🍊 Monday Gazette: October 21, 2024

Monday Gazette: October 21, 2024

Hello Riverside, and Happy Monday!

We're just over two weeks away from the election, and for those of you looking for help making up your mind on Riverside-specific ballot issues, I wanted to give you a heads-up that we're working on publishing interviews with the candidates running for school board within the week. See you Wednesday.

GOVERNMENT

Riverside City Council Could Reconsider Nonprofit Resilience Fund, Amid Alleged Concerns Over Redirecting Funds

Close to $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds could be used to provide loans to nonprofit organizations dedicated to serving city, residents.

A proposal to create a revolving loan fund in Riverside to support nonprofit organizations is back on the city council’s agenda for October 22. The council will consider voting on a contract with the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) to administer the ‘Non Profit Resilience Fund’ using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. 

Under the initiative, qualified organizations would receive from $150,000 to $200,000 in loans to help temporarily address program and staffing costs. Those organizations would eventually pay those loans back on fixed interest rates.

But there’s concern among several nonprofit organizations, including IECF, that the council is opting to redirect those dollars for road improvements instead. Local organizations hope city leaders vote to support the contract.

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GOVERNMENT

This Week in City Hall: October 21, 2024

The City Council is busy this week with an agenda that includes adopting an 8% tax on cannabis, extending the City Manager's contract by two years, a $500,000 partnership for a trial of autonomous shuttles, and reconsidering a $2.8 million nonprofit resilience fund agreement.

Welcome to our weekly digest on public meetings and agenda items worthy of your attention in the next week. This guide is part of our mission to provide everyday Riversiders like you with the information to speak up on the issues you care about.

City Council

City Council will meet in closed and open sessions on Tuesday, October 22, in afternoon sessions at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. and an evening session at 6:15 p.m. (agenda). The agenda includes:

• Reviewing the impacts of California's insurance crisis and considering a resolution urging state action to improve insurance accessibility and affordability.
• Considering an increase to approved funding (from $702,900 to $3,758,016.08) and applying for a state grant to cover higher costs for the Jurupa Avenue Extension project.
• Extending the City Manager Mike Futrell's contract by two years and approving a 5% salary increase.
• Adopting an 8% tax on cannabis businesses following the legalization of retail cannabis sales last year, with potential annual revenue of $1.5-2 million once fully implemented.
• Approving 17 new Mills Act agreements to preserve historic properties, which would result in about $11,327 in annual property tax reductions and secure over $2.5 million in property improvements over ten years.
• Accepting a $500,000 grant to develop prototype plans for "missing middle" housing, aiming to increase housing options and streamline development.
• A $500,000 commitment from Riverside Transit Agency to launch a two-year pilot program of electric autonomous shuttles as part of a larger partnership with Ohmio for establishing their international headquarters and manufacturing facility in Riverside.
• Reconsidering a contract with IECF to begin administering a $2.8 million nonprofit resilience fund funded by ARPA dollars.

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GARDNER GAUGE

Santa Ana River Watershed Cloud Seeding Program Update

Santa Ana Watershed's cloud seeding added 11,000 acre-feet of snow, but the next phase is postponed due to wildfire risks. California enters the new water year with strong reserves.

The Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) has concluded the first year of its planned four-year Santa Ana River Watershed Cloud Seeding Pilot Program.  The first year of cloud seeding began in November of 2023 and officially ended on April 15, 2024.  All of the cloud seeding for this project was conducted using ground-based equipment that dispersed vaporized silver iodide into storm clouds.  No aircraft-based cloud seeding was utilized.

Very preliminary data from a validation study carried out by the Desert Research Institute indicate the cloud seeding may have resulted in about 11,000 acre feet of additional precipitation in the target areas of the Santa Ana, San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains, and significantly, that the seeding did not appear to diminish precipitation down wind of the target areas.

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What's Happening in Riverside

Today

• Atmospheres of Violence: Structuring Antagonism and the Trans/Queer Ungovernable at the University of California, Riverside
• Ballroom/Latin Dance: Mambo & Argentine Tango at the University of California, Riverside
• Commission on Aging at Riverside City Hall
• Departments Enter Program Flags for Eligible Special Program Students - Winter and Spring 2025 at the University of California, Riverside
• Hip Hop Dance at the University of California, Riverside
• Monday Carillon Recitals at UCR Bell Tower
• Park and Recreation Commission at Riverside City Hall
• Pickleball, Beginner at the University of California, Riverside
• Samuel Merritt University Visits HPAC at the University of California, Riverside
• Tennis, Beginning at the University of California, Riverside
• Translating Voices: Jenna Tang on Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise and Taiwan’s #MeToo Movement at the University of California, Riverside

Tomorrow

• Archives Fair 2024 at UCR
• 2024 ASP Bio & Math Tutor at the University of California, Riverside
• Adult Karate, Beginning at the University of California, Riverside
• Adult Karate, Intermediate at the University of California, Riverside
• City Council at Riverside City Hall
• Family Storytime at Marcy Branch Library
• Heels Dance Clinic at the University of California, Riverside
• Honeymoon Express: Film Screening and Q&A with Filmmaker and MFA alum Bala Rajasekharuni at the University of California, Riverside
• Inland Empire Chorus Rehearsal at Temple Beth El Synagogue Social Hall
• INNOVAR Entrepreneur Training Course (Fall 2024) at the University of California, Riverside
• STRONG Nation at the University of California, Riverside
• STS Fall Kickoff at the University of California, Riverside
• Trivia Night at The Barn Stable at the University of California, Riverside
• Tropa Magica - The Garden Room @ RMA at Riverside Municipal Auditorium
• Tuesday Karaoke at The Hideaway

Save the Date

• October 25: Obake Night: Japanese ghost stories with Barbara Wong at Heritage House
• October 26: Paws & Pumpkins at Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center
• October 27: Raincross Master Chorale Concert “Songs of Light” at Calvary Presbyterian Church

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