Paul Biane
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/24/2010 09:55:39 PM PDT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Paul Biane plucked a cabernet grape from a vine at his family’s winery and pinched the grape between his fingers to expose a green seed inside.
When the seeds are brown in color and the sugar content high, the grapes are ready to harvest, he explained.
The winery’s blended table wine hasn’t been produced commercially for some time, but the 46-year-old San Bernardino County supervisor talks of expanding operations and selling the wine again after he’s done with politics.
Whether that career change comes sooner or later has been a topic of much discussion throughout Biane’s 2nd District and across San Bernardino County since he was implicated this year in an investigation of alleged massive corruption and bribery in county government. It is alleged in part that Biane took $100,000 to support a $102 million payment to settle a developer’s lawsuit against San Bernardino County.
It’s precisely the type of dark cloud politicians pray to avoid in election years, and it’s left Biane scrambling to connect with voters in a tough re-election campaign dominated by talk of corruption and restoring trust.
“I think what I’ve been able to do for this district has been drowned out by the district attorney’s allegations,” Biane said. “It seems that any time there’s a story about the county or me, there’s got to be a paragraph about corruption, so it’s been difficult talking to people about the good things I’m doing or that the county is doing.”
Biane has been mired in controversy since being identified as an unnamed, uncharged co-conspirator in a case naming former San Bernardino County Supervisor Bill Postmus and former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin.
The joint corruption probe by state and San Bernardino County prosecutors claims officials of Rancho Cucamonga developer Colonies Partners LP orchestrated a series of bribes to convince Biane and other supervisors to fork over taxpayer money to settle the lawsuit over the cost of improvements to a flood control channel in Upland.
Colonies officials have not been charged and have said they did nothing wrong.
Biane, who has not been charged with a crime, said he voted for the record settlement out of fear taxpayers could have been out three times the settlement amount had the case gone to trial.
In a related development, Biane’s longtime chief of staff and former campaign manager, Matt Brown, lodged a complaint in May with the county’s Human Resources Department, alleging he was being subjected to harassment and intimidation for cooperating with investigators in the corruption probe.
Biane disputes Brown’s allegations, saying the stress of the corruption probe and a relatively tense office atmosphere due to the bad economy likely took its toll on his top aide.
Brown began a new job as assistant county recorder on Tuesday.
Though Biane steadfastly maintains his innocence, there are signs that the drumbeat of questions about his integrity has taken a toll.
In the June primary, Biane failed to secure more than 50 percent of the vote, setting up a November runoff with Fontana City Councilwoman Janice Rutherford. Rutherford trailed Biane in the primary by 3 points, with 31 percent.
“I’m going to have to work really hard over the next four months to get the message out that I was instrumental in bringing a lot of things to my communities,” Biane said.
Biane prides himself on a range of amenities, services and programs he has brought to his constituents in the eight years he’s served on the board. He helped secure $275,000 for a new animal shelter in Upland, $1 million for the new Scheu Family YMCA of Upland, another million dollars for a second public library in Rancho Cucamonga, and funding for sidewalk projects near schools throughout his district.
In addition, Biane said he’s been instrumental in securing local, state and federal funding for major road and infrastructure projects that have or will improve the quality of life for residents in his district and spur economic growth. Projects include the $70 million widening of Cherry Avenue in Fontana near the 10Freeway from four to six lanes. Construction is expected to begin next year.
There’s also a $26 million bridge over the railroad tracks on Glen Helen Parkway near Glen Helen Regional Park and the San Manuel Amphitheater, which will eliminate traffic backup and long waits by motorists due to passing trains.
“I’ve delivered in a way that no other supervisor has for the residents of the 2nd District,” Biane said.
Biane’s challenger, Rutherford, said she supported him in his successful campaign to replace former Supervisor Jon Mikels in 2000. Among the Biane accomplishments she praised were Biane’s negotiations with the county to ensure that sales tax revenues from unincorporated pockets of Fontana were spent in unincorporated pockets of Fontana and not elsewhere.
But the looming corruption scandal, Rutherford said, is preventing Biane from effectively carrying out his duties.
“It has become a great distraction to Mr. Biane and has pulled his focus from serving his district to protecting himself,” said Rutherford. “And when any elected official is in that mode of covering their behind or explaining their way out of allegations, it means the public’s business isn’t being done.”
Longtime supporters of Biane, however, are standing by him during these challenging times.
“I think his service speaks for itself – a proven track record is what we’re talking about,” said the Rev. Emory James, founder and pastor of Ephesians New Testament Church in Fontana, where Biane has assisted over the years in providing turkeys to needy families during the holidays.
He said Biane has always made himself accessible and helped residents mired in the bureaucratic red tape of the social services system.
“What I like about Paul is the fact he’s conscious about raising the overall quality of life for the community,” James said. “The community area that he governs is far better off now than it was before he took office.”
Before politics, there was wine.
Biane comes from a long line of winemakers who laid down roots in the San Bernardino Valley in the late 1890s. In 1892, Biane’s great grandfather, Marius Biane, arrived in Redlands from the province of Gascony in southern France and went to work at the Brookside Winery, founded in 1883 by the Vache family, also French immigrants.
Marius Biane would go on to marry the daughter of one of the Vache brothers and carry on the family’s tradition of winemaking. He would later branch out on his own and purchase vineyards in Rancho Cucamonga.
Following the prohibition era, Paul Biane’s grandfather, Philo Biane, restarted the Brookside Winery in Guasti. Paul Biane’s father, Pierre, and his two uncles, Rene and Michael, were instrumental in expanding the business. In 1972, Brookside Winery was sold, and in 1976 Pierre Biane started the Pierre Biane Winery in Rancho Cucamonga.
The winery produces a couple hundred cases of Biane Brothers table wine each year – a mix of cabernet, merlot and syrah. It is handed out at fundraisers and charity events to promote the Biane name, but not sold for commercial purposes.
The wine itself is produced at the nearby Joseph Filippi Winery in Rancho Cucamonga, and Biane and family place the labels on the bottles by hand.
Biane said he owes his passion for civic duty to his Uncle Rene, the former president and CEO of the Brookside Vineyard Co.
Rene Biane served two terms on the San Antonio Community Hospital’s board of trustees and is the president of the Ontario Community Foundation, the Chaffey Trust and the Bellevue Cemetery Association. He also serves on the boards of the Ontario Police Museum and West End Family Counseling.
Biane insists he has every intention of ensuring his life as a full-time vintner remains in the future for the time being.
In the coming months, he said he intends to run a positive campaign and stand by his record of service.
“He has a deep reservoir of support. You have a larger, broader turnout in November than you do in the primary,” said Chris Jones, Biane’s campaign manager. “We believe he’ll be much more attractive to the general election voters than our opponent.”
Rutherford, however, believes the events of the last year are too much for even the most seasoned politician to survive.
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Blah, blah, blah. Biane’s days are numbered as one of the BoS. He should go back to squishing grapes where he is equally incompetent, I’m sure.
This man needs to be more than a sacrificial lamb for the lack of ethics he holds, he needs to be a pointed message to other politicians that accountability is here to stay…until Burum buys someone else to take his place!
A few things jump out after reading this story. However, My father and Paul’s great grand father came to this country for a better life. Yet, one poor excuse of a man, let alone DA has taken the concept of “innocent until proven guilty” to a whole new low. Here we have quotes from community leaders being judge and jury about Paul being involved in the pure fabrication of our top law enforment leader. In 27 years of fighting crime I have never seen anything like this. Mikey has not gotten his way. Gary O. was re-elected, regardless. Now I hear Mikey and his boys are back at looking at 5th floor timesheets again. Hey Mikey talk to Andrew, exempt is exempt is exempt. Like when you take your girls during business hours, its business or is it not? Mikey will have blood on his hands if this turns out bad for some. A fabricated John Doe case will cost this county for years to come. There is only one person that needs to go down for coruption and that’s the top dog himself. Your day is soon to come! Good luck Paul.
The story reads as if Biane thinks he can get the voters to ignore a corruption scandal by pointing out the goods that he has delived to his district. The danger is that the savy voter will realize that it all came out of his pocket and that the goods delivered are simply what the politicians were skimming from in the first place.
Biane thinks that he can play the slight of hand. Look over here at the good things I’ve done and you won’t even notice the Colonies scandal. He forgets that most people don’t look to government for good things in the first place. They see government as a necessary evil and therefore focus on the evil.
To survive, Biane should be agressively defending the Colonies settlement and showing that he was involved in corruption in no way. He might even take a poke at his accusers. If he can’t honestly do that, then he should probably just resign anyway and make wine.
But note that the whole article is written not around “politics” as difined by matters that concern the people but around “politics” as defined by how insiders are going to convince the people how to vote. Paul Biane, Janet Rutherford, and consultant Chris Jones are defined in this article by this effort to attract votes, not by their vission in where to lead society.
This is what I term “pure politics”.
Therefore, if we want to get down to the roots of the cause of corruption in San Bernardino County politics, we should include the writing of; the standards set by one Joe Nelson–a promoter of pure politics over the needs of the people.
The only wine Biane will be making,should be in a plastic bag under his bunk,in a cell.With Ramos and Ovitt on each side.
Corruption scandal, what corruption scandal? If there actually is a corruption scandal in San Bernardino County government then my name isn’t Colonies Co-conspirator John Doe #5 (Biane is in total denial mode aka “pure politics”).