Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
San Bernardino County retirement contribution rates will increase almost 10% effective June 19, 2010.
Board of Supervisors agenda item #29 for this Tuesday’s meeting shows the county’s employer contribution rate paid into the San Bernardino County Employees Retirement Association for its General Members will increase from 11.25% to 12.32% of earnable compensation.
The change represents a cost increase of 9.5%.
By PE Politics
on April 23, 2010 5:50 PM
The gains are tiny, but Inland Republicans have stopped a months-long skid in voter registration, according to the latest figures from the secretary of state’s office.
From January to April, the GOP’s share of the electorate grew by .17 percentage point in Riverside County (to 41.47 percent) and .05 percentage point in San Bernardino County (to 37.51 percent). That compares to a 0.04 percentage point increase statewide, to 30.79 percent of registered voters.
Darrell Issa
By PE Politics
on April 23, 2010 5:12 PM
Inland Rep. Darrell Issa’s call for an investigation into the timing of the government lawsuit against Goldman Sachs has been answered.
During a Fox News interview about the unrelated Securities and Exchange Commission porn scandal, Inspector General David Kotz announced today that he would launch a probe examining the SEC’s decision to move forward with action against Goldman Sachs.
By PE Politics
on April 23, 2010 8:22 AM
Days after Inland Rep. Darrell Issa issued a formal request for information about the timing of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, a different kind of information related to the goings on within the agency has emerged.
As reported late last night by the AP, the SEC’s inspector general has issued a new report concluding that senior commission staffers spent hours surfing pornographic websites as the nation’s economy faltered.
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, April 23, 2010
Cassie MacDuff
Tired of waiting, the state attorney general has issued an ultimatum to San Bernardino County supervisors: Either surrender the confidentiality of your lawyers’ advice on a controversial $102 million settlement, or we’ll see you in court.
In a strongly worded April 20 letter, Senior Assistant Attorney General Gary W. Schons expressed frustration with the “unacceptable delay” holding up his office’s criminal investigation into whether the settlement with Colonies Partners was tainted by corruption.
Pat Dennen
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/23/2010 05:22:33 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – San Bernardino County Fire Chief Pat Dennen, who became embroiled in a public controversy last summer for using a fire department trailer to help his deputy chief move personal belongings on county time, announced Friday he will retire on June 27.
Dennen, a firefighter of 36 years, was appointed the county’s fire chief in April 2006. Until then, he had worked in various ranks within the county fire department, according to a news release.
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/23/2010 09:08:42 PM PDT
Republicans have said they plan to turn public anger over the recently passed health reform bill into electoral wins this year, but with less than two months before June’s primary elections, local Republicans haven’t shown any forward momentum so far.
In the month since Democrats in Congress approved their embattled health care plan, the number of registered Democrats and Republicans in San Bernardino County has changed little.
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/23/2010 05:00:08 PM PDT
Victorville pays its mayor about $942 a month. San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris makes $89,000 a year in salary. A Fontana councilman gets three times more than one from Colton.
Almost every city offers health benefits to its elected officials. Yucaipa doesn’t. Some local leaders see hefty car allowances. One city council shares a car.
Meg Whitman
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 23, 2010
Whitman fundraiser.jpgNational Republican leaders lined up behind GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman at a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser Friday night, with stars such as U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz joining Whitman on the stage of the Sofitel Hotel in Redwood City.
The event, however, hit a few bumps before it got started, with a running protest organized by the California Nurses Association crashing the fundraiser.
The Republican was on the Wall Street bank’s board, and the Democrat was mayor of Oakland when the city was involved in a complex financing deal with the firm.
By Michael Rothfeld, Los Angeles Times
April 24, 2010
As a main theme of his campaign for governor, Jerry Brown has attacked Wall Street bankers for fueling the nation’s economic troubles.
But he has avoided mentioning Goldman Sachs, the bank that is a recent focus of scrutiny, even though it is one of the biggest liabilities for Meg Whitman, the leading Republican candidate for governor, who sat on the company’s board.
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, Apr. 24, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 4A
Last Modified: Saturday, Apr. 24, 2010 – 12:15 am
Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth has rolled out a bill that would curb retirement benefits for new state workers, trimming an estimated $110 billion from the state’s retiree obligations over 30 years. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has supported the idea but hasn’t commented on the bill’s specifics.
Here are some of the major changes in the measure and arguments for and against them.
The insurer had postponed its planned hike for two months amid public outcry, and a spokeswoman says there won’t be an increase in May.
By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
April 23, 2010 | 9:27 p.m.
Thousands of Anthem Blue Cross policyholders who faced steep rate hikes on May 1 will get at least a temporary reprieve after California’s largest for-profit health insurer extended a two-month postponement prompted by public outrage over the proposed increases.
But there was no word from the insurance company on how long this new delay will be.
By Paul Elias and Linda Deutsch, The Associated Press
Posted: 04/23/2010 05:17:30 PM PDT
SAN FRANCISCO – The California Judicial Council on Friday overwhelmingly rejected a plea from Los Angeles’ top judge for an emergency cash infusion, despite the prediction it could lead to hundreds of layoffs.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Presiding Judge Charles W. McCoy Jr. in February asked the court’s policy making body to transfer $47 million from a construction fund to help close a $133 million budget deficit. McCoy said that without the transfer, the Los Angeles courts would have to lay off 500 workers in October and probably more next year.
Posted: Friday, April 23, 2010 6:01 am | Updated: 6:30 am, Fri Apr 23, 2010.
NORBERTO SANTANA, JR
Friday, April 23, 2010 |The call came late Wednesday night to Kristina Dodge, who had to step out of a movie premier. On the other end was a message from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“They just requested we don’t take action today,” Dodge said Thursday morning after pulling the plug on a proposal by the Orange County fair board that would have left fair board members in charge of the county’s fairgrounds in exchange for sending some vendor revenue to the state.
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