Issuu

The Student Voice of California State University, Fullerton

Monday, April 3, 2023

Baseball walks off against Hawai’i

CSUF elevators to avoid

WHAT’S INSIDE?

Volume 113 Issue 10

Opinion 6

Sports

Fullerton aims for economic growth while $5 million deficit looms

Downtown could get noisier if limit lifted LUIS VIZCAINO Staff Writer

EMILIO MELENDEZ / DAILY TITAN

Fullerton mayor Fred Jung said that the city will continue its commitment to balancing its budget and economic and job growth and acquiring investments abroad.

HUY NGUYEN EMILIO MELENDEZ Staff Writers

The city of Fullerton and the North Orange County Chamber hosted the annual State of the City: The Crossroads of Opportunity, where Fullerton mayor Fred Jung addressed the current status of the city and its future at the Titan Student Union at Cal State Fullerton on March 29.

The theme of the event emphasized the significance of potent infrastructure and growth in moving the Fullerton community forward. Jung said that Fullerton remains committed to increasing diversity, economic growth and stability and encouraging investments abroad. Despite these goals, the city is expected to run a $5.2 million deficit, according to the Fullerton 2022-2023 adopted budget. Since 2019, the city has gradually decreased in revenue until this year, where they expect to

receive $243.6 million. In contrast, the city expects to spend about $248.8 million this year, which is the most the city expected to spend in the last ten years. Last year, the Daily Titan reported the city decreased its budget by 2.5% and cut an additional $3.8 million, resulting in a 10% pay reduction for senior staffers, layoffs and expenditure cutbacks. President and CEO of North Orange County SEE CITY

Freshmen leading water polo in inaugural season MATTHEW ROSOFF Staff Writer

In its inaugural year as a program at Cal State Fullerton, the women’s water polo team has been led by its top-performing freshman athletes, with more than half the roster being first-years at the collegiate level. Of the 13 players who compete, eight are freshmen, one is a sophomore and the other four are juniors. The team’s top performer is freshman Gabrielle Zaretskiy, who is currently third overall in goals scored in the Big West Conference with 59. Kyle Witt, the head coach of the team, understands the ups-and-downs of coaching a freshman-heavy team. “For these guys to get to start their own program and start a culture the way they want to start it, the way Fullerton wants to start it – that is unique. So there's no one that came before them. They're the trailblazers. So I think that's the best part,” Witt said. Freshman Delaney Wilder, who is fourth on the team in goals, believes

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that age does not impact ability in the pool. “No matter how young you are, how long you've been out of the pool, you put in the work, have the right mindset – you can be a top player for your team,” Wilder said. Kylie Corwin, a freshman who plays mostly center guard, believes this is a great opportunity for the team's young core to gain experience, which will really benefit the team in the following seasons to come. The team is led by captain Mia Solorzano, a redshirt freshman and recent transfer from Loyola Marymount University. Solorzano is the second-leading scorer on the team and is currently tied for sixth for goals in the Big West with 45. Solorzano became interested in water polo by playing with friends in Commerce, California, a city that is known for water polo. Commerce’s highly competitive water polo teams, which are sponsored by the city, add to the national pedigree. The city boasts a $20 million pool, which is named after Brenda Villa,

NAVTEJ HUNDAL / DAILY TITAN

Out of the 13 players who compete, eight of the Titans are freshmen.

Commerce resident and one of the most decorated athletes in women’s water polo history, and employs multiple water polo coaches. This interest led her to play for her

high school team at Rosary Academy in Fullerton, where she guided her team to two CIF championships and received multiple accolades and awards SEE SHOT

In an effort to promote nightlife in downtown Fullerton, the Fullerton City Council is considering voting on the city’s noise regulations, increasing the decibel levels to better suit current living standards. The city council will decide whether the ordinance should be changed for the entire city, or if the downtown area should be allowed to have an exception. Noise levels in the regulations are defined by the decibel scale, which measures sound, ranging between a safe 30-decibel whisper to a dangerous 140-decibel firework. Current regulations limit noise levels across the city to a maximum of 55 decibels, the level of a large business office, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The proposed modification raises these levels for downtown to 70 decibels at a maximum of 80 decibels, which is about equivalent to a vacuum cleaner and a blender three feet from where a person is standing, respectively. The addition of a maximum noise level only permits sounds at 80 decibels between a minute and five minutes. The city council received a presentation from the director of Community and Economic Development, Sunayana Thomas, to get feedback on the city’s current noise regulations and review staff recommendations from 2020. “When these ordinances were created, there weren’t many houses downtown, if any at all,” Fullerton mayor Fred Jung said. “Downtown was more of antique stores, pawn shops, businesses. It was not really a living and residential environment.” The development of the current noise regulations have been ongoing since 2009, as reaching a consensus on the details have proven difficult. In 2019, the city council reviewed changes to the rules but was delayed by the pandemic. “Essentially, we said businesses were on notice and active enforcement was in place,” Thomas said. “However, what’s important to note that it’s incomplete, because what we have today is obsolete in the sense that it’s unenforceable and unrealistic noise levels of standard operations.” One of the questions Thomas and her staff had for the council was whether to include outdoor entertainment in these new regulations. The current rules do not allow outdoor entertainment, including outdoor speakers, amplifiers or performances. SEE SOUND