NEWS

Add and Drop Deadlines

For most courses, the last day to add or drop with a refund is Feb. 29. The deadline for some courses is on a different date. Students should always check the deadlines for their specific courses by logging into MyPortal and viewing their class schedule.

Immigration Webinar

Riverside City College O u t r e a c h i s h o l d i n g a webinar overviewing the immigration removal process and offering advice on how to protect yourself. The presentation will be held in the Charles A. Kane 202Q Conference Room on Feb. 26 from noon-2 p.m.

Coffee and Consent

Coffee and Consent is meant to educate the public on issues surrounding sexual assault. Student Services will be offering free coffee, advice, and information on what “consent” is from 9-11 a.m. outside the Digital Library on Feb. 25 and outside the Bookstore on Feb. 26.

2020 Riverside Mayoral Candidate Forum

Seven Riverside mayoral candidates will participate in a forum at Avila’s Historic 1929, located where Mission Inn Ave. meets the 91 Freeway, from 1-3 p.m. on Feb. 26. The event is free and open to the public, but those planning to attend should register at iechamber.org.

Voter Deadlines and March 3 Elections

The California presidential candidate primary and Riverside mayoral elections will be held on March 3 from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. The last day to register to vote is Feb. 18. For new citizens, who are sworn in after Feb. 17, the voter registration period is from Feb. 18 to March 3. The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is Feb. 25. The elected mayor will serve a term of four years. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the two candidates with the highest number of votes will advance to a run-off election to be held on Nov. 3.

LEO CABRAL | VIEWPOINTS Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey discusses housing during his State of the City Address at the Riverside Convention Center on Jan. 30. Bailey is in the fnal year of his term but assured residents that he “will not be a lame duck mayor.”

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The mayor explained that the city must fnd ways to lower the costs of housing, speed up development, increase the diversity of housing options and ensure that the workforce is trained to meet the demands of the necessary development increase. He announced plans to create a housing action team in the next month to ensure that 18,000 housing units are built across Riverside over the next ten years. The team will aim to present a plan to the City Council in the next six months.

According to Riverside’s 2019 Point in Time Count, a federally mandated annual census of homeless persons, there were 439 people living on the streets of the city last year, which was a 19.9% increase from 2018. Bailey rebutted the claims that homeless people are content with life in the streets.

“I often hear that our homeless population doesn’t want our help,” Bailey said. “Yet 220 individuals have gone through the laborious process to qualify for permanent supportive housing. And they continue to wait because we only have 16 permanent supportive housing units in the city.”

Bailey reported that the city has witnessed an increase in the number of women over age 50 that have entered homelessness in recent years, while Riverside only set apart 5% of its affordable housing units for seniors through the consistent rent increases of the past decade.

According to the mayor, local school districts have also identifed 122 children living in cars, substandard hotels and the

streets. He asked that residents commit to partnering with the city and local districts to ensure that every child in Riverside is housed by the end of the year. The mayor claimed that some of the infuences on homelessness are out of the city’s control, such as inadequate mental health services and permissible drug use policies, which he said would not be changed due to their direct ratifcation by voters.

“As a result, our city continues to bear an undue burden for the costs and impacts of homelessness,” Bailey said. “Does that make sense to you?” B a i l e y c l a i m e d t h a t Riverside has seen some success in addressing homelessness and now has 273 permanent supportive housing units in the works due to a $32 million investment by nonproft housing developers and the local religious community. These projects include downtown’s Mission Heritage Plaza and the St. Michael’s Project, which the City Council approved a $2 million loan for last May in spite of vocal opposition by some Ward 5 residents.

According to the Press Enterprise, the Riverside Planning Commission said that the St. Michael’s Project “doesn’t ft the character of the neighborhood” when it denied the plans on Feb. 6. The decision can be appealed to the City Council within 10 calendar days. Jose Alcala, secretary of the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees, called the city’s plan to address homelessness “courageous,” but warned that the public should not expect an immediate return on the required investments.

“The return here is more of a holistic thing,” Alcala said. “I know that there are folks that are like, ‘We have budgetary issues in the city so why are we taking this on?’ It’s the right thing to do. I look forward to however I can help out myself.”

Jaqueline Garcia, a Riverside City College student, expressed skepticism toward the idea that development in the city is alleviating the housing crisis.

“I see they’re trying to build more housing,” she said. “But where I live, they built new housing two years ago. And the prices are so high that not one unit has been rented.”

Garcia interviewed social workers and homeless people

as part of a research project. She claims to have found that homeless people in the Santa Ana Riverbottom rely on each other for survival more than they do on city services due to the long waits and low capacities of city facilities.

Riverside’s Redevelopment Agency, which was tasked with providing affordable housing, was dissolved in 2012 after the Supreme Court upheld a state bill that required the agency to pay the state in order to avoid elimination. Mayor Bailey called this the loss of an important asset in the fght against homelessness. “This must be fxed by the legislature,” Bailey said. “Until then, I call on this community, private developers and city leaders to work side by side toward a mutually beneficial, inclusionary zoning policy that will generate long term, stable revenue for affordable housing projects.”

Leo Cabral contibuted to this story. The 2019 Point in Time Count found a total of 2,811 homeless people in Riverside County last year. This includes 163 veterans, 264 youths, 79 families with children and 196 people over the age of 62. Of the total people counted, 2,045 of them are unsheltered. Overall, homelessness in Riverside County increased 21% from 2018.

ANGEL PENA | VIEWPOINTS

Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign stops by the Marinaj Banquets and Events Hall in Moreno Valley for a rally on Dec. 20. The presidential hopeful discussed climate change, his version of the Green New Deal and other reforms that he plans to make if elected.

BERNIE from page 1

telling us now is (that) they have underestimated the degree and severity in which climate change is ravaging … the entire planet.” Sanders explained that the rapid melting of polar ice caps will result in cities and some small, low altitude countries ending up under water as global sea levels rise. He also mentioned how California’s droughts negatively impact food production and how the acidification of the oceans is killing fish, which many communities across the world depend on as a food source.

“What climate change means … if we don’t get our act together, (is) hundreds of millions of people becoming climate refugees,” Sanders said. “Being forced to migrate from their own communities because they can’t fnd drinking water or land to grow their crops. And when hundreds of millions of people migrate, you have massive international security issues and the likelihood of world war.”

The senator said that unlike President Donald Trump, he will work with grassroots movements all over the world to demand global actions be taken by governments to address climate change.

“Instead of spending $1.8 trillion a year collectively on weapons of destruction designed to kill each other, maybe we pull our resources and we fght our common enemy, which is climate change,” he said about the global unity that is required to deal with the climate crisis. Sanders has proposed making a complete shift from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy. He claims that the activities required of this monumental shift will create up to 20 million jobs. His campaign’s website states that the Green New Deal must “ensure a just transition for communities and workers,” which the plan can potentially end up displacing and putting out of work.

Because he plans to “fully electrify and decarbonize” the transportation sector, his proposal includes $2.09 trillion in grants to aid families and small businesses in the purchase of electric vehicles. It also includes $681 billion for a vehicle trade-in program. But Sanders’ proposal does not provide details on help for tradesmen, such as mechanics, that may see their felds become obsolete.

According to Sanders, the Green New Deal will pay for itself over a period of 15 years. His proposed funding mechanism includes making the fossil fuel industry pay, reducing military spending and collecting new income tax revenue from the expected 20 million new jobs. “Aside from other aspects of Trump’s stupidity, when it comes to climate change, what he is doing is not just a great disservice to our country but to the entire world,” Sanders said. “I don’t understand … how anybody can deny the reality of climate change and then look their kids or their grandchildren in the eye.”

S a n d e r s ’ s p e e c h w a s preceded by climate change activists who urged the need for mobilization and spoke on the impact that the crisis is already having on communities.

“I look at my siblings and I ponder at what the world will look like 60 years from now,” said Rayleen Arevalo, a Riverside City College student and Friends of Bernie Sanders member. “Your power as a student is with other students. Only you can mobilize your school.”

Water chemist Gracie Torres, a member of the board of directors of Riverside’s Western Municipal Water District, criticized the construction of warehouses, water quality and the failing infrastructure of the Inland Empire.

“Our own health is affected because corporations are putting proft frst instead of people frst,” Torres said. “Last year the Inland Empire was ravaged by wildfres and torn apart by extreme storms. That proves to us that we don’t have the infrastructure right now to combat climate change.”

According to the activists, Latinx and African-American communities are the most

polluted in the nation because corporations are able to target them so easily.

Sanders also touched on several other issues, including immigration, education and the criminal justice system.

He vowed to restore legal status to DACA recipients through executive order on his frst day in offce if elected. The senator reiterated his plan to cancel student debt and make public colleges and universities tuition-free by taxing Wall Street speculation.

“Wall Street doesn’t like that,” Sanders said. “But to hell with Wall Street. Congress, against my vote, bailed them out 11 years ago. It’s time for them to help the working class out.” Sanders also proposed abolishing private prisons and cash bail. He promised to legalize marijuana and work to expunge the records of those with marijuana convictions, while ensuring that control of the cannabis industry is not taken over by a few large corporations. The senator is the frst 2020 presidential candidate to hold an event in Moreno Valley. Although the event was announced as a town hall, Sanders did not take questions from the audience.

“The whole thing was awesome,” said attendee Raul Rodriguez, an immigrant who recently became a naturalized citizen after 25 years in the United States. “Hopefully what he promises he actually brings to the table. Politicians make promises all the time and don’t deliver.”

Rodriguez will be voting for the frst time in next year’s elections.

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Spring Semester Begins

Last Day to Register to Vote in March 3 Elections La Casa Orientation 10 a.m.-Noon in the Bradshaw Hall of Fame Conference Room Riverside City Council Meeting 8 a.m. in the 7th Floor Conference Room of City Hall

Resume Writing Workshop 3:30-5 p.m. in the Charles A. Kane 205 Resource Classroom Community College Day at UCR Transfer student conference from 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Male Mentoring 11 a.m.-12 p.m. in the Charles A. Kane 205 Resource Classroom

Coffee and Consent 9-11 a.m in the Digital Library Breezeway

Suicide Prevention Training 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the Bradshaw Hall of Fame Conference Room

Finance Management Workshop 2-3 p.m. in the Charles A. Kane 205 Resource Classroom 28 29

Coffee and Consent 9-11 a.m. outside the Bookstore

Immigration Webinar Noon-2 p.m. in the Charles A. Kane 202Q Conference Room

Interview Preparation Workshop 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Charles A. Kane 205 Resource Classroom

Riverside Mayoral Candidate Forum 1-3 p.m. at Avila’s Historic 1929 on Mission Inn Ave. Health Chats: CalWORKS 11 a.m.-Noon in the Charles A. Kane 202Q Conference Room

State of the Students Open Forum Noon-2 p.m. in the Charles A. Kane 140 Assembly Room

Time Management Workshop 2-3 p.m. in Quadrangle 118

Honors Orientation 4-6 p.m. in Quadrangle 127

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Test Anxiety Management Workshop 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Charles A. Kane 205 Resource Classroom

Adjusting to College Workshop 2-3 p.m. in the Business Education Classroom 124 Election Day Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

Club Rush Noon-2 p.m. on Terracina Dr. Club Rush Noon-2 p.m. on Terracina Dr.

Discussing Homelessness in Southern California Social services panel from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at UCR, Chass Interdisciplinary South Building, Room 1113 Hungry Tigers Farmers Market Noon-1 p.m.

Club Rush Noon-2 p.m. on Terracina Dr. Education Day for Leadership 8 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Bradshaw Hall of Fame Conference Room

Salud Sin Papeles-Health Undocumented Healthcare and immigration documentary from 10 a.m.-Noon and 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts