City Council meets Tuesday with $1.8 million in spending approvals and a Fire Department defensible space discussion. The Planning Commission will consider revoking a Downtown bar's permits after repeated code violations and emergency calls.
The Riverside County Courthouse, erected in 1903, stands bright against post-storm skies, its ornate facade freshened by recent rains. (Greg Neal) Have a photo that captures the spirit of Riverside? Share it with us and help celebrate the beauty of our community!
Monday Gazette: February 23, 2026
Hello Riverside, and Happy Monday! After last week's cold, rainy stretch, the sun is finally making its comeback — today's high is expected to reach the mid-to-high 70s. Not bad for February! Southern California has a way of reminding us why we live here.
City Council meets Tuesday with $1.8 million in spending approvals and a Fire Department defensible space discussion. The Planning Commission will consider revoking a Downtown bar's permits after repeated code violations and emergency calls.
(Titus Pardee)
Welcome to our weekly digest of public meetings and agenda items worth your attention for this coming week. This guide is part of our mission to provide everyday Riversiders like you with the information to speak up on the issues you care about.
City Council
City Council will meet Tuesday, Feb. 24 in afternoon sessions at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and an evening session at 6:15 p.m. (agenda). The agenda includes:
Reviewing a report of the 2025-26 fiscal year’s first quarter and approving various projects totaling $1.8 million – including $400,000 to repair flood damage to City Hall’s 50-year-old basement, and a review of a Measure Z spending plan.
Conducting a state-mandated public hearing on the number of job vacancies and recruitment efforts in the citywide workforce, where roughly 12 percent of authorized city positions were unfilled as of December 2025.
Inspection Program and plan to inspect and prepare properties located in high-risk fire hazard areas.
Awarding $1.5 million to builders to construct a median on Mission Inn Avenue between Redwood Drive and Scout Lane.
Board of Public Utilities
The Board of Public Utilities meets on Monday, Feb. 23, at 6:30 p.m. (agenda) to discuss Riverside’s participation in a water pipeline research project by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and to consider approval of a $2 million work order to update electrical poles and infrastructure throughout the city.
The Planning Commission meets on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 9 a.m. (agenda) for a public hearing to consider revoking Downtown Experiment’s bar and nightclub permit and alcohol sale permit due to multiple code violations and a high volume of emergency calls.
Incomplete Chapters: Gaps in the Museum of Riverside's Collections
How decades of bias shaped what was — and wasn't — preserved.
Postcard featuring The Plunge at Fairmount Park in Riverside, California. Circa 1912-1919 (Courtesy of the Museum of Riverside)
A presence in the community, but an absence or lack in the Museum of Riverside's collections, reveals biases in how items were acquired over the decades. The African American community, for example, was pivotal to the growth of the City, but the Museum's collections do not yet reflect this reality fully.
One key figure in Riverside's African American history was early resident Frank Johnson, owner of Johnson Carriage Company. He unsuccessfully fought to desegregate The Plunge, a pool at Riverside's Fairmount Park in the 1920s. He also initiated a census campaign that took a count of registered voters in the area and led to Black people finally being included on Riverside's juries. Opening in 1912, the Plunge was part of the original John Olmstead plan for Fairmount Park but by 1959 had deteriorated to the point that it had to be closed.
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