The following updates were provided by Riverside County District 1 Supervisor Kevin Jeffries. District 1 encompasses the cities of Canyon Lake, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, most of the City of Riverside, and several unincorporated communities.
Unincorporated Residents Speak Out!
Recently, I wrote about the Unincorporated Communities Initiative I had asked the county to create, and one of the first steps was to conduct a survey of unincorporated residents across the country. I’m proud to say that 1st District replied in much greater numbers than any other Supervisorial District.
We have spent hours going over every specific response that was given. There were a lot of good suggestions, a lot of requests for things beyond our control (schools, better cell phone service, lower water rates, specific restaurants/stores), and some conflicting requests (more street lights vs no street lights, more commercial development vs no growth, sidewalks and paving vs keep our roads rural, etc.), but it was a good insight into the thoughts of our unincorporated residents.
One big takeaway was that despite the weekly “Defund the Sheriff” public commenters at our board meetings, “More Sheriff Deputies” was by far the highest-rated request for services in every community and county-wide. You can see some more info on the survey and the program at https://tinyurl.com/uciattachments, and it will also likely be discussed at the upcoming Board Budget Workshop on June 14.
County Budget Better Than Expected—For Now
This past year was brutal for many families, businesses, and non-profits. When we passed our last budget in June 2020, we were prepared for the worst. Fortunately, a combination of higher than expected property and sales tax revenues (particularly in the online shopping category) and millions of dollars in CARES Act funding from the federal government has left us with a much better than expected outlook for the end of the year. We also are now receiving additional one-time state and federal dollars for a variety of other programs, from housing to public health to infrastructure.
Our job as stewards of tax dollars will be to make sure this money is used as effectively as possible, and that we not create costly ongoing programs that we will not be able to sustain. While this sudden influx of money has lots of people dreaming big dreams, it would be irresponsible to pretend this money will keep coming.
I’ve submitted lists of specific one-time infrastructure projects to utilize this funding, and I hope we can improve people’s lives with it. Once again, this will be discussed further at the budget workshop on June 14.
WRCOG Utility Bankruptcy
An article in the Press-Enterprise (https://www.pe.com/2021/05/26/electric-provider-for-113000-riverside-county-customers-files-for-bankruptcy/) spelled out how residents in certain Riverside County cities will likely pay for this latest financial disaster for many years to come.
This troubled agency is a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) spin-off created by WRCOG (which is another non-elected government JPA) that had also been aligned with yet another questionable spin-off program involving home energy loans that resulted in legal action by seven district attorneys, multimillion-dollar settlements, and the bankruptcy of WRCOG’s primary financial lender in the program.
All the local elected officials who signed off on these various questionable financial decisions were pushed or led into these decisions by WRCOG staff and consultants who were on an endless push of mission creep and arguably more government “profits” at the expense of residents and/or homeowners. More to come.
Help for the I-15?
“We’re from the government and we are here to help you” is said to be one of the scariest phrases in America, and lately it seems that every time the government tries to help on the 91 or the 15, that things just get worse—or at least the worst parts simply get moved somewhere else.
This pattern has repeated itself again with the expansion of the I-15 toll lanes in the Corona area, which promptly created a new choke point, where multiple lanes are dropped/taken away right where the new Express Lanes end, creating a new, day-long traffic nightmare in Temescal Valley.
While this will continue until RCTC can afford to make improvements all the way to Lake Elsinore, myself and a few colleagues on the Riverside County Transportation Commission have expressed the frustration of our constituents that yet another expensive project has failed exactly where we (and groups like the Greater Corona Traffic Alliance) had predicted it would.
RCTC has requested millions in federal financial aid to add a free (for once!) lane between Cajalco Road and Weirick Road to help mitigate the impacts of those dropped lanes. If approved, help could come fairly quickly, but in the end, it will just be another band-aid on a severed artery.
New Fireworks Ordinance
Last month, I wrote about the new fireworks ordinance and increased enforcement that I had brought forward to the board of supervisors. Those dramatically increased fines and funding for extra sheriff deputies and code enforcement officers in the unincorporated communities did go forward, and a public information campaign will be launched shortly to warn of the dangers of illegal fireworks. If someone is recklessly endangering your neighborhood with illegal fireworks, please call 800-950-2444 to report it.
While we received a lot of input in the Unincorporated Communities Survey, I still encourage all residents in the 1st District to contact me with questions, suggestions, and concerns. Even if it isn’t something we can do ourselves, we will always try to point you in the right direction to get assistance.
