• Riverside County Blue Light Ceremony 2015

Monday, December 14th starting at 6:00pm Riverside County held a Blue Light Ceremony at the County Administrative Center on Lemon St (downtown Riverside), honoring all those that have died while serving the community, in the roll of a law enforcement officer.

It started with the pledge of allegiance and an a capella rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

Sheriff Stan Sniff gave the formal address, reminding all those in attendance how brave officers go into the direction of danger, to help people they don't know, when others would be heading away from the scene.

The honor roll included the reading of 62 names of officers that have died while on duty since Riverside County's incorporation back in 1893.

The surviving families of several of the fallen officers were in attendance, and were each given a single white rose.

Before the ceremony officially ended, blue glow sticks were handed out to those in attendance. At the count of three, we all activated them and they turned out the lights for a moment. Not really long enough to get more than this shot, but it was stirring while it lasted.

Below are 2016 Mayors of Lake Elsinore and Wildomar, with their shared Chief of Police Captain Leonard Hollingsworth.

2016 Lake Elsinore Mayor Brian Tisdale, Captain Leonard Hollingsworth and 2016 Wildomar Mayor Bridgette Moore.

It was a great honor to attend this event and to shake hands with many of the people that have been elected to stand watch over our county. Including Sheriff Stan Sniff, and DA Michael Hestrin. I also met murdered officer Ryan Bonaminio's father.

I had followed his son's case back when it happened (2010) and though I was tongue tied (what does one say in such a situation) it was a privilege to shake his hand. Actually, it was his forefinger, because his hands were filled with plates of food at the reception following the ceremony. 

(link to Press Enterprise story on Ryan Bonaminio)

Many thanks to the officers that put themselves in the line of fire for our behalf. Even for those that are just as likely to say unfair things about them to their faces. May you always be safe.

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“Training should hurt, but never injure…if there is no pain, there is no fear…if there is no fear, then you’re not really training.”

― T. Blauer

Wildomar Rap tip of the day: when you encounter a police officer, even if it's to be handed a traffic ticket you don't deserve... just say, "yes sir" and "thank you", and you'll soon be ready to continue on with your day.

• Spring Meadows Ranch

 

The Kazman Resigns.

I’ve been to three planning commission meetings and I haven’t heard Kenny Rogers’ double, Michael Kazmier, ever say a word. So, though his chair was empty tonight, I didn’t really notice a difference. 

Let’s hope his replacement is a little more vocal. 

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The big topic of the night was the proposed 

Spring Meadows Ranch 

development. 

Shapouri & Associates got up there and did their best imitation of the Twilight Zone episode One For The Angels where the old pitchman cheated death by selling him anything it took to keep his attention.

I was seriously dazzled by this guy... I'm just glad I left my wallet at home, he could have sold me anything... and I'd have gladly paid double.

That will be eleventy billion dollars please

The place has everything. In addition to the houses, there's the community center, a ball field, seven miles of trails, the neighborhood shopping area, 

and don't forget the 

equestrian center. 

The question of public services came up and the salesman… I mean spokesman was quick with:

“We have plenty of land. If we need a fire station or a school, we can do that, tell us what you need and we'll see what we can do.”

(My Dictaphone was broken, so you’ll just have to settle for my paraphrasing) 

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If that wasn’t enough to convince you, this will reel you in for sure.  He uttered the immortal, 

“I want The Farm residents to use our parks and amenities.”

Thankfully my inner dialog  volume control was functioning properly or everyone would have heard me guffaw like no other. This project is going to have homes that start at $350K to $400K and he thinks his new residents are going to welcome the humble folks from The Farm??? 

 Hardy Har Har! 

Some of my other favorite quotes of his included:

•“I’ll show you the detail… if we get that far.”

•“[For the egress and ingress] from Baxter it would be easier to tunnel”

•“[There’s a] tremendous amount of time to do this.”

•“I’m not saying, “Trust me,” I’m saying, “work with me.””

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There were six speakers from the public.

Ken Mayes:

He was talking about “Tried and Failed” approaches of the past, dating back to the railroad days.

Miss Miller:

I love this woman. She is pound for pound the most entertaining person I’ve seen give a dramatic performance at city meetings. Someone get her an Oscar already.

George Taylor:

Speaking as a private resident from the farm, he made it clear that he doesn’t want any part of the project… and he doesn’t want them using his roads. 

Rocky Jackson:

President of The Farm HOA, I found him to be pretty reasonable. He said “[I’m] not necessarily ‘against it’”, and even reached out saying he’s interested in working with the developer.

Sheryl Ade:

She was the hot sun that made the developer’s ice cream melt all over his hands. 

He went from a smile to a blank stare while she delivered point after point about the various times the same land had been suggested for previous projects that never got off the ground. 

Her quote of the night was, “You can’t afford this project… unless you want to lose money [speaking of the expensive infrastructure]. I’ve never met a developer that wants to lose money” 

Harv Dykstra:

Was asking about several neighboring developments that are nice, “Why isn’t that in Wildomar?” That he liked the basic idea of it, but the ingress and the egress issues need to be designed to benefit Wildomar first. The way things stand, most of the traffic would lead the residents into Murrieta or Menifee and that’s where many would end up with default shopping destinations.

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There were other issues concerning the project, but mostly the ingress and the egress issues. The place looks bigger than Windsong and there are currently only two proposed ways in or out… unless they sign a peace treaty with The Farm that is… but it was clear that the residents there aren’t overly keen on that... and I'm thinking the jest of the tunnel to Baxter was just that.

As for me, I take Harv's POV here. Why can't we have nice things in Wildomar? Sorry, but I don't want to look like Lakeland Village, and I'd like to live in such a development as this. It's not a question of whether it's "nice" or not. It's a question of logistics, and can it be done feasibly and will the infrastructure actually get put in, and not cost the rest of us a penny more than we already pay?

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The vote was 4-0 recommendation to the council.

In the end, the meeting was really only,

as the developer’s spokesman said, 

“The first step in a thousand mile journey.”

Sounds like one tedious trek he has in store for himself.