The Eastern Municipal Water District, our local water district, today announced that they received a $4.9 million grant from the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA).

The grant money is actually EMWD's share of a $25 million grant awarded to SAWPA by the State Water Resources Control Board. The money is to be used for projects that fall within the Santa Ana River Watershed. The $25 million actually comes from the Proposition 50 water bond to help water district reduce their reliance on imported water.

The EMWD said it would use the money to help offset the cost of its already existing project to expand its San Jacinto Regional Water Reclamation Facility. This facility is one of five such facilities that the district operates to capture runoff water, treat it, and then deliver it to parks, golf courses, and other customers who buy reclaimed water. Reclaimed water can be used for anything but consumption.

The San Jacinto facility currently processes about 8 million gallons of reclaimed water per day, with a total capacity of 11 million. The expansion project will boost that capacity to 27 million.

The water district has plans in place to boost the capacity for all five of its reclamation facilities, including the one in Menifee (La Ladera Rd and Honey Run Rd).

Labels: Eastern-Municipal-Water-District

During the school budget meetings six months ago, declining attendance figures were partly to blame for Menifee Union School District's budget shortfall.

But in the past several weeks, attendance is climbing.

Betti Cadmus, the public information officer for the district, reports that week after week, student enrollment is on the rise...

Jul 17th - 8,442 students
Jul 24th - 8,455
Jul 31st - 8,466
Aug 07th - 8,497
Aug 14th - 8,536

Betti credits new families moving into Menifee as the primary reason.

Each student that attends brings in thousands of dollars each year for the district.

The home foreclosures and short sales have perhaps reached a saturation point where Menifee is looking very attractive to those in higher rent communities in San Diego and Orange Counties. Or at least, that's my take anyways.

All these younger students moving in will make it tougher for unification to become reality. Probably the biggest reason why Menifee Union couldn't bring Paloma Valley High School into its fold is because we couldn't qualify for state financial assistance. In order to qualify, 25% of the total students in the newly unified district had to be Paloma Valley High students. We had something like 23.9% at the last unification meeting in June. Now with more K-8 students coming in, that percentage will likely drop further.

Note: The Californian reported on this same news last week, but said that enrollment is down, when compared to the same time last year.

Labels: Menifee-Union-School-District

The following is a statement from Phoeba Irey, candidate for Menifee School Board...

I have been a public school teacher for nearly 40 years, the last two years were as a Reading Consultant at Menifee Elementary. I was president of the state organization, Reading Specialists of California, from 1993 to 1996. In April, 2008 I earned a Masters in Governance Certificate from the California State School Boards Association.

My husband, John Irey, and I have been married 45 years. We have three children and five grandchildren. Our daughter, Shelly Whelen, teaches first grade at Callie Kirkpatrick Elementary. Three of our grandchildren went through the Menifee school system and have now graduated from Paloma High. All three are currently enrolled in college.

During my four years on the Menifee school board I have been successful in helping to:

1. Get approval to switch to a single track.


2. Get the unification process started.


3. Save and expand the elementary music program.


4. Save most student transportation.


5. Contract with "We Tip" which has resulted in reducing vandalism.


6. Get solar panels installed at MVMS which have produced approximately $11,000 worth of electricity since April, 2008.


7. Get seatbelts installed on all Menifee Union buses.


8. Encouraged best practices in teaching.


9. Support better communication at all levels.


10. Encourage schools to apply to become California Distinguished Schools. (Three Menifee Schools have been honored as California Distinguished Schools in the past four years.)


11. Save the district approximately $8,000 a year by choosing not to use the district's health plan.

If reelected, I will:

1. Keep working for Excellence in Education for all students.


2. Encourage schools to keep websites up to date.


3. Work for a smooth transition to single track.


4. Listen to community concerns.


5. Continue to support the unification process.

Please Vote IREY for Excellence in Education.

Labels: Menifee-Union-School-District

Therese Daniels chats about "What's Your Gripe" this evening on Menifee Valley Talk Radio...

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/menifeevalleyradio

Media lies, censorship and convolution of the news? HOA Power Abuse? Not enough good restaurants? Taxes too high? Too much trivial code enforcement? More youth activities? Obama? McCain? Useless age restricted communities? The declining economy? The was in Real Estate? Lenders? Homeless people? Irag? Child abuse? The usual "stuff"!?

For those of you who have been following this program since we began with thunder and lightening last May, you know I have plenty of gripes. Among my most well known are the abuse of power of HOA's, the stupidity of age restriction in non gated communities, the corruption of politicians, the watered down pudding the media calls news, and my latest favorite is Obama-nobama-pompous windbag. Airing gripes is part of the reason I created Menifee Valley Talk Radio. I discovered often what bothers me bothers you. With that in mind, it occurred to me if we shared ideas we might also discover solutions. So don't forget to listen tonight and call in with your favorite gripe!

She says she'll have a surprise guest speaker.

Labels: Radio

Menifee Valley Moms and Kids, a local meetup group, is hosting a free childrens concert featuring Hullabaloo Band, Tuesday, August 26th at La Paloma Park. Get there early for a good spot. The show starts right at 10:30am.

Labels: Concerts, La-Paloma-Park, Menifee-Valley-Moms-Kids

The following is a statement from Jerry Bowman, candidate for Menifee School Board...

I would like to formally use this statement to announce my candidacy for the Menifee Union School Board.

I am proud to say that I have been recently appointed as a Trustee, to fill Mr. Fred Twyman’s remaining term on the Board, necessitated by his resignation. I am currently meeting with the District leadership and visiting all of our outstanding schools in order to quickly get up to speed.

As a parent, a retired educator, and currently an Educational Consultant, I bring over 30 years of experience, along with the understanding and commitment necessary to be a valuable member of the Menifee Union School Board.

I have a Master of Arts in Education and hold a California Standard Life Teaching Credential with specialization in Secondary Education. (Psychology, Sociology, and Mathematics) I also work, as a consultant, with other school districts and schools (Both Elementary and Secondary) to help implement Professional Learning Communities, Improve Student Achievement, address AYP and API concerns, and provide teacher training.

I am a proud resident of the new City of Menifee, a proud U.S. Army Veteran (82nd Airborne Division), and a proud father of three daughters and one granddaughter. I have one daughter (Taylor) who is in middle school, one daughter (Alyssa) who is in high school, and one daughter (Jenna) who is a high school teacher/leader.

My experience has taught me that all decisions made in education must address the "Whole Student" and be based on improving the student's achievement, experiences, and future. If we do not "Put Students First", then we will have missed the mark.

In Menifee we have several issues that need to be addressed:

1. Future expansion, financial well being, and unification.


2. The issue of student transfers and transportation.


3. Future population increases over the next 15 years.


4. Guaranteeing that all students receive an education that is equal to or better than is provided in surrounding districts, regardless of which Menifee school they attend.

In my opinion this is accomplished by continuing to:

1. Hire the most qualified teachers.


2. Work at improving the quality of the education our students receive in Menifee.


3. Listen to the concerns of the community and make decisions accordingly, sometimes case by case.


4. Pursuing the work towards unification.

We need the Menifee Union School District, to be where students want to transfer to, not from!

"Put Students First" on Election Day! Vote for Jerry Bowman.

Jerry@Bowmanconsultinginc.com

Labels: Menifee-Union-School-District

The Press Enterprise has a piece about Ruby Tuesday coming to several locations in the IE, including Menifee...

http://www.pe.com/business/local/ stories/PE_Biz_S_ruby12.174a110.html

The San Bernardino location is slated to be followed in December by a Temecula restaurant, with openings scheduled for 2009 in Chino Hills, Fontana, Hemet, Menifee and Wildomar.

Apparently, the Menifee location won't be opening until 4th quarter, 2009. The article doesn't mention the exact location, but I believe it's going to be next door to the 76 station, on Newport Rd.

I've never mentioned Ruby Tuesday here on Menifee 24/7, but I know a couple of commenters have posted it here.

Ruby Tuesday is just an American fare chain restaurant, similar to a Marie Callendar's, Coco's, or Applebees, except it's trying to be more modern, marketing itself to the younger, more health conscious eater. It pitches itself to the 20-30 year old singles, and young urban professionals, and focuses on organic greens, hormone-free chicken, trans fat–free oil, organic teas, and all natural lemonades. I'm not sure if Menifee provides that kind of demographic, yet.

The PE article goes on to say that restaurant chains like Ruby Tuesday is hitting hard times with the economic slow down. However, I continue to read reports that the economy is expected to bottom out by the end of this year, and that 2009 things are going to go back up.

But I wonder if Temecula and Murrieta will continue to struggle now that Menifee residents no longer need to spend money in those towns, with Countryside Marketplace going in, and several other shopping centers coming to Menifee as well.

Labels: Ruby-Tuesday

The following is a statement from Randall Freeman, candidate for Menifee School Board...

I have filed papers to seek election to the Governing Board in the November 4th election to fill Mr. Twyman’s seat on the Menifee Union School District Governing Board. I am requesting that you consider supporting me for this very important position.

My wife, Karen, and I have lived in the Menifee area since our marriage in 1993. Our four daughters are attending schools in the MUSD – Daniela will be attending Bell Mountain Middle School and Sarah, Holly, and Megan attend Freedom Crest Elementary School. My desire is to serve the school district in which they are students as a volunteer. This is an excellent way in which to do so.

I am a parent and a veteran educator. I have served as an elementary teacher in a neighboring district for what will soon be my 20th year with them. My particular area of expertise is in the area of early childhood education, expertise that I believe will well serve the Governing Board. I am a National Board Certified Teacher, Early Childhood Generalist (2002) and am well into my fourth year of my doctoral program in early childhood education. I will complete my doctorate in May 2010.

I am a contributing member in the local community. Since 1998, as Public Schools Chairman for the local Masonic Lodge, I have supervised several programs which have benefited our children and our schools in the MUSD. We have a Child ID Program which has identified over 4,000 children free of charge. We have provided backpacks to over 400 kindergarten students in the MUSD and have done cornerstones for several of the Menifee USD schools, including Freedom Crest Elementary School and Oak Meadows Elementary School.

It is my desire to better serve our community, especially our children. I can think of no better way in which to do this than to serve as a member of the Governing Board. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Randall Freeman
951-672-0867
hmsbuzz@verizon.net

If you're a candidate for a school district that serves Menifee, submit your statement, of any length, and I'll publish it here.

Labels: Menifee-Union-School-District

I received the following comment from an anonymous person who seems against having prayer spoken at our city council meetings...

I was watching the U tube video on the new Menifee city council meeting. I was really shocked that they included a prayer. Are we going to be a city or a local club! I believe that if we are a bonified city - we should have separation of church & state. No prayer can cover all the beliefs of the new citizens of Menifee. I have been to other cities council meetings - and they do not pray.

The new city council should respect the beliefs of all the citizens of Menifee and omit the prayer.

Here's my take on this...

I think the prayers that John Denver has been saying at the start of each meeting is just fine. First, these prayers are not endorsed by the council, because none of the council members have voted to officially endorse them. These are not official city prayers.

Second, no one is being to forced the bow their heads and say, "Amen", when Denver says a prayer. You just need to afford every American some respect when they express their religious beliefs. Everyone has a belief of some kind, whether it's a belief in God, a belief that there is nothing, or even if they'd like to believe but don't know what. If you were to express that thought in public, you'd want your space and time to do so also.

The commenter also brought up "respect", and all I can say is that respect is a two-way street. If you want someone to respect you, you have to respect them. I'm sure if you recognize Denver's wishes to express his religious beliefs, he'll recognize yours.

Lastly, this commenter brought up the subject of "Separation of Church and State". I'll challenge that person to find this statement in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, or any other federal document. It simply doesn't exist.

That statement was made by Thomas Jefferson, while he was President, in a letter that he wrote to a church, promising them that the United States would not endorse any church as its official state church.

For that matter, the City Council, and the City of Menifee, is not endorsing Denver's prayers as being official. They're simply recognizing his First Amendment rights. Every Menifee resident can do the same thing, by using their three minutes of public comment. Denver gets the priviledge of doing this at the start of the council meeting because he earned that priviledge on election day.

Labels: City-Council

Bill Zeidlik, who has been actively involved in the community for a long time, passed out a flier at this evening's city council meeting announcing a community forum to be held on Wednesday, August 20, at 7:00pm, located at the Menifee Rural Center (on Haun Rd, north of Garbani).

His flier went on to discuss the need to create a "network of study groups, action groups and service groups, that work together to create a better Menifee". His goal is to hold all elected officials accountable to the public.

He goes on to describe his tactics, which is based on "grassroots organizing", and includes among other things, writing to the local newspapers, publishing websites, running paid ads, and conducting petitions.

It sounds like he's trying to create a Menifee version of "Rescue Murrieta", the group that successfully forced a recall of some Murrieta councilmembers a few years back.

Labels: Politics

I attended the city council meeting this evening.

There were three sessions. The first was actually a public workshop, starting at 5:00pm, where the City Attorney taught a course on the Brown Act. I didn't attend this.

The second was closed session, where the council met with real estate agents on acquiring property for city buildings.

The third session, was the "main" city council meeting, starting at 7:00pm. This session was moderately attended, not as heavily as the previous meeting of July 23.

Race for Humanity 2009

The first part of the agenda was to modify the agenda to allow Lori Stone, Jeff Stone's sister, some lengthy time in promoting her event, Race for Humanity, which takes place on April 25, 2009. It's goal is to raise money for some of the local charities. She passed out fliers detailing the event, and urged people to participate. She also wanted to ask the City Council for its participation in granting permits to close off some city streets, to accomodate the 5k & 10K run.

Because the run goes around Menifee Lakes, streets in and out of the Lakes will have to closed to protect the runners. This will be the third year for Race for Humanity.

Future City Council Meeting Location

The Council discussed where the next meeting would take place. They all agreed that the next meeting should take place at the same location, at Mt San Jacinto College. The date will be August 27, Wednesday. However, Darci Kuenzi appealed to have to the meeting after that, Sept 3, at Quail Valley Elementary School. She cited the good gesture it would create on behalf of the Council to bring the meeting to Quail Valley, and give the residents of Menifee and Sun City an opportunity to see what a great community Quail Valley has going.

Public Comments

Lesa Sobek, Director of Public Affairs for the Menifee stake of The Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke to welcome the City Council and the public to partake in the church's free pancake breakfast in celebration of their new church on La Piedra Rd. She cited some statistics on how big the LDS religion is, saying that it's the 4th largest Christian faith in the USA, with 800,000 members just in California alone, and with 6,000 in Menifee. Considering one city council member won his seat by less than 100 votes, it might be a good idea to attend.

Teddy Hamui, who works for Menifee Partners, a locally-based commercial development company, addressed the Council by extending a handshake. His company is building an 88,000 sq. ft. commercial retail center on the south-east corner of Scott & Haun roads, containing mostly small shops, like fast-food, haircutters, sandwiches, etc. Since the city is incorporating, his company now needs to establish a friendly relationship with the city council in order to get permits.

Ron Ulibarri, a candidate for Menifee School Board, capitalized on the opportunity for some free publicity, by introducing his candidacy to the audience. Ron is a former teacher, and currently runs a real estate business, Infinite Realty & Loans. I asked him to send me to a description of himself and his background, which I'll publish. And by the way, any candidate for school board that serves Menifee is welcome to send me a description, as lengthy as they want to write it, and I'll publish it.

Rob Hagenour (sp?), who is with Helix Environmental Consulting, addressed the Council by reminding them that as a government body charged with approving development projects, they'll need to obtain environmental impact studies, and that his company just so happens to specialize in conducting those studies. He left the council with some brochures.

Chuck Ruetter, a past board member with the Sun City Civic Association, and who described himself as being at one time an active member of the cityhood drive, asked the Council when they planned to define the city council districts. Mayor Edgerton deferred to the City Attorney, who said that it was something they would begin addressing sometime after October 1, 2008 (which could be anywhere between October 1, 2008 and the next 100 years). Ruetter replied back that he became opposed to the cityhood effort after he learned that so many people wanted to elect councilmembers at large. But since the voters approved districts instead, he's now gung-ho with cityhood.

Louis Mazei, a previous candidate for city council, addressed the Council by saying that he supports John Denver's statements from the previous meeting, and that he supports Jason Reeves' opinion piece published in The Californian. I'm not exactly sure what statement from Denver he's referring to, particularly since he left the meeting immediately after finishing his address. But I'm guessing it had to do with Denver's opinions over his election to city council and his continuing leadership role with the Chamber of Commerce. Louis went on to ask the Council to instruct the local Post Office to issue a directive advising Sun City, Quail Valley, and Romoland residents that they can now use "Menifee" as their mailing address.

Super Senior Program

Organizers of the Super Senior Program, a program run by the Kay Ceniceros Center, that pairs seniors with high school kids willing to help them out with stuff, asked the City Council for an official endorsement of their program. Darci Kuenzi made a motion to give the Program the city's stamp of approval, and the rest of the councilmembers followed through. The Super Senior Program is now officially endorsed by the City Council.

If you have a charity that needs an endorsement, it sounds like the city is handing them out.

The City Needs a Bank

City Manager George Wentz addressed the council asking if they have any comments or concerns about selecting the city's official bank. His financial assistant, Gary Thompson, put together an RFP (request for proposal), which he will be sending out to local banks. The council didn't have any, and so it sounds like Thompson will be looking for a bank.

Interim City Clerk

George Wentz also asked the Council to relieve Scott Mann from his duties as the Interim City Clerk. Wentz will assume the task of hiring a permanent city clerk. Mann reported eariler this afternoon that the previous e-mail addresses he set up (MenifeeCityClerk@mchsi.com) and (mannformenifee@mchsi.com) are no longer working, since he now has a new one (smann@cityofmenifee.us).

Interim City Treasurer

Wentz also said that he now needs to hire an Interim City Treasurer, which will take on more duties on financial matters. He wants to appoint Gary Thompson, who currently consults for him. Thompson is the guy who prepared the fiscal analysis for the Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee.

City Manager's Report

Wentz continued on to say that he's working on building the city's new website. It should be online by this Monday.

He'll also be attending the California League of Cities meeting on Sept 23-24.

The issue with the County Code violations, that the County levied on a bunch of Menifee-area businesses off of Zeiders Rd has been resolved. Basically, the matter has been dropped, to sum it up.

Wentz also met with the Sheriff to discuss law enforcement in the new city. This is probably mostly about law enforcement in the interim until after the city decides whether to contract permanently, or build their own department.

He also mentioned working on getting liability insurance for the new city, and meeting with folks from the State Board of Equalization (sales tax revenue).

City Councilmember Comments

Scott Mann gave his thanks to the city staff for their hard work.

Darci Kuenzi asked that the Council begin looking for the permanent meeting location after October 1, assuming the city doesn't have a permanent building secured by then.

Fred Twyman asked that the Council develop a timeline on creating more community advisory groups.

John Denver asked that the Council host a contest to create the City's official logo, perhaps inviting local students to submit artwork, and offering a prize for the winner.

Wallace Edgerton expressed his gratitude to everyone who attended for showing their interest in the new city.

Labels: City-Council

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is pleased to announce their new church located on La Piedra, right across the street from Mt San Jacinto College.

To celebrate, they're offering a free pancake breakfast on Saturday, September 9, 2008, from 8:00am to 11:00am. They're also doing a basketball free-throw contest; I'm not sure what the prize will be.

In addition, they'll be running presentations on Emergency Preparedness, Employment, Building Stronger Marriage & Family Relationships, Parenting For All Ages, Family History, and Facing the Trials of Life.

The public is also invited to tour the new church and see all the facilities.

Labels: LDS-Church

The Menifee City Council is holding a public meeting tonight.

It will be a three part meeting, where two of the parts are open to the public.

1. (Public) - 5:00pm to 6:30pm - Study Session, conducted by our Interim City Attorney, to explain the Brown Act.

2. (Closed) - 6:30pm to 7:00pm - City Council to discuss details on acquiring real property.

3. (Public) - 7:00pm to ? - City Council holds its regular city council meeting.

The public meetings will be held at Mt San Jacinto College, at the Learning Resource Center Building, Community Room #105.

A copy of the agenda can be downloaded here...

http://www.menifee247.com/menifee-city-council-agenda-2008-08-13.pdf

Labels: City-Council

The Californian reports that a location is being looked at for the site of a third high school within the City of Menifee...

http://www.northcountytimes.com/..../zc0de2ae76f7b3e238825749b00674e83.txt

The land is east of Interstate 215 in the southern part of the 180-square-mile Perris Union High School District, the boundaries of which dip into Murrieta and end south of Scott Road.

But it looks like it's going to take several years before this school is built.

I know some parents living on the east side of the 215 that are not very happy about sending their kids to Heritage High, when Paloma seems closer.

Labels: Perris-Union-High-School-District

The Press Enterprise published some more facts about campaign contributions into the Menifee City Council....

http://www.pe.com/..../PE_News_Local_S_scampaign06.4912d27.html

They looked at more contributions from developers into the hands of Darcy Kuenzi, Scott Mann, and John Denver.

They noted that Wallace Edgerton took in no contributions, and Fred Twyman didn't report any because he had less than the $1,000 reporting threshold.

The Press Enterprise also put some emphasis on the fact that GST Consulting contributed money to Kuenzi's campaign, and that the Menifee City Council later hired GST Consulting to be their financial consultant.

But I don't think there's really anything to read into that. GST Consulting was the same company that did the fiscal analysis for the Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee, as well as the Wildomar Incorporation Now group. I tend to think that GST Consulting would have been hired anyways, if they didn't contribute.

The Building Industry Association of Southern California contributed quite well to the campaigns of Kuenzi, Mann, and Denver. The BIASC is a lobbyist that represents the interests of home builders, with some 2,100 builders represented. You gotta wonder what kind of return on investment will the BIASC be getting back from those three.

Labels: City-Council