Election certification makes Wildomar cityhood official

By: AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer
Incorporation date July 1, first preincorporation public meeting Wednesday | Tuesday, March 4, 2008 12:47 AM PST ∞

WILDOMAR -- Residents can start counting down the days until July 1, when Wildomar will become the 25th city in Riverside County.

The registrar of voter's office in Riverside will certify the Feb. 5 election today, making official the results that showed more than 60 percent of Wildomar's voters supporting incorporation. The office is required by state law to certify the election by today.

Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore said she will sign the paperwork certifying the election and transmit the results electronically to Sacramento.

As of Monday evening there were a few votes left to be tallied, but not enough to affect the races in Wildomar, she said.

With the certification of the election, the members of the Wildomar city council-elect -- Bob Cashman, Bridgette Moore, Marsha Swanson, Scott Farnam and Sheryl Ade -- can start holding preincorporation meetings, the first of which is scheduled Wednesday. They must abide by the state's open meeting laws, which require the council to provide notification if three or more members gather together for a meeting.

The council-elect, advised by the Riverside law firm of Best, Best and Krieger, has already satisfied one of the laws' requirements by posting an agenda Friday for the meeting at 7 p.m. at David A. Brown Middle School, 21861 Grand Ave., in Wildomar.

"We couldn't wait any longer," Cashman said Monday. "That's why we scheduled our first meeting on Wednesday."

At the preincorporation meeting, the council-elect is scheduled to discuss when and where to hold future meetings.

Lake Elsinore school district officials have said they will consider renting space to the city at Jean Hayman Elementary School, which the district plans on closing at the end of the school year.

On Sunday, the Lake Elsinore Unified School District board voted to move forward with the closure of Jean Hayman to help balance its budget.

Cashman said the council-elect is expected Wednesday to form a facilities subcommittee that will be in charge of finding a place to hold meetings and space for city business.

Cashman said that, while Jean Hayman isn't ideal as a long-term solution, it might work as a temporary spot.

David A. Brown was selected as the site of the first meeting because of its ability to accommodate a large crowd -- as many as 600 people.

"If they show up, we want them to have a place," Cashman said.

During the preincorporation meeting, the council-elect also is scheduled to discuss bringing in consultants to help prepare the paperwork that will need to be filed with the state for cityhood.

"We're going to need a lot of advice," Cashman said, referencing the paperwork that the city will have to file with the state after incorporation.

The new city of Wildomar will consist of 24 square miles that include a planned community called "The Farm" in the northeast, ranches on the west side of Interstate 15 and new housing tracts east of the freeway. The city's population is expected to be around 27,000.

On the first day of incorporation July 1, the council-elect is scheduled to hold its first meeting as an officially constituted City Council, a meeting the members-elect have said will be part business and part celebration. The council will adopt the county's ordinances and zoning regulations, which will remain in place unless they are changed by the council.

Sixty-one percent of the votes cast in the February election supported incorporating the community, which had been envisioned and mapped as a city by 19th century landowners.

"Thank you, Wildomar residents, for voting incorporation in," Moore said Monday.

The final tally will show that voters also decided to elect future councils by district, a measure that passed with 56.5 percent of votes cast.

Those who supported the measure, including some of the 14 council candidates who opposed cityhood, contend electing council members by district will help ensure equal representation of the entire city. Those opposed to the idea of districts, including all of the winning council candidates, say districts will divide the city at a time when unity is needed.

The districts will be formed by the council so they are roughly the same population and geographically contiguous, as required by state law.

In the city council race, Ade edged out Tim Underdown for the fifth council seat by fewer than 150 votes. Underdown ran on a slate with the top two vote-getters, Cashman and Moore.

-- Contact Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or e-mail aclaverie@californian.com.

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