The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office has requested years of financial and administrative records from the City of Banning concerning its electric utility, including documents detailing how utility revenues have been transferred, allocated and spent since 2018. Mayor Richard Royce disclosed the request in his Sept. 3 transparency report, and said the city received a California Public Records Act request from the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation on Aug. 4.
The request reaches back to Jan. 1, 2018, and seeks records related to the Banning Electric Utility, including financial transactions, transfers to the city’s General Fund and the policies and decisions supporting those transfers. The city said on Aug. 27 that it is cooperating fully with the request.
Royce said the city is working with its city council, executive leadership team, staff and City Attorney’s Office to gather the requested records. “Let’s be clear about what this is. It is a records request. Under state law and under a principle I completely believe in, the public and any public agency has the right to see how we manage public resources,” Royce said. “That’s exactly what we intend to provide.”…