Counties of Riverside, San Bernardino need to planconservatively20161214 17:48:54
Last week, Riverside County and San Bernardino County supervisorsreceived and discussed the firstquarter budget report for their respectivejurisdictions. While there were largely significant contrasts in presentationand tone, both counties will face similar issues going forward, thoughthere is no doubt which of the two counties is under greater pressure.
“We will have storms and we will have other matters that occur this yearand next year that will affect our budget,” Jay Orr, county executive officerfor Riverside County, said to supervisors to kick off a fairly bleakpresentation.
As has been firmly established over the past few years, the county willneed to show an unprecedented level of fiscal discipline for the next several years to not only get out from underits structural budget deficit, but to shore up its reserve fund.
But that depends on a number of assumptions.
“Assuming no economic downturn or other systemic disruption occurs, discretionary revenues stay on pace asforecast, and that aggregate net costs do not climb, we could begin replenishing reserves in fiscal year 18/19and meet our board policy on reserve requirements by fiscal year 20/21,” the county’s budget report explains.
On the issue of aggregate costs alone, the county is banking on persuading county unions to agree to flatcontracts for the next few years. Fortunately, the county has at least publicly maintained its intention of holdingthe line in labor negotiations, something it has historically not made a point of doing.
Meanwhile, San Bernardino County’s budget reports have not been as big on comprehensive narratives asthose in Riverside County, though they’re nevertheless full of detail.
The highest profile budget adjustment amounted to allocating $100,000 to help expedite workers compensationclaims by victims of the Dec. 2, 2015 shooting at the Inland Regional Center.
Much costlier challenges loom on the horizon for the county, including higher pension costs due to investmentlosses in the past year and a pending classaction lawsuit over the county jails.
Both counties must plan carefully and conservatively to prepare for any coming storms and downturns that cancompromise their ability to serve the public.
TWO INJURED IN ROLLOVER CRASH ON STATE ROUTE 247 INLANDERS »
YUCCA VALLEY TOWN COUNCIL MOVES TO PUT LIBRARY IN FORMER PFF BUILDINGBy Z107.7 News, on December 15th, 2016
The Yucca Valley Redevelopment Agency purchased the PFF Bank building for $1.6 million in October 2009, and the building has become aneyesore by sitting vacant ever since. In part two of a twopart report, managing editor Tami Roleff says the Yucca Valley Town Council held aspecial workshop Tuesday afternoon to hear about the costs of renovating the PFF Bank building into a county library and approved thenegotiations over the lease with the county….In a workshop meeting held prior to the special town council meeting Tuesday, Yucca Valley council members were given more information aboutrehabilitating the former PFF Bank building into a county library and the town’s lease with the county for the library. A conservative estimate forrenovating the building into a library is between $1.5 million and $1.8 million. The county will spend about $1 million on furniture, fixtures, andequipment. The town expects to charge the county about 65 cents per square foot for the new building (up from 27 cents per square foot now),increasing to 70 cents per square foot, over a 15year lease. The timeline for completion of the renovated library is about 15 months. The councildirected staff to move forward with the lease agreement with the county, which will be brought back to the council next month.
December 15th, 2016 | Tags: morongo basin, san bernardino county, yucca valley, yucca valley library, YUCCA VALLEY TOWN COUNCIL | Category: Featured, Local News, TopStory
Report: All jobs lost through San Bernardino base closure have been restored
By Jim Steinberg, The Sun
and Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
SAN BERNARDINO >> Twentytwo years after the closure of Norton Air Force Base, the agency responsiblefor redeveloping the former base announced Wednesday that for the first time it has more than restored all of thejobs and economic impact lost when the base closed.
The Inland Valley Development Agency’s annual review found that the 14,000acre area of the former base nowemploys 10,780 people and is responsible for an economic output of $1.89 billion, surpassing the totals lostwhen the base closed in 1994.
“This was a goal when I started here, and it looked so far away,” said Mike Burrows, the agency’s executivedirector, in a telephone interview. Burrows started to work at the airport in 1997.
The type of jobs is different: predominantly logistics, with Amazon’s 4,200 employees and Stater Bros.Markets’ 2,000 employees accounting for more than half of the total.
That doesn’t mean the city is worse off because of the switch, said economist John Husing, whose doctoralthesis studied the economic impact of Norton Air Force Base.
“The jobs that have come in are comparable or better than the jobs that were lost,” said Husing, an advocate oflogistics development who did not contribute to the report. “Because of the spending pattern difference betweencivilians and military personnel, you only needed 75 percent of the number of people working there to replacethe economic impact.”
That’s because much of the spending by Norton’s employees was at the onbase store, so the money did notrecirculate into the local economy, Husing said.
The economic impact is adjusted for inflation since 1994, while the city’s population has grown nearly 20percent since then.
The job total does not include an additional 5,000 parttime jobs created by Amazon and Kohl’s during theChristmas shopping season.
Nor does it include an additional 5,000 indirect jobs that help build nearly $1.9 billion of total economic benefit,Burrows said.
With the exception of the San Bernardino International Airport itself — the fourthlargest source of jobs in theproject area, with 1,401 — the major employers aren’t directly tied to the former role of the base.
Amazon opened warehouses across the state, including others in the Inland Empire, and Stater Bros. Marketshad its headquarters in Colton until it moved to the area of the former base in 2007.
But it took planning and preparation to get those companies to come to San Bernardino, Burrows said.
“Without a lot of inducement from us — infrastructure, roadway improvements, Mountain View Bridge, forexample — we wouldn’t have those jobs,” he said. “It’s been a longtime strategic effort, and we’re very pleasedthat we’re seeing some results.”
Amazon said it was proud to be part of the milestone.
“We are proud to have created thousands of fulltime jobs in San Bernardino and the greater Inland Empirecommunity that offer competitive wages and comprehensive benefits starting on Day One,” spokeswomanAshley Robinson said in an email. “... Our ability to expand operations within four short years is the result ofthree things: incredible customers, an outstanding workforce and a supportive community. Customers are seeingon a regular basis Amazon’s customer obsession, innovative culture and operational excellence — all of whichare driven by our dedicated employees.”
The Inland Valley Development Agency has more projects — and more jobs — in the works for 2017, includingcontinued infrastructure work and a focus on workforce development, Burrows said.
“We’re particularly going to focus on our K12 schools, San Bernardino Valley College and the (SanBernardino) Community College District in making sure we’re doing more on the workforce development side,”he said.
The agency is made up of representatives from San Bernardino County and the cities of Colton, Loma Linda andSan Bernardino. It is responsible for the development and reuse of the nonaviation portions of the formerNorton Air Force Base.
“IVDA’s development of the Norton Air Force Base has proven to be a great asset to the San Bernardinocommunity. We have positively impacted the economy with the creation of jobs and new business,” said SanBernardino Mayor Carey Davis, who is also vice chairman of the agency and president of the San BernardinoInternational Airport Authority. “This is a fine example of the progress we have made in rebuilding SanBernardino.”
JOBS CREATED THROUGH IVDA
Amazon.com 4,200
Stater Bros. 2,000
Kohl’s.com 1,500
San Bernardino Int’l Airport 1,401
Kohl’s 300
Pep Boys 250
Pactiv 200
Mattel 200
Cott Beverage 100
Pepsi 100
Medline 80
ODW 80
12/15/2016 Report: All jobs lost through San Bernardino base closure have been restored
Redlands adopts guidelines to protect trails, wildlife, nature
By Sandra Emerson, Redlands Daily Facts
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
REDLANDS >> Even permanent open space needs oversight.
The city and Redlands Conservancy have created Natural ResourceManagement Guidelines to protect and manage the city’s natural openspace in San Timoteo Canyon and Live Oak Canyon.
“You can’t just leave it because you have to protect it from possiblefire. You have to protect it from misuse, from illegal dumping andother illegal activity, so it needs to be managed,” said Sherli Leonard,executive director of the Redlands Conservancy, which has beenmanaging the city’s open space since 2006.
The guidelines, approved by the City Council at its Dec. 6 meeting, cover natural habitat, wildlife corridor,endangered species, historical and cultural sites, recreation and scenic vistas. The guidelines document alsodiscusses potential funding sources.
The City Council would need to take separate action on specific recommendations included in the plan.
“The guidelines should be general enough that they can apply to any natural undeveloped open space the citymight buy eventually or be given,” Leonard said.
The guidelines do not apply to the San Timoteo Nature Sanctuary, meanwhile, which was purchased by the cityusing funds from the Environmental Protection Agency.
In 2010, the City Council approved a conservation easement with the Conservancy for the sanctuary in SanTimoteo Canyon, which comes with its own set of guidelines, Leonard said. Additionally, the 10acre OakmontPark is a public park so the guidelines do not apply there; however, they do apply to the adjacent cityownedland, she said.
The preparation of the guidelines took many months and a lot of meetings, said Mayor Pro Tem Jon Harrison atthe Dec. 6 council meeting.
“We’re all going to be very proud of how it enables the city and the Conservancy to work together to managethis tremendous resource we’ve been acquiring over the last few years,” Harrison said.
Now that the guidelines have been adopted, the Conservancy can continue working to determine how muchwildlife call these open spaces home and are in need of protection. The group would then be able to mark thoseareas as sensitive, to not only educate the trail users but to also keep them from going into those areas.
“We know what is out there,” Leonard said, “we just don’t know how many.”
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)
10 arrested in Upland probation sweep
By Beatriz Valenzuela, San Bernardino Sun
Thursday, December 15, 2016
UPLAND >> A parole and probation compliance and warrant checkoperation spearheaded by Upland police after authorities noticed anuptick in crime in the city, netted 10 arrests Wednesday.
“There has been an increase in all crime across the board in the lastfew years,” said Upland Sgt. Marc Simpson Wednesday.
Six teams of law enforcement officers targeted nearly 100 paroleesand probationers living in the city. Some had outstanding warrants,others were the subjects of compliance checks to make sure they wereabiding by the terms of their release.
• PHOTOS: Upland police arrest 10 in probation sweep
Of the 95, the six teams — made up of officers from Upland, Montclair, Chino police departments and SanBernardino County Probation and California State Parole — managed to get to 78 locations where they spoke to29 people.
About half a dozen people were arrested during the first three hours of the multiagency operation.
Among the 10 arrested was one person with a felony warrant for having sex with a minor, another wanted forforgery of a prescription, police officials said.
In one instance, a man hid in the bathroom of his mother’s home while police knocked on the front door.
After some time, the man — later identified as Gabriel GarciaSantana, 27 — finally came outside and wasarrested on an outstanding battery warrant. GarciaSantana was on probation for burglary.
According to Simpson, GarciaSantana was arrested late last month on a drug warrant.
“The new warrant didn’t come up at that time,” said Simpson. “It didn’t show up until after he was released.Sometimes when someone goes into jail a lot, it takes time for (the warrants) to catch up.”
During a compliance check at an apartment at Pine Street near Mulberry Avenue, officers arrested Paul Walk,39, of Upland when an officer reportedly saw Walk throw baggies of methamphetamine and heroine out one ofthe apartment windows.
“I just got off parole,” said Walk as he sat handcuffed on the stoop in front of the apartment. The parolee officerswere searching for was not home.
Operations like Wednesday’s allows Upland police to pool resources and work with other agencies.
“We wouldn’t be able to do this alone,” said Simpson.
Those targeted by the undertaking were on local or state supervision for a variety of convictions includingassaults, drug offenses and intimidation of a witness.
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)
New policy aims to get Inland patients out of ambulances faster
Paramedics often have to wait an hour or more to offload patients in San Bernardino, Riverside counties
By Anne Millerbernd, The PressEnterprise
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
The 911 system was devised as a safe, rapid way to help people in anemergency. But in the Inland Empire, it can — and often does — takemore than an hour for a patient to be transferred from an ambulanceinto a hospital’s care.
Those waits have been considered a significant issue for years in SanBernardino and Riverside counties, which suffer from a doctorshortage and a population that overuses the 911 system, county andhospital officials say. Ambulance crews here spend tens of thousandsof hours each year waiting to offload patients into an emergencydepartment.
Starting today, both counties will wipe clean a slate of previous attempted fixes and implement a policy that willallow paramedics to drop off patients more quickly.
The policy is expected to reduce offload delays — cases in which ambulances wait more than 25 or 30 minutesto turn over responsibility for a patient — in both counties. It’s also essentially a job description for bothhospital staffs and paramedics.
“You’ve got to get everybody speaking the same language before you put actions in place,” said RiversideCounty EMS Administrator Bruce Barton, who helped spearhead the effort along with his counterpart at theInland Counties Emergency Medical Agency, which serves San Bernardino, Inyo and Mono counties.
The policy is designed only to reduce the time ambulance crews have to spend with patients so they can get backinto circulation sooner; it won’t necessarily reduce the amount of time patients wait before a doctor sees them.
Under the new policy, paramedics who note an ambulance shortage during an offload delay will be able to leavecertain patients in a waiting room, instead of waiting until hospital staff are available to take the patients.
Problem with deep roots
A survey in a 2014 report from the California Hospital Association asked 33 local emergency medical servicesagencies how significant an issue offload delays were. Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency andRiverside County EMS were among 10 that responded “extremely” or “very” significant.
Patients are considered delayed after they’ve waited for 25 minutes in San Bernardino County, or 30 minutes inRiverside County. The data the two counties collect on offload delays do not include ambulance transports thatare completed within those time frames.
Between 2013 and 2015, about 35 percent of ambulance transports were delayed in San Bernardino County, andabout 22 percent were delayed in Riverside County, according to data from the counties’ emergency medical
Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville had the highest percentage of delays of any hospital in the twocounty areaduring those years. Almost 60 percent of patients taken there by ambulance were considered delayed; onaverage, those delayed patients waited an hour to be offloaded.
The longest average delays came for patients at Corona Regional Medical Center, the data show. Among theapproximately 40 percent of delayed patients, the average wait was 72 minutes.
Riverside University Health SystemMedical Center, the county’s public hospital in Moreno Valley, is just belowthe county average when it comes to offload delays. However, the percentage of delayed ambulances has risen inrecent years, reaching about 20 percent in 2015.
The emergency department’s nursing director, Keven Porter, attributes that in part to abuse of the 911 system:“They scrape their toe and they call an ambulance,” he said of some patients.
Kaiser Permanente’s San Bernardino Area Manager Greg Christian, in an emailed statement, called it the “911for everything” phenomenon. He said it’s on the rise.
Limited access to physicians plagues both counties and plays a major role in the offload delays, said Tom Lynch,administrator of Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency.
There were 182 M.D. licenses per 100,000 people in San Bernardino County in 2012, according to theCalifornia Hospital Association report. That number in Riverside County was 128, less than half of the stateaverage of 272.
Not a panacea
The new ambulance offloading policy solves none of those underlying issues.
Emergency department overcrowding is a complex web of issues, and almost none can be solved with a simplepolicy change. Ambulance delays are one small string in the web that can be isolated and fixed. So that’s whereLynch and Barton decided to start.
While the new policy outlines the standard for offloading a patient, paramedics and hospital staff will have todecide on a casebycase basis who paramedics need to stay with — often as the patient waits on a gurney in ahospital hallway — and who can be put in a wheelchair, waiting room or bed so the ambulance can leave.
To be offloaded, a patient has to meet a set of criteria, including that paramedics haven’t needed to performlifesaving measures on the patient, and the patient has to be stable.
“Stable” is commonly used among medical staff to describe a patient’s condition, but Christian, of KaiserPermanente, said Kaiser would have preferred the policy include a more solid way to identify a patient as“stable.” Still, he’s optimistic about the change.
Hospitals had a chance to look the policy over and request changes. Christian said a lot of those suggestionswere implemented.
Under the old policy, which is being replaced today, ambulances delayed more than 90 minutes at a hospitalwould contact other ambulances and tell them to avoid that hospital.
Barton said that method worked, but it bothered patients who could not be taken to their hospital of choice.
This effort is different, Barton said, because everyone is willing to work together to solve the problem.
12/15/2016 New policy aims to get Inland patients out of ambulances faster
“I think we have all the hospitals’ attention, and it didn’t always feel like we had that,” he said.
Lynch and Barton both said the new policy is just the beginning of their efforts to mitigate delays.
Working ‘at their max’
Hospital overcrowding that leads to ambulance delays is not an Inlandspecific issue. It’s not even a Californiaspecific issue.
American Medical Response, an ambulance provider that serves swaths of both counties, experiences offloaddelays everywhere, said spokesman Jason Sorrick.
“That said, because of California’s size and the volume of patients moving through the emergency system, thecost and impact that these delays place on our operations is significant,” he wrote in a statement.
It’s easy to blame hospitals for the wait because they are where the bottleneck happens. But California HospitalAssociation Vice President of Nursing Services BJ Bartleson said area hospitals have taken big steps to reducethe delays.
Some hospitals have added technology in the emergency department, she added, and some have begun to trackambulance wait times as they sit at the hospital.
The real blame sits on those systemic issues that aren’t so easily solved, she said.
“I guarantee in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the (local EMS agencies) are working at their max,”Bartleson said. “So now we’ve got to look at the community to help us.”
Mojave Desert Land Trust welcomes new outreachdirector with nonprofit backgroundBy Hilary Sloane For the HiDesert Star | Posted: Wednesday, December 14, 2016 6:49 pm
Jacqueline Guevara is the new director of education andpublic engagement for the Mojave Desert Land Trust.
Guevara, who lives in Yucca Valley with her husband andfamily, worked for Desert Arc and Goodwill Industries inSouthern California for many years. She has an impressiveamount of experience initiating and overseeing programs forpeople with disabilities, including veterans and youth. Herfocus is always on helping people.
The Mojave Desert Land Trust is a land conservationnonprofit focused on both preserving the desert environmentand introducing people to the beauty and significance ofpublic land. When Monica Mahoney, the former director ofeducation and public engagement, resigned for familyreasons, it left a significant vacancy that needed the rightperson.
Danielle Segura, executive director of the MDLT, wasfamiliar with Guevara’s work with Goodwill Industries. When she encountered Guevara again in theMorongo Basin, Segura thought she would be a good fit for the land trust. “I thought her experience wouldadd to our programs of community engagement.”
Guevara will oversee the volunteer department and continuing established community outreach programs aswell as developing new ones.
“I have a lot of ideas,” said Guevara while riding out to Sheep’s Hole for the ribboncutting ceremony of thenew Mojave Trails sign.
Guevara, whose new position began only a couple of weeks ago, said there are a number of projects alreadyunderway. One that she is particularly excited about is working with the Girl Scouts of America to develop anew park and outdoor patch that would celebrate the national monuments. This patch, like the currentnational parks patch, would encourage scouts to learn about and visit outdoor places and develop leadershipskills.
Guevara is also interested in establishing specialinterests focus groups with offroad vehicle enthusiasts,religious communities, youth organizations, veterans and activeduty military, equestrians and seniors.
At the ribboncutting ceremony at Sheep’s Hole, Bob Nohowec, the operation officer at the Needles BLMfield office, took down the old sign and the new sign celebrating the Mojave Trails Monument was lifted
Mojave Desert Land Trustwelcomes new outreach directorwith nonprofit background
Jacquline Guevara at Sheep Hole Pass forthe unveiling of the new Mojave TrailsMonument sign
12/15/2016 Mojave Desert Land Trust welcomes new outreach director with nonprofit background HiDesert Star: News
into place and anchored. Several people spoke about the successful collaboration between the BLM and theMojave Desert Land Trust.
“The land trust is excited to be part of the first public outings, and the first stewardship events in the heart ofthe monument,” Segura said. “We are proud to bring our volunteers. This is an incredible resource, and weare committed to sharing this with the public.”
After Nohowec and Ursula Gilmore, from the Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce, cut the ribbon andthe new sign was revealed, volunteers spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning trash from the area andwashing graffiti from the rocks.
The erection of the Mojave Trails sign was Guevara’s first public event as director of education and publicengagement. Celebrating the monuments and unveiling the new sign was a fitting way to begin her new joband welcome her into the MDLT.
12/15/2016 Print Article: Chino Hills contractor finds new way to spell STOP
Chino Hills contractor finds new way to spell STOPBy DAVID ALLEN20161214 19:16:09
This Chino Hills stop sign could have benefited from autocorrect.
The pavement marking STPO was stenciled onto the street Tuesday,Dec. 13 on Autumn Avenue at Peyton Drive. It might as well read OOPS.
A private contractor had applied slurry seal to streets around the city andpainted new markings, typically done by placing stencils for individualletters on the ground. Autumn was among the last done and seems tohave fallen victim to a rush to finish.
“The contractor feels terrible about it,” city spokeswoman Denise Catternsaid Tuesday night. She said the mistake would be fixed first thing
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (http://www.dailybulletin.com)
Small earthquake rattles Loma Linda
By Anne Millerbernd, The PressEnterprise
Thursday, December 15, 2016
LOMA LINDA >> A 3.2magnitude earthquake rattled the LomaLinda area Wednesday night, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The shaking started about 10:04 p.m. It was centered just east of thecity, about 4 miles east of Colton, 4 miles west of Redlands and 6miles south of San Berardino.
Rattling was felt mainly in the foothills of the San BernardinoMountains, but the temblor shook folks just northwest of Hemet aswell, according to a USGS map.
It had a depth of nearly 10 miles. The quake was in the SanBernardino section of the San Jacinto fault zone, said the USGS.
Folks in Pasadena and even Los Angeles reported feeling some weak shaking.
Riverside County's costcutting strategy involves spending$20 million for consultantsBy JEFF HORSEMAN20161214 16:40:59
Change in Riverside County government comes at a price – almost $21million, to be precise.
That’s how much the county, with its roughly $5 billion budget and 20,000or so employees, is paying a private consulting firm to find savings andefficiencies. But at least one county supervisor wonders when theinvestment in KPMG will pay off.
On Tuesday, Dec. 13, The Board of Supervisors approved a $1.9 millioncontract amendment so KPMG can help departments implement costsavings recommended by the firm. KPMG’s work started last year with a$761,600 contract to study public safety spending.
That review led to 51 recommendations. In March, KPMG got $15.7 million to help implement thoserecommendations and another $2.7 million to find savings in nonpublic safety departments.
KPMG is being counted on to help the county escape a cycle of ongoing expenses outpacing revenue. In thepast few years, the county has struggled to pay for raises guaranteed in contracts with union employees, whoagreed to pay more toward their retirement after officials warned of skyrocketing pension costs.
The county also must pay at least $40 million a year more for jail inmate health care to settle a lawsuit. Costsassociated with realignment – the shifting of responsibility for lowlevel offenders from the state to counties –also are blamed for adding to the red ink, and the county has to hire staff for the upcoming Indio jail expansion.
The Sheriff’s Department, district attorney and other public safety agencies consume threefourths of thecounty’s discretionary spending, County Executive Officer Jay Orr said Tuesday. Of 10 California countiessurveyed, just one other spent more than 50 to 55 percent on public safety, he said.
Much of KPMG’s work centers on protecting the public more efficiently. But unlike other department heads,Sheriff Stan Sniff and District Attorney Mike Hestrin are elected officials who have wide latitude to run theirdepartments as they see fit, regardless of how supervisors want them to handle their budgets.
Some KPMG recommendations, such as changing shift structures for deputies, require union consent. Thecounty currently is in negotiations with unions representing deputies and other employees.
KPMG has more than 40 staff members dedicated to the county and plans to add 10 more in February, saidRiverside County spokesman Ray Smith.
“To date, KPMG has held more than 500 interviews and meetings in order to gather information,” he said. “Theteam has observed and documented departments’ operations during more than 1,000 hours of interaction in thefield.”
KPMG also has developed or analyzed thousands of lines of county data code and studied more than 15,000pages of documents, Smith said. The firm’s work is on schedule, he said.
On Tuesday, Supervisor Kevin Jeffries asked when the county will reap the benefits of KPMG’s work.
“We’re halfway into our budget year and we have nothing to show in the form of booked savings or bookedefficiencies that result in savings,” he said. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask, ‘When are we actually going tobook some savings?’ ”
The change sought by the county takes time, Ian McPherson of KPMG told the board. “It’s important that wespend our time in the design phase so that we get the research that is done properly, so that we are actuallydealing with data that you can rely on in your decisionmaking,” he said.
“It would be very easy for us frankly to cut and paste and say, ‘OK, well here’s the answer. Cut there. Cut there.Cut there,’ ” McPherson added. “But actually if we did that, we would be doing a disservice to you as the Boardof Supervisors and much more importantly … we’d be doing a disservice to the public of Riverside.”
In order for change to be lasting, there must be buyin from all corners, McPherson said.
“You’re taking the time to do it properly,” he said. “You’re building awareness. We’ve got to build understanding.We’ve got to engage with people and make sure it’s sustainable.”
A similar overhaul effort in San Diego County took seven years, Orr said. “We hope to cut that shorter,” headded.
“I know we have the full cooperation of public safety as we enter into that reform,” Orr said. “I think it wasexpected, though, that the reform wouldn’t book savings immediately, but it’s important to know that thosesavings will only come about as people take the change medicine.”
Supervisor John Tavaglione recalled the roughly $26 million the county spent on Huron Healthcare, which wasbrought in to fix the county’s hospital finances when the hospital was losing $1 million a week and threatening todrain the county’s general fund.
The finances of the renamed Riverside University Health System – Medical Center in Moreno Valley have sinceimproved. But the changes weren’t apparent until after Huron left, Tavaglione said.
“I’ve been saying for years that this is like a big battleship when you’re trying to make changes, standing at thestern … trying to turn it,” Tavaglione said.
“I understand Supervisor Jeffries’ angst here, because it’s a lot of money we’re putting out. But in the end, we’rethe type of organization now where you just can’t do these type of things internally. You just don’t have theability to do that. And they don’t happen overnight.”
Responding to KPMG, Jeffries said patience “(is) not one of my virtues.”
“In all the things that you just discussed, none of it says when the savings begin,” he said. “(We heard) It’s goingto happen. Have patience. It’s coming.
“My world up here is I have to have something to show for our money for the taxpayer investment we’ve madein your firm to reduce costs,” Jeffries said. “I just don’t see that happening in time. Over the long haul, certainly(savings will come) and I appreciate that. But in the near future, I don’t see it.”
Jeffries voted with his colleagues to give KPMG another $1.9 million. The vote was 40 with Supervisor JohnBenoit absent.
After the meeting, Jeffries said he voted yes because the amendment required a fourfifths vote and he didn’twant to force Benoit, who supports the amendment and is undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, to leavehis treatment to cast a ‘yes’ vote.
Before the vote, Jeffries asked McPherson: “Will you be coming back with another (contract) amendment formore money or is this the last one?”
“I can’t say,” McPherson replied. “Because it depends on how far you want to go with the transformation. Andthat is a leadership decision for yourselves.”
12/15/2016 Print Article: Riverside County's costcutting strategy involves spending $20 million for consultants
Rain coming to Inland Empire, but how much depends on where you are
Heavy rain, high winds forecast for San Bernardino Mountains; tamer weather elsewhere
By Brian Rokos, The PressEnterprise
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Open an umbrella and hold on tight.
Heavy rain and high winds are forecast tonight and Friday in the Inland Empire, particularly in the SanBernardino Mountains. Snow is predicted too, but only above 8,000 feet.
Of particular concern: the areas where the Blue Cut and Pilot fires roared through the Cajon Pass this fall,burning a combined 44,000 acres and killing the vegetation that helps hold the hillsides together.
“Half of the burn scar is sitting on the ridge that is going to see rain,” Brett Albright, a meteorologist for theNational Weather Service, said. “That’s what we’re worried about. Prolonged rain or a quick storm with a highamount of rain can cause the soils to liquefy and flow down.”
In the San Bernardino Mountains, a flashflood watch is in effect from 5 p.m. today to noon Friday. Hikersshould stay out of riverbeds and gullies. A highwind watch is in place from 8 tonight to 8 p.m. Friday in the SanBernardino and San Jacinto mountains.
The mountain communities are expected to receive 2 to 4 inches of rain, with 5 inches falling in spots before thestorm clears Saturday, the Weather Service said. Damaging winds, gusting to as strong as 75 mph, are possiblefrom the mountain ridges, with 60 mph wind gusts forecast for the desert floor.
The Inland valleys will receive rain as well, but not as much. The forecast calls for a halfinch to an inch in themetropolitan areas and a quarterinch in the deserts. The valleys will be breezy with winds of 2030 mph,Albright said.
High temperatures will be in the upper 60s today, then upper 50s to lower 60s Friday.
The mountain resorts, hoping to open more ski and snowboard runs this week, are counting more on snowmaking than they are on real snow. If the snow falls at 8,000 feet as expected, that will blanket only the highestpeaks at Snow Summit and Bear Mountain Resort, marketing manager Justin Kanton said. He hopes thepredicted drop in temperature Friday will improve snowmaking conditions.
Snow Valley in Running Springs also is looking forward to good snowmaking weather.
“We’ll be opening up more terrain as soon as possible,” Kevin Somes, vice president and general manager,wrote in an email.
Even though the snow level is high, Caltrans spokeswoman Joy Schneider said motorists should prepare for theworst: Carry snow chains, warm clothing, medications and shoes with traction in case travelers have to leavetheir vehicle.
“Eight thousand feet is a prediction, but it could change,” she said. “We can’t stress enough just to be prepared.”
Caltrans has beefed up its staffing in the mountain maintenance stations with seasonal employees, and theequipment has been inspected. Caltrans crews have been preparing for wintry weather since September byclearing debris from embankments and removing rocks that are loose enough to tumble onto roads.
The storm is expected to clear out Friday night, but belowaverage temperatures will persist through theweekend, and some frost is possible in the valleys overnight Saturday into Sunday.
Staff writer Ali Tadayon contributed to this report.
Top officers of the largest U.S. pension fund want to lower their investment targets, amove that would trigger more pain for cash-strapped cities across California and set anincreasingly cautious tone for those who manage retirement assets around the country.
Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos and two other executives with the CaliforniaPublic Employees’ Retirement System plan to propose next Tuesday that their boardabandon a long-held goal of 7.5% annually, according to system spokesman BradPacheco. Reductions to 7.25% and 7% have been studied, according to new documentsposted Tuesday.
The last time the fund known by its acronym Calperslowered its investment expectation was in 2012 whenthe rate dropped to 7.5% from 7.75%.
The more cautious stance from Calpers’ investment staff comes just 13 months after thefund agreed to a plan that would slowly scale back its target by as much as a quarterpercentage point annually—and only in years of positive investment performance. NowMr. Eliopoulos and other officials are concerned that plan may not be fast enoughbecause of a mounting cash crunch and declining estimates of future earnings fromstocks and bonds.
The fund had an estimated 68% of the assets needed to pay for all future obligations as ofJune 30.
“There’s no doubt Calpers needs to start aligning its rate of return expectations withreality,” California Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement provided to the Journal.
A reduction in Calpers’ return target to 7% or 7.25% would have real-life consequencesfor taxpayers and cities. It would likely trigger a painful increase in yearly pension billsfor the towns, counties and school districts that participate in California’s state pension
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plan. Any loss in expected investment earnings must be made up with significantlyhigher annual contributions from public employers as well as the state.
If the assumed rate of return fell to 7%, the state and school districts participating inCalpers would have to pay at least $15 billion more over the next 20 years, saidspokeswoman Amy Morgan. That number doesn’t include cities and local agencies.
Lowering the assumed rate of return by just a quarter of a percentage point would likelyincrease annual Calpers payments made by one town, Costa Mesa, Calif., by up to $8million, said former Mayor Steve Mensinger, who left office Tuesday after losing a bidfor another term. That would likely mean budget cuts for Costa Mesa, which alreadyspends more than 20% of its $120 million operating budget on pensions, according toMr. Mensinger.
A Costa Mesa spokesman said “we will be closely monitoring” what Calpers’ board doesand “will be analyzing their proposal when it is provided to us.”
A drop in Calpers’ rate of return assumptions could also put pressure on other funds tobe more aggressive about their reductions and concede that investment gains alonewon’t be enough to fund hundreds of billions in liabilities. Because of its size, Calperstypically acts as a bellwether for the rest of the pension world. It manages nearly $300billion in assets for 1.8 million workers and retirees.
“If they [Calpers board members] go to 7% it will be really hard for those plans aroundthe country that are at 7.75 or 8 not to come down as well,” said actuary and economistJeremy Gold.
Pensions have long been criticized for using unrealistic investment assumptions, whichproved costly during the last financial crisis. More than two-thirds of state retirementsystems have trimmed their assumptions since 2008, according to an analysis of 127plans by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. The averagetarget of 7.56% is the lowest since at least 1989. The peak was 8.1% in 2001.
The Illinois Teachers Retirement System in August dropped its target rate to 7% from7.5%, the third drop in four years, and the fund’s executive director has said the rate willlikely be reduced further next year. The $184 billion New York State and LocalRetirement System lowered its assumed rate from 7.5% to 7% in 2015.
Some say pensions’ return expectations are still too optimistic despite the recentreductions. Many corporations already use a more conservative rate for their pensionfunds, and a recent report from McKinsey Global Institute predicts an end to the robustreturns of the past three decades.
Calpers did revise its return expectations last year but decided against a dramatic one-time cut. Instead the board agreed to lower the rate gradually over decades, makingincremental reductions only during high-return years.
That approach would insulate local governments against burdensome year-to-yearincreases. But doubts about that approach emerged after the investment staff began todevelop new estimates for returns over the next decade.
At a November board meeting Mr. Eliopoulos said “our forecasts have been loweredquite materially over the course of this last year” and outside adviser WilshireAssociates told the board the fund’s 10-year return would drop to 6.21%.
Andrew Junkin, president of Wilshire Consulting, warned the board that the fund needsto start collecting more contributions from cities because of a mounting cash crunch. Inthe 2014-15 fiscal year, Calpers paid out more in retirement benefits—by $5 billion—than the $13 billion the fund received in contributions.
“The returns over that 30-year-window don’t matter if you go out of business in yeareight,” Mr. Junkin said.
12/15/2016 America’s Largest Pension Fund: A 7.5% Annual Return Is No Longer Realistic WSJ
On Tuesday Mr. Eliopoulos, Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Eason and Acting ChiefActuary Scott Terando said in documents released by Calpers that achieving 7.5% annualreturns “will be a significant challenge” over the next decade.
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