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Riverside college district’s nearly $1B bond proposal barely netting required votes
NO. 197
VOL. 8,
San Bernardino County voters OK law enforcement funding, reject hotel tax
By City News Service
By Staff
The Riverside Community College District headquarters in the 3800 block of Market Street. | Photo courtesy of the RCCD
A
nearly $1 billion bond measure to cover costs associated with upgrades to facilities within the Riverside Community College District was less than a percentage point above the margin required for approval Wednesday. Updated tabulations posted by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters’ Office late Wednesday afternoon indicated Measure CC could go either way, clinging to a 55.85% margin of approval. The threshold for passage is 55%. It was put before voters in Riverside, Moreno Valley, Norco, Corona, Jurupa Valley and multiple unincorporated communities. Thousands of votes remained to be counted. The measure seeks a $954 million sale of general
obligation bonds with a duration, or payoff period, of just over three decades. By the time of full debt amortization, the total cost of principal and interest would come to about $1.9 billion, according to ballot materials distributed to the public. The cost of paying that debt would fall on property owners, whose annual property tax rates would rise an estimated $19 per $100,000 of assessed valuation on individual houses, condominiums and businesses, district officials said. Supporters noted that older buildings are in need of repairs, with improvements required for labs, water delivery systems, electrical outlets, plumbing, ventilation units, natural gas lines and parking lots. They also pointed to
asbestos and lead paint removal plans, as well as the need to “improve emergency communications systems and accessibility for disabled students.” “Yes on CC allows the district to continue providing low-cost, high-quality education and job training classes close to home,” supporters, including Corona Mayor Tom Richins and Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, wrote in campaign literature. “Yes on the measure will keep classrooms safe for learning, addressing urgent, basic and future needs.” Opponents, including local fiscal watchdogs Vivian Moreno and Jason Hunter, complained the measure lacked specificity, leaving open the possibility of the money being spent any number of ways, instead of
exclusively on infrastructure and classroom upgrades. “The only kind of ... details for (the supporters’) unknown projects deal with what seem like overdue maintenance projects,” the opponents wrote. “We question if the district has actually deferred maintenance to the point of putting its students in danger so as to justify these bonds? “While the typical resident struggles to make ends meet as their cost-ofliving continues to outpace their wages, the district may build free or subsidized housing for its staff that you will pay for either directly or indirectly.” A similar RCCD bond proposal — Measure A — put before voters in 2020, then seeking $715 million, was rejected.
State senator’s lead narrows over former assemblyman in Riverside County supervisor race By City News Service
S
tate Sen. Richard Roth’s lead continued to narrow Thursday in the race pitting him against former Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, to fill the soonto-be-vacant seat on the
Riverside County Board of Supervisors. Medina and Roth are contending for the District 1 supervisorial seat up for grabs with the year-end retirement of decadelong
Supervisor Kevin Jeffries of Lakeland Village. Roth, D-Riverside, enjoyed a nearly 10% margin over Medina early in Tuesday’s election, but on Wednesday that lead fell to four points,
and he was only 3.5 points ahead of his rival in the latest ballot tally Thursday. An estimated 320,000 See Supervisor Page 27
| Photo courtesy of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
V
oters in San Bernardino County approved a measure for law enforcement funding and predominantly said no to an 11% transient occupancy tax, according to election results released Thursday. Measure L sought to require the Board of Supervisors to include a minimum amount of funding in the county’s annual budget to fund the costs of sheriff’s patrols in unincorporated areas. The dedicated funding specifically is for deputies’ direct salary and benefit costs for operations in the county’s unincorporated areas. Starting Jan. 1 the new county law, called the Law Enforcement Staffing and Community Protection Act, also would raise the annual base salary for elected county officials, excluding members of the Board of Supervisors and the superintendent of schools. The sheriff and district attorney each will receive about a $100,000 raise, bringing their salaries up to par with officials in neighboring counties, according to the measure.
Sheriff Shannon Dicus made just over $574,900 in 2022 in cash compensation and benefits, according to transparentcalifornia.com. Last year District Attorney Jason Anderson received more than $431,800. According to election results from the county voter registrar’s office, Measure L received 62.6% of the vote compared with 37.4% of ballots cast against it. Yes votes totaled 254,910, and 152,495 no votes were reported. More information on Measure L is on the county’s website, sbcounty.gov. A majority of county voters rejected Measure K, which sought to impose an 11% transient occupancy tax on hotels, short-term rentals and other lodging businesses. The county’s current tax rate of 7% was set in 2002. Votes against Measure K totaled 234,027, or 56.9%, while yes votes numbered 177,028 for 43.1%. Supporters of the measure said it would have generated an additional $9.4 million to be spent on road repairs, parks and public safety.