City Council Has Some Explaining to do Over the Water Deal

27 Jul 2012 4 Comments

by rialto-now in American Cancer Society, American Water, Bad Commerce, Budget, Ca, Cancer, City of Rialto, Currupt, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Family, Grace Vargas, Inland Empire, Layoffs, Mike Story, Protest, Uncategorized, Water, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com, youth

I want to begin this post by telling you that people in council think you’re in love with the water deal since they moved from American Water to more local control. They claim that I am the only one upset and asking questions on all the money changing hands and the great secrecy that has gone into drafting this deal. I would invite everyone to email and call their council and Mayor and tell them good or bad what you think of this deal and whether you believe there needs to be more transparency. I will include the contact info for everyone in city government so that you may more easily reach them.

I was contacted a couple of weeks by someone telling me that American Water is still in the deal with the city of Rialto. This person thought it might be something worth looking into, so I did. What I found wasn’t where my caller expected me to end up but I find it all the more interesting.

It appears that Rialto Water Services (RWS) and American Water are in the same region and RWS was formed about the time American Water began its move on the city’s water system. Although from all my research and digging, so far it looks like American Water is out of the deal, but what I did find stinks from where I sit.

I called American Water and spoke to Maureen Duffy Vice President, Corporate Communications and External Affairs she said that American Water had been removed and she couldn’t speak to any ensuing penalties from this action. Which is funny because we heard there were penalties even if the community voted against the rate increases with prop 218 vote.

Officials from West Valley Water District (WVWD) are not jumping at the chance to take the contract because of all the financial implications that reside there. No one wants to take on this deal that is full of bad looks and dirty dealings. After some digging we find why WVWD is leery.

I placed a call to West Valley Water District and spoke to Mr. Ariza their General Manager:

West Valley Water District is looking to operate the city’s water department. The person controlling the financial side of the deal is Table Rock Financial based out of San Francisco. The total deal is now a 170 million dollar loan, up from 130 million dollars. Who has heard what the 30 million dollars is purposed for? According to Mr. Ariza the 30 million dollars is needed to service the debt on the 170 million dollar loan the city is taking out with Goldman Sachs. So instead of it being a way to replace the loss of our RDA and attract new business to Rialto, here is what it is going for:

Service the Debt on 170 Million Dollar loan.
Give the city a way to have money on deck in a capital improvement fund so they can further pay for development costs that should be the responsibility of the developer.
Ed Scott made a point to ask staff if the Lytle Creek Development was in any way involved in the necessity of the water deal, staff said NO. So explain who is going to pay the 5 million dollars in needed improvements to existing county properties within the city when we have no more money to give? Maybe the 30 million payoff in the water deal? Ron Pharrise and the city both have a strong vested interest in this deal happening because the county won’t allow Rialto to annex the county parts of Lytle Creek to the city without taking over the rest of the County areas in the city. City staff estimated that this would cost in the realm of 5 million.
Rialto paid 40-50 million fighting the perchlorate cloud contaminate in our water. No more talks have happened on where the settlement is or who is going to get it.

Also the way Mr. Ariza said it breaks down is:

40 million for the infrastructure upgrades to water and waste water.
30 million for RDA funds/capital improvement funds.

That leaves 100 million dollars left over where is that going? There is a company called Table Rock financial that is BROKERING the deal, their company web site is super basic, they operate out of San Francisco and no one answers their phones and there is no voice mail. I was able to get someone on city staff to give me the lead negotiators cell phone number Lynn Smull. Mr. Smull took one call that lasted less than a minute. He told me to text him my info and he would reach me the following day, when he didn’t call I texted again. He said he was busy in negotiations and his staff would call me. I have yet to receive a call.

Mr. Ariza has concerns on how the city council has operated through the entire process. He and his board are taking such a long time to even give the city the thumbs up on the deal because they are combing over the 161 page concession agreement. Mr. Ariza said he is doing his due diligence to protect existing WVWD customers and rate payers and to make sure this agreement won’t force them to raise existing rates. Mr. Ariza said he would be treating the water deal with Rialto as a sub-section of WVWD because they will only be operating the system not have overall control. Normally one would be happy about this except the people who waited this long to get things in order are the same ones with the control.

I always liked the idea of WVWD running the water here, heck the first time I had to pay my bill in person I went there to find out that a city of our size is so split. After talking with Mr. Ariza I was more at ease with the idea of working with him and his people on our utility. He was very personable and hid nothing. He offered to sit down with me and take my calls anytime. He even alluded to the fact that if we did things right in reference to the upgrades the fourth year of 25% rate increase may be much lower. I called both GM’s of EVWD & WVWD both were very nice and told me everything they knew and if they didn’t have direct knowledge they pointed me in the right direction.

I met with Councilman Ed Scott & Ed Palmer today and in reference to the water deal they said:

They told me some things I will believe until I get my own copy of the water deal. They said the 30 million will go into a capital improvement fund not the general fund. They disputed that the 30 million was going to be used to service the loan debt. I don’t believe this one because at this point we will be in deficit spending next year. The way it was explained by them and verified by someone I trust is you must have half your total budget in reserves so if we spend 10 million annually we must have 5 million in reserves. Rialto will be in what’s referred to as deficit spending by 5 million which means our reserves will go 5 million dollars below half the cities operating budget. How can we afford to service a new debt if we can’t pay our bills as they stand today?

I have yet to get in contact with Table Rock, Deborah Robertson or George Harris. Updates will be comming.

*************** Sources of Reference*********************************

All Council Members can be reached at 909-820-2525

Grace Vargas
vargasg@rialtoca.gov

Joe Baca Jr

Ed Palmer

Deborah Robertson

robertsond@rialtoca.gov

Contact Anthony W. Araiza General Manager

administration@wvwd.org

Table Rock Finacial:

Megan – 415-497-2320

Lynn Smull – 510-326-3209

855 W. Base Line Road P.O. Box 920 Rialto, CA 92377
Ph: (909) 875-1804 ext. 703 Fx: (909) 875-7284

http://www.rialtowaterfacts.com/Websites/rialtowaterfacts/files/Content/1964907/WaterAndWastewater_FAQs.pdf

American Water Corporate Offices 1025 Laurel Oak Road Voorhees, NJ 08043 856.346.8200

Or is it:

Rialto Water Services L P (856) 359-0965 Mt Laurel, NJ

Business Information:

Street Address: 330 Fellowship Road

City: Mt Laurel

State: NJ

Zip Code: 08054

License Number: 948662

License Held: General Engineering Contractor

License Status: Active As Of 1/20/2010 Update

Date License Issued: June 12th, 2010

Years in business: 2

Bond Company: Travelers Casualty And Surety Company Of America

Bond Number: 105448107

San Bernardino and Riverside Counties B.C.T.C

William Perez, Executive Secretary, EW

1074 East La Cadena Drive, Suite 15

Riverside, CA 92507

Office: (951) 684-1040

Fax: (951) 684-6410

Email: btcbill@sbcglobal.net

This Home Looks Worse In Person

19 Jul 2012 4 Comments

by rialto-now in Burglury, Ca, City of Rialto, Currupt, Ed Scott, Family, Flores Park, Inland Empire, Lazy, Nieghborhood Watch, Protest

It makes me sick to know that one of our long time goverment officials lives in a home with a front yard like this.

Having broken down rusted cars that look like they belong in an old junk yard shoved up against tall over grown bushes shoved up against the front of the house. This neighborhood is nice with clean homes with attractive lanscapes. This homowner needs to attend and seriously take advantage of volenteer Thompsons home tips 101.

Would you like to live across from this house.

18 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in American Water, Bad Commerce, Burglury, Ca, City of Rialto, Crime, Currupt, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Family, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davids-Marketing/156816741049580, Inland Empire, Lazy, Protest, Rialto Police Department, Small Business, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com, youth

Rialto should be a level playing field where no person no matter their standing or position should be above the laws, rules or ordnances.

Yet time and time again People like Ed Scott, Ed Palmer and Jimmy Gutierrez break laws, rules and ordinances and either escape any penalty or skate by with a slap on the wrist.

Ed Scott – Barks at city staff and residents, appears to break city ordinances 18.72.010, 9.26.030. Updated picture of this residence and violations coming tomorrow night 7-18-12.

Ed Palmer – Apparently Mr. Palmer doesnt even live in the CITY OF RIALTO he lives in the county area as accused by the main opposer of the Lytle Creek Development. It looked true as Ed Palmer excused himself during the argument over whether the project should even happen.

Jimmy Gutierrez – Has been arrested for drunk driving and allowed to plead NO CONTEST and still remain the City Attorney for both Rialto and Chino. Reports are coming in that Mr Gutierrez makes $50,000 a month from the city of Rialto alone, and that he still charges for a slew of other things he does as our attorney. I wonder how much he charged the city to tell council to not allow the residents to vote on the water issue.

Volunteer Thompson with Rialto PD has taught over and over again about the broken window issue, meaning if your home looks horrible and un kept the rest of the neighborhood will follow suit. As well as attract crime and unpleasant people I know from resent experience if you’re looking to buy a home you will avoid the areas at look like no one cares.

This is clearly a violation, it’s just like Ed Palmer living in the county area and not in the CITY LIMITS yet he still is on city council. Ed Palmer, Ed Scott both must excuse themselves every time an issue comes up in downtown cause they own half of it. Both need to be ousted.

Water Debate Update

12 Jul 2012 1 Comment

by rialto-now in AFL-CIO, American Cancer Society, American Water, Bad Commerce, Budget, Ca, City of Rialto, Currupt, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Family, Flores Park, Grace Vargas, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Mike Story, Protest, SOSRialtoWater@gmail.com, Uncategorized, Water, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com, youth

Rialto Now readers we have some news on the front lines of our water debate. Yes the city made a horrible decision to not place the American Water sell off on the November Ballot, it seems if these reports are true they are finally listening, but why now? Well Councilman Ed Palmer is running for re-election on a failed platform of being there for the community & calling the city on wasteful spending that lasted a little more than a year and died. Reports are that Councilman Ed Scott isn’t seeking another term as Councilman and is seeking the job of Mayor as current Mayor Vargas is ending her time as mayor. As well as Councilwoman Deborah Robertson is also taking another stab at Mayor but her seat on council isn’t up for grabs this go around.

So with Deborah Robertson was absent and the city decided to change its course on the outsource water agreement and the 2 possibilities are Veolia North American who currently works with our waste water systems and East Valley Water District (EVWD) that currently services the top portion of the city’s water services and has worked on removing perchlorate groundwater plume.

What is important now is to continue the pressure and make sure we know about any concession agreement from here on out, we are allowed to ask questions for clarity and that the City Council stops referring to any balloon payment from any other outside companies as Redevelopment money. I have had personal conversations with people inside the state controllers office that such money may fall into the states preview to take since all RDS’s departments are no to be eliminated. Call it what it is money the RUA has owed the general fund for years………….

Ed Scott said that the thing holding up our In & Out project was the state finishing up with old RDA projects. He later said he didn’t know why things were taking so long and blamed the City Staff for not keeping Council informed of time lines and issues.

Were looking for Honest hard-working people to fill Council seats, if the news is difficult give it to use straight and allow us the community to see where we can help make the hard choices for our community together. Also we need Council Members that let us know we are heard, listen to us and don’t bark at us when you don’t like what we say.

American Water is out as operator for Rialto

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writersbsun.com

Posted: 07/10/2012 10:33:57 PM PDT

The yearlong suspense over whether New Jersey-based American Water Works Co. Inc. will manage Rialto’s water and wastewater system is over – it will not.”My gosh this is wonderful. I hated those people (American Water). I don’t feel comfortable with a company on the Stock Exchange,” said Toni Volinski, a longtime Rialto resident, who has been opposed to the American Water deal from the get-go.

“We wouldn’t have a lot of control – and that frightened me,” she said.

The financial backer of the 30-year concession agreement that made American Water the manager of Rialto’s water and wastewater department has removed American Water as the operator, Peter Luchetti, authorized officer of Rialto Water Services LP, wrote Mike Story, Rialto’s city administrator.

Leading the list of potential replacement operators, Luchetti wrote, is Veolia North American, which has managed Rialto’s wastewater treatment plant for years and nearby West Valley Water District, which has been a long-time partner with Rialto in the cleanup effort for a large perchlorate groundwater plume.

At its June 26 meeting, the council voted 4-1 to approve a rate increase that would propel water and sewer rates 114.8 percent by 2016.

Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott, in an interview Tuesday, said he and councilman Ed Palmer, who led a subcommittee to evaluate water service alternatives for Rialto, had told Rialto Water Services that a substitute for American Water was needed.

Scott said a well-organized resistance to American Water necessitated the action to find another company to manage Rialto’s water operations.

Scott was referring to the campaigns organized by the the Utility Workers Union of America. “Replacement of American Water would be excellent news and a victory for Rialto ratepayers,” Mark Brooks, a union spokesman, said.

The Utility Workers Union has several contract issues with American Water across the country.

This is the Letter From Mark Brooks & Stop Rialto Water Rate Hikes.

Dear Rialto friends and neighbors:

I am writing to let you know about a potential huge victory for ratepayers in Rialto!

Although this may seem like a “good news/bad news” story, in our view Rialto citizens are on the verge of overturning the City Council’s very bad decision to contract out the City’s water system to for-profit American Water Company.

But first the bad news:

Last week four members of the City Council decided not to place our referendum challenging the Concession Agreement for the water and wastewater system on the ballot for a public vote.* A majority of the City Council – everyone EXCEPT Council Member Baca – made this absurd decision, even though the County and the City have both certified the fact that we submitted far more than enough signatures from Rialto voters to place this issue on the ballot.

We believe the City’s excuse for not placing this issue on the ballot – that we supposedly failed to attach the entire 1,600 page Concession Agreement to our voter petitions – is completely bogus. There is nothing in California law that would require us to do this. In addition, even if the City Council thought it had any grounds to refuse to place this issue on the ballot, the City is ignoring the long-standing California procedure that is required to ignore a valid referendum petition submitted by the voters.

We believe the four members of the City Council who made this decision are engaged in a desperate attempt to prevent Rialto voters from passing judgment on the proposed Concession Agreement.

And now for the good news:

We have received reports that the City may replace American Water as the proposed operator for Rialto’s water system under the Concession Agreement!

If the City indeed makes this decision, this will be a huge victory for Rialto ratepayers. The City’s own reports have consistently shown that for-profit American Water’s participation in this deal is one of the important reasons for the proposed water rate hikes.

What’s more, we understand that neighboring West Valley Water District might be a “preferred” replacement to operate the City’s water system.

Although the UWUA has never taken any position on who should operate the City’s water system (other than the City itself), in our view this would be good news for Rialto. West Valley is a neighboring public water system – rather than an out-of-state corporation like American Water – and already provides water services to roughly half the City of Rialto. Moreover, we believe American Water has a demonstrated track record of hostility toward the rights of utility workers.

So what about the referendum petition?

Unfortunately, the City Council’s decision not to place the referendum on the ballot probably means that someone would have to incur considerable legal expenses to sue the City to overturn this misguided decision. The UWUA is not in a position to incur these significant expenses at this time.

Even so, you should know that any Rialto voter who signed the petition against the City Council’s decision may have the right to sue. Obviously this would be a big undertaking. Moreover, we believe any Rialto voter or group interested in pursuing that fight should act immediately! We may be able to refer any Rialto group or voter interested in pursuing this further to appropriate attorneys.

Celebrate the victory!

There can be no doubt that – if indeed he City reverses its decision to contract out Rialto’s water system to American Water – this victory will be a direct result of your many efforts over the past year to oppose the Council’s misguided decisions!

In our view, any decision to replace American Water as the operator of the Rialto water system would be a huge victory – for ratepayers and for workers. As we have said many times before, any deal to contract out the City’s water system to American Water would be a bad deal for Rialto ratepayers.

Thank you for your many efforts in this struggle. We will continue to keep you informed.

Sincerely,

Mark Brooks

Utility Workers Union of America/SOS Rialto Water

* Please note that Council Member Joe Baca, Jr. voted AGAINST the City Council’s decision not to place our referendum on the ballot. To his credit, Council Member Baca has consistently opposed the Rialto Council’s misguided decisions concerning this entire issue. In our view, Council Member Baca has shown real integrity throughout this debate over the future of Rialto’s public water system.

Councils Final Word on Petition Signatures

27 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in American Cancer Society, American Water, Bad Commerce, Budget, Ca, Cancer, Centurion Security Patrol, City of Rialto, Currupt, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Joe Baca Jr, Layoffs, Lazy, Lewis Properties, Mike Story, Protest, Ron Pharris, SOSRialtoWater@gmail.com, Taxes, Water, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com

Hello everyone and good morning.

I am sorry I missed this meeting & that this council refuses to listen to the community. It seems that the only people they listen to are people who live outside of the city of Rialto as they did last night in reference to the Lytle Creek Development Project.

But that isn’t what were speaking on in this post, now its over the signatures collected in protest to the council’s decision to outsource our water to embattled American Water company.

The city attorney Jimmy Gutierrez (Mr I get DUI’s) he didn’t like the way the signatures were gathered and told the city clerk who informed council that they would not be putting the issue on the Ballot in November. It will never go before the people.

(The petitions, gathered by the Utility Workers Union of America, did not include a copy of the concession agreement, Rialto City Attorney Jimmy Gutierrez said in an interview.) From SBSUN.com

This council and Mayor do not care what you think or say unless forced to listen (IE the outsourcing the PD issue).

What is the disconnect with this council and listening to the residents. Ed Scott barks at residents from the dias like a junk yard dog (someone running for Mayor) Ed palmer just ignores you altogether, but at least Councilwoman Robertson will return a call as she did last night when I first got word of this horrible decision with the promise of another meeting in the next 2 weeks lets see if it happens.

Long Story short you have no say in the American Water Deal and we all will suffer for the next 30 Years because this city will never be able to afford to leave this contract ever.

We all must attend, watch council meetings and also call these people and make them finally listen to the people.

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City of Rialto approves water rate increases, denies petition

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writersbsun.com

Posted: 06/27/2012 12:07:27 AM PDT

RIALTO – The Rialto City Council on Tuesday voted to end the contentious issue of a whooping rate increase by voting 4-1 for its approval.The issue, and a related agreement to outsource the city’s water and sewer operations to New Jersey-based American Water Works Co. Inc., have been a boiling point for many residents for over a year.

The council’s action will propel water and sewer rates 114.8 percent by 2016.

Because the city of Rialto hasn’t increased rates for years, many residents recognize that rates need to go up, but think the increase should be spread out over more years.

Only Councilman Joe Baca Jr. opposed the rate increase.

As part of the meeting, the council decided not to schedule a referendum during the Nov. 6 general election on that outsourcing agreement – even though the city was presented with more than enough valid signatures to make that happen.

The petitions, gathered by the Utility Workers Union of America, did not include a copy of the concession agreement, Rialto City Attorney Jimmy Gutierrez said in an interview.

Under a provision of the election code, which Gutierrez said was written to encompass city ordinances, a copy of the ordinance must accompany the petitions “so that people know what they are signing.”

In those situations where there are other documents, courts have ruled that they too must be included, he said.

“You got to give all the information to the public,” Gutierrez said.

With the petitions circulated by the union, a copy of the city council resolution on the concession agreement was the only document included, he said. “How’s the public going to know what it’s signing without a copy of the concession agreement,” he said.

When asked how a document spanning hundreds and hundreds of pages, as is the case of the concession agreement, could be part of a petition being passed from one person to the next, Gutierrez said, “yeah, but that’s what the law says.”

Later he said that at least a summary of the agreement should have been included along with the petitions.

Contacted late Tuesday night, Utility Workers spokesman Mark Brooks said that the union’s legal team would need to evaluate the city’s position.

The union submitted 6,379 signatures and of those, 1,545 were declared invalid during a certification process conducted by the county Elections Bureau. That left 4,834 valid signatures – well above the amount needed to put the issue before voters.

During the council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott said that work is underway with city staff to modify the concession agreement in a way that will be “to everybody’s liking.”

He provided no details.

After the vote, resident Frank Gonzalez said, “I don’t agree with the results (of the Proposition 218 vote) but the citizens had a chance…I would like to work with you, even though I don’t agree with you.”

City Council’s vote on the rate increase was delayed to await the results of a Proposition 218 protest vote where a majority of the ratepayers – plus one – must file a written objection to the action.

The final tally for the water rate increase protest vote was 4,345, where 5,701 were required to block it. The sewer rate increases were opposed by 6,883, where 10,387 were needed to block it, Gutierrez said.

Councilman Ed Palmer accused the union’s Prop 218 campaign of producing many invalid and fraudulent votes.

“Thank goodness the vote wasn’t close, because the union would have forced us to physically account for very vote, a process that would have cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.

Palmer noted that his own signature was forged and sent into the city clerk’s office as a protest vote.

The Utility Workers union has several contract issues with American Water across the country and has opposed the company’s business expansion into Rialto.

Update and comentary on prop 218 count

18 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in AFL-CIO, American Cancer Society, American Water, Bad Commerce, Budget, Ca, Cancer, Centurion Security Patrol, City of Rialto, Coffee Nutz, Currupt, davidsMarketing, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Family, Flores Park, Grace Vargas, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davids-Marketing/156816741049580, Joe Baca Jr, June Hayes, Lazy, Lewis Properties, Mike Story, Protest, RDA, Sheet Metal Workers Union, SOSRialtoWater@gmail.com, The Circle Vision Quest, Water, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com

Let me preface this article with a little piece of info. When your asking someone to invest in your company or idea you give a portion or percentage over to them for a certain dollar amount.

City Council and Staff along with the RUA valued the water and waste water at 30 million dollars of which they are cashing out in total. American Water is valuing the water and waste water systems at 130 million dollars, with a 3 million dollar reduction each year we honor the contract. So when the contract is so bad we just can’t stomach their lack of service and customer service people working in call centers in India we have to pay them at their valuation. So a city with no money as it is we will be stuck with this crappy bad deal. The city has already begun to sell your services down the drain. Street sweepers that under sold a contract to get the work to come back later for more money. Graffiti removal services where the owner actually said who cares if the tags stay up another day or two if it saves the city money.

Remove these people this november and send a message that we demand to be heard and represented.

RIALTO – A big question surrounding Rialto’s controversial 30-year contract with American Water Works Co. Inc. will be answered Tuesday.That’s when officials from the City Clerk’s office will count Proposition 218 protest ballots starting at 1 p.m.

Proposition 218 requires cities to have a vote of potentially affected residents when a rate hike is proposed.

In the case of Rialto’s proposed water rate hikes, a large number of ballots came into the city within the last 30 minutes of the deadline on June 12, Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott said Friday.

That prompted the City Council to defer a vote on the final procedure to institute a series of rate hikes that would mean a 114.5-percent increase in water and wastewater

A wheel line irrigation system operates in an agriculture area near the offices of Pacific Gas and Electric Company in Hinkley. (Gabriel Luis Acosta/Staff Photographer)

rates by 2016.

The rate hikes are part of a plan to outsource the management of Rialto’s water and wastewater systems to American Water.

The matter will be taken up again at a City Council meeting on June 26.

While the vote tally could end the deal, that result is unlikely, election observers say, as more than half of the Rialto property owners and renters who are ratepayers – plus one – would have filed a protest.

But there’s another issue looming that could derail the water agreement and rate hikes.

On May 12, members of the Utility Workers of America turned in petitions with more than 6,400 signatures seeking to put the council’s water rate decisions to a vote, which could be held in November or at another time selected by the council.

Only about 3,800 signatures are needed to take the council’s action to voters.

The city hired the county’s elections office to validate the signatures.

Scott said he has not heard the result, but that too would come out on the council meeting of June 26.

Not only do signatures need to be valid, but the process to collect the signatures needs to be valid, Scott said.

Joe Baca Jr., who was the lone dissenter in the rate hike vote, said most Rialto residents understand that rates need to increase to pay for water system upgrades, just not so rapidly.

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Graffiti Removal, How important is it to you?

07 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in Bad Commerce, Budget, Ca, Centurion Security Patrol, City of Rialto, Coffee Nutz, Crime, Currupt, davidsMarketing, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Family, Flores Park, Grace Vargas, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davids-Marketing/156816741049580, http://www.guardianwatch.com/, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Keith Kahn, Lazy, Mike Story, Nieghborhood Watch, Protest, Public Safety, Rialto Police Department, SWAT, The Circle Vision Quest, Tom Ammiano, www.babyelepnatbooks.com, www.careervisionbyjamie.com, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com, youth

When I first moved back to Rialto I noticed how much graffiti was all over the place it was like little LA.

We rented for one year then made the decision to purchase our first home in Rialto, the graffiti was out of control.

We banded together with Lt Burkholder, Lt Crispin & Cpl Muir to get the graffiti under control. I personally held GPC the graffiti removal contractor to a hard-line of removing the graffiti ASAP. I helped GPC & the city of Rialto over obstacles such as private property right of ways and businesses that were no longer cleaning graffiti on their back walls because of retaliation against their maintenance employees. Councilman Ed Palmer and I developed a way to get property owners and leasing companies to keep their leasing signs free of graffiti.

And things were looking better……………………….. Until Now!!!!!

The city has decided to change contractors beginning last month May 2012 to save $3 a stop. Now everyone has heard the saying you get what you pay for, and we are getting just that cheaper service that has more excuses than results.

Larry De Corona the Owner of Superior Property Mainence ( http://www.4superior.com/ ) came out to the Area 1 Command Meeting stating that nothing will change but better faster services at a lower price. He tried to tell us his company can’t take care of our drainage Areas or Washes ( which is wrong ) and that they were brining in a new camera program, knowledgeable staff ect. None of his statements have shown to be true.

So I wonder why I have been calling and seeing graffiti up for days and days, poor painting, tags still showing through ect. Then I remembered something Mr. De Corona said at the meeting they are the largest graffiti removal program in LA County. Ah ha this is why who hasn’t driven around LA County and been blinded by graffiti.

Larry Decrona Owner & Managing partner in aquisition and Property Managment

Larry De Corona (pictured above) called me yesterday very upset that I am asking his company to remove the graffiti in a timely fashion. He said that they are working within the confines of the contract and that I couldn’t use his statements at the Area Command Meeting as gold. He told me that in April GPC billed the city $8K for the month of April, Superior billed the city $6K for May. This isn’t because they are so much cheaper it’s because they are slower to respond and GPC work some Saturdays in April Superior doesnt.

Mr. De Corona said something that speaks to where he is coming from a property management back ground that showed his lack of knowledge of this city or the War we wage her on Hoodlums. He said “Whats the difference if the graffiti stays up a few more days if it saves the city money”. Really did you just say that. Graffiti is a hoodlums way of saying he owns your neighborhood, street or city, and everyday it’s up there is another day to influence our teens, intimidate our communities and enrage community members.

I spoke with Tim Sullivan from public works and he told me that Superior is new and he is keeping close account of the complaints and looking at Superior’s response times and quality of work. We want to keep this from becoming a problem.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rid-Rialto-of-Graffitti/216882198324244 – We have a Facebook Page you can visit and post your problem areas with graffiti or just email them to rialtonw@aol.com and we will post for you.

Ferguson Park the Multi Million Dollar park that wont be stripped until the July Grand Opening was hit hard and it took Superior 3 days to remove this graffiti, so people’s questions on safety at our parks is still an issue and thanks to Superior the community is wondering if the new park is even worth visiting.

I have called the graffiti hotline numerous times to find MAJOR, MASSIVE tags up for days and even weeks.

The graffiti Hotline number is 909-820-2670 put this in your cell phone and call on every tag.

If you have questions, complaints or concerns please call 909-820-2602 and ask for Tim Sullivan.

Neighborhood Watch has helped reduce crime in San Bernardino neighborhood

03 Jun 2012 2 Comments

by rialto-now in Budget, Burglury, Ca, Centurion Security Patrol, Crime, Currupt, Joe Baca Jr, Mayor Pat Morris, Nieghborhood Watch, Poor, Public Safety, San Bernardino PD, San Bernardino Police, Shootings, youth

Looking at the examples of how this program works in other communities is a good way to see the value in supporting these programs. Local businesses can offer all types of things to help bring the stragglers out of their houses and into their various community meetings. Elected officials attending these meetings regularly & integrating other agencies that work with yours to the meetings and programs helps show people in the community all the resources available to them. this type of knowledge is power.

Below is a great example of how a bad community can be turned around with the right type of effort.

SAN BERNARDINO – When Tim Callaghan moved into his Conejo Drive apartment nearly three years ago, some of his neighbors were halfway house tenants, suspected drug dealers and prostitutes, he said.Those neighbors are gone now, and crime has dropped in his neighborhood.What’s the source of the dramatic change?

Neighborhood Watch, he said.

“If you want the homicides to drop, if you want the break-ins to drop, you have to give the police a little help,” he said.

It’s a program that has been around since the early 1970s, and focuses on bringing together residents and law enforcement to prevent crime and improve communities. But not everyone is sold on it, some don’t trust law enforcement and others are discouraged to join due to language barriers.

Callaghan, 46, a sales associate at Games for Fun, says he often runs into people who are dubious that the program works.

“A lot of people have this black cloud image, that if they call, nothing’s going to get done,” he said.

His group began with three members, who worked together to observe and write down suspicious and criminal activity in the area.

They talked to the city about cleaning up a pile of house rubble left behind from the Old Fire at the end of the street. They reported a dangerous hole in a bridge over Cross Street.

Callaghan took it a step further by installing surveillance cameras in the area and installing burglary alarms in his apartment. He also attended San Bernardino Police Department’s community police academy – a seven-week course that teaches residents about the department.

Police came in, made arrests, served search warrants and cleared residents out of homes where criminal activity was taking place.

City workers cleaned up the burned-down house and fixed the hole in the bridge.

The number of crimes occurring in the neighborhood has dropped from 21 in the first quarter of 2011 to 12 in the same period this year, according to police statistics.

When residents around him saw the progress, his group grew from three members to 15.

“He stepped up, got a few people, who got a few more people and now it’s just rolling,” said San Bernardino police Lt. Paul Williams.

But the process hasn’t been without some challenges.

An elderly couple living on Conejo, who are members of the group, reported suspicious activity to police several months ago. That call resulted in police arresting several people, Callaghan said.

The same night, someone busted the front windows of the couple’s home. Another window was broken three weeks later. Callaghan and his neighbors worked together to replace the windows and report the crimes to police.

The vandalism stopped after they contacted officers.

San Bernardino Police Chief Robert Handy said he began holding regular meetings with Neighborhood Watch leaders when he started with the department. Police use those meetings to teach residents how to improve their neighborhoods, report illegal dumping, code enforcement issues and other matters.

“The more residents get involved, the more improvements the residents can make and we can make,” Handy said. “We’re much stronger together than we are separate.”

For information on how to start a Neighborhood Watch group in San Bernardino, call Diane Holmes at the Police Department, 909-388-4918. Reach Melissa via email or call her at 909-386-3878.

Questions and Thank you’s in regards to Water Deal

22 May 2012 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in AFL-CIO, American Cancer Society, American Water, Bad Commerce, Budget, Burglury, Ca, Cancer, Centurion Security Patrol, Crime, Currupt, davidsMarketing, Uncategorized

Thank you to every resident who when given the opportunity to sign these petitions. To those of you who didn’t sign when given the opportunity is it because you agree with a thirty year contract where the company is GAURENTEED 30% a year profit among other things or was it because you don’t agree with the petition process or you don’t like the union backing the petition?

No matter what you think its ok your entitled to your opinion and pay my water bill……… Just kidding but if you like the plan…………… ok, I don’t. If it was because you don’t agree with the petition process I don’t really either but this issue was to big for me to let my issues get in the way of reversing a bad deal. If it’s the issue with the union I too have issues with unions ask anyone that has met me for more than a minute, my layoff in 2010 destroyed me and hurt my family, then to make matters worse they hand off my job to a district favorite 3 months later, again this issue was way to big to let my personal crap get in the way.

The same thing can be said about the prop 218 vote yes the rates need to be increased slowly with the right company and under a contract Rialto can afford to back out of if its turns out horribly wrong. The prop 218 vote is important because we must show the city council and mayor that when they refuse to listen to the residents we do what is necessary to fix their bad decisions. The people must continue to put pressure on our council and absent mayor and remind them who they work for and that ignoring us isnt healthy for political careers.

Below is the article from the San Bernardino County Sun Newspaper on the certification process:

County elections staff verifying signatures on Rialto petition for a vote on water outsourcing decision

Jim Steinberg,Staff Writersbsun.com

Posted: 05/17/2012 04:12:14 PM PDT

RIALTO – The signatures on a petition seeking to bring a resolution to outsource this city’s water department to a vote of the people are being validated by San Bernardino County elections personnel.

The process should be completed in about two weeks, said Michael J. Scarpello, the county’s registrar of voters.

Over the objections of many residents who attended a City Council meeting on March 27, the council voted 4 to 1 to outsource the operations of Rialto’s water and wastewater department to Voorhees, N.J.-based American Water Works Co. Inc. for 30 years.

The council also approved significant hikes in water and wastewater rates – action previous councils have avoided for years.

To meet a deadline, the City Clerk’s Office opened for two hours late Saturday afternoon to accept petitions seeking to let Rialto residents have the final say on that outsourcing decision.

The petition drive was organized by the Utility Workers Union of America, which represents employees who work for American Water.

More than 6,400 signatures were turned in, although only about 3,800 valid signatures were required to place the matter before voters, said Mark Brooks, a union spokesman.

“We are confident we have far more than enough to qualify for the ballot and we look forward to certifying this whole question for the people of Rialto to decide,” Brooks said Thursday.

City Administrator Mike Story said Saturday that the administration would not comment on the petition until the signatures had been validated.

Update on the American Water Petitions and Prop 218 Protest Letters

21 May 2012 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in AFL-CIO, American Cancer Society, American Water, Bad Commerce, Budget, Ca, Cancer, Centurion Security Patrol, City of Rialto, Currupt, davidsMarketing, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Ed Scott, Family, Flores Park, Grace Vargas, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Davids-Marketing/156816741049580, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Layoffs, Lazy, Lewis Properties, Mike Story, Nieghborhood Watch, Poor, RDA, Sheet Metal Workers Union, Target, Terra Vista Shopping Center, The Circle Vision Quest, Uncategorized, Water, www.babyelepnatbooks.com, www.careervisionbyjamie.com, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com, youth

Dear friends and neighbors:

As you know, we are fighting the American Water privatization deal in Rialto in two different ways: first, the petition we recently filed to require the City to place the American Water contract up for a vote of the people; and second, the Prop 218 process for Rialto property owners to block the rate hikes the City is trying to impose in order to pay for this misguided scheme.

I am writing to alert you to developments on both fronts.

Concerning the voter petition, the San Bernardino Sun reported today that the City has forwarded our petitions to the County of San Bernardino to certify whether we have submitted enough signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot. The County says that process will take about two weeks.

We expect the County to confirm that we have submitted more than enough votes to place this critical decision before the voters of Rialto. You can read the Sun’s article at the following link:

http://www.sbsun.com/ci_20648408/county-elections-staff-verifying-signatures-rialto-petition-vote

Concerning the Prop 218 process, we mailed protest cards today to all Rialto property owners. These cards provide property owners with a convenient way to tell the City that the people of Rialto reject these unfair rate hikes. We also included a postage-prepaid envelope to make it easy for impacted property owners to return the protest cards.

Under Proposition 218, if a majority of impacted property owners file protests with the City, the City cannot impose these rate hikes!

If you are property owner in Rialto – or a renter who is responsible for paying the water or sewer bill – we encourage you to return the protest card as soon as you receive it. If you receive a mailing from SOS Rialto Water, please open it immediately; sign the enclosed protest card; and return it to us in the postage-prepaid envelope.

We will deliver every protest card we receive to the City Clerk’s office before the June 12 deadline.

Please remember – Rialto property owners can block these unfair rate hikes, but only if a sufficient number of protests are filed with the City by June 12. Please return your protest card to SOS Rialto Water immediately.

Thank you again for your support in blocking these unfair rate hikes.

Sincerely,

Mark Brooks

SOS Rialto Water and Utility Workers Union of America