Friday Update on March 3 2017
All,
Back from a week south of the border! I made it back and was glad they did not get the wall up before we crossed. I would tell you that we had horrible weather but instead, it was absolutely perfect! A couple items this week:
· City Council Agenda is a little light this week with the Comprehensive Financial Report, SACOG MOU for Safe Streets, Acceptance of a CalFire Planning Grant for Golden Bear and the approval of Street Closure for the Car Shows.
· Sewer laterals throughout the town are becoming an issue. We suspect ground saturation is playing a role from the weather!
· Public Works is putting the final touches on the Little League Field. It is in great shape and we are excited for a really god year!
· Heavy storms put our storm drain system to the test and we think we passed! We plan to do some camera inspection of the lines to make sure everything came out OK!
· Staff is ramping up to work with Project Playground who are looking to do a community build playground at City Park. We will be meeting with their team in the next week to start putting plans in place.
· On Thursday, the City sold Tax Allocation Bonds as a refinancing of existing debt from our former Community Development Agency. In total, we sold approximately $13.5m in bonds and achieved a savings of almost $2.3m which will be distributed over time to taxing agencies. To the City, it means an increase in revenue of about $58,000 each year!
· The draft of the Fee Study and Cost Allocation Plan has arrived. Look for this to come before the City Council in April.
· Pool Manager and Lifeguards are being hired for the summer. The pool opens on April 1for lap swim!
· Walnut Park had a walk through with the contractor. The picnic shelter needs to be erected and the contractor will redo the hydra seed for the grass.
· Officer Morgan Hatcher has been selected for the Yolo County Crisis Intervention Team! This is the group who coordinates crisis negotiations and care. A big honor for Morgan and a real feather in the cap for Winters PD!
· Heroin is becoming an issue in Yolo County and something out Police Department is dealing with! They will be coordinating information with Winters Fire!
· Chief John Miller was recently appointed to the Yolo County Community Care Board.
· AB 109 money is now at a deficit in the State, meaning the City will no longer be reimbursed for monitoring paroled inmates into Winters!
· Deputy Fire Chief Ron Karlen was recently dispatched to the incident response team for the Oroville Dam spill incident.
· Winters Fire will host its annual Fish Fry next Friday, March 10 starting at 5:00! One of the best events in town in support of our volunteer fire department!! Tickets are available at the Fire Station.
· City Attorney is working on an ordinance for businesses looking to sell recreational marijuana!
· Next Saturday March 11 is the Coffee Festival in Downtown starting at 10:00!
· Winters Friends of the Library will be holding their annual Fruit Tree Sale at the corner of Railroad and Edwards starting at 8:00 a.m.. Get there early (before 8) if you want citrus or the type of tree you are looking for. They will be there until they run out!
Finally, the Winters community lost an incredible leader with the passing of Alfredo Rodriguez who served at the Regional Commissioner and a coach for the Winters AYSO organization for almost 13 years. I would argue that Alfredo was one of our key Hispanic leaders and someone who has left an incredible legacy in our community.
A little about Alfredo.
Alfredo was immensely respected within the AYSO soccer community for his knowledge of the game, perspective on dealing with the issues of youth soccer and the ability to quietly run the largest youth organization in Winters (460 players, 60 coaches and 25 referees). He was a very unassuming leader who could convince folks to give their time and energy to the cause of serving people. The immense respect Alfredo had from those who competed against his teams was incredible to see.
I worked with Alfredo in running Winters AYSO and cherish the memories of showing up at the school on Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. to see Alfredo’s car already in the parking lot and seeing the lone person in his sombrero (or that Dodgers hat) behind a paint sprayer marking out the fields. He genuinely felt the kids deserved to play in a quality environment and put his all into making it the best he could. Equally, I would spend time with him at the end of the day picking up the trash and putting away the flags. He gave it his all.
As a coach Alfredo set an incredible example for so many young men in Winters, teaching the life skills of discipline, commitment, hard work and how to both win and lose with class. As a coach, he taught the players about life within the metaphor of soccer. Players experienced some of their greatest individual success within the team game. They also learned that there are negative consequences for bad actions, with Alfredo pulling some of the best players from a tight game when they misbehave to set the standard for the rest of the team. Whether they realized it or not, they had a tremendous role model coaching them who instilled values and principles which they can take with them for a lifetime. Probably Alfredo’s most important contribution!
I will celebrate the excitement of Alfredo’s teams going to 18 kicks from the mark in a semi-final and then taking the Davis World Cup in a 2-1 final. Amongst my most cherished possessions of Alfredo and Winters AYSO is a Davis World Cup first place medal and a picture from the Winters Express of a victorious team with the Davis coach sitting in the middle of the champions photo. Equally, I will love the memories of the losses and Alfredo not complaining but rationalizing why “we deserved to lose” and just moving on.
Mostly, we will celebrate a friendship from a man who was an incredible friend to so many people. He was a genuine HERO of Winters whose love of people, community and others made him as unique a man as you can every hope to experience in your lifetime.
They say, the wealth of a man is never measured by money or possessions, it is the legacy that they leave behind by the effect that they had on others in a meaningful way. Alfredo leaves this world probably the richest man we have ever known, through his effect on those around him.
May heaven have a crappy soccer field with a half broken paint sprayer and a need for someone to squeeze two soccer fields into a space where only one will fit. They now have the right guy there!
Winters lost an incredible member of our community named Alfredo Rodriguez!
Have a great week.
John