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Valley Times
$1 serving blythe,california Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Vice mayor says he won’t run again

By Cathyleen Rice
Times Reporter Tim Wade announces he will not seek re-election in November this coming election? Was there
one factor in particularly that broke
was 90 per- shared with the Times that he, Meeting with the Times on the proverbial camel’s back? If so,
After serving four years on what?
the Blythe City Council as vice cent sure too, will not run for re-election Monday, Wade discussed his
he wasn’t for city council this year. experience while serving on It was something that I wanted to try
mayor, Tim Wade said he will four years ago. Family members didn’t
going to With the mayoral and coun- council, his advice to the in-
not run in the November 2017 run again cil member election set for coming elected officials, his really want me to, but I wanted to make a
election. before Fri- Nov. 18, 2017, there are three hopes for Blythe’s future after difference and I tried it. It was fun, it was
Failing to file candidacy pa- day. seats are up for grabs in the his term is over and what lies OK, it was just not something I decided
perwork by the deadline date Wade’s upcoming election; leaving ahead in his future. to do again. I’m not sure what the future
of last Friday, Aug. 4, by 4 p.m., Vice Mayor Tim Wade announce- Mayor Joey Deconinck as the holds, but my wife wants to retire in less
three months before the city’s ment came moments after only incumbent running for Why have you decided not to run than two years, so I don’t know if we
next election, Wade said he Councilman Oscar Galvan one of the seats. for your incumbent council seat See wade/A9

Blythe & Suicide

At the Aug.
8 council
meeting,  the
council voted

Awareness, prevention
and a gateway help
By Uriel Avendano
Times Editor
With the topic of suicide
generally stigmatized and
too often avoided, the re-
alities of seeking help be-
comes that much starker
when resources — and can-
dor — are seemingly out of
reach.
“Data showed over a
two year period (2012 —
2014), Blythe experienced
6 fatalities and 49 total
injuries due to suicide,”
stated Rebecca Antillon, a
Riverside County Public
Health Department Pro-
gram Coordinator. “45% of
these incidences occurred
among adults ages 25 — 44.
Although the factors that
contributed to these spe-
cific suicides are unknown
to us, some of the common
risk factors of suicide in-
clude: depression, physical
and mental illness, alcohol
and substance abuse, in-
carceration, loss and oth-
er stressful life events or
changes.”
According to the Ameri-
to amend a
consultant
services contract
with AMN
Key Solutions
al suicide attempts from in an effort
non-intentional self-harm to dump the
behaviors. Many suicide same council’s
attempts, however, go un- previous
reported or untreated. Sur- discussions
veys suggest that at least of a Transient
one million people in the Occupancy
U.S. each year engage in Tax (TOT) and
intentionally inflicted self- explore a
harm.” marijuana tax
Earlier in the year, the measure in a
matter of suicide in Blythe 2018 ballot
came to the forefront of An-
instead. After
tillon’s priorities in her at-
conducting some
tempt to bring preventative
and awareness training to preliminary work
on this item,
the rural community.
In the below Q&A inter- the consultant
advises that now
view, Antillon addresses
her department’s efforts, is not the best
the data, gatekeeper train- time to move
ing and formulating a last- forward with
ing plan moving forward: this type of tax
increase,” stated
Q: Thank you for taking the Interim City
time. Could you touch on who Manager Mallory
you are, what your organization Crecelius.
does?
Antillon: My name is Rebecca Photo by Uriel
Antillon and I am a Program Coor- Avendano/Palo
dinator with the Riverside University Verde Valley
Health System – Public Health De- Times
partment (RUHS-PH). I have worked

Council bury hotel tax in 2018,

can Foundation for Suicide with RUHS-PH for 15 years, specifi-
Prevention (AFSP), in the cally in the Injury Prevention Services
U.S., there is an average of branch. The mission of RUHS-PH is
121 suicides per day. to promote and protect the health of

eye marijuana and sales instead

“No complete count is
kept of suicide attempts
in the U.S.; however, each
year the CDC gathers data
from hospitals on non-fatal
injuries from self-harm,”
states the AFSP. “494,169
people visited a hospital
for injuries due to self-
harm. This number sug-
gests that approximately
12 people harm themselves
for every reported death by
suicide. However, because
of the way these data are
collected, we are not able
to distinguish intention-
all county residents and visitors. To
assist with this mission, the Injury
Prevention Services (IPS) branch
was established in 1994 to mitigate
injuries occurring among county
residents. Our branch currently offers By Uriel Avendano increase and explore a AMN Key Solutions crease,” stated Interim
programs to address child passenger Times Editor marijuana tax measure to provide services re- City Manager Mallory
safety, bicycle and pedestrian safety, initiative on a 2018 bal- lated to the feasibility Crecelius. “She be-
teen impaired driving, water safety, At the Aug. 8 Blythe
lot instead. of placing a Transit Oc- lieves the best strategy
and finally teen suicide. City Council meet- The city’s contracted cupancy Tax (TOT) on for the city would be
ing, the council voted measure consultant is the ballot. After con- to place a cannabis tax
Q: Earlier this year, you were unanimously to amend AMN Key Solutions ducting some prelimi- on the June 2018 ballot.
involved in formulating a grant a consultant services senior strategist Ann nary work on this item, It is recommended the
application to the RAP (Regional contract with AMN Key Knock. the consultant advises council authorize the
Access Project) Foundation to Solutions to dump dis- “On January 10, that now is not the best city manager to execute
help raise suicide awareness cussions of a Transient (2017,) Council entered time to move forward this first amendment
See suicide/A9 Occupancy Tax (TOT) into an agreement with with this type of tax in- See tax/A5

Blythe facility to be named in honor of John Dobbs

By Cathyleen Rice of John Dobbs,” the emo-
Times Reporter tional topic became a
discussion on what mea-
Last Tuesday’s city
sures the city could take
council meeting brought to recognize Dobbs’ last-
teary eyes and a few si- ing legacy.
lent moments as people Presented before the
collected their thoughts board and meeting at-
on how to best honor the tendees, Vice Mayor Tim
late John Dobbs. Wade said after being
Listed on the agenda as approached by a fellow
item number 16, “Nam- classmate on social media
ing a city street in honor about doing something
nice in memory of John,
he asked for the item to
be placed on the agenda
and to see what others
thought.
Opening the item for
discussion, Wade said,
“John and I were the same
age, and we had been
friends over 40 years.”
Passing away after a
19-month battle with glio-
blastoma, Dobbs was a be-
loved resident of Blythe.
“On July 26, we lost
John Dobbs, a devoted
and respected member of
the Blythe community,”
the agenda reads.
Seeking council’s ap-
proval for naming a street
after Dobbs, Wade asked
for everyone’s input.
According to the agen-
da, a facility can be named
after an individual, fam-
ily, group or organiza-
tion that has provided or
meets one or more of the
following criteria:
• Extraordinary service
to the city of Blythe as a
staff member or volun-
teer,
• Notable achievements
by a city of Blythe com-
munity leader who has
significantly contributed
to the public service in
Blythe,
•  Significant financial
contributions toward the
construction of a facility
of the city of Blythe, or an
endowment for mainte-
nance for operating costs
of a city of Blythe facility
or
•  Geographical, histori-
cal, or ecological relation-
ships indigenous or of sig-
See dobbs/A9