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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10-NOVEMBER 16, 2025
NO. 249
VOL. 11,
Victorville accepting applications for vacant City Council seat
Riverside allocates $100K for food insecurity caused by federal shutdown
By Joe Taglieri
By Staff
joet@beaconmedianews.com
T
he Riverside City Council on Tuesday voted 5-0 approving $100,000 to assist Riverside residents experiencing a lapse in food aid because of the federal government shutdown. The city’s agreement with the Salvation Army aims to ensure food aid recipients are eligible for the program and live in Riverside. The shutdown has resulted in the U.S. Department of Agriculture first completely halting food assistance payments to recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Then after
V
ictorville began accepting applications Wednesday from qualified residents living in District 2 to fill a vacancy on the City Council. Council members will select an applicant to serve the remainder of Councilwoman Debra Jones’ term which ends in December 2026. In August, Jones announced she was stepping down and her last council meeting would be Oct. 21. She said her husband suffered a medical emergency that required the couple to move into a single-story home sooner than they had planned. “After years of dedicated service to Victorville, I will soon be stepping down from the City Council as I prepare to relocate outside the city,” Jones posted on Facebook. “Serving this community has been one of the greatest honors of my life, and I am deeply grateful for the trust you’ve placed in me. “Together, we’ve achieved so much — from strengthening public safety to bringing new jobs and addressing homelessness with compassion and innovation,” Jones wrote. “I leave confident in Victorville’s future and in the capable hands of its leaders and residents.” Jones told the Victorville Daily Press that she and her husband of more than 40 years, Gene, had been looking for homes in the Banning area for a possible move several years from now. The couple decided to focus on a single-story house in Sun Lakes Country Club, a gated community for active adults. Jones was first elected in 2018 and reelected four years later. She has been recognized for her work on public safety, economic development and homelessness. Jones helped implement
courts intervened, the USDA announced partial payments that Riverside officials expect to be made this month. City officials said the $100,000 reallocation is designed to stabilize households facing temporary income disruptions and make sure that essential food resources stay available. SNAP assists 46,649 Riverside residents, including 16,100 age 17 and younger, 21,627 ages 18-59 and 8,922 age 60 and up. “From low-income residents to members of our military, there are suddenly thousands of Riverside resi-
See Food insecurity Page 27
Debra Jones. | Photo courtesy of Debra Jones/Facebook
the voter-approved Measure P, which increased funding for law enforcement and fire services, and helped to bring large employers such as Amazon and CarMax to the city. She also played a key role in the December 2023 opening of the Victorville Wellness Center. The first-of-its-kind facility in San Bernardino County provides housing, medical services and wraparound support for people experiencing homelessness. Since the center opened, Victorville has seen a 57% decrease in unsheltered homelessness compared with the 2024 point-in-time count. Jones also backed projects for a new police station and civic plaza that are currently underway. In addition to her council work, Jones served on regional boards including the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, Victor Valley Wastewater Reclama-
tion Authority and Mojave Desert & Mountain Recycling Joint Powers Authority. She was also an alternate on the Victor Valley Transit Authority and served on the League of California Cities Revenue and Taxation Committee. “Serving as your City Councilmember has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Jones said in a statement. “Victorville will always be my home at heart. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made together and confident the city will continue to thrive in the capable hands of its leadership and engaged residents. “Victorville has my deepest love and unwavering belief,” Jones said. “Thank you for trusting me, for walking beside me, and for inviting me to serve. This community’s promise remains bright — one I’ll forever carry in my heart.” District 2 is in the city’s southwest section. A map of the District 2 boundaries is available on the city’s website.
Residents interested in being considered for council appointment must email a letter of interest and resume to City Clerk Jennifer Thompson at cityclerk@victorvilleca.gov no later than 5 p.m. on Nov. 14. Applicants must reside in the 2nd District, be registered to vote and be able to attend City Council meetings held on the first and third Tuesdays each month beginning at 5 p.m. Additional meetings will be scheduled upon request and as needs for public hearings or closed sessions arise. The four remaining council members will choose the appointee at an unspecified future date, according to the city. Questions about City Council service should go to 760-955-5029 or cityclerk@ victorvilleca.gov, officials said. Located in Southern California’s High Desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Victorville’s population totals about 136,000.
Calvert pledges to ‘keep fighting for families’ despite Prop 50 approval By City News Service
A
new set of congressional district lines is in effect Wednesday in California following the overwhelming passage of Proposition 50, but Rep. Ken Calvert said he is “determined to keep fighting for the families I represent in Congress.” What supporters dubbed The Election Rigging Response Act leads 63.8%36.2% with all election night precincts partially reporting, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who conceived of what would become Proposition 50 after Texas adopted a See Calvert Page 28
mid-decade congressional redistricting plan favorable to Republicans, on Tuesday night called its passage, “not just a victory tonight for the Democratic Party, it was a victory for the United States of America, for the people of this country and the principles that our Founding Fathers lived and died for.” Proposition 50 establishes new congressional district maps for the 2026 midterm elections that will also be used for the 2028 and 2030 elections. An analysis by the election news website Ballotpedia said it would shift five Republican-held congressional districts