Janice Rutherford Blog

Thank you, Fontana!

Janice Rutherford — 2008-11-05T16:52:49-08:00

Thank you to the people of Fontana who have expressed their confidence in me and returned me for another term on the Council. I am humbled by the outpouring of support and appreciative of the many people who supported my campaign as volunteers and donors.

To those who did not support me, I hope that I am earn your support as I carry out my duties. I welcome your ideas, questions and comments.

I encourage everyone to come participate in our community meetings, recreation programs, and many city activities so that you can get to know your neighbors, learn how the city operates and give us your thoughts about how to do better.

Again, my sincere gratitude to the voters of this great city,

Janice

Final Days

Janice Rutherford — 2008-11-01T15:03:13-07:00

This is it: the last few days before the election.

My thanks to everyone who is offering their encouragement, to all the folks out their knocking on doors and talking to voters about my candidacy, and to all the Fontanans who have indicated their support for my re-election. I have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback.

We have had a busy few weeks in town, with the opening of Fontana Park, the ribbon cutting of the newest section of the recreational trail, all of the harvest celebrations, family day at the art depot, community clean-up at Martin Tudor Park...I could go on and on. This community has incredible heart and it has been on display the past several weeks.

I look forward to representing Fontana's fabulous families for another term. I would appreciate your vote on Tuesday.

Thank you!

Janice

South Fontana Community Meeting

Janice Rutherford — 2008-10-03T00:28:08-07:00

I attended the South Fontana Community Meeting this evening. It was a pleasure to see the 30+ residents who came to share their concerns about the neighborhood. Our police officers talked about a recent gang-related shooting, their efforts to apprehend the suspects, and how the residents can help law enforcement be successful over the bad guys. Our traffic engineering staff talked about fixing a troublesome intersection and speed limit monitoring signs. Residents asked about the blight created when people leave shopping carts around the neighborhood. If those are reported to the city, we will pick up the cart and require the store to retrieve it. If a person is caught with a shopping cart, they are given a misdemeanor citation. We also talked about the upcoming widening and improvemnts to Jurupa that will be going on for the next year, what the city is doing to combat foreclosed homes that turn into nuisances, and the upcoming opening of Fontana Park. If you were unable to attend but have questions, concerns or ideas, please contact me.

Learning at the League of Cities

Janice Rutherford — 2008-09-29T09:26:42-07:00

Greetings from Long Beach and the League of Cities' annual conference. There has been a lot to digest-- sessions about:

dealing with foreclosed properties that are abandoned and blighted
having successful sports centers
improving city communications with residents
the changing demographics of our state

We heard from the Governor discussing the hard realities of the state budget and his call to support Prop. 11 (redistricting reform) so that voters pick politicians rather than politicians picking their voters.

At the Board of Directors meetings, we had a briefing from the CA Redevelopment Association about the possibility of suing the state for taking $350 million in redevelopment funds (that works out to about $7 million out of Fontana) as part of this year's budget "solution." The CRA believes the state's action is unconstitutional; I agree and hope the CRA does sue to protect our local funds.

Fontana received the prestigious Helen Putnam Award for our Healthy Fontana program and everywhere I went at the conference people were asking me about what we are doing.

The best speaker was Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin. She talked about her book about President Abraham Lincoln and how he brought his biggest rivals into his cabinet to help him govern. She reviewed his best leadership traits and encouraged us to practice them and use them to evaluate this year's presidential nominees.

National Night Out

Janice_R — 2008-08-06T11:37:14-07:00

The evening of August 5th was fun throughout Fontana. Neighborhoods gathered to celebrate National Night Out and I was able to visit the block parties on Anastasia Ave., Yorktown Ct., Grays Peak Ave., Shoal Creek Ln./LaCosta, and Lauramore Court. I met many wonderful Fontana families and was impressed with the hard work that the neighborhood coordinators put into each party. Our police officers, police explorers, Fontana school police, firefighters, police volunteers, the mobile recreation van, AMR, Target and many others traveled from party to party to distribute goodies, talk with residents and join in the fun. "Charisma" and "Rainbow," the safety parrots and "Ricky" and "Oscar" the police K-9s, visited with children.

People were most excited about the new Fontana Park and are eager to go play and swim there when it opens later this year. There was also great pride expressed about the Fontana Center Stage Theater which opened its doors a few weeks ago in downtown Fontana.

Thanks to everyone for a fun evening of good company, yummy refreshments and pride in our community.