San Bernardino County

The community of Flores Park had begun to experience a growing problem with bug bites as August started. Bug bites mostly from mosquito’s were popping up everywhere and residents were concerned about what was causing it. So what did the community do? They reached out to each other the only way we know how through digital media. The source being used most by people looking to find out what is going on around them has become NextDoor. Venture capitalists created the site as a way to give the communities around the nation a safer avenue for communities to hook up digitally when discussing safety and concerns in their community.

Parents of local school Dollahan Elementary thought the problems were just more inactivity on behalf of school officials to keep kids safe at school. Dollahan has and still has a massive problem with a Fire Ant infestation and other bugs that seek out human hosts. Parents have been less than thrilled with the schools response over the years to the problem which is worse this year as Solar Panels are being installed on the kids playground stirring up the problem even more.

Deborah said “I heard the county sprayed the pool land in the storm drain area and we should have relief this week. We’ll see. Also humidity doesn’t help. We don’t even leave our dogs outside much, I don’t want them getting bit and possibly getting heartworm!”

Barbara said “Yes, same here at Larch and Etiwanda. Diligent about checking yard. Husband has gotten bit about 30 times. Wondering if they are in the storm drains! We use Benadryl ointment (clear). It helps for the itch and swelling.”

What the community failed to notice was the massive catch basin that San Bernardino County Flood Control was constructing. The mosquito problem had manifested from the new catch basins that were constructed just west of the intersection of Baseline and Cactus. In a statement from San Bernardino County vector control, vector control had stated that the water had been treated for any potential further mosquito growth. Vector control also said that the adult mosquito has a 10 to 14 day life span so if people it within the affected community needed to be out and about when mosquitoes were active that they were suggested to wear mosquito repellent.

Sam said “Two days ago while I was grilling I got bit literally from head to toe. I’ve lived here since 1988 and never have experienced anything like this. My front porch was infested so I went to Home Depot and got Black flag mosquitoe spray and it seems to be working.”

Some parents with children attending Dollahan Elementary have purchased bug bands for their kids, these bands attach to the child’s wrist and keeps mosquito’s away. The biting is far from over because the water treatment can take 7-10 days to take effect and we still have to wait for the remaining adult mosquito’s to live out their life and die. So if you live in our near the Flores Park Area you may want to try and stay indoors or wear mosquito replant when outside.

Flores Park is the community between Cactus & Ceder and Baseline and Foothill

The Rails to Trails program is explained by americantails.org as the following:

Rancho Cucamonga as the lead agency, together with San Bernardino Associated Governments and surrounding cities, is developing a multi-purpose trail along the Pacific Electric Railway line. The trail links five cities across the west end of San Bernardino County, and connects to a 7-mile rail trail project in eastern Los Angeles County, creating a 21-mile east-west trail corridor. The trail is a source of great civic pride in Rancho Cucamonga, and is credited with improving health, the environment, and the local economy; increasing real estate values along the trail corridor; providing links between the trail and mass transit systems (Metrolink, bus); and promoting historic preservation through connections to historic landmarks and historical sign displays.

( Above is taken from an article. The entire article can be found at http://www.americantrails.org/resources/benefits/SanBernardinoHC08.html )

As stated in the excerpt from the article Rancho Cucamonga is the lead agency in the area with the oldest portion of trail and the most expansive. Rancho also does something else very well they maintian and keep the trail as safe as possible. Can Rialto create a safe place for residents to excersise? I have been bringing this up for the last few years as the City has taken grant money to get this project started and completed. Last time I brought this up to the Police Chief and his command staff at coffee with the cheif in October I was told that the area where the trail will go is much safer than it used to be. So I was interested in this was it safer? Also if it is safer how much safer is it? We went to Crimemapping.com to see how it laid out for the last two months and this is what we saw:

Now I’m not sure what you call safe but 245 crimes in just a 2 month span does not look very safe. Also most of these crimes are violent types of crimes assults, robberies stolen vehicles. So Since Rancho Cucamonga is the case study and the reason we are undertaking this endevor lets look at a simular section of trail and the area once again using http://www.crimemapping.com what does it look like?

It looks very, very diffrent same time period same type of area where the trail dumps off into the next city 47 crimes in two months. This is why when people want to workout they go to this trail its safe.

Now the next disturbing trend on this project is that this public trail will be the first to have access gates to our schools. Yes the public and children will be able to slip onto campus through an approved back door. I spoke to Russel Silva who was an unsuccessful candidate for RUSD School Board and he shared my same concerns about access gates on the trail. Speaking to School Board Member Edgar Montes he was in favor of the gates and didn’t see a major security issue?

Finally are we creating a fee path for criminals to further and easier victimize our community? Before the area had trash weeds and uneven ground making it more difficult to traverse. Now we are going to give criminals clear free access to homes back yards, ability to go from one city to the next and remain off the beaten path, easier access to schools and a new area to tag and sell drugs at.

Don’t believe me are you still buying the load of garbage we have been fed by those at city hall that agree with this project? Right now the walls of the construction site have large graffiti tags from one end to another. The construction crews see it everyday and don’t do anything, Mike Story has been advised 4 times by me (David Phillips) personally and I have called the graffiti hotline twice on this spot. I even spoke directly to the graffiti removal person over the phone and alerted him to the issue and nothing has been done. Here are some pictures of the tags from Cedar behind Rialto Middle School.

Rialto Police Department has said they will re-staff the bike patrol unit but this has happened before and the unit keeps getting shut down its almost the first thing to go. What we have here is a lot of people ignoring the issues to feed some self serving political agenda. Here are a list of the issues one more time:

Cost – The City Council would like for you to take their line that its grant money and not your money being spent on this project. That is untrue grant money is your money just in a different form. Also general fund money is being spent on this project now. We are paying people salaries to oversee and manage the work being done and this trail will need maintenance and repairs. Rialto does not have a strong suit maintaining public facilities.
Safety – Don’t let anyone fool you the areas that this trail will extend to are not nice areas. You would not sell your home and move into the area most of us wouldn’t even drive through. On top of that we are going to give additional access to two schools and further stretch safety measures. Not to mention this is prime drug trafficking area and it appears that the people tasked with completing the project cold care less about what the area looks like.

Since the city has been so dead set on this project no matter what issues people bring to their attention we need to make sure they deliver on what they promised. It’s time for campaign promise’s to be real life promise’s