Opinion: Local Leaders Take on Riverside’s Rising Expectations

In a recent survey, Chapman University researchers found that Americans’ number one fear is corruption among government officials. This fear cuts across all political parties and ideological lines. Americans do not trust their political leaders, with one exception: local elected leaders.

Several studies have found that while people distrust their national and state representatives, a large majority still have faith in their City Councilmembers and Mayors. In fact, a recent Gallup poll found that 72% of U.S. adults say they have a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of trust in their local government.

These survey results illustrate a basic problem of our time: Our society is undergoing seismic shifts, creating huge social and cultural changes that cause us to feel more anxious, worried, and uncertain about the future, but we don’t trust our state and federal leaders to guide us on the right path.  So, increasingly, people look to their local officials to quell their anxiety and fix the complex problems facing our country, even though the ability to address those problems is often not within the local elected officials’ control.

While people’s faith in local governments is encouraging, it can sometimes come with unrealistic expectations of what the local government can do for its people.

So, what can the local government do?  You can check out our city charter to really understand the roles of the City Council, Mayor, and City Manager and how we exercise our powers. Still, I’m just going to summarize the duties and powers of the Mayor and City Council in this article.

As Mayor, my primary roles are to be the chief communicator and to advocate for Riverside’s best interests. This advocacy helps bring resources to the City to address the pressing issues that Riversiders face every day. The City Council is the decision-making body that has the power to deliberate and vote on issues such as budgetary concerns, city-wide practices, local initiatives, and so much more that affect Riversiders’ quality of life.

The powers that the City Council and I have are dictated not only by our City Charter but also by State and Federal laws. Though limited, when we exercise the powers that we do have at the local level, we accomplish great things for this City.

For example, in my first four years, I’ve used my advocacy role to regularly work with our County Supervisors and state and federal legislatures to get funding and pass bills important to Riversiders.  Working with the City Council and City Manager, we’ve been able to secure historic state and federal funding for public safety, infrastructure, workforce & economic development, and homelessness.

And our influence continues to rise.

Last month, I had the honor of being selected as Chair of the Big City Mayors, a coalition of California’s 13 largest cities. As Riverside’s first Mayor to lead this coalition, we will be a leader in tackling the housing crisis, needed reforms in mental health treatment, and criminal code enforcement through collaborative efforts with other Big Cities across California. These efforts provide Riverside with the opportunity to secure additional resources and millions of dollars for the City Council to then address these issues within our City’s borders appropriately.

While we strive to advocate for meaningful change beyond our immediate control, our focus is primarily on Riverside residents.

The most important aspect of all of this is you. We could not exercise these powers without your ultimate approval at the ballot box.  While voting for your local officials is important, there is more that you can do to steer our City in the right direction. Attending city council meetings, volunteering for local initiatives, and joining local boards and advocacy groups helps us elected officials do our jobs better.

In this uncertain time in our nation’s history, let’s remember that we are all in this together. Working together and working through our differences builds a stronger and more resilient Riverside.