Rialto Police took part in the Baker to Las Vegas Relay Race April 21st & 22nd.
The Rialto Police Department, and Rialto Police Benefit Assoc. Co-Sponsored a Relay team for the Baker to Vegas (B2V) Relay race. It is a 120 Mile race that starts at Baker High School and runs to Shoshone through Pahrump, Mountain Springs, Down that Interstate 160 to Durango Ave over to West Sunset Road. and the Race ends in a Commercial Parking lot at the corner of West Sunset Road @ Dean Martin Drive.
The First leg wasn't that bad, it was a mild uphill, that was done with ease by Everyone's Favorite K-9 Handler, Fred Poching. (I have been away from the game for a long time, It has been Ten years since my Fatal Accident, where I was brought back from the dead by Sergent Tim Lane, The Brave Men and Woman of the Rialto Fire Department Paramedic's Under the Supervision of Battalion Chief Mike Peel, and all the men and woman of Rialto's SCAT Division (Street Crime Attack Team), The San Bernardino Sheriff's Helicopter (40-King), The Sheriff Deputies On the Ground from Loma Linda, Grand Terrace, Fontana, & Central Division, The California Highway Patrol, & The Men and Woman from Rialto Police Department all of whom closed off Intersections to allow the Ambulance to get from Cedar Ave @ Holly Ave to Loma Linda Hospital in 11 minutes, but that is another story for another time {Ancient history}).
Leg number two was a little more of a hill but three and four was really hard. I believe that the fourth was the worst, with hill that stayed at a 9% grade for almost the whole 6+ miles that had to be ran in that leg. The Officer that ran it Nick Named, "Kobe" Did a wonderful Job, he ran his heart out, and that hill still took a great deal out of him. The Officer that ran the Third leg, Which was the second worse Hill wise. It might have been worse since the hills varied and you could never really set a pace and stick to it since the terrain varied so much.
The B2V Leg 4 to Leg 5 was in such a remote area that they had three helicopter's on stand by to fly anyone out that needed medical attention from the Run. In years past, as many people know Baker Ca. is Known as the Hottest City in the United States. Well in years past when they ran this it was 102 degree's, however on this day it was only in upper 80's. Warm, and to some it was hot if you were not prepared for the run.
B2V Leg was a little easier to run in that it was less hill-ed, but still difficult just the same. Any 7 Mile run is difficult, but the Officer that ran the leg did it pretty well.
The main goal for The Rialto Police Team was to finish, there wasn't a real concern for placing first or getting a finish of third, but to finish, with no penalties.
I was what was called a "Catcher" for the first five legs! Myself along with another person was a "Catch Team" We were to grab a runner once they passed the baton to the next runner. Then we physically grabbed the runner and walked them to the First Aid area, the first aid station made sure that the Runner was okay and not overly exhausted and not in a heat exhaustion situation. Once they were cleared they could go on and hydrate and go home, released from the race.
Rialto Police Departments Motto this year was that they were "Back From the Dead"
It was Sep. 16, 2005 When the City Council Voted 4-1 to contract with Sheriff Penrod For Law Enforcement protection for The City of Rialto. The Citizen's and Rialto Police Benefit Association hired a lawyer and placed a huge costly fight, that ultimately forced the city to halt the Contract that was actually signed with the Sheriff for Law Enforcement Protection!!
The Stay Order came about by a Court Action brought forth by the RPBA/Rialto Citizen's Lawyer, and the City was forced to stop and keep the Rialto Police Department as it was until they could evaluate and Attempt to Re-Negotiate a new contract with the RPBA. In the mean time the City Council/City Administrator Laid off all the people that was in training & on Probation, effectively leaving the City with an emergency situation with not enough Dispatchers to field calls for service. All the Officers in the Academy were relieved of their paychecks, and laid them off as well. That left the Police Department with almost 6 Officers that were due to join the field in a few months.
They were really working on them to the point that they didn't pay to maintain any of the Police Equipment, they didn't change oil, and or anything. stating that they were going to be sold to the Sheriff Department!!
The City Administrator/City Attorney/City Council all had a lot of the Department figuring on the Cities battle loosing, and the city going to the Sheriff Department. If this was to happen, even with the lower that they were getting since none of the raises on the current contract was honored since they figured it was not going to be a contract that was going to be used. It was hard for a lot of Officers & Sergeants to take. They were expecting that extra money for raises. Then the City Admin/City Attorney/& City Council was winning, when @ the whole time it was still just a draw or the RPBA was winning, But they had convinced So many Sergeants and Officers that they lost Double digits I think the number was 12 or 15 to other Departments and the District Attorney's Office as D.A. Investigators.
The Rialto Police Department kept fighting on Even though they were working with small crews each shift, and they had to work their bottom off to keep ahead of the game.
The Citizens did a signature drive for a bill on the next ballot. This bill if made in to a law would force the City to Accept their own Police Agency for Law Enforcement Protection, and the second part of the Bill would Change the City Charter. The City Charter says that the City Council can vote any Department away my Majority Vote, as they did to remove the Police Department. IN the new Charter Change, The City Council would have to place their decision to change the Law Enforcement to a 2/3rd Majority Vote by the City of Rialto Citizens.
The Citizens collected over 7000 signatures when they only needed 4200 signatures. When the signatures were submitted to the City of Rialto Clerk, the Clerk found that the Signatures were not legally collected and could not be used for this bill. She said that there was a very small amount of signatures that were approved, not enough to make this a bill on the next ballot to vote on.
There was a huge UP-ROAR, to have this reviewed by a neutral party, and finally after so many months of people bringing up that the signatures should be reviewed by a neutral party. Then finally the city said that they would have someone form the Voters Offices to have a look at the Petition and see what signatures are collected legally and Illegally. After a five minute review they were found to be collected legally. The City Council being beat voted right then to have the Bill voted into law on the City Charter and also Voted to have the Rialto Police Department return to the Negotiation Tables to start a dialogue, and Reinstate the Police Department as it was.
They also started to purchase new Police cars and got right back on the straight in ad narrow and started to treat their Police Officers Right Again.
They had to do the right thing by getting the right guy to Run the Police department, not a guy that is going to tear down the Men and Woman and make the Department seem like it is an okay Department to the Citizens but the Officers that are working for this Chief are all corrupt, and on the Take. Chief Michael Meyers was just that kind of Leader!! This was a leader that was hired by the Current City Administrator. Garcia. It makes you wonder if that was his plan from the beginning to make Rialto a CORRUPT DEPARTMENT!! So, when the time came to close up shop and Re-Open as a Clean Contract City for the Sheriff Department, I am sure that is the full picture that we didn't get to see.
However, Rialto City Admin. Garcia Went out and got Mark Kling from Baldwin Park Police Department this time, and he did a great thing. There is a great deal of trust that has been built back up in the department and there is a whole lot of people that are loving the situation back at the Police Department again.
The reason that I am writing all this history, is because Chief Mark Kling ran the last leg of the B2V run and did a great job in doing so. When he crossed the finish line Everyone that started the race was right there at the finish line to See the Chief finish the Race. That is the kind of leader this man is. Mark Kling is real nice soft spoken leader that seems to be well on the right track to keep Rialto Police Back to what it was back in the Golden Age when I started Back in the 80's.
I am happy to see that there is so many of the Officer's that are as happy as they were at the B2V, and I am happy that I was invited to take part in this event.
Noretta, Thank You Very much for the invitation and the great time, in Vegas!! I am just sorry that I could not stay that extra day, and eat that great dinner that you spoke of.
Again, I just want to Thank the Men and Woman of Rialto Police Department for the great time.
BS Ranch
PS: Sara, Cindy,& LeAnne Maybe next time I can get some pictures of you guys in the "Portable Rented Hot Tub" to add to my blog..LOL
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Friday, April 13, 2007
Rialto OKs Payment to Airport -- Deal Needed for City to Build Huge Project
Rialto OKs payment to airport
Deal needed for city to build huge project
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:04/04/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - The City Council on Tuesday night approved an agreement that will provide San Bernardino International Airport with $49.5 million.
The agreement is necessary to allow Rialto to close its airport and replace it with a massive mixed-use development along the Interstate 210 extension.
"It'll be put to a much better use," Robb Steel, the city's economic-development director, said after the council had voted.
On Monday, Steel said that although the item would remain on the council's agenda, City Administrator Henry Garcia wanted to delay the council vote because at least one council member asked for more information.
However, after meeting in closed session Tuesday afternoon, Steel said the council's concerns were addressed.
Federal legislation allowing Rialto to close the airport required the city to pay 45 percent of the value of its airport to SBIA.
Rialto officials agreed after negotiations with SBIA officials that the airport was worth $120 million. To determine the $49.5 million payment, $10 million of the value was deducted to account for development costs.
The city initially thought the airport was worth $66 million. The difference between that and the value agreed upon means that Rialto will have to pay SBIA about twice as much as it originally intended. That difference will be split by Rialto and the developer of the project, Lewis-Hillwood Rialto LLC, Steel said. Lewis-Hillwood is a partnership between the Lewis Group of Companies and Texas-based developer Hillwood.
After Rialto closes its airport, many of the airport tenants will move to SBIA. The city is guaranteed to gain $26 million from the sale to the developer, even after paying SBIA and helping Lewis-Hillwood prepare the Rialto airport property for development.
Even though Rialto is guaranteed $26 million from Lewis-Hillwood, Steel stressed the developer could end up spending $120 million after helping to pay SBIA, preparing the Rialto property for development and after paying Rialto for the property itself.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
As I had wrote in m previous BLOG's The figures that they have are all speculations of what could be by probability and statistical figures gathered if, and that is one huge if, the people that drive on the freeway get off the freeway and decide that they want to go to a Shopping center located in the City of Rialto? Now, that might all be fine and dandy, but there is a few things that are missing. One this is Rialto. and the Administration that Leads this city is still Garcia, & the City's Council is Still Owen.
The City's Council wants to take Black and Decker to court over the Perchlorate problem when they have said that they would pay for the problems. The County of San Bernardino has said that in the group of City's and County that the best thing to do is allow the Businesses the right to see if they are going to pay for the problems themselves and avoid any Court Costs that might occur to our budgets. Owen, apparently feels that he has the Administrator's Ear, because he said that he felt that it was best to take the businesses of Black and Decker to court and sue them for an undisclosed amount for the clean up of the Perchlorate problem that we are suffering in Rialto. The thing is that each time that he goes to court, Owens makes more and more money, At least $450 an hour. He gets paid 750, 000.00 a year just to attend the city Council Meetings, and that is a certain amount. if they run over three hours then there is a per hour charge. so that can kick in. You can see why Owen is eager to start the Court Wheel going.
Now the cities matter on the Sale of the Airport and the land, they will be paying the airport the amount, plus there is an ongoing rent agreement that they will pay for the renters that are moved over there because of the Inconvenience of having to move their plane to another Facility.
I think that is sick. They should not have to spread that kind of coin out for them! That is what I feel. On that matter. But that is just me. I am not so easy at spreading out my Taxpayers money. Like the City Council of the Rialto Council.
Renaissance will have one anchor store and that is going to be Target. There has not been any other interested parties even though they have had the net out to try to catch another willing business. Rialto is a commuter city always has been and it will not change any time soon. The businesses that are here have been here for a while, but most of the time if they don't have help they fail.
Even the huge chain store that was open for a short time at the corner of cedar/foothill. They had some weird policies on how they handled petty theft, they didn't prosecute, but if you were panhandling in front of the store. oh my!! if was like the third wold war was opened up!
They didn't make it. They closed the Rialto branch, and shortly there after they announced via radio that the chain was bankrupt! Kind of like Builders Emporium. But the whole thing was sad they were a good store like that of Builders Emporium, they even had a out door patio center, back in 1993 they were open there when the place first opened up, and Food 4Less was first there and the Grocery Stores were having a strike back then too. They were striking for better pay and since Food 4 Less was purchased by a Union Franchise they wanted to be part of the Union. I think they won, but still got paid less. I don't quite know how the outcome of that strike came out, but I am getting off subject.
I Truly Pray that Rialto, and the City Council makes out great and the City Budget is over flowing with Cash, on the sale of the airport and the Privatising of the land there to Businesses, and houses, and the like, will make it so much better! I pray that it does work out for them. I would rather see that My Beloved Rialto Police Grow to over 300 to 500 Employee's and even bigger, that would be great! It would be wonderful.
What I get into with the airport, is that This is Rialto! This is the Sale of said Property for Businesses in Rialto, and usually what happens is that they don't work to well. I wonder and hope that it doesn't go by the way, rather that it Thrives to make money hand over fist.
BS Ranch
Deal needed for city to build huge project
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:04/04/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - The City Council on Tuesday night approved an agreement that will provide San Bernardino International Airport with $49.5 million.
The agreement is necessary to allow Rialto to close its airport and replace it with a massive mixed-use development along the Interstate 210 extension.
"It'll be put to a much better use," Robb Steel, the city's economic-development director, said after the council had voted.
On Monday, Steel said that although the item would remain on the council's agenda, City Administrator Henry Garcia wanted to delay the council vote because at least one council member asked for more information.
However, after meeting in closed session Tuesday afternoon, Steel said the council's concerns were addressed.
Federal legislation allowing Rialto to close the airport required the city to pay 45 percent of the value of its airport to SBIA.
Rialto officials agreed after negotiations with SBIA officials that the airport was worth $120 million. To determine the $49.5 million payment, $10 million of the value was deducted to account for development costs.
The city initially thought the airport was worth $66 million. The difference between that and the value agreed upon means that Rialto will have to pay SBIA about twice as much as it originally intended. That difference will be split by Rialto and the developer of the project, Lewis-Hillwood Rialto LLC, Steel said. Lewis-Hillwood is a partnership between the Lewis Group of Companies and Texas-based developer Hillwood.
After Rialto closes its airport, many of the airport tenants will move to SBIA. The city is guaranteed to gain $26 million from the sale to the developer, even after paying SBIA and helping Lewis-Hillwood prepare the Rialto airport property for development.
Even though Rialto is guaranteed $26 million from Lewis-Hillwood, Steel stressed the developer could end up spending $120 million after helping to pay SBIA, preparing the Rialto property for development and after paying Rialto for the property itself.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
As I had wrote in m previous BLOG's The figures that they have are all speculations of what could be by probability and statistical figures gathered if, and that is one huge if, the people that drive on the freeway get off the freeway and decide that they want to go to a Shopping center located in the City of Rialto? Now, that might all be fine and dandy, but there is a few things that are missing. One this is Rialto. and the Administration that Leads this city is still Garcia, & the City's Council is Still Owen.
The City's Council wants to take Black and Decker to court over the Perchlorate problem when they have said that they would pay for the problems. The County of San Bernardino has said that in the group of City's and County that the best thing to do is allow the Businesses the right to see if they are going to pay for the problems themselves and avoid any Court Costs that might occur to our budgets. Owen, apparently feels that he has the Administrator's Ear, because he said that he felt that it was best to take the businesses of Black and Decker to court and sue them for an undisclosed amount for the clean up of the Perchlorate problem that we are suffering in Rialto. The thing is that each time that he goes to court, Owens makes more and more money, At least $450 an hour. He gets paid 750, 000.00 a year just to attend the city Council Meetings, and that is a certain amount. if they run over three hours then there is a per hour charge. so that can kick in. You can see why Owen is eager to start the Court Wheel going.
Now the cities matter on the Sale of the Airport and the land, they will be paying the airport the amount, plus there is an ongoing rent agreement that they will pay for the renters that are moved over there because of the Inconvenience of having to move their plane to another Facility.
I think that is sick. They should not have to spread that kind of coin out for them! That is what I feel. On that matter. But that is just me. I am not so easy at spreading out my Taxpayers money. Like the City Council of the Rialto Council.
Renaissance will have one anchor store and that is going to be Target. There has not been any other interested parties even though they have had the net out to try to catch another willing business. Rialto is a commuter city always has been and it will not change any time soon. The businesses that are here have been here for a while, but most of the time if they don't have help they fail.
Even the huge chain store that was open for a short time at the corner of cedar/foothill. They had some weird policies on how they handled petty theft, they didn't prosecute, but if you were panhandling in front of the store. oh my!! if was like the third wold war was opened up!
They didn't make it. They closed the Rialto branch, and shortly there after they announced via radio that the chain was bankrupt! Kind of like Builders Emporium. But the whole thing was sad they were a good store like that of Builders Emporium, they even had a out door patio center, back in 1993 they were open there when the place first opened up, and Food 4Less was first there and the Grocery Stores were having a strike back then too. They were striking for better pay and since Food 4 Less was purchased by a Union Franchise they wanted to be part of the Union. I think they won, but still got paid less. I don't quite know how the outcome of that strike came out, but I am getting off subject.
I Truly Pray that Rialto, and the City Council makes out great and the City Budget is over flowing with Cash, on the sale of the airport and the Privatising of the land there to Businesses, and houses, and the like, will make it so much better! I pray that it does work out for them. I would rather see that My Beloved Rialto Police Grow to over 300 to 500 Employee's and even bigger, that would be great! It would be wonderful.
What I get into with the airport, is that This is Rialto! This is the Sale of said Property for Businesses in Rialto, and usually what happens is that they don't work to well. I wonder and hope that it doesn't go by the way, rather that it Thrives to make money hand over fist.
BS Ranch
Airport Pack Inching Along- City Expecting $26 Million Profit from Renaissance Rialto
Airport pact inching along
City expecting $26 million profit from Renaissance Rialto
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/03/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - To make way for Renaissance Rialto, the city and the project developer must pay $49.5 million to San Bernardino International Airport, under a proposed agreement.
Rialto officials had expected to pay closer to $30 million and some said they were not thrilled with the new price tag.
The amount was a result of the negotiating parties' agreement that the airport is worth $120 million, not an appraised price. That's nearly twice the $66 million the city will receive for the property.
But in the complicated exchange, Rialto is guaranteed a profit of $26 million, but officials had hoped for more.
"It bothers me, but we've also got to make this work for SBIA," Councilman Ed Scott said of the difference.
The agreement between SBIA, Rialto and Lewis-Hillwood Rialto Company LLC - the project developer - was to be voted on tonight, but City Council members asked to postpone the matter.
Scott said he was still waiting to review a final version of the agreement before voting.
The goal of the project is a 1,500-acre master-planned area of housing, retail, schools and mixed use.
Lewis-Hillwood, a joint venture of the Lewis Group of Companies and the Texas-based developer
Hillwood, and the city want to close the Rialto airport to make way for Renaissance Rialto, a massive mixed-use development.
The project will be located along the soon-to-be-completed Interstate 210 extension. Renaissance is an aggressive stab at boosting the city's economy and improving its image.
In 2005, Congress passed legislation allowing Rialto to close the airport. For years, Rialto had attempted to close the airport but could not obtain permission from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The legislation allowed for the airport to close as long as SBIA was paid 45 percent of the fair market value of the airport property. The negotiated value of the property was $120 million, but $10 million of that will be deducted to pay for preparing the site for development.
That means the city and Lewis-Hillwood will have to pay $49.5 million.
Even though the parties agreed on the $120 million number, Rialto and Lewis-Hillwood previously agreed that the value of the airport property was about $66 million. The value on which Rialto now is basing its payment to SBIA is almost twice as high as the amount Lewis-Hillwood will have to pay the city for the property.
The difference is because the city estimated the property's value as of March 2005, Scott said.
The $120 million number was the result of negotiations between the parties, said Redevelopment Manager Greg Lantz.
In order to complete the Renaissance project, Lewis-Hillwood must buy Rialto's airport from the city. After all the money changes hands in the complex deal, Rialto is guaranteed to make $26 million.
Plans for the project should come before the council late this year.
SBIA will spend $4 million to improve its infrastructure and $10 million to accommodate tenants from Rialto's airport.
The relocation of the tenants from Rialto's airport should begin later this year, said Robb Steel, the city's economic development director.
Businesses at the Rialto Municipal Airport pay rents below market value, he said, because the city froze rents.
In order to help them cope with increased rents in their new locations, Rialto will give them assistance paying the increased rents for two years.
A relocation plan released by the city last month spells out the assistance the airport tenants will receive, including moving costs and the cost of setting up shop at the new location.
In addition to the influx of money, SBIA stands to gain more tenants when the Rialto airport closes.
"This will help us significantly," said Mike Burrows, SBIA's assistant director. SBIA's commission is likely to vote on the agreement at its next meeting on April 11, he said.
In addition to considering the closure agreement, the council was scheduled to consider other changes to the deal with Lewis-Hillwood.
One would be that the city's redevelopment agency would provide the financing for much of the cost of the sale of a 53-acre property next to the airport. Lewis-Hillwood would repay that price, estimated at $16 million, with interest.
Other revisions to the contract between Rialto and Lewis-Hillwood would result in the city receiving $5.6 to $6.5 million less from the developer.
Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said Monday he had some questions about what the council was scheduled to vote on. He said he wants to find out exactly why the city's estimated value of the airport is so much lower than $120 million.
But, he said, his main concern is what Renaissance Rialto eventually has to offer.
"I'm excited about it, but I'm still concerned about the content."
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
It has been my contention about this whole Rialto Airport Deal, and the Rialto Renaissance that they have either rushed into something or the whole thing is a bad Idea for the City of Rialto. The Reason that I say this is because before Rialto even sees any Tax Revenue at all from the businesses they will be paying for rent at additional Locations for businesses that had to be "Re-Located" to another place. Not just that, but they were proposed to see some $120 Million in Revenue from the Sale, when they were supposed to sell off over 50% of the profit from the land to the Federal Government. I say that they will see considerable less Profit then what they have now, and There will not be a shopping base surrounding the area until the next 10 years or so, they have moved way to early. Unless they will build up so much that all the people that live there will shop there and not go to Fontana, and go shopping Like I do now for odds and ends, simply because they have a Costco.
I got the computer that I have and my Lap Top for considerable Less, for what it costs. I feel that it was a good deal. They also have the Home Depot, and Lowe's right next to each other, which is great because if one of the Home Improvement stores don't have what I am looking for or the right part that I am looking for the other one more then likely does. So, Right now, Fontana has the better Shopping experience for us. the only store that we use in Rialto is Stator Bros. That is it!
The Down Town of Rialto is really a Joke, With exception of a Car show, it is a joke. There is not anything downtown that us great to shop at with the exception of Ace Hardware. Johnson's hardware or Ace Is it. Other then the Occasional Walgreen's I don't really shop in Rialto. Now there is talk of a Target to go in at the Renaissance that is the first store that has committed to the project at the airport when they go. Well that is good. But I know that K-Mart will not re-establish a store here and on Wal-Mart is enough here in Rialto, I mean they have not been that happy with the "Gateway" that they were promised by the City Council. If it wasn't for someone finally listening to them complain enough to get Cocoa's and Burger King, Opened down there, along with the B of A Teller machines. they might have closed. because that was it for the "Gateway that was all that you did!!
Please Mark My Words, the Renaissance is going to FAIL!! or it will be one huge DUD!! You might build it, but this is Rialto, they will not come!!
BS Ranch
City expecting $26 million profit from Renaissance Rialto
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/03/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - To make way for Renaissance Rialto, the city and the project developer must pay $49.5 million to San Bernardino International Airport, under a proposed agreement.
Rialto officials had expected to pay closer to $30 million and some said they were not thrilled with the new price tag.
The amount was a result of the negotiating parties' agreement that the airport is worth $120 million, not an appraised price. That's nearly twice the $66 million the city will receive for the property.
But in the complicated exchange, Rialto is guaranteed a profit of $26 million, but officials had hoped for more.
"It bothers me, but we've also got to make this work for SBIA," Councilman Ed Scott said of the difference.
The agreement between SBIA, Rialto and Lewis-Hillwood Rialto Company LLC - the project developer - was to be voted on tonight, but City Council members asked to postpone the matter.
Scott said he was still waiting to review a final version of the agreement before voting.
The goal of the project is a 1,500-acre master-planned area of housing, retail, schools and mixed use.
Lewis-Hillwood, a joint venture of the Lewis Group of Companies and the Texas-based developer
Hillwood, and the city want to close the Rialto airport to make way for Renaissance Rialto, a massive mixed-use development.
The project will be located along the soon-to-be-completed Interstate 210 extension. Renaissance is an aggressive stab at boosting the city's economy and improving its image.
In 2005, Congress passed legislation allowing Rialto to close the airport. For years, Rialto had attempted to close the airport but could not obtain permission from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The legislation allowed for the airport to close as long as SBIA was paid 45 percent of the fair market value of the airport property. The negotiated value of the property was $120 million, but $10 million of that will be deducted to pay for preparing the site for development.
That means the city and Lewis-Hillwood will have to pay $49.5 million.
Even though the parties agreed on the $120 million number, Rialto and Lewis-Hillwood previously agreed that the value of the airport property was about $66 million. The value on which Rialto now is basing its payment to SBIA is almost twice as high as the amount Lewis-Hillwood will have to pay the city for the property.
The difference is because the city estimated the property's value as of March 2005, Scott said.
The $120 million number was the result of negotiations between the parties, said Redevelopment Manager Greg Lantz.
In order to complete the Renaissance project, Lewis-Hillwood must buy Rialto's airport from the city. After all the money changes hands in the complex deal, Rialto is guaranteed to make $26 million.
Plans for the project should come before the council late this year.
SBIA will spend $4 million to improve its infrastructure and $10 million to accommodate tenants from Rialto's airport.
The relocation of the tenants from Rialto's airport should begin later this year, said Robb Steel, the city's economic development director.
Businesses at the Rialto Municipal Airport pay rents below market value, he said, because the city froze rents.
In order to help them cope with increased rents in their new locations, Rialto will give them assistance paying the increased rents for two years.
A relocation plan released by the city last month spells out the assistance the airport tenants will receive, including moving costs and the cost of setting up shop at the new location.
In addition to the influx of money, SBIA stands to gain more tenants when the Rialto airport closes.
"This will help us significantly," said Mike Burrows, SBIA's assistant director. SBIA's commission is likely to vote on the agreement at its next meeting on April 11, he said.
In addition to considering the closure agreement, the council was scheduled to consider other changes to the deal with Lewis-Hillwood.
One would be that the city's redevelopment agency would provide the financing for much of the cost of the sale of a 53-acre property next to the airport. Lewis-Hillwood would repay that price, estimated at $16 million, with interest.
Other revisions to the contract between Rialto and Lewis-Hillwood would result in the city receiving $5.6 to $6.5 million less from the developer.
Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said Monday he had some questions about what the council was scheduled to vote on. He said he wants to find out exactly why the city's estimated value of the airport is so much lower than $120 million.
But, he said, his main concern is what Renaissance Rialto eventually has to offer.
"I'm excited about it, but I'm still concerned about the content."
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
It has been my contention about this whole Rialto Airport Deal, and the Rialto Renaissance that they have either rushed into something or the whole thing is a bad Idea for the City of Rialto. The Reason that I say this is because before Rialto even sees any Tax Revenue at all from the businesses they will be paying for rent at additional Locations for businesses that had to be "Re-Located" to another place. Not just that, but they were proposed to see some $120 Million in Revenue from the Sale, when they were supposed to sell off over 50% of the profit from the land to the Federal Government. I say that they will see considerable less Profit then what they have now, and There will not be a shopping base surrounding the area until the next 10 years or so, they have moved way to early. Unless they will build up so much that all the people that live there will shop there and not go to Fontana, and go shopping Like I do now for odds and ends, simply because they have a Costco.
I got the computer that I have and my Lap Top for considerable Less, for what it costs. I feel that it was a good deal. They also have the Home Depot, and Lowe's right next to each other, which is great because if one of the Home Improvement stores don't have what I am looking for or the right part that I am looking for the other one more then likely does. So, Right now, Fontana has the better Shopping experience for us. the only store that we use in Rialto is Stator Bros. That is it!
The Down Town of Rialto is really a Joke, With exception of a Car show, it is a joke. There is not anything downtown that us great to shop at with the exception of Ace Hardware. Johnson's hardware or Ace Is it. Other then the Occasional Walgreen's I don't really shop in Rialto. Now there is talk of a Target to go in at the Renaissance that is the first store that has committed to the project at the airport when they go. Well that is good. But I know that K-Mart will not re-establish a store here and on Wal-Mart is enough here in Rialto, I mean they have not been that happy with the "Gateway" that they were promised by the City Council. If it wasn't for someone finally listening to them complain enough to get Cocoa's and Burger King, Opened down there, along with the B of A Teller machines. they might have closed. because that was it for the "Gateway that was all that you did!!
Please Mark My Words, the Renaissance is going to FAIL!! or it will be one huge DUD!! You might build it, but this is Rialto, they will not come!!
BS Ranch
Festival Marks Milestone for Rialto Orange Grove (Press Enterprise)
Festival marks milestone for Rialto orange grove
10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, March 31, 2007
By PENNY E. SCHWARTZ
Special to The Press-Enterprise
The fragrance of orange blossoms scented the air Saturday as Rialto's last surviving orange grove reached its centennial milestone, marked by a Grove Fest birthday party.
Several hundred people attended the celebration in a tree-shaded area in front of one of the grove property's ranch-style houses.
The Adams-Cooley grove was planted in 1907 by V. R Cooley on 20 acres along Cactus Avenue between Randall and Merrill avenues.
Story continues below
Ed Crisostomo / The Press-Enterprise
Bob Fraley and Friends entertain the crowd Saturday with music during the Grove Fest celebration in Rialto.
During the 1970s, half of the acreage was sold, leaving 10 acres that remain in the family of Cooley's grandson, John Adams.
"Our grove is a complete working orchard from the good old days of Southern California, with the 100-year-old irrigation system and all the buildings still intact," said Adams, 62. "We farm it just as it was farmed in my grandfather's day."
The oranges are harvested and marketed by a Riverside packing house. Among the original buildings still standing on the property is one constructed of irrigation flumes from a neighboring grove.
During Saturday's celebration, Rialto Mayor Grace Vargas presented Adams with a plaque commemorating the occasion. Guests enjoyed lively bluegrass music offered by Bob Fraley and Friends, nibbled on birthday cake and drank fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Joining the party was Adams' mother, Jean, 92, an artist who has created paintings of the grove many times during her career. A poster incorporating one of her watercolors commemorated the Grove Fest and was available at the event.
Jean Adams still lives on the property with her son, John, a local historian.
Also in attendance were several dozen graduates of Rialto's Eisenhower High School, who have reconnected in recent years through Adams' efforts on the Internet.
"This is all so thrilling and incredible," said Ruth Fraley Parker, 62, a Class of 1962 classmate of Adams.
"I grew up around here and walked to school through the groves," said Parker, who now lives in Orange County. "We all have fond memories of the groves."
She said that she saw Adams' name on the Classmates.com Web site several years ago and e-mailed him. The contact led her to visit the Rialto Historical Society, which Adams has helped to spearhead and maintain.
Parker and another classmate, Jennifer Selbert, also of Orange County, helped Adams organize the Grove Fest. An avid gardener, Selbert also designed a poster for the event, detailing the edible plants that grow wild in the grove and that Adams harvests for cooking use by local ethnic groups.
A visitor from Colorado, James Selbert of the Class of 1959, gifted Adams with a group of vintage black and white photographs of Rialto for use by the historical society.
A number of family members were on hand as well.
"This was a great place to be a kid," said Bob Adams, 44, who lives in the Bay Area. "We would spend hours and days on end roaming the groves."
Bob Adams is a nephew of John's who lived in Pasadena as a child and visited Rialto in the summers.
"Once there were approximately 1,000 acres of citrus in Rialto and a small grove could support a family," said John Adams, who edited a recent book of historical photographs of Rialto.
Now his grove is the only one left in the city, he said.
Grove Fest guest Thomas Lopez, 66, of San Bernardino, sees Adams as a good influence on local preservationists.
"The people in power are starting to preserve the orchards in other cities," he said.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The whole thing about this festival was that the Orange Orchard that they were happy to celebrate was that of one that has been in the Same Rialto Family for 100 years. It was Planted by the Great Grand Father of the Current 62 year old owner with which I find wonderful that someone would keep anything in the family that long. Let alone, that the family still works the Orchard as a working Orchard. They Take the Fruit that they harvest out to a Packing Plant in Riverside One that had been in Business for almost as long as they planted the Orchard. Since they Closed the Packing Plant that was in Downtown Rialto, and the closest one was the one in Riverside, I bet it is close to the rail road.
I am happy for the family to have gotten the honor that the Rialto City gave them this year. That was Great, and Well Deserved!!
BS Ranch
10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, March 31, 2007
By PENNY E. SCHWARTZ
Special to The Press-Enterprise
The fragrance of orange blossoms scented the air Saturday as Rialto's last surviving orange grove reached its centennial milestone, marked by a Grove Fest birthday party.
Several hundred people attended the celebration in a tree-shaded area in front of one of the grove property's ranch-style houses.
The Adams-Cooley grove was planted in 1907 by V. R Cooley on 20 acres along Cactus Avenue between Randall and Merrill avenues.
Story continues below
Ed Crisostomo / The Press-Enterprise
Bob Fraley and Friends entertain the crowd Saturday with music during the Grove Fest celebration in Rialto.
During the 1970s, half of the acreage was sold, leaving 10 acres that remain in the family of Cooley's grandson, John Adams.
"Our grove is a complete working orchard from the good old days of Southern California, with the 100-year-old irrigation system and all the buildings still intact," said Adams, 62. "We farm it just as it was farmed in my grandfather's day."
The oranges are harvested and marketed by a Riverside packing house. Among the original buildings still standing on the property is one constructed of irrigation flumes from a neighboring grove.
During Saturday's celebration, Rialto Mayor Grace Vargas presented Adams with a plaque commemorating the occasion. Guests enjoyed lively bluegrass music offered by Bob Fraley and Friends, nibbled on birthday cake and drank fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Joining the party was Adams' mother, Jean, 92, an artist who has created paintings of the grove many times during her career. A poster incorporating one of her watercolors commemorated the Grove Fest and was available at the event.
Jean Adams still lives on the property with her son, John, a local historian.
Also in attendance were several dozen graduates of Rialto's Eisenhower High School, who have reconnected in recent years through Adams' efforts on the Internet.
"This is all so thrilling and incredible," said Ruth Fraley Parker, 62, a Class of 1962 classmate of Adams.
"I grew up around here and walked to school through the groves," said Parker, who now lives in Orange County. "We all have fond memories of the groves."
She said that she saw Adams' name on the Classmates.com Web site several years ago and e-mailed him. The contact led her to visit the Rialto Historical Society, which Adams has helped to spearhead and maintain.
Parker and another classmate, Jennifer Selbert, also of Orange County, helped Adams organize the Grove Fest. An avid gardener, Selbert also designed a poster for the event, detailing the edible plants that grow wild in the grove and that Adams harvests for cooking use by local ethnic groups.
A visitor from Colorado, James Selbert of the Class of 1959, gifted Adams with a group of vintage black and white photographs of Rialto for use by the historical society.
A number of family members were on hand as well.
"This was a great place to be a kid," said Bob Adams, 44, who lives in the Bay Area. "We would spend hours and days on end roaming the groves."
Bob Adams is a nephew of John's who lived in Pasadena as a child and visited Rialto in the summers.
"Once there were approximately 1,000 acres of citrus in Rialto and a small grove could support a family," said John Adams, who edited a recent book of historical photographs of Rialto.
Now his grove is the only one left in the city, he said.
Grove Fest guest Thomas Lopez, 66, of San Bernardino, sees Adams as a good influence on local preservationists.
"The people in power are starting to preserve the orchards in other cities," he said.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The whole thing about this festival was that the Orange Orchard that they were happy to celebrate was that of one that has been in the Same Rialto Family for 100 years. It was Planted by the Great Grand Father of the Current 62 year old owner with which I find wonderful that someone would keep anything in the family that long. Let alone, that the family still works the Orchard as a working Orchard. They Take the Fruit that they harvest out to a Packing Plant in Riverside One that had been in Business for almost as long as they planted the Orchard. Since they Closed the Packing Plant that was in Downtown Rialto, and the closest one was the one in Riverside, I bet it is close to the rail road.
I am happy for the family to have gotten the honor that the Rialto City gave them this year. That was Great, and Well Deserved!!
BS Ranch
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Last Orange Grove in Rialto Turns 100 (Daily Bulletin)
Last orange grove in Rialto turns 100
By Andrew Silva, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/01/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - In a city with nearly 100,000 people, a shady 10-acre oasis of the early 20th century still stands.
"It's just like what it was 100 years ago," said John Adams, 63, whose grandfather planted the orange trees and built the houses for what is now the last orange grove in Rialto.
Adams, who still lives on the little spread on Cactus Avenue, celebrated the 100th anniversary of his grandfather's grove Saturday.
The festival doubled as a reunion for Rialto natives who attended Rialto Junior High School and Eisenhower High School in the late 1950s and 1960s.
It was just a fortunate coincidence that it also turned out to be the anniversary of the year Adams' grandfather planted the first orange trees in 1907.
Some people may know their ancestors farmed in the past, he said, but not many get the chance to live amid the same trees and the memories they represent.
"We'd play softball for hours (in the road) without having to stop for a car," he said. "The birds and the winds were the only sounds you'd hear."
Ron Featherstone, 63, who now lives in Bullhead City, Ariz., graduated from Eisenhower High in 1962, as Adams did.
He remembers a Tom Sawyer-like boyhood when Rialto
was half orange groves and half undeveloped land.
"All the little critters and varmints were here," he said. "I caught hundreds of rattlesnakes."
He was bitten twice as a youngster, but continued catching the dangerous reptiles.
"I used to trade the rattles to the guys with the really good marbles," he said. "We found ways to have fun that didn't cost money."
The group of old friends used to stay in touch with phone calls and letters, but now they have a Web site to keep track of each other.
Jennifer Selbert, also from the class of 1962, said everyone remembers the smell of the orange blossoms, so they decided to have a reunion in the spring.
The centennial celebration was a bonus.
"We thought about doing the reunion when the oranges were blossoming and didn't even think it was the 100th anniversary," Selbert said.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
I think that it is time that the 100 year old Orchard should be made a Historical Land Mark and then told that they cannot sell, build, or do anything to that property except keep the Tree's in the Orchard happy, with Water and Plant Food and the like. They might have to pull or call in the pickers and pick or harvest the oranges from the threes, and then send them to the orchard.
But See I am mean that way!! However, really taking the history of the area, that would not be such a bad idea, if it was tied to the Historical Society, and part of the museum.
BS Ranch!!
By Andrew Silva, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 04/01/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - In a city with nearly 100,000 people, a shady 10-acre oasis of the early 20th century still stands.
"It's just like what it was 100 years ago," said John Adams, 63, whose grandfather planted the orange trees and built the houses for what is now the last orange grove in Rialto.
Adams, who still lives on the little spread on Cactus Avenue, celebrated the 100th anniversary of his grandfather's grove Saturday.
The festival doubled as a reunion for Rialto natives who attended Rialto Junior High School and Eisenhower High School in the late 1950s and 1960s.
It was just a fortunate coincidence that it also turned out to be the anniversary of the year Adams' grandfather planted the first orange trees in 1907.
Some people may know their ancestors farmed in the past, he said, but not many get the chance to live amid the same trees and the memories they represent.
"We'd play softball for hours (in the road) without having to stop for a car," he said. "The birds and the winds were the only sounds you'd hear."
Ron Featherstone, 63, who now lives in Bullhead City, Ariz., graduated from Eisenhower High in 1962, as Adams did.
He remembers a Tom Sawyer-like boyhood when Rialto
was half orange groves and half undeveloped land.
"All the little critters and varmints were here," he said. "I caught hundreds of rattlesnakes."
He was bitten twice as a youngster, but continued catching the dangerous reptiles.
"I used to trade the rattles to the guys with the really good marbles," he said. "We found ways to have fun that didn't cost money."
The group of old friends used to stay in touch with phone calls and letters, but now they have a Web site to keep track of each other.
Jennifer Selbert, also from the class of 1962, said everyone remembers the smell of the orange blossoms, so they decided to have a reunion in the spring.
The centennial celebration was a bonus.
"We thought about doing the reunion when the oranges were blossoming and didn't even think it was the 100th anniversary," Selbert said.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
I think that it is time that the 100 year old Orchard should be made a Historical Land Mark and then told that they cannot sell, build, or do anything to that property except keep the Tree's in the Orchard happy, with Water and Plant Food and the like. They might have to pull or call in the pickers and pick or harvest the oranges from the threes, and then send them to the orchard.
But See I am mean that way!! However, really taking the history of the area, that would not be such a bad idea, if it was tied to the Historical Society, and part of the museum.
BS Ranch!!
Charges Dismissed Rialto roadblock shooting (AP) Teens were accused of shooting, wounding motorists from overpass.
Charges dismissed Rialto roadblock shooting
Teens were accused of shooting, wounding motorists from overpass.
The Associated Press
FONTANA -- Charges were dismissed against two teenagers charged last year with shooting and wounding two motorists at a freeway overpass in Rialto.
Deputy District Attorney Steve Singley said Thursday that evidence remaining after a county commissioner threw out statements that Alvin Molina III, 17, and Steve Torres, 18, made to police was insufficient to tie them to the shooting.
"I do think they were involved in the crime at some level," he said. "Unfortunately, we are not able to prove their culpability at this time."
The teens were charged in connection with an Aug. 11 shooting that wounded a driver and passenger when their Chevrolet Suburban slowed for a makeshift roadblock on Interstate 210.
The teens were arrested the following evening when police observed them setting up a roadblock.
They spent six months in jail until March 1, when Knish ordered their release following a February hearing during which he threw out the statements, according to court records.
Torres' attorney, Neil Shouse, said previously that police obtained false statements by telling his client details of the case.
"Everybody seemed to jump to conclusions," Shouse said Thursday. "But when the evidence unraveled, it was apparent the wrong people were apprehended."
A conspiracy accessory charge against Debra Molina also was dismissed Thursday. She was accused of washing her son's clothes to help conceal the crime.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
This is a classic case of the Legal system Failing the Victim. The Suspects were caught making a make shift road block, which lead to their arrest. Their Parents were notified that they were in custody, while the police was obtaining a Search Warrant of the Suspects Residence to look for anything else that might tie them to the Crime. When the Search Warrant was Served, the Mother, who had over 18 years with the Probation Department as a Probation Supervisor, was Washing the clothing that had marked evidence of the Shooting, from the night that they made the first Road Block, when they Injured the Passenger and Driver of the Victim's car.
The Judge, who Dropped the Charges said that he felt that they had taken some part to this crime, however he could not tell what part that they did or didn't take, so he dropped the charges. I am wondering if the Judge has NO DOUBT, THAT THEY TOOK PART IN THE CRIME!! Then what does it take to allow it to go to trial. The Judge Drops The Charges. It isn't that bad but the Child's Mother, where the "Chip" of the "Block" came from, got her charges dropped for Both Compounding a Felony, and Tampering with Evidence to a Crime!!
The Mother, Really has Taught The children of the Neighborhood well, by Terrorizing Innocent people that are just on their way home from a movie or the mall, and they get shot at, and possibly, almost Killed. Lucky in this case Nobody was Killed.
Still we have three Juveniles that are going into adulthood, and their Mother, All of which are Criminals, and should be treated like criminals. So if you know these people and you run into them treat them for who they are! Unless they can prove to me that they are better then that, and come back by being bigger than the crime that they committed, and show that they are better then all that. I hope that they have been forced to move actually. Knowing my luck, they know where I live and they will lay in wait like they did to their victims, and then they will shoot me as I enter my home. Double or nothing says that they will miss and hit my neighbor, an unrelated party to this, BLOG!! Because that is the type of Criminal we are dealing with here.
BS Ranch
Teens were accused of shooting, wounding motorists from overpass.
The Associated Press
FONTANA -- Charges were dismissed against two teenagers charged last year with shooting and wounding two motorists at a freeway overpass in Rialto.
Deputy District Attorney Steve Singley said Thursday that evidence remaining after a county commissioner threw out statements that Alvin Molina III, 17, and Steve Torres, 18, made to police was insufficient to tie them to the shooting.
"I do think they were involved in the crime at some level," he said. "Unfortunately, we are not able to prove their culpability at this time."
The teens were charged in connection with an Aug. 11 shooting that wounded a driver and passenger when their Chevrolet Suburban slowed for a makeshift roadblock on Interstate 210.
The teens were arrested the following evening when police observed them setting up a roadblock.
They spent six months in jail until March 1, when Knish ordered their release following a February hearing during which he threw out the statements, according to court records.
Torres' attorney, Neil Shouse, said previously that police obtained false statements by telling his client details of the case.
"Everybody seemed to jump to conclusions," Shouse said Thursday. "But when the evidence unraveled, it was apparent the wrong people were apprehended."
A conspiracy accessory charge against Debra Molina also was dismissed Thursday. She was accused of washing her son's clothes to help conceal the crime.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
This is a classic case of the Legal system Failing the Victim. The Suspects were caught making a make shift road block, which lead to their arrest. Their Parents were notified that they were in custody, while the police was obtaining a Search Warrant of the Suspects Residence to look for anything else that might tie them to the Crime. When the Search Warrant was Served, the Mother, who had over 18 years with the Probation Department as a Probation Supervisor, was Washing the clothing that had marked evidence of the Shooting, from the night that they made the first Road Block, when they Injured the Passenger and Driver of the Victim's car.
The Judge, who Dropped the Charges said that he felt that they had taken some part to this crime, however he could not tell what part that they did or didn't take, so he dropped the charges. I am wondering if the Judge has NO DOUBT, THAT THEY TOOK PART IN THE CRIME!! Then what does it take to allow it to go to trial. The Judge Drops The Charges. It isn't that bad but the Child's Mother, where the "Chip" of the "Block" came from, got her charges dropped for Both Compounding a Felony, and Tampering with Evidence to a Crime!!
The Mother, Really has Taught The children of the Neighborhood well, by Terrorizing Innocent people that are just on their way home from a movie or the mall, and they get shot at, and possibly, almost Killed. Lucky in this case Nobody was Killed.
Still we have three Juveniles that are going into adulthood, and their Mother, All of which are Criminals, and should be treated like criminals. So if you know these people and you run into them treat them for who they are! Unless they can prove to me that they are better then that, and come back by being bigger than the crime that they committed, and show that they are better then all that. I hope that they have been forced to move actually. Knowing my luck, they know where I live and they will lay in wait like they did to their victims, and then they will shoot me as I enter my home. Double or nothing says that they will miss and hit my neighbor, an unrelated party to this, BLOG!! Because that is the type of Criminal we are dealing with here.
BS Ranch
Rialto Plan Lays Out Relocation Help for Airport's Tenants (Press-Enterprise)
Rialto plan lays out relocation help for airport's tenants
10:00 PM PDT on Monday, March 26, 2007
By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise
Rialto Municipal Airport tenants will receive help relocating to other airports to make way for the Renaissance Rialto project, which is expected to generate millions in sales tax revenue, Rialto officials said.
Eligible businesses or individuals will be offered referrals to suitable replacement locations, help in preparing claim forms for relocation payments and other assistance to minimize the impact of the move, according to a relocation plan for the Rialto Municipal Airport closure submitted March 15.
Every displaced person is eligible to be reimbursed for moving and related costs of as much as $10,000, according to the plan.
Renaissance Rialto is a 1,500-acre master-planned community along Interstate 210, west of Ayala Avenue. Project plans divide the land among residential, industrial, commercial and public uses, Robb Steel, the city's economic development director, has said.
The relocation costs for airport tenants will be funded by the Rialto Development Agency from the proceeds of the sale of the airport, records show.
The Renaissance Rialto developer, Lewis-Hillwood LLC, is expected to pay as much as $82 million for the airport property. The cost of removing hazardous waste, demolishing runways and relocating tenants will be deducted, Steel, said. The estimated relocation costs are $7 million records show.
Relocation will begin six months after the project's environmental-impact review, specific plan and development agreement are approved, which is expected to occur in November, records show.
Rents at Rialto Municipal Airport are below market value in most cases because of a rent freeze that was approved during discussions to close the airport. Officials are working with San Bernardino International Airport to get comparable rents for relocated tenants for at least a few years, Steel said.
For tenants that want to relocate to San Bernardino International Airport, there are about 18 to 20 acres available for facilities to be built, said Mike Burrows, assistant director of the San Bernardino International Airport Authority.
The goal is to have the facilities ready for tenants in about a year, Burrows said.
"Right now, we are in the process of designing what can be built and should have that completed within the next several weeks. Then we will look at moving forward with construction," Burrows said.
Mercy Air Services officials are in the process of identifying airports where its operation can transfer, said Roy Cox, Mercy Air's program director.
"At this point, it would be difficult for us to move to San Bernardino because it is a large piece of barren ground, and we need to have a physical building we can move into with hangars and office space," Cox said.
Councilman Ed Scott said Rialto officials are committed to relocating tenants to the best location possible.
"There have been a few glitches, but we are definitely committed to helping every tenant to relocate," Scott said.
Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said the tenants' relocation and completion of Renaissance Rialto will allow the city to flourish and grow economically.
"I think the project will help change the image of the city," Baca said.
Reach Massiel Ladrón De Guevara at 909-806-3054 or mdeguevara@PE.com
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The Idea that the Rialto Airport has to close and force the Tenants out on their ear is not cool especially since some of them have been there for more then 10 years. They should be compensated for their move or at least helped by the city in their move. Joe Baca Jr. is right in this case. The people was right to Elect this man. The Rialto Renaissance is going to go forward, and will bring in about the same if not a little more then the Taxes that the Airport did when it didn't have a huge Federal Loan hanging over its head. Because even the Target might just go Bust. If it is anything like the Businesses of Rialto's Past!!
BS Ranch
10:00 PM PDT on Monday, March 26, 2007
By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise
Rialto Municipal Airport tenants will receive help relocating to other airports to make way for the Renaissance Rialto project, which is expected to generate millions in sales tax revenue, Rialto officials said.
Eligible businesses or individuals will be offered referrals to suitable replacement locations, help in preparing claim forms for relocation payments and other assistance to minimize the impact of the move, according to a relocation plan for the Rialto Municipal Airport closure submitted March 15.
Every displaced person is eligible to be reimbursed for moving and related costs of as much as $10,000, according to the plan.
Renaissance Rialto is a 1,500-acre master-planned community along Interstate 210, west of Ayala Avenue. Project plans divide the land among residential, industrial, commercial and public uses, Robb Steel, the city's economic development director, has said.
The relocation costs for airport tenants will be funded by the Rialto Development Agency from the proceeds of the sale of the airport, records show.
The Renaissance Rialto developer, Lewis-Hillwood LLC, is expected to pay as much as $82 million for the airport property. The cost of removing hazardous waste, demolishing runways and relocating tenants will be deducted, Steel, said. The estimated relocation costs are $7 million records show.
Relocation will begin six months after the project's environmental-impact review, specific plan and development agreement are approved, which is expected to occur in November, records show.
Rents at Rialto Municipal Airport are below market value in most cases because of a rent freeze that was approved during discussions to close the airport. Officials are working with San Bernardino International Airport to get comparable rents for relocated tenants for at least a few years, Steel said.
For tenants that want to relocate to San Bernardino International Airport, there are about 18 to 20 acres available for facilities to be built, said Mike Burrows, assistant director of the San Bernardino International Airport Authority.
The goal is to have the facilities ready for tenants in about a year, Burrows said.
"Right now, we are in the process of designing what can be built and should have that completed within the next several weeks. Then we will look at moving forward with construction," Burrows said.
Mercy Air Services officials are in the process of identifying airports where its operation can transfer, said Roy Cox, Mercy Air's program director.
"At this point, it would be difficult for us to move to San Bernardino because it is a large piece of barren ground, and we need to have a physical building we can move into with hangars and office space," Cox said.
Councilman Ed Scott said Rialto officials are committed to relocating tenants to the best location possible.
"There have been a few glitches, but we are definitely committed to helping every tenant to relocate," Scott said.
Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said the tenants' relocation and completion of Renaissance Rialto will allow the city to flourish and grow economically.
"I think the project will help change the image of the city," Baca said.
Reach Massiel Ladrón De Guevara at 909-806-3054 or mdeguevara@PE.com
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The Idea that the Rialto Airport has to close and force the Tenants out on their ear is not cool especially since some of them have been there for more then 10 years. They should be compensated for their move or at least helped by the city in their move. Joe Baca Jr. is right in this case. The people was right to Elect this man. The Rialto Renaissance is going to go forward, and will bring in about the same if not a little more then the Taxes that the Airport did when it didn't have a huge Federal Loan hanging over its head. Because even the Target might just go Bust. If it is anything like the Businesses of Rialto's Past!!
BS Ranch
Rialto Police Bouncing Back (SB Sun 032707) Chief, with City's support, prepares new strategy
Rialto police bouncing back
Chief, with city's support, prepares new strategy
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/26/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - Expectations are on the rise for the city's Police Department.
About a year ago, its supporters' main goal was to keep it intact following a September 2005 City Council vote to abolish the department in favor of the services of the county sheriff.
The council later reversed the vote.
Now, Police Chief Mark Kling, who holds a doctorate of public administration from the University of La Verne, talks about turning the department into the top police agency in the Inland Empire.
"We've got great people here that are motivated now," said Lt. Joe Cirilo, whose 27 years with the department makes him the longest-serving member of the force.
Kling, who took over as chief in August, has pushed an aggressive campaign to transform the department by revamping its patrol philosophy, recruiting officers to fill 27 open positions and getting money from the council to update equipment and the dated police station.
Frank Scialdone, the former Fontana police chief who was Rialto's interim chief from December 2005 until Kling took over, said it will take Kling a long time to achieve his vision.
"He's got a tough job ahead of him," Scialdone said, noting that "the average officer doesn't like change that much."
The department has a number of talented people who need a dynamic leader to give them direction, he said.
"He has that charisma and that ability to do that," Scialdone said of Kling.
As interim chief, Scialdone also decided the department should implement a policing strategy he used in Fontana. Implementing that strategy, which is centered on using area commanders, has become Kling's most important responsibility.
Under the area-commander program, to be kicked off in June, the city is divided into three areas, with a lieutenant assigned to each.
The lieutenants will be the community's liaison with the department. They will hold four meetings a year with the community and devise strategies with other city departments, such as code enforcement, to address problems in the area.
The program, which Kling stresses will take time to fully implement, gives the lieutenants the ability to address problems before they get out of control, Scialdone said.
"Instead of taking a reactive approach, we're taking a proactive approach," Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said of the area-commander program. "It restores public confidence," he added, because it involves residents.
Even though implementing the area-commander program will be one of Kling's biggest tests, he has had a number of other issues to grapple with since taking over.
The turmoil in the department after the council's vote to eliminate it caused so many officers to leave that when Kling took over there were 27 openings for officers - about a quarter of the department. Now that number has been cut to 13, although there are still a number of openings for nonofficer positions.
The department, which was once an incubator for lawsuits and charges of corruption and favoritism, will be holding courses on terrorism training, dispatching and SWAT commanding for members of other California departments in the coming months.
Kling is also exploring using gang injunctions, which can bar certain people from particular locations, to dampen gang activity.
Walking through the station, it's hard to find an employee who isn't upbeat about where things are headed.
"You walk down the hallway - people are laughing now," Cirilo said.
In many ways, the departments seems re-energized. It conducts high-profile operations every few weeks, such as Thursday's early-morning anti-gang raid on 19 locations.
Either because the department is stable or because of Kling's political skills, every member of the City Council has publicly praised Kling.
"I think you're a perfect fit in our city," Councilman Ed Scott, who voted to eliminate the department, said at a recent council meeting.
On a recent drive around the city together, the two happened upon a burglar alarm going off. When a police officer arrived to check the situation out, Kling had his back. He cocked his gun and went in, too, Scott said.
In addition to praising to Kling, council members are rewarding the department. In the past few months, they have approved a new armored vehicle and a tactical communication vehicle for the department, as well as minor renovations to the facility until the city figures out what to do about constructing a new police station.
For now, the city's residents and the council are optimistic. Expectations are high for Kling.
When council members were heaping him with praise at a recent meeting, Kling tried to temper the optimism.
"We'll hit some bumps along the way, but we'll get around those bumps," he said.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
From the information that I gathered the Department is off to a huge recovery. The City Administrator, and City Council along with the people that were involved in the hiring of the new Chief Finally Got it right! This guy is great with the men. The people that were leaving for the benefit of their families in the long run, after the Police Department was Voted to Go with the Sheriff Department. They were in Fear that they were going to the County, and the loss of their Benefits, with the Public Employee Retirement System after over ten years of Dedicated work, have started to come back to work at Rialto.
They have been some of the dedicated people whom have come back, and Rialto has respectfully taken them back with no questions asked, and no grudges held. That has made the department move forward, with Dignaty and greatness, that it has lost over the years, well since Ray Farmer was forced out back in the Early 90's.
Mark Kling has been the answer that has been great for the community, he has been everything good that everyone has heard and more.
BS Ranch
Chief, with city's support, prepares new strategy
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/26/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - Expectations are on the rise for the city's Police Department.
About a year ago, its supporters' main goal was to keep it intact following a September 2005 City Council vote to abolish the department in favor of the services of the county sheriff.
The council later reversed the vote.
Now, Police Chief Mark Kling, who holds a doctorate of public administration from the University of La Verne, talks about turning the department into the top police agency in the Inland Empire.
"We've got great people here that are motivated now," said Lt. Joe Cirilo, whose 27 years with the department makes him the longest-serving member of the force.
Kling, who took over as chief in August, has pushed an aggressive campaign to transform the department by revamping its patrol philosophy, recruiting officers to fill 27 open positions and getting money from the council to update equipment and the dated police station.
Frank Scialdone, the former Fontana police chief who was Rialto's interim chief from December 2005 until Kling took over, said it will take Kling a long time to achieve his vision.
"He's got a tough job ahead of him," Scialdone said, noting that "the average officer doesn't like change that much."
The department has a number of talented people who need a dynamic leader to give them direction, he said.
"He has that charisma and that ability to do that," Scialdone said of Kling.
As interim chief, Scialdone also decided the department should implement a policing strategy he used in Fontana. Implementing that strategy, which is centered on using area commanders, has become Kling's most important responsibility.
Under the area-commander program, to be kicked off in June, the city is divided into three areas, with a lieutenant assigned to each.
The lieutenants will be the community's liaison with the department. They will hold four meetings a year with the community and devise strategies with other city departments, such as code enforcement, to address problems in the area.
The program, which Kling stresses will take time to fully implement, gives the lieutenants the ability to address problems before they get out of control, Scialdone said.
"Instead of taking a reactive approach, we're taking a proactive approach," Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said of the area-commander program. "It restores public confidence," he added, because it involves residents.
Even though implementing the area-commander program will be one of Kling's biggest tests, he has had a number of other issues to grapple with since taking over.
The turmoil in the department after the council's vote to eliminate it caused so many officers to leave that when Kling took over there were 27 openings for officers - about a quarter of the department. Now that number has been cut to 13, although there are still a number of openings for nonofficer positions.
The department, which was once an incubator for lawsuits and charges of corruption and favoritism, will be holding courses on terrorism training, dispatching and SWAT commanding for members of other California departments in the coming months.
Kling is also exploring using gang injunctions, which can bar certain people from particular locations, to dampen gang activity.
Walking through the station, it's hard to find an employee who isn't upbeat about where things are headed.
"You walk down the hallway - people are laughing now," Cirilo said.
In many ways, the departments seems re-energized. It conducts high-profile operations every few weeks, such as Thursday's early-morning anti-gang raid on 19 locations.
Either because the department is stable or because of Kling's political skills, every member of the City Council has publicly praised Kling.
"I think you're a perfect fit in our city," Councilman Ed Scott, who voted to eliminate the department, said at a recent council meeting.
On a recent drive around the city together, the two happened upon a burglar alarm going off. When a police officer arrived to check the situation out, Kling had his back. He cocked his gun and went in, too, Scott said.
In addition to praising to Kling, council members are rewarding the department. In the past few months, they have approved a new armored vehicle and a tactical communication vehicle for the department, as well as minor renovations to the facility until the city figures out what to do about constructing a new police station.
For now, the city's residents and the council are optimistic. Expectations are high for Kling.
When council members were heaping him with praise at a recent meeting, Kling tried to temper the optimism.
"We'll hit some bumps along the way, but we'll get around those bumps," he said.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
From the information that I gathered the Department is off to a huge recovery. The City Administrator, and City Council along with the people that were involved in the hiring of the new Chief Finally Got it right! This guy is great with the men. The people that were leaving for the benefit of their families in the long run, after the Police Department was Voted to Go with the Sheriff Department. They were in Fear that they were going to the County, and the loss of their Benefits, with the Public Employee Retirement System after over ten years of Dedicated work, have started to come back to work at Rialto.
They have been some of the dedicated people whom have come back, and Rialto has respectfully taken them back with no questions asked, and no grudges held. That has made the department move forward, with Dignaty and greatness, that it has lost over the years, well since Ray Farmer was forced out back in the Early 90's.
Mark Kling has been the answer that has been great for the community, he has been everything good that everyone has heard and more.
BS Ranch
Police Seize Guns in Anti-Gang Raid (032407)
Police seize guns in anti-gang raid
Article Launched:03/24/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
About 120 officers raided 19 locations simultaneously early Thursday morning in an anti-gang effort targeting two feuding gangs, said Rialto police Lt. Joe Cirilo.
Police from agencies throughout the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles Police Department made nine arrests and recovered 14 guns, Cirilo said.
He said police believe one of the guns was used in the Feb. 23 homicide of Michael McCoy Jr. at a 7-Eleven.
Cirilo said the Police Department has heard from the community and is taking an aggressive stand against gangs.
"We're not going to tolerate it," he said.
- Melissa Pinion-Whitt, (909) 386-3878
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The work that goes into the Search Warrants that are done to come up with the cleaning up of this many weapons and get that many weapons off the streets, is a very long and hard work. The Rialto Police Department has done this work, in order to gather the illegal weapons that the Gang Members had and get the guns out of the their hands, so that they cannot go shooting up the street, and all the people in it.
Thank God for the Police Department and the Long and Tedious work that they did to Clean up the all the Guns from the Street.
Thank God For Rialto Police Department!!
BS Ranch
Article Launched:03/24/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
About 120 officers raided 19 locations simultaneously early Thursday morning in an anti-gang effort targeting two feuding gangs, said Rialto police Lt. Joe Cirilo.
Police from agencies throughout the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles Police Department made nine arrests and recovered 14 guns, Cirilo said.
He said police believe one of the guns was used in the Feb. 23 homicide of Michael McCoy Jr. at a 7-Eleven.
Cirilo said the Police Department has heard from the community and is taking an aggressive stand against gangs.
"We're not going to tolerate it," he said.
- Melissa Pinion-Whitt, (909) 386-3878
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The work that goes into the Search Warrants that are done to come up with the cleaning up of this many weapons and get that many weapons off the streets, is a very long and hard work. The Rialto Police Department has done this work, in order to gather the illegal weapons that the Gang Members had and get the guns out of the their hands, so that they cannot go shooting up the street, and all the people in it.
Thank God for the Police Department and the Long and Tedious work that they did to Clean up the all the Guns from the Street.
Thank God For Rialto Police Department!!
BS Ranch
Police Seize Guns in Anti-Gang Raid (032407)
Police seize guns in anti-gang raid
Article Launched:03/24/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
About 120 officers raided 19 locations simultaneously early Thursday morning in an anti-gang effort targeting two feuding gangs, said Rialto police Lt. Joe Cirilo.
Police from agencies throughout the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles Police Department made nine arrests and recovered 14 guns, Cirilo said.
He said police believe one of the guns was used in the Feb. 23 homicide of Michael McCoy Jr. at a 7-Eleven.
Cirilo said the Police Department has heard from the community and is taking an aggressive stand against gangs.
"We're not going to tolerate it," he said.
- Melissa Pinion-Whitt, (909) 386-3878
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The work that goes into the Search Warrants that are done to come up with the cleaning up of this many weapons and get that many weapons off the streets, is a very long and hard work. The Rialto Police Department has done this work, in order to gather the illegal weapons that the Gang Members had and get the guns out of the their hands, so that they cannot go shooting up the street, and all the people in it.
Thank God for the Police Department and the Long and Tedious work that they did to Clean up the all the Guns from the Street.
Thank God For Rialto Police Department!!
BS Ranch
Article Launched:03/24/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
About 120 officers raided 19 locations simultaneously early Thursday morning in an anti-gang effort targeting two feuding gangs, said Rialto police Lt. Joe Cirilo.
Police from agencies throughout the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles Police Department made nine arrests and recovered 14 guns, Cirilo said.
He said police believe one of the guns was used in the Feb. 23 homicide of Michael McCoy Jr. at a 7-Eleven.
Cirilo said the Police Department has heard from the community and is taking an aggressive stand against gangs.
"We're not going to tolerate it," he said.
- Melissa Pinion-Whitt, (909) 386-3878
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The work that goes into the Search Warrants that are done to come up with the cleaning up of this many weapons and get that many weapons off the streets, is a very long and hard work. The Rialto Police Department has done this work, in order to gather the illegal weapons that the Gang Members had and get the guns out of the their hands, so that they cannot go shooting up the street, and all the people in it.
Thank God for the Police Department and the Long and Tedious work that they did to Clean up the all the Guns from the Street.
Thank God For Rialto Police Department!!
BS Ranch
Recent Killings Prompt Raids on Gang Suspects (Press Enterprise 03207)
Recent killings prompt raids on gang suspects
11:55 PM PDT on Thursday, March 22, 2007
By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise
Survey: Are sweeps effective in suppressing crime?
RIALTO - Violence between rival Rialto gangs, including two recent killings, pushed police into sunrise raids of about 20 homes Thursday in search of weapons.
More than 100 officers from Rialto, San Bernardino and as far away as Los Angeles participated in serving 19 search warrants throughout the area. Their purpose: to put pressure on members of two city gangs blamed for a spate of recent shootings.
One gang has been especially active after a Jan. 31 nonfatal shooting by a rival gang, said Rialto police Lt. Joe Cirilo.
"They're going back and forth retaliating against each other," Cirilo said, "and this is a direct result."
On Feb. 20, a suspected gang member was killed just outside Rialto city limits in San Bernardino, police said.
Three days later, two gang members are suspected of approaching a man as he sat in his car outside a 7-Eleven store on Riverside Avenue in Rialto. Police say they shot him to death when he answered, "Rialto" to the question, "Where are you from?"
Two men charged in connection with that crime misunderstood Michael R. McCoy, the victim, to mean he was with a gang, police have said. But McCoy was not a member of a gang, police said.
"When they can just go out and shoot someone sitting in a parking lot of a 7-Eleven..." Cirilo said. "There are innocent people being shot."
At one of the raided homes Thursday, police found a shotgun that they suspect was used in the Feb. 23 slaying at 7-Eleven, Cirilo said. They also recovered 13 other firearms, including high-powered, assault-style models.
Nine people were arrested in the raids, mostly on parole violations, Cirilo said. None were suspects in the killings.
The morning operation was conducted with the assistance of San Bernardino, Colton, Fontana, Redlands, Pomona and Los Angeles police, as well as Los Angeles and San Bernardino County sheriff's departments, county probation and state parole officers and federal Drug Enforcement Agency members.
For almost five hours, 120 officers fanned out across Rialto and neighboring cities to serve the warrants, which were signed in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Fontana. In assisting the effort, San Bernardino police officials said they believe they're helping their city's violent crime problem as well.
The Feb. 20 killing of Riley Hurtado, who police suspect was a Rialto gang member, took place in San Bernardino.
"We've got to think regionally rather than by city," said San Bernardino police Lt. Scott Paterson. "Gangs oftentimes do spill into other cities."
Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Looks like some great work being done to clear up some of the Violent Gang Activity that has been building up through the years with Chief Michel Meyers, Old Gang Policy, of the following, Gangs? Rialto? There is a Gang Problem in Rialto? Anyone that came up with a different question other then that when anyone brought up a question about a Gang in Rialto he would have to have the Oh? There is a Gang? Wow, that is news to me. I will get go to tell our gang unit, that didn't exist, and never existed as long as Michael Meyers was Chief of Police at Rialto Police department.
BS Ranch
11:55 PM PDT on Thursday, March 22, 2007
By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise
Survey: Are sweeps effective in suppressing crime?
RIALTO - Violence between rival Rialto gangs, including two recent killings, pushed police into sunrise raids of about 20 homes Thursday in search of weapons.
More than 100 officers from Rialto, San Bernardino and as far away as Los Angeles participated in serving 19 search warrants throughout the area. Their purpose: to put pressure on members of two city gangs blamed for a spate of recent shootings.
One gang has been especially active after a Jan. 31 nonfatal shooting by a rival gang, said Rialto police Lt. Joe Cirilo.
"They're going back and forth retaliating against each other," Cirilo said, "and this is a direct result."
On Feb. 20, a suspected gang member was killed just outside Rialto city limits in San Bernardino, police said.
Three days later, two gang members are suspected of approaching a man as he sat in his car outside a 7-Eleven store on Riverside Avenue in Rialto. Police say they shot him to death when he answered, "Rialto" to the question, "Where are you from?"
Two men charged in connection with that crime misunderstood Michael R. McCoy, the victim, to mean he was with a gang, police have said. But McCoy was not a member of a gang, police said.
"When they can just go out and shoot someone sitting in a parking lot of a 7-Eleven..." Cirilo said. "There are innocent people being shot."
At one of the raided homes Thursday, police found a shotgun that they suspect was used in the Feb. 23 slaying at 7-Eleven, Cirilo said. They also recovered 13 other firearms, including high-powered, assault-style models.
Nine people were arrested in the raids, mostly on parole violations, Cirilo said. None were suspects in the killings.
The morning operation was conducted with the assistance of San Bernardino, Colton, Fontana, Redlands, Pomona and Los Angeles police, as well as Los Angeles and San Bernardino County sheriff's departments, county probation and state parole officers and federal Drug Enforcement Agency members.
For almost five hours, 120 officers fanned out across Rialto and neighboring cities to serve the warrants, which were signed in San Bernardino County Superior Court in Fontana. In assisting the effort, San Bernardino police officials said they believe they're helping their city's violent crime problem as well.
The Feb. 20 killing of Riley Hurtado, who police suspect was a Rialto gang member, took place in San Bernardino.
"We've got to think regionally rather than by city," said San Bernardino police Lt. Scott Paterson. "Gangs oftentimes do spill into other cities."
Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Looks like some great work being done to clear up some of the Violent Gang Activity that has been building up through the years with Chief Michel Meyers, Old Gang Policy, of the following, Gangs? Rialto? There is a Gang Problem in Rialto? Anyone that came up with a different question other then that when anyone brought up a question about a Gang in Rialto he would have to have the Oh? There is a Gang? Wow, that is news to me. I will get go to tell our gang unit, that didn't exist, and never existed as long as Michael Meyers was Chief of Police at Rialto Police department.
BS Ranch
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Rialto Police Officers Won't Face Charges in Suspect's Shooting
Rialto police officers won't face charges in suspect's shooting
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, March 20, 2007
By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise
A group of Rialto police officers who fired 39 rounds, killing an armed gang member, last year will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The four members of the Multiple Enforcement Team shot Manuel Espinoza, 20, of Rialto, on June 8 after following him from a Colton motel they had put under surveillance to find a runaway teen.
The officers' names were not released at the request of Rialto police officials, who told prosecutors reviewing the case that there is fear of potential gang retaliation for the shooting.
Espinoza, who at the time was a suspect in two 2006 gang-related homicides, ran from a friend's car after police stopped it on Wildrose Avenue, blocks from the motel, said Deputy District Attorney Vic Stull.
While running from officers, Espinoza pulled a revolver and fired one shot in their direction, Stull wrote in a report. That set off a flurry of shots from the officers in the area. Twenty-eight of the 39 rounds struck Espinoza, killing him within minutes, Stull wrote.
So many shots were fired because Espinoza appeared unfazed by the initial fire that struck him, Stull wrote.
One of the officers interviewed "thought this was 'crazy,' " Stull wrote, "because while it appeared bullets were striking Mr. Espinoza, he would not stay down."
He continued to point his gun directly at officers through most of the shooting, Stull wrote, before eventually falling to the ground.
Of seven witnesses cited in the report -- two of them were with Espinoza in the car before police gave chase -- one states seeing him pull something from his waist. The others said their view was blocked, and when shots were first heard, they were unsure whether they were coming from Espinoza or police.
Espinoza was previously identified as a gang member and a suspect in the Feb. 1, 2006, shooting death of 23-year-old Pablo Esparza inside a Eucalyptus Avenue mobile home park, said Rialto police Lt. Reinhard Burkholder.
He was also linked to the May 1 fatal shooting of Joseph Aragon, 21, outside a Riverside Avenue liquor store, Burkholder said.
Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Sounds like They had a long look at this case and they have come to an understanding that there will not be any chareges on the case. If it has taken them over a year to Observe the case, and go over the evidence time and again then it must be that there is no Evidence of a Crime! The Officers Therefore, are Cleared of All Wrong in this shooting.
Now, they just have to go through the rest of their life remembering the time that the suspect fell to their death, and they have to dream that over and over, so maybe it is over in the Press, but it is by far not over wiht the Officer's in their lives.
BS Ranch
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, March 20, 2007
By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise
A group of Rialto police officers who fired 39 rounds, killing an armed gang member, last year will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The four members of the Multiple Enforcement Team shot Manuel Espinoza, 20, of Rialto, on June 8 after following him from a Colton motel they had put under surveillance to find a runaway teen.
The officers' names were not released at the request of Rialto police officials, who told prosecutors reviewing the case that there is fear of potential gang retaliation for the shooting.
Espinoza, who at the time was a suspect in two 2006 gang-related homicides, ran from a friend's car after police stopped it on Wildrose Avenue, blocks from the motel, said Deputy District Attorney Vic Stull.
While running from officers, Espinoza pulled a revolver and fired one shot in their direction, Stull wrote in a report. That set off a flurry of shots from the officers in the area. Twenty-eight of the 39 rounds struck Espinoza, killing him within minutes, Stull wrote.
So many shots were fired because Espinoza appeared unfazed by the initial fire that struck him, Stull wrote.
One of the officers interviewed "thought this was 'crazy,' " Stull wrote, "because while it appeared bullets were striking Mr. Espinoza, he would not stay down."
He continued to point his gun directly at officers through most of the shooting, Stull wrote, before eventually falling to the ground.
Of seven witnesses cited in the report -- two of them were with Espinoza in the car before police gave chase -- one states seeing him pull something from his waist. The others said their view was blocked, and when shots were first heard, they were unsure whether they were coming from Espinoza or police.
Espinoza was previously identified as a gang member and a suspect in the Feb. 1, 2006, shooting death of 23-year-old Pablo Esparza inside a Eucalyptus Avenue mobile home park, said Rialto police Lt. Reinhard Burkholder.
He was also linked to the May 1 fatal shooting of Joseph Aragon, 21, outside a Riverside Avenue liquor store, Burkholder said.
Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Sounds like They had a long look at this case and they have come to an understanding that there will not be any chareges on the case. If it has taken them over a year to Observe the case, and go over the evidence time and again then it must be that there is no Evidence of a Crime! The Officers Therefore, are Cleared of All Wrong in this shooting.
Now, they just have to go through the rest of their life remembering the time that the suspect fell to their death, and they have to dream that over and over, so maybe it is over in the Press, but it is by far not over wiht the Officer's in their lives.
BS Ranch
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Governor Asked to Turn up Pressure on Perchlorate Cleanup in Rialto
Governor asked to turn up pressure on perchlorate cleanup in Rialto
08:01 AM PST on Saturday, February 17, 2007
By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise
Video: Rialto residents demand cleanup of perchlorate contamination
Survey: Should Gov. Schwarzenegger declare a state of emergency in Rialto because of perchlorate contamination in the groundwater?
RIALTO - A group of residents wants the governor to declare a state of emergency in Rialto because perchlorate contamination in the city's groundwater supply is endangering residents' health.
Officials with the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice and about 40 residents also demanded during a protest Friday that the State Water Resources Control Board force polluters to clean up the contamination and reimburse residents for cleanup costs they have incurred.
A hearing set for March 23 to determine which companies are responsible for a mileslong underground plume of perchlorate was delayed after the hearing officer resigned. The hearing also would have forced cleanup of the plume, believed to have been generated by defense contractors in the 1950s and '60s.
"Enough is enough. We are tired of all the delays," said Sujatha Jahagirdar, clean-water advocate for Environment California. "The state water board must issue a full cleanup order that requires every drop of contamination to be cleaned and to provide safe water to residents until it is done."
Perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel and fireworks, has contaminated six Rialto water wells. It is believed that the chemical interferes with thyroid function and brain development. Human fetuses and newborn children are considered most at risk.
Davin Diaz, of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice in San Bernardino, said the goal is to have Gov. Schwarzenegger make Rialto's water a top priority and apply pressure on the state water board to move quickly.
But Rialto officials would have to declare a local state of emergency before the governor could issue a declaration, said Eric Lamoureux, spokesman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
Because there is no request from Rialto officials, it is difficult to assess the situation, Lamoureux said.
Councilman Ed Scott said he will be in Sacramento on Thursday to ask the state water board to hold hearings on Rialto's perchlorate problem.
City officials have no plans to declare a local state of emergency, he said.
Maria Harrada, a five-year Rialto resident, said she wants the contamination cleaned up so she won't have to worry about her children drinking tap water.
"It doesn't seem fair that we are paying to clean a mess we didn't make and that those responsible aren't paying," Harrada said during a protest at one of the first wells where perchlorate was found nearly 10 years ago.
Rialto residents are charged a $6.85 flat fee for perchlorate cleanup on their water bills. An additional charge is assessed based on consumption.
Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said the city plans to reimburse residents once cleanup funding becomes available from the responsible parties.
08:01 AM PST on Saturday, February 17, 2007
By MASSIEL LADRÓN DE GUEVARA
The Press-Enterprise
Video: Rialto residents demand cleanup of perchlorate contamination
Survey: Should Gov. Schwarzenegger declare a state of emergency in Rialto because of perchlorate contamination in the groundwater?
RIALTO - A group of residents wants the governor to declare a state of emergency in Rialto because perchlorate contamination in the city's groundwater supply is endangering residents' health.
Officials with the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice and about 40 residents also demanded during a protest Friday that the State Water Resources Control Board force polluters to clean up the contamination and reimburse residents for cleanup costs they have incurred.
A hearing set for March 23 to determine which companies are responsible for a mileslong underground plume of perchlorate was delayed after the hearing officer resigned. The hearing also would have forced cleanup of the plume, believed to have been generated by defense contractors in the 1950s and '60s.
"Enough is enough. We are tired of all the delays," said Sujatha Jahagirdar, clean-water advocate for Environment California. "The state water board must issue a full cleanup order that requires every drop of contamination to be cleaned and to provide safe water to residents until it is done."
Perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel and fireworks, has contaminated six Rialto water wells. It is believed that the chemical interferes with thyroid function and brain development. Human fetuses and newborn children are considered most at risk.
Davin Diaz, of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice in San Bernardino, said the goal is to have Gov. Schwarzenegger make Rialto's water a top priority and apply pressure on the state water board to move quickly.
But Rialto officials would have to declare a local state of emergency before the governor could issue a declaration, said Eric Lamoureux, spokesman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
Because there is no request from Rialto officials, it is difficult to assess the situation, Lamoureux said.
Councilman Ed Scott said he will be in Sacramento on Thursday to ask the state water board to hold hearings on Rialto's perchlorate problem.
City officials have no plans to declare a local state of emergency, he said.
Maria Harrada, a five-year Rialto resident, said she wants the contamination cleaned up so she won't have to worry about her children drinking tap water.
"It doesn't seem fair that we are paying to clean a mess we didn't make and that those responsible aren't paying," Harrada said during a protest at one of the first wells where perchlorate was found nearly 10 years ago.
Rialto residents are charged a $6.85 flat fee for perchlorate cleanup on their water bills. An additional charge is assessed based on consumption.
Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said the city plans to reimburse residents once cleanup funding becomes available from the responsible parties.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Rialto Considers Farmers Market (Daily Bulletin 030707)
Rialto considers farmers market
Article Launched:03/07/2007 01:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - City officials agree that the key to energizing downtown is getting shoppers on the streets, so they are talking with downtown business owners about holding a farmers market.
"It's a really nice project in a community," said Oscar de Leon, manager of the seven-year-old Claremont farmers market, which is held in that city's downtown on Sundays.
At the last Rialto downtown Business Improvement District Association meeting, Frank Roque, a representative of the Southland Farmers' Market Association, said he would like to locate a market at the corner of Rialto and Riverside avenues that would offer fresh products grown by local farmers. He also said the association would like to find a large building in the city to use as its home base.
The market, which would be similar to markets in Fontana, Palm Springs or Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, would probably not get off the ground until next year if approved.
- Jason Pesick, (909) 386-3861
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The last time that Rialto had a Farmers market the first few times they had huge crowds of people, and they started out a Success, but then the people that were there discovered that they could get the Produce and the other things that they were purchasing there for a whole lot less at Stator Bro's Market in the same city on their Shopping spree, and they didn't have to fight the crowds at the downtown Farmer's Market. We didn't have any fights or bad things happen. I think that out of one year and about two Wednesday's that followed the next season of Summer Fun, they cancelled it due to lack of participation and no money coming in. As soon as people was not making any money for produce sales they didn't come down for the Market at all. The only Farmers Market that was worth the time and effort was the Redlands Farmers Market, they had a very successful one.
BS Ranch
Article Launched:03/07/2007 01:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - City officials agree that the key to energizing downtown is getting shoppers on the streets, so they are talking with downtown business owners about holding a farmers market.
"It's a really nice project in a community," said Oscar de Leon, manager of the seven-year-old Claremont farmers market, which is held in that city's downtown on Sundays.
At the last Rialto downtown Business Improvement District Association meeting, Frank Roque, a representative of the Southland Farmers' Market Association, said he would like to locate a market at the corner of Rialto and Riverside avenues that would offer fresh products grown by local farmers. He also said the association would like to find a large building in the city to use as its home base.
The market, which would be similar to markets in Fontana, Palm Springs or Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, would probably not get off the ground until next year if approved.
- Jason Pesick, (909) 386-3861
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The last time that Rialto had a Farmers market the first few times they had huge crowds of people, and they started out a Success, but then the people that were there discovered that they could get the Produce and the other things that they were purchasing there for a whole lot less at Stator Bro's Market in the same city on their Shopping spree, and they didn't have to fight the crowds at the downtown Farmer's Market. We didn't have any fights or bad things happen. I think that out of one year and about two Wednesday's that followed the next season of Summer Fun, they cancelled it due to lack of participation and no money coming in. As soon as people was not making any money for produce sales they didn't come down for the Market at all. The only Farmers Market that was worth the time and effort was the Redlands Farmers Market, they had a very successful one.
BS Ranch
Wanted: New PD Digs (SB Sun 030907) Leaks, Mice Plaque Rialto Police HQ!!
LEAKS, MICE PLAGUE RIALTO POLICE HQ
Wanted: New PD digs
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:03/09/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - The Police Department is a sight to behold. Boxes and old filing cabinets sit throughout the hallways. Records are kept in outdoor bunkers. Much of the staff works out of trailers. Mousetraps dot the dingy hallways.
"We've seriously outgrown this facility," police Capt. Raul Martinez said on a tour of the station Thursday.
That sentiment, which seemed to be shared by everyone Martinez ran into as he walked the police grounds, is not surprising coming from members of the rank and file.
But now the City Council agrees - only a year and a half after it voted to disband the Police Department and contract with the Sheriff's Department, a decision it later reversed - it's time for a new building.
At Tuesday night's council meeting, when Chief Mark Kling received approval for new vehicles, equipment and new paint and flooring for the current building, the council overwhelmingly declared support for a new building.
Councilman Ed Scott, who was among those who had voted to eliminate the Police Department, said he wants the council to decide to build a new station this year - prompting a chorus of support for the idea.
The current station was built about 35 years ago, when Rialto was a much smaller city. In the next 25 years, the city is expected to grow by 65 percent, to about 165,000 residents.
Records Supervisor Glenda Montgomery said records employees have to keep files under their desks. She also pointed out a number of makeshift records-storage areas, including a packed closet and a storage bunker in the parking lot employees have to run back and forth to.
"We do that every day," she said.
Rooms that used to be closets now serve as offices.
Police Cpl. Steven Mastaler said that in the winter he needs to install a floor heater in his office.
"I like it cold, but sometimes it's just too cold," he said.
The building also has leaks. Noretta Barker, a law-enforcement technician working in dispatch, said that when the holding cells upstairs flood, the water leaks into the dispatch area in the basement.
The drab facility also makes recruitment a challenge, Martinez said, and the Police Department is hiring both sworn and non-sworn employees.
The city is planning to raise money for a police facility. A study from October estimates the city will need $15million for an expansion of the police station, said Chief Financial Officer June Overholt. Much of that money will come from increasing development-impact fees, she said.
At a recent community meeting at the Rialto Senior Center, Kling, who started as chief a little more than six months ago, said he found the police facilities to be subpar when he took the post.
"If you're going to expect a professional department, then, you know what? It starts at home."
Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The Police Department has been looking to be rebuilt since I started there back in the late 1980's. Only they were looking at a design the size of the Station that currently is similar to that of Fontana's Main Police Station. Back then Chief Ray Farmer had placed a Ballot on the voter's plate to look at, for a 1/2 cent tax, to be added to the utilities to pay for the construction of a new Police Facility at the current Location where the Police Station stands. The City Council at the time took a small amount of land from the Lumber Yard that is located just to the West of the Police Station, by way of Imminent Domain. The Police Department Quickly fenced that area off and made it into an Employee Parking lot, which is where the Employee's Park today. The Driveway Apron that is located where the entrance to the West lot or the Rear of the Current Station was to be the entrance to the Underground Parking for the Police Units, and they were going to be able to place them all down there. the Prisoner's were all going to be loaded and unloaded into the station from a Secure Sally port, that would prevent escape or Lynching of a Prisoner, while you were taking them into the station from the scene of arrest or moving them from the station to transport them to Jail for booking.
The whole thing was going to be great, I mean Traffic would not have to be housed in a building down the street from the current station, and The Detectives would be on their own floor, but in the same building as the rest of the people that they work with! It would also house the C.A.U. Offices (Crime Analysis Unit's), along with purchasing and the Law Enforcement Tech.'s and Human Services, all in the same building, could you imagine that has not been that way since before 1987. It would be great and Rialto Police department would be more like a Police Station and not a Division of a major Police Agency.
BS Ranch!
Wanted: New PD digs
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:03/09/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - The Police Department is a sight to behold. Boxes and old filing cabinets sit throughout the hallways. Records are kept in outdoor bunkers. Much of the staff works out of trailers. Mousetraps dot the dingy hallways.
"We've seriously outgrown this facility," police Capt. Raul Martinez said on a tour of the station Thursday.
That sentiment, which seemed to be shared by everyone Martinez ran into as he walked the police grounds, is not surprising coming from members of the rank and file.
But now the City Council agrees - only a year and a half after it voted to disband the Police Department and contract with the Sheriff's Department, a decision it later reversed - it's time for a new building.
At Tuesday night's council meeting, when Chief Mark Kling received approval for new vehicles, equipment and new paint and flooring for the current building, the council overwhelmingly declared support for a new building.
Councilman Ed Scott, who was among those who had voted to eliminate the Police Department, said he wants the council to decide to build a new station this year - prompting a chorus of support for the idea.
The current station was built about 35 years ago, when Rialto was a much smaller city. In the next 25 years, the city is expected to grow by 65 percent, to about 165,000 residents.
Records Supervisor Glenda Montgomery said records employees have to keep files under their desks. She also pointed out a number of makeshift records-storage areas, including a packed closet and a storage bunker in the parking lot employees have to run back and forth to.
"We do that every day," she said.
Rooms that used to be closets now serve as offices.
Police Cpl. Steven Mastaler said that in the winter he needs to install a floor heater in his office.
"I like it cold, but sometimes it's just too cold," he said.
The building also has leaks. Noretta Barker, a law-enforcement technician working in dispatch, said that when the holding cells upstairs flood, the water leaks into the dispatch area in the basement.
The drab facility also makes recruitment a challenge, Martinez said, and the Police Department is hiring both sworn and non-sworn employees.
The city is planning to raise money for a police facility. A study from October estimates the city will need $15million for an expansion of the police station, said Chief Financial Officer June Overholt. Much of that money will come from increasing development-impact fees, she said.
At a recent community meeting at the Rialto Senior Center, Kling, who started as chief a little more than six months ago, said he found the police facilities to be subpar when he took the post.
"If you're going to expect a professional department, then, you know what? It starts at home."
Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
The Police Department has been looking to be rebuilt since I started there back in the late 1980's. Only they were looking at a design the size of the Station that currently is similar to that of Fontana's Main Police Station. Back then Chief Ray Farmer had placed a Ballot on the voter's plate to look at, for a 1/2 cent tax, to be added to the utilities to pay for the construction of a new Police Facility at the current Location where the Police Station stands. The City Council at the time took a small amount of land from the Lumber Yard that is located just to the West of the Police Station, by way of Imminent Domain. The Police Department Quickly fenced that area off and made it into an Employee Parking lot, which is where the Employee's Park today. The Driveway Apron that is located where the entrance to the West lot or the Rear of the Current Station was to be the entrance to the Underground Parking for the Police Units, and they were going to be able to place them all down there. the Prisoner's were all going to be loaded and unloaded into the station from a Secure Sally port, that would prevent escape or Lynching of a Prisoner, while you were taking them into the station from the scene of arrest or moving them from the station to transport them to Jail for booking.
The whole thing was going to be great, I mean Traffic would not have to be housed in a building down the street from the current station, and The Detectives would be on their own floor, but in the same building as the rest of the people that they work with! It would also house the C.A.U. Offices (Crime Analysis Unit's), along with purchasing and the Law Enforcement Tech.'s and Human Services, all in the same building, could you imagine that has not been that way since before 1987. It would be great and Rialto Police department would be more like a Police Station and not a Division of a major Police Agency.
BS Ranch!
Pedestrian Alert in Rialto (SB Sun 031107)
Pedestrian alert in Rialto
Drivers blameless in two deaths
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:03/11/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - Look both ways before crossing the street. Use crosswalks. And remember that cars have the right of way.
Sound like simple rules, but police say they bear repeating after two pedestrians were killed and another injured in the last two weeks.
"All three of them, the pedestrian was at fault," said Rialto police Sgt. Jim Kurkoske.
Police suggested to the City Council more time should be spent educating people about traffic safety, particularly school kids.
A 17-year-old high school student recently sustained moderate injuries when struck while crossing the street near the intersection of Rialto and Arrowhead avenues.
On March 2, a woman was hit crossing Foothill Boulevard near Willow Avenue. A few days earlier, on Feb. 27, a man was hit crossing Riverside Avenue near Etiwanda Avenue.
The two who died were both inebriated, Kurkoske said.
It's not a crime for a driver to hit a pedestrian if the driver is not at fault, Kurkoske said. But because the driver who hit the pedestrian near the intersection of Foothill and Willow drove away, he or she has committed a felony.
The driver was in a red, 1980s-style hatchback that might be an Audi, Kurkoske said. Anyone with information should call Officer Ron Russo at (909) 421-7200.
The two pedestrians who have been killed were the only pedestrian deaths this year. Last year, four died, Kurkoske said.
At Tuesday night's City Council meeting, Councilman Ed Scott asked Police Chief Mark Kling about what could be done to limit dangers.
"It's simple, and it's community education," Kling answered.
Kurkoske said pedestrians have to remember to enter the road legally, use crosswalks and keep in mind that cars otherwise have the right of way.
Avoiding being hit by traffic starts with parents teaching their children traffic safety and telling them not to play in the streets, he said.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Those Vehicle Vs. Pedestrian Accidents are bad to work. There are many bits and pieces of ground meat that is left on the pavement and it is not a great thing to work. There is some kind of thought that the Ped. Always has the right of way in the street which is wrong. The Car more times then not has the Right of way, and the Ped. Doesn't The exceptions are when there is a Cross Walk that is clearly marked with two marked lines and the Ped is walking within the two marked lines. The second is when you are walking against a Green Signal and a person Runs a red Light and strikes the Pedestrian as they are crossing against a green. Then the Car or Driver is in violation of 22350(a). failure to stop behind the limit line against the red signal.
BS Ranch
Drivers blameless in two deaths
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:03/11/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - Look both ways before crossing the street. Use crosswalks. And remember that cars have the right of way.
Sound like simple rules, but police say they bear repeating after two pedestrians were killed and another injured in the last two weeks.
"All three of them, the pedestrian was at fault," said Rialto police Sgt. Jim Kurkoske.
Police suggested to the City Council more time should be spent educating people about traffic safety, particularly school kids.
A 17-year-old high school student recently sustained moderate injuries when struck while crossing the street near the intersection of Rialto and Arrowhead avenues.
On March 2, a woman was hit crossing Foothill Boulevard near Willow Avenue. A few days earlier, on Feb. 27, a man was hit crossing Riverside Avenue near Etiwanda Avenue.
The two who died were both inebriated, Kurkoske said.
It's not a crime for a driver to hit a pedestrian if the driver is not at fault, Kurkoske said. But because the driver who hit the pedestrian near the intersection of Foothill and Willow drove away, he or she has committed a felony.
The driver was in a red, 1980s-style hatchback that might be an Audi, Kurkoske said. Anyone with information should call Officer Ron Russo at (909) 421-7200.
The two pedestrians who have been killed were the only pedestrian deaths this year. Last year, four died, Kurkoske said.
At Tuesday night's City Council meeting, Councilman Ed Scott asked Police Chief Mark Kling about what could be done to limit dangers.
"It's simple, and it's community education," Kling answered.
Kurkoske said pedestrians have to remember to enter the road legally, use crosswalks and keep in mind that cars otherwise have the right of way.
Avoiding being hit by traffic starts with parents teaching their children traffic safety and telling them not to play in the streets, he said.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Those Vehicle Vs. Pedestrian Accidents are bad to work. There are many bits and pieces of ground meat that is left on the pavement and it is not a great thing to work. There is some kind of thought that the Ped. Always has the right of way in the street which is wrong. The Car more times then not has the Right of way, and the Ped. Doesn't The exceptions are when there is a Cross Walk that is clearly marked with two marked lines and the Ped is walking within the two marked lines. The second is when you are walking against a Green Signal and a person Runs a red Light and strikes the Pedestrian as they are crossing against a green. Then the Car or Driver is in violation of 22350(a). failure to stop behind the limit line against the red signal.
BS Ranch
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Crews Into the Final Stretch Paving the Way for Freeway (SB Sun 092106)
Crews into the final stretch
Paving the way for freeway
Andrew Silva, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:09/21/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - In the past few days, a gently curving ribbon of white concrete has appeared in the wide dirt trench that will cradle the new Interstate 210 extension.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photo Gallery: 210 freeway expansion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With paving now under way for the final seven-mile stretch of the long-awaited freeway, the project has entered the home stretch, with promises of relief to frazzled commuters and an economic boon to the working-class communities in its path.
About 10 feet above the evolving roadway, Shane Morales leaned on a rail at the top of a crawling steel structure resembling something out of a "Star Wars" movie, as he casually piloted the Gomarco GP-4000 paving machine.
"It pretty much runs itself," the 35-year-old Riverside resident said over the whine of the 475-horsepower diesel engine just behind him.
Giant dump trucks dropped 22 cubic yards of fresh concrete at a time in front of the machine as it crept steadily along at about 15 feet per minute.
With each load, the skip-loader driver confidently sped into the pile, running the bucket to within a few inches of the front of the paver as he spread the wet gray pile so the machine could draw the concrete in evenly.
Working from Pepper Avenue west to Ayala Drive and back, the 20 workmen have laid roughly three miles of the inside shoulder, carpool lane and fast lane in each direction.
At least they've done that for the first 6-inch-thick layer. The freeway lanes will be 18 inches thick when finished, with a 1-inch asphalt-concrete layer in the middle to reduce shocks and cracks, topped by the final 11-inch-thick concrete roadway.
When finished, the I-210 extension will connect to Highway 30 in San Bernardino, providing an uninterrupted run connecting Redlands, Pasadena and Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles, all while taking some of the heat off the teeth-gnashing mess on Interstate 10.
The freeway has already proven to be an economic boon to Upland, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.
"The freeways have become like the rivers of old in attracting commerce," said Robb Steel, Rialto's development director.
Indeed, city officials decided to close the Rialto Municipal Airport to free up space for development that will be drawn to the new freeway.
"We want to capture our share of the regional commercial market," Steel said.
The city has already brought in two major distribution centers totaling 6 million square feet thanks to the new route.
And the airport site is envisioned as a high-quality mixed-use development, bringing residential, retail and commercial together in one walkable area.
Fontana has already seen the I-210 extension fulfill its promise as a road to riches.
The areas around the freeway have exploded with high-end development, luring businesses and middle- to upper-middle-income residents, the demographic long-coveted by the once-struggling city.
"The 210 has been the main artery pumping life into that (economic) heart," Fontana Mayor Mark Nuaimi said.
Fontana has seen houses selling for $700,000, a new auto mall, ambitious community parks in the works, and plans for a development called the Promenade, similar to Rancho Cucamonga's successful Victoria Gardens.
Professionals from the San Gabriel Valley have been able to move east to Fontana and buy nicer homes for less money without adding a ton of misery to their commutes, Nuaimi said.
Inland Empire economist John Husing sees the freeway as a chance to open entire areas of the San Bernardino Valley to economic development.
San Bernardino International Airport will be surrounded by interstates, he said, further attracting shipping and warehouse businesses. Not to mention the benefit to commuters and truckers of easing congestion on the chronically jammed I-10.
San Bernardino's long-impoverished Westside could be in for a major shift, he said.
"Muscoy is an area due for dramatic change," Husing said.
County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who represents the area, agrees.
State Street could become a major commercial corridor, linking the Cal State San Bernardino area with Muscoy, she said.
She approved spending $300,000 to study possible improvements to State Street, including widening, curbs and gutters, and maybe street lights if residents want them.
"That's a brand-new business frontier that wouldn't be there without the freeway," she said.
Of course, there are still some bridges to be finished and plenty of work to be done before the first cars drive on the last stretch of the freeway extension late next year.
But the start of the final phase of paving "is a milestone for us," said Cheryl Donahue, spokeswoman for San Bernardino Associated Governments, which is building the freeway.
Back on the paving machine, foreman Kim Vanvolkinburg of San Diego-based Coffman Specialties praised the tight choreography of his crew as they laid a 37-foot-wide layer of concrete in a single pass.
Giant rotating screws, called augers, in front of the machine distribute the concrete as it's drawn under the paver, where vibrating mechanisms make sure the material is even.
Big steel plates leave behind an incredibly even surface, while finishers trailing behind run trowels on long poles over the concrete to precisely smooth out the base layer.
On a pleasantly warm afternoon, with the great machine vibrating beneath his feet, Vanvolkinburg looks around, smiles broadly, and says above the noise: "I love it!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BS Ranch Perspective:
Well the final stretch is in the paper, but that doesn't mean that it will be open any time soon, they tease with the best of them with that comment! The time that they were going to open that last stretch of the I-15 through Norco, it took them a great deal of time, each time they had several reports in the news paper that said that it was going to be any day now, and it could have opened any time, but they decided against it because they had a more then seven mile movie set that could more then make its money back in time and efforts for the over time that it took to pay the men to open the freeway in a timely manor. But, if you recall, which I do, this last stretch of freeway was supposed to have been opened already nine months ago, but it was delayed as a result of a fear that the proposition that pays for the whole mess was not going to pass in the voting booth, well it did, but before then they figured what a mistake they were making and decided to correct it by making a move to start construction back up, but that short time that they were closed down, caused almost a full nine months to a year to make them behind. weird huh? or is that just my "New Math" working against them, and the "old Math" working against them?? I get so confused about the new vs. the old?
BS Ranch
Paving the way for freeway
Andrew Silva, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:09/21/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT
RIALTO - In the past few days, a gently curving ribbon of white concrete has appeared in the wide dirt trench that will cradle the new Interstate 210 extension.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photo Gallery: 210 freeway expansion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With paving now under way for the final seven-mile stretch of the long-awaited freeway, the project has entered the home stretch, with promises of relief to frazzled commuters and an economic boon to the working-class communities in its path.
About 10 feet above the evolving roadway, Shane Morales leaned on a rail at the top of a crawling steel structure resembling something out of a "Star Wars" movie, as he casually piloted the Gomarco GP-4000 paving machine.
"It pretty much runs itself," the 35-year-old Riverside resident said over the whine of the 475-horsepower diesel engine just behind him.
Giant dump trucks dropped 22 cubic yards of fresh concrete at a time in front of the machine as it crept steadily along at about 15 feet per minute.
With each load, the skip-loader driver confidently sped into the pile, running the bucket to within a few inches of the front of the paver as he spread the wet gray pile so the machine could draw the concrete in evenly.
Working from Pepper Avenue west to Ayala Drive and back, the 20 workmen have laid roughly three miles of the inside shoulder, carpool lane and fast lane in each direction.
At least they've done that for the first 6-inch-thick layer. The freeway lanes will be 18 inches thick when finished, with a 1-inch asphalt-concrete layer in the middle to reduce shocks and cracks, topped by the final 11-inch-thick concrete roadway.
When finished, the I-210 extension will connect to Highway 30 in San Bernardino, providing an uninterrupted run connecting Redlands, Pasadena and Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles, all while taking some of the heat off the teeth-gnashing mess on Interstate 10.
The freeway has already proven to be an economic boon to Upland, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.
"The freeways have become like the rivers of old in attracting commerce," said Robb Steel, Rialto's development director.
Indeed, city officials decided to close the Rialto Municipal Airport to free up space for development that will be drawn to the new freeway.
"We want to capture our share of the regional commercial market," Steel said.
The city has already brought in two major distribution centers totaling 6 million square feet thanks to the new route.
And the airport site is envisioned as a high-quality mixed-use development, bringing residential, retail and commercial together in one walkable area.
Fontana has already seen the I-210 extension fulfill its promise as a road to riches.
The areas around the freeway have exploded with high-end development, luring businesses and middle- to upper-middle-income residents, the demographic long-coveted by the once-struggling city.
"The 210 has been the main artery pumping life into that (economic) heart," Fontana Mayor Mark Nuaimi said.
Fontana has seen houses selling for $700,000, a new auto mall, ambitious community parks in the works, and plans for a development called the Promenade, similar to Rancho Cucamonga's successful Victoria Gardens.
Professionals from the San Gabriel Valley have been able to move east to Fontana and buy nicer homes for less money without adding a ton of misery to their commutes, Nuaimi said.
Inland Empire economist John Husing sees the freeway as a chance to open entire areas of the San Bernardino Valley to economic development.
San Bernardino International Airport will be surrounded by interstates, he said, further attracting shipping and warehouse businesses. Not to mention the benefit to commuters and truckers of easing congestion on the chronically jammed I-10.
San Bernardino's long-impoverished Westside could be in for a major shift, he said.
"Muscoy is an area due for dramatic change," Husing said.
County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who represents the area, agrees.
State Street could become a major commercial corridor, linking the Cal State San Bernardino area with Muscoy, she said.
She approved spending $300,000 to study possible improvements to State Street, including widening, curbs and gutters, and maybe street lights if residents want them.
"That's a brand-new business frontier that wouldn't be there without the freeway," she said.
Of course, there are still some bridges to be finished and plenty of work to be done before the first cars drive on the last stretch of the freeway extension late next year.
But the start of the final phase of paving "is a milestone for us," said Cheryl Donahue, spokeswoman for San Bernardino Associated Governments, which is building the freeway.
Back on the paving machine, foreman Kim Vanvolkinburg of San Diego-based Coffman Specialties praised the tight choreography of his crew as they laid a 37-foot-wide layer of concrete in a single pass.
Giant rotating screws, called augers, in front of the machine distribute the concrete as it's drawn under the paver, where vibrating mechanisms make sure the material is even.
Big steel plates leave behind an incredibly even surface, while finishers trailing behind run trowels on long poles over the concrete to precisely smooth out the base layer.
On a pleasantly warm afternoon, with the great machine vibrating beneath his feet, Vanvolkinburg looks around, smiles broadly, and says above the noise: "I love it!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BS Ranch Perspective:
Well the final stretch is in the paper, but that doesn't mean that it will be open any time soon, they tease with the best of them with that comment! The time that they were going to open that last stretch of the I-15 through Norco, it took them a great deal of time, each time they had several reports in the news paper that said that it was going to be any day now, and it could have opened any time, but they decided against it because they had a more then seven mile movie set that could more then make its money back in time and efforts for the over time that it took to pay the men to open the freeway in a timely manor. But, if you recall, which I do, this last stretch of freeway was supposed to have been opened already nine months ago, but it was delayed as a result of a fear that the proposition that pays for the whole mess was not going to pass in the voting booth, well it did, but before then they figured what a mistake they were making and decided to correct it by making a move to start construction back up, but that short time that they were closed down, caused almost a full nine months to a year to make them behind. weird huh? or is that just my "New Math" working against them, and the "old Math" working against them?? I get so confused about the new vs. the old?
BS Ranch
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Rialto Detective Recovering After Tumor Removal Surgery (Daily Bulletin 021307)
Rialto Detective Recovering After Tumor Removal Surgery (Daily Bulletin 021307)
Rialto detective recovering after tumor removal surgery
By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/13/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
Rialto Detective Kurt Kitterly is recovering at Loma Linda University Medical Center after surgery to remove a brain tumor.
The well-known detective and president of the Rialto Police Benefit Association had surgery Feb. 2 and is now regaining his strength, although his long-term prognosis is still unknown.
Kitterly, 48, felt ill and excused himself while interviewing the suspect in the city's first murder of the year, said Police Chief Mark Kling. The murder took place Jan. 31, and Kitterly worked about 40 straight hours before falling ill.
"He's a big, strong guy that has his whole life ahead of him," said Sgt. Reinhard Burkholder, his close friend and supervisor in the detective bureau.
Burkholder said Kitterly had a fist-sized tumor between his scalp and his brain. For a time, he lost control of the right side of his body and had a seizure.
As soon as Kitterly is stronger, Burkholder said the doctors want to begin chemotherapy and evaluate whether the tumor spread.
Police volunteer Judy Roberts said she has worked closely with Kitterly in a number of different capacities.
"He's just a really, really good person," she said of the 18-year department veteran.
Roberts said one of Kitterly's most notable qualities is his wit.
"He's got an unbelievable sense of humor," she said.
As the only corporal in the detective bureau, where he has served for six years, Burkholder said Kitterly is his right-hand man. He said Kitterly is very popular with other members of the department.
Kitterly has a wife and three children. Burkholder said he plans to retire in a few years and spend more time camping and riding dirt bikes. He said he has some property in Tennessee where his parents live and might move to.
Kitterly also has been active in the community. In March, he spoke to residents at Cavalry Chapel Church about the work the department does to fight crime and discussed some of the cases he has investigated.
"I'm just completely grateful for all he's done for the city," Roberts said.
BS Ranch Perspective:
I worked most of my career with this Detective, he started a year after me at the Police department and we used to go to lunch and then spend some of our After hours together, when we first started out. We were on the bowling league that was started by the Graveyard Bowling league, it was fun.
Kurt, I am and always have been keeping you in my prayers, and I hope that you have a full recovery. It has been a long time since we have seen each other and I want you to know that I hope that you gain that full recovery and get either a Retirement or full duty back to work, they need you at Rialto!
BS Ranch
Rialto detective recovering after tumor removal surgery
By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/13/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
Rialto Detective Kurt Kitterly is recovering at Loma Linda University Medical Center after surgery to remove a brain tumor.
The well-known detective and president of the Rialto Police Benefit Association had surgery Feb. 2 and is now regaining his strength, although his long-term prognosis is still unknown.
Kitterly, 48, felt ill and excused himself while interviewing the suspect in the city's first murder of the year, said Police Chief Mark Kling. The murder took place Jan. 31, and Kitterly worked about 40 straight hours before falling ill.
"He's a big, strong guy that has his whole life ahead of him," said Sgt. Reinhard Burkholder, his close friend and supervisor in the detective bureau.
Burkholder said Kitterly had a fist-sized tumor between his scalp and his brain. For a time, he lost control of the right side of his body and had a seizure.
As soon as Kitterly is stronger, Burkholder said the doctors want to begin chemotherapy and evaluate whether the tumor spread.
Police volunteer Judy Roberts said she has worked closely with Kitterly in a number of different capacities.
"He's just a really, really good person," she said of the 18-year department veteran.
Roberts said one of Kitterly's most notable qualities is his wit.
"He's got an unbelievable sense of humor," she said.
As the only corporal in the detective bureau, where he has served for six years, Burkholder said Kitterly is his right-hand man. He said Kitterly is very popular with other members of the department.
Kitterly has a wife and three children. Burkholder said he plans to retire in a few years and spend more time camping and riding dirt bikes. He said he has some property in Tennessee where his parents live and might move to.
Kitterly also has been active in the community. In March, he spoke to residents at Cavalry Chapel Church about the work the department does to fight crime and discussed some of the cases he has investigated.
"I'm just completely grateful for all he's done for the city," Roberts said.
BS Ranch Perspective:
I worked most of my career with this Detective, he started a year after me at the Police department and we used to go to lunch and then spend some of our After hours together, when we first started out. We were on the bowling league that was started by the Graveyard Bowling league, it was fun.
Kurt, I am and always have been keeping you in my prayers, and I hope that you have a full recovery. It has been a long time since we have seen each other and I want you to know that I hope that you gain that full recovery and get either a Retirement or full duty back to work, they need you at Rialto!
BS Ranch
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Miller, Developer Too Cozy? (SB Sun 021507) Congressmen's proposals for 2005 bill would have aided Lewis Corp.
Miller, developer too cozy?
Congressman's proposals for 2005 bill would have aided Lewis Corp.
Fred Ortega and Gary Scott, Staff Writers
Article Launched: 02/15/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
In the first months of 2005, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, recommended three provisions be added to a major transportation bill moving through the House of Representatives.
The three provisions had one common thread: They all would have benefited projects proposed by one of the Southland's biggest real estate developers, Lewis Operating Corp.
In those same early months, Miller took $8,100 in campaign contributions from top executives at Lewis Operating Corp. for his upcoming re-election bid. Miller ran unopposed.
The year before, Miller bought land from Lewis as a way to shelter millions of dollars in profits from an earlier Monrovia land deal.
The FBI has contacted officials in Monrovia and Fontana over Miller's land sales in those cities.
Miller maintains he has acted above board and within legal and ethical boundaries in both his business and political dealings. In an interview earlier this month, Miller said he should have avoided "joint ventures" with any company he had taken contributions from because it is "not worth being questioned."
Randall Lewis, executive vice president of Lewis Operating Corp., said in an e-mailed statement that his company's relationship with
Miller is both proper and ethical.
"Lewis Group is committed to acting according to the highest ethical standards," he said. "Our company is proud of its long record of community involvement, which includes both charitable and political contributions. For three generations, Lewis Group has set the standard for our industry and will continue to do so for many generations to come."
In February 2005, Miller requested $1.7million in federal funds for street improvements next to a former state reform school in Whittier, less than a year after the City Council there selected Lewis Operating Corp. as part of a team to redevelop the facility. That same year, the congressman secured $1.28million for upgrades next to a planned housing and retail development he co-owned with Lewis Operating Corp. in Diamond Bar.
Miller sold his Diamond Bar properties in August 2005 for between $1million and $5.5million, according to federal financial disclosure statements. Also in 2005, Miller promoted legislation that led to the closure of Rialto Municipal Airport, which the Lewis company is also slated to redevelop.
Miller inserted language for all three projects in the $286billion federal omnibus transportation bill then making its way through Congress.
Miller, whose 42nd District includes Whittier, Rowland Heights, Diamond Bar, La Habra, La Habra Heights, Chino and Chino Hills, served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the time.
The Lewis Operating Corp. plan to develop the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility in Whittier eventually fell through, and the airport-closure bill was rewritten by Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands.
"It is understandable for a congressman to try to steer federal funds to his district," said Ned Wigglesworth, a policy advocate with California Common Cause, which first raised concerns about Miller's earmarks for the Diamond Bar improvements in 2005. "But when those actions financially benefit the congressman's business partner and campaign donor, it raises questions about the integrity of the decisions made in the appropriations process."
A year before Miller worked on the Whittier and Rialto bills, he purchased several properties from Lewis Operating Corp. in Fontana. The deals allowed Miller to shield millions in potential capital gains taxes from a land sale he made in 2002 in Monrovia.
Miller said he went to Lewis company officials and asked if the company had any property he could buy. The company offered several parcels it had planned to sell to the city of Fontana. Miller bought them in 2004 and later sold them to the city himself for a small profit.
The Lewis company was Miller's third largest contributor in the 2004 congressional election, donating $10,000 to his campaign. The top contributor was Lytle Development, at $13,998, followed by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers at $10,400. Miller faced only token opposition.
Miller has denied any wrongdoing in the sale of his Monrovia and Fontana properties, and he said his work on legislation involving the Rialto airport and the Diamond Bar street improvements was initiated at the request of those cities.
Miller spokesman Scott Toussaint denied the congressman ever requested federal money for Whittier Boulevard improvements. City Manager Stephen Helvey sent a letter to Miller in March 2004 that asked the congressman to help secure $1.5million in federal funds for Whittier Boulevard improvements.
A group of developers that included the Lewis company was selected to develop the Nelles property two months later.
Helvey and former Miller spokesman Kevin McKee said in March 2005 that the congressman had included a request for $1.7million for the improvements in the federal transportation bill. The money was to go to improve traffic flow and buy blighted property along the western portion of the boulevard, near Nelles, Helvey said.
The relationship between the Lewis group and Miller does not appear to have played a role in the city's decision to have the company and its partners develop the reform school property, according to Whittier council members.
While Whittier officials insist no nexus existed between Miller and the Nelles development deal, Rialto officials have acknowledged that politics played a key role in the Rialto airport deal.
Hillwood Development Corp. - founded by H. Ross Perot Jr. - teamed with Lewis Operating Corp. to develop the Rialto airport land. They were selected in part for their connections in government, said Rialto City Administrator Henry Garcia.
Garcia said the city needed to find developers that could help get the airport closed, since the Federal Aviation Administration had already turned down Rialto's request to shut it down.
Miller said he met with Lewis company and Rialto officials before working on legislation that would eventually allow the closure of the airport.
He said his involvement was solely at the request of Rialto officials, even though Rialto is not in his district.
"In 1985 I did the biggest development project constructed until then in Rialto, and the city was very good to work with," Miller said. "So when they called me to help them out, I did. I never asked anyone to do anything for Lewis."
Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman, said it is practically unheard of for an airport to be closed down through legislation.
Miller's brushes with conflict-of-interest allegations date to his days as a Diamond Bar City Council member.
In 1992, the state Fair Political Practices Commission fined then-Covina Councilman Christopher Lancaster $1,750 for voting on a resolution that would have allowed Covina to annex 52 acres of unincorporated land. Miller, who held an option to buy the property, had paid Lancaster $8,000 to work on his failed campaign for the state Senate less than a year earlier.
Lancaster, now an advertising executive based at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, said he approached Miller with the resolution to annex the property. Covina never annexed the property, and Miller never exercised his option on the land.
Staff Writer Jason Pesick contributed to this story.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Miller has his hands in too much development, and his name is not really mentioned on to much in Rialto, yet for him to have got the City of Rialto out from under the Federal Government and not get anything in return is like a Fly landing on Dog Poop and not getting any benefit of the Smell!!
Even when the deal was struck back two years ago, Council Member Ed Scott said that Miller had the right to Develop the Airport Land using Miller's Development Company. That was the answer to the question to when the Development of the Airport Property was going to go up for Bid! Scott said that it wasn't, it simply was going to be Developed by Miller's, and Lewis''s Development Companies to repay so to speak for the great work that they did for the City of Rialto in getting them out from under the Financial burden that they were under with the Federal Government!
Miller in this Deal also should be Investigated as part of the other deal that he is being Investigated for now! He is dirty dirty dirty. I can see the dirt on his face nose and ears!!
BS Ranch
PS: MONEY TRUMPS ALL PROBLEMS, if Miller is breaking the law, yet the pockets are being lined with money, and they City is being paid back with money, like they plan or estimated to be, then there will be nothing done about the whole thing even if someone broke the law!! MONEY trumps ALL PROBLEMS. That is why the Immigration problem is such a dilemma. because even though the border is a problem with our Security, it is this, and the President of the United States even said this. Money Trumps Peace!!
BSR
Congressman's proposals for 2005 bill would have aided Lewis Corp.
Fred Ortega and Gary Scott, Staff Writers
Article Launched: 02/15/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
In the first months of 2005, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, recommended three provisions be added to a major transportation bill moving through the House of Representatives.
The three provisions had one common thread: They all would have benefited projects proposed by one of the Southland's biggest real estate developers, Lewis Operating Corp.
In those same early months, Miller took $8,100 in campaign contributions from top executives at Lewis Operating Corp. for his upcoming re-election bid. Miller ran unopposed.
The year before, Miller bought land from Lewis as a way to shelter millions of dollars in profits from an earlier Monrovia land deal.
The FBI has contacted officials in Monrovia and Fontana over Miller's land sales in those cities.
Miller maintains he has acted above board and within legal and ethical boundaries in both his business and political dealings. In an interview earlier this month, Miller said he should have avoided "joint ventures" with any company he had taken contributions from because it is "not worth being questioned."
Randall Lewis, executive vice president of Lewis Operating Corp., said in an e-mailed statement that his company's relationship with
Miller is both proper and ethical.
"Lewis Group is committed to acting according to the highest ethical standards," he said. "Our company is proud of its long record of community involvement, which includes both charitable and political contributions. For three generations, Lewis Group has set the standard for our industry and will continue to do so for many generations to come."
In February 2005, Miller requested $1.7million in federal funds for street improvements next to a former state reform school in Whittier, less than a year after the City Council there selected Lewis Operating Corp. as part of a team to redevelop the facility. That same year, the congressman secured $1.28million for upgrades next to a planned housing and retail development he co-owned with Lewis Operating Corp. in Diamond Bar.
Miller sold his Diamond Bar properties in August 2005 for between $1million and $5.5million, according to federal financial disclosure statements. Also in 2005, Miller promoted legislation that led to the closure of Rialto Municipal Airport, which the Lewis company is also slated to redevelop.
Miller inserted language for all three projects in the $286billion federal omnibus transportation bill then making its way through Congress.
Miller, whose 42nd District includes Whittier, Rowland Heights, Diamond Bar, La Habra, La Habra Heights, Chino and Chino Hills, served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the time.
The Lewis Operating Corp. plan to develop the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility in Whittier eventually fell through, and the airport-closure bill was rewritten by Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands.
"It is understandable for a congressman to try to steer federal funds to his district," said Ned Wigglesworth, a policy advocate with California Common Cause, which first raised concerns about Miller's earmarks for the Diamond Bar improvements in 2005. "But when those actions financially benefit the congressman's business partner and campaign donor, it raises questions about the integrity of the decisions made in the appropriations process."
A year before Miller worked on the Whittier and Rialto bills, he purchased several properties from Lewis Operating Corp. in Fontana. The deals allowed Miller to shield millions in potential capital gains taxes from a land sale he made in 2002 in Monrovia.
Miller said he went to Lewis company officials and asked if the company had any property he could buy. The company offered several parcels it had planned to sell to the city of Fontana. Miller bought them in 2004 and later sold them to the city himself for a small profit.
The Lewis company was Miller's third largest contributor in the 2004 congressional election, donating $10,000 to his campaign. The top contributor was Lytle Development, at $13,998, followed by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers at $10,400. Miller faced only token opposition.
Miller has denied any wrongdoing in the sale of his Monrovia and Fontana properties, and he said his work on legislation involving the Rialto airport and the Diamond Bar street improvements was initiated at the request of those cities.
Miller spokesman Scott Toussaint denied the congressman ever requested federal money for Whittier Boulevard improvements. City Manager Stephen Helvey sent a letter to Miller in March 2004 that asked the congressman to help secure $1.5million in federal funds for Whittier Boulevard improvements.
A group of developers that included the Lewis company was selected to develop the Nelles property two months later.
Helvey and former Miller spokesman Kevin McKee said in March 2005 that the congressman had included a request for $1.7million for the improvements in the federal transportation bill. The money was to go to improve traffic flow and buy blighted property along the western portion of the boulevard, near Nelles, Helvey said.
The relationship between the Lewis group and Miller does not appear to have played a role in the city's decision to have the company and its partners develop the reform school property, according to Whittier council members.
While Whittier officials insist no nexus existed between Miller and the Nelles development deal, Rialto officials have acknowledged that politics played a key role in the Rialto airport deal.
Hillwood Development Corp. - founded by H. Ross Perot Jr. - teamed with Lewis Operating Corp. to develop the Rialto airport land. They were selected in part for their connections in government, said Rialto City Administrator Henry Garcia.
Garcia said the city needed to find developers that could help get the airport closed, since the Federal Aviation Administration had already turned down Rialto's request to shut it down.
Miller said he met with Lewis company and Rialto officials before working on legislation that would eventually allow the closure of the airport.
He said his involvement was solely at the request of Rialto officials, even though Rialto is not in his district.
"In 1985 I did the biggest development project constructed until then in Rialto, and the city was very good to work with," Miller said. "So when they called me to help them out, I did. I never asked anyone to do anything for Lewis."
Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman, said it is practically unheard of for an airport to be closed down through legislation.
Miller's brushes with conflict-of-interest allegations date to his days as a Diamond Bar City Council member.
In 1992, the state Fair Political Practices Commission fined then-Covina Councilman Christopher Lancaster $1,750 for voting on a resolution that would have allowed Covina to annex 52 acres of unincorporated land. Miller, who held an option to buy the property, had paid Lancaster $8,000 to work on his failed campaign for the state Senate less than a year earlier.
Lancaster, now an advertising executive based at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, said he approached Miller with the resolution to annex the property. Covina never annexed the property, and Miller never exercised his option on the land.
Staff Writer Jason Pesick contributed to this story.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Miller has his hands in too much development, and his name is not really mentioned on to much in Rialto, yet for him to have got the City of Rialto out from under the Federal Government and not get anything in return is like a Fly landing on Dog Poop and not getting any benefit of the Smell!!
Even when the deal was struck back two years ago, Council Member Ed Scott said that Miller had the right to Develop the Airport Land using Miller's Development Company. That was the answer to the question to when the Development of the Airport Property was going to go up for Bid! Scott said that it wasn't, it simply was going to be Developed by Miller's, and Lewis''s Development Companies to repay so to speak for the great work that they did for the City of Rialto in getting them out from under the Financial burden that they were under with the Federal Government!
Miller in this Deal also should be Investigated as part of the other deal that he is being Investigated for now! He is dirty dirty dirty. I can see the dirt on his face nose and ears!!
BS Ranch
PS: MONEY TRUMPS ALL PROBLEMS, if Miller is breaking the law, yet the pockets are being lined with money, and they City is being paid back with money, like they plan or estimated to be, then there will be nothing done about the whole thing even if someone broke the law!! MONEY trumps ALL PROBLEMS. That is why the Immigration problem is such a dilemma. because even though the border is a problem with our Security, it is this, and the President of the United States even said this. Money Trumps Peace!!
BSR
Miller, Developer Too Cozy? (SB Sun 021507) Congressmen's proposals for 2005 bill would have aided Lewis Corp.
Miller, developer too cozy?
Congressman's proposals for 2005 bill would have aided Lewis Corp.
Fred Ortega and Gary Scott, Staff Writers
Article Launched: 02/15/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
In the first months of 2005, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, recommended three provisions be added to a major transportation bill moving through the House of Representatives.
The three provisions had one common thread: They all would have benefited projects proposed by one of the Southland's biggest real estate developers, Lewis Operating Corp.
In those same early months, Miller took $8,100 in campaign contributions from top executives at Lewis Operating Corp. for his upcoming re-election bid. Miller ran unopposed.
The year before, Miller bought land from Lewis as a way to shelter millions of dollars in profits from an earlier Monrovia land deal.
The FBI has contacted officials in Monrovia and Fontana over Miller's land sales in those cities.
Miller maintains he has acted above board and within legal and ethical boundaries in both his business and political dealings. In an interview earlier this month, Miller said he should have avoided "joint ventures" with any company he had taken contributions from because it is "not worth being questioned."
Randall Lewis, executive vice president of Lewis Operating Corp., said in an e-mailed statement that his company's relationship with
Miller is both proper and ethical.
"Lewis Group is committed to acting according to the highest ethical standards," he said. "Our company is proud of its long record of community involvement, which includes both charitable and political contributions. For three generations, Lewis Group has set the standard for our industry and will continue to do so for many generations to come."
In February 2005, Miller requested $1.7million in federal funds for street improvements next to a former state reform school in Whittier, less than a year after the City Council there selected Lewis Operating Corp. as part of a team to redevelop the facility. That same year, the congressman secured $1.28million for upgrades next to a planned housing and retail development he co-owned with Lewis Operating Corp. in Diamond Bar.
Miller sold his Diamond Bar properties in August 2005 for between $1million and $5.5million, according to federal financial disclosure statements. Also in 2005, Miller promoted legislation that led to the closure of Rialto Municipal Airport, which the Lewis company is also slated to redevelop.
Miller inserted language for all three projects in the $286billion federal omnibus transportation bill then making its way through Congress.
Miller, whose 42nd District includes Whittier, Rowland Heights, Diamond Bar, La Habra, La Habra Heights, Chino and Chino Hills, served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the time.
The Lewis Operating Corp. plan to develop the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility in Whittier eventually fell through, and the airport-closure bill was rewritten by Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands.
"It is understandable for a congressman to try to steer federal funds to his district," said Ned Wigglesworth, a policy advocate with California Common Cause, which first raised concerns about Miller's earmarks for the Diamond Bar improvements in 2005. "But when those actions financially benefit the congressman's business partner and campaign donor, it raises questions about the integrity of the decisions made in the appropriations process."
A year before Miller worked on the Whittier and Rialto bills, he purchased several properties from Lewis Operating Corp. in Fontana. The deals allowed Miller to shield millions in potential capital gains taxes from a land sale he made in 2002 in Monrovia.
Miller said he went to Lewis company officials and asked if the company had any property he could buy. The company offered several parcels it had planned to sell to the city of Fontana. Miller bought them in 2004 and later sold them to the city himself for a small profit.
The Lewis company was Miller's third largest contributor in the 2004 congressional election, donating $10,000 to his campaign. The top contributor was Lytle Development, at $13,998, followed by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers at $10,400. Miller faced only token opposition.
Miller has denied any wrongdoing in the sale of his Monrovia and Fontana properties, and he said his work on legislation involving the Rialto airport and the Diamond Bar street improvements was initiated at the request of those cities.
Miller spokesman Scott Toussaint denied the congressman ever requested federal money for Whittier Boulevard improvements. City Manager Stephen Helvey sent a letter to Miller in March 2004 that asked the congressman to help secure $1.5million in federal funds for Whittier Boulevard improvements.
A group of developers that included the Lewis company was selected to develop the Nelles property two months later.
Helvey and former Miller spokesman Kevin McKee said in March 2005 that the congressman had included a request for $1.7million for the improvements in the federal transportation bill. The money was to go to improve traffic flow and buy blighted property along the western portion of the boulevard, near Nelles, Helvey said.
The relationship between the Lewis group and Miller does not appear to have played a role in the city's decision to have the company and its partners develop the reform school property, according to Whittier council members.
While Whittier officials insist no nexus existed between Miller and the Nelles development deal, Rialto officials have acknowledged that politics played a key role in the Rialto airport deal.
Hillwood Development Corp. - founded by H. Ross Perot Jr. - teamed with Lewis Operating Corp. to develop the Rialto airport land. They were selected in part for their connections in government, said Rialto City Administrator Henry Garcia.
Garcia said the city needed to find developers that could help get the airport closed, since the Federal Aviation Administration had already turned down Rialto's request to shut it down.
Miller said he met with Lewis company and Rialto officials before working on legislation that would eventually allow the closure of the airport.
He said his involvement was solely at the request of Rialto officials, even though Rialto is not in his district.
"In 1985 I did the biggest development project constructed until then in Rialto, and the city was very good to work with," Miller said. "So when they called me to help them out, I did. I never asked anyone to do anything for Lewis."
Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman, said it is practically unheard of for an airport to be closed down through legislation.
Miller's brushes with conflict-of-interest allegations date to his days as a Diamond Bar City Council member.
In 1992, the state Fair Political Practices Commission fined then-Covina Councilman Christopher Lancaster $1,750 for voting on a resolution that would have allowed Covina to annex 52 acres of unincorporated land. Miller, who held an option to buy the property, had paid Lancaster $8,000 to work on his failed campaign for the state Senate less than a year earlier.
Lancaster, now an advertising executive based at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, said he approached Miller with the resolution to annex the property. Covina never annexed the property, and Miller never exercised his option on the land.
Staff Writer Jason Pesick contributed to this story.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
Miller has his hands in too much development, and his name is not really mentioned on to much in Rialto, yet for him to have got the City of Rialto out from under the Federal Government and not get anything in return is like a Fly landing on Dog Poop and not getting any benefit of the Smell!!
Even when the deal was struck back two years ago, Council Member Ed Scott said that Miller had the right to Develop the Airport Land using Miller's Development Company. That was the answer to the question to when the Development of the Airport Property was going to go up for Bid! Scott said that it wasn't, it simply was going to be Developed by Miller's, and Lewis''s Development Companies to repay so to speak for the great work that they did for the City of Rialto in getting them out from under the Financial burden that they were under with the Federal Government!
Miller in this Deal also should be Investigated as part of the other deal that he is being Investigated for now! He is dirty dirty dirty. I can see the dirt on his face nose and ears!!
BS Ranch
PS: MONEY TRUMPS ALL PROBLEMS, if Miller is breaking the law, yet the pockets are being lined with money, and they City is being paid back with money, like they plan or estimated to be, then there will be nothing done about the whole thing even if someone broke the law!! MONEY trumps ALL PROBLEMS. That is why the Immigration problem is such a dilemma. because even though the border is a problem with our Security, it is this, and the President of the United States even said this. Money Trumps Peace!!
BSR
Congressman's proposals for 2005 bill would have aided Lewis Corp.
Fred Ortega and Gary Scott, Staff Writers
Article Launched: 02/15/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
In the first months of 2005, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, recommended three provisions be added to a major transportation bill moving through the House of Representatives.
The three provisions had one common thread: They all would have benefited projects proposed by one of the Southland's biggest real estate developers, Lewis Operating Corp.
In those same early months, Miller took $8,100 in campaign contributions from top executives at Lewis Operating Corp. for his upcoming re-election bid. Miller ran unopposed.
The year before, Miller bought land from Lewis as a way to shelter millions of dollars in profits from an earlier Monrovia land deal.
The FBI has contacted officials in Monrovia and Fontana over Miller's land sales in those cities.
Miller maintains he has acted above board and within legal and ethical boundaries in both his business and political dealings. In an interview earlier this month, Miller said he should have avoided "joint ventures" with any company he had taken contributions from because it is "not worth being questioned."
Randall Lewis, executive vice president of Lewis Operating Corp., said in an e-mailed statement that his company's relationship with
Miller is both proper and ethical.
"Lewis Group is committed to acting according to the highest ethical standards," he said. "Our company is proud of its long record of community involvement, which includes both charitable and political contributions. For three generations, Lewis Group has set the standard for our industry and will continue to do so for many generations to come."
In February 2005, Miller requested $1.7million in federal funds for street improvements next to a former state reform school in Whittier, less than a year after the City Council there selected Lewis Operating Corp. as part of a team to redevelop the facility. That same year, the congressman secured $1.28million for upgrades next to a planned housing and retail development he co-owned with Lewis Operating Corp. in Diamond Bar.
Miller sold his Diamond Bar properties in August 2005 for between $1million and $5.5million, according to federal financial disclosure statements. Also in 2005, Miller promoted legislation that led to the closure of Rialto Municipal Airport, which the Lewis company is also slated to redevelop.
Miller inserted language for all three projects in the $286billion federal omnibus transportation bill then making its way through Congress.
Miller, whose 42nd District includes Whittier, Rowland Heights, Diamond Bar, La Habra, La Habra Heights, Chino and Chino Hills, served on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the time.
The Lewis Operating Corp. plan to develop the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility in Whittier eventually fell through, and the airport-closure bill was rewritten by Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands.
"It is understandable for a congressman to try to steer federal funds to his district," said Ned Wigglesworth, a policy advocate with California Common Cause, which first raised concerns about Miller's earmarks for the Diamond Bar improvements in 2005. "But when those actions financially benefit the congressman's business partner and campaign donor, it raises questions about the integrity of the decisions made in the appropriations process."
A year before Miller worked on the Whittier and Rialto bills, he purchased several properties from Lewis Operating Corp. in Fontana. The deals allowed Miller to shield millions in potential capital gains taxes from a land sale he made in 2002 in Monrovia.
Miller said he went to Lewis company officials and asked if the company had any property he could buy. The company offered several parcels it had planned to sell to the city of Fontana. Miller bought them in 2004 and later sold them to the city himself for a small profit.
The Lewis company was Miller's third largest contributor in the 2004 congressional election, donating $10,000 to his campaign. The top contributor was Lytle Development, at $13,998, followed by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers at $10,400. Miller faced only token opposition.
Miller has denied any wrongdoing in the sale of his Monrovia and Fontana properties, and he said his work on legislation involving the Rialto airport and the Diamond Bar street improvements was initiated at the request of those cities.
Miller spokesman Scott Toussaint denied the congressman ever requested federal money for Whittier Boulevard improvements. City Manager Stephen Helvey sent a letter to Miller in March 2004 that asked the congressman to help secure $1.5million in federal funds for Whittier Boulevard improvements.
A group of developers that included the Lewis company was selected to develop the Nelles property two months later.
Helvey and former Miller spokesman Kevin McKee said in March 2005 that the congressman had included a request for $1.7million for the improvements in the federal transportation bill. The money was to go to improve traffic flow and buy blighted property along the western portion of the boulevard, near Nelles, Helvey said.
The relationship between the Lewis group and Miller does not appear to have played a role in the city's decision to have the company and its partners develop the reform school property, according to Whittier council members.
While Whittier officials insist no nexus existed between Miller and the Nelles development deal, Rialto officials have acknowledged that politics played a key role in the Rialto airport deal.
Hillwood Development Corp. - founded by H. Ross Perot Jr. - teamed with Lewis Operating Corp. to develop the Rialto airport land. They were selected in part for their connections in government, said Rialto City Administrator Henry Garcia.
Garcia said the city needed to find developers that could help get the airport closed, since the Federal Aviation Administration had already turned down Rialto's request to shut it down.
Miller said he met with Lewis company and Rialto officials before working on legislation that would eventually allow the closure of the airport.
He said his involvement was solely at the request of Rialto officials, even though Rialto is not in his district.
"In 1985 I did the biggest development project constructed until then in Rialto, and the city was very good to work with," Miller said. "So when they called me to help them out, I did. I never asked anyone to do anything for Lewis."
Ian Gregor, an FAA spokesman, said it is practically unheard of for an airport to be closed down through legislation.
Miller's brushes with conflict-of-interest allegations date to his days as a Diamond Bar City Council member.
In 1992, the state Fair Political Practices Commission fined then-Covina Councilman Christopher Lancaster $1,750 for voting on a resolution that would have allowed Covina to annex 52 acres of unincorporated land. Miller, who held an option to buy the property, had paid Lancaster $8,000 to work on his failed campaign for the state Senate less than a year earlier.
Lancaster, now an advertising executive based at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, said he approached Miller with the resolution to annex the property. Covina never annexed the property, and Miller never exercised his option on the land.
Staff Writer Jason Pesick contributed to this story.
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BS Ranch Perspective:
Miller has his hands in too much development, and his name is not really mentioned on to much in Rialto, yet for him to have got the City of Rialto out from under the Federal Government and not get anything in return is like a Fly landing on Dog Poop and not getting any benefit of the Smell!!
Even when the deal was struck back two years ago, Council Member Ed Scott said that Miller had the right to Develop the Airport Land using Miller's Development Company. That was the answer to the question to when the Development of the Airport Property was going to go up for Bid! Scott said that it wasn't, it simply was going to be Developed by Miller's, and Lewis''s Development Companies to repay so to speak for the great work that they did for the City of Rialto in getting them out from under the Financial burden that they were under with the Federal Government!
Miller in this Deal also should be Investigated as part of the other deal that he is being Investigated for now! He is dirty dirty dirty. I can see the dirt on his face nose and ears!!
BS Ranch
PS: MONEY TRUMPS ALL PROBLEMS, if Miller is breaking the law, yet the pockets are being lined with money, and they City is being paid back with money, like they plan or estimated to be, then there will be nothing done about the whole thing even if someone broke the law!! MONEY trumps ALL PROBLEMS. That is why the Immigration problem is such a dilemma. because even though the border is a problem with our Security, it is this, and the President of the United States even said this. Money Trumps Peace!!
BSR
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