Dear Community Member,

November is a time for expressing gratitude as we celebrate Thanksgiving and the coming holiday season. Whether you’re a prospective resident or have lived here your whole life, it’s easy to find reasons to be thankful in the Land of Gracious Living. Yorba Linda is a special place full of exciting businesses, award-winning schools, engaged faith communities, beautiful parks and trails, incredible public amenities, and the best community of neighbors in the world. In short, this City is a wellspring of joy, hope, and optimism.

We are also focusing on community safety this month. During November, we are offering opportunities for the community to attend special events focused on local safety initiatives. On November 16 we are hosting a Safety Mitigation Community Workshop focused on preparing for disasters, and on November 17, Yorba Linda Police Services is hosting a Community Safety and Crime Prevention Presentation. More information about both events are covered in articles below, but I wanted to take a moment to encourage you to participate in these important conversations.

Thank you for being an important part of this community, and for making Yorba Linda more exceptional every day.

Best Regards,

Mark Pulone

City Manager

Want to learn more about the decisions and actions of the Yorba Linda City Council? The latest City Council meeting recap is now available online. These recaps briefly summarize the City Council's activities until the official minutes are adopted (generally at the next meeting). In addition, City Council Meeting agendas and minutes from previous meetings are available on the Agendas and Minutes page on the City's website.

Yorba Linda’s 2022 State of the City was a big success! Hosted in the East Room of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, this event celebrated the City’s accomplishments from the last year and featured Mayor Rodriguez’s State of the City Address. This year’s theme, “The Future of Yorba Linda,” highlighted the incredible efforts, planning, and vision that will ensure Yorba Linda remains an exceptional community for generations.

Please visit our website to view our film highlighting Yorba Linda’s exceptional 2022 or the video of the State of the City Address video.

Also, we are so grateful for our event sponsors whose support made the evening possible, including our title sponsor, Providence St. Jude Medical Center, and partner sponsor, the Richard Nixon Foundation.

The City of Yorba Linda is proud to recognize Edie Israel as the 2022 Citizen of the Year! A Yorba Linda resident since 2002, Edie Israel embodies the highest ideals of our exceptional community through her years of philanthropy and service. Inspired by her deep faith and active membership at her church, Edie’s business success has enabled her to invest in the community in big ways, including sponsoring city-favorite events like Taste of Yorba Linda, and golf tournaments benefiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Yorba Linda, Placentia, and Brea. Children’s education is also important to Edie, who serves as the chair of the Yorba Linda Woman’s Club’s scholarship program, sponsors and contributes to school programs, spelling bees, and sports teams -- and has even donated laptops to Bryant Ranch Elementary after working with a local client.

“For 20 years, we have had the privilege to get to know so many people in the land of gracious living and have been inspired to give back to the community we love,” says Edie. Please join us in celebrating Edie Israel as the 2022 Yorba Linda Citizen of the Year.

To learn more about the Citizen of the Year program, please visit our website.

The Library's Food for Fines canned food drive is back! From November 1- December 17, library patrons can bring canned food to the Library to pay for fines (excluding lost or damaged items) or make an online donation through a link on the Library’s website. All canned goods and donations benefit the Community Action Partnership of the Orange County Food Bank. For more information on the program, please visit the Library's website.

Yorba Linda voters will notice MEASURE Z on the November 8, 2022 municipal general election ballot. 

What is Measure Z? In compliance with State Housing Law, the City Council approved 19 potential sites to be considered for rezoning by registered Yorba Linda voters. The vote to rezone will appear as Measure Z on your ballot. Measure Z does not authorize any construction, as development proposals will require public review and approval.

Get informed before you vote. For more facts on Measure Z, please visit the Housing Element webpage.

Three candidates are running for two open seats on the Yorba Linda City Council and will be elected on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. The two City Council members will serve a four-year term on the Yorba Linda City Council.

According to the Secretary of State's randomized alphabet drawing, the candidates for City Council will appear on the ballot in the following order:

• Ryan Bent
• Carlos Rodriguez
• Janice Lim

For additional election information, including registering to vote and finding your polling place, visit the 2022 General Election page of the City website or contact the City Clerk's Office at 714-961-7150.

It's the most wonderful time of the year! The City's recreation guide for Winter 2023 is now available online and will be in residents' mailboxes soon! The Winter Guide is packed with exciting classes, activities, and events offered by the Yorba Linda Parks and Recreation Department. As always, our most popular programs fill up quickly, so we encourage the community to plan ahead and sign up soon. Resident registration opens on November 9 at 10 a.m. (non-residents on November 23). Until then, be sure to visit the recreation registration website and set up your account at YLRecOnline.com.

The Yorba Linda Veterans Memorial Association will be hosting its traditional Veterans Day Ceremony on November 11 at 2:00 p.m. at Veterans Park. The keynote speaker will be United States Army and World War II Veteran Staff Sergeant Yoshio Nakamura, a member of the all-Japanese-American 442 Regimental Combat Team, the most highly decorated unit in US military history. The event is open to the public, and attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. For more information, visit the Veterans Memorial Association website.

Please join us for the Yorba Linda Safety Mitigation Community Workshop to learn more about a couple of our emergency preparedness initiatives and what you can do to protect your family and home from wildfires. The event will be held in the Library Community Room (4852 Lakeview Avenue, 92886) at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. Meeting topics will Include:

• Presentations on wildfire safety, property protection, and other prevention/mitigation strategies in collaboration with OCFA;
• Update regarding the Yorba Linda Fuel Reduction Project (CalFire Grant); and
• Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Workshop

For more information and updates on these topics, please email the following contacts:

• Fuel Reduction Project: YLFuelReduction@yorbalindaca.gov
• Local Hazard Mitigation Plan: LHMP@yorbalindaca.gov

Additionally, visit our website to learn more about the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan and take our local hazard community survey.

We’re preparing a Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP), and we want you to be involved in our process. Our community survey, available now, will help the LHMP Planning Team better understand the community’s concerns about natural hazards and identify policies and projects that can help lessen the impact of future hazard events. The survey provides the opportunity for you to share your opinions and participate in the mitigation planning process. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete and is anonymous. Take the survey now!

We invite you to join Yorba Linda Police Services on November 17 as they present important information about community safety and crime prevention. They will cover timely topics like burglary prevention, crime trends, safety tips, and situational awareness. The presentation will be held at the Yorba Linda Cultural Arts Center from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 17. Please visit www.ocsheriff.gov/staysafeoc to learn more.

Yorba Linda is constantly attracting new businesses to open their doors in our exceptional community. We're currently tracking the development of several exciting restaurants and other businesses planning to open up shop in Yorba Linda. soon, including:

• Lone Wolf Brewing – NOW OPEN in the Packing House Square;
• Clydes Hot Chicken – Under construction (Arroyo & School Street);
• Jalapeños – Coming Soon (Stater Bros. Center);
• Sushi Imari – Coming to the Packing House Square soon;
• Handel's Homemade Ice Cream - Coming to the Packing House Square in 2023;
• Denny's – opening a second location (Richfield Road & Yorba Linda Boulevard) next year; and
• Target – opening in the former OSH building at Valley View Center in early 2023.

The City presents these exciting updates and announcements about new businesses as information develops. For more information about opening a business in Yorba Linda, contact our Economic Development Manager at 714-961-7105.

The excitement continues to build at Adventure Playground as the installation of the three-tower playground structure’s support beams continues to go vertical. As installation continues, the playground structure will add various climbing features, rope suspension bridges, and a dry slide. Decorative fencing throughout the site continues to be installed, and various pathways throughout the site are being formed. In the coming weeks, the addition of lighting and landscaping will be added to bring color and life to the site. The re-opening of Adventure Playground will be here soon! View the construction video of the progress made to date, and stay tuned for our opening announcement!

Construction for this year's Annual Pavement Preservation Project started in September. The APPP keeps streets in good condition, provides residents with better driving conditions, extends the lives of streets, and protects the public's infrastructure investment. This year’s project covers the areas east of Village Center, south of Yorba Linda Boulevard, and north of Esperanza Road. The work consists of curb ramp upgrades, repairs to designated areas of asphalt concrete, asphalt overlays, and crack sealing followed by a slurry seal treatment of roadway areas. Initial preparation including the construction of concrete curb ramps is currently underway, with the pavement repairs anticipated to begin in November and slurry seals in January. The overall project is anticipated to be completed by February. No-parking signs and door hangers with additional information will be distributed to help minimize construction impacts to the public. During construction, drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians are advised to be prepared for delays or take alternate routes, watch for traffic or lane changes, proceed slowly, and to be alert to workers and equipment in the roadway.

In observance of Thanksgiving Day, all City facilities will be closed on Thursday, November 24, and Friday, November 25. Additionally, the Library will remain closed on Saturday, November 26. There will be no waste and recycling collection on Thanksgiving Day, and service will run one day late for the rest of the week.

The Army Corps of Engineers has reached an important milestone with substantial completion of the embankment and bikeway restoration project along the north bank of the Santa Ana River. The bikeway is now fully open for use, and the last outstanding item of remaining work includes landscaping and the irrigation of the riverbed bottom. The Army Corps is obligated to restore the vegetation at the base of the riverbed, and the effort to re-landscape will begin this month and extend into February or March of next year. A construction entrance will remain at La Palma Avenue and Camino De Bryant while this final phase is underway. Once complete, the Army Corps will provide a permanent driveway entrance at La Palma Avenue and Camino De Bryant. The permanent pedestrian connection at this location will also be restored.

Criminals look for opportunities with the lowest risk. Don't make it easy! These simple preventative steps go a long way toward reducing the frequency of burglary and theft in our community:

• Do a home check to ensure all doors and windows properly lock;
• Never leave doors or windows unlocked while you are away;
• Consider installing motion-activated lighting and a security system to deter thieves;
• Keep shrubs and trees properly trimmed to increase visibility;
• Consider installing security film on your windows;
• Lock all side gates that provide access to your backyard;
• Keep your garage door closed when you're not in or around the garage area; and
• Keep all outdoor storage areas, including those in carports, locked.

Finally, contact OCSD if you see anything suspicious or dangerous on the non-emergency line at 714-647-7000 or 949-770-6011. To learn more, visit OCSD's website.

The Yorba Linda community is experiencing more encounters with coyotes due to drought conditions, especially when enjoying Yorba Linda's trails and open spaces. Yorba Linda shares a 19-mile northern wildlife interface with Chino Hills State Park and a shared southern boundary with the Santa Ana riverbed. Additionally, the City’s residential areas provide an abundance of water and food sources which encourage coyote habitation.

For the most part, coyotes coexist well within the urban environment and will not affect our daily lives. The best way to minimize the nuisance and losses caused by urban coyotes is by being proactive in keeping coyotes at bay by using helpful tips provided on the City’s coyote awareness webpage.

The general policy of the City of Yorba Linda, Orange County Animal Care, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is not to trap coyotes as killing or relocating urban coyotes has proven to be ineffective over the long term.

The City does monitor coyote activity via reports made directly from residents, but it does not monitor social media platforms for coyote sightings. To report a coyote sighting or incident, please submit a Report a Coyote Sighting Form online.

It's hard to believe that we are already at the beginning of the holiday season! To make this season even more special, OCFA is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Spark of Love Toy Drive. As in previous years, the Orange County Fire Authority is partnering with KWAVE to help collect and distribute toys to children in need throughout Orange County.

To date, OCFA has received requests from more than 100 non-profit organizations for over 30,000 toys. In an effort to collect enough toys to meet the needs, OCFA is planning several toy collection events on the following dates:

• Saturday, December 3rd, 12-3 p.m. – Walmart Supercenter, Foothill Ranch;
• Sunday, December 4th, 12-3 p.m. – The Market Place, Tustin;
• Saturday, December 10th, 12-3 p.m. – Costco, Buena Park;
• Sunday, December 11th, 12-3 p.m. – The Market Place, Irvine; and
• Friday, December 16th – ABC7 Stuff-A-Bus Event at Bristol and Sunflower, Santa Ana.

Please visit ocfa.org for a list of participating fire stations and ocfa.org/toydrive for details regarding each event.

As we enter a season of cooler weather, many residents will turn to portable space heaters, fireplaces, and wood-burning stoves to warm up. Unfortunately, using these devices can also increase the risk of home fires and carbon monoxide poisoning, so please review the following safety tips:

Home Heating Safety Tips

• Keep anything that can burn at least three feet from all heat sources;
• Hire a professional to clean, inspect, and service your home’s heating equipment, fireplace, and chimney annually;
• Purchase space heaters that have an automatic shut-off;
• Always plug space heaters directly into wall outlets and unplug them when they are not in use;
• Keep space heaters away from children and pets;
• Turn space heaters off before leaving the room or going to sleep; and
• Keep a glass or metal screen in front of the fireplace to prevent sparks and embers from escaping.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

• Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas that can be deadly. Know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning – headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, weakness, sleepiness, and confusion. If you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, get outside to fresh air and call 9-1-1;
• Install carbon monoxide alarms outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home;
• Do not use portable outdoor gas heaters inside;
• Never use a gas range or oven for heating;
• Carefully follow the manufacturer’s installation and maintenance instructions if a wood stove is used to heat the home;
• Open the fireplace damper before lighting a fire and keep it open until the ashes are cool; and
• If you have a gas-log fireplace, keep the fireplace damper open whenever the pilot is lit, or the fireplace is in use. Use a damper lock/clamp to ensure it cannot accidentally close shut.