issues relevant to their specific concerns. Candidates will not be making formal presentations, but will reserve the time for individual conver - sations. continued on page 4 JOYA Scholars Melanie Gamez, Ashley Garcia, Stephanie Hernandez, Lorena Zamora, and Rodrigo Zamora are preparing for college. JOYA Scholars by Ellen Ballard 7 . A 7 S D . 5 C I The mission statement of JOYA says it of the residents hold down two or more D 1 U A E . N P all: inspiring and preparing students from jobs. Some neighborhood residents are T D O O E R R N T families of low-income communities in recent immigrants learning a new language G A O R T A S D I E Fullerton to succeed through higher educa - and fitting into a new culture. Here’s a star - T E L N S M R L A tion. I saw the mission statement in action tling fact: until very recently there had O P R T U P E S F as I met with five students from the Garnet been no college graduates to emerge from P Neighborhood. I heard and talked with the Garnet Neighborhood in over a decade. motivated, determined young people, all of The students I met with and the other 28 whom will be the first in their family to scholars in the program will be change- attend college. The five students live in a agents for that grim statistic. working-class neighborhood where many continued on page 17 OC H UMAN RELATIONS HATE CRIME REPORT The Orange County Human Relations dropped from 11 to 7; those against Latinos T Plummer Progress N 25th annual Hate Crime Report compiling dropped from 3 to 2; those targeting Asians by Brydon Shirk E L data on hate crimes and incidents county - remained at 3; and those targeting L D The Fullerton Joint Union High School A I wide in 2015 was released last month. Data Christians and Muslims increased from 1 to C S 2 E collected by OC Human Relations is used 2. Mark Potok at Southern Poverty Law District Board of Trustees met at their reg - S E 0 R I ular meeting on September 6, 2016. E 4 R to focus resources to eradicate bigotry and Center reports a 14% growth of hate T V 6 R Assistant Superintendent of Human - R combat hate crime. The report is available groups nationwide in 2015. T E E 5 V Resources Ed Atkinson noted that the dis - S N online at www.ochumanrelations.org. Hate Crimes : Hate crimes are criminal 2 D B E 5 A message from OC Human Relations acts committed in whole or in part against trict has a long-standing commitment to A - R O 4 Commission Chair Becky Esparza victims due to their actual or perceived dis - Performing Arts and to Plummer O R E 1 Auditorium. The district has earmarked T 7 U H explained the purpose of the report. ability, gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, T C “It is not until we hold ourselves account - religion, or sexual orientation. These range $30 million from Measure I Bond funds N to modernize theaters on all of the school I R able to these truths that we can create com - from racist, homophobic, or religious graf - sites, including seating, lighting, sound O munities where people are safe and includ - fiti on private property to threats or actual ed. Over the last 45 years the OC Human assaults, attempted murder or murder. and other upgrades. A new Performing Relations Commission has helped people Hate Incidents: Hate incidents are Arts Center will be built on the campus of who have faced prejudice, intolerance and behaviors motivated by the same bias La Habra High School. discrimination and sought to educate all towards people but that do not rise to the Evan Shirk was rehired to fill the newly residents about bigotry.” criminal level of violence, such as distribut - created job of Performing Arts Lead. Dr. Not all hate crimes and incidents are ing racist fliers or letters and verbal assaults. Atkinson is heading up the work to write reported. But analysis of the reported hate If you are the victim or witness of a hate a new job description for an Assistant incidents showed a dramatic increase from crime or incident report the occurrence to Performing Arts Lead which he hopes to 14 in 2014 to 43 in 2015; 37 of those inci - local police and report online to the OC have completed by next week. 4 3 dents targeted Muslims and those perceived Human Relations at www.ochumanrela - Continued on page 4 8 N 2 R to be Muslim, including the Sikh commu - tions.org/hatecrime or call 714-480-6570. 9 1 Related story on page 8 O 5 E A 0 nity. During the same period data showed Related item on page 19 T V 7 C R an increase in hate crimes from 40 in 2014 R X N E E O O to 44 in 2015; crimes targeting the OBSERVER SUBSCRIPTION RENEWAL TIME L S B T R L B LGBTQ community increased from 8 in If you would like to continue to receive your paper by mail through the US Postal O E P U L 2014 to 11 in 2015 and those targeting the Service remember to send in your annual $25 (in-town) or $35 (out-of-town) sub - O L F U Jewish community increased from 6 to 7. scription price now through October so we will keep you on the list! Thank You! F Crimes targeting African Americans Send to: Fullerton Observer, PO Box 7051, Fullerton, CA 92834 Page 2FULLERTON OBSERVER COMMUNITY OPINIONS MID SEPTEMBER 2016 OUT OF MY MIND Toucan Sighting I saw the toucan at 5:30am on Sept. 5 © 2016 Fullerton by Jon Dobrer [email protected] in a very dense city tree on the NW cor - bserver ner of Ford and Wilshire near the O I HAVE NO PRESCRIPTION Fullerton Fountains. Unfortunately my Over many decades, I have both written tion. I never envisioned that after Roe v camera battery was dead. I have it charged The Fullerton Observer Community up for next time! Newspaper, founded by Ralph and Natalie and spoken on the great moral and politi - Wade a counterrevolution would come so D. Corbo Fullerton Kennedy and a group of friends in 1978, is cal issues of our time. Most of my words far. I never imagined, after working to reg - staffed by local citizen volunteers who create, have been directed at illuminating the ister African American voters in the 1960s publish, and distribute the paper throughout issues. I want to take complex topics and and after the Voting Rights Act of 1964, Re: Letter from Kitty our community. make them understandable. I want people that the current Supreme Court would I was disappointed and angry to read This venture is a not-for-profit one with Kitty Jaramillo’s letter in your Early all ad and subscription revenues plowed back to read, listen, think and then be inspired declare victory and rescind these still nec - into maintaining and improving our inde - to make a difference–even a small differ - essary protections. September edition. For months we’ve pendent, non-partisan, non-sectarian com - ence. As a Jew and a Zionist who has lived been told that Map 8A was illegal. For munity newspaper. We get paralyzed from happily in the Arab and months we were told that the City Our purpose is to inform Fullerton resi - involvement in several ways–all Muslim World and studied Council was wasting the taxpayer money dents about the institutions and other socie - Just because by refusing to bend to the “will of the peo - tal forces which most impact their lives, so of them, at least by my defini - I can’t solve a with an Imam, I really can’t that they may be empowered to participate tion, non productive. We get believe that peace in the ple” and adopt Map 2B. My observation in constructive ways to keep and make these overwhelmed by the complexi - problem, Middle East has both elud - was that an equal number of people sup - private and public entities serve all residents ty of our problems. We get a doesn’t free me ed us and seems to be ported Map 8A. Therefore the “will of the in lawful, open, just, and socially-responsible sense of despair that we can’t receding.