Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
Chantal M. Lovell, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/27/2010 07:55:07 PM PDT
REDLANDS – City Manager N. Enrique Martinez will not be fired by the current City Council after a push to dismiss him was stopped short in a special closed-door council meeting on Wednesday.
“There wasn’t a majority of the council members who wanted to bring it forward,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Bean, who called the meeting on behalf of a council majority.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/27/2010 07:55:07 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – City Councilman Jason Desjardins announced Wednesday that he supports Measure C, the controversial city charter amendment on Tuesday’s ballot.
Measure C would give the City Council and mayor power to appoint the city attorney, city clerk and city treasurer. Proponents say the change will cut infighting out of city politics, whereas opponents say the referendum would eliminate critical checks and balances at City Hall.
GUTIERREZ CONVICTED
Mike Cruz and Josh Dulaney, Staff Writers
Created: 10/27/2010 12:20:28 PM PDT
A jury convicted Rancho Cucamonga Councilman Rex Gutierrez on Wednesday of grand theft, fraud and conspiracy after deliberating for nearly a week.
Gutierrez, in a crisp gray suit and a brightly colored necktie, folded his hands and nodded as the court clerk read the verdicts.
Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 10/27/2010 06:27:42 PM PDT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – After 14 years on the City Council, Rex Gutierrez, one of the most controversial leaders in the city and at one time a state Assembly hopeful, resigned from his post Wednesday following a judge’s orders.
Gutierrez was found guilty on all four counts of conspiracy, grand theft and filing a fraudulent claim during his tenure at the San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office.
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Created: 10/27/2010 07:42:58 PM PDT
Photo gallery: Meg Whitman campaigns in Rancho Cucamonga
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Down to the final week of her campaign for governor, Republican candidate Meg Whitman stopped here Wednesday evening to rally voters and get them to vote on Nov. 2.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next six days,” Whitman told a few hundred supporters at Etiwanda Gardens. “I’m fighting for votes in every part of the state.”
Liset Márquez, Staff Writer
Created: 10/27/2010 07:59:06 PM PDT
ONTARIO – Sue Ovitt was at a loss for words as she looked at the city library, now bearing her last name.
On Wednesday afternoon, the main library at 215 E. C St. was rededicated the Ovitt Family Community Library. The unveiling was made in front of a crowd that included Ovitt’s family, friends and city officials.
James Figueroa, Staff Writer
Created: 10/27/2010 06:20:34 PM PDT
After facing a slight challenge in June’s Republican primary, Rep. Gary Miller is expected to have a clear path to victory in the 42nd Congressional District election on Tuesday.
Miller is seeking a seventh term in the right-leaning district, which includes parts of Chino Hills and Diamond Bar.
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Created: 10/27/2010 06:22:38 PM PDT
With more than half of voters in the 32nd state Senate district registered as Democrats, Earl De Vries, a Republican candidate for 32nd State Senate District race, will need all the help he can get to defeat incumbent, Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Montclair.
The self-proclaimed pro-traditional family and pro-life candidate, De Vries said his plan to restore California to its “former grandeur as the Golden State” involves reining in “the tax-and-spend liberals and living within our means.”
Staff Report
Created: 10/27/2010 06:20:38 PM PDT
The so-called Tea Party Patriots have popped up in political races across the nation, including the 62nd Assembly District campaign, which pits one of the group’s candidates against an incumbent who is seeking what would be her third and final term in office because of term limits.
Jeane Ensley, a Republican who preaches less government as the solution to the state’s multiple woes, is taking on Wilmer Amina Carter, the Democratic assemblywoman who says she has the experience needed to represent a district that includes Colton, Rialto, Muscoy, Bloomington and much of San Bernardino and Fontana.
Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Created: 10/27/2010 06:20:35 PM PDT
POMONA – Voters in the Pomona Unified School District will head to the polls Tuesday and decide if they wish to assess themselves a total of $4 million annually for four years to provide some relief to the cash-strapped district.
District administrators have cut millions out of their budget in recent years and predict they will have to make about $15 million worth of cuts in the 2011-12 fiscal year budget, said Leslie Barnes, the district assistant superintendent of business services and chief financial officer.