• Various and Sundry Things: Volume 9

Just a couple of photos of projects that are showing some movement to share, and a brief recap of the recent election. 

If you've driven Clinton Keith towards the 215 you've seen the first walls raised for the coming Clinton Keith Village (at the corner of Clinton Keith and the future "Wildomar Trail" intersection).

The buildings are coming together.

No updates on when it'll be open for business, but it's a reasonable guess that it'll be by mid 2019. 

Another look from another angle.

Over on Monte Vista, just north of Cornerstone Church, the first signs of a residential project can be seen. I was told that it's going be 67 homes, though the construction sign says "70 residential lots".

Part of the orange boundary line.

Heavy equipment can be seen from Monte Vista.

Election update:
The official vote counting is still ongoing, but Measure AA has 12+ point lead and is in no danger of failing. 

The next step will be to field an oversight committee. If you're interested in being on it, contact city hall and ask for an application. I'm aware of residents already inquiring about it.

The next update is said to be after 6:00pm (11-9-2018).

The three council seats that were on the ballot have been decided. Mayor Ben Benoit (District 1) and Mayor Pro-Tem Marsha Swanson (District 5) ran unopposed and have won another term.

District 3 was the only contest with more than one name on the ballot. 

Swearing in will be Monday, December 10th, 6:30pm at the City Council Chambers.

For those that may not know, Joseph Morabito (that's me) is the writer of Wildomar Rap. I look forward to working with my fellow council members and staff for the betterment of Wildomar. (I have another blog in mind that can get into more details soon)

The last of the local elections was for the EVMWD Board of Directors. District 3 covers about half of Wildomar, on the westside of the freeway.

The voters have spoken.

Although George Cambero went to many doors during his campaign, was very visible and accessible, not to mention that he's an all around good guy and pillar of Wildomar, he came up short. That's how it goes. I'm not going to whine about it being a "sad day in Wildomar" because it's not. 

We have democracy here, and the people made their choice. Just because I don't like the choice, doesn't mean I'm going to get dramatic about it. Let's hope that Jared McBride does an outstanding job for us.

Wildomar Rap opinion time

Though the totals will go up some after every last vote is tallied, it's a sad commentary that not even half the registered voters weighed in on Measure AA... just over a third at this time. (rough guess based on 15,000 registered voters in town)

I think it's fair to conclude that the absent votes indicate [at least] a tacit approval of the tax. 

You have the right to vote, and that includes abstaining, but if you're also one to complain about things, I sure hope you took the time to participate.

•                •                •

What is the fate of the prophet who brings the word? Is he greeted with bread or a stone? Were they hailed because they were saviors or destroyed because they were saviors?
– E.G. Marshall (CBSRMT 1976)

Wildomar Rap has never purported to be a prophet or a savior, so that must apply elsewhere... but it's still interesting to mull over.

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.

• Various and Sundry Things Vol 6

As the Holy Fire has been raging to the north of us, displacing many with evacuations, there were a couple of recent fires in Wildomar. Thankfully they were both put out before they had a chance to spread.

Friday, August 10th there was a fire near Giant RV.
Mayor Ben Benoit arrived on the scene and took some pictures.

Saturday morning (August 11th) there was a fire that destroyed a double-wide, displacing three people, while no one was injured. This was near the Bundy Canyon Christian School and was fully contained before 10am.

Photo courtesy of Wildomar City Councilmember Bridgette Moore.

While out looking in the area of the Giant RV fire, I happened upon some graffiti that has been on a cell tower for many months. Have you seen this from the freeway? 

This has been visible most of the year. How do we get this removed?
Calling it in hasn't helped so far.

As long as I was out driving around I went to check if Wildomar's famous chimney still had its tag. Yes and no... it seems that the previous tag was tagged over again. Looks like those spray can hooligans are in a virtual danse macabre of some type. I hope they both lose, or win... whichever is worse. 

If you've ever wondered what the other side of this chimney looks like, now you know.
For the uninitiated, this is directly to the south of the Elks Lodge on Mission Trail.

Right across the street, there was another impressive tag. I wonder if it'll remain up into 2019?

Do we really want all the traffic that uses Mission Trail to see this on a daily basis?

On the way from the Giant RV area to Mission Trail, I happened upon the intersection of Grove and Cherry. 

There I found an interesting sign for trails. I saw the sign, but am not sure where the trail is or leads to. Perhaps it's just the street? Since it's in District 3, and I'm running for city council in this district, I'd better get familiar with such things post haste. ☺ 

A hearty thanks to Ronnie's Jewelers for "adopting" the trail.
 Still, I wonder what such an "adoption" entails?

On the other side of town, I saw a new palm tree at Wildomar Square that had succumbed to all that high heat we've been having. I've seen plenty of dead trees in my lifetime, but never one that bent over like it was just punched in the stomach. 

If I had been out in that 110+ degree weather every day, I'd be in far worse shape than that.

UPDATE: After my lovely wife Grace read the blog, she reminded me that she taken a (better) photo the day before. It looks like one of those wacky waving inflatable tube guys after someone has unplugged it.

While driving over the freeway, I couldn't help but see the new landscaping (cough) that Wildomar Square is sporting these days. We all know that the tumbleweed is Wildomar's official flower and all, but had no idea that the new center would be displaying them so prominently.

First, too few parking spaces, now tumbleweeds adorning Wildomar Square.
What will they think of next?

I headed over to the emerging Clinton Keith Village (the corner of Clinton Keith and soon-to-be Wildomar Trail) to check out their construction progress. They got a lot of the grading done and are well on their way to getting that corner ready for retail.

A look from about 60 feet in the air.

Funny thing is, last November I was talking to a guy on the site that presented himself as some type of super, and he had been telling me that he was expecting buildings to be up by August 2018. Hmmm... missed it by that much.

Link to 2017 blog about Clinton Keith Village

This shot was from just north of the project.

I'm not an electrician, and I've never played one on the radio, but isn't a missing meter like that (indicated by the red arrow below), on the dangerous side of things? This was across from Clinton Keith Village (to the west). Maybe it isn't live... I wasn't interested in testing it one way or the other. 

Any thoughts on the matter?

While in the area I drove through Hartford Park. 

What a nice neighborhood! 
I happened to see a sprinkler of theirs malfunctioning, so I thought I'd toss that in here in hopes that someone in their HOA will see it.

It was a tad early, and a bit out of sight.

UPDATE: The next day I got an email from one of the homeowners there, thanking me for posting this photo. They found the sprinkler in question and reported it to the landscapers that take care of that neighborhood's green spaces.

While out flying my drone I went over to Marna O'Brien Park to practice some maneuvers. The good news is that I noticed the sign that touts the remaining 4 park events of 2018.

They all look like fun, and I recommend that you try to attend at least one of them... if not all four. ☺

I'm looking forward to the Mariachi Night. This will be new for the city.

The bad news, or at least the "what the H was that" news, was that either I was being paranoid (yeah — NO!), or there were some unsavory characters that were spending an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom... "washroom" to the Canadians out there.

Upon arrival at the park, I made use of the facilities and heard what could be described as snoring coming from the far stall (if not snoring, then some other oddball sound... but I prefer we stick with "snoring"). 

As I exited, another guy went in, and about 10 minutes later a third guy went it. A couple of moments later they all came out and went over to a car. (maybe one of them lost their play book for the big game or something, and the others were helping him look for it before the coach found out)

A screen capture from my drone.

Yes, I'm sure it's normal activity for skeevy looking twenty-somethings to do on a Sunday morning around 10:00am, bro'ing down in a park lavatory, but I guess I'm just from a different generation since I don't get it.

If I didn't know better, I'd almost swear that some type of transaction had happened in there while I was wringing out the last bit of juice from my drone's battery. 

Which reminds me... If you live in Windsong Valley and would like to be part of a revitalized Neighborhood Watch program, please join the new FaceBook group. We're hoping to have the first meeting in early September. We're just waiting for Officer Baca to put us on her calendar.

You don't have to be part of FaceBook to be part of Neighborhood Watch, but it just makes communicating with each other much easier. 

This group is primarily for Windsong Valley residents. It's not a general group that people from all over are encouraged to join. Most areas in town have similar pages that are geared towards their neighborhood too.

Last on the list of things I noticed while out this morning includes the first sighting of a campaign sign for the November election. 

Wildomar city council hopeful, Joseph Morabito, hung his first sign (sorry about speaking in the third person, it seems to be a habit now). This was at the corner of Palomar and Gruwell. The Little League sign is new, but it seems as if Dr. Norman Quintero didn't get the news that he finished a distant third, with only 8.25% of the vote, back in June.

Speaking of campaign signs, while walking on Clinton Keith, these were just off the road. Woody was even further behind Dr. Norman with only 4.83% of the vote. Come on man, clean up your mess.

•                •                •

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
– Arthur Schopenhauer 

Wildomar Rap prefers to skip the needless rigmarole of stages one and two and accept reality at first blush, self-evident or otherwise.

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 2018

I'm going to try something new with this City Council recap. Instead of writing in chronological order, I'm going to write about the things that matter, then I'll add the silly garbage at the end... and there was plenty of that tonight.

Presentations 
William Collier Elementary Principal Dorri Neal. She talked about Measure V monies in action, that at her school they still teach cursive handwriting and say the pledge of allegiance everyday. Link to WCE website

Public Comments (on non agenda items)
• Andy Morris speaking as a board member of EVMWD spent his time debunking erroneous internet chatter regarding the trips to Washington DC by EVMWD representatives. (See video for his comments)
• Damien and Michael McVey spoke about their, soon to be opening business, Just Yoga. They mentioned the grand opening for Wildomar Square which is Saturday, March 24th and they will be there with givaways and . It will be in Wildomar Square, next to The Habit. Link to Just Yoga FB page
• Warren Roche spoke about public safety/police protection, that his home has been broken into three times since he moved into the area in 2008. His second issue was "city staff's lack of response to phone calls." (Please see the video to see how it played out in real time). Though there was some confusion as to whether he left his number on the messages he left according to the City Manager, Mayor Ben Benoit jumped in. 

Public Comments on non agenda items aren't allowed to be discussed, by law, as are items that are on the agenda. The Mayor asked Mr. Roche to give him a call directly so that they can sort out his issues... which included a burnt out street light on the busy corner of Frederick and Charles in Windsong Valley. 

Wildomar Rap Opinion Time 
This is the exact reason why we have city council members to represent us. When a resident is needing help with important issues in town, the elected representatives need to be there to intercede and work on their behalf. Not all issues can be handled by a city council member, but a city council member still can take all issues seriously and see that they're attended to, to the full extend of their jurisdiction. Kudos to Mayor Benoit for taking the issue on with no delay. 

There were two more comments, but they are filed under "comedy" and will show in the "Silly Garbage" file after the real points of the meeting.

1.9 Clinton Keith Village
You may remember a blog I wrote last November detailing activity on the corner of Clinton Keith and George (link to blog). I talked to the grading super, or so I was led to believe, and was told that they'd be done in about three weeks. 

Location of Clinton Keith Village.

They were "done" in about three weeks, with that part of their grading. They had a taker for the dirt that needed to be moved, so they completed that part of it. 

I can't imagine why someone with authority would give out misleading info when asked, but I had been told that the buildings would be up as soon as August. Ummm... for that to come close to happening, they'll have to break some land-speed records.

Item 2.1 
This was just covered in the February Planning Commission write up. Here's the link if you'd like the details. It was a simple zone change so that it would be consistent with the General Plan. There are no plans in the works for this site. There was one public comment, but it'll be covered at the end of the blog.

Item 2.2 Smith Ranch Self-Storage
As with item 2.1, this was covered in depth in the February PC meeting (see link above). It only came to the council for final approval, which it was. 

There were two public comments on the item. William (last name not decipherable) had concerns about the grading of a hill on the property. If you watch the brief video, you'll see that he gets his questions and concerns answered, which also included the ingress and egress of the future business.

The second comment will be found at the bottom of the blog.

3.1 PEG Fees
I didn't hear the actual amounts proposed here, but understand this. If you have a cable bill, you will be getting a new charge tacked onto it (unless you think cable providers are magnanimous enough to eat that new fee). It's called a PEG fee. 

According to City Manager Gary Nordquist, "One city further south of us (presumably Temecula) generates over $176,000 a year in PEG Fees."

You may be asking what is that for?

People have been demanding live streaming of city meetings (including me), and this is the path chosen by the staff and approved by the council. 

From a Compcast website entitled, "Learn more about price changes on your bill".

Nothing is free, including public access television... or live streaming and archiving. Though I'm guessing there is a spectrum of various ways to accomplish such, and a spectrum of price tags that go with it too.

Wildomar Rap Opinion Time 
Originally, if it had been me, I'd have gone with the most economical method out there, that would also have given the most basic, least impressive, video capturing of the meetings. 

Such a set up could have been manned with volunteers or interns. If, after a trial period of a year or two, the topic wanted to be revisited, great, discuss it then.

But this is where I erred, where I had no vision and needed more details of the video services that the city manager has in mind.

The service they have in mind goes well beyond streaming video. It'll also be taking the minutes of the meetings, indexing the videos to be synced to the agenda. Meaning, once the videos are up, if you're interested in agenda item 2.2, you'll click on that part of the agenda, and the video will start at that spot.

It'll also help with certain records requests.

Though we could find a way to do it on the cheap, it would look like it was done on the cheap too. 

Reminds me of my opinion of can openers. 

If you buy one from the 99¢ store, it's going to break in no time flat and do a poor job until it does. It's better to go with quality from the start, and after hearing about the details of the video system, and all that it entails, I have to agree it is the one to go with.

In the two minute video below, you'll hear the explanation of PEG Fees and the council voting to approve them. I didn't really hear when they're supposed to be implemented or how much they're supposed to be. 

It was suggested to me that the fees will be about 1% and that it'll be up to the discretion of the providers if they choose to add that to the bill or not.

Hmmm... anyone wanna bet if the cable providers will be the eating PEG fee or passing it on? Any takers?

3.2 Measure Z Appointments
The Measure Z Citizen's Oversight Advisory Committee is comprised of five people. They meet quarterly to see that the $28, per parcel, yearly park maintenance fee is being spent appropriately... and to be harangued by bored people with nothing better to fill their lives with.

Scott Rux and Shelley Hitchcock were reappointed, they had been appointed last year to cover the remaining months in prior committee members' terms. Also appointed was Steve Regalado. He is also serving as Post Commander at the local VFW.

City Manager Report

Mentioned in the report was:
  •  The Eggstravaganza set for March 24th at Marna O'Brien Park.
  •  Paving of the bike lanes on Grand Avenue and the multipurpose trail. 
  •  The city's website is supposed to be up this week. He encouraged the community to make suggestions as to features they'd like to see on the City's webpage. 

I have a suggestion, we need a very easy way to report code violations from a smartphone that will allow geotagged photos of the issue at hand. 

Wildomar Rap Opinion Time 
Some of you may not be aware that I like and respect those on the city staff (tee hee). That doesn't mean I think they've done a flawless job on all things, but I don't see the point in being a town crank that whines about every crack in the sidewalk either.

That said, we all end up being part of projects that we'd like a Mulligan on, and my guess is that the website is one of them (or at least I sure hope it is). 

Maybe it's "too soon" to talk about, but this has not been a good experience, watching one promised date after another go by with nothing to show for it. The latest delay was placed at the feet of America's Hat (Canada to the uninitiated). 

"We experienced a couple of setbacks with our Canadian vendors." 

Hey, I get that, my wife used to be Canadian, and I still try to blame her for things.

I found a comment I made to someone at a September WR blog on the subject.

It may be a small thing, but the city's website is the primary way for people to keep up with what is happening here. We can still respect the people, and not be a fan of the process that has proven unworkable in this endeavor.

  •  Deputy City Engineer Matt Bennett will be taking a new job in Highland and will no longer be with the City of Wildomar.

The meeting finished with a moment of silence in honor of the passing of long time city employee, Kirk Schrader. Michelle Schrader came to the podium and said a few words and pointed out some of Kirk's family members that were in the audience.

The Interact club of Elsinore High School will be placing a tree (type yet to be determined) at the cemetery in his honor.

►                ▼                ◄

Actually, it's not different on any level. It's the same old same old from the same old.
Still, some people like to hear about it.

Now, for the promised silly garbage.
Let's go with Miss Miller first. 

What can I say that the videos don't say for themselves? I'm sure that she's well-intentioned, but between her dramatics, hysterics and nonsense statements, it is a major distraction, and waste of time of everyone in attendance.

When I first caught her act years ago, my eyes were popping out, mouth agape and I couldn't contain the laughter. That wore thin in no time, but every now and then she'd uncork something new, and she would find my funny bone again.

There were too many rants of her's to post here, just watch the videos... some of which last longer than her time at the podium because later on you can hear her shouting from the cheap seats.

The highlights were: 
  •  When she declared that the current meeting was in violation of the Brown Act, and that it should be adjourned then and there.
  •  Wanting the city to build a homeless shelter, with the proviso, "If housing challenged people take care of it, then it remains open. Otherwise, it closes".
  •  She coined the new portmanteau: volumptuos (apparently marrying the words voluminous and voluptuous). She used it to describe large amounts of flowing water. It's at the 10:15 mark of the video.

Miss Miller, open space is important and should be conserved when possible, but other people's private property is NOT open space. Let's try and keep that in mind for your future trips to the lectern. 

Now time for everyone's favorite waste of oxygen, Ken Mayes. He just pulled one of the most hilarious blunders of all time. 

He's been a major proponent for live streaming meetings, and unless he has some kind of inside line that such a thing is going to be up and running soon, he basically just shot himself in the foot with his last comment (video below). 

Are you sitting down? Are you ready to roll on the floor while laughing? He basically threatened/promised the city people that he will no longer speak to them until they start live streaming.

Seriously?

Let me get this straight. You want something, so your version of persuasion is to threaten your silence if you don't get what you want? Even more impressive would have been to start holding your breath right then and there.

I don't want to make any enemies of the council and staff by tipping you off to something that every grade schooler has known since they were in diapers, but the proper way to threaten people is with things they'll HATE, not things they'll LOVE.

If you had a clue about what you were doing, you'd have told the council that you'd take up every last minute entitled to you. You'd speak for the max time in every public comment opportunity, and do so with as much donated time as you could muster. You'd let them know that until they capitulated to your demands, you'd be adding at least an hour to every meeting. That would have gotten their attention. Not your promise to remain silent. How is it that you got it completely backwards?

Here's the thing. We both know that your word is a joke when it comes to such promises. There may be a few people that remember you making the same, "I'm never posting again" promise over at The Patch back in late 2013. How long is "never" in your dictionary? About three days?

The office pool jackpot is rivaling that of March Madness with how soon that promise of yours will snap like a twig trying to support an elephant.

If the readers of this blog watch the video, and end up wondering who "the Mussolini and his black shirts" are... I'm still not sure who "the black shirts" are, but he's calling me out as Il Duce. 

Last week, according to him, I had "Gestapo tactics" (an allusion to Hitler), this week I'm head of the black shirts. Eventually he'll call me Stalin, Pol Pot, Che Guevara, Lex Luthor, Hannibal Lecter, Hans Gruber, Freddie Kruger and Nurse Ratchet too.

Apparently tall tale tellers don't like to have their fibs exposed. I think there's an app for that.

Just like he took "credit" for getting $20 off the property taxes of the Windsong Valley tax payers (something we've been paying since day one that our houses were built ((CSA 103)), that pays for landscaping and drainage, but is going right back onto the bills where it belongs) he needs to claim responsibility for any increase on cable subscriber bills with the soon to be added PEG Fee mentioned above.

On behalf of all those affected by your diligent efforts, thanks Kenny.

•                •                •

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
– Albert Einstein

Wildomar Rap is certain that the father of relativity coined that phrase after watching the public comments at a Wildomar city meeting.

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. Link to proper format.

• Here Comes Clinton Keith Village

Fresh on the heels of a slew of Wildomar Square ribbon cuttings, don't look now, but another shopping center is in the works about half mile northeast on Clinton Keith Rd. 

Across from the Oak Springs Apartments. Catty-corner to Teakwoods/Old Market Grill. It was known as Clinton Keith Village at the May 2016 PC Meeting. Not sure if they've changed it or not at this point. 

It calls for about 40,000 sf in seven
buildings, ranging from 2200sf to
12,000sf, anchored by a 7-11 gas station.

This first came across my radar in May of 2016 when it was an item on the planning commission's agenda. I was wondering how long it would be before action occurred, and now the waiting is over. 

I had asked the developers back then, "when they anticipated getting the first shovel in the ground?"
Before they could answer I put a finer point on it, "So, by the end of the year? (2016)" 

"Hopefully not that long," was the reply.

Link to May 2016 blog 

covering Clinton Keith Village

Based on that exchange, they are only about a year behind schedule at this point. 

The grading has begun. 
Viewed from the corner of Clinton Keith and George looking northeast.

While out taking some pictures the superintendent approached me and asked what was up? I told him that people are curious and would love to know the timeline for this project. 

This was snapped from the other side of the project's fence, looking west.

He was very helpful, telling me that they will be excavating and leveling the area over the next several weeks. The high point above Clinton Keith Road will be coming down by about 18 feet to street level.

The rutted slope will be brought down to street level within the next few weeks.

If all goes according to plan, buildings should be up by sometime next August. I didn't take it that they will be occupied and opened by that time, but standing and ready for the lessees to start on the insides. Time will tell.

•                •                •

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
– Mark Twain 

Wildomar Rap laments that much of today's schooling has little to do with education anymore.