Tony Teora, Julian resident, is running for Assembly District 71

On Tuesday, Jan. 31, about 1,400 of the 5,800 county employees, members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721, walked off the job in response to the board of supervisors having declared an impasse in negotiations. In November, the county had imposed mandatory pay and benefit terms including forcing worker contributions to their…

County Service Area charges At the May 21 Riverside County Board of Supervisors’ meeting, a public hearing was set for June 25 for comments on the possible increase in County Service Area charges for fiscal year 2013-14. On the Hill, the CSA 36 (Idyllwild) rate would remain the same at $35 per parcel. The CSA…

Last month, the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office issued its budget forecast for the remainder of fiscal year 2013-14 and next year, too. “The state’s budgetary condition is stronger than at any point in the past decade,” the November report stated. Unless something highly unexpected occurs, the report projects a surplus twice the size of Gov….

Despite County Executive Jay Orr’s optimistic view that significant savings can be found in the county’s public safety budgets, Sheriff Stan Sniff is considerably less confident. Orr is focusing on the public safety budgets, which have grown in the past several years, while the other departments have taken cuts of nearly 45 percent or more…