The Future of Jurupa Valley

With Jurupa Valley becoming the newest city in Riverside, NBC reports that a $4.55 million dollar annual budget will be in the hands of five council-elect members. The money from this budget could go to parks, businesses and installment of new local police and fire stations.

The areas apart of this incorporation will be: Belltown, Glen Avon, Indian Hills, Jurupa, Mira Loma, Pedley and Sunnyslope.

Interestingly, this is not the first attempt to make these areas into a city. According to an article written by Sandra Stokely of the Press Enterprise, a similar measure was on the ballot 19 years ago but did not past.

Stokely writes, "Voters had spurned citihood for the unincorporated community by a huge margin in 1992."

However, the ballot measure reappeared this year in March due to locals who pushed to drive the measure home. One of the main groups to inform the community about incorporation was Jurupa Valley Incorporation Research Committee (JVIRC).

Their Web site states they received funds and donations since 2008 for the purpose to "research what is best for us, and what you want."

Their sponsors include: Starbucks, Stater Bros, Spunky Steer, Albertson's, Firestone and many more. In fact, Riverside County Supervisor, John Tavaglione, donated $100,000 to get the non-profit group started.

JVIRC further state they want to promote "local control of growth and development in our area."

Like previous mentioned, this growth could have its pros and cons. The cons of this would be a greater presence of police and other government regulations and involvement. The pros of this would be more community parks, new roads and possible job growth.

Another information provider, Yes-On-Measure-A, was also created to inform the community about this measure. Their Web site reassures voters that taxes will not increase, rather they will be used more efficiently as the city grabs control of the funds.

Proponents of this measure say the budget will not place the new city in debt after the 2011-2012 year as long as it is used responsively. Those who voted against this measure have a fair counter argument for why the measure was passed. But it is those who did not vote that should draw in some concern.

According to ABC article, the ballot was "narrowly approved...with just under 1/3 precincts reporting."

The report also says that only 30,000 register voters from an estimated region population of 90,000 voted. In this case, one could assume that the majority of the city did not even know or did not care to vote on such a measure.

This should concern future residents of Jurupa Valley, because it shows a lack of a majority involvement in the community's future. A fair question to ask is if the majority of the community is being informed or if they are simply not getting involved?

Regardless of this, Jurupa Valley will take on the task of incorporation. City celebration from July to the fourth will be the first of its kind and is a way of transitioning the area into a new city.

You can find out more information at City of Jurupa Valley or visit the Jurupa Valley Cityhood page on Facebook.