W e e k l y RIALTO RECORD
IECN
.com
Januar y 03, 2019
Vol 17, N O. 1 6
Wo m e n u n i t e f o r a n i n s p i r a t i o n a l e v e n i n g o f n e t w o r k i n g d u r i n g 3 r d A n n u a l W. I . N . & W i n e
THIS WEEK
Caden’s toy drive gleans 350 teddy bears f or LLUCH Pg. 4
IECN
COURTESY PHOTO
Women of influence were celebrated and honored during the W.I.N. & Wine event hosted by Scene 360 Business, Association & the Ladies of W.I.N. on Thursday, Dec. 27 in San Bernardino. Front row: Lea Michelle Cash, Joanne Gilbert and IECN Publisher and SBCCD Trustee Gloria Macias Harrison. Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson is pictured back row, middle, as well Maricela Ferguson, Kim Carter and Barbara Babcock (names of others unfortunately were not readily available at time of publication).
City employees receive salary increases, unfunded PERS liability still to be tackled By David Phillips
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Pete Aguilar issues 115th Congressional Repor t
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INSIDE Words To Think About 3 Legal Notices
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H OW TO R E A CH U S
Inland Empir e Community Newspaper s Of f ice: (909) 381 -9898 Fax: (909) 384- 0406 E di torial: ie cn1 @mac.com Adver tising : sale s@ie cn.c om
n July 24th 2018 a report by PFM, the contractor the city hired to perform long range budget forecasting, warned Rialto that they would find themselves in deficit spending if spending was not kept under control and a plan to deal with the growing PERS unfunded liability wasn’t addressed. Rialto is still working out a plan to deal with the PERS unfunded liability and has kicked spending into high gear. Assistant City Administrator Robb Steel said, “We have had several meetings with the Ad Hoc Committee established to prepare a strategy but the report is still under development.” On top of the $18 million on the upcoming work on Frisbee Park the city is moving forward with all capital projects, and is in the middle of a citywide solar program. One of the biggest warnings that PFM cautioned city leaders about was to show extreme caution when dealing with salary increases.
The city recently handed out the last set of enhanced salaries containing 8% increases, despite a warning from Russ Branson from PFM that indicated 2% raises would put Rialto at risk for deficit spending in Fiscal Year 2019.
During the December 11th council meeting the final group to receive these raises was the city’s management group that includes department heads and City Council. The largest standout was the employment agreement with
Police Chief Mark Kling, whose salary increased from $191,276 a year to the top of the pay scale of $231,367 at the newly adjusted rate which doesn’t include the 8% Spending, cont. on next page