Rialto | rialtonow

Rialto Council Member takes a page out of the Hilary Clinton playbook

20 Oct 2016 1 Comment

As has been very well covered is Presidential Candidate Hilary Clinton calling her opponents supporters deplorable. Well in a recent interview Councilman Ed Scott was quoted in the San Bernardino Sun article calling the people who run to seek political office Crazy.

“Generally, during an election year, when we have council races, we go dark in October,” Councilman Ed Scott said. “So that we don’t have all the crazy election antics at city council meetings.” – Rialto Councilman Ed Scott

This is a failed statement because we have been told that the council goes dark to allow incumbents the ability to equally campaign just as their challengers. We can tell you that the crazy antics (public holding our leaders feet to the fire) go on year round and this is one of the few opportunities that Mr. Scott can shut down the community.

Ed Scott is no stranger to yelling at the community and city staff behind closed doors and in the public. Ed Scott used to accuse the press of misquoting him but once we began covering this city we found that Mr. Scott opens himself up to being quoted for the words that pour over his lips. Once we began making public the videos of City Council leaders acting in ways that are not appropriate the leaders who were in the wrong have grown concerned.

Below is a recent video of Ed Scott blindly threatening the community at large that he is coming after someone. This is a concern because he has used actual litigation against citizens who worked to oppose his past attempts to outsource Rialto’s Police Department.

What all this proves is that as we are voting that we vote for leaders who will lead the people not threaten and shut them down.

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Movement is made on Werner Elementary safety issues.

10 Oct 2016 Leave a comment

On Wednesday October 5th we brought you the story of the Werner Elementary safety issues.
That same evening the parents and community came out to speak to the Rialto Traffic Commission on the issues with speeding & safety in front of their school. Listed on the Commission agenda was the anticipated attendance of current Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson the parents and community were hoping to get to speak to her publicly. Well once again the Mayor was a No Show and only represented an empty seat.

Jasmine Avila carried the group with a prepared statement that pointed out the mayors history with transportation and her campaign promise to make Rialto a safe place to live work and play. The group now calls on Mayor Robertson to turn words into actions and help make the front of their school a safe place for our kids.

The group has heard from the mayor already stating that any solution would not work because of where Rialto Unified School District decided to place this school even though the city was not in favor of the location. Two parents from the group also addressed the Commissioners one explaining how the parents are choosing to solve the problem of traffic.

The parents and the community they have rallied to their side are sticking to the issue that something needs to be done. After the meeting Mr. David Phillips a community member and local advocate running for city council was able to introduce the group to City Administrator Mike Story who told the group that they are going to meet down at the school in the coming week with all parties to see what can be done to make the street safer for students. Mike Story said that the meeting will consist of Public Works Director Robert Eiezenbiez, Rialto Police Sgt, RUSD top leadership and others to see first hand what is going on and how they can come to a solution.

During the Commission meeting the Chair Dennis Barton told the group that traffic signals must be warranted via rules that the city and state are bound to. We didn’t get to ask Mr. Barton if the short traffic signals on foothill and Baseline were held against those same standards?

In the midst of an election year the amount of ducking and hiding that is going on is way out of character leaving one to believe if the Mayor still wants to be Rialto’s Mayor? Then enters Councilman Ed Scott who wants you to forget that the area the schools are in were once zoned for commercial purposes would need to be re-zoned before RUSD could build a school there.

“I was extremely concerned when the school district decided to build schools there, because it’s on a major industrial-type street. I think the school district should have done some better planning than put a school there,” he said. “I agree, it’s something that needs to be looked at, and the school district needs to participate in it, since it’s something they decided to do. … Whenever you build a school, you have to think about the children that you’re educating and make sure they’re in a safe situation.” Councilman Ed Scott

The problem is IF the mayor and councilman Ed Scott were so against this school being built why did they approve the land re-zoning? Well it is because our leaders refuse to make the hard decisions that may not be popular but necessary. Because not allowing the school to be built would not have been popular and the Mayor and Ed Scott are only interested in the popular vote.

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Rialto Police Union Endorses 2016 Election Candidates

07 Oct 2016 1 Comment

The Rialto Police Benefit Association has recently released endorsements for the 2016 Presidential Election year.

From what we have heard is Rialto Police Benefit Association has endorsed Ed Palmer for the office of Rialto Mayor over current Mayor Deborah Robertson. Also in the race for City Council the Rialto Police Benefit Association has chosen to only endorse one candidate for the two open City Council seats. The winner of the sole endorsement is candidate Lynn Hirtz a two time councilwoman looking to once again win a seat on Rialto’s City Council along with eight other Rialto Residents.

The Resident to challenge long time City Clerk Barbara McGee also secured an endorsement for her run for City Clerk. Ana Gonzales released a statement on her facebook page today hailing the endorsement of this public safety agency:

“Great news everyone! We have more endorsements! First of all I want to thank our Rialto Police Benefit Association and our awesome RialtoProfessional Firefighters Local 3688 for endorsing our campaign! I am so honored and thankful to all of you! I am determined to bring our community residents, law enforcement, and firefighters together, to support each other and work in unity to create a safe Rialto for everyone. Thank you Police and Fire!!!”

Another candidate to secure the endorsement of the Rialto Police Benefit Association is Paul Chabot who is looking for a rematch of two years ago when he lost a very close race to the current Congressman Pete Aguilar representing the 31st Congressional District. Pete Aguilar has had a ruff time selling himself to voters who are looking for safety after he called for tougher gun control in an interview on Waterman Ave just hours after Inland Valley SWAT officers killed the San Bernardino Terrorists. In a state with the toughest gun control laws people were looking for something that Congressman Aguilar just couldn’t give his constituents. In a statement from the Chabot campaign the following was released:

“Today, Paul Chabot announced the endorsement of the Rialto Police Benefit Association. which represents 137 sworn and non sworn members.

President of the Rialto Police Officers Association, Richard Royce, released the following statement, ” Our membership recognizes your leadership and voted to support your campaign. The RPBA offers this endorsement with respect and appreciation for your continued support for the Rialto Police Benefit Association and its members.”

Chabot stated, “I am thankful to the men and women of the Rialto Police Department for their support of my candidacy. We need more cops in Congress who can speak to the challenges and dangers of the job. Violent crime is rampant throughout the Congressional 31st district and I pledge to make public safety a top priority of our Nation.”

Chabot is endorsed by numerous police organizations and leaders from around the region, state and country.”

Former Councilman Shawn O’Connell would be proud of these endorsements. He was a great fan of Paul Chabot and worked hard with all three candidates to make Rialto a better place to live.

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Parents Concerned Over Traffic at Werner Elementary

05 Oct 2016 Leave a comment

One of the most difficult issues to tackle in Rialto is traffic. Our schools fall victim to traffic issues more than other areas because of the flood of pedestrian traffic mixed with vehicle traffic. Community Advocates constantly harp on leaders slow response to community issues. Normally it takes tragedy to move leaders into action. Community leaders like David Phillips who is also running for city council have worked to move change before we suffer any tragedy. Below is a video of Rialto Unified School District Safety Chief praising Mr. Phillips for his work in regards to safety.

Werner Elementary has not been so lucky in the area of skirting tragedy in regards to traffic safety. Even though parents have been advocating for more safety measures the best that could be done was a public safety officer twice a week. Well that clearly wasn’t enough because on September 13th a parent was involved in a major traffic collision that totaled out her car. The accident was so severe that her vehicle was pushed into oncoming traffic nearly colliding with a big rig truck. The parents vehicle was a total loss and there were children inside the vehicle.

Werner Elementary has been impacted because they are located on a very busy street that has the following issues:

People use Rialto Ave as an alternative to Foothill.
The area is mainly used for industrial uses.
Heavy traffic from large amount of big rig truck traffic.

Reports are that the parents have been requesting a stoplight in front of their school but have been net with opposition. The claims are that the another stoplight would be too close to the stoplight at Larch and Rialto Ave. This made us think of last year when the Flores Park Community Group worked to reverse a decision to put in a stoplight between Linden and Cedar on Foothill Blvd. The community thought that the lights would be too close and create a traffic nightmare. The city moved forward anyway under the guise of SAFETY.

Now we have a safety issue and the city is saying that the situation can’t be helped. Parents have told us that Mayor Robertson have told them that the city didn’t want a school there but the school didn’t listen. The Mayor also said that there are already lights at Cedar and Larch and any other lights would be too close. We walked the distance between the light at Cedar to the middle light and the distance was 316 paces. What is ironic is that this is the same distance from Larch to the middle of the school 316 paces. What is ironic is that the Mayor would make such statements especially in an election year.

The parents have collected 540 signatures to show city hall that the community is serious about wanting a stoplight in front of the school. The parents were disappointed to find out that the city council meetings have been canceled for the month of October leaving them with no opportunity to reach out to there city leaders. They were happy to know that our commissioners are still working and plan to attend tonights Transportation meeting tonight along with Werner Principal Mrs. Roman. The meeting tonight is at 6pm at city hall 150 S Palm.

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Dollahan Elementary Creates School Wide Cardboard Arcade

04 Oct 2016 Leave a comment

by rialto-now in City of Rialto, david phillips, davidsMarketing, Inland Empire, Rialto, Rialto, RUSD, youth

Written by: David Phillips

The idea began with a young boy out in Los Angeles who created a Cardboard Arcade at his fathers Auto Part business. After watching the story Dollahan Elementary Principal Dan Husbands brought this idea to his staff. “At the first staff meeting this year before school started Mr. Husbands showed us the video on Caine’ Arcade. After we watched it we created our own Cardboard games which led to the whole school planning what you see before you today”.

One of the most interesting games of the day came from a 2nd grade student Xavier. With the help of his father they created a Skeeball game that used alot of recycled parts and had some very creative engineering on how to make the game work.

We got a chance to talk to the young mans father Brian who told us a little about who they came up with the idea and how they executed the final design. Xavier’s father is a College Professor and Basketball Coach it was great seeing a father being there to support his son.

The kids had a great time playing each others games and were truly inspired by the original Card Board Arcade constructed by Caine in Los Angeles. This event really showed how kids can learn through play even if they were not aware they were learning. This event also brought the community into the school to see first hand how intelligent these young arcade game creators were. What was missing were any district staff to see what the kids and school had put together.

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Local Candidates Hold Park Events

01 Oct 2016 Leave a comment

Lynn Hirtz has invited other local candidates looking for Rialto voters vote on November 8th to join her at parks all over the city of Rialto. By getting out and talking to the people the voters will get the best chance to see who is the right choice for Rialto. Below are a list of the events each even will go from 5 to 6:30 pm:

October 11th – Rialto City Park

October 13th – Flores Park*

October 20th – Fergusson Park*

October 25th – Bud Bender Park

October 27th – Birdsall Park*

The events that have the * show the events that Paul Chabot a candidate for Congress will also be on hand to speak to the community.

Other Candidates that will be on hand are:

Ed Palmer running for Mayor

Ana Gonzales running for City Clerk

David Phillips Running for City Council

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Where Is The Integrity With Election Signs?

27 Sep 2016 1 Comment

If your not aware it is Election Season & Rialto is knee deep this year. With two City Council seats open with no incumbents and some serious races for Mayor and City Clerk this is one of the most turbulent elections in quite a while. As a resident and a community advocate I have always had an issue with the way our city has been treated when candidates come calling for our vote. A majority of our leaders pay a private company to plaster thousands of signs all over our poor city and then fail to remove them after the election is over. These campaign signs become a canvas for graffiti, mobile trash due to our Santa Ana winds and another eye sore in our little town. Another issue that we have noticed is the failure of city leaders to make sure that our empty businesses don’t become a dumping grounds or public eye sores. Well today’s post brings both of these issues to the same place as Deborah Robertson thinks that plastering the old MC Donald’s building on Foothill with her campaign signs.

It’s bad enough that our Mayor thinks that it is OK to plaster her largest allowed signs on the sides of buildings that are vacant and currently being marketed for lease. What worse is that the area has very quickly become an area where trash is dumped, the building is broken into and vandalized and graffiti has found its way onto the walls. It shows a lot about how Mayor Robertson feels about the way our city looks and her dedication to making Rialto a place that businesses can thrive and survive. The Mayor and her two fellow councilmen Joe Baca Jr & Ed Scott seem to think that the city has zero control over the look of Rialto’s businesses and our main city streets that connect us to the rest of the Inland Empire.

Mayor Robertson is not the only culprit others like Assembly Woman Cheryl Brown have attached signs to every wooden surface that possibly exists in Rialto. What is worse is that her signs are attached to areas where the land is for sale or lease and is full of graffiti leaving this writer to wonder if she cares what her assembly district looks like? Others Like Rafael Trujillo and Pete Aguilar have been accused of removing other signs and placing their signs where they removed another sign.

So the real question is the one above do you think that Rialto should be the land of as many signs as one can possibly get on every surface to blanket Rialto?

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Rialto Police Honor Two More Officers

08 Sep 2016 Leave a comment

Rialto Police Chief Randy Deanda had the honor of promoting two more officers that have been promoted to the ranks of Cpl and Sgt. Both men have strong family ties to Rialto and the surrounding region. As this writter comes from a family of law enforcement professionals we know the stress a family can undergo having a father, husband, mother or wife woring in Public Safety. These two men take the the day in and day out work of a Public Safety officer to another level by taking on assignments in Traffic, Gangs and Narcotics assignments. These men also have strong wives and families that support the work they do in our community without support the work these our public safety officer do could eat them up from the inside out.

Cpl Palmer has been awarded by MADD not once but multiple years for having over 100 DUI arrests in a given year. Because of Cpl Palmers hard work the streets of Rialto are made safer and more pleasent to drive. It is the work of Cpl Palmer and the rest of rialto’s newly beefed up Traffic Division that took Rialto from 10 deaths due to driving infractions to only 1 this year. Eisenhower Alumni and Staff remember Cpl Palmer as a dedicated Eisenhower Alumni, Athlete and supporter of the Eisenhower Football team. Cpl Palmer was part of the glory days of High School football when Eisenhower was the team to beat in the region.

Sgt Morales has worked on many units that have worked to remove dangerous criminals from our streets as well as acting as a visable community representation for Rialto Police Department. Sgt Morales worked with the SCAT team that worked to bring the gang restriction programs that have worked to cripple gangs that had terrorized Rialto residents for decades. Sgt Morales has also worked with the confines of Rialto Police Departments youth Programs that had a goal of stopping youth crime before it got out of hand. Also as you can see in the picture above Sgt Morales does not shy away from a young ladies request for a photo. Sgt Morales seems to have a goal of wanting the youth to see him and his co-workers as a source of help and comfort and not be afriad to come to them when they need help. Sgt Morales also has a sports background as a boxer in the battle of the badges competitions.

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September Is Going To Be A Very Busy Month

04 Sep 2016 Leave a comment

Well the summer is winding down were having cooler days everyone in the region is back to school and our High Schools have just finished Pre-Season football games. We also have a laundry list of people looking for your vote in just a couple of months!!!!!!

So with such a busy September who can keep track? Well were here to let you know whats going on in Rialto and why its important to you!

September Events

9/6/16 Promotional PD Pinnings 3:00 PM 214 N. Palm Gym

9/6/16 6:30 PM Council Chambers Parks & Rec Commission Smoke Free Park Ordinance. Coalition members attending.

9/7/16 6:00 PM Traffic Commission meeting

9/10/16 10:00 am 9/11 15 year Remembrance Ceremony at Fire Station and RPD.

9/13/16 8:00 am Coffee With the Chief Cocos

9/17/16 10:00 am Family Festival Civic Center

9/26/16 Rotary Golf Tourament Arrowhead Country Club 8:00 am

9/28/16 6:00 – 9:00 PM Citizen Academy starts. Goes until November 30th.

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Own It Rialto Shows Up At Morgan Elementary In A Big Way

01 Sep 2016 Leave a comment

Photo of former Eisenhower High Grad Lewis pumping up Morgan Students Photo Credit Emily Rickard Photo

Written By Mr. Inland Empire

What do you get when you take educators full of passion add a little alumni from Eisenhower High School and top it off with local celebrities like Wet Paint Larry? You get Own It Rialto and over 500 empowered young people.

Own It Rialto led by Eisenhower teacher Chad Rickard and his wife Emily have one goal in mind change Rialto for the better. Chad & Emily have taken on the task of taking the energy and passion former Eisenhower High students have once they graduate from High School and have turned that energy loose on Rialto in awesome ways. With the help of the popular Street Artist Wet Paint Larry and the Rialto Police Department Own It Rialto has targeted to areas that they want to launch their efforts. Local events, Morgan Elementary Students and a better understanding of how their local leaders represent them.

As a kick off to working with Morgan Students the group made wrist bands that had the name of their group “Own It Rialto” and the year that class will graduate. Group leader Chad Rickard said “we want these kids to know we expect them to graduate so if nobody else in their lives expect it someone will”.

Own It Rialto came out with Wet Paint Larry and a Tug of War contest between Morgan Elementary students and Own It Rialto member Louis Redd. The game was crafted to teach the students if they worked together and helped each other out that they could do anything. The students were victorious in the game with a little help from Rialto Police Officer Rice from the Community Policing Program. Next Morgan Elementary students were shown what Own It Rialto is and how it is possible to overcome a bad situation and do amazing things. Main speaker Esli Brito spoke to the kids about issues that they all deal with. Esli spoke about coming to this country at a young age and overcoming cultural and language barriers. Esli is just one of the many group members that want local kids to know that they can do anything. From local celebrities like Wet Paint Larry, Rialto alum Niyi Obileye that are acting in films, Police officers like Rialto Officer Rice and even Julie Vega who is going after her passion of being a chef.

Chad Rickard had a message for Rialto that he posted on Facebook:

“Our next steps will be to start volunteering in after-school programs and develop programs to help them in areas such as reading, athletics, and entrepreneuership. If you are someone or know someone who would like to get involved, please contact me. This was a beautiful experience today; thank you to all those who made it possible.Larry Jones Emily Rickard Esli Brito Julie Vega Niyi Obileye Louis Redd David Phillips Jessica Banks Ana I. Gonzalez Thank you to Principal Vara and Morgan Elementary. Thank you Scott Sparks for letting me hang out with little students instead of my own for a morning!”