Since 1998, Visiting Angels has been providing elder care services to families across the United States and Canada. Their network of elder care agencies is committed to providing families with the best possible in-home care services. Their commitment to you is simple, they help your loved one continue to live at home and they help you find peace of mind.

At Visiting Angels they understand you want top quality elder care services for your loved one. You are searching for a qualified professional elder care provider who will treat you family member with compassion, respect and dignity. They can help you find the elder care provided that meets all your needs. Their homecare providers are experienced professionals with the training and expertise you have been search for. They will help you find an elder care provider who can care for all you loved one’s health and well-being needs.

When you trust Visiting Angels to provide elder care services for your family, it’s with the understanding that all your loved one’s needs will be met. The expertise of their providers makes it possible to provide a wide range of in home care services. Visiting Angels can meet both temporary and long term needs. Elder care providers can offer hourly care, overnight care and live-in care.

Visiting Angels elder care services incorporate what are commonly known as daily living activities. The service coordinators will create a personalized care plan for your loved one and offer families with respite care, friendly companionship, personal care, hygiene assistance, meal planning and preparations, light housekeeping, laundry assistance, medication reminders and assistance running errands. With your personal care plan you can customize the services to meet your needs.

No matter the type of elder care services they provide you can count on their commitment to you remaining the same. They will provide top quality care that enables your loved ones to maintain their independence and dignity. Their professional, compassionate caregivers will work closely with your loved ones so they can continue living at home and enjoy the lifestyle that makes them happy.

Give your loved one the gift of quality care in familiar surroundings. Give them the gift of Visiting Angels.

You can contact the local Visiting Angels at 330 6^th Street Suite 201 in Redlands or call them at 793-7788.

At last month’s Coffee with the Council event a business owner asked me a reasonable question.  He asked why selected business and other fees had been increased.  He specifically wanted to know what additional work or other changes had occurred in the city’s responsibilities that created the need for the increases.   Together with Mayor Pro Tem Paul Foster I answered this question based on our general knowledge of the city’s current fees.   I have summarized that answer here for the benefit of other business owners who may have similar concerns.

The primary reason many Redlands fees (not just business) have been increased is because in the past we have not been collecting sufficient revenues to cover the costs of the services provided.   It’s important to stop here and note the philosophy behind charging a fee is that the city must regulate certain activities and charges fees to cover the costs for this work.   Fees result in the purchase of a privilege or authorization and are applied to such activities as inspections, building permits, or various licenses.

But back to the point about why fees were increased.   A study of the current Redlands city fees, to update the previous study completed in November 2006,  was begun  in the latter part of Fiscal Year 2010-2011 and approved in November 2012.  This study showed the current fees in many cases did not come close to covering the costs of the service provided.   This means the average Redlands taxpayer was subsidizing those who received inspections, permits, licenses, or other privileges.   In my mind this is not fair.   Taxes should go for city activities and services that most residents receive or enjoy.  Those who receive specific benefits should pay the full costs for the city’s work to get this work done.     There are some exceptions; for example, we do not recover the full cost of recreation programs or bike licenses in an effort to make them more attractive to residents.

So the City Council increased fees for many services, some substantially.  Where that was the case, we phased it in over two or three years to lessen the impact.   Other reasons for higher fees could be new Federal or State mandated regulation which creates additional workload, or inflationary increases.   The biggest reason for the recent increases was the above noted lack of increases over the past several years, which created a major gap in the revenue generated to cover the full costs of the work required to provide services.   One might say the increases were aimed at ensuring a more equitable revenue generation approach for the city based on who receives the primary benefits.

I hope this helps a bit in explaining the recent fee increases.

President Elect, Geoff Bonney, Bonney Architects, announces the nomination of Greg Brittain to serve a second three year term on the Board of Directors.  “Brittain completed his first three year term and was invited back as he often offers a different point of view at the table; stimulates the conversation and has been a great supporter of the Chamber.” said Bonney.

Over the years, Brittain has served on the Government Review Committee, and is a member of the Presidents Circle.

The organizations’ Bylaws provide for additional nominees by petition signed by 20 members in good standing. Petitions must be filed at the Chamber office fifteen days after public notification, a general election will follow.

Keeping tax dollars in town is an important part of the equation when talking about the city’s financial well-being, but more importantly shopping locally supports the local businesses, helps retain jobs, and circulates dollars in the community.

Small businesses employ local people. They support local charities and offer personal services. Local businesses patronizes local businesses, they join  local service clubs and support local athletic programs.

You really can find almost anything you need here in Redlands.

We have:

Retail and wholesale

Restaurants and caterers

Printers, writers and designers

Gift shops, ice cream and toy stores

Bike shops and car dealers

Home improvement stores and maintenance servers

Photographers, artisans and musicians

Pet stores and services

Gourmet food and wine

Personal and professional services

So before you make a purchase ask yourself if you can Shop Redlands first.

I was talking to Kathie last weekend.  We were discussing the Chamber Night Light Run and she happened to mention that that was the weekend we would have been doing Chamber Live Auction. Wow!  I remember when that brilliant idea came about.  I was at the beach doing my annual retreat from everything vacation.  I hadn’t heard anything about the auction, didn’t know anything about the auction, but upon my return, I already had an auction job to do.  That’s Kathie Thurston for you …….can never say no to that woman.

Now here we are two weeks out from our newest fun fundraiser, The Chamber Night Light Run, and experiencing the virginal, first time jitters that precede any large project.  So many questions racing through our minds will enough people sign up, did we anticipate all the glitches, did we order enough T-shirts  or too many?  I guess we will have all those answers on December 15. I am praying for a spectacular success. Please support this, our major fundraiser of the year, by signing up to walk and have a lot of fun. If you can’t enter the event, tell as many people as you can about it so they can enter. If you can’t do either of these things, at least come down to the race course and cheer on the glowing group of run/walkers and enjoy the sights and sounds of the light show and the start/finish line at the Redlands Mall.

Well, fellow chamber members, this is my last message as your President/Queen of the Chamber. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  True to Kathie’s prediction, it was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be; and now I am reassuring incoming President, Geoff Bonney that it will not be as bad as he thinks it will be.

We are at the apex of the roller coaster called Christmas Season, or Holiday Season or just The Season. Whatever you call it, we will now be flying through all the events, parties, get-togethers, services, pageants that are crammed into the last month of the year.  Next weekend is the University of Redlands Feast of Lights, the Redlands Kiwanis Christmas Parade and the YMCA Home Tour and Boutique. The following weekend is our SPECTACULAR CHAMBER NIGHT LIGHT RUN and two or three other events that I am not aware of.  In between all these goings on, there is Christmas shopping and packages to mail, cookie baking and cookie exchanges,   cards to write and send, trees to pick and decorate, presents to wrap and exchange, houses to clean and decorate,  carols to sing or listen to.  Whew! I am tired just writing about it all.

It has been an honor to serve as your President this past year. I wish you all a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas and all God’s blessings to you in 2014.