Current supervisor, chief of staff targeted as ‘co-conspirators’
February 15, 2010 5:28 PM
Natasha Lindstrom
SAN BERNARDINO • The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is holding a special meeting Tuesday to discuss recent developments in the ongoing corruption probe that now targets a current supervisor and chief of staff as unindicted co-conspirators.
Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales called for the emergency meeting last week, shortly after District Attorney Michael A. Ramos and state Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. held a joint press conference Wednesday to announce new charges in what they called the largest corruption scandal in the county and possibly California.
On Wednesday Bill Postmus, former 1st District supervisor and county Assessor, and his former aide Jim Erwin were arrested and charged with felonies related to accepting bribes and conspiring to cheat the county out of $102 million through a 2006 legal settlement with Rancho Cucamonga-developer Colonies Partners.
The complaint that charged Postmus and Erwin also identified five unnamed co-conspirators, including two Colonies developers, a media consultant and a current supervisor and chief of staff. The complaint’s text and public records implicate two of the co-conspirators as 2nd District Supervisor Paul Biane and Mark Kirk, chief of staff to Board Chairman Gary Ovitt.
Postmus, Biane and Ovitt were the three supervisors to OK the $102 million settlement now under suspicion.
Biane issued a statement defending his vote as fair and justified and Ovitt issued a statement defending his own vote and his aide Kirk.
As chief of staff for Postmus during the vote, 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said Postmus had assured him he voted in favor of Colonies because it was “the most advantageous for the county.”
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The closed meeting begins 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Magda Lawson Room on the fifth floor of the San Bernardino County Government Center, 385 N. Arrowhead Ave. in San Bernardino.
Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at (760) 951-6232 or at nlindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.
SB County Board of Supervisors, District 2 & 4,
4 Yrs term. A Member of the Board of Supervisors shall have been a registered voter of the district which s/he seeks to represent for at least 30 days immediately preceding the deadline for filing nomination documents, and shall reside in the district during their incumbency.
Contact: San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters
The fox is in the henhouse! Journalists prepare for the information that you WON’T get! Devereaux is an expert at claiming that information is proprietary. Devereaux’s good buddy, Dan Richards, can breathe a sigh of relief. I wonder if Devereaux, Biane and Richards will be taking another private jet trip to discuss current, pressing matters. Taxpayers, hold onto to your purses. You are going to be spending without even knowing why.