Thursday, July 19, 2012 – 12:15 p.m.

Here’s news of interest flowing across the transom this week.

Unemployment claims surge

First time claims for jobless benefits surged to 386,000 last week.

The number was well above estimates and not a good sign for the economy. The previous week’s figure was revised upwards by 2,000.

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BY IMRAN GHORI
ighori@pe.com
Published: 18 July 2012 09:27 PM

After more than a week of anguished debate over a fiscal crisis that could leave San Bernardino unable to pay its bills, City Council members on Wednesday, July 18, declared a fiscal emergency and agreed to file for bankruptcy protection.

Mayor Pat Morris described the vote as “the most difficult decision we’ve had to make” as public policy makers.

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Ryan Hagen, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 07/18/2012 02:17:52 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO — The City Council took what several members called the hardest decision of their professional lives Wednesday, formally declaring a state of fiscal emergency and directing staff to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.

The two votes, both 5-2, came eight days after the council first voted to allow City Attorney James F. Penman to file for bankruptcy protection to help it escape a $45million deficit and a shortage of cash on hand that officials said would leave them unable to pay employees Aug. 15.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/18/2012 12:22:08 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is performing an audit of the city’s use of federal grant dollars, the agency confirmed Wednesday.

“We do have an open audit,” said Tanya Schulze, regional inspector general for audit at HUD’s office in Los Angeles.

San Bernardino, like many other cities, participates in HUD’s community block grant program. The program is a means for cities to provide funding to myriad city projects or to local nonprofits.

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Supervisors Neil Derry left, and Janice Rutherford right.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/18/2012 06:37:55 PM PDT

San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry is proposing a pension-reform measure for the November ballot that would raise the retirement age for new county employees and reduce the amount they earn annually toward their pension benefits.

Derry said Wednesday he will introduce his proposal to the Board of Supervisors on July 31. The board must approve it by Aug. 9 to get it on the ballot.

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Liset Márquez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 07/18/2012 06:44:39 PM PDT

ONTARIO — Four top officials are out at the city’s Convention Center, including its top executive, following a lengthy audit over alleged procedural violations.

Bob Brown, the general manager and CEO; Clemmie Taylor, director of operations; and Delana Grande, human resources manager; submitted their resignations Wednesday to SMG World.

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July 18, 2012 3:44 PM
Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times (MCT)

The company that wants to pump large amounts of Mojave Desert groundwater and sell it for a profit to Southern California suburbs has run into opposition from an unexpected quarter: an international corporation that runs industrial salt operations next door to the proposed project.

Texas-based Tetra Technologies Inc., an oil and gas services enterprise, has come out swinging at Cadiz Inc.’s pumping plans, filing two lawsuits, mounting a public relations campaign and dismissing the water project’s environmental review as a sham designed to escape serious scrutiny.

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Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge, who will retire this fall after 32 years in office, has announced his endorsement of a successor: Councilman William “Rusty” Bailey.

BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com

Published: 18 July 2012 11:23 AM

Riverside councilman and mayoral candidate William “Rusty” Bailey said he could hardly find words to describe how he felt about getting the endorsement of five-term Mayor Ron Loveridge.

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Joe Garofoli
Updated 11:27 p.m., Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The stated intention of Proposition 32 on the November ballot is to “ban both corporate and union contributions to candidates.”

But analysts say that while it could dry up organized labor’s primary funding source, it contains a loophole that will allow corporate interests to continue doling out campaign donations.

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Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
July 18, 2012

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg announced plans Wednesday for a one-year pay freeze for Senate employees, but the move comes in the wake of a recent pay hike for hundreds of the chamber’s aides.

The proposed Senate pay freeze also comes as most state workers are taking a nearly 5 percent pay cut as part of budget cuts designed to save the cash-starved state government billions of dollars.

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By Jim Christie
PETALUMA, California | Wed Jul 18, 2012 8:24pm EDT

(Reuters) – California’s cities should learn how to keep their pension costs in check instead of blaming the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for their problems, some of the pension fund’s board member said on Wednesday.

While the fund can lay out the costs of pension plans, it is ultimately up to cities to decide how much they want to pay for them, they said at a meeting in Petaluma, California.

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