Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Sunday, August 1, 2010 – 2:30 pm
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Two of San Bernardino County’s three top lawyers are reportedly on their way out.
Previously reported here is the anticipated departure of Public Defender Doreen Boxer. Now add County Counsel Ruth Stringer.
Finally!
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Sunday, August 1, 2010 – 01:05 pm
Could fallout be starting to emerge from the unexpected death of real estate development executive David Lewis?
Fallout, which I’m sure will last for some time
11:09 PM PDT on Sunday, August 1, 2010
By DUANE W. GANG and DUG BEGLEY
The Press-Enterprise
City managers and council members in the Inland region earn far less than their counterparts in Bell, a city that sparked a statewide outcry in recent weeks over excessive salaries.
A review of the 14 charter cities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties shows most city managers earning in the mid-$200,000 range and council members making less than $45,000 a year.
11:04 PM PDT on Sunday, August 1, 2010
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
San Bernardino city voters would be asked to turn the elected positions of city attorney, clerk and treasurer into appointed ones under a charter amendment proposal that the council will consider Monday.
A ballot measure to amend the city charter would go before voters in November if the council decides to go forward with the proposal. The measure also would give the council more flexibility to employ outside legal help and specify qualifications for the clerk and treasurer positions.
Countdown to heath reform
Big change expected with law’s 2014 start
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Created: 08/01/2010 07:02:46 AM PDT
Having health insurance was not a priority for Andres Hernandez.
But worn down by flulike symptoms, the Ontario resident had to bite the bullet and get checked by a doctor on Friday at Inland Empire Community Health Center in Bloomington.
Schools expect better
Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/01/2010 09:50:10 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – School officials believe plans they have in place for the months ahead, from more community involvement to allowing teachers to think outside the box, will turn around 11 struggling schools.
Some of the changes will go into effect as soon as Tuesday, the first day of the school year for many San Bernardino City Unified School District campuses.
Council may put issue on ballot
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/01/2010 02:27:10 PM PDT
REDLANDS – The City Council is set to take a final vote Tuesday that will allow voters to decide the fate of the city Treasurer’s Office.
The council directed staff to prepare a resolution that will place an item on a November ballot that will let voters decide if the treasurer’s job will remain an elected position or if the council will be allowed to appoint a treasurer in the future.
Voter ballot guide to include message
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/01/2010 02:21:13 PM PDT
REDLANDS – The City Council hopes the need to maintain city infrastructure will be enough to convince voters to pass a half-cent tax in November.
The council selected Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Bean and Councilman Pete Aguilar on Thursday to write a 750-word argument that will appear in the 2010 Voter Information Guide. Bean said the need for infrastructure maintenance and improvements could factor heavily into the argument.
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/01/2010 02:24:10 PM PDT
REDLANDS – The City Council could approve a plan Tuesday that involves two cities, the mining activities of two cement companies and at least 1,190 square feet in the Santa Ana River Wash.
The council is set to vote on six different conditional use permits that would allow Robertson’s Ready Mix and Cemex Construction Materials to expand their mining operations in the Santa Ana River Wash at the north end of the city.
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Created: 08/01/2010 07:02:47 AM PDT
Members of San Bernardino County tea party groups don’t want to be ignored by lawmakers, but group leaders say they’re suspicious of an attempt by some members of Congress to take up the tea party flag.
Some tea party leaders say the newly formed congressional Tea Party Caucus could give lawmakers a chance to claim they’re part of the tea party movement without holding to the movement’s ideals.
Candidates will face off Aug. 19
Erica Felci • The Desert Sun • August 1, 2010
U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack and her Democratic challenger, Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, will face off in an Aug. 19 debate.
It marks the first time the Palm Springs Republican congresswoman has debated a Democratic challenger since the 2002 election.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Aug. 2, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Aug. 2, 2010 – 7:29 am
Political consultants gathered for a recent meeting in Sacramento debated whether Meg Whitman’s personal fortune would matter to voters in this year’s governor’s race.
They were in complete agreement, however, on one point: Her Democratic rival Jerry Brown will keep bringing it up. In doing so he risks a certain counterpunch: Brown, the Democratic nominee, has enjoyed some of the same advantages of wealth and power for which he criticizes Whitman.
Meg Whitman
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
San Francisco Chronicle
Monday, August 2, 2010
Has California Republican Meg Whitman, the former eBay CEO who says she’ll bring a fresh approach to state government, become precisely what she insists she is not – a calculating politician who changes positions and straddles the issues depending on the audience?
Some examples that have both conservatives and liberals buzzing in recent weeks:
By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
Associated Press
Monday, August 2, 2010
(08-02) 00:01 PDT Sacramento, Calif. (AP) —
Politicians’ tweets and status updates should be held to the same standards as paid advertising that voters see on television, hear on radio or find in their mailboxes, California’s campaign watchdog agency says in a report being released Monday.
The Fair Political Practices Commission is considering how to regulate new forms of political activity such as appeals on a voter’s Facebook page or in a text message.
Under the state’s arcane, convoluted public pension system, Bell will pay a fraction of the city manager and police chief’s pensions. Former employers and other cities will bear the brunt of the cost.
August 01, 2010|By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
The unfolding story of the high salaries paid to municipal officials in Bell has delivered a surprise twist to taxpayers in Glendale, Simi Valley, Ventura and several other Southern California cities — they’re on the hook for the pension bills.
More than half of former city manager Robert Rizzo’s $600,000-a-year pension will be spread among 140 small cities and special districts such as Norco, La Cañada Flintridge and Goleta that are in the same pension liability pool as Bell.
California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Money and Politics
California WatchBlog
August 2, 2010 | Lance Williams
Rage. Protests. Investigations. Resignations. Cries for reform.
“Firestorm” is an overused word in the context of public response to scandal, but it describes the reaction to the Los Angeles Times’ report on how officials of the city of Bell, in Los Angeles County, population 37,000, became perhaps the highest-paid public officials in the nation.
California
Prop. 25 would have pay forfeited for good
By Michael Gardner, U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU
Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 8:01 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — Despite their chronic failure to do the job, California lawmakers continue to earn about $400 a day in pay and expense money when budget talks drag into overtime.
That may end soon — with a caveat.
California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
K–12
California WatchBlog
August 2, 2010 | Louis Freedberg
California and Utah are the only two states actively allowing schools to cut classroom time from their instructional calendars.
They join about a dozen other states that allow districts to offer a 175-day school year. More than 30 other states require a minimum of 180 days.
Analysts suggest it was a perfect storm of demographic shifts, a scary criminal element, the recession and a new governor.
NEWS ANALYSIS
August 01, 2010 | By Anna Gorman and Nicholas Riccardi,
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Phoenix — Arizona has made a name for itself as the state with the harshest policies against illegal immigration. But as few as six years ago, this border state was among the nation’s most welcoming of illegal immigrants.