Mitzelfelt sees bright future beyond hazy economy

VICTORVILLE – Even through a seemingly endless haze of dreary economic statistics, the High Desert’s top county representative came through with one clear conviction.

There is a better future for the region, Brad Mitzelfelt said, and businesses and government agencies here need to be ready for it. … (Continued below) …

… From the Daily Press, September 2, 2010 … By David Keck, Special to the Daily Press … (Continued below) …

… “There is no bigger cheerleader for the High Desert than me,” the San Bernardino County 1st District supervisor said at his State of the County address in front of hundreds of guests at the Victorville Chamber of Commerce Morning Insight breakfast at the Victorville Conference Center on Wednesday.

Mitzelfelt reeled off a laundry list of economic woes that have acutely affected both business and government since the Great Recession began in late 2007.

Mitzelfelt, admittedly feeling the effects of prescription pain medication for a left arm broken in a running accident Sunday, kept his remarks short, if not so sweet.

The supervisor noted that the county’s unemployment rate has hovered near record highs of about 15 percent, edging over 20 percent in some parts of the Victor Valley.

Property tax revenue for the county dropped 10 percent since the 2007-08 fiscal year, with sales taxes falling 20 percent during the same period. The drop in revenue finally hit the county with job losses this fiscal year, Mitzelfelt said, with more than 500 positions cut and 85 actual employees laid off.

“We’ve had to do more with less and that’s been a challenge,” Mitzelfelt said. “Just like any business or family in this economy you have to do with less.”

Mitzelfelt said his own office has even felt the cuts. Two positions have been eliminated and two other staff employees have transferred to other jobs. To compensate, Mitzelfelt noted, he’s hired three volunteer community field representatives.

Despite the dark data, not all was doom and gloom.

Mitzelfelt hailed the county’s Workforce Investment Board, which he said has assisted more than 1,000 businesses in the region and trained hundreds of displaced workers for new careers. He touched on infrastructure improvements such as the Yucca Loma Bridge project that will connect Apple Valley to Victorville, and the new Jerry Lewis High Desert   Government Center in Hesperia.

A fiscal conservative who suggested early in his presentation that government needed to get out of the way of the private sector, Mitzelfelt even gave a nod to two federal stimulus programs that have helped to put area unemployed back to work.

Mitzelfelt also spun ahead to November’s elections, speaking in support of Proposition 23, which would tie implementation of the state’s Global Warming Act to the unemployment rate.

BARSTOW – Barstow residents needing to get to Victorville but lacking a car may soon have an easier mode of transportation.

The county transportation authority has received federal funding to start bus service between Victorville and Barstow that could begin running in about six months. The service will likely run three times a day, five days a week with stops at St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley and the Victor Valley Mall, according to Beth Kranda, a staff member with San Bernardino Associated Governments. … (Continued below)…

… From the Desert Dispatch, Aug. 27, 2010 … By Jessica Cejnar, Staff Writer … (Continued below)…

… The Barstow stops and the actual start date for the service have yet to be determined, Kranda said. The service will be run through the Victor Valley Transit Authority.

For Barstow residents like Frank Dillard, who likes to go shopping at the Victor Valley Mall but lacks a car, this is good news. Getting from Barstow to Victorville now costs Dillard $19 for a round-trip Greyhound bus ticket, plus fare for a city bus to get from the Greyhound station to the mall.

The bus leaves Barstow at 10:30 a.m. and arrives in Victorville about 30 minutes later, Dillard said. The last Greyhound bus leaves Victorville for Barstow at 2 p.m., giving Dillard about 3 hours to get to the mall, do his shopping and return to the bus station.

“That would be great to get a bus to go to Victorville,” he said. “I hope this works out.”

For many seniors, having bus service to and from Victorville would make it easier for them to pay their utilities and get to doctors’ appointments, said Jeff Eason Sr., president of the Barstow Senior Citizens Center. He hopes local businesses don’t suffer by establishing a route between Barstow and Victorville, but said having that service is also important for people living outside the city.

“Until future (businesses) in Barstow builds up, the connection between Barstow and Victorville is important,” he said, pointing out that many medical specialists practice in the Victor Valley. “There’s more shopping in Victorville than there is in Barstow.”

Kranda informed Mayor Pro Tem Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre, Barstow’s SANBAG representative, about the bus service to Victorville at a meeting in Victorville on Wednesday.

That meeting also included representatives from Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt’s office and the Victor Valley Transit Authority, who also discussed ways to address complaints from customers who say they have been missing their buses.

The complaints have primarily come from customers outside city limits who say they have been missing rides because the buses aren’t following their schedule, McIntyre said. SANBAG and other government officials from the High Desert will be working on fixing that problem.

Contact the writer: (760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com

Link to online article: http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/barstow-9131-bus-county.html

-Proposition would roll back 2006 environmental law-

Politicians from the Victor Valley’s three largest municipalities gathered Friday afternoon at Hesperia City Hall to speak in support of Prop. 23, a ballot initiative that would roll back a 2006 environmental law. (Continued below) …

…From the Hesperia Star, August 20, 2010 … ‘Victor Valley politicians come out in support of Prop. 23′ … By Beau Yarbrough, Staff Writer (Continued below) …

With the county in the “vice-like grip” of the recession, the county cannot afford to abide by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, said Hesperia mayor Thurston “Smitty” Smith.

“Higher economic activity translates to higher revenue,” Smith said. “We’re doing as much as we can to ensure our legacy of clean air and water for our children’s children. … [But] California alone won’t reduce global warming.”

The 2006 law requires that the state reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Although portions of the law have already gone into effect, new lower emissions standards are scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1 and a “cap-and-trade” carbon credits trading plan can be implemented in 2012, along with further restrictions.

Supporters of the Yes on 23 campaign say the higher restrictions will mean up to 60 percent higher electricity costs, up to 53 cents more per gallon of gas and the loss of a million jobs. Texas oil companies Valero and Tesoro fund the campaign in large part. The proposition suspends the 2006 law until there have been four consecutive quarters of less than 5.5 percent unemployment, which has only happened three times in the last 30 years.

“I don’t think anyone saw this recession coming,” said Apple Valley town councilman Scott Nassif.
“When the global warming law, AB 32, was passed in 2006, the state’s unemployment rate was just 4.8 percent — in Apple Valley, it’s now 12.6 percent. … The human toll from implementing a global warming law that can’t make a dent in global warming right now is too high a price to pay.”

“Saving jobs should be our top priority,” said Victorville city councilman Ryan McEachron. “Unemployment in the Victor Valley is among the highest in California – a distinction we’d rather not have. … We can’t afford this ineffective global warming law right now.”

“Local governments can’t afford to be at the economic mercy of a global warming law that does nothing to reduce global warming and only adds layer upon layer of costs at a time when we simply can’t afford it,” said First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 760-956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com. Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Hesperia.Star.

Link to online article: http://www.hesperiastar.com/news/politicians-3590-valley-victor.html

The Victor Valley isn’t exactly a tourist hot spot, but at least one of its features draws daily travelers from around the globe: the legendary Route 66. (Continued below) …

From the Daily Press, Aug. 23, 2010: ‘Mother Road Needs Makeover; County pushes to replace 130 trestle bridges on legendary Route 66′ … By Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer … (Continued below) …

It’s been dubbed the “Mother Road” by novelist John Steinbeck, the “Will Rogers Highway” after the cowboy comedian and “Main Street of America” for its spirited history as the one of the nation’s greatest roads, bearing loads from Model Ts to SUVs.

“We don’t have in the High Desert a major attraction except Route 66,” said Jim Conkle, co-founder of Route 66 Alliance and board member over the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville. “Route 66 is the most famous road in the world. We don’t say that braggingly; we say that as the truth.”

Unless measures are taken to improve some of the aging structures and crumbling buildings along Route 66, some historians and public officials worry the High Desert may lose its ties to the romantic road, along with any tourism or historical recognition that comes with it.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is seeking $52 million in federal transportation funds to get some 130 timber trestle bridges along Route 66 retrofitted or replaced. The small bridges, many of them not much longer than a car’s length, were built between 1929 and 1931, shortly before advertisements in newspapers and magazines nationwide urged Americans to shuttle down Route 66 toward Los Angeles for the 1932 Summer Olympic Games. The 80-year-old bridges were designed to last just 10 years.

“They don’t meet any of the federal highway standards; they couldn’t construct a bridge like that today because they   wouldn’t allow it because of the safety concerns,” Conkle said. “If they don’t replace them, there will be a section of Route 66 in San Bernardino County, in the High Desert, that will basically shut down. It will be fragmented so badly that people won’t travel it.”

San Bernardino County spends a few million dollars annually to repair portions of Route 66 when Caltrans flags various public safety hazards, though the money ’s mostly spent on “Band-aid on Band-aid fixes,” said 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who represents the High Desert.

The bridges between Daggett and Needles provide a critical access to the Victor Valley’s segments of Route 66. They also line a stretch of Route 66 that California Highway Patrol uses as an emergency bypass during closures of Interstate 40.

“Every year (the bridges) get older and older, it’s more and more difficult to keep them open,” Mitzelfelt said. He added a few weeks ago he was in Washington, D.C., pitching the Route 66 improvement plans to the officials with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands.

Some 320 of Route 66’s 2,400 miles pass through California, from the Colorado River to the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, including more than 100 miles within San Bernardino County.

Mitzelfelt said he’d like to see the county study the corridor and create plans for redevelopment along Route 66, such as zoning and incentives to encourage businesses to open up shops along the road with nostalgic themes.

“We need to agree as to what kind of development should occur and what kind of preservation needs to happen,” he said.

A few other efforts are in the works to preserve and revitalize local portions of the iconic thoroughfare.

The National Park Service, California Preservation Foundation in July launched an effort that makes California the last of eight states along Route 66 to develop a comprehensive history of Route 66, preparing to make it a scenic highways designation and pinpointing historic places of interest.  

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has pitched legislation that would make nearly 1 million acres of the Mojave Desert part of a protected monument zone off limits to massive renewable energy developers, including a stretch of Route 66 that would become the Mojave Trails National Monument.

When it’s completed in 2015, the planned Interstate 15/215 interchange will reconnect the historic Route 66 in the Cajon Pass, where it currently dead-ends on both sides of the interchange.

Conkle said the number of Route 66 travelers is tough to estimate — and researchers at Rutgers University are working on the methods to do just that — but based on the people he sees coming through the Victorville and Barstow Route 66 museums and other research, he estimates 10,000 to 15,000 people travel along Route   66 through Victorville monthly.

The travelers frequent Richie’s All American Diner and Holland Burger in Victorville and The Summit Inn in Oak Hills, stop by the Harley-Davidson dealership and fill up at local gas stations. One day last week, Conkle recalls stopping by the Victorville Route 66 Museum and running into a couple from France and tour groups from Spain and England, comprised of tourists fascinated by the storied road’s mystique.

“The road is just concrete and asphalt and dirt and whatever,” said Conkle, a Pinon Hills resident who said he’s traveled the full length of Route 66 more than 200 times. “It’s the culture of the road and truly the people of the road that have made it something.”

Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at (760) 951-6232 or at nlindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.

BARSTOW – As construction workers convert the east end of the Barstow Mall into office space, the county is preparing to become the mall’s new tenants. … (Continued below) …

… From the Desert Dispatch, Aug. 23, 2010 … By Jessica Cejnar, Staff Writer … (Continued below) …

… The Barstow offices of the San Bernardino County Department of Children and Family Services and the Transitional Assistance Department will vacate the spaces they currently occupy by Dec. 1. Both departments and the Department of Aging and Adult Services will move into 31,150 square-feet of offices at the eastern end of the Barstow Mall.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Tuesday will discuss terminating the county’s lease with AlaskaUSA Federal Credit Union and Pacific Marine Credit Union, which owns the building that currently houses Children and Family Services. The Board will also discuss terminating the Transitional Assistance Department’s lease with building owners Robert and Eva LaFleur.

Children and Family Services currently leases 7,600 square feet of office space for about $12,008 a month. The local department office has been at that space since 1990. The county expects to save about $73,872 for the rest of fiscal year 2010-2011 by moving to the Barstow Mall.

Transitional Assistance currently leases about 15,768 square feet of space at 1300 Mountain View Street. Rent is about $24,705 a month. Moving to the Barstow Mall will save the county $187,047, according to county staff.

Transitional Assistance and Children and Family Services will begin moving from their current location to their new offices in November, said David Zook, chief of staff for First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt. Construction at the Barstow Mall is expected to be completed by Nov. 1.

Both departments should be moved into the mall by Dec. 1. But Zook said if there is a delay, both departments can stay at their current locations on a month-to-month basis.

The San Bernardino Board of Supervisors meet at 10 a.m. inside Covington Chambers of the Board of Supervisors on the first floor of the County Government Center at 385 North Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino. The agenda and staff reports can be viewed at www.sbcounty.gov/bos.

Contact the writer: (760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com

Link to online article: http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/barstow-9095-county-mall.html

There were more students on the roads leading to Oak Hills High School this morning — for the first time, the school welcomed a senior class in addition to the three classes of underclassmen — but otherwise, things were much the same as last year, when the school first opened.

“The cars were backed up at least 30 deep several times in the morning,” said Jim Babinksi, an Oak Hills resident who lives near the high school. “The thing that disturbs me the most is people walking in the dust and the cars don’t seem disturbed.”

Although there’s a paved official route to the high school — Escondido Road to Ranchero Road — the enormous crush of motorists heading to the high school, especially during the first week of a new school year, leads to many spilling over onto the unpaved El Centro Road and Coyote Trail as alternate routes.

But the dirt roads near the high school were never intended to handle hundreds of cars traveling across them each day. Beyond the huge ruts worn in the road, causing manholes to stick several inches out of the roadway in places, the traffic generates huge dust clouds that hang in the air long after school has started. … (Continued below) …

… From the Hesperia Star, Aug. 9, 2010 ‘Relief on the way for those lost in Oak Hills High dust’ … By Beau Yarbrough, Staff Writer … (Continued below) …

“It’s about an hour, especially in the morning, when you have no wind,” said Babinksi. “It was a bad situation, especially after school. … “I could see kids walking and bicycling home and the cars were still zipping through there and creating a lot of dust.”

“We are encouraging parents to use the paved roads,” said David McLaughlin, the Hesperia Unified School District’s Assistant Superintendent of Business Services. “We put in millions of dollars for a signal and widening the road all around campus.”

But the economic downturn means the district has no money for further road improvements, he said.

“We’re in the business of educating kids, not building roads,” McLaughlin. “We’d be more than willing to put in a bike lane or a walk lane, to make the passage safe for kids, but beyond that, we’re encouraging people to use the paved roads.”

There will soon be one more paved road for commuting Bulldogs, at least.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will vote to open the bidding process to pave El Centro Road at their August 24 meeting, David Zook, the spokesman for First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, said Monday afternoon. The bidding process should take about a month to complete, and paving can begin by October.

“They still may have the issue of the cold weather,” since asphalt can’t be laid down in temperatures colder than 55 degrees Fahrenheit, said Zook, but “they should at least have the first layers of asphalt down, and then they’ll cap it in the spring.”

The spring will also see a flood control project on El Centro, to deal with water run-off from Oak Hills High School.
“In the interim, they’re going to be watering to keep the dust down.”

But there’s less good news about Coyote Trail.

“There’s about a dozen right of way properties we need to acquire,” for the purposes of widening the road, Zook said. “We’re having some difficulty, because there’s some absentee property owners.”

Worst-case scenario, it could take years to get all the property acquired and Coyote paved.

But by Thanksgiving, motorists heading to Oak Hills High School will have another paved option. “Possibly even by Halloween,” said Zook.

“That’s half the battle, anyway, since a lot of cars use El Centro,” said Babinski. “It’s a really bad situation out there.”

Link to online article: http://www.hesperiastar.com/news/school-3563-high-oak.html

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 760-956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com. Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Hesperia.Star.

- Transfers Help Supervisors make Half-Million-Dollar Budget Cuts -

From The Press-Enterprise, July 29, 2010 … ‘San Bernardino County administrator gets new staff’, By Imran Ghori …

San Bernardino County supervisors agreed this week to increase County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux’s authority, transferring some of their staff members to him.

As part of its budget last month, the Board of Supervisors approved the creation of a new 10-member unit that will assist the board on special projects and interact with other government agencies.

The unit combines the existing five-member legislative-affairs office with supervisorial staff, all of whom now will report to Devereaux.

The board approved the details of the transfer Tuesday, creating new positions for Mark Kirk, former chief of staff to Board Chairman Gary Ovitt; Bob Page, former chief of staff to Supervisor Josie Gonzales; John Richardson, former field representative to Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt; Mary O’Toole, former deputy chief of staff to Mitzelfelt; and Michael Delgado, former analyst for Ovitt.

Page and O’Toole will serve as management analysts. Delgado will serve as government-relations officer. Richardson will move to government-relations analyst, and Kirk will be director of government relations, said county spokesman David Wert.

Dena Smith, county land-use services director, was promoted to deputy administrative officer, overseeing Page and O’Toole, he said.

Ovitt said moving the board staff — essentially political appointments — over to Devereaux creates more accountability, because he would have the authority to dismiss them, if needed.

Reach Imran Ghori at 951-368-9558 or ighori@PE.com

Link to online article: http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_nstaff30.32b837f.html

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To help make the $4.5 billion High Desert Corridor linking Palmdale and Apple Valley a reality, 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt spent Monday in Washington, D.C., calling for legislation that will allow for a unique partnership between the public and private sectors.

Officials are also asking for access to more federal dollars and the ability to make the expressway, also known as the E-220, into a toll road — a funding mechanism that’s now only allowed for bridges, tunnels and completely new construction projects.

“The High Desert Corridor will benefit all of Southern California by providing a new route for freight movement, which will create more than 42,000 jobs in the High Desert,” Mitzelfelt said. “However, if we rely solely on public funding, it will be decades before this critical project can be built. We need to use innovative financing in partnership with the private sector, and we need federal legislation that will allow us to move forward.” …(Continued below)…

… From the Daily Press, July 27, 2010 … By Brooke Edwards … ‘New Legislation Needed …’ (Continued below) …

…Mitzelfelt and Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich met Monday to discuss the benefits of the project with U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands; the staffs of U.S. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, Sen. Barbara Boxer; and top-level transportation officials.

Andy Silva, spokesman for Mitzelfelt, said the supervisor is also asking officials to expand certain pots of federal money and allow for more flexibility in how those funds are used.

Mitzelfelt said leaders they met with were “very receptive” to using an innovative funding plan to move the High Desert Corridor forward in tough financial times.

To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006…

A new county map set for approval by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will make it easier for hunters and recreational shooters to know where they can legally fire their weapons.

“The map is similar to a road map,” said David Zook, spokesman for First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt. “It will be much easier to tell where you can shoot.” (Continued below…)…

… From the Desert Dispatch, July 28, 2010 … By Aaron Dome, staff writer … (Continued below) …

… All areas of the county are labeled with colors that designate where weapons can be lawfully fired, and what type of weapon may be fired. Areas that allow hunting after dark are also clearly marked for night-hunting enthusiasts.

County officials say that the map is user-friendly and makes it plain to both hunters and law enforcement where the boundaries are.

Tony Riley, owner of Riley’s Reloader, a Barstow gun shop, said that the map will be a good thing for hunters new to the area. He said that he isn’t aware of a county-issued map being widely available since the mid-1980s.

“I have people who come in here all the time asking where they can shoot,” said Riley. “This would be something I would like to carry in my store.”

Riley said that he was in agreement with a draft version of the map that he viewed, and didn’t see many changes from the 25-year-old map he had.

The county board of commissioners is expected to give final approval to the ordinance on August 10.

Zook said that he expects the map to be available online at the county’s website, www.sbcounty.gov, by Sept. 10, and that a print version should be available in sporting goods stores and at government agency offices shortly thereafter.

Contact the writer: (760) 256-4126 or adome@desertdispatch.com

Link to online article: http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/map-8941-new-hunters.html

TWENTYNINE PALMS — Operation Destiny, an anti-drug and anti-gang program dedicated to motivating students here to be more successful in school and in life through opportunities they would not usually have, recently sent four Twentynine Palms High School football players to a five-day Southern California Bulldog Football Camp at the University of Redlands. (Continued below) …

… From the Hi Desert Star, By Lauren Buangan, Desert Trail intern … July 28, 2010 … (Continued below) …

The camp, which started Sunday, July 11, was one of a series of adventures the program run by Larry Bowden of the city of Twentynine Palms and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Smoot has provided local teens over the past two years.

Samad Brun, Chris Fuifui, Nate McClain and Ron Russell roomed in the university’s dorms and followed a packed schedule that started at 6:45 each morning and ended at 10:30 each night. The campers were placed into their respective age groups and practiced three times a day until the fifth day, when teams of eight were chosen and the camp held games.

The four students’ participation in the camp was made possible by  $2,500 in private donations

Fuifui, 16, is new to Operation Destiny, and the football camp was his first encounter with the program.

“It was so hard,” he said of the camp. “We had three-a-day practices, we had to wake up so early in the morning and it was full pads almost a whole week.”

Along with three daily practices, the players attended presentations every evening, studying football clips and listening to guest speakers, one of whom was a retired member of the Oakland Raiders.

At the end of the camp, two of the program’s four high honors went to TPHS players. Fuifui was named defensive player of the week and McClain was named the offensive player of the week.

“It was really rough but it was cool,” 16-year-old McClain said of the camp. “I feel like I want to go to college already.”

Behind the program

Operation Destiny was made possible by a $20,000 grant from San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, whose district includes Twentynine Palms.

The program is a joint effort between law enforcement and the city of Twentynine Palms to mentor students in a more successful direction and to give them a reason to perform better in school. Program participants interact with law enforcement officers, which gives them an insight to the people they are instead of the threat they pose.

“It creates interaction between law enforcement officers and youth in the community in a different atmosphere than the regular way,” program coordinator Bowden said.

“We’ve taken kids with sheriff’s deputies to an Angel’s game and a Laker’s game. We’ve toured the Skechers factory in Ontario, went to Disneyland,” Bowden said. “It really helps the kids to realize that the law enforcement personnel are real people. It’s just to show them it’s not meant to be a them-against-us mentality.”

Along with the field trips, teens in the program participate in work projects that include keeping score at games at Luckie Park and landscaping jobs.

Participants also attended a boxing match between Timothy Bradley, World Boxing Organization junior welterweight champion, and Luis Carlos Abregu thanks to a donation of eight tickets from Bradley, who had gone on a hiking trip with the teens.

Smoot, who is assigned to the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station and serves as Twentynine Palms’ school resource officer, is able to interact with the kids not only outside of school, but in school as well.

“As the school resource officer I have access to these kids on a daily basis. I’m checking up on them, checking up on their grades. They know that I’m there for them just to help them out,” Smoot said.

“Their attitudes towards their everyday lives” have improved, the deputy said of the changes he’s seen in many of the program’s participants. “They’re not getting into fights. They’re doing better in school. They’re actually caring about things.

“I would say that it’s a very good program to help these kids. Most of these kids don’t have a lot to look forward to. The majority of them had never been to Disneyland or baseball game and believe it or not, most of them have never been to In-And-Out Burger before,” Smoot said, noting that Operation Destiny provides participants with a lot of first-time experiences.

“We want them to know that when they get out of school they can get these opportunities,” he said. “Lots of them have never had that, to see that in front of them before.”

While mentors like Smoot and Bowden can help program participants embrace positive changes in their lives, Smoot said it’s up to each teen to make the decision to move forward.

“Most of the kids are all for it. Some of the kids, not so much … I ended up arresting one of the kids,” he said. “That was his conscious decision not to go along with the program. If they don’t want to put themselves into the program, we aren’t going to force-feed them.”

Although Operation Destiny is going strong, its future is uncertain because of funding. Private donations, along with the original grant, have made the opportunities for the teens possible, and Smoot said he has high hopes for the school year to come.

“My hopes are to add some more kids this coming year if we can keep our funding. Lots of things have been donated to us. We’re hoping to keep everything going,” he said.

As long as they can, Bowden and Smoot will keep working via Operation Destiny to bring youths and law enforcement together to find common ground, something both the mentors and the mentored seem to appreciate, as is evidenced by a comment by Fuifui.

“I’ve never really thought of a deputy being my best friend, but (Smoot) is a really good guy,” he said.

Link to online article: http://www.hidesertstar.com/articles/2010/07/28/the_desert_trail/features/doc4c50c49694efc269442131.txt

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Headlines: September 5, 2010 Mitzelfelt MEMO: September 3, 2010 ‘Better Days Ahead’ ‘County may start Barstow-to-Victorville bus service’ Headlines: August 24, 2010 Victor Valley leaders support Prop. 23 Mother Road Needs Makeover ‘County prepares for move into Barstow Mall’ Relief on the way for Oak Hills High dust Headlines: August 2, 2010

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