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Clerk Clayton-Tarvin's Official Statement on Oak View Incident with HB Mayor Pro Tem Ortiz

 
 
Huntington Beach, CA-Clerk Clayton-Tarvin’s Official Response to Oak View Incident with HB Mayor Pro-Tem Tito Ortiz. It’s the holidays, and what we need to do is be kind to one another. Being kind means being respectful of the rules of the institution that educates over 8K children here in HB, Fountain Valley, Midway City, and Westminster, our Ocean View School District. On December 23rd, I was summoned to the Oak View school due to an altercation occurring on site. I was Christmas shopping at Westminster Mall, and abruptly left to go intervene and ask for cooler heads to prevail. When I arrived at the school, the police were on site. They explained that I had to enforce the OVSD policy as they are not allowed and in fact were “directed” to only “educate” the public about masks. All the while, all officers were masked themselves. HBPD are being put between a rock and a hard place. They are not being allowed to enforce local health rules even on OVSD property. So I complied with the police and enforced our rules myself. I asked all present to put on masks or move onto the City’s property. The HB Kiwanis Club had already directed all participants to be masked and Mayor Pro Tem Tito Ortiz, his Planning Commissioner Gracey Van Der Mark, and some of their campaign team refused. In total, Ortiz led a group of about 10 people that did not comply. Prior to the event, the City assured us that all participants would be masked. All of the Kiwanis members, HBPD, and the Oak View community members themselves were masked. On OVSD property, Ortiz and his team openly defied our local health mandates. The Board of Trustees has set forth these mandates via local control, as outlined in the CA State Constitution. We have authority to make our own rules even above what Governor Newson had previously ordered. We oversee ourselves. Why does Mayor Pro Tem Ortiz feel he gets to be above the rules we have set forth? As those of you in the OVSD school community know, we have mandated that our employees, students, and parents must comply with our mask mandate. No one is exempt. Ask yourselves, does celebrity exclude anyone from societal and legal responsibilities? We mustn’t, in our community, coddle violators. We have law and order on all of our OVSD campuses for a reason. We are protecting the health and safety of the community. The Oak View community is the most vulnerable in all of HB, and has been hard hit by COVID-19. Our Oak View teachers are scared to come back to work, and now this super spreader event overseen by Ortiz has put our community at risk.Our teachers and staff in OSVD are the real heroes here, coming to work during a PANDEMIC, in-person educating our children. OVSD teachers and staff are dedicated, tough, and ready to do their essential jobs. Real heroes don’t stroll onto campus once a year. They serve all year. While we appreciate those who followed our rules (Kiwanis/HBPD), are 20 hams and turkeys worth jeopardizing the 600 kids from going to school? We need our employees to return after winter break. Many of the kids are out on mandatory quarantine as it is. Follow OVSD rules, it’s just that simple. No one is above the rules. After finding out that morning that this event would occur, OVSD President Patricia Singer and Superintendent Dr. Carol Hansen sent this reminder communication to the City to explain our positions, as we’ve already made them known, and they violated them anyway.
Being a leader is not easy, but if you really care about the community, show it via actions. Nonetheless, we welcome Mayor Pro Tem Ortiz, who also happens to be an OVSD parent, to come to our schools to help those in need, with a mask on of course. Please OVSD Community, WEAR A MASK

Paid for by Committee to Re-Elect Gina Clayton-Tarvin for Ocean View School District 2024, FPPC 1413559
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