President Biden's visit to Orange County
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Monday, October 17, 2022
Photos on page 4
The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton
Volume 112 Issue 9
In Irvine, Biden campaigns on inflation relief Protests erupt during president's visit
MELANIE NGUYEN HUGO RIOS Editors
SINCLAIR ANDRUSKA NAVTEJ HUNDAL Editors
CARLOS CORDOVA Staff Writer
Over one thousand protesters flocked to express frustrations regarding relations between Iran and the United States outside of Irvine Valley College Friday afternoon, where President Joe Biden gave a speech during his West Coast tour. The public outcry of Iranians in Southern California takes place amid civil unrest in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was allegedly arrested and killed by Iran’s “morality police” for violating the country's hijab law. Protesters outside of the college demanded that any negotiations with the Iranian government be put to an end. During his visit to Irvine Valley College, President Biden expressed his concerns of the Iranian government’s actions towards its own people. “Women all over the world are being persecuted in various ways,” Biden said. “No one should be telling them what to wear.” Sudi Farokhnia, community organizer and president of the Iranian-American Democrats of California, helped control the protest crowds lined on Jeffrey Road. “For 43 years, we’ve seen what happened when we allowed religious bigotry to take over our country. And we are here not just to stand for people of Iran, but to stand for women of the United States and say, ‘watch what happens when you don’t act, watch what happens if you don’t vote’,” Farokhnia said. In a United States Department of State press briefing on Wednesday, the Department of State spokesperson Ned Price said that the Iran nuclear deal is not the priority of the United States right now and this deal is not one that Iranians
SINCLAIR ANDRUSKA / DAILY TITAN
Orange County sherrif officers hold crowds back on Barranca Parkway in Irvine on Friday. SEE CONFLICT 3
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SPENCER OTTE / DAILY TITAN
President Joe Biden, speaking in Irvine, promised relief from inflation andd soaring drug costs.
City council candidates discuss Fullerton deficit Cannabis dispensaries and city infrastructure were addressed at the event DAVID NUWEZ Asst. Editor
The candidates running for Fullerton’s City Council in district five and district three debated on infrastructure during the hour-long forum on Tuesday, hosted by the League of Women Voters of North Orange County. The candidates that attended from district three were John Ybarra, a local realtor, Arnel Dino, a local business owner and Shana Charles, a Cal State Fullerton professor of public health The district five candidates that attended were Oscar Valadez, a local construction superintendent, Tony Castro, a former union carpenter and the current district five councilmember Ahmad Zahra. The candidate forum, held at Fullerton City Hall, happened while the Orange County Registrar of Voters began sending out mail-in ballots for the upcoming midterm elections. The first subject presented to the candidates was city parks. All six candidates agreed that Fullerton parks are underfunded. Valadez said that a private-public partnership would be a good solution for the lack of funding for parks. Dino agreed and said Fullerton should look at different partnerships to benefit the city.
Charles, the only female candidate, said she noticed the local sports teams use fields in neighboring cities that border Fullerton. “Where we go for those soccer fields is usually Placentia, Yorba Linda schools,” Charles said. “I am thinking there's opportunities to partner with our schools. We have Ladera Vista soccer fields, we have our other elementary schools that we can partner with.” Councilmember Zahra proposed an equity measure that would allow the park dwelling fees to be paid by developers and distributed to the districts. Currently, those fees go towards the general fund where Zahra said they are unfairly distributed. Ybarra proposed the installation of synthetic grass for parks, which was met with pushback from Castro and Charles. The candidates were then asked how they would update the roads and aging infrastructure for Fullerton. Councilmember Zahra said the deficit for road repairs is currently at $200 million and the long-term solution is to raise revenue through economic development and increase the tax base. Charles spoke about the opportunity to receive federal grants to build infrastructure projects for the next generation. Ybarra agreed on the importance of federal funds for infrastructure but would use state grants and private money to combat the current deficit. SEE DISTRICT
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On his third and final day touring Southern California, President Joe Biden visited Irvine Valley College on Friday touting his administration’s efforts in tackling inflation and cutting the cost of prescription drugs. Biden’s visit to the battleground county comes as midterm elections are less than one month away. Several counter-protests occurred outside the community college, ranging from demonstrators voicing their dislike of the president to those marching to spread awareness of the political unrest in Iran. The president praised Rep. Katie Porter, Democrat of Irvine, for her cooperation with the administration and work in California's 45th Congressional District. Biden highlighted Porter’s efforts in lowering the costs of pharmaceuticals and helping his administration’s progress dealing with healthcare. Discussing the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden said it was one of the most significant laws in helping American families pay bills at the end of the month. “We pay more for prescription drugs than any other nation in the world, for the same exact drug by the same company,” Biden said. “There’s no reason for it but Big Pharma being a dominant force.” Under a cloudy afternoon, Porter, who is running for reelection this year, said that Biden would continue to focus on ways to lower costs for American families, specifically for prescription drugs. “This is a huge problem for people in Orange County, across the country. We’ve seen triple and quadruple price increases. We all want life-saving cures, but we also want to be able to afford them,” Porter said. Susan Myer, an activist with an Oakland-based Democratic group California Alliance for Retired Americans, spoke before Biden about how the high cost of prescription drugs affected her family. Myer said her mother was cutting her medication in half to save money for bills and groceries. Both Porter and Biden jabbed Republicans in Congress for voting against the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill enacted under Biden’s term which will lower premiums under the Affordable Care Act and require Medicare to negotiate down the price of certain prescription drugs. “For years, there has been no check on how high or fast Big Pharma can raise drug prices. When I ran for office, I ran on this platform. It’s just not right,” Biden said. Porter said she was thrilled to welcome President Biden during his visits across the country like he promised. “We’re a very large county, we’re a very diverse county in every way, in terms of political views but also in terms of race and ethnicity, immigration status and so I think it’s wonderful that he’s here,” Porter said. Though acknowledging the financial burden of prescription drugs and healthcare coverage for Americans, Biden did not address any solutions to help relieve increased inflation SEE POTUS
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