This Week in City Hall: September 15, 2025

Welcome to our weekly digest on public meetings and agenda items worth your attention in the coming week. This guide is part of our mission to provide everyday Riversiders with the information to speak up on the issues they care about.

City Council

City Council will meet in closed and open sessions on Tuesday, Sept. 16, with afternoon sessions at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (agenda). The agenda includes:

• Considering a 45-day moratorium on new tobacco retail permits after police documented widespread illegal drug sales and excessive criminal activity at smoke shops, including locations that continued selling psilocybin, cannabis, and narcotics even after March 2025 raids seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in contraband and weapons.
• Awarding a $19.7 million construction contract to renovate the nearly century-old Cesar Chavez Community Center, including hazardous material abatement, accessibility improvements, system replacements, and classroom/auditorium upgrades.
• Considering the Economic Development Committee's recommendation to launch a pilot program allowing licensed architects and engineers to self-certify building plans for smaller projects, reducing permit issuance from weeks to 1-3 business days.
• Conducting the required annual review of mobile home park rent control procedures, which set the maximum allowable rent increase for 2026 at 2.8%.
• Elimination of the Historic Preservation Fund grant program following exhaustion of its $670,000 in funding after recent allocations to sign programs and surveys.
• Considering a 3-year extension of the water system's bond credit facility at an increased annual cost of $81,000 to avoid mandatory repayment of $24 million in outstanding bonds that would otherwise require refinancing at higher interest rates.

Commission on Aging

The Commission on Aging meets Monday, Sept. 15, at 4 p.m. (agenda) for an update on the Blue Zones Project.

Park and Recreation Commission

The Park and Recreation Commission meets Monday, Sept. 15, at 6:30 p.m. (agenda) for a historical presentation on Union Pacific Engine #6051 and several other presentations on City activity.