Water Rates

So by now you have probably heard in one fashion or another that the City of Rialto has mismanaged our water services for years.

The city has been trying to outsource water services to American Water. American Water says that Rialto residents can expect to see 100% increase in their water rates by 2016.

The city wants us to believe that American Water is going to come in and give over the 30 Million Dollar payment due to the general fund by the water utility, fix the dilapidated water system, hold on to the employees for 36 months rather than 18 months at similar pay and benefits and ONLY raise the rates by 100%. What? Really, only 100%?

Oh and by the way they say they will sweeten the pot by removing the perchlorate surcharge which in their estimation is $18. Once again they are wrong mine was $19.43. This was money we were told would be reimbursed but I guess they forgot about that and just are going to appease us by not making us pay for Jet fuel we didn’t even dump in the first place.

Lets not forget another piece of your utility bills the Utility Tax that was SOLD as a Fire and Police tax, would you be surprised that it never REALLY went for public safety? Just another lie and ploy to dig deeper into the communities pockets.

My favorite part of the article in the sun paper on march 13th was that mike story who gets his water from Fontana Water Co. pays more now that Rialto residents. Dont care sorry you let your utility do that to you.

One of the people who posted a comment on the Sun’s online article said the following:

Felipe M. Antillon

Rialto Residents… make sure you voice your opinion on this matter. Fontana is a private water district similar to what Rialto is proposing. My water bill was over $100 during the winter and my neighbors were close to $300. I have since poured cement in the back and artificial grass in the front. My yard is not very large and I have minimal things to water. My bill is still $75/month. $48/month just in a usage fee to have my water on….
So how many of you want to see your yards turned into skate parks? This poor man had to take his life to the extreme just to make it manageable, but ask someone you know how expensive cement is now, plus artificial turf even done right is ugly expensive and must be replaced eventually.
Below is the Video Mr Mike Story did on this issue:

http://youtu.be/UH9Leb8shDc

I’m not in love with the idea that were going to dump 30 MILLION $$ into a Target project that the developer is shaky at best on. What ever happened to the In & Out? San Bernardino built a new one and its the highest sales location, Highland is building on near LA Fitness. I don’t spend much money in this city beyond Fresh & Easy and Home Depot when I need something quick. I refuse to send my family anywhere in this city alone its just not safe & investment is always done halfway.

There are 2 public forums on this issue we posted the flyers on this blog and we will repost tomorrow, be there and voice your opinion.

City Council and Mayor Vargas have mismanaged this city long enough, this is where the community owns this mess and can fix it. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!!!!

Everyone came out to vote for Obama but no one educated themselves on anything else. Educate yourself on the candidates and what they really stand for.

Click the Follow button because we will be reaching out to the various candidates this election and getting what their plans are for the city and how their words balance out what their actions have been. By following the blog you get it sent right to your email in full and can read it more easily.

We need real People with real solutions like: http://www.facebook.com/#!/coffeenutzz – Andy Carrizales

http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1095984277 – Judy Roberts

http://www.facebook.com/#!/wilmer.carter – Wilmer Amina Carter

People with real solutions and not afraid to get their hands dirty

THE “GRANDPARENT SCAM”

THE “GRANDPARENT SCAM”
You get a call or an email unexpectedly from someone who claims to be a friend or relative. This often happens to grandparents with the caller claiming to be their grandson or granddaughter. The caller says there’s an emergency and asks you to send money immediately. But beware, there’s a good chance this is an imposter trying to steal your money! Follow these tips to avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

How do these scammers choose you to contact? Sometimes they contact people randomly. They also use marketing lists, telephone listings, and information from social networking sites, obituaries and other sources. Sometimes they hack into people’s email accounts and send messages to everyone in their contact list.

How do these scammers know the names of your friends or relatives? In some cases they don’t. For instance, the scammer may say “Hi grandma,” hoping that you actually have a grandson. If you ask, “David, is that you?” the scammer will say “Yes!” Often these crooks will call in the middle of the night and take advantage of the fact that you may not be awake enough to ask more questions and you may not want to disturb other people by calling them to confirm the information. Sometimes the scammers do know the names of your friends or relatives. They can get that information from a variety of sources. Your relatives may be mentioned in an obituary or on a social networking site. Your email contact list may contain the names of friends and relatives.

What do these scammers usually say? They might say something like, “I’m in Canada or Mexico and I’m trying to get home but my car broke down and I need money right away to get it fixed.” Or they may claim to have been mugged, or been in a car accident, or need money for bail or to pay customs fees to get back into the United States from another country. They may also pose as an attorney or law enforcement official contacting you on behalf of a friend or relative. No matter the story, they always want you to send money immediately.

If you realize you’ve been scammed, what can you do? These scammers ask you to send money through services such as Western Union and MoneyGram because they can pick it up quickly, in cash. They often use phony IDs, so it’s impossible to trace them. Contact the money transfer service immediately to report the scam. If the money hasn’t been picked up yet, you can retrieve it, but if it has, it’s not like a check that you can stop – the money is gone.

How can you protect your email account from being used by scammers? Use a firewall and anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Many computers come with these features already built in. They are also easy to find on the Internet. Keep your software updated. Don’t open attachments in emails from strangers, since they can contain programs that enable crooks to get into your computer remotely.

What else can you do to protect yourself? If you get a call or email from someone claiming to know you and asking for help, check to confirm that it’s legitimate before you send any money. Ask some questions that would be hard for an imposter to answer correctly – the name of the person’s pet, for example, or the date of their mother’s birthday. Contact the person who they claim to be directly. If you can’t reach the person, contact someone else – a friend or relative of the person. Don’t send money unless you’re sure it’s the real person you know. For more information about protecting yourself from fraud, go to www.consumerfed.org/fraud or to www.takechargeca.ca.gov

 

If you feel you are being targeted for fraud call your local Police Dept. Rialto PD dispatch is

909-820-2550

Stolen Money

Below is the link to the story that soured this post:

 

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/calif-lawmakers-switch-days-to-collect-payments-1.3538968

The link above is to an associated press story about the continued waste of money that our legislators are guilty of almost daily. The go to Sacramento only to ensure that they will make their per diem, on that cost tax payers 65,000 TAX DOLLARS. That means 65,000 less to help fix the budget problems, but the have once again lined their pockets without any regard for the voters concerns.

You know the old saying how do you know when an elected official is lieing? When their lips are moving.

Seems about right, because when its election time they will tell you why they are in Sacramento the people (lie). I’m sorry to say that democrats and Republicans are both just as bad. They are not in Sacramento for your voice they are there to line their pockets and live off the government forever. How long are we going to let these people continue to take advantage of us and destroy our cites, state & country. 5th district supervisor Josie Gonzales actually told the sun in an interview in reference to pension reform and the San Bernardino County employee union putting out a petition to make San Bernardino County supervisors a part-time job, that she had financial obligations that must be met and if the board became part-time she would step down. REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So why are you there Mrs Gonzales?

Below are some other articles where CA is hurt and hemorrhaging and could use every penny we can find.

Employee losses due to loss of RDA’s and tight budgets:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_20006550

“Rialto and Highland, for example, have found ways to keep their former Redevelopment Agency employees on the payroll, officials said.”

Mass Teacher layoffs due to 22 million dollar budget cuts:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_20001266

“In a best-case scenario, reduced funding from the state will force the district to cut its 2012-2013 budget by roughly $22 million, which would mean roughly 162 employees, including teachers and administrators, would receive layoff notices before the annual March 15 notification deadline. ”

Redevelopment dollars gone without a solution:

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_19998785

“You hear a lot of stories about California redevelopment agencies being abused to advance the agenda of the downtown elite, but more often than not, CRAs are used for their expressed purpose, which is to address blight, serve underrepresented communities, and maybe, more importantly than anything else, provide affordable housing in regions where there isn’t enough.”
This one cracks me up, they say that their was abuse and misuse? What about what lawmakers do daily?????????
People stand up and take action before its to late. Look for lawmakers that will fight their voters convictions not their own and fight it through even if it will make relection harder.

 

The End of Redevelopment

 

The End of Redevelopment

 

The Rialto Redevelopment Agency will close its doors on February 1, 2012 along with all

other redevelopment agencies in the State of California. The elimination of redevelopment

will mean the end to the City’s most powerful economic development tool, as well as the

death to several major infrastructure and affordable housing projects that would have

ultimately created thousands of new jobs for the community. The termination of the

Agency will also result in the demise of many existing loan and grant programs that helped

revitalize and improve older commercial and residential properties in the City.

When Governor Brown took office in January, 2011 he proposed to abolish redevelopment

to help resolve California’s $25 billion budget deficit. After months of legislative wrangling,

a compromise was reached with the enactment of two bills: ABX1 26 and ABX1 27. The

first bill, (ABX1 26), eliminated redevelopment agencies statewide, while the second bill

(ABX1 27) authorized reinstatement by each agency upon the agreement to make certain

“voluntary” payments for the benefit of the State. Following the passage of ABX1 26 and

ABX1 27, the California Redevelopment Association (CRA), League of California Cites

(League), and several independent cities filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of

the two laws. CRA and the League argued that the two budget bills violated Proposition

1A (2004), Proposition 22 (2010), and the California Constitution.

On December 29, 2011, the California State Supreme Court handed down its decision that

ABX1 26, which eliminated redevelopment agencies statewide, was a constitutional

exercise of the Legislature’s authority. The Court opined that if the Legislature had the

right to create redevelopment, then it also had the right to eliminate redevelopment

agencies. The Court opined that ABX1 27 – which would have allowed agencies to

reactivate if they made “voluntary” payments to the State – was unconstitutional. The

Court indicated that the payment was not voluntary and therefore violated Proposition 22.

The Court also rejected the argument that the two bills were inseparably linked.

Although many legislators have indicated support for new legislation to continue some of

the basic goals of redevelopment, such as affordable housing, infrastructure and job

creation, it is unlikely that the Legislature will approve any such legislation prior to

February 1, 2012, the date upon which the Agency will cease to exist.

In accordance with the Court’s ruling, the Rialto Redevelopment Agency will be dissolved

on February 1, 2012. A Successor Agency will be created to provide basic administrative

support in the dissolution process. A seven member Oversight Board, which will be

controlled by County of San Bernardino and various School District appointees, will

oversee the payment of all existing obligations, the liquidation of all current assets of the

Agency, and disposition of all proceeds and unencumbered funds to various state taxing

entities. For additional information on the dissolution of the Agency and the creation of the

Successor Agency, please contact John Dutrey at (909) 879-1151.

RUSD Borrowing on Broken promieses

When the housing market took a dive it effected budgets Local to Nationwide since homes were not worth what everyone thought tax amounts declined and work forces shrinked and the dominos began to fall.

Then Gov. Arnold (AKA The Govenator) came up with a creative way to show a more balanced budget than he really had. What he would do is defer payments that go to  K-12 education, meaning if they thought they were going to get money in August it really ment December then the January money is pushed and so on. Why did this help the Governor? He could show more money on the books that wasnt his to use and for-go cuts that needed to be made.

So since Arnold was a Republican Governor one would assume that Democrat Gov Brown (AKA MoonBeem) would stop using these tactics, Right? Nope he is still deferring payments to our schools.

So how are School Districts dealing with the loss in funds. Layoffs, closing schools, furloughs, pay cuts & eliminating services. Oh, some even most are BORROWING money till the deferment comes. The best part is when the Governor both Arnold and Brown make cuts, those deferments aren’t what they were supposed to be leaving schools holding money notes they weren’t expecting. The current superintendent (Dr. Harold L. Cebrun, Sr. Pictured Left ) has lots of experience with these types of loans. Loans like these were the same type that helped him tank the Compton Unified School District and hand it over to state control read about that story here http://articles.latimes.com/1993-07-10/news/mn-11806_1_compton-unified-school-district .

Tonight 7 pm at Dollahan elementary 1060 W Eitwanda Ave Rialto Ca the board is going to be asked to borrow more money.

Early 2011 RUSD School Board approved borrowing 30 million to get to the next deferment. Tonight they will be asked to add 10 Million to that total!!!!!! With the hopes of getting a low-interest rate of 2%. Who’s money do they think their spending anyway? This doesn’t save any teaching  jobs or support staff. What this does do is cement us in a bad spot and give us the opportunity to be taken over by the state. What is Dr Cebrun thinking? I thought we got rid of Edna?

Below is the very line item from the agenda for tonight’s meeting on this very subject. The governor is going to make more cuts he has to, anyone really want to be on the hook for loans we know we can’t pay back? RUSD is banking on 53 million deferment coming in July to pay this back they have 18 months. But if they do that where is the money going to come from to pay the bills after July? More borrowing?

8. Adopt Resolution No. 11-12-38 authorizing the borrowing of an additional $10

million in funds for fiscal year 2011-2012 and the issuance and sale of one

or more series of 2011-2012 Tax Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRAN) totaling

$40 million to allow the District to meet cash flow needs.

(Ref. J 8.1-6)

RUSD is still giving raises to certain people. 200 Classified and Certified staff this summer will be given pink slips and there is no guarantee we will have the money to bring them back.

Go to the meeting tonight, call their offices, email them do what you can to send a message to remember who they work for and who’s money they are spending.

superintendents office number is:

 909-820-7700 ext 2124  

email at  hcebrun@rialto.k12.ca.us

Rialto In & Out

Where of where has our In & Out gone, oh where oh where will it be.

Will we ever see this sign in Rialto??????

From the looks of things it’s not going to happen at least not in Rialto. With the end of Rialtos Redevelopment Agency as of February 1st Rialto has lost its advocate to attract new and interesting businesses. City council has the Indoor swap meet and Liquor stores firmly cemented here.

For ages our council memebers have failed to sell Rialto, and now one wants us to elect him to Amina Carters Assembly Seat. (Pictured on the Left)

 

 

 

Come 2-1-2012 who is going to advocate for Rialto and bring in businesses that can draw tax revenue and have us shopping HERE.

A lot of them are up for re-election this year and we need to send the message we want to see forward progress not same old same old. Mr. Story the city Administrator made a comment at the Area 1 Command meeting that he can’t do more with less just try and remain the same.

The only problem with that statement is if we don’t attract new business and try and bring in tax base support we will never see a better Rialto. In this economy with a rocky residential climate you cant and its not fair to try and do everything on the backs of residents.

Next Newer Entries