Anaheim church to host community well-being health fair on Saturday

• April 28, 2023

A community health equity fair, organized by UC Irvine medical students, is set for Saturday, April 29, at the New Hope Presbyterian Church in Anaheim.

It’s the second year the church has hosted the health event, organizers said. Students from the Leadership Education to Advance Diversity – African, Black and Caribbean program at UC Irvine School of Medicine will provide free medical screenings and consultations.

Participants can meet UCI doctors and students who specialize in heart, skin, dental, environmental and mental health. Local agencies, including the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment Disorders, OC Health Care Agency and the Health Equity for African American League Collective, will be present.

There will also be free blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, COVID-19 and flu vaccines, and Narcan use trainings.

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The event is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. New Home Presbyterian Church is located at 2580 W. Orange Ave.

See here for more information and to register.

​ Orange County Register 

HOA Homefront: See what legislation is brewing for HOAs

• April 28, 2023

This the first column in a two-part series on California legislation regarding homeowners associations.

After a few quiet years in Sacramento regarding HOAs, California’s Legislature is quite active this year with at least eight proposed bills affecting HOAs in 2024.

Four are helpful and four are not. Today’s column will address the first four that are helpful, and the other four will follow next week.

A perennial problem for HOAs is a lack of membership participation preventing board elections. Many associations have elections canceled year after year due to the failure to have the minimum number of members participating, also known as a quorum.

A recurring and incorrect urban legend is that an obscure corporations code statute allows HOAs to reduce their quorum to a lower number if the first attempts fail. Some HOAs try to amend their bylaws to establish a lower quorum, but even that amendment vote requires a minimum quorum to pass.

Assembly Bill 1458, authored by Assemblyman Tri Ta of Westminster, would make a simple but important change, allowing HOAs to use a quorum of 20% for the next attempted election if the first board election meeting failed for insufficient participation. This reduction in quorum only would apply to board elections and no other membership vote decisions.

Assembly Bill 648 would, if passed, allow HOAs to have purely virtual or telephonic meetings without having a physical location announced for those not wishing to participate virtually or telephonically. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia of Anaheim, would require that any board votes must be by roll call vote and clear instructions for participation be provided. Only board meetings could be purely virtual or telephonic. This expands the present law, which allows purely virtual board or membership meetings only when a declared emergency makes a physical meeting unsafe or impossible.

California law allows a property owner to execute a “revocable transfer on death deed” to allow someone to transfer a residence upon death without a trust or probate proceeding.

Stock cooperatives were excluded from this law because their members have shares of stock not deeds. Assembly Bill 288, authored by Assemblymember Brian Maienschein of North San Diego County, adopts California Law Revision Commission recommendations. The bill would allow owners of stock cooperative homes to also execute the revocable transfer on death “deeds” to transfer that share of stock (and therefore the home) to someone without a trust or probate proceeding.

Civil Code 5551, enacted in 2020, requires all HOAs to have visual inspections of exterior elevated elements within the HOA’s maintenance or repair responsibility. The inspection must be by a licensed structural engineer or architect, and the first inspection must occur by the end of 2024.

Assembly Bill 1101, authored by Assemblymember Heath Flora of the San Joaquin Valley, would add a third allowable inspector as an option, a Branch 3 registered pest control company.

“Branch 3” licenses are regarding the destruction of wood by pests or organisms and require 100 training hours training (80 of which is fieldwork) and a test to obtain, per California Regulations Title 16 Section 1937. This would make Civil Code 5551 inspections easier and less expensive for HOAs to obtain.

June 2, 2023 is the deadline for bills to pass their initial house of origin, so there is time to contact your representative and voice your opinions. Visit leginfo.legislature.ca.gov to read the bills.

Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. is a Fellow of the College of Community Association Lawyers and Partner of Richardson Ober LLP, a California law firm known for community association expertise. Submit column questions to [email protected].

​ Orange County Register 

ISA World Para Surfing Championship coming to Huntington Beach

• April 28, 2023

Huntington Beach has been selected to host the International Surfing Association’s World Para Surfing Championship later this year.

The event, now in its eighth year, follows an Olympic-style format and if organizers are successful in their bid, it will soon be part of the Paralympic Games.

Last year’s championships at Pismo Beach in Central California drew 180 athletes on 28 national teams, a huge leap from the first event in 2015 that drew 69 competitors from 18 nations. Competition this year will run from Nov. 5 to Nov. 11.

The ISA is working to get the sport added into the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles; surfing debuted in the last Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Huntington Beach officials have made it no secret that they want to host the surfing portion of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and if approved by the International Paralympic Committee, surfing’s first Paralympic Games.

“Huntington Beach checks all the key criteria boxes for venue selection for the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games’ venue selection,” said Kelly Miller, CEO of Visit Huntington Beach. “HB’s historical and iconic pier delivers arguably some of the most consistent waves in all of California.”

And, if the Olympics, Paralympics and U.S. Open of Surfing were to be all held at the same time of year, there could be a operational cost savings by using the same set up on the sand for all three events, Miller noted.

Surf City also has great accessibility from beach resort hotels, restaurants and shops to what would be the Olympic venue footprint near the pier, right in the heart of downtown, he noted.

“The ability to move easily to and from the venue regardless of the challenges competitors or attendees might have during a very busy time is critically important,” Miller said.

The city in recent years has installed two Mobi-Mats, strips of blue mesh material that lay across the sand as beach paths, near the pier so people in wheelchairs or who need a more solid surface can get closer to the water’s edge. There’s also one at the Equestrian Center to help access therapeutic horse riding programs at Central Park.

Kumaka Jensen, who has spina bifida, is the first to use a Mobi-Mat in Huntington Beach, CA on Wednesday, May 5, 2021. The mat is a nylon mesh that lies on the sand and keeps devices like wheelchairs from sinking into the sand.(Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

And there’s more effort underway to make sure all visitors feel welcome, Miller said, with the city taking proactive approaches to develop programs and experiences that cater to a variety of populations who want a world-class beach experience.

“Accessibility matters. We are forming a task force by mid-June that is representative of a variety of challenged populations to help us craft a strategic vision and plan,” he said. “Our vision is for Huntington Beach to be known as one of the most accessible cities in the country.”

Being selected by the ISA as the 2023 World Para Surfing Championship venue will help spearhead those initiatives, he said, and discussions will be underway with hotels and community partners to streamline ideas and experiences “to make anyone’s visit to Surf City USA unforgettable.”

The International Paralympic Committee is currently considering the inclusion of para surfing with the Los Angeles 2028 Organizing Committee, officials said.

In January, the IPC governing board confirmed that para surfing has “demonstrated the competitive viability and integrity of the sport, as well as the strategic benefits to the Paralympic Games,” ISA officials said in a statement.

Huntington Beach has played a historic role in the sport of surfing, hosting many major surfing events through the decades.

The ISA World Surfing Games were held in town in 1984, 1996, 2006 and 2022, and the ISA World Juniors in 2005, 2018 and 2019. It’s also been home to the U.S. Open of Surfing for decades.

“I am so excited to see the world’s best para surfers in the iconic Surf City USA for the very first time. It will be amazing to see the level of energy and joy that para surfing can bring to the Paralympics at such an ideal stage,” ISA President Fernando Aguerre said in the announcement. “Para surfing continues to grow every year as we run this amazing and important championship. Athlete participation grows and the level of performance and competition increases at such a phenomenal rate.”

The ISA’s mission to create “A Better World Through Surfing,” is apparent through all the para surfing athletes, he said. “The life-changing effect that the ocean has is undeniable and surfing has played a key role in the healing of mind, body and spirit for so many in the para surfing community.”

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​ Orange County Register 

Can the new Problem Solvers Caucus make for better politics in California?

• April 28, 2023

That grand American myth of a halcyon time in the not-too-distant past when politicians of all stripes were friendly adversaries who were always collegial and hoisted a sarsaparilla together every evening after the sausage-making was done is probably mostly … a myth.

Surely it is true that Tip O’Neill, say, and Ronald Reagan, when one was the Democratic speaker of the House and the other the Republican president of the United States, had a glass of Irish whiskey, neat, together from time to time and toasted their health and that of the old country.

And, true, we’re guessing the same is not true of Speaker McCarthy and President Biden in the present day.

Since hope springs eternal, Americans can always root for a better political future when lawmakers can at least sometimes solve obvious problems.

Here in California, a small effort to make that happen has existed in Sacramento in the form of the Problem Solvers Caucus.

As CalMatters’ Sameea Kamal reports, “Every other week, the 21 members of the Problem Solvers Caucus gather for lunch to hear presentations on different policies. This session, they’re focusing on clean energy and homelessness — issues they say impact every legislative district in California.”

With the name and the intent based on the group of the same name in Congress, members say they have a “goal of creating a ‘neutral space’ that puts policy before politics.”

Just the very idea of that goal — the representatives we send to the state Capitol meeting together to get stuff done for us, their constituents, first and foremost, rather than toeing some party line that we don’t care a thing about — is music to most Californians’ jaded ears.

We may be — mostly; increasingly less so — registered nominally as either Republicans or Democrats. But few of us go deeply into the weeds of our party’s platforms. We just want economic and social prosperity in California.

More from CalMatters: “Launched in 2021 by then-Assemblymembers Adam Gray, a Democrat from Merced, and Jordan Cunningham, a Republican from San Luis Obispo, and Chad Mayes, the only independent legislator last session, the caucus includes equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats, as well as proportional Assembly and Senate representation, according to Sen. Josh Newman, a co-chairperson and Democrat from Brea.”

One aspect for members of the caucus: “That structure — different from even other bipartisan caucuses — is designed to make it truly impartial. One condition of membership: No one can actively work against another member’s bill.”

Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, a Democrat from Stockton, says working closely with Republican colleagues makes him think more about the fiscal impact of bills, which would be a nice thing for a lot more Sacramento Democrats to ponder now and again.

“You think of a bill — of what it does, and it may be really, really good,” he says. “But … it opens up my eyes more to look not just at the bill, but spend a lot more time on the fiscal part — like what is the cost of the bill? … Is it coming out of the general fund? Is it going to be a tax? So it really brings more awareness.”

California Republicans in the Legislature also have something very real to gain by going bi-partisan: Any hope of having skin in the game whatsoever, given the Democrats’ supermajorities in both the state Senate and the Assembly.

“Based on the policy that’s coming out of the Legislature, it’s pretty clear the progressives are getting their way,” Sen. Scott Wilk of Lancaster said. “So what can I do to be relevant and positively affect the lives of 40 million Californians? I think the best — the only — hope is the Problem Solvers.”

Perhaps, though at least so far the caucus has largely avoided taking on some of the biggest problems in the state. The caucus should be front and center championing sweeping reforms of the California Environmental Quality Act, for example, or working to dismantle wasteful projects like the high-speed rail project.

A big test for what the caucus can achieve may come now that the state is facing a massive budget deficit and will have to actually prioritize spending.

There are plenty of problems to solve. Here’s to hoping the Problem Solvers Caucus is up to the task of solving some of the big ones.

​ Orange County Register 

Memorial Mass honors former Mayor Richard Riordan and his devotion to LA

• April 28, 2023

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan will be honored today as Angelenos gather for a memorial Mass to celebrate the life of a man remembered for the way he led the city following the 1992 L.A. riots and during the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Riordan died April 19 at age 92. Soon after news broke of his passing, political, civic and religious leaders throughout L.A. were quick to praise Riordan for his lasting contributions to the city.

Today’s Mass will be at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown L.A. Riordan had played a key role in getting the facility built after another cathedral suffered severe damage during the Northridge earthquake.

The program will begin at 1:30 p.m. with remarks by current L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, one of Riordan’s daughters, and other dignitaries. Archbishop José H. Gomez will preside over the 2 p.m. Mass. The homily will be delivered by Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, pastor at Riordan’s former parish, St. Monica Catholic Church.

The Mass will be livestreamed at olacathedral.org/RichardRiordan.

The service is open to the public, though seating is limited. Information about how to get to the cathedral, street closures and security checks can also be found on that website.

Born May 1, 1930, Riordan grew up in New York but eventually moved to Southern California, where he founded the law firm Riordan & McKinzie.

Law wasn’t his only pursuit, however.

Riordan was also a businessman who entered politics late in life. When elected in 1993 to serve as mayor, Riordan became the first Republican to hold that title in more than three decades.

Known as socially progressive but fiscally conservative, Riordan spurned the six-figure salary assigned to the mayor and instead accepted the job for just $1 a year.

Riordan led as mayor through the lens of a businessman, valuing results over bureaucratic red-tape. Often, he would encourage his staffers to do whatever they had to do to get the job done and to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

As the city’s top leader, Riordan inherited a fractured city when he became mayor a year after the infamous L.A. riots that followed the acquittal of four White officers caught on camera beating Rodney King, a Black motorist stopped by police.

In addition to trying to help Angelenos heal after the riots, Riordan was confronted with another challenge about six months after taking office: helping L.A. rebuild after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

During his eight years as mayor, Riordan also successfully helped championed against a campaign for the San Fernando Valley to secede from the rest of L.A.

Those who knew him say Riordan was also an avid reader who helped rebuild the city’s library system and that he loved children and gave generously to support the city’s youth.

Riordan died at his Brentwood home last week surrounded by his wife, Elizabeth, other family members, friends and his “precious pet dogs,” according to his family.

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​ Orange County Register 

California Legislature designates Vietnam Human Rights Day in May

• April 28, 2023

The California Legislature has designated May 11 as Vietnam Human Rights Day.

Championed by Assemblymember Tri Ta, R-Westminster, legislators passed a resolution Thursday to commemorate the day “in support of efforts to achieve freedom and human rights for the people of Vietnam.”

“The Vietnamese people are suffering under an oppressive regime, and our hearts are with them,” Ta said. “Passing this resolution today sends an important message that Californians stand in solidarity with the people of Vietnam and that we are willing to help fight for their freedom.”

Related: Vietnam vets reflect on war as 50th anniversary is marked

The measure encourages Californians to mark May 11 with activities such as ceremonies, discussions or rallies. It also “recognizes the need for a democratic government,” according to Ta’s office.

The legislature’s move came ahead of Black April, or April 30, which marks the fall of Saigon and South Vietnam. Millions of Vietnamese fled in boats to escape the communist regime, many finding a home in Orange County and building Little Saigon.

Westminster, which Ta represents, was the first city to recognize Black April Memorial Week, it says on its website. Ta is Westminster’s former mayor and the first Vietnamese American elected mayor in the country.

Westminster will hold a Black April event on Sunday — with a wreath ceremony, prayers, remarks from elected officials, songs and more — at Sid Goldstein Freedom Park from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

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​ Orange County Register 

LA County Fair 2023: Hot Cheetos Cheese Pickle Pizza, dining discounts, much s’more

• April 28, 2023

Pizza covered with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and dill pickle chips, massive deep-fried s’mores and the usual array of snacks and sweets will be tempting guests at the LA County Fair in Pomona.

The fair will open at 5 p.m. Friday, May 5 with a discount admission of $5. It will run through Memorial Day, May 29 at the 487-acre Fairplex.

This will be the second time that the fair is in the spring. The event moved from September to May in 2022 after taking place in the fall for nearly a century.

Attendance dipped to 635,421 paying visitors in 2022 from 731,817 in 2019, the last year the festival was held before the novel coronavirus pandemic shut it down in 2020 and 2021. But fair organizers said they were pleased with the attendance.

In 2022, people were eager to get out of the house after two years of COVID-19 restrictions. Dominic Palmieri, also known as the Midway Gourmet, thinks a similar urge could drive up numbers in 2023.

“Weather is great in the month of May, and people are ready to get back out again because you guys have had so much rain and wintery weather that people have a little bit of cabin fever,” he said in a phone interview.

Palmieri runs several concessions at the fair, including Biggy’s, which serves attention-grabbing items such as a Cap’n Crunch Chicken Sandwich, which he is bringing to Pomona after serving it at the OC Fair last year.

This year, he’s excited about his Hot Cheetos Cheese Pickle Pizza, made with mozzarella cheese and a white dill sauce. It will be available at Enzo’s Pizzeria.

“It will be the game-changer. It will be one of the media darlings and customer social media darlings of the year because it’s flat-out delicious.”

Palmieri’s concessions will also be serving such items as a Loco Elote Ramen Noodle Cup, made with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and Michelaguas, agua frescas served in barrel-shaped cups with Chamoy on the rim and sliced mango on top.

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Chicken Charlie’s, a concession owned by San Diego native Charlie Boghosian, will be bringing back some of its chicken sandwiches from last year. And he will be bringing back Kool-Aid served in souvenir cups shaped like baby bottles.

But Boghosian said in a phone interview that he is making room on his menu for new items.

They include Deep-Fried Hot Cheetos Pot Stickers and a Deep-Fried S’More.

“We take jumbo marshmallows, put them on a stick, baste them with chocolate fudge and crushed graham crackers, then we dip it in a sweet batter and top it off with more graham crackers,” he said. “It’s about 7 inches long, and it weighs about a pound.”

Fairgoers will have more than 1,200 menu items to choose from this year at dozens of concessions, according to a news release from the fair. Most will be offering value meals for $7.70. The selection covers a range of fair favorites, from hot dogs, pizza and sliders to funnel cake, kettle corn and ice cream. Many of the deals come with 16-ounce beverages.

Also, there will be a Mother’s Day brunch served 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on May 14. The menu includes a breakfast scramble, chicken piccata, seasonal fruit, brownies and lemon bars. The cost is $40 per person, which includes fair admission.

LA County Fair

Where: Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona.

When: Friday, May 5 through May 29.

Hours: 5-11 p.m. opening day. After that 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, plus Memorial Day, May 29.

Tickets: $15-$25 for adults; $5-$12 for children 6-12 years and seniors 60-plus. Parking is $17-$22.

Payment: Parking, admission and concert box office payments are cashless. Advance online purchases are cheaper than gate prices.

Information: lacountyfair.com

​ Orange County Register 

With endorsement of Donald Trump, Steve Daines must be tired of winning

• April 28, 2023

Is Montana Senator Steve Daines already tired of winning?

Daines, who was chosen a few months ago by his Republican colleagues to helm their campaign committee, announced this week his endorsement of Donald Trump for president.

There’s little downside for Daines personally – Trump won Montana in 2020 by 16 percentage points – but having Trump as the Republican nominee could have disastrous effects on Daines as the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman.

Maybe Daines is trying to form a working relationship with the former president. But if Daines has evidence suggesting Trump can be corralled with an endorsement or is willing to set aside his ego for the good of the party, I’d love to see it.

The endorsement was unnecessary. Daines could have backed his colleague, Tim Scott, in the race or used deference to Scott as an excuse to stay out of it for now. After all, Daines backed a colleague, Sen. Marco Rubio, in 2015.

But Daines leaned in, saying the “best four years” he’s had in the Senate were while Trump was president, citing tax reform and judicial appointments, according to Politico.

But you know who else would have pushed for tax cuts and conservative judges? Literally any other Republican president.

Republicans have a golden opportunity to regain control of the Senate. Three possible flipping opportunities – in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana – are in states where Trump won easily in both 2016 and 2020.

In theory Trump wouldn’t be a drag on Republicans in those states, but that’s assuming everything goes according to plan, which is no guarantee with Trump.

Trump’s potential to turn winnable races into losers is unparalleled, in terms of both promoting terrible candidates in the primary and turning out Democratic voters in the general.

Let’s not forget that because Trump backed an accused pedophile in a very safe Alabama Senate seat, Alabamans did the unthinkable: Elected a Democrat.

Let’s also not forget that the reason Republicans are trying to regain control of the Senate instead of retaining control is because Trump’s meddling in 2022 blew up the midterms.

In California, Trump’s presence has been apocalyptic. The 2014 midterms breathed new life into California Republicans, making modest gains throughout the state. But four years later in the 2018 midterms Republicans lost half of their congressional seats and were relegated to super-minority status in the Legislature – a sentence for which there seems to be no chance of parole.

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The Republican’s slow erosion had been happening for years, but under Trump it turned to a mudslide. Whatever effect he has getting Republicans to the polls is offset by repelling moderate voters and making Democrats vote like their lives depended on it.

To be clear, I want Daines to be successful and for Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell to be majority leader again.

Daines is said to be doing everything he can to learn from his predecessors’ mistakes of the past, particularly in terms of candidate recruitment. But this is precisely where Daines needs Trump to remain as far away as possible, since Trump’s only measure of candidate viability is the degree to which they suck up to him.

Trump will be a factor in the upcoming election no matter what and Daines must adjust accordingly. But pacts with Trump seem to go poorly for everyone but Trump — the smart play seems to be limiting Trump’s influence as much as possible.

If Daines is successful in 2024, it will be in spite of Trump, not because of him.

Follow Matt on Twitter @FlemingWords

​ Orange County Register