Kevin’s Corner                                            March 2023 - Volume 11, Issue 3

Welcome Highgrove! Last month I forgot to welcome a new group of readers from Highgrove to this monthly newsletter. Highgrove was moved into the revised First District boundaries (new district map here: (https://tinyurl.com/District1-2023map) because of county-wide redistricting. For those of you who were moved into the 2^nd District during the shuffle, you can choose to unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive this newsletter. If you have been reading this newsletter over the past 10 years, you know that I briefly cover several topics that impact or apply to our  growing county. And no, this is not an official public policy paper meant to pontificate on the legal or social challenges of the day. This is simply a brief discussion for all of us. I encourage fellow residents to chime in with their own  ideas, solutions (or frustrations) to help improve Riverside County services.

Court News – As I noted last month, the embarrassing low staffing of our local State courts is impacting criminal cases with judges dismissing cases and sending accused criminals (some with multiple convictions) back to our neighborhoods. The somewhat good news is that the local courts are adjusting their calendars to hear more cases when they can (the Coachella Valley court in Indio has by far the most dismissals). The disappointing news is that Chief Justice for the State of California has declined a request to meet with members of the Board of Supervisors from both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties (both counties are severely understaffed).  The good news is that both the Chief Justice and the state Judicial Council support Senate Bill 75 by our local State Senator Richard Roth to increase funding and Judge positions for our state courts. Stay tuned, as the debate in the State Legislature is only just beginning.

Paramedic Shortages – A statewide (nationwide?) shortage of available paramedics has been hitting  local fire departments and our countywide paramedic ambulance provider (AMR) pretty hard this past year or two.  This staffing shortage has sometimes resulted in delayed emergency responses, or occasional ambulances being sent with no paramedic on board, requiring the firefighter paramedic on the fire engine to ride to the hospital with the patient – thereby putting the fire engine out of service. On top of that, a few of the 17 hospitals across the county have their own emergency room staffing limitations, which in turn delays the admittance of the patient, which then keeps the patient in the ambulance with the firefighter paramedic until admitted by the hospital. Enormous steps are being taken by all emergency providers to turn this critical situation around, but it is an ongoing serious concern across our county.

Sidewalks & Lights – We have been working (pushing) to get streetlights, traffic signals, and sidewalks installed around schools and busy intersections in Mead   Valley, Good Hope and Lakeland Village (Highgrove – you are next!). It’s been a painfully long and slow process, but we finally might be breaking through some of the public utility and government log jams. These overdue improvements are a   direct result of local community surveys and citizen input!

Trash & Graffiti – Each week, First District staff is out in our local unincorporated communities    keeping an eye out for illegal roadside dumping and/or graffiti. We promptly report these roadside   problems to county or trash company clean-up crews. Illegal dumping on private property, requires   notification to Code Enforcement which takes a little longer to resolve. When you see illegal dumping please report it to your local city, or to our office for non-city/unincorporated neighborhoods in the 1^st District (E-mail: District1@RivCo.org). We simply cannot allow thugs who disrespect our communities to ruin our neighborhoods.

Weed Abatement – Have you noticed how tall the wild weeds are growing around our communities? Even though we have had some wild weather – we will soon experience hot dry winds that will turn our lush green fields tinder dry. If you have wild weeds along your property, PLEASE help our firefighters help you and make sure those weeds are trimmed down before Fire Season starts! For more info:

https://www.rvcfire.org/our-departments/hazard-reduction

Thank you for your thoughts and comments,

Kevin

P.S. The Superior Court is seeking qualified individuals to apply and serve on the Riverside County Grand Jury. You can find more at:

https://www.riverside.courts.ca.gov/Divisions/GrandJury/grand-jury.php