Bloomington residents fall short on signatures
Proponents of the effort to incorporate the community of Bloomington were told Oct. 17 by LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) that they fell short of the number of signatures they need to begin the incorporation process.
"We turned in 2,104 signatures and we need 286 more," said Eric Davenport of the Bloomington Incorporation Committee.
Davenport said that he is confident that they would get the necessary signatures in the upcoming weeks and eventually would be able to incorporate their community into a city.
"Failure is not an option," he said.
Davenport noted that although LAFCO does not think they have the resources necessary for incorporation, he said they are confident they do.
"What this boils down to is that we have enough money to run our city. Our area is growing, it can be done. This should be obvious to the most casual of observers. Even the mayor of Fontana was quoted as saying that the city of Bloomington would be best for everyone."
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Fontana Mayor Mark Nuaimi said that what he actually has said is that he wishes Bloomington well.
"I have said that I wish Bloomington well and I believe that if they can succeed as a city, that would be better for the region," Nuaimi said. "I believe that local cities provide better services than the county in growing, urbanized areas. While the folks in Bloomington might still long to remain rural, many of their parts are becoming urbanized neighborhoods that need city services. If Bloomington can provide those services, that would be fantastic. But if they are unsuccessful in their cityhood pursuit, I believe city services need to be provided through the eventual annexation that Rialto will provide (Fontana is a small component of Bloomington's sphere)."
When asked about the nature of the signatures that were submitted but discarded, San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Kari Verjil said that for the most part they were from people who were not registered to vote.
Davenport said that he was frustrated with the list of voters he had gotten from the Registrar of Voters and felt that this had been a hindrance to the signature gathering.
Verjil noted that the list of registered voters Davenport had was purchased "six months ago."
To the charge by Davenport that voters were easily dropped from the rolls, Verjil disagreed.
"We update our lists every day. We are not allowed to drop voters unless they have not voted in two federal elections in a row; this gives them eight years. It's not that easy to drop a voter," Verjil said.
Davenport is undeterred. He pointed out that he and his supporters have until Oct. 31 to gather the remanding signatures. Davenport said that they will be at the Save A Lot store on the corner of Cedar and Santa Ana on Saturday, Oct. 21.
With regard to Bloomington's future, Davenport said: "There is plenty of room for yesterday and plenty of room for tomorrow."
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