It has been a privilege to serve as your Mayor during these past five years.
As Mayor I have led with a collaborative voice for citizens, focused on providing real solutions and government transparency. My time spent studying at West Point and serving as a U.S. Army Officer taught me about the need for principled leadership.
Our city is outpacing national averages in job growth, making huge strides towards ending veteran homelessness, increasing use of renewable energy, developing new transportation infrastructure and assisted in returning control of Ontario Airport to local officials.
With your help, I want to continue building on Riverside’s success and drive towards our vision of making this community a world-class place to live, work, and raise a family.
-Rusty
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The Riverside City Council voted unanimously today to appoint Lee McDougal as interim City Manager. This appointment is effective Monday, April 23, 2018. Mr. McDougal, who previously served as Riverside's interim City Manager, will be in charge of the City’s day-to-day operations while the City conducts an internal search for a permanent City Manager. Mr. McDougal, a UCR graduate, brings to Riverside 18 years of City Manager experience, all with the City of Montclair.
If you missed my interview yesterday on the The Official John and Ken Show, you can still catch it. Thank you John and Ken and KFI for the opportunity to discuss my veto of the City Manager's contract.
The Official John and Ken Show
Listen to the interview with Mayor Rusty Bailey now:
Mayor Bailey Takes Legal Action to Protect the Mayor's Veto Authority as to Council's Approval of City Manager's Contract
March 13, 2018
Contact: Matt Rexroad
(916) 539-0455
Matt@meridianhq.com
Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey is protecting Riverside taxpayers by requesting that a Superior Court Judge uphold his veto of the excessive contract extension given to City Manager John Russo last month.
"In five years as Mayor I have not vetoed a single action by the City Council," said Bailey. "This action is so bad for the taxpayers of Riverside that I must stand against this action and will keep fighting this at every turn."
Bailey's attempts to have an override vote scheduled have been unsuccessful as the City Attorney instructed the City Council that Bailey had no veto authority in the first place. Thus, in a petition filed with the Riverside Superior Court on Friday, Bailey requests the court to order the City Council to schedule a timely override vote (on or before April 7, 2018), to stop the contract from being administered in the meantime, to disqualify the City Attorney who has a conflict of interest on this matter, and to declare the contract void from its inception if the City Council fails to timely override the veto. A successful override would be a 5-2 vote, the same vote that approved the City Manager's contract.
The new contract for the City Manager that was approved by a split vote of the City Council includes an employment extension to seven (7) more years with increased compensation, increased vacation and administrative leave, a $700,000 life insurance policy, a $675,000 mortgage at an interest rate well below the market rate, and one year's salary for severance pay if terminated. Mayor Bailey believes that the terms are excessive and unnecessary to retain quality City management.
The petition asserts that the Riverside City Charter clearly establishes a City government with checks and balances similar to that of the Constitution. While Sections 600 and 700 of the City Charter provide that the City Manager, the City Attorney and the City Clerk serve at the pleasure of the City Council, section 413 of the Charter and Resolution 23035 provide that the Mayor may veto "any formal action taken by vote of the City Council" unless specific exceptions that are not present here exist. Therefore, the Office of the Mayor may veto a City Council vote approving matters concerning the City Manager, City Attorney and the City Clerk. Consequently, the petition also seeks to have the City Attorney disqualified from advising the City Council on the veto issue because the City Attorney stands to receive a benefit if the Office of the Mayor cannot have a voice with regard to his position.
Mayor Bailey believes his oath of office prevents him from standing by and allowing the veto authority of the Mayor's Office to be attacked, especially with regard to the approval of this oppressive contract with the City Manager.
The Riverside law firm of Thompson & Colegate LLP prepared the legal documents requesting this action.
Bailey is not using any public funds in this process. He has been accepting donations and will disclose all of the contributors.
Complete information can be found at rustybailey.org
I am pleased to endorse fellow Poly High School alumni, Tim Hollenhorst for Riverside County Judge. Please join me in voting for Tim on June 5th.
Elect Prosecutor Tim Hollenhorst for Riverside County Judge, June 2018