If you look at the recent mailing by the city, it's basically interwoven with happy talk. Happy Talk soothes the ear, but leaves a lot out of the mix. "How so?" you may be asking? First, tell me how you can "maintain" and "improve" something at the same time; sounds like it's from the same logic that brought us the classic "a little bit pregnant". Either you're maintaining something, or you're improving it. If you're simply "maintaining" it, by definition you are NOT "improving" it. Conversely, if you're improving something... you've done more than simply maintain it. Am I a stickler? Probably, but words mean things and shouldn't be trifled with when it comes to the phrasing in a ballot measure that looks to raise taxes.
Side 1 of the official mailer. The issues mentioned are true enough, but $1,700,000 will barely scratch the surface.
Side 2 of the official mailer.
If I would have been tasked with writing the mailer that was recently sent out, I would have been very direct, and it would have gone more like this:
Wildomar Rap opinion time
When we voted on becoming a city a decade ago, there was never going to be enough revenue to have the things that other cities have. That includes very important things like Police and Fire services at levels our neighboring cities have always enjoyed.
You have two choices when it comes to Measure AA.
First, you can accept the truth that this city needs more revenue, so that proper levels of emergency services can be purchased. Which would necessitate a YES vote on Measure AA...
OR
Your second option is to vote down Measure AA and understand that means Wildomar will always have too few cops and fire personnel.
The claims in the city mailer are a tad rosy for my liking. How far do you think that $1.7M will stretch?
We already have learned that the return of the VLF funds (about $2M per year) nearly ALL went to first responders when we increased the number of patrols earlier this year... plus the RSO is looking for a rate increase as we speak.
That's because when the VLF funds were stripped away, the police service patrols went fromtwo officers on duty during the day, three at swing shift and two at night down to one officer on the day shift, two during swing shift and one at night.
Another way to quantify it is that we went from 70 service hours a day (in 2011), to 40 service hours a day (until earlier this year), and recently back up to the 70 hours we had in 2011.
If you've heard any city council member tell you that we are back up to the previous levels of police, that isn't quite accurate.
Yes, we are back up to the same number of shifts that we had in 2011 (or 70 service hours per day) but since 2011 we've gained nearly 5,000 additional residents. Which means our cop per 1000 residents has gone down... not increased or stayed the same.
We're here now, and whatever promises you heard about no need to raise taxes by those urging a yes vote on cityhood, need to be forgotten once and for all.
They were promises based on hopes, not based on facts... otherwise, we wouldn't be looking down the barrel of a 12.9% increase in local sales tax.
One additional penny equals an increase of almost 13%. A 1% increase wouldn't even have amounted to a tenth of a cent.
Either vote to increase the budget by way of Measure AA so that we can increase the policing levels, or vote against the tax increase and watch our officer to resident ratio continue to dwindle. It's your choice This is how I would have written it. Blunt and to the point.
But, before you think I'm a big meanie, poking holes in the city's somewhat optimistic claims of what can be purchased for $1.7M, you should see my thoughts on the official opposition to Measure AA. The writers of it must have worked over time to sound so vacuous... unless (gulp) that's their actual A-Game.
Why do these people remain stuck in the past? Why do they think that the Wildomar of 2018 wants to say, "Ah ha, see, I told you so!" to promises from of 2008? NO ONE CARES IF YOU CAN SAY, "See I told you so". Turn the page already. This is about having enough money to buy additional hours of police patrol services, and maybe increase fire protection. Nothing more. The reason this isn't offered as a "special tax" is because, for some inexplicable reason, special taxes take a 2/3 vote.
Imagine how inane that is. The public is asked to vote for a "first responders" tax, something that would be earmarked for only those specific uses, and that takes 67%? However, for a general tax, something that goes into the general fund... that only takes a simple majority. That is 180 degrees backward from what it should be, but there's no sense in barking at the moon over it. It's what it is.
The city council has pledged to spend the money the way they've advertised. With an oversight committee to ensure that the money goes where it has been promised. If they fail to live up to the bargain, then vote them out.
Though roads are mentioned, I wouldn't expect major renovations from such a small sum of money. Just to keep things in perspective, the substandard slurry job done in Windsong Valley several years ago cost in excess of half a million dollars, and wasn't actually ever even finished. (Check out parts of Prairie and Gierson if you're in doubt.) Roads cost a lot more money than what will be left over from the first responder's annual needs.
If you want a city council member that is a straight talker, and will go against the grain when necessary, remember me when you're filling out your ballot.
If you like the status quo, and want things to stay the way they've been for the last ten years... I'm probably not the candidate for you.
• • •
Passion has helped us; but can do so no more. It will in future be our enemy. Reason, cold, calculating, unimpassioned reason, must furnish all the materials for our future support and defence. – Abe Lincoln Wildomar Rapwould interpret "materials for our future support and defense" as "more cops"and "better roads" if Honest Abe had been talking about The W.
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.
The highlights of the meeting include: • The approval of the proposed one additional cent sales tax increase for the November ballot. (now it's up to you to decide) • There are only four candidates (for three seats) for this year's city council elections. (unless someone shows up at the last minute) • The city was given an award by WRCOG (Western Riverside Council of Governments) and Wildomar has made the next step in buying our street lights from the power company.
Mayor Ben Benoit displays the "Gold Award" plaque presented by WRCOG.
But the big impact of the meeting came from the seven Briarwood neighbors that spoke during public comments about the effects of a nearby homeless encampment on their neighborhood. (Briarwood is east of Kaiser off of Prielipp Rd)
• Becky Frederick mentioned that the troubles began about a year and a half ago. They've since started a neighborhood watch, have an active facebook page to communicate with each other, cameras, and residents that walk their pets in the early morning hours to shew away suspicious people. She added, "but we really need help in our Briarwood community." • Kim McKinneytalked about homeless guys harassing people at the hospital waiting room and in the Albertsons shopping area as if they owned the place. • Paul Shield shared a story about a guy trying to enter his front door in the middle of the night (see edited video below). • Chelsea Bachinski shared a compelling story about encountering the man from the attempted break-in, mentioned above, then called the police. The upshot of her story is that the Wildomar Police didn't get back to her for several hours, and by that time, the issue had been [somewhat] resolved by the Murrieta Police. She added, "I don't know if it's going to take someone to be killed or to be attacked, but I'm a small individual that could possibly get hurt on my way to work (she starts very early in the morning) and I don't want that to happen." • James Juco, a 20 plus year resident, told of how his mother-in-law's car had been stolen, then later found at the homeless encampment. In the car, they found stolen goods, credit cards, purses, drugs and she still hasn't had her car returned. • Danielle Pedroso her mother was the victim of the car theft mentioned above, and she works at a dental office in the Albertsons shopping center. She talked about the homeless problem there, where they will often be sleeping in front of the office door. The account of how a homeless guy was washing himself in the flower bed near her place of business was galling, to say the least. She also related a story about some very suspicious, and dangerous looking, homeless people that had been at Denny's while she was there.
Councilmember Marsha Swanson jumped in, already apprised of the situation, and assured Danielle that Denny's management was working with Wildomar Police to prevent a recurrence.
• Colleen Wisdom told the council about the theft of tools from her husband's truck, and how the lock to the gate to her backyard was missing and the gate left open... which was worrisome since she has a pool. (the reason the padlock was not secured was to allow the pest guy access to the backyard that day)
At this point, Mayor Benoit broke with protocol and responded to the speakers. (For those that don't know, there are statewide rules that prevent discussion of matters that are NOT on the agenda commonly known as The Brown Act).
• "[Sadly] you're not the only group that has come in and complained about that particular camp, the industrial park just to the west of you, along the freeway, has also come in and explained to us that they are seeing rising theft and tracking it back to the same homeless encampment by the hospital." "That property owner has not been the most cooperative. We've had issues getting him to sign some letters to say "homeless people cannot be here" [...] he hasn't signed those letters to my understanding." "He has also not been trimming the trees like some of you've asked. He'll tell you that he's not allowed to trim the trees. There are limits to the tree trimming because it is an environmentally sensitive area, unfortunately [...] of course they (the homeless) are down there trashing the area. You can't win with some of these state laws." • "I want to come out and meet with you guys. Maybe an HOA meeting, I'd be happy to come, we'll bring Dan Anne, our police chief back there, along (pointing to where he was sitting in the audience)." "We have a Coffee with the Mayor [event] and Dan Anne [too]; we just had one a couple of weeks ago and we have another one coming up. I encourage you to come there too."
— Wildomar Mayor, Ben Benoit
Wildomar Rap opinion time
Coffees are nice, but The Bean can't accommodate very many people. There are about 15,000 registered voters in the city, and if only one or two percent show up. That would be 150 to 300 people. Even one-quarter of one percent would be about 35 people. Yes, it can be a logistics nightmare to put together and fully advertise a town hall meeting, but that is the proper forum to discuss the homeless issue if you want public input. Like it's been stated before, this issue is well beyond the scope of our city. It's a problem that has been created in the last few years by poorly thought out legislation and propositions. The kicker was Prop 47 which was allowed to be absurdly nicknamed The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. What a joke, it should have been called,TheDestruction of Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. That gem passed with a 59-41 margin. I don't blame our officials for a problem that other people created. I see this as a difficult situation that will (most likely) only get worse before it gets better, but they need to remain on top of this and be seen as being proactive, even if most of it will only be for show. These issues need to be headlines in a city-based newsletter, and discussed at town hall meetings, as well as be included in social media administered by the city.
I encourage you to watch the 22 minute video to get a feel for what the Briarwood community has been dealing with.
The only other meaty issue (Item 2.1) was the final approval of the additional one-cent local sales tax ballot proposal. For some reason, I thought it was going to be a long and drawn out matter, but it was over and done with... including public comments (2) and council discussion, in under 15 minutes. That item picks up at the 21:00 mark of the video below. Public Comments: • Monty Goddard discussed his tepid support for the tax increase and that even with the increase, we won't be able to address [all] the needs of the city.
• Joseph Morabito (me), candidate for city council, supported putting the measure on the ballot, and encourages the voters to approve it... but understands if the voters are sick of tax increases and choose to vote it down. That if the city needs an increase in revenue, why continue to block the commerce of a legal commodity (cannabis)? The only comment from the city council on the item came from Tim Walker. He talked about being a conservative, "I don't like taxes". That encouraging commerce and businesses in town was, "the way to do a city". Then touched on differences between the county and Wildomar. Please watch the video (starting at the 30:45 mark of the video), I'm not really sure what his point was as he seemed to touch on many things. In the end, he was for putting the question on the ballot.
"I'm not a one cent guy, never have been, never will be, but this is a fact that the city has to take on and it's got to be the voters that decide it. My personal opinion is that I don't like taxes." "I said from the get go, the only way you're going to make a city thrive, is by commerce, commercial businesses. But the people in our audience here, and people in this area sue everything. Stall everything, and cause nothing but grief in the city."
"Then everybody comes to us and says, "why can't you do this, why can't you do that?" well, there's your reason right there. If we're not fighting the lawsuit —perfect example, the Subway on Bundy Canyon. One business in a big complex. One! Because he fought that fight for a year, and still ended up paying for something that didn't even need to be done. It's over and over again in the city (the lawsuits)." "All we can do as a city is make it easy for businesses to get here and get started and produce income, that's how you raise tax money." "When it comes to the sheriff's, yeah, Riverside County has one to whatever —whatever the ratio is, of course they have that, but they have a lot of money too, besides what we have. [...] To compare us with the county, [that has] billions of dollars, and a small city with not so much, and fighting the fight, and fighting to get people to open here (businesses), to get commerce going, and collect income. That's how you do a city."
— Wildomar City Councilmember Tim Walker
Wildomar Rap opinion time
Tim, when it comes to your points about the city getting sued all the time... yes, welcome to cityhood.
Pro Tip:ALL CITIES GET SUED at least as often as Wildomar does. If defending lawsuits is enough to derail a city from fully functioning, that should be a clear indication that the long ago naysayers of cityhood may have had a point after all... but we're here now.
Allow me to suggest that we add "We always get sued"to the list of things that none of us in town EVER want to hear again. The other key comment that needs to be sent to the showers is, "Governor Brown stole $12M from us." Those statements are about as pertinent as saying "Ralph Garr hit a home run in batting practice"(something that occurred in 1977).
Councilmember Walker wasn't part of the WIN committee, so maybe he doesn't remember their claims that becoming a city wouldn't come with tax increases.
That's why Monty Goddard was discussing the dismal ratios of sworn officers to residents in the city, and then comparing them to what unincorporated areas have in 2018. I believe his numbers were:
In the county, they have 0.75 officers for every 1000 residents, and Wildomar has 0.54 officers for every 1000 residents.
Since no one on the council disputed Mr. Goddard's numbers, I take it that they are as solid as the rock of Gibraltar.
The video below is (HOPEFULLY) the last that I'll have to upload to keep my pledge of posting all the meetings until the city starts live streaming them... that's supposed to be in September... we shall see.
The other items on the agenda were things covered in previous planning commission meetings. The new sign that Inland Valley Hospital will be getting, and how the city will be dealing with EOTs (extension of time requests from developers).
During the City Manager update, three things were shared. 1) There will be an adult coloring group at the library on September 4th.
Come one, come all!
2) Astronomy Night is coming up: August 18th, at Marna O'Brien Park. 3) City Clerk Debbie Lee announced that there are only a total of four candidates that have qualified for the three city council seats (districts 1,3 and 5).
The city clerk will be available tomorrow (August 10th) to accommodate any latecomers. Just remember, you're going to need to get 20 valid signatures to qualify, and if you're still considering a run, you're cutting it very close. If there are no further candidates, that means Ben Benoit (District 1) and Marsha Swanson (District 5) will not face a challenger. That's really pathetic when you also throw in that Bridgette Moore didn't face a challenger in 2016, and for all intents and purposes, neither did Dustin Nigg in 2016. Why is there such deep apathy here? It appears that the only contest will be in District 3.
the matchup will be upstart challenger Joseph Morabito
vs
longtime incumbent Tim Walker
On your marks, get set, GO!
I have to give the smile edge to Tim, and his ability to balance his glasses on his head, but I think my beard gets the nod over his. Plus, check out my industrial strength forehead, not to mention that it's hard to go wrong with a lovebird as a sidekick.
• • •
One last note:Wildomar Marketplace will be this Saturday, August 11th, from 9am to 2pm. There was some doubt as to whether or not this was going to happen in Wildomar (something about ordinances) but due to the efforts of city councilmember Bridgette Moore, she was able to keep it in town; nice work. Now time to get that ordinance done, so something so basic doesn't have to be fraught full of grief along the way.
UPDATE
Due to the fires, the Wildomar Marketplace had to cancel for August 11th.The next scheduledWildomar Marketplacewill be October 13th.
• • •
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters." – Frank Lloyd Wright Wildomar Rapis the first to point out that blogs are written with keyboards, not typewriters.
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.
The most recent neighborhood watch block captains meeting had a presentation about homeless issues. Something that is an increasing problem, not only for Wildomar and the region of SWRivCo, but the state and the nation too.
Officer Robert Glaser leads the meeting centered on homelessness.
First thing to remember is that being homeless is not against the law.
The next thing you should keep in mind is that your compassion,if you're the type that wants to give money, food, clothes or even water to the homeless, makes YOU part of the problem in 2018.
Many well intentioned people give money to the homeless, but as it was stated by officer Robert Glaser, "Stop handing out money." He went on to say that if you'd like to help, which is a good and noble idea, then donate to local charities that are working in unison with local authorities and using current methods of approaching the homeless issue.
Have you heard of this? A well known scam is where a woman will parade out small children in order to induce you to give her money, or even diapers (which are then just taken to Walmart for a refund). These are NOT homeless people. According to the information at the meeting, they are Gypsies that come in from Orange County. They often drive up in a high end car, then get into their "homeless" appearance/costume and proceed to make many hundreds of dollars. This is not only a scam, it's illegal, and when caught the children are turned over to CPS. If you see mothers using their children in such a way, be strong, and don't give them anything. Call the police instead.
In the past, providing food, clothing and small amounts of money was a good approach, but those days are gone, and most of today's chronic homeless aren't cut from the same cloth as those 10 years ago. A startling statistic that I heard involved homeless vets. The stat given on legitimate claims of being a homeless vet was estimated to be about 10%. That means, 90% are lying to you when they say they're a homeless vet. Officer Glaser knows the homeless in our area, most by name, and he estimates that there are about 150 between Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and the unincorporated areas. When I asked him the number in Wildomar, he said it was around 15.
After the meeting I showed officer Glaser this photo I'd taken the other day in the Stater Bros parking lot. He immediately recognized him and said, "That's Mark. He recently lost his wife".
A new non profit that is dealing with the homeless issue, that is working hand in hand with the local cities, is known a The SWAG (Social Work Action Group). I have a request into them to do a "Better Know A Local Charity" blog and hope to have that ready in the next few weeks. Other things to remember: Don't enter any homeless encampments on your own. The police are trained for such situations and are armed and usually have back up. In addition to physical dangers from confronting people on "their" turf, you could also be exposed to hazardous things like Hepatitis C. The meeting had plenty of other concerns raised; such as property crimes.
It may seem simple, but it was reiterated over and over, if you see something suspicious, call it it. The nonemergency number to call is 951-776-1099. You should add this to your phone so you can use it if necessary.
You want to make your home less of a target. Don't do things that will invite burglars to think your home is an easy target. It was said that if you get a new TV, break up the box and put it into the trash where it's not advertising that you just made a new purchase to passersby.
A key factor that was stressed by the officers was: DON'T JUST "REPORT" IT ON FACEBOOK. Though they do look at some of the local facebook pages, they don't monitor them. If you're having an issue, call the police first, and post on social media last (if ever). It was also suggested that you can call your city council member to report issues too. Something I hadn't really thought of before was what constitutes a crime? If someone slashes your tires, and you don't report it, it is NOT considered a crime. Oh sure, you were done wrong, but legally speaking, it's only a crime if you report it.
This patch is on the sleeves of those contracted to patrol Wildomar.
Another nugget of brilliance I mined from the meeting about social media was when you see discussion of an alleged crime in your area, ask them if they've contacted the police yet, and what's the status of the investigation.
More than one example of a serious crime, that was bandied about on local facebook pages, was shared by the attendees to the officers in the room. Incidents that were said to have happened the previous Friday night. Things that would have gotten a priority 1 status and therefore would have been known throughout the station. The officers drew a blank on the claims. Things that were melting some of the facebook pages, apparently didn't even get called in. If you're witnessing a crime, call 911 and report it. Facebook may be a place to get likes, but it's not the place to flag down a first responder.
It may be hard to believe that people would post erroneous info on a topic so important as public safety, but it happens all the time. Most often such posts come with noble intentions, but as a thread grows, often the details can get distorted and take on "facts" that aren't actually facts.
Some of you may know that I'm running for city council, and that Wildomar will be having a measure on the ballot asking the voters to approve a one cent sales tax increase. The council has earmarked this potential money for public safety, roads and code enforcement.
How will you be voting on it? I've never met a person that likes taxes, but I've also met very few people that don't want (demand) better services in Wildomar. The average person here wants our community to be safe(r), and we currently can only afford sheriff services that are at the 2011 levels (that's WITH the $2M in VLF funds restored to the budget that had been taken since 2011), our population has increased by 3,000 people since then. As it was, the 2011 levels weren't what they should have been for a population the size of Wildomar. If we want better, we are going to have to pay for it. One of the allures that Wildomar had when we were unincorporated was the lower tax rates compared to areas like Murrieta and Temecula. Well, we do pay lower tax rates, and it's very obvious too. Again, we all loath taxes, but we all seem to want the first responders to be top notch, even if we don't budget for top notch... not to mention roads and other amenities too. Anyone else see the disconnect here? If we want to talk about ancient history, the run up to Wildomar's incorporation, I wasn't in favor of becoming a city. Even with my eyes closed, I could see that we didn't have the tax base to properly pull it off. Other cities have big ticket items like car dealerships, big box stores (and not just one called Walmart), they may have big entertainment draws (like an old town, wineries, movie theaters, Dave & Busters, etc) that bring in tax dollars. Wildomar has none of that. Our big ticket item is basically wrapped up in our eight gas stations, and the smattering of restaurants we have. Again, that's all ancient history, and we are a city now, and there's no reason to think that'll ever change. Time to move forward, but that takes a bigger budget than was originally forecast when we became a city. At the neighborhood watch meeting, we learned about Lake Elsinore's POP Team (Problem Oriented Policing) and sanctioned citizen patrols they have there. If we'd like such things in Wildomar, we are going to have to pay for them. When asked my opinion on the coming ballot measure, asking for an increase in local sales tax, I tell people to vote their conscience. If they are dead set against taxes (I'm generally in that camp) then vote against the measure. Just do so knowing that you will also be voting to keep public safety measures at a barebones minimum with little actual hope of increasing coverage. There was a recent 5%-7% increase in costs associated with Wildomar's police coverage... just because... aka inflation. The same principle applies to the gas tax repeal: Prop 6. I love the idea of letting Sacramento know how disgusted we are with their incessant desires to raise our taxes. We already pay too much in this state! I get it and concur, but again, just remember... a vote to repeal the gas tax, is actually a vote to keep Wildomar's failing roads from any chance of improvement in the foreseeable future. The legislature set it up that way, and if we repeal their 2017 pride and joy, known as SB1, they will be looking to punish us, especially so in SoCal. Just brace yourself for that reality if it gets repealed.
• • •
If you cannot bite, never show your teeth. – Chinese Proverb Wildomar Rapsuggests not bearing your teeth even if you can deliver a rather impressive bite. Everyone loves surprises. ☺
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.
Posts
