River City Hall: Shocked and Awed
The controversy involving rate hikes for electricity usage in this city continued as public utilities employees took some responsibility, according to this article in the Press Enterprise.
Public Utilities Director Dave Wright gave a presentation at Friday's Board of Public Utilities meeting and said that his division had erred in not educating the public about the impact that the rate increases including the creation of a multi-tier program would have on the summer's utility bills.
(excerpt)
"It was wrong," Wright said at a morning meeting of the Board of Public Utilities, and he accepted the blame.
Board member Dave Barnhart said that the panel he sat on could have done a better job at addressing the issue before sending its recommendations to the city council.
Several city council members including Art Gage, Dom Betro and Frank Schiavone said they should have asked more questions about the process, but said that the information provided didn't cause them to do so. All three of them have election dates in their futures so they have to choose their words carefully, though Gage said that he had to be careful not to vote on something just because it was in front of him. That's pretty good advice, actually.
Also spanking the city council was the editorial board of the Press Enterprise which scolded it on revoking the rate increases that it so thoughtfully imposed last year. You know, the year that no one currently sitting on the dais was up for election.
The rates were examined thoroughly before being passed, the editorial board argued. They were also necessary to save the city from a worse fate. It's one thing to have an elected body that's in the dark, but a city?
(excerpt)
Just why residents would be shocked that electricity rate hikes make power more expensive was not clear. But the council certainly has no basis for surprise; council members unanimously approved the higher electricity rates on Dec. 19, after a highly public process of hearings and debate.
And Tuesday's council action ignores the crucial reason behind the rate hike. Riverside's demand for power is quickly growing beyond the city's capacity to supply electricity. The rate increase will pay for a new $125 million substation and a $100 million city power plant. Without those improvements, Riverside faces rolling blackouts within two or three years.
The interesting thing is that some areas of Riverside are already on the rolling blackout plan due to the city's aging electric infrastructure, suffering numerous outrages as soon as the weather gets hot. It's actually a separate season for these folks on an annual basis.
The board suggested that the motives for suspending the multi-tier plan weren't entirely altruistic.
(excerpt)
There was no confusion about December's rate hike: The city carefully studied and thoroughly debated the decision, and the rationale was compelling. The council's sudden concern over high electric bills smacks of political pandering in an election season -- which no one should confuse with real leadership.
Few people do. But with the first of three straight election cycles just about to be completed this autumn, expect a lot more of the former and less of the latter. But hey, that's entertainment!
Not that those on the dais aren't capable of being leaders, but lately, oh beginning around the filing date for Election 2007, it's like a burning issue comes up, people complain and the city council panders often by switching its position on an issue 180 or so degrees. Is that necessarily a bad thing? No, because often elected officials make mistakes or change their minds because they see that their original views or decisions on issues were incorrect. Here, however, a pattern has emerged of late.
Sometimes, a member of the body or more than one will say, let's take it to the people. Issues that can be taken to the people include choo choo trains and crowing roosters. Issues that can't be taken to the people and must be stopped at all costs of course include eminent domain. The push to put an initiative on eminent domain to the people was resisted strongly by those on the dais including those members who have adopted the flavor of the moment, which is taking issues to the people and allowing the people to decide.
Even as temperatures soar in the Inland Empire, Eastside residents in Riverside remain without a swimming pool, a Press Enterprise article stated. The Sippy Woodhead pool has been closed for renovation, which is a head scratcher considering that it makes more sense to most people to close a pool for renovation outside of the summer months when it is most often used. But, the city seems to be scheduling it around the competitive swimming schedules of schools and colleges outside of the neighborhood rather than the wishes of those who live within it. So often that's the case with the Eastside, the next neighborhood on deck to be gentrified within the next 10 years under not just one, but two ambitious development plans.
Janny Perez, who was interviewed in the article, brings her children every day to cool off in the pool during the hot summer months.
(excerpt)
Perez said it made no sense to have the facility unavailable when temperatures are soaring into the triple digits.
She said she was particularly disturbed when she was informed by community center staff that improvements were being made for the benefit of the competitive swimmers who train there.
"That is not serving the community," she said.
No it's not. If it were, this contract which was badly needed would have been done so that the Eastside residents could use their own pool during the months it's most needed. Especially given how so many people's wallets got socked by decisions made by the city council regarding the utility rates last December and how many people can't afford air conditioning and use the pool to cool off in the summer heat.
That would require putting them first and as said, that hardly ever happens in this city even with issues involving their own neighborhood.
In the meantime, according to the early draft of the annual report to be issued eventually by the Community Police Review Commission, no complaints were filed by residents in Eastside during 2006. Why this is so, might just be a more complicated question to answer than it has initially appeared.
This past week, at least 965 jurors were called in to be paneled for jury trials being heard by 12 strike team judges sent to Riverside by Sacramento in an attempt to reduce the case backlog generated by an ongoing shortage of judicial officers in the county as well as changes made by the Riverside County District Attorney's office several years ago in terms of how it handles certain felony cases.
Until all the parties involved in this mess of the judicial system seriously address its problems and stop pointing fingers at each other, then look for the strike team visit to be an annual event.
The editorial board at the Press Enterprise challenges an administrative policy drafted by Redlands' city manager which barred its city council candidates from asking city employees questions about the city's operations.
In one of those situations where reality truly is stranger than fiction, Redlands City Manager Nabar Enrique Martinez, in what he called the name of expediency and transparency, actually did this.
(excerpt)
The city manager says this policy will save staff time, while increasing transparency. Perhaps this plan will ease some time demands on city workers, though staffers will still have to answer questions whether the queries come through the city manager or directly from candidates.
But filtering details about public business through the city manager's hands hardly seems like a recipe for greater transparency. The policy puts a tight rein on information that inevitably creates suspicion that the goal is spin, not enlightenment.
And giving the city manager control over what candidates learn about city operations hands a political election role to an office that should be strictly neutral. Entangling city administration in council politics invites public distrust, which is dangerous policy for city government.
What's it like in Riverside? That could be an interesting comparison.
There's an interesting letter in the Press Enterprise Readers' Forum page about this editorial it had run on the ongoing problem with railroad trains using Riverside's streets as parking lots and the resultant air pollution.
A Murrieta Police Department officer shot a purse snatcher who was under investigation for committing numerous robberies and carjackings. The details of the shooting were not provided, except to say that it's under investigation.
(excerpt)
Grady Paul Pina, 26, of Anaheim Hills, was shot in the right shoulder or arm while fleeing detectives, Ontario police Detective David McBride said.
Ontario detectives had received information that Pina was at a shopping complex on Murrieta Hot Springs Road and Via Princessa, McBride said. The undercover detectives hadn't been at the shopping center long when Pina got out of a Chevrolet Silverado and snatched a 52-year-old woman's purse about 1 p.m., McBride said.
Murrieta police Lt. Rob Firmes said the detectives pursued Pina from the front of Ms. Ellaneous Boutique to the courtyard of an apartment complex around the corner on Via Princessa, where the shooting occurred.
Pina was taken to Inland Valley Regional Medical Center in Wildomar for treatment of injuries that police said were not life-threatening.
Police shut down Via Princessa, which was filled with officers for hours Friday afternoon. A group of neighbors set up lawn chairs along the police line and snacked on popcorn as they watched the investigation unfold.
The New York Daily News writes about a captain in the New York City Police Department who allegedly tried to cover up his own assault of his girlfriend who was also a police officer by saying it was committed by gang members.
The prosecutors who are currently trying him at trial didn't buy that story.
More information on this case is included in another New York Daily News article here. Officer Sharon Gandarilla said that Capt. Alberto Sanchez beat her. Sanchez denied it during his stint on the witness stand in the misdemeanor case and said that Gandarilla accused him of the beating because she was upset at him for refusing to leave his wife. However, two individuals testified that they had witnessed Sanchez committing the assault.
(excerpt)
Sanchez, 42, is charged with smacking Gandarilla, dragging her from a Mexican restaurant on lower Broadway to a car by her hair last Sept. 1, shoving her in and driving away.
When she tried to get out of the car, Sanchez allegedly stopped the car and beat Gandarilla again.
Earlier this month, Gandarilla, 32, filed a federal sexual-harassment suit accusing Sanchez of physically and sexually assaulting her 30 times from March 2005 to last December.
Domestic violence is much more prevalent among law enforcement officers than it is in the general population according to at least one study.
Public Utilities Director Dave Wright gave a presentation at Friday's Board of Public Utilities meeting and said that his division had erred in not educating the public about the impact that the rate increases including the creation of a multi-tier program would have on the summer's utility bills.
(excerpt)
"It was wrong," Wright said at a morning meeting of the Board of Public Utilities, and he accepted the blame.
Board member Dave Barnhart said that the panel he sat on could have done a better job at addressing the issue before sending its recommendations to the city council.
Several city council members including Art Gage, Dom Betro and Frank Schiavone said they should have asked more questions about the process, but said that the information provided didn't cause them to do so. All three of them have election dates in their futures so they have to choose their words carefully, though Gage said that he had to be careful not to vote on something just because it was in front of him. That's pretty good advice, actually.
Also spanking the city council was the editorial board of the Press Enterprise which scolded it on revoking the rate increases that it so thoughtfully imposed last year. You know, the year that no one currently sitting on the dais was up for election.
The rates were examined thoroughly before being passed, the editorial board argued. They were also necessary to save the city from a worse fate. It's one thing to have an elected body that's in the dark, but a city?
(excerpt)
Just why residents would be shocked that electricity rate hikes make power more expensive was not clear. But the council certainly has no basis for surprise; council members unanimously approved the higher electricity rates on Dec. 19, after a highly public process of hearings and debate.
And Tuesday's council action ignores the crucial reason behind the rate hike. Riverside's demand for power is quickly growing beyond the city's capacity to supply electricity. The rate increase will pay for a new $125 million substation and a $100 million city power plant. Without those improvements, Riverside faces rolling blackouts within two or three years.
The interesting thing is that some areas of Riverside are already on the rolling blackout plan due to the city's aging electric infrastructure, suffering numerous outrages as soon as the weather gets hot. It's actually a separate season for these folks on an annual basis.
The board suggested that the motives for suspending the multi-tier plan weren't entirely altruistic.
(excerpt)
There was no confusion about December's rate hike: The city carefully studied and thoroughly debated the decision, and the rationale was compelling. The council's sudden concern over high electric bills smacks of political pandering in an election season -- which no one should confuse with real leadership.
Few people do. But with the first of three straight election cycles just about to be completed this autumn, expect a lot more of the former and less of the latter. But hey, that's entertainment!
Not that those on the dais aren't capable of being leaders, but lately, oh beginning around the filing date for Election 2007, it's like a burning issue comes up, people complain and the city council panders often by switching its position on an issue 180 or so degrees. Is that necessarily a bad thing? No, because often elected officials make mistakes or change their minds because they see that their original views or decisions on issues were incorrect. Here, however, a pattern has emerged of late.
Sometimes, a member of the body or more than one will say, let's take it to the people. Issues that can be taken to the people include choo choo trains and crowing roosters. Issues that can't be taken to the people and must be stopped at all costs of course include eminent domain. The push to put an initiative on eminent domain to the people was resisted strongly by those on the dais including those members who have adopted the flavor of the moment, which is taking issues to the people and allowing the people to decide.
Even as temperatures soar in the Inland Empire, Eastside residents in Riverside remain without a swimming pool, a Press Enterprise article stated. The Sippy Woodhead pool has been closed for renovation, which is a head scratcher considering that it makes more sense to most people to close a pool for renovation outside of the summer months when it is most often used. But, the city seems to be scheduling it around the competitive swimming schedules of schools and colleges outside of the neighborhood rather than the wishes of those who live within it. So often that's the case with the Eastside, the next neighborhood on deck to be gentrified within the next 10 years under not just one, but two ambitious development plans.
Janny Perez, who was interviewed in the article, brings her children every day to cool off in the pool during the hot summer months.
(excerpt)
Perez said it made no sense to have the facility unavailable when temperatures are soaring into the triple digits.
She said she was particularly disturbed when she was informed by community center staff that improvements were being made for the benefit of the competitive swimmers who train there.
"That is not serving the community," she said.
No it's not. If it were, this contract which was badly needed would have been done so that the Eastside residents could use their own pool during the months it's most needed. Especially given how so many people's wallets got socked by decisions made by the city council regarding the utility rates last December and how many people can't afford air conditioning and use the pool to cool off in the summer heat.
That would require putting them first and as said, that hardly ever happens in this city even with issues involving their own neighborhood.
In the meantime, according to the early draft of the annual report to be issued eventually by the Community Police Review Commission, no complaints were filed by residents in Eastside during 2006. Why this is so, might just be a more complicated question to answer than it has initially appeared.
This past week, at least 965 jurors were called in to be paneled for jury trials being heard by 12 strike team judges sent to Riverside by Sacramento in an attempt to reduce the case backlog generated by an ongoing shortage of judicial officers in the county as well as changes made by the Riverside County District Attorney's office several years ago in terms of how it handles certain felony cases.
Until all the parties involved in this mess of the judicial system seriously address its problems and stop pointing fingers at each other, then look for the strike team visit to be an annual event.
The editorial board at the Press Enterprise challenges an administrative policy drafted by Redlands' city manager which barred its city council candidates from asking city employees questions about the city's operations.
In one of those situations where reality truly is stranger than fiction, Redlands City Manager Nabar Enrique Martinez, in what he called the name of expediency and transparency, actually did this.
(excerpt)
The city manager says this policy will save staff time, while increasing transparency. Perhaps this plan will ease some time demands on city workers, though staffers will still have to answer questions whether the queries come through the city manager or directly from candidates.
But filtering details about public business through the city manager's hands hardly seems like a recipe for greater transparency. The policy puts a tight rein on information that inevitably creates suspicion that the goal is spin, not enlightenment.
And giving the city manager control over what candidates learn about city operations hands a political election role to an office that should be strictly neutral. Entangling city administration in council politics invites public distrust, which is dangerous policy for city government.
What's it like in Riverside? That could be an interesting comparison.
There's an interesting letter in the Press Enterprise Readers' Forum page about this editorial it had run on the ongoing problem with railroad trains using Riverside's streets as parking lots and the resultant air pollution.
A Murrieta Police Department officer shot a purse snatcher who was under investigation for committing numerous robberies and carjackings. The details of the shooting were not provided, except to say that it's under investigation.
(excerpt)
Grady Paul Pina, 26, of Anaheim Hills, was shot in the right shoulder or arm while fleeing detectives, Ontario police Detective David McBride said.
Ontario detectives had received information that Pina was at a shopping complex on Murrieta Hot Springs Road and Via Princessa, McBride said. The undercover detectives hadn't been at the shopping center long when Pina got out of a Chevrolet Silverado and snatched a 52-year-old woman's purse about 1 p.m., McBride said.
Murrieta police Lt. Rob Firmes said the detectives pursued Pina from the front of Ms. Ellaneous Boutique to the courtyard of an apartment complex around the corner on Via Princessa, where the shooting occurred.
Pina was taken to Inland Valley Regional Medical Center in Wildomar for treatment of injuries that police said were not life-threatening.
Police shut down Via Princessa, which was filled with officers for hours Friday afternoon. A group of neighbors set up lawn chairs along the police line and snacked on popcorn as they watched the investigation unfold.
The New York Daily News writes about a captain in the New York City Police Department who allegedly tried to cover up his own assault of his girlfriend who was also a police officer by saying it was committed by gang members.
The prosecutors who are currently trying him at trial didn't buy that story.
More information on this case is included in another New York Daily News article here. Officer Sharon Gandarilla said that Capt. Alberto Sanchez beat her. Sanchez denied it during his stint on the witness stand in the misdemeanor case and said that Gandarilla accused him of the beating because she was upset at him for refusing to leave his wife. However, two individuals testified that they had witnessed Sanchez committing the assault.
(excerpt)
Sanchez, 42, is charged with smacking Gandarilla, dragging her from a Mexican restaurant on lower Broadway to a car by her hair last Sept. 1, shoving her in and driving away.
When she tried to get out of the car, Sanchez allegedly stopped the car and beat Gandarilla again.
Earlier this month, Gandarilla, 32, filed a federal sexual-harassment suit accusing Sanchez of physically and sexually assaulting her 30 times from March 2005 to last December.
Domestic violence is much more prevalent among law enforcement officers than it is in the general population according to at least one study.
Labels: business as usual, officer-involved shootings, public forums in all places
posted by Five Before Midnight | 7:40 AM
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