Join us and other strong community members as we are coffee and go over crime stats and upcoming events tie to our police department. Join us with Rialto PD’s top cop at Carrow’s on baseline.
Coffee With The Chief
14 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in City of Rialto, Community Coalition, Crime, davidsMarketing, Ed palmer, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Josef (Joe) Britt, Mike Story, Public Safety, Rafael Trujillo, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Fire, Rialto Parks, Rialto Police Department, rialto unified school district, SWAT
Where do you stand in this City Council Election
06 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in City Clerk, City of Rialto, Ed Scott, Family, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Josef (Joe) Britt, Lynn Hirtz, Rialto, Rialto
Here are the results from the city council poll
So apperently some of the candidates are going around town saying that thier are 2 odd front runners? Well I’m not sure which poll they are using but many of us here in Rialto have not been polled in any fashion. Needless to say it was time to put out our poll and see where our readers and fans fall on this issue.
Dont worry about your answers your information is not being stored and we are not tracking you in any way. I am just curious to see where our fans fall on this election and these 2 seats. Vote away and better yet share away!!!!!!
Rialto Community Coalition Meeting This Tuesday
06 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in and the unincorporated communities of Bloomington and Muscoy, Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, City of Rialto, Colton, Community Coalition, Crime, davidsMarketing, Grand Terrace, Public Safety, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Fire, Rialto Police Department, Shawn O'Connell, youth
The Rialto Community Coalition is having their October Meeting this coming Tuesday October 7th at Fire Station 202 at 1700 N Riverside Ave from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Come out and learn what they have been up to in the community and what they have planned for November where they will be targeting youth to help them realize drugs and alcohol have no place in a healthy active life.
Why Rialto Now Supports Paul Chabot for Congress District 31
06 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
in Budget, Ca, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, Crime, Currupt, davidsMarketing, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Inland Empire, Public Safety, Rialto, San Bernardino, youth
Rialto Now was started because we saw two big problems:
1.Local media refused to give Rialto the coverage it deserved.
2.Local elected officials ran around like nobody was watching their dirty dealings.
We can say that hundreds of people visit this page every week and we have seen major changes in the way elected officials are held accountable. Another big issue we saw that needed attention was our growing problem with drug and alcohol use especially in our young people. We banded together with the Rialto Community Coalition and working with the community policing Cpl. Cameron Nelson & Mental Health Services Program Facilitator Michael Townsend Rialto has made major strides in making positive change in our communities overall health. One major outside player in helping us get up to speed on resources to help support a healthy community is Paul Chabot. Paul Chabot is a leader with Drug Free California, Inland Valley Drug Fee Council & Drug Free Rancho Cucamonga. Paul has been a front line advocate to keep drugs away from our children as well as a working in the military and in law enforcement laying his life on the line for people he does not know.
So what happens when he decides to run for Congress? His opponent decides to take a million dollar hand shake from the democrat party and attack Paul Chabot with lies that he hates children and schools. Then he has the gall to write an op-ed in the Press Enterprise about his ability to work with both sides. Well Mr. Aguilar have you forgotten when your Quality Life Department at City Hall almost shut down a bake sale for the popular No Kid Hungry campaign? Here is what happened and the stress that this mayor’s city put on local people trying to help hungry kids:
Hey guess what??! After having the bake sale for 7 years, and the last three years alone at Ed Hales Park in downtown Redlands…the City of Redlands has just turned us down citing that city parks are no longer allowed to sell “merchandise”. I am beyond angry. Never mind the fact that the WEEKLY market night occurs all the way through State Street and there are dozens of vendors that sell food and merchandise all along the street and everyone passes through Ed Hales to eat food. I am absolutely speechless. So now I have no location.
Oh…but they will give me a park permit, I just can’t sell anything.
Absolutely livid.
It’s official. The City of Redlands will not allow our event at our usual location of Ed Hales Park. This is pretty disappointing. I now need to work quickly to secure a new location, especially within the next couple of days because I have 1000 flyers that are due to be printed and distributed at next weekends Take the Cake Bake Off and they will need to be edited with a new location.
Location update: I received a reply from the property manager of the Redlands Mall but…approval had to be requested from someone in Dallas and unfortunately he did not reply today but apparently will be reminded tomorrow. Although not tec…hnically approved, I was getting a good impression from the property manager. Downside and gamble…I’m taking a risk by approving my 1000 flyers to be rush printed by Saturday morning with this location so I can distribute them at the Take the Cake Bake Off this Saturday. Lets hope this location sticks. For those that know the area, it is the corner of Orange Street and State Street where it is a semi-covered veranda on the outside of the mall. Very high visibility for those on Orange and those entering State Street. This better work!!!
Redlands mall said no. I authorized our flyers yesterday taking a gamble…lost that gamble. Feeling officially defeated and ready to throw in the towel.
From Toni Momberger regarding our inability to get approval from anyone on securing a location for the bake sale: Kristina Hernandez at the Redlands Daily Facts is working on a story about this. If anyone wants to comment. Contact her by email at kristina.hernandez@langnews.com
Please feel free to contact Kristina if you would like to share your opinion, or are familiar with our past events, have been a volunteer, etc. Please share too.
Talk about exhausting…how about this new update…
Out of nowhere I got a call from the city’s Quality of Life department today. They want to try to accommodate us by letting us have the sale not at Ed Hales Park but, wait for it….in the street directly in front of the park. This would require blocking off a section of street to have the event. This street encroachment is not covered under th…e park municipal code they’ve been citing therefore would be allowed. I have a tentative meeting on Monday with a rep and a city engineer to work it out. Nothing finalized but it looks like we’re going to be back at Ed Hales…sort of. My head hurts just thinking about it but it is a step back in the right direction.
Oh boy did I cause a stir. An article about our location situation came out today in the Redlands Daily Facts (front page!). The Quality of Life director immediately contacted the reporter…the reporter then called me…then a revised story was issued online. Needless to say, I’m done arguing over their poor communication and politics, but in the end our location is now 100% approved at Ed Hales Park.
Who’s ready for a bake sale?!
It took the community members 18 days and a miss print of 1000 flyers to finally get the spot they had used for years before 2014. If Mayor Aguilar can’t handle a bake sale at a small downtown park what makes him thing we can trust him to stay on track in Washington. It is time to call Pete Aguilar to stop the party politics and games and run a campaign that is on the issues. Below is Paul Chabot’s website for his campaign I urge you to give this man your vote and tell your friends about Paul. If you would like a yard sign we have those for you just email davidsmarketing@aol.com with your address and we will get you a sign.
Veolia Water Workshop Round 2
29 Sep 2014 Leave a comment
in Ca, city attorney, City of Rialto, Currupt, Deborah Robertson, Ed palmer, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, June Hayes, Lazy, Mike Story, Poor, Protest, Rialto, Rialto, Table Rock Capital, Ullico, Veolia, Water, wwwstoprialtowaterratehikes.com Tags: Veolia
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
Contact Councilmember O’Connell shawn4rialto@hotmail.com
Contact Councilmember Hitrz danslmc@hotmail.com
City Council Re-Cap
29 Sep 2014 Leave a comment
in Ca, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, Crime, Currupt, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Josef (Joe) Britt, June Hayes, Lynn Hirtz, Mike Story, Public Safety, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Police Department, Uncategorized, Water, youth
Hello Rialto Now readers hope everyone is doing well as we close out September and move into October. Our last council meeting had some high points and low points. First let’s start with the high points.
High points came in the beginning of the meeting when Rialto PD displayed the Rialto PD Breast Cancer patch that officers will be sporting on both their shoulders. The design and implementation of this patch was funded from donated work and money meaning no tax payer money was used for this program. You can buy one of these patches for yourself and the proceeds go to a charity called Michelle’s Place http://www.michellesplace.org a Breast Cancer Resource Center. Find the Pictures below for an example of the patch and how you can purchase your patch.
Another high point was the celebration of a well-known business and their 30 years in operation here in Rialto. Brothers Pizza is the best pizza joint around and that has to be attributed to the details that Maria and her staff put into every meal they produce. Brother’s pizza may have moved around the city having three different store fronts in 30 years but they never left Rialto. Below is a picture of Maria at the meeting next time you’re in congratulating them on all their success.
Now onto the Low Points, it began with TAB 1 when on the face it looked like the city was allocating money to a street widening project harmless right? Wrong TAB 1 was a attempt to take money from existing projects to funnel those monies into the Bud Bender Park rehab project. The money grabs consisted of:
- Taking money from the painting of the community center project.
- Taking money already allocated from CBG monies for the Maple street widening project.
- Money left over from a community block grant that didn’t meet the council’s targeted goals for this year.
Councilman Joe Baca Jr. appeared to be the driving force behind this money shuffle and his colleges were not on his side. June Hayes, David Phillips & Parks & Rec Commissioner Joe Britt all spoke out on this issue. Councilman Baca kept referring back to major safety issues at the park and even stated that the park was not safe and full of criminal activity resided there. Two million dollars of CBG money has already been allocated for this project. David Phillips gave the council the live within your means speech and it worked because council moved to keep everything the way it was and look at ways to stretch the money and make the park safe. It’s just sad that we still have some that are trying to do a back door shuffle of money but it was nice to have Council Members like Shawn O’Connell & Lynn Hirtz that have the cities best in mind.
The next low point was TAB 2 which was Client First the cities IT company looking for the last year extension on their contract and to add a $14,000 a month project manager to the contract brining the third year just over $500,000 for IT services. The first issue was with the services the company was providing. This was in reference to lost content on the city website, lost emails for city officials and the complication of getting information to the general public. City council did extend their contract for the last year but didn’t take on their project manager. Instead they directed George Harris to put out an RFP and look for an outside project manager that is separate from Client First.
The last low point of the evening was city councils decision to change the Renaissance plan from a beautiful residential/retail/community center area to a big collection of Industrial buildings. So city council sold away your water company, jacked up your rates, shut down one of the last airport hubs in the region all to build more warehouse space and drown the city in truck traffic. If you would like to know what the north end of rialto will look like just drive down cherry and see what it looks like at Cherry & Valley. As it is now the trucks are unsafe they run lights and drive way to fast and it seems we are powerless to stop them. This is one low point with no upside.
Rialto Family Festival 2014 Event Re-Cap
22 Sep 2014 Leave a comment
in Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Ca, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, davidsMarketing, Deborah Robertson, Inland Empire, Joe Baca Jr, Mike Story, Nieghborhood Watch, Public Safety, Rafael Trujillo, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Fire, Rialto Police Department, Shawn O'Connell, SWAT, tennis, youth Tags: City Council, Community College Board, david phillips, deborah robertson, Rialto, Rialto Unified School Board
Hello Rialto Now Readers hos is everyone on this fine September day? Who went to Rialto’s Family Festival? Well we did and it was quite an amazing time 2nd only to National Night Out. There was literally something for everyone. There were 2 stages, over 50 vendors, kids fun zone, carnival style food court and police K9 demonstrations.
Rialto Police K9 Cars
With the election so close this event was full of people looking for your vote in November. From Rialto Unified School Board, City Council, Community College Board and even congress the vote stumping was in full force. We were able to put together a nice collage for you of some of the VIP action at the event.
Included in this photo are David Phillips, Joseph Williams, Deborah Robertson, Lynn Hirtz & Cheryl Brown
This event was full of cool and interesting vendors and they were spread wide and far. This event took over the entire Civic Center.
From the top running right to left we have Market Solutions Services, Russell Silva for School Board, Kiwanas Finger Print Station, Joe Britt for City Council, Mad Jakes Kettle Corn, It Works & Shred Fest.
These were not all of the vendors but just a taste. It was an amazing afternoon of information, resources and fun! Our hats go off to the City Clerk’s Office for pulling this one off.
Mayor Robertsons Trees of the Rialto Civic Center Map
Mayor Robertson still had her massive mini tent with seating and tables but she added some healthy games and a map of the many different types of trees and their uses. It was interesting and we can only guess that this was an attempt to silence critics of her hospitality booth last year. Many questioned the need for it or why it wasn’t a joint effort with the entire council? I too wait for the day when we can pool resources and work together to make a great representation of our local government. Maybe next year, with that being said the mayor was very nice and hospitable.
We had a booth were we helped the Rialto Community Coalition http://www.facebook.com/rialtocoalition do surveys on Prescription Drug Disposal and we had sponsors from the Ontario Improv comedian Mel Austin from Squeaky Clean Comedy http://ontario.improv.com/event.cfm?id=316184 , Divine Creativity http://www.facebook.com/divinecreativity from Fontana & Paul Chabot http://www.paulchabot.com/
Rialto Community Coalition Meetings
29 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
in Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Ca, City of Rialto, Community Coalition, davidsMarketing, Grand Terrace, Inland Empire, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Fire, Rialto Police Department, Shawn O'Connell, youth Tags: Rialto, Rialto Community Coalition, Rialto Unified School District, Riverside Avenue
Our next Rialto Community Coalition meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 2, 2014 at 6:30PM at the Fire Station located at 1700 N. Riverside Avenue.
Since this is the beginning of the school year, and the Rialto Unified School District has expressed interest in collaborating with us, we need to take this opportunity to begin planning our next community action project in Rialto. You are needed now, more than ever, to emphasize the dangers and consequences of underage drinking and drug use to students (and adults) in Rialto… By the way, a couple of staff members from the Department of Behavioral Health will be attending our meeting to discuss effective policies, data collection, and media strategies concerning perceived norms and youth access to alcohol and other drugs. Our input and collective work will help in the development of a five-year strategic plan for “Environmental Prevention” in San Bernardino County.
Follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rialtocoalition
Coffee With The Chief
12 Aug 2014 Leave a comment
in Andy Carrizales, Assemblymember-Elect Cheryl Brown, Ca, City of Rialto, Crime, davidsMarketing, Inland Empire, Nieghborhood Watch, Public Safety, Rialto, Rialto, Rialto Police Department, SCAT, Shawn O'Connell, Street Crime Attack Team, SWAT, youth Tags: Chief Farrar, Chief of Police, Coffee Nutz, law enforcement, tony farrar
Rialto is lucky to have a Chief of Police like Tony Farrar. Chief Farrar really wants to hear from you the community he is one of those gems in law enforcement that really cares.
So come out tomorrow August 12th at Coffee Nutz on Foothill at 8am and have some coffee with the chief of police and get some awesome updates on the Public Safety environment here in the city.
rialtonow 