Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney, talks with reporters in Sacramento about the tax measure she’s backing.(Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Wyatt Buchanan
Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sacramento –Supporters of two ballot initiatives that would raise taxes to fund public education and other services said on Monday they will not back down from those efforts, upending Gov. Jerry Brown’s crusade to clear the November ballot of any competing tax measures.

Backers of the so-called “Millionaires Tax” officially began a signature-gathering effort Monday, while the wealthy proponent of another measure, speaking to the California State PTA in Sacramento, pledged that she would spend millions to get her initiative on the ballot.

Those actions could significantly undermine Brown’s efforts, as voters are known to reject all tax measures when faced with multiple initiatives. Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney from Southern California whose family is worth billions, rejected the notion that she or others should show deference to Brown by letting his tax measure be the only one on November’s ballot.

“I don’t think we’d have a very good functioning democracy if we always just did what one person at the top wanted,” Munger told reporters after presenting her plan to members of the state PTA, which has endorsed the measure. She received an extended standing ovation after her remarks.

She added that, “In fact, one of the reasons we have democracy is because that old method, which is to just do what the king says, led to some very bad decisions over time.”

Under Munger’s plan, called “Our Children, Our Future,” the income tax for everyone in California would increase, though with the largest increases on the highest wage earners. She estimates the proposal would generate $10 billion a year that would be dedicated solely to education, with criminal penalties if lawmakers try to adjust that. It would expire after 12 years.

Another version would dedicate some of the money to pay back the state’s debt for the first few years, and Munger said backers have yet to decide which to pursue. Munger has been the sole large contributor to the effort so far, giving $800,000, according to the secretary of state.
‘Millionaires tax’

The other measure, for which proponents started a signature-gathering effort Monday, would increase income taxes on people who earn more than $1 million a year in California. Backers estimate that would generate about $9.5 billion annually, with the bulk dedicated to education. Health services and public safety would get some of the new revenue as well. It has no expiration date.

That measure, “The Millionaires Tax of 2012,” is supported by the California Federation of Teachers, the Courage Campaign, the California Nurses Association and others. Leaders of the effort, along with Munger on her initiative, said they had not personally heard from the governor with a pitch to end their efforts.

Both also expressed confidence that conventional wisdom is wrong and that one or more tax measures could pass even with multiple initiatives on the ballot.

“We’re not concerned that there will be multiple measures on the ballot,” said Joshua Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers, adding that he had confidence voters would “be able to decide which makes sense for them.”

To read entire story, click here.

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown’s campaign to balance the state budget with new income and sales taxes took a double hit Monday.

Brown has been describing his temporary sales and income tax increases as necessary to protect schools and public safety. But a new report on school finance from the Legislature’s budget analyst, Mac Taylor, makes it clear that even were Brown’s taxes to be increased, his budget would continue to reduce California’s per-pupil spending. Virtually all of the school money in the package would just pay schools what the state already owes them.

Meanwhile, Molly Munger, a wealthy civil rights attorney, declared that she intends to spend whatever is necessary to place her own $10 billion-a-year income tax increase just for schools on the same November ballot, saying it would boost per-pupil spending by an average of more than $1,500 per year.

Brown has made no secret of his desire to have the only tax boost on the ballot, fearing that multiple measures would confuse voters and perhaps lead them to reject all. He persuaded the Think Long Committee for California to suspend its complex tax reform campaign, but Munger spurned entreaties from the Brown camp to do likewise.

Munger took a couple of indirect shots at Brown’s $7 billion-per-year measure during a speech in Sacramento to state PTA leaders, who pledged to become her field army. She told reporters later that she hadn’t talked directly to Brown about the conflicting proposals, but refused to say whether she had talked to Brown’s wife, Anne.

To read entire story, click here.

A proposal by Assemblywoman Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) probably won’t make her many friends among her colleagues. She wants to reduce the Legislature to part-time status and cut its pay from $95,000 annually to $1,500 a month.

Grove is one of the organizers of an initiative that was approved Monday to begin circulating petitions toward qualifying for the ballot. The constitutional amendment would limit regular legislative sessions to 30 days each January and 60 days starting each May. In odd-numbered years, the legislative sessions would be devoted to budget issues.

In addition to slashing lawmakers’ pay, the measure would limit employment while they are in office. State financial officials say it could cut lawmakers’ salaries, travel and living expenses and staff costs by tens of millions of dollars annually.

To read entire story, click here.

Sunday, February 5, 2012 – 06:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, February 6, 2012 – 10:55 a.m.

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos must be wanting a seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in the worst way.

Since 2010, a whopping $592,000 has been funneled to two Ramos-controlled campaign committees.

By whom you ask?

Indian gambling interests.

An amount making up 82.41% of his total campaign war-chest raised.

For a candidate with many vulnerabilities, this falls into the category of major stupid

Ramos, a democrat, has been trying to distance himself from his title as Tribal chairman, and instead adopt the bait and switch title of businessman, hasn’t figured out that the already received money is now a landmine.

Throwing the Tribe’s money around the community in an effort to raise his profile likely isn’t enough to counteract the negatives.

Supervisor Neil Derry, the republican that Ramos is trying to unseat, has a twelve-point party registration advantage in the conservative Third District.

Ramos likely has a solid thirty-percent of the vote at best.

Sources say Ramos’ own internal polling shows as much.

The attempt at buying the seat combined with not paying various state income and property taxes is problematic.

The more of this type of ammo that Ramos provides Derry makes Ramos’ defeat less and less costly.

Some of the issues at hand already has Ramos’ supporters second guessing themselves.

Here is a more detailed look at Ramos’ casino-related campaign windfall.

.

CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE RAMOS, RAMOS FAMILY, AND OTHER TRIBAL MEMBERS
DATE       CONTRIBUTOR                                      AMOUNT
02/10/10   JAMES RAMOS SR.                                  $   5,000
03/01/10   CARLA RODRIGUEZ                                  $   1,500
04/14/10   LYNN VALBUENA                                    $     500
09/22/10   CARLA RODRIGUEZ                                  $   2,500
05/10/11   RAMOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD COMMITTEE          $  50,000
06/13/11   VANESSA RAMOS                                    $   5,000
06/15/11   ROWENA RAMOS                                     $  10,000
06/16/11   JAMES RAMOS                                      $  50,000 (LOAN)
06/19/11   ALAINA MATTHEWS                                  $   5,000
06/19/11   THERESA RAMOS                                    $   5,000
06/22/11   SANDRA MARQUEZ                                   $   6,000
06/28/11   RAMOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD COMMITTEE          $ 150,000
09/06/11   DELORES FIELDS                                   $   1,000
11/14/11   KEN RAMIREZ                                      $  10,000
12/26/11   CARLA RODRIGUEZ                                  $  10,000
12/27/11   JAMES RAMOS                                      $  50,000 (LOAN)
SUB-TOTAL $ 376,500
.
INDIAN TRIBES
DATE       CONTRIBUTOR                                      AMOUNT
02/03/10   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  15,000
02/16/10   SOBOBA INDIAN TRIBE                              $   1,000
02/22/10   SANTA YNEZ INDIAN TRIBE                          $   5,000
03/04/10   ONEIDA INDIAN NATION                             $   5,000
03/19/10   MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                  $   5,000
03/20/10   BARONA INDIAN TRIBE                              $   1,000
03/25/10   SYCUAN BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                   $   1,500
04/14/10   AGUA CALIENTE INDIAN TRIBE                       $     500
05/26/10   SHINGLE SPRINGS BAND OF MIWOK INDIANS            $     500
09/01/10   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $   5,000
09/22/10   ONEIDA INDIAN NATION                             $   5,000
09/27/10   MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                  $   5,000
09/28/10   PALA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                     $   2,500
09/28/10   SANTA YNEZ INDIAN TRIBE                          $   1,000
03/30/11   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  15,000
05/10/11   SANTA YNEZ INDIAN TRIBE                          $  10,000
05/31/11   RINCON BAND OF LUISENO INDIANS                   $  10,000
06/16/11   SYCUAN BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                   $   2,500
06/19/11   MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                  $  10,000
10/03/11   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  10,000
10/25/11   PALA BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                     $   5,000
11/15/11   MORONGO BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                  $  10,000
11/18/11   SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  10,000
11/18/11   SOBOBA INDIAN TRIBE                              $   5,000
11/18/11   YOCHA DEHE WINTON NATION                         $   5,000
12/12/11   SYCUAN BAND KUMEYAAY NATION                      $   5,000
12/14/11   AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA INDIANS           $   2,500
12/14/11   SANTA YNEZ BAND OF MISSION INDIANS               $  10,000
12/15/11   SAN PASQUAL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS              $     500
12/27/11   29 PALMS BAND OF MISSION INDIANS                 $   1,000
SUB-TOTAL $ 164,500 . OTHER CALIFORNIA CASINOS AND GAMBLING ASSOCIATIONS
DATE       CONTRIBUTOR                                      AMOUNT
10/26/10   CALIFORNIA NATIONS INDIAN GAMING ASSN.           $    1,000
06/16/11   CALIFORNIA COMMERCE CLUB                         $   10,000
06/22/11   CALIFORNIA NATIONS INDIAN GAMING ASSN.           $    5,000
11/14/11   CALIFORNIA COMMERCE CLUB                         $   10,000
11/15/11   HAWAIIAN GARDENS CASINO                          $    5,000
11/18/11   HOLLYWOOD PARK RACETRACK AND CASINO              $    2,500
11/15/11   THE BICYCLE CASINO                               $    5,000
12/15/11   LAKE ELSINORE HOTEL AND CASINO                   $    2,500
12/22/11   CALIFORNIA NATIONS INDIAN GAMING ASSN.           $   10,000
SUB-TOTAL $ 51,000
.
TOTAL $ 592,000
.
Source: San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters

Supervisor Neil Derry left. San Manuel Tribal Chairman James Ramos right.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: 05 February 2012 07:09 PM

Fun time is over in the increasingly rough race between San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry and San Manuel tribal Chairman James Ramos for the 3rd District seat.

In a Derry campaign flier that was emailed to 11,000 residents this week, Derry accuses Ramos of links to “gang members … drug dealers … killers for hire.” It goes on to describe him as a “casino boss” and includes pictures of what is suggested to be a gang member, drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Dave Gilliard, a political consultant for Ramos, described the piece as “gutter” politics. “To call it desperate would be charitable,” he said.

Derry defended the flier as accurate and said the public deserves to know the truth about Ramos’ stewardship as chairman. As for the tone of the piece, he said, “I totally expect (Ramos) to go negative.”

The flier refers to a 2008 law enforcement investigation into criminal gang activity, including members of the Mexican Mafia, on the San Manuel reservation. Derry said crime continues to be a problem on the reservation, but Ramos says the reservation is a safe community.

Ramos, however, said he tackled the criminal element when he took over as chairman a few months after the criminal problems came to light. The tribe agreed to allow county sheriff’s deputies and prosecutors access to the reservation, he said, and held the tribe’s members to account in tribal court.

His campaign has cited endorsements from leaders in the law enforcement community, including District Attorney Mike Ramos, who is not related, Assistant Sheriff Bob Fonzi, and the police chiefs of Redlands, Yucaipa and Highland as a sign of his public safety credentials.

Pulaski Phil

When the date of a contentious congressional hearing coincides with the name of a popular movie, the film references come fast and furious.

Last week, several members of the House Oversight Committee couldn’t resist peppering their remarks with witty at least intended as such references to the fact that it was Groundhog Day.

In almost four hours of interrogation by the committee, Attorney General Eric Holder and Democratic lawmakers that jumped to his aid noted that he already had answered questions about the botched Operation Fast and Furious and that Thursday marked the sixth time he’d done so before Congress. Cue the references to the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, however, seemed a little fuzzy on the film. Addressing Holder, the Ohio Democrat suggested the embattled attorney general must feel like the lead character who kept reliving the same day — “Tom Hanks.”

Moments later, Kucinich, who had left the room, returned to correct the record, prompting this exchange with Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, the panel’s chairman.

KUCINICH: “So I just want to make sure that you know. I thought that you may have felt like Bill Murray in “Groundhog Day,” not Tom Hanks.

ISSA: I thank the gentleman. And for the record, it was 38 days in a row in which that it repeated itself for “Groundhog Day.”

KUCINICH: So we have 32 more of these to go?

ISSA: I hope not.

Endorsement envy

Democrats will gather in San Diego this weekend to consider party endorsements for the June 5 primary.

To read entire story, click here.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/05/2012 05:15:27 PM PST

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is poised to adopt a new policy precluding supervisors from using discretionary funds from their respective districts to cover staffing costs.

The board will vote on the recommendation at its Tuesday meeting.

County Chief Executive Officer Greg Devereaux also is proposing that supervisors disclose, on a quarterly basis, how their discretionary funds are being spent.

The proposed policy change also includes a provision that any unspent funding appropriations remaining after the 2015-2016 fiscal year be returned to the county’s general fund.

In June, the board issued a directive that each district exhaust its remaining discretionary funds over a four-year period.

Discretionary funds were initially intended to fund projects and programs in each supervisorial district, but prior policy allowed the funds to serve an ancillary purpose: to inflate supervisor staffing budgets. Supervisors also had complete autonomy in deciding how the funds were allocated in their districts.

To read entire story, click here.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/05/2012 07:38:16 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council today will vote on recommendations to lay off 77 employees of its now defunct economic/redevelopment agencies – 33 civil service employees and 44 contract employees, City Attorney James F. Penman said Friday.

The action comes after the dissolution Wednesday of the agencies, spurred by a Dec. 29 state Supreme Court decision upholding legislation calling for the shuttering of California’s roughly 400 redevelopment agencies.

In June, the Legislature passed two bills that shaped the groundwork for the demise of redevelopment agencies, but the legislation was challenged in court. In its December ruling, the state Supreme Court determined the state had authority to close redevelopment agencies but not to give municipalities the option of paying to keep them open.

That ruling has allowed the state to seize billions of dollars of property taxes previously controlled by the cities that established the redevelopment agencies.

Under recommendations by the City Manager’s Office and Human Resources department, the city would lay off 33 civil service employees and 44 contract employees.

To read entire story, click here.

Carter

By Jim Sanders and Phillip Reese
jsanders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 7:10 am

With California billions behind on its budget and public services shrinking, the Assembly collectively tightened its belt last year – but not all of its members did.

Records released under court order show that Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez boosted the budgets of six members by tens of thousands of dollars apiece despite the fiscal emergency.

Member-by-member records lift the curtain, for the first time, on how often Pérez used his authority to add to lawmakers’ budgets, who benefited, and by what amounts.

Most Assembly members stayed within dollar limits set by Pérez; in fact, five legislators returned more than $150,000 apiece that they were authorized to spend, records show. But Assembly Republican Nathan Fletcher and Democrats Wilmer Amina Carter, Julia Brownley, Jim Beall, Sandré Swanson and Anthony Portantino saw their discretionary funding boosted by Pérez in a year when most state agencies were slashing costs.

Nearly every recipient of an augmentation from Pérez was a Democrat. The party’s members control the 80-person house and receive the most coveted posts and largest budgets. Republicans typically receive some aid from their caucus to fund staff.

Any extra money from Pérez went to the members’ committee or leadership coffers, not to their personal office budget of $263,000, making it difficult for the public to track how much was spent on personal aides.

Overall, the newly released records shed light on the extent to which legislators use committee funds for their own purposes: Of more than $17.5 million in committee funding last year, roughly $8.8 million was spent for committee staff and $8.7 million for office or district aides of their chairmen.

Totals are from Assembly data through mid-October and the house’s own projections of its spending through the Nov. 30 end of the legislative year.

Robin Swanson, Pérez’s spokeswoman, said that the Los Angeles Democrat “offsets any necessary augmentations by reducing Assembly spending overall.”

“He expects members of the Assembly to stay within their office budgets and act as conscientious stewards of public funds – and the overwhelming majority of them do,” Swanson said.

Collectively, the Assembly donated about $23 million, more than 15 percent of its $146.7 million budget, to assist other cash-strapped agencies last year.

Pérez sets member-by-member budgets and later weighs changes to them behind closed doors. They are not voted upon. The Assembly fought, unsuccessfully, to keep from releasing those records to the public in a lawsuit filed by The Bee and Los Angeles Times.

Portantino, the lone Democrat to vote last year against the state budget, was the only legislator accused by the speaker’s office of overspending. The La Cañada-Flintridge Democrat denies the claim, saying he was retaliated against for not toeing the party line on the budget.

Boosts to other lawmakers’ budgets were due to workload increases or other extenuating circumstances, Swanson said.

Moderate Republican wins

Fletcher, a moderate San Diego Republican, received a budget boost from Perez of $37,000 last summer, which he used to hire press aide Amy Thoma at $7,084 per month. Thoma previously had helped the lawmaker unveil his candidacy for San Diego mayor. She left the Capitol to join a GOP consulting firm this year and now serves as Fletcher’s deputy campaign manager.

Months after Thoma’s hiring, Fletcher, who often is courted by Democrats on tight budget-related votes, bucked most of his GOP caucus to help pass a controversial plan to raise about $1 billion in corporate taxes, mostly from out-of-state companies, and redirect that money toward tax breaks for California businesses and individuals. The plan later died in the Senate.

Assemblywoman Carter, D-Rialto, received a $50,000 boost from Perez that erased months of projected red ink without having to cut staff.

Beginning early in 2011, projections warned that Carter would be short money to bankroll her 13-person staff, which included a chief of staff making $116,856.

To read entire story, click here.

By Peter Hecht
phecht@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Feb. 6, 2012 – 7:18 am

A proposed ballot initiative aimed for the November elections begs a key question looming over California’s medical marijuana industry: Can stricter state regulation keep the federal government from shutting it down?

Dispensaries, medical marijuana growers and a powerful union local are rallying behind an initiative that would regulate California’s $1.5 billion pot trade.

They predict they will be able to raise $2 million from medical marijuana businesses and drug policy groups to qualify the measure for the November ballot. A drive to gather a required half-million valid voter signatures could begin this week after Attorney General Kamala Harris completes a legal summary and petitions are certified by Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

California’s medical marijuana economy is mostly governed by local governments, often with conflicting rules. The proposed initiative, the “Medical Marijuana Regulation, Control and Taxation Act,” would largely put the state in charge.

It would establish a medical marijuana enforcement bureau in the Department of Consumer Affairs. A commission – with majority representation from the medical cannabis community – would oversee the enforcement bureau, license dispensaries and marijuana cultivators, and set standards for the pot trade.

The effort is a political compromise by wary factions.

The “Emerald Growers Association” from the Humboldt and Mendocino counties pot country signed on after initiative backers rejected a model based on the dispensary-run pot growing centers used in Colorado. The group wanted assurances that rural outdoor pot cultivators wouldn’t be cut out of the market by urban indoor growers.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 5, which two years ago backed the Proposition 19 effort to legalize marijuana for recreational use, signed on to the new initiative after deciding it was the best option to protect union jobs in the pot industry.

The effort also includes Americans for Safe Access, an Oakland-based advocacy group for medical cannabis users that stayed out of the Proposition 19 fight.

After a yearlong effort to update California’s medical marijuana rules, they came together in the wake of a sweeping federal crackdown on marijuana dispensaries that includes criminal prosecutions and property seizures.

Local zoning enforcement efforts and the looming threat of federal action have closed 100 marijuana dispensaries in Sacramento County. Since October, the number of dispensaries statewide has fallen from 1,200 to 900.

“We lost half of our membership in California,” said Dan Rush, whose United Food & Commercial Workers Local 5 has unionized more than 800 medical marijuana workers.

The state’s four U.S. attorneys say they don’t take issue with the 1996 California law permitting sale and use of marijuana for medical needs. But they assail California’s loosely defined rules allowing medical pot users to share marijuana in nonprofit networks. They say the industry has been “hijacked by profiteers” running pot stores that are likely illegal under both state and federal law.

“The crackdown motivated a lot of people to believe we really needed to clarify state law,” said Dale Gieringer, state director for the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws. “The situation has been vague and chaotic. The feds were using that as an excuse to come in and trample all around.”

‘Unregulated free-for-all’

Sacramento U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said in October that federal authorities were taking action as pot stores flourished in California in “a virtually unregulated free-for-all.” But federal authorities have not spelled out what they will tolerate.

Advocates say they hope formal oversight would be an elixir against federal intervention, pointing to Colorado.

Until recently, Colorado avoided friction over its medical pot market, which unlike California’s is for-profit and heavily regulated. That state requires video surveillance of marijuana transactions and shipments, state licensing of marijuana workers and registration of medical pot users.

None of that is included in the proposed California initiative. Backers of the measure, which could open the door to for-profit marijuana sales in California, say they want to leave many details for the Legislature and medical cannabis commission to decide.

The initiative would impose a 2.5 percent tax and licensing fees on medical marijuana businesses to fund state regulation. It would require cities and counties to allow one marijuana store for each 50,000 residents and prevent local governments from banning dispensaries without voter approval.

To read entire story, click here.

Joe Nelson, Staff writer
Posted: 02/03/2012 01:32:58 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry has announced that he will be nominating Redlands resident Theresa Kwappenberg, former president of the California County Planning Commissioners Association, to the county Planning Commission at Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting.

Kwappenberg served on the county Planning Commission from 1997-2006.

To read entire brief, click here.

While the GOP primary battle moves full steam ahead, local political observers and Republican lawmakers agreed this week that Gov. Mitt Romney is likely to face President Barack Obama in November.

Experts and Republican lawmakers from the Inland Empire said Romney has what top contender Newt Gingrich doesn’t have electability.

“Newt Gingrich is among the most deeply unpopular politicians in the United States outside of the Republican base,” Romney said. “Very few people like him, and even within the Republican Party (those) that know him, like him the least.”

Claremont McKenna College professor Jack Pitney said the former Massachusetts governor has an advantage over his opponents because he has “a lot of money, and positions that are broadly acceptable to the Republican Party, and yet they could also be acceptable to a general electorate as well.”

“Romney is a flawed candidate, and we saw that this week with his comment on poverty,” Pitney said of a gaffe in which Romney told CNN, “I’m not concerned about the very poor.”

“He has problems, but compared with the utterly unelectable Gingrich, he looks pretty good,” Pitney said.

Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, who stumped for Texas Gov. Rick Perry in Iowa, is now supporting Romney since Perry dropped out of the race. Hagman said he’s in talks with Romney’s camp to stump for the candidate.

“I think Mitt Romney has more favorability against Obama head to head,” Hagman said.

“I think Republicans will rally around him. He has a very strong network and the bottom line is he’s been focused on the issues residents care about. He’s a job creator and a creator of economic growth.”

Hagman said he thinks “Newt has great ideas,” but added Gingrich has never won a statewide contest, and he’s always been in Congress.

“He’s never been in the executive branch, and that may give Mitt some advantages as well,” Hagman said.

Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa, said he was impressed with Romney because he’s reached out to California.

To read entire story, click here.

Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 02/03/2012 01:29:27 PM PST

CHINO – As tears were shed and pleas were made, Chino Valley Unified School District board members approved $19.6 million in budget reductions.

In a 4 to 1 vote board members accepted more than 26 district reductions or eliminations that were proposed by the superintendent, which included 23 full-time high school counselors, transportation for students in grades 7-12, 10 high school assistant principals, a district secretary, a grounds worker and a number of grant-supported programs.

Board member James Na voted against the cuts at the meeting.

The reductions were made so the district could remain fiscally solvent. The cuts will be in effect in the 2012-13 and continue into the 2013-14 school year.

“One can only imagine the shock and dismay that is felt throughout our district today,” said Superintendent Wayne Joseph in a statement. “I can tell you that although our board members felt compelled to enact the cut list, there is deep sadness within every one of them for having to do so. At times, the `right’ thing to do is not necessarily the most `popular’ thing to do.”

When Gov. Jerry Brown presented his budget proposal for 2012-13 fiscal year he indicated the state is $9.2 billion in the hole.

The governor has proposed up to $10.3 billion in financial solutions, with one proposal built on the assumption Brown’s tax initiative will be approved by state voters in November General Election.

If the tax $6.9 billion initiative passes K-12 school districts will be spared from any additional cuts to their next school year.

However, the San Bernardino County Office of Education has required school districts to prepare a plan to address the budget shortfall in the event the tax initiative does not pass.

“Right now the district made it clear they believe that we can do without nurses, counselors and music teachers,” said Justine Cunningham, president of Associated Chino Teachers.

To read entire story, click here.

Smith

**Administrator’s Note: Another candidate with absolutely zero chance of winning.

Bob Smith increases 1st District candidate field to seven
February 04, 2012 12:00 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer

A retired sheriff’s deputy of Helendale announced his intentions Friday to run for San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor in the June election.

Bob Smith, now a community liaison for the 1st District under Brad Mitzelfelt, ran in the Republican primary for the 34th District Assembly seat in 2008, losing to Assemblywoman Connie Conway. Smith also serves as a commissioner on the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission.

Smith marks the seventh candidate to enter the race since Mitzelfelt announced last month his bid for the 8th Congressional District, with longtime U.S. Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, retiring.

Six other candidates have confirmed their intentions to run for 1st District Supervisor:

• Ken Anderson, field representative for Mitzelfelt and Sen. Sharon Runner;

• Russ Blewett, Hesperia mayor;

• Michael Orme, field representative for U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon;

• Rick Roelle, Apple Valley councilman;

• Mark Shoup, supervising deputy public defender; and

• Jermaine Wright, a trustee with the Adelanto School District.

The 1st District includes the bulk of the Victor Valley and spans more than 15,000 square miles from Wrightwood to Baker and the Nevada and Arizona state lines. It includes Fort Irwin and the unincorporated communities surrounding Barstow.

The supervisorial election coincides with the June 5 presidential primary. Candidates must file for the race between Feb. 13 and March 9, according to the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters.

For the latest on High Desert politics, follow us on Twitter @DPPolitics

Natasha Lindstrom may be reached at (760) 951-6232 or at NLindstrom@VVDailyPress.com.

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Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Gov. Jerry Brown and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature settled on a hastily revised state budget last June – after Brown had vetoed legislators’ first version – and pronounced it to be balanced and timely.

“My colleagues and I have voted on a responsible budget,” Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, told constituents in a newsletter, adding, “While we have projected additional revenues, we have also identified further tough cuts if these revenues are not realized. We are charged with the responsibility to pass a balanced budget on time. Democratic lawmakers have done so.”

Dickinson wasn’t alone in crowing to constituents about the budget. But it wasn’t on time, nor was it balanced, as Capitol insiders suspected then and we know for certain seven months later.

The quickly revised budget hinged on a sudden, even miraculous, projection by Brown’s bean counters that the state would receive another $4 billion in revenue. But in December, they acknowledged that more than half of the windfall won’t show up, thus triggering some spending cuts, although not enough to offset the missing income.

If anything, the situation has deteriorated.

Last week, Controller John Chiang revealed that revenue is falling $2.6 billion short while spending is running $2.6 billion over budget. It means that this supposedly balanced budget will be somewhere between $4 billion and $5 billion in the red by the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

It’s about half of the $9.2 billion deficit that Brown says his new budget will cover – but only if voters agree to temporary increases in sales and income taxes next fall.

To read entire column, click here.

Mitt Romney greets supporters in Las Vegas after winning Nevada’s Republican caucuses. (Gerald Herbert, Associated Press / February 4, 2012)

By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times

February 4, 2012, 9:33 p.m.

Reporting from Las Vegas— Mitt Romney spent years cultivating voters in Nevada, and it paid off with a commanding victory that not only pushed him closer to the GOP nomination but laid a strong marker in a state both parties will fight to carry in November.

Romney also won the Nevada caucuses in 2008, one of the few impressive performances of his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination, and he never really stopped campaigning here. The only question was whether Romney on Saturday would top the 51% he received four years ago; he was winning just less than that in early returns.

Trailing far behind were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who were locked in a fight for second. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who eked out a win in Iowa but has faded since, was a distant fourth.

“Thank you, guys. What a great showing,” an exuberant Romney told supporters Saturday night in Las Vegas, as they waved white-and-blue placards reading, “Nevada believes.”

“This is not the first time you gave me your vote of confidence,” he said, “and this time I’m going to take it all the way to the White House.”

Gingrich, at a late-night news conference, said he would stay in the race until the late-summer national party convention.

“I am a candidate for president of the United States. I will be a candidate for president of the United States,” he said. “We will continue to campaign all the way to Tampa.”

It will take 1,144 delegates to win the nomination, and Romney has staked an early lead in that count after winning three of the first five contests, including a Florida blowout on Tuesday.

But more meaningful was the momentum Romney gains from his back-to-back wins, which will propel him to the next round of balloting on Tuesday in Minnesota, Colorado and Missouri.

Beyond that, the former Massachusetts governor demonstrated strengths, like an impressive get-out-the-vote operation, that will serve him well in Nevada in the fall, should he emerge as the GOP nominee.

More than a quarter of the electorate Saturday was Mormon, and entrance polls indicated that more than 9 in 10 of that group voted for Romney, who shares their faith. Their percentage of the Nevada vote will shrink in the general election. Even so, Democrats acknowledge that Romney starts with a strong, highly motivated base upon which to build for November.

But Romney’s strong performance Saturday grew out of more than religious affinity; he garnered support across much of the GOP, as he did in Florida and New Hampshire, the other states he has won. Entrance polls showed him carrying just about every category of caucusgoer — but for the youngest voters, the secular and those making the least money, who preferred Paul.

Nevada saw a truncated campaign that disappointed many here who anticipated the state’s turn on the national stage and a chance to introduce Nevada’s woes and Western issues, like water and land use, into the presidential discussion.

Although Nevada has the nation’s highest unemployment rate, 12.6%, and leads the country in foreclosures, the candidates never discussed the housing collapse in any detail.

A feisty Romney alluded to both in his victory speech, laying into President Obama and denying him any credit for January’s big job-creation report and a dip in the nation’s unemployment rate to 8.3%

“Mr. President, we welcome any good news on the jobs front,” Romney said. “But it is thanks to the innovation of the America people and the private sector and not to you, Mr. President.”

To read entire story, click here.

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 3, 2012 | 11:28 am

Gov. Jerry Brown has courted a coalition of business and labor groups to back his November initiative that would raise taxes on sales and upper incomes. Now, some on the left are lashing out at the governor’s plan, and his early donors, reaffirming their intent to place a competing tax measure on the ballot this fall.

The governor has said repeatedly he wants his initiative to be the only tax-increase proposal before voters in November. But thus far, he has been unable to get some of his fellow Democrats to step aside.

Civil rights attorney Molly Munger continues to fund her proposal to hike income taxes across the board to raise more money for schools. Another initiative backed by the California Federation of Teachers, which would raise taxes on upper incomes exclusively, received new public backing from the California Nurses Assn. this week, and backers of that plan blasted Brown’s proposal in an email to supporters.

To read entire story, click here.

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
February 3, 2012 | 2:46 pm

A veteran attorney for the state’s political watchdog agency has been named acting executive director, addressing concern by some good-government activists that the position had long been vacant.

John W. Wallace, who has been the state Fair Political Practices Commission’s assistant general counsel, was approved by the panel to serve as its top staffer on an interim basis without any increase in pay.

“He is someone who is very well respected and knows a lot about the Political Reform Act,” commission Chairwoman Ann Ravel said on Friday.

Ravel had been under pressure from groups including California Common Cause to fill the post, which is required by state statute, ever since former Executive Director Roman Porter left in October. Initially, Ravel divided up the duties of the post between herself and other senior staffers.

To read entire story, click here.

The Orange County Employee’s Retirement System ended 2011 with an investment return of 0.74 percent — that’s 7 percent less than projected.

But OCERS officials, though concerned, say it is too early to panic. For one thing, says CEO Steve Delaney, the 20-year average is 7.9 percent on investments, right where the system needs to be.

Also, OCERS makes enough on contributions to pay for current retirements, Delaney said. With an $8.8 billion portfolio, the system won’t need to start dipping into investments for another 10 years or so, he said.

OCERS wasn’t the only retirement system that made a poor showing last year. The California Public Employees Retirement System earned 1.1 percent last year, while the California State Teachers Retirement System earned 2.3 percent.

“We continue to feel the effects of the most precarious markets in decades,” said CalSTRS chief executive officer Jack Ehnes, in a statement. “The funding shortfall can be managed, but the governor and the Legislature must develop a specific funding plan, as only they have the authority to do so.”

Pension reformers looked at the the poor showings as evidence that retirement systems will ultimately tank, leaving the debt on the backs of taxpayers.

To read entire story, click here.

8.3% ?

Friday, February 3, 2012 – 09:00 a.m.

Hooray! The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.3% in January, with the economy adding 243,000 jobs.

But it took a lot of gaming of the numbers to get there.

For each of the past several months the Bureau of Labor Statistics has been shrinking the active workforce.

In essence the real unemployment rate hasn’t really improved.

The labor force participation rate fell to a 30-year low of 63.7%.

The January rate is a nice campaign sound bite for President Barack Obama, but nothing more.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/02/2012 04:25:33 PM PST

Document: Ballot Title and Summary

San Bernardino City Professional Firefighters Local 891, the union representing 126 city firefighters, has introduced a ballot initiative proposing an elected fire chief.

In the last two years, 25 positions have been cut at the department and engine companies have dwindled from four-man crews to three-man crews, said Steve Brown, the union’s vice president.

While budget cuts factor into that scenario, union representatives say they are fed up with “politics as usual in San Bernardino.”

“Too often, the current administration at City Hall has injected politics into the management and operations of our Fire Department,” said union President Scott Moss in a statement Thursday.

An elected fire chief, Moss said, would remove the taint of politics from decisions affecting hiring, promotions and fire protection policies at the department.

A notice of intent to circulate a petition was filed with the city on Jan. 9, but the union has yet to begin gathering the roughly 12,000 signatures needed to get the initiative on the ballot, Brown said.

“We’re not even sure we’ll have our ducks in a row by November. It’s a work in progress right now,” Brown said.

The proposed charter amendment would establish an elected fire chief, to be elected at the 2014 general election, who would have complete autonomy in running the department, without interference by the mayor and city manager. In addition, the proposal requires the Fire Department to have an assistant fire chief and a chief of staff, appointed by the fire chief with the consent of the mayor and City Council.

To read entire story, click here.

By Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Created: 02/02/2012 05:36:15 PM PST

Fundraising data for Rep. David Dreier, D-San Dimas, from the last quarter of last year suggests he’s likely to retire this year, according to local political experts.

The Federal Election Commission database reports Dreier collected only $10,160 in campaign contributions in the period from October to December. The figure is paltry compared with the $207,450 received in the same period in 2003, and the $137,600 in 2009.

By comparison, fourth-quarter contribution figures for other Inland Empire politicians show much larger campaign funds. Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, received $138,039; Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, $122,933; and $53,159 for Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, who is not running for re-election. State Sen.

Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Montclair, who is running against Baca for the 35th District seat, has already raised $77,984.

If Dreier were to run again, he should have started raising funds much earlier, said Claremont McKenna College professor Jack Pitney. Dreier, who was first elected to the House in 1980, had traditionally been among the top election fund-raisers in Congress.

The data, Pitney said, suggests Dreier will not seek another term.

Due to redistricting, his San Dimas residence is now in a district with only 28 percent of the registered voters as Republicans.

“He has great fund-raising ability and if he were to run again he could probably raise a lot in a very short period of time, but that would be an unusual way to go about it,” said Pitney.

“Most members of Congress don’t go about it that way.”

To read entire story, click here.

By Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 02/02/2012 06:07:28 PM PST

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – There has been a change in leadership for the affordable housing group National Community Renaissance, or National CORE.

The nonprofit has hired Steve PonTell, founder of the think tank La Jolla Institute, as interim president and chief executive officer, replacing Orlando Cabrera.

Sammi Reeves, a National CORE board member, said the decision for Cabrera to leave the company was mutual. Cabrera had been leading the organization while residing in Washington D.C., a commute that was taxing on Cabrera’s family life, said Reeves.

Cabrera led the Rancho Cucamonga-based National CORE through the recession and collapse of the housing market.

“There was a need for Orlando when he came to the organization,” Reeves said. “We had that need to be in a draconian mode so the organization doesn’t bleed red ink. We were turning over properties and had to make difficult decisions. Orlando was the perfect person to do that task.”

Reeves said Orlando and PonTell have very different managerial styles, with PonTell being much more open.

“It has been a month and you can see the difference already just in the collective morale of the organization,” Reeves said. “It’s been very, very refreshing.”

Born in Loma Linda and raised in Big Bear Lake, PonTell has been an Ontario resident for the past 25 years. He has led the Ontario Chamber of Commerce as well as the Inland Empire Economics Council. More recently, PonTell was hired by San Bernardino County as a consultant for the Vision Project, which aims to map out the development and planning of the county.

“I’m kind of the strategy, vision guy,” PonTell said.

PonTell will be managing the nonprofit with an uncertain future. With the elimination of California’s redevelopment agencies, which is the bread and butter of organizations like National CORE, it remains to be seen how the group will continue to fund its California projects.

Currently, there are six projects in the pre-development phase on hold due to the demise of state redevelopment agencies.

“We’re going through unique times at the moment,” Reeves said. “We need a fresh look.”

The organization, boasting a portfolio of 10,000 affordable housing units in four states, has seen some troubled times in recent years.

Last year, National CORE was part of a far-reaching investigation by the FBI, which raided the Rancho Cucamonga office as well as the homes of a former state senator and four defendants in a San Bernardino County corruption probe. Among the defendants raided was developer Jeff Burum, who co-founded National CORE in 1991 but resigned from the board in 2010.

To read entire story, click here.

$1.8M goes to Hinkley School water system
February 02, 2012 5:11 PM
KATIE LUCIA, Staff Writer

HINKLEY • The regional water board signed a $3.6 million agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric on Wednesday night, dedicating half of that money to build a new water filtration system at the Hinkley School.

The settlement was concerning PG&E’s violation of their cleanup order requiring them to contain the rapidly growing plume of water that’s contaminated by chromium 6, a cancer-causing metal, said Lauri Kemper, assistant executive officer of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.

PG&E pushed to have as much of that settlement money given to the community as possible, according to company spokesman Jeff Smith. They decided on a water system for the school after community members voiced concerns about the facility’s quality of water. Currently PG&E supplies bottled water to the school to address those concerns.

“It’s good to see the school got (that money) so they can put a new water system up there and take care of the kids,” said Hinkley resident Jim Dodd, who serves on the community advisory committee. “It’s just nice to see something getting done.”

Barstow Unified School District Interim Superintendent Jeff Malan said the district was excited about the news and looked forward to working with PG&E and the water board.

PG&E is responsible for cleanup and containment of the contamination of chromium 6 that leaked into the groundwater from PG&E’s cooling towers in the 1960s.

The water board, which is overseeing the cleanup, issued a notice of violation to PG&E in 2009 after the company found the contamination was on the move, Kemper said. In the last three months alone the plume has extended more than one mile, she said.

The company maintains there was no actual violation, Smith said, as the change in plume boundary is due to new information gathered from recently installed monitoring wells rather than actual migration.

While Kemper agrees there may have been contamination not previously discovered in the area, she said there is substantial evidence the contamination is in fact migrating north.

The notice was issued after PG&E found one of their monitoring wells was reading higher levels of chromium 6, Kemper said. The well, located on Alcudia Road, used to read less than the maximum background level of 3.1 parts per billion, but increased to 9.5 parts per billion. Increased chromium 6 levels were also found in private wells, she said.

Kemper said the contamination is growing primarily because the groundwater naturally moves north. Additionally, individual pumps may be pulling the water in that direction.

Had the two not reached a settlement, the board could have imposed a maximum fine of $5.5 million or recommended the case to the state Attorney General’s office. In either case, all of the money would have gone to the state water board’s fund and none to the community.

PG&E and the water board will be hosting a meeting to describe the settlement agreement and hear public comments on the matter. The meeting will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Hinkley School, 37600 Hinkley Road

Katie Lucia may be reached at (760) 256-4123 or KLucia@DesertDispatch.com.

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.

Dan Walters

By Dan Walters
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

Many years of partisan wrangling over the state budget reached a climax in 2010 when public employee unions and Democratic politicians persuaded voters to pass Proposition 25, eliminating the two-thirds vote for budgets.

It gave the Legislature’s majority Democrats the power to pass budgets without having to garner Republican votes. But that’s not all it did.

Worried that voters might see it as a political power play, the measure’s sponsors added a political sugarplum, one declaring that if legislators didn’t pass a budget by June 15, the constitutional deadline, their salaries would be cut off.

They also included another proviso that extended the simple-majority vote to so-called “trailer bills,” measures supposedly needed to implement the budget.

This column and other critics suggested that the trailer bills could become political Christmas trees – ways for the majority party to bypass procedural rules and jam into law things that had nothing to do with the budget.

Although the Legislature has been in session for just a month, we’ve already seen two cases of how the Democrats are treating Proposition 25.

Last year, they used their newly won authority to pass a budget without Republican votes. When Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, saying it was unbalanced, Democratic Controller John Chiang cut off legislators’ paychecks, citing Proposition 25.

Brown and legislators quickly cobbled together a new budget on the miraculous assumption that the state would get an extra $4 billion in revenue. Most of the miracle money didn’t show up, and the budget is about $5 billion in the red. The Legislature is now suing Chiang, claiming that he had no authority to enforce Proposition 25.

To read entire column, click here.

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 6B

By lowering its investment forecast by another quarter point, CalSTRS made a bow toward economic reality – but also may have complicated efforts to shore up its finances.

The teachers’ retirement board agreed Thursday to reduce CalSTRS’ official investment forecast to 7.5 percent, down from 7.75 percent. It was the second cut in 14 months, after the $144 billion fund left the forecast untouched for 15 years.

In a volatile investment climate, following a year in which CalSTRS’ portfolio earned just 2.3 percent, board members took their consultants’ advice and went with the lower number.

“I think it’s best that we be conservative,” said Terry McGuire, representing board member and state Controller John Chiang.

The board of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System voted 9-1 to reduce the forecast. The lone dissent came from Pedro Reyes of the Department of Finance. The higher forecast “is not unreasonable,” he argued. “Let’s stay where we are right now, (and) visit this in another year.”

By cutting investment projections, the board instantly ballooned CalSTRS’ funding gap – the estimated shortfall of assets available to meet the pension fund’s long-term needs. The gap will grow by nearly $6 billion, or roughly 10 percent.

That could create problems in the Legislature, which must OK changes in how CalSTRS is funded.

CalSTRS gets around $5.6 billion a year from the state, school districts and teachers. The pension fund had already calculated that it needed another $4 billion a year to eventually get healthy. With the lower investment forecast, those needs grow by another $500 million a year.

While CalSTRS is pushing for more money, many Republicans want to erase funding shortfalls for public pensions by reducing benefits. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown wants to give newly hired employees a combination traditional pension and a 401(k)-style program.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/03/4235828/calstrs-gap-rises-as-return-forecast.html#mi_rss=Business#storylink=cpy

Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 2, 2012

A “millionaires tax” initiative spearheaded by the California Federation of Teachers and the Courage Campaign received petition language today, as well as backing from the powerful California Nurses Association.

CFT spokesman Fred Glass said his group expects to begin collecting signatures Monday now that state Attorney General Kamala Harris has issued official petition language today. Harris titled the measure “Tax To Benefit Public Schools, Social Services, Public Safety, And Road Maintenance.”

The CFT/Courage plan would raise taxes by three percentage points on income above $1 million and five percentage points on income above $2 million. State fiscal analysts say the proposal would generate $4 billion to $6 billion annually, with a $6 billion to $9.5 billion windfall in the 2012-13 fiscal year because the plan would capture 18 months of taxes.

The plan is competing with Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative, which would raise income taxes on earners starting at $250,000 for single filers, as well as increase the statewide sales tax by a half-cent.

To read entire story, click here.

Gov. Jerry Brown laid out a detailed plan to alter California’s state and local public retirement systems on Thursday – and immediately drew fire from his core labor constituency.

The details delivered to the Legislature on Thursday generally tracked with an outline he unveiled in October. Representatives of a union coalition hoped to negotiate what they consider a less severe package. On Thursday, they said they felt blindsided.

“To launch this bomb in the early stages of the legislative season can only be counterproductive,” said Steve Maviglio, spokesman for the union coalition Californians for Retirement Security. “The timing and severity of this was quite a surprise.”

Because the package of proposals amends the state constitution, it needs support from two-thirds of lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled Senate and Assembly to be put on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The centerpiece of Brown’s plan ends traditional pensions for state and local government employees hired July 1, 2013, and later. Employers would be offered “hybrid” plans that combine a smaller guaranteed payout with a more volatile 401(k)-type component.

“I think there’s a lot of really good stuff in the proposal,” said retired state Finance Director Mike Genest, who is now aligned with California Pension Reform, a group that is raising money for its own ballot measure.

While the unions and some experts have warned that hybrid pensions would devastate retiree security, Genest said that the idea is fair because “at least some of the risk is shared with the employee.”

Brown’s plan aims to replace 75 percent of an employee’s income assuming 30 years of service and a retirement age of 57 for public safety employees. Other workers would reach full retirement at 67 after serving 35 years.

To read entire story, click here.

Neil Derry left. James Ramos right.

By Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2012 07:16:08 PM PST

Document: James Ramos Flier

San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry has launched an assault on the character of his major opponent, San Manuel tribal chairman James Ramos, in a campaign mailer tying Ramos to “gang members,” “drug dealers” and “killers for hire.”

The flier labeled Ramos a “Casino Boss” with ties to the Mexican Mafia. It was found plastered on hundreds of windshields outside Ramos’ campaign headquarters in Redlands on Tuesday night, where Ramos was hosting a campaign kickoff event at his headquarters, said Dave Gilliard, Ramos’ campaign manager.

In a statement Wednesday, Ramos
called Derry’s hit mailer a “false and pathetic attempt to smear me by my opponent and his campaign consultant.”

“I believe that voters want and deserve something better than these types of gutter politics,” Ramos said. He said he would run a positive campaign on real issues and the future of the county, and announced he had secured the endorsement of San Bernardino District Attorney Michael A. Ramos.

Derry stands by the flier. He said it was well sourced and the information is accurate.

“That’s what happened,” Derry said, referring to a case brought to the public’s attention in 2006, when police and DEA agents arrested dozens of people in a methamphetamine distribution ring orchestrated by the Mexican Mafia. Two San Manuel tribal members, siblings Stacy Barajas-Nunes and Erik Barajas, were implicated in a murder conspiracy plot involving members of the Mexican Mafia.

Information revealed in court documents and by former tribal employees showed that the San Manuel reservation had been infiltrated by the Mexican Mafia, whose members were believed to be extorting money from tribal members, who receive monthly stipends of roughly $100,000, generated from casino profits.

In an e-mail Tuesday, Derry’s campaign manager, Christopher Jones, said the Third Supervisorial District is a “conservative, law and order stronghold.”

To read entire story, click here.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2012 02:01:30 PM PST

The labor union representing roughly 11,000 San Bernardino County employees announced Wednesday it will support another union’s effort to reduce county supervisors’ jobs to part-time.

Paula Ready, president of the San Bernardino Public Employees Association (SBPEA), said in a statement that the union’s board of directors had voted unanimously to support the San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association (SEBA) in its push to slash county supervisor salaries to $60,000 a year and their district budgets from $1.5 million to $250,000.

The unions are accusing the board of foisting its duties onto county Chief Executive Officer Greg Devereaux and voters.

Though the board has cut its meeting schedule in half, it still reviews the same number of agenda items, only now more items are going on the agenda, county spokesman David Wert said.

He said the unions are aware of this and their arguments are ill-informed.

“The unions are close enough to the county’s operations to know those meetings are only a small portion of what board members do,” Wert said.

To read entire story, click here

Money & Politics | Daily Report

February 2, 2012 | Will Evans

If super political action committee dollars were votes in the Republican presidential primary, California would already have voted resoundingly for Mitt Romney.

Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting the former Massachusetts governor, collected $2.3 million from Californians last year, more than any other super PAC, according to new filings this week. The group boosting Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, pulled in a paltry $1,750 from California, less than any other super PAC involved in the Republican primary.

Super PACs have been omnipresent in the primary race, spending lavishly on hard-hitting TV ads and rivaling in influence the candidates’ own campaigns. The political committees are controversial because, under loosened campaign finance regulations, they allow wealthy individuals and companies to give unlimited amounts of money to directly support their preferred candidates.

Much of California’s pro-Romney money came from the world of private investment – not surprising, as Romney formerly headed investment firm Bain Capital and the industry’s business practices have become a hot issue in the campaign.

The biggest Golden State donor to Restore Our Future was W/F Investment Corp., which, together with CEO Bill Fleischman, gave $350,000. The Los Angeles private equity firm’s portfolio includes a Bavarian beer importer and The Roadium open-air market in Torrance. W/F Investment referred calls to the super PAC.

Restore Our Future spokeswoman Brittany Gross said the organization is running advertisements in Nevada, which holds caucuses Saturday, and Arizona and Michigan, which have primaries later this month. As for the donations, Gross said, “we’re going to let the numbers speak for themselves.”

The second-biggest donation, at $250,000, came from Glenbrook LLC. The Redwood City address listed on the donation is that of Glenbrook’s accounting firm, which declined to provide any information about the company.

Dick Boyce, a San Francisco partner at private equity giant TPG Capital, gave $200,000. Boyce previously worked at Bain and currently serves on the board of Burger King. TPG has investments in Petco Animal Supplies, Spanish-language network Univision, retailer Neiman Marcus and casino company Caesars Entertainment.

David Wilson, owner of several Southern California car dealerships, gave the super PAC $100,000.

To read entire story, click here.