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Rialto Now “Spotlight” on Former Rialto Unified Student Anahi Velasco

23 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

Covering Rialto one story at a time Rialto Now on Facebook “LIKE” us!

When it comes to what types of stories drive traffic (people reading our blog) negative or stories of gloom and doom are the ones that drive people to your site. Even the larger media sources know that a hard hitting story of corruption or illegal activities will be very highly seen. What I love about our audience is that these “Spotlight” stories are all positive and you guys and gals read them just as much as the latest scandal to hit a local area here in Rialto.

We met Anahi Velasco through the personal Social Media post of Rialto Unified School District Public Relations Director Syeda Jafri she took a picture of some former students at Coffee Nutzz in Rialto and spoke about how Rialto grads are effecting and changing the world we live in. Well we reached out to Anahi and asked if she would participate in our “Spotlight” and she jumped at the chance.

Here you go:

Rialto Now – Who raised you? What were the occupations of your parents/caregivers?

Anahi Velasco – My parents worked hard to provide everything they could for us to succeed. My mom has generally worked at factories and my dad has been on disability since I was like 10 years old or so. We also created our own family-run business in San Bernardino to be able to afford a roof on our heads, food on the table and clothes on our back. I started working there when I was 12 and stopped when my school load increased dramatically during my junior year in high school.

Rialto Now – Pets? Are you a dog or cat person?

Anahi Velasco – I’m definitely a dog person!! I have my eleven-year old Chihuahua named Mini-Mi who had a very difficult time understanding that I wouldn’t be home anymore. When I moved out my first year of college, my mom told me that she would hide under the BBQ grill and wouldn’t come out to eat. My mom had to literally put food and water under the BBQ in order for her to actually eat. It was very sad! To my surprise, she somehow got pregnant (I am saying somehow because I thought she was too old to have more puppies), and had three puppies. One of those puppies looked identical to her when she was a puppy. I decided to keep her and name her “Bella” because she was as beautiful as her mother.

Rialto Now – What schools did you attend?

Anahi Velasco – Dunn Elementary School, Kolb Middle School and Eisenhower High School!

Rialto Now – What was your favorite year of school? What was your favorite subject?

Anahi Velasco – My favorite subject was chemistry because the teacher challenged us. Her goal was to prepare us for college, not for high school graduation. She was a great mentor for me who taught me the real value of family time. It’s because of her that I began to strengthen my relationship with my parents and opened up more conversations with them about what I’m doing at school and what I plan to do for my future.

Rialto Now – What are you passionate about?

Anahi Velasco – This is probably the most difficult question to ask me. I am passionate about so many things which is my biggest problem. If I had to choose one area that I’m passionate about though, it’d be education. In order to change the world, we need to be educated. I’m not only referring to our educational system though, I’m also talking about the education we receive at home. That education is the most important education that we’ll ever receive.

Rialto Now – What did you love about living in Rialto?

Anahi Velasco – I loved knowing that we have people from different cultures who get along. We have respect for each other’s cultures. I especially love the community-wide events because that’s when you see everyone come together.

Rialto Now – Where did you hang out in Rialto?

Anahi Velasco – I think I spent most of my time at Eisenhower! I had honors classes, AP classes and I was also enrolled at San Bernardino Valley College. I was at Eisenhower for most of my day to catch up on my homework, attend meetings, tutor other students, listen to my mentors or lead workshops. I had created a student-run organization with my friends and Mr. G, the former Career Center Technician at Eisenhower HS. So a lot of times I was running around on campus doing something for that organization. I also had an internship at Channel 3 with Gabriel Felton and an internship at the Rialto Unified School District, so I’d be there too throughout the week.

Rialto Now – Where was your favorite place to eat in Rialto?

Anahi Velasco – I can’t decide between George’s Burgers or a small taco place near the liquor store and the laundry mat. I love George’s Burger’s Swiss Burger and fries, yet I also loved the small talks that I had with the wonderful lady at the taco place. My mom would leave money with her so that I can stop by and eat quickly if I was going to stay at school late. She was always very kind and asked me questions about my future. She doesn’t work there anymore, but I’ll never forget her!

Rialto Now – Who are the top 2 people that influenced you here in Rialto?

Anahi Velasco – I can’t name 2 because there have been so many people in my life that have had a huge impact on my life and it wouldn’t be fair. They know who they are.

Rialto Now – Tell us about college. What school are you at? What is your major? Best thing about college & worst thing about college?

Anahi Velasco – I’m double majoring in Communications with a concentration in Public Relations and Radio – TV – Film at California State University, Fullerton. The best thing about college is the amount of support professors and staff offer me. They are my best resources and always make time to meet with me if I need their guidance. They have experience in their fields and have lots of connections. The worst thing about college is parking and finding a nice affordable place to live (finding roommates too!)

Rialto Now – If money wasn’t an issue what would be your dream forever job?

Anahi Velasco – I don’t think I’ve ever realistically thought of money as being one of the biggest factors of what my “dream job” would be. I’ve listened to so many high-level executives say over and over again that we need to follow our passion and money would come after. So without saying any position titles or specific occupations, I’d say my dream job is to interact and engage with the youth to listen to their stories and share their triumphs. Everyone has barriers that keep them from moving forward, but only a few are successful in overcoming their barriers and using it as a motivation for their future.

Rialto Now – What would you tell young people today that you wish you would have known when you were young?

Anahi Velasco – I wish I would have been able to recognize all of the sacrifices and huge efforts my parents make for me to succeed. I didn’t notice all of the little things until my second semester of sophomore year in high school. I sincerely wish I would have invited my parents to all of the parent meetings they held at school or back to school nights. I always felt like they were too busy or would be tired to attend, so I didn’t invite them.

During my junior and senior year in high school, they took me everywhere. If I had a meeting, they were the first to offer to take me even though I told them I could walk. I was also enrolled at San Bernardino Valley College program, so they took me to school as early as 6:30am and picked me up as late as 10:00pm.

My mom also tried her best to always provide me with snacks and food. Many times I would be so busy that I forgot to eat, but I would always be able to count on one of my backpack pockets to have some sort of snack. I didn’t expect it, but it was always there. Even to this day, when I visit my parents on the weekends, I drive back to Orange County and find snacks hidden throughout my car. I absolutely love my parents!

I know that some youth have trouble recognizing the efforts our parents back and sometimes even feel like our parents don’t understand us. Well, how could they possibly understand us if we don’t talk to them? If we don’t communicate with them and share our struggles and successes with them? It’s all about communication. We need to communicate with each other and value each other for who we are. I’m not ashamed to say that I love my parents and although I excluded them from certain events throughout middle school and high school, they were my main motivation to succeed.

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Local Ratepayers Call For Leadership On The West Valley Water Board

21 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

If you were not aware a lot of issues have been brewing on the West Valley Water Board. From rate increases to political positioning it looks like the trouble has boiled over into ratepayers actually attending meetings and calling out into the light some issues that appear to be more serious than anyone first thought. Over the last three years there has been a series of regular rate increases that have set off a firestorm of controversy and led certain people to act in ways that now that have people questioning certain board members agendas.

Board Director Linda Gonzalez, Recently Appointed Board Director Rafael Trullio & Vice President Clifford Young are leading the charge that they are the voices of reason and will be the team to lower WVWD ratepayers rates. Current President Betty Gosney said the rates were increased to make sure that WVWD could afford to deliver water to it’s customers.

Fast forward to today and the WVWB has approved the use of PUBLIC funds to investigate current Board Member Alan Dyer on his residency and former WVWD General Manager Butch Ariza on his ability to run for the water district. Clifford Young, Linda Gonzalez and Rafael Truillo are also calling into question where Mr. Ariza’s campaign funds came from. Clifford Young, Linda Gonzalez and Rafael Truillo claim that election funds came from people who currently hold contracts with WVWD. Well if this isn’t ok then someone better tell every other political person because sadly this is all to common take the money out of politics and this won’t be an issue.

There are two sides to every story and were asking for everyone for their statements. On the residents side of things Mr. O’Connell the Author of this flyer (see above) has gone on record See Below:

“I have said numerous times and I will continue to say it, the public doesn’t trust politicians and there are reasons why. You need to earned that back.

Some of the reasons were clearly visible at the West Valley Water District Board meetings that I attended on 10/12/15-noon and 10/15/15.

The first thing I noticed was a clear lack of effective leadership, poor decision-making and a form of bullying going on.

After exiting from close session, the first thing the board did was fire their attorney by a vote of 3 to 2 (YES – Young, Gonzalez and Trujillo).

Instead of having another attorney available to step in or even closing the Special Meeting until the next regular meeting – 3 days later, the board members continued without any legal help. Normally this shouldn’t be a problem but this board kept stepping into quicksand -potentially violating the Brown act.

On at least two occasions, myself and another citizen informed the board that they were violating the Brown act. (Brown act – a law that effectively states that elected officials must do their business in public. There very strict requirements and significant penalties for failing to follow it.)

I was surprised at what they were doing, since every elected officia has to take a class that teaches the Brown act.

This flyer is based on two meetings that I recently attended at the West Valley Water District. (10/12/15, 10/15/15)

I, along with 50+ private citizens were stunned buy what we witnessed by our elected WVWD Board members. We pay to much money to see it wasted at their level. Whether it’s them spending money on things that they have no mandate or doing things in such a reckless manner as to open the district up for Financial loss. They need to be good stewards of our money.

Not all was loss. I appreciated Director Gonzalez coming down and providing snacks for the children, as well as speaking with all of us. That showed a small level of commitment to community that I respected.

What I wrote below is just a small sample of the problems facing this board. I will be starting a Facebook page to link the YouTube videos, so you can see for yourself. Shawn O’Connell”

Keep checking back as we will update you as more statements come in and to keep plugged in visit https://www.facebook.com/WVWDBoard

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Rialto Unified School District Hears Parents Concerns and Responds With Help

09 Oct 2015 1 Comment

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.

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What is behind the development issues in the City of Rialto?

14 Aug 2015 Leave a comment

So yesterday we issued a story on the fact that soon we would have five McDonalds in the City of Rialto. What we found out through comments on Facebook and conversations with city staff is that it looks like the planning department is allowing the franchise owner of the McDonalds on Foothill to vacate that space and build a new location on Cedar & Foothill.

Later in the meeting Ed Scott called out the community opposition to this development stating that the city can’t dictate or block businesses that are developed on private land he stated it would put the city in a tough spot, Joe Baca Jr. also echoed this statement. These two elected officials said that if McDonalds wants to build 10 of their fast food restaurants in rialto we can’t stop them. Well both these men have Facebook pages and I challenge them to engage with the large amounts of community members who disagree with this statement. People want better food choices and if they only can find those near the Super Walmart and the new retail pad at the old airport site we will continue to depress the other parts of Rialto.

We spoke to Rob Steel Development Services Director and he said that McDonalds Corporate was the one building the new location and that they were going to allow the franchise owner from the other foothill location to move into the new building. The problem we now have is there is a old empty building that will attract homeless, vandalism and further damage the appearance of Route 66. Rob Steel said that the old McDonalds is a desirable location for businesses like Tams, Albertos and Juan Pollo. With that being said that area is becoming oversaturated with those type of food options. One thing that Robb Steal said was that the city did have some say over weather that McDonalds would be constructed there. From what we can ascertain is that they choose not to. Rialto lost a Verizon Wireless location because of this and now traffic is a nightmare.

The other development issue on tap last night was the last available pad to be developed in the In & Out Burger Center. The final pad was originally slated to host a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf plus two other small retail businesses. That changed with space constraints to just a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and then Coffee Bean saw that the city had room on the price and began asking for a series of price reductions. This boils down to the “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie” syndrome. The developer saw blood in the water and was taking advantage of the situation. Well when In & Out asked to purchase the pad to create a exclusive In & Out parking area Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf just walked away. What was ironic is instead of making a sale and letting In & Out develop the parking pad it seems as though the city wants to spend the money to develop the parking pad. It looks like control is an issue here and were wondering who is going to win and at what cost to the community? It looks like we sell it to In & Out for their exclusive use or the city pays to pave it for everyone’s use.

But wait there is more…… It appears that Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf wants to steal the open pad just a stones throw away from previous site. Coucilman O’Connell said last night that the pad was prime location given its location (see image below) and that he had reservations giving Coffee Bean first stab at building on that site. Councilman O’Connell wants to make sure we get the best tenant for that location and for Rialto. From the vote he was not alone the vote was 3-2 with Councilman O’Connell & Palmer voting no to give an unfair first stab to the Coffee Bean developers.

The black box indicates the location of the new development site

Print this picture or show this photo on your phone when you pay for your food to be counted.

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Come support Hunter tonight

23 Apr 2015 Leave a comment

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Rialto Community Coalition Works On Youth Conference With Congressman Aguilar

10 Apr 2015 Leave a comment

On Tuesday the Rialto Community Coalition held their regular monthly meeting Tuesday April 7th. The Agenda originally had one item working on developing a Youth Leadership Conference, a last minute addition made the meeting run over. Congressman Aguilar who is home in the district came to sit in on the meeting and offer support where he could.

The meeting was well attended and their were people from all sections of the community in attendance. Joseph Williams from YAP (Youth Action Project) introduced Congressman Aguilar and offered a platform for Congressman Aguilar to address the group. Congressman Aguilar spoke about the work he was a part of when a elected member of Redlands City Government in regards to Redlands Social Host Ordnance and their Safe Places program where the city helped create safe opportunities for students. Congressman ended his time by offering support from his office where the Coalition needs it.

The meeting was very well attended and headway was accomplished in regards to the Youth Leadership Conference. What was accomplished was a location, date and there was some discussion on what types of workshops would be provided. This meeting was not only adults but youth had a key roll in developing this conference. There were youth from Carter High School’s BLSA Club, Middle School Students from the Rialto area, youth from Etiwanda High School & local Christian Youth Speaker Rizzy Rider.

Some of the desired outcomes that the coalition wanted to see come from this effort was to see students become Rock Stars in their groups when it comes to Drug & Alcohol use, to see teens succeed beyond their circumstances and continue to see a positive change in the illegal use of drugs and alcohol through education.

Agencies and organizations in attendance were Lil Saints Productions, Carter High School, Congressman Aguilar’s office, All Nations Realty, Etiwanda High School, Rialto Democrat Club, Vibe Fitness, Rialto Police Volunteers, Rialto Neighborhood Watch Program, SOLA Communities, Transforming Lives Charter School, Market Solution Services & Inland Valley Drug Free Coalition.

Information that has already be agreed to is:

Youth Leadership Conference

At Bob Murphy School

May 2nd 2015

Want more information on the Coalition or the Youth Leadership Conference go to http://www.facebook.com/rialtocoalition

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Rialto City Council Meeting March 10th

09 Mar 2015 Leave a comment

Well tomorrow is another regular meeting for the Rialto City Council. Below we are highlighting some areas of interest and potential items to keep a look out for.

PRESENTATIONS:

Presentation-Update on Rialto Jazz Festival-George N. Harris II

Director of Administrative and Community Services

I am not against raising money for our youth and our music programs. I regularly support our youth, their programs and fundraisers what I am against is the following:

The Special Events Committee isn’t playing fair with all parties in the city of Rialto. To allow the Mayor, Administration Director and other powerful leaders shut down a public park for a private event. Other people in Rialto have been told no by this committee so why doesn’t everyone have to play by the same rules?
Raising money for youth and making Alcohol the back bone of the efforts. Don’t we have enough places for alcohol to flow freely? Why must we bring 3 thousand people to get drunk then drive away to get into an accident? What message is this sending to our youth?
Not city sponsored says city staff but city resources are being used and will be used that day. I’m sorry but its hard to see the separation between the city and the event.

Presentation-Fire Success Story: Saving Starbucks-Mat Fratus

Fire Chief

Introduction of new Public Works Director/City Engineer:

Robert Eisenbeisz- Mike Story, City Administrator

CONSENT CALENDAR:

D.1 15-120 Request City Council to Set a Public Hearing for March 24, 2015, to

Consider Adopting an Ordinance Amending Chapter 5.20 of the Rialto

Municipal Code Imposing Strict Liability on Property Owners or Persons

in Control of Property who Violate Fireworks Possession or Discharge

Restrictions.

Its wonderful that they created a harsher fireworks penalty but who is going to enforce it? Our public safety agencies have not shown people here in the city that they can make a sizeable dent in the situation. I’m sorry but telling us about all the raids they did doesn’t compute on July 4th when our city is lit up like a war zone. I think the bad guys want them to find those stashes so that the public safety agencies can declare a victory and the bad guys can still profit from illegal fun.

TAB ITEMS:

TAB2 15-131 Request City Council to Continue the Public Hearing to March 24, 2015

to Consider: (1) Adoption of Resolution No. 6692 Approving a Mitigated

Negative Declaration (Environmental Assessment No. 12-23); (2)

Approving Conditional Development Permit Nos. 712 and 720 for West

Colton Rail Terminal, LLC (WCRT) and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners,

L.P. (KMEP); and (3) introduce Ordinance No. 1557 “An Ordinance of

the City Council of the City Of Rialto, California, Granting to West Colton

Rail Terminal LLC, the Nonexclusive Right, Privilege, Authority, and

Franchise to Lay and Use Pipelines and Appurtenances for Transmitting

and Distributing Ethanol for any and all Lawful Purposes under and

along the Public Streets, Ways, Alleys and Places, as the Same Now or

May Hereafter Exist, within Said City”.

This is an issue from the February 9th meeting where nobody knew who owned the existing line or if it was still any good. Also the issue of the tank farm storage fee was also a cause for concern lets see what 60 days has done for the situation.

TAB4 15-136 Request City Council to Adopt Resolution No. 6704 to Budget

Anticipated Land Sales Proceeds in the amount of $14,510,568 from the

Sale of Airport Property and to Budget Contracted Distributions in the

amount of $4,153,664 for Fiscal Year 2014/15.

Medline & Niagara Proceeds 610-400-7150-7711 $14,510,568

LHR Note 610-500-7150-2011 ($ 2,561,115)

SBIAA 610-500-7150-2011 ($ 1,592,549)

City of Rialto 610-500-7150-5010 ($10,356,904)

City of Rialto 010-400-0001-9610 $ 10,356,904

Why are we taking 4,153,664 from these two land sales and putting it into a budget that is almost over? Were waiting for an answer from the city.

These are the items that stand out to us here at Rialto Now but this is in no way a complete list of the entire agenda. We encourage everyone to go to http://www.rialtoca.gov and look at the entire agenda for themselves.

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Coffee With The Chief This Tuesday

07 Aug 2014 Leave a comment

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Community Garden Open House

16 May 2014 Leave a comment

8th annual Rialto Community Garden Open House 
Saturday, May 17th from 10:00 am -1:00 pm 
539 N. Acacia Ave. 
(Behind Grace Lutheran Church) 
FREE MULCH!!! 
Donated by Burrtec Waste 
Bring your own bags and shovel!