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Thursday, June 06-June 12, 2024
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VOL. 8,
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Riverside County supervisors formally approve pay hikes for selves, other officials By City News Service
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he Board of Supervisors Tuesday formally approved doubledigit pay hikes for themselves and five other Riverside County elected officials, despite public criticism and lack of support from two board members. "I can understand pay raises for our employees, when we can afford it," Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said. "I can even understand pay raises for elected officials when reasonable. Everybody has been hit hard by inflation. But these raises are too much, too fast. This is not the path you want to take going forward. I came into office accepting that I would be serving the public. I never took a raise as a state legislator, or water board member." Jeffries, the most senior member of the board, voted
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors. | Photo courtesy of Riverside County
against the salary increases, while Supervisor Karen Spiegel abstained from
voting. Board Chairman Chuck Washington, along with Supervisors Yxstian
Gutierrez and Manuel Perez, voted in favor. Jeffries has consistently
refused raises for himself since first elected in 2012, making him the lowest
paid of the entire board. The incumbent will retire at the end of the year, and one of the two men seeking election to his 1st District seat in November — former Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside — vowed on Tuesday to remain faithful to Jeffries' no-raise policy for himself if elected. "These pay raises amount to 19 to 28% salary increases. (It's) at a time when other county residents are struggling to pay their bills, and it's not the time to give yourselves raises," Medina said. "This is absurd. Individuals seek public office for many reasons, but personal financial gain shouldn't be one of them." Medina is in a run-off with Sen. Richard Roth, See Pay hikes Page 32
Sheriff Bianco backs Trump, says 'it's time we put a felon in the White House'
Riverside County board OKs higher Environmental Health fees
By City News Service
By City News Service
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ashing out at state lawmakers he claims are too soft on crime and quipping that he's decided to "change teams," Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is throwing his support behind Donald Trump for president, saying, "I think it's time we put a felon in the White House." In an Instagram video posted over the weekend, See Bianco Page 15
Bianco — a rumored candidate for governor — blasted state lawmakers for "slashing" law enforcement budgets and passing laws that he said make it harder to put criminals behind bars while allowing prisoners to be released early. Bianco said he has spent his career trying to crack down on criminals and protect communities.
"Maybe I've been wrong, and I think I'm going to change teams," he said. "I know that's going to make some of you angry, I know you're going to be mad at me, but I'm going to change teams. .... I think that we need to go big. You know me, go big or go home. ... I'm all in. And I hope that you're all with me and I hope that you all have this change of
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he Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a series of increases to fees for permits issued by the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health, whose chief said the higher rates are not inflation-driven but necessary to keep the agency self-sustaining. "This is a request to keep the department whole and out of the General Fund," See Fee hikes Page 32
agency Director Jeff Johnson told the board. "We previously used the consumer price index for calculations, but we're now relying on a (cost assessment) model. We've managed some efficiencies, and that's reflected in our keeping costs low." Johnson noted that the department did not seek any fee adjustments for the current fiscal year and
sought to offset expenses that have grown beyond what the agency can absorb going forward. "We have the same number of staff, and we've been static for years now," he said. "The costs for us to operate in different industries are going up." The permit and inspection fees that will be increased for fiscal year