riversideca.gov

Ward 1

council member

Philip Falcone

Ward 1

 


Council Assistants

Sarai Arellano [email protected]

Matthew Maldonado [email protected]


Wards & Neighborhoods

 

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Biography

Philip Falcone was sworn into office to represent Riverside's first ward on April 9, 2024. Philip is a New Orleans native, raised in Riverside and attended Riverside schools including Notre Dame High School, Riverside City College, UC Riverside, and obtained a Master's degree from California Baptist University.

Over the past decade, Philip’s service has focused on historic preservation, education, public art, and environmental protections. He began his career of public service as the youngest commissioner in the City of Riverside’s history and the chairman of the City’s Cultural Heritage Board. On the commission, he advocated for historic district protections to maintain Riverside’s century-old built environment and expanded the recognition of cultural landmarks.

As an educator, Philip has worked in bilingual after-school programs in the Riverside Unified School District and currently serves as a professor of oral communications at California Baptist University. He previously served as Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Riverside.

Philip resides in the Downtown neighborhood and in his free time researches and authors local history articles for various Riverside publications.

Housing & Homelessness - Riverside must encourage more quality, affordable housing development, while collaborating with our county and state leaders to focus on the mental and behavioral health issues we see on the streets every day. There also must be enforcement of laws and anti-camping ordinances to protect local business owners and the overall quality of life for residents.

Economic Development & Jobs - Riverside is at a time of great potential for economic development. With the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and four institutions of higher education, Riverside has an advantage in the green technology and research fields. Philip is collaborating with business and education sectors to identify, attract, and welcome targeted technology businesses that bring high paying, skilled jobs to Ward 1. He also focuses on expanding career technical education pathways that lead to high quality vocational jobs to improve the educational and economic upward mobility of Riversiders.

City Services & Infrastructure - Local government’s role is to ensure a clean and safe community. Riverside’s voters expressed their commitment to investing in city services with the approval of Measure Z in 2016. Correcting the deferred maintenance of parks, roads, medians, trees, and aging infrastructure is Philip's top priority. He advocates for accelerating the planning and execution of road repaving and infrastructure projects to keep up with the growth of our city and ensure our first responders have what they need to keep Riverside safe.

City Council Policy Committees

  • Economic Development Committee – Vice Chair
  • Housing and Homelessness Committee – Chair
  • Land Use, Sustainability, and Resilience Committee - Member

Regional Organizations/Committees

 

Work of Previous Ward 1 Officials

Ward 1 Email Newsletter