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
Sunday, March 18, 2007
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.
--
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
Monday, January 01, 2007
Rialto Shifts Airport Land to City Agency (Press-Enterprise 12192006)
Rialto shifts airport land to city agency
10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Rialto official's plan to develop the Rialto Municipal Airport into a project to generate an estimated $200 million in tax revenue moved forward Tuesday with the transfer of the airport's land from the city to the Redevelopment Agency.
The transfer ensures the developer, Lewis-Hillwood LLC, can purchase the property, if certain requirements are met, to develop Renaissance Rialto, said Robb Steel, economic development director.
The developer is expected to pay as much as $82 million for the property, although the cost of removing hazardous waste, demolishing runways and relocating occupants will be deducted, Steel said.
Those costs are still being assessed, he said.
Renaissance Rialto is a 1,500-acre master-planned community along Interstate 210, west of Ayala Avenue. The project calls for mixed-used development to include retail, housing, industrial and commercial uses.
The Rialto City Council approved a conceptual plan for the project in 2005 but decided not to transfer the airport land to the agency until the city had approval to close the airport.
Legislation authorizing the closure of the airport was approved by the federal government in August 2005.
The purpose of not transferring the land until the airport closure was approved was to safeguard the city from binding contracts with developers that would create a project on land that might not become available, Steel said.
Also, when the city had control of the property, the agreement with the developer could have been terminated at any time without any consequences to Rialto, Steel said.
"Now it's not like someone can pull the plug on the project at any time so it's a reassurance to the developer," Steel said.
Requirements the developer must meet include obtaining a certified environmental impact report, creating a specific plan to include mixed-use development on the land and relocating the airport's remaining tenants, Steel said, adding that the cost of relocating the tenants is still being appraised.
Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said transferring the land to the agency is a critical step for the city and the development of Renaissance Rialto.
"Before the next step is taken, we have to make sure Rialto gets what we want from this project. We deserve good restaurants and good retail shopping there so our citizens don't have to leave the city," he said.
The developer must go before the council and have the final plans for the project approved before moving forward.
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BS Ranch Perspective:
The final Plans are away before they will turn the airport into Housing and Businesses, and then the Historical Rialto Airport will be gone forever! No more drag Races, that are off street, and there will not be any more Cart Races, they are all coming to an end! I still am not convinced that is a good thing or not, the Rialto City Council is so bent on that Freeway brining all kinds of people to the Rialto area, to stop and shop, when the I-10 Freeway off ramp, has don't nothing but brought them complaints by the businesses that are up in that area. The complaints are about what or why there has not been anything done to the "Gateway to the City" to make it more of an Invitation to people that are driving on the I-10 freeway!
I say that they don't stop unless they know that there is a place that they are going to that is off that off ramp or they are lost! Maybe they are looking for homes to buy that are closer to their work, but that would not have anything to do with the way that the Off ramp is inviting or not?
So, I am puzzled by this, the People in San Bernardino were complaining when the I-30 cross town opened they were getting less busyness then they got before the freeway was there, so they didn't know what was what, more then 35% of the businesses on Highland Ave in San Bernardino alone was forced to close, because the Cross-Town freeway forced people away from their businesses!!
Rialto is convinced that the I-210 will bring them all kinds of commerce, well I will have to see it to believe it!
BSRanch
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Three Decades of Public Service to Rialto
Three decades of public service
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 12/31/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - A great deal has changed about this city in the last three decades. It has experienced remarkable growth and encountered great challenges. But one constant during that time has been Joe Sampson, who held elective office in the city from 1975 through 2006, when he finished third in a race for two seats on the City Council.
"He's just civic-minded - all for helping his community," Jessie, his wife of more than five decades, said in an interview in their home.
Sampson began working for the city in the spring of 1975 as deputy city clerk. Shortly thereafter, the city clerk, Jimmy Frost, left the city, and Sampson replaced him. He served for almost 20 years in that role until 1994 when he won a seat on the City Council. Two years ago, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor, but he served as mayor pro tempore until leaving the council. At 74, he seems at ease with the recent loss, although he clearly feels the sting of a rough campaign.
"I'm not sure people believed my sincerity in working for the community," he said.
And although he said he wants to put the city's battle with the Police Department behind him, he can't help but defend himself for voting to eliminate the department last year. It was a vote that may have cost him re-election. He pointed out that he was a military police officer in the Air Force.
"I'm still a law-and-order person," he said.
Deeply religious, Sampson is not a person who looks to pick fights.
"It's made me, I think, maybe a more mellow person," he said of his devotion to the Catholic Church. He said that during his time working for the city, he rarely came across someone he could not work with.
"I try not to take life or myself too seriously," he said.
Despite his gentle demeanor, however, he has strong views on every issue facing the city. He has been an unwavering supporter of the city's decision not to permit water with any detectable levels of the potentially dangerous chemical perchlorate. He has supported the city's lawsuits against the suspected polluters even though those suits have complicated the city's relations with other government entities, including the county, one of the defendants in the suits.
He also calls the planned Renaissance Rialto project that would replace the city's airport "our last, best opportunity to make that big leap."
Sampson was born in rural Louisiana. His father was a sharecropper, and his mother, who raised four children as a single mother, was a cook in a hotel restaurant. As a teen, he moved to Port Arthur, Texas, where he met Jessie. He graduated from Tuskegee University in Alabama and then joined the military. He said he was the first black elected official in Rialto and the first black councilman.
Councilwoman Deborah Robertson said he might be the longest-serving black elected official in the Inland Empire. "He had basically broken any barriers you could think of back in the '70s when he was elected," she said.
Robertson also praised Sampson's work on senior-citizen issues, making sure the city is compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
At Sampson's last City Council meeting in December, Mayor Grace Vargas, whom Sampson hired to work for the city when he worked in the City Clerk's Office, said, "He dedicated himself to Rialto."
Sampson said he is not sure if he'll ever seek elected office again, but he plans to apply to serve on one of the city's commissions.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
It is true that Joe Sampson did do three decades of service however, the last few years of service were slighted. He didn't make the best decisions as to what should best serve the city of Rialto!
For Example, Joe Sampson voted to close the long serving Rialto City Police Department in favor of an outside Agency, the San Bernardino Sheriff Department to do the Law Enforcement for Rialto. I have only to wonder what did he do that he had to pay the Sheriff of the County this tab. What was it that he owed the Sheriff of the County, this great debt that he would give him a $3.5 Million dollar Budget to play with. It really was puzzling me!
When asked in the City Council Meetings as to the Reason for the sudden closure of their own City's Police Department over that of another Agency, Sampson simply sited to the people at that meeting, and the many watching at home on "KRTO Channel 3 TV" that the Rialto's Police Department of some 70 years, was "Corrupt". When asked to site what kinds of corrupt behaivor that the department was dealing in, bribes, running the city as its own little gang, etc etc...Sampson just mearly said, NO, it isn't anything like that it is just Corrupt! (for a Police Agency to be "Corrupt" it has to be working outside the law in some way, but there was no evidence of this type of activities within the department, only unfair practices regarding hiring, and promotions and the like, nothing of the nature that Sampson was talking about).
The best that I could come up with was that Joe and Ed Scott was making all kinds of deals. One was to close the airport. They would have this Congress member add pork to the transportation bill (the largest transportation bill in American history). When the Bill was signed by the President of the United States, it made the City Less Obligated to the FAA to keep the Airport Open. In fact all they needed to close the airport was a Majority Vote to close, and to pay the FAA 70% of the money that the City made on the land when it was sold for Private Development. The Crooked part of this was that the Congress Member that attached the little pork bill onto the Transportation bill also Owns a Development Business, and he got the contract to Develop the Airport and turn it into the Renaissance I feel that is dirty, and rotten, but who am I, the congressmen used his Elected Position to make money for himself!! That is sick.
Not only that but it is this writer's feelings that the Rialto City Council was not through with their Favors on this deal. They had also, told the Sheriff in the County of San Bernardino that he would get the Contract for Law Enforcement in the City of Rialto, to make up for the Fact that he would have to find a new Place to Fly his Helicopter from or base it out of, that is another bit if dirty business in this whole deal!!
So, was Sampson doing a good job for Rialto, at First he was, but in the final days he was not, he was working with the people to give them money and make them rich, at the expense of Tax Payers, but everyone seems to forget that now that he is not in any office.
I would say that Overall that Sampson did some pretty good work for the city. He did work for the City's Aging, and did a lot for them, their Lunch program was in large part becuase of some of the work that Sampson did. However when it came to the Police Department, a City Department that had been open with the city since the city was incorperated in 1911, and was open shortly there after, almost as soon as they could afford a Police Department they had one.
Like many of the Police Agencies, it started through the Fire Department and worked on through to what it is today. at one time there was only Two Officers and the Chief of Police was also the Fire Chief, that went on for years, but as the city grew, so did the two Departments, then a second chief was warrented, and that was when Sidney A. Jones Sr. became the first Full time Police Chief that the city of Rialto had. with Raymond Farmer being the second, I beleive that is how history will see it. Lewis third, and Dennis Hegewood Fourth, before coming on to Having Michael Meyers, and now Mark Kling.
Thank God that Sampson lost the Vote for the Closure of the Police Department, and he was right that was what lost him his seat on the City Council.
BS Ranch
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 12/31/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - A great deal has changed about this city in the last three decades. It has experienced remarkable growth and encountered great challenges. But one constant during that time has been Joe Sampson, who held elective office in the city from 1975 through 2006, when he finished third in a race for two seats on the City Council.
"He's just civic-minded - all for helping his community," Jessie, his wife of more than five decades, said in an interview in their home.
Sampson began working for the city in the spring of 1975 as deputy city clerk. Shortly thereafter, the city clerk, Jimmy Frost, left the city, and Sampson replaced him. He served for almost 20 years in that role until 1994 when he won a seat on the City Council. Two years ago, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor, but he served as mayor pro tempore until leaving the council. At 74, he seems at ease with the recent loss, although he clearly feels the sting of a rough campaign.
"I'm not sure people believed my sincerity in working for the community," he said.
And although he said he wants to put the city's battle with the Police Department behind him, he can't help but defend himself for voting to eliminate the department last year. It was a vote that may have cost him re-election. He pointed out that he was a military police officer in the Air Force.
"I'm still a law-and-order person," he said.
Deeply religious, Sampson is not a person who looks to pick fights.
"It's made me, I think, maybe a more mellow person," he said of his devotion to the Catholic Church. He said that during his time working for the city, he rarely came across someone he could not work with.
"I try not to take life or myself too seriously," he said.
Despite his gentle demeanor, however, he has strong views on every issue facing the city. He has been an unwavering supporter of the city's decision not to permit water with any detectable levels of the potentially dangerous chemical perchlorate. He has supported the city's lawsuits against the suspected polluters even though those suits have complicated the city's relations with other government entities, including the county, one of the defendants in the suits.
He also calls the planned Renaissance Rialto project that would replace the city's airport "our last, best opportunity to make that big leap."
Sampson was born in rural Louisiana. His father was a sharecropper, and his mother, who raised four children as a single mother, was a cook in a hotel restaurant. As a teen, he moved to Port Arthur, Texas, where he met Jessie. He graduated from Tuskegee University in Alabama and then joined the military. He said he was the first black elected official in Rialto and the first black councilman.
Councilwoman Deborah Robertson said he might be the longest-serving black elected official in the Inland Empire. "He had basically broken any barriers you could think of back in the '70s when he was elected," she said.
Robertson also praised Sampson's work on senior-citizen issues, making sure the city is compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
At Sampson's last City Council meeting in December, Mayor Grace Vargas, whom Sampson hired to work for the city when he worked in the City Clerk's Office, said, "He dedicated himself to Rialto."
Sampson said he is not sure if he'll ever seek elected office again, but he plans to apply to serve on one of the city's commissions.
--
BS Ranch Perspective:
It is true that Joe Sampson did do three decades of service however, the last few years of service were slighted. He didn't make the best decisions as to what should best serve the city of Rialto!
For Example, Joe Sampson voted to close the long serving Rialto City Police Department in favor of an outside Agency, the San Bernardino Sheriff Department to do the Law Enforcement for Rialto. I have only to wonder what did he do that he had to pay the Sheriff of the County this tab. What was it that he owed the Sheriff of the County, this great debt that he would give him a $3.5 Million dollar Budget to play with. It really was puzzling me!
When asked in the City Council Meetings as to the Reason for the sudden closure of their own City's Police Department over that of another Agency, Sampson simply sited to the people at that meeting, and the many watching at home on "KRTO Channel 3 TV" that the Rialto's Police Department of some 70 years, was "Corrupt". When asked to site what kinds of corrupt behaivor that the department was dealing in, bribes, running the city as its own little gang, etc etc...Sampson just mearly said, NO, it isn't anything like that it is just Corrupt! (for a Police Agency to be "Corrupt" it has to be working outside the law in some way, but there was no evidence of this type of activities within the department, only unfair practices regarding hiring, and promotions and the like, nothing of the nature that Sampson was talking about).
The best that I could come up with was that Joe and Ed Scott was making all kinds of deals. One was to close the airport. They would have this Congress member add pork to the transportation bill (the largest transportation bill in American history). When the Bill was signed by the President of the United States, it made the City Less Obligated to the FAA to keep the Airport Open. In fact all they needed to close the airport was a Majority Vote to close, and to pay the FAA 70% of the money that the City made on the land when it was sold for Private Development. The Crooked part of this was that the Congress Member that attached the little pork bill onto the Transportation bill also Owns a Development Business, and he got the contract to Develop the Airport and turn it into the Renaissance I feel that is dirty, and rotten, but who am I, the congressmen used his Elected Position to make money for himself!! That is sick.
Not only that but it is this writer's feelings that the Rialto City Council was not through with their Favors on this deal. They had also, told the Sheriff in the County of San Bernardino that he would get the Contract for Law Enforcement in the City of Rialto, to make up for the Fact that he would have to find a new Place to Fly his Helicopter from or base it out of, that is another bit if dirty business in this whole deal!!
So, was Sampson doing a good job for Rialto, at First he was, but in the final days he was not, he was working with the people to give them money and make them rich, at the expense of Tax Payers, but everyone seems to forget that now that he is not in any office.
I would say that Overall that Sampson did some pretty good work for the city. He did work for the City's Aging, and did a lot for them, their Lunch program was in large part becuase of some of the work that Sampson did. However when it came to the Police Department, a City Department that had been open with the city since the city was incorperated in 1911, and was open shortly there after, almost as soon as they could afford a Police Department they had one.
Like many of the Police Agencies, it started through the Fire Department and worked on through to what it is today. at one time there was only Two Officers and the Chief of Police was also the Fire Chief, that went on for years, but as the city grew, so did the two Departments, then a second chief was warrented, and that was when Sidney A. Jones Sr. became the first Full time Police Chief that the city of Rialto had. with Raymond Farmer being the second, I beleive that is how history will see it. Lewis third, and Dennis Hegewood Fourth, before coming on to Having Michael Meyers, and now Mark Kling.
Thank God that Sampson lost the Vote for the Closure of the Police Department, and he was right that was what lost him his seat on the City Council.
BS Ranch
City Housing Funds Put on Hold (Press Enterprise 12192006)
City housing funds put on hold
RIALTO: A budget review found the money should have been awarded in a more competitive process.10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, December 19, 2006
San Bernardino County supervisors Tuesday delayed a vote on whether to divert nearly $1 million initially destined for a housing program in Rialto.
The item was one of nine postponed or removed from the Board of Supervisors' agenda Tuesday.
Among the items pushed back until at least January were: a $720,000 three-year extension for the county's Sacramento lobbying firm Platinum Advisors; a $45,000 deal to study remodeling at the assessor's office; and a public hearing on a proposed open-air sludge-treatment plant in rural Hinkley.
The housing money initially was slated to help provide health and social services in the Willow-Winchester area of Rialto through a program coordinated by the nonprofit Southern California Housing Development Corp.
The organization and the city are investing nearly $40 million to buy and rehabilitate 160 apartment units and to build a community center.
Supervisors inserted the $975,000 into the Economic Development Agency's budget earlier this year at the request of 1st District Supervisor Bill Postmus' office.
But Postmus' office also asked for an item on Tuesday's agenda to shift the money back to the county general fund, officials said.
Economic-development officials conducted a review and found that funding for it should have been awarded through a more competitive process, Brian McGowan, the Economic Development Agency's director, said last week.
Still, Southern California Housing officials were dismayed to learn the county was considering taking the funding away.
"We have already made a significant investment of time and money to get this community center and series of community programs off the ground," Rebecca Clark, the company's president, said in a statement. "Without the county's funding, the ability to sustain these programs in the future is in doubt."
The money would help fund after-school, job-training and crime-prevention programs, Clark said.
Southern California Housing was founded by Jeff Burum, who also serves as co-managing partner for developer Colonies Partners. The county on Nov. 28 agreed to pay Colonies $102 million to end a four-year legal battle over flood-control easements.
Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who represents Rialto, said her office did not request the funding or seek to have it diverted.
The overall Willow-Winchester project is a worthy effort that the county has supported with funding in the past, Gonzales said.
Her office did seek answers about the program, mainly because questions were bound to arise because of Burum and Colonies, Gonzales' chief of staff Bob Page said.
If Postmus' office wanted to direct funds to Gonzales' district, she was not going to stand in the way, Page said earlier.
"We know there is a need in that community for programming and services," Page said Tuesday.
Reach Duane W. Gang at 909-806-3062 or dgang@PE.com
BS Ranch Perspective:
I know that they did this very thing when it came to the apartments in the 200 Block of N. Glenwood, Teakwood, Beachwood, & Lorraine Place. The turn around was instant, but the project was not such a success that they are touting it to be. There are still some Gang Members that are Paroled in the apartment complex located on Glenwood, but the management of that area has been very cooperative with the Police Department and when the Gang member has been noticed hanging around with this own or just doing anything that is suspicious in any way, that Non-Profit Property Management will evict that person on a dime, then they will notify the parolee's Parole agent that they keep on file, and tell him that he had to be evicted because he was hanging around with his old friends, then he will be back in Prison wondering what happened, so in many ways that Non-Profit Management Group is very good, but there are faults, just like there are many faults in many of the things that are set up today. Other then the mild Faults, the Non-Profit Management is the best way to go, They are the fairest when it comes to the people that are renting from them, and they do not tolerate, anything that is out of the ordinary, for very long, they will evict your Ass right onto the street in a hurry.
Now, they are working to get funding that is due to them from the County that is paid to the County from the State of California, but the County is being stingy right now about the money that is typed set for them, they are going to take the San Bernardino County Supervisors to Court I hope and make them, bend over and grab their ankles, if you know what I mean!! The old Fashioned Way!! Yep, an old Fashion Court Room Spanking is what the Supervisors need in a time like this.
I am shocked and surprised that they are doing this, but I know what or why that they are doing it, and it has to do with Politics. They wanted to Be the Law Enforcement Entity for the City of Rialto! I am talking of Coarse the Contract with the Sheriff Department for Law Enforcement, which fell through last year, and they were angry that they didn't get their hands on the Over $3.4 Million Dollars from the City of Rialto to pay the Sheriff's Department for Law Enforcement in the City of Rialto!!
As we all know that the County is much more suited for Jail duty and the service of said jail, It is a shame that they are going to try to scare the City Council by with holding all his money for the clean up of the apartments that they Imminent Domain and were going to sell or Donate to the Low Income, Non-Profit Organization that specializes in the security and safety for a single mother and her children to live, with out the worries of Gangs and etc etc... The Rent is regulated since they are a Non-Profit Organization they operate on donations and State Funding not to mention the rent payment from each month to month tenant that lives safely within their Apartment Complexes.
I really hope that the County Supervisors can Get Their Panties un Bunched from their, Well You Know!, and allow the City to get back to work on the project at hand, the closure of a land mark that is the Airport that once was an Air Field From In-between the First World War, and the Second World War!!
BS Ranch
Friday, December 29, 2006
New Chief Making his Mark-UPDATE
BS Ranch Perspective:
I like the changes that are proposed, The Modular building to allow traffic to join the rest of the Station, will be the first time that Traffic has been with the rest of the Patrol Division Which they support since 1993. It was in Early 1993, when Sgt. Little, Corporal Lessig, Officer, TC Hernandez, Officer, Cunningham, Officer Mining, & CSO Cabral was trasporting all the great stuff that we had stored at the main station into the brand new DUI Trailer to the N.Annex to join the men and Woman at Fire station Four. The transportation of all our traffic Citations to different locations to turn them in was a chore but one that we did, as it was our orders, but again we had to take part in Briefing just to get to know the other guys on the Shifts. If we had not had done that I might not had met Daniels. LOL..
The Hiring of a HSO Supervisor, is something that I am not sure of why we are doing that one, because they had been supervised under the traffic Division for as long as I can remember. Skalski was the first Supervisor, that did the job, and was well aware of what they needed. I would like to think that Little did, even though he was disorganized, but the only thing that I know that they complained about was the lack of training that they didn't get.
They are for the most part an enforcement position and are Supervised as such. They issue citations and Investigate crimes such as cruelty to animals and the like. other then that, they are basically a Police services or Enforcement position and any Sergent should be able to supervise them.
Any Sergent that says he doesn't know how to supervise an enforcement Position shouldn't be a Sergeant, or Supervisor of any kind!! I cannot beleive that the department is bending to this request for this supervisor position when they have so many Sergent's within the department, Unless they are trying to do this to set them up for a contract with the County.
If they contract HSO, with the county!! WOW, is the City Council Stupid!! Because they should listen to Fontana's Complaints about their Humain Services Contract with the County before they do!!
Other then the HSO Supervisor which I feel is a waist of money for the Department, Because they have so many Sergent's that can do that job. Other then that I agree with what I have seen so far. great job!!
BSRanch
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I like the changes that are proposed, The Modular building to allow traffic to join the rest of the Station, will be the first time that Traffic has been with the rest of the Patrol Division Which they support since 1993. It was in Early 1993, when Sgt. Little, Corporal Lessig, Officer, TC Hernandez, Officer, Cunningham, Officer Mining, & CSO Cabral was trasporting all the great stuff that we had stored at the main station into the brand new DUI Trailer to the N.Annex to join the men and Woman at Fire station Four. The transportation of all our traffic Citations to different locations to turn them in was a chore but one that we did, as it was our orders, but again we had to take part in Briefing just to get to know the other guys on the Shifts. If we had not had done that I might not had met Daniels. LOL..
The Hiring of a HSO Supervisor, is something that I am not sure of why we are doing that one, because they had been supervised under the traffic Division for as long as I can remember. Skalski was the first Supervisor, that did the job, and was well aware of what they needed. I would like to think that Little did, even though he was disorganized, but the only thing that I know that they complained about was the lack of training that they didn't get.
They are for the most part an enforcement position and are Supervised as such. They issue citations and Investigate crimes such as cruelty to animals and the like. other then that, they are basically a Police services or Enforcement position and any Sergent should be able to supervise them.
Any Sergent that says he doesn't know how to supervise an enforcement Position shouldn't be a Sergeant, or Supervisor of any kind!! I cannot beleive that the department is bending to this request for this supervisor position when they have so many Sergent's within the department, Unless they are trying to do this to set them up for a contract with the County.
If they contract HSO, with the county!! WOW, is the City Council Stupid!! Because they should listen to Fontana's Complaints about their Humain Services Contract with the County before they do!!
Other then the HSO Supervisor which I feel is a waist of money for the Department, Because they have so many Sergent's that can do that job. Other then that I agree with what I have seen so far. great job!!
BSRanch
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New police chief making his mark
Article Launched:11/28/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO- Police Chief Mark Kling is no stranger to resuscitating policedepartments. He has developed a specialty in the practice, havingarrived at his previous job as chief of the Baldwin Park PoliceDepartment after the City Council there considered eliminating it.
Three months into his latest role in Rialto, Kling has alreadybegun to remake a department that the City Council tried to close downa little more than a year ago.
"There's a considerable amount of restructuring going on," Kling said recently in his office.
Withthe help of the now-supportive City Council, he has begun to alter thedepartment's hierarchy, recruit dozens of officers and policeemployees, make physical changes to police facilities and improvemorale.
"He wants everybody - every individual person in the organization - to develop and succeed," Lt. Randy DeAnda said.
Last week, the City Council passed a number of Kling's recommendations to restructure the department.
Oneof those recommendations was to place a 2,000- square-foot modular unitat police headquarters so that traffic-enforcement and animal-controlofficers will be with the rest of the department instead of with codeenforcement, where they are now.
The council also approved changes to a number of positions within the department. Those changes include:
Replacing a law enforcement technician position with a position focused on purchasing for the department.
Adding a human-resources official to the department.
Moving animal control out of the traffic division and hiring an animal-control supervisor.
Hiring parking-enforcement officers to go after abandoned or illegally parked vehicles.
Increasing salaries in order to compete with nearby cities for dispatchers.
Atthe City Council meeting, Kling announced the hiring of three newpolice officers. When he became chief in August, there were 27 officervacancies - almost a quarter of the budgeted positions. As soon as somenew hires graduate from the academy, the number of vacancies will bedown to 17. And the department has additional openings for dispatchers,records assistants, cadets, law-enforcement technicians andanimal-control employees.
Kling also needs to hire another captain to complete thedepartment's transition from one run by a chief and a deputy chief toone headed by a chief and two captains - one overseeing operations andthe other overseeing largely administrative functions.
One of Kling's biggest initiatives will be implementing thearea-commander police philosophy first recommended by his predecessor,interim Chief Frank Scialdone. The plan will divide the city into threeareas, with a lieutenant responsible for each one.
Each lieutenant will act as a community liaison, holdingmeetings with residents and then developing a strategy to combatproblems, employing other community programs and government entities ifnecessary.
"We're not an island anymore," said DeAnda, who willoversee one portion of the city, referring to the department'simproving relationship with the rest of the city.
Command officers from the Police Department recently metfor two hours with their counterparts at the Fire Department, andanother meeting is scheduled for January, Fire Chief Steve Wells said.He said it was the first time in 30 years that there has been such ameeting.
"Things are good, and they're going to get better," Officer Steven Daniels of the personnel and training division said.
Completelyrebuilding the department could take five to seven years, Kling said.He said one of his goals is to change the department's reputation sothat it is no longer seen as a training ground for young officers.
"I feel what he's doing is being responsive to the thingswe said we wanted when he came on," Councilman Joe Sampson said at lastTuesday's meeting.
Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or via e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com.
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BS Ranch Perspective & Update:
Mark Kling has done a great job! He has hired that second Capt. The way that he did it was like hiring from within the department which is a better way of doing things. There is a built in Respect for Capt. Martinez before he even starts, He had left after serving Rialto as an Acting Caption. The Previous Chief, for what ever reason, Promoted, another person to Capt. right in front of Capt. Martinez. the ultimate Back Stab. For what ever Chief Meyer had against Martinez that is all the more to respect him when he comes back, because we all know how much of a Crooked Chief, that Meyers was!
The other chain of command that was lacking is also being filled by a long time City Employee that left when the things looked really bad here in Rialto. You cannot Blame Sgt. Crispin for leaving and going to the Riverside D.A.'s office to get a more secure position for his family, after all he was not going to jeopardize his family over a Position at a Police Department when he has all that Experience with Investigations. Well Sgt. Crispin is coming back to work for Rialto Police Department as well, that is all great News. For the Troops that work for Crispin you will see what a pleasure that it is working for him.
I am glad to see that The Old Rialto Police Department is coming back into focus, I am just sad that I cannot patepate in the change and the wonderful changed that are taking place. The Corrupt Police Department is Gone, There is a New Chief in Town, Mark Kling is his name!!
BS Ranch!
Rialto Planning Fire Station For Area South of I-10 Fwy
BS Ranch Perspective:
This was in the works back when there was plans for a New Police Station, at the same location as the current Police Station. The fire station also Acquired land at the N/W Corner of Santa Ana and Willow Ave, in South Rialto. Their main Concern at the time was that they were having trouble getting across the I-10 freeway, When the freeway and Cars are trying to come home on the Friday night Commute night, there is at least a 25-40 minute Response time for the Ambulance and Fire engine to Respond from Fire Station 201, Which is located at Rialto Ave, at Willow Ave. The Fire Trucks Either respond straight down Willow, or they cut across to Riverside and straight down. which I think is the Strategy now, because there is just to much danger to cross Bloomington, and Willow and Merrill Ave. Even with the Lights and Siren. They can get a much faster response from the Lights/ and cars and people when they drive straight down Willow to Rialto and then cross E/B on Rialto Ave to Riverside and straight to the Cross on the south end and turn to go to where the call history says that the call is supposed to be at.
They need a Station with the appropriate equipment on it for those Gasoline storage tanks on the south end of the city, they also need another ladder company that can also take care of that end, so that would make two ladder companies for the city of Rialto. a bit much, but when the Tank farm takes off then and only then people will say wow great that Rialto City council thought ahead. Other then that, with the war going on, the Rialto Fire Department shouldn't' get anything beyond what the people in Los Colinias got when they build those houses in that end. they need to think about that too.
BSRanch
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This was in the works back when there was plans for a New Police Station, at the same location as the current Police Station. The fire station also Acquired land at the N/W Corner of Santa Ana and Willow Ave, in South Rialto. Their main Concern at the time was that they were having trouble getting across the I-10 freeway, When the freeway and Cars are trying to come home on the Friday night Commute night, there is at least a 25-40 minute Response time for the Ambulance and Fire engine to Respond from Fire Station 201, Which is located at Rialto Ave, at Willow Ave. The Fire Trucks Either respond straight down Willow, or they cut across to Riverside and straight down. which I think is the Strategy now, because there is just to much danger to cross Bloomington, and Willow and Merrill Ave. Even with the Lights and Siren. They can get a much faster response from the Lights/ and cars and people when they drive straight down Willow to Rialto and then cross E/B on Rialto Ave to Riverside and straight to the Cross on the south end and turn to go to where the call history says that the call is supposed to be at.
They need a Station with the appropriate equipment on it for those Gasoline storage tanks on the south end of the city, they also need another ladder company that can also take care of that end, so that would make two ladder companies for the city of Rialto. a bit much, but when the Tank farm takes off then and only then people will say wow great that Rialto City council thought ahead. Other then that, with the war going on, the Rialto Fire Department shouldn't' get anything beyond what the people in Los Colinias got when they build those houses in that end. they need to think about that too.
BSRanch
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Rialto planning fire station for area south of I-10
Article Launched:11/27/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO- City officials plan to build a new fire station to serve the southend of the city, where it takes nearly twice as long in some areas forfirefighters to respond to an emergency.
Though much of the city's development has been focused north ofthe 10 Freeway, projects for the south end have been proposed,prompting the city to take a closer look at the thinly populated area.
"There's a clear need for the station there," Fire Chief Steve Wells said.
Wells said response times south of the 10 are eight to 10 minutes, compared with five minutes in the rest of the city.
ThePlanning Commission on Tuesday will consider the Rancho El Rivinoproject by Young Homes, a 726-home development on 165 acres south ofthe freeway. It would occupy county land just north of El Rivino Roadthat would be annexed by Rialto.
Economic Development Director Robb Steel said theEnvironmental Impact Report drawn up for the project showed there isinsufficient fire response in the area to serve the proposed homes.
The city is negotiating a development agreement with YoungHomes that would help pay for the fire station and infrastructure thecity would need for the development, such as sewers.
Steel said the city has askedYoung to pay development fees higher than the current rate because thecity is poised to raise those fees. He said the city has asked for evenhigher fees to fund a new fire station.
Building and equipping the station will cost $6 million, Steel said.
PoliceChief Mark Kling said it is also possible there will be a policesubstation at the same location and that as the city continues todevelop, it will be necessary to increase the department's size.
"Right now we wouldn't have the staff to fill a substation," he said.
Inaddition to the El Rivino project, a number of industrial projectseither already exist or will eventually will be built south of 10. InSeptember, the City Council approved a 1.4 million-square-foot heavyindustrial center that will be built on Riverside Avenue and Agua MansaRoad.
But Wells said industrial development does not demand as much from the Fire Department as does residential development.
If the Planning Commission approves the proposal, it would go before the City Council in January.
Rialto Plans South-Side Fire Station
BS Ranch Perspective:
This Idea, and or plan has been in the works since before my accident in 1997, they had been trying to get a station in the South since before they were asking for a station in the North end. Station Four was to be in the South end of the City South of I-10 on the corner N/W corner of Willow and Santa Ana Ave if My memory is correct, they once had a sign that was there and everything. The reason for the Fire station at that time was that it was impossible for them to get across the I-10 in the mornings and afternoons when the Traffic was backed up, and the response time to a fire call just at Santa Ana and Willow was about 25 minutes or more at peak times. The time has had to increase with the increase in traffic and times. They also have been trying to figure that if they had a major fire down in the Tank Farms the Colton Fire Department would be there first as they have southern Station already to respond and get there before the City of Rialto Especially when it is at 17:00 hrs, and the traffic is just at its peek. They are well at the most mortified with the traffic. I can imagine that it would take the Rialto Fire Department a total then of about 40 minutes to get across the freeway and to the tank farm!! Sorry to say, but that is what it would take to cross the I-10 depending on the day, I mean some days they could do it in no time and others forget about it, they would never be across. .
This Southern Fire Station Plan was back in a time when the Rialto Police Department was going to try to fight for extra monies from the Taxpayer in Rialto for a Brand New Police Station, after all at the time we were Changing our clothes in the hallway. downstairs with Blinder so that the Woman Employee's couldn't get an eye full of Police Officer when they were walking down the hall.
We had trouble when they where Qualifying Officers because the Lockers that we dressed at were in the hallway corridor that was the entrance to the Indoor gun range. The Female officers would either have to stay in the room until they were told it was clear or they were dismissed from the training until the graveyard officers were finished dressing. This went on for the first year and a half that I worked at Rialto, the whole time we tried twice to get a measure of a Half sent tax, or a $50 dollar, 5 year Property tax initiative on the ballot passed. They never were passed even with all the work that we did, we had the whole Off duty Police Force working on this, it was miraculous. really, but we never got it, so it stands to wonder that the PD didn't get involved in the Property tax deal that encounters the Tax reform that adds so much to the family home depending on how big their property was, that was the utility tax, which passed. wow..The State, Police was not the thank the PD and the Small stuff that we did he;peed and I have to say that the very little participation that we did might have helped it pass as well.
But that is not for me to say, after All I am the one that for the first two years changed my clothes in the hallway, it was to the point after a while that we didn't care and it we weren't so modest about changing. the girls came down could watch us change and we didn't care. we were wearing something after all! But, then they opened up that Conference room and we realised what or how it was wrong and how they should have did that sooner. But again that is just me.
BS Ranch.
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This Idea, and or plan has been in the works since before my accident in 1997, they had been trying to get a station in the South since before they were asking for a station in the North end. Station Four was to be in the South end of the City South of I-10 on the corner N/W corner of Willow and Santa Ana Ave if My memory is correct, they once had a sign that was there and everything. The reason for the Fire station at that time was that it was impossible for them to get across the I-10 in the mornings and afternoons when the Traffic was backed up, and the response time to a fire call just at Santa Ana and Willow was about 25 minutes or more at peak times. The time has had to increase with the increase in traffic and times. They also have been trying to figure that if they had a major fire down in the Tank Farms the Colton Fire Department would be there first as they have southern Station already to respond and get there before the City of Rialto Especially when it is at 17:00 hrs, and the traffic is just at its peek. They are well at the most mortified with the traffic. I can imagine that it would take the Rialto Fire Department a total then of about 40 minutes to get across the freeway and to the tank farm!! Sorry to say, but that is what it would take to cross the I-10 depending on the day, I mean some days they could do it in no time and others forget about it, they would never be across. .
This Southern Fire Station Plan was back in a time when the Rialto Police Department was going to try to fight for extra monies from the Taxpayer in Rialto for a Brand New Police Station, after all at the time we were Changing our clothes in the hallway. downstairs with Blinder so that the Woman Employee's couldn't get an eye full of Police Officer when they were walking down the hall.
We had trouble when they where Qualifying Officers because the Lockers that we dressed at were in the hallway corridor that was the entrance to the Indoor gun range. The Female officers would either have to stay in the room until they were told it was clear or they were dismissed from the training until the graveyard officers were finished dressing. This went on for the first year and a half that I worked at Rialto, the whole time we tried twice to get a measure of a Half sent tax, or a $50 dollar, 5 year Property tax initiative on the ballot passed. They never were passed even with all the work that we did, we had the whole Off duty Police Force working on this, it was miraculous. really, but we never got it, so it stands to wonder that the PD didn't get involved in the Property tax deal that encounters the Tax reform that adds so much to the family home depending on how big their property was, that was the utility tax, which passed. wow..The State, Police was not the thank the PD and the Small stuff that we did he;peed and I have to say that the very little participation that we did might have helped it pass as well.
But that is not for me to say, after All I am the one that for the first two years changed my clothes in the hallway, it was to the point after a while that we didn't care and it we weren't so modest about changing. the girls came down could watch us change and we didn't care. we were wearing something after all! But, then they opened up that Conference room and we realised what or how it was wrong and how they should have did that sooner. But again that is just me.
BS Ranch.
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Rialto plans south-side fire station
City seeks quicker response as it considers development
Article Launched:11/27/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO- City officials plan to build a new fire station to serve the southend of the city, where it takes nearly twice as long in some areas forfirefighters to respond to an emergency.
Although much of the city's development has been focused northof Interstate 10, projects for the south end have been proposed,prompting the city to take a closer look at the thinly populated area.
"There's a clear need for the station there," Fire Chief Steve Wells said.
Wells said response times south of I-10 are eight to 10 minutes, compared with five minutes in the rest of the city.
Separately,the Planning Commission on Tuesday will consider a 726-home developmenton 165 acres south of the freeway. The Rancho El Rivino project byYoung Homes would occupy county land just north of El Rivino Road thatthe city would annex.
Economic Development Director Robb Steel said theenvironmental-impact report drawn up for the project showed there isinsufficient fire response in the area to serve the proposed homes.
The city is negotiating a development agreement with YoungHomes that would help pay for the fire station and otherinfrastructure, such as sewers, the city will need to build to serve the development, Steel said.
the development.
Steelsaid the city has asked Young to pay higher development fees than usualbecause the city is about to raise the fees and is trying to fund a newfire station.
Building and equipping the station will cost $6million, Steel said.
PoliceChief Mark Kling said it is also possible there will be a policesubstation at the same location and that as the city continues todevelop, it will be necessary to increase the size of his department.
"Right now, we wouldn't have the staff to fill a substation," he said.
Inaddition to the El Rivino project, a number of industrial projectseither already exist or eventually will be located south of I-10. InSeptember, the City Council approved a 1.4 million- square-foot heavyindustrial center that will be built on Riverside Avenue and Agua MansaRoad.
But Wells said industrial development does not demand as much from the Fire Department as residential development does.
If the Planning Commission approves the proposal, it would go before the City Council in January.Monday, November 27, 2006
Further 210 extention to be done in '07 (Daily Bulletin 112407).
BS Ranch Perspective:
The work that they have been doing has been progressing right along, it is a wonder that they are saying that it will not be done for another year, now. The Bridges in the wash and many of them that are in the city area of San Bernardino seem to be running ahead of schedule. The bridge work that has been in the wash they are putting the top on and they will soon be placing the cross for the concrete roadway that will cross the was there and well that will fill the street or freeway road lanes and that will be done. I guess the only thing that is left is the bridges that I have just thought of that they are really just started construction on now. and these are the bridges that take the freeway across Muscoy, and the I-215, those are partially done, but not all the way. They are just working on them, but the way that they are going I predict that they will get done with them in the summer of Next year!! Which will still be ahead of schedule or ahead of the new schedule by a couple of months. The old schedule the freeway would have just opened to commuters. but they closed it for that three months, and the rains that placed it so much more behind.
I really cannot wait for it to open and start using it. because It will save time and make the neighborhood quieter with the traffic noise.
BSRanch
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The work that they have been doing has been progressing right along, it is a wonder that they are saying that it will not be done for another year, now. The Bridges in the wash and many of them that are in the city area of San Bernardino seem to be running ahead of schedule. The bridge work that has been in the wash they are putting the top on and they will soon be placing the cross for the concrete roadway that will cross the was there and well that will fill the street or freeway road lanes and that will be done. I guess the only thing that is left is the bridges that I have just thought of that they are really just started construction on now. and these are the bridges that take the freeway across Muscoy, and the I-215, those are partially done, but not all the way. They are just working on them, but the way that they are going I predict that they will get done with them in the summer of Next year!! Which will still be ahead of schedule or ahead of the new schedule by a couple of months. The old schedule the freeway would have just opened to commuters. but they closed it for that three months, and the rains that placed it so much more behind.
I really cannot wait for it to open and start using it. because It will save time and make the neighborhood quieter with the traffic noise.
BSRanch
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| Further 210 extension to be done in '07 |
| Jeff Horwitz, Staff Writer Inland Valley Daily Bulletin |
| Article Launched:11/24/2006 12:00:00 AM PST |
| The freeway extension that will shave minutes off many county residents' commutes will be here in a year. Since2003, regional transportation agency San Bernardino AssociatedGovernments has been working on the remaining eight miles separatingthe current end of the 210 Freeway in Rialto from San Bernardino, whereit will connect with Highway 30. It has already completed more than adozen bridges and overpasses for the $313 million project, and pavingof the highways in between is well under way. But one massive bridge is still under construction, SANBAGspokeswoman Cheryl Donahue said, a 558-foot span across Lytle CreekWash that, when complete, will contain nearly 4 million pounds of steeland be supported by 7-foot concrete pillars sunk 115 feet into theground. That bridge should be finished by early spring, and all theremaining highway, lighted and striped, will be open to traffic byabout this time next year, Donahue said. Recently, the work has even been on budget, with contractssigned two years back shielding the project from "the huge increases inconcrete and steel prices, with all the work going on in China,"Donahue said. While construction has gone smoothly, however, the projectis a year behind its original schedule. The holdup was largelyenvironmental, with a year's delay before SANBAG could get theappropriate clearances and permits for the project. In the area of the Lytle Creek Wash, the freeway's pathtraversed some of the same ground favored by the endangered SanBernardino kangaroo rat and the Santa Ana River woolly star, a plantwith lavender flowers. Along with other environmental impact mitigation measures,Donahue said, crews staked out the construction areas in an overnightrat relocation operation, armed with live traps baited with bird seedand rolled oats. Fourteen kangaroo rats were caged and brought to asafer habitat. With the freeway's completion next year, Donahue said, thearea's human inhabitants will also see a changed environment. Studiesand common sense suggest that the freeway will alleviate traffic on the10 Freeway, which runs largely parallel to the 210 extension. It will also reduce congestion on north-south surfacestreets, Donahue said, because residents of the foothill communitiesalong the northern edge of the San Bernardino Valley will no longerneed them to get to a freeway. Along with cars, Donahue said, her agency also expects thefreeway to bring money. Home prices usually go up when commutes areeasier, she said, and commercial areas adjacent to freeways tend toprosper. "We'll see what it does for economic development in Rialto and San Bernardino," Donahue said.
Jeff Horwitz can be reached at (909) 386-3856. |
'06 Victor Eyes Seat as Rialto Mayor! (SB Sun 112206)
BS Ranch Perspective:
Looks like Robertson has her eye on Grace Vargas's Seat! I don't know if there is anyone that will be able to beat the 46% of the vote that she got over the rest of the candidates for City Council, I cannot see how she was able to pull in that many Votes since she was one of the Fab Four that wanted to Sell the Police Department to the County. Then when the contract was Ironed out she was right there saying that she was marginal at best and that the Police Department is the way to go, etc etc! I don't know where she really is on an Issue. I realize that she received calls of "Treats" due to what She called Racially Motivated Comments" due to the Police Departments/Sheriff Department Contract Battle, in which she was in total Agreement with.
Robertson was in total agreement that the Sheriff Department should be the Law Enforcement Agency all the way up to when they had to cow down and say that they were in the wrong with the Way that they handled them selves regarding the Voter Laws, they kept accusing the people of "Voice United" that they were braking Voter Laws by forcing people to sign the petition under duress. Yet when it came time to tally up the signatures and say who won the signature war regarding the Petitions, the City Council along with the City Lawyer Owens Stalled!! They Purposely Stalled the outcome in hopes that there was some way that they could come up with some violation that was done by the people that were in favor of the Police Department to Stay over the Sheriff Department.
Owens Came out and said that there was a distinct violation of Voter Rules when it came to Collection of Signatures, so 4300-4900 signatures were rejected by the City clerk, a move that was not in the best interest of the citizens of Rialto, but the best interest of the wishes of the City Council and the Administrative Staff (Anything to keep the Sheriff Department Contract Dream alive). Why even when Owens, (Who is a Fully Qualified Lawyer who has passed the Bar and everything) has advised the City Clerk Barbara McGee that the Signatures that were in question were obtained in violation of of the Voter Rules regulating the collection of signatures for petitions. Mr. Owens said that the signatures collected by people that lived in the County of San Bernardino, but not the City of Rialto were in violation of these Rules. When in fact the person collecting signatures for a city has to be a Registered Voter, who lives in the County in which they were collecting signatures.
Well, to make a long story short, Owens withheld these signatures from the Citizens of Rialto, thinking that the petitions had failed yet it was brought up every meeting since they were rejected. The Sheriff was discussing the take over of Rialto City as a contract City in every County Community Speech that the Sheriff was giving, and Sheriff Penrod even included Rialto as a large portion of the State of the County Speech in which he was all set to take over the City and absorb Rialto into the County Enforcement Team when the time came.
However it was the tenacity of the people of Rialto that kept bringing the petition up in the City Council Chambers during every City Council meeting. It was then that the mayor Grace Vargas made the motion to take the petitions and have them looked over by a independent investigator. Grace Vargas said that it was a good Idea that the rejected petitions and the rejected signatures be looked at by a Independent person to see if they were in fact true independent Investigator.
The City Council elected to take them to the Registrar of Voter's since they were more up on the Voter laws then Owens was, Since he was having problems with the Voters laws since he started to deal with them when they started.
The Petitions were not at the Register of Voters for more then an hour when they got the call that Owens had been denying as not good were in fact good signatures by good signature collectors. Immediately there was 4900 signatures that were added to the 900+- signatures that we already had that were good, and that gave us 5000 signatures. Only 2900 signatures were needed to place that on the ballot. and put before the voter in the city of Rialto. The City Council Realized that Owens had broken the Election Laws, and they right away had two options one was to put it before the city as a vote the other was to put the bill into law right away. They elected to place it into an ordinance and changed the laws for Rialto right then. This historical petition for Rialto made it so that the City Council was no longer able to simply vote the Police Department away, they had to put it before the city as a vote, the second obviously was to keep the police Department!!
Now I am wondering when they are going to Get rid of Owens, who has given them this headache for so long!! Another person that needs to be taken away from the likes of duty is that of the city Administrator.
Between the two of them they make about $1,250,000.00 a year between the two (Owens $750.000.00 Garcia $500,000.00). I know that Garcia makes a little more. Now take home is about $30,000.00 a month minus the taxes. WOW, that is what I NOW MAKE IN A YEAR!!!
Robertson doesn't deserve to be The Mayor of Rialto That is true by the history that I just spelled out. It is obvious that she is not working for the best interest of the People of Rialto, I am not sure who she is working for. Let us consider this. Ed Scott is but one man who speaks with but one voice, and he had Robertson's ear, and vote all the way down to the Petitions being falsely held up, on a Voter Rule when if you read the rule that Owens was holding them on clearly states so that any 3rd grade Student can understand them regarding Voter Laws and the collection of Signatures, Yet Owens a Lawyer who is collage taught and Bar passed failed to understand the laws as they pertain to signature collection.
Who is Robertson going to listen to in order to get her feelings from. because she certainty doesn't do reading on her own, or research on her own. espeically when it was to the election laws and the collection of the signatures on petitions.
She only listened to Owens who, I think this might be a streach but I beleive that they all were taking orders from one person that was calling the shots, it was not the Current Mayor, it was either the Mayor Pro-Temp Sampson (who lost his job this last time to Baca Jr.), but he was following the one person that hates the Police Department!! That person is the only one that has an active Law Suit against the cities Police Department for Wrongful Detainment. That person is none other then City Councilmemeber Ed Scott!!
Ed Scott was the one that wanted the Sheriff Department to take over and be the law Enforcement for the area. Now Ed Scott, needs to be voted off the council. and be gone!! take my word on it along with Robertson. they really need to go, why she was relelected,?? I don't have a Clue?? Ed Scott is the one that was the puppet master and Robertson, Joe Sampson, and Whinnie Hanson were the Puppets being told what to do, how to vote what to say by Ed Scott the Puppet master!!
BSRanch
--
Looks like Robertson has her eye on Grace Vargas's Seat! I don't know if there is anyone that will be able to beat the 46% of the vote that she got over the rest of the candidates for City Council, I cannot see how she was able to pull in that many Votes since she was one of the Fab Four that wanted to Sell the Police Department to the County. Then when the contract was Ironed out she was right there saying that she was marginal at best and that the Police Department is the way to go, etc etc! I don't know where she really is on an Issue. I realize that she received calls of "Treats" due to what She called Racially Motivated Comments" due to the Police Departments/Sheriff Department Contract Battle, in which she was in total Agreement with.
Robertson was in total agreement that the Sheriff Department should be the Law Enforcement Agency all the way up to when they had to cow down and say that they were in the wrong with the Way that they handled them selves regarding the Voter Laws, they kept accusing the people of "Voice United" that they were braking Voter Laws by forcing people to sign the petition under duress. Yet when it came time to tally up the signatures and say who won the signature war regarding the Petitions, the City Council along with the City Lawyer Owens Stalled!! They Purposely Stalled the outcome in hopes that there was some way that they could come up with some violation that was done by the people that were in favor of the Police Department to Stay over the Sheriff Department.
Owens Came out and said that there was a distinct violation of Voter Rules when it came to Collection of Signatures, so 4300-4900 signatures were rejected by the City clerk, a move that was not in the best interest of the citizens of Rialto, but the best interest of the wishes of the City Council and the Administrative Staff (Anything to keep the Sheriff Department Contract Dream alive). Why even when Owens, (Who is a Fully Qualified Lawyer who has passed the Bar and everything) has advised the City Clerk Barbara McGee that the Signatures that were in question were obtained in violation of of the Voter Rules regulating the collection of signatures for petitions. Mr. Owens said that the signatures collected by people that lived in the County of San Bernardino, but not the City of Rialto were in violation of these Rules. When in fact the person collecting signatures for a city has to be a Registered Voter, who lives in the County in which they were collecting signatures.
Well, to make a long story short, Owens withheld these signatures from the Citizens of Rialto, thinking that the petitions had failed yet it was brought up every meeting since they were rejected. The Sheriff was discussing the take over of Rialto City as a contract City in every County Community Speech that the Sheriff was giving, and Sheriff Penrod even included Rialto as a large portion of the State of the County Speech in which he was all set to take over the City and absorb Rialto into the County Enforcement Team when the time came.
However it was the tenacity of the people of Rialto that kept bringing the petition up in the City Council Chambers during every City Council meeting. It was then that the mayor Grace Vargas made the motion to take the petitions and have them looked over by a independent investigator. Grace Vargas said that it was a good Idea that the rejected petitions and the rejected signatures be looked at by a Independent person to see if they were in fact true independent Investigator.
The City Council elected to take them to the Registrar of Voter's since they were more up on the Voter laws then Owens was, Since he was having problems with the Voters laws since he started to deal with them when they started.
The Petitions were not at the Register of Voters for more then an hour when they got the call that Owens had been denying as not good were in fact good signatures by good signature collectors. Immediately there was 4900 signatures that were added to the 900+- signatures that we already had that were good, and that gave us 5000 signatures. Only 2900 signatures were needed to place that on the ballot. and put before the voter in the city of Rialto. The City Council Realized that Owens had broken the Election Laws, and they right away had two options one was to put it before the city as a vote the other was to put the bill into law right away. They elected to place it into an ordinance and changed the laws for Rialto right then. This historical petition for Rialto made it so that the City Council was no longer able to simply vote the Police Department away, they had to put it before the city as a vote, the second obviously was to keep the police Department!!
Now I am wondering when they are going to Get rid of Owens, who has given them this headache for so long!! Another person that needs to be taken away from the likes of duty is that of the city Administrator.
Between the two of them they make about $1,250,000.00 a year between the two (Owens $750.000.00 Garcia $500,000.00). I know that Garcia makes a little more. Now take home is about $30,000.00 a month minus the taxes. WOW, that is what I NOW MAKE IN A YEAR!!!
Robertson doesn't deserve to be The Mayor of Rialto That is true by the history that I just spelled out. It is obvious that she is not working for the best interest of the People of Rialto, I am not sure who she is working for. Let us consider this. Ed Scott is but one man who speaks with but one voice, and he had Robertson's ear, and vote all the way down to the Petitions being falsely held up, on a Voter Rule when if you read the rule that Owens was holding them on clearly states so that any 3rd grade Student can understand them regarding Voter Laws and the collection of Signatures, Yet Owens a Lawyer who is collage taught and Bar passed failed to understand the laws as they pertain to signature collection.
Who is Robertson going to listen to in order to get her feelings from. because she certainty doesn't do reading on her own, or research on her own. espeically when it was to the election laws and the collection of the signatures on petitions.
She only listened to Owens who, I think this might be a streach but I beleive that they all were taking orders from one person that was calling the shots, it was not the Current Mayor, it was either the Mayor Pro-Temp Sampson (who lost his job this last time to Baca Jr.), but he was following the one person that hates the Police Department!! That person is the only one that has an active Law Suit against the cities Police Department for Wrongful Detainment. That person is none other then City Councilmemeber Ed Scott!!
Ed Scott was the one that wanted the Sheriff Department to take over and be the law Enforcement for the area. Now Ed Scott, needs to be voted off the council. and be gone!! take my word on it along with Robertson. they really need to go, why she was relelected,?? I don't have a Clue?? Ed Scott is the one that was the puppet master and Robertson, Joe Sampson, and Whinnie Hanson were the Puppets being told what to do, how to vote what to say by Ed Scott the Puppet master!!
BSRanch
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'06 victor eyes seat as mayor
Article Launched:11/22/2006 12:00:00 AM PST
RIALTO - The November election isn't even a month old, but the 2008 race for mayor of has apparently already begun.
Councilwoman Deborah Robertson announced her 2008 candidacy for mayor after she won re-election to the City Council on Nov. 7.
Robertson,who was first elected to the council in 2000, was the biggestvote-getter in the city election earlier this month, finishing with 28percent of the vote - 461 votes ahead of Assemblyman Joe Baca Jr.,D-Rialto, who won the other contested seat.
Robertson said she has made no formal announcement but thatshe plans to run for mayor in 2008 and is letting people know about it.
"I'm very goal-oriented. I've always been," she said.
Thecity's main priorities should be renewing the utility-users tax,dealing with the city's contaminated drinking water supply and workingon economic development, Robertson said.
Robertson currently works as a deputy district director for Caltrans.
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