The Capistrano Insider

Report: Immigrant Population Decreases

It's the economy. A report in the Los Angeles Times today cites Census Bureau figures to say that the number of immigrants is actually decreasing as jobs dry up.

From the story:

"In California, the number of foreign-born people dropped 165,000 last year to 9.9 million. The reversal in the state was driven by several Southern California counties with sharp declines, such as Los Angeles, with a slide of 3%, San Bernardino, down 3.6%, and Ventura, down 4.1%. Orange and Riverside counties showed smaller decreases."

Immigration has been a hot issue in San Juan Capistrano these days, with talk of CHEC and a parking ban on Camino Capistrano.

Here's the full story.

Council Roundup: August 4 Meeting

The San Juan Capistrano City Council's August 4 meeting started out in an unusual manner, as supporters of a deal to buy 132 acres of Rancho Mission Viejo land at La Pata and Antonio Parkway -- the Rodeo grounds -- flooded council chambers at 4:30 to comment before the council even went into closed session.

The vast majority of the speakers -- including many equestrians and soccer-league organizers -- urged the council to go ahead with the deal, but at least two homeowners -- Helen Welch Reardon and Kim Lefner -- repeated earlier concerns that the details of the deal should be made public. Both said the property is beautiful and could be an asset to the city, but the city has not disclosed how much they're talking about spending on the property. Capistrano has about $27 million left in the bank from the $30 million open space bond.

There's also a question whether buying the land will prevent construction of already-approved homes and buildings on the Ranch land -- probably not; the Ranch approvals are for units within bubbles, and the approvals for the property allow them to juggle development within the bubbles, so the projects probably don't go away, just move around a bit.

After closed session, the council took a few key actions:

1. Rejected an appeal from the Verizon wireless for a sign on their store off Del Obispo. The store, in Del Obispo Plaza, opened in 2007, but has been without a legal sign. In 2008, code enforcement jumped on them for putting up illegal signs. Even in the days before the appeal went before the City Council, the store had an illegal hot air balloon up as an advertisement.

That angered the council, which noted it several times, before rejecting Verizon's appeal.

Here's that staff report.

2. A staff study says the Catholic Health Enrichment Collaborative (CHEC) which provides social-service referrals out of the city-owned Old Fire Station on La Matanza, does not have a negative impact on the neighborhood. Residents have complained about the center, but the staff report says there's little or no impact from CHEC, although two religious groups that use the facility on weekend bring the most traffic.

Residents complained the center serves illegal immigrants, though, which angered Councilman Sam Allevato. "I'm shocked and dismayed by some of the comments I've heard here tonight." The other council members agreed the issue was actually two discussions: Whether the services impact the neighborhood, and whether CHEC should or shouldn't serve illegal immigrants.

The council decided there was no impact, and the other discussion was best saved for another day.

Here's that staff report.

The meeting ended with a robust conversation during  council comments -- the room was empty as the 11 p.m. hour passed -- about a planned public hearing on another project, the proposed senior development at the north end of town. That deal, which also came out of the Open Space Committee, would see construction of a 750,000 square foot senior community, while the city would pay $10 million (in redevelopment taxes generated by construction of the project) to buy more than 100 acres of open space in the Rancho Capistrano area.

The date for a public hearing on the deal has not been set, but the council debated whether it should include only the development deal or whether the option agreement with the city -- the tax money and other details -- should be discussed then, too. Council members Sam Allevato, Tom Hribar and Mark Nielsen won that battle, to keep the future meeting focused on only the development details.

The proposal has also drawn fire from some residents -- and Councilman Lon Uso -- who contend too much has been negotiated behind closed doors.

In Other News at the Council ... Parking Prohibition and CARE Are Out

The San Juan Capistrano City Council on Tuesday also took the City Attorney's advice and rescinded the effort to ban overnight parking on parts of Camino Capistrano and Alipaz. The council in March put the prohibition in place to improve safety, aesthetics and to battle preceived overcrowding in nearby neighborhoods.

The council -- except Tom Hribar, who opposed it in the first place -- continued to express support for the move, but have backed down after attorney Ed Connor raised the issue of whether proper environmental-protection laws were followed. The city is studying the issue.

Here's Connor's earlier letter.

Several residents spoke, most also in favor of the ban. Many said, however, they understood the city needed to ensure the action is done properly.

But it was also announced Tuesday that the Capistrano Villas neighbhorhood, adjacent to the targeted area, is stepping up its own efforts and ensuring parking regulations in the community are followed and residents keep their garages cleared for cars.

All three associations in the Villas are holding a Spring Cleaning on June 8 -- during which the associations will pay to haul stuff away. Then on June 13, the associations will take a peek in garages.

Stay tuned.

The council also voted to pay up to $30,000 to end it's agreement with Capistrano Animal Rescue Effort, which has had control of a piece of city property on Camino Capistrano north of JSerra for a few years, working to build an adoption center there.

The city is now eyeing the parcel for a dog park, and its agreement with CARE calls for reimbursement of any actual expenses CARE spent on the land. CARE, for its part, is willing to waive the year-long notice requirement and turn over the land as soon as they get a check.

Councilman Lon Uso abstained from the issue because he owns an interest in a building a

Here's CARE's release:

The City Council on Tuesday voted to terminate the lease with Capistrano Animal Rescue Effort (CARE) for a three-quarter acre site north of the intersection of Camino Capistrano and Junipero Serra, where the organization had planned to build an Animal Adoption & Rescue Center.

In consideration for canceling the agreement, the City will reimburse CARE for between $25,000 and $35,000 in costs for work undertaken to improve the site and prepare it for construction.

In 2001, the City Council leased to CARE for $1 per year a small portion of excess property that was acquired as part of the Open Space land purchase in the early 1990s.  CARE began site preparation and fundraising to build a facility on the site to further its mission to rescue and adopt homeless San Juan Capistrano animals and has since raised approximately half of the projected $1 million cost.  CARE, at its expense, processed the required land development permits, had more than $130,000 in site grading and geotechnical analysis and work donated, and fenced and “hydro-seeded” the property to prevent erosion.

In February, the City proposed a Creekside Buffer Ordinance that would have rendered the site unusable for the current plan.  The ordinance is still pending, although the Council advised CARE it should consider other options.

Commenting on the Council’s vote, CARE President Matt Gaffney said:

According to our lease, the City has the right to rescind the lease agreement with 12 months’ notice.  While we are disappointed that we will not be able to fulfill our dream to build a local facility for the animals, the city is within its rights to terminate. 

“We appreciate the work that has been done to move the project forward, but it looks like we will have to explore other options.  Of course our goal remains to serve the animal community in San Juan Capistrano.”

Rather than the animal rescue/adoption center, Mayor Mark Nielsen has suggested putting a dog park on the site. 

CARE was formed in 2000 and has since rescued and adopted more than 1,150 abandoned cats and dogs from San Juan Capistrano that are picked up by Orange County Animal Services.  For more information, visit www.capoanimalrescue.com, or phone (949) 240-1735.

Report: Most Latino Children Now 'Second Generation'

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, today released a report that finds that Hispanics now make up more than one-in-five of all children in the United States - up from 9% in 1980 -- and as their numbers have grown, their demographic profile has changed.   More than half of the nation's 16 million Hispanic children are now "second generation," meaning they are the U.S.-born sons or daughters of at least one foreign-born parent, typically someone who came to this country in the immigration wave from Mexico, Central America and South America that began around 1980.  In 1980, a majority of Latino children were "third or higher generation" -- the U.S.-born sons or daughters of U.S.-born parents.   A Pew Hispanic Center analysis of U.S. Census data indicates that many social, economic and demographic characteristics of Latino children vary by their generational status.  First and second generation Latino children are less likely than third or higher generation children to be fluent in English and to have parents who completed high school. They are more likely to live in poverty. But they are less likely than third or higher generation Latino children to live in single parent households.    Another characteristic that separates Latino children along generational lines is their legal status. Building on earlier research, the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that fewer than one-in-ten of all Hispanic children are unauthorized immigrants.  However, about one quarter have one or more parents who is an unauthorized immigrant.   Pew Hispanic Center population projections indicate that the generational composition of Hispanic children will change yet again between now and 2025. The share of Hispanic children who are second generation is projected to peak soon, while the share of Hispanic children who are third generation or higher will begin to rise in the coming decade.

The report, "Latino Children: A Majority Are U.S.-Born Offspring of Immigrants", authored by Richard Fry, Senior Research Associate, Pew Hispanic Center, and Jeffrey S. Passel, Senior Demographer, Pew Hispanic Center, is available at the Pew Hispanic Center's website, www.pewhispanic.org.

The Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, is a nonpartisan, non-advocacy research organization based in Washington, D.C. and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Report: Three Counties Will Check Immigration Status for All in Jail

But Orange County isn't on the list.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Los Angeles, Ventura and San Diego will become the first counties in California to begin checking the immigration status of all inmates booked into jail as part of a national effort to identify and deport more illegal immigrants with criminal records.

Law enforcement officials in the three counties will begin running inmates' fingerprints through federal databases this month to see if they have had any contact with the immigration system. Immigration officials will place holds on those believed to be in the country illegally. Once the inmates have finished serving their sentences, they will be transferred to immigration custody for possible deportation.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier launched the program -- dubbed Secure Communities -- in 48 counties in seven states and plans to expand it to all jails and prisons by the end of 2012. Congress has allocated $350 million for the program in fiscal years 2008 and 2009. President Obama asked Congress last week for a 30% increase in federal funds for next year.

 

Here's the full story.