Update 11/30 2:15 p.m.
Mike Story called us after this article was published. After people that our staff brought up information that was never made available to us we felt the need to see it for ourselves and get information from trustworthy sources. We worked on trying to ascertain the information on this event and were unable to. We spoke to Mike Story in person on November 20th and he said he had nothing to do with the party. At this point we were ready to drop this story and move on as this is Mike Story’s last month of employment. At the Council meeting Tuesday November 28th not only did council do nothing to address the cities financial woes by tabling tab 2 of the meeting but proceeded to talk about Giant Cake, Olives and other nonsense. It was at that moment when we decided to force the truth out by going with what information we had already gathered. Guess what the story was 8 hours old and people were tripping over themselves to set the record straight. Below see the corrected information.
The following information was sent at the request of Mike Story via Angela Perry:
It was these Business Owners/Developers, as well as community individuals that made donations for Mike’s Retirement. NO CITY FUNDS WERE USED. The remainder of the funds are being donated to the City for the Rialto Institute of Progress. The other reception that you may be referring to, in your blog, was put on by “IHELPIE” a Senior Citizen organization and their volunteers, which was held November 29that the Senior Center after a taping of Senior Voices. You are more than welcome to attend his upcoming Reception being held on December 14th at Patio West from 5:00 – 7:00 pm; which is also being paid for from the Donations from business owners and the community.
11/29 10:30 p.m.
With Rialto on the brink of Bankruptcy if voters don’t approve the extension of the Utility Users Tax you would think Rialto would be watching every cent right? NOPE, they are out spending money like they just won the lottery They are spending money in poor ways but not on this party. As you can see from the video above the elite of Rialto had a secret high dollar lavish party at the Sierra Lakes Golf Club to honor outgoing City Administrator Mike Story.
Spending tax dollars like this is one of the reasons that Rialto taxpayers are in for a world of hurt soon. Mayor Robertson and her council have spent thousands on special events for the political elite in warehouses, shut down public parks for Jazz Events that end up costing taxpayers thousands due to low ticket sales and gifting of public buildings to private organizations that are close to the mayor. Earlier this year Rialto Departments were forced to cut budgets by 20% as a way to find more money to pay to defend lawsuits and the consequences of not fully paying our PERS obligations.
When Mike Story was pressed about this party he becomes very uncomfortable and says I had nothing to do with it. Now we have 3 out of 5 of our elected leaders laughing about Cake, Olives and funny stories. Mike Story a person who in hard financial times made hard choices to get Rialto through a storm other cites like Colton have still not pulled through has shown an extreme lack of leadership by allowing this party to go on Mike Stated that every expense that comes from the city he has to sign off on so he had nothing to do with the party and no tax money was spent on it. Early estimates put the cost of this one event near $20k dollars!!! What makes matters worse is there are still 2 more parties for the residents to pay for to celebrate Mike’s retirement There are 2 more parties but these parties are apparently being covered by businesses or outside sources. On top of that there is a celebration for outgoing Police Chief Deanda that means the taxpayers are going to pay for three retirement parties We were unable to identify where the money from the party for Randy Deanda is coming from.
Update
Scott Beard CLAIMS that not one single dime from this party came from tax payers pockets. While we await his proof (more than words) we will deliver whatever can or will produce.
rialtonow 
Nov 30, 2017 @ 14:18:12
Dave,
I paid $110 to attend the event as did most if not all attendees. You are getting bad info. You can always verify how much the facility charges for the event by simply calling them.
Dave, please start verifying the info you publish before you do. When you print bad info it makes you and your blog look bad.
It was a great event to honor a man that served his community for over 30 years. It’s a shame that you would try to tarnish that.
Nov 30, 2017 @ 22:32:24
Josh good to hear I had a conversation with Mike and he has confirmed that no city money was spent on this event. He also understood that after calling numerous people about the event and getting nowhere that when our lazy leaders start jabbering about giant cake and olives that there would be a lot of unanswered questions.
Nov 30, 2017 @ 22:35:02
Also I’m never going to let Terry or Scott ever tell me how to do what I do I have ZERO respect for both these men
Nov 30, 2017 @ 16:38:55
Sadly as usual, you do not have the facts. Not one taxpayer penny was spent on this event to honor a great Rialto citizen and leader. All done through donations from the community. I appreciate your concern for the taxpayers but printing complete lies is inappropriate and in this case in very very poor taste.
Nov 30, 2017 @ 16:42:11
Funny how nobody can prove that but everyone in the cities pocket wants to throw that out there hmmm
Nov 30, 2017 @ 18:41:24
I think the city and they’re supporters count on the citizens forgetting about their extravagant spending as their warrant reports are posted until three months after the checks are written! Sometimes the reports aren’t properly attached to the city’s website either (reports are not attached to the November 14th council meeting). It’s sadly ridiculous what this city pays for to put on parties and “community events”. I would challenge the citizens to take time to review these reports. Mike Story is a nice man who has allowed himself to be pushed around by the council and department heads. The things that have happened under his watch are disgraceful and illegal. “Chief” DeAnda has taken the PD to a low that has never been seen before. Morale is at an all-time low, officers, including senior officers & those of rank, have left or are in the process of leaving. Then there are the lawsuits for civil rights violations and other numerous illegal acts by DeAnda and his cronies. The city is at an all-time high in legal fees as they have spent hundreds of thousands in legal defense. This all falls on the shoulders of DeAnda, Story and the city council. They have put their personal agendas ahead of what is best for the city, the departments within the city and, most importantly, the citizens! I find it highly suspicious that some people are attacking Mr. Phillips for trying to educate the citizens as to what is happening in their community and how the council is throwing away their tax dollars! Why did several people of the citizen budget committee get up and leave during the council meeting the other night? Oh yeah, that’s right….the mayor tabled the important items but decided to vote on spending millions of dollars on two more parks. What good are two more parks going to do for the city when they have no first responders available for an emergency that may occur? Are they going to call San Bernardino? Well considering the state of their city, police department and they had to disband their city-run fire department, I doubt they’ll be able to help us out. In the current state of our country and the corruption of politics, it’s time for new leadership in Rialto! At all levels! There are great men & women working for this city and there are great people who truly care about their community. But it’s time to drain the Rialto swamp! There needs to be transparency and serious, non-biased discussion about what is best for the city and the people who live here. A majority of the current council are only serving their own agenda….GET THEM OUT BEFORE IT”S TOO LATE!
Nov 30, 2017 @ 18:55:54
Well said
Dec 03, 2017 @ 07:04:52
You sir are the epitome of “fake news”, how do you just smear people’s names then realize you had false facts and have to backtrack? Trujillo boasting about cake was fitting though. You did well there.
Dec 04, 2017 @ 18:04:17
Dave, thank you for verifying, and posting the info of where the finances came from for the Retirement Party for Mr. Mike Story. I understood that all the proceeds for the event, were to come from those who chose to attend.
This event was to honor, and say “thank you” to a faithful city employee that has served his community for over 30 years, and has done it with character and integrity.
I understand your desire is to bring forth info, so our city will use it’s resources for the betterment of its citizens, and in a proper way. Just make sure before you type, you are correct. Thank you.
Dec 05, 2017 @ 03:04:13
Joe Baca Jr. 1st thank you for reaching out and publicly commenting on this issue. I’m sorry you don’t do this more often on more pressing issues since the people should hear from their councilman. I looked into this event and NOBODY gave me any information. I even asked Mike at the Budget Advisory Committee and he had nothing to say other than “I had nothing to do with it I just showed up” it wasn’t until you guys started talking about GIANT cakes and olives and paying Mcees after choosing to ignore TAB 2 that I decided to use your video and words to force the truth.
Feb 20, 2018 @ 08:23:13
This is the first time I have come across your web site. I have lived here since 1983 and worked in this area since 1981. I’m horrified at the lack of journalism ethics on display. Why would anyone believe what you are writing if you don’t bother researching and citing your sources? Why write something just to retract it? Also, you are writing that seniors are under attack when the video does not demonstrate any attack. I was hoping to be enlightened but I’m sad that I accidentally viewed this page. Are you attempting to appeal to those easily misinformed? Rialto has enough problems and needs voters who are interested in working toward fiscally responsible solutions. Slinging mud does nothing to that end IMHO.
Feb 20, 2018 @ 18:26:33
Mel first off thank you for visiting our blog and taking the time to share your thoughts. The story you commented on was to fish out the un needed secrets behind funding for a party with a giant cake. This city is on a fast track to bankruptcy and we need to watch our spending, if you knew your costs were going to skyrocket and your income wasn’t going to match would you spend money on parties? No but our city seems to think that giving the impression that were throwing money into the fire is a good thing. The prudent thing to do would have been to publicize the funding of these efforts in advance of their taking place.
Also if your looking for ground breaking journalism that ignores the elephant in the room because the elephant will stop advertising with them if they call out dirty dealings there are places to go for that i.e. SB Sun, Press Enterprise, Rialto Record and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Not only will these news organizations ignore the real stories they will charge you to read them we work to bring you real stories that effect real people free from City of Rialto influence.
On the other topic of the City of Rialto Council and Mayor attacking our seniors sadly this too is true. In the minutes from the last budget advisory committee meeting I asked Rob Steel the Interm City Administrator what the city councils thought process was on removing the exemption for seniors on the Utility Tax for those making $100k or more a year. Rob Steel said the councils original desire was to remove the exemption for all seniors except those in the very low income classification. The only reason that didn’t fly was because the council and Mayor could not get the budget advisory committee stamp of approval to give them distance from the blow back that would cause. Don’t believe us ask for yourself Robb R. Steel Interim City Administrator (909) 820-8008 (direct line).
We are not the bad guy here we are here to educate you and the rest of the community on what is going on. If you fail to see it or allow others to poison you from believing the truth we can’t help you there.