Cityhood Inaugural Event Committee - July 29, 2008
by Steve
7/29/2008 09:43:00 PM
I attended the Inaugural Event Committee this evening. It ran from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, at Boston Billies.
I counted 30 people that showed up, not counting Darcy Kuenzi, who's chairing this committee. Scott Mann is also chairing, but was absent on vacation.
Since the inauguration is an official process, this event will be a two-part function, with the official inauguration beginning at 6:00pm, and then migrating into a party. The location of the official hasn't been nailed down yet, but the party afterwards will be at Menifee Lakes Country Club.
The City is sending out invitations to elected officials, including State Assemblymen, State Senators, County Officials, even the Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger (can't guarantee that he'll show up though).
And of course, everyone who lives in the new City of Menifee is invited to witness some local history in the making.
There will also be a Mayoral Ball to be held on the following Saturday (which is October 4, I believe). Sounds like this is going to be a formal affair. It'll be hosted by the Rotary Club, and the whole city is invited to that too.
Darcy Kuenzi addressing the inauguration committee meetingSub-CommitteesAs for the Inaugural Event Committee, several sub-committees were formed to tackle specific tasks. There's a committee to come up with a theme, and some themes were suggested, such as a mining theme, a farming theme, a "road to the future" theme, even a "prison break" theme because we're breaking the bonds of County-control.
There's a decoration committee, a set-up committee for the city council meeting, a security committee, a sponsorship committee, and a parking committee. Just about everyone who attended this evening has at least one role in one of the sub-committees.
Sponsorship CommitteeThe inaugural event will incur some costs, but since the City doesn't have any money right now, sponsors are sorely needed.
So, the sponsorship committee is looking for local businesses and organizations willing to donate services and money. All donors will receive an advertisement in the official Cityhood Inauguration Program.
If you have some talents, services, materials, or money to donate, Contact Judee Edgerton (951) 218-2450.
Parking CommitteeThe City is looking for someone to lead the Parking Committee. Anyone reading this is urged to volunteer.
People are needed to direct drivers over to available parking spaces. Your job is to gather up the volunteers to do this job, and coordinate them.
Please e-mail Darcy Kuenzi (dkuenzi@cityofmenifee.us) if you're interested.
Other JobsAn event photographer was discussed, and one of the attendees happens to be a professional photographer and was given the job.
It was also noted that a lot of heavy lifting would be required in setting up the formal inauguration and party, and one person took the job of gathering some guys together.
There was also the idea of getting some artwork created. Darcy talked about getting a mural painted depicting Menifee's history. One MSJC student who was in attendance accepted the job of getting some art students together to see what can be done.
More Volunteers WelcomeIf you couldn't attend this evening's meeting, but wanted to, you can still play a role. Contact Darcy at the e-mail address above.
Next MeetingOr, you can attend the next meeting, scheduled for August 11, at 6:00pm, at Boston Billies, banquet room.
Labels: Cityhood
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Romoland Voted Overwhelmingly for Cityhood
by Steve
7/24/2008 03:24:00 PM
Joe Daugherty, who chaired the Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee, passed around a handout at the city council meeting last night showing statistics of how people voted on the cityhood issue.
He obtained data from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters which broke down the vote tallies by region...
Sun City 3,647 for "yes"
2,891 for "no"
55.78% for yes
57% of total voters
Menifee 2,831 for "yes"
1,218 for "no"
69.92% for yes
35% of total voters
Romoland 414 for "yes"
151 for "no"
73.27% for yes
5% of total voters
Quail Valley 268 for "yes"
136 for "no"
66.34% for yes
3% of total voters
To read this data, if you look at Romoland for example, 414 people voted yes, 151 voted no, for a ratio of 73.27% in favor. Romoland voters accounted for 5% of all the people voting on the cityhood issue.
You could argue that most of the Romoland voters were from Heritage Lake. Daugherty says he doesn't have enough granularity on this data to show from which parts of Romoland these voters came from.
But you can also see that Sun City still commands the largest share of voters, yet they were much more evenly divided over cityhood, with 55.78% voting in favor.
Labels: Cityhood, Romoland
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Cityhood Inaugural Event Committee Seeks Members
by Steve
7/23/2008 01:59:00 PM
Mayor Pro Tem Darcy Kuenzi is chairing the Inaugural Event Committee which will plan Menifee's cityhood inauguration. She is reaching out to the community to find people interested helping out with some event planning.
Interested persons are invited to attend the initial meeting, Tuesday, July 29, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm, at Boston Billie's Restaurant, Banquet Room, 26850 Cherry Hills Blvd, Sun City, CA 92586. Boston Billie's is located inside the Sun City Shopping Plaza.
Labels: Cityhood
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Country Transition Meeting - Details
by Steve
7/16/2008 09:27:00 PM
I attended the county transition meeting this evening.
Much of what was stated was stuff that I think many of us already know, that the county will continue providing services to us up until October 1, when we incorporate officially.
From October 1 thereafter, the county will continue to provide services for free, but only up until June 30, 2009. After that point, any services the county provides will be billed to the city.
Beginning October 1, the city must adopt all existing county ordinances as its own. From there, it can modify those laws, eliminate them, or create new ones. Based on that, the city may wean itself away from county services and provide its own.
Jeff Stone SpeaksSupervisor spent some considerable time speaking, much of it was congratulating the new city council, and talking about how much of a good thing cityhood is. He also handed out certificates of appreciation to Menifee MAC members and Quail Valley MAC members. Menifee MAC officially dissolves today, while Quail Valley MAC will continue up until September 30.
Stone also mentioned that the county is right now filling positions for some 1,500 new Sheriff's deputies. The county is also building several new prisons. Being that inadequate police presence is one reason why we incorporated, it's nice to know the county is now beefing this up. It makes me wonder if contracting out its deputies is a big revenue source for the county.
He also said that they're building a new animal shelter facility in San Jacinto, costing $12 million, and should be open by the end of this year.
Lastly, he said that on October 1, just as Menifee incorporates, the county will be holding an "Autumn Festival", where clubs, groups, non-profits, businesses, and everyone is invited to celebrate. He invited the Menifee city council to establish a committee to decide how it plans to participate.
Public CommentsOne person asked about will the new city pay for county services. Gary Thompson, who is acting as our city's financial advisor, and was the guy who performed the Menifee's fiscal analysis, talked in detail about where Menifee will gets its funds from. While he named several types of fees and taxes, he said some of those fees will come into the city's funds immediately as of October 1, but others will take several months to trickle in.
Another person asked about how the county and city will coordinate on what to do with Audie Murphy Ranch and the Newport Road realignment. Juan Perez, who represents the county transportation department, said it's a very difficult question to answer. But that he'll be speaking specifically about this topic at a city council meeting on July 23, which I presume is the next council meeting on Wednesday.
Someone asked how many people could possibly live in Menifee. Jeff Stone spoke up and said this city has a potential for 250,000 residents. However, that's only if the county were to continue building at its pace. He went on to explain that now that we've become a city, we can decide how many homes to build. Had we not incorporated, then that quarter-of-a-million people would likely happen.
George WentzInterim City Manager, George Wentz, spoke up a bit. He mostly said that he's hard at work putting the pieces together, and urged everyone to attend the city council meetings, where he gives a status report on what he's accomplished.
He went on to add that he's now working on getting a website created that will provide information for us all. He also said that each city council member will have e-mail addresses. All this info to come out later.
Scott Mann, who is acting as Menifee's city clerk, gave out his e-mail address (menifeecityclerk@mchsi.com) again, and mentioned that he has received a "plethora" of e-mail from folks wanting to volunteer, what they want done in the new city, and their comments.
Jeff Stone also spoke up and said that he'll create a special section
on his website just for Menifee cityhood info.
SummaryWhile it was nice listening to Jeff Stone talk about some of things their working on doing, I found that much of this meeting was congratulatory in nature. I think much of what the county spoke about in terms of transitioning its services was stuff most of us knew.
I am, however, looking forward to hearing Juan Perez speak about the Newport Road realignment next week.
Labels: Cityhood, Jeff-Stone
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County to City Transition Meeting - Tonight
by Steve
7/16/2008 12:11:00 PM
Tonight at 6:00pm, the Supervisor Jeff Stone is hosting a "transition meeting", to explain how the County plans to transition its services to the new City of Menifee.
The meeting will be located at Heritage High School, inside the theater.
There is no city council meeting this week, because of today's county meeting.
Labels: Cityhood, Heritage-High-School
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How can we become involved in the city?
by Todd
6/12/2008 01:40:00 PM
I was initially tempted to ask this question in response to a comment made by a poster under a different heading. The comment reflected on the number of suggestions citizens had made regarding what the new city should do, but not a single person had asked how to become involved in the new city. As I was typing up my response, I decided there was the possibility of it getting lost in the shuffle. Therefore, I decided to post under a new heading.
I don't know if the last vote has been counted, but it doesn't appear that any of the five current vote leaders are going to lose their positions. So even though the election hasn't officially been certified, I will refer to those five individuals as our city council. I know at least some of them read this site, if not all of them.
With that, I'm posing these questions to the newly elected city council members: Mr. Edgerton, Ms. Kuenzi, Mr. Twyman, Mr. Mann and Mr. Denver: How can we, as citizens of Menifee, become involved in the formation of the new city? What type of committees are going to be formed? How much input are citizens going to have regarding the directions to be taken in the next few months before incorporation and beyond? What plans, if any, are there to bring the communities involved (Sun City, Quail Valley, Romoland and Menifee) closer together and end the divisiveness that is obviously apparent? What plans are there for showing cityhood opponents that cityhood was the right choice? Have the five individuals that are currently leading in vote count even met yet to discuss some of these issues?
I don't have the first clue about starting a city, but I know there has to be a lot of work involved. I don't expect five people to piece together a new city in less than four months.
So I'm offering my services in any way the city council sees fit. There are areas I have a lot of knowledge and expertise in and there are areas I have strong opinions about. I also have the ability to look at things objectively from more than one point of view.
Please feel free to contact me regarding involvement with the city, and that goes for all Menifee 24/7 readers, not just the city council members.
I can be reached at
toddinmenifee@verizon.net.
Todd Reed
Labels: City-Council, Cityhood
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More value in a name?
by Sarah
6/10/2008 10:45:00 AM
An aquaintance of mine, who is actively house hunting in this area, made the comment to me recently..."I am so glad that the cityhood passed, now I feel better about shopping for a home in parts of Quail Valley and Romoland because there is not going to be the stigma attached with those names."I admit that I actually had to stop and think about what she said. I remember moving here from O.C. in 1998 and choosing to buy a house in Menifee over Temecula. I remember being referred to (by some that shall remain nameless) as the "dirt people."That irony being pointed out, Do you think the incorporation of local areas under "Menifee" will change anything about this so-called stigma? Labels: Cityhood
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Write-In Election Results
by Steve
6/09/2008 06:16:00 PM
Below are the latest election results posted this afternoon, after the write-in ballots were counted. The only change is that Twyman now gets his third-place seat back from Mann.
Balloting for the write-ins are below as well...
Measure F-Proposed Incorporation of Menifee Valley 46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
Yes 6,439 61.61%No 4,012 38.39%
Total 10,451 100.00%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measure G-Future Menifee Valley Elections 46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
By District 4,767 51.19%At Large 4,546 48.81%
Total 9,313 100.00%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measure H-Name of Proposed City 46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
Menifee 5,149 53.36%Menifee Valley 4,501 46.64%
Total 9,650 100.00%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Member, City Council Menifee Valley 46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
WALLACE WAYNE EDGERTON 3,660 9.34%
DARCY KUENZI 3,086 7.87%
FREDERICK ALLEN TWYMAN, III 2,717 6.93%
SCOTT A. MANN 2,671 6.82%
JOHN DENVER 2,536 6.47%DEAN DEINES 2,525 6.44%
DARCI CASTILLEJOS 2,500 6.38%
CHRIS THOMAS 2,452 6.26%
MARC A. MILLER 2,429 6.20%
DOROTHY WOLONS 2,176 5.55%
CAROL A. SULLIVAN 2,171 5.54%
TOM FUHRMAN 1,734 4.42%
LOUIS GERALD MAZEI 1,695 4.33%
TONY AMATULLI 1,629 4.16%
KEN GAUNT 1,562 3.99%
JERRY P. STAMPER 1,238 3.16%
JASON REEVES 1,215 3.10%
GERALD WAYNE WALKER 800 2.04%
DINA L. BIEDERMANN 394 1.01%
Total 39,190 100.00%
Write-InsANTHONY J. CUOMO - 71
SUSAN KRISTJANSSON - 45
JASON "JAY" ROTH - 87
Labels: City-Council, Cityhood
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Updated Election Results
by Steve
6/07/2008 07:05:00 PM
Here are updated election results from the Registrar of Voters, posted this evening. Not much change, with the exception that Mann now takes over as the third-place vote getter, and Twyman moves down to fourth...
Measure F-Proposed Incorporation of Menifee Valley 46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
Yes 6,095 61.09%No 3,882 38.91%
Total 9,977 100.00%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measure G-Future Menifee Valley Elections 46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
By District 4,562 51.40%At Large 4,314 48.60%
Total 8,876 100.00%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measure H-Name of Proposed City 46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
Menifee 4,875 53.05%Menifee Valley 4,314 46.95%
Total 9,189 100.00%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Member, City Council Menifee Valley 46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
WALLACE WAYNE EDGERTON 3,499 9.36%
DARCY KUENZI 2,969 7.94%
SCOTT A. MANN 2,571 6.88%
FREDERICK ALLEN TWYMAN, III 2,561 6.85%
JOHN DENVER 2,457 6.57%
DEAN DEINES 2,420 6.47%
DARCI CASTILLEJOS 2,364 6.32%
CHRIS THOMAS 2,322 6.21%
MARC A. MILLER 2,283 6.11%
CAROL A. SULLIVAN 2,104 5.63%
DOROTHY WOLONS 2,085 5.58%
TOM FUHRMAN 1,632 4.36%
LOUIS GERALD MAZEI 1,617 4.32%
TONY AMATULLI 1,534 4.10%
KEN GAUNT 1,508 4.03%
JERRY P. STAMPER 1,188 3.18%
JASON REEVES 1,139 3.05%
GERALD WAYNE WALKER 757 2.02%
DINA L. BIEDERMANN 379 1.01%
Total 37,389 100.00%
Labels: City-Council, Cityhood
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Changing Address to Menifee
by Steve
6/04/2008 08:41:00 AM
Even though technically, the ballot count won't be certified by the Registrar of Voters for a while, it's a safe bet that no one will challenge the count in Measure F, the cityhood initiative.
So the question that's probably on the minds of residents here, "Should I change my address to Menifee?"
The answer is "No".
I just got off the phone with the Sun City post office, and asked them that question. If you live in Quail Valley, Sun City, or Romoland, the USPS recommends you continue using those names. Even though the zip code is largely what drives the mail distribution, changing the address to "Menifee" at this time can create problems for them.
They said they'll wait to hear from the local post master before making any changes.
You can call the Sun City post office for more questions: (951) 301-3657.
Labels: Cityhood, Post-Office, Zip-Codes
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Menifee Cityhood Election Results
by Steve
6/04/2008 02:21:00 AM
Menifee cityhood passes!
It wasn't until nearly 2:00am this morning that the Registrar of Voters published tallies from 100% of the precincts and mail-in votes. Here are the results...
Measure F-Proposed Incorporation of Menifee Valley46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
Yes 5,162 60.68%No 3,345 39.32%
Total 8,507 100.00%
Measure G-Future Menifee Valley Elections46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
By District 3,940 52.11%At Large 3,621 47.89%
Total 7,561 100.00%
Measure H-Name of Proposed City46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
Menifee 4,089 52.24%Menifee Valley 3,739 47.76%
Total 7,828 100.00%
Member, City Council Menifee Valley46/46 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
WALLACE WAYNE EDGERTON 2,964 9.26%
DARCY KUENZI 2,490 7.78%
FREDERICK ALLEN TWYMAN, III 2,165 6.76%
SCOTT A. MANN 2,149 6.71%
JOHN DENVER 2,112 6.60%
DEAN DEINES 2,039 6.37%
DARCI CASTILLEJOS 2,036 6.36%
MARC A. MILLER 1,984 6.20%
CHRIS THOMAS 1,957 6.11%
CAROL A. SULLIVAN 1,854 5.79%
DOROTHY WOLONS 1,811 5.66%
TOM FUHRMAN 1,416 4.42%
LOUIS GERALD MAZEI 1,389 4.34%
TONY AMATULLI 1,333 4.16%
KEN GAUNT 1,318 4.12%
JERRY P. STAMPER 1,038 3.24%
JASON REEVES 958 2.99%
GERALD WAYNE WALKER 674 2.10%
DINA L. BIEDERMANN 337 1.05%
Total 32,024 100.00%
The city council consists of, Edgerton, Kuenzi, Twyman, Mann, and Denver, with Edgerton winning the most votes. It will be awhile until we find out how the write-in candidates fared.
In addition to cityhood passing, voters approved of naming the new city, "Menifee", and approved voting for city council members by district.
So folks, how does "Mayor Wally" sound?
Labels: Cityhood
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Election Results
by Todd
6/03/2008 12:23:00 PM
5 comments | | Perma Link
Low Voter Turnout in Menifee?
by Steve
6/02/2008 12:20:00 PM
Hopefully, we'll get a turnout of at least 50% here in Menifee Valley, compared to the 33% that the Registrar of Voters is predicting across Riverside County.
One thing working against voters who live in Menifee, is apathy. It's not that families don't care about cityhood, it's that they largely don't see the concern right now.
For example, when I moved here from Orange County in 2001, I came from a place that was already congested, where there was a greater likelihood of making enemies than friends. But when we came here, we found a much different community. It was quiet here, and all of our neighbors wanted to be friends.
We didn't see a need to change Menifee, with perhaps the exception of adding more shopping and dining.
I think even the families that moved in here within the past couple of years have the same thoughts.
They can't see what's in the future for Menifee because they still see this community as being a welcome relief from where they came from.
But now that we've been here for awhile, we have a clearer picture of what's going on around here. I hope everyone loves their community enough to cast a ballot.
If you don't know where to vote, you can look it up here...
http://www.election.co.riverside.ca.us/polls/root0603/pollplac.htmLabels: Cityhood
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Menifee Valley Talk Radio - Show #4
by Steve
5/28/2008 07:13:00 PM
This morning Menifee Valley Talk Radio ran it's fourth show. You can hear a replay here...
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/..../Menifee-Valley-Talk-RadioTherese's co-host, Chuck Reuter was not there taking care of some personal matters, so Julie Johnson sat in his place. Julie was the former CEO of both the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce and Menifee Sun City Chamber of Commerce, as well as a former legislative aid for 3rd District Supervisor, Jeff Stone.
Mid-way into the show, Therese listed off her picks for city council, Wallace Edgerton, Sue Kristjansson, Chris Thomas, Scott Mann, and Darci Castillejos.
She also named off her list of "definitely not" for city council.
Much of the discussion focused on countering arguments put forth by Anne Pica, who was the special guest of last Monday's show, and who chairs the Citizens Against Cityhood campaign, as well as talking about the laundry list of campaign contributions from developers.
Labels: City-Council, Cityhood, Radio
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Bill Gould Announces City Council Picks
by Steve
5/27/2008 10:45:00 PM
Bill Gould, a trustee on the Romoland School Board, publishes his picks for Menifee City Council...
All of the people I support agreed that it is important to work with the different school districts to provide services and support for the youth in our communities. They all agreed there is a need for open space, planned development and more sales tax generation through commercial development. It is for these reasons that I support the candidacies of Chris Thomas, Scott Mann, Darci Castillejos, Dean Deines, and Darcy Kuenzi for Menifee City Council.
He goes on to say that he supports the name "Menifee" instead of "Menifee Valley", and that he supports electing council members at large.
I just hope Bill did his homework.
Read the rest of his piece...
http://votebillgould.com/..../menifee-cityhood-its-a-good-thing/Labels: City-Council, Cityhood
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The Californian Weighs in on Menifee Cityhood
by Steve
5/25/2008 09:45:00 PM
The editor of The Californian newspaper throws support for Menifee cityhood...
As we have noted before, counties in general were never intended to be the ultimate government for urbanized areas. It was always the plan that as areas grew, they would become cities and govern themselves. That's why it's important that on June 3 voters in Menifee, Sun City, Quail Valley and a sliver of Romoland vote to turn their communities into a city.
http://www.nctimes.com/..../ze1064b59f65e31b58825745100789ed4.txtThe editorial also goes on to support the name "Menifee" instead of "Menifee Valley", claiming it will make more sense in the long run.
Interestingly, it also supports electing city council members by district, instead of at large. It does so for the same reason that I cited in my
article last week. The communities of Sun City, Quail Valley, Menifee Lakes, Romoland, rural Menifee, are all unique, with differing attitudes and priorities. It needs representatives that come from those areas, to make sure the voices of their constituents are heard in all decisions.
Another factor The Californian mentioned, that I didn't mention, is that Menifee is very large in acreage. At 48 square miles, it dwarfs Temecula or Murrieta, at 26 and 28 square miles respectively. Menifee will be the
fourth largest city by area, with only Palm Springs, Riverside, and Moreno Valley being larger. Such a large area is destined to create diversity, and needs representation by district, in my opinion.
For the people who argue that we can always change it over to district at any time, I just don't think so. I think what will happen if we end choosing "at large" representation, is that city council members from a specific area, like Menifee Lakes for example, will amass such a large power-base, that districting will cause them to lose that power.
Labels: Cityhood
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Candidates Speak on Menifee Valley Talk Radio
by Steve
5/23/2008 11:57:00 AM
This morning's broadcast of Menifee Valley Talk Radio welcomed five city council candidates who got to speak on the show.
You can listen to a replay of the show using the player below, (click on the arrow to the left)...
Marc Miller spoke about his involvement launching and running the cityhood incorporation movement, and expressed his desire to retain the rural aspect of Menifee Valley.
Fred Twyman came on to speak about why he chose to run for city council, citing his frustration with trying to address County officials, and also spoke about his plans to increase public parks and recreational facilities. He'd like to convert the entire Salt Creek into a useable public park, with picnic grounds and walking trails.
Sue Kristjansson expressed her master plan to make Menifee "awesome", bringing in sports and recreation facilities, and talked about the need for more public transportation options in Menifee.
Chris Thomas talked about his background as a financial auditor, having audited public entities like municipalities, companies, and various public institutions. He said that the new city of Menifee will be required to honor all development projects currently approved by the County, and that when cityhood appeared to be eminent, developers came crawling out of the woodwork to get their projects approved by the County.
Scott Mann talked about his long background as a Naval "Mustang" Officer, and expressed his character as being one of integrity, and of strict protocol. He talked about the lawsuits that the City of Perris slapped on LAFCO, which requires the future city of Menifee share revenue with Perris, and said that he doesn't believe that what the newspapers reported is accurate, and that Menifee could possibly find a way out of that.
The show's special guest was Mieke Jacobs, who writes articles for MenifeeLive.com, and moderates their forum. She had the pleasure of asking several questions to the candidates.
Labels: City-Council, Cityhood, Radio
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Measure G - Elections at Large or by District
by Steve
5/21/2008 09:24:00 PM
One of the cityhood measures on the ballot this June 3rd, is Measure G, choosing between electing city councilmembers at large, or by district.
Electing members at large means that voters can vote for any candidate, regardless of what part of the city they reside in. But it also sets up the possibility that all five of the members can come from one area of the city.
Electing members by district means that voters may only vote for candidates that reside in their district. But it also means that no specific area of the city may control the city council.
Throughout this cityhood debate, residents of Sun City Core have been the most vocal opponents to incorporation, for a wide variety of reasons, with one of the most biggest reasons is that they don't want the newer communities taking control of their way of life. That's basically what elections by district is all about.
I personally, feel that Sun City and Menifee Lakes, which are also the two biggest home owners associations in this valley, are putting up the lion's share of candidates, and are the two areas of Menifee Valley that are poised to make decisions for the rest of us.
The opposing argument is that by electing members at large, those members will be accountable to everyone. That's only the case when all voters vote. I feel that Sun City and Menifee Lakes tends to put up the most active voters, and therefore, are the two areas of Menifee that yield the greatest power.
I'm voting in favor of elections by district, to guarantee that no specific area of the new city can take control of the city council.
I'd love to hear your comments.
Labels: Cityhood
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Menifee Valley Talk Radio - a Success
by Steve
5/21/2008 12:23:00 PM
This morning at 10:00am, I had a chance to listen in on the first broadcast of Menifee Valley Talk Radio.
You can now hear the full replay of the show using the link below...
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/..../Menifee-Valley-Talk-RadioThe special guest was Julie Johnson, former CEO of the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce, as well as former CEO of the Menifee Sun City Chamber of Commerce. Julie was there for the entire 2 hours, and shared her thoughts and experience about many of the candidates for city council, and named specific candidates that she would not support, why they would be bad for the new city, as well as those she would support.
A lot of discussion was placed on city council candidates who are also current members of the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce, and discussed the conflict of interest that their elections would create, particularly through their relationship with developers, and their intentions for running.
Therese Daniels, one of the show's hosts, spent some time about why she's supporting Wallace Edgerton for city council.
Two candidates called into the show, Darci Castillejos, and Sue Kristjansson, and spoke about their candidacies. Sue spoke only briefly, while Darci was on the show for about 30 minutes.
A few other listeners called in with their questions and comments, including one who works in the CalFire department, and talked about the state of the emergency services department.
There was also some problems hearing the show due to browser problems. It seems that Internet Explorer has some troubles delivering the audio. I was able to hear the show fine using the Firefox browser. Others said that the audio came through fine when listening to show in their native audio player.
One of the nice aspects of tuning into the show, is that you can also take part in the "chat room", and talk to the other listeners. At one point, there were as many as 16 people in the chat room, including some city council candidates.
Labels: City-Council, Cityhood, Radio
12 comments | | Perma Link
Sun City Nursing Home Seeks Cityhood Proponents
by Steve
5/14/2008 05:19:00 PM
Rodger Groves, Executive Director of the Sun City Convalescent Center wrote to me asking if anyone with the pro-cityhood movement would mind visiting his center and speaking to their patients about cityhood...
How might I be able to get in touch with anyone from the pro-cityhood movement to come to my nursing home and hold an informational/promotional meeting for cityhood?
Any info you might be able to provide would be helpful...thanks in advance!
He went on to explain that he's very much in favor of cityhood and would like someone, perhaps a candidate for city council, to counter the arguments made by those opposing cityhood.
Contact Rodger Groves at...
Sun City Convalescent Center
Life Care Centers of America, Inc
27600 Encanto Drive
Sun City, California 92586
(951) 679-6858
(951) 679-0399 fax
(951) 757-1003 cell
Labels: Cityhood, Sun-City-Convalescent-Center
0 comments | | Perma Link
Bill Gould Gets His Wish
by Steve
5/13/2008 11:59:00 PM
A day after writing that none of the candidates for city council have contacted him about the concerns of Romoland residents, Bill Gould got contacted...
Well, I guess the word got out about my post about no candidates contacting me. I had a chance to speak with Scott Mann today who informed me of his platform of providing a high level of service with increased police protection and fire service.
I have also spoke with Darci Kuenzi and will be meeting her soon, as well Louis G. Mazei contacted me and ill be speaking with him as well.
Romoland can join the fun now.
Read his blog post...
http://votebillgould.com/..../update-city-of-menifee-candidates/Labels: Cityhood, Romoland
0 comments | | Perma Link
Romoland and Cityhood
by Steve
5/13/2008 12:23:00 AM
Bill Gould, a trustee with the Romoland School District, founder of the Temecula Music Fest, past Board member of the Arts Council of Temecula Valley, President of Freedom of Music and Art, former member of the steering committee for the City of Temecula's "Youth Master Plan", and resident of Heritage Lake, wants to know why none of the candidates for Menifee city council has contacted him...
As a trustee for the Romoland School District I am surprised that none of the potential city council candidates have contacted me. All four of our district schools would be within the boundaries of the possible city. Aside from being a local voter within the proposed city who has an interest in his community, I am a trustee on the local elementary school board that would serve about 1/3rd of the possible City of Menifee.
He goes on to address his concerns. (
click here)
Which brings up a point. Are any of the candidates for city council paying attention to Romoland?
Labels: Cityhood, Romoland
4 comments | | Perma Link
Which Came First: Sun City or Menifee?
by Steve
5/13/2008 12:06:00 AM
Here's an interesting quote from the Press Enterprise today, regarding some folks in Sun City trying to stop the cityhood effort...
Another worry voiced at the meeting was that Sun City could lose its identity and history once cloaked with the name Menifee or Menifee Valley.
"Sun City was started in the '60s," Pica said. "They want to destroy that. They say, 'Oh you'll remember who you are,' but my grandkids and my great-grandkids won't."
The truth is that it was all named "Menifee" long before there was a Sun City.
Labels: Cityhood
11 comments | | Perma Link
Quail Valley & Menifee Cityhood
by Steve
5/10/2008 06:49:00 PM
There are some folks in Menifee and Sun City who argue that one reason they are opposed to cityhood is because the current proposal includes Quail Valley.
In other words, they don't want Quail Valley included.
The reason why Quail Valley MUST be included is because the LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) demands that any cityhood or annexation attempt cannot create any "islanded" portions of unincorporated land. LAFCO is the organization that oversees all cityhood and annexation efforts.
In other words, if Menifee and Sun City incorporated without Quail Valley, then Quail Valley would turn into an unincorporated island, cut off from the rest of the unincorporated areas.
What it all boils down to, is that we have to include Quail Valley if we want Menifee-Sun City to incorporate. It's impossible to incorporate without Quail Valley.
Labels: Cityhood, Quail-Valley
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Will Perris Annex Sun City?
by Steve
5/08/2008 11:16:00 PM
I know there are many Sun City Core residents who are against the Menifee Cityhood effort. I don't exactly understand the reasons why they are against it, aside from the notion that they don't want the core area to be under the influence of Menifee.
But it's either that, or be under the control of Perris.
An article published today in the Press Enterprise basically says what I've been trying to say all along...
But Daugherty believes all the legal wrangling clearly shows that if the Menifee area does not incorporate into its own city, it will eventually belong to Perris.
"We're ripe, we're ready to go and we're feasible. If we don't become a city (Perris) is going to annex us. I can see them going down both sides of Ethanac (Road) and both sides of the 215 right down the corridor through Menifee and Romoland".
You can read the whole article here...
http://www.pe.com/..../PE_News_Local_S_sperris08.4234f45.htmlBefore there was a "Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee", there was another group called, "CEDCO". CEDCO was formed by a group of Sun City Core residents, concerned over reports that Perris was looking to annex their neighborhood. CEDCO eventually spawned off the present-day Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee.
In other words, an annexation threat from Perris is what spawned the entire Menifee cityhood effort. That threat hasn't gone away folks. It's only gotten bigger.
To all of you Sun City Core residents: If Menifee cityhood fails, you'll all become Perris residents. Continuing under County administration is no longer an option.
So pick which city you want to be controlled by: Perris, or Menifee.
Labels: Cityhood, Perris, Sun-City
10 comments | | Perma Link
Police in the New Menifee City
by Steve
3/24/2008 05:46:00 PM
Law enforcement, or lack thereof, has been one of the biggest selling points on why us folks in the Menifee Valley should vote for cityhood.
I received an e-mail today from a Menifee 24/7 reader who wanted to express his/her thoughts about contracting with the Sheriff versus building a homegrown police department. Here's what they said...
The latest article I read stated that the new city would initially "contract for services" with Riverside Sheriff. Nothing against them but I don't like that idea at all. Let me explain why.
We currently pay $1.5 million dollars for thier "services" now. $1 million to the Sheriff and $500K to CHP for "Traffic services." Now, that figure nets us (Menifee Residents) 1 Deputy Sheriff and ? CHP Officers (since I never see them providing traffic services). How exactly are we to benefit at all from cityhood and contracting unless we are willing to start our own police department?
Oh, and let me tell you this "it is not cheaper" to contract with Riverside Sheriff, just ask the City of San Jacinto how much they "saved" by contracting out to Riverside. Nothing, in fact they are paying a great deal more now than they ever did with their own police department. in fact I hear they are considering going back to thier own police department as a result (unconfirmed).
Folks we need to do this right from the start, lets' not make the same mistakes other cities have. No complaints against the Fire Department, they are doing a great job (plus at least I see them), but Law Enforcement isn't holding up their end of the bargain. Have you seen the graffitti, gang members, parolees, sex offenders, homeless, and basic thugs running around our soon to be city? Where are the guys in the uniforms being visible and running these folks out of our town (Except for the College Police)?
It's bad enough that there are over 300 forclosed homes in Menifee alone, but that is just the beginning. Next we will be a low rent district with little to no law enforcement until it's too late, can you say "City of Perris." Your Thoughts?
I think it's a foregone conclusion that the new city will contract with the Sheriff. I believe that the "feasibility study", that just barely shows us as being viable, was based on the expectation that we'd contract with the Sheriff.
The important thing to know about this, is that by having our own city, it makes it easier for us to hold our city council members responsible. It's alot easier to vote them out of office than it is for us vote a Sheriff out of office.
If the Sheriff doesn't provide the improvement that we're looking for under the new incorporated city, then we need to vote the city council members out. It's that simple.
To do this, we must have a short list of our top law enforcement improvements, and refer back to this list everytime we evaluate our city council. We also need a public forum to discuss the city council's effectiveness. And I'll be glad to host that discussion here.
One issue I would like the first city council to address, is to have a police officer arrive on the scene within 15 minutes of your call, on average. Right now, if you called the Sheriff's substation, it's likely a Deputy won't even visit you.
So here's a list of top three law enforcement improvements that we should hold our city council members to...
- Improve in-person response times to 15 minutes on average, every call
- .....
- .....
What should the other two law enforcement improvements be?
Labels: Cityhood, Police
29 comments | | Perma Link
19 Candidates Seeking Seat on First City Council
by Todd
3/12/2008 07:16:00 AM
The list of individuals seeking a position on the first city council has been released and will be on the June 3 ballot (along with voting on cityhood).
As excerpted from the Press-Enterprise story by Julissa McKinnon:
Six of the 19 candidates are from Sun City. They are:
Darci Castillejos, 47, a restaurant owner; John Denver, 61, a businessman and mortgage broker; Louis Mazei, 62, a Riverside County planning technician; Chuck Reutter (he has not yet filed age and occupation information with the registrar of voters); Carol Sullivan, 64, a businesswoman; and Gerald Walker, 45, a county maintenance plumber.
The remaining 13 candidates are from Menifee. They are:
Tony Amatulli, 49, a businessman; Dina Biedermann (age and occupation information not yet filed); Dean Deines, 52, a public finance officer; Wallace Edgerton (age not provided), a Mt. San Jacinto Community College political science instructor; Tom Fuhrman, 63, a businessman and owner/operator of Wooden Nickel Ranch in Menifee; Ken Gaunt, 67, a retired businessman and former county commissioner in Nevada; Darcy Kuenzi, 45, a legislative assistant; Scott Mann (age not provided), a risk manager for the Menifee Union School District; Marc Miller, 50, a rancher and businessman; Jason Reeves, 32, a businessman and
Sunday school teacher; Jerry Stamper, a real estate broker; Fred Twyman, 43, a high school math teacher and Menifee Union School District trustee; and Dorothy Wolons, 43, a businesswoman and mother.
Here is a link to the full story.
Labels: City-Council, Cityhood, Elections
21 comments | | Perma Link
Perris Sues LAFCO to Get Back Land
by Steve
11/21/2007 10:18:00 AM
The Press Enterprise reports that the City of Perris is filing a lawsuit against the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) to get back the 35 acres that was taken away from its sphere of influence.
At the Oct. 25 LAFCO meeting, Perris officials voiced concerns about the removal of 35 acres south of Matthews and East of Trumble roads in Romoland from the city's sphere-of-influence and said further review was needed.
But the city's interests extend beyond the 35 acres. Study areas 2 and 3 in Menifee Valley's fiscal study are northeast of Interstate 215 and off Ethanac Road in Romoland.
You can read the Press Enterprise article here...
http://www.pe.com/..../PE_News_Local_H_lafco21.347911f.htmlThis land is not within the City of Perris, but is within it's "sphere of influence". LAFCO is the authority on defining the borders for spheres of influence.
Perris was given plenty of notice and opportunity to respond regarding the secession of land, but failed to do so. Hence, it was ceded to the proposed city of Menifee.
By extending its borders all the way out to Hwy 74, it gives the future city of Menifee an opportunity to cash in on a transportation corridor that will one day generate a lot of taxable income. Perris recognizes this, and wants that land for itself.
Labels: Cityhood, Perris
6 comments | | Perma Link
Bill Gould on Menifee Cityhood and Unification
by Steve
11/03/2007 08:00:00 PM
Bill Gould, a local businessman living in the Heritage Lake development, and who is also campaigning for a seat on the Romoland School Board,
writes today on his blog that he's in support of Menifee cityhood...
I am 100% for city hood. Incorporation of the area will give us control over future development, funding that the development brings, parks, police, fire, code enforcement, community services department and so much more. Take a drive around the city of Temecula one day, it is an excellent example (minus the traffic, I know) of a great city and I would love that for our community. Fortunately for us we already have a better road system than Temecula did when they incorporated!
Heritage Lake is included in the proposed borders of Menifee. Currently, it is part of Romoland.
I had hoped to hear from others who live in Romoland about their thoughts on becoming a part of Menifee. Please post a comment.
Interestingly, Gould also says he's in support of "Unification", but not with respect to Paloma High School, but rather, Heritage High School. That is, folks out there are apparently talking about moving the new Heritage High School into the Romoland School District.
If you consider the Unification issue with Paloma High School, proponents argued that because the high school is located in Menifee Valley, and serves primarily Menifee residents, it makes sense to "unify" it with Menifee Union School District.
So, can we say the same thing about Heritage High School? It is located within the proposed borders of Menifee. It's serving students in Menifee, as far south as Menifee Lakes. I don't have the statistics on this, but I'm wondering if most of its student population resides in the proposed borders of Menifee. I'm kinda thinking it should be in Menifee Union.
The problem with bringing it into Menifee Union is that Menifee Union's borders don't extend out to Heritage High. Even though the borders of the
proposed city includes Heritage High, the school district itself doesn't reach that far. So, to move it into Menifee Union, LAFCO would have to approve a change of borders. That probably won't happen.
Labels: Cityhood, Heritage-High-School, Unification
14 comments | | Perma Link
Cityhood Effort Faces Lawsuit
by Steve
11/02/2007 09:47:00 PM
A Wildomar resident, Gerard Ste. Marie, has filed a lawsuit against the County of Riverside, to block the transfer of county funds to help Menifee and Wildomar cityhood efforts succeed.
When the fiscal analysis showed that a future City of Menifee could not generate enough tax revenues to pay for more fire stations, Supervisor Jeff Stone proposed a plan to donate additional funds to help pay for the fire stations. These funds would come from the result of cost savings when Menifee and Wildomar incorporate.
You can read more about this lawsuit in The Californian...
http://www.nctimes.com/..../californian/21_02_5911_1_07.txtI haven't followed the Wildomar incorporation effort too much, but I've seen Gerard Ste. Marie's name mentioned in some articles, describing him as someone who's been against Wildomar cityhood.
Labels: Cityhood
1 comments | | Perma Link
Size of Menifee Square Miles
by Steve
10/28/2007 07:09:00 PM
A commenter on my previous article, "
Menifee Cityhood Vote Approved" claimed that after looking at the map of Menifee, it appeared to be a small city.
So, I did a look up of all incorporated cities in Riverside County, to find out where Menifee stands in comparison. Here you go (in square miles)...
- Palm Springs - 95.1
- Riverside - 78.4
- Moreno Valley - 51.6
- Menifee - 48.5
- Lake Elsinore - 38.8
- Corona - 35.2
- La Quinta - 32.2
- Perris - 31.5
- Murrieta - 28.4
- Beaumont - 27.2
- Indio - 26.7
- Temecula - 26.3
- Hemet - 25.6
- San Jacinto - 25.3
- Blythe - 25.0
- Rancho Mirage - 24.7
- Palm Desert - 24.6
- Desert Hot Springs - 23.3
- Banning - 23.1
- Coachella - 20.8
- Cathedral City - 19.5
- Calimesa - 15.6
- Norco - 14.4
- Indian Wells - 13.4
- Canyon Lake - 4.7
This info comes from Wikipedia.
The figures include bodies of water within city limits. That's why Lake Elsinore is currently the 4th largest city in the county.
Labels: Cityhood
5 comments | | Perma Link
Menifee Cityhood Vote Approved
by Steve
10/26/2007 08:42:00 AM
The Local Agency Formation Commission yesterday approved the vote for cityhood, likely placing the issue on the public ballot in June 2008.
LAFCO also approved a few minor changes to the borders of the future city. Below is a map of the new borders...
Click on the map to see a larger image.
The changes are...
- The southern rectangular section (in light orange), south of Keller Rd, will be ceded to Murrieta. This area is the hills of boulders, and there's hardly anyone living on it. The landowner and the City of Murrieta have been working on a project called, "Murrieta Hills", and the Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee has agreed to cede this land to Murrieta.
- At the western border, right where Lake Elsinore meets up with Menifee, there's a small sliver of land dubbed "Christensen" (not Christensen Ranch), that Elsinore wants to annex for a new community.
- At the far northern end, there's chunk of land that's technically now Romoland, but has been within Perris' sphere of influence. This will be given to Menifee.
Some facts about the future city...
- The name of the city will either be "Menifee" or "Menifee Valley". This will most likely be on the ballot.
- The new city will begin on October 1, 2008.
- The new city will have a "city manager" form of government, and five city council members elected at large. Once elected, the city council members can change their future elections by district, or keep them at large.
- The population residing with the proposed borders of the new city is 60,467 as of July 1, 2006, of which 27,192 are registered voters.
- The future city will comprise an area of 48.5 square miles.
CSAs 33, 43, 80, 84, 86, 138, 145 and 146 will be removed from Menifee and services will be provided by the new city.
All parks owned by the County will be ceded to the new city. Parks currently owned by Valley Wide will remain with Valley Wide. Other facilities now owned by the County will not be transferred to the new city, but may be transferred under negotiation.
Labels: Cityhood, Maps
14 comments | | Perma Link
Cityhood Meeting This Friday
by Steve
10/11/2007 01:04:00 AM
The Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee has scheduled a presentation and discussion on the proposed cityhood effort, for this Friday, October 12, at 6:30pm.
As reported in
The Californian, the meeting will discuss the benefits of cityhood, how to become involved, and how it will impact our quality of life.
Interestingly, The Californian says...
"Wednesday's discussion will be at the rural center at Hahn and Garbani roads."
But I'm thinking they meant to say, "Friday".
The rural center is this house situated on Haun Rd, directly across from the Marsden home development. The rural center has no sign marking it, it's a dirty white in color, and looks almost abandoned. It's on the east side of Haun Rd.
Labels: Cityhood
0 comments | | Perma Link
Menifee Valley Map Boundaries
by Steve
10/09/2007 04:26:00 PM
Below is a map showing what the proposed City of Menifee Valley might look like.
You can also get a larger image of the map in a PDF file (527k), by clicking the following link...
http://www.menifee247.com/menifee-map-boundaries.pdfThere's basically three proposals...
- Study Area 1 (in orange) are the original proposed boundaries
- Include both Study Area 1 and Study Area 2 (in yellow)
- Include both Study Area 1, 2, and 3 (in magenta)
From what I've read, the most financially feasible is the 3rd proposal, and will most likely be what the new city will look like, assuming it passes public vote. This includes the Heritage Lakes development, the Heritage High School, Richardson's RV, the SoCal Edison Power Station, and parts of Romoland including Romola Farms.
Residents living in that part of Romoland will be included in the general vote for cityhood. There is a small effort in that part of Romoland to resist Menifee cityhood, and instead create a new future city called "Harvest Valley", but I don't think there's enough opponents there to make a significant impact on the outcome.
Labels: Cityhood, Maps
11 comments | | Perma Link
Little Opposition to Menifee Valley Cityhood..
by Holly
10/08/2007 05:28:00 PM
A Sun City woman is the only resident so far to have voiced objections in writing to a commission considering a proposal that would combine Sun City, Menifee, Quail Valley and parts of Romoland into a new city.Monday was the deadline for submitting public comments to the commission on a financial analysis of the proposed new city of Menifee Valley. However, comments received through Oct. 12 will be forwarded to the commission separate from the analysis. To read more on this go to
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/10/07/news/californian/menifee/20_09_0310_6_07.txtLabels: Cityhood
3 comments | | Perma Link
Supervisor Stone to Discuss Cityhood
by Steve
9/21/2007 02:53:00 PM
Supervisor Jeff Stone will host the Fall meeting of the Menifee Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) as it presents a public forum on the issue of cityhood for Menifee Valley.
Featured speakers include representatives from the Riverside County Auditor's office, talking about tax revenues to the new city and from the Assessor's Office of the Assessor to answer questions about property evaluation.
The forum will be held on Wednesday night, October 24 at the Kay Ceniceros Senior Center, 29995 Evans Road at Newport Rd., beginning at 7:00 PM.
Conrad Melton, Presiding Officer of the MAC says "Bring your Questions". The forum is open to all and admission is free.
Labels: Cityhood, Jeff-Stone, Menifee-MAC
0 comments | | Perma Link
Cityhood Feasibility Study Released
by Steve
8/30/2007 10:30:00 AM
Cityhood officially took a step forward yesterday. The feasibility study was made public, officially showing that a future city in the Menifee Valley is financially feasible.
The study discusses three different feasibility options, based on three different proposed borders.
You can see these three different proposed boundaries on the Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee website...
http://www.mvic.org/map.htmAccording to The Californian, the feasibility study shows that the third option (denoted on the above map as "Study Area 3") has best shot of providing a financially sound city.
Study Area 3 incorporates a chunk of land currently known as "Harvest Valley", which includes the new Heritage Lakes development, the new Heritage High School, and even the "Romola Farms" barn, train, and country store.
It looks like it also includes Richardson's RV along Encanto Drive (off the I-215), which would be a great boost for the new city.
Another reason why Study Area 3 is the best option is because it provides plenty of available land for commercial development. The Heritage Lakes development in this area may also provide plenty of votes in favor of cityhood.
Glad to hear your comments on the three proposed boundary options, particularly Study Area 3.
Labels: Cityhood, Harvest-Valley
4 comments | | Perma Link
Menifee Cityhood Gets County Boost
by Steve
7/31/2007 10:10:00 PM
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted today to help pay the costs of supporting new firestations in Menifee and Wildomar, if those two communities voted to approve cityhood.
This was based on financial analyses conducted by Gary Thompson showing that the two cities would eventually fall into the red if they approved cityhood.
As reported in The Californian today...
Analyses of the communities had found that both would run into financial trouble at some point in their first 10 years if the county didn't contribute some funds to help staff new fire stations.
Those reports prompted supervisors Buster and Jeff Stone to propose that the county give the two communities the money the county expects to save by having them become cities.
Read the full article from The Californian here...
http://www.nctimes.com/..../8_27_457_31_07.txtThis doesn't quite pave the way for cityhood as of yet, though it does remove the first hurdle, and a very big hurdle at that. Basically up next, would be a popular vote by residents of Menifee Valley.
Labels: Cityhood
4 comments | | Perma Link
Jeff Stone Seeks to Assist Menifee Cityhood
by Steve
7/28/2007 07:53:00 AM
There's more developments in the fallout of Friday's news that Menifee cityhood would run into financial problems. Supervisor Jeff Stone, along with fellow Supervisor Bob Buster, are planning a proposal to help defray the costs of supporting additional fire houses.
Basically, they propose to give the new city of Menifee the money it plans to save after cityhood. In other words, the County of Riverside expects to save more money by the fact that Menifee will be supporting itself. Hence, giving Menifee that amount of saved money will help it build the fire houses, without really impacting the County negatively.
You can read more about this from The Californian...
http://www.nctimes.com/..../23_20_217_27_07.txtAnother thing I'd like to add is that Menifee as a city can develop its commercial and retail centers more quickly than the County can, simply because developers can work with the city council instead of dealing with the County.
Labels: Cityhood, Jeff-Stone
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Menifee Cityhood Looks Troubling
by Steve
7/27/2007 06:46:00 AM
The financial analysis needed to determine if the Menifee Valley can incorporate as a city is showing that the new city will face budget shortfalls anywhere from 5-10 years.
Gary Thompson, who is conducting the analysis, says that the cost of adding new fire stations will be too much for Menifee Valley to handle on its own...
Under three different proposed boundaries for a city of Menifee Valley, there would be a budgetary shortfall at some point in the first 10 years if the valley had to absorb all operating costs for up to three new fire stations, according to the analysis released earlier this month.
You read more about this in The Californian...
http://www.nctimes.com/..../22_45_507_26_07.txtBut Joe Daugherty, who leads the cityhood effort, says the analysis takes a conservative view of the future city's finances, whereas growth in the valley is accelerating at a fast rate. In other words, he thinks the fast pace of commercial and residential growth will can provide unforseen revenues that the analysis doesn't take into consideration.
I tend to believe he's right. Once the Countryside Marketplace is in place, both commercial and residential development is going to boom in this valley, and bring in plenty of new revenue.
Nonetheless, the purpose of this analysis is to tell cityhood proponents what needs to be done to make cityhood happen, not so much to tell them that its impossible. The challenge of the cityhood incorporation committee is to work with the county in finding a way to make this feasible.
Labels: Cityhood
2 comments | | Perma Link
Cityhood Incorporation Update
by Steve
6/20/2007 11:15:00 PM
Betty Royer, a member of the Menifee MAC, and someone who has been active with the Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee, gave an update on the cityhood incorporation effort at the Menifee MAC meeting this evening.
This evening's MAC meeting was dominated by Jeff Chambers of Donahue Schriber, the company that's building the Countryside Marketplace. Betty spoke in context with this new shopping center and how it will help the cityhood effort.
In summary, she noted that cityhood effort is largely resting with GST Consulting, who is conducting a fiscal analysis. This analysis is required to determine if Menifee Valley can produce enough tax revenue to sustain itself. Betty said that this new shopping center will factor into the analysis.
She further explained that cityhood will not result in higher property taxes. She said that communities are not allowed to raise property taxes to justify its fiscal analysis.
Once the fiscal analysis is completed, and if the fiscal analysis shows that Menifee Valley has enough tax revenue to sustain itself, a ballot measure will be brought to the residents of Menifee Valley for a popular vote.
If Menifee Valley does not incorporate into a city in 2008, Betty simply said that there will be other consequences.
Just to give you my personal opinion, if Menifee Valley fails in its bid for cityhood, it will be carved up into sections and annexed by Perris, Murrieta, and Canyon Lake. Possibly even Lake Elsinore. The only thing that's stopping these cities from doing it right now, is the protection we've been granted by LAFCO (local agency formation commission). That protection expires in 2008.
My guess is that the entire Sun City area will become a part of Perris. Quail Valley, Menifee Hills, and Audie Murphy Ranch will become Canyon Lake. Murrieta will take everything else.
When a city wants to annex a piece of land, the people living on that land has only 20 days to gather up enough signatures to stop it. Someone correct me if I am wrong. So, look out Menifee Valley!
Labels: Cityhood, Quail-Valley
9 comments | | Perma Link
Should the Two Chambers Merge?
by Steve
3/19/2007 12:12:00 PM
This is a commentary from me...
The Menifee Sun City Chamber of Commerce is asking its members if they want the chamber to merge with the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce.
This is a debate that's been going on for about as long as Menifee Sun City Chamber (MSCC) has been around, although the details of why the new chamber should merge hasn't been explained.
Often dubbed, "the new chamber", MSCC was created a few years ago after the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce (MVCC) sought to merge with Hemet Valley Chamber of Commerce. This merger would have left the business people of Menifee underserved by the merged chamber. It turned out the merger attempt failed, and today there are still two chambers of commerce in Menifee Valley.
But the facts are that many members of the "new chamber" are also members of the "old chamber". And since a chamber of commerce exists to serve its members, how can members be underserved with having two chambers?
There's talk that having two chambers is counter-productive to the cityhood incorporation process. I don't know enough about the inner-workings of the cityhood process to comment. I know that board members of the old chamber as well as the new chamber are intimately involved in the cityhood drive. How this adversely impacts the cityhood effort, I don't know. I'd like to see people post some comments to that effect.
Competition between two chambers could become more fierce once Menifee incorporates into a city. If a chamber board member gains a seat among the new City Council, or even serves as Mayor, that chamber could gain a significant advantage over the other. Conflicts of interest could become worse if board members of both chambers hold elected positions in city government.
It's interesting to note that the new chamber (MSCC) asking its members to vote on merging with the old chamber, and not the other way around. This is quite a development, considering the new chamber originally claimed the old chamber was underserving the business people of Menifee Valley.
Has the old chamber made great strides towards improving its service to the Menifee Valley, such that the new chamber no longer sees it necessary to continue service? I don't have the answer to that either.
Lack of funding seems to be official reasoning for merger, if you read the article in The Californian,
published Feb 27, 2007. However, like I said in the second paragraph above, chamber merger has been discussed for a long time, not recently. Also, a couple of years ago, Supervisor Jeff Stone offered to give $30,000 of public money to the new chamber to help it grow. This offer fell through because of negative publicity that Stone got in the newspaper. That was $30,000 of pulic money that could have been invested into our community, but we didn't get. You can read Julie Johnson's commentary about that here...
http://www.menifee247.com/2005/08/lets-talk_27.htmWhen the new chamber started up, I was quite excited to join something that was focused on our community. The new chamber had been filled with hope and promise, and was financially solvent, according to ex-CEO Julie Johnson. Today, the new chamber is insolvent and pathetic. What happened? How did this thing fall apart?
As a rank-and-file member of both chambers (I think I'm still a member of the old chamber), I don't really care if the two chambers merge, or not merge. I think that's how other members feel too. All we want is a chamber that provides us with tools and resources to help us succeed.
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Labels: Chamber-of-Commerce, Cityhood
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Casino Night Fundraiser - Photos
by Steve
3/16/2007 12:40:00 AM
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Cityhood Community Meeting, March 1, 2007
by Steve
2/20/2007 01:36:00 PM
The Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee is hosting a special community meeting on Thursday, March 1, 2007, at 7:00pm, at the Paloma Valley High School Theater.
Gary Thompson, the consultant hired to conduct the Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis, will explain the cityhood incorporation process.
Labels: Cityhood
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Menifee Valley Incorporation Casino Night Fundraiser
by Steve
2/19/2007 12:34:00 PM
As part of the cityhood effort, the Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee is hosting a fundraiser called, "Casino Night".
The goal is to raise money to pay for the com
Menifee cityhood passes!
Bill Gould, a trustee with the Romoland School District, founder of the Temecula Music Fest, past Board member of the Arts Council of Temecula Valley, President of Freedom of Music and Art, former member of the steering committee for the City of Temecula's "Youth Master Plan", and resident of Heritage Lake, wants to know why none of the candidates for Menifee city council has contacted him...
Photos from the Casino Night Fundraiser, to benefit the Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee, are online here: