Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
Written by Administrator
May 5th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Just when we think the corruption scandal involving the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors can’t possibly get better, it always does. The most recent revelation is from Second District Chief of Staff, Matt Brown. He confessed on Monday to being one of the informants against his boss, Supervisor Paul Biane.
And he claims he is being retaliated against for the same.
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 4, 2010
By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise
Riverside County supervisors Tuesday appeared unwilling to continue supplementing the sheriff, district attorney, fire and probation departments with more than $15 million to cover declining sales-tax revenues.
“We are beyond good options,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Marion Ashley said.
The sheriff and district attorney, though, warned that without the money they might need to lay off hundreds of deputies and more than two dozen prosecutors.
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 4, 2010
By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise
Riverside County supervisors agreed to contribute $6.2 million more toward the pensions of its current employees and retirees.
The spending recommendation came in a report by the county’s annual Pension Review Advisory Committee and an outside consultant hired to examine retirement costs.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 05/04/2010 06:16:05 PM PDT
The county on Tuesday launched an investigation into allegations that Matt Brown, chief of staff for Supervisor Paul Biane, has been subjected to repeated harassment and retaliation for cooperating with state and local prosecutors in a corruption probe.
In a letter addressed to his boss and carbon-copied to the other four members of the Board of Supervisors on Monday, Brown pleaded for the alleged misconduct to stop and said he has been under the care of a doctor for job-related stress.
10:09 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 4, 2010
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
The chief of staff to San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane revealed Monday that he has been cooperating with authorities in an ongoing corruption investigation and is facing retaliation as a result.
In a letter to Biane, Matt Brown states that he has been questioned by the district attorney and attorney general’s office and the grand jury about members of the Board of Supervisors. As a result, he said he has faced daily questions along with harassment and veiled threats about his job.
Mitzelfelt calls for investigation into accusations
May 04, 2010 4:47 PM
Natasha Lindstrom
SAN BERNARDINO • The top aide to a county supervisor said he’s been harassed and threatened for cooperating with criminal investigators in a far-reaching corruption probe.
Matt Brown, chief of staff to 2nd District Supervisor Paul Biane, has sent a letter pleading with Biane to put an end to “continued harassment, reprisal, retaliation or adverse action as a result of my cooperation with law enforcement.”
Rep. Gary MIller
Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
With hopes to unseat Rep. Gary Miller, a Chino businessman on Tuesday called on the district attorney to investigate some of Miller’s earmarks tied to an influential Rancho Cucamonga developer.
Lee McGroarty, who is among three Republicans running against Miller, R-Brea, for the 42nd Congressional District nomination in the June 8 primary, encouraged a San Bernardino County district attorney’s investigator to include Miller in investigations into county corruption and Colonies developer Jeff Burum.
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 4, 2010
By LORA HINES
The Press-Enterprise
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously agreed to somehow help come up with the $10 million needed to keep the 2012 opening of UC Riverside’s planned medical school on track.
Supervisor Bob Buster said the county has to do something to get the medical school opened on time because state lawmakers have failed to come up with $10 million of their share of startup costs. The Legislature’s lack of action may put at risk another $10 million in funds that Kaiser Permanente may contribute.
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 4, 2010
By DUANE W. GANG
The Press-Enterprise
Riverside County voters are a step closer to getting the chance to decide whether to approve a charter giving supervisors more local control.
In a 5-0 vote Tuesday, supervisors approved a county charter proposal that would allow them — and not the governor — to fill vacancies on the Board of Supervisors.
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, May 4, 2010
By SANDRA STOKLEY
The Press-Enterprise
Residents of Eastvale on June 8 will be making the most important decision in its history: whether this dairying enclave-turned-suburban hub will become Riverside County’s 27th city.
The June vote caps a little more than a decade of explosive growth that saw an area where dairy cows easily outnumbered humans morph into a community of fashionable homes, well-manicured parks and wide thoroughfares.
Cities face big losses
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Created: 05/04/2010 06:29:25 PM PDT
Local redevelopment agencies will have to cough up millions of dollars next week, delaying or scrapping redevelopment projects across the region.
A judge ruled Tuesday that California can order redevelopment agencies to give money to public schools in a complex scheme that aims to boost the state’s bank account by $2.1billion over the next two years.
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/04/2010 06:47:52 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters on Monday began mailing sample ballots for the June 8 primary election.
Eligible county residents have until May 24 to register to vote in the election. The registrar’s office will send election materials later this month to voters who have not yet registered.
The sample ballots include a list of candidates and offices that will appear on the ballot, the location of polling places and information about voting by mail.
June 1 is the last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot.
Brown
Richard Grenell
Spokesman for the last 4 U.S. Ambassadors to the UN
Posted: May 1, 2010 02:43 PM
It must be campaign season. How else do you explain Jerry Brown’s recent fascination with investigations and allegations announced with lots of media in tow and advantageously timed to benefit traditional Democratic constituencies and issues? There is no doubt that the Brown campaign committee and political advisors are strategically planning the roll-out of official attorney general “investigations” to maximize public attention and perception.
The Fair Political Practices Commission closed 721 cases, more than double the year before, but only one in six violators were fined.
By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
May 5, 2010
Reporting from Sacramento
The state’s ethics watchdog agency last year found that hundreds of California politicians and bureaucrats had violated campaign finance and conflict of interest laws — and then let most of them off with a slap on the wrist.
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