Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Supervisor Paul Biane
By
PE Politics
on February 16, 2010 11:31 AM
San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane is set to announce his campaign for re-election tonight in Ranch Cucamonga.
But Biane’s quest for a third four-year term comes at a time of turmoil for the supervisor. Biane is widely believed to be John Doe 5, the unnamed and uncharged co-conspirator described in a criminal complaint unveiled last week by District Attorney Mike Ramos and Attorney General Jerry Brown.
The term “idiot” and San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales remain synonymous.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos and Attorney General Jerry Brown made sensational corruption allegations last week as an intro to their respective election campaigns.
Allegations that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
By Joe Nelson
Posted: 02/16/2010 03:52:28 PM PST
The county will put off suing a Rancho Cucamonga developer and defendants in an ongoing corruption probe by the District Attorney and state Attorney General’s offices, the Board of Supervisors announced today.
The board met in closed session this afternoon to receive a briefing from county counsel relative to the issues concerning initiation of litigation regarding the Nov. 28, 2006 $102 million settlement between the county and Colonies Partners LP over flood control improvements at the Colonies Crossroads residential/commercial development in Upland.
Greg Devereaux
10:40 PM PST on Monday, February 15, 2010
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
San Bernardino County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux begins his first day on the job with the county once again in the spotlight due to a corruption scandal and a looming budget shortfall.
The Board of Supervisors will meet in closed session this afternoon to discuss recent corruption charges that have implicated former and current supervisors and cast suspicion on a November 2006 $102 million lawsuit settlement with a developer.
Deputy district attorney to challenge judge
February 15, 2010 4:17 PM
Tomoya Shimura
Fueled in part by a controversial court decision, a San Bernardino County deputy district attorney announced Monday he will run in June for the Superior Court seat held by Judge Robert Lemkau.
The Daily Press broke the story on Feb. 3 that Lemkau denied a restraining order request by a mother who warned Lemkau that her boyfiend, Stephen Garcia, had threatened to kill their 9-month-old son, Wyatt. Days later, Garcia shot Wyatt and then himself.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/15/2010 05:24:45 PM PST
SAN BERNARDINO – The long wait between the 2009 elections and the swearing-in of new city officials is almost over.
Tonight’s City Council meeting will mark the end of terms belonging to council members Esther Estrada and Dennis Baxter.
Estrada – who for the next couple weeks is still the council’s longest-serving member – and Baxter respectively lost their seats to challengers Virginia Marquez and Jason Desjardins as a result of the Nov. 3 election.
PolitiCal
February 15, 2010 | 8:50 pm
A term-limits law for Los Angeles County supervisors is about to make its mark on the board that has been known as a political fiefdom.
Thanks to a term-limits law passed in 2002, two long-serving members of the Board of Supervisors will soon be forced to step aside. This year, Supervisors Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavksy will be seeking their final four-year terms on the board.
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
They’re two high-profile, highly competitive female CEOs of national stature who share the same party – and worked for the same 2008 presidential candidate, Republican John McCain.
But former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, a California gubernatorial candidate, and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, who is running for U.S. Senate, have shared surprisingly little else in their current quests for public office.
Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Federal Reserve is poised to turn off a major money spigot that has helped sustain the ailing real estate sector, as an extraordinary program under which the Fed has pumped $1.25 trillion into the mortgage market is slated to end March 31.
“Housing has been on government life support, and without it the crash would have been much more severe,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Economy.com in Pennsylvania. “This spring and summer as those policy efforts unwind, we most likely will see mortgage rates move higher and more house-price declines.”
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
California, with its complex mélange of cultural, demographic and economic forces, may be, some observers contend, just a concentrated microcosm of the United States, telling the rest of the nation what it can expect as the 21st century unwinds.
If that’s true, Los Angeles is a microcosm of California. That makes the city’s budget crisis not only a reflection of the state’s own chronic fiscal woes, but also a case study of the countervailing political forces.
10:00 PM PST on Monday, February 15, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – California is losing billions of dollars in potential revenue through various tax credits, exemptions and deductions at the same time lawmakers have approved deep spending cuts to address the state’s enormous budget problems.
From no sales tax on tractor purchases to special business-friendly zones in San Bernardino and elsewhere, tax-benefit programs total more than $40 billion in lost general fund revenue in the current budget year and almost $43 billion in the next one, according to the most recent estimate by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Department of Finance.
Politics Blog
Meg Whitman, better buy a sword and a shield on eBay — the real jousting is about to begin in the 2010 California governor’s race.
As in: New IPhone apps that track “the last time she did a press conference,” planes with banners that trail her on campaign events, websites that show voters aerial views of her fabulous Atherton estate…and (Arnold remembers this) those crowds of welcoming protesters from the California Nurses Association.p>
Red ink draws cuts
Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Created: 02/15/2010 09:23:50 PM PST
Los Angeles County may be drowning in red ink, but at least it won’t be coming from $40 pens anymore.
And county bureaucrats will no longer be able to sweep costly mistakes under $131 floor mats.
Shocked to learn public employees have been able to choose between fancy pens and 24-cent ballpoints, county officials are eliminating thousands of high-ticket items from the official office supplies catalog.
10:00 PM PST on Monday, February 15, 2010
By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise
The Riverside school board could vote today to lay off 72 teachers and 48 administrators, and cut management pay.
The 72 instructors would be in addition to 160 teachers from elementary schools the board voted Feb. 1 to lay off.
The district now faces a budget shortfall of $47 million to $49 million for 2010-11 as state funding drops.
10:00 PM PST on Monday, February 15, 2010
By DAYNA STRAEHLEY
The Press-Enterprise
The Corona-Norco school board tonight will consider laying off 343 employees, two-thirds of whom teach in elementary schools.
The resolution to cut that many full-time jobs lists 220 elementary teachers, 27 counselors, eight student advisers, 10 assistant principals, three district coordinators, 13 special education teachers, five music teachers and, from the secondary level, 14 English teachers, 12 math teachers, 11 social studies teachers, four PE teachers, three Spanish teachers, three independent-studies teachers, five librarians, two art teachers, two business teachers and a health teacher.