[Riverside County] How Wildomar will comply with posting vacancy notices

Government watchdog panel contended the city failed to display vacancies properly, though city officials disagree

Wildomar will improve its procedures for posting vacancy notices for city government positions, the city said this week in a written response to a Riverside County grand jury report. The grand jury is a civil watchdog panel appointed annually by Riverside County Superior Court to investigate complaints about government misconduct.Jury members serving for the year ending last June 30 issued nine reports, including one based on a Wildomar citizen’s complaint that the city was failing to comply with state requirements for publicly displaying notices announcing vacancies that it wanted to fill.

The report agreed with the complaint and recommended the city comply with the law “by posting all vacancies at the city clerk’s office, the public library and other designated locations.”“That’s their recommendation -- to put two bulletin boards in buildings we don’t own,” said Wildomar Mayor Bridgette Moore. “It’s unheard of, but we’re going to do it.”City Manager Gary Nordquist replied in the city’s official response that the city has been complying with the posting law. The city, however, agreed with the jury’s recommendation to have the Wildomar library’s display replaced.

Nordquist said the city in conjunction with the library, a county branch, would install a larger, locked case where notices would be clearly visible and could not be removed by the public. The city also will comply with the jury’s recommendation to have a locked case installed at the Wildomar Post Office for posting city notices.In addition, Nordquist said the city goes beyond the requirements by publishing news of vacancies on the city’s web site, in email blasts, in the newspaper and in City Council agendas.City Hall observer Kenneth Mayes said in an email that he was pleased the city responded, but believes it was inadequate.

“As to their response, I feel they did nothing more than play lip service to the Grand Jury,” he said. “Case in point, they claim they are in compliance. At the time of the Grand Jury investigation, they were not in compliance as borne out by the investigation.

Moore disagreed that the city was out of compliance with the requirements given the availability of the notices from multiple sources.

“If this is their only complaint and recommendation, Wildomar is doing well,” she added.

September 22, 2016

The Press Enterprise

By Michael J. Williams