Final Rialto Candidate Forum Today

27 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Ca, city attorney, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, Crime, Currupt, Deborah Robertson, Ed Scott, In & Out, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Josef (Joe) Britt, Lillie Houston, Lynn Hirtz, Public Safety, RDA, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Fire, Rialto Parks, Rialto Police Department, rialto unified school district, RUSD, Russel Sliva, SB Sun, SCAT, Shawn O'Connell, SWAT, Taxes, Veolia, Water, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com, youth Tags: , , ,

The final candidate forum of the 2014 election year is today and will only highlight two of the may areas up for grabs on November 4th. The two areas that will be covered are City Council ( two seats open out of four candidates ) and Rialto Unified School Board ( two seats open with six people for the seats ). One interesting portion of this event is it appears Ed Scott will poke his head out and finally speak publicly on the race which he has primarily done through private fundraisers and mailers & signs. It will be nice to see a majority of the candidates out together and we can hear their view points at the same time. The event is at the Rialto Senior Center on South Riverside Ave. See flyer below for more info.

Screenshot_2014-10-26-14-30-34-1

Rialto School Board Q&A with Russel Silva

27 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Ca, Crime, Flores Park, Flores Park Neighborhood Watch, Inland Empire, Rialto, rialto unified school district, RUSD, Russel Sliva, SB Sun, Teachers Union, Water, youth Tags: , , , , ,

Welcome to our third RUSD Board member Q&A out of six candidates. Russel Silva carry’s the very coveted endorsement of the Flores Park Neighborhood Watch. He also is a smart person that has offered some great responses. On thing that stands out to us here is the issue of opening up the rails to trails project to schools Werner Elementary and Rialto Middle School. Their is no safety plan in place by either the city or school district but the school district is moving forward anyway. Enjoy the read.

Russel Silva

Where did you grow up?  

I was born and raised in Hollister, CA. a small agricultural  community.  I moved to Ontario, CA in 1982 and then I bought a house in Rialto in April 1984, where I live today.

What High School did you graduate from?  

Graduated from San Benito Joint Union High School, Class of 1973. It was the only high school in San Benito County at the time.

Did you attend College? If so where did you attend and what was your major? 

Went to several junior colleges; West Valley in Saratoga, CA; Chaffee and San Bernardino Valley. My interests have mostly been towards engineering. No degree.

What is your current career field? How did you find yourself picking that career? 

My love is civil engineering. From the time I started working for the Engineering Department in Hollister I was hooked. Surveying, designing, drafting, inspection are just some of the duties I had. But the best fun was seeing the jobs I worked on come to life; housing tracts, shopping centers, industrial buildings, city infrastructure. As a kid growing up I never understood all the behind the scene stuff that makes a city function, or for that matter any successful organization. I guess engineering was in my blood.

How has your work life prepared you for the Rialto Unified School Board?

I have worked all my adult life so the majority of my education is a result of my ‘hands on’ experience. Having worked 24 years in the public sector and with my current job as Capital Projects Coordinator I manages bids, establish and write RFP’s and contracts for consultants and contractors, act as a project manager, and handle payment processing and change orders for the project assigned me. Every project has a budget and it I my job to make sure I stay on budget. I scrutinize all payments for accuracy and work progress, as well as all change orders to make sure that extra work does exceed the 10% public contract threshold. I rarely have contracts that exceed the 10%.

What do you see as the top three issues at Rialto Unified School District? 

Of course 1) student education and performance,  2) better fiscal control and accountability,  3) student safety, including on campus bullying.

What are your thoughts on Common Core?

The basic concept of the Common Core is great as it is trying to give every child nation wide the same opportunity to succeed and graduate with the same educational skills. The down falls; 1) I think it was thrown at us too fast. Teachers were not given ample time or training to unwrap this new program and present it to the students. 2) the textbooks and technology to make CC successful are behind. 3) because the way the system is set up to be taught, many teaches are handcuffed. What I mean is teachers all have their own style of teaching, but CC doesn’t allow for that. Sometimes teachers need to add that extra pop to grab the students attention. All in all I think it is a good system, but I wish it allowed a little more flexibility for the teachers. The District needs to provide more training as well.

With the new funding program programs like ROP are now in jeopardy of being lost. What are your thoughts on eliminating categorical funding and putting these programs in jeopardy?

Eliminating categorical funding for ROP, especially in lower income communities, jeopardizes the opportunity for some of our student to succeed. Face it, there are students out there that are not wired for college. By eliminating ROP you eliminate those students from having an opportunity to step into the working class right out of high school and become a productive citizen. Case in point, I would not be where I am today without the technical skill sets I received in high school.

The city of Rialto is moving forward with their rails to trails program. Some at city hall are pushing the school district to create additional access points at schools like Rialto Middle and Werner Elementary so students can access the school from the trail. What are your thoughts on this as it creates another access point for people that don’t belong on campus? 

Bad idea. Creating an access from an unmonitored, unsupervised community trail that is used not just by the average biker or walker or fitness trainer but criminals, pedifiles, child molesters, drug users and pushers is only asking for major trouble. At Warner Elementary that access gate would be 230 feet away from the nearest building and security camera. The District would have to station security to that gate every time it is in use to make sure the students are safe; and that costs money. If they use the security cameras by the time an insident is noticed and security is alerted, the incident is over and someone could be hurt. Cooperative agreement with agencies is common practice, but not at the cost of the life of a student.

Would you support working with people in the community to help Offer College and employment support to our young people as they enter the 21st century job market?

Absolutely! I love the idea of the Middle College for those students driven to achieve higher education. But I am also open to creating an internship program that will enable students to get hands on training in a field of their choosing with local agencies and business.

One big problem with our school board now is the pattern of abstaining from voting on issues leaving issues unresolved, what are your thoughts on this practice?

I think the bigger problem is that I don’t think the School Board is fully informed about many of the issues that they are asked to vote on. This leaves them having questions and discussions that lead to leaving issues unresolved. Administration works for the Board and part of their job is to keep the Board fully informed on all critical issues and contracts which I see not happening today. Many of the discussions the Board has in the open forum could have been answered with better communication from staff to the Board.

Please list any websites or social media links and/or contact information so the voters can contact your campaign. 

Email:rsilva4rusdschoolboard@gmail.com                                                                      Website: rsilva4rusdschoolb.wix.com/russel-silva                                           Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008230744374&fref=ts

Rialto School Board Q&A with Don Olinger

26 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Budget, Ca, City of Rialto, Crime, Inland Empire, Rialto, rialto unified school district, RUSD, youth Tags: , , , ,

Don Olinger was the second candidate to respond to our Q&A opportunity for the School Board, well kind of! Instead of answering our questions he choose to send us a prepared candidate statement. One of the communities biggest issues with the current board and the district is they don’t listen to the community. In our opinion Mr. Olinger clearly has that problem as well. With that being said we are posting his statement because their are some interesting nuggets inside.

Donald D. Olinger
Birthplace………Wabash County Indiana
Rialto resident since 1957
BA ……..Manchester University
MA………Indiana University
Post Graduate….Univ. of Redlands
Career: Rialto teacher and principal
Political:  Two terms (8 years) on Rialto School Board
Three terms on West Valley Water District Board of Directors
Church:   Administrative Council Chairperson & Board of Trustees
Military:  U.S. Navy veteran
RIALTO SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE STATEMENT by DON OLINGER

1.  My major focus is to restore the luster of the RUSD, once the envy of surrounding
districts.  This can be done by first identifying systemic problems which cause major
distractions from the core purpose of public education.  Shoring up the deficits can best
be accomplished with meaningful stakeholder involvement in a trust relationship setting.
This begins in the boardroom, which currently is not a happy place.

2.  What goes on in the boardroom affects what takes place in the classroom and vice versa.
Electing competent, knowledgeable board members is essential to implementing recent
school reforms enacted in Sacramento.  Common Core State Standards and a landmark
Local Control Funding Formula will start moving schools in the right direction.  The LC Action
Plan must include increased funding for early childhood education, class size reductions,
more instructional aides, counsellors, and staff development.  Chronic absenteeism, lack
of interest in school and a slowing of API scores will require new strategies.

Measure Y funds are modernizing aging schools. How the remaining $61 million author-
ization is spent will require close monitoring and perhaps reassessing priorities
along the way.  Garnering public support for a possible parcel tax hike is essential to
providing our students with a safe, healthy school environment.

3.  Despite some excellent programs like Parent University, community forums, staff
development, student services, etc.  there is a “lack of confidence” perception by many
parents.  What some consider poor decisions and inaction at the top echelon foster
even more discontent.  Board meetings at times are contentious which give confusing
signals to staff in implementing policy decisions.  I am pleased that the Board is trying
to ease tensions in a more emotionally satisfying climate.

4.  The RUSD where my children received a good education and where I enjoyed a wonderful
career has the elements of a great district but lacks a the spirit and synergy which release
the best efforts of staff, parents and students.  This requires a collaborative plan of action.

5.  School districts compete for the best qualified employees including the superintendent.
The reciprocal is that applicants search for the best district.  Attracting the most qualified
applicants require more than a good compensation package.  They want to be in a place
where employees feel appreciated, free of petty conflict and where visionary goals can
be realized.  One of the most salient roles of the Board is selecting the right superintendent.
This should be a serious assignment in tandem with a professional search team and
and all stakeholders.  Excessive contract perks should be avoided.

6.  Sometimes new leadership on the Board is necessary to make a desirable change.
Many parents and community leaders have urged me to return to the Boardroom.  They
feel that my experience on school, water and church boards, a teaching career, commitment
to high standards, personal attributes and a fondness of the RUSD make me a unique
candidate for the November 4, 2014 school board election.

Rialto School Board Q&A with Lillie Houston

26 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Ca, City of Rialto, Deborah Robertson, Inland Empire, Lillie Houston, Rialto, rialto unified school district, RUSD, youth Tags: , , , , ,

Welcome to the Rialto Unified School Board Q&A interviews. We asked all of the candidates the same questions and emailed them out Mrs. Houston was the first one to respond so she will be the first one you see. Our questions are highlighted Lillie Houston’s answers are not.

Where did you grow up?

Seattle, Washington

What High School did you graduate from?

Garfield High School

Did you attend College? If so where did you attend and what was your major?

I attended Los Angeles City College, LACC, I was studying to become an architect. At my age at that time I was required to take courses such as English, Math, Reading, Gym, Archery, etc.

How has your education prepared you for the Rialto Unified School Board?

I attended a trade school where I learn to operate the keypunch and reading machines. Mount San Antonio College, MTSAC, Walnut, CA. Associate in Science Degree in Industrial Supervision. University of Redlands; Redlands, CA Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management.

What is your current career field? How did you find yourself picking that career?

My interest was to effectively manage industrial resources which include Money, People and Things.

How has your work life prepared you for the Rialto Unified School Board?

For more than 25 years, I was a small business owner, where I had to generate my own business, manage my own contracts, stay within budget, deal with negative and positive customers to keep a harmonious relationships between the customers, staff and vendors.

What do you see as the top three issues at Rialto Unified School District?

• Lack of Financial Transparency, I will request the new Superintendent to post financial information on-line, in a downloadable format, for free public access, which includes funding awarded through Measure Y Bond.

• Lack of Ability to Improve Special Education Services, test scores and graduation rates

• Inability to develop relationship with the business community to expand job and technical training programs which provide students with good job opportunities

What are your thoughts on Common Core?

Parents and Students have many questions as it relates to will Common Core be a step forward. Teachers are supporting it, though I am not a Teachers Union Candidate, I am running to Put Students First and hold all District Administrators and Teachers accountable for meeting our mission statement. I believe Test are important for evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum being taught and how the instruction is being given and a good way for students to measure how they are learning. With the new funding program, programs like ROP are now in jeopardy of being lost.

What are your thoughts on eliminating categorical funding and putting these programs in jeopardy?

California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) the new form of spending government dollars within School District already eliminated most categorical programs and places decision making for spending at the local Board level. ROP in my opinion is a great instrument for serving our students and shall be protected. The city of Rialto is moving forward with their rails to trails program.

Some at city hall are pushing the school district to create additional access points at schools like Rialto Middle and Werner Elementary so students can access the school from the trail. What are your thoughts on this as it creates another access point for people that don’t belong on campus?

• I believe the presentations made regarding the rails to trails program have left many unanswered questions as it relates to safety of children, how premises will be secured to protect from potential sex offenders and other criminal elements from entering campuses, I would be unable to support any project that does not have written policies and procedures in place to safeguard our students, staff and have more questions as it relates to this program I am awaiting a response.

Would you support working with people in the community to help Offer College and employment support to our young people as they enter the 21st century job market?

Yes, I owned and operated my own Small Business for 25 years and understand job creation, and developing entrepreneurs and would partner with the local business community and San Bernardino Community College District and/or interested partners of the School District, to provide our students with the technical training needed to be contributors to the economy.

One big problem with our school board now is the pattern of abstaining from voting on issues leaving issues unresolved, what are your thoughts on this practice?

Many agenda items are rushed before the School Board to vote yay or nae, while at the same time Board Members have failed to study what comes before them, until an hour before the meeting starts and doing meetings show disrespect for those speaking doing public comment by texting on there cellphones. I believe Public Comment should be moved to the start of the meeting. If and when elected, I will suggest to our Superintendents Office the Board of Education be provided with answers to priority questions pertaining to any agenda item so that we can move forward with new business, instead of dragging items unto future agendas, as long as I have all the information I need to make the best decisions that Put Students First, I will vote yes or no, an abstain vote from me will only be provided if there is a conflict of interest with an item.

Please list any websites or social media links and/or contact information so the voters can contact your campaign.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lillie-Houston-4-Rialto-School-Board/345005485652229

Home: (909) 874-1410

www.LillieHouston.com

houstoninsur@aol.com

 

The many reasons not to vote for Ed Scott

22 Oct 2014 1 Comment

by rialto-now in Budget, Ca, City of Rialto, Crime, Currupt, Ed Scott, Family, Inland Empire, perchlorate cleanup settlements, Public Safety, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Fire, Rialto Police Department, SWAT, Ullico, Veolia, Water, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com

So it’s no secret that Mr. Ed Scott and I don’t agree on anything outside of our favorite football team. What I find appalling are his campaign signs “Proven Leadership”. What leadership? Do you pat the guy on the back that did everything in his power to drive rialto down the same road that San Bernardino now finds itself?

So since my last post about Mr. Ed Scott drove our numbers through the roof I thought it’s time to do a highlight of the Ed Scott Years. We will start with most recent Ed Scott blunders and let you decide if we want this type of “Proven Leadership” back in power in rialto:

  1. Most recently we are finding out the most expensive of the Ed Scott policy issues the Outsourcing of Rialto Water to Veolia. Now Veolia was not Ed Scott’s first choice to have our water company for the next 30 years. We now know that Ed Scott’s water pipeline infrastructure project was a like a local unfunded mandate meaning he dumped it into our laps and later we found that the money was not enough to complete most of the projects. When the residents forced American Water from the deal the proposal was handed to west valley water district and General Manager Butch Araiza wanted nothing to do with the water deal. Now residents are left with ever increasing water rates and Veolia is allowed to walk away without completing what was their part of the deal. This deal was written leaving the city of Rialto with no ability to back out if the project is not completed. Yet millions went to local consultants??????
  2. Under the direction and supervision of Mr. Ed Scott Rialto residents were forced into a battle that the Federal Government should have waged but because Mr. Ed Scott wanted to sue the involved companies on the backs of the Rialto Rate Payers. Those rate payers were promised a refund, yet no real refund ever came. People that only paid the rebate for a short time received funds that were meant for the people who lived there before them. Others Like Anne moved to another house both in Rialto both in the Rialto Water Services area and was not given the total refund due to her she received a small portion. Even residents that could not take the Rialto the Ed Scott built and moved out were left with nothing even though Ed Scott promised they would receive a refund.

“Between the two deals, Rialto residents will get back about $9 million in a perchlorate charges they have paid on bills since 2004, Rialto City Councilman Ed Scott said. The surcharge will stop in December or January, which is when rebate checks will be issued to current and former residents, he said.” JANET ZIMMERMAN / STAFF WRITER Published: Oct. 26, 2012 5:41 p.m.

“Councilman Ed Scott, who is on the perchlorate subcommittee” By Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer Posted: 09/26/12, 9:00 PM PDT

  1. Ed Scott & Jimmy Gutierrez had a very comfortable relationship so comfortable that it has been rumored that Jimmy is now Ed Scott’s attorney. Why is this another black mark on our former councilman? Jimmy Gutierrez was bleeding the city dry on attorney fee’s making $3.1 million one year as the part time attorney for rialto. Jimmy was brought to rialto by Ed Scott and was fed well while Ed Scott was on the Dias. It took forward thinking councilmembers O’Connell & Hirtz to take the contract out and find an attorney that is now saving the city $750,000 a year.
  2. Ed Scott has been labeled as the councilmember that abused the cities week travel policy the most. It was so bad that it took the current city council a year and a half to undo the damage and set the ship right.
  3. Last but not least let’s not forget that Ed Scott has tried numerous times to outsource our police department to the sheriff. The worst time was when we actually lost quality police staff because they didn’t want to be left to the uncertainty of having a job at the last minute. Ed Scott had one last hurrah when he began threatening to bring the topic of outsourcing back up and the residents formed a group named Rialto Residents for Rialto PD. They stormed the council meeting forcing Ed Scott to back down at the last minute and change his tone.

Rialto residents it is clear from this brief outline of some of the Top Ed Scott highlights that Mr. Scott is not the trusted or proven leader Rialto needs. The current council has found a groove and seems to be able to accomplish what needs to be done for the better of Rialto. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.

Rialto Candidate Forum @ Johnson Community Center

22 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in 100 Black Men, Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Budget, Ca, city attorney, City of Rialto, davidsMarketing, Deborah Robertson, hardy brown II, In & Out, Inland Empire, Josef (Joe) Britt, joseph williams, Public Safety, Rialto, Shawn O'Connell, Small Business, Taxes, Teachers Union, The Fellas, Uncategorized, yap Tags: , ,

The room was full of people looking for information on a wide variety of offices

The room was full of people looking for information on a wide variety of offices

Have you heard of the FELLAS? I had not until just recently, but I knew a couple of the members that make up this group. Some of the most powerful African American Men here in the Inland Empire make up the core of this group one of which now lives in Rialto. Some of the core members are Terrance Stone of Young Visionaries, Joseph Williams of The Youth Action Project (Rialto Resident) and Hardy Brown II of The Black Voice News.

It was powerful to arrive early and see these men in action and see the passion for the community they have. My group Flores Park Neighborhood Group was asked to be a co-sponsor of the event and help with administrative functions of the event. This Forum was the best multi candidate event I think Rialto has ever had. The diverse array of canidates as well as the information that was given was priceless.

The slection of rotation was interesting and seemed to work out well. If anything was accomplished yesterday it was showing off who was ready to start on day one if they won the majority of votes in November.

The powerful stand out were the following and why:

Lynn Hirtz Rialto City Council – Lynn came prepared and blew away the audience with her list of council accomplishments and background working in Rialto and commitment to make sure we didn’t shut down the airport for nothing that we will have a beautiful development in the Renissance area of Rialto.

Paul Chabot speaks with community members. Here he is speaking with a Sara Garcia a Representitve with Assembly Woman Cheryl Browns office.

Paul Chabot speaks with community members. Here he is speaking with a Sara Garcia a Representitve with Assembly Woman Cheryl Browns office.

Paul Chabot Congress 31st District – Paul came out explained that their are big issues here in the Inland Empire and he is the true voice of the Inland Empire. As a Naval Officer, Reserve Deputy and a small business owner he had the knowledge and passion to best represent the 31st.

Dina Walker RUSD Board – Dina Walker came out prepared to let the parents know they would have a voice with passion, knowledge and experince in implementing created policy. She even went as far as to tell people she wasn’t and expert in everything with left many feeling like she was going to be a straight shooter something that has been missing for years in Rialto.

20141019_145147(0)

Christina Gangier Congress 35th District  – This young firey passionate young business woman is ready to take Washington by the horns and advocate for the Inland Empire. Her big focus was job readiness of our youth and older unempolyed. She refereenced her work with preparing people to be able to use technology to obtain careers not just jobs. She unlike her opponetnt Norma Torres will not forget who she represents and promised not to have special interests tapping her on the shoulder while she is advocating for the IE.

The elected hopefuls that were in attendance:

Rialto City Council: Lynn Hirtz, Joseph Britt

Rialto Unified School Board: Lillie Houston, Russel Silva, Dina Walker

Congressional District 35: Christina Gagnier

Congressional District 31: Paul Chabot, Pete Aguilar

Valley College Board Trustee: Joseph Williams

San Bernardino County Schools Board: Hardy Brown II

 

Should Candidates Use Personal Tragedies To Get Votes?

17 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Ca, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, Deborah Robertson, Ed Scott, In & Out, Inland Empire, Public Safety, Rialto, youth Tags: , , , , ,

Here are the results from our poll thank you everyone for voting

Here are the results from our poll thank you everyone for voting

So it all began with a post on his facebook page then the mailer, Ed Scott appears to be ok with using his son’s death to win the city council election.

First off let me be the first to say it’s been nice not having the bully of Rialto on city council. Heck he hasn’t even inserted himself into the area of politics since his departure almost 2 years ago when the voters choose Deborah Robertson for mayor over Ed Scott. He did pop his head out looking to seek the appointed position that was given to Lynn Hirtz but since then the only thing to come from him is sports and work at his bar.

If you have not seen the facebook post we have it below:

ed scott

Now let me reassure everyone that the School District, Rialto Police & Fire, City of Rialto & The Rialto Community Coalition have been working very hard to deal with this very issue. Now I’m not sure if this made a difference but once Ed Scott Was exited from local politics all of the walls began crashing down. The Rialto Community Coalition held its first public call to action event “Don’t Go There” at Eisenhower High School, City Council Members began to engage with our local prevention and advocacy programs, School District and Rialto City have found new innovative ways to begin working together. Heck even retail development came on like a flood starting with In & Out (pushed to completion by the community not city council). Now we have a Wing Stop, Jersey Mikes, Chipotle, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Pieology coming to Rialto.

So were looking for your thoughts after everything that Ed Scott has put Rialto through are we really willing to give him a second chance to bully and take advantage of Rialto? I feel sorry for the Scott Family for their loss no parent should ever outlive their child but is that alone reason enough to give him elected power once again?

Rialto Community Coalition Meeting

06 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in and the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy, Ca, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, davidsMarketing, Grand Terrace, Lynn Hirtz, Rialto, Rialto Fire, Rialto Police Department

Since this is the beginning of the school year, and the Rialto Unified School District has expressed interest in collaborating with us, we need to take this opportunity to begin planning our next community action project in Rialto. You are needed now, more than ever, to emphasize the dangers and consequences of underage drinking and drug use to students (and adults) in Rialto.

The Coalition will be going over its next community action project slated for November come out and help them make this project the best ever.

Why Rialto Now Supports Paul Chabot for Congress District 31

06 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Budget, Ca, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, Crime, Currupt, davidsMarketing, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Inland Empire, Public Safety, Rialto, San Bernardino, youth

Rialto Now was started because we saw two big problems:

1.Local media refused to give Rialto the coverage it deserved.

2.Local elected officials ran around like nobody was watching their dirty dealings.

We can say that hundreds of people visit this page every week and we have seen major changes in the way elected officials are held accountable. Another big issue we saw that needed attention was our growing problem with drug and alcohol use especially in our young people. We banded together with the Rialto Community Coalition and working with the community policing Cpl. Cameron Nelson & Mental Health Services Program Facilitator Michael Townsend Rialto has made major strides in making positive change in our communities overall health. One major outside player in helping us get up to speed on resources to help support a healthy community is Paul Chabot. Paul Chabot is a leader with Drug Free California, Inland Valley Drug Fee Council & Drug Free Rancho Cucamonga. Paul has been a front line advocate to keep drugs away from our children as well as a working in the military and in law enforcement laying his life on the line for people he does not know.

So what happens when he decides to run for Congress? His opponent decides to take a million dollar hand shake from the democrat party and attack Paul Chabot with lies that he hates children and schools. Then he has the gall to write an op-ed in the Press Enterprise about his ability to work with both sides. Well Mr. Aguilar have you forgotten when your Quality Life Department at City Hall almost shut down a bake sale for the popular No Kid Hungry campaign? Here is what happened and the stress that this mayor’s city put on local people trying to help hungry kids:

Hey guess what??! After having the bake sale for 7 years, and the last three years alone at Ed Hales Park in downtown Redlands…the City of Redlands has just turned us down citing that city parks are no longer allowed to sell “merchandise”. I am beyond angry. Never mind the fact that the WEEKLY market night occurs all the way through State Street and there are dozens of vendors that sell food and merchandise all along the street and everyone passes through Ed Hales to eat food. I am absolutely speechless. So now I have no location.

Oh…but they will give me a park permit, I just can’t sell anything.

Absolutely livid.

It’s official. The City of Redlands will not allow our event at our usual location of Ed Hales Park. This is pretty disappointing. I now need to work quickly to secure a new location, especially within the next couple of days because I have 1000 flyers that are due to be printed and distributed at next weekends Take the Cake Bake Off and they will need to be edited with a new location.

Location update: I received a reply from the property manager of the Redlands Mall but…approval had to be requested from someone in Dallas and unfortunately he did not reply today but apparently will be reminded tomorrow. Although not tec…hnically approved, I was getting a good impression from the property manager. Downside and gamble…I’m taking a risk by approving my 1000 flyers to be rush printed by Saturday morning with this location so I can distribute them at the Take the Cake Bake Off this Saturday. Lets hope this location sticks. For those that know the area, it is the corner of Orange Street and State Street where it is a semi-covered veranda on the outside of the mall. Very high visibility for those on Orange and those entering State Street. This better work!!!

Redlands mall said no. I authorized our flyers yesterday taking a gamble…lost that gamble. Feeling officially defeated and ready to throw in the towel.

From Toni Momberger regarding our inability to get approval from anyone on securing a location for the bake sale: Kristina Hernandez at the Redlands Daily Facts is working on a story about this. If anyone wants to comment. Contact her by email at kristina.hernandez@langnews.com

Please feel free to contact Kristina if you would like to share your opinion, or are familiar with our past events, have been a volunteer, etc. Please share too.

Talk about exhausting…how about this new update…

Out of nowhere I got a call from the city’s Quality of Life department today. They want to try to accommodate us by letting us have the sale not at Ed Hales Park but, wait for it….in the street directly in front of the park. This would require blocking off a section of street to have the event. This street encroachment is not covered under th…e park municipal code they’ve been citing therefore would be allowed. I have a tentative meeting on Monday with a rep and a city engineer to work it out. Nothing finalized but it looks like we’re going to be back at Ed Hales…sort of. My head hurts just thinking about it but it is a step back in the right direction.

Oh boy did I cause a stir. An article about our location situation came out today in the Redlands Daily Facts (front page!). The Quality of Life director immediately contacted the reporter…the reporter then called me…then a revised story was issued online. Needless to say, I’m done arguing over their poor communication and politics, but in the end our location is now 100% approved at Ed Hales Park.

Who’s ready for a bake sale?!

It took the community members 18 days and a miss print of 1000 flyers to finally get the spot they had used for years before 2014. If Mayor Aguilar can’t handle a bake sale at a small downtown park what makes him thing we can trust him to stay on track in Washington. It is time to call Pete Aguilar to stop the party politics and games and run a campaign that is on the issues. Below is Paul Chabot’s website for his campaign I urge you to give this man your vote and tell your friends about Paul. If you would like a yard sign we have those for you just email davidsmarketing@aol.com with your address and we will get you a sign.
http://www.paulchabot.com/
http://www.drugfreecaliforia.org
http://www.ivdfc.org
http://www.drugfreerc.org

Veolia Water Workshop Round 2

29 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Ca, city attorney, City of Rialto, Currupt, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, June Hayes, Lazy, Mike Story, Poor, Protest, Rialto, Rialto, Table Rock Capital, Ullico, Veolia, Water, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com Tags:

CIP

On our city council update we left you hanging because TAB 7 was pushed off until the next council meeting so that it could be addressed at the Water Workshop tonight. Veolia apparently took on a contract they can’t deliver.

 

TAB 7 from the last council meeting is Veolia was required to provide 4000 meters at a cost of $460,000 water meters, but because they failed to check the contract they only want to provide 1600 meters at a cost of $390.000 why can Veolia pick and choose what part of the contract they can follow? Do the residents have the option of when to pay their bills?

 

What is this contract and what is this workshop for tonight? Veolia agreed to take over water and waste water services for the next 30 years and were tasked with conducting a major infrastructure overhaul of the city’s water delivery system and waste water removal system. They have already and will continue to levy major rate increases on Rialto Water customers and they have paid $40 million dollars to the city of Rialto for this utility take over. What they did is take your money and make excuses for being behind by 1-2 years on many projects because they claim that American Water (the cities first choice for a water servicer) wrote a bad contract that can’t be delivered on the originally agreed terms.

 

Veolia isn’t new to Rialto they have been around working with our waste water services for years. So they can’t claim ignorance to how Rialto is structured or set up. There are two major issues with the delay one is Rialto Water Services customers are already one full year into a four year rate increase schedule. Two if this process is delayed too long the interest rates on the loan that was taken out to make the capital improvements will eat into the money needed to afford these projects. Back in June at the first workshop Veolia upper management was asked by Councilman O’Connell in the meeting if they would cover this gap if the situation arose and they said NO.

 

Back at the first Water Workshop in June the city council found out that Veolia has been hiding behind a lame excuse of we didn’t write this contract. The community’s response to that is you signed it before reading it? What Veolia saw was an opportunity to take the rate payers for a ride and leave us with no other recourse. This contract was written in a way that city hall has thrown its hands in the air saying were stuck!!!!!!!

 

Anyone watching the news and all the problems with Los Angeles’s DWP is having with blown water lines knows that’s not where we want to be. The problem is everyone is acting like they are powerless to make Veolia do their job. Ironically a week after the first water workshop in June the city experienced a sewer back up that spilled into the streets. What is more irritating is that the Capital Improvement Projects not being completed and the massive rate increases is not the end of the problems with Veolia. Here is a short list:

  • Water meters are not being read they are being estimated. This means you are not likely to see any change in your water bill even though you’re cutting back on water usage.
  • Horrible customer service. Veolia doesn’t seem to have a customer service supervisor Monday thru Friday because when they mess up your bill you have to wait weeks to receive a call back if you receive one at all.
  • Lagging on processing payments. Veolia is slow to check the collection bin at the city of Rialto Civic Center and processes payments very slowly; you will get a late fee.
  • Horrible water pressure. Since Veolia has taken over Rialto Water Services customers have noticed a major drop in water pressure.

 

Now is the time to get involved and engage. This is an election year and was in the thick of it. Now is the time to demand action and we have some resources for you.

 

You can Send us a Letter to the Editor to be published here to rialtonow@gmail.com

 

You can email Leslie Parrilla with the San Bernardino Sun at leslie.parrilla@langnews.com

 

Contact Councilmember O’Connell shawn4rialto@hotmail.com

 

Contact Councilmember Hitrz danslmc@hotmail.com

 

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