{"id":599502,"date":"2026-04-12T17:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T17:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/599502\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T17:04:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T17:04:07","slug":"in-moreno-valley-city-council-debate-over-boxing-the-gloves-came-off-press-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/599502\/","title":{"rendered":"In Moreno Valley City Council debate over boxing, the gloves came off \u2013 Press Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Moreno Valley<\/a>, the City Council last week got into it hot and heavy about whether to support a youth boxing academy, sparring over funding and throwing personal jabs.<\/p>\n

The request Tuesday was to give the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy \u2014 funded in 2024 for two years \u2014 a total of $48,000 to continue its afterschool programs for two more years through 2028.<\/p>\n

Yes, the boxing academy\u2019s funding was going into Round Two. Ding!<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s three men were ready to back it. The council\u2019s two women objected, saying the boxing academy hadn\u2019t provided the quarterly reports called for in the contract and questioning whether the city was getting enough bang for its buck.<\/p>\n

Cheylynda Barnard said that without any metrics, she had no way to measure whether the program was working as intended. Elena Baca-Santa Cruz said the same money might help more kids if it were spent on Little League, dance studios, tae kwon do or volleyball.<\/p>\n

Said Baca-Santa Cruz:\u00a0\u201cI think it\u2019s time for us to move in a different direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like a feint? Some quick footwork, maybe a shuffle? Angelo Dundee<\/a> would approve.<\/p>\n

To a man, the dudes disagreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can support them in any way, we should,\u201d Erlan Gonzalez said. Ed Delgado was likewise in favor. Mayor Ulises Cabrera said the entire council had backed the \u201cpartnership\u201d two years ago and that the academy\u2019s afterschool programs are geared toward at-risk youth.<\/p>\n

Barnard seemed to have a long-simmering beef with the mayor. Telling him \u201cyou always do this,\u201d she spoke over him, implying that he was dismissive and saying she\u2019s spoken to him about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have the hardest life of everybody,\u201d Barnard said mockingly, then left the dais.<\/p>\n

Cabrera didn\u2019t stagger.<\/p>\n

Baca-Santa Cruz threw the next punch, saying she\u2019d favor a voucher system in which youths could get a stipend toward whatever afterschool activity they wished.<\/p>\n

Instead, pointing toward Cabrera with her left hand almost in Delgado\u2019s face, she said the city would be giving money to \u201cthe guy who put the mayor\u2019s name on a star in his business.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was hitting below the belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s get some order,\u201d Cabrera said evenly. \u201cEmotions are running high right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking at her phone, Baca-Santa Cruz rose, said she needed to take a call and followed Barnard out of the room. The dais was down to three people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not standard protocol for council members to walk off the dais,\u201d Cabrera observed.<\/p>\n

He was right. It\u2019s an act of defiance that in my experience is almost unheard of.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t there in person, alas. After hearing the boxing discussion was hot, I watched the livestream. I have to say, City Hall missed a bet by not putting it on pay-per-view.<\/p>\n

Did the two brawlers, Barnard and Baca-Santa Cruz, go to their corners? Were they sponged down, fanned with towels and given a pep talk by their cornermen? I have no idea. They were out of the room and off camera.<\/p>\n

The discussion continued in their absence. Delgado said the two women \u201chad excellent points\u201d about the lack of quarterly reports. That requirement was added to the funding.<\/p>\n

Barnard and Baca-Santa Cruz returned to the dais. (No bell had rung.) Barnard voted for the funding with reluctance. Baca-Santa Cruz voted no. It passed 4-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a good time to call for a break,\u201d Cabrera announced. \u201cLet\u2019s take a five-minute recess.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wish I\u2019d had a ringside seat.<\/p>\n

Baseball (more)<\/p>\n

Responding to my March 20 column on Ontario\u2019s Jay Littleton Ball Park<\/a>, John Kramer of Ontario shares the highs and lows of his own childhood on the famed diamond.<\/p>\n

In 1956, at age 10, he tried out for Little League but, not owning a glove, he didn\u2019t catch the fly ball they hit toward him and he whiffed every pitch thrown. Seventy years later, he still remembers the coach\u2019s call that he wouldn\u2019t make the team.<\/p>\n

In the early 1960s, and in possession of a glove, he played Colt League at the ballpark, which was like a small-scale Major League stadium. The Ontario Daily Report used to send a reporter to cover the games from the press box.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember hitting a triple in one game and the next day the headline read \u2018Kramer Leads Win,\u2019\u201d says Kramer. \u201cI still have that article somewhere in my garage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s (more)<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s French Dip in L.A. closed as scheduled March 29. A few of you had one last thing to say on the subject, just as I did that day in writing about original cook Jack Garlinghouse, the man who might have inadvertently invented the French dip<\/a> at a customer\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

Duane Dike of Norco says he first ate at Cole\u2019s 50 years ago and went back occasionally over the years. His family took him to Cole\u2019s again in January for his birthday. It wasn\u2019t the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe place had lost its personality,\u201d he reports. \u201cIt was old and ready to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hope no one ever says that about me!<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, after gazing at the photo of Garlinghouse that accompanied my column, Jim Watson of Upland remarks: \u201cI thought for sure you would mention that you are related. The only thing you\u2019re missing is the chef\u2019s hat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any resemblance hadn\u2019t occurred to me, or for that matter to Tim Peron, Garlinghouse\u2019s great-grandson, but upon taking a second look, I could kind of see what Jim meant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were working the register at Cole\u2019s and you walked in,\u201d Jim adds, \u201cI would be giving you the family discount.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s too late now.<\/p>\n

Norco (more)<\/p>\n

Duane Dike, quoted above, tells me he and his wife in the 1980s moved from Orange County to Norco, expecting to live here five years and then go back to OC. When the time came, the house was put up for sale. No serious offers came in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen someone stole our \u2018For Sale\u2019 sign,\u201d Duane says. \u201cWe were meant to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been in Norco 40 years. His wife was active in high school music and performance programs and their children went through school and on to fulfilling lives. Duane concludes: \u201cHappy I stayed put.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Allen stays put Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Email dallen@scng.com, phone 909-483-9339, and follow davidallencolumnist on Facebook or Instagram, @davidallen909 on X or @davidallen909.bsky.social on Bluesky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Moreno Valley, the City Council last week got into it hot and heavy about whether to support…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,3335,48,44067,227143,38338,884,227144,206164,82,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-599502","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-city-council","13":"tag-david-allen-column","14":"tag-local-government","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-moreno-valley","17":"tag-riverside-county","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}