Overview: Rita Rogers, a long-time Perris City Council member, has retired after 25 years of service. Rogers was first elected in 1999 and has held several committee appointments, including serving as the chair for Western Riverside Council of Governments. She has also held nine city committee appointments and has been honored by the National Congress of Black Women and the Southern California Academic Center of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention by the University of California, Riverside. Rogers attributes her longevity of servitude to the support of those who voted for her, her work on forming the cops and clergy network in the city, supporting the community’s nonprofits, and examining what the city needs.
Alyssah Hall
Rita Rogers bids farewell to Perris City Council after 25 years. She attended her last city council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
Rogers was first elected to Perris City Council in 1999 and after serving six four- year terms, she is now retired.
Last month, Mayor Pro Tem Rita Rogers ran for her seventh term against Elizabeth Vallejo during the general election. On Nov. 5, 33.76% of voters decided to reelect Rogers while 66.24% voted for Vallejo.
“When I first got elected, I always said, as a public servant, that I always believed it was God’s seat and that I would serve the Lord, and when he no longer needed me, he would let me know. So he released me from that assignment,” Rogers shared.
Rogers has held seven committee appointments during her time as a council member, including serving as the chair for Western Riverside Council of Governments. She has held nine city committee appointments such as the Organizer and Chair of the Perris Cops and Clergy Network.
Outside of the council, Rogers also retired as the Inland Empire Division Director for March of Dimes in 2012, a nonprofit that seeks to prevent maternal health risks and protect mothers and babies.
Some of Rogers’ many achievements include being honored by the National Congress of Black Women and being honored by the Southern California Academic Center of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention by the University of California, Riverside.
“I have really, truly been blessed to have served the residents of Perris for the last 25 years, and throughout my tenure, I have met some incredibly wonderful people throughout the years, so it’s been a true blessing for me,” Rogers said.
Rogers attributes the longevity of her service to the support of those who voted for her; her work on forming the cops and clergy network in the city; supporting the community’s nonprofits; and examining what the city needs.
When she first became a council member in the city of Perris in 1999, Rogers said the city was in financial distress.
“We were actually broke. We signed an agreement three months after I was elected to go to the county. The county was going to take us over as receivership. So we had to make some harsh decisions, and we had to do some layoffs, and tighten our purse strings so we could survive as a city, and now we’re thriving with over $50 million in surplus,” Rogers said.
Perris City Councilmember David Starr Rabb, who has served on the council since 2014, said that Rogers’ departure from the council is a “major loss” for the city of Perris. Rabb said that Rogers brings “encyclopedic knowledge” and always portrayed a “level of professionalism” in negative situations.
“I hope that she continues to stay involved in the city events and any grand openings. Anything that started under her watch, I’m going to make sure that she’s invited to the council. But I think it’s a major trend in terms of just the loss of Black elected officials that we’ve seen in Riverside County over this last cycle that no one’s really talking about,” Rabb said.
“There were a lot of incumbents that lost this last cycle, but it just seemed like Black folks were especially hard hit. So, I hope it’s not a trend over the next few years,” Rabb continued.
Perris City Council Mayor Michael Vargas said that he has worked with Rogers for eight years as mayor, but 14 years in total, as he was previously a school board member.
“She was the most senior council person. So her knowledge base was far superior than anybody else’s. She sat to my right so she was my right-hand person, and losing that knowledge base, it’s going to be highly missed,” Vargas said.
Vargas stated that while he hates to see Rogers leave, he loves that she can take care of her health and enjoy her loved ones.
“It’s time now for her to just go and enjoy her life now and be with her family, and grandchildren,” Vargas said.
At this time, Rogers said she does not plan to be involved in local government during her retirement because she is looking forward to spending a lot of time with her family. Rogers has two adult children, nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, which includes her 10-month-old twin great grand babies that she is excited to be with. She also mentioned her desire to travel in her new season of retirement.
However, if her former colleagues or the staff of the city of Perris need to reach out to her for her “institutional knowledge,” Rogers said she’ll definitely leave that door open.
“My wish for the city of Perris is for the city to continue to thrive, to maintain our surplus and definitely to value our wonderful employees. We are up to 169 employees now, and we have the best employees in Riverside County,” Rogers stated.