Rialto Now 2020 Voter Guide

28 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

Rialto you once again have way to many people to choose from when it comes to electing new leaders. We have spent years in Rialto and we know a lion share of the people running for this years open seats. This guide is not a paid opportunity and isn’t tied to one party over the other. These seats are all ones where we need people wo don’t toe a party line but are willing to do whatever it takes to represent the people.

Some School Board Candidates were left off the image above and a couple faces got cut off this was not done on purpose we promise.

So without further to do here we go:

Rialto Mayor

For Rialto Mayor we were excited to see this race develop. You have Ed Palmer a strong former City Councilman and Small Business owner coming back to apply what he learned about this race 4 years ago. While you have Lupe Camacho looking to come in to steal the show. We feel that Ed Palmer will be the best choice for Rialto moving forward. If your worried about what will happen to Rialto’s development movement you can be rest assured that Ed Palmer did a lion share of this work already and can keep us moving forward.

For Mayor vote Ed Palmer

Rialto City Council

Nobody sitting on the council right now has my support. Councilman Trujillo made National news by trying to hold a secret meeting at City Hall about making Rialto a Sanctuary City. He has shown since that he has little to no voice and can’t stand up for Rialto when they need him. Councilman Carrizales is no better he is so tied to the Mayor that he couldn’t see or choose to not look as the Mayor gifted funds and city buildings to select people and non profits. At best he is a good looking face to stand in front of businesses he had no hand in attracting to Rialto. He also can’t vote on many business items in Rialto as he has to recuse himself time and time again.

Our picks to replace these two poor choices are Andrew Karol and Stacey Augustine.

Andrew Karol I know well and have had the pleasure of working with him for more than 10 years. My haters will be happy to know that Andy has not been shy to tell me when he thinks I am wrong or going to far. He always did it with care and tact. About 6 years ago when racial tensions were at a tipping point and a group of black lives activists were planning a demonstration in Rialto Andy led a group of officers to meet with the protestors and start conversations about how minorities and police interact with each other. Andrew Karol would make a fine Councilman that will represent everyone.

Stacey Augustine I have not known for long and there was a time I did not trust him. It wasn’t anything that Stacey did it was more about the people he surrounded himself with, I was unsure of his agenda. Stacey was the Chair of the Budget Advisory Committee that I also served on. Stacey was a fair Chair and we had a lot on meaningful conversations. As a corporate leader he also decided to bring something to Rialto that is needed and took a gamble brining it to the heart of the city. Stacey is bringing a restaurant/pool hall to downtown Rialto. Many downtown business owners have shared with me that they feel abandoned or forgotten in the Downtown Area so Stacey will bring someone with skin in the game that I believe cares.

Rialto Unified School Board

With Joe Ayala stepping away it clears space for at least one new face to sit on the school board and everyone has their candidate lined up to take a seat and do their bidding. Three seats are up this year With Nancy O’Kelly and Joseph Martinez are running for re election. I am only backing two candidates this go around and you don’t have to vote for three.

My picks are Mirna Ruiz and Joseph Martinez.

Joseph Martinez has always been kind, thoughtful and not hard to get a hold of. He has always taken my call or found time to talk about a problem even when he knew I wasn’t happy with anyone at the moment. He also knows when to stay out of the way and let staff handle things he isn’t the guy that needs to have the mic or be front and center for the photo. Martinez known for his love of STEM will be found in the background support students and staff at his favorite events. Joe is an all around good guy and the type of person you need leading your schools.

Mirna Ruiz is what every student needs on a school board. Mirna is a Special Ed Mom and a Special Ed Advocate. All to many times districts fail to do what is in the best interest of SPED students. Most of the time it is out of shear ignorance to how SPED programs work, the rest is willful defiance of a legal document. To put 2020 and this election into perspective over 400 SPED parents have sued school districts this year for lack of serivces provided. That is over 400 students that their IEP’s are so messed up that the parents had no other recourse then to sue the school. Don’t you think having someone on the board that knows a thing or two about SPED would be a good thing?

 

So all that you have left to do is vote, its easy this year you don’t even have to leave your house if you don’t want to. If you don’t vote you can’t complain!

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Lawsuits & The Rialto Mayors Race

19 Oct 2020 3 Comments

by rialto-now in 100 Black Men, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Rialto

Last week one of the candidates running for mayor hosted a Facebook live where they talked about both of their challengers and the lawsuits they have filed recently. Lupe Camacho held a Facebook Live on her campaign page where she spoke about the failed lawsuit that Mayor Deborah Robertson filed against then Councilman Ed Palmer trying to get him kick off the council because she claimed he didn’t live in the city limits when he ran for council. Then Attorney General Kamala Harris found that Mayor Robertson was wrong and her lawsuit failed to move forward.

Then Lupe Camacho began to talk about the lawsuit that Ed Palmer had against the city of Rialto Mrs Camacho made it sound like this was a tit for tat situation. Well there are years between each lawsuit and in the case of Mr Palmer his case is based off of actions he perceives were directed from the mayor in a way to hurt his business that he co owns with Eric Wilson, Patrick Smith & Timothy Stansell. Yes there are three other defendants that Mrs Camacho left out of her Facebook Live.

The case boils down to Code Enforcement officers and other City of Rialto official’s taking aim at Ed Palmers business Raquel’s Jazz Lounge and forcing them to make changes that shut the business down for months costing all four men money and their staff financial hardship. Also Mrs Camacho and others make claims that Ed Palmer is only running for Mayor to win this case and that this case was filed extremely close to the 2020 Mayor Election. This too makes little sense since Mr Palmer had no way of knowing the judge would add this to the court calendar for a jury trail this civil case has documents going back to May of 2019.

Mr Palmer seems to be doing what he has spoken about on the campaign trail, getting the city off the backs of small business owners and leveling the playing field. Mr Palmer shows this by standing by all of this scrutiny on his run for Rialto Mayor while still seeking to make sure his business and the people who run it with him are made whole.

This case reminds us of the 2016 race when Mayor Robertson who claims to be the African American Mayor for her people allowed local painter and celebrity artist Wet Paint Larry to be kicked out of his downtown studio. Wet Paint Larry worked with the mayor during her run for reelection and was repaid for his work by being targeted by the city and eventually kicked out of his studio. There was no grace for a young entrepreneur trying to make his make in society, yet Mayor Robertson lays out the golden carpet for big time developers that spend thousands in her reelection campaigns.

Another item that this writer knows that Mrs Camacho is aware of is the millions that Mayor Robertson and Councilman Ed Scott spent in lawsuits from the wrongful terminations of employees that they didn’t like. Fine people like Glen Anderson and Carl Jones dedicated their lives and lost friends working for this city. Until they dare even utter words that the mayor and Ed Scott don’t like and all of a sudden they are on the chopping block. Rialto lost a lot of amazing employees and have been in the constant cycle of lawsuits because the leadership here is destructive and lacks accountability.

Also Mrs Camacho has yet to produce the bombshell documents that she claims makes Ed Palmer a less than qualified candidate for Mayor, why is that?

Rialto Scrubs City Council Meeting Videos

08 Oct 2020 Leave a comment

There once was a time where the public had honest leadership that wanted them to be a part of the process of a prospering Rialto. Apparently those days are far behind the residents of Rialto.

Rialto moved their council meeting to YouTube to give the people a better opportunity to engage with council meetings. People could watch meetings live and make comments or watch the meetings on replay after the meeting was over. As we were cruising YouTube for some information on a new story we were surprised to find that City Council Meetings are no longer broadcast to YouTube and the old council meetings have been removed.

With a laundry list of people looking to replace your city council and mayor the question is will Rialto stand for once again being left in the dark?

Video by rialto-now

Rialto Continues Downward Spiral

02 Oct 2020 1 Comment

As the Calendar moved to October 1st Rialto proved that things are not well for the Inland Empire city. Reports came from those close to city hall that city manager Rod Foster has decided to retire from his job in Rialto with just being on the job for a little over one year.

The tension was there since the city manager became aware of possible conflict of interest issues with CDBG funds given to the mayors daughters organization. City Manager Rod Foster said the special audit, which will be conducted by the Riverside accounting firm Teaman, Ramirez & Smith, will examine federal grant funding received by all community-based organizations and nonprofits, not just Bethune Center.

Tensions have continued as Rod Foster has worked to try and deal with the $150 million in unfunded liabilities that Rialto is obligated to pay, as well as balance a budget that was on the brink of bankruptcy. Constant battling with the Mayor and trying to right the financial ship of the city while reports come out that Mayor Robertson has been fighting Rod Foster for trying to make things right. Another part to the frustration of the City Manager is the backlash the audits findings caused.

According to those close to city hall the audit of the Bethune Center-NCNW has been a source of concern for the City Manager. Supporters from that community have made it hard for him to do his job and that coupled with the barriers from elected officials his health has begun to deteriorate.

Rialto now is a city run by an all interim cast, Not one single department head is run someone looking to work long term leading Rialto:

  • City Administrator is now interim Stephan Erlandson
  • Public Works interim director Michael Tahan (Former developer and Fontana Councilman)
  • City Engineer interim Savat Khamphou
  • City Attorney interim Eric Vail
  • Community Services interim Sean Grayson
  • Rialto Fire acting Brian Park
  • Community Development acting Manager Karen Peterson
  • Building & Safety interim Justin Edson

The question is why can’t we keep good people and why are the elected officials driving away all of the talented people here? 

Image by rialto-now

Rialto Mayor Robertson Ignores Constituent Over Minority Arrest Stats

01 Oct 2020 1 Comment

In what is going to be the last meeting for the Rialto City Council until after the November 3rd Election the public comment section was rocked with comments from a Rialto resident seeking help and answers.

Mr. Simmons shows up to address the political members of our community after being ignored by the mayor and even blocked from joining her virtual townhall. This coupled with many other developments over the last 3 years are a direct result of why the mayor has 2 people challenging her for her job as mayor.

One of the most troubling things that residents heard in this communication from Mr. Simmons is that we are still using money as a way to deter people from seeking public records. In this digital day and age one would think that the need to charge people hundreds of dollars for public records would be a thing of the past. Earlier this summer the mayor had BLM ask for her resignation and people that support her say she stands for her community. So now we have to ask, who is her community? BLM wanted her to resign so they are not showing much faith in her. Mr. Simmons is being ignored and locked out of her virtual townhall so he must not be a part of her community. Add to that her complete distain for anyone who even questions her motives, her habitual lies and playing favorites with tax dollars WHO IS IN HER COMMUNITY?

The fact of the matter is that Mr. Simmons who we have reached out to but not spoken to yet is simply asking for questions and is seeking to create some sort of civilian oversight. The fact that the mayor who does not know how to spin another angry minority group in her favor is why Mr. Simmons is being ignored and left out in the cold.

 

Video by rialto-now