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 in closed and open sessions on Tuesday, May 12, in afternoon sessions at 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. (agenda). The agenda includes:
Considering the purchase of two electric buses for $753,124 to replace aging vehicles in the Riverside Connect para-transit service used by seniors and residents with disabilities. (item 15)
Considering a $2.28 million contract to renovate the City Hall lobby, relocating the City Clerk's Office to the main floor for easier public access and replacing a closed café space with a grab-and-go food area, funded through General Fund reserves. (item 12)
Considering adoption of a workplan for a proposed River District along the Santa Ana River that would guide future decisions on public access, habitat restoration and development of underutilized City-owned parkland in Wards 1, 3, and 7. (item 14)
Board of Library Trustees
The Board of Library Trustees meets on Monday, May 11, at 5:00 p.m. (agenda) to review updates on construction of the new Eastside Library, a state grant funding free summer lunches at library locations, and a proposed two-year budget that would reduce Sunday library hours to address projected City-wide shortfalls.
Board of Public Utilities
The Board of Public Utilities meets on Monday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. (agenda) to review two RPU programs: a proposed renewal of no-cost energy efficiency upgrades for mobile-home and multi-family residents (item 8), and a community working group's plan for spending $34 million in electric bill surcharge reserves on battery storage, solar and low-income energy programs. (item 9)
The Mobility and Infrastructure Committee (Councilmembers Conder, Hemenway, and Perry) meets on Thursday, May 14, at 1:00 p.m. (agenda) to review the Transportation Board's 2026 work plan, which calls for developing school-specific safe routes plans, establishing a Vision Zero traffic safety action plan aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities, and designing the South Main Complete Streets Project. (item 2)
Airport Commission
The Airport Commission meets on Thursday, May 14, at 3:00 p.m. (agenda) to receive the Riverside Municipal Airport's quarterly operations report, which describes aircraft activity up 4.7% through the first three months of 2026 compared to the same period last year, with revenues tracking above projections. (item 1)
Budget Engagement Commission
The Budget Engagement Commission meets on Thursday, May 14, at 5:00 p.m. (agenda) to review a proposed $34 million in cuts to the city’s $1.57 billion 2026-28 budget (item 4), and to review the city's mid-year financial report — which describes the general fund as on track but under pressure from rising police overtime costs, declining revenues and rising oil prices (item 6).
Civic Engagement Reporter who calls the Inland Empire home. Five years covering SoCal. APU journalism grad. Good conversations over coffee and stories that matter.
Commissioners pushed back after city staff notified the nightclub owner less than 24 hours before the hearing that the case needed to stay open another six months.
Fatal traffic collisions are down 75% compared to last year, city officials said, as Riverside rolls out new speed limits and advances a road redesign near John W. North High School.
Early returns show nearly 60% of voters opposing the city's proposed sales tax increase, which would have raised the rate from 1% to 1.25% and removed its 2036 expiration date.
HR policy hearings, a Linden Street lane reconfiguration, Downtown Experiment's permit fight, a charter school proposal, and an ethics board workshop headline this week's public meetings.
