Newsletter - Archive  Jun 10, 2010

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Rotary Club of Villa Park Newsletter

State of the City Report; the Kids are Allright!!

The month of June is upon us and with it comes change and renewal.  On June 27th at 5PM we will celebrate the accomplishments of the club during the 2009-2010 fiscal year under President Joe Brand  and ring in the new with the induction of incoming President Greg Mills and his board.  The Demotion party will be at the home of Joe and Pam Brand and will feature a Mexican Dinner and the usual club antics by the "Unready For Prime Time Ensemble".

This week's meeting began with an invocation by Millie Alexander, who prayed for a swift end and cleanup for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a safe return for our troops  and wisdom for our leaders. Brad Reese led us in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a reciting of the Rotary Four Way Test led by incoming President Greg Mills.   In honor of our servicemen and women and Flag Day  which is this Monday, June 14th, Teri Brooks led us in singing "Your a Grand Old Flag". 

Guests:

Lea-

Lori Sassoon- City Manager of Villa Park

Announcements:

A plaque has been placed in the city hall council chambers to commemorate those Villa Park residents who serve/ served in the military.  This was the Eagle Scout project of Justin Hughes.  The plaque was lauded by several club members for the thoroughness and scope of the project.  Both Jay Lieberman who served in the Air Force and Jay Applebaum who served in the Navy decided they must have been involved in top secret black ops since their names were not included.  Partial funding for the project is still being sought.

John Broussard talked about last night's dinner at the Ronald McDonald House.  He showed some dessert boxes that were made by Scot Smith, his wife's hairdresser, that are filled with cookies and candies that can be taken back to the hospital.  Our club has donated $100 to help support this effort.  John has done a great job in coordinating Ronald MCDonald  House project and we thank him for his time and efforts, as well as everyone else that has participated. If you are new to the club and want to get involved contact John Broussard.

Bryan Nash is looking for people to help with Oktoberfest.  A sign up sheet was passed around and I'm sure it will be seen many more times.

Greg Mills is going to attend the Rotary International Convention in Montreal, Canada next week and is looking forward to getting fired up about the coming year.

Birthdays/Anniversaries:

Dennis Kuli- celebrated his birthday at the Lazy Dog Cafe( his favorite place)

Paige Baker- celebrated her birthday with a trip to Avalon with Bill(her first time)

Steve Kawa - had his birthday on June 7th and is delaying this celebration until his daughter comes to visit.  She and her husband are moving to Switzerland for two years.

Ron and Deb Accornero celebrated their anniversary- we'll have to find out what they did next week. Ron was not at today's meeting.

George and Celia Poulos celebrated their 46th Anniversay with a trip to San Francisco and a meal at a swanky Vietnamese Restaurant.

Fran and Bob Kreisberg are celebrating their wedding anniversary today- with lunch at Paris in a Tea Cup and dinner Saturday at La Vie En Rose.

Jay Applebaum is celebrating his birthday today with a fishing trip  in our local waters.  He assures us that no fish will be harmed.

Happy Bucks:

Nagi Ibrahim just came back from a cruise from Vancouver to Alaska that included a tour of Denali National Park.

Mark Schmidt attended the Rotary President's Meeting at the Doubletree Hotel and took photos of the induction ceremony of incoming District Governor Johrita Solari.  By the way it was Mark who sponsored Johrita into Rotary 20 years ago. Unfortunately, even though she and husband Bruce live in Villa Park, they jointed the Anaheim Rotary Club. 

Mark also took photos of the Workability Program that teams high school students with rotarians in different events.

John and Jean Broussard played cards and John finally won some money.

Jill and Dennis Kuli are about to embark on a road trip that will take them to Washington State and a visit with friends on Friday Harbor, a 50th wedding anniversary of a friend, and Jill's high school reunion in Oregon. 

Bob Meyer gave a D-Day Presentation to a group called the California Aces, to qualify you had to shoot down 5 enemy planes in combat,  they gave Bob a very nice photo montage of his military career to thank him for speaking.  Bob also gave a similar presentation last Monday evening at the Main Branch of the Orange Library that was very well attended and received.

Bob Kreisberg updated us on the Jr. Achievement Program.  This week's speaker was his daughter Lauren.  She brought  lots of pictures of the animals she has helped and a friendly Iguana.  The kids loved the talk ,one girl , who had initial reservations, vowed that after the talk she wanted to be a Veteranarian.  We'll see how many kids want to be Dermatologists after next week's talk.

Pam Dunn wished Jay Applebaum a happy birthday and thanked him for the weekly newsletters that keep her and other members updated on club events when they can't make it to the meetings.

  Thanks Pam.

She also lauded the Veteran's Day Program that was held in the City Hall last week

Pete Moriarty also applauded the plaque that was created by new Eagle Scout Justin Hughes.  He mentioned the complexity and scope of the project and the utility to the community.

George Poulos was proud to announce the baptism of his youngest grandchild. George has 5 grandchildren.

Joe Brand announced that his daughter just gave birth to a baby.  I'll say it was a girl(50% chance of being correct)

Greg Mills thanked Mark Schmidt for attending the President's Dinner while he was on a business trip in Pennsylvania.  Greg was near the University of Pennsylvania which he noted is in the middle of the state and is not only surrounded by farms but smells like a farm.

Secret Greeter- Bryan Nash nabbed President Joe Brand for not slapping him five.

Don't forget to pass it on Bryan.

Drawing - Craig Beinlich- drew a 6 and donated the money back to the pot which is over $800

Speaker: City Manager Lori Sassoon

It was a pleasure to host relatively new City Manager Lori Sassoon.  Her presentation covered

several areas:   State Budget Issues,  Budget Overview of Villa Park, Ongoing Construction at the Towne Center and the Ongoing Towne Center Opportunity Study.

As we heard recently from Supervisor Moorlach,  the state is in pretty bad shape financially with a $19 Billion deficit. This is the result of some FY09/10 solutions that didn't pan out, decreased tax revenue, Prop 98 increases and other increases , one time/ limited term revenues expiring and new tax cuts kicking in.  With no end in sight unless significant budget cuts are made and costly entitlement programs are brought under control.

The good news is that Villa Park is in good shape financially with a balanced budget and adequate reserves.  The charts that Lori presented showed that the city has over $5 Million in the bank. The budget includes funding for city administration that has been reduced to 10%, public safety 24%(contract with OC Sheriff's Dept), Capital Improvements 35%, labor 11%( mostly contracts) and public works 24%. Lori thanked the city council for their fiscal policies that have helped to keep the city in good financial shape.  One area of concern is the anticipated loss in sales tax revenue which is anticipated to go from around $225,000 to $150,000 due to the current economic downturn and store closures.  We are much better off than neighboring cities like Orange where furloughs of city employees and cuts to  police and fire department personnel are required to reign in the budget.

If you've been to the Ralph's Center you can't help but notice the ongoing construction to create a

new user friendly entrance to the center.  The total cost is $275,025 of which $210,000 was provided by a grant from the OCTA/GMA.   The other area of concern is the potential loss of sales tax revenue if businesses in the center fail.  A group is meeting to discuss what changes can be made in the center to keep businesses from leaving and bring in more consumer dollars.  A meeting is being held this evening to discuss this issue in the City Hall.