Jeffrey Van Wagenen Jr., who first came to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in 1997 and is now the county executive officer, gave a county update at the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce’s March 9 Good Morning Riverside meeting at the Mission Inn.
Population
He said that over the past 30 years, the population of Riverside has doubled.
“More people moved to this county than anywhere in the state,” he said. Not only that, but in 2021 more people moved to Riverside than any county in the nation except for Maricopa in Arizona.
Riverside County outgrew its resources in that growth spurt. “We have exceeded the old models,” he said. For instance, behavioral health services were underfunded. He asked, as we have 35,000 a year coming to our county, what does that do to our freeways, electricity, water?
Budget
The Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget represents the first balanced budget in more than 15 years, he said. Revenues increased in the mid-year adjusted budget by $73 million over the projected budget.
“You’re really going to see investment in revitalizing the community,” he said of the $480 million the county received in American Rescue Plan Act funding. Tens of millions were dedicated to housing and child care in the first installment.
Van Wagenen said the second installment will focus on economic development. He said the Board of Supervisors has a countywide vision, but they are also focusing on each region.
Judge vacancies
He reported on proposed bi-partisan legislation introduced by Sen. Richard Roth in January to address the judge vacancy crisis across the state.
The county currently has 22 judge offices that are not funded.
Read more about SB 75 here.
Fentanyl
Van Wagenen said the DA’s office is “taking a very hard approach” to addressing the county’s fentanyl crisis, and is one of the first to set up a multi-jurisdictional task force dedicated to it.
Public health
The county is doing a study to see how policy can improve overall health.
“Where you live determines how well and how long you live,” he said. The county’s Blue Zones Activate initiative assesses health and well-being, and factors them into city policy.
The Jurupa Valley Clinic is a pilot facility getting under way right now. Patients there get a whole-person health screening, and a social services navigator will assess appropriate resources across the system for each patient.
