City Council will meet in closed and open sessions Tuesday, June 6. Here are highlights from the agenda.
Power battles
After a break since January, the Riverside Transmission Reliability Project (RTRP) is back on the agenda. RTRP is a strongly debated project because it seeks to address Riversideâs reliance on a single connection to the power grid with a plan to install approximately 10 miles of high-voltage transmission line along the Santa Ana River.
A Brief Background
In May 2022 Council voted to pause the project and work with an outside consultant to study alternatives. That November, Council voted to move forward with the project as it was originally approved in 2020 by the California Public Utilities Commission. In January of this year, Council again paused the project to form a working group of federal, state, and local leaders to identify and secure funding sources for further undergrounding of RTRP.
That working group met five times with participation from Congressmen Calvert and Takano, Assemblymembers Cervantes, Essayli, Seyarto, Senator Roth, Councilmembers Conder and Hemenway, City staff, and representatives from Norcoâs city council and staff.
Whatâs Happening Tonight
At tonightâs meeting, Councilmember Placenscia is recommending the âimmediate discontinuation of the RTRP Working Groupâ to move forward on the project as planned without undergrounding the transmission lines.
Flag Policy
Since January, Council has engaged in an active discussion around updating the Cityâs flag policy. The Flag Policy has a two-step process for considering commemorative flags.
First, on May 2, the Council approved specific flags and their display schedule. The second step requires a separate meeting to approve the display of those flags; that vote will be taken tonight.
State Bill Opposition
City Staff is also asking Council to adopt a resolution opposing Assembly Bill 93 and Assembly Bill 742.
AB 93 prohibits law enforcement from conducting a warrantless search based solely on a personâs consent. The Cityâs report claims âprohibiting or restricting the use of consensual searches eliminates an individualâs right to cooperate with an investigationâ and âthe inability to conduct consensual searches would prevent law enforcement from timely resolving active shooter or reports of on campus crime.
AB 742 prohibits using an âunleashed police canine by law enforcement to apprehend or to arrest a person, or to be used for crowd control purposes.â âAn arbitrary ban on the use of canines may not increase public safety,â the Cityâs report claims, âwould leave officers with limited options for [crime] prevention or intervention.â
Nonprofit groups say the âNonprofit Resilience Fundâ will help address critical needs of residents. Critics argue âtaxpayer moneyâ is better used for public work improvements.
Riversideâs new fire chief was sworn in at the Fox Performing Arts Center, emphasizing service, honor, and courage, while the City Manager praised his leadership and community commitment.
