Clean up of a failed storm water system owned by both the County of Riverside Flood Control District and the City of Wildomar.
Is this what you voted to pay for when you voted for Measure Z.
The following are a series of pictures taken at Regency Heritage Park. Some before the latest rains and some during. Left behind will be copious amount of sediment that your maintenance and operations funds will be expended on cleaning up every time it rains.
The rabbit hole, discharge point from Bryant St. Drain Stage 1
After only 3/4 of an inch of rain had fallen overnight.
Sedco-Bryant Street Storm Drain which begins in the hills west of the park.
Sedco Bryant St. Drainage from hills west of Grand Ave. after 3/4 of an inch of rain.
Unnamed Storm Drain that directs flow from Palomar Street east of the park
Unnamed channel from Palomar after 3/4 of an inch of rain.
Water accumulated before the bridge to the school.
After the bridge, water forced over due to accumulation of debris.
This area cleaned up by crew after several days of work, extends from bridge to 150 ft downstream.
Looking over the area previously cleared of debris and sediment. For what?
Though not much of a gambler, I would wager that most of the people in Wildomar had no idea that the council would decide to pay for very questionably “Parks Related” items with Measure Z revenues. While it is made to look like a justifiable accounting ploy which is legal, it is hardly what the voters were promised or expected in the very clever wording of the Measure Z campaign materials which Wildomar’s taxpayers footed the bill for – we should take that into consideration with everything this council puts forward in the future.
With none of the parks anywhere near ready to open, and a great many of the plants dying or dead, it calls into question the wisdom of the Great Day of Service and shows that taxpayers money is being wasted. We should remember that when the city comes back asking for more money and additional help.
One would expect to pay for mowing the grass, watering, weeding, pruning, replacing the occasional dead plant or broken table out of Measure Z funds. But, to pay for the removal of vast amounts of sediment deposited by storm water every time it rains is not what most people thought they were voting for.
Another thing I don’t believe people thought they were voting for was the expenditure of Measure Z funds on things like the City Birthday, Easter Egg Hunt, Breakfast with Santa, which are events normally put on by non-profits or are sponsored by the business community at a park but not paid for with tax dollars.
Parks programs are more along the line of recreational, educational, environmental.
The Measure Z tax was sold to us as a “forever” tax that would go on in perpetuity. But I hope the taxpayers of Wildomar realize that if enough of us are displeased with how the tax revenue is being spent that there are ways to undo it. The taxpayers and voters of Wildomar can legally undo something that has gone wrong – just as they can recall an elected official who is not performing to expectations.