12 Feb 2015
When I first started this blog I didn’t have a real clear idea where it would go or how big it would get. We started this site because of the massive gap that the local and regional media left when covering rialto. This site has morphed into a growing powerhouse of information and dialogue. We have had some awesome support from some awesome people and what is funny is most of the support has come from outside the city of Rialto. Below is a list of some of the supporters that agreed to be listed:
- Lisa Sparks Watson – Realtor at Nations Realty in Rancho Cucamonga find her at http://www.realtorwatson.com/
- Rejuvenate Chiropractic – Dr.Kirk and his team offer our fans a $49 special $300 value just go to http://www.drkirkpromo.com/
- Covered California – If you don’t have insurance don’t miss out open enrollment ends on 2-15-15
We have a large number of silent supporters they know who they are and read and follow the blog regularly so thank you to the SILENT PARTNERS.
Here is a fun fact did you know that Rialto Now has had 3 offers to buy this site? Yet we didn’t sell for these reasons:
- Each buyer wanted to buy complete control of content but not tell the readers who was behind the content. Meaning they wanted you to believe I agreed with their thoughts on any given topic.
- Loss of the ability to be straight forward and honest with the community.
- Evil desires would have won out.
We now can embed video in our posts so get ready to not have to read everything and get to see people recorded reactions to any given situation. Here is a video of my friend Chris Seals who wrote a song back when we had an actor running for Governor.
Video
by rialto-now
10 Feb 2015
by rialto-now
in Uncategorized
Tonight is yet another page in the soap opera called the return of the unwanted. Every time our Mayor goes to make a decision one particular councilperson steps in and seems to twist the Mayors arm. We also now know that we have a councilmember that is trying to be the GATE KEEPER for development. It also looks like we are wasting more money to send people to far away places with no real payoff to the city. Here is a breakdown of what is on tap that stood out to me.
- D.4 – Were going to send Councilman Ed Scott to Washington DC for a cost of over $2,900 for league of cities training? Mr. Scott has been on council before he knows how things work and this is just a waste of money and Mr. Scott using city money to travel nothing more.
- D.6 – Daley systems wants to offer website marketing to the city for $45,000 for a year. Now as someone who knows digital marketing this is a lot of money for that they are offering to do.
Payment and Term
– $5,000 per month ($3K for weekly archival back up, maintenance and hosting, $2K for content
editing and marketing/ image revises and updates)
– $30,000 (6-month term); hosting for a 12-month at discounted rate
- I’m confused the Consent Calendar item says not to exceed $45,000 but if the contract is for 6 months or 12 the price exceeds the contract.
- D.7 – I always wondered what June Hayes got out of being a Utilities Commission Vice-Chair? I thought that she liked the attention or maybe it helped her find a job. I never knew the City paid for her to travel but this item has the city paying $1,802 to travel to Indiana. Wow that money could be used to hold and event, teach our school children about drug and alcohol dangers but to waste it on her travel blows my mind.
- TAB 2 – This is a PUBLIC HEARING looking for your input on if we should allow Kinder Morgan and other energy providers to place natural gas lines under our streets. What’s funny is Kinder Morgan is fighting the Measure “U” that would infuse millions into the city of Rialto to rebuild our infrastructure. I say we deny this project until they stop fighting what the voters approved.
- TAB 8 – This is approving the sale agreement between the city of Rialto and Fountainhead Shrugged, LLC which plans to bring a Coffee Bean & Tealeaf to the In & Out development area. Now normally I would be super excited about this type of development but what are they going to do about parking? Wing Stop & Major Brain Freeze haven’t even opened yet and parking and traveling is horrible. Once again our city leaders lack foresight and they don’t seem to care about how difficult if is for you to get to your favorite restaurants. I say the empty pad on the corner of Easton and Riverside Ave be turned into overflow parking. The city is making $942,879.00 on this land sale we shall see how much Fernando Acosta will be paid on this last land sale.
- TAB 11 – Looks like more money is going into the Pacific Electric Trail and we have yet to hear how they are going to pay to secure this walking path for the residents.
30 Jan 2015
by rialto-now
in Budget, Ca, city attorney, City of Rialto, Colton, Crime, davidsMarketing, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Mike Story, Public Safety, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Fire, Rialto Police Department, Ron Pharris, San Bernardino, Shawn O'Connell, Veolia
Tags: City Council, city of rialto, Councilman
Hello Rialto Now readers and fans. If you were watching from the audience or watching on TV it looks like every council meeting will go on and on no matter how short the agenda may appear. This meeting had six tab items in total and even had one pulled and at 9pm they only moved through half of the tab items.
Consent Calendar
Two items were pulled from the Consent Calendar for seperate approval or vote.
C.1 the regular city council meeting minutes from the meeting January 13th 2015 had a seperate vote and Councilman Ed Palmer voted no. We plan to reach out to Councilman Palmer this weekend and find out why he voted no on these minutes and we will update so stay tuned.
E.4 was pulled to explain that the City Treasurer wanted approval from the City Council to allow a few select investments go beyond the 5 year maturity limit to retain maximum benifit and a larger profit.
Tab Items & Public Hearings
Tab.1 was approving the ability to move forward with the Lytle Creek Development project. the developers need approval from the City to present the anexation application to the Local Agency Formation Commission for San Bernardino County this project in its entirety consitsts of 4 neighborhoods. Neighborhoods two and three will be anexed to the city of Rialto and Neighborhoods one and four will remain in the county of San Bernardino. Now let me first say I am not a fan of this project it has destoryed Rialto’s Country Club Area & Golf Course as well as extremely reduced property values in the Country Club Area. Nonetheless the developer has spent years and money going through stall tactics and lawsuits to finally get to this point. It appeared that even though there were questions about the real intentions of the project it was going to be approved to recive county approval, that is until Councilman Ed Scott spoke up. Councilman Ed Scott stated that since the developer had not come to him and meet with him privatly that he wanted to table this vote for two weeks. So this will be the second time just two months into a four year city council term that Councilman Ed Scott wants to delay things because he is unprepared. Also why should a developer be having special secret meetings with City Council Members? I know Councilman Ed Scott took alot of money from developers to get elected and that is one of the many reasons that I feel uncomfortable with Councilman Ed Scott acting as the Gate Keeper to Development here in Rialto. Councilman Shawn O’Connell had no problem voting to continue the item for two weeks but did say that when he has a question on an agenda item he calls city staff prior to the meeting and gets answers verses dropping them on staff in the meeting and creating delays. Councilman Ed Plamer said that this action has been delayed for far to long and voted no on continuing the issue for two more weeks.
Tab.2 was to approve one of the many warehouses that will be dropped in the city of Rialto. Niagra Bottling Company wants to bring a $200,000,000.00 bottling and packing warehouse to the Renaissance plan development operated by Niagra Bottling Company. Below is a image of the many diffrent companies they bottle and create water for:
As you see they bottle water for alot of different companies and they have a history of giving back. Thier were questions if they would add language holding the city of Rialto Harmless form any actions this project would ensue. I was unsure why they said that until I began reciving phone calls apperently WVWD and City of Colton are suing Niagara becuase they are taking too much water from the Basin appreently. That dosen’t bother me much they need to get the water from somewhere so I can buy it from Costco. Makes me wonder though how can Niagara turn nasty IE water into what I love to drink???? Oh this is the Tab item where Councilman Ed Scott tried to make it sound like he was the only one that executives from Niagara Bottling reached out to. It wasn’t until Councilman Shawn O’Connell said that the Niagara Reps reached out to all of the Council and Mayor.
Tab.3 was yet another warehouse in Rialto and though its going to bring jobs its also going to bring problems like increased truck traffic large buildings that normally have empty streets that attract street racing, drug use/sales and opportunities for other elicit behaviors. What is even worse is that this warehouse will be giving extra sales tax revenue to………. ONTARIO!!!!!! Yes our city has been working on this project for almost 10 years and have yet to figure out how to work a sales tax benifit for Rialto but man o man we sure know how to send that tax money elsewhere. Maybe we need San Bernardino to come in and show us how to secure a tax base from warehouses.
Take what you wish from this weeks Council Meeting but I think its time we show up more often and keep their eye on the ball.
Can’t make the council meetings follow us on Twitter and get the high points of each meeting we cover.
http://www.twitter.com/rialtosnow or #rialtocitycouncil
26 Jan 2015
by rialto-now
in Ca, davidsMarketing, Rialto
Tags: City Council, city of rialto, deborah robertson, Rialto, rialto police department
Being plugged in is very important to a healthy thriving community. Here at Rialto Now we are here to fill the gap that the print media leaves by not adequetly covering Rialto and to act as a education tool for the community.
This week is a busy week here in the city of Rialto. There are opportunities to get information from regular meetings and then we have some special meetings and events coming up this week. Here is a list of what’s going on this week:
Monday – Area Command Meeting Area’s 3 & 4: January 26, 2015 – St. Catherine of Siena Church, 339 N. Sycamore Avenue, 7:00 – 8:30 pm. For additional information please contact Lieutenant Bill Wilson at 909-421-7276 or email to wwilson@rialtopd.com / Lieutenant Jim Kurkoske at 909-820-2568 or email to jkurkoske@rialtopd.com.
Tuesday – Rialto City Council Meeting
Wednesday – Rialto’s Certified Farmers’ Market is held every Wednesday, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Farmers’ Market is located at City Hall where vendors sell a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts at a reasonable cost to consumers. Come out and see what our local growers have to offer.
Thursday – Mayor Deborah Robertson and City Council invite Rialto residents to attend the first community forum of 2015 on Thursday, January 29, 2015, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The meeting will be held in the City Hall Council Chambers located at 150 South Palm Ave. City Department Heads will be available to receive comments and answer questions from the residents. Mayor Robertson and City Council are looking forward to candid dialog with community members to help understand and take into consideration perspectives from residents as the City Council prepares for the 2015/2016 Fiscal Year. Mayor Robertson and the City Council understand the success of the City of Rialto is directly related to meeting the needs of our community. Come share your thoughts on issues that matter to you and our community. For additional information, contact Angela Perry or Pam Kennedy at (909) 421-4991, or visit our website at http://www.rialtoca.gov.
Saturday – On January 31, 2015, the City is hosting it’s first annual Rialto Police Officer Memorial 5K Run/Walk. This event takes place at the Rialto Police Department, 128 N. Willow Avenue, Rialto, CA on the south lawn. Sign ups begin at 7:00 am and the Race starts at 8:00 am. An awards ceremony and festivities will take place after the race. Please click here to register.
Follow all that is going on with rialto on our Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/rialtonow
26 Jan 2015
by rialto-now
in Ca, City of Rialto, Currupt, Inland Empire, Rialto, Rialto
Tags: City Council, Lytle Creek Project, Rialto, Rialto City Council, Rialto Residents
At this weeks City Council Meeting Rialto Residents will be able to voice their thoughts on a variety of issues that require a public hearing. Tab 1 is the Lytle Creek Project that destroyed the beauty of the Country Club Area, Ruined Property Values and Removed the only golf course rialto had. Tab 2 & 3 are approvals to give away vital retail land to massive warehouses. The current landscape of warehouses brings rude truck drivers that refuse to obey simple traffic laws, higher crime and increased vandalism.
When the 210 Freeway was under construction the Rialto City Council placed a moratorium on building along the freeway and other cities built and now are reaping the benefits of a increased tax base. Rialto shuts down an airport to bring in more warehouses? How does that give the Rialto resident the ability to spend their money here versus taking it elsewhere.
People in the community please come out and demand that this city council finally keep its word to the residents of Rialto.
14 Jan 2015
by rialto-now
in Andy Carrizales, Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Burglury, Ca, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, Crime, davidsMarketing, Dr. Michael Neeki, Ed palmer, Inland Empire, Public Safety, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Police Department, SCAT, Shawn O'Connell, SWAT, youth
Tags: Chief Farrar, Colton, Crime Stats, Redlands, Rialto, rialto police department, San Bernardino
Hello Rialto Now readers!!!!! An awesome time was had by all at the first Coffee With The Chief in Rialto for 2015. Why was it awesome you ask? Well first off its kinda nice to have a strong yet open Chief of Police. So many people hold Police Chiefs and their command staff on such a high pedestal that they become “LIKE” gods. When they are simply men and women that will risk their lives for complete strangers. Now that fact isn’t something to be taken lightly but it also isn’t a reason you can’t stop and ask them a question.
Today’s Coffee With The Chief covered a lot of areas today. It was held at the Coco’s restaurant on Valley and Riverside Ave’s and the waitress was super nice as she took care of each persons order and kept the coffee flowing. Chief Farrar was in attendance along with Cpl. Marquez, two Detectives, three Lieutenants and Captain Deanda. Chief Farrar began by welcoming everyone and went over these topics:
- Crime Reduction – Overall Crime was down by 20% in 2014. Chief Farrar said that crime had been dropping for a while now and does expect crime rate to level off.
- Women’s Law Enforcement Fitness Challenge – On March 21st Rialto Police Department will be taking any females interested to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department physical agility course and going over the physical agility course portion of the tests and training to become a Sworn Police Officer. Chief Farrar said its his goal to attract more females into Police Work and hoped that this event would be the catalyst to attract them. The most difficult portion Chief Farrar said was scaling the 6ft wall and that they would help the women learn a technique that would lend them success on this obstacle.
- How does Rialto Compare in Crime Stats to other cities? – Chief Farrar said that he has been asked this multiple times and has been reluctant to venture down this road because of the differences each local city faces. He decided to look into it finally and the results were promising. Chief Farrar compared Rialto to three other cities that touch rialto, have police departments (not sheriff) and are of comparable size. Cities he used where Fontana, Redlands, Rialto & San Bernardino. Rialto had a lower overall crime rate than all cites that were used. Redlands had a lower violent crime rate than Rialto. Even though Rialto has more residents than Redlands.
- Promotions – Chief Farrar said that the Department is looking to do some more promotions in the next 4-5 months these promotions will add two more captains.
- Work Load Study – Rialto Police Department will be doing a Workload Study to better evaluate if the work load is being evenly distributed. Rialto Police is now at 103 Sworn Police Officers and is only down 3 budgeted Sworn Positions. Chief Farrar hoped that the workload study would give them a clear idea of where to look to add more resources and or staff.
- Rialto Police Appreciation Awards – On February 20th Rialto Police will be recognizing staff and community members.
- 20/20 Interview – Captain Randy Deanda was interviewed by ABC News 20/20 show about the Judith Oakes case. Judith Oakes is the former Rialto Unified School District employee that was caught and convicted of stealing school lunch money down her bra to the tune of over 1 million dollars.
- Request a Training – Rialto Police Detectives went over the police program that offers training to local businesses on how to best protect themselves from becoming a crime victim.
- Cold Cases – Rialto Detectives also let us know that they are waiting on the DA’s office to approve the case files they have on two cold cases in Rialto. Since 2013 the Detectives Office has closed 8 cold cases.
- Use of Force & Police – I asked a question about training for local community groups especially the Flores Park Neighborhood Watch in better equipping our residents on how to properly handle a situation with a officer and avoid the horrible situation on both ends. Chief Farrar said that the key is to follow the instructions to allow for a more positive outcome more often and avoid tense standoffs that should have never happened.
Below are a series of You Tube videos that show a reporter and a civil rights activist undergoing a use of force training with Maricopa County Sheriff. Chief Farrar said this is a great way to see how a situation where someone isn’t following instructions can lead to horrible consequences.
http://youtu.be/b5PuLeR7Wt8 Video 1
http://youtu.be/uVOQs8yb9P4 Video 2
http://youtu.be/tk-bXyNbsCE Video 3
http://youtu.be/yfi3Ndh3n-g Total Interview
http://youtu.be/pAJXP0okzwk Post Interview
13 Jan 2015
by rialto-now
in Ca, City of Rialto, Crime, Currupt, Family, In & Out, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Public Safety, Rialto
Tags: city of rialto, documentary Rialto Rising, Jersey Mikes, Pride Platoon, Rialto, Rialto City Council
Whats going on this week in Rialto? Well its pretty busy because its back to business here in the city and its also the begining of some great things. Read on below and see what is on tap.
Pride Platoon
Tonight is the Pride Platoon documentary Rialto Rising will be playing on KVCR at 6:30pm
Coffee With The Cheif
Coffee with the Cheif returns for its first meeting this Tuesday January 13th at Coco’s in Rialto.
Come out to hear what is new for the city of rialto in regards to our public safety and come with your questions for Rialto’s Top Cop and his admin staff.
Rialto is lucky to have a Cheif like Tony Farrar that finds connecting with the community of Rialto a priority for him and his top staff. Lets show Cheif Farrar that we appreciate his dedication by coming out Tuesday Morning and having Coffee with him.
Rialto City Council Meeting
Yes its the first city council meeting of 2015 and its going to be a roller coaster ride. Newly elected councilmember Ed Scott appears to have drawn a line in the sand with the Security Guard Company the city uses becuase he asked to remove their contract extension from the December meeting agenda and it has been continued to this meeting. This is Tab 10.
Also in the Misc section of the Agenda were sending all but one eleceted offical to Las Vegas for a ICSC Convention to the tune of 5,221.25. We need to ask ourselves why are we sending everyone and if were sending everyone why isnt the money watch dog isn’t going? Do we really need to spend over five thousand Dollars to have Rialto represented at the conference? Also the spending requests leave room for increasing the total purchase order becuase of unseen costs.
In addition to all that they will be electing a new Mayor Pro Tem and rumors are that Joe Baca Jr. will be seeking the spot to prepare for a run for Mayor in 2016. New board and commision seats will also be assigned. This will be a close one to watch because this will effect how much gets hidden in the special commision meetings and this is also where Community Development Block Grant Funds are allocated.
New Stores Opening Up
On Wednesday January 14th Jersey Mikes will be opening up in spot where the old Fire Station used to be. Jersey Mikes marketing manager Reef Colman is keep the grand opening details inside a secret circle but we do know that they are opening Wednesday and they choose only four Rialto Unified Schools to participate in a fundraising opportunity. We will keep you posted if any info comes up.
Honorable Mention
As I was doing my research on the Jersey Mikes information it was odd to see Sgt Lindsay giving Dine 909 blogger Jon Plessel a heads up on new stores coming to Rialto.
Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Wing Stop and Major Brain Freeze Yogurt coming to north Rialto
Wonder what you have to do to get a little love and the 411? Its ok we don’t hate Jon were just jealous.
09 Jan 2015
by rialto-now
in and the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy, Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Ca, City of Rialto, Colton, Crime, Ed palmer, Flores Park, Flores Park Neighborhood Watch, Fontana, Fontana PD, Grand Terrace, Inland Empire, Lynn Hirtz, Nieghborhood Watch, Public Safety, Redlands PD, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Police Department, San Bernardino, San Bernardino County’s regional dispatch center, San Bernardino PD, San Bernardino Police, SCAT, Shawn O'Connell, Street Crime Attack Team, SWAT
Tags: #IELEAD2015, #Isupportfirstresponders, Civil Rights Community, Michael Brown, Officer Garcia, Pay It Forward, Police officer, Police Officials, Rialto Police, San Bernardino
Today January 9th 2015 is LEAD (Law Enforcement Appreciation Day)
#IELEAD2015
If there ever was a year our Police Officials could use a “Thank You” or a “Pay It Forward” this year would be that year. Here locally Rialto Police have had a busy end of 2014 with a few deaths and some more aggressive robberies. On top of that every cop has been on edge since the Civil Rights Community decided to take their frustrations about the decision to not charge the Ferguson officer in the shooting death of Michael Brown out on police all over the Country.
Being a Police officer is not an easy thing to do. You put on a badge and a uniform and are the front lines of safety in our cities and streets. Look at San Bernardino that community has been falling apart around its self with many major crimes and Officer Garcia from San Bernardino becoming gravely shot and left fighting for his life.
Today please stop and say thank you even a simple two word phrase and a hand shake can change someone’s day.
We would also like to highlight two elected officials we caught saying Thank You to Rialto Police by purchasing doughnuts for the police today. Its nice to see our leaders “LEADING” us to do the right thing.
Knowing a lot of First Responders read this blog I would like to say Thank You for doing what you do and always working to keep us safe even if you don’t know our names. #Isupportfirstresponders #IELEAD2015
Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries
rialtonow 