MAYOR RUSTY BAILEY, RPU GENERAL MANAGER GIRISH BALACHANDRAN AND CITY MANAGER JOHN RUSSO GIVE IT BACK!
OUR $200 MILLION THAT IS! THAT IS APPROXIMATELY $2000.00 EACH RIVERSIDE HOUSEHOLD!
The problem, for the record, isn’t having reserves, it’s having excessive reserves. There is only one place those reserves can come from – excessive rates. Every other excuse RPU gives is hogwash. Is the current administration continuing to puppeteer the charade? Evidently so. Just when it appears you are progressively going forward two steps, you find yourself six steps back, progress continues to be steps away. The truth of the matter is our staff and leadership continues to believe the words of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe. The daily task for the staff at City Hall is to find creative ways to take more money from the taxpayer, through more fines, forfeitures and taxes. The rate payers deserve better, and the taxpayers executive staff and leadership find it simpler to cover the truth, then to tell the truth. We find these truths to be self evident by the decision made by council on March 22, 2016, by changing the rules to fit the crime. The decision that was voted upon was not made in good faith. It was made to cover the mistake of overcharging the ratepayers, and now gives RPU, by the power of the legislative body (especially Paul Davis, Candidate for Mayor who is a big part of the problem), to take control of those monies originally heisted by this department. In the real world of the private sector, this would be a crime.
What you have here is a public agency who’s been caught with their hand in the cookie jar and refuses to admit it for fear of actually accepting responsibility. They need to feel the publics’ wrath: they purposely accentuated the pain of the Great Recession on this community most vulnerable in order to curry favor and ensure job security. It’s sick sociopathic behavior and cannot be tolerated.
CLOWNS TO THE LEFT OF ME, JOKERS TO THE RIGHT OF ME..JUST MORE OF THE SAME??
Maintaining a healthy, but relatively low level of reserves, ensures the public that RPU execs are running a tight ship and does not allow them to, “paper over,” problems of their own making. A, “healthy,” level of reserves in my opinion (and consistent with industry averages would be about $90-135 million total – both water and electric), which of course means RPU should give back about $200 million, or $2000 per average customer. How would that suit you?
Ratepayers should be reminded that a reserve fund is for contingencies, not for ongoing maintenance and planned replacement of infrastructure. On going maintenance is already paid for via rates. Bonds are issued for replacements and new infrastructure because the costs must be bourne by the users over time (to that effect, RPU has issued hundreds of millions in bonds to replace infrastructure of the past 10 years, so there is a legitimate question of, “do we really need all this new spending?”).
Riverside’s current policy DOES NOT even allow for this money to be used for anything but contingencies. The infrastructure angle is a red herring thrown out there to distract customers from realizing they’ve been overcharged for a decade. The money needs to be disgorged from RPU and given back to the community from which it came. It was an illegal tax used to create a slush fund and maximize the amount of the general fund transfer to the city’s general fund, which paid for elected and administrator’s pet projects.
The unanimous vote to allow RPU to keep 100% of its slush fund is indefensible and clearly demonstrates the Riverside Council’s, “more government is always good,” philosophy. Instead of $325 million, it could’ve been $325 billion, and they still would’ve rationalized some way to allow RPU to keep the community’s money despite our City Charter clearly not allowing these types of slush funds to be established. The vote allows RPU to basically stuff the money under a mattress and be used to paper over management mistakes, funnel monies to special interests, and fritter away the rest on mostly unnecessary infrastructure. Now that they’ve gotten the “all’s clear” signal from the Council, RPU will more than likely move to raise rates in the next 2 years despite what was printed in a current PE article. RPU continues to be the City’s piggy bank through which it overcharges its captive residents in the form of rates (only Council vote necessary) in lieu of ever having to raise taxes (public vote necessary). The City’s culture of covering-up misdeeds of its electeds and executives continues.
My friend Jerry has a very special message for RPU with reference to holding on to overcharged rates …please listen closely….
Was this clear RPU ?
This is a council which just agreed to change the rules of the game to fit the crime, but, just because you made the rules legal, doesn’t hide the fact that the monies attained by overcharging the ratepayers was done illegally, hence, should be appropriately returned. For years RPU had been in violation of it’s existing policy prior to the March 2016 council changes, which an overrage of ratepayers monies were charged. I find it disparaging that the publics voice and reason are not given any legitimate value. Taxpayers are now beginning to feel by particular attitudes of certain individuals at council, that “residents should be seen, not heard.” It is disconcerting that the only language the city seems to respond to, or give any legitimacy to, is in the form of a law suit.
VOTE VIVIAN MORENO FOR MAYOR 2016! SHE IS THE ONLY CANDIDATE TAKING CARE OF THE TAXPAYER.
TMC, RATED RIVERSIDE’S REGIONAL COUNTIES MOST, “NEGATIVE,” “RAUNCHY,” “LOW CLASS,” “VISIONS OF GRANDEUR,” “FULL OF B.S.,” “IGNORANT,” “MISGUIDED,” “BULLYISH,” “FILTHY,” “SICK,” “PERVERTED,” “DEFAMATORY,” “STUPID,” “PATHETIC,” “DESPICABLE,” “DISAPPOINTING,” “BELOW THE BELT,” “A NEW LOW,” “SHOCKING,” “OFFENSIVE,” “OBNOXIOUS,” “INAPPROPRIATE,” “HURTFUL,” “MEAN SPIRITED,” “DISTASTEFUL,” “EMBARRASSING,” HORIFFIC,” “SLANDEROUS” “FIT TO BE VIEWED FROM THE REAR” AND MEZZSPELLED, “MISSPELLED” AND “OPINIONATED” BLOG SITE! YES WE ADMIT WE OUR ALL OF THAT AND MORE, WHICH IN CURRENT TERMS IS KNOWN AS “UNPOLITICALLY CORRECT.” TEMPORARILY BLOCKED BY THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE AT PUBLIC ACCESS SITES WITHIN THE CITY, THEN UNBLOCKED. I GUESS YOU CANNOT DO THAT ACCORDING TO THE ACLU. RATED ONE TWO ONE STAR OUT OF FIVE IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY APPROVAL RATINGS.. … AGAIN, THANK YOU COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE EMPLOYEE’S FOR YOUR SUPPORT! CONTACT US: thirtymilescorruption@hotmail.com
jehunter51
TMC: Thirty Miles of Corruption 
Can we also talk about the build-out of the fiber optic broadband by RPU – none of which will be available for use by ratepayers?
YEP! Its got to stop.
Our electric and water rates are unlawfully high. They did this purposely to send more cash to the General Fund every month. Every customer regardless of zoning should be charged the same flat rate for electricity (about 8 cents per KWH) and water (about 70 cents per CCF). Businesses and residents would save 50-75% on these bills each month. That’s money in your pocket to spend in the local economy. Vivian will do this as our mayor. Vivian will get our utility surplus funds credited back to you. Her policies will stimulate local economy and stop our city from sucking the life-blood out of our local economy. Vote!