This month, Calimesa Insider is presenting a 4-part special that will explore some of the economic and regulatory realities that cities up and down California are facing, and how those realities influence decisions.

In this first part, we explore three decisions that have occurred over the past 45 years that have greatly impacted the revenues and costs of local governments.

City Engineer Mike Thornton is the guest this week on the podcast, speaking about what functions the Engineering Division does for the City and gives updates on some major projects, including various projects along County Line Road, the Singleton Road missing on and off ramps, pavement management, and Calimesa Creek.

City Manager Will Kolbow is joined by soon-to-be retired Riverside County Sheriff's Captain Evan Petersen. Captain Petersen served as the Calimesa Police Chief over the past year and made some great changes that will leave us better than he found us. Captain Petersen tells about how he found a career in law enforcement, some interesting moments in his career, the changes he implemented at the Cabazon station and Calimesa specifically, and the state of law enforcement services for Calimesa.

The Cherry Valley Blvd. interchange had traffic signals installed and activated about 6 months ago, but is that all that is happening? Fortunately, the answer is no. City Manager Will Kolbow talks about what steps have been taken so far in the project to upgrade the interchange, and where we are going. He also gives a preview of this coming Monday's City Council meeting.

This week, the City Manager talks about the Interstate 10 truck climbing lane project taking place between Live Oak Canyon Rd./Oak Glen Rd. and County Line Road as well as the City budget...but from a different approach. He talks about the taxes you pay at different levels of government, the services provided at each level, and the cost of doing business. It gets to the heart of some of the biggest concerns residents and businesses have when it comes to taxes and public services.

Links referenced in today's episode:

Information on running for City Council: https://www.cityofcalimesa.net/194/City-Council-Elections

San Bernardino I-10 Truck Climbing Lanes Project: https://www.gosbcta.com/project/i-10-truck-climbing-lane/

Riverside County I-10 Truck Climbing Lanes Project: https://www.rctc.org/projects/10-truck-climbing-lane-project/

Video of Budget Workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulj4r2g9TTE

Video of Budget Adoption: https://www.youtube.com/live/PuMYmryVVdo?si=OI_k0X9JuuEBkzun&t=1157

Agenda for Latest City Council meeting (includes draft budget starting on page 42): https://www.cityofcalimesa.net/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06032024-220

This week, City Manager Kolbow talks about transportation funding in Calimesa, with a focus on the Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee (TUMF) program. The latest nexus study is out for public review, so we explain what TUMF is, how it is divvied up, and what it is used for. Below are links to participate in the TUMF Nexus Study process:

Link to WRCOG's Studies & Documents page, containing links to the draft 2024 Nexus Study and information on the upcoming informational meeting: https://wrcog.us/201/Studies-Documents

Direct Link to 2024 Nexus Study: https://wrcog.us/DocumentCenter/View/10258/TUMFNexusStudy240513DRAFT

Link to Zoom informational meeting, taking place Tuesday, June 4 at 1 PM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81502368810?pwd=WVlOaExpcVVrR2x2MjA4NTJrc3Vqdz09

On this week's episode, City Manager Will Kolbow gets into the status of the County Line Road project, including background on the project, why roundabouts were selected for the project, why 5th and County Line Road took so long to open, and what is still remaining on the project. He also recaps the most recent City Council meeting and provides an overview of the upcoming Scoping Meeting regarding the Mesa Verde Specific Plan Subsequent EIR preparation.

Calimesa Insider is back, and we are moving to a weekly program. Shorter episodes, recapping the week at the city and a look ahead at the next week. This week, we take a look at what is happening at Oak Valley Town Center and why work has stopped.

Happy 2024! The Calimesa Insider podcast is back and on this episode City Manager Kolbow talks about how City Council meetings work, the laws and policies that govern Council meetings, and describes how the public can effectively participate in the public process. It's a long episode because there is so much to go over, but we think it will be worth your time and, as a result, your time spent at a City Council meeting will be much more productive and valuable.

In this special episode of Calimesa Insider, we are (mostly) recording on location at the 2023 Calimesa State of the City, which had a much different look than years past. We brought the community together to celebrate our town and its accomplishments. In this episode, City Manager Will Kolbow is joined by Councilmembers Jeff Cervantez and Linda Molina, as well as Calimesa Chamber of Commerce President Shea Choy and Executive Assistant Donea Matheson.