Press Dispatch | VVDailyPress.com
| Sunday, August 30, 2015 | B5
OP-ED
VALLEY VOICES
Antiquities Act allows president to protect our desert
By Raul Velasquez
H
ere in the High
Desert, we enjoy
many landscapes
and natural wonders that
are the envy of many
throughout the country. With the desert’s
unspoiled geologic
features, recreation
opportunities, unique
wildlife, and starry skies
in our national parks,
wilderness areas, and
other public lands, we
are truly fortunate.
Unfortunately, the
California desert is
facing major challenges
today — proposals to
export groundwater
from desert aquifers, air
pollution, rapid community development
and encroachment
from renewable energy
developments — that
jeopardize its future.
This past May, several
Victorville, Apple Valley
and Hesperia Latino
faith leaders, along with
youth from their congregations, joined me for
a hike at Big Morongo
Canyon Preserve. The
day provided us with
the opportunity to form
a spiritual connection
with God’s creation and
underscore the need to
protect the California
desert.
The experience was
eye-opening for the 25
young participants, like
Esmeralda Rodriguez,
who took videos of the
outing and regarded the
visit to Big Morongo
Canyon Preserve as a
spiritual journey.
“It was a beautiful experience,” said
Rodriguez. “I learned
that it is easier to feel
God’s presence outdoors,
the freedom of listening
to the sounds of nature,
COMMENTARY
and more than anything,
the feeling that we are all
together in this.”
But even with the challenges facing the High
Desert, there is hope.
Earlier this month,
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
sent a letter to President
Obama asking that he
use the office’s authority under the Antiquities
Act to designate three
new national monuments — Mojave Trails,
Sand to Snow and Castle
Mountains.
Sen. Feinstein has
sought greater desert
protections for several
years, and while she is
still pursuing congressional support for the
California Desert Conservation and Recreation
Act, the Antiquities Act
provides new possibilities, as Congress has not
yet acted.
Established by
Congress in June 1906,
the Antiquities Act is
an important tool to
preserve open space,
natural treasures and
historical sites in the
U.S. It has been used by
16 presidents — eight
Republicans and eight
Democrats — to create
over 130 national monuments, including the
inspiring Grand Canyon
and the iconic Statue of
Liberty. It was also used
to provide the original
protection for Death
Valley and Joshua Tree
National Parks.
Moreover, presidents
are permitted only
to designate national
monuments from existing federal public lands
— meaning that new
national monuments are
designated from public
lands American taxpayers already own.
In this time of
changing demographics
— Latinos make up about
50 percent of the desert’s
population — we have an
important voice when
it comes to our public
lands. Poll after poll
shows a vast majority of
Latinos support protecting these resources.
For instance, the 2015
Colorado College State
of the Rockies Poll found
that when it comes to
specific environmental
priorities, there is nearly
unanimous Latino support for protecting and
conserving natural areas
for future generations
(97 percent), protecting
and conserving wildlife
habitat (96 percent) and
making sure that rangers
have the resources they
need to take care of public
lands and provide services
to visitors (96 percent).
As a pastor, I believe
that all of the designations
made by presidents under
the Antiquities Act protect beautiful landscapes
and historic sites where
we can connect with
our past and our faith.
President Obama now has
the opportunity to protect
these special, inspiring
places in the desert.
It is our moral obligation to protect the
California desert. Without taking further steps
to protect the natural
resources, cultural heritage, quality of life and
economic benefits the
California desert provides, future generations
will not be able to enjoy it
as we do today.
I applaud Sen. Feinstein’s leadership and
respectfully urge the
president to act.
—Raul Velásquez is
pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Iglesia Nuevos
Comienzos in Victorville.
ANOTHER VIEW
Town’s ‘Transparency
Report’ raises more
questions than solves
By Tony Penna
“Is this a government
he Town of Apple budgeting exercise
like the one for
Valley’s “Transparency Report”
the well at the golf
on its efforts to take over course, originally
Apple Valley Ranchos
approved after closed
Water Company raises
session as an added
more questions than it
answers. At best one
last-minute item,
might conclude the $3.2
where the Town
million budget is a very
wound up spending
expensive attack on a
private business and
2.5 times the original
more than $1.4 milbudget? Are all costs
lion has already been
included? Where are
spent on the Town’s
the expenses for all
campaign.
It is a campaign that is of the print, radio and
rife with misinformation now TV ads, not to
and misleads voters on
the costly consequences mention billboards
and mailers?”
to customers and
T
taxpayers of a hostile
takeover of Ranchos.
Let’s begin with:
When did this “acquisition budget” get
approved? Did the
town manager and staff
prepare this independently? Was this
budget approved in
closed session, away
from public view? Is the
amount budgeted just
for the 2015-2016 fiscal
year and hence the first
multi-million dollar
installment of a multiyear effort?
What will be the total
cost for lawyers, expert
consultants and the
army of financial advisers to take this through
to completion? Is this
a government budgeting exercise like the
one for the well at the
golf course, originally
approved after closed
session as an added
last-minute item, where
the Town wound up
spending 2.5 times the
original budget? Are all
costs included? Where
are the expenses for all of
the print, radio and now
TV ads, not to mention
billboards and mailers?
Did the Town just
happen to have a $3.2
million cushion in the
budget? With all the
money being spent on
efforts to take over Ranchos, what priorities are
not being funded?
In his op-ed piece of
March 8th, the town
manager claimed to have
spent less than $250,000
“studying” a takeover of
Ranchos. Now we learn
that through June, the
COMMENTARY
Building our relationship with law enforcement
amount is more than $1.4
million. Does that mean
the Town of Apple Valley
spent $1.1 million in
three months (April, May
and June)? Reconciling
how much was claimed
to have been spent in
March and April as compared to the $1.4 million
through June warrants
further scrutiny.
We have maintained
from the onset that
this attempt to seize
the assets of Ranchos
would be long, costly
and divisive. The
Town’s “Transparency
Report” confirms this.
At this point no eminent
domain action has even
been taken and already
at least $1.4 million was
spent.
No one knows the final
cost for taking over Ranchos, so this $3.2 million
budget is again misleading. Voters should
know the Town government will most likely be
responsible for legal fees
incurred by Ranchos in
defending its ownership.
This report is a failed
attempt at transparency
and only reinforces the
widely held view that a
takeover by the Town
government will result
in higher rates, higher
taxes and fees for all
citizens.
— Tony Penna is vice
president and general manager of Apple
Valley Ranchos Water
Company.
First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the
right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.
By Andrew Espinoza
T
he presidential races of the
United States
serve as a mesmerizing
time period as the citizens of America debate
and decide whom will
take office. Leading candidates Donald Trump,
Ben Carson and Marco
Rubio have established
campaign slogans pertaining to their vision
and purpose. Trump’s
is “Make America Great
Again,” Carson’s is
“Heal, Inspire, Revive”
and Rubio’s is “A New
American Century.”
These slogans advocate the obligation to
improve the United
States. With an abundance of America’s
issues ascending to the
surface, the nation’s
law enforcement agencies remain a constant
subject of debate as each
candidate addresses the
issues.
Our law enforcement
agencies’ authority and
procedures have, and
continue to be, under
examination by the
citizens. While these
examinations by the
people are certainly
fair and justifiable,
the media and select
American leaders ignite
the debate against the
police, furthering the
division in our communities. President Barrack
Obama once stated that
the police in Cambridge,
Massachusetts “acted
stupidly” in the arrest
of Henry Louis Gates.
Whether the police
acted stupidly or not,
President Obama’s
comment fueled the
anti-police debate.
There have been several
controversial police
incidents across the
nation, and the media,
as well as others of great
influence, have harshly
criticized law enforcement for them. This has
a major impact on the
division we are seeing
between police and
citizens in several cities
across America.
As I researched what
was going on in my own
community between
the citizens and police
I learned that law
enforcement agencies
within the High Desert
are doing their part
to build relationships
between police and the
community.
One local communitybased event that allows
citizens to address
issues and concerns
to the local police is
the Coffee with a Cop
program. I had recently
attended the first Coffee
with a Cop meeting
hosted by the Bartow
Police Department. This
event remained productive, as the police were
proactive and glad to
consult with the members of the community.
As I sat through this
meeting, an overbearing
question hung over my
head: Why aren’t more
people attending these
meetings?
This gathering
provided direct communication between
the community and
police. There are many
people in our communities with questions and
concerns, especially
high school students,
and here is a resource to
address their concerns
or have their questions
answered. I was moved
by this opportunity and
I am definitely going to
encourage my fellow
classmates to find out
when and where the
next meeting is and
attend.
Utilizing this meeting
will ignite the progression of improving
our law enforcement
agency’s relationship
in our own communities. While we cannot
easily go to Ferguson
or Baltimore and help
those communities, we
can certainly improve
ours by getting involved
when programs like
these are developed.
Rather than being influenced by the media and
leaders in office, our
youth and other citizens
need to find out answers
for themselves. I have
seen many people who
have influence over
our youth constantly
diminish the perception of police officers. I
ask myself if they even
know their communities’ cops?
The improvement of
our nation begins here,
in our own communities. The youth have
questions, and the police
officers hosting these
meetings are recommending that the youth
come to the event, and
ask their community
officers about their concerns. I recently talked
with San Bernardino
County Sheriff’s
Department Barstow
Capt. Jon Marhoefer and
his department also has
the Coffee with a Cop
program for Barstowarea county residents.
He has hosted two successful meetings.
These law enforcement agencies really do
care about the well being
of the citizens that they
serve. Let’s take advantage of the opportunity
to meet our officers
and deputies. I highly
encourage the residents
and especially the youth
of the High Desert to
attend their police or
Sheriff’s Department
next Coffee with a Cop
meeting and play a part
in strengthening your
communities.
Another beneficial
program is The International Foot Print
Association. This is
a national program
specifically designed
to strengthen the
relationship between
law enforcement and
the community. This
association promotes
relationships between
the community and
police. It recognizes
exceptional public
service every year by
honoring each agency’s
“Top Cop.” These
are officers who have
displayed extraordinary and consistent
public service in the
performance of their
duties. These officers
care about their communities and have
demonstrated their
abilities to get involved
and solve community
problems. Communities
need to embrace foundations such as these
to boost the morale
of our nation’s police
officers and acknowledge the positive things
occurring within police
agencies.
Lastly, the Police
Activities League,
PAL, is a nationwide
after-school program
arranged with the objective of teaching and
developing relationships with the youth.
The youth participate
SEE ESPINOZA, B6