The Menifee City Council this evening unveiled the city's official seal...
This design is actually a combination of two design concepts, merged together.
Originally, the city had fielded designs from 44 people. A city seal committee whittled it down to 10 finalists. The city council members then reviewed the 10, and offered their comments. From that, the committee ended up with the following two final designs...
These designs were submitted by Menifee residents, Michelle Fournier, and Gayle DuRivage. These two were awarded free champagne brunches at Menifee Lakes Country Club, along with certificates of proclamation. The other 8 finalists also received certificates.
The city then hired a local business services company, R & R Business Services to combine both designs into the single design.
When I saw the final city seal, the first thing I thought of was "Sierra Nevada Pale Ale"...
But that's just the beer guy in me.
I whispered over to Gary Thompson, the city's finance guy, that it looks like a Sierra Nevada beer label. He didn't quite hear me. The person sitting next to me heard me, and commented that it kinda looked like an orange crate label.
I could see that.
Either way, it's our city's new seal, whether it reminds you of beer or oranges.
So here's a question to everyone: what kind of bird is that? Hawk, Raven, or Turkey Vulture? You pretty much see all three around here.
Wednesday, Mayor Edgerton gave the State of the City Address at the Masonic Lodge in Menifee.
I didn't attend the address, but Mike Thompson did. He created a four and a half minute video of the highlights...
The Mayor said that the vendors at Countryside Marketplace (or what he coined as "Haun Mall") are doing a lot of business and are on track to earning profits there. He went on to add that Countryside Marketplace is strategically located on the I-215 corridor, and that this corridor is vital to Menifee's economic growth. He also said that the city is well into the black in terms of finances, and that the city government is "listening to the music of the people".
Mike runs Thompson Media Group which helps businesses with sales and marketing. They publish a business-focused website called MenifeeBusiness.com. Thanks Mike for the video.
Contest Purpose: The purpose of the City Seal Contest is to find an emblem to represent the new City of Menifee. It offers an opportunity for community members to become involved in the new City of Menifee, and to contribute their artistic creativity to their community. The seal symbolizes the uniqueness and spirit of our city. The winning City seal will be used on letterhead, signs, publcity, buildings, etc. The winner will be invited to a City Council meeting to be honored by the City Council.
Contest Procedure:
Contestants submit entry forms and designs to the Menifee City hall on or before Wednesday, January 21, 2009. Entries are numbered and remain anonymous throughout the contest.
Professionals in the visual arts/printing/ and/or graphic media fields select the top ten entries based on the above criteria.
City Council members select a winner from the top ten entries. If the City Council prefers designs from more than one entry, the designs will be combined into one seal and multiple winners will be honored.
The City Council honors the winner(s) from the Menifee City Seal Contest at a regularly-scheduled meeting.
Entry Qualifications:
Anyone who lives within the Menifee city limits may submit an entry.
The design must
Express the uniqueness and spirit of the city.
Contain the name "Menifee". It may feature the date the city was established (October 1, 2008), a historical symbol, initial, or asbtract icon or graphic.
Be submitted in both color and in black and white. Each rendering is to be submitted on 8 1/2" x 11" paper.
There is no age restriction on the participants.
One design per participant
Entry entry MUST be accompanied by a completed Official Entry Form.
Entry and entry form must be submitted to the Menifee City Hall, 29683 New Hub Drive, Suite C, Menifee, 92586, by 4 p.m. on or before Wednesday, January 21, 2009.
***All designs become the property of the City of Menifee*** ***Designs may be refined/modified by the City at its discretion.***
For entry forms or answers to questions, call City Hall at 951-672-6777 or email drldenver77@hotmail.com
Can you feel it Menifee? All of the excitement, anticipation, and long-time wishes that have come to fruition. . . all that we hoped for our city; our once small town of Menifee.
Many of us clamoured for shopping, and now it is here. The hunger for food, restaurants, eating choices that we had not had, and now it is here. We cried out for independence, to become our own city, and now it has come. Our own Police Department and City Council, and now we have both.
Who did you see at the Kohl's last week? Which friend or neighbor did you see in attendance at the Target Opening? Did you call your friend to share the news of the Best Buy sales? How was your first meal at the new Red Robin?
So much happening, to a town so small that even Riverside residents don't know where we are located. A city name I have to spell every time I give my address over the phone, and now, we are indeed a city. But with every dream fulfilled, comes many new questions.
Who will be coming to Menifee to shop, and hang around the Marketplace? How large will our city grow? Will more jobs come, will industry of some type come, will there be more than retail here? I know plans are being made for many things, but what will happen when the plans become a reality?
I know that I will remember enjoying my birthday at the Red Robin with my husband for our first meal at their Menifee location. I know that every time I look at our new video camera, I will remember that we bought that the first time we went to Kohls in Menifee. What memories will you take away? What stories will you tell, 20 years from now, about this past month? How are you participating in this historic time in your fair city?
The ceremony part, held at Bell Mountain Middle School, was packed solid with people. All seats were filled, and many more were left standing. The local boy scout troop 444 was on hand to lead the audience in the pledge of allegiance. Eric Handy a Paloma Valley High School student belted out an impressive rendition of the National Anthem. His voice was so powerful and clear, the sound system couldn't handle his cantor and crackled with static.
Pastor Gary Galbraith from Revival Christian Fellowship gave an invocation.
Immediately following, the city council was sworn into office by 3rd District Supervisor Jeff Stone. That was followed by the city council doing its series of motions and votes to adopt county ordinances and the county's general plan. All council members voted to adopt everything without comment, except where councilman Twyman commented that the County's general plan was never fully explained to the council, and that he has reservations about adopting something that we don't have full knowledge of. But he voted to adopt it anyways with the understanding that we have the right change it as we see fit.
With all the formalities out the way, the council members gave speeches to the audience. For the most part, they were congratulatory speeches. Kuenzi named off several long time residents and advocates of cityhood and thanked them. Denver spoke about his involvement with the cityhood effort. Mann recounted his family history and his desire to serve. Twyman talked about why he ran for office.
Joe Daugherty, the guy who chaired the cityhood incorporation committee, named off the other members of the committee, all of whom received applause.
But what turned out to be the highlight of the evening was Mayor Edgerton's speech. The guy electrified the audience. He spoke with such great conviction, you could see the words drawing up from his chest. If the Mayor personifies Teddy Roosevelt's mantra of "speak softly and carry a big stick", then tonight we saw the big stick.
"Come Hell or Highwater we promise this city will maintain a surplus in its budget!!", were words he hammered out with authority to the roar of the audience. When he promised not to raise taxes and fees on the people, his intensity put George Bush Sr's "read my lips" speech to shame. He had total confidence when he reminded the audience that we have a conservative council who promised to not blow our money the way state and federal governments have done. Then he took on a more comforting tone with news that our police force had been boosted overnight, and threw credit to councilmen Mann and Denver for making it happen. But his fervent tone picked back up when he credited councilman Twyman for making sure the council listens to the people. I even saw Jeff Stone's head nodding with approval when the Mayor promised to build more parks and preserve the rural nature of Menifee so that "children will not have to grow up in a sea of asphalt!" All of which received rounds of applause. And finally he finished his speech with an interesting set of words, "I am proud to say that my name is Wallace Edgerton, and I am the mayor of Menifee!"
Then he called for the audience to congratulate itself on becoming a new city, and subsequently called for the meeting to adjourn.
But I didn't stick around for the aftermath. I exited right away, and found Mieke Jacobs from Menifee Live doing the same thing. We both wanted to check out the inauguration ballgame gathering nearby. I chatted with Dave Fokken, coach of the Menifee Mustangs. Mieke and I got ourselves a couple of In-N-Out burger combos (compliments of Jeff Stone) and watched a couple innings of the game.
I don't know who won the game, but I did witness one of the Mustangs belt a monster triple into center field.
Then we headed off for the inauguration party at Menifee Lakes Country Club. I got there around 8:15pm.
For the record, no one was checking for RSVPs, despite the instructions we were given of having to RSVP. I just walked right in, didn't check in with anyone, nobody said anything. I asked other people there if they were checked for RSVPs, and they weren't either. I later learned they were keeping a head count instead. I was told about 600-620 people were there.
The area around the food was congested, and the food was going about as fast as the staff could replenish. That In-N-Out burger looked like a good idea.
I met Rose Watkins, a friend of mine with Century 21. We talked. I met Cynthia Aina, who runs Menifee4Rent.com. We talked. I met Armand Blais, who had a trio of musicians playing. We talked. I saw Jim Semanek from the Computer Club of Menifee Valley. We talked.
The only city councilmembner I got to talk to was the mayor himself. We both ended up at the food table, trying to get some chow, but having to wait until they brought more over. I congratulated him as the new mayor, and complimented him on his speech. Otherwise, the other councilmembers were constantly being pulled left and right by every other attendee.
By 9:00pm, the event was starting to run its course, and I finished up by taking a few more photos for this blog, took my complimentary bottle of "City of Menifee Champagne", and headed home.
Here's some photos...
Our first official police car; if you get to sit in the back of this thing, let us know what it's like.
Getting sworn in
The sapling from the Pechangas - Note that councilman Twyman was the only guy in the room with a pink tie.
Lake Elsinore Storm mascot at the cityhood inauguration baseball game
As you step out of your house today, maybe to go to work, or take the kids to school, does the community you live in feel any different now? Does Sun City still feel like Sun City?
The state of Menifee on this very day, is not much different than it was the day before. We still only have a skeleton crew of a city manager, city attorney, financial consultant, and "pseudo-city planner". And these are not even employees of the city, they're consultants. The city clerk is the only actual employee of the city.
There's still no word on hiring employees, which is something everyone asks about. Based on what I've seen at the city council meetings, it looks like these days, cities hire consulting firms to provide services. They don't hire a city manager, instead they contract with a city management consulting firm, that provides a city manager, along with other related personnel to get jobs done. The same goes with a city attorney, a city planner, human resources, law enforcement, animal control, and who knows what else. I don't know exactly what kinds of jobs would involve the hiring of an actual employee. From the sounds of it, cities aren't the big employers they used to be.
There are some big advantages to that. For one, it's tough to fire an employee, particularly in a day and age when civil service jobs are union jobs. But it's really easy to fire a consultant; you just buy out their contract, or let it expire. And you don't have to pay all the extra personnel costs, like benefits, state disability, and social security matching.
In terms of law enforcement, we've contracted with the Sheriff, I'm told that as of this day, we have more officers patrolling Menifee. At least we're supposed to. The most immediate benefits of cityhood is supposed to be exactly this. If anyone sees someone doing 65mph down Murrieta Rd, and not get pulled over, then post a comment here.
In terms of what phone number to call for police, I think they're still the same as the old numbers, which I published here. I'll have to check on that.
Otherwise, everything is still the same as it was, with the county providing most of our services. The difference is that the county will be billing us, instead of taking our taxes. I guess they're still taking our taxes, it just passes through an extra set of hands now. But that's just for the time being, or so I'm told.
Otherwise, the other benefits of cityhood are still going to take months to realize. If anything, it'll be in January, when supposedly our first sales taxes comes into the bank account. Maybe then we can start doing stuff.
In support of the new city, you can help out by spending your money here, instead of in Murrieta or Temecula.
But if there is anything different about the way Menifee looks as a self-sufficient administrative division, it's that there's a city hall now. It's actually open for business, at 29683 New Hub Drive, Suite C. The city also has a phone number: (951) 672-6777. I wonder if I can just send a text message?
City Council Member Darci Kuenzi tells me that the Pechanga Indians will be there at the Cityhood Inauguration event this Wednesday to present the new city with a sapling from their "Great Oak Tree".
This sapling oak will be planted somewhere in Menifee (the location is not yet decided), and will be "born" along with the city.
The Pechangas actually own some land here in Menifee, mostly in the Audie Murphy Ranch tract. And considering how much money they have, and how much power they have over Sacramento, it's probably a good idea to become their new friends.
Besides, us Menifee residents have probably sunk millions of dollars of our hard earned pay into their slot machines; they wouldn't be what they are if not our money. I suppose getting one of their saplings, is like getting a return on our investment, except this one grows very slowly, and pays us in acorns.
How about we name the new sapling, "Jackpot Tree", in honor of the hopes and dreams that escaped us everytime we set foot into their establishment?
All kidding aside, the Pechangas still need us. That's really why they're here. With the new city sure to attract more retail centers, more entertainment centers, more restaurants, the casino will have to compete against all that. Seems like a free flowing I-215 freeway is what the Pechangas need to keep their $30,000 a month checks coming. Does anyone know if they're are doing anything to pay for the I-215 widening?
October 1, 2008 is the day when Menifee officially becomes a city.
There will be an inaugural event that day, and everyone in the city is invited.
The event comprises of two parts...
The official inauguration, starting at 5:30pm, which is a city council meeting, to be held at Bell Mountain Middle School. There will be all kinds of formalities. An honor guard from Riverside National Cemetery, the boy scouts, the girl scouts, the whole bit. All you have to do is show up. The Californian reported last week that a "surprise commemorative item" will be given out to attendees, so make sure you get yours. There will also be guest books so that attendees names will be stored in the city's archives as being part of this historic event.
The post-game party, starting at 7:30pm, to be held at Menifee Lakes Country Club. There's going to be free food for everyone, and not just cheap stuff, but some really good chow, including dessert, all free. There will be a champagne toast, and a photographer on hand to get your picture taken, which is also free. A live band will be there, and the decor is supposed to look pretty spiffy.
You MUST RSVP for the party, because they need to know how much food to provide. They'll be checking RSVPs at the door. To RSVP, call (951) 639-0239, or e-mail menifeeinauguration@yahoo.com. Provide your name, affiliation if any, phone number, and e-mail address, and the number of people in your party. Again, everyone in the city is invited.
There's no dress code noted for the party, but you might want to put on your best t-shirt and shorts.
You must RSVP before September 19, 2008 (only a few weeks away).
Bell Mountain Middle School 28525 La Piedra Road Menifee, CA 92584 (map link)
Menifee Lakes Country Club 29875 Menifee Lakes Drive Menifee, CA 92584 (map link)
I've attended some of the inauguration meetings, and thus far much of the services, materials and supplies are being donated. It's not like everything is being paid for by the city. One gal is hand-making all the table cloths. A local jazz band is providing background music. Nurseries are lending plants for decoration. The photographer is a local guy here in Menifee. It's all an old-fashioned community effort where the people who live in this city are pooling their talents together to make it a memorable event.
Everyone ought to attend to just make all of their efforts worthwhile.
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 meeting
Sub-Committees
As 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 Committee
The 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 Committee
The 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 Jobs
An 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 Welcome
If 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 Meeting
Or, you can attend the next meeting, scheduled for August 11, at 6:00pm, at Boston Billies, banquet room.
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.
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.
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 Speaks
Supervisor 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 Comments
One 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 Wentz
Interim 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.
Summary
While 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.
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.
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.
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?
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-Ins ANTHONY J. CUOMO - 71 SUSAN KRISTJANSSON - 45 JASON "JAY" ROTH - 87
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%
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.
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 Valley 46/46 100.00% Vote Count Percent Yes 5,162 60.68% No 3,345 39.32% Total 8,507 100.00%
Measure G-Future Menifee Valley Elections 46/46 100.00% 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 City 46/46 100.00% Vote Count Percent Menifee 4,089 52.24% Menifee Valley 3,739 47.76% Total 7,828 100.00%
Member, City Council Menifee Valley 46/46 100.00% 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.
For those interested in election results, the Riverside County Registrar of Voters has a results page that will be updated periodically throughout this evening as the precincts start reporting. I've provided a link to the main results page, as well as links to the items that directly affect Menifee.
The Registrars Office will also be carrying a live stream of the ballot count beginning at 7:30 PM. When the video feed starts, you can link directly to it HERE.
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.
Therese'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.
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.
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.
The 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.
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.
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.
The 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
Before 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.
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?
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.
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.
This 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.
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.
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.
I 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.txt
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.
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...
According 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.
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.
This 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.
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...
Another 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.
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.
But 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.
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!
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.htm
When 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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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.
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 comprehensive fiscal analysis needed to satisfy one of the committee's requirements towards achieving cityhood.
Casino Night is scheduled for Thursday, March 8, 2007, and starts at 7:00pm, at Menifee Lakes Country Club located on 29875 Menifee Lakes Drive, in Menifee. The whole public is invited.
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone will kick off the evening by offering to host the Black Tie event.
Contact the Menifee Valley Chamber of Commerce for more information: 800-396-9108.
The next meeting is Feb. 15 at 7:00pm in the Menifee Valley Chamber office. A status of the fund raising will be made as well as reports by each committee chairman.
Fundraising is an integral part of the cityhood process as we start hiring the necessary consultants to perform the financial analysis, mapping and ecological study. A Casino Night will be held on March 8 at the Menifee Lakes Country Club. For details call 951-415-6170 and ask for Amber or Maria. Let's see how committed we citizens of Menifee Valley are to achieve cityhood. Contributions can be made in cash or in items for a silent auction at the Casino Night. Call me for your contributions of either type. 301-5203
We have now signed a contract with GST Consulting to conduct the required Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis. This analysis is a major requirement in order to become a city. GST is currently working with the Wildomar group on the same analysis and is therefore very familiar with the process and requirements. The principle of this firm was instrumental in obtaining cityhood for the city in which he resides.
As we move into this phase of the process, it is now time to raise the necessary funds to support the fiscal study, the boundary mapping and environmental study. TMG Consultants is in the process of helping us to raise these funds. As part of this fund raising, they have scheduled a Casino Night on March 3, 2007 at the Menifee Lakes Country Club at 7:00 pm. Details will be forthcoming as they are finalized.
Now is the time for the backers of cityhood to step forward and help us raise the money necessary for the process to move forward. So far, you have only been asked to sign the petition offered to you by the volunteers spending their weekends standing in front of the grocery stores and Target, and walking door to door, nothing more. Either contact me through this medium of call me at 301-5203. Your generosity is appreciated by the voluteers working this process and will give you a feeling of involvement in cityhood.
Another invitation for interested people to join us at our next meeting. This will be December 6,2006 at the Haun Community Center at 7:00pm. I haven't received the agenda but I will put it on the MVIC web-site as soon as I receive it.
The Californian reports today that the County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a zoning change that would allow Brenson Communities to build a new condominium complex in Menifee.
We published a description of this proposed complex back in August. Read it here.
There are arguments both in favor and against this move. Here is an quote from The Californian in opposition to that decision...
Menifee resident Les Nursey said two weeks ago and again Tuesday that land zoned for businesses is critical for Menifee Valley, where many residents support incorporation.
To become a city, incorporation leaders will need to prove to the county Local Agency Formation Commission that the community will generate enough tax revenues to support essential services.
And here is a quote from the same article in favor of the decision...
Barbara Spencer, the president of the Menifee Valley Historical Association, spoke in support of Brenson. She told the supervisors she was impressed that the company's representatives had approached her group for their feedback early in the planning process.
"(They) had the desire to honor the valley's founding fathers," said Spencer of Brenson's architecture and design plans for the site.
The new community will also produce $1.7 million in fees that Brenson Communities will pay to for road widening along Scott Road.
Road widening along Scott Road is something that everyone in Menifee wants to see happen, and is perhaps enough to convince most people to welcome Brenson Communities. And while I agree that the I-215 corridor is what's key for Menifee's future, the only ground-breaking I ever see there is the dust getting kicked up by grazing sheep.
But as it is now, neighboring cities like Murrieta and Temecula are the ones who stand to gain from more homes in Menifee; they get our shopping dollars, but they don't have to provide us services.
What do you think about the County's decision to change the zoning to accomodate more condos?
Another reason for city hood is to protect ourselves from being piecemeal annexed by surrounding cities. We have contiguous borders with four cities and another, Wildomar, is about to become a city. At the time, Murrietta wants to annex Rose Hills to the south, Lake Elsinore wants Christianson Ranch on the west and Perris wants to expands its' sphere of influence to the north. Fortunately, we don't have anyone to the east.
Today I learned that the Govenor has signed Assembly Bill 1602. This establishes that new aspiring cities will receive an added boost in terms of tax receipts. The Vehicle License Fee that all cities receive has been reinstated for communities striving to become incorporated. This bill increases the normal receipt by established cities by a factor of 150% for the first year, decreasing by 10% each year for five years. The bill passed by a majority vote across party lines.
If you have concerns about our community and want more information as to what is being done to get cityhood for Menifee Valley, come to our meeting tonight at the Haun Community Center.
The Menifee Valley Incorporation Committee (MVIC) has recently been reorganized with several new members. The incorporation process requires the accumulation of signatures equating to 25% of the registered voters. This has been accomplished and the next task is developing a plan that will complete a successful fiscal analysis, complete certain studies and maps and get cityhood on the ballot. The committee is in need of more interested people who can attend meetings, contribute positive ideas and take on assignments in support of our future city.
Cityhood means many things to different people but I feel that the two keys reasons for becoming a city are home rule and our taxes stay here to help us grow. Right now we are a "ward" of the County and as such have people in Riverside making decisions for us. Supervisor Jeff Stone is very supportive of this effort and will continue to have our best interests in mind. However we need people who live here, children go to school here, attend church here to make the daily decisions for our community.
You may have heard about Assembly Bill 1602 that would provide our new community with additional tax income in the early years of our city. This provision is not new but was deleted in the recent State financial upheavel. That bill has passed both the Assembly and the Senate and is awaiting the Govenor's signature. This will give us additional Vehicle License Fee (VLF) for the first five years.
I invite you to the regularly scheduled MVIC meetings. We meet the first and third Wednesday in the Rural Community Center on Haun Road at 7:00pm. Come join this group of concerned citizens as they push toward cityhood.
The Californian ran a newspaper article last December 20 about a man named R. Eric Madrid, a family physician, who works in Temecula, but lives in Menifee. The article doesn't appear to be on the newspaper's website anymore.
But the article said that Madrid built a website called "City of Menifee" as part of his effort to help with achieving Menifee cityhood.
I've seen his website, and have communicated with him several times, and I think he's a great advocate for our community, and is an example of someone trying to do something to help with Cityhood?
The EDC works with the County of Riverside to attract new businesses and build new infrastructure here in the Menifee Valley. In fact, last August the Menifee-Sun City Chamber of Commerce sent out forms to area businesses and interested residents asking them what improvements do they see most necessary. This form was published here on Menifee 24/7.
The thing that's keeping Menifee from becoming a city is a taxable revenue base. After voters approved Cityhood several elections ago, an independent auditor found that there is not enough of a revenue base to support a city. We need more shopping centers, more business parks, more restaurants, more employers. We need road improvements to encourage out-of-towners to drive through our community and patronize our businesses.
Joining the Economic Development Committee is probably the best way for area residents to help in the building of business in the Menifee Valley, ultimately helping achieve Cityhood. You'll have to become a member of the Menifee-Sun City Chamber of Commerce before you can serve on this committee. The good news is that anyone can join the Chamber, not just business owners, and you'll find membership fees to be very inexpensive.
Once you become a city, there is no turning back. You are stuck with the tax deficits, the repairs and maintenance, and public safety issues (to name just a few). That is why LAFCO (Land Agency Formation Commission) is the government agency responsible to guarantee that an area has enough funds and a correct plan of action to make a new city work. There must be a LAFCO approval before it can even go before the people to vote for or against City Hood.
Unfortunately, last week (and I'm pretty sure it can be attributed to the State Budget negotiations), it was decided that the bill proposing restoration of the Motor Vehicles Fees given to potential new cities, will be delayed one year. These funds make up a major part of a new city's budget. I think it is safe to say that without these funds, California will never see a formation of a new city again. So this definately puts a damper on the incorporation of Menifee Valley. Without those funds, I don't see how LAFCO can approve a formation of a new city.
Having written that, I personally think that the state budget will correct itself within a few short years. By that time, Menifee Valley should easily have the businesses necessary to generate sales tax dollars as well as high quality of jobs to purchase those goods and services.
Did you know that currently a new city should generate about $100/pp (state average) in sales tax revenue to be able to incorporate? Unfortunately, Menifee Valley only has about $20 per person (if the fiscal anaylsis is correct). This means that there is an incredible amount of leakage of tax dollars to other areas because we are lacking in so many business categories.
I predict that City Hood could very well be a reality within three to five years due to the tremendous amount of growth that will be taking place. During this 3 to 5 year time period, the Menifee-Sun City Chamber of Commerce has many plans in place to put this area on the map. It's our desire that residents will be able to live, work and play in Menifee Valley. This plan of action should very well ease the burden of traffic on the 215.
If you know of any business that is looking to relocate in Menifee Valley, have them look us up. Our business is to make business for Menifee Valley.
I received an e-mail from a reader in Menifee who pointed out that the cityhood effort underway in our town will also change the name from Menifee to Menifee Valley. He couldn't understand the necessity to change names. Neither can I.
First of all, I'm not involved with the cityhood effort, but I do support it, and I don't want to criticize the hard work they are doing.
I came from a town in Orange County called "El Toro". I liked the name because it was unique and cool, "The Bull" in spanish. But when the town voted for incorporation, they also voted on a new name. They had several choices, but the name that won was "Lake Forest". I shook my head in disbelief. Another pastoral crap name like all the others in South Orange County.
I actually joined the effort to "restore" the name El Toro, but it never caught on.
Albeit, "Menifee Valley" is not much of change from "Menifee", but I tend to like short names anyways. And exactly what are we gaining by adding the word "Valley" to the end?
If anything, "valley" seems to be so much like everything else. Everything around here is "valley" this and "valley" that. Here's a short list:
Temecula Valley Murrieta Valley Perris Valley Moreno Valley Quail Valley French Valley Paloma Valley Hemet Valley San Jacinto Valley
By the way, technically there is no "Hemet Valley". Hemet is located in the San Jacinto Valley. But yet there is a "Hemet Valley Medical Center", a "Hemet Valley Pipe and Supply", a "Hemet Valley Mall", and the list goes on.
And where the heck is the valley in Quail Valley?
Have any of you noticed that there is now a sign posted along the I-15 northbound, around Corona Lakes, marking the boundary for a town called, "Temescal Valley"? HELLO!! There is no valley there! It's all canyon. It should be called "Temescal Canyon".
I wonder if we have a little bit of "valley envy"?
To add further argument to this issue, I'm now looking at a topographical map of the area known as Menifee, as defined by LAFCO, and it shows that Menifee encompasses the Menifee Valley, along with the Paloma Valley, the southern portion of the Perris Valley, as well as "Quail Valley" which is technically not a valley. So, it would not be an accurate representation of the geography to name the new city "Menifee Valley".
Naming the new town "Menifee Valley" would be to erase the name sakes of this tri-valley (or quad valley) area. Why do we need to rewrite the maps? Why not keep all the valleys as they are, and just name the city "Menifee"? I guess I'll never understand the need to change names.
Riverside County Supervisors voted to allow housing development on a 39 acre parcel of land south of Craig Road and bordered by Haun, Sherman and Garbani roads.
Menifee Cityhood Supporters fought with the Supervisors to deny housing on this land because commercial development is needed to build tax revenue to support a future cityhood for Menifee. The reason is that once families move into the new homes built on the piece of land in question, they will fight tooth and nail to prevent any businesses being built nearby.
Supervisor Marion Ashley says, "If you wait long enough, there'll be commercial (built in the area), but we have to deal with what's before us now," he said. "It's a quality project."
Certainly there will be commercial built, but when? Menifee residents want commercial now. We have enough homes and families.
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:
