March Joint Powers Authority

"It would have helped in our reaction to research what it meant," said Lori Stone, executive director of the March Joint Powers Authority.

Woman of the Year awards ceremony

"Four women have been honored for their commitment to their communities at the County of Riverside Commission for Women's second annual Woman of the Year awards ceremony."

Four women have been honored for their commitment to their communities at the County of Riverside Commission for Women's second annual Woman of the Year awards ceremony.

"We did a press release throughout Riverside County asking if anyone would like to nominate a special woman in their community," said Lori Stone, chairperson at the Commission for Women.

Nominees were then graded according to a set of guidelines that included community outreach, volunteerism and things the candidates did above and beyond their area of expertise.

The winners included Jody White-Judkins in District 2, which includes the Corona, Norco and Jurupa areas; Raquel Marquez in District 3, which includes the Temecula Valley; Joan Busick in District 4, which includes the Desert area; and Maria Rice-Davis in District 5, which includes the Moreno Valley area.

There were no nominations in District 1, which includes the Riverside area.

LaVista Recovery and Wholeness Center For Women

Expansion 2009 Jeff Stone send aid Opal Hellwig and Robin Reed

SUBMITTAL TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FROM: Supervisor Jeff Stone SUBMITTAL DATE: December 9, 2008
SUBJECT: Third District Use of Community Improvement Designation Fund
RECOMMENDED MOTION: That the Board of Supervisors:
1) Approve the use of Community Improvement Designation funds for the following organizations:
Alzheimer's Association $5 goo. 00
1365 W. Foothill Blvd., Suite 3, Upland, CA 91786
La Vista Recovery and Wholeness Center for Women $30,000. 00
PO Box 1411, San Jacinto, CA 92581
2) Approve and direct the Auditor-Controller to make the following budget adjustments:
Increase Appropriations:
10000-1000100000-536200 Contributions to Non-Co Agency $35,000.00
Decrease Board Designation:
10000-1000100000-320135 Community Improvement
$35,000 .00


County of Riverside
Commission for Women
4080 Lemon Street-5
th
Floor
Riverside, CA 92501
Minutes for September 25, 2008
Meeting began at 9:05 a.m.
Present:
Lori Stone, Chair – District 3
Lisa Pina, Vice Chair – District 2
Carol Lynn Anderson – Financial Officer – District 2
Michele Broad – District 3
Kathi Scott – District 5
Ruthee Goldkorn – District 5
Evelyn Brown – District 4
Lynne Stalmaster Nobles – District 4
Diane Harris – Human Resources Liaison
Sundae Sayles – Human Resources Administration
Absent: Cherie Curzon, Secretary – District 1
1.
La Vista Recovery and Wholeness Center for Women, San Jacinto (“La Vista”)
Topic: Drug and Alcohol Abuse Education and Prevention Services:
Guests:
Jane Farmer, Executive Director
Deb Beckwith, Prevention Outreach Services
Lori introduced the guest speakers and spoke about their efforts and programs.
Jane Farmer said that drug addiction is alive and well. Treatment is about connecting
one person to another and treating families that are in trouble. La Vista serves over 200
women per year and has a program to do outreach in the community. Jane Farmer
introduced Deb Beckwith in charge of La Vista Prevention Outreach Services.
Deb Beckwith spoke about the “energy drink crisis” and the market focus they
have to the school age children (elementary-high school). Some are alcohol some are
non-alcohol. All have large varying amounts of caffeine which is very addictive but legal.
Their labels are health suggested but mixed with large amounts of caffeine. New rage is
“Alcopop” = fruit flavored hard alcohol that’s like soda pop. Deb said that there is no limit
to the amount of caffeine and other stimulant that can be in an energy drink blend (ex.
Full Throttle Blend = 2500 mg of stimulants = 96 cans of Coke). Kids due not feel the
effects of the alcohol and continue to drink because of the energy they provide.
Lori asked what the Commission can do at the county level to show that we are
not in support of these drinks. All the ingredients contained in the drink should be on the
labels. Deb said that if it does have a nutritional label on the can it DOES NOT have
alcohol; if it does not have nutritional label, it DOES have alcohol. Very hard to tell how
much alcohol is in the drinks.
Page 2
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\\HRDC001\USERS\ssayles\STS\Commission for Women\Minutes\CFW Minutes092508.doc
Christian schools are accepting the education La Vista provides. La Vista needs
some help getting into the public schools. The opposition is that the parents don’t want
the kids learning specific things about (“alcohol drinks”).
There is a national online student survey required by the State of California
called “The Healthy Kids Survey”. This survey starts at the 3rd grade through 12th
grade. Deb encouraged the Commission to go online and review the survey. Over-the-
counter drugs (cold medication) are left out of this survey (ex. cold medication containing
DXM is addictive and can harm/kill young kids).
Deb asked that each commissioner to visit the following websites for more
information:
a)
Screamingenergy.com – energy drinks
b)
DXMstories.com – cold medication
Ruthee asked for a CD copy of the presentation to show schools/coaches.
Lori asked Deb to do a presentation regarding these energy drinks at one of the
Riverside County Executive staff meetings. She also gave an invitation for the
Commission to gift a booth and 20 minutes of presentation time to La Vista at the
Mother-Daughter Wellness Symposium scheduled for May 2009. She also offered La
Vista the opportunity to give additional presentations to the Commission on other
program topics.
In addition, Lori mentioned to the Commissioners that Supervisor Jeff Stone
wants the Commission to host two summits: Youth Summit and Senior Prevention
Summit.
2.
Committee Reports:
A.
Bylaws Revisions
Lisa revised the formatting and numbering of the bylaws and added new
language regarding HR Liaison. She said that upon approval, HR will formally place the
bylaws on the Board agenda for formal approval in the next few weeks, upload the final
bylaws on the website and provide each commissioner with a copy.
B.
Finance Committee
Carol Lynn stated that the Commission has approximately $11,000.
Carol Lynn said when submitting the Commission reimbursements we should request a
Return-Warrant so that we can mail to the Commissioners ourselves (should cut-down
on turnaround time).
Lori mentioned that she would like to have the financial update as an
action item at every meeting to vote that everything presented in the financial update is
correct and accepted.

Riverside supervisor touts sister's pro-bono work for county, pays her from campaign fund

http://www.pe.com/localnews/politics/stories/PE_News_Local_S_stone24.38a5b2a.html
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Riverside supervisor touts sister's pro-bono work for county, pays her from campaign fund

Monday, March 23, 2009

By JULIA GLICK
The Press-Enterprise

Supervisor Jeff Stone frequently praises his sister as Riverside County's best bargain because she works full-time as an unpaid volunteer in his office.

But records show he paid Lori Stone more than $180,000 in campaign money last year for political consulting and professional services and he assigned her the free use of a county car with taxpayer-funded gasoline included.

Over the past three years, Stone's campaign payments to his sister totaled about $330,000.

In reporting this story, The Press-Enterprise tried to interview Lori Stone and another staff member. Jeff Stone directed them not to comment and asked that requests be referred to him.

Story continues below

Lori Stone

Stone then declined to discuss the issues in person or by phone, saying he wanted all questions submitted in writing by e-mail. The Press-Enterprise declined. Stone then sent a lengthy e-mail defending his sister's use of a county car and her volunteer service.

"In addition to Lori putting in 50 to 60 hours a week of her time to improve the quality of life of women in the 3rd District, she was having to endure a personal expense of transporting herself throughout the County to do the fine work she does," he wrote. "I felt it was a lot to ask of a full time volunteer to not only donate her time to the County pro bono but to expect her to pay for all her travel expenses."

Stone, who plans to run for state Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth's seat in 2010, said his sister's use of a county car as his volunteer legislative assistant was consistent with county policies.

County spokesman Ray Smith said restrictions on volunteers' use of county vehicles do not apply to supervisors, only to the department heads and workers that serve under them.

Roman Porter, spokesman for the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, said Stone's payments to his sister do not violate any laws provided they are entirely for political, legislative or governmental purposes.

But the large amount of money to a sibling raises questions, said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies.

Stone paid his sister almost $40,000 more in 2008 than he earned as a county supervisor.

Stone was re-elected by a landslide in 2008 against a challenger who raised less than $1,000, a fact that gave Stern pause.

"Campaign consultants do not get almost $200,000 for noncompetitive races," Stern said, adding: "I don't think any legislative assistant gets $200,000. The question is what is she doing for her pay? I think this is case No. 1 for saying relatives should not be paid out of campaign funds because it's just too open for abuse."

Volunteer Work?

Stern said Stone could legally pay a legislative assistant's salary out of his campaign funds, but the pay must be in line with the amount of work and the skill level of the person performing it.

That aside, Stone has repeatedly said his sister works entirely for free for the county, identifying her as a "volunteer" on his Web Site.

Lori Stone works on homelessness issues, serves on the Riverside County Women's Commission and was appointed official county spokeswoman for the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement team, Stone said in his e-mail. He added that she has launched and run several successful fundraisers for nonprofit organizations.

"Replacing her on my staff would cost the county a minimum of $60-70,000 per year in salary not including benefits," he said. "The citizens of this county are the beneficiaries of her pro-bono work."

County rules would not permit Stone to directly hire his sister for his staff or directly supervise her.

A county ordinance forbids county officers, including supervisors, from involvement in decisions to employ, retain, promote or make work assignments for a sibling or other immediate relative on the county payroll. The ordinance does not apply to volunteers, county spokesman Smith said.

County Car

Lori Stone has never been on the county payroll but drives a county car, a 2000 Ford Explorer. The county purchased the sport utility vehicle in 1999 for its Transportation and Land Management Agency, records show.

In May 2007, the car was transferred to Stone's office, where it was assigned to Lori Stone, according to fleet records.

The car had almost 105,000 miles on it when it was reassigned and is now nearing 132,000 miles, according to fleet records. Drivers of county vehicles rely on county gas pumps and county maintenance services, officials said.

Bob Howdyshell, director of county purchasing and fleet services, said supervisors' staff members often seek cars that have been used by other departments in the interest of frugality. But Lori Stone's situation is one-of-a-kind because she is a full-time volunteer, he said.

"I am not familiar with anyone who is a volunteer and has a long-term arrangement with a vehicle," he said of the vehicles used in county departments.

A county ordinance states that volunteers may not use county vehicles without justification from the relevant department head and authorization from the county executive officer.

But the requirement does not apply to the supervisors or their staff, Smith said. That's because supervisors set policy and oversee the county executive officer and department heads, he said. The requirements do not specifically refer to supervisors, he added.

Only the board would have the ability to change those rules to include them and their staffs, Smith said.

Reach Julia Glick at 951-368-9442 or jglick@PE.com

Consulting Pay

Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone says his sister Lori Stone is a volunteer in his office. Meanwhile he has paid her more than $330,000 in campaign funds for consulting and professional work over the past three years.

2008

Campaign contributions

$218,696

Payments made

$444,115

Consulting, professional

payments to Lori Stone

$181,000

2007

Campaign contributions

$302,390

Payments made

$266,769

Consulting, professional

payments to Lori Stone

$84,000

2006

Campaign contributions

$342,412

Payments made

$268,009

Consulting, professional

payments to Lori Stone

$67,076

Source: Campaign finance filings