Dollahan Elementary gets a RUSD Public safety Officer
Parents at the local school of Dollahan Elementary watched school drop off and pick up times become a major issue. The issues were wide spread out on the street Etiwanda Ave, in the City Park that is in front of the school (Flores Park) and inside the enclosed oddly shaped parking lot. We have covered numerous stories of issues that almost led to dire consequences and we fielded a lot of calls from the city, school district and police.
Well the school district has had the appropriate reaction to our pleading for more safety at this Elementary school. Monday September 28th Rialto Unified School District Public Safety Department has had a Public Safety Officer on site keeping things safer inside of the school parking lot. You may ask what has changed by adding a Public Safety Officer? Well here are the changes:
No longer do parents double and triple park bringing the traffic flow to a dead stop.
The angry pushy bus drivers no longer come into the parking lot blaring their horns.
Areas that are labeled for buses or Day Care Vans no longer have parents parking there.
Staff and District vehicles are no longer driving on the side walks while kids are preparing to leave for the day.
Parents and children are now safer inside the parking lot.
What hasn’t changed is the total disregard for parking rules in Flores Park and traffic on Etiwanda Ave where the issue of angry parents and fighting over traffic supremacy and the ZERO enforcement of traffic by the city or police. Parents still speed up and down local neighborhood streets, road rage controls Etiwanda Ave, the crossing guard is nearly taken out on a daily basis and the city should remove all of the red curb paint and handicap markings because nobody pays any attention to them and Rialto PD seems to have an issue enforcing the CVC code.
One of the latest issues that sits solely on the shoulders of the city is the sidewalks. When Marcus Fuller was the Public Works Director residents complained about the 1000’s of lifted sidewalks in the Flores Park Area. Mr. Fuller’s remedy was to grind some of those sidewalks and the others they used black asphalt to create ramps. So like everything else Mr. Fuller did in Rialto it was a halfway attempt to fix a problem and now things are worse than before. Here is why:
When the asphalt was laid down it was allowed to spill over and damage residents lawns and properties.
The asphalt didn’t fuse together correctly so it has began to fall apart and denigrate.
Since parents that don’t want to fight the traffic that the police can’t get under control they walk their kids and there has been a recent spike in people falling and injuring themselves.
With speeding up and down residential streets at an uncontrolled high, the neighborhood street that should be a safe place for kids to ride bikes and skateboards isn’t an option so the kids have been pushed onto sidewalks. The pitted and uneaven sidewalks have left local children with an increase in injuries.
Calls and conversations with the new Public Works Director Robert Eisenbeisz have left us with no solutions. The only thing Mr. Eisenbeisz has said is that “IF” measure “I” money comes in from SANBAG then we can look at Etiwanda Ave.
Normally this is where I would tell people to speak up and demand action but that doesn’t work anymore. If your not in the political favor of Mayor Robertson or the “Liberal Park Councilman” Joe Baca Jr. or the “Pay For Me To Travel One More Time Councilman” Ed Scott your not getting ANYTHING!!!! The city leadership doesn’t seem to care about the community, the brown act or just being transparent. The city and the many departments don’t do anything all they do is point the finger at someone else.
So what is ironic about this is the School District is the only party here that had an appropriate response to issues within their sphere of influence and a level of appreciation goes out to the Public Safety Department for their quick and timely response.
As the construction of yet another Mc Donald’s fast food restaurant nears completion on the corner of Cedar & Foothill in Rialto we ponder the Question does Rialto need five Mc Donald’s? Now I know what your going to say Rialto doesn’t have five Mc Donald’s and I am here to tell you soon we will. Below is a map:
The red dots are the three that come up when you Google Mc Donald’s in Rialto. Baseline, Foothill & Riverside Ave all have Mc Donald’s but there is also one inside of the Walmart across the street from the Riverside Ave location so that makes four. Number five is part of multiple deals to further burden the North West Corner of Cedar & Foothill. One of our readers posted this photo saying “Do we really need another Mc Donald’s in Rialto #healthyrialto
The multiple deals that happened to further burden the poor people of Rialto was put under the heading were trying to make things safer for Rialto. Later they admitted that it had little to do with safety and a lot to do with TAXES……. When a local community member from Flores Park Neighborhood Watch asked why this development was getting a new stoplight and cement median extension the council responded Neighborhood Watch Groups don’t make money Gas Stations & Mc Donald’s do!
Tonight the Planning Commission is going to show this off as a win during their annual report, is this a win in your eyes?
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
So on Monday June 16th the City Council held a workshop to get a report of the first year of the water services contract with Veolia Water Services acting as Rialto Water Services. From the sounds of it this was something that Veolia did not want to publicized because on almost every account they are behind on the infrastructure improvements six months to one and a half years. Ullico is in charge of tracking and auditing the progress Veolia has made in the first year of the 30 year contract.
Marcus Fuller the Department Head from Public Works and Ullico worked very hard to turn a bad report into a better one but the city council, Mayor & Mayor Pro Tem all saw through the smoke and mirrors. Below you will see some of the slides Ullico presented to city council last week:
Here you will see that Veolia is one year five months behind on roughly 2 million dollars worth of improvements, eight months behind schedule on 3.6 million dollars worth of improvements & five months behind on 876 thousand dollars worth of improvements. Now Ullico wants you to give Veolia a break as they want to drag their feet and “get comfortable” with the contract they took on after American Water was kicked out of the deal by Rialto Residents and the Union that represented the water employees.
One major issue with giving them months and months to go over this infrastructure agreement is the 41 million will soon begin to be eaten up when interest rates increase. This means their will be less money to complete the long list of projects Former Mayor Grace Vargas, Former Councilman Ed Scott, Current Mayor Deborah Robertson and Current Mayor Pro Tem Ed Palmer all said were so vital to Rialto moving forward as a progressive city. Council Members told us these upgrades would be vital to major projects like the proposed Super Walmart & the Target Shopping Center that no longer has a Target store (Target has backed out). So what happens if Super Walmart goes in and the sewer system isn’t able to handle the bump in use? There was talk of the sewers backing up and spilling out into the streets.
Councilman O’Connell asked the VP of Veolia if the interest rates caused the money to be used up prior to completion of the listed projects would Veolia see those projects to completion. The VP of Veolia said no.
So Veolia can drag their feet and tie up these projects in paperwork and read tape while the clock ticks and you continue to pay massive increases to your rates with NO CHANGE. Even their field techs, people that live and work in this city are blown away and say that Veolia is doing nothing!!!!
The end result was a motion to have Marcus Fuller, Public Works Director meet with Rialto Water Services and Veolia to get a expedited time frame of when we can see projects beginning the construction phase. Marcus Fuller will report the outcomes in 90 days from the meeting date.
We have reached out to Veolia VP Lanita McCauley Bates and Rialto Veolia Manager Michael Greene when they respond we will update with their comments.
Tonight is the City of Rialto’s Council Meeting. Below I have highlighted some of the items that will be on the Agenda Tonight.
We have 3 proclomations ranging from Public Safety to Earth Day.
PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS
Proclamation – National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.
Proclamation – Jazz Appreciation Month.
Proclamation – Earth Day.
This is on the Consent Calendar under Miscellaneous:
D.3 is spending another $5 Thousand to use full time referees verses part time referees becuase of a shortage of the part time staff. With unemployment still at all time highs why are we finding it hard to pay part time refs? Are we looking at all or are we simply taking the easy way out? www.facebook.com/InlandEmpireJobSeekers has about 10 job fairs listed in the Inland Empire I’m sure Rialto can find some part time refs there.
D.3
Request City Council to increase KCALS Officials Purchase Order 2013-0212
amount from $14,900.00 to $20,400.00 for KCALS Officials.
Looks like we will see some more work on how Elected Officals are paid for travel that always sounds good.
D.8
Request City Council to adopt Resolution No. 6247 revising Policy on
Reimbursement of Expenses of Elected Officials.
Now onto the Tab Items:
Tab 2 is a Grant that will allow us better staffing within our Fire Department. I am extremly happy with the Public Safety effort in Rialto to protect us while finding other sources of paying for that safety.
TAB 2
Request City Council to adopt Resolution No. 6240, 6241, and 6242,
Ratifying Acceptance of the FY 2012 Staffing for Adequate Fire and
Emergency Response (S.A.F.E. R.) grant from the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the
I think its vital that we show up to every single council meeting we possibly can. I have been MIA for the last 2 months but I try to watch them at home or on the internet. We must watch what is said and done becuase in the end we are the ones paying for the councils desicions.
One thing that I saw last meeting (via the Web) was how grossly we under estimated the costs of the In & Out Project. That project is now going to cost the city another $$600K+ because they under estimated the cost of the freeway sign and forgot to add in the cost of the Rod Iron Fence and Under Water Catch Basin for the project.
I want an In & Out but not at the cost of the taxpayers. I wish the city would have went to the leaders at the City of Highland Ca and learned how to build a In & Out without draining tax dollars.
So on Tuesdays Council Meeting we had some serious shenanigans going on.
Pushing our police into the brink of disaster
Council Woman Robertson had made statements prior to Tuesdays meeting that she was demanding that Rialto PD pay their full 9% pension costs or she would be the one to vote no on placing the extension of the UUT on the march ballot. So what did the Police do? They did what was in the best interest of the citizens and agreed to pay their full pensions.
So since she got what she wanted the she voted yes, right? Nope she clearly wanted more. She still voted no citing that she wants the police to do more.
After her no vote the council went straight into another closed session. While in the closed session Rialto Police Benefit Association President Richard Royce debunked the notion the police offer was anything more than their way of helping the city and Community and had no conditions as stated by George Harris with city staff. When asked what more does she want Royce said he had no idea.
Our police have given massive concessions over the years from loosing uniform allowances, cost if living, pay reduction and now paying their full retirement.
So after closed session they decided to go with our wishy washy city attorney Jimmy Gutierrez new interpretation of the law regarding just when this vote must happen. For the longest time they have said this vote must be done by the end of November. Jimmy stated that it’s his offices interpretation that they have until December 8th. Why it changed is indicative of what we saw Tuesday.
First off we saw council woman Robertson and city attorney Gutierrez having a dozen side conversations.
Second we saw council woman Robertson bring up the opportunity to delay this vote prior to rejecting it with her no vote.
So now they postponed the vote or finalizing the vote till Monday it leads us to ask what more does she want? Whatever it was she got it and its big, so big no one will speak if it. Not even off record!
The good part is in a message from Deborah Robertson she has been satisfied with the pound of flesh and blood she let from our police to vote with the fellow council members on Monday.
Here is what she said to me:
The changes have already been resolved. RPBA met with me and we appear to be good on my end and they indicated they are good as well. It was a good meeting!
These are 2 text messages she sent to me.
Everyone watch this council meeting Monday and let’s see if she finally lets the residents have a say.
Also check back Wednesday to hear how Deborah Robertson and George Harris plan to raise your trash bill……..
Seems like we should have had those meetings in October after all.
Because no City Council Meetings were held in October due to the Election we had a stacked calendar tonight.
They had the Utility Users Tax on the end of the agenda and choose to address that TAB item first. What that TAB item was for was city staff laying out the ground work for the workshop that will be held November 20th. What seemed the hardest was getting the council on board to attend the workshop, the biggest problem maker was Joe Baca Jr. I’m not sure if he was still licking his wounds from November 6th or if he really only cares about parks and that’s it but he had a scheduling conflict with that day and refused to adjust his schedule.
What the UUT (Utility Users Tax) is the 8% tax on all the utilities you use in the city of Rialto and amounts to a little more than 11 million dollars for the general fund. The way it was sold 5 years ago was a tax to help pay for Police and Fire operations looking back it was probably sold the same way Measure “V” was if you don’t vote for this the police and fire will suffer. I was young and not living in the city back then so I was listening to what my parents, in laws & friends were telling me about the UUT.
What’s scary now is they began floating the idea of raising the percentage to as high as 12% as a way to punish voters for not falling for their lies with Measure “V”. I don’t like this tax but if they are straight with the community and don’t raise the percentage because it means such a big piece of the general fund.
What also was annoying was the fact that things are changing with the sale of Rialto’s water and waste water systems to Viola and West Valley Water. The deal was for 30 million dollars, tonight it was brought up that there is an additional 5 Million the city can borrow, that we have to pay back. There was talk of your 100 percent increase in rates over 4 years would be more if they borrowed that money.
City Staff brought up bringing back the Per’s Tax. I’m not familiar with this tax but Council was scared to death of another lawsuit from our friends the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. Apparently Howard Jarvis stopped Rialto from doing this long ago. If they bring it back and Jon Coupal wants to sue on a residents behalf I will be first in line.
Everyone kept saying we don’t want to raise taxes then talked about a new way to tax the community. Also Transparency is the buzz word right now all of the Council People want to provide it even though they have been hiding things from us for years. Even June Hayes RUA Committee member was blown away by the new talk of 5 million in available borrowed money.
Ed Scott tried to equate the 5 million to a homeowner who buys a house then finds out they qualify for more money and takes it. A homeowner can only take more money if the value of the house meets the desired loan amount. Also its not free money it does raise the interest and principle monthly payment.
So 5 million is what percent of 130 million its 3.84 percent almost a filth of the entire loan and when your talking millions that’s not chump change.
So lets re-cap:
*Water and Waste Water rates will go up for the next four years.
*Rialto wants you to possibly pay 12% on your UUT (up from 8%).
*Rialto pays 8-10 cents more per gallon than cities like San Bernardino that have higher sales tax than Rialto.
*Late fees were increased largely in part to Mr. Everyone Else Is Doing It Why Not Us.
So what should we do?
First off plan on being at the UUT Workshop on 11-20-12 at 6pm.
Second call, email and ask him in person if given the opportunity. Him I mean Joe Baca Jr. who for some reason refuses to attend the UUT workshop on 11-20-12 he claims to have plans. So do I Mr. Baca my parents will be in that week from out of state yet I will be there and I am not a paid member of the city of Rialto just a concerned resident.
Joe Baca Jr.
Email: Bacaj@rialtoca.gov
Phone: 909-820-2525
Second attend the Council Meeting on 11-27-12 because there they will make the final vote to officially sell off the water and waste water, vote on whether to put the UUT on the ballot in March and at what percent and its the last day for Ed Scott, Mayor Grace Vargas and Deborah Robertson’s last day as a council member so there may be some interesting exchanges at this meeting.
Tomarrow I will Re-cap the rest of what I stayed for.
Most voter guides begin with the BIG TIME regional elections then work down to the local stuff, if you haven’t noticed were a little different.
Also be advised “NONE OF THESE ENDORSEMENTS HAVE COME AT ANY FINACIAL GAIN TO THIS BLOG OR ANYONE DIRECTLY CONECTED TO THIS BLOG”
We put out feelers to people running in local elections to obtain the information they feel you should know about them but we have nothing more to gain that passing along our advice and opinion to people on this monster election. We get our reward from having knowledgeable readers that are energized and ready to cast their ballots.
Measure “Q” & “R”: NO ON “Q” – YES ON “R”
Measure “Q” is the board of supervisors attempt to forego massive cuts to their pay and spending. What bothers me most is that our Board of Supervisors didn’t have to go out and get your signatures to place their competing measure on the ballot they just drafted it with your tax dollars then added it to the November Ballot. This County Board of supervisors is overpaid and waste millions of dollars at the expense of the County. The Board of Supervisors wants you to believe that this measure will more closely align their salaries with other similar counties. This measure is a way for the political waters to be cloudy and confuse the voters. They also want you to believe that the sole reason for the competing measure is a blackmail attack on their failed efforts to bring this county true and real pension reform.
Measure “R”is a ballot measure to make our board of supervisors a part-time position. This would cut board members’ salary and benefit packages from a high of more than $308,000 to $60,000 annually. It would also reduce allocations for political staff (salaries, mostly) to $300,000 per district. Right now, the supervisors collectively spend $6 million on their staffs (or an average of $1.2 million per supervisor), and one staffer is being paid more than $225,000 a year. So while you work hard at your job(s) making barley enough to scrape by these County Board members want to continue to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
One of the board members Josie Gonzalez threatened to quit if measure “R” passes because it would not allow her to live at the level she is currently comfortable at now. So sorry but you shouldn’t make so much money while the rest of the county is hurting, and we don’t need any more career elected official’s.
YOU elected one of the five members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to represent you in your district and help you navigate through the red tape appointed bureaucrats create in county government with onerous regulations and frivolous rules. Unfortunately, the current members of the board have decided they do NOT want to work for YOU. That’s right!!
Instead of working for you, the members of the board voted to hire a “Chief Executive Officer” for $300,000+ a year to make the decisions they are required to make – a bureaucrat that does not answer to you. And, they did this without YOUR consent or vote.
YOU no longer have a member of the board of supervisors who can assist you with county department employees who unfairly target you or create red tape to keep you from doing business in this county and squash potential new jobs so badly needed in our county. YOUR board member voted to give away that authority to an unelected bureaucrat IN VIOLATION OF THE COUNTY’S CHARTER, which specifically says the chairman of the board is the “executive agent” for the county. Don’t let politicians get away with this.
Vote NO on Q! Vote YES on R!
The members of the Board of Supervisors are really upset about Measure R. Like they did in 2006 when the five board members voted to place a measure on the ballot to give themselves a $50,000-a-year pay raise, they are trying to confuse voters with a new initiative – Measure Q – which will allow them to keep their high salaries. It was the current members of the Board of Supervisors who decided they only needed to meet part time. Do they deserve full-time pay, including the extra $50,000-a-year pay raise, if they only meet part time?
Measure Q was conjured up by the five members of the board to defeat Measure R – a measure placed on the ballot by almost 74,000 citizens of San Bernardino County. Measure R will pay them $60,000 a year for part-time work. That is more than the average family in San Bernardino County earns working full time. Do not be fooled by their deceptive initiative. Vote NO on Measure Q.
Vote NO on Q! Vote YES on R!
Those who helped us collect signatures and/or are endorsing Measure R include Republicans, Democrats, Tea Party members, grassroots candidates for office, community activists, animal welfare workers, members of employee organizations and constituents who are simply fed up with elected leaders who don’t earn their keep.
★★★★★ Kieran “Red” Brennan Former Grand Jury Member WWII Submarine Veteran Initiative Proponent (Original) ★★★★★ Safety Employees Benefit Association (Sheriff’s Deputies, DA Investigators & Probation Officers) ★★★★★ Robert Lovingood Candidate for First District ★★★★★ James Ramos Candidate for Third District ★★★★★ Rick Roelle Candidate for First District ★★★★★ Paul Schrader Candidate for Sheriff ★★★★★ Clint Air Founder of Americans for America Tea Party Chapter ★★★★★ San Bernardino Public Employees Association ★★★★★
Vote NO on Q! Vote YES on R!
Tomarrow we take on Jerry Brown & Molly Munger with Props 30 & 38
rialtonow 