Fontana and the Inland Empire has changed dramatically since the late 80s & early 90s. Many of those changes have not been good, at least not for those who lead humble, hard-working honest lives. Fontana, which once was a sturdy, salt-of-the-earth, blue-collar Democrat steelmill town, has now become a Republican Wannabe: fancy buildings with water-wasting water features, tax-revenue draining redevelopment that is slowly killing the core and chasing out the low-income residents from the newly redeveloped areas, with numerous incidents of racial profiling & the allocation of our hard-earned tax dollars to a religious group with which several council members are affiliated.
Our city leaders in their infinite "wisdom" are promoting further redevelopment that takes money away from the schools and core areas to build more housing along the I-15 on Fontana's north end, which will only aggravate the already-heavily congested region, bringing more pollution to the city. The city has belly-ached when the state took away revenue after the city failed in its obligation to build more affordable housing, and it takes away the rights of many long-time property owners by forcing them into new or expanded redevelopment areas.
With the resignation of former Mayor Mark Nuaimi, the city council meetings are more civil, but our duly elected officials prove at every meeting how little in touch they are with our city and residents. They know the wants, needs and issues of their own little middle & upper middle class communities and think that they extend to the rest of us.
The only local paper that really covers Fontana (the Fontana Herald News) does its best to cover the city but it has limited resources and is unable to a lot of in-depth reporting for the weekly publication. I personally know and admire all of the Herald's editorial & photography staff, having worked with many of them in the past. I have a great deal of respect for the work they do, but they can't do it all. I am here to help fill the gaps, and I challenge readers to help, too. The Inland Empire is OUR home. We have sat by and watched our community be taken over by people who have no interest in representing us. Please, email story ideas, news, and personal perspectives. Let's make this community work for all the people.
Respectfully
Ann Knickerbocker
ann.knickerbocker1@gmail.com
eyesontheie@gmail.com
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