Dear Friends and District Five Residents:
This is the March Newsletter with some general information on economic development, infrastructure updates, and more.
I encourage you to stay connected by following me on Facebook @MayorBarajas or Instagram @MayorBarajas or sign up for my monthly newsletter below!
I hope you enjoy this e-newsletter. Please reach out to me if I may be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Chris Barajas
Mayor
COMMUNITY development
TRAFFIC SAFETY
Traffic Safety is important to me and all of your City Council. Your Traffic Safety Committee recently reviewed the proposed Final Draft of the City's 2022 Local Roadway Safety Plan.
You can view the full report here: https://www.jurupavalley.org/.../Vie.../Agenda/_03242022-465
If you have a traffic safety concern in your neighborhood, please email your traffic safety committee here: https://www.jurupavalley.org/265/Traffic-Safety-Committee
RCSD & JCSD COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS
I want to commend the Boards of JCSD and RCSD for their leadership in forging new agreements to share water resources through a cooperative purchasing agreement. This will allow for both JCSD and RCSD to mitigate rate increases for water.
For residents in #jvdistrict5 around the interconnection area, the area around Jewel St, you may have experienced a discoloration of your water. Over time, minerals such as manganese and others will build up in the lines. When those lines are reactivated, those minerals will build up and be visibly present in homes close to that area. Always contact your water district first if you ever experience this. In this specific case, RCSD has flushed the lines and has done so again this morning, I was there at the intersection of Mission and Goldenwest to witness it myself, to clear the levels of the minerals and clear the water. If you are in the area and are still experiencing issues, please contact rcsd.org directly.
VETERANS DAY PARADE
I am excited to share that we will be holding a Veterans Day Parade on November 12 to honor all who served our great Country! The Parade will end at Flabob Airport where there will be activities, booths, reenactments, skydivers, and much more! This event is a collaboration between the City, JARPD, Flabob, JUSD, Jurupa VFW, and the Jurupa Lions.
Over the next few months we'll be sharing information such as parade route, volunteer opportunities, the portal for those organizations who want to be in the parade, and much more! Stay tuned....
COMMUNITY SERVICE GRANTS
The City Council approved $40,000 to be utilized for approved mini-grant funding for projects benefitting the residents residing within Jurupa Valley. Non-profit organizations are encouraged to apply for the Community Service Grant Funding.
Important Dates : The deadline to submit a mini-grant is May 16, 2022The final day for submission of all documentation and the expenditure report is September 1, 2023
TOWNHALL MEETINGS
In an effort to increase transparency and public engagement, we will be holding Town Hall meetings beginning this year and continuing into the future. Each Council District will have a Town Hall with their representatives including City Staff and Public Safety representatives to provide general updates and some district specific updates including Q&A!
Our first Town Hall will be in District 4 at our Eddie Dee Smith Senior Center. Come meet your District 4 Councilmember Leslie Altamirano and myself and get updates on Public Safety, Economic Development, and more including a Q&A.
Hope to see you there!
infrastructure
Ever wondered which roads have been repaired and which ones are scheduled for repair in our City? You can view all that information at the following link:
Each year, during our public budget hearings we review available funds and approve the next set of projects on our CIP list.
Some current projects to note that have received funding are:
- Pacific Ave Road and Bicycle Lane rehabilitation between 42nd and Mission.
- Limonite between Felspar and Pedley
- Traffic Signal light at Jurupa and Pedley
- Mission phase 2 between Bellegrave and Pyrite
- Van Buren Widening between the Bridge and Limonite
Visit the link above for a full list of projects. I've asked staff to work on creating a more user friendly map by introducing interactivity through a GIS map instead of a flat file. More to come.
JURUPA ROAD GRADE SEPARATION UPDATE:
VAN BUREN BLVD. LANE CLOSURE:
Expect single lane closures on Van Buren Blvd. from Rutile St. to 56th St.
PLEASE REDUCE YOUR SPEED.
There will be trucks entering and exiting the job site, so please exercise caution when driving through the area.
SUBSCRIBE for project updates at
http://www.JurupaGradeSeparation.com
BUSINESS ACCESS REMAINS OPEN #ShopJurupaValley
CIERRE DE CARRIL VAN BUREN BLVD:
Espere cierres de un solo carril en Van Buren Blvd. de Rutile St. a 56th St.
POR FAVOR REDUZCA SU VELOCIDAD.
Habrá camiones entrando y saliendo del sitio de trabajo, así que por favor tenga cuidado al conducir por el área.
SUSCRÍBASE para recibir actualizaciones del proyecto en
http://JurupaGradeSeparation.com
ACCESO DE NEGOCIOS SIGUE ABIERTO #ShopJurupaValley
SUBSCRIBE for project updates at http://www.JurupaGradeSeparation.com.
BUSINESS ACCESS REMAINS OPEN buy local and #ShopJurupaValley
You can see more info and stay up to date with road closures and more here:
city manager updates
Our City Manager Rod Butler is releasing bi-weekly City Manager Updates. You can view the full updates at the following links:
View the Update Here
RESOURCES
council business/community news
Thank you to JUSD Board of Trustees and Administration for their leadership in forging their partnership with Vision To Learn. Vision to Learn has provided thousands of children the gift of sight by providing eye exams and glasses at no cost to families. Through this partnership, Vision to Learn was able to provide eyeglasses to students at Ina Arbuckle Elementary this morning. The smiles on the faces of the children said it all! Many shared their vision improved as soon as they put on their new eyeglasses. I look forward to building additional partnerships with Vision to Learn to provide additional opportunities for our residents. #jurupavalley
Over the past few weeks I've had the pleasure of attending opening days for Jurupa Pony Baseball , Jurupa Valley Little League , and Jurupa AYSO Region 462. These are just a few of our excellent youth programs available in City of Jurupa Valley who provide a place to grow community serving over 1300 youth combined this Spring Season! We have many more programs like Indian Hills Swim, Jurupa Steelers, JARPD programs, and more.
None of these youth programs would be possible without dedicated volunteers who sit on respective boards, coach, serve as team managers, and more who also are fiscally responsible in running their respective programs to ensure solvency and that the program can continue to serve our communities for years to come! For that, I want to thank all the volunteers who give of themselves so that others may enjoy the sport they love!
Over the next few months I welcome each of you to attend a game or two and enjoy watching our youth and their families have fun!
As I've shared numerous times over the past 3 years, the Boise v Martin case resulted in blocking municipalities from implementing or enforcing vagrancy laws, loitering laws, disorderly conduct, public camping, and more against persons experiencing homelessness. This was challenged to the US Supreme Court which our City was a part to. The SCOTUS upheld the ruling by not hearing arguments. You can Google the case and the various articles written about it, there are plenty, including lawsuits for camp "cleanups" in Anaheim by Angels Stadium, CalTrans, and more where the cities and/or agencies lost and had to pay restitution in the millions.
As you may or may not know, we contract with Path of Life for homelessness services as each city is responsible for their own programs to address homelessness. POL provides quarterly updates on services rendered and number of individuals contacted and whether they accepted help or not. I share these in my newsletters.
A point of mine for some time now, are how we address those experiencing homelessness and are suffering from mental illness and/or substance abuse. Current law prevents us from putting these persons into programs against their will. A few examples in our City is the woman who lives by the Walmart Grocery Store and the man who lives by the old KMart. Both of these individuals have refused help of any kind multiple times. That is why I am supporting Senator Eggman's bill package which begins to address mental and behavioral health. For those who accept the help, we provide a variety of services such as transitional housing, workforce training opportunities, substance abuse help, and more. We need tools to help those who can't help themselves and who are creating a public health and safety issues for our communities.
See the attached letter submitted to our legislature.
Thank you to Helm and Sons Amusements including Linda Thompson and her Annual Jurupa Christmas Party team for the opportunity to participate in the Ribbon Cutting! The Rubidoux Spring Break Spectacular will provide a week of fun for our community whilst also providing funding for the Annual Jurupa Children's Christmas Party!
Had the opportunity to discuss the Inland Empire Trade Tech Center (IETTC) with Assemblymember Jose Medina. I will continue to advocate for the IETTC and work with all stakeholders seeking funding to bring the project to fruition.
We received updates from Attorney General Bonta and Speaker Rendon.
I attended panels on Public Safety and Homelessness, I shared my opinion that the two have become intertwined. I am extremely grateful to know that addressing mental illness and substance abuse has become a priority for the legislature. As I've shared on many occasions, if a person who is experiencing homelessness refuses help, the SCOTUS has upheld that a municipality cannot arrest them simply for being homeless as that is not a crime in itself. My advocacy has always been what can we do to help those who are unable to help themselves? It appears we'll be seeing some legislation to address that specific issue that is tied to homelessness and affects public safety.
We also heard from Senator Umberg and Portantino who have introduced SB 986 which will create a process to place the vehicle VIN on the catalytic converter. It will also require recyclers to record the VIN and be available to review by Law Enforcement. You can look up the bill to read the full text.
We will continue meeting with legislators today to advocate for local control.
Thank you to my good friend Bunker Rayner for the opportunity to speak at the Inland Gateway Association of Realtors. I provided updates on projects such as Vernola Ranch, District at Jurupa Valley, Rio Vista, Shops at Jurupa Valley, and more. I also shared the recently approved Traditional Family Neighborhood Overlay.
You can learn more about the organization here: https://tigar.org/
