Air Conditioners OK’d for RAP

ounty Funding Approved to Help RAP Foundation Purchase New Air Conditioners

PALM DESERT – The Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved Supervisor V. Manuel Perez’s request to allocate $100,000 to the Regional Access Project Foundation to help the nonprofit organization replace seven air conditioner units at its building in Palm Desert.

Perez sits on the Board of Directors for the organization and is listed as a permanent member, according to the website. This fact was not listed in the staff report and not mentioned during the Supervisors meeting. He deliberated and voted on the funding. Some took issue, saying it is a conflict of interest.

“Supervisors sit on many different boards and commissions to continue their efforts to better the lives of the residents they were elected to represent,” Perez told Uken Report. “Dating back to former Supervisor Corky Larson, all Fourth District supervisors have held a position on the Regional Access Project Foundation. As a matter of fact, one of my favorites. I understand Supervisor Roy Wilson felt the same.”

There is no conflict when no financial salary or stipend is paid to the supervisor, Perez added. “Since the RAP Foundation does not provide me any such financial interest there is no conflict of interest.”

The Regional Access Project Foundation (RAP Foundation) provides funding, oversight, technical assistance, and guidance to many nonprofit, community-based organizations that serve the communities of eastern Riverside County, from the Coachella Valley to the Blythe community, in the areas of health, mental health and juvenile intervention.

The RAP Foundation was seeking funding to replace the AC units, which have needed replacement.

“We all know how hot it gets back home. I don’t think anybody likes to work in 120-degree weather, whether inside or outside a building,” Perez said in a statement. “These funds for the RAP Foundation will provide them the resources so that they can move forward and provide the technical assistance for our folks that are providing the services on the ground to improve the quality of life of our residents.”

The funding comes from Fourth District Unincorporated Communities Initiative funding, county funds that are used to assist with projects and needs of the unincorporated communities. Supervisor Perez noted at the meeting that the RAP Foundation provides technical assistance to nonprofits improving eastern Coachella Valley communities, and that a vast majority of the nonprofits that the RAP Foundation funds and houses in its Palm Desert building support residents in the eastern Coachella Valley.

“The RAP Foundation would like to express its gratitude for the Board of Supervisors’ approval of Supervisor Perez’s request for funding our air conditioning replacement needs,” RAP Foundation CEO Leticia De Lara said in a statement. “This funding is crucial for our ability to continue to provide office and meeting space for our nonprofits which serve our unincorporated communities.”