Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/19/2010 07:36:00 PM PDT

COLTON – Pricey pension packages, budget breakdowns and deep deficits have reduced or jeopardized the reserves some cities have amassed over recent years.

Both Colton and San Bernardino are struggling with dwindling incomes that have burned cash reserves to dangerously low levels.

Rialto is struggling with higher pension costs set to start July 1, which a top official has said will deplete a sizeable $31 million reserve within three years if employees don’t agree to concessions.

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Neil Derry

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/19/2010 07:45:58 PM PDT

San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry on Friday released a draft of his proposed Sunshine Ordinance aimed at thwarting unethical county practices and making information more accessible to the public.

The proposed ordinance mandates establishment of an ethics commission that would include on its panel a local journalist and attorney appointed by the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

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09:37 PM PDT on Friday, March 19, 2010

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – Bill Emmerson and Russ Bogh were roommates when they served in the Assembly five years ago. But a landlord and a kitchen weren’t the only things they shared.

Bogh and Emmerson, the leading Republican candidates in next month’s special election for Riverside County’s 37th Senate District, frequently voted the same way during the 2005-06 session, when their legislative tenures overlapped, records show.

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City’s deficit grows to $2 million; union rep urges council to dip into rainy day fund
March 19, 2010 9:26 AM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • The city’s budget situation has gotten a little bleaker in the past month, and that might mean belt tightening for employees.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Hesperia City Council, about a dozen employees stood in silent protest before the council, as Bridgette Washington, a labor relations representative for the San Bernardino Public Employees Association, read a prepared statement asking the city to “take another look at the instructions you have given to the city’s chief negotiator.”

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10:00 PM PDT on Friday, March 19, 2010

Cassie MacDuff The Press-Enterprise

Of all the people implicated in the recent public corruption scandals, the one who evokes the most sympathy is Jim Miller, the Grand Terrace councilman who stepped down 10 days ago.

Miller stands out because he took responsibility, from the moment he was approached by investigators, for what he did.

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By PE Politics
on March 19, 2010 6:15 PM

The group trying to make the Legislature part-time has paid for more than $47,000 worth of TV ads supporting Russ Bogh for state Senate.

Bogh, R-Beaumont, is one of seven candidates —three Republican, three Democrats, one American Independent — running in the April 13 special election for Riverside County’s 37th Senate District.

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By PE Politics
on March 19, 2010 4:31 PM

There’s a theme emerging if California’s gubernatorial election comes down to a contest between Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, the Republican front runner in the most recent Field Poll.

The seasoned hand versus the government outsider with business acumen.

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Rep. Joe Baca

By PE Politics
on March 19, 2010 12:08 PM

The House of Representatives this week passed a bill calling for a study of the perchlorate contamination in Inland water supplies.

The Inland Empire Perchlorate Ground Water Plume Assessment Act, authored by Inland Rep. Joe Baca, would order the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct a study of the Rialto-Colton water basin with a focus on perchlorate, a rocket fuel component found in the region’s water. Perchlorate has been found to cause health problems, particularly in children and pregnant women.

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By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Mar. 20, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Vying to become California’s top law enforcement officer, Republicans John Eastman and Sen. Tom Harman had a potential political problem: Neither had prosecutorial experience.

Fast-forward a few weeks and – voilà! – problem solved, amid allegations from their opponent, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, that both are trying to mislead voters in the GOP primary for attorney general.

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PolitiCal

March 19, 2010 | 10:35 am

Democrats in the Legislature have spent the last few years fighting to save the pay of members of public employee unions. Now, two of those unions are returning the favor.

The Professional Engineers in California Government and the California Assn. of Professional Scientists are speaking out against a proposed 10% salary reduction for lawmakers, calling the proposal unreasonable just months after lawmakers’ compensation was slashed 18%.

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