Countywide operation in Riverside leads to safe recovery of missing minors
City threatens councilwoman with lawsuit over police misconduct allegations
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Thursday, March 12-March 18, 2026
VOL. 10,
Riverside County contends with deficit midway through fiscal year; unfunded pension liabilities shrink slightly
By City News Service ongtime Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Temecula, will not seek reaelection to California's 48th District, which includes parts of San Diego and Riverside counties, and is endorsing a San Diego County supervisor to replace him. "Today I'm announcing my enthusiastic endorsement of Supervisor Jim Desmond for Congress to represent California's new 48th District," Issa said Friday. "Jim is not only a personal friend, he's a true patriot, a Navy veteran, a
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alfway through the 2025-26 fiscal year, financial pressures are building on the Riverside County government budget, where a $38 million deficit was addressed Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors. The $38 million shortfall highlighted in the midyear budget report' stemmed from mounting cost obligations that the following county agencies were unable to meet from the Department of Public Social Services, District Attorney's Office, Office of the Registrar of Voters, Riverside University Health System and Sheriff's Department. "The county financial picture is stable, and discretionary revenue is slightly better than expected," county Chief Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said during the board meeting Tuesday. "But the cost of county services is growing faster than revenue sources." In a 5-0 vote, the board rectified the composite imbalance. About two-thirds of the deficit will be reduced by drawing down General Fund reserves. The remainder of the hole will be plugged with the agencies' reserve accounts, according to documents posted to the board's agenda. "We'll need to approach the upcoming budget cycle with discipline," Van Wagenen said, pointing to decreases in federal funding for some programs, like Medi-Cal, and the
Darrell Issa retiring from Congress; SD Supervisor Jim Desmond to seek seat
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By City News Service
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successful businessman, and has a 20-year record of public service. He understands this community, was born and raised here, and will make a terrific congressman." Issa, 72, said the decision had been on his mind for a while and he didn't make it lightly. "First, we built the right campaign infrastructure, support has been overwhelming, including from President Trump, and our polling was unmistakable. We would win this race,"
See Darrell Issa Page 35
Palm Springs faces legal challenge regarding bridge project A portion of the cover of the midyear budget report. | Photos courtesy of Riverside County
anticipated decline in interest earnings on bonds while financial pressures persist. "Our general fund budget is still not structurally balanced. The reality is, things cost more, and there's less money to pay for those things." On Monday, all county agencies submitted their budget requests for the 2026-27 fiscal year, and the CEO acknowledged higher outlays will be sought. The midyear report indicated revenue streams had grown in a few places, principally property taxes, which increased nearly $19 million above the amount first projected at the outset
of the fiscal year. That will translate to a 3% rise in discretionary income — $1.35 billion instead of $1.31 billion — by the end of 2025-26 on June 30, officials said. The county's composite reserves should reach just shy of $700 million at the end of 2025-26, compared with $655 million at the beginning. Van Wagenen attributed the positive shift to the fact that agencies returned a little more money to General Fund coffers than had been predicted at the end of the previous fiscal year. The board had formally See Budget Page 17
approved the 2025-26 budget, totaling $9.98 billion, on June 24. The supervisors further approved a tentative hiring freeze for most agencies to put the brakes on deficit spending. Payrolls continue to consume half of outlays. The county employs nearly 26,000 people on a regular or rotating temporary basis More than two-thirds of the county budget is composed of programmed spending, including federal and state earmarks for specific uses, along with grants and related external source revenue. The board
By City News Service
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he city of Palm Springs on Sunday continued facing a lawsuit related to the South Palm Canyon Drive lowwater crossing project. The lawsuit, filed last August by the Center for Biological Diversity, stems from concerns that the city of Palm Springs allegedly did not conduct the legally required environmental analysis under the California Environment Quality Act, according to a Sunday statement from the Oswit Land Trust. The OLT added in their
statement that before the CBD filed the lawsuit, OLT raised concerns directly with the city of Palm Springs that the project did not appear to meet CEQA's legal requirements, but OLT did not sue the city over the project. The focus of the bridge project is conveying water under the crossing, and preventing the roadway from being damaged, structurally compromised or washed away entirely by flooding. According to city officials, South Palm Canyon Drive has closed multiple
See Bridge project Page 20