By Virginia Vaughn
Korea Sister City Trip
On March 25, I travelled to Korea as part of a delegation from the Buena Park Sister City Foundation to meet with officials from Seongbuk-gu, the City’s Sister City. Our group consisted of four students from Buena Park High School along with City Manager Jim Vanderpool and Chief of Police Corey Sianez. During the trip, we met with Mayor Young-Bae Kim to discuss ways to partner on cultural awareness and economic development. The trip was also the first step toward a strong student exchange program that includes Seongbuk-gu and Buena Park.
Walking trail named Silverado Trail
Recently, the city held a trail naming contest for the recently-completed mile-long walking and cycling path that starts just west of the intersection of Knott Ave. and Thelma Ave., and continues westward within the Southern California Edison Right-of-Way until Valley View St. The pathway did not have a name yet, so the City Council decided to ask residents and businesses to create one. Over 200 entries were received from the City’s social media platforms and adjacent Raymond Temple Elementary School. On March 13, the City Council selected “Silverado Trail” as the new name for the pathway. The name was suggested both by a member of the public and a student at the adjacent Raymond Temple Elementary School. The winners will be recognized at a future City Council meeting.
Bright Paths Program’s continued success
Bright Paths assists Buena Park’s homeless neighbors in becoming independent and functioning members of the community by providing necessary resources, such as temporary housing, rehabilitation programs, and general assistance, as a first step to graduating from the streets. The program also provides tools to educate local residents, businesses, and faith-based organizations about homelessness and resources available to alleviate homelessness in their neighborhood. Since April 2016, the Bright Paths Program has reached out to 654 homeless neighbors and has placed 215 unsheltered individuals. Of those 205 individuals, the program has sustained a retention rate of 96%. A total of 52 individuals were placed in “permanent” placements per the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) definition, and the remainder were sheltered in temporary arrangements until permanent solutions could be realized. The City has utilized the Courtyard in Santa Ana and Bridges at Kraemer Place in Anaheim among other housing solutions. Lastly, approximately 64 clients have been transitioned from housing at the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park emergency shelter (or from living in their cars outside the facility) into other types of supportive housing. Bright Paths continues to work toward successful placements and helping individuals transition into permanent solutions.
Keeping our schools safe
Over the last two school years, the Buena Park Police Department has partnered with the Buena Park School District and Centralia Elementary School District to make the City’s schools safer and train staff on how to best respond to threats of school violence. This effort has been accomplished through the following means:
-District-wide staff (administrators, teachers, and miscellaneous employees) training in violence prevention and “Run, Hide, Fight”
-Review of each campus’ safety plan with recommended changes presented to each principal
-Individual campus sessions with staff discussing their safety plan, site security, best practices/prevention, and Q&A about campus-related concerns
-Working in tandem with district stakeholders on how best to implement security protocols and secure campuses from intruders/threats
-Ongoing discussions with district staff as questions and issues arise
Chief Sianez has also met with both District’s superintendents to discuss nationwide violence in schools, tightening school security, hardening school targets, developing better communication between the districts when an incident occurs at non-district schools, and increasing law enforcement visibility. The Chief will continue these type of meetings to address the safety of our students.
New City Commissioners
The City would like to welcome Jenny Park and Carmen Koo to the City’s Cultural and Fine Arts Commission. We thank you for your dedication and service to our community.
Restaurant pick for March
Aburi Sushi—Located on the north side of Buena Park Downtown at the mall entrance near Buffalo Wild Wings, Aburi Sushi boasts fresh fish in All You Can Eat or a la carte options. The restaurant is new to the City and has not disappointed. Check out their website at aburipayce.com for more information.
