Eastvale Community Committee
Meeting Summary

April 15, 2008
By Andrea Hove

Thank you Eastvale residents for turning out in great numbers to the Townhall meeting.  Our speakers and invited guests often comment on how involved we are in our community, and that it’s rare to see so many residents at a quarterly meeting.  Kudos to you Eastvale!

Our first speakers were Beverly Howe and Sherry Mata from Corona Norco Unified School District (CNUSD).   They stated how the 2008-2009 proposed budget is the worst in state history with $15-18 billion in cuts.  It’s difficult for the district to prepare for these cuts when certain standards of notification must be met before the proposed budget has been adopted.  There will no cuts in supplies to the schools.  Textbooks and workbooks have been ordered.  The classes will have everything they need.  The district’s aim is to keep the cuts as far away from the classroom as possible and there should be no change in what we see at the schools.  CNUSD issued 200 possible layoff notices in anticipation of the budget reductions.  However, most of those notices were rescinded at the last school board meeting also held on April 15.  They were able to save the teaching positions by eliminating the counselors, reading specialists, school resource officers and some administrative positions.  15 schools in the district went to a single track system to reduce costs. Retirement incentives were used and the district fell short of its goal by 6 employees.  It had been proposed to eliminate the class reduction for grade 3 which would increase enrollment in the class from 20 to 34 students per 1 teacher.  However, that measure was also not adopted and 3rd grade classes will remain at the 20 to 1 ratio. CNUSD made cuts from the special education department as well as transportation.  Bus service for special needs children will remain.  However, CNUSD will now charge for bussing to its schools.  Those new fees will take effect July 1 and will most likely not be eliminated or reduced if the budget is better than anticipated.  A reduction would require a board decision.  Inter district transfers have been reopened.  Go to their website for more information: www.cnusd.k12.ca.us .  CNUSD is one of a few districts in the county that hasn’t charged for transportation and they are currently funded at the 1982-1983 level.  It cost the district $6million to run and they are funded only $1million.

There will be some delay in the opening of some of our proposed schools in Eastvale.  This is mostly due to the slow in growth.  The previous three years growth for the district has been between 1500-2400 a year and the 2008-2009 projected growth for the district is only 500 students.  VanderMollen Fundamental Elementary school on the east side of the 15 fwy and north of 68th street is still scheduled to open in 2009.  Ramirez intermediate (corner of Harrison and Schleisman) and Yorba (Hellman and Slate Creek) are scheduled for 2010 openings. Measure U funds will continue and they cannot be used for the budget.  The funds must be used on what they were approved for: construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities at CNUSD. 

Captain Tom McCreary from the CHP was on hand to answer any questions.  Contact information for the general office is (951)637-8000 and the non emergency dispatch number is (909)388-8000. There are some programs the CHP is holding for teenagers ready to start driving.  “Street Smarts” is a program designed for teenagers ready to drive.   “Right Turn” is a program for middle school students in preparation of driving. And “Every 15 Minutes” which is a high school program for awareness of drinking and driving.  For more information on these programs, contact George Foard at gfoard@chp.ca.gov.  There have been some staff increases and as a result the county’s 1st quarter numbers for fatal accidents are down 20% and injury accidents are down 7%. Some residents complained about speeding along Sumner, Citrus, Harrison, around Cedar Creek Park and especially around the high school.  Captain McCreary said to continue calling in complaints so that their office is aware of the problem.  As the complaints come in officers are assigned. Please remember that the CHP handle traffic complaints and anything criminal should be called into the Sheriff’s dept.

Sheriff Captain Lee Wagner spoke about some of the changes to their department.  Their Community Action Team (CAT) now has 6 deputies and there are 4 deputies assigned to gangs.  They are enacting more of a zone policing which means that the deputies work the same areas for their whole assignment.  This builds familiarity and continuity and allows them to develop community relationships. The gangs in this area were here before Eastvale.  Mostly from old Mira Loma and some are new transplants from other areas.   The majority of the tagging we see around Eastvale is the work of tagging crews and not gangs.  The captain said to look at your own kids and see what they are drawing.  See if it resembles tagging artwork.  The tagging in this area is being done mostly by our own Eastvale kids.  The two teens (13 & 14 years old) who were arrested for tagging the Theater at Eastvale Gateway were Eastvale residents.  That case is still pending in juvenile probation and the damage was around $16k.  Please call the graffiti removal hotline as soon as you see graffiti.  The sooner it is removed the less likely more will follow.  For Eastvale call (951)727-3500.  For anywhere else in the county call (951)955-3333. Most of the crimes in Eastvale have been construction theft.  There is an increase in metals theft and there have been some vehicle burglaries and thefts.  There is very little violent crime and its mostly domestic violence.  Home Depot is being hit hard with vehicle thefts.  And they are working on finding a solution to all the day laborers who hang outside.  The patrol deputy strength is a minimum of 2 deputies and as many as 6 deputies in Eastvale at any one time.

Nexus Development will be building the mixed use center on the South East corner of Limonite and Archibald.  There are 2 homes on the property and they have tenants in them until demolition in 2 months.  Escrow has closed and they have preliminary approval from the county Board of Supervisors.  Final approval should come on April 29.  They are anticipating in August/September to start grading and begin vertical construction in early 2009.  There will be 50,000 square feet in a business park, mini storage under the Edison easement, a CVS drug store, Fresh and Easy supermarket, car wash, 2 fast food pads and one bank pad and a fitness center.  They are in talks with 24 hour Fitness but nothing has been signed.  You can view preliminary information on their website at www.nexusd.com

Ken King is our new Supervisor for our Code Enforcement Team.  Mr. King is replacing Mickey Parmalay and has had over 8 years in Code Enforcement.  Their goal is to get officers out into the community for faster corrective action.  They have updated the website and you can report a violation online at www.RCTLMA.org and click on the Code Enforcement bar at the top.  Their phone number is (951)275-8739. There were some questions about nosy neighbors who use code violations as a way to harass their neighbors.  Mr. King stated that if there is a violation you will be cited regardless of who complains.  The department has also started an afterhours and weekend schedule.  Some officers are working flex schedules.  For the 1st quarter of 2008, there were 581 inspections, resulting in 221 notices of violation and 86 citations.  The citations carry with them a $100 fine for the 1st offense and a $250 fine for the second offense and a $500 fine for the third offense.