For years Rialto public leaders have used your tax dollars to go on lavish trips all over the nation. The situation got so bad that an audit 4 years ago led Councilman O’Connell to ask the Council to approve measures that would bring travel spending under control. These changes were short lived as Mayor Robertson has allowed commisoners to travel on the tax payers dime and now the city council has a $99,000 travel budget for the year.
Our Mayor has used the Mayors Conference to use your tax dollars to spend time taking selfies with Presedent Obama in the distant background and eating rich food and staying in 4 star accomidations. All of these are luxuries that the people of Rialto will never get the chance to enjoy. Mayor robertson was questioned for bringing City Clerk McGee with her to lavish travel destinations with no clear reason for the City Clerk to atend.
Now Mayor Robertson is making good on a campaign promise, reports are that if she won she would be taking Cheif Randy Deanda to Washington DC with her. Well we found out how this abuse of tax dollars would bare out. Mayor Robertson is taking Cheif Deanda and Lt. Paul Stella with her to Washington DC has her own personal Security Detail!!!!!!!
Lets break down these travel requests that total more than $7,000!!!!!!
Where in the budget are they pulling this money?
Why are we paying for 4 seperate cab fare’s when they are supposed to be security detail?
How much is the overtime going to cost with these two not being home doing their duties?
We spoke to current Mayors, Council Members and Former Elected leaders and nobody has heard of ever brining their own security detail to any travel. In addition those attending the Trump Swearing in are not brining in their own security they are relying on the Washigton DC city, county and federal law enforcement officers to keep everyone safe.
Residents already on edge after freshman Councilman Rafael Trujillo tried to start Rialto down the road of becoming a Sanctuary City are wondering what is happening to their city. One resident said “when will our council and mayor just do what is right for us” and another said “if Mayor Robertson couldn’t have her raise she will get her money one way or another”.
On top of this $7,000 travel bill for security Mayor Robertson is spending $3,200 minimum on this trip. It is unclear if the taxpayers are paying for Councilman Ed Scott’s travel as well. Unless someone comes to their senses this will be approved on Tuesday January 10th 2017 at 6pm.
Today IECN Reporter Anthony Victoria posted a lengthy article that took a look at the events that transpired at Rialto’s City Hall last Friday December 30th 2016. In this story Mr. Victoria’s article begins to craft an alternative definition to the Term “Sanctuary City”. A simple google search will provide you the definition we provided in a story we wrote last week:
A sanctuary city is a city in the United States or Canada that has adopted a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants by not prosecuting them solely for violating federal immigration laws in the country in which they are now living illegally. … The designation has no precise legal meaning.
According to Mr. Victoria’s article this is the definition that is now being used:
The term is used generally to describe the process in which local governments refuse to use their own resources or funds to enforce national immigration laws, according to the California Law Review.
When we searched the California Law Review we were left with no results for the term Sanctuary City. So why are those in favor of protecting those who break our borders and laws working so hard to redefine what a Sanctuary City means? Well it’s elementary my dear Watson you see the idea of a local governing body standing in the way of prosecuting people who have broken Federal law no longer sits well with the American people, But we are tired of watching our resources being abused. So the term is changed not by legal experts or educational bodies no we have activists and career politicos working to redefine a word to make it more palatable.
Another popular tactic within this activist crowd is word play. You see we are talking about the future of Illegal Immigrants not legal immigrants or anyone else here LEGALLY. So Mr. Victoria inserts a quote from Ana Gonzalez the former challenger for the City Clerks job last election, Mrs Gonzalez is quoted as saying “A lot of [undocumented residents] are asking, ‘What’s going to happen? Are we going to be safe? The immigrant” population is scared.” You see what they did there they first used the new term undocumented residents (illegal alien) then turn it around to say immigrants are scared (people with a legal right) living here. Why would a legal immigrant have anything to fear?
Mr. Trujillo who apparently only speaks to Spanish media writers said this to Mr. Victoria:
“Gonzalez and several stakeholders were scheduled to meet with Rialto councilmember Rafael Trujillo at City Hall on December 30 to discuss the issue, but were instead met with protest from Claremont-based group We The People Rising. Trujillo–feeling threatened by the large presence of the group–decided to postpone the meeting. Trujillo claims that the meeting was unofficial and that no city committee has been created to address the issue. A lot of people are afraid of the new [presidential] administration coming in,” Trujillo said. “I’m trying to learn about the issue and what it means.”
Even though Mr. Trujillo claims that no Committee was formed this is the message that Blanca Gomez the Freshman Council Member sent to our editor 2 days before the meeting (see above). To further complicate things for the councilman who refuses to tell the truth, Alejandro Cano Spanish reporter for La Opinion news posted this on his Facebook page the night before the meeting:
Even though Mr. Cano tries to deny why he was at the Rialto city hall in the video below he made it very clear on his Facebook page what he was doing and why he was there.
These dangerous activists want you to believe that this law protects your tax dollars and illegal immigrants just looking for a better life. Yet sanctuary cities have been on the front lines of harboring some of the most dangerous illegal aliens that rack up felonies yet get released back into our cities and neighborhoods. Francisco Sanchez admitted to shooting Kate Steinle shooting in 2015 he did this after being released for drug charges and was a 7 time felon and a 5 time deportee. The San Francisco Sheriff refused to honor a detainer request from ICE because his city was a Sanctuary City.
Rafael Trujillo, Blanca Gomez and these activist groups refuse to look at the bigger picture. President elect Donald Trump has said he will pull Federal Funding from cities that refuse to work with Federal authorities. Since Mr. Victoria’s article failed to address the potential money lost if Rialto were to deny Federal Authorities the right to remove dangerous illegal alien criminals we decided to ask City Administrator Mike Story what this might look like for Rialto:
“I do not have specific numbers on what a sanctuary city would cost the city, but just if we lost CDBG federal funds for capitial and community services programs it could be over 1 million dollars just for that program. Not sure of the others.”
So what we should be asking Rafael Trujillo and Ana Gonzalez is are you ready to put Rialto in a $1 Million dollar hole? Also Ana Gonzalez statement in the article by Mr. Victoria speaks to not wanting to allow our police to break up families:
“Ana Gonzalez agrees with Nolasco. “Our city is not prepared to do this kind of enforcement,” she said. “If there’s a crime committed, then of course action needs to be taken. But we shouldn’t be focused on breaking up families.”
Mrs. Gonzalez must be confused because police all over this country are forced to do this to people every single day. When a mother or father breaks a law and the police are forced to arrest that person a family is broken up. Many times the families are forced to leave their homes and become homeless because the fruits of their financial support came from illegal deeds. If a bank robber gets caught we don’t let his kids keep the stolen money because that is all they have no we take it away. This is why we used to punish people so that others would count the cost of breaking our LAWS!!!!!
Please welcome Rialto’s newest addition to our fleet, Medic Engine 205 (ME205)!! This has been decades in the making and she’s finally in service at Fire Station 201 until a temporary station is built in mid 2017. It will be staffed with a Captain, Engineer and Firefighter/Medic. This new engine will provide an enhanced service to the south end of Rialto. #rialto #rialtofd #rialtofire #engine205 #local3688 #rialtofirefighters #rialtofirefighters3688 #station205
On December 30 at the Rialto City Hall a meeting took place while nobody was paying attention due to the holidays. Organizers invited interested Rialto community members to assist in organizing to make Rialto a SANCTUARY CITY for illegal immigrants. Sanctuary cities are a blatant violation of federal law. They undermine law enforcement and there is a clear connection to illegal immigration and crime. Further, they cost taxpayers millions out of our pockets. Most LEGAL immigrants oppose illegal immigration, and we need to give them respectful credit for that.
Newly elected Victorville City Council Member BLANCA GOMEZ was present and appeared to be an active part of the meeting, apparently in favor of sanctuary cities. Does Ms. Gomez’ signal participation in opening doors for the High Desert to follow? Does she advocate bringing the same to Victorville in the future as well? It is worth watching closely, and asking her what her role is in the Rialto push for sanctuary city status.
Additionally represented at this meeting was TOPEC (Training Occupational Development Educating Communities) which is a Immigration Legal Center that serves migrant communities in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial Counties. TODEC’s mission is to ensure equitable access to information and services for limited and non-English speaking people. Also represented was LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States. Note: It does not say ‘legal’ Hispanic population.
Given the election that just occurred in which California passed marijuana laws which defy Federal Law, and is accepting and encouraging Sanctuary Cities that harbor perons who have illegally entering the US, defyig the Federal Law, they have laid the groundwork for major litigation, and it is ‘we the taxpayers’ who will pay for it. It seems like Ms. Gomez is already poised to spend big money in legal fees if she tries to bring this to the High Desert.
***This was the invite that was sent out to a Rialto constituent.
“You are invited to the first meeting of the Rialto Sanctuary City Committee Meeting Friday, December 30th, 10:00am at City Hall, 150 S. Palm Ave in Downtown Rialto. This is a small group meeting focused on Rialto residents who want to help lead us into the work that needs to be done. There will already be organizational leaders in attendance like Maribel Nunez, TODEC, and LULAC. Refreshments will be served.”
On the last Friday of 2016 Rialto City Hall was center stage for the issue of illegal immigration. Newly elected Councilman Rafael Trujillo tried to have a secret meeting with outside agencies looking to make sure that Rialto is a Sanctuary City.
We found out that even though Rafael Trujillo wanted the alternative media sources shut out he had invited his own media source Alejandro Cano to write a puff story on what was going down in Rialto.
Also called into question was if Rafael Trujillo was acting on behalf of his boss congresswoman Norma Torres?
Well if you look at the video above Rafael Trujillo is following Norma Torres lead to the letter.
On a rainy day in the Inland Empire most people were cleaning out from the Christmas rush and finishing out a last day of work before 2016 ends and 2017 began. One of Rialto’s newest council members was formulating a plan to break federal law and put Rialto’s ability to obtain Federal Funding in serious jeopardy.
In Rialto voters chose two candidates to replace the two seats left vacant by one councilman’s untimely death early this summer and another choosing to run (unsuccessfully) for Rialto’s Mayor. One of those choices (Rafael Trujillo) has spent his young lifetime working as an aide to State and Federal leaders who would routinely select the audience they choose to speak to and keep their conversational statements from public view. He also has a history of filling elected spots others vacated early and pretending to be the champion of the people.
Some seemed confused about what a sanctuary city is like Victorville City Councilwoman Blanca Gomez (yes all the way from victorville) So we thought we would share the definition:
A sanctuary city is a city in the United States or Canada that has adopted a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants by not prosecuting them solely for violating federal immigration laws in the country in which they are now living illegally. … The designation has no precise legal meaning.
President elect Donald Trump has said that being a Sanctuary City is the quickest way to loose federal funding.
Well Mr. Trujillo was tested by fire and he seemed to crumble under the weight of his plans for Rialto when the opposition came out to challenge him. Rafael Trujillo had planned to hold a private meeting with Maribel Nunez and organizations like TODEC & LULAC. None of these groups have offices located in San Bernardino County let alone Rialto and Mrs Nunez is the Executive Director at California Partnership an LA. This is important because Rafael Trujillo claimed that those who showed up for his Sanctuary City meeting were not qualified to attend because he was only listening to constituents. These groups represent only the needs of people living in this country illegally outside of California Partnership who also helps low income residents but each are large parts of the push to ignore US immigration laws. Actually the only person we could verify that was a Rialto resident was former City Clerk Candidate Ana Gonzalez everyone else was not a verified Rialto resident.
Other People who Rafael Trujillo wanted to hear from were Emilio Garcia a professional activist currently lending his voice to boycotting Driscols Berry Farms over immigrant berry pickers rights to be paid more than most other people even EMT’s working for AMR Private Ambulance Service.
Rafael Trujillo seemed really worried about the cameras because he said the meeting would only resume when the cameras went away little did we know that Rafael Trujillo invited a reporter formerly with the Fontana Herald and now with the Hispanic Publican Unidos en el Sur de California to cover (See image below)
The image above says it all that Alejandro Cano was there to write a puff piece on Rafael Trujillo’s plans to sneak this idea on Rialto residents. Now Rafael Trujillo was asked a question that I thought was interesting. Is his boss Norma Torres behind this effort?
Well here is where you connect the dots. Rafael who has never had a thought that was his own works for Norma Torres and Rafael invited Alejandro Cano to cover this action. Now all we need to do is connect the three Sanctuary Cities, Alejandro Cano, Rafael Trujillo and Norma Torres hmmmm.
Yes Alejandro Cano seems to work very closely to both Norma Torres and Rafael Trujillo. So close in fact that he wrote this article of Norma Torres swearing in her son who was recently elected into the Pomona City Council. At this meeting Norma Torres was quoted as saying “On the issue of immigration and the political ideas of President-elect Donald Trump, Torres said that now more than ever the Council must support local, state and federal authorities in their readiness to confront Trump’s radical policies“. So it begs to question was Arthur Schaper (the person who shot this video) onto something or is Rafael Trujillo taking liberties with his employment in the Congressional office of Norma Torres?
The end result was the meeting was shut down and the actions were halted for now. Rialto residents that don’t support Sanctuary City for Rialto include Councilman Ed Scott and Councilman Joe Baca Jr. Other vital members of the Rialto community that are opposed are Ed Palmer, Ray Farmer and other residents that were in the crowd of anti Sanctuary City Protesters.
Ray Farmer “If this is true we are drifting into dangerous waters, I want to know more about this and who is involved, as a long time Rialto residence , I am very concerned,!“
To view all the video on this event go to the following alternative media sources:
Last year went so well that our plan is to make it a regular thing. So now we want to know who is that person in 2016.
This year were changing things up a little bit, here is how the process will go:
Email the person you wish to nominate to rialtosnow@gmail.com include their name and a why your nominating them (deadline is December 31st at midnight).
Each name will be added to a online poll on our website.
The people with the top three votes will be highlighted the last week on January.
Last years winners were Councilman Shawn O’Connell, Former Police Chief Fararr and Vibe Fitness Owner Gino Garcia. All three men qualify if anyone chooses to nominate them.
So if you know someone that made Rialto great or worked hard on the greater communities behalf be sure to nominate them so we can give them the recognition that they are due.
Tyler Nguyen is keeping the true spirit of Christmas and his annual toy drive alive and well again this year as this awesome young Simpson Elementary student looks to help those in need this year with his own toy drive. With the assistance of his family and the Rialto Fire Department this young man is reaching out to those kids that may not receive anything this holiday season. It’s not only the kids he is helping but those parents that would love to buy toys for their kids but must choose food and bills as money is tight.
You can read the story we did on Tyler last year to learn how this all began for this awesome young man.
Here is what Rialto Fire had to say about Tyler on their Facebook Page:
“Meet Tyler. Tyler is a 5th grade student at Simpson Elementary in Rialto. After a successful toy drive of his own last year, Tyler and his family once again showed their generosity and spirit of giving. They hosted a Christmas Party/Toy Drive for Spark of Love. They have already filled two boxes and plan on collecting more before Christmas! They also treated Rialto Firefighters, family and friends to a wonderful homemade Christmas dinner. Thank you Tyler and family for your humble spirit and community service!”
Rialto Firefighters responded to a structure fire on the 200 block of N. Palm last night. Firefighters found heavy fire conditions on arrival and intense wind conditions. A 48 year old male was found unconscious in a rear bedroom on a primary search. Paramedics rushed him to ARMC where, sadly, he later passed away. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this tragedy. San Bernardino County Fire assisting
Information Pulled from the Rialto Fire Facebook page.
Larry “Wet Paint Larry” Jones is a Rialto resident and former tagger who turned defacing public property into a painting and clothing line called “Sloppy Parlor”. Wet Paint Larry told us that he looked at his life of tagging and saw no upside “I couldn’t claim my art on a wall that didn’t belong to me. I couldn’t get anything but silent props from others breaking the law, when I was given the opportunity to paint my art on school walls (Morgan Elementary) that I found my next hustle”. Wet Paint Larry a self described urban entrepreneur always looking for his next “side hustle”
Wet Paint Larry was doing his art on the side while working with the homeless in San Bernardino. Larry was one of the many people that fell victim to massive cuts to city funded programs. Larry looked to his faith in God and saw this as a way to make a serious run at selling his clothing line and going into business for himself. Now Larry isn’t going into this blind as Schools, Small Businesses and even Cities have paid Larry to paint various locations. On top of that Larry has been blessed to have Dollar Deals on the corner of Sycamore and Foothill stocking his hats, shirts and other various art items.
So needless to say Wet Paint Larry is just as excited for this Saturday as his fans are as he will have his first ever Art Show and Pop Up Shop:
For those of you that are not familiar with this location Larry will be set up in the back of Shift 6 Apparel arrive early as this is going to be a can’t miss event that because of the winds last weekend will now have the Rialto Christmas Parade to compete with.
Larry is a great artist and great role model if your buying a gift for a teenager or young adult this will be a great way to mark off a gift and make someones day.
rialtonow 