Bloomington residents turn in signatures in favor of incorporation
After two years of pro-cityhood efforts, the Bloomington Incorporation Committee submitted its signatures to the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) on Sept. 25 - the last day it was allowed to do so.
According to Eric Davenport of the Bloomington Incorporation Committee, the group members submitted 2,106 signatures. Davenport said they needed 25 per cent of the 7,200 registered voters who live in the county unincorporated community, which according to Davenport amounts to 1,789 valid signatures. For the signature to be valid, the signatory must be a registered voter who lives in the unincorporated community of Bloomington.
Turning in the signatures is the first step of what may prove to be an arduous process for the rural community that desperately wants to retain its character.
"We're really happy," Davenport said, referring to the number of signatures the group gathered. "People came out of the woodwork, some came from their sick beds. The one problem we had was the list we got from the County Registrar of Voters is out of date. They left out a whole section of the southeast corner of Bloomington. The issue now lies with the County Registrar of Voters whether or not there was a loss of voters. We pay them for accuracy, not guesstimations. We exceeded what we needed."
San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Kari Verjil said that Davenport's list was outdated because he had only requested one copy last spring. "His request was dated April 7, 2006; he should have come in after that. We update the information constantly," Verjil said.
Kathleen Rollings-McDonald, executive director of LAFCO, acknowledged that the signatures had been turned in.
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"We received the petitions. We will package them and submit them to the Registrar for verification," she said.
When asked how long the community of Bloomington has tried to incorporate, Rollings-McDonald said that the original attempt had started in 1963.
"There have been efforts [to incorporate] since the beginning of LAFCO," she said. "LAFCO was formed in 1963 and LAFCO 5 was submitted to the newly formed agency on Nov. 21, 1963. It was the fifth LAFCO petition submitted. That was 43 ago."
When asked if this is the end of the road for Bloomington, Rollins-MacDonald replied, "Who knows? I don't know."
The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters has 30 days to determine of there are enough valid signatures. If the incorporation supporters fall short, they will get an additional 15 days to make up the difference. If they are successful in securing the necessary signatures, then the BIC will meet with LAFCO, which has the final say on whether or not Bloomington has the resources necessary to incorporate. If Bloomington fails to incorporate, parts of the community could be annexed by Fontana and Rialto.
Dan Flores, secretary for the Bloomington Municipal Committee, an advisory group for San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, said that his group would not end if the incorporation efforts failed and Bloomington areas are annexed into Fontana and Rialto. "There will still be quite a few residents left in the county unincorporated areas," he said.
Marge Mendoza Ware, a long-time resident of Bloomington and member of the Colton Joint Unified School District Board, said: "I have concerns over the feasibility. I would like to see Bloomington to be in the position to be a city. My concern is that we don't have the tax base to support it and I would be concerned how families would be impacted. I wish the citizens could have made better relationships with the cities of Rialto and Fontana and been part of the decision making process -- especially with the distribution centers in Fontana and Rialto. If the incorporation process doesn't work, then I hope we can be friends with Fontana and Rialto."
BS Ranch Perspective:
I just want those that live in Bloomington, I pray that you get your City! It has been a long battle, and one that was fought for before and lost! Not once but twice I believe, one time before my arrival to the area. The other time when I was on Patrol in the area on Graveyard! In fact for one short three day time Bloomington was that jurisdiction that had been transferred over to that of the Rialto Police Department, however the Residents of Bloomington fought that right away, and that is why I say that it lasted only for a short week or so. In fact we only responded to one call and that call turned into a semi riot situation since the Rialto Police was not wanted in Bloomington and we were not welcome to help. It was the San Bernardino County that responded in and saved our day, that time. But again I believe that was one time around 1991 or 1992, it might have been in 1990 for all I can remember. You have to take into consideration that I had a 50 MPH - 0 MPH Sudden stop syndrome on my head, that kind of still plays tricks on me today, not for fun or anything just tricks, you know..tricks..boo..he he
BSRanch
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