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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-03-20 VAC MINUTES VETERANS ADVISORY COMMISSION CITY OF CHULA VISTA MINUTES March 20, 2001 Human Resources Conference Room TUESDAY, 6:00 P.M. City Hall Building 1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE—and a moment of silence to honor the memory of Bill Ayers. 2. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER—6:00 p.m. 3. ROLL CALL—Stephen Arends P , Carmen Fedje P , Agustive Hermes, Jr. P William Poindexter P , Robert White P , A.Y. Casillas P , Stephen Millikin P Other Attendees: Armando Buelna—Mayor's Office 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - The minutes were approved with verbal corrections. (Hermes/White) 5. ACTION ITEMS Unfinished Business • a. Street Names Chair Arends reported that the permanent street signs have been ordered. Mr. J.L. Hudson, the citizen who objects to the street signs, has been invited to attend the VAC meetings which are open to the public, but he has not attended. Mr. Buelna, Mayor Horton's assistant, and Mr. Hudson have corresponded via email and invitations have been continually extended. Trudi distributed a copy of the letter to Mr. Hudson from Councilmember Mary Salas stating that the signs would not be changed. Chair Arends will speak with Jim Sandoval regarding the Veterans Way street and Rolling Hills Ranch Park name. Mr. Matt Floch of the Cultural Arts Commission and Vice Chair Fedje will continue working on the monument project. The discussion moved to the project of the Eastlake High School students. They are continuing their research. The Mayor will present her annual State of the City address at the Veterans Home in May. It is hoped that a presentation can be made at that time to the Eastlake students and staff for their work on the veterans project. The goal is to have the project completed before then. The plan is to have an unveiling of a veterans postage stamp by the U.S. Postal Service to be done at this time also. A letter was sent to the Planning Office to thank them for publicizing the City's efforts to recognize deceased war veterans and formally request that the next street(to be#54 on the list)be named in honor of Bill Ayers. This letter was voted on and signed by each of the Commissioners. Copies were also sent to the Mayor, Jeri Gulbransen, council members, and Bill Ayers, Jr., along with attachments. • Chair Arends reported that the San Diego Advisory Council and the Veterans Advisory Board through its Mayor, Dick Murphy has shown a lot of interest in what Chula Vista has done in naming new streets honoring their veterans. 1 ti b. Veterans Memorial in Rolling Hills Ranch Nothing new from Jim Sandoval. c. Chula Vista Veterans Home Support Foundation Update. The Foundation is in need of a new president. The membership is made up of five members, two members from this Commission,one from the County's Veterans Council,(formerly Bill Ayers),etc. Chair Arends stated that an additional person from this Commission is needed to sit on the Board of Directors,as he has been asked to fill Bill Ayers'position, representing the County.. A motion was made and seconded that Commissioner Steve Millikin replace Commissioner Arends'position on the Board of Directors when the change is made. The next meeting is scheduled for May 17, 2001. The chair shared a copy of the first newsletter from the Veterans Home. d. Veterans Home Update There are now 149 residents in the Independent Living and Assisted Living buildings. Interesting stats on the residents of the Veterans Home = 20 female residents, 129 male residents, 99 World War II veterans, 34 Korean War veterans, and 14 Vietnam War veterans. The plan continues to be to have the Skilled Nursing Facility open by the summer. Chair Arends has been busy working on applications for the Community Development Block Grant Funds to get money from all 18 cities in San Diego County for the Foundation. There is much concern to the Veterans Home staff and the Veterans Advisory Commission about land being removed from the eastern edge of the Veterans Home. Several acres have been destroyed along with ice plants, A meeting has been scheduled with the Developers of Otay Ranch, the Planning Department, Ass't City Manager Sid Morris, and the Veterans Home, to discuss the matter. Chair Arends will be attending the meeting, representing the Commission. He will report to the • Commissioners after the meeting. e. Veteran of the Year Award On Wednesday, 3/28/01,Trudi contacted Jeri Gulbransen, Public Information Officer for the City of Chula Vista regarding Veteran of the Year advertisement for the Spotlight newsletter.Jeri stated that this edition was full, but that she would make a note for the next edition, to be published end of May, early June,which she felt would be more timely. f. Goals and Objectives Chair Arends continues to look into building a memorial at the Veterans Home g. Legislative Reports HR 441 was briefly discussed,to establish a new V.A. cemetery in San Diego County. Looking at land near Miramar which is government land. Governor Davis proclaimed March 18 through 24 as Women's Military History Week in California. Chair Arends advised on statistics received from Jim Stodola: There are now over 280,000 military veterans in San Diego County,and 2.8 million military veterans in California. There are also over 103,000 active duty sailors and marines currently in San Diego County. The military, primarily the Navy, employs 26,000 civilians in the County.. h. Oral History Mr. Poindexter reported that this does not appear to be the best time of year as far as the schools are concerned to get students started on this project because of testing that they are involved in. He spoke with Dr.Splitgerber who is the Executive Director of the Veterans Memorial Center in Balboa Park. It was determined that this should be an ongoing project, and will probably not begin until next school year. A brief discussion followed with input from the commissioners. 2 6. COMMUNICATIONS • CHAIR'S COMMENTS - Chair Arends extended invitations to the Commissioners to attend the County Veterans Council Meetings held at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday of every month at Veterans Memorial Center in Balboa Park., and also the monthly United Veterans Council held every fourth Saturday at 9 a.m. Shared a copy of a letter to be sent under Mayor Horton's signature, in support of the appointment of Capt. Nancy Owens, a retired Navy nurse who resides in Coronado to the CalVet Board. Copies of the Veterans Resource Guide are available through John Smith of the Veterans Home. USS Midway approved for a museum to be located in San Diego. There was overwhelming support at the public hearing of the Coastal Commission. Hundreds of veterans showed up and several spoke in support of moving the Midway to downtown San Diego. Homeless Veterans Burial Program—entitles them to a military-type burial. Good program recently started here in San Diego. Looking forward to meeting with Manny Cruz, new Editor for Star News as soon as possible. COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS—Mr. Hermes reminded the Commissioners of the upcoming Memorial Day program at Glen Abbey. The guest speaker this year will be a survivor from the USS WASP. Invitations will be mailed to guests.. STAFF COMMENTS—Next meeting to be held at the Veterans Home. Plan to arrive @ 5:30 p.m. • PUBLIC COMMENTS—None. 7. ADJOURNMENT—7:22 p.m. To the next regularly scheduled meeting at 6:00 p.m.,on Tuesday, April 17, 2001 at the Chula Vista Veterans Home,700 East Naples Court,Chula Vista, CA 91910 Trudi Ford Clerical Support • 3