June 14, 2017
Edition #19
Greetings to Ward 3 residents and all Riversiders!
Much has happened over the past few months. City Council
adopted a first five-year spending plan for Measure Z monies. The Measure Z
revenue (addition of the 1% sales tax) will be kept separate from the City’s
General Fund budget. This affords better accountability and prevents this money
from artificially growing the General Fund budget. Our residents, the Budget
Engagement Commission and City staff were clear that spending priorities were
the following: Hiring more police officers, infrastructure (roads and tree
trimming), paying down the City’s debt (bonds of all kinds) and ensuring we
have proper reserves for emergencies.
Homelessness, panhandling, vagrancy, vandalism and
graffiti are still a huge problem that our City is trying to address. Recently,
the City initiated “Ward Action Teams” comprised of a Deputy District Attorney,
Deputy City Attorney, Public Works, RPU, Homeless Outreach Team, County
Department of Mental Health, Caltrans, City management, Code Enforcement,
Parking Enforcement, RPD and a few others. Each “team” has a Councilmember as
its “Chairman.” The WAT meets once a month with the respective Councilmember
and reviews any successes from the last meeting and receives new concerns to solve.
City staff will be returning to Council in mid June to bring back a plan based
upon Council’s input during two daylong workshops on homelessness.
In this newsletter you will find a copy of an OpEd I
authored and was published in the Press-Enterprise. It outlines some of the
reforms Riverside has undertaken over the past two years. I hope you enjoy it.
I have asked City management to consider a one-stop
source for Riversiders to be better informed about its City government and what
it is doing day by day. Management is working on developing a new user-friendly
website with a news blog. I hope to see
this rolled out in the coming months. My goal is to connect Riverside residents
and business owners with as much information as they wish to receive.
In the meanwhile, if you use Facebook, please stop by
(and “Like”) my “Councilman Mike Soubirous” page. I try to post as much
information about our City as possible.
Please utilize the City’s 3-1-1 call-in service or better
yet, download the 3-1-1 mobile app on your cell phone. It’s very easy to use
and fun too!
Should you have difficulty with City services, please do
not hesitate to call me on my personal cell at (951) 515-1663, or email me at msoubirous@riversideca.gov. I am a
phone call, text, email or Instant Message away. If you have a concern that
needs addressing with City staff, it’s usually best to send me an email outlining
the problem, who/what department you may have previously contacted, address and
best contact information. As soon as I receive it, I’ll acknowledge I received
it and send it on it’s way to the proper department head for action.
As your Councilmember, I’m here to help. I’m here to
advocate for you. I do not work FOR City Hall – I work for YOU! My job is to interact with City staff and find
solutions to problems. Also, to propose or modify policy to better serve our
residents and business owners.
As always, it is a pleasure to serve. We have come a long
way over the past few years. Riverside is a better place and is positioned for
great things. We’re in this together. I appreciate your support. I will always
do my best for you.
Sincerely,
Mike Soubirous
Councilmember – Ward 3
Press-Enterprise article April 09, 2017
By Michael Soubirous
Saturday, June 24, 2017
3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Lake Evans, Fairmount Park
  
The Streamline Riverside program is a collaboration of
City of Riverside departments including Community & Economic Development,
Fire, Public Works, Riverside Public Utilities, Parks & Recreation and
Finance. In addition, City staff worked closely with a working group comprised
of key stakeholders such as design professionals, developers, and business
owners to solicit feedback on the development review process and to formulate
recommendations to improve the process. The working group met on several
occasions and their input and support was critical to the success of the
program. The City also actively engaged with the Greater Riverside Chambers of
Commerce to garner feedback and input on the proposed improvements.
Collectively, the Streamline Riverside program has significantly reduced
entitlement and building permit review times, as well as costs for our
customers. Those positively affected by the Streamline Riverside program
include property owners, business owners, developers, design professionals and
contractors. In fact, nearly all customers who require development or business
permits in the City have been positively affected by the Streamline Riverside
Program.
To learn more, click here!
Riverside, Calif. – Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) and the City
of Riverside are aware of a growing number of fraud calls being made to
customers and businesses. These fraud calls are coming from an outside
company using a recording and our caller ID to contact customers
demanding payment. It was reported that the caller ID showed
(951)-782-0330, RPU’s Customer Service number, but were given a
different number to call back. Customers and businesses are highly
encouraged not to give out personal and financial information to
scammers like these.
RPU contacts its customers only through paper billing statements,
online billing emails, late payment reminders, and green “48-hour
notification” tags placed at the customer’s address. RPU does not call
customers to demand payment. RPU personnel out in the community drive
clearly marked RPU vehicles, wear city uniforms and display proper photo
identification.
“RPU takes fraudulent calls very seriously. We have a
number of protection measures in place to safeguard against stolen
information. Customers should be mindful of the situation and protect
their personal information from being stolen or abused,” said RPU
General Manager Girish Balachandran.
Customers who have any questions about suspicious calls
demanding payments are encouraged to hang up with the fraudulent callers
and report them by dialing the City’s Call Center at (from landline)
311, or (951) 826-5311. Customers can also file a report with the
Riverside Police Department at (951) 354-2007.
The Press Enterprise wrote a similar article here.
SERIOUSLY.
NO FIREWORKS.
ZERO.
 FOR FAMILY-FRIENDLY
4TH OF JULY
ACTIVITIES, Click HERE.
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TO VIEW THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE'S SERIOUSLY - NO FIREWORKS - ZERO VIDEO, CLICK HERE!
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