Menifee Valley Talk Radio  

What a year this has been for our community.  It started out a little tough with some record foreclosures and fuel prices which had the potential to really hurt our little community.  Cityhood debates continued and a field of over 20 candidates threw in their hat in anticipation of a YES vote on cityhood.  The spring brought the launch of Menifee Matters, our very own blog talk radio program.  Founder Therese Daniels teamed up with Chuck Reutter to debate cityhood.  Therese added guests that included candidates for cityhood and the platform was set.
Cityhood passed with a narrow margin of record low voter turnout, and the city council elect got to work to understand the job they were elected to do.  It was a community effort with great debates online and off.
The show continued with issues that mattered to Menifee residents.  Deed restrictions, HOA elections, school boards and gang activity.  Today we'd like to take some time to be thankful.  This story appeared in the Menifee Post. 

A City without Debt

The new city of Menifee comes into the world with a balanced budget and no debt. We have immediate on going obligations, but we also have an annual revenue stream of about 19 million dollars to match those obligations. For the next few months that revenue will be split between the county who will continue to service many of our obligations and the city. However, when the obligations of the county cease, the added revenue stream is transferred to the city.

Some cities may have problems because prior commitments will not be covered by shrinking revenues. Since Menifee has no debt or prior commitments, it can throttle back on spending should it face similar shortfalls.
Mayor Edgerton promised to stay within budget during his watch, and vowed that he would balance the budget with a surplus while he was Mayor, during his inauguration speech in October.  I've been proud to watch the city take over the various services from the county and have a sense that they will keep their promises.  The Marketplace opened on schedule with very few merchants opting to postpone openings due to the economic crisis we find ourselves on at the national level.  Menifee is definitely poised for some more price drops in housing, but we do have the best and affordable community in the valley, maybe the county...maybe even the state.  I see great things for Menifee!