Seven Year Autistic Boy Threatened With Arrest

26 Apr 2018 1 Comment

by rialto-now in and the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy, Ca, City of Rialto, Colton, Crime, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Paul Stella, Public Safety, Rafael Trujillo, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Police Department, rialto unified school district, RUSD, San Bernardino

If you are aware of Rialto Unified School District past with problems with their Special Education program then this story will bother you but not surprise you. Anyone else will both be shocked and surprised at what Seven Year Old Caiden Trujillo had to go through on Monday April 23rd.

Caiden Trujillo a 1st grader at Kordyak Elementary was removed from his classroom and was forced to face adults he didn’t know which included officers from 3 different public safety agencies. Caiden Trujillo is an Autistic child who is in school under an IEP (Individual Education Plan) he is in Special Education in the RSP program (Resource Specialist Program). This program helps kids who qualify as a student learner that requires some assistance but can still find educational success in a regular education environment. “The events that led up to Mondays incident are a direct result of Rialto Unified School Districts lack of ability to do what is right for Caiden Trujillo” his mother and her advocate said.

All children work better under the confines of a schedule this is why kids have regular bedtimes and preform better in school when there is a regular flow to the day. Well Autistic children require as much structure as possible and don’t do well with changes. They trust who they know and any sudden changes to their Aide, Teacher or class day leads to them having a bad day. Caiden has had two teachers this year and his one on one aide was leaving this job for another so Caiden was loosing the person that helped him work through a regular school day.

On this Monday there was a plan in place that when Caiden’s aide left at 11am to do paperwork for her new job. Jon a person that Caiden know was going to take over Caiden’s case for this school year and help train the new staff member, the new staff member would be shadowing Jon so that Caiden would be more comfortable with this change. Well another situation took Jon’s attention to another school site leaving the new employee to work with Caiden without any prior introduction or phasing in period.

Before we go into what happened next we feel it is important that you know a little of the backstory according to Caiden’s mother Sandra Trujillo-Langdon:

Caiden had a teacher switch during Christmas break.
Mrs Rubalcava Caiden’s new teacher has refused to communicate with Caiden’s mom in person.
Mrs Rubalcava said “she only teaches GATE kids not Special Ed kids”.
At this years IEP meeting Mrs Rubalcava had to be instricted on how to grade Caiden’s work according to his IEP by District office personel.
Caiden’s mother Sandra Trujillo has felt disrespected and treated poorly by both the Principal and Teacher at this school.

So according to Sandra Trujillo’s account when the staff change happened Caiden’s day went from good to bad:

Caiden did not respond well to a new person as his aide and began to act out and cause a disturbance in the classroom. None of the in class interventions were working so Caiden was taken to a designated safe room where he could collect himself and not be a distraction to the rest of the class. The safe room was not working that day and Caiden continued to act out by pushing over a desk and some chairs. Instead of following the IEP and calling mom right away Mrs Kemp the school principal decided to call Rialto Unified School Safety officers and Police officer from Rialto and Fontana Unified School District Police Department. Caiden’s mother did not know what was going on until a staff member called her to tell her to “come to the school quick they are arresting Caiden” and then hung up. During this time Caiden’s older brother a 4th grade student at Kordyak heard somone say that they were going to put his brother into handcuffs as he was passing by the school office.

Sandra Trujillo-Langdon came to the school to be greeted by a Fontana School Police officer that informed her that he would need to speak to her. Mrs Trujillo-Langdon refused the conversation and went to her son who was crying and visibly afraid. Her son said mom they are going to put me in cuffs and take me to jail! Mrs Trujillo-Langdon asked who called the police and Dr. Kemp the school Principal eventually admitted to calling the authorities. Mrs Trujillo-Langdon then asked why were they going to put him in handcuffs and take him to jail and they said it was done to make him calm down it was a threat not something they were going to do for real. At this time the mother asked to have the room cleared so she could calm her son down. While in the room Mrs Trujillo-Langdon saw that Caiden was only going to be better once she got him off campus. So she took her kids off campus through a side door and left. While leaving Mrs Trujillo-Langdon said that school staff and law enforcement officers were acting likr they were hunting down the small family.

Caiden was so effected by this situation that he didn’t want to return home because the school and police knew where he lived. Mrs Trujillo-Langdon had to take Caiden all the way to Buena Park to Knotts Berry Farm to allow him to have peace knowing he was away from the long hands of the police that threatened him. Yet Caiden still suffered as he saw a police officer at Knotts and began to cry please don’t take me to jail I am a good boy and waking up Tuesday morning saying he had a nightmare that he was taken to baby jail.

Rialto Police Lt Paul Stella said that Rialto PD Although one of our officers did respond to the call yesterday at Kordyak Elementary, our officer never made contact with mom and student. I encourage you to reach out to the Fontana Unified School Police Department who was also on scene and may have further information regarding this call. When pressed Lt Stella would not say from where the call for service originated from “We will not be releasing the Reporting Person’s information and any request via the call for this information under the Public Records Act would have that information redacted.” Rialto Police Lt. Stella is refusing to release the name of the officer or any other details in regards to this incident.

When we reached out to Rialto Unified School Spokesperson Syeda Jafri sent us the following statement:

Syeda Jafri RUSD School Spokesperson also said that a full investigation of this incident will be contucted because the School Distirct wants to get to the bottom of what happened here so that it never happens again.

We have spoke to Sgt Avalos at Fontana School Police he said that they were called out to Kordyak elementary school where a student was being violent and trying to harm a teacher with scissors. When the officer arrived there was a discussion of restraining the child with handcuffs but that was deemed unnecessary. The mother and child left before the Fontana School Officer could interview them.

Here is the problem,

The parent is made it clear a person in uniform told her son her was going to be put in handcuffs.
The School board members are reaching out to begin to get the verbiage around this situation under control (direct blame away from them).
The school districts statement never says weather the Rialto Police officer never made contact with the student.
Rialto Police Information Officer Stella refuses to give out where the call for service originated from weather it was the school principal, RUSD Public Safety or someone else (even refuses to give the officers name).

So what we have here is a problem because this student refuses to return to school, his mother doesn’t feel safe having him at school and now his brother no longer feels safe at school. The parent is clear that a person in uniform spoke to her and her son says that the officer spoke to him too. The Mother described the officer as a Hispanic man about my height (I am 5’10”).

Only time will tell what really went on here. Hopefully the Districts investigation will pull that out soon.

Were California Voters Lied To With Marijuana Legalization

02 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in #CA31st, 100 Black Men, AguLIAR, Ana Gonzales, and the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy, Andy Carrizales, Aquenetta warren, Assembly Woman Eloise Reyes, Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Ca, Colton, Community Coalition, Deborah Robertson, Dr. Michael Neeki, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Inland Empire, Rialto, San Bernardino, youth

When Prop 64 was voted in by voters there were 2 types of people that approved the measure. Those who wanted to smoke pot legally or didn’t care if other people did and those who saw a massive opportunity to fix California’s broken finances with Marijuana taxes. Many who were against the proposition warned that this would lead to more youth use and the taxes would not materialize like promised. Four months into the legal weed age of California and it looks like the opponents were right!

People posted all over social media and commented on news stories about the massive amount of money California voters would leave on the table if Recreational Marijuana was not made legal. Well four months in and you already have legislators looking to back down the promised tax to voters.

“Alarmed that California’s fledgling legal marijuana industry is being undercut by the black market, a group of lawmakers proposed Thursday to reduce state taxes for three years on growing and selling cannabis to allow licensed sellers to get on their feet.” (latimes.com)

What is adding insult to injury is that California has been leading the charge to hurt on industry to prop up another and attacked California residents at the same time. Billions have been and continue to flow into the Green Energy Sector while the California Government artifically inflates the cost of traditional fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources.

“California, long the national leader in clean energy policy, is poised to double down on its investments in the sector, with billions in new subsidies set to flow in over the next few years.” (reuters.com)

This means California leaders could care less if people can afford to drive but we must make sure that drugs are cheap and easy to get. Were not talking about drugs that save lives were talking about drugs that fry your brain and attract unsavory attention. Oh in full disclousre there are ZERO studies that have shown that THC the psychotropic portion of Marijuana has any positive benefits at all. The ground breaking science has come from CBD oil a chemical that is extracted from Marijuana & Hemp. Thomas Minnihan a prominent local doctor who works to highlight how CBD oils helped his daughters seizures said:

“One of the hardest things as a parent looking to CBD oil’s as a cure to a horrible sickness is that there is no way to get CBD oil without some THC. Also the grug legalization groups have used sick people as a prop for years and now that they have success they are leaving sick people in the dust”

Now when it comes to youth access the taxes collected were supposed to back fill the youth use portion to make it less likely to happen and deal with what youth use that was occurring. With the tax getting lowered and the Cartels seeing more opportunity to introduce their product to a market where it is excepted and cheaper without the tax youth use is still growing and there is now less money to handle it. To add insult to injury legal operations are acting the same way the Cartels do.

“We’ve been seeing that product end up in Florida, end up in New York — places that don’t have cannabis decriminalization and have very harsh punishments,” he said. “When you have prohibition in other states, it drives the price up [there] because it’s not regulated… I’d guess 80 percent of all product in Oregon is, unfortunately, leaving the state.” (vice.com)

After you vote the people behind the effort show their true colors. Dennis Hilton has been on a personal PR tour to make sure everyone knows his and the pro drug legalization lobby true feelings about dumping drugs on California communities and the Cartels big role in the whole game still.

“The bottom line is this: We want it, so we will have it. Period. And we will seek the best prices for the best quality. If competition from the cartels causes a price war resulting in the reduction of usurious taxes, that is great. May the best man win.” Dennis Hilton

So California voters have to ask themselves, do you feel lied to yet? If you do are you big enough to fix it?

Articles used in this story:

https://www.vox.com/2014/9/23/6218695/case-against-pot-legalization-big-marijuana

https://news.vice.com/article/how-americas-legal-weed-is-changing-the-black-market-and-influencing-mexican-cartels

https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/california-ballot-measure-64-legalize-marijuana

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-clean-energy-california/as-u-s-hesitates-california-pours-billions-into-green-energy-idUSBRE8AD0F720121114

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-pot-tax-reduction-california-legislature-20180315-story.html

New Art Centered Networking Event Has Come To Rialto

01 Apr 2018 Leave a comment

https://youtu.be/uhyZFjQFKTU

If you haven’t been downtown lately you may not know that there are some changes going on in our towns center. One of those changes is a new event called Lunch Break. Destiny a local young adult wanted to do something for the art community that did force us to drive out of town and fight traffic.

Lunch Break was created as a way to bring together community in the Inland Empire through arts, music, and love. Too often we have to travel to Los Angeles in order to get away, decompress, and take a BREAK from the everyday routine necessary for keeping our community afloat!

Now we have the space in our own backyards!

Join the OPEN MIC portion with a live band to accompany you!

Leave inspired, refreshed, and connected.

EARLY BIRD $5 tickets (Garunteed admission)

DOOR $10 tickets (Available on a first come, first serve basis, based on capacity maximum)

This event is 21 and over.

For more info go to LunchBreak.Live

Video by rialto-now

Rialto Police Chief Defends Marijuana Users over Non Marijuana Users

31 Mar 2018 5 Comments

In the past Law Enforcement acted as the buffer between the drug users and non drug users. Nationwide that has changed no matter what the laws are in a given state police are giving up on protecting people from the effects of others using drugs. We as adults are causing our youth to see marijuana as safe.

In Rialto this has come as somewhat of a shock as residents expected more on both side of the issue. Those who consume Marijuana for fun and “medicine” expected the hammer to drop or at least more blow back in an effort to hold users accountable to whatever law they could. The same expectation was had on the non user side of things. People not consuming Marijuana had an expectation that the laws over recreational use would be enforced and their exposure would be minimal. You may ask why would Rialto residents on both side have the same fear/expectation. Well both sides thought this for the same reasons:

Rialto has fought hard to break the stigma of becoming a drug and gang haven.
Rialto worked hard to keep the problems from San Bernardino’s bankruptcy from spilling over the boarders of Rialto.
Rialto has one of the toughest gang injunctions in the county.
Rialto wrote the most effective local ordnance in dealing with SPICE (synthetic Marijuana) in the nation.
Rialto police hit smoke shops hard making sure they followed all the rules of the SPICE ordnance as well as laws on the taxation of cigarettes.
Rialto police officers are multiple year award winning DUI officers with hundreds of DUI convictions under their belt.
Rialto City Council and Mayor all appear to support keeping Marijuana under wraps by continuing to ban its sale and cultivation in Rialto.

Chief Kling is showing us why we are in the place we are today with Law Enforcement. Mark Kling left law enforcement to teach at Cal Baptist University. It seems clear that students in the career of law enforcement have been getting a very sad view of policing and keeping law abiding people safe. Yes Marijuana is legal for recreational use but there are laws and rules around that use and Chief Kling seems to care less about making sure those laws are enforced. If Marijuana smoke and its harmful effects on others are not a big deal then why do we have laws limiting smoking cigarettes in your apartment, Alcohol in public and loud parties?

Needless to say the Chief Kling that once worked in Rialto and the one we have now are two totally different people. What are your thoughts on the way the Police Chief is dealing with Marijuana Policy and Laws?

Below are links to articles used in the video above:

https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/2017-01-06/secondhand-marijuana-smoke-and-your-children

https://drugabuse.com/lets-clear-the-air-about-secondhand-marijuana-smoke/

https://www.leafly.com/news/health/secondhand-marijuana-smoking-side-effects

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/marijuana/what-are-effects-secondhand-exposure-to-marijuana-smoke

Image by rialto-now

Glimmer of Hope in the Midst of Tragedy

09 Mar 2018 1 Comment

Photos by: Horacio Garcia

Follow his work at Instagram.com/horacio_photos

A local photographer captured a bright moment in a horrible situation last Friday as a truck crash in Rialto turns fatal. Photographer Horacio Garcia just happened to be in the area and this is what he said:

“I happened to be on the Riverside Avenue overpass overlooking the wreckage when I saw the officer in the distance coming up the eastbound on-ramp with something in his arms and its head bobbing with each step he took. That’s when I saw the dog in his arms. I’m not sure which car the dog came from.”

All to often the story of tragedy takes center stage and the small wins within that tragedy seem to go unnoticed. The Rialto Police Officer pictured carrying the dog is Motor Officer Shaun Mooney. Officer Mooney is a great officer and has been working traffic for the last few years. People from the community have had the chance to get to know this officer through his attendance at many local events and police sponsored meetings. It isn’t surprising that Officer Mooney was captured in this moment as this is just the type of Public Servant the community says they know him to be.

The other side of this story that is equally awesome yet not surprising to the community of Rialto is the dedication of the Animal Control Officers in Rialto. These officers never seem to back down from doing their jobs or refuse a request to help out in an area that may not be their area of responsibility. Animal Control Officer Erica Bluff-Hopp responded to the accident scene even though normally Animal Control does not respond to traffic accident especially on the Freeways those areas are normally handled by Local Fire, the CHP and Caltrans but this accident was anything but normal and required all hands on deck.

It is simply amazing to see how our 1st responders jump into action in situations many of us may never know about. Animal Control is not given the credit they deserve many times for advocating and help animals that have no voice and are at the mercy of compassionate human care. This moment in time also speaks to what our police officers do, they are more than simply a person to offer up a consequence for bad choices. They also do things for people that go unseen or unspoken. This dog was taken away from a crazy accident scene and placed in a place of safety, this dogs owners didn’t have to worry about their animal because strangers decided to step up and help this animal and their family.

We found out later that this dogs owners were the people who passed away in the Red car. The two people inside the car passed away and our thoughts and prayers are with the family who we found out has experienced a lot of unexpected loss recently. The upside is that because Officer Mooney and Animal Control Officer Erica Bluff-Hopp this animal survived such a horrible accident and was reunited with family shortly after the accident.

Image by rialto-now

Threats Made To Carter High School This Week

24 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

Photo provided by Barbara Horzen

Carter High School in Rialto was the latest school to fall victim to a rise in local students trying to capitalize on fear with the recent school shooting in Florida. Political leaders have not helped because they have run off to their fight over guns rather than making sure people are ok. Photos of empty classrooms were popping up on social media today as parents decided to keep their kids home from school out of an abundance of caution.

Parents main fear is of the unknown, many of the comments from parents show a growing frustration with no information or information that contradicts itself. Many parents were upset that the school never called or when they did call there still were more questions than answers.

“I’m very concerned for the safety of the students. I will be up at school tomorrow at 7 a.m. with my daughter. If there’s anyone who would like to join me please do. This is going on too often at mostly all the schools. My daughter is scared to go to school and really do not want to send her to school tomorrow. But I will be up there tomorrow morning at 7am asking questions.”

“So Friday my girls said they heard some stuff around the campus about someone threatening the school but since I didn’t get any voicemail from the district I thought it was just gossip. And yesterday and the day before I picked up my daughter from the back of the school (Maple) and there was nothing going on but practice. I get them not wanting to cause panic with the kids and parents but damn tell us something.”

We spoke to Dr Avila about communication at Rialto Unified and he spoke about events such as these and the problems with not having one source giving out information:

https://youtu.be/DjFfRA35dFo

As of this article there has been no message to our knowledge about the issues at Carter this week. We spoke to Rialto Unified Communications Director Syeda Jafri and she confirmed there was a threat made but that the student involved was contacted and deemed unable to carry out any threat. Mrs Jafri reassured us that students were never in any danger and School authorities along with Rialto Police were working on this issue once the threat was made.

One reason parents were so concerned has to do with the extreme rise in school threats locally in the last 2 weeks. As seen in the Press Enterprise article. One thing that local leaders are taking on is forming an opportunity for students and local leaders to talk and discuss how to deal with what is causing these horrible situations and how to begin to stop them.

Image by rialto-now

City of Rialto Proves that SB1 Gas Tax Isn’t Going Towards Roads

13 Feb 2018 1 Comment

One of the biggest issues when it come to increased taxes on fuel in California is the waste and miss management of those precious tax dollars. We knew that 40% of the current Gas, Registration and skyrocketing Diesel Fuel fees were not going to go to any type of road improvement but we thought the governor would start with some road projects right? Heck with a petition drive to repeal the tax well on its way to a 2019 ballot box near you that would have made sense right? Nope they seem Hell Bent on spending what money has already been collected on people who don’t even pay the tax!!!! Leading the leftist charge to force people who drive to pay for others transportation is the City of Rialto and Mayor Deborah Robertson.

The city that has made National News with a Failed Public/Private partnership with Veoilia, made National Headlines as Junior Councilman Trujillo tied to label the small city a sanctuary city and now as they approach bankruptcy over pension obligations and failed tax measures they are doubling down on bad ideas by spending $200k of SB1 funds on public trails rather than on crumbling roads in serious need of repair in a city that can’t afford to fix them.

http://act.reformcalifornia.org/petitions/cartax/CApetition/?utm_source=web&utm_campaign=ReCAFront

Mayor Robertson seems to have her eyes elsewhere since she spends more time in San Diego, Sacramento and Washington D.C. than she does in the very city she ran for mayor in. As you can see in the story below Mayor Robertson seems to care little about the miles of damaged roads that run through her city. She also still ignores how her safe routes to school program is falling flat on its face. As she try’s to get kids to walk to school local schools she forgets that she is asking these families to walk past drug houses and areas full of gang members.

Mayor Robertson is currently on yet another full on battle against her local police officers which leaves her with few advocates within the department. Also Mayor Robertson has created massive divides among her office and the local school district administration. The cross walk she is pictured in (above) was a PR stunt and the cross walk was only fabricated to look that way for her photo ops. This once again proves she has no concern for the community only her future political advancement.

City of Rialto Using SB 1 Funds for its Active Transportation Plan

February 7, 2018

For many residents without cars in the City of Rialto, public transportation serves as the lifeline to employment and educational opportunities.

However, Rialto severely lacks the infrastructure that can help residents, particularly those who are low-income, get to the transit station and to jobs and school.

The city’s efforts to remedy its transportation infrastructure issues are now accelerating thanks to some much needed funding. The city just received $200,000 in SB1 funding to create an Active Transportation Plan, which comes directly on the heels of a grant to support Safe Routes to Schools.

Currently, there are only 1.5 miles of shared use paths, and just over 10 miles of bike paths. Most of the bike lanes are narrow and located on wide roadways with high speed limits. Because of this, many bicyclists choose to use sidewalks instead, upsetting many pedestrians.

Neighborhoods on the north side of town currently face the greatest challenges. This gap effectively prevents these residents from accessing Metrolink, which provides service to employment opportunities in other communities.

“Many individuals in Rialto face limited employment options based on the transportation choices available to them”, says Mayor Deborah Robertson. “Planning a holistic active transportation network will provide access to economic opportunities for residents without cars, and will increase public transit options by providing first-and last-mile connections on foot and by bicycle.”

Without clear solutions, the situation for residents will likely worsen. As Rialto continues to grow, most new housing is anticipated to occur in the northern neighborhoods. By creating an Active Transportation Plan, the city hopes to address deficiencies and identify additional bicycle and walking improvements in all areas of the city.

The city has experienced great success implementing its new Safe Routes to School Program. Along with efforts to host a walking school bus event at six schools, the city just recently enhanced the crosswalk in front of Myers Elementary to support a healthy and safe way for students to get to school.

– See more at: https://www.cacities.org/Top/News/News-Articles/2018/February/City-of-Rialto-Using-SB-1-Funds-for-its-Active-Tra#sthash.0jbARRuc.dpuf

Image by rialto-now

Rialto Mayor & Council Seek Out A Bankrupt Rialto

13 Feb 2018 2 Comments

So let me ask you a question? If you had a choice between a near impossible sale of a tax or a pretty good chance at keeping the current imperfect tax rolling which would you chose? Currently our Utility Users Tax is a 8% tax on your utilities and we give out exemptions to low income people and seniors. Unless we stop city council they will be asking us to vote on a permanent tax and to begin to start charging seniors.

City council seems to think you don’t like having checks and balances in their spending and you trust them that they will do what is right with your money.

https://youtu.be/rUVk0DyAKjY

What the problem is in Rialto right now is we have been using a Utility Tax to bump up our general fund and provide services. The promise was always that we would wean ourselves off the tax but NOBODY did anything to ever try and meet that goal. Our elected leaders sat back after each renewal and went on about their business and spending your money. Now all of a sudden we need to make this tax permanent?

What they are really doing is setting up the Utility Tax to fail!!!!!!

Tomorrow at the Rialto City Council Meeting at 6pm at city hall our elected leaders are supposed to finally vote on what to do with this whole situation. Now is the time the community needs to come down and tell our Mayor and Council what we think of their plans for us.

Shall the measure extending the existing 8% Utility User Tax
on telephone, cellular, electricity, gas, sewer, water, and cable
television, with no sunset clause, and amending the exemption
for individuals 65 years or older to be applicable only to said
individuals earning less than $100,000 annually per household,
while preserving exemptions for members of very low income
households, as defined by California Health and Safety Code
Section 50105, to raise approximately $14.2 million annually,
to continue basic and essential services for residents, be
adopted?

Video by rialto-now

Seniors Under Attack by Rialto Mayor and Council

05 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

A few weeks ago the City Council was tasked with a job. They were asked to look at Rialto’s financial future and take a series of actions to begin to lead us from the eventual cliff. What they did was very different.

The city of Rialto has had a Utility Tax since 2003 according to staff reports. Many cities have utility taxes but Rialto’s is unique since it contains a sunset. Every 5 years our Utility Tax comes to and end forcing the people to vote to reinstate the tax normally for another 5 years. As you will see from Interm City Manager Rob Steel’s presentation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMfzosKDswA

Rob Steel laid out a very comprehensive breakdown of the history and future of Rialto’s need for this tax. Next was the BAC (Budget Advisory Committee) with their recommendation to City Council. The BAC with much debate and study came to the conclusion that keeping things the way they are is the best bet for Rialto and is the least risky of the options. Rialto City Council barked that the BAC was not formed to mull over the UUT (Utility Users Tax) but to look for alternatives to new monies in Rialto. The problem is without the UUT there is no more of a Rialto. The UUT represents 18% percent of our general fund budget. Our general fund is already barley functioning and under $130 Million in unfunded burdens over the next 10 years and we can’t afford to loose 18% of our budget. Also City Council ASKED the BAC for their thoughts on the UUT and where things should go. Really City Council was simply looking for a rubber stamp to attack seniors and play Russian Roulette with Rialto’s Future.

https://youtu.be/hyk4oTnyyy8

After this the Mayors true plans and intentions were brought to light. She did all she could to poison the Budget Advisory Committee and bend them to her will. She found out that not everyone believed the same thing but that the recommendation was built off of a majority vote of the residents on the committee not any of the employees representing the various bargaining units. What Mayor Robertson is about to show you is she has little concern for Rialto’s ability to have sustainable growth in a safe city.

https://youtu.be/NvIcemqXRe4

Given the chance these people would find any legal way to tip the scales in their favor to win an election for themselves but when it comes to obtaining a ballot measure that will pass and give Rialto the chance at a sustainable future they ignore every poll and conventional wisdom and make the most illiterate decision.

Now Ed Scott wants you to believe that the big bad unions are inside the Budget Advisory Committee meetings strong arming the residents on the Committee. Nothing could be farther from the truth the Union representatives have been helpful and respectful they are not even voting on the various recommendations the Committee is send out to Council (recommendations they choose to ignore). Ed Scott asks the residents to take the Committee by the horns well were doing just that but were taking City Council down to the Corruption starts with the failed leadership of the city. Does anyone believe the way you manage a horrible upcoming situation by spending your savings and saving less? Councilman Ed Scott does!

https://youtu.be/-9PpJXfoWx8

Ed Scott brings up the Monrovia Example, this has not been brought up but I asked Iterm City Administrator Robb Steel about it here is what he told us:

“Monrovia adopted a multi-prong strategy to pay down its unfunded liabilities for pensions. The key component of it was to issue pension obligation bonds for their unfunded liability ($111 million). I have attached the staff report that describes their program, which includes modest employee concessions and other revenue enhancements. I have also attached the rating agency report on the proposed bond issuance to provide a sense of Monrovia’s overall financial condition. The basic strategy with POB’s is to borrow funds at say 4% and invest with PERS (or a separately established trust) that earns say 7%. If the raised monies are used to pay down the unfunded liability with PERS (for example), the City’s annual payments to PERS will be re-amortized and reduced (similar to using one time money to pay down your mortgage, then refinancing the balance). The freed up cashflow can then be used to sustain services, or pay down the debt even faster. The potential savings are significant (on $100 million as example, a 3% spread represents $3 million per year in interest savings in year 1).

This can be a good strategy, but it is not without risks. The City establishes general fund secured debt that must be paid as a priority above all other expenditures, which limits financial flexibility and may force cuts in essential services during a financial disruption. The bond investors may condition the financing on compliance with certain financial standards (minimum reserves, balanced budgets, etc.) that may seem reasonable but which may limit choices. It can be a good move; it just warrants some discussion of the risks. Our neighbor to the east defaulted on its payments for POB’s and spiraled into bankruptcy largely to shed that obligation.

Jumping in to the hot topic of the day, in order to issue POB’s the City must demonstrate balanced general fund budgets and stable financial futures. The S & P Report attached describes Monrovia’s current financial posture as quite stable and strong, with but a few reservations. We would not receive a similar finding, in large part because our revenue stream is interruptible. It would be very difficult (I think impossible) to borrow monies at reasonable rates when 20% of your revenue stream may be cut off every 5 years. A permanent revenue stream (of some sort, does not necessarily have to be a utility tax) would be necessary to address this issue and allow the general fund to issue debt with a strong repayment forecast. Alternatively, the City would need to compress expenditures by 20% to balance its budget and that we know would require dramatic service reductions. At present, the City General Fund would not in my opinion receive an investment grade credit rating unless we collateralized the debt with something very secure (substantial cash reserve).”

Anyone interested in following in San Bernardino’s footsteps?

https://youtu.be/kld53YuwILI

Joe Baca Jr. is not a risky guy when it comes to politics. He is a moderate like his father and isn’t known for taking on causes unless he knows for a fact he can shield himself from the consequences. For example when the city was in the process of selling of our water for 30 years he was the lone no vote. This did nothing for the people and Joe Baca Jr was well protected since he knew that the rest of the council was in lock step to sell away Rialto’s Water future. So in this matter why would he risk going after seniors and putting Rialto into a very tough spot financially? He doesn’t have to agree with his fellow council members on anything other than the fact that there is a need for a financial emergency. There seems to be more to this that what we see on the surface and there are a lot of behind the scenes conversations taking place to get everyone on the same page on such a horrible idea.

https://youtu.be/bLInf5tFPIM

Not only is Rafael way out of his league here but he missed a golden opportunity to show he is the man of the Hispanic people. He has no idea what he is doing and his ignorance isn’t something that you can say comes from a good place because he is trying to make a difference. To add insult to injury he missed a golden opportunity to plea for better bilingual outreach. He left that up to Mayor Robertson and the Vice Chair of the BAC.

https://youtu.be/SytxoWDfSMY

Councilman Carrizales is sitting in a seat where a man once sat who stood up for Rialto better than any other elected official and he had no use of his legs. Everyone is waiting for Councilman Carrizales to work to represent the people on the dias, nothing personal he is a great man and a devoted husband and father but Rialto needs leaders that lead in tough times like these not read off a pre-written script. When people act so far outside their character it leads one to believe what is really going on here.

https://youtu.be/-qG2JJ8DS0Q

Joe Baca Jr. went into what they can do in the future if the need for the Utility Tax ever changes but these are just words that will never happen to distract people from what is really going on.

https://youtu.be/ti_Q_WZvRz0

Finally Dennis Barton reminds the Budget Advisory Committee that the council only cares about a recommendation that is unanimous meaning if certain members have different ideas of feeling those are to be shut up and closed down. Then the Mayor pitches a fit because she wants to make sure she is around to control this process and make sure her will is done. Also see Rafael Trujillo’s ignorance of how elections are run because he doesn’t even know that ballot information is in English and Spanish.

Image by rialto-now

Mayor Robertson Chooses Travel Over Doing Her Job Locally

02 Feb 2018 5 Comments

Is Mayor Robertson your Mayor the the warehouses Mayor?

On January 9th The Mayor and City Council missed the third opportunity to do their job and allow Rialto to have a shot at a better financial future. As you will see in the video below not only was the Mayor not here in Rialto doing her job, but Mayor Pro Tem Scott choose to lie about where the Mayor was.

We need people who are in local politics for the people and the community. So many are in it for lush perks, power and the ability to travel on the Taxpayers dime. There is no reason for the Mayor to be in Washington D.C. when there is work to be done here. Also if she had a conflict she could have scheduled a special meeting to go over the new draft documents and move this issue forward. Also why is Ed Scott lying for the Mayor???

Video by rialto-now