News Details (Posted: November 22, 2005):

Step Up To the Plate

Full Description:

Presented to Council on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 Step Up To the Plate Now that the election is over, with the exception of one council member and the city manager, the council and staff remains pretty much the same as it has for the last six years. You are the same group that has managed to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for consultants and studies while paying little attention to them. You have managed, over several years, to lose or misplace six million dollars worth of road money. For years we have been driving on streets that are in such disrepair they border on being unsafe. Especially at night. Three examples: Sierra between Third and Forth, Pedley between Fifth and Sixth, and the road between the prison and Makin-Shear Park. We also have a storm drain system which is virtually non-functional. Four examples: Pedley between Fifth and Sixth, Temescal between Reservoir and Forth, Second at Corona, and Reservoir at Corona which floods Parmentar Park. Another problem I see is with Ingallas Park. It has been under construction now for several years. The grounds for the second arena have not even had the grading finished yet, let alone the arena itself built. This was promised to be done for Horse Week 2003. This project has cost taxpayers millions of dollars for work that was supposed to have been completed by the developers of the hillside as part of their agreement with the city. Councilman Clark said during his campaign that he wanted to leave Norco as it is, so I suspect he would rather do nothing about these problems. But, my hope is that ALL the council and staff will step up to the plate and do what it takes to resolve these conditions in a timely manner. Vernon Showalter, bert557@aol.com P.S. At the Council meeting, Hal Clark made a lengthy statement concerning Norco's budget problem. It is nice to hear him finally admit we have one. During his campaign he continuously denied we had any solvency problems at all. bert557@aol.com