Menifee Cityhood Inauguration Recap

Well, it all seemed to go without a hitch. The ceremony part, held at Bell Mountain Middle School, was packed solid with people. All seats ...

Well, it all seemed to go without a hitch.

The ceremony part, held at Bell Mountain Middle School, was packed solid with people. All seats were filled, and many more were left standing. The local boy scout troop 444 was on hand to lead the audience in the pledge of allegiance. Eric Handy a Paloma Valley High School student belted out an impressive rendition of the National Anthem. His voice was so powerful and clear, the sound system couldn't handle his cantor and crackled with static.

Pastor Gary Galbraith from Revival Christian Fellowship gave an invocation.

Immediately following, the city council was sworn into office by 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Stone. That was followed by the city council doing its series of motions and votes to adopt county ordinances and the county's general plan. All council members voted to adopt everything without comment, except where councilman Twyman commented that the County's general plan was never fully explained to the council, and that he has reservations about adopting something that we don't have full knowledge of. But he voted to adopt it anyways with the understanding that we have the right change it as we see fit.

With all the formalities out the way, the council members gave speeches to the audience. For the most part, they were congratulatory speeches. Kuenzi named off several long time residents and advocates of cityhood and thanked them. Denver spoke about his involvement with the cityhood effort. Mann recounted his family history and his desire to serve. Twyman talked about why he ran for office.

Joe Daugherty, the guy who chaired the cityhood incorporation committee, named off the other members of the committee, all of whom received applause.

But what turned out to be the highlight of the evening was Mayor Edgerton's speech. The guy electrified the audience. He spoke with such great conviction, you could see the words drawing up from his chest. If the Mayor personifies Teddy Roosevelt's mantra of "speak softly and carry a big stick", then tonight we saw the big stick.

"Come Hell or Highwater we promise this city will maintain a surplus in its budget!!", were words he hammered out with authority to the roar of the audience. When he promised not to raise taxes and fees on the people, his intensity put George Bush Sr's "read my lips" speech to shame. He had total confidence when he reminded the audience that we have a conservative council who promised to not blow our money the way state and federal governments have done. Then he took on a more comforting tone with news that our police force had been boosted overnight, and threw credit to councilmen Mann and Denver for making it happen. But his fervent tone picked back up when he credited councilman Twyman for making sure the council listens to the people. I even saw Jeff Stone's head nodding with approval when the Mayor promised to build more parks and preserve the rural nature of Menifee so that "children will not have to grow up in a sea of asphalt!" All of which received rounds of applause. And finally he finished his speech with an interesting set of words, "I am proud to say that my name is Wallace Edgerton, and I am the mayor of Menifee!"

Then he called for the audience to congratulate itself on becoming a new city, and subsequently called for the meeting to adjourn.

But I didn't stick around for the aftermath. I exited right away, and found Mieke Jacobs from Menifee Live doing the same thing. We both wanted to check out the inauguration ballgame gathering nearby. I chatted with Dave Fokken, coach of the Menifee Mustangs. Mieke and I got ourselves a couple of In-N-Out burger combos (compliments of Jeff Stone) and watched a couple innings of the game.

I don't know who won the game, but I did witness one of the Mustangs belt a monster triple into center field.

Then we headed off for the inauguration party at Menifee Lakes Country Club. I got there around 8:15pm.

For the record, no one was checking for RSVPs, despite the instructions we were given of having to RSVP. I just walked right in, didn't check in with anyone, nobody said anything. I asked other people there if they were checked for RSVPs, and they weren't either. I later learned they were keeping a head count instead. I was told about 600-620 people were there.

The area around the food was congested, and the food was going about as fast as the staff could replenish. That In-N-Out burger looked like a good idea.

I met Rose Watkins, a friend of mine with Century 21. We talked. I met Cynthia Aina, who runs Menifee4Rent.com. We talked. I met Armand Blais, who had a trio of musicians playing. We talked. I saw Jim Semanek from the Computer Club of Menifee Valley. We talked.

The only city councilmembner I got to talk to was the mayor himself. We both ended up at the food table, trying to get some chow, but having to wait until they brought more over. I congratulated him as the new mayor, and complimented him on his speech. Otherwise, the other councilmembers were constantly being pulled left and right by every other attendee.

By 9:00pm, the event was starting to run its course, and I finished up by taking a few more photos for this blog, took my complimentary bottle of "City of Menifee Champagne", and headed home.

Here's some photos...

Menifee Police Car
Our first official police car; if you get to sit in the back of this thing, let us know what it's like.

Menifee City Council Swearing In
Getting sworn in

Pechanga Great Oak Sapling
The sapling from the Pechangas - Note that councilman Twyman was the only guy in the room with a pink tie.

Lake Elsinore Storm Mascot
Lake Elsinore Storm mascot at the cityhood inauguration baseball game

Menifee Cityhood Inaugural Baseball Game
Menifee Mustangs up to bat

Menifee Cityhood Inaugural Party
The scene inside Menifee Lakes Country Club

Menifee Cityhood Inaugural Ice Sculpture
Here's a better shot of that ice sculpture

Menifee Cityhood Champagne Toast
A champagne toast led by Supervisor Marion Ashley

Armand Blais Orchestra
Armand Blais with a trio belting out tunes

Related

Menifee-Mustangs 7222482268051440525

Post a Comment

  1. Cityhood Inauguration looked like something out of the Republican Convention...oh yeah there was a Hispanic Music Trio...That was nice of you

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  2. First I want to say Thank You to Jeff Stone. We enjoyed the In N Out:) So was Arnold Shwartznager here yesterday? I kept hearing rumors. So when do we change our city addresses??

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  3. The Cityhood Inauguration Event was outstanding! It was everything you'd want or expect and I will always remember this historical time in our history here in the City of Menifee!!
    God Bless the City of Menifee......

    Marcy Riehm
    Lake Menifee Women's Club

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  4. I am a new resident and 1st time homeowner in Menifee. I have lived here for 3 months and am very proud to say I was here when Menifee bacame a City. My neighbor and I attended the Inauguration at Menifee Lakes Country Club and thought it was a great success.

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  5. From the parking lot coordinators to the actual presentations, I really don't see how the evening could have been put together better, nor run more smoothly than it all did, from the auditorium to the clubhouse. Sure, LOTS of people showed up, but everyonoe was so gracious, fun and happy, it really didn't matter. The ceremony in the auditorium; with the glorious honorguard, the pledge, Boy Scouts, the young man with the beautiful, strong voice who sang the anthem; it all was at times goosebumps with joy. Lady next to me rubbed her arms saying "it gives me goosebumps". Not to mention our very own name on our police car(s)! Our board can be proud, as we can.

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  6. As usual Steve bails Holly out...thats ok we had a wonderful time at the inauguration, and we all got a good laugh at Holly's expense...Cheer up Holly. Steve still loves you....lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. Steve didn't bail me out. I erased it myself, because of people like you. I didn't even read the one's past comment 12.. LOL.. So you wasted your time.
    Are you afraid to leave your name??? You people sure are bold being anonymous.
    I am glad I was able to provide you with some entertainment. Your life must be boring, if you get off on the blogs of Menifee247. Maybe you should use your extra time to volunteer.

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  8. Sounds like it was a wonderful event. I'm sorry I was out of town. As one of his first official duties, I was wondering if Mayor Edgerton would please take down the ugly campaign sign (giant white board)on Newport by the Mobil station. Many of us would very much appreciate it!

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  9. I don't believe that's Wally's sign, it's owned by someone else.

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  10. I can't speak to who it belongs to, but it has his name on it :)

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  11. Hey Steve,

    Thanks for being involved in the community.Thanks for being innovative enough to create this website. Thanks for being thorough. Thanks for being objective. Thanks for having a sense of humor. Thanks for taking pictures. Thanks for making this a great website to communicate with my neighbors and fellow Menifites. It is truly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  12. to the baseball game mustangs won 17-2 i think....
    to hard for me to remeber im currently on the travel team and the one who hit that triple. Aside from that all i can say is i think all of the mustangs made menifee proud by winning menifee's first official game. That will live on with us forever.

    ReplyDelete

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