NEWS                               

From the County of San Bernardino

www.sbcounty.gov

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 8, 2003

For more information, contact

David Wert, Public Information Officer

(909) 387-4082

dwert@sbcounty.gov

 

 

Board opposes area code plan that splits the County

 

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors today registered its formal opposition to a telephone industry proposal that would separate most of Yucaipa, a portion of Angelus Oaks, and the communities of Oak Glen and Forest Falls from the 909 area code.

 

“Cutting these communities off from their neighbors in Redlands, San Bernardino, and the rest of the 909 area code would impose a hardship on many of our residents that defies common sense,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Dennis Hansberger, whose Third District includes the targeted communities.

 

The telephone industry claims the 909 area code will run out of nine-digit phone numbers later this year. During the next two weeks the California Public Utilities Commission will conduct public meetings in San Bernardino and Riverside counties to discuss solutions – primarily a number of plans to split the current 909 area code region into two or three area codes.

 

A resolution authored by Chairman Hansberger and adopted by the Board today recommends that the Public Utilities Commission reject the industry plan that would separate residents from emergency services, jobs, shopping, and other services and instead consider a proposal that would more evenly separate San Bernardino and Riverside counties between the 909 and a new 951 area code.

 

Chairman Hansberger pointed out that Yucaipa has one of San Bernardino County’s highest concentrations of senior citizens. They rely heavily on medical care, transportation, and other vital services provided in neighboring San Bernardino County communities.

 

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Area Code Plans

July 8, 2003

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“It would be terribly unfair to force our seniors to dial four additional digits to place important local phone calls,” Chairman Hansberger said. “Dialing an area code also creates the impression that a call will be more expensive, so some of those important phone calls might not even be made.”

 

Unnecessarily splitting up San Bernardino County would also place a hardship on businesses and residents by forcing them to reprint stationery and reprogram automatic dialing devices.

 

The industry-supported plan not only cuts the bulk of Yucaipa and other San Bernardino County communities off from the rest of the county, but would leave a small portion of western Yucaipa and the west half of Angelus Oaks in the 909. That would force some Yucaipa residents to dial an area code to reach their own City Hall and other places in their own city.

 

The area code plan endorsed by the Board of Supervisors today would keep the Riverside County community of Calimesa in the 909 area code while other Riverside County communities would join the new 951 region. However, Calimesa residents already conduct most of their business and social activities in San Bernardino County because no major roads link them with Riverside County’s major commercial and population centers. Despite the county line, Yucaipa and Calimesa share a school district.

 

“Unfortunately, no proposal exists that would keep each county whole. However, it is much more logical to keep Calimesa’s 7,272 residents in the 909 area code than to link more than 45,000 San Bernardino County residents with a region they can’t visit on a single major highway,” Chairman Hansberger said.

 

The proposal supported by the Board of Supervisors would not divide any cities or communities. Both proposals have the same estimated “life span” before phone numbers are exhausted – seven years for the 909 and 12 years for a new 951 area code.

 

Local government officials have been invited to review the plans on Friday, July 11, at 10 a.m. in the San Bernardino City Council Chambers at 300 North D St. in San Bernardino and at 2 p.m. in the Riverside County Board of Supervisors Board Room at 4080 Lemon St. in Riverside.

 

The public is invited to attend meetings on the plans at the following times and locations:

 

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Area Code Plans

July 8, 2003

Page 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The public can also communicate with the PUC by writing or calling:

 

CPUC Advisor’s Office in Los Angeles

320 West 4th St., Ste. 500

Los Angeles CA 90013

(Toll free) 1-866-849-8391

public.advisor.la@cpuc.ca.gov

 

The proposed plans can be viewed on the Internet at www.cpuc.ca.gov.

 

“I urge everyone who has a stake in this issue to make it to one of these meetings or call or write to the Public Utilities Commission,” Chairman Hansberger said. “The decision the PUC ultimately makes will affect us for many, many years to come.”

 

 

 

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