The Ashley Articles Supervisor Marion Ashley—Inside Story 2 Inside Story 2 Inside Story 2 Inside Story Evans Road and Orange Avenue. Zepeda, 31, 3 Inside Story 4 Inside Story 5 Inside

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Inside Story 2

Inside Story 2

Inside Story 2

Inside Story 3

Inside Story 4

Inside Story 5

Inside Story 6

B U S I N E S S N A M E

Supervisor Marion Ashley—

District 5

The Next Leaders at RCRMC V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

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I N T E R E S T :

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April Articles

Home For Veteran 1-2

Clean Air Agency Location 3

RUHS ICU Care 4

Sexual Assault Awareness 5

Upcoming Events 6

Paint & Recycling Disposal 7

District and Staff 7-8

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The Ashley Articles Supervisor Marion Ashley—District 5 Issue #25

4080 Lemon Street, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]

Veteran Receives Mortgage Free Home in Perris

Staff Sgt. Oskar Zepeda’s life changed forever

the day he absorbed a hand-grenade blast

from a suicide bomber while in Afghanistan.

The blast tore into the right side of the Army

Ranger’s body, severely damaging his spine,

right leg, foot, arm and hand.

The explosion also left him with traumatic

brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and

constant pain. He’s endured more than 30

operations to restore partial use of his limbs

but knows he won’t ever completely recover.

Throughout the operations he worried how he

would take care of his wife and two daughters,

and what the future had in store.

One thing he and his family won’t have to

worry about is a home mortgage. Zepeda and

his family are moving to Perris, to the new

Avelina subdivision under construction near

Evans Road and Orange Avenue. Zepeda, 31,

his wife, Lisa, 32, and daughters, Isabel Duarte,

15, and Sophia Flores, 7, took part in a

groundbreaking ceremony at the lot where

their new home will be built. Perris electeds,

local representatives, Pulte Homes managers,

construction crews, an ABC news crew and

Perris residents joined the family at the

groundbreaking.

“This is a very touching day for us,” Zepeda

said. “I cannot wait to become part of the

Perris community. I am so glad that the

community is here. It shows they care and

have not forgotten about us veterans. Now I

can focus on my rehab and the future. The City

of Perris is doing an awesome thing. We feel

like you are opening your arms to us.”

The Zepeda family is the latest recipient of a

gift from Operation Finally Home, which brings

together housing companies and suppliers

committed to constructing homes for wounded

veterans. To date, Operation Finally Home has

provided 100 homes to seriously injured

veterans across the country. “You have more

than written a check for this home,” said

Ronnie Lyles, project manager for Operation

Finally Home. “We admire and honor you so

much for your years of service to this country.

The Zepedas’ new single-story home will

include special modifications to accommodate

the injured veteran. Those include wider doors

for easier passage and no steps because

Zepeda has difficulty negotiating even slight

inclines. The 2,000-square-foot, four-bedroom,

two-bath is set for completion in August, in

time for his daughters to arrive and start the

new school year.



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The Ashley Articles

4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]

Issue #25 Page 2

“It is important to give back to our serving brothers and

sisters who have sacrificed on our behalf,” said Jennifer

Norwood, a Pulte marketing executive. “Sgt. Zepeda is a

most humble man, a good-hearted man who does not

believes he deserves any special recognition.”

Zepeda spent 10 years in the Army, including nine

deployments to hot spots in Iraq and Afghanistan. He

served as a machine-gunner, rifleman, squad leader,

sniper and platoon sergeant in places like Baghdad, Mosul,

Ramadi, Al-Asad and Kabul. On the night of Sept. 8, 2011,

Zepeda was part of an elite Ranger team assigned to bring

in two Taliban leaders who had eluded capture for

months. One gave up without a struggle; the other fought

Zepeda, who clamped a headlock on him before he

detonated the grenade. “The right side of my body took a

beating,” he said.

Years of surgeries, therapy and slow recovery followed. It

took months for Zepeda to relearn to walk and gain

function in his right arm. Even today, he has no grip

strength in that hand and limited lateral control of his right

leg. Zepeda retired from the Army in 2014. Still, he has no

re-

grets. “I joined the Army because I wanted to serve and I

was proud to wear the uniform,” he said. “I can’t focus on

the past and feel sorry for myself. I’ve got to move on.”

“You can’t do anything better than to honor our veterans,”

said Mayor Busch, who served as a shipboard radar

operator in the Navy. “Pulte Homes is doing a great service

in our community and across the country to honor our

disabled veterans. To be able to honor a Perris veteran is

very nice.”

“We continue to welcome veterans to our City.” City

Councilman Yarbrough, the father of three current and

former service members, said Perris enjoys a long history

of supporting its military, nothing that the Perris Valley

Cemetery holds the remains of 13 Civil War veterans.

While nothing can completely repay veterans like Zepeda

for their pain and suffering, receiving a home and

well-wishes of the community indicate Perris remains

committed to its men and women in uniform.

“It send the message we care,” Yarbrough said.

The Ashley Articles


Issue #25 Page 3

GOVERNMENTAL & COMMUNITY RELATIONS

900 University Avenue

Riverside, California 92521

(951) 827-7075 | Fax: (951) 827-5485

www.ucr.edu

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Clean Air Agency Chooses University of California, Riverside for 400 New Jobs Facility RIVERSIDE, CALIF. (www.ucr.edu) – California’s “clean air agency,” the California Air Resources Board, voted 8-3 on March 24, 2016 to relocate its motor vehicle and engine emissions testing and research facility from El Monte to an 18-acre site at the University of California, Riverside, which represents a $366 million investment into the local community and 400 knowledge-based jobs in the Inland region.

400 New High-Quality Jobs by 2020

The new air quality research facility at UCR will include labs and offices for testing engine emissions and bring 400 jobs for scientists, technicians and engineers. The groundbreaking is projected to take place in 2017 and the facility to be open by 2020.

“This decision is great news for UC Riverside, the city and county and it is great news for the people of California,” said UCR Chancellor Kim A. Wilcox. “[This new CARB] facility will bring together two world-class institutions working in air quality and emissions science and promises to create a whole range of synergies that simply wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Building this new facility in Riverside now positions our region to become the global capital for air quality research. With construction slated to begin next year, planning has already begun to ensure a smooth transition and, most importantly, accommodate the needs of Air Resources Board employees.”

Regional Collaboration

The new facility will replace an existing one in El Monte that no longer is adequate for the agency. Agency staff had recommended a site in Pomona, in part because of its proximity to the existing site. But board members ultimately decided that Riverside best fit its long-term needs.

The decision in Sacramento came after a month-long, joint effort by Riverside County, UC Riverside, City of Riverside and the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce to demonstrate the advantages of locating the facility in Riverside. The four institutions worked closely with State Sen. Richard Roth of Riverside to ensure that Air Resources Board members understood how eagerly UCR, local government, business and elected officials had embraced the idea.

The University of California, Riverside is a world leader in air quality and emissions science.

http://www.ucr.edu

The Ashley Articles


Issue #25 Page 4

RUHS Team Project Liberating Patients from Impacts of ICU Care

MORENO VALLEY, Ca. -- Rudy LaGarreta’s daughter likes

what she sees when she visits her 75-year-old father in the

intensive care unit at RUHS Medical Center in Moreno

Valley. Instead of being heavily sedated and tethered to a

bed by tubes and devices like prior ICU admissions, Mr.

LaGarreta’s team has been getting him up and moving

every day even though he’s still attached to a ventilator.

“My dad is smiling and laughing. He’s doing awesome,” Mr.

LaGarreta’s daughter, Mary, reported in early April. “I see a

big difference in his care and it’s really good. I am grateful

for the determination of his doctors, nurses and therapists,

and their commitment to his improvement.”

RUHS Medical Center in Moreno Valley is one of just 77

intensive care units in the United States that has been

chosen by the Society of Critical Care Medicine to

participate in the “A-F Bundle Improvement Collaborative,”

also known as the ICU Liberation project.

Nearly 6 million people are admitted to U.S. hospitals

annually for advanced life-saving care in ICUs. About half of

those patients will experience long-term impairments such

as muscle weakness, anxiety, depression and symptoms

associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The 18-month quality improvement initiative at RUHS

Medical Center seeks to improve outcomes from the time

a patient first enters the ICU, says Dr. Dr. Ramiz Fargo,

Chief of Medical Specialty at RUHS Medical Center, a 439-

bed public teaching hospital.

“What we are looking at now is delirium as an acute

condition when patients have been very sick, put in a new

environment, given heavy sedatives and experience

confusion.

Even young, otherwise healthy patients can develop

delirium and long-term consequences from their ICU

stays,” Fargo says, adding that RUHS Medical Center plans

to open an outpatient post-ICU clinic to help patients

continue to make improvements after they’ve returned

home.

“At our hospital we are very interested in being a beacon

in Riverside County and for being one of the hospitals that

offers the best quality care to all our patients and

communities,” Fargo added.

Mr. LaGarreta’s physician, Dr. Walter Klein, says his

patient’s physical and mental improvements are a result of

the ICU team’s continued use of the best practices

identified in the ICU Liberation protocols.

“These initiatives are labor intensive. They take a lot of

work and hospitals often don’t do them or they do them

half way. We are sticking with the protocol and we are

seeing results,” Klein said.

Members of Mr. LaGarreta’s team admit they sometimes

wondered whether there was any point given his condition

and multiple health issues. They questioned whether the

bundles would have lasting effects on a gentleman who

had suffered such serious health challenges.

Nineteen years earlier, the patient had endured a long ICU

stay after a massive heart attack. On March 13, he came to

RUHS Medical Center in fragile condition. He was admitted

for an altered mental state and intubated for airway

protection. His team did what it could to ensure Mr.

LaGarreta received the bundle interventions. Five days

later the patient seemed well enough to be extubated. Mr.

LaGarreta was transferred to a step-down unit where his

improvement didn’t last.

On March 18, Mr. LaGarreta was readmitted to the ICU

after being found unresponsive. He suffered two episodes

of cardiac arrest upon his readmission and the picture

grew bleaker.

“Everyone is aware of the risks of ICU readmission and

cardiac arrest, and what those mean to survival and to a

patient’s quality of life”, says RUHS Nurse Educator

Marigene McNicholl. “Like most people, we had moments

of doubts. Would these efforts really make a difference?”

McNicholl says the ICU team stayed true to the project

protocols, which call for family participation and presence

The Ashley Articles


Issue #25 Page 5

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). This

year’s campaign focuses on ways that individuals,

communities, and the private sector can help prevent

sexual violence. Nearly one in five women and one in 71

men are victims of sexual assault (Black et al., 2011), but

all of us are impacted by sexual violence.

Riverside County is proud to be home to a leading Sexual

Assault Response Team (SART), which is comprised of

specially trained RNs who work out of the RUHS Moreno

Valley Medical Center to provide sexual assault exams

and medical treatment for patients of sexual and

domestic violence. The SART nurses see more than 200

sexual assault patients a year and our hope is to

significantly reduce the number through comprehensive

prevention measures.

Everyone understands that sexual violence impacts

victims and their families, but the effects of this violent

crime on communities and society are less obvious.

Sexual violence creates a climate of fear, anger, and/or

disbelief in the workplaces, campuses, and communities

that it occurs in. Additionally, sexual violence generates

financial costs such as criminal justice and medical

expenses, crisis and mental health service fees, and,

perhaps most damaging; the lost contributions of

survivors.

Preventing such a far-reaching and prevalent social issue

as sexual violence may seem overwhelming or even

impossible. This mentality implies that there isn’t a

solution — or if there is, we can’t achieve it. But we can

and we are. There are many practical steps that are

currently being taken in our homes, neighborhoods,

schools, faith-based communities, and workplaces. But

there are many more things we can do to promote

safety, respect, and accountability.

Prevention starts with challenging victim-blaming and

believing survivors when they disclose. Individuals can

model supportive relationships and behaviors, call out

harmful attitudes, and challenge the societal acceptance

of rape. Communities and businesses can take action to

implement policies that promote safety, respect, and

equality.

As this year’s slogan declares, the goal of preventing

sexual violence is possible. You can learn more about

Sexual Assault Awareness Month and ways you can help

at: www.nsvrc.org/saam.

http://www.nsvrc.org/saam

The Ashley Articles


Issue #25 Page 6

The Ashley Articles

Jobs in Riverside County


Issue #1 Page 4

Riverside County Transportation

Commission (RCTC) has been

hard at work developing pro-

jects throughout Riverside

County to improve mobility.

Each project creates hundreds if

not thousands of construction

jobs while simultaneously laying

the groundwork for private in-

vestment to spur economic

growth even more. These pro-

jects are a necessary investment

in our county’s future to insure

it will be a prosperous one.

The Drop Zone Aquatic Center is in the home stretch and is already allowing local schools to utilize the

Olympic size swimming pool for their water sports. The Drop Zone will be open for business on memorial

day and will have 35 full-time employees along with 100 part-time staff during the summer months.

There will be a small staff for the rest of the year to maintain the Olympic size pool for local schools and

residents.

The Ashley Articles

Perris-Menifee Waterpark


Issue #2 Page 2

The 5th District includes the cities of Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Menifee, Moreno Valley and Perris. The major

unincorporated areas in the district include Banning Bench, Cabazon, Cherry Valley, Desert Hills, Desert Hot Springs,

El Nido area, Juniper Flats, Lake Perris, Lakeview, Lakeview Mountains, Mission Lakes, Mission Springs, Morongo

Badlands, Nuevo, North Palm Springs, Painted Hills, Quail Lake, Reche Canyon, San Jacinto Wildlife Reserve, San Tim-

oteo Canyon, Snow Creek, The Sovereign Nation of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Twin Pines, West Garnet,

Whitewater and Windy Point .

The Ashley Articles


Issue #25 Page 7

Fabulous Fifth District

There are many outlets to recycle your leftover paint. The Riverside County

Department of Waste Resources has partnered with PaintCare, an industry sponsored

paint stewardship non-profit program established to manage the reuse, recycling and

proper disposal of unused architectural paint. PaintCare continues to establish

numerous drop-off sites at paint retail stores, government-run household hazardous waste facilities, and other

locations across California. When these sites are part of PaintCare, they will accept program products (primarily latex

and oil based paint) from all residents and certain businesses. This is in addition to the Riverside County Department

of Waste Resources' Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program.

Paint Recycling and Disposal

Back L-R:

Dennis Gutierrez, Legislative Assistant Barry Busch, Legislative Assistant Melanie Villarreal, Board Assistant Amber Smalley, Board Assistant Steven Hernandez, Legislative Assistant Zack Wybert, Board Assistant

The Ashley Articles

Supervisor Ashley & The District 5 Team


Issue #24 Page 8

Sitting Down L-R:

Ashley Fuller, Legislative/YAC Intern Jaime Hurtado, Chief of Staff Supervisor Marion Ashley Katrina Cline, Legislative Assistant (Office Manager/Scheduler) Debbie Rose, Legislative Assistant

Supervisor Marion Ashley

District 5

Documents

The Ashley Articles Supervisor Marion Ashley—Inside Story 2 Inside Story 2 Inside Story 2 Inside Story Evans Road and Orange Avenue. Zepeda, 31, 3 Inside Story 4 Inside Story 5 Inside