The Rialto City Council scheduled an emergency meeting to address the Corona Virus outbreak. The enacted an emergency declaration that gave the City Manager supreme powers over events, staffing and public safety. City Manager Rod Foster took this meeting to remind us that even though he works here he is not effected by the decisions made in the city of Rialto as he lives in a wealthy area of Orange County.
Some say that the action is premature given that the school district is on spring break and that there are no confirmed cases in Rialto or San Bernardino County. Others say that we must be early to keep the citizens safe. Councilman Ed Scott (who will comment some inappropriate comments on this post) spoke about being one of the people that is a high risk for having an extreme reaction to this virus given his advanced age and long list of medial conditions. Ed Scott spoke to racial profiling as his wife who is Asian decent were verbally attacked and berated at San Manuel Casino because this Corona Virus originated from China. It was sad to hear that still we are so ignorant because these type of things must stop.
Councilman Ed Scott and Councilman Joe Baca Jr. spoke about the threat to seniors and how we would handle our senior center operations. Councilman Joe Baca Jr. asked that city facilities be deep cleaned and that the senior center would take priority. Councilman Ed Scott said that the City of Fontana told him that they were restricting their senior center to only seniors. That is interesting because that building is a public building and is a community center as well. Many of the people who use that facility rely on the computers and other facilities to function in a tech world.
Clearly this outbreak has made us forget the poor and disadvantaged. Mayor Robertson also pointed out that 80% of the management staff are coming from a county that has had a large number of Corona Virus cases in Orange County. Maybe we should have thought about that when choosing people who live nowhere near Rialto. The reason this is an issue is when it comes to asking people to telecommute what happens if your Director of Emergency Services gets stuck over an hour an way?
The council called for Social Distancing in light of the virus outbreak and were unaware on how we could do this without hurting our new and “vibrant” economy. Rialto Flooring posted a video this morning the day after this meeting of a very empty downtown which they said was extremely rare. The mayor suggested that people utilize the delivery services or ordering out.
On February 4th 2020 West Valley Water put out a press release on the hiring of yet another upper level manager and consultant to fix the laundry list of problems West Valley Water District has faced. The newest person that has claimed they will do what nobody else has been able to do is Martin Piñon who will be acting as the Interim Human Resources and Risk Manager. According to the press release, In addition to implementing best practices and standards for human resources, Piñon will manage the District’s personnel activities including salary and benefits administration, workers’ compensation, risk management, safety, training, employee relations, recruitment and selection. Pinion will also ensure that the District is in compliance with employment laws and work with management to correct employee deficiencies, apply disciplinary actions, address grievances and follow-up with complaints and inquiries.
Among his long list of experience and education the notable piece is that he has a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University San Bernardino. Now your asking yourself why is that the portion of Mr. Piñon you focus on? Well for years Board Member Clifford Young a fixture at Cal State San Bernardino appeared to be using his influence over the hiring process to gift high level positions to people he favored from said college.
Piñon said about his appointment “It’s not rocket science,” said Piñon. “We’re going to turn it all around.”
Board President Hawkins said that Piñon’s hiring was directly tied to his appointment as board president and the district’s “renewed, collective commitment to ratepayers.
All matters regarding employment have been taken off GM Clarence Mansfield’s plate and the recommendations from Piñon will fall to the 2 member committie of President Hawkins and Vice President Crowther. The hiring of additional staff isn’t over as Mr. Piñon has already stated that Legal Counsel and an additional HR firm will need to be hired to fix what is broken. Another very expense and time consuming item on Mr. Piñon’s agenda is a comp and class study to look at pay and wages.
Now we don’t know Mr Piñon and we hope he can accomplish everything he said he can, but knowing the track record of West Valley water over the last 8-10 years this just looks like more of the same and more wasted money being spent!
On November 6th former officer Glen Anderson took his lawsuit over wrongful termination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Officer Glen Anderson’s case was dismissed on summary judgement and his legal team is seeking an appeal of that ruling to send his case before a jury.
Officer Anderson’s attorney does his best to nail down that the career of Officer Anderson was ended because the text he sent to James Freeman was then forwarded to Councilman Ed Scott. He works to show that all of the other cases leveled at Officer Anderson were because they could not legally fire Officer Anderson over the text messages alone.
The attorney for the City of Rialto claim that the claim that Officer Anderson was fired over a text message was false. The attorney for the city of Rialto states that nobody fired officer Anderson over Free Speech issues.
The text in question was sent to Political Consultant James Freeman who then in error sent that text message to Councilman Ed Scott. Once Councilman Ed Scott found out that Officer Glen Anderson was texting out the council he became irate. When speaking to Councilman O’Connell and former Councilman Ed Palmer at the time of the investigations there was a clear message that Officer Anderson needed to be dealt with over that text message.
We found the words of the Attorney for the city of Rialto puzzling because he claims that neither the Chief or Mike Story the City Manager had any knowledge of the K9 yard or its construction. The K9 yard was well known throughout the department and the community. The only way Chief Farrar or Deanda could claim not knowing about the K9 yard would be because they are lying or ignorant! City Administrator Mike Story sent years back where the K9 yard used to be located as he was on a mission to build Councilman Joe Baca Jr the 2nd most expensive park in the city Bud Bender park.
No matter if the 9th circuit allows this case go to a jury the people of Rialto should question the leadership of city hall and of the police department. Even no the current leadership of the police department allow people who broke more rules and laws continue to work and hold high ranking jobs within the Rialto Police Department still. The only difference between Glen Anderson and other officers is that the other officers protect Ed Scott and don’t hold him accountable. Remember this all started with a text message sent to Councilman Ed Scott!
Since December 2017 Rialto has been without a permanent City Administrator. There have been three men to fill the top seat on a temporary basis as the Rialto City Council made poor choices that have moved us closer and closer to financial disaster.
First to fill the seat was Assistant City Administrator Robb Steel he lasted for a short stint prior to looking to take a step back into his old role. Then the City Council brought back Ahmad Ansari, a former public works director and city engineer, as interim city administrator. The most recent person to fill the interim chair is Rialto Fire Chief Sean Grayson.
The spot at City Administrator isn’t the only position to sit without a permanent place holder over the last few years. As the city ignores the looming reality of the unfunded pension liabilities and private vendettas are allowed to hurt employees from bad leaders the city has struggled with attracting new talent. This has shown in the length of time it took to fill this position as well as Police Chief and the fact that is took two years to find a finance director. There have also been jobs in public works and code enforcement that the city offered employment to people and those people turned the city down!
One thing that all Rialto residents and business owners should pay close attention to is the cost of this salary. The article we wrote in the Rialto Record December of 2018 still rings true today. Rialto is spending money it doesn’t have and next years budget which starts in one month is going to be a HOT mess. Your Rialto City Council have spent MILLIONS on raises for employees that we can’t afford.
I say all this to show you how little your city council cares about the taxpayers!
Rod Foster worked as the city manager for the city of Colton, not really the beacon of innovation and clearly not a city to model after. Mr Foster then followed Eileen Gomez to the city of Laguna Niguel. Rod Foster spent ruffly four years at the city of Laguna Niguel and left at the same time as his assistant city administrator. Now Rod Foster may be a very nice man nothing here is to say he isn’t, the problem is can Rialto afford a City Administrtor at the tune of a quarter of a million dollars a year? Rod Foster the new city administrator and Mark Kling the Chief of Police make half a million dollars in Salary alone!!!!
Now you would think that there was a lot of discussion on this appointment and the other top candidates names were presented right? Nope they acted like this effort was a simple, everyday line item and passed this without any explanation or discussion. After the quick motion and second then the comments came. Mayor Robertson spoke about some special trip to Mommie Helens Bakery and her sole reason for picking Rod Foster was his sweet tooth! Ed Scott even more childishly asked Rod Foster to protect him from the many people that Ed Scott has upset over the years, maybe if Ed Scott doesn’t sue Rod Foster he may protect him!
In Rod Fosters defense community members like Gary Grossich and Eileen Gomez have nothing but positive things to say about Rod Foster. These are marks in his favor but why would someone like Rod Foster want to come to Rialto?
To make matters worse Rialto still has no plan on how to deal with $150 Million in unfunded liabilities!! They are still waiting for magic money to fall from the sky! Mark my words bankruptcy or insane tax increases are right around the corner!
Here is what the contract says on the Agenda:
The following provides a summary of key provisions of the proposed employment agreement with Mr. Foster:
• Salary: Annual salary would be $240,000 annually.
• At-will nature of employment: The position of city administrator is an at-will position serving at the pleasure of the City Council.
• Term: A term of 5 years, which can be extended by the parties for 1 year following a positive performance evaluation.
• Severance: If Mr. Foster is terminated without cause, then he will be entitled to severance as follows:
0-6 months with City monthly salary times 18
6-24 months with City monthly salary times 12
After 24 months with City monthly salary times 6
If terminated for cause, Mr. Foster would not be entitled to payment of any severance.
• Benefits:
o The benefits would generally consistent with those of the City’s department heads, except as specified in the employment agreement.
o Vacation leave: Provided 120 hours up front. Thereafter, accrual would be at the rate of 6.15 hours per pay period.
o Sick leave: Provided 120 hours up front. Thereafter, accrual would be at the rate of 10 hours per month.
o Administrative leave: 140 hours per year.
o Deferred compensation: $750 per month.
o Vehicle: Provided a City-vehicle for business and incidental personal use.
o Educational incentive: 7.5% of regular base salary based on master’s degree (same as provided to eligible City department heads).
o CalPERS: Mr. Foster would be enrolled in the City’s 2% at 62 retirement plan consistent with the requirements of state retirement law for “new” CalPERS members. The employee contribution under this plan is presently 8%.
o Health insurance coverage and retiree health: Same as for department heads.
o Relocation reimbursement: Up to $8,500 if Mr. Foster moves to San Bernardino County and within 25 miles of City Hall within 2 years.
o Life insurance: Benefit amount equivalent to 2x amount provided to department heads.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rialto is in a very critical point in our cities existence and many may be looking to the incoming development as a saving windfall. We are here to tell you that this isn’t the case Rialto is in a tough spot and its going to take everyone doing their jobs to get us through it.
The reason we say everyone doing their jobs is right now some staff and the community are the only ones stepping up to the plate and if the rest of the players don’t figure that out, own their bad and get on board with getting things back on track it is going to spell disaster.
Here are the players as we see it and what they need to do to get things moving the right way:
The Community – This group of people have been doing a lion share of the heavy lifting. Most people believe they have no recourse and they must accept bad leadership and money mismanagement. This is not the case even though we may be on a certain leaders team it never hurts to remind those leaders we support we can no longer give them blanket support for a laundry list of bad calls. You can see how the city council is fracturing as they all split off to their specific groups and ask for help with dealing with the others. When it comes to the Utility Users Tax the community can’t support TAX AND SPEND Liberals in such high majorities when voting and then look at a tax that actually provides us services we all say we want to keep as a bad thing.
The City Council – I have never been a fan of forming a consensus I believe it leads to to many back room deals and excludes the community at large as a few key power groups ideology reigns supreme. Yet on this issue I see it as juvenile to allow the whole city to suffer just to make a political point. I say this because the issue of declaring a financial emergency still hangs in the balance and is holding up Rialto’s ability to see where we are going over the next 10 years. City Council is playing political chicken with our future, information that has come from staff says that City Council is having an issue declaring a state of emergency because we still have a healthy surplus. A surplus that will only afford Rialto a 6 month time frame of stability if the worse was ever to happen. It seems like City Council wants us to be broke and defaulting on loans before we do anything to right our unstable future. I don’t know anyone that would look at their personal or business finances and see a real financial avalanche heading their way and not do anything within reason to stop what seems to be inevitable. One of City Councils epic failures was the 3% at 50 PERS offering. According to sources to help with employee retention Councilman Ed Scott brought this in. Now this program is no longer offered to new employees but employees already in this program have it no matter what.
The Mayor – Mayor Robertson has done a very good job of pushing the blame for failures onto other people or pretending that things are better than they really are. Mayor Robertson is the biggest holdout when it comes to declaring a state of financial emergency in this city and this isn’t the 1st time she has pulled this stunt. Four years ago she pulled the same stunt as she threw a tantrum and asked public safety to make massive concessions like no longer being able to cash out comp, sick, holiday or vacation time, $300 cut in uniform allowance and no raise. Now she is taking things a step further as now Mayor Robertson wants to once again ask Public Safety to forgo a raise, loose all special assignment pay and take everyone back one full step in pay. Remember this is the same Mayor that wanted to give herself a massive raise for a very part time job.
Staff – Staff plays a big role in what is going on here since they seem incapable of giving the Council, Mayor and Community a true and honest look at the consequences of staff recommended actions. Many times staff have fallen on the sword for the Mayor and City Council to shield them from the consequences of their actions. Yes staff works hard and puts in long hours but when they keep the truth from the community or shield the electeds from the consequences of their actions they sully all the hard work they have put in.
City Attorney – Some day we will have a city attorney that doesn’t rip us off (Jimmy Gutierrez) and we will have one that has the testicle fortitude to stand in the gap and advocate for the community rather than cover up for the Council and Mayor. In one case the city has spent $720,000 already in defending the city in a legal case that could have been fixed had someone stopped everyone’s egos. Also the City Attorney needs to remind the Mayor that giving away buildings to friends and political allies is a slippery slope to gifting of public funds. We are not saying this is the case but a property on Riverside Ave in Downtown seems to have changed ownership without any other public consideration and it has a lot of people scratching their heads.
Below is a list of events and some of the awesome things in store for tomorrow. The local celebrity that can be seen in Rialto regularly showing off what is cool to do and see right here in our little town is pretty popular. The exact time for the local celebrity arrival with his ever so popular live video stream that is seen by hundreds of thousands of Facebook users hasn’t been announced but as soon as we find out you will know so stay tuned/
Join Joel Greene as he helps to kick off the Rialto Relay for Life event. This year the Rialto event is looking to raise $30 Thousand to combat cancer. If you would like to help them hit that mark you can donate any amount by clicking here.
Relay For Life is the signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Relay is staffed and coordinated by volunteers in more than 5,200 communities and 27 countries. Volunteers give of their time and effort because they believe it’s time to take action against cancer.
Join us at these events to bring communities together to remember loved ones lost, honor survivors of all cancers, and raise money to help the American Cancer Society make a global impact on cancer.
Time: 9:00am
We’ll kick off the event by celebrating everyone who’s been affected by cancer. Whether someone’s been diagnosed for 10 days or been cancer-free for 10 years, they gather together for the crowd to cheer them on.
Survivors & Caregiver Lap
Time: 9:30am
Survivors define courage and inspire those facing a cancer diagnosis. Their strength is honored with each step they take around the first lap. If you know anyone who’s overcome cancer, invite them to join.
Caring for others is such a selfless act, which is why we honor caregivers with a lap. They often walk with the person they’ve supported.
Fight Back Ceremony
Time: 10:00am
Have you ever wanted to see a cement truck up close? Climb inside a cherry picker? Explorer a firetruck? Join us for a second annual Touch-A-Truck event.
Kids Corner sponsored by Target with games, crafts and activities for kids of all ages.
Be your own builder. Join us for a kids workshop sponsored by the Home Depot where kids can use tools to build their own creations.
Time: 4:00 pm
We will talk about what we can do beyond the event to fight back against this horrible disease.
Time: 9:00 pm
Each Luminaria bag represents a loved one lost to cancer, brings support to those affected by it, and honors survivors. This powerful moment gives people the opportunity to grieve but also offers hope and comfort.
Closing Ceremony
Time: 10:30 pm
We celebrate all that we’ve accomplished together and remember those we’ve lost. Together, we commit to take action and help end the pain and suffering of cancer.
Well the corruption that comes along with electing the wrong people normally comes after the new people are sworn in but not in Rialto apperently and not with this rag tag crew of Council Members and Mayor. On Tab 5 of the Rialto City Council agenda for the November 22nd meeting city council members will be giving themselves a raise of $713.11. Currently Our city council makes $918 a month plus medical, dental and vision benefits will be making $1,631.11 the Mayor is by the ordance required to make 150% more than city council so Mayor Robertson will be giving herself a raise from $1,377 to $2,446.66 and increase of $1,069.66 who also gets medical, dental and vision benefits.
The language that gives them this power is listed on the cit council agenda and pasted below:
WHEREAS, the Rialto Municipal Code at Sections 2.12.030 provides that the Mayor receives compensation based on one-hundred fifty percent of the compensation paid to the council members;
The Rialto Municipal Code, at Section 2.12.040, entitled “Council Members,” shall be amended in its entirety to read as follows, with the revised language displayed in redline format: “Under the California Government Code Section 36516(c), each member of the city council (including the Mayor) shall receive compensation in the amount of one thousand six hundred thirty-one dollars and eleven cents ($1,631.11) per month.”
We spoke to City Administrator Mike Story and he cleared up a lot of things for us:
The City Administrator asks City Council at every regular election cycle if the elected body would like to add a pay increase for city council to the agenda, every 2 years.
Last time this was done was 2008 and according to Mr. Story the increase was approved.
Mayor Robertson, Ed Scott & Joe Baca Jr. all approved of having the pay increase on tonight’s agenda.
The decision must be made tonight the incoming council members CANNOT vote on the pay increase.
We talked to a few people about this raise and they were not at all happy about it:
“The city dumps us into a bad water deal, leaves us with torn up streets and taxes us on our trash but they want raises no way” Amber
“Until we give our employees an increase in pay we should not even be thinking about council raises” Councilman Ed Palmer
“We don’t have money for K9 training, we backed out of the Regional Helicopter Program and cut our hiring more public works people but we have money for Council raises?” Javier
“I never looked at what the compensation for city council was the pay wasn’t my motivation for running. I don’t think that city council pay should be increased and if I was allowed to vote on this item I would vote no.” Andy Carrizales Councilman Elect
“We should have a county measure to restrict cities in our counties from raising their pay arbitrary.” Matthew
One thing that everyone wondered was why would Rafael Trujillo leave a higher paying position as a Water Board Director with West Valley Water? Now we know it’s because he will be walking into a massive pay increase which he was aware of since he is highly tied to Mayor Robertson, Council Member Ed Scott and Council Member Joe Baca Jr.
Join your fellow community members in telling the Mayor that there will be no raises until some promises are filled https://www.facebook.com/events/907011846096289/
So as promised by former Councilman Shawn O’Connell and current Councilman Ed Palmer along with Rialto Police & Fire the enforcement of illegal fireworks has continued to improve in an effort to make 4th of July Safe & Fun for everyone.
Above is a photo from the Rialto Fire Facebook page with these words:
“Attention Rialto residents! Yard signs available. Come and get a sign for your yard to help support our “Illegal Firework- Free Zone”. Signs are available at Rialto Fire Station 201 (131 S Willow Ave) As a reminder: Fireworks that are not purchased from a licensed firework stand are illegal. Property owners will be issued a citation in the amount of $1000 if illegal fireworks are discharged on your property.”
Well last night we found out via Rialto Fire Chief Matt Fratus that this year along with improved dispatching of fire units using Rialto Police Dispatch the Fire Department is now adding a drone to identify where illegal fireworks are being used.
December 1, 2015 I’d like to give a big shout out to Mike Hayes from the city of Rialto for restoring our lights back of the canine training yard. Thank you Mike and team!
The photo above was taken from the Freind’s of Rialto Police K9 Facebook page. The team said let there be light and apparently the city made it so. So why now are the lights gone and people from the program upset over recent actions?
Rumors began swirling last week that Rialto Public Safety agency has been targeted by a select number of city council members over a vendetta from a very tense vote over what events should be labeled city events and have access to the Tax Payer General Fund Account.
Late last week we were made aware of the action to shut down the Freinds of Rialto K9 training yard. Apparently a couple of people who sit on our collective city council including the mayor were upset that the mayors efforts to cover her tracks in causing $10,000 to be lost from the Tax Payer funded General Fund in connection to the Mayors State of the Woman event. The details are not clear at this point but we do know that the K9 Training Yard operated by the 501c3 Non Profit Freinds of the Rialto Police K9 program has been red tagged and lights, training boxes and demo car have all been removed without a valid reason from the City of Rialto. According to reports we have received the City Leaders and the Chief of Police are experiencing some memory loss because they claim to have no prior knowledge of the improvements to the K9 training yard. What is funny is the Rialto K9 Friends Association was recognizied for the efforts that Eagle Scouts Tyler James and Trevor Benson made to bring shaded seating and lights to the Freinds of Rialto Police K9 training yard.
As you can see is the efforts of the work on the K9 training were part of a public meeting of our city council so why are they playing dumb? The efforts to upgrade the training area were so open knowledge that the department gave out awards to tyler the youth involved in rasing the funds recived and the award was covered in the Rialto Record Newspaper.
We spoke to Cheif Deanda today and he gave us his word that this effort with the K9 training Yard was not politically connected in any way. He also said that his abilities to speak freely were constricted by the ongoing investigation. What exactally is being investigated was not made clear but Cheif Deanda told us that once the investigation was over things would be made available.
Keep checking back as we will update the story as information comes in.
rialtonow 