EYE ON SJC/PAGE

What’s Up With...

TOP NEWS SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK

Council Selects New City Seal Design

BY COLLIN BREAUX

San Juan Capistrano officially has a new city seal design that still references Father Junipero Serra but does not feature the controversial figure as prominently.

The City Council selected the new seal designed by resident Kimberleigh Gavin on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Councilmembers and the Cultural Heritage Commission have considered various submitted designs throughout the year after Councilmembers Troy Bourne and Sergio Farias brought up instituting a new design in December 2021.

The new seal features a gray Mission San Juan Capistrano bell, swallow bird, horse rider, oranges and walnuts. It also depicts Kiicha huts that the town’s Indigenous people used to live in, hills, cows, and a blue sky. The seal notes that San Juan was established in 1776 and incorporated in 1961. The seal’s outer rim has a maroon color.

Serra is referenced by name on the bell but not depicted visually. His legacy in terms of interactions with Indigenous people when establishing the Mission system in California has come under scrutiny in recent times, though some residents have said he should be remembered for establishing San Juan.

The previous city seal featured Serra hugging a young Indigenous boy, which some residents—including Farias—found problematic, because they felt it reflected colonialist attitudes that European explorers had toward native people.

“I do think it’s important to keep (Serra) in the design in some manner,” said Gavin, who is also a local docent. “By putting his name on the bell, it’s a nice way to honor him.”

Gavin submitted several designs with slight differences in each for consideration. Numerous designs from other people were also submitted.

Councilmembers also required the new design depict aspects of both the Mission and Native Americans. The oranges and walnuts are intended to reflect San Juan’s agricultural history.

“We have such a layered history. This tells such a nice story of our city,” said Gavin. “We’ve had that existing city seal for so long, over 60 years, and it was good for its time. I think it looks really nice. … But I think it’s time to get more of the history involved in the city seal.”

A mayoral subcommittee comprising Councilmember John Taylor and Mayor Pro Tem Howard Hart decided on Gavin’s designs.

“We had so many to look at, and we took the Cultural Heritage Commission’s

The San Juan Capistrano City Council has decided to adopt a new city seal that features a Mission bell, horse rider and other aspects of San Juan culture. Photo: Collin Breaux lead and stuck with Ms. Gavin’s design and just worked with that,” Taylor said. “There’s so many directions. I could have chosen a dozen of these to really work with. I just wanted to thank people who submitted designs.”

The City Council voted, 4-1, to approve Gavin’s depiction. Taylor, Hart, Bourne and Mayor Derek Reeve voted yes. Farias voted no.

“If it was up to me, I don’t think we’re there,” Farias said. “I think that we still have issues as far as this being printed on different media or being viewed through different media.”

When initially bringing up the issue in December, Bourne previously said the old seal design did not show up well on a smartphone.

“My recommendation would be that we instruct staff to work with various artists to come up with something that I think could last another 60 years,” Farias said. “I think that if we go in this direction, as soon as someone has enough votes, we’re going to have a new city seal.”

All the added design requirements by the City Council “didn’t help our cause,” Farias said.

Reeve said it was important to have the seal “tell a story” and reference Serra. Reeve has previously spoken in favor of Serra being remembered and depicted in San Juan.

“The seal that’s been recommended by the subcommittee fulfills those elements that I was looking for,” Reeve said. “We could do this for years. We’re never going to agree on all elements of a piece of artwork, and that’s why, when the subcommittee was founded, I pretty much was of the mind that it’s not going to be exactly the way I wanted.”

Reeve previously required a split-tale swallow be depicted in the seal, though the approved design does not feature a split-tale swallow. Split-tale swallows are featured in current Mission iconography. Some residents have said the split-tale swallow is not the one that comes to San Juan during its annual migration.

An alternate black-and-white design proposed by Bourne and Farias, which featured a swallow and Mission bell, would have become the new de facto seal if the City Council did not approve another design.

“I’m so happy we are now done with that,” Reeve said after the City Council’s vote.

COMMUNITY MEETINGS

FRIDAY, SEPT. 16 Coffee Chat 8:30 a.m. A spirited town hall forum on community issues. The first Friday session of the month will be held virtually via Zoom video conference; all other Friday forums will take place in person at Hennessey’s Tavern in San Juan Capistrano, 31761 Camino Capistrano. Follow Coffee Chat SJC on Facebook for information.

TUESDAY, AUG. 20 City Council 5 p.m. The San Juan Capistrano City Council will hold a scheduled meeting open to the public. City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto. sanjuancapistrano.org.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 21 CUSD Board of Trustees 7 p.m. The Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees will hold a scheduled meeting open to the public to discuss and decide on local educational matters. CUSD Board Room, 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano. capousd.org.

FRIDAY, AUG. 23 The next print issue of The Capistrano Dispatch publishes.

Planning Commission Approves Rezoning for Camino Playhouse Property Development

BY COLLIN BREAUX

Plans for new retail and office space at the current Camino Real Playhouse property—along with a four-story parking structure—are still moving forward.

Local developer Dan Alqmuist’s plans for the area continued to gain momentum after the San Juan Capistrano Planning Commission approved recommendations to the City Council for rezoning measures advised by city staff on Aug. 24. The project has gone before various city government boards over the past few years as details are ironed out.

The City Council approved initial steps to get a rezoning study and draft project plan started in May and will have final approval of the rezoning measures. The property is at 31776 El Camino Real, at the southeast corner of Ortega Highway and El Camino Real.

The development plans will see the construction of two two-story, mixeduse buildings with retail and office space and a separate parking structure. The project will have 216 overall parking spaces, with the majority of them in the structure.

The mixed-use component, which will comprise 27,457 square feet, will include restaurant space.

The overall design concept for the project depicts a “pedestrian-oriented development,” with outdoor seating and dining areas that “incorporate a California-native landscape palette,” an agenda report said. There will also be a setback from the Blas Aguilar Adobe Museum, so the historic site is protected.

The current Camino Real Playhouse building will eventually be demolished and a new downtown performing arts center will be built, potentially near the current Playhouse site.

Commissioner Matt Gaffney said he did not have a problem with the project.

“This town, especially in the summertime, is grossly under-parked,” Gaffney said. “We’ve been waiting for this parking structure. … (The project) will certainly be an improvement over what’s there now. Personally speaking, I’ve seen Mr. Almquist and the projects he’s done here in San Juan Capistrano. Every one of them has been first-class, and he’s a man of his word.”

Putuidem Kiicha Hut Burns in Labor Day Fire

BY COLLIN BREAUX

Replicas of Kiicha huts are seen at Putuidem Cultural Village on Tuesday, Sept. 6. A separate hut burned in a fire at Putuidem the day before. Photo: Collin Breaux

Putuidem Cultural Village opened in San Juan Capistrano’s Northwest Open Space in December 2021 to honor the area’s Indigenous Juaneño and Acjachemen people and featured several replica Kiicha huts to reflect their living spaces.

One of those huts burned in a fire on Labor Day.

“Firefighters received a call for a fire in the 29900 block of Camino Capistrano at 11:24 in the morning on 09/05/22,” Orange County Fire Authority spokesperson Capt. Thanh Nguyen said in an email. “Crews found a replica of a Native American hut that was burned and out on arrival. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. There were no injuries reported.”

Other Kiicha huts were unharmed and remain standing. Public access to Putuidem was closed the day after the fire.

Local resident Jerry Nieblas, who has deep ancestral ties to the area and spoke at Putuidem’s opening ceremony, said the news about the fire “is very disturbing.”

“I’m glad no one was hurt, but the destruction of one of our Kiicha replicas is troubling, concerning and leaves many wondering if this will occur again,” Nieblas said in an email. “We can only hope that the city, police services and the general public will remain extra vigilant and will step up their watch over this unique Juaneño/Acjachemen site/treasure. The destroyed Kiicha will rise again!” (Cont. from page 3)

Commissioners Darren Fancher and Anna Dickinson said they think the project will make a nice addition to downtown, and they like the design of the buildings.

Commission Chair Tami Wilhelm said she also thinks the project is a “high-end, high-quality” project.

“I think the way the parking structure is situated on that site is dimensionally, somewhat, buried in the back so—design-wise—there’s a lot of elevations in front of it that help diffuse it. It won’t look like a big, ugly, massive parking structure,” Wilhelm said. “I think it will actually enhance that portion of downtown.”

The coming redevelopment has elicited backlash from some residents, including Jack Stavano, who spoke during the Planning Commission meeting.

“What disappoints me the most about this presentation is the absolute lack of continuity and character to our town,” Stavano said. “I am shocked that the elevations of this project appear to fit very well with Rancho Mission Viejo or Ladera (Ranch) or Irvine, but they do not fit the image of San Juan. … We are quickly moving away from the bylaws of the city that I have loved for 30 years.”

Playhouse Founder Tom Scott, however, spoke in favor of the project and future plans for a new performing arts center—details that were not included in the current proposed building plans.

“Dan Almquist has the vision and the business acumen to pull this off, and I want to go on record as founder of the Camino Real Playhouse that I support his goal for the Playhouse property and adjoining parking lot,” Scott said.

Almquist is seeking funding for the performing arts component and said he will set up a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to raise money.

In response to questions from Wilhelm on if structure parking will be paid, Almquist said there will “probably” be some type of parking validation, because he wants to ensure there is parking available for the office workers.

When addressing general citizen complaints about development in San Juan, including with the new In-N-Out Burger location coming to Del Obispo Street and housing throughout town, Wilhelm said the level of housing is state-mandated and picking the amount and type of development is not under the Planning Commission’s purview.

Trustees Consider Resolution Calling for Local Control over COVID Guidelines, Push Final Vote to September Meeting

BY COLLIN BREAUX, THE CAPISTRANO DISPATCH

Though statewide COVID-19 restrictions have not been in place in California for some time, pandemic protocols were again the topic of discussion during a Capistrano Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting last month.

The board on Aug. 17 did not take any action on a proposed measure addressing health guidelines, but it is expected to vote on a resolution at a Sept. 21 meeting that calls for local control of school COVID-19 guidelines, which are currently set by the California Department of Public Health.

Some local parents and CUSD officials have spoken against restrictions being under state control, instead preferring such decisions be made at a county or individual level.

Restrictions were initially lifted in the state of California in summer 2021, and masks are no longer required of students on campus after that rule was lifted earlier this year. While counties and school districts can enact stricter regulations than current state rules, those jurisdictions cannot be more lax than CDPH guidelines.

Students, teachers and faculty have largely foregone masks when returning to campus for the start of the 2022-23 school year last month. There are also no social distancing or vaccination requirements, either.

The resolution up for discussion this month requests that COVID rules fall under the Orange County Health Care Agency. If passed, the resolution would call on local state lawmakers and other elected officials to ask that state health officials delegate “final responsibility” on COVID protocols to local jurisdictions.

It was initially on the agenda for the Aug. 17 meeting and even came down to a 3-2 vote against its passage, with Trustee Lisa Davis absent. Trustees Krista Castellanos, Amy Hanacek and Gila Jones voted against the resolution, while Trustees Judy Bullockus and Martha McNicholas voted in its favor.

Jones had supported the resolution during an initial vote but switched her “yea” to a “nay” after the board realized that four votes are needed for it to pass. Because the current six-member board is down one trustee, a four-person majority is required.

Trustee Davis, who has frequently spoken against COVID-19 restrictions and masks, left the meeting before the vote. Board members decided to reconsider the measure when they had all trustees in attendance.

The resolution was brought forth by Bullockus, another opponent of state-mandated pandemic restrictions, with collaboration from Jones.

“The original aim of the COVID-19 response was to save lives and to keep our hospital system and intensive care units from being overwhelmed, but in the state of California, one size does not fit all,” Bullockus said. “We believe that the establishment of the COVID-19 protocols are best left to the local public departments, and not to Sacramento issuing for the entire state of California.”

The call for more local control would be done through requests to Gov. Gavin Newsom and state officials, and also invites the Orange County Board of Supervisors to get involved in the plea.

“I know that it seems to many people that we’re these school board members ing said they were against the proposed resolution, because they instead preferred health decisions be made individually by families.

Superintendent Kirsten Vital Brulte also addressed other COVID-19 rules at the start of the meeting.

“We only follow the requirements for employee testing that come from CDPH. Most recently, our Board of Trustees passed a resolution to ask CDPH for an end date on testing. We inquired with CDPH about ending their testing requirements, as on a state call,” Brulte said. “However, they will not consider any changes at this point, pointing to state data on hospitalizations and deaths.”

The Sept. 21 Board of Trustees meeting will be held in the CUSD Board Room at 33122 Valle Road. The main session open to the public will begin at 7 p.m. Parents and other members of the public can attend in person or watch a livestreamed meeting video online on the CapoUSD Board Meeting YouTube channel. Visit capousd.org for more information. CD

Parents and students hold a rally outside the Capistrano Unified School District offices in October 2021 to protest a then-expected vaccine mandate for California students. The CUSD Board of Trustees will take up a measure calling for local control of COVID-19 protocols at a future meeting. Photo: Collin Breaux

and we have all this power. We really don’t have the kind of power that boards of supervisors have,” Jones said. “If this passes, I hope people will contact our member, Lisa Bartlett, and encourage her to do this. If you know people elsewhere in the county, encourage them to contact their supervisor. There could be enough energy in this that it could happen.”

Jones brought up the recent outbreak of monkeypox in the U.S. as an example of why she wanted more local control on public health.

“There are probably counties that are never going to see a monkeypox case— some of the small, rural counties,” Jones said. “It would be very sad if the state were to put in some monkeypox restrictions for the entire state when there might be 10 or 12 counties that were totally unaffected, and the same thing could happen with other health issues.”

Hanacek said the resolution and similarly proposed resolutions are “dependent on some outside source and, thus, have no board action, as they have no legal force or effect.”

Numerous local parents at the meet-