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B U S I N E S S N A M E
Supervisor Marion Ashley—
District 5
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June Articles
Banning Justice Center 1 –2
Solar Cup 3
Inland Empire Caucus 4
Upcoming Events 5-6
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Phone: 951-955-1050
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The Ashley Articles Supervisor Marion Ashley—District 5 Issue # 15
4080 Lemon Street, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Banning Justice Center
The new Banning Justice Center had its
official Dedication and Ribbon Cutting
Ceremony on June 5th. The new $63 million
courthouse is a 68,000 square-foot facility of
justice, complete with six courtrooms, ample
space for court services, clerk and court
administration, security operations, and
building support. The facility also has a secure
sally port, with separate circulation for the
transport of in-custody detainees.
Riverside County is a large, diverse,
rapidly developing jurisdiction. It covers an
expanse of 7,310 square miles and is one of
the fastest-growing counties in California and
the 10th largest county by population in the
United States. The Midcounty Region of
Riverside County was formerly served by the
Southwest Justice Center, with 12
courtrooms; the Hemet Courthouse, with 5
courtrooms; the Temecula Courthouse, with 1
courtroom; and the old Banning Courthouse,
with 2 courtrooms, for a total of 20
courtrooms serving the region. The additional
four courtrooms will help spread the
workload more equitably and efficiently
across the region.
The old two-courtroom Banning
Courthouse was congested, in poor
physical condition, unsafe, and was incapable
of meeting the needs of the rapidly growing
population. Some of the deficiencies of the
old facility included a lack of queuing area for
the clerk’s counter which resulted in people
waiting out the front door, an antiquated
cooling system which left everyone in the
courthouse uncomfortable through the long
hot summers, the poor design of the
courthouse caused chained defendants to be
escorted through public corridors and
stairways along with in-custody detainees
being escorted through judges’ chambers and
into the courtroom. The facility was also
seismically deficient and was not feasible to
be retrofitted to current standards.
The Ashley Articles
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #15 Page 2
Banning Justice Center
The new and improved Justice Center will do more
for the region than alleviating the shortage of space
available to the superior court. This new facility will help
spur the local economy by generating a significant
increase in foot traffic in the immediate area. The
estimates project an additional one thousand
individuals on a daily basis ranging from Superior Court
staff, jurors and people attending the trials and
proceedings. One example of a business owner taking
full advantage of the increasing demand is Jon Medina,
owner of Zacatecas Mexican Restaurant in Riverside. Mr.
Medina opened an additional location across the street
from the new courthouse in anticipation for the flood of
new customers. With no food services besides vending
machines offered in the Courthouse, there is little doubt
that a boost in demand for lunch service is on its way.
More good news for Banning is the plan to
construct a 69,200 square foot mixed use project
complete with restaurants, retail and office
opportunities named Village at Paseo San Gorgonio. The
project will be constructed in the opposite corner of the
new courthouse where the San Gorgonio Inn Restaurant
was formerly located. The city purchased the Inn in 2008
in order to tear it down to attract a developer. Now, the
developers have identified renters for 42,000 square
feet of the space. Last Tuesday’s city council resolution
stating that the project must break ground by August
31st, 2015, which means there should be more news on
the way.
Banning’s economy will undoubtedly be positively
influenced with the new courthouse steadily ramping up
to full capacity coupled with the proposed construction
of Village at Paseo San Gorgonio. These projects will
exposing thousands of people to Banning as a viable
location for their next home and provide an additional
sales tax source.
If you have any questions about the Banning Justice
Center please contact The Judicial Council of California
Capital Program at (415) 865-4900.
If you have any questions regarding Village at Paseo San
Gorgonio contact the Managing Director, Steve
McDonald at (213) 553-3864 or email at smcdon-
The Ashley Articles
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #15 Page 3
Solar Cup
On May 15-17, 2015 Eastern Municipal Water
District and Rancho California Water District have
once again partnered with The Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California to bring you the 13th
annual Solar Cup event at Lake Skinner in Temecula
where 41 high schools competed in the race.
Students participated in endurance and sprint races
and created reports, activities for children, and Public
Service Announcements that embrace the message
of saving water throughout the year.
The Solar Cup is a solar-powered boat race
competition where high school teams, from all over
Southern California, spend seven months building
and preparing solar powered boats and then
competing in sprint and endurance events. It is a
contest of design, speed and endurance that allows
the participants to use an alternative power source in
a real world application. This free event was held at
Lake Skinner Reservoir in the Temecula area and is
open to the public.
Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California provides teams with a “hull” boat kit and
Eastern Municipal Water District and Rancho
California Water District allots funding to teams for
purchasing items to get the boat ready for
competition. The students utilize solar panels to
power and maneuver their boats around the
lake. Through teamwork, the students work in a
positive hands-on collaborative experience that is
highly beneficial in fostering a stewardship of our
natural resources.
OVERALL Ranking of the teams (out of 41 schools)
Canyon Springs High School - 1st place overall
Nuview Bridge Early College High School - 5th place overall (veteran teams)
Heritage/Perris/Vista Murrieta High Schools - 16th place overall (veteran teams)
Great job teams!
The Ashley Articles
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #15 Page 4
Inland Empire Caucus Last Month Supervisor Benoit and Chairman Ashley
represented the County of Riverside at California
State Association of Counties (CSAC) Inland Empire
Caucus. CSAC’s primary goal is to represent county
governments before California Legislature,
administrative agencies and the federal government.
While attending the caucus both supervisors were
able to discuss a variety of issues that have long term
implications for our region. These Issues include:
SB 90 Payments
The Governor’s May Revise provides some relief to
Riverside County as it finally reimburses counties for
SB 90 payments ($40 million) and reimburses the
county for expenses owed by the “Four New Cities”
who lost their vehicle license fee after the passage
of Public Safety Realignment. These bills are essential
to our county’s economic recovery.
Medi-Cal Waivers
The Medi-Cal Waiver is very important to Riverside
County and it is important to ensure that its passage
is not detrimental to county ran hospitals. The
Administration needs to work with counties to make
sure the financing for the new Medi-Cal waivers
protects counties.
Transportation Funding
Transportation funding is vitally important to
ensure safe transit on Riverside County’s road
systems.
Salton Sea
Supporting the Governor’s strategy to restore the
Salton Sea by working with partners and utilizing
existing funds already appropriated. The
Administration has formed the Salton Sea Taskforce
with principals from the Natural Resources and
Environmental Protection Agencies to develop new
achievable medium and long-term restoration plans.
Cap and Trade
Cap and Trade is an area that appears to have
shut-out the inland southern California region as very
few projects were selected for consideration. They
asked for a more equitable funding formula so each
region of the state has a reasonable opportunity to be
granted funding. The Riverside County Board signed
a letter at the request of Southern California
Association of Governments (SCAG).
Procedures for the Disincorporation of Cities
Support for the establishment of procedures for
Disincorporation of Cities. AB 851 Mays would clarify
the procedures that cities would need to follow as
the current procedures date back two decades. More
modern procedures would align them with current
law and create a more efficient process.
The Ashley Articles
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #15 Page 5
The Ashley Articles
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #15 Page 6
The Ashley Articles
Jobs in Riverside County
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #1 Page 4
Riverside County Transportation
Commission (RCTC) has been
hard at work developing pro-
jects throughout Riverside
County to improve mobility.
Each project creates hundreds if
not thousands of construction
jobs while simultaneously laying
the groundwork for private in-
vestment to spur economic
growth even more. These pro-
jects are a necessary investment
in our county’s future to insure
it will be a prosperous one.
The Drop Zone Aquatic Center is in the home stretch and is already allowing local schools to utilize the
Olympic size swimming pool for their water sports. The Drop Zone will be open for business on memorial
day and will have 35 full-time employees along with 100 part-time staff during the summer months.
There will be a small staff for the rest of the year to maintain the Olympic size pool for local schools and
residents.
The Ashley Articles
Perris-Menifee Waterpark
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #2 Page 2
The 5th District includes the cities of Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Menifee, Moreno
Valley and Perris. The major unincorporated areas in the district include Banning
Bench, Cabazon, Cherry Valley, Desert Hills, Desert Hot Springs, El Nido area, Juniper
Flats, Lake Perris, Lakeview, Lakeview Mountains, Mission Lakes, Mission Springs,
Morongo Badlands, Nuevo, North Palm Springs, Painted Hills, Quail Lake, Reche Can-
yon, San Jacinto Wildlife Reserve, San Timoteo Canyon, Snow Creek, The Sovereign
Nation of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Twin Pines, West Garnet, Whitewater
and Windy Point .
The Ashley Articles
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #15 Page 7
Fabulous Fifth District
Back L-R:
Dr. Jay Hoffman, Board Assistant Barry Busch, Board Assistant Melanie Villarreal, Legislative Intern Steven Hernandez, Legislative Assistant Dennis Gutierrez, Legislative Assistant Zack Wybert, Board Assistant
The Ashley Articles
Supervisor Ashley & The District 5 Team
4080 Lemon St, 5th Floor Riverside, CA 92501 (951) 955-1050 | www.rivcodistrict5.org | [email protected]
Issue #15 Page 8
Sitting Down L-R:
Amber Smalley, Board Assistant Jaime Hurtado, Chief of Staff Supervisor Marion Ashley Katrina Cline, Legislative Assistant (Office Manager/Scheduler) Debbie Rose, Legislative Assistant
Supervisor Marion Ashley
District 5