Questions over the Mayors use of public funds for her State of the Woman started with a request from City Treasurer Ed Carrillo to the state and county organizations that are responsible for keeping elected officials from overstepping their authority and keeping them honest. Ed Carrillo (as seen in our prior story) reported Mayor Deborah Robertson for her use of public funds, city resources and staff to put the event together, repair bathrooms and other misuse of funds (Here it from the City Treasurer Below):
As you can see from the City Treasurer he has many concerns. Two years ago when the city succeeded in selling the community on Measure “U” a measure that imposed hire fees on the Gasoline Tank Storage farm in the south end of the freeway. When the city went on their PR push for this measure the city promised these things:
The City told us that they would be transparent with all money that was spent here in Rialto no matter the source grant funds to general tax fund expenditures the money would be spent wisely.
A Yes vote on Measure U will finally require the billion dollar oil and gas companies who store their fuel in the “tank farm” on South Riverside to sacrifice just like Rialto residents and small business have.
If Measure U passes, Rialto residents will get a break in the form of lower utility taxes with a cut the utility tax by 2%.
Safety measures for the dangerous rails to trails project.
None of these things are happening and we doubt they ever will. What is happening and what was happening as these promises were being made was a raid of Rialto’s general fund and city resources. When was the last time the city came by and covered the cost of repairing your roof? Fixing your plumbing? Redoing your bathrooms? When was the last time the city ever covered the cost of turning on your utilities or even paying the bill?
Mayor Robertson worked very hard to insulate herself from these bad choices by having City Administrator Mike Story say he was the one who authorized the city staff to make repairs on a privately owned building, turn on utilities, pay utility bills and use staff time and resources to set up this event. Special sound and camera equipment were also purchased for this event. City Administrator Mike Story said that the use of the building was donated so the additional costs were appropriate. Normally when you rent a facility the costs are not $20 thousand and your not required to make improvements to the rental property.
To make matters worse is there is a private trust attached to this event and the GENERAL FUND!!!!!! This private trust cost the city of Rialto’s General Fund an additional $10,500 due to improper reporting practices!!!!! So lets do the math…….
10,500 + 20,000 + 9,000= $39,500
As you see from the image above the Mayor Deborah Robertson’s event is only supposed to cost $9,000 not $39,500. You see the Mayor Robertson thinks she is above being questioned. She thinks she is better than the rest of Rialto. So over the last few years we watched our former airport and beautiful fields that used to be filled with wildflowers of all different colors being filled with big ugly warehouses right in the communities back yard. Can you guess where Mayor Robertson is holding her self promotion events now? Inside the very warehouses she pushed on our small community. Mayor Robertson complains that there is nowhere BIG ENOUGH to hold her event. Yet it is unclear if the Mayor has ever looked to use one of the three gyms that at any of the Rialto High Schools or even asked to rent space from Calvary Chapel Rialto, Sunrise Church or Lighthouse for the Blind all who have large newer buildings that would accommodate the Mayors event.
Councilman explains his issues with the money being spent on this event.
Below is a complete record of the tab item where Ed Scott uses his sons death and the Mayor cries to try and cloud the issue with emotion and taking your eyes off of all the money being spent on the mayors private event.
The City of Rialto is teaming up with SCAG (Southern California Associated Governments) to show you how they plan to get you out of your cars and remove your freedom.
This Group is run by a former communist from RUSSIA Hasan Ikhrata and as you can see from the photo below he is all about his own version of fair. The force climate change rules on us, force people into electric cars then claim that those electric cars that don’t use fuel are the reason SAN BAG and SCAG are pushing you out of your cars and forcing you to pay twice for freeways with TOLL LANES.
What cracks me up is in the video below Hasan Ikhrata asks a room full of Progressive Hippies who has a Hybrid car and only one person has one and he still trys to use that one person as the main reason that we can’t fund road construction.
The real reason there is no money for roads is that the people YOU elect into office vote to raid the gas tax funds to pay off special interests and line the pockets of them and their friends. Don’t be fooled these people do not care about you all they want is you out of your cars and into crowded homes.
Affordable Housing = Stack and Pack no yard just more small houses
Bike Sharing = No more freedom of choice you use what is available to others
Bike Lanes = Well you must have somewhere to ride that shared bike
Bus Transit = You know those large, smelly things that hold all the people you try to avoid? Yeah they want you in one of those.
Freeway Improvements = Toll Lanes so you can pay twice for smaller lanes and no more shoulders
Replacement Bridges = A great way to spend millions for those people that worked to get you elected the special interests
We asked SANBAG when we would begin to see any advertisments about the public comment session since it was supposed to begin in December and this was their message to us:
Hello thank you for your message. As we shared with you and the other Community Advisory Group members on December 17, 2015, the I-10 Draft Environmental Document, which was originally scheduled to circulate this month is now planned for circulation in February/March 2016. This additional time is needed as the Environmental Protection Agency has a new air quality modeling requirement and we are in the process of running new models to comply. We are looking to provide additional updates on timing of the circulation as we continue to make progress on the modeling. Once a firm date is identified for the start of the circulation period, there will be a full public outreach push to meet and exceed notification requirements for the public review and comment period of the Draft Environmental Document. Please stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks. Thank you.
So are they looking to go all the way to March or is this failed attempt at “informing” the public going to come at an abrupt end soon?
Please make time to come down to city hall this weekend and make your opinion heard.
Photo that rialto Police Placed on their Facebook Page to announce the passing of K9 from Rialto PD
With K9 programs that offer Canine Officers that are skilled in tracking and stopping dangerous criminals as well as locating drugs and firearms on a downward trend in the Inland Empire it is vital that the agencies that still use this very successful program be given kudos for the work they do. If the City of Rialto would have outsourced police operations to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department all those years ago Rialto would not have a lot of what we now have but most notably for this story there would not be a K9 program. The sheriff’s department disbanded their K9 program except for bloodhounds that work search and rescue which is a great service but when your looking for an armed suspect nothing compares to a German Shepard or Belgian Malanois that has pure speed and strength to subdue the ugliest of bad guys. These dogs also provide a great benefit of locating drugs and weapons from bad guys. The last time we spoke to Officer Anderson he told us that the K9 officers in Rialto get called all over Southern California to assist other agencies when a K9 Dog is required and what is cool about that is Rialto gets to bill that agency for the cost of sending that officer to the given call.
iecn photo/yazmin alvarez Rialto Police Departments Glen Anderson watches on as his K-9, Gilley, enjoys taking a bite out of Redlands Police Chief Mark Garcia during a fundraiser Aug. 30.
All of the K9 Police Handlers are great guys but Officer Anderson stood out to me as one of those special Officers that was a great representation of the K9 program and the Department as a whole. So when I opened up my Facebook and saw the message below I was sad to see the passing of a great Canine member of Rialto Police Department:
Today, as a Department and as a community we mourn the loss of our K-9, Gilley. Gilley was a Belgian Malanois who served along side his partner and best friend, Officer Glen Anderson, together they kept the citizens of Rialto safe. Gilley served our community, and all of his law enforcement partners for eight outstanding years. Gilley served as a Patrol, Narcotics and SWAT Canine. His impressive eight year stats are as follows: Gilley located and recovered over 108 pounds …of methamphetamine, 380 pounds of marijuana, 131 pounds of cocaine, 51 pounds of heroin and seized over $2 million dollars in cash. Additionally, Gilley saved the department countless man hours during searches for suspects and evidence. Gilley will truly be missed by us all.
**** Update ****
K9 Gilley was injured during a swat operation and when he was taken to the vet it was found that Gilley had a tumor on his heart which was causing fluid to collect around his organs which led to his death according to Captain Randy Deanda at the November 10th city council meeting.
**** Update *****
iecn photo/yazmin alvarez Chewy, Rialto Police Departments Narcotics Unit K-9, enjoys a few belly rubs from children.
Last time we talked to Officer Anderson he told us that Gilley was on the older side of life and that his work days were almost to an end. So even though we knew he wouldn’t be here forever it makes us sad to see the time come at all. We will truly miss Gilley but now its time to help the foundation that makes our K9 program possible The Friend’s of Rialto K9 is a foundation that makes Rialto’s K9 program and you can help by donating to help because this will be the second dog they would had to have replaced in the last 12 months.
On a positive note our most recent K9 Officer/Canine team that have just been together as of July of 2015 won a 2nd place award at this last weekends K9 event hosted by Riverside Sheriffs department. Dane Stordahl & K9 Bunker were awarded 2nd place award for ‘article search’ during Saturday’s (11/07/15) Riverside Sheriffs K9 trial. In a statement released by Councilman Shawn O’Connell he gave praise to the Officer/K9 team:
It is amazing when you consider 61 dogs participated and you’ve only been partnered with Bunker since July 2015. On behalf of the City of Rialto, I appreciate the hard work and dedication you have shown this department and our city. The Rialto Police Department family should be very proud.
Who is to blame for the traffic problems here in Rialto? Well to determine this we need to look at how we arrived here. Rialto Police Department is looking to secure another traffic grant in the amount of $202,070. This grant is primarily to be used for DUI, seat belt and distracted driving enforcement. It can be used for other things but since we use this grant primarily for DUI enforcement Rialto Police stick to this use.
We were told at the last coffee with the chief meeting in a side conversation that the city of Rialto has been removing job openings from the list when it comes to staffing new officers. So with promotions and retirements the department is stretched to fill spots. Another area of contention is the lack of employee benefits that a officer can obtain here in Rialto verses other local departments. So what ends up happening is we train officers they get the fast paced experience that Rialto has to offer then they lateral into another agency and we are short another officer.
So the chart above is from Tab 7 on the agenda for the meeting on August 11th. We have pasted the paragraph in the chart below so you can clearly see what Rialto Police say we have in regards to traffic personnel. Now unless we have been lied to I thought we had a traffic Cpl. but with that being said does the total number of sworn personnel being six make you feel good about the cities ability to control traffic here? Now lets look at the rest of the paragraph. We could have three more officers working traffic but the problem “is not known due to budget issues”.
Also collisions have doubled and injuries are on the rise and people are still dying. The chart tells you that 22350 CVC is the number one collision factor. What is this California Vehicle Code? It is for speeding. Followed by unsafe left turns or U turns and then its for DUI.
So what are the problems who is to blame:
So we can’t staff our traffic division to proper levels but were adding more and more commercial traffic every three months by selling away prime property to major warehouse companies. Yet the traffic commission keeps approving these businesses stating that we have adequate staffing to keep the city safe from the massive increase of truck traffic.
So we see that for at least the last three years U turns have been identified as being the second most cause of vehicle collisions and atributed to 69 injuries. So has public works, engineering and the traffic commission failed to recognize that they are forcing people into unsafe driving maneuvers by installing raised cement medians.
The former Public Works Director addressed community concerns about speeding in local communities in residential areas near schools and parks by increasing the speed limit in these areas. Now you can go as fast as 40-45 MPH through most local neighborhoods Riverside Ave north of the 210 freeway is the same speed? Remember the number one cause of injuries, victims and deaths is speeding. Flores Park has been advocating for reduced speed limits and a stop sign in front of Flores Park & Dallahan Elementary for the last 5 years and the city keeps saying no. The last time they said no it was because the Neighborhood Watch Program doesn’t make money for the city.
I’m not sure about you but it looks like the Traffic Commission, Mayor, Planning Commission, Public Works and City Council have all fallen asleep at the wheel and if the community doesn’t stand up and stop this Rialto will become a traffic nightmare.
City Council meeting is August 11th at City Hall at 6 pm
PROBLEM STATEMENT Our Traffic Unit is currently staffed by a Sergeant, 2 Motor Officers, 2 Accident Investigation / DUI Enforcement Officers, 1 Commercial Enforcement Officer and 6 Parking Enforcement Civilians. Over the past several years, we lost 2 Accident Investigation / DUI Enforcement Officers due to selections to other assignments. We also lost 1 Motor Officer due to a medical retirement. The time line for the replacement of these positions is not known due to budget issues with the city. This grant will assist us in providing enforcement activities that will serve our City population that now number in excess of one hundred thousand people.
22350 CVC – No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.
21801(a)CVC – The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left or to complete a U-turn upon a highway, or to turn left into public or private property, or an alley, shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching from the opposite direction which are close enough to constitute a hazard at any time during the turning movement, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to the approaching vehicles until the left turn or U-turn can be made with reasonable safety.
23152(a)CVC – It is a misdemeanor to drive under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
As Bill Carroll on KFI AM 640 has been saying “when will the people of California stand up to the regulations that our government are creating” I quote Mr. Carroll because he speaks truth. California has been wasting money, water & time for years and now it’s OUR fault and we must suffer the consequences? I will agree it is our fault that we have allowed lazy people to govern us here in California. It seems like less and less people are voting here and even less people are plugged into the issues of their elected system.
Tab #2
We bring up water in this post because the City Council will be setting in place some heavy regulations and fines for people that cannot meet those regulations. What is worse is that the baseline to determine if you are a rule breaker is 2013. So if your new to Rialto are you exempt? Who will be policing and enforcing these new regulations? What about people that can’t afford to fix the problem what do they do? Attend or watch but make sure you make it clear to your elected officials where you stand on this issue.
Here we are again at the disbursement of the Community Development Block Grant funds. Once again done behind a velvet curtain of secrecy with little transparency. This is a good Tab to watch because last year a organization was pulled from the funding block at the council meeting.
Looks like we had a few commission seats open and its time to fill them. If you look on the city website you will see two seats open look on the agenda and their appears to also 10 seats open from Parks & Rec to the new Historical Commission. There was a push to allow the whole council and community take a look at the People looking for a seat on a commission and it appears in a rush to put out the info the city put out the full applications that the prospective commissioners filled out EVERYTHING. There was an attempt to black out the personal information but it wasn’t good enough I could still read the personal information for the applicants. I saw Drivers License Numbers, Expiration Dates, Personal Phone Number and even Emergency Contacts No Bueno!!!!!!!! I called City Manager Mike Story and reported what I saw and can report the applications have been removed. I called Mayor Robertson & Councilman O’Connell and neither of them were aware of this miss step. To make matters worse I was interested in a commission seat so I called the city clerks office yesterday to get more information and I was passed around for 10 mins until someone decided to TRY and answer my questions. When I asked the staff member if my application would be considered if submitted today she said she didn’t know. One of the reasons I have not applied for a seat was these seats seem to be given away as favors by elected officials now that looks more true than ever today.
This is the multi housing tab and the issue here is why are we approving new construction plans when we are in such a major drought?
Tab #12
Apparently someone spent money they were not supposed to and got caught by the city treasurer according to City Manager Mike Story. We reached out to Mr. Story today reference this tab item and he said that PEG funds are “Are funds that the city receives for the capital operations of the Rialto Network. They come from a percentage the city receives from Time Warner & ATT U Verse”. When I asked why we were paying back over $110 Thousand he said “The City Treasuer observed through his review that some of the purchases might not of been authorized FCC PEG guidelines. City Attorney reviewed the items and determined that there might be some chasrges that could have been questioned over the past three years. So it is being recommended that we transfer the amount in the staff report from the general fund and back into the PEG account.” WOW so we can wait to see who approved these purchases and what will be done to punish them for such a gross miss step.
Hello Rialto Now readers and fans. If you were watching from the audience or watching on TV it looks like every council meeting will go on and on no matter how short the agenda may appear. This meeting had six tab items in total and even had one pulled and at 9pm they only moved through half of the tab items.
Consent Calendar
Two items were pulled from the Consent Calendar for seperate approval or vote.
C.1 the regular city council meeting minutes from the meeting January 13th 2015 had a seperate vote and Councilman Ed Palmer voted no. We plan to reach out to Councilman Palmer this weekend and find out why he voted no on these minutes and we will update so stay tuned.
E.4 was pulled to explain that the City Treasurer wanted approval from the City Council to allow a few select investments go beyond the 5 year maturity limit to retain maximum benifit and a larger profit.
Tab Items & Public Hearings
Tab.1 was approving the ability to move forward with the Lytle Creek Development project. the developers need approval from the City to present the anexation application to the Local Agency Formation Commission for San Bernardino County this project in its entirety consitsts of 4 neighborhoods. Neighborhoods two and three will be anexed to the city of Rialto and Neighborhoods one and four will remain in the county of San Bernardino. Now let me first say I am not a fan of this project it has destoryed Rialto’s Country Club Area & Golf Course as well as extremely reduced property values in the Country Club Area. Nonetheless the developer has spent years and money going through stall tactics and lawsuits to finally get to this point. It appeared that even though there were questions about the real intentions of the project it was going to be approved to recive county approval, that is until Councilman Ed Scott spoke up. Councilman Ed Scott stated that since the developer had not come to him and meet with him privatly that he wanted to table this vote for two weeks. So this will be the second time just two months into a four year city council term that Councilman Ed Scott wants to delay things because he is unprepared. Also why should a developer be having special secret meetings with City Council Members? I know Councilman Ed Scott took alot of money from developers to get elected and that is one of the many reasons that I feel uncomfortable with Councilman Ed Scott acting as the Gate Keeper to Development here in Rialto. Councilman Shawn O’Connell had no problem voting to continue the item for two weeks but did say that when he has a question on an agenda item he calls city staff prior to the meeting and gets answers verses dropping them on staff in the meeting and creating delays. Councilman Ed Plamer said that this action has been delayed for far to long and voted no on continuing the issue for two more weeks.
Tab.2 was to approve one of the many warehouses that will be dropped in the city of Rialto. Niagra Bottling Company wants to bring a $200,000,000.00 bottling and packing warehouse to the Renaissance plan development operated by Niagra Bottling Company. Below is a image of the many diffrent companies they bottle and create water for:
As you see they bottle water for alot of different companies and they have a history of giving back. Thier were questions if they would add language holding the city of Rialto Harmless form any actions this project would ensue. I was unsure why they said that until I began reciving phone calls apperently WVWD and City of Colton are suing Niagara becuase they are taking too much water from the Basin appreently. That dosen’t bother me much they need to get the water from somewhere so I can buy it from Costco. Makes me wonder though how can Niagara turn nasty IE water into what I love to drink???? Oh this is the Tab item where Councilman Ed Scott tried to make it sound like he was the only one that executives from Niagara Bottling reached out to. It wasn’t until Councilman Shawn O’Connell said that the Niagara Reps reached out to all of the Council and Mayor.
Tab.3 was yet another warehouse in Rialto and though its going to bring jobs its also going to bring problems like increased truck traffic large buildings that normally have empty streets that attract street racing, drug use/sales and opportunities for other elicit behaviors. What is even worse is that this warehouse will be giving extra sales tax revenue to………. ONTARIO!!!!!! Yes our city has been working on this project for almost 10 years and have yet to figure out how to work a sales tax benifit for Rialto but man o man we sure know how to send that tax money elsewhere. Maybe we need San Bernardino to come in and show us how to secure a tax base from warehouses.
Take what you wish from this weeks Council Meeting but I think its time we show up more often and keep their eye on the ball.
Can’t make the council meetings follow us on Twitter and get the high points of each meeting we cover.
So apparently the Ed Scott for City Council Campaign put out a last minute campaign piece claiming a few odd endorsements for his bid for another shot at a city council seat.
As you can see above the endorsement from Mayor Deborah Robertson stands out the most. Just two years ago the Ed Scott for Mayor campaign was using mailers against Deborah Robertson saying that she misused tax payers money and was double dipping with her pension from San Bag. It was a heated race and mud was throw back and fourth but in the end Mayor Robertson came out on top.
We reached out to Mayor Robertson via text message and she had this to say after seeing this mailer.
“I stated to all the candidates that I would not endorse anyone. I’m there to work with the other elected officials the voters in rialto send forward.” Mayor Deborah Robertson
We met up with Ed Scott at the woman’s club candidate forum at the Senior Center and asked him about it and he said Deborah was a supporter and that the mailer was printed wrong. He claims to have the proper original yet has not shown any such evidence.
Here is video of the interaction Ed Scott on the mailer with Robertson Endorsement: http://youtu.be/Ryn67_5lIAk
Ed Scott what type of Proven Leadership does this show?
Don’t worry Ed Scott wont just use the mayor has a false endorsement he has been doing the same thing with other local leaders like Mayor Pro Tem Ed Palmer. He turned his Ed Scott for Rialto Mayor page into Ed Scott for Rialto City Council. He does this without removing old pictures and he gives you the impression that he has a lot of support. No he does not have wide support and it dwindles more everyday as he tries to lie, cheat and steal his way back into office.
On another note it appears Joe Baca Jr. is sneaking his own endorsement mistake. In his sample ballot statement Joe Baca Jr. says he is endorsed by a list of community members. (See Below)
We have heard that one or more of these people were not asked to be included in this statement. We have not heard that they don’t support Joe Baca Jr. but some people would rather not be labeled publicly as supporting one side over the other.
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.
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 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.
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
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
As you see from the image above the Mayor Deborah Robertson’s event is only supposed to cost $9,000 not $39,500. You see the Mayor Robertson thinks she is above being questioned. She thinks she is better than the rest of Rialto. So over the last few years we watched our former airport and beautiful fields that used to be filled with wildflowers of all different colors being filled with big ugly warehouses right in the communities back yard. Can you guess where Mayor Robertson is holding her self promotion events now? Inside the very warehouses she pushed on our small community. Mayor Robertson complains that there is nowhere BIG ENOUGH to hold her event. Yet it is unclear if the Mayor has ever looked to use one of the three gyms that at any of the Rialto High Schools or even asked to rent space from Calvary Chapel Rialto, Sunrise Church or Lighthouse for the Blind all who have large newer buildings that would accommodate the Mayors event.
rialtonow 