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RUSD’s Adopted Budget Shows Increased State Funding, Final Year Of Deficit Spending

The Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) Board of Education Thursday voted unanimously to adopt its annual budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which starts July 1. 


Nickie Hoff, the district’s director of business services, said RUSD is expected to bring in $816 million in revenue and spend $846 million over the upcoming fiscal year.


“We have budgeted to spend 86.2%, or $732.6 million of our dollars directly on students and classroom support,” Hoff told the trustees at the June 25 meet...

Riverside Vows To Reform CEDD Amid Internal Reports Alleging Toxic Work Environment 

The city of Riverside said it plans to reform its Community and Economic Development Department (CEDD) after a 14-month internal investigation, made public last week, found the  former director created a hostile work environment and former City Manager Mike Futrell contributed “through his actions and inaction.”


“These findings are deeply concerning and make clear that action is necessary,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in a statement. “Our employees and residents deserve a city government...

Riverside Council Adopts Budget, Cites Concerns With Long-Term Stability

The Riverside City Council Tuesday voted 6-1 to adopt the biennial budget. Councilmember Philip Falcone was the sole dissenter.


The council approved a $1.57 billion total budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, and a $1.59 billion budget for the year after that. The budgets include the city’s operating budget and planned capital projects.


Deputy Finance Director Sergio Aguilar said the adopted budget, an increase from this year’s amended $1.53 billion budget, showed the c...

Riverside Police Department Rolling Out New AI-Powered Body Cameras

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes abstained from the vote to approve a five-year $1.66 million contract with Motorola Solutions.


The Riverside Police Department (RPD) is set to receive new body cameras equipped with several artificial intelligence (AI) features to assist officers in their work. 


“It will definitely help our officers in reducing report writing time and allowing our officers to get back onto the field,” Police Chief Larr...

Ward 6 Candidate Luis Hernandez Declares Victory

Luis Hernandez, one of three Riverside City Council candidates running for Ward 6, last week declared victory as unofficial election results showed he had secured the necessary votes to win the seat outright.


“I am grateful that the residents have chosen me to be their voice at city hall,” Hernandez said in a statement shared with The Riverside Record. “I believe that every Riverside resident deserves a seat at the table, and I promise to work hard every day to make our city government more t...

Riverside City Manager Mike Futrell Resigns; City Settles With Susan Freeman

The Riverside City Council announced Tuesday evening that City Manager Mike Futrell would part ways with the city in the coming weeks and that it had approved a settlement agreement with Futrell’s wife, and local business owner, Susan Freeman.


“Last night, I voluntarily stepped down as the city manager of Riverside as part of a mutually agreed upon leadership transition,” Futrell said in a Wednesday morning social media post. “I am proud of what our team accomplished together and deeply grate...

Riverside Will Again Deploy Drones To Combat Illegal Fourth of July Fireworks

The city of Riverside and the Riverside Police Department (RPD) are once again preparing to deploy drones throughout the Fourth of July weekend to enforce the city’s fireworks ban.


“We’re going to be doing the relatively same program this year,” RPD Lt. Chad Chinchilla said at the June 16 Riverside City Council meeting. “It was very successful last year.”


The city first implemented the new strategy during last year’s Fourth of July festivities, sending out five enforcement teams equipped w...

Susan Freeman Says Riverside Officials Violated Her Rights In Claim

Susan Freeman, a local business owner and wife of Riverside City Manager Mike Futrell, filed a claim last week alleging the city retaliated against her for criticizing public officials online, violating her constitutional rights in the process.


“I believe wholeheartedly that the city council was given incomplete, inaccurate and misleading information by certain individuals inside city hall,” Freeman said in a video statement. “My claim raises serious questions about whether I became the victi...

State Audit Finds RUSD Used Bond Money Legally, Lacked Transparency

As part of a review of the now-shelved STEM Academy expansion project, a state audit report released this week found Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) appropriately used bond money but missed key opportunities to be more transparent.


“The audit validates concerns that many community members raised throughout this process and underscores the need for greater accountability in the management of taxpayer-funded projects,” State Senator Sabrina Cervantes, who ordered the audit last year, s...

Court Denies CBU Wrestlers Request To Temporarily Stop Programs From Being Cut

A district judge last week denied three California Baptist University (CBU) athletes’ request to temporarily stop the university from eliminating the wrestling team, dealing a major blow to a monthslong effort to save the program. 


“Unfortunately, given the denial of the preliminary injunction…it’s highly unlikely that the wrestling team would be able to be reinstated for the 26-27 school year,” Caleb Trotter, a senior attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation representing the wrestlers, sai...

Longtime Riverside Councilmember Jim Perry Announces Resignation

Ward 6 Councilmember Jim Perry announced Tuesday evening he plans to resign from office in the coming weeks. 


“I had the dream and the goal of becoming a police officer and someday running for elective office,” Perry wrote in a statement sent Wednesday morning. “Thank you for making that happen and for making this a truly rewarding experience. I only hope you can understand my reasoning and final decision.”


Perry said he and his family had started exploring new opportunities for his life o...

RUSD Trustees Review Proposed Budget Before Final Approval

The Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) Board of Education last week held a public hearing on its proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1.


Nickie Hoff, the district’s director of business services said the district’s general fund expenditures were expected to be about $846 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year, about $29 million more than it expected to bring in. 


Additionally, she said the district would be pulling another $3.8 million from its ending balance...

Riverside Council Candidates Look To November As Early Results Suggest 3 Runoffs

Several Riverside City Council candidates have signaled they are pivoting toward the next step of their campaigns as early election returns show all three races will likely result in runoffs.


To avoid a November runoff, candidates needed to secure more than 50% of the vote. As of Thursday evening, none of the 10 candidates running for Wards 2, 4 or 6 have reached that threshold.


Ward 4 incumbent Councilmember Chuck Conder was the closest. He received about 48% of the vote, according to the...

Early Results Show Riverside’s Measure Z Update Likely To Fail 

As ballots continue to be counted, early election results show Riverside residents are rejecting the city’s proposal to both increase and extend Measure Z. 


Results posted Thursday evening showed nearly 59% of voters opposed the measure. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters (ROV) is expected to post another update by 6 p.m. Friday.


“I don’t know of anybody on either side who thinks the result is going to change,” Mike Gardner, a former councilmember and Measure Z proponent, said in an...

How Much Does It Take To Run For Riverside City Council? It Depends On The Candidate.

The 10 candidates running for Riverside City Council Ward 2, 4 and 6 seats have raised nearly $500,000 combined this year for the June 2 election, according to the latest campaign finance filings.


Some hopefuls have received thousands from political action committees (PACs) and businesses, while others focused their efforts on individual contributions. 


Ahead of Tuesday’s election, The Riverside Record compiled data from each candidate’s campaign finance filings, breaking down how much the...

Ward 6 Residents, Candidates Concerned About Norma Berrellez’s Absence On Campaign Trail 

For months leading up to the June 2 primary election, Riverside City Council candidates have attended community forums, answered reporters’ questions and regularly reached out to constituents to try to earn their votes — except for Ward 6 candidate Norma Berrellez. 


“People have called Norma, texted Norma, emailed her and don’t get a response, and that’s while she’s running,” said Sharon Mateja, the founder of Residents for Responsible Representation, a La Sierra neighborhood group. “She has...

Riverside Unified Approves Guidelines, Boundaries For New Eastside Elementary School

The Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) Board of Education Thursday unanimously approved design guidelines and boundaries for the soon-to-be built Ofelia Valdez-Yeager Eastside Elementary School, one of the final steps before construction can begin.


“The goals and priorities, again, are focused on, first and foremost, safety and security of students and staff, creating a magical learning environment and then creating a strong connection to the community,” Assistant Superintendent Orin Wi...

RUSD, UCR Call Off STEM Academy Expansion Project

Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) and the University of California, Riverside (UCR) announced Friday a $134 million science and technology high school expansion project was being shelved.


“Leadership has changed in both organizations, and with that comes an opportunity to think more expansively about our approach to partnership in service of Riverside’s students,” RUSD Superintendent Sonia Llamas said in a May 22 press release. “Our focus is on connecting the dots across our schools, p...

Riverside Council Reviews Proposed Budget, Debates Cuts To Public Works 

During an initial review of Riverside’s proposed budget for the next two years, Councilmember Philip Falcone pushed back against plans to reduce public works spending as a means to address a projected deficit within the general and Measure Z funds.


“I won’t be in support of any budget that makes any cuts to public works,” Falcone said during the May 19 meeting. “The priorities that have been given to us by the public are pretty obvious and cut and dry: Do not cut from public safety or public...

Riverside Voters Heading To The Polls To Vote On Measure Z — Again

With ballots already mailed out for next month’s statewide primary election, Riverside voters are being asked whether they support an increase and extension of the city’s Measure Z sales tax to cover the cost of a range of public services, including improvements to the city’s fire department.


To help voters make sense of it all, The Riverside Record has compiled information about Measure Z, including why the Riverside City Council voted to put it on the June 2 ballot and the arguments for and...

Legal Group Alleges Riverside’s $100K Public Records Fee Violated State Law

Publisher’s note: Inland Empire Publications, the parent company of The Riverside Record, is set to be a co-plaintiff in the pending lawsuit.


A press right’s legal group said it plans to sue Riverside, alleging the city violated state’s public records law after the city would not budge on charging a journalist over $100,000 to obtain police use of force and misconduct documents from 124 investigations.


“The reason we’re fighting for this is for the public,” Susan Seager, a law professor an...

State Civil Rights Department Opens Probe Into Riverside’s Affordable Housing Vote, ACLU Says

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU) announced Monday that the state’s civil rights agency had opened an investigation into allegations that Riverside officials violated anti-discrimination laws by voting to reject a state grant for an affordable housing project. 


“The city has a legal obligation to create fair housing and to make decisions about housing that are free from discrimination,” Kath Rogers, ACLU senior staff attorney, said in an interview with The River...

10 Hopefuls Running For 3 Riverside City Council Seats

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Welcome to The Riverside Record’s voter information guide for the June 2 Riverside City Council election where voters in Wards 2, 4 and 6 will cast their ballots to decide who will represent them for the next four years.


The Riverside Record spoke with eight of the 10 hopefuls about several citywide issue...

Riverside City Council Takes No Action After Closed Session Review Of City Manager

The Riverside City Council Tuesday took no action following a scheduled closed session review of City Manager Mike Futrell’s performance. 


The item was placed on the agenda after Futrell announced he would not be taking the city manager job in Pasadena. The announcement came as a letter the council sent to his wife last December was circulated on social media.


“Some of the allegations involve my wife, my family [and] they deserve the same basic fairness that anyone would expect,” Futrell t...
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