BY K.P. SANDER
Eastvale – With the General Municipal Election just around the corner, citizens are beginning to formulate decisions about who they will be voting for. Three seats are open on the City Council, with only two of the five incumbents seeking reelection. Council members Kelly Howell and Jeff DeGrandpre have resigned within the last year, and Councilman Richard Welch will not run for a second term.
When voters cast their ballots on Tues., Nov. 4, they will select from a field of nine candidates: Ramon E. Aguilar, Steven Daniel Aguilar, Richard Duran, Anwer Khan, William Link (Incumbent, Council Member), Clinton Lorimore, Cesar Morales, Adam Rush (Incumbent, Mayor Pro-Tem), and Brandon Matthew Villalpando.
City Council members are elected at-large for a four year term. Council members serve “staggered” terms, meaning that either two or three seats are open for election every two years. Council members receive a $400 per month stipend as compensation for their service.
To qualify, candidates must reside and be registered to vote within the jurisdiction at the time nomination papers are issued. More specifically, they must be at least 18 years old; a U.S. citizen; a resident of the City of Eastvale; registered to vote in the City of Eastvale; and must not be on parole or serving time for a felony conviction. All candidates have met these requirements.
The Eastvale News asked each of these candidates the same two questions in an effort to provide some information toward voting research.
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Last week, you received the information from Ramon E. Aguilar, and Steven D. Aguilar. Here, now, we offer up feedback from candidates Richard Duran, and Anwer Khan.
Richard Duran
Richard Duran: As a retired Law Enforcement Officer with 32 years experience, one of my priorities is public safety within the City of Eastvale. I will continue to work with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department and Cal Fire to establish on-going dialog for traffic safety, neighborhood watch programs, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and bike safety for the residents and children of Eastvale. I will continue to work to obtain a Riverside Sheriff’s Department sub-station within the City of Eastvale. I will work hard to attract new businesses such as restaurants, clothing stores, hotels, as well as jobs for our residents within the city. I will meet with small business owners who currently run their small business out of their homes, and encourage them to establish a storefront providing their goods and services for our residents. I will to continue to work with the surrounding cities of Corona, Norco, Ontario, Chino and Jurupa Valley city governments on infrastructure growth surrounding Eastvale. Several of the important issues are traffic safety, freeway traffic, businesses, schools, parks and sports programs for our children.
My focus is on the residents of Eastvale, and it is important to establish monthly neighborhood meetings allowing us to hear from the residents their needs and expectations of City government. I look forward to meeting all of you, and getting to work for the good of Eastvale.
Anwer Khan: The two most important issues facing Eastvale are its impending budgetary problems and its projected inability to satisfy its public safety needs. These problems are largely interrelated. At a recent city council meeting, it was projected that by 2018, the city would not be able to provide its current level of services and maintain a balanced budget. The gravity of the situation becomes even more clear when one considers the growing need for services, law enforcement, and fire coverage created by the addition of 995 houses in the city through projects approved by the county prior to Eastvale’s incorporation. Currently, of the estimated 37,574 working-age residents of Eastvale, only about 478 actually work in the city. As 98.73% of working-age residents are not present in the city for substantial portions of the day, they are not shopping in Eastvale. This means that the city is losing out on much needed sales tax revenue on which the city relies to fund services. In fact, it is the absence of offices and workers in the city during the day that has kept many sit-down restaurants from opening within the city. In order to meet the increasing demands posed by Eastvale’s growth, the city must expand its sources of sales tax revenue. Efforts must be made to market directly to businesses and increase Eastvale’s “visibility” to attract them to Eastvale, particularly in light of the city’s ideal location and the fact that its percentage of highly educated persons is higher than that of the county and the state. Local entrepreneurs with home-based businesses should also be assisted in growing their businesses into brick and mortar locations within the city. A recent permit study indicated that there were over 1,000 home business permits issued in Eastvale. However, to draw businesses and to aid home businesses seeking to transition, office space must be developed soon since the city is already 90-95% built out. While the Leal Specific Plan includes office space in its list of land uses, that project may be multiple years away from breaking-ground. The city must press construction of the Eastvale Business Park and fast-track any permits or city inspections related to such projects without circumventing any city codes, laws, or regulations. This will have the double effect of creating jobs in Eastvale and providing a population within the city during the day that will drive sales tax revenue and, thereby, ensure funding for police and fire protection at the recommended levels. Beyond attempting to press the development of business space, working to draw businesses, and seeking to zone land for future schools, I will focus (1) on making the city’s government more responsive to its citizens and (2) on reforming the city’s government to reduce the opportunities for wrong-doing. There are many reasons people are unable to attend city council meetings. Some people work. Others have family commitments. Simply because they are unable to attend, their voices are not heard and decisions are made by the city council without their input. Similarly, a resident must search the city website for the meeting’s minutes to know what was decided. Together, this means that issues are often raised and resolved without residents being informed. I would like to expand the city’s social media presence to provide a direct link to a meeting’s agenda and to allow for online public comments on agenda items. The comments from those who have identified themselves as residents of Eastvale would then be read by the Public Information Officer or a delegate during the meeting. After each meeting, a brief summary of the highlights would be posted to the social media site. Later, when the meeting minutes are available, the link for the minutes would be posted. On some occasions, online surveys, for which residents would actually have to register, could be used to decide certain projects such as how an undeveloped space in a park should be used. In terms of reforming city government, I would begin by seeking term limits for members of the city council. In addition, I would seek to reform the city’s commission system which currently involves commissioners being appointed solely through the nomination and vote of the city council. This process lends itself to potential abuse by council members seeking to appointment their friends or people they have promised positions to. Instead, I would support a system that requires applications for any commission seat, with certain identifying information of the applicants redacted, to be vetted by the city manager, city attorney, and sitting members of the relevant commission. The applications of the top candidates, with certain information still redacted, would then be forwarded to the city council for selection of the commissioner through a vote. While problems in such a system would still be possible, it would be less prone to abuse and would make it more likely that an individual is selected based on his or her merits. The city should undertake these measures to prevent wrong-doing by future members of the city council who may be acting in their own interests rather than that of the city. For more information, please visit: www.EastvaleUnited.com and www.facebook.com/AnwerKhanEastvale.
