By Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/28/2012 04:47:40 PM PDT

RIALTO – City Council voted 4 to 1 in favor of a controversial 30-year contract with New Jersey-based American Water Works Co. Inc., which would mean a 114.8 percent increase in water and wastewater rates by 2016.

About 400 residents crammed into City Hall and three overflow sites – the library, the public access television station and the main fire station.

The resident turnout was larger than when the issue came before the council in June, which was defeated on 2 to 2 vote.

Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott said prior to his vote, “We have been at this for three years now. We have to do something to bring this city forward,” Scott said.

Joe Baca Jr. opposed the American Water contract in June and did again Tuesday night for the same reason – that city residents should not pay for a company’s profits and that the rate increases are too steep.

“We need to take charge of our destiny,” said Deborah Robertson, who voted against the measure last summer.

Robertson said that the support of the labor unions for the agreement were a big part in her “yes” vote Tuesday night.

Mayor Grace Vargas was out on medical leave starting just before last summer’s water rate vote and has recently returned to her post.

“You people in Rialto elected me for reason,” Vargas said before the vote. She predicted that eventually residents would thank the council for its decision to sign the 30-year contract. The council’s decision can be overturned if the majority of Rialto property owners file a written protest to the decision. In his motion to approve the contract and related rate increases, Council member Ed Palmer said he wanted to take the decision to the property owners and let them have the final say.

“It would be wrong for us to vote this down,” he said.

While most of those at the meeting Tuesday appeared to oppose the measure this time around, several spoke in favor of the agreement, which would lead to financing to pay for $41 million in water infrastructure projects and provide funding to move ahead with development projects at the municipal airport, a super Wal-Mart south of downtown and restaurants north of downtown.

Upland developer Randall Lewis, whose company is a partner in a planned mixed use development on land now occupied by the municipal airport, said the debate taking place here is occurring across the state and the nation.

“It is a tough decision,” Lewis said, adding that the city staff recommendation to go with a long-term agreement with American Water is the correct one to modernize Rialto’s infrastructure system.

To read entire story, click here.

The Fontana and Rialto city councils scrambled on Tuesday night to approve measures paving the way for a Feb. 1 deadline for the dissolution of their redevelopment agencies.

Meanwhile, because of the complexity of what needs to be accomplished in a short time frame, two bond-rating agencies have taken negative actions toward billions of dollars in California bonds secured by redevelopment tax increment revenue.

Moody’s Investor Services recently downgraded by one notch $11.6 billion in these state bonds, rated Baa2 and above.

It also placed billions of dollars in the remaining bonds in this category on credit watch.

“Compliance with the requirements of the new legislative framework may prove challenging, particularly in the near term as affected agencies attempt to interpret the law and comply with its specified time lines,” Moody’s analysts wrote.

On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings placed all California bonds secured by redevelopment tax increment revenue on “Rating Watch Negative.”

Fitch cited “the short time frame to create guidelines to implement the legislation and the apparent lack of progress in resolving a number of inconsistencies and uncertainties contained therein.”

“…It is clear that a number of questions remain which ultimately may need to be addressed through follow-up legislation,” Fitch said.

A coalition of labor, business, local government public safety and affordable housing advocates are working with members of the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 659, which would postpone the deadline until April 15.

Jim Kennedy, the executive director of the California Redevelopment Association, said he was hopeful the measure will pass.

To read entire story, click here.

By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Posted: 12/27/2011 08:31:41 PM PST

Rialto City Council Tuesday night unanimously voted to approve sweeping increases in development impact fees, many for the first time in more than a decade.

The revised fees, which will be phased in over a period of four years, places Rialto in the middle with its fee structure, when compared to other cities in the area.

“We wanted to retain our competitive posture,” Robb Steel, assistant to the city administrator and development services director, told the council prior to its vote.

There will be a six-month grace period to encourage developers pondering development to move ahead prior to when the fees take effect on July 1, Steel said.

There was no opposition to the proposal.

Instead, the lone person to address the council during a public hearing on the issue was in favor of it.

Bryan Goodman, a vice president with the Upland-based Lewis Group of Companies, said his company was in favor of the increases and praised the city staff for working with the development community while developing the fee structure.

Council member Ed Palmer, said, “the increases are a long time coming.”

Council member Joe Baca Jr. said that “raising fees does not mean we are anti-business or anti-developer…this is a way to promote smart growth.”

To read entire story, click here.

George Harris to take Rialto position
December 26, 2011 1:21 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

ADELANTO • George Harris, Adelanto’s finance director, is leaving one of the city’s top posts to take over as director of administrative and community service for the city of Rialto. His resignation takes effect Jan. 5.

Harris, who worked for Adelanto for a little more than three years, has helped the city launch job fairs, create a recreation department and get caught up on long overdue financial audits. He oversaw the sale of the city-owned, medium-security prison to private operator The Geo Group for $28 million to replenish the city’s depleted reserves.

“I feel like a lot got accomplished and I’m proud I was able to lay a really good foundation for the staff. I think we got over some major hurdles,” Harris said. “I think that (Adelanto) is relatively stable for the next three years. We sold the prison to get five year’s worth of money, and we’re a year and a half into that. The city needs to get a permanent revenue solution to balance its budget.”

Adelanto is not looking to hire a full-time replacement for the next six months or so to save some money while evaluating potential candidates. The city instead will hire Onyx Johnson, former Rialto finance manager and consultant for the cities of Banning and El Monte, to work about two days a week, City Manager Jim Hart said.

Harris returns to Rialto, where he previously worked as a senior administrative analyst, to begin his new role Jan. 5. He’ll oversee finance, human resources and recreation as he works to patch Rialto’s operating budget deficit.

Harris said the plan is for Adelanto to retain him as a consultant to see through the city’s efforts to build a new state prison for high-risk inmates. The City Council has not yet approved a consulting contract with Harris

Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at (760) 951-6232 or at NLindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.

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.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/23/2011 06:38:05 PM PST

RIALTO – The city of Rialto will hold a public hearing Tuesday on a proposal to raise development impact fees for general civic facilities, such as police, fire, park, storm drain and water and sewer facilities.

Increases could be approved at the conclusion of the public hearing.

Robb Steel, assistant to the city administrator and development services director, said that in the area only Colton has lower impact fees.

Many of those fees have not been updated since 1998.

If all the proposed fees are approved, Rialto will be in the middle of pack when compared to other area cities, he said.

Development impact fees are imposed by local government agencies for the purpose of defraying all or a portion of the cost of public facilities needed to serve development projects.

A development impact fee is not a tax, a special assessment or a rate increase on existing services.

“As the city grows and developers build for homes and businesses, the demand for city services increase,” Steel said.

“We are trying to get development to pay those incremental costs … they need to pay for the proportional cost of demand (for city services),” Steel said.

In the arena of single family homes, the proposal calls for a 43 percent increase in the total impact fees from $18,184 to $26,044, according to city documents.

To read entire story, click here.

Repairs driving up price
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 12/10/2011 06:07:27 AM PST

Significant water rate hikes in San Bernardino and Los Angeles County cities since the beginning of the year has caused many angry ratepayers to speak up.

Residents in Claremont and Barstow are facing proposed hikes from the privately run Golden State Water Company, while residents on the east side of the San Bernardino Valley have already been hit with increases.

The reason for the hikes boils down to one major issue – aging infrastructure, according to Susan Longville, director of Cal State San Bernardino’s Water Resources Institute.

“That’s why San Bernardino had to raise its rates, which in turn forced East Valley Water District to raise their rates,” Longville said. “It’s why the private municipal water did the same thing. And that’s where we’re at. It’s a terrible time for the consumer, no doubt about it.”

As the state’s resources dried up, so did grant money for water companies that was typically used for infrastructure repairs, so water companies are looking to customers to foot the bill, Longville said.

“You’re paying for the power, the pump, to treat and to move that water from the ground or from the reservoir, from everywhere to your home,” Longville said. “You’re paying for those carrying costs and the infrastructure that delivers it, and water agencies just find themselves in the place where the rate the consumer is going to pay is the only place to turn. There’s no other alternatives.”

The city of San Bernardino in January raised its waste water treatment water rates by 12.5 percent, which resulted in several other cities increasing their rates, including Redlands, Loma Linda and Mentone.

Also, East Valley Water District board of directors last month agreed to increase sewer treatment charges between 16 percent and 60 percent for some commercial customers.

Golden State Water Co. is proposing to increase water rates in its cities by 24.54 percent in 2013.

According to the water company officials, the proposed increases are to pay for infrastructure repairs over the next 30 years including the replacement of a well and a seismic retrofit to a reservoir.

However, members of the group Claremonters Against Outrageous Water Rates view it differently.

“I really think if you were to ask me, it’s corporate greed,” said Claremont resident Hal Hargrave, a member of the group.

“They have posed profits of an increase of 77 percent over the last year. That’s published. Their president is making over $1.1 million. Their senior vice president is making $754,000 and their CFO is making $728,000.”

The group is also angry over the Water Revenue Adjustment Mechanism, which charges residents for using less water. It reimburses the company for revenue lost by water conservation.

To read entire story, click here.

Members of Occupy Wall Street-inspired groups from throughout region will protest together today as Occupy Inland Empire for the first time in a rally in San Bernardino.

The group plans to march on sidewalks in front of City Hall and downtown banks in in what they call a “visibility action” from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. near the intersection of Third and D streets.

The event also will be the first time “Occupy San Bernardino” is meeting as a group.

Participants locally and throughout the nation say they are unhappy about what they call corporate greed and want to bring attention to increasing poverty and wealth disparity in the nation. The movement began when protesters began meeting in New York City several weeks ago as part of Occupy Wall Street.

“This Saturday will be our first general assembly meeting,” said Hector Guzman, a San Bernardino Valley College student who helps maintain the new Occupy San Bernardino Facebook page. “San Bernardino needs the support of all from the Inland Empire because it has been (economically) hit the hardest in all the nation. That’s why we feel San Bernardino is a very important place to launch the first action for Occupy Inland Empire.”

Members of Occupy groups in Fontana, Redlands, Riverside, Victorville, and Rialto recently agreed at a meeting in Riverside last Sunday to meet as a consolidated Occupy Inland Empire group for events as a way to help bring greater awareness for their cause.

Tommy Purvis of Occupy Fontana will be attending the San Bernardino event.

“I’m very optimistic about it because, for the first time, I know the Inland Empire is working beyond County lines and Congressional District lines,” Purvis said. “We’ve been divided in the past, but we’re coming together now.”

In addition to the formation of Occupy San Bernardino, Occupy Rialto also met for the first time in recent days. Jesse Beruman, also a student at San Bernardino Valley College, is with Occupy Rialto, which plans to participate in today’s Occupy Inland Empire, as well as a joint meeting with Occupy Fontana on the corner of Sierra and Seville avenues at noon on Sunday.

To read entire story, click here.

Montes

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/26/2011 06:40:35 PM PDT

RIALTO – For five years, Rialto Unified school board member Edgar Montes has had twin boys improperly enrolled in Fontana Unified School District.

On Wednesday, Montes, a member of the Rialto school board since November 2010, for the first time completed interdistrict transfer paperwork to legitimize the attendance of his children in FUSD’s Chaparral Elementary School.

By not enrolling his children in RUSD during their elementary school years, Montes cost the district more than $65,000 in missed average daily attendance funding, RUSD officials say.

“If Rialto Unified has any rights to collect past ADA from Fontana, the direction would come to us from county schools,” Rialto Unified spokeswoman Syeda Jafri said,referring to the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Office.

Dan Evans, a spokesman for the county’s Superintendent of Schools, said the matter is between the two school districts.

Montes learned about the paperwork in a meeting on Tuesday with FUSD interim Superintendent Alejandro Alvarez and the principal of Chaparral school, he said.

Alvarez could not be reached for comment.

“Nobody brought it to my attention in my district,” Montes said.

The Montes children have been attending Chaparral since 2006. Montes and his wife purchased a home in Rialto in 2002. Children in that neighborhood attend Preston Elementary School in the Rialto district.

Montes said his children attend a school in the Fontana district because it is near to where he and his wife work, at a pallet-recycling business in Fontana.

A structure on the business site is a residence for Montes’ father-in-law and an office for the business.

Having the children’s school near work makes it easier to care for and supervise the children, he said.

Requests for interdistrict transfers are granted “99 percent of the time,” said one RUSD official, who declined to be identified.

The most common reasons for the transfers are child care and work issues, Jafri said.

Until the 2011-12 school year, parents needed to annually seek permission for an interdistrict transfer.

Effective this year, approvals for interdistrict transfers last five years, Jafri said.

“Whether we agree or disagree with the rules, we still need to abide by them,” said Joe Ayala, who serves on the Rialto school board with Montes.

To read entire story, click here.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/06/2011 07:44:41 PM PDT

RIALTO – The city on Thursday laid off 20 full-time employees, the first time such action has been taken in a decade.

Over the past seven years, revenues have increased 6.2 percent while expenses have climbed 34 percent, said Mike Story, city administrator.

“We can’t keep kicking the can down the road,” said Story, adding that even with Thursday’s layoffs, and a variety of cost-cutting measures previously taken, Rialto will need to take $4 million from its reserves to make ends meet this year.

Early next year, there could be 30 more layoffs if there are not significant concessions on retirement benefits from the city’s bargaining units, including fire and police departments, Story said.

“We have a daunting task of what need to be done,” Story said.

Salary and benefits represent 94 percent of the available revenues in the current fiscal year budget and will reach 100 percent next year if no corrective measures are taken, Story said.

The layoffs break down this way:

Six in public works.

One in human resources.

Three in recreation.

To read entire story, click here.

Associated Press
Posted: 09/27/2011 10:33:32 AM PDT

WASHINGTON – In a case stemming from Rialto, the Supreme Court will decide whether private lawyers hired as outside counsels for governments can be sued.

The high court on Tuesday agreed to hear lawyer Steve Filarsky’s appeal. He was hired by the city of Rialto to investigate the possible misuse of sick leave.

Nicholas B. Delia, a firefighter suspected of working on his house while on sick leave, sued Filarsky after the investigation.

Delia had said he had bought material to work on his house but never opened it. The fire chief then ordered Delia to bring the unopened material out of his house for inspection or face disciplinary action.

That order was an unconstitutional warrantless search, said Delia, who sued the city, the Fire Department and Filarsky.

To read entire story, click here.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/26/2011 07:47:46 PM PDT

RIALTO – One well serving residents more than a decade ago might have delivered concentrations of perchlorate high enough to affect the development of fetuses, infants and children, state officials say.

But a new study says that drinking water supplied to residents currently by the Rialto-based West Valley Water District, the city of Rialto, the city of Colton and the Colton-based Terrace Water Co. is safe to drink and doesn’t put people at risk for health problems.

The study, a draft report open for public comment, is called “Evaluation of Exposure to Contamination at the BF Goodrich Superfund Site” in Rialto. It will be discussed by California public health officials at a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Rialto Senior Center, 1411 S. Riverside Ave.

The BF Goodrich site is a one-quarter mile area north of Rialto, where from 1952 to the mid-1980s, several companies made fireworks and different explosive devices, using among other chemicals, perchlorate and trichloroethylene.

Over time, these chemicals leaked out of pits where they had been dumped and into the groundwater of the Rialto-Colton basin, which serves a portion of the water needs of five water agencies.

Monitoring water supplies for perchlorate began in 1997.

The draft of the state Public Health Department study said that some drinking water supplied by the West Valley Water District’s Well No. 22, when it was used in the years 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988, may have had amounts of perchlorate that could have been high enough to modestly impair iodine absorption by the thyroid gland.

This could potentially have lowered the levels of thyroid hormones in fetuses, infants and children below the amounts necessary for healthy development.

But state officials no longer believe that is the case.

On learning of the report, Anthony Araiza, general manager of the West Valley Water District, wrote state health officials that Well No. 22 was blended with water from other sources, including Lytle Creek.

To read entire story, click here.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/14/2011 09:55:59 PM PDT

RIALTO – Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, asked a congressional subcommittee Wednesday to act on his legislation requiring the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct a study of the Rialto-Colton water basin that focuses on its perchlorate plume.

H.R. 200, the Inland Empire Perchlorate Ground Water Plume Assessment Act, would provide new details about the plume, which potentially affects 500,000 people.

Rialto Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott, who also spoke before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power on Wednesday, said in a phone interview that the USGS study would provide new information about faults in the basin, where the plume is and where it might go.

“They have already done some work there. This would be a lot more,” Scott said.

Baca introduced similar legislation during the last Congress. H.R. 4252 was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives and was passed by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. But the bill did not come to the floor of the Senate before the 111th Congress came to an end.

Perchlorate, a rocket fuel additive, is known to interfere with the creation of hormones that are critical to the development of fetuses and infants.

Since its detection in 1997, a perchlorate plume in the Rialto-Colton basin has continued to move through the aquifer, resulting in the shutdown of nearly a quarter of Rialto’s 22 wells.

To read entire story, click here.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/17/2011 02:01:00 PM PDT

RIALTO – Mike Story has lived here since 1980.

He raised two children, coaching softball and soccer in the process.

For 27 years he has worked for the city of Rialto.

This week he became city administrator and is already at work to come up with recommendations to trim the city’s budget and reorganize city departments.

Story, 54, replaces Police Chief Mark Kling, who since early February has also been interim city administrator.

Kling goes back to wearing just one hat – Rialto’s police chief. He could not be reached for comment.

The City Council asked the law enforcement veteran to temporarily also become city administrator after that post became vacant when Henry Garcia accepted a job to be Moreno Valley’s top administrator.

Garcia had been Rialto’s city administrator for 10 years.

Story grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in political science.

His first job was in Duarte where he worked as a city planner. Later he became a city planner for Fontana.

He joined Rialto as an associate planner in 1985 and became a senior planner in 1990. In 2002 he was named director of development services, which includes planning, development and engineering activities for the city.

“The city (of Rialto) has been very kind to me. I will do my best to serve this city. I never thought I would have an opportunity to do this,” he said.

Among the more pressing tasks facing Story is coming to grips with the city’s budget for the current fiscal year.

To read entire story, click here.

Rep. Joe Baca

By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Posted: 08/11/2011 12:45:03 PM PDT

RIALTO – Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, is seeking to remove two animal species from protection under the Endangered Species Act, which he said is stalling the development of more than 8,000 residential units here.

Such a move would “expand the tax base of Rialto dramatically, and cause incalculable economic growth for the city and surrounding regions,” Baca wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday.

But a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman said decisions to add or subtract species from the endangered list do not include an economic analysis.

“It’s based on sound science,” Jane Hendron said.

Ron Pharris, the developer of the Lytle Creek Ranch project, said last week his firm could no longer support its money-

losing El Rancho Verde Golf Club and wage a legal war with environmentalists opposed to his project.

For those reasons, Pharris told staffers and golfers last week that the golf club – where Baca plays golf frequently – would be closed on Aug. 17.

Baca’s letter to Salazar comes at a time when many plants, animals and insects on the endangered species list are in the midst of a review to see if they should still be on the list, Baca said.

In the letter to Salazar, Baca wrote that Pharris’ company has been “especially” affected by the continued listing of the southwestern willow flycatcher – a species of bird – and the San Bernardino kangaroo rat.

“These two species have stopped a proposed housing development that would bring more than 8,400 residential units and 25,000 new residents to the city of Rialto,” he wrote, adding that Rialto is his hometown.

A Rialto conservation group, Save Lytle Creek Wash, along with the Los Angeles-based Endangered Habitats League, have filed a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit alleging that the Lytle Creek Ranch project would destroy habitat for several endangered species.

But an attorney for the Endangered Habitats League said his organization is not against the whole project.

To read entire story, click here.

City will pay $6 million to state to maintain agency
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2011 03:35:43 PM PDT

RIALTO – The City Council has voted unanimously to stay in the redevelopment game and pay the state what was described as a $6 million “ransom” early next year.

“The city stands to gain, and the residents stand to gain,” Councilman Joe Baca Jr. said after the Tuesday night meeting.

Councilman Ed Scott said the Redevelopment Agency “has been good for us, and we have spent our money wisely.”

The state’s budget includes two bills that require redevelopment agencies to send money to Sacramento if they want to keep their doors open.

In his presentation, Robb Steel, the city’s redevelopment director, injected humor into the meeting with a PowerPoint slide called “Ransom Note,” which said that the legislation means collectively redevelopment agencies will fork over $1.7 billon this year and $400 million “every year forever or you will die.”

That money is meant to go to public schools, courts and other public services.

For Rialto, the price to continue Redevelopment Agency projects is a $6 million payment on Jan. 15 and a payment of $1.4 million in fiscal year 2013, after which the amount will escalate slightly every year thereafter, Steel said.

The council passed a resolution declaring its intent to enact an ordinance saying it would participate in the state’s “voluntary” redevelopment program.

The council also passed on first reading an ordinance saying it would comply and participate in the voluntary redevelopment
program.

Both items were required under the state’s legislative action.

For cash-strapped Rialto, these hefty payments are a nonissue because the Redevelopment Agency will reimburse the city’s general fund.

Steel said that most of the $6 million payment will come from property-tax proceeds sent to the Rialto RDA for the development of low- and moderate- income housing projects.

In subsequent years, the payments will be pulled out of the agency’s general fund, which traditionally has been used to develop new projects.

“We can’t have any detriment to the city,” Steel said in an interview.

To read entire story, click here.

Even with one-time fixes city facing a $5M deficit
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/13/2011 08:18:15 PM PDT

RIALTO – Two weeks ago, residents flooded the Council Chambers when the controversial contract with American Water Works Co. Inc. was up for a vote.

Sharp rate increases were at stake and public input forced a decision that ended a move to contract out the city’s water department.

There were far fewer residents at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting when city staff delivered some sobering news: If no action is taken, employee expenses will absorb 100percent of the city’s budget in fiscal year 2015.

And working capital – the cash needed to pay for daily operations – will become strained starting in fiscal year 2013, Redevelopment Agency Director Robb Steel told the council.

Staff presented the council a budget document with an $11 million deficit.

And they outlined a series of one-time fixes to reduce the deficit to about $5 million, including strategic savings plans for the police and fire departments.

But over the long term, no real fix for Rialto’s financial dilemma could be achieved without employee concessions, Steel said.

And there are other challenges as well. For example, many problems with equipment and buildings have been dealt with on a piecemeal basis where replacement might have been a better approach, said Donna Vickers, interim chief financial officer.

Council member Deborah Robertson said Rialto will likely be looking at layoffs in the future.

“We can’t keep dipping into reserves and the reserves are not going to sustain us past 2013,” she said.

“We are going to have to do things a little smarter, a little more efficient,” she said.

She suggested that council members team with staff members to develop a more detailed plan to bring costs down.

Councilman Ed Palmer said he’d like to see staff come up with more inventive ways to save money.

To read entire story, click here.

Sunday, July 10, 2011 – 07:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, July 10, 2011 – 10:40 p.m.

The City of Rialto may as well give The Lewis Group of Companies and Hillwood Development the Rialto Municipal Airport property on a platter and throw in whatever money they want and desire.

Of course, you guessed it!

Once again, this lop-sided public-private partnership has reared it’s ugly head on the Rialto City Council agenda. And of course it’s now time to renegotiate the already renegotiated deal to redevelop the Rialto Airport.

When will it ever end?

The following closed session item has appeared on the city council agenda for this Tuesday night.

2. Conference with Real Property Negotiator. The Redevelopment Agency will confer with its real property
negotiator concerning the following property pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8:
Location: Rialto Municipal Airport and Adjacent Land (498 acres)
Negotiating Parties: Redevelopment Agency of the City of Rialto, Robb Steel
Lewis Hillwood Rialto LLC, Bryan Goodman
Under Negotiation: Both Price and Terms of Payment

The following item also appears on the public agenda.

Request RDA/City Council to cancel the joint public hearing for the consideration of
Amended and Restated Contract by and between the Redevelopment Agency of the City
of Rialto and Lewis-Hillwood Rialto Company, LLC for the sale of approximately 498 acres
of land including the Rialto Municipal Airport.

Yes, the developer group is once again seeking to amend their deal with the city to convert the airport and surrounding area into a mixed-use development commonly referred to as Renaissance Rialto.

But it’s looking more and more like a renaissance for Lewis-Hillwood than the city and its taxpayers.

Lewis-Hillwood Rialto LLC, a partnership of the aforementioned alleged billion dollar-plus companies can’t seem to keep up its end of any deal, and the Rialto City Council appears to be willing to give them whatever they want.

The goal is likey having to pony up as little money as possible. Particularly money to relocate the Rialto Airport’s aviation functions to the struggling San Bernardino international Airport.

Hillwood Development is owned by Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot.

Right, that Perot! The one that ran for President of the United States.

Why is Lewis-Hillwood constantly squeezing the city?

This is a big question on the minds of many outsiders watching the venture.

Does Lewis-Hillwood have the cash to consumate the Federal Aviation Administration payment as required?

Bankrupting the city redevelopment agency apparently isn’t good enough and, at this point, the partnership either can’t or won’t come up with the money they originally committed to.

Unless its campaign contributions to the city council members.

Can anyone see a red flag here?

Not adhering to a deal struck is a cornerstone of the way The Lewis Group does business, and this time they have their tentacles dug into Rialto.

This deal stinks and needs to be investigated before the taxpayers pay and pay dearly.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/09/2011 10:19:24 PM PDT

RIALTO – The public disclosure that Rialto’s water system needs $42 million in upgrades and renovations is symptomatic of a national trend that civil engineers have long called alarming.

The nation as a whole faces more than $2.2 trillion worth of infrastructure repairs in areas ranging from bridges to dams to drinking water and wastewater systems, roads and transit systems, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Rialto residents riled against a proposal by New Jersey-based American Water Works Co. Inc. to direct and finance those renovations. The outsourcing effort failed to win the council votes needed for passage.

Particularly onerous were the rate increases – more than 80percent in two years – American Water proposed to fund those repairs.

An aversion to rate increases is a key reason much of America’s infrastructure is crumbling, said Richard G. Little, director of USC’s Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.

Politicians are reluctant to push for set-asides to cover maintenance and upgrades because they don’t want to upset their constituents with higher rates, Little said.

Rialto has not raised its wastewater rates in 10 years and water rates in seven years.

“We may pride ourselves in not having rate increases, but this is not something to be proud of,” Little said, referring to a lack of expenditures for renovations.

But that aversion to rate increases is the reason many water delivery systems across the country sell their product at an “artificially low” prices, he said.

Most Rialto residents who spoke at two public comment sessions prior to the City Council’s decision to reject a public/private partnership with American Water on June 28 recognized the need for rate increases.

“The water rates are going to have to be raised,” said Brenda Parker, a longtime Rialto resident in an interview last week.

“(City) councils in the past neglected their responsibility to the people and unfortunately this council got stuck with the problem,” Parker said.

The main objection voiced by Rialto city residents during these hearings was the rapidity of rate increases and the philosophical objections to contracting out a city department to a private sector firm.

Little said solutions for municipal infrastructure neglect has gotten more painful, because state and federal governments are no longer in bailout modes, he said.

Rialto resident Dennis Barton said last week that raising rates are even more difficult in poor economic times like now, when many have lost their jobs or are working fewer hours.

And a compounding factor to facing the national infrastructure problems at the federal level is the emergence of a political belief that governments should not receive any additional funds from the people for any reason, he said.

Small utilities are particularly guilty of raising rates periodically to cover maintenance problems, but then ignore the problem for some time, Batton said.

“It’s a classic definition of insanity,” he said.

Said Little: “Putting off the pain doesn’t make the problem go away.”

Unless infrastructure needs are addressed soon, the United States “is in danger of becoming a second-tier nation,” he said.

To read entire story, click here.

Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/08/2011 06:10:31 PM PDT

RIALTO – The police officer arrested Monday by FBI agents and indicted federal grand jury has been put on unpaid leave pending a Rialto Police Department internal affairs investigation.

Aaron Scott Vigil, 41, of Highland, who served as a task force officer with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, allegedly agreed to accept a $2,500 bribe in 2009 in exchange for falsely telling the Orange County District Attorney’s Office that a criminal defendant was a cooperator who had provided information to the DEA, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Vigil pleaded not guilty to all federal charges, said Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling,

“I have placed Officer Aaron Vigil on unpaid, non-punitive administrative leave pending the outcome of the case against him,” Kling said.

The internal affairs investigation – which was launched Tuesday – is separate from the federal case against Vigil and is meant to determine if Vigil violated any department policies, Kling said.

“Because of the federal case against officer Vigil, placing him on unpaid leave was the right thing to do,” he said.

A call to Vigil’s defense attorney, Michael Schwartz, did not return a message Wednesday seeking comment.

Orange County defense attorney Lawrence Anthony Witsoe also was arrested Monday by the FBI and targeted by the same federal indictment that named Vigil.

The alleged bribery scheme began in the Fall when Witsoe allegedly told a client – facing assault charges in Orange County – that for $2,500, Witsoe could get the assault case dismissed, according to federal prosecutors.

Witsoe allegedly told his client that he could have a DEA agent call the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, explain that the client was working as a confidential informant and request that they consider the work that the client performed.

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Deadline for pink slips

Doubt again faces teachers
Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/15/2011 07:02:32 AM PDT

Joyella Beuler spends five afternoons a week teaching reading, writing and math to enthusiastic kindergarten students.

But like thousands of other teachers statewide, the Lytle Creek Elementary School teacher faces an uncertain future.

She is one of 259 certificated employees in the San Bernardino City Unified School District who received pink slips in time for the May 15 final state deadline.

“It’s like I am a really good actress in the classroom every day,” she said. “The students’ excitement is contagious, but under the surface there are all these emotions because I don’t know what the future holds.”

Teachers and other certificated staff initially receive preliminary layoff notices in time for the state’s
Joyella Beuler, left, helps Jeremiah Mejia, 6, with his math last week in her kindergarten class at Lytle Creek Elementary School in San Bernardino. Beuler has received a preliminary layoff notice in each of her three years with the district. (LaFonzo Carter/Staff Photographer)
March 15 deadline. The final decision is made by May 15.

So far this year, 20,187 teachers statewide have received the pink slips.

San Bernardino City Unified anticipates cutting $25 million going into the next school year and voted in recent weeks to lay off 259 certificated staff.

In past years it was able to save jobs using a mix of federal stimulus and other funding.

District officials hope they will be able to do the same this time around, but are awaiting the outcome of Gov. Jerry Brown’s May budget revise, slated to be released today.

“I am hearing some positive things about the May revise so we may get lucky,” said San Bernardino school board president Danny Tillman. “But if things don’t change it will stay as it is.”

Beuler, who has received pink slips every spring since she was hired by the district three years ago, already is fearing the worst.

“During the last two years everyone was brought back, but this time I think it will be tougher,” she said. “I have already started looking for a new job, but there is nothing out there for teachers.”

In Rialto Unified, where district officials expect to lose $9.5 million toward the next school year, the board
recently voted to lay off 96 certificated employees.

The number includes 85 teachers and 11 counselors.

Paula Bailey, a parent with four children in the district, said she is deeply concerned about losing staff.

“It’s not only teachers but also counselors and administrators, so it’s hard,” she said.

Still she remains confident the school board will do everything they can to save jobs.

“I attend the majority of board meetings and I feel they will do all they can to bring people back despite what is happening in Sacramento,” she said. “I really encourage people to voice concerns to Sacramento, because we can only do so much.”

There is still much concern in Fontana Unified, where the board recently voted to send final layoff notices to 129 educators and counselors to keep the district solvent. Officials there expect to make $26.7 million in cuts.

In past years the district was able to bring some pink-slipped employees back through a mix of early retirement and other incentives.

Superintendent Cali-Olsen Binks said she does not feel as hopeful this year.

“We are waiting for the May revise and I am not feeling positive at all,” she said. “I wonder with additional cuts if we will be able to survive.”

Redlands Unified plans to lay off just two certificated employees. The district will make $2.6 million in cuts going into 2011-2012, officials said.

The Mountain View School District laid off seven permanent teachers and 7.5 temporary teachers (laid off permanent teachers from last year) that they re-employed for the 2010-2011 school year using the Federal Jobs Bill funds.

“Once again we are very saddened by the layoffs,” said superintendent Rick Carr. “We released highly competent and wonderful teachers.”

The Ontario-Montclair School District issued 86 notices to their temporary teachers.

To read entire story, click here.

By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Created: 05/12/2011 04:48:40 PM PDT

RIALTO – The school board on Wednesday night approved final layoff notices for 85 teachers and 11 counselors as part of a plan to avoid a $9.5million revenue shortfall for the next school year.

Lisa Lindberg, president of the Rialto Education Association, which represents Rialto Unified’s teachers and counselors, said the board action is not the final word.

“We are hoping to get some good news” on Monday, when the state releases revised budget numbers for next year, she said, adding that those numbers may reverse some the district’s staff-reduction efforts to balance the 2011-2012 budget.

Among those to be terminated by Wednesday night’s action were seven elementary school teachers, four high school math teachers, four social science teachers, 12 sixth-grade teachers and 12 preschool teachers.

Earlier action by the board terminated about 100 temporary contracted teachers, Lindberg said, adding that she is hopeful some of those positions also could be restored after state budget numbers are revealed Monday.

Other Rialto Unified Schoo District cost reduction efforts, not discussed Wednesday night, involve the elimination of 25 administrative positions, although some of those administrators may be reassigned to other jobs in the district such as school principals or classroom teachers, said Felix Avila, assistant superintendent of personnel services.

No teachers or counselors addressed the school board about its layoff plans before the 3-1 vote to eliminate the 96 jobs.

Most of the teachers at the meeting, held at Jehue Middle School in Colton, were involved in one of several award presentations conducted before the layoff vote.

The meeting was held at the middle school as part of a plan to meet at different locations in the sprawling school district, which has 19 elementary schools, five middle schools, three comprehensive high schools, an adult continuation school and a total of 26,000 students.

While employes had few public comments about the layoff action, board members had much to say.

“There are not guarantees in life…. When teachers get laid off, with the (poor) economy, there is very little opportunity for them to become re-employed in this area,” said board member Joseph Ayala.

To read entire story, click here.

Project could provide 5,000 jobs
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/16/2011 10:12:59 PM PDT

RIALTO – Developer Timothy J. Howard calls the Rialto Commerce Center project “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something big and get it right.”

But for the many residents of the unincorporated Bloomington community, the 164-acre warehouse project – which is to include six buildings ranging in size from 64,000 to 1.6 million square feet – is a threat to their lifestyle, health and safety.

The industrial park development will sit on an island of Rialto surrounded by unincorporated San Bernardino County land, near the Riverside County line.

After four years of waiting for approval, the Rialto City Council last week unanimously approved a zoning change and environmental impact plan for the project, which includes the development of 3.6 million square feet of warehouse structures that has the potential to bring more than 5,000 jobs to the region.

The project’s green light comes at a time when inventories of large industrial buildings have shrunk to almost nothing, Howard said.

For more than an hour, area residents appealed to the City Council to postpone the decision so that issues of truck traffic and vehicle-related air pollution could be studied more thoroughly.

They were in the company of some pretty big guns.

Josie Gonzales, 5th district supervisor for the County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors, told the council that if the city of Rialto pursues industrial development on the site, there is “an obligation to minimize the impact for existing residents.”

She too asked the City Council for a delay.

County of Riverside Transportation Department officials raised concerns about the truck traffic, which they said would spill across county lines.

And South Coast Air Quality Management District officials said the project’s environmental impact report may underestimate the air quality ramifications of the project.

In the end, the City Council voted for jobs.

“I want you residents of Bloomington to know we hear everything you say…Rialto wants to be a good neighbor…We need jobs,” said council member Ed Scott, prior to his vote in favor of the project.

Said council member Joe Baca Jr.: “I know we have concerns about the project. I too share those concerns. But it will bring jobs, jobs, jobs. I am in support of the project.”

That vote was “unconscionable,” said Rachel Lopez, community organizer for the Riverside-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, which has been advising some Bloomington residents opposed to the project.

“While Rialto brings in lots of money for the project, it will bring harm to other people in another area,” she said.

Following the vote, Gonzales said, “The city of Rialto council has every right to make decisions in their own self-interest…to bring about an economic turnaround in their city.

“It is important to me that as they (Rialto) move forward, that they incorporate the concerns that have been expressed, written and spoken, in reference to mitigating the impacts that will primarily be experienced by the unincorporated residents,” Gonzales said.

There will be many more hearings and points for city approval as the project’s design takes shape, Gonzales said.

“I would like to take Rialto at its word. Let’s work toward being good neighbors…to deliver the best project,” said Gonzales, noting that the jobs that it will create will add to the region’s economic recovery.

A regularly scheduled meeting of Gonzales’ Bloomington Municipal Advisory Council on May 3 will focus on developing an organization framework for future discussions about the project with Rialto officials, Gonzales said.

To read entire story, click here.

Proposal would lease out city’s facilities
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/10/2011 08:08:54 PM PDT

RIALTO – As negotiations continue with a private water company, the city will hold its third workshop Thursday on a proposal to lease the city’s water and wastewater facilities.

“We are just looking at this as a possibility. It may fall flat,” said Councilman Ed Scott, who is on a subcommittee charged with negotiating a contract with American Water Works Co.

Facing a $10 million budget deficit, Rialto “is looking at doing things differently than have been done before,” Scott said.

Early last year, Rialto officials said they had hoped to have finalized an agreement with American Water last summer.

“Things take longer. We hit a lot of snags over things we didn’t know exist,” Scott said. “This is a long process, and we want to be sure we are doing the right thing.”

If a contract with American Water is finalized, it would go to the entire council for a vote, Scott said.

Under the proposal, the city would retain ownership of the water and wastewater system, as well as water rights, Scott said.

American Water would provide the financing for an estimated $45 million in water and wastewater upgrades.

Earlier in the process, the city required bidders to extend job offers to the 23 workers represented by the San Bernardino Public Employees Association with a guaranteed term of 18 months.

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Rialto official seeks review
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/14/2011 05:18:00 PM PDT

RIALTO – Interim City Administrator Mark Kling has fired Rich Scanlon, a contract employee at Rialto Municipal Airport, and has asked the District Attorney’s Office to investigate hangar rentals at the airport.

Scanlon, who had formerly been director of aviation and solid waste management, was a city employee for some 30 years prior to his retirement in December. He began working on several airport-related projects as a contract employee in late January, Kling said.

In February, Robb Steel, Rialto community development director, brought Kling, who at that time was police chief, documents which he thought suggested financial irregularities at the airport.

Steel believed that some airport hangar rentals did not go to the redevelopment agency board as required by its guidelines, Kling said.

Steel had assumed Scanlon’s duties after his retirement.

Kling reviewed those documents and on Feb. 8, the City Council appointed him interim city administrator, in addition to his job as police chief.

Wearing the hat of city administrator, Kling said he fired Scanlon last month, then helped him remove some of his belongings from city offices.

Kling said he did not arrest Scanlon, nor did he handcuff him.

Scanlon could not be reached for comment.

Kling said he reported the irregularities personally to District Attorney Michael A. Ramos and asked for an investigation by the DA’s public integrity unit.

The matter was forwarded to the district attorney, Kling said, to maintain the city’s reputation and “ensure that we find out if there was criminal misconduct.”

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By Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell Staff Writer
Posted: 03/11/2011 05:09:24 PM PST

The county’s school districts issued hundreds of preliminary layoff notices to teachers and other certificated staff this week, prior to Tuesday’s state deadline.

In the San Bernardino City Unified School District alone more than 200 notices were sent as the district faces another year of deep budget cuts.

“This is the worst budget situation for our district I have ever seen going into the 2011-2012 school year,” said Rebecca Harper, president of the San Bernardino Teachers Association. “And my concern is the loss of teacher jobs affects class sizes, the community and economy.”

March 15 is the annual deadline for school districts to sent preliminary layoff notices to teachers and other certificated school staff in California. The decision on who will lose jobs is made by May 15, the state deadline for final notification.

The local educators receiving the notices join more than 10,000 statewide at risk for losing their jobs, That number could go as high as 17,000, said Paul Hefner, a spokesman for the California Department of Education.

It is all part of the worst case scenario State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson anticipates if Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed tax extensions are rejected by voters in June or never come to a vote.

Torlakson has warned that without an extension, an all- cuts budget could force the state to cut school spending by as much as $4.5 billion or 10 percent of the K-12 annual budget.

It is of such cause for concern that he recently sent out a letter asking county superintendents if districts are producing their layoff and program reduction plans based on the all-cuts budget assumption.

In San Bernardino City Unified, where the school board recently voted to send out notices to 272 teachers, the district is looking to cut $9 million from its budget with the extension and $25 million without.

Last year, the district was in similar dire straits but was able to save jobs using a mix of one time federal stimulus funding, Quality Education Investment Act funding and early retirement.

Without that funding available there is a likely possibility they won’t be able to bring back all the teachers, said Tillman.

There could also be even more job cuts if unions do not approve a 5 percent pay cut for all district employees to save money, he added.

In Fontana Unified, where school board members recently warned 68 counselors they might not have jobs next year, notices will go out to 51 teachers.

The decisions have been reached based on the district facing $11.8 million in cuts if the extension passes, and $24.8 million without, said Superintendent Cali Olsen-Binks.

It has created a situation where she feels desperately helpless.

`We are at a place where we are short staffed, what we provide at school sites is challenged and we have maximum class sizes,” she said. “In some cases we have whole families employed by the district, and it has a huge impact on them.”

To save teachers’ jobs and ensure other services remain available, she hopes voters approve the tax extension.

“It’s not about politics,” she said. “It’s about providing vital services for our future. Of all the investments people can make there’s not a better one than kids.”

Eighty-two teachers received preliminary pink slips in the Rialto Unified School District.

The potential cuts of teachers and others is to deal with a loss of funding of $9.5 million without the tax extension going into the 2011-2012 school year.

Mike Ridgway, the district’s school board president, described the situation as devastating.

“This is on top of three years of cuts and it just goes on and on,” he said. “There has even been talk of reducing the school year further.”

Despite the worst case scenario, the district will do all it can to save jobs.

“We would much rather pay people to work than to stay home,” he said. “So we will work hard to bring everyone back.”

The decision on how many notices will go out to Colton Joint Unified teachers is still a work in progress, said district spokeswoman Katie Orloff.

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By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Posted: 02/02/2011 08:57:29 PM PST

COLTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced it would move forward with the development of regulations for perchlorate, reversing a Bush Administration decision.

California has had a public health goal for perchlorate of 6 parts per billion since 2004 and in 2007 set 6 parts per billion as the maximum contaminant level for drinking water.

In 2008, Bush administration officials decided the EPA would not regulate perchlorate levels in drinking water.

A California Department of Public Health survey, for the period between Aug. 1, 2006 to Aug. 2, 2010, found San Bernardino County had 31 active and standby water sources with perchlorate contamination levels above 6 parts per billion. Riverside County had 41, and Los Angeles County had 60.

Perchlorate is used in solid propellants for rockets, missiles and fireworks.

Scientific research indicates that perchlorate may interfere with the thyroid’s ability to produce hormones that are critical to developing fetuses and infants, the EPA said.

In a separate action Wednesday, the EPA said it is also moving toward establishing a drinking water standard to address a group of up to 16 toxic chemicals that may pose a risk to public health.

Previously, the EPA said it would develop a standard on chromium 6, a toxic chemical that has plagued the underground water supply of Hinkley for decades.

“Clear water is critical to the health and prosperity of every American community and a fundamental concern to every American family,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in a statement.

Regionally, perchlorate has been detected at 20 water supply wells in the Rialto-Colton area, according to the EPA’s website.

For a decade, Rialto residents have paid a $10 surcharge on their monthly water bills to help clean up a perchlorate plume that originated near a landfill on the city’s west side.

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Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2011 09:16:56 PM PST

Top officials from Rialto and Colton have made plans to soon meet and discuss mutual concerns such issues as traffic planning and perchlorate contamination as well as possibly settling ongoing litigation.

An official date hasn’t been set, but it could come sometime in February, according to city council members from both cities.

“(Colton has) a lawsuit against (Rialto) and we’d like to try to resolve that,” said Rialto Councilman Ed Scott. “We’ve spent a lot of money on lawyers and they’ve spent a lot of money on lawyers and we’ve gotten nowhere.”

Three to four years ago, Colton decided to sue Rialto because officials there objected to the traffic circulation findings of an environmental impact report for a Walmart store planned at the southwest corner of the Riverside Avenue and Valley Boulevard intersection in Rialto, Scott said.

Rialto City Administrator Henry Garcia declined to comment on the specifics of the litigation, but generally it’s related to how the data was collected that determines the fees for traffic mitigation.

Colton City Manager Rod Foster also declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but said there are issues with the fees to install infrastructure both cities would use once the Walmart opens.

Garcia said the project has already been approved and is awaiting the outcome of the litigation. But council members from both cities say they’d like to halt litigation and try to reach an agreement amongst themselves.

“Generally speaking, I would like to settle any pending litigation we have as it pertains to any city or individual,” said Colton Mayor David Zamora. “It’s just good business to settle any lawsuits.”

An initial meeting is planned between committees comprised of council members from each city, with Rialto’s consisting of Mayor Grace Vargas and Scott, and Colton’s comprised of councilmen David Toro and Vincent Yzaguirre and Zamora.

Committees from both cities have met in the past to discuss perchlorate contamination in the Rialto-Colton Groundwater Basin. That subject, as well as several others, will also be discussed, officials from both cities said.

Both cities must clean perchlorate from its respective wells. Colton has long planned its mixed-use Superblock economic development project – bound by Valley Boulevard and San Bernardino Avenue south to north and Pepper and Riverside avenues east to west – which lies adjacent to the border the cities share.

To read entire story, click here.

Plan by Gov. Brown may prevent developments
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/23/2011 09:18:23 PM PST

RIALTO – A state plan to take local tax dollars could cancel an expansion of Pepper Avenue and alter a plan to bring an In-N-Out Burger to the city.

Last week, city officials said Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to shut down local redevelopment agencies likely would not hurt a redevelopment project that would help build an In-N-Out on Riverside Avenue just south of the 210 freeway.

But now officials say Brown’s plan might mean the city itself might have to front some of the money for the In-N-Out project and that other projects could be in jeopardy.

A briefing Thursday by the California Redevelopment Association “made me a lot more nervous than I was a week or two ago,” said Robb Steel, Rialto’s economic development director.

On Jan. 10, Brown proposed shutting down redevelopment agencies, which are funded with a portion of local property taxes, and using their funds to pay for other programs.

But it’s not clear how or when that shutdown – if it happens – will happen.

Redevelopment agencies pay for projects by taking out loans, which are then paid off over the years with the agencies’ share of property taxes.

Rialto has already sold bonds – essentially taken out loans – to pay for the In-N-Out project, the Pepper Avenue extension and other projects, but Steel said he isn’t sure the projects will continue unless the Redevelopment Agency actually spends the money before the possible state shutdown.

“On Pepper Avenue, we haven’t awarded the big kahuna construction contract,” Steel said. “We’ve issued bonds and raised money and allocated all this money to projects…but the state might argue that unobligated bond proceeds might be an asset.”

The worry is this:

Brown’s plan, which was part of his January budget proposal and doesn’t include many specifics, says it would not harm “existing obligations.” But it’s not yet clear what would count as existing obligations.

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Council member objects to move
Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/17/2011 08:34:50 PM PST

RIALTO – The city has brought three recently retired employees back on a part-time basis, but given the city’s financial constraints one City Council member has questioned the move.

Councilwoman Deborah Robertson said hiring temporary employees will cost the city money it could have saved by holding the positions vacant.

“I just don’t see how we’re going to see savings if we take a position that as soon as somebody retires we’re going to back-fill them with a part-time position with their same salary and try to say to us that the savings is because we’re not paying benefits,” Robertson said.

In a 4-1 vote Jan. 11, with Robertson dissenting, the council rehired a redevelopment contract negotiator, a community relations police lieutenant and an administrative police sergeant on a temporary part-time basis.

The top-step pay rate for the employees range between $48 and $92 per hour, according to a city report.

Since they’re part time, they’re not eligible for benefits. But the city will have to pay 7 1/2 percent of their salary into a deferred-compensation plan since the city doesn’t participate in Social Security, the report said.

The employees are eligible to work 960 hours a year, which equates to six months of full-time work. When Robertson asked City Administrator Henry Garcia how much the temporary employees would cost the city, he said it will depend how many hours they work, but he doesn’t expect the amount to exceed $250,000.

Robertson said the duties of the two Police Department positions could have been filled with existing officers and city management should have planned for the retirement of the contract negotiator.

“We’ve known that they would be retiring for a while,” Robertson said. “We should have been working as diligent managers to ensure that we had a transition.”

Councilman Ed Scott said he supported bringing back the retirees because he didn’t want to see police officers taken off the street to do extra work.

The contract negotiator is needed to continue closing leases at the former Rialto Municipal Airport property, where new development is planned, Scott added.

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The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has charged the city attorney of Chino and Rialto with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Jimmy Gutierrez is expected to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the Los Angeles Superior Court in West Covina.

Gutierrez may elect to have an attorney appear for him in court since the charges are misdemeanors.

A vehicle driven by Gutierrez was driving Oct. 23 on the 60 Freeway in Industry when California Highway Patrol officers from the Santa Fe Springs station stopped it for swerving. The officers asked Gutierrez to take a sobriety test, but he elected to provide a blood sample at a hospital.

Gutierrez said he had consumed a few glasses of wine with dinner.

He was booked at 3:30 a.m. at the sheriff’s substation in Industry. He was released from custody at 1 p.m. Oct. 24, according to the county Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol.

Gutierrez said he regretted his actions and took “full responsibility for my actions on that evening.”

“I blame no one but myself, and I will accept the consequences given to me by the justice system,” he said this past fall. “I would like it to serve as a reminder that as adults we must be mindful of our public activities that involve the consumption of wine or alcoholic beverages.”

After his arrest, Gutierrez said he contacted Chino Mayor Dennis Yates and Rialto Mayor Grace Vargas to inform them of the incident.

Yates said his council will await the outcome of the arraignment, before considering further action.

To read entire story, click here.