• Measure AA Promises, Were They Promises and Were They Broken?

We'll be filing this under: blogs that should never have be written.

Ok Morabito, so why are you spending precious time doing so? 

Let's just jump right into it. I posted a video of me removing a handmade sign that said "Fire Morabito".

Longsuffering Wildomar Resident Monty Goddard (his trademarked handle), used the opportunity to throw shade my way that I've lost his "previously vigorous support."

"Own this falsehood"?
"Honesty and accountability"?

From his comment at the June 2023 city council meeting.

In [July] 2018 on social media, two of the people that are on the council today [Joseph Morabito and Bridgette Moore] were very, very clear in response to one of the respected members of the community [Paula Willette] when they asked this concern on social media that "No this would not happen. It, would, not, happen!" [...] I ask you to step up and acknowledge this backfilling and admit that it's a conflict with the, not public comments, but very public comments (referring to the Facebook thread) that were made to the community. 

— Monty Goddard, Long Suffering Wildomar Resident

Why is he calling me a liar? 

Isn't that what "own this falsehood" means?

Because he continues to misread a comment from a July of 2018 Facebook post, refuses to see what I actually said, and in the same thread, Bridgette Moore also stated that she wouldn't vote to divert money from one budget to another.

Let's look at them again.

The promise to not "vote for that" was always upheld.

"Falsely promised"?
Check out the highlighted keywords, and ponder them.

Wildomar Rap opinion time

Words mean things. I clearly stated that I would make sure that no budget trickery be proposed or allowed. 

That means, IF proposed, they wouldn't be allowed (I'd vote against). Such a thing was never proposed nor voted on, and the graph below was the first time we learned of it. 

I apologize for the substandard graphic. It's a screenshot of the video and for some reason, it was transparent and still showed the live feed behind it. 

The blue bars are general funds and the red bars are from Measure AA. You will see that there was a dip between 2020 and 2021 in GF public safety and an increase in Measure AA funds. 

As we learned at the June 14th meeting (link to video below) what we all were concerned about appears to have happened during one budget cycle.

City Manager, Dan York gives a lengthy explanation for that (judge for yourselves if it passes muster or not), but I'm willing to throw out a bare-bones reason why this has become a topic in a blog.

Those years were controlled by another City Manager. 

I guarantee that even in the non-Covid years I was kept at an arm's length distance. That's one of the reasons why the entire Tres Lagos issue stayed buried until I blew the lid off of it in late 2019, I was kept out of it until Supervisor Jeffries told me more about it.

Back to this issue of whether I'm a liar or not, there was never a proposal at a city council meeting to move money from one budget to another. If there had been, it would have been caught by many including Monty, and as I've become famous for (or infamous for) I would have typed up a five-minute diatribe about why I wouldn't have supported such a thing. 

Though I endorsed the measure, I also labeled the official city mailer as "happy talk" and nowhere did I take any pledge that the council took. I'm very verbose, had that been my position, it would have been published at least a dozen times in 2018. 

You can decide if my uncharacteristically laconic statement under a Facebook post was a campaign promise or not, and if I abandoned it or not. 

Here is a link to my official position on the matter as it was happening. Not something lifted from Facebook then misread ad nauseum.

LINK TO WHAT MY POSITION ACTUALLY WAS

In the Facebook quote bandied about by Monty, I was clearly referring to things that I would have control over, namely my actions, which max out at votes and on-the-record opinions. 

I wasn't suggesting that I'd be the gatekeeper of things seen and unseen. I never said that I could control other people's actions, much less when they weren't right there to be easily seen and witnessed.

 

I'm sick of the Covid blanket excuse for things, but you'll see that the one hiccup in the graph above came when we were all staying home and the meetings were through Zoom, not in person. 

I'm not making any judgments on how things transpired, I don't have any information that wasn't already presented at the June 2023 meeting. 

For those that haven't jumped ship yet, you're all saying, "Joseph, who cares what Monty thinks, why are you wasting time writing a blog about this topic?"

It gets old being called a liar by my yearly supplier of oro blanco grapefruit, plus some ruby red too. Seriously, it gets old, longsuffering notwithstanding.

Another reason I've put in the time to explain this is that it's part of my mental makeup. It can be both a blessing and a curse. I often joke that I have a problem with the truth, I don't know when to stop telling it. 

I have nothing to lie about and nothing to hide. I tell you what I know of a situation, and often it's not what any of us want to hear.

Not sure how much value there is in such tests, but it had me at "you are very likely an Aspie." It's been many years now that they've removed that category from use, it's been replaced by the overly-broad autism spectrum these days. One of the ways that it presents itself in me is that I can get overly focused on items other people don't look twice at. Hence, my usually long-winded blogs. 

As for Monty's material concerns regarding first responders and the coverage we all wish we had, which will always be hamstrung by our budget restraints, I'm more pragmatic than he is and he's more dogmatic than I am. 

He and I use different metrics

Go back to my 2018 blogs when I was running for city council and I clearly make a big issue about code enforcement needing to be beefed up. I count our robust code enforcement team of today as part of how I judge the palpable improvement of public safety. He doesn't.

It didn't hurt to have a new Sheriff take office at the same time Measure AA went into effect. Sheriff Bianco's presence has made for better law enforcement before any other changes are factored in.

Monty's focus is on sworn law enforcement officers with the power to arrest and carry a firearm when it comes to measuring "improvements". I accept that there are different methods of keeping the peace that the RSO uses today, and am fine with it. 

Also, there has been a vast improvement when it comes to homeless issues, something I factor into the equation, which doesn't include additional sworn deputies.

That's as far as I'm going. The purpose of the blog wasn't to say everything is blissfully peaceful in The W, but that to call me a liar, over and over again, when it's clearly not the case it flat-out bullshit.

I do excellent work and am not looking to curry favor with anyone. I'm not interested in passing anyone's purity tests. 2026 is a very long way off. If that's the last year I serve the residents of Wildomar, it'll have been a great run. 

[Engage sarcasm brackets]

Bottom line, hopefully, the rest of you are not now on the FIRE MORABITO bandwagon, but who could blame you. No one wants an elected representative that actually puts this much effort into it, right? 

The voters don't want someone that will actually engage on the issues, they want someone that is slow to return emails or phone calls and Joseph Morabito is way too plugged in for his own good. 

Time to look for someone more laid back and aloof. That way, a statement from five years ago can't be intentionally misread over and over again, because they wouldn't have posted in the first place! Smart politicians know how to work the system, whereas rubes like Morabito never learn.

[disengage sarcasm brackets]

If you're so inclined I invite you to see the city manager's twenty-minute special presentation to an audience of one individual, and then Monty's follow-up comment from the June 2018 city council meeting, jump to the 55-minute mark in the video below.

Now, the case is closed. Just waiting for Wapner to issue his ruling... or should we go with a more modern reference like Judge Judy? 

  •                •                •

I don't expect to find inspiration. It just sort of comes. Sometimes you step on a bug and you get inspired.
— Iris Apfel

Wildomar Rap prefers to step on the accelerator of a bug whenever given the option.

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.

• How Safe Is Wildomar?

There's always room for improvement, but based on the stats from Safewise.com, it's time thrust out our chests and stand proud and tall!

As you can see in the image, Wildomar jumped up 21 spots to hit #22.

Gotta love being ranked above places like Dana Point, Eastvale and Irvine. Not to mention that Temecula, Menifee, Canyon Lake and Lake Elsinore didn't even make the list.

The only local city that ranked safer than Wildomar was Murrieta. 

California’s 50 Safest Cities of 2022

(the population is followed by the median income)

#1 Danville   44K   $160K

#2 Rancho Santa Margarita    47K   $121K

#3 Moorpark     36K    $107K

#4 Aliso Viejo    51K    $112K

#5 Yorba Linda    68K    $129K

#6 Laguna Niguel    66K    $108K

#7 Poway         49K     $107k

#8 Mission Viejo      94K     $118K 

#9 Rancho Palos Verdes   41k    $138K

#10 Thousand Oaks     126K    $109K

#11 San Ramon     76K     $109K

#12 Murrieta     117K     $90K

#13 Santa Clarita      221K     $99K

#14 Lake Forest     86K      $109K

#15 Temple City    35K     $78K

#16 Lincoln     48K     $88K

#17 Camarillo    70K    $93K

#18 Chino Hills     84K     $106K

#19 Oakley     42K    $104K

#20 San Juan Cap    36K   $91K

#21 Simi Valley   125K    $99K

#22 Wildomar  37K $74K

#23 San Marcos     98K    $80K

#24 Dana Point     33K    $99K

#25 Irvine     297K    $105K

#26 Eastvale      65K    $119K

#27 Santee        58K    $87K

#28 Encinitas     63K    $116K

#29 Cupertino     59K    $171K

#30 Folsom      82K    $114

As it happens, I had made a screenshot from 2021 when we were ranked #43.

It takes a team effort to make a city safer. It starts with the desires (the demands) of the residents and it takes a responsive city council that listens and changes the policies that need tweaking (beefed up code enforcement working as a team with RSO and SWAG). 

Though I've never met a single person that enjoys paying taxes, the big turning point was when the voters chose to add an additional penny per dollar sales tax back in 2018 by passing Measure AA, with 58% of the vote. 

That has allowed the City of Wildomar to focus on many quality of life issues that it simply couldn't address in the past.

(I can't imagine our city without the improvements the additional tax money has made possible)

Are we done? 

Have we crossed the finish line? 

No way, no how... not even Murrieta would say that about their city. 

There's always room for improvement, but what a great leap forward we've taken in just a few short years.

There are lots of other interesting stats found in the link below.

https://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-cities-california/

Wildomar Rap opinion time

A couple of things.

First, look at the median incomes of the safest cities and you'll see that Wildomar managed to get up there despite our lower median income. 

Our median income, reported as $74K, was the lowest in the top 30 rated cities. Don't get me started on where we rank when it comes to the size of our tax base and city budget. 

Yet, still, we ranked 22nd. 

That's worth repeating.

Second, very often we'll see things that upset us about our city or neighborhood on social media. When we hear about someone's car or trailer being stolen, a catalytic converter being stolen, we get angry... and rightfully so.

I'm not looking to minimize such things when I point out that crime is something that has been plaguing society since the caveman days... that's why we have a police force in the first place.

Then throw in the new approach that Sacramento has when it comes to crime and punishment and it gets very challenging for the law abiding to stay safe. 

As we have learned from Neighborhood Watch meetings, don't make yourself an easy target (sometimes easier said than done) and if you are victim of a crime (or see one) be sure to report it to the police. 

Posting it on Facebook or Nextdoor doesn't count as "reporting" it.

Just for fun, let's compare Wildomar to Lake Elsinore at the website bestplaces.net. As you can see, they are below the fifty percentile too. 

When you look at these FBI stats from bestplaces.net you see why Wildomar is ranked among the safer places to live with a score of 12.8 out of 100 for violent crime. (The closer to 0 and further away from 100, the better).

Link to bestplaces.net

For those that may not know, my name is Joseph Morabito and I've been writing Wildomar Rap since 2013. I also have the honor of being Mayor Pro-Tem of Wildomar this year and I'm on the ballot for re-election this November. 

Let's keep Wildomar going in the right direction. Please vote for me this November.

This blog is indeed an advantage for me to get my message out to the voters. 

My phone number is (951) 440-2284 if you have questions that you'd like to bounce off me... that's what I'm here for. 

Email at jmorabito@cityofwildomar.org



If you call, leave a message. 

These days I don't answer unknown numbers... I'm tired of being warned about my warranty being ready to expire. 

If you use Facebook, click this link to follow my official city page. 

• City Council Meeting June 2019

The big news that came from the June 2019 city council meeting came with item 3.1 (smoke shop zoning) look for that further down in the blog. 

Presentations: 
• Craft Brew Fest Update
Ginger Greaves, of the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, gave a recap of the Rooted In Nature Craft Brew Fest. There were over 900 tickets sold, with an estimated total attendance of 1556 (that includes volunteers, staff, reps, brewers, etc.)

Proclamation 
• Parks Make Life Better
Councilmember Bridgette Moore accepted on behalf of Daniel Torres, Janet Morales, Cameron Luna and Christy Bowen.

Thanking all that make Wildomar Parks a spectacular place.

Other Presentations included one to Former Fire Division Chief Geoff Pemberton, 5 Year Employee Pin- Dan York, New City Employee Introduction- Travis Solorio, and a Library Update. 

Mayor Marsha Swanson praises Daniel Torres (left) for how nice the cemetery always is, as new Wildomar employee Travis Solorio looks on.

1.10 Declare a Vacancy on the Planning Commission 

This is the third planning commission seat that's become available in the last six months. If you're interested in applying for this position, you have about a month to get your application in. 

All applications must be returned to the City Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m., on Monday, July 15, 2019.

LINK TO APPLICATION

Item 3.1 
interim urgency ordinance adopting a 45-day moratorium on the establishment of Tobacco Retailing Businesses or Hookah or Vapor Lounges within the City of Wildomar. (1:12:00 in the video)

Long story short, the city heard the community's outrage over the apparent new tenant at the former Jolie Day Spa, and acted. 

It was suggested during public comments on this item that the city "should have never let them start the process". 

I know that the city didn't "allow" this despite the activity at the location. No permits have ever been issued for a new business in the old Jolie Day Spa building.

City Manager Gary Nordquist confirmed that "[T]here were no permits issued. They began the process [with] unpermitted construction."

Just like some people disregard safe driving laws and drive recklessly, others disregard city zoning ordinances when they feel like it and act as if they've completed the permit process.

Blaming the city for the actions someone else took when no one was looking, resonates about as well as an old, scratched, Singing Nun 45, with a bent needle.

(I bet that most people under 50 have no clue about most of that reference... lol)

The moratorium is for 45 days so that staff can study potential options to the zoning code. That way, in the future, if a landlord thinks it's fine to lease to such a business (that is a scant 150 feet away from an elementary school) the codes will prevent it.

Though the moratorium can be extended twice, for up to a two year period, I don't anticipate that happening.

Speaking for myself, I'm fine with such businesses coming to town, but they shouldn't be near sensitive use areas like schools, daycare, churches and parks.

3.4 Planning Commission Appointment (Councilmember Benoit)

Brianna "Bri" Bernard, seven year resident of Wildomar, will join John Lloyd, Kim Strong, and Eric Filar as Wildomar's current crop of Planning Commissioners. As noted above, another vacancy came about when Michele Thomas stepped down.

Brianna "Bri" Bernard as she was glancing over at City Planner Matt Bassi from the podium.

3.5 Measure AA Citizen’s Oversight Advisory Committee Appointments
Five Wildomar citizens were appointed to the new oversight committee to ensure that the new revenues from the recently levied sales tax increase goes to four basic needs (Police, Fire, Homeless Issues and Roads).

This had a bit of a hiccup, or a wrinkle, in it before it was voted on. Mayor Pro-Tem Dustin Nigg suggested a slate of five candidates where four of them are already empaneled on the Measure Z (parks tax) oversight committee. I wasn't a fan of that idea.

My thinking was different on this issue

Historically speaking, Wildomar has NOT been blessed with an overabundance of volunteers when it comes to the Measure Z Committee. In my time of watching (since 2013) there have been many times that open seats would get ZERO applications turned in.

Often times the open seats were filled because a city council member would make a special request of friends. 

Don't misunderstand me here, that's a legitimate method of finding interested persons for the job when traditional methods yield no candidates, but I bring that up to remind everyone how few people have been interested in such a post without a bit of coaxing/cajoling along the way.

I wanted the first iteration of the new Measure AA Committee to be comprised with as many new, qualified applicants as we could get. 

Because my suspicion is that, in relatively short order, interest in the Measure AA Committee —five years out, will barely be measurable... even with a nuclear stethoscope.

My idea was to bring in fresh blood while there was an ample supply willingly knocking on the door.

I made a motion to have Monty Goddard on the committee, but the motion died due to a lack of a second. 

It would be unfairly speculative for me to get into why I think he wasn't voted in, he certainly has the bulldog tenacity to do the job better than any of the other candidates, but in the end, that wasn't the key factor for the balance of the voting members.

Let's just hope that there isn't a membership drop off from either Measure AA or Z which will then see us asking for more community volunteers when we just turned four away.

Seeing that the Planning Commission will have seen a 60% changeover in under half a year, a position with more prestige and importance, I wouldn't be holding my breath on the Z-AA rosters staying unchanged over the next 24 months.

3.6 Establishment of Cannabis Subcommittee

Mayor Pro-Tem Dustin Nigg and Councilmember Bridgette Moore will comprise the Cannabis Subcommittee. They will work with staff to then later bring back ideas on matters relating to commercial cannabis in Wildomar to the full council.

This is what is known as an Ad Hoc Committee.

Link to web definition.

With ad hoc committees, they aren't held to the same type of open meeting regulations that a standing committee must abided by (1:56:40 of the video). They don't have to have any public meetings.

Much, if not most, of the work will take place in informal settings. Much of it will involve leg work as they gather various facts from various sources in various locales... not at the dais like a standing subcommittee meeting (such as parks, trails and franchise subcommittees).

After hearing City Attorney Tom Jex explain it, I don't anticipate any public meetings for this committee. 

Before thinking that the public is being left out of the loop, the subcommittee will not be making any decisions on its own. That will be left to the full council, at a fully agendized and open meeting, in accordance with The Brown Act.

•                •                •

No matter how much cats fight, there always seems to be plenty of kittens.
– President Abraham Lincoln

Wildomar Rap welcomes new planning commissioner Bri Bernard to the Wildomar family. She's a fan of Lincoln quotes, so if she ever bumps into this blog, that could be the commonality that turns her into a fan. At that point we can then ponder over what Abe's fascination with felines could've been.

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 March 2019

This was a presentation heavy/regular agenda light type of meeting. Even the items on the agenda were mostly rubber stamp type items. Things that needed to be passed and didn't come with any controversies. 

PRESENTATIONS 
1. William Collier Elementary School 

Principal Manny Valdez led the presentation and students Blake Baoloy, Eveny Leon, Crista Kerr, Katelyn Parckys and Isabella Herrera each participated as well. Watch the video below to hear what a good job they all did.

2. Eagle Scout – Damion Gonzalo 
3. Eagle Scout – Josh Robles

Eagle Scouts Damion Gonzalo (left) and Josh Robles (right) watch as Mayor Marsha Swanson passes the microphone to Senator Jeff Stone's Chief of Staff Glenn Miller, while Congressman Ken Calvert's representative Brenda Dennstedt looks on. 

4. Library Update 
5. Animal Shelter Update 
6. Reality Rally Presentation

To get the details from presentations 4, 5 and 6 please watch the video at the bottom of the blog starting around the 20:00 mark.

Consent Calendar item 1.5 Measure AA Citizen’s Oversight Advisory Committee

To me, this was the key news from the meeting. 

The city is looking for five interested residents to fill this committee. I'll add language from the agenda packet so you'll have a clear understanding of what this committee is. 

ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

A. The responsibilities and duties of the Committee shall be limited to:
1. Review expenditures of Measure AA revenues to ensure the monies have been expended in accordance with the authorized purposes of Measure AA. 
2. Understand allowable expenses of Measure AA monies, which is a general purpose tax.
3. Understand municipal revenue collection and distribution from local, state and federal sources.
4. Prepare and submit to the Chief Fiscal Officer of the City an annual public report on the expenditures of Measure AA tax revenues for the previous fiscal year. The Chief Fiscal Officer will then submit the public report to the City Council per Government Code section 50075.3.
5. Receive and review the independent auditor’s report as required by Section 3.22.050 for Measure AA revenues and expenditures.
B. The Committee shall not have any budgetary decision authority and shall not allocate financial resources.
C. The Committee shall have no authority to direct, nor shall it direct, City Staff or Officials.

For purposes of clarification, it is important to note that this committee is an oversight committee, much like the Measure Z Oversight committee. Because of this the committee will not have any oversight in how the monies are to be spent, but rather how the monies were spent, ensuring they were spent in accordance with Measure AA. 

If you'd like to be part of this committee, please email the city clerk and request an application. dlee@cityofwildomar.org

3.1 Update Participation in the Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee (TUMF) Program
When new homes are built, they contribute to the TUMF fund (Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee). The key to this agenda item was to shift the collection of such fees from the city, directly to WRCOG (Western Riverside Council of Governments).

By eliminating the two step process in the fee collection, it frees up valuable time for city staff to attend to other matters. There is a yearly audit that no longer needs to be prepared by the city, and WRCOG will not have to do their end of the audit at the 18 cities they service.

To read more about the TUMF fund/fees, use this link.

3.2 Ordinance Regulating Wireless Telecommunication Facilities in the Public Right-of-Ways

DISCUSSION:
Typically, the wireless carriers seek to install antennas and other equipment on existing poles in the public right of way, including street lights and utility poles. These facilities are called “Distributed Antenna Systems” (DAS) and are more commonly referred to as “small cells.” The proposed Ordinance (Attachment A) establishes permit requirements for the installation of wireless telecommunication facilities in the public right-of-way.

A streamlined permit is available for proposed small cell facilities that will be collocated on an existing pole in the public right of way. A standard permit is available for proposed small cell installations that require the construction of a new pole. In the unlikely event that a wireless carrier proposes to install a larger facility in the right-of-way, it would be subject to the established Wireless Communication Facility permitting process that applies to private property in the Zoning Code. Streamlined and standard permits would be issued administratively unless appealed.

Small cells that are proposed to be located on City-owned street lights or other poles would be exempt from permitting requirements under this Ordinance. To install small cells on a City-owned pole, each carrier would be required to enter into a Master License Agreement with the City that will govern the review and approval process for each installation, and include a license fee that the carrier must pay to the City for the privilege of installing its equipment on a City-owned pole.

It should be noted that on September 27, 2018, the FCC released a Declaratory Ruling and Report and Order entitled “Accelerating Wireless Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment; Accelerating Wireline Broadband Deployment by Removing Barriers to Infrastructure Investment.” This Declaratory Ruling limits local control over small cells in several respects. The Ruling imposes new “shot clocks” on the time a municipality can take to review applications to install small cells, limits the processing fees and license fees that municipalities can charge, and limits the scope of aesthetic review.

The Report and Order went into effect in late January 2019. Several cities across the country have filed lawsuits on the grounds that this Ruling oversteps the FCC’s authority, and those suits were consolidated and are currently pending in the 10th Circuit. Because the 10th Circuit has declined to issue a temporary injunction blocking the implementation of the Report and Order, this Ordinance was drafted to be compliant with the Report and Order. Depending on the outcome of this litigation, amendments may be needed to this Ordinance in the future.

City Manager Report:
There will be a meeting at the Lake Elsinore Cultural Center on Wednesday, April 17th at 6pm discussing homeless issues in the Wildomar/Lake Elsinore/Lakeland Village areas.

Future agenda items:
Joseph Morabito asked to strengthen code enforcement. 

If you watch the video, starting at about the 1:37:00 mark, you'll see that I need a ton of polishing still. 

I'm finding out that it's a lot easier being eloquent when I'm on this side of the keyboard, than that side of the dias. ☺

Bridgette Moore asked about a spay and neuter program (which had been brought up in the animal shelter update earlier in the meeting).

Ben Benoit mentioned wanting a letter to Caltrans regarding freeway safety in the Sedco area where there is no guardrail to keep cars from crashing down into the city. He also asked staff to prepare a basic report regarding commercial cannabis so that the council can take a look at and discuss from there.

This is where I'm handcuffed with posting my opinion (the Brown Act). I'd love to add more thoughts here, but it's best to wait until it officially hits the agenda. 

•                •                •

Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.
– Edith Wharton

Not sure where Ms. Wharton grew up, but in Wildomar Rap's world, it's more of a choice between regular and decaf... and decaf is NEVER opted for. (Maybe that's what she meant?)

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 February 2019

Highlights from the February 13th city council meeting.

There were several presentations

One by Mr. Hoffman of Wildomar Elementary highlighting the current happenings at his school, and he gave mention to Mikayla L's Bronze Award project on his campus (link to blog about it).

David Pereyea, senior at Elsinore High School, was honored for completing his Eagle Scout project. It involved cleaning and organizing the hundreds of trophies that the EHS music department has earned over many years. 

Starting on the left is Glenn Miller of Senator Jeff Stone's office, then a representative of Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez's office, Brenda Dennstedt of Congressman Calvert's office, David Pereyea, Council Member Bridgette Moore and Mayor Marsha Swanson.

We also said goodbye to both our Fire Chief (Todd Phillips) and Police Chief (Dan Anne). The new top cop in Wildomar is Captain Michael Lujan, and the current title of Wildomar Fire Chief is unfilled.

Two good guys that will be missed. Good luck in your new digs, fellas.

There were several public comments on non agenda items, please take a look at the video at the bottom of the blog to see them as they were spoken, but I'm only going to highlight one of the comments here.

5th grader Indiana Purkiss, of Ronald Reagan Elementary, spoke to the council about her desire to clean up and reopen an abandoned park near her home. Her cheerful attitude was very endearing.

An aerial view of the spot she is referring to.

Her closing comments were:

"A lot of kids live here and we would love a place to run around and play. It would be really great if you would consider letting us build up this abandoned park into a useable space for us kids to play."           —Indiana Purkiss, February 13, 2019

Indiana "Indy" Purkiss addresses Wildomar City Council.

1.5 Vacancy on the Planning Commission
This meeting had the appointment of a new planning commissioner (Item 3.3, Eric Filar by Joseph Morabito) as it was announcing another opening. 

Last time (December) we had only three qualified candidates. There are many things to consider when applying for the position, and residency is a bare bones minimum of 12 full months (in common parlance, a year... sorry, but rounding up isn't allowed).

2.1 The Village at Monte Vista
This is a mixed use project that will come with 80 single family homes, 136,000sf commercial/business park and a 76,000sf - 4 story - 155 room hotel. 

This was approved 5-0. 

I had walked the site the day before. It's where the infamous "graffiti house" used to be. This area would never be confused for the Santa Rosa Plateau when discussing its environment.

I found this area to be anything but "natural".
This development will be a tremendous improvement and feather in the cap of Wildomar.

If you watch the video
you'll hear how bad my
voice was. 

My characterization of the area is that it looks like an abandoned motocross track, that was also used as an illegal dumping ground by scofflaws (I would have said all that if I didn't have laryngitis and sounded like Froggy from The Little Rascals).

This item didn't meet much resistance. 
Speaking for myself, I told the developer that I liked the project, but I had a problem with the traffic issues it would cause, especially at the Bundy Canyon/Monte Vista intersection. (Council Member Bridgette Moore also voiced concerns about traffic, but I'm not going to be covering meetings where I quote all the council members anymore. It's labor intensive, and I don't want to step on their toes by mistake).

Just to the north of the blue star is a new development of 70 homes, already under construction.

Through my nearly inaudible voice I said that I would prefer a signal at Monte Vista and Bundy Canyon to be a precondition for the entire project, being that there are already 70 homes going in directly to the north, but, that I'd be willing to compromise if the the traffic signal was a precondition for the opening of the hotel.

The developer thought about it for a moment, and then agreed. The language was read into the resolutions (or was it the ordinances?) and approved. 

That doesn't mean a traffic signal can't go in before the hotel (which is a long way off), but it will work as a fail safe in the event that one hasn't been installed by the time the hotel is ready for business (whew... that seemed confusing).

This item begins around the 57:00 mark of the video, with council discussion beginning at about 1:20:00 mark.

2.2 Zoning Ordinance Amendment
This was necessary because there was no previous provision for craft fairs/open air markets. The fun part about government is that if something isn't specifically permitted, it's not allowed until it is specified in writing.

The first thing you need to know is that the actual costs to the city to process the paperwork for a temporary event is between $661 and $725. 

There are several departments that must sign off on it before it's a go... seems like a lot of money (I almost fainted when I first read the raw figures), but that's the type of unanticipated collateral damage that comes from a litigious society.

Here are the fees as I remember them. The graphic used wasn't in the agenda packet.

The fees established were reasonable, and so were the number of times an event can happen within the year (6).

There was one sticking point when it came to this item, and it revolved around the discounts for the non profits. 

Resident Kenny Mayes suggested that if a non profit were going to get a discount, that they should also be in compliance with the State Attorney General, having all their paperwork up to date. 

I concurred and wanted that to be part of the ordinance amendment, Councilmember Dustin Nigg agreed too.

Item 2.2 was approved except for the part about non-profits, that part will come back to council later with more clarification.

You can bet I have a lot of opinions about this, but our friend "The Brown Act" is keeping me from sharing them here. ☺

Skip to the 1:29:00 mark of the video for this item.

3.1 Wildomar Little League Ball Field Modifications at Marna O'Brien
This was a tricky item for me. Like I tried to squeak out at the meeting, I'm a long time baseball and softball player, having played baseball well into my forties, and last played softball in 2010 (I was on the championship team that Winter). 

I played all levels of youth baseball, and managed or coached several Little League teams between the early '90s and the mid '00s. Plus, I know and like the leaders of Wildomar Little League.

That said, we only have one legitimate park in Wildomar, Marna O'Brien Park, and a 60/90 baseball field (one that adults can play on) simply is a mismatch for the spot suggested. 

I would love to have high end baseball fields —of all sizes— in Wildomar, but I'm not in favor of closing off portions of our only park to all others when a game or practice is going on... and that's what it would take to ensure other park goer's safety.

This was tabled, so I will reserve more opinions for the next time it comes back to council. 

To see the discussion, go to the 1:50:30 mark of the video.

3.2 Establishment of Measure AA Oversight Committee
Applications for this committee will start to be accepted in March (after the next city council meeting). If you're interested in being on this committee, then email the city clerk, Debbie Lee (dlee@cityofwildomar.org) at that time.

3.3 Panning Commissioner Appointment
This is where I nominated Eric Filar to serve on the commission. I tried to introduce him, but my raspy voice was hard to hear so I invited him to the podium to speak for himself. 

After a few questions from council, a couple about his relation to the President of Wildomar, he was unanimously approved. (If "the President of Wildomar" has to be explained, chat me up in person next time we meet) 

Item 3.3 picks up at the 2:13:30 mark of the video. 

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If you burn your neighbors house down, it doesn't make your house look any better.
– Lou Holtz

If you say patently false things about Wildomar Rap or its writer, it doesn't make your weak point any stronger.

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