Politics, Government & Business in California's Inland Empire
By PE News
on March 15, 2011 8:57 AM
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians near San Bernardino has ended its relationship with Sacramento lobbyist Frank Molina, who faces tens of thousands of dollars in fines for failing to file lobbying reports.
The action was listed in today’s edition of the Capitol Morning Report.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 – 09:00 a.m.
The total compensation for the twelve highest paid employees in the city of Upland account for 8.05% of the city’s $36,298,496 personnel budget.
The city Librarian is the tenth highest paid. Yes, I said Librarian!
More layoffs likely
March 14, 2011 5:30 PM
Brooke Edwards
VICTORVILLE • “Severe” cuts will be needed to balance the city’s budget this summer, a staff report states, with Victorville facing an estimated $8.4 million deficit and only $2.2 million in reserve funds available to help close the gap.
Bob Buster and Kevin Jeffries
09:50 PM PDT on Monday, March 14, 2011
By DUANE W. GANG and JIM MILLER
The Press-Enterprise
A battle is brewing for the 1st District seat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.
Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries said this week he is running and will hold an official campaign kick-off event April 7.
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 03/14/2011 10:12:56 PM PDT
UPLAND – The City Council voted unanimously tonight to hold a special election to fill a council seat vacated by newly appointed Mayor Ray Musser.
Kilmer cites ‘family responsibilities’ as reason
Ryan Hagen and James Rufus Koren, Staff Writers
Posted: 03/14/2011 06:02:18 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Police Chief Keith Kilmer will step down as the city’s top cop effective March 31.
Kilmer announced his decision Monday morning at a Police Department meeting, after privately informing Mayor Pat Morris and City Manager Charles McNeely.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/14/2011 09:45:11 PM PDT
COLTON – Police Chief Bob Miller will retire next month, following nearly 25 years with the police department and four years at its helm – and just after the city laid off eight officers.
Rialto official seeks review
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/14/2011 05:18:00 PM PDT
RIALTO – Interim City Administrator Mark Kling has fired Rich Scanlon, a contract employee at Rialto Municipal Airport, and has asked the District Attorney’s Office to investigate hangar rentals at the airport.
Musser
Council reacts to Pomierski’s woes
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 03/14/2011 09:45:02 PM PDT
UPLAND – City council members were dismayed by the charges filed against their former Mayor John “JP” Pomierski, but only newly appointed Mayor Ray Musser said he had previous suspicions.
Pomierski and Upland contractor John Hennes were named in an 11-count indictment filed March 2 by a federal grand jury.
Layoffs by merit?
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 03/14/2011 09:47:13 PM PDT
Some union leaders are blasting an education reform bill introduced in Sacramento that would base teacher layoffs on performance rather than seniority.
State Sen. Bob Huff, R-Walnut, proposed the bill to give school districts more flexibility to retain top educators.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 15, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Hopes of reaching a budget agreement this week dimmed after several Republicans said Monday that discussions with Gov. Jerry Brown had stalled.
Wyatt Buchanan, Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
(03-15) 04:00 PDT Sacramento – —
Democrats are planning to put at least part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget plan up for a vote this week, days after the governor’s self-imposed March 10 deadline.
And while no budget deal has been reached, Republican lawmakers already wary of a compromise are facing a new pressure: At this weekend’s GOP convention, one group is threatening to label anyone who supports the governor’s plan a traitor.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Tuesday, Mar. 15, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Confusion reigned in the Capitol Monday over whether Gov. Jerry Brown’s overtures to five Republican senators to support his budget plan had utterly failed, or whether suspension of their talks is merely a temporary setback.
A former chief executive and two former board members of the public employee pension fund are accused of steering billions of dollars to politically connected firms.
By Marc Lifsher and Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times
March 14, 2011, 9:12 p.m.
Reporting from Sacramento and Los Angeles
In a scathing report, a former chief executive of the California public employee pension fund was accused of pressuring subordinates to invest billions of dollars of pension money with politically connected firms.
A 17-month investigation also found that Federico Buenrostro Jr. — along with former pension fund board members Charles Valdes and Kurato Shimada — strong-armed a benefits firm to pay more than $4 million in fees to consultant Alfred J.R. Villalobos, who later hired Buenrostro.
Tokyo may need to raise money to rebuild after the earthquake, but selling their U.S. Treasury bonds could create problems of its own. The nuclear power shutdown will affect production throughout Japan and boost demand for oil.
By Don Lee and Tom Petruno, Los Angeles Times
March 14, 2011, 6:12 p.m.
Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles —
Japan’s need to raise huge amounts of money for reconstruction after the disastrous earthquake raises the prospect of higher U.S. costs to finance its own budget deficit and ultimately higher costs to American consumers on financing everything from houses and cars to credit card debt.