• via Victor Valley Daily Press

  Adelanto residents express frustration with leaders

  By Brooke Self
  Staff Writer 
  Posted Jan. 31, 2015 @ 8:22 pm
  Updated Jan 31, 2015 at 8:27 PM 
  
  

  ADELANTO — A dozen Adelanto residents who oppose increasing the number of jails in the city gathered Wednesday afternoon in a rare town hall meeting to discuss a long list of community issues, including the failed utility-user tax measure and their frustration with local government officials.

  Inside Astro Burger on Rancho Road, a few said they hoped to bolster community voices and eventually raise up new political blood to fill City Hall seats. Other topics that were talked about included the recent approval of a new jail to house overflow inmates of Los Angeles County and the city’s stagnant business growth. 

  “I want to get my horse whip, and get on my horse, and whip them all out of City Hall and say, ‘Get out — we don’t need you,’” said Connie Peterson, an Adelanto resident for 10 years. “I think the people in Adelanto are tired of being beat down. And if you think I’m angry, oh yes, I’m very angry. Because you know what, if prisons are so wonderful, and they bring in so much revenue, why are we not living in the house of milk and honey? Why are we still with the same lack of services in the city and begging for police protection?”

  Peterson and her husband, Richard Peterson, said they moved from down the hill to Adelanto 10 years ago before the housing market bubble burst. The couple lives in Ridgemont Heights in north Adelanto and says their home mortgage is still under water.

  “I say let them put up the prisons because I already told my husband that we’ll sell our house for $1 and then sue the city for the rest,” she said. 

  Peterson also bemoaned the high salary of Adelanto City Manager Jim Hart, who is the highest paid city manager in the area, according to statistics compiled by former state Controller John Chiang. She said she was appalled by his salary, which totaled $280,000 in 2013, according to the State Controller’s office.

  Local resident Mario Novoa, who is a graduate of Los Angeles Film School, was responsible for organizing the town hall meeting. His family has lived in Adelanto for 25 years and he said his parents were part of a small group of activists that protested the Stater Bros. supermarket on Highway 395. He said he was planning to make a documentary regarding the city’s prison system.

   “I’m a filmmaker and I never thought I would step into this,” Novoa said inside Astro Burger. “But here I am talking to you guys. I think creating a space for people to talk outside of government offices is a good thing. There is a lot of opportunity outside of the political structure of connecting people. We definitely need to do that. The churches need to start talking to each other, community organizations need to start springing up.”

  Novoa said he first got involved in city politics last summer after researching Adelanto’s  utility-user tax, Measure O, which failed at the ballot in November. He said he supported the tax but then later found out about the city’s prison plans, which he opposes.

  “It is psychologically a factor in our city,” Novoa said.  “We’ve had these (prisons) here for a while. Have they brought in job opportunities that were promised when they were brought in? Have they created opportunities for residents, period?”

  Novoa said he wants to research the long-term impacts of jails in the area. 

  Later, ET Snell, who calls himself a “clown activist,” clamored at the group for names of Adelanto council members to recall. But other members of the group said they had no intention of supporting a recall.

  Thomas Weiler, of Inland Congregations United for Change, a faith-based community organization, said Adelanto was at “the epicenter” of expanding mass incarceration in Southern California.

  “What do we do to halt that tide?” Weiler asked. “I know there is a lot of anger and pain and hopelessness in Adelanto. Voter turnout is so low here. What do we need to do to begin to instill hope in people again and actually address some of the deep systemic poverty and lack of services that affect families here?”

  Brooke Self may be reached at 760-951-6232 or BSelf@VVDailyPress.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSelf or @DPEduNews.

  http://www.vvdailypress.com/article/20150131/NEWS/150139964/12982/NEWS