This is the 5th year that Wildomar's Rotary Club has distributed dictionaries to the 3rd graders of the city as part of its Literacy Program.
Rotarian Stewart Moore hands dictionaries to the students as they enter the Multi Purpose Room at Donald Graham Elementary.
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In total, 70 dictionaries were given out to three classes of Donald Graham Elementary School third graders.
Rotarian Andy Morris speaks to about 60 DGE third graders.
The kids read the Rotary's 4 way test, which was affixed to the inside covers:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Wildomar Rotarians Mayor Bridgette Moore, Stewart Moore and Andy Morris.
Andy Morris related a story about how he too got a dictionary from a Rotary Club back in the 1970s, and how he used it all the way through his days at Cal State Fullerton. He encouraged the kids to hold onto it and use it often. Sycamore Academy already received their complimentary dictionaries, and next up is Ronald Reagan Elementary and William Collier Elementary. Wildomar Elementary is at TBA status.
The back wall in the DGE MPR.
An added bonus to the Donald Graham experience was that all three of the teachers had one of those Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon...errr, I mean six degrees of separation moments. As it happened, two of the teachers went to the same grammar school as Andy Morris (about a year apart), and the other teacher, Mr. Wiggs, is an old family friend of ours... though I hadn't seen in about 4 years. It was also fun to meet a fellow Joseph, one of the lucky recipients.
I had to borrow this selfie that Andy Morris took with all the kids.
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"Your friend is the person who knows all about you, and still likes you." — Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915
Wildomar Rap doesn't hold a person's past against them, but still cautions friends about falling into the TMI swamp of no return.
The biggest news that came from the city council meeting actually happened before it was officially in "open session" when the city attorney, Thomas Jex, disclosed that Wildomar was on track to switch it's election of city council members from "at large" to "districts".
At the meeting I learned from EVMWD board member, Andy Morris, that the "No Car Washing" ban has been lifted. Now you can wash your cars in your driveways again... providing that you use a nozzle on the hose.
The first order of business was the ceremonial passing of the gavel from the outgoing mayor, Ben Benoit, to the incoming mayor, Bridgette Moore.
Ben Benoit passes the gavel to Bridgette Moore as Tim Walker looks on.
Next order of business was a presentation to 2105 mayor Ben Benoit. His name will be added to a plaque that hangs in the city hall offices.
We're going to have to work on keeping eyes opened next time. ☺
From here there were two Eagle Scout presentations
• Troop 2011's Travis Pipoly for his work on graffiti cleanup at Ortega Falls.
• Ashton Christensen assembled and installed a shade structure for River Springs Charter School in Lake Elsinore.
Public Comments on Non Agenda items
• Glenn Copple spoke about December's Original Christmas Tree Lane event and that they raised $10,005.
• Ken Mayes spoke about the Measure Z audit from December, and "where it's hiding".
Consent Calendar 1.6 Vacancies on the Measure Z Committee
Consent calendar items are usually rubber stamp items, things that don't need debating. However, a council member, or a member of the public, may ask to speak about them.
This item was about the fact that there will be three vacancies on the Measure Z Oversight Committee.
• Ken Mayes spoke about response to the previous year's vacancies that didn't garner much interest from the public. I'm uploading the short video of his comment because I think there's a point about trying to get more participation in our city government.
I'm not sure of the best method to advertise such openings, but it's difficult to fill seats when there is such apathy among those that are qualified. It's easy to chirp about it, but a lot harder to step up and volunteer your time.
Also, the talk is that one of the planning commissioners will be relocating some time this year. It sure would be good to make a coordinated effort so that there isn't a time when one of the seats on the commission is sitting empty.
The next several agenda items were things that should have been in the Consent Calendar if you ask me, but there's probably a law why such things are necessary to go through. It has to do with Community Facilities Districts (CFDs).
All passed unanimously, though on item 2.3 council member Tim Walker had to recuse himself since he lives within 500 feet of the property in question.
3.2 Wildomar Little League Ball Field Modifications
The league is wanting to convert one of the fields at Marna O'Brien Park to what is know as a 50/70 field. A traditional Little League field is 46/60. That is, 46 feet from pitcher's mound to home plate and 60 feet bases. Professional baseball, and high school too, is 60'6"/90'.
The modification is for the age group just above Little League, which starts at age 13.
They want to install a pitcher's mound and install moorings for bases at 70 feet. The existing base pegs will remain in the ground. Theoretically, if another division of baseball or softball wanted to use the field, they still would be able to... providing there was no scheduling conflict.
The big issue is foul balls going into the local residents' yards. The league has demonstrated that they have the proper insurance to cover damages from balls going over the fence.
The league will be bearing the cost for building and maintaining the pitcher's mound.
Good luck to them, but I've been a lifelong baseball player... until my mid 40's, and there is nothing worse than playing on a grassless infield without a home run fence, but sometimes you've got to take what's available.
This passed without a hitch.
3.3 Special Events and Recreation Program Dates
This is where the unveiling of the 2016 parks events calendar was revealed. Below is a snapshot of the schedule, along with a couple of other last minute editions.
Also not in the list is the Relay For Life 24 hour walk marathon that was sadly double booked on the same weekend as the Ultimate BBQ Showdown. Two big events, at the same time, right within a mile of each other... oy vey.
Before anyone gets the wrong idea here, they relay didn't consult with the city for best days for their event. It was suggested that they consider bumping it a weekend, but something about MORP being on one weekend and a pep rally on the other (location of the Relay for Life event is at Elsinore High School).
This is what happens when people don't dot the i's and cross the t's. The bright side is that after the BBQ you can always mosey on over to the Relay event to see what's up there.
The schedule will finish being hammered out and you'll always be able to know what's coming if you sign up for the city's Stay Connected option.
This afternoon a full house attended a rate increase meeting at the water district.
It was a lively meeting and the first half of it was both informative (though I'd actually heard it all before, plus if you read the color mailers you already heard it too) and entertaining. I enjoyed the 18 other public speakers and the way the crowd got into it with applause after a point was made that they agreed with.
You can see EVMWD Board Member George Cambero on the left side of the frame.
That part took about 90 mins and there was a break while the board members went in-camera to count the official protests. Once they reconvened each of the directors did their best to answer the questions posed by the public speakers. (Funny how I didn't get an answer as to why EVMWD is going to charge $2.25 for the same thing that Temescal Water Company charges $1.16 for).
That part dragged on so long that it put my 3 hour video camera battery to sleep with half an hour left to go, though I found it to be interesting.
Before relating to you some of the highlights, let me skip to the end... it was a 5-0 vote to raise your rates, even in tier 1, by 27%. The rates will be going up as of the first of August and you'll be seeing them in your September bill.
A lot was made about Prop 218. It has to do with how an entity, like the water district, can raise rates.
Let me cut through the bovine excreta and tell you what Prop 218 appears to me as (at least the way it affects rate increases in such instances).
It seems that, once upon a time the people were fed up with rate increases that were getting done on the sly, and Prop 218 is a sop to keep the masses quiet (if there are teeth in it I can't find them). On the surface Prop 218 looks like it's telling them big faceless companies that they have to run it by the public before ramming a rate increase down our throats... but in practice it's just another formality that the people can't overcome.
"How's that?" you ask?
Well, if we the people had rallied together, Prop 218 says we could have stopped the rate increase.
One fly in the ointment... we needed 50% +1 of the rate payers to make that happen. I heard different numbers bandied about and the Water District's rep said that number would be around 21,500 letters of protest would have needed to be mailed in.
But don't be impressed yet. Though I didn't hang around long enough to get this confirmed, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say that means even if my wife and I had EACH sent in a letter, it still would have only counted as ONE rate payer... since we only receive one bill between the two of us.
With apologies to Dr. Seuss.
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Let's imagine how that would work in real life.
Well, in the 2014 governor's election Riverside County only managed to get 40.12% to the polls, and wanna guess how many people bothered to write in on this issue?
Drum Roll Please........
If you said 37 official protest letters, YOU WON!
And as an added bonus, they counted the 19 of us that spoke out too... pushing the total to 56 protests... and we only fell about 21,445 shy of the magic number. Derpy-Doo!
A look at the dais at EVMWD.
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A few other things of note
There is a plan in the works to credit up to $10 a month for those that apply and are already in the CARE program from the other utilities.
When speaking, I reminded the board members that the $10,000 per day fine ($300k per month) pales in comparison to what a 27% increase across the board looks like.
George Cambero wanted to make it clear that this wasn't breaking his campaign promise of NOT voting for a rate increase... unless he had to... and he had to.
HOA's can't prohibit you from installing drought tolerant landscaping. Nor can they fine you for allowing your lawn to turn brown. (if they try it, contact the water district)
They're discussing using Lake Elsinore as a reservoir.
For all the talks of fines, no fines have been issued.
Andy Morris said that the drought surcharge will come off after the drought is over. Though there was no establishment of what criteria would have to be met to make that determination. I guess we're at Governor Brown's mercy... to be followed by 8 years of Gavin Newsome (you and I both know he'll be the next governor, no need to pretend otherwise).
President of the Water Board Phil Williams said, "If we could wave a magic wand, and give you free water, we would." (Hey Mr. President, that kind of reminds me of the one about if the queen had a package... she'd be the king.)
Mr Williams also said, "I promise you I'll be the first to propose a rollback on the surcharge when the drought is over.
In short, or at least the way I see it, the rates are going up because they are a private company and they have a bottom line to worry about. On the one hand they are glad that we have become such good water conservationists, but that means they're selling less water... and selling less water means they're bringing in less revenue. So, we will be paying for more and getting less to make up the difference.
In all fairness, there really isn't much they could do about it. A lot was made about how EVMWD is still approving new development by issuing Will Serve Letters to builders. As it was stated, the builders are well represented in Sacramento and our area relies heavily on the construction industry. If they put a moratorium up, they would have the various cities, the builders and Sacramento raining down the fires of hell on them.
I appreciated their professionalism, and if you have questions call your board member... I'm sure they'd be happy to discuss your concerns. In the meantime, conserve like you mean it, of get ready to trade in your IRA to pay your next bill.
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Elwood: What kind of music do you usually have here?
Unless you're new to the area, you know we've all been flooded (pun intended) with dire warnings about the drought and the cutbacks that we are all being expected to abide by. This morning EVMWD spokesman Greg Morrison gave a presentation at the Wildomar Chamber of Commerce monthly breakfast at Denny's.
Water Use Prohibitions:
• Washing down sidewalks or driveways
• Watering during or within 48 hours after a rain event.
• Overwatering, causing water to run off of a landscaped area
• Washing your vehicle on your property.
• Filling, refilling or adding water to your uncovered pool or spa.
• Using a fountain or water feature unless the water is recirculated.
• Watering on windy days.
• Providing water at restaurants or food establishments unless requested. • No Pressure Washer use.
Guidelines for outdoor water use and irrigation:
• Use sprinkler irrigation systems between the hours of 6:00 P.M. and before 6:00 A.M.
• Limit sprinkler operation to no more than two times per week on odd/even
calendar days based on last digit of service address.
• Watering by hand, with drip irrigation or reclaimed water is ok during daylight hours.
• Sprinklers and irrigation systems should be adjusted to avoid overspray, runoff and waste.
• Fix leaks or broken irrigation equipment to reduce waste.
• Having a cover on your pool to reduce evaporation.
We're in a Stage 4 drought and if you've been ignoring the calls to cut back overuse of water, you may be in for a shocker in the near future. We've heard about Sacramento's approval of $500 fines for transgressors, but nothing ever seemed to come from it. Until now that is, as enough time has gone by —coupled with another very dry rainy season— that such warnings are starting to sprout some teeth.
I wonder who'll be the first schmuck in the area to actually end up with a flow restrictor?
Here are a few of the points that stuck with me.
• Our area's mandate is to reduce water usage by 25% from 2013 levels. The thing is, we already made 20% cutbacks over the last 5-7 years... so the effective rate is closer to a 45% reduction that we're expected to undertake compared to the halcyon days of the early aughts.
Don't we love unreasonable and unrealistic dictates from Sacramento? My favorite one of theirs is "reducing GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 - a reduction of approximately 30%"... but don't order yet... if that isn't enough to get your eyes rolling check out their new La-La Land idea: "reducing GHG emissions 80% reduction below 1990 levels by 2050."
If the Sac-to dreamers can pull that one off, that'll be right up there with feeding 5,000 men with 7 loaves, and a few fish, and still ending up with 12 baskets of leftovers.
• There is an app callediEfficient that can be used to report water wasters. It's a GPS based program that allows a person to snap a pic of violations. The picture is sent directly to customer service and the ball is now rolling directly toward you. Morrison made it clear they are NOT encouraging Neighbor on Neighbor spying, though he mentioned how that has already started in some areas.
• No new turf in front yards for new developments.
• No filling pools that do not have covers.
• No car washing at home, even with a nozzle.
• You're soon to be "slammed" with mailings from EVMWD. We know that you'll read them, but question is, will your neighbors bother reading them?
I had a question for Greg Morrison.
Speaking of needing to reduce water usage by 25% from 2013 levels, Wildomar Parks were closed during that time and so there was no effective water usage. How does that work?
That's a good question... it's a tough question... it's sort of a sad question, because it doesn't matter. I'm being absolutely sincere, I know how the council members here feel about this (pointing to Mayor Ben Benoit and Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore who were in attendance). We're doing everything we can to work with the city... it'll be tough.
So you can't go back to the last year that the park was opened as the baseline?
No, because it's not that specific (the mandate). The regulation is on us (EVMWD) as a blanket. They (Sacramento) don't care about the details.
This is a good opportunity [for our area]. If we get the snows, we get the rains... the penalties, and these drought restrictions, will change. If you have questions about conservation, about what you could do —call. We are here to help people. Phone: (951) 674-3146
—Andy Morris, EVMWD Board of Directors, Division 5
In short, it's time to start taking our water shortage/drought seriously if you haven't already been doing so. With tiered rates, if you choose to not comply, it's only going to cost you a grip of cash as your water bill rolls in.
There were many other good points made. If you'd like to see the video of the presentation check it out (it's an hour long). Remember, I shot the video only to use for notes. So the quality is so-so and the there are background noises you'd expect to hear at a restaurant.
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If it's yellow, let it mellow, If it's brown, flush it down!—LA Mayor Tom Bradley, 1977
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