• City Council Meeting Topic: Cervera Greenbelt

Originally this was going to be in the blog covering the June 2018 City Council meeting, but I got too deep into this topic and thought it better in a separate blog.

This is going to be long winded, wonky and boring so feel free to skip this one if you'd rather read about ribbon cuttings and ice cream socials. ☺ 

2.2 Community Service Area
Item 2.2 dealt with the Cervera Greenbelt and though it really only directly affects a portion of the population in Wildomar, the city's approach to it is telling.

There were two public comments on this issue. One from Kenny Mayes, the other from Wildomar City Council candidate from the affected area, Joseph Morabito (gotta love that use of the third person).

Both wanted some answers.

Let me wrap this item up for you in a nutshell best I can.

Back in the late 1980's Windsong Valley was carved out of an alfalfa field, and the dream of building endless tracts of homes (with no amenities to support them) came to life. 

An old tract map of Windsong Valley before it was built.

The story is that there were plans on making the series of developments into one huge HOA, but the original four developers went BK and it never happened. 

Once the developers no longer needed a nice lush greenbelt leading into Windsong Valley to sucker price-weary Orange Countinians, or San Diegans to Wildomar, they abandoned it, and it became an even bigger eyesore than it is today. 

A 2015 look at the entrance to Windsong Valley from google maps.

The story continues that the homeowners approached the county and asked them to take over the maintenance (not sure what that looked like in practicality), and levy a tax to pay for it. (so far so good)

What the grass looks like today... and this is a portion of the greener part of it at the corners.

Things were on cruise control for years and then the magic combo of Wildomar becoming a city and the Great Recession joining the party, made other plans.

From the agenda packet. Notice the cost of the administration and the total take.

Toss in the drought and that's the perfect storm to watch a couple of easy to maintain strips of grass turn into the joke they are today... all the while, still having a fund of $22,000 being filled with taxpayer dollars year after year.

I'd almost forgotten what it used to look like.

Same basic area as of June 2018.

If the greenbelt had stayed green, no one would have ever questioned it, but to be given even one excuse why the condition of that greenbelt is acceptable —isn't acceptable.(and that's the takeaway a person gets when dealing with the city machine) 

How did all this come to a head?

It started back with that awesome snowstorm we had back at the end of 2014. 

Ah, the memories...

That brought down a heavy branch from one of the trees and it broke a rail in the southwest fence. A local resident put in a request for the city to fix it. After many back and forth emails with the city, it was forgotten by the resident for quite awhile (more than a year). 

This photo was taken March 21st, 2018, but now it's fixed; it only took 3 years. Imagine had the city just done this to start, rather than arguing with a taxpayer about it, none of this bullcrap would have taken up so much of the staff's time. 

The resident then revived the email thread and got more of the same run around that he'd gotten the year before about who's responsibility the fence was. 

I get it, we all get it, Wildomar is a new city, and there are a lot of deals that the city inherited from the county, some clearer deals than others. Tough titty, do the job you're paid to do. 

The backside of the Lutheran High School is seen beyond the trees.

The only thing green there today is an assortment of weeds.

At this point, the resident felt he had two options. Either let the matter go for another year, or ask Kenny Mayes what he thought of it.

If you've read my blog very long, you've seen me hammer Mr. Mayes time and again over some of his rants... and he's given it right back to me. A veritable Dodger/Giant style lovefest (or, for you east coast transplants, Yankee/Red Sox rivalry... of sorts). 

Blogger Slap Fight

Ken, sometimes Kenny (but never Kenneth to me) and I have gone around and around since I first met him in 2013. We can have good conversations one minute, then can't stand the sight of each other the next. He has thick skin and doesn't seem to take things personally. It sure would be great if that were the case for all players involved here. 

(To whom it may concern, yes, that was a shot over your bow)

That said, he does dedicate a lot of his time for the betterment of the community —in the way that he sees fit, though many others (including me most of the time) don't concur with his conclusions.

He's generally a stickler for rules, and if he comes across something that points to rules not being adhered to, no matter how picayune, he jumps into action. 

This is near where the sidewalk begins.
(Note) The trees on the right side of the image were removed a year or two ago.

In the last two to three weeks they started on some repairs to the rail fence.

He took the task of digging around in old county records, trying to find out who's responsibility CSA 103, particular to the Cervera greenbelt in Windsong Valley, and even more in particular the white rail fences... since at one point the city staffers were saying they belonged to the adjacent property owners (empty fields) and not the CSA.

Are you still with me? Hang on, we're nearly there...

With all his digging around, not being able to find any solid paperwork to support the $20 yearly levy, aka CSA 103, he started suggesting that the entire tax was illegal, and that he'd like to see all the back payments returned to those that paid it.

This is where Kenny and I part ways. He's willing to take an extraordinary leap here, and I'm not willing to even look in that direction. 

But guess who did react to such ballyhoo?
The city administors.

Someone, somewhere, somehow blinked at Kenny's bluff and they called the county and told them not to assess the residents of Windsong Valley the customary $20 they had been paying for at least 20 years. 

Let me get this straight, the residents of Windsong Valley have been paying this since its inception and because some fossilized paperwork couldn't be found the decision was made to forgo the assessment?

It's recycled water, and we're paying $500 a month for that? Insane!

Now, though the complete paperwork still hasn't been found yet, it's ok to put the assessment back on? 

I know this is small potatoes in the eyes of the city, but was this just an executive decision to give 1100 homeowners a $20 gift, or did the city council at least get a chance to weigh in on it first? If so, even with my brown-noser status with the council, no one made a peep about it around me... and I'm directly affected by it.

In my public comment I restated questions I had during May's city council meeting. 
   •  When it comes to CSA 103 and the Cervera Greenbelt, what is it that we are paying for?
   •  When was the last time this work was sent out to bid?
   •  Why are we paying that much? And please explain "administrator" and why that line is getting 25%.

Answer to question number two is: It's never been put up for bid.
Answer to number three was real fun to hear from the assistant city manager:  "20 to 25% is not too often (interrupted himself), in fact often times it's 30 to 35% for assessments for administration, that's what it is."
Watch the one minute video to hear it as the rest of us did, and how he referred to part of the assessment as "peanuts".

Fun Fact: after the meeting Ken Mayes wondered about York's casual declaration that "often time it's 30 to 35% for administration" and went digging around in county records. His find dates back to the same time frame as Windsong Valley being included in CSA 103.

If you want to peruse the info yourself, it's titled FORMATION, ALTERATION AND OPERATION OF COUNTY SERVICE AREAS, and here's the link. 

If you skip down to page 4, here is what it says on the subject: 

Administrative Fee and Services.

CSAs will be assessed annually for expenses incurred in administering the CSA, including the costs of any losses occurring within the CSA or establishment of a reserve for such losses. A basic charge for administration shall be charged to each CSA, depending on administrative complexity. The standard percentage rates to be applied against new revenue earned by the CSA are as follows:

        6.0% Street Lighting

         8.5% Street Sweeping or CSA 152 (NPDES)

       10.0%  Road/Fire or Combined Services (without employees)

        15.0% Combined Services (with employees) 

A screen grab from the county's website.

York then addressed the cost of giving the greenbelt some proper attention:

We've looked into what it would cost to remove all of that, replace it, it's about a $25,000 price tag. We have not jumped on that, nor have we brought it to you as a decision packet. Primarily because we're in a deficit [with CSA 103]. So we'll be asking the city to find another source to actually offset that.

—Assistant City Manager Dan York (9:20 mark in the video below)

Imagine if the city had just kept charging the same tax that they always had, there wouldn't be a deficit, and the money would be there to take care of the issue... anyone over at Suite 201 want a mulligan here?

Councilmember Marsha Swanson spoke on the issue. 

She talked about the history of Windsong, and that city staff has spent a lot of hours chasing down paperwork. She then suggested that Windsong Valley, nearly 30 years after the fact, could form an HOA.

"We know when and how it happened (CSA 103), and we have almost every document to show that it did happen, but that's why the confusion. There's no HOA, and it's not too late to form one. You guys could form one right now. You have your CC&Rs, you can elect officers for your HOA, you could decide what you wanted to charge to enforce those CC&Rs. [...] But this city has done it's best, and is still working on trying to get these documents from Riverside County."

All due respect to my friend Marsha Swanson, but it seems that you haven't been in this neighborhood lately. There are two types of people that live here. Those that care about the look of their homes, and those that don't

Those that don't are nearly half, if not even more than half, and they'd never volunteer to be part of a group that is going to charge them a monthly (or yearly) fee, so that they can then get cited for leaving their trash cans out a day too long, or failing to paint that badly weathered trim on their house, or having a front yard that even a dog won't pee on.

Also, no one outside of Ken Mayes, cares about the missing documents. The only thing we care about is how bad that greenbelt has become. 

I'm not impressed with the landscapers, nor am I impressed with the on record attitudes of most in the city about it. This is inexcusable. Notice bits of trash against the fence. They've been there since the dinosaurs used to roam the hills here. 

This isn't about the documents proving that CSA 103 is legit or not. 

It's about a very bad job done, while taking taxpayer money, and then charging 25% for administration, while dissing the very people that pay the tax and vote in Wildomar's District 3.

Councilmember Bridgette Moore addressed this item. She pointed out that the original CSA 103 was formed back in the 1970's and that Wildomar has been a city for only 10 years. 

Awesome, now tell me why the grass is dead, and the city is charging a 25% cover charge to do a severely substandard job? 
(Pro Tip: no one cares about the missing documents everyone is preoccupied with)

How many more years will this be allowed to look like this?

Then she continued down the path of excusing bad work by saying they actually spend more than they take in on it. She mentioned spending $93,000 on one item alone (presumably when they cleared away the clogged drains that lead to Windsong Park a couple of years ago). 

I don't have the stats at my fingertips, but that was because the maintenance that should be done yearly (or more frequently based on how they did such maintenance in San Clemente — keeping the storm drains clear) wasn't done for a very long time, creating a near emergency that cost $93,000 to clean up.

The one thing I didn't hear from the council about the Cervera greenbelt is how bad it looks, and that they will no longer be tolerating it.. Or that they will certainly be sending this out to bid, so that someone eager to do the work will start doing a good job with it. That is something that wasn't said or even hinted at. 

This is a clear example of why Windsong Valley needs to elect a council representative that lives in the neighborhood.

Those of us that live in tract housing comprise close to 80% of District 3. Watch the video, and ask yourself if Windsong Valley was being represented during that Agenda Item.

As a matter of record, our elected representative, Tim Walker, didn't even weigh in on the matter. Watch the video, it's almost stunning how disinterested he appears to be.

I've been warned that speaking in such stark tones won't win me any friends at city hall. Sorry, that's not something I'm interested in if it also means I have to accept shoddy work and put my seal of approval on it. 

I'm here to get a job done, and that job isn't currently getting done to my satisfaction. If that means people start turning the cold shoulder to me... I'm ready for it.

LINK TO CAMPAIGN WEBSITE

•                •                •

How stubbornly we cling to the past, to yesterday, to the known, the tried and the true. And then suddenly what we have treasured so highly appears to us as only an illusion, and the bubble bursts. And we've moved away from yesterday into today, where we are already preparing to resist tomorrow.
– EG Marshall

Wildomar Rap can be just as stubbornly-clingy as the next guy, but welcomes all those that can burst bubbles of illusion. Because the truth should always triumph over fantasy.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• City Council Meeting June 2018

This meeting was heavy on public speakers on non agenda items, but first let me share some photos of two eagle scouts and then the honoring of Wildomar's first employee to retire.

If you'd like to hear more about the Eagle Scout projects, watch the video at the bottom of the blog to hear each describe them in detail. The camera wasn't in a great spot, but you'll still hear all the descriptions. ☺

Eagle Scout – Clyde Ryker Watson with the 2018 Wildomar City Council.

Eagle Scout – Morgan Donovan with the 2018 Wildomar City Council.

Terry Rhodes with the 2018 Wildomar City Council.

PUBLIC COMMENTS (on non agenda items)
I counted 13 public comments, the bulk of them mentioned the burgeoning homeless encampment problems hitting Wildomar. This segment of the meeting took thirty-five minutes.

1) Peter Piccone shared his concerns about the homeless, and reminded the council about the "broken window" theory.
2) Joseph Morabito talked about his candidacy for Wildomar City Council, and the need for regular town hall meetings, a newsletter issued by the city, and the need to put some teeth into code enforcement.
3) Jorge Acosta talked about impounds that one of the trash companies is threatening him with on a rental property of his.
4) Eric Dye discussed the homeless and how they are a blight on the area around Prelippe and Inland Valley Drive.
5) Kenny Mayes with borrowed time spoke about live streaming, the freedom swing, district maps needing to be posted and talked about the charity that was the beneficiary of the recent 5K called ALS1.

Wildomar Rap opinion time:
The claim is that the charity, not the promoters of the 5K, doesn't have their paperwork in order that the State of California demands before collecting monies in the name of charity.

If that's so, then Mr. Mayes' concerns are legit. If that charity truly hasn't gone through the red tape that is required, then why would the city put their seal of approval on such an event (and the literal city seal on the flyers too)?

If he's factually in error, then why wouldn't the city make a declarative statement showing that all such paperwork is entirely in order.

I know that the people behind the event are solid as a rock. This issue, if there is one, would be between the state and the charity and possibly the city, but not them.

6) Kiyoe MacDonald spoke about a home in her neighborhood that is being used as an Air BNB hotel. That there are multiple RVs on that property and she's concerned about how they discard the human waste. 

7) Dorothy Nader also spoke about the Air BNB issue.
8) Connie Nader talked about homeless and transients.
9) Patty Hatch asked that Cottonwood Canyon, a dirt road, be graded.
10) Becky Frederick discussed the homeless and thieves in her area.

At this point Mayor Ben Benoit broke with protocol (where discussion isn't allowed during public comments on non agenda items) to respond to the issues of the homeless in town.
"We are working on bringing the ordinance forward that the Sheriffs Department talked about, that they have in Lake Elsinore. Another big issue we're trying to bring forward is weed control, [so the city] can go in and clean up the properties. This will allow us to go in and clean up the property and then put [a lien] on their tax bill. We know the county used to do in this area, it's something we've been needing to do for a long time."

11) Miss Miller took a contrary stance to the homeless issue, and called them "home challenged" wanting them to convert the long abandoned Jean Hayman Elementary School into apartments for homeless people (yeah, that'll work out perfectly). She asked, "Did any of you think outside of your republican box?" Referring to Assemblywoman Melissa Mel-IN-dez (as she pronounces it) and her trouncing the democrat opponent last week. She also accused the Assemblywoman of "lining her pockets with federal and state grants she gets for low income state housing". We don't need anymore buildings in California. 

As a candidate for city council, I've sworn off making caricatures of people that I disagree with at city meetings. But that doesn't mean I can't make a caricature of myself resisting the old habits. ☺

I love Miss Miller. I was so glad to see she made it to another meeting; it had been months since the last time she stopped by.
12) Gina Castanon discussed contract services and the Lew Edwards Group.
13) George Cambrero spoke about water and sewer rates.

The City Manager report was bumped up to the front of the agenda and the key takeaway I got involved live streaming video of city meetings. 

The story is, it'll be unveiled in time to live stream the September 12th city council meeting... (anyone want to go to Vegas with me to see if any of the bookmakers are willing to lay odds on that?)

"There are a number of items that staff has to work through" was my favorite quote... especially when there were no follow up questions asking what those items were. Maybe the council knows, maybe they don't know... but we know that the general population doesn't know. We'll just hold tight until it happens.

2.1 Notice of Intent to Hold a Public Hearing for Placing Liens on Parcels with Unpaid Charges on Trash Collection Services
This was tabled until the next meeting, but there was one person there that this was affecting, Jorge Acosta who spoke during the public comments at the top of the meeting by mistake.

City officials took his info and were going to contact him the following day.

Wildomar Rap opinion time:
This seems to come before the city council periodically. Due to public health concerns that could crop up, if a homeowner chose to opt out of trash collection, it could cause issues with all sorts of nasty issues getting into the general community. 

Therefore, it's basically the law that you be part of the trash collection apparatus. What I've seen happen more than once is that landlords get hit with tax liens when their renters choose not to pay the bill.

PRO TIP:
If you're a landlord, keep the trash bill in your name, and pay it yourself. Just roll that cost into the rent and you won't have to worry if your tenants are current or not on the bills, giving you a bad name with the trash collectors.

2.2 CSA 103 Cervera Greenbelt
This has been moved to it's own blog. Look for it in a day or two... including the video. If you're from Windsong Valley, this will interest you directly. If you're from other parts of the city, you'll still be interested if you like watching political sausage being made.

LINK TO BLOG ABOUT CSA 103

3.1 Breslin Family General Plan Initiation Proposal
This came before the planning commission last month. This is something that won't amount to anything so there's no need to spend much time on it.

However, I can give you a brief recap. A family found that they were the proud owners of a relatively worthless chunk of land (a long story). 

The ara in question, with an overlay of a possible MHDR project on it.

They've been trying to sell it for about four years, but there are no takers since it's really shoehorned into a less than desirable location (the freeway in your front yard, and on the general plan as Estate Density Residential that allows 1 unit per 2 acres).

They'd like to increase the density to MDHR (Medium Density) which would allow from 5 to 8 units per acre. 

In the end, just like the planning commission told them: You're better off saving your money, this won't fly here. 

The entire item is in the video at the bottom of the blog, including Miss Miller's comments where she started off saying, "This is a good thing." But that wasn't about the landowners hoped increase in density, it was that they were seeking guidance on what they could put on their land. 

She suggested an orchard (about the 42 minute mark in the video). 

3.2 FY 2018/19 Budget Amendments
This starts at about the 1:02:00 mark in the video.

Budget items are difficult to recap, but I'll add some of the highlights that caught my attention.

One of the slides during the presentation.

• There is a $2M surplus, which is about 15% of the budget.
• Shade structures will be installed at Marna O'Brien and Windsong park. (No date established yet)
• Wildomar will be having its own Fire Marshall (actually shared with Lake Elsinore)... which is very important and helpful for those looking for permits, but may turn out to be vexing for established businesses based on this quote by the City Manager:

"Eventually working this into a weed abatement program, helping out not only with weed abatement, but with life and safety issues with business inspections. We have a number of businesses that (inaudible). Typically you (the business owner) experience an annual inspection, of your business. To make sure it conforms and is safe for the community and the public to enjoy your services. "

"As we phase it in, we'll be phasing in fees that will help pay for the cost of those services."

"The idea is that it will ultimately there would be no cost impact associated with that service by the time this is fully up and running."

Wildomar Rap opinion time:
It's good that this won't be adding to the budget, and it's good to be safe, but a yearly inspection is just another fee heaped onto all the other fees that local businesses have to endure to keep their doors opened in California. Also, there was no discussion of which types of businesses will be exempt. 

• Animal shelter coverage will be going up from 5 to 8 hours a day.
• $93,000 increase in recurring budget.
• Police service levels are "back up" to 2011 levels.
• "We have funds for 2011 service levels. We don't have funds for 2018 issues." (read: homeless encampments)

As part of the budget discussion, the proposed one additional penny sales tax increase was brought up by Mayor Ben Benoit.

"What I'm concerned about is that we're going to go to the public about a sales tax increase, because I want to be very certain that this is going to be spent on police, fire, code enforcement-homeless, and roads. I think those things we could spend all the dollars on very easily, and I want to make sure it's going to those particular things. I also want to talk about what our admin fees might be overall for those."

"I just want to be certain that we're putting forward something that everyone understands that it's for those particular items and we're going to make sure our admin fees aren't 25%, right Dan?" (Glancing over at assistant city manager Dan York who earlier had said 30-35% is common for Admin fees on another issue. One minute video of his comments below). 

Everything that was said in the video above is true, and it's also why the average American doesn't like, or trust, their government... on nearly every level. It's not something that Wildomar city staff came up with (charging ridiculous fees for mundane services), but listen to what is "normal" when it comes to things government spends tax money on.

The question is, if you are ok with an additional penny added to your sales tax, where do you draw the line on the vig, errr... I mean, the administration? 

Would you be chipper about having a third of it siphoned off for administration? How about 20%? How about 10%? If such things matter to you, perhaps you might want to drop a line to the city and see if they have a firm number for you before you step into the voting booth this November.

♦

It'll be nice come this September, when I can back off of my pledge to upload every city meeting until the live streaming gets installed. Until then, below is the meeting sans public comments (in the video higher up in the blog) and the Cervera greenbelt which will be in a stand alone blog.

LINK TO BLOG ABOUT CERVERA GREENBELT

•                •                •

"We are not retreating - we are advancing in another Direction."
– General Douglas MacArthur

Wildomar Rap isn't a fan of happy talk, even when it's coming from a badass general like D'Artagnan of the A.E.F. aka Beau Brummel of the Army.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• City Council Meeting May 2018

The meeting was on the quick side tonight, and the council was running 40% light with Council Members Bridgette Moore and Tim Walker not in attendance.

There was a library update — with lots of things planned for the community this Summer, and Sycamore Academy invited the council to their Art Showcase event.

Other than being reminded that everyone's water bills will be going up in July (skip to the bottom of the blog for the video for the whole presentation below), and that Wildomar Crossings passed its last hurdle (video to entire presentation also below) it was basically Joseph Morabito night. (Yes, that's me).

During the public comments on non-agenda items, I announced that I'll be running for city council this year (video is right here). 

I live in District 3, which you can see in the map below. 

Click the map to visit the JosephMorabito4Wildomar.com.

I also spoke about the "greenbelt" that leads into Windsong Valley. It was an item on the agenda but put into the consent calendar since it's coming back next month as a regular item. 

I chose to speak about it tonight because I don't think that it's going to be dealing with the landscaping part as much as it is the lighting. If you live in Windsong Valley, it most likely will be affecting you. 

The thing with that tax, it no longer is covering the cost for the streetlights. We're still paying what the original owners were paying when the first Windsong home was built in the late '80s.

I don't mind the increase for the street lights, that makes sense, but I can't imagine what the deal is when it comes to that greenbelt. 

This was part of the consent calendar. The highlights are mine.

We are paying $100 per week for "administration" to take care of that "greenbelt". $5300 per year comes out of the taxes that over 1000 Windsong Valley homeowners pay into. That's about 25% of the entire tax collected.

Let's see a show of hands, who thinks the work done on the Cervera greenbelt is acceptable?

If you have thoughts, be sure to weigh in on it, and consider attending the next city council meeting too. If not, when you discover that your property tax bill went up under CSA 103, just remember you were told about it.

Watch the video to hear my concerns about it.

The only other substantive part of the agenda was Wildomar Crossings. Since I'm running for city council in District 3, I felt I should weigh in on it. 

This was featured in the blog covering the April planning commission meeting.

In short, I don't see how we can block a landowner from developing their land when it's in accordance with the city's established general plan. 

They happen to have three signed tenants, but other times, like the still mostly empty Subway building on Bundy Canyon, a developer doesn't know who the tenants will be.

There were some issues with the boxiness of the buildings, and it will be going back to the planning commission in June to get a workover. 

The entire agenda item is in the video below. Complete with the presentation, comments from the landowner, and only one from the North Ranch neighborhood in opposition, Gracie (she didn't leave a last name, but told us she used to be mayor of Pico Rivera). I loved her energy, take a look at the video to see what I'm talking about. 

Other than that, there wasn't much else to the meeting.

Oh wait, here's the video about the water bill increase. It's been being talked about for a long time, and it seems to happen every year, so pardon me while I don't elaborate on it. 

Yes, it's early in the year... but you don't have to click. ☺

Link to campaign Facebook page

Link to campaign Website

If you have questions or concerns, please email me.

•                •                •

"The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready."
— Henry David Thoreau  

Wildomar Rap thinks HDT was referring to wives when he said "another".

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.