Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
Josh Dulaney, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 11/07/2011 11:33:29 PM PST
SAN BERNARDINO – Fifth Ward Councilman Chas Kelley blasted Public Works Director Nadeem Majaj at the City Council meeting Monday night for what Kelley described as the smearing of a prominent asphalt contractor’s reputation.
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 07 November 2011 06:12 PM
The San Bernardino County Republican Central Committee ended its latest campaign-filing period with $15,000 on hand.
Canan Tasci, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 11/07/2011 11:36:13 AM PST
CHINO HILLS – The cost to fight the installation of high-voltage power transmission lines in this city has not come cheap.
Joe Nelson, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Created: 11/07/2011 06:53:01 PM PST
The remaining search warrants served in a sweeping corruption probe involving a legal settlement between the county and a Rancho Cucamonga developer were released Monday.
City expects decision on appeal of EB-5 termination Dec. 2
November 07, 2011 7:23 PM
Brooke Edwards Staggs
City Editor
VICTORVILLE • A judge has agreed to pause Victorville’s lawsuit against the federal government, waiting to see if the city first succeeds in overturning the termination of its EB-5 visa investor program through an administrative appeals process.
11 arrested in police clash at Occupy Riverside
Toni Momberger, Redlands Daily Facts
Posted: 11/07/2011 10:19:49 AM PST
The day after Occupy Redlands organizer Keith Jackson drafted an official statement of non-violence, he and about 40 other Occupiers from around the Inland Empire were put to the test.
By John Hoeffel, Los Angeles Times
November 7, 2011, 7:45 p.m.
Medical marijuana advocates have filed lawsuits in California’s four federal judicial districts aimed at quickly winning court orders to halt the U.S. attorneys from closing dispensaries.
Saunders
Debra J. Saunders
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
“I have great respect for each of you individually, but collectively I’m worried that you’re going to fail – fail the country,” former Bill Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles said last week to the 12-member joint congressional supercommittee tasked with cutting the federal deficit by some $1.2 trillion over 10 years.
By Robin Abcarian and Geraldine Baum, Los Angeles Times
November 7, 2011, 10:17 p.m.
In an escalation that sent Herman Cain’s presidential campaign into dangerous new territory, a woman offered a graphic public account of being groped by the Republican candidate 14 years ago during the same period in which three other women have anonymously claimed he harassed them.
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 04 November 2011 07:58 PM
WASHINGTON — Inland Southern California’s reshaped political landscape figures prominently in congressional Democrats’ plans to take back the House in 2012, party leaders said Friday.
By Neil Nisperos Staff Writer
Created: 11/04/2011 10:13:19 PM PDT
From boondoggle to significant?
The man who many believe will be the next Republican leader in the state Senate has a completely different viewpoint on the state’s proposed high-speed rail plan than the current holder of that position.
Marijuana clinics owner ‘in a pickle’
By Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 11/04/2011 06:49:25 PM PDT
Aaron Sandusky has had a rough week.
Sandusky, 41, has been trying to keep his medical marijuana dispensaries open in Upland, Moreno Valley and Colton.
On Tuesday, raids were conducted on the three dispensaries as well as his Rancho Cucamonga home and the Rialto home of his partner John Nuckolls.
BY IMRAN GHORI AND DUG BEGLEY
STAFF WRITERS
ighori@pe.com | dbegley@pe.com
Published: 04 November 2011 09:59 AM
Search warrants released Friday provide more details of former San Bernardino County assessor and Supervisor Bill Postmus’ struggles with hiding his homosexuality and drug addiction as he was under scrutiny by authorities who suspected him of abusing his public office.
Joe Nelson and Mike Cruz, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Created: 11/04/2011 10:56:54 AM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Eleven search warrants served over a two-year period in a sweeping corruption probe tied to a legal settlement between the county and a Rancho Cucamonga developer were ordered released Friday by a Superior Court judge.
(Disclaimers: Document #1 contains explicit language; pages containing private information have been removed from Document #2)
Judge Michael A. Smith ordered the search warrants released Friday after defense attorneys did not appear in court to object to their release or request redactions be made to the documents.
November 04, 2011 4:53 PM
KAREN JONAS
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO • Nearly two years after Barstow Mayor Joe Gomez was charged with touching a woman inappropriately, his defense attorney said the incident was consensual at a hearing Friday morning in San Bernardino.
BY JIM MILLER
STAFF WRITER
jmiller@pe.com
Published: 04 November 2011 12:25 PM
The San Bernardino Community College District has agreed to pay $2,000 as punishment for sending a newsletter that violated state political reform laws.
PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State
November 4, 2011 | 4:37 pm
The state’s ethics watchdog panel is considering what its chairwoman calls “a complete overhaul” of regulations on gifts to public officials, and some of the proposals drew objections Friday from open-government advocates.
By Tom Petruno Market Beat
November 4, 2011, 7:48 p.m.
Popular outrage forced Bank of America Corp. to drop the idea of a $5-a-month debit card fee.
Now imagine what that outrage could achieve if it were let loose across the financial industry.
BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com
Published: 01 November 2011 08:56 PM
Overcoming Riverside County’s $80 million budget gap for next year could mean as many as 650 additional layoffs, county officials said Tuesday.
Joe Nelson and Josh Dulaney, Staff Writers
Posted: 11/01/2011 05:59:53 PM PDT
Embattled San Bernardino International Airport developer Scot Spencer has racked up roughly $545,876 in delinquent property taxes since 2005, of which $31,618 has been seized by the county tax collector.
Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Created: 11/01/2011 06:25:06 PM PDT
In a rare move, federal prosecutors have agreed to return materials to a Rancho Cucamonga developer that were seized in September as part of an investigation into alleged corruption surrounding the $102 million lawsuit settlement between Colonies Partners LP and San Bernardino County.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 01 November 2011 09:35 PM
The U.S. Attorney’s office will return materials seized in mid-September from Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum during an FBI search at his home and business, according to an order approved by a federal judge Monday.
San Francisco auditor to investigate
November 01, 2011 5:45 PM
Brooke Edwards Staggs
Timeline of grand jury investigation:
VICTORVILLE • The new grand jury has picked up a probe into Victorville spanning more than two years, hiring an independent firm to audit the city’s operations, accounts and records.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Created: 11/01/2011 07:36:14 PM PDT
Federal agents on Tuesday raided an Upland location and five others associated with Aaron Sandusky, whom they believe are illegally selling marijuana to the general public.
Josh Dulaney, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 11/01/2011 12:34:59 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Jim Mulvihill, an urban planner and a member of the Planning Commmission, is challenging City Council incumbent Wendy McCammack in the 7th Ward election on Tuesday.
Councilman has 1 challenger in SB’s 3rd Ward, budget, jobs are top issues in race
Josh Dulaney, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 11/01/2011 04:49:45 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO — Pharmaceutical salesman John Valdivia is challenging 3rd Ward Councilman Tobin Brinker in the Nov. 8 election.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Dan Weikel and Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times
November 2, 2011
The ambitious plan to connect Anaheim and San Francisco with high-speed trains has encountered plenty of obstacles, including intensifying resistance from wealthy and poor communities lying in the track’s path.
But the bullet train’s biggest threat could be its ballooning price tag, which this week doubled to an estimated $98 billion.
BY BRIAN ROKOS
STAFF WRITER
brokos@pe.com
Published: 28 October 2011 04:02 PM
San Bernardino Public Works Director Nadeem Majaj said he’s afraid City Attorney Jim Penman will send armed investigators after him because Penman threatened to raid Majaj’s home and car after Majaj refused to turn over a police report.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Published: 30 October 2011 08:05 PM
The California Supreme Court felt otherwise, but part of the unsuccessful court challenge to the Citizens Redistricting Commission’s state Senate plan centered on complaints about what the maps do in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
Thomas returns to water board
Filippi questions ethics of ex-councilman from Upland
Sandra Emerson, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 10/30/2011 09:45:44 PM PDT
UPLAND – A former councilman’s appointment to a water agency board was narrowly approved last week by the City Council.
Public unions targeted
Proposal would end collective bargaining
Will Bigham, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 10/30/2011 10:22:53 PM PDT
Petitions are being circulated for a ballot measure designed to end collective bargaining for California’s public- employee unions.
Created: 10/30/2011 07:01:21 PM PDT
California’s largest teachers union seems to be having reservations about a proposed “millionaire’s tax,” even as labor groups hash out strategies for next year’s elections.
Adelanto hires lawyers to recoup $48M in bond losses
October 30, 2011 3:00 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer
ADELANTO • The City Council has hired a team of lawyers in an attempt to recoup $48 million in bond losses its public utilities authority suffered after the bond insurer’s rating plummeted a few years ago.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 – 6:28 am
For California’s high-speed rail project, it’s been an inauspicious autumn.
Disparaged for its lack of public outreach, the California High-Speed Rail Authority hired a new deputy director for communications and public policy, Lance Simmens, who introduced himself to Kings County residents – and YouTube viewers everywhere – by falling asleep at a public meeting.
By Diana Lambert
dlambert@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1B
Last Modified: Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 – 6:53 am
School officials are on the edge of their seats.
In six weeks, they should know if they have to cut buses, shorten the school year, ask teachers to take furlough days, raid their reserves or cut programs.
By George Skelton Capitol Journal
October 31, 2011, 2:42 a.m.
From Sacramento– Gov. Jerry Brown would be the first to admit that rolling out a 12-point pension reform plan is the easy part.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Let’s stipulate that public employee pension costs are not the fundamental cause of California’s financial problems. We can even accept the argument from the union-backed Californians for Retirement Security that “the average public pension in California is $26,000-a-year,” that “three-quarters of CalPERS retirees collect $36,000 or less” and that “public pensions equal just 3% percent of California’s budget.”
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
That ancient philosophical – or would it be biological? – question has a political counterpart in California, to wit:
By JONATHAN MARTIN & MAGGIE HABERMAN & ANNA PALMER & KENNETH P. VOGEL | 10/31/11 8:38 AM EDT
During Herman Cain’s tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group, multiple sources confirm to POLITICO.
09:59 PM PDT on Friday, June 17, 2011
By BEN GOAD and JIM MILLER
The Press-Enterprise
Proposed draft redistricting maps analysis
Several Inland cities will be affected if the draft redistricting map unveiled recently is instituted.
Published: 6/17/2011 05:22 PM
Freshly unveiled maps proposing new political lines for California would splinter some key Inland cities between districts, prompting local leaders to question whether the lines would strain longstanding community ties or dilute their representation in Washington.
By Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/17/2011 07:58:17 PM PDT
WHO’S RUNNING? The candidates for San Bernardino’s Ward 2 seat are: Robert Jenkins, John Longville and Jerry Martin. The election is July 12.
By Josh Dulaney Staff Writer
Posted: 06/17/2011 04:42:59 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Cart, meet horse.
Councilman Tobin Brinker, who is up for re-election in the 3rd Ward in November, said Friday he plans to run for mayor in 2013. “I don’t think there’s any such thing as starting too early,” Brinker said.
By Jesse B. Gill Staff Writer
Posted: 06/17/2011 06:19:47 PM PDT
Drivers in the San Bernardino Mountains now have a key route back after Caltrans reopened Highway 330 on Friday.
By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 06/17/2011 09:27:27 PM PDT
COLTON – The school board solidified its earlier elimination of crossing guards, Future Farmers and other popular programs Thursday night as it passed a bare-bones budget for the 2011-12 school year and detailed steep cuts for the following year.
By Liset Marquez Staff Writer
Posted: 06/17/2011 06:19:43 PM PDT
The unemployment rate in the Inland Empire fell again in May, dropping to 13.2 percent, a state agency reported Friday.
By Art Marroquin Staff Writer
Posted: 06/17/2011 09:58:17 PM PDT
The Los Angeles City Council this week opposed state legislation that calls for establishing an Inland Empire-based authority to take control of LA/Ontario International Airport from the city of Los Angeles.
Mitzelfelt
High Desert supervisor protests cuts to public safety
June 17, 2011 8:41 AM
Natasha Lindstrom
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO • Citing concerns over “extremely troubling” cuts to public safety, 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said he plans to vote against the proposed San Bernardino County budget when it goes up for approval June 28.
The governor says his options include signing a budget that has only Democrat support and having initiatives put before voters on his tax plans.
By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
June 18, 2011
Reporting from Blythe, Calif. — Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday warned Republican lawmakers that if they failed to negotiate a budget compromise with Democrats, he would seek to go around them.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Governor’s action sends the issue back to a Legislature he’s been unable to unify.
By Michael J. Mishak and Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
June 18, 2011
Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Jerry Brown was elected on a pledge to break legislative gridlock by changing Capitol culture, and he showered state lawmakers with attention as he tried to forge a bipartisan compromise to fix the state’s chronic financial mess.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jun. 18, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association demanded Friday that Controller John Chiang withhold pay from lawmakers and threatened to sue if he does not.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 17, 2011
Hours after Gov. Jerry Brown roiled majority Democrats with his budget veto, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg made public his plans to halt consideration of the governor’s appointees “for an indefinite period of time.”
Published: Saturday, Jun. 18, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
A lawsuit that says CalPERS was duped on a huge Southern California land deal has been dropped.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System lost $922 million on its investment in LandSource Communities Development.
By Mike Anton, Los Angeles Times
June 18, 2011
Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t governor anymore. But his poll numbers continue to slide.
10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, June 12, 2011
By BRIAN ROKOS
The Press-Enterprise
In an effort to resolve a dispute that has left 300 nonteaching jobs vacant for months, the San Bernardino City Unified School District Personnel Commission has hired a man as a temporary “professional expert” whom the district has twice rejected as a permanent employee.
Lower rate to apply to new employees
Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 06/12/2011 09:32:15 PM PDT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – The City Council has adopted a two-tier retirement benefits formula that will affect future City Hall employees.
Starting July 4, employees hired by the city will receive a retirement benefits formula of 2 percent at age 55, compared to the current formula of 2.5 percent at 55.
Deadline is Wednesday, but obstacles remain
Mike Cruz and Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writers
Created: 06/12/2011 10:10:16 PM PDT
Lawmakers will be faced Wednesday with passing a massive spending plan to fill a gaping deficit in the state’s budget, with serious cuts to everything from social services to education.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
June 12, 2011
Gov. Jerry Brown said tonight he is “perplexed” that he has been unable to reach a budget deal, but he said the Legislature will vote on a spending plan Wednesday, the constitutional deadline.
By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Jun. 13, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
With 90 percent of lawmakers holding at least a bachelor’s degree, California has the most highly educated Legislature in the country, according to a study being published today by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Monday, June 13, 2011 – 05:00 a.m.
Congratlations to the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, who defeated the Miami Heat on Sunday 105 to 95.
10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, June 12, 2011
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – Congressional Republicans are poised to press forward with legislation requiring all U.S. employers to use an electronic worker verification program penned by Inland Rep. Ken Calvert.
By James Rufus Koren Staff Writer
Posted: 06/10/2011 09:42:17 PM PDT
After months of meetings and public input, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission on Friday released a first draft of what California’s new Assembly, Senate and Congressional districts could look like.
Baca
By James Rufus Koren Staff Writer
Posted: 06/10/2011 07:21:55 PM PDT
Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, says Democratic Party officials have asked him to consider running for a proposed new congressional seat that would represent Ontario, Chino, Montclair, Pomona and Rancho Cucamonga.
09:49 PM PDT on Friday, June 10, 2011
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge delayed the arraignment of four defendants in a bribery and corruption scandal Friday while agreeing to seal grand jury transcripts for three weeks.
By Will Bigham Staff Writer
Created: 06/10/2011 09:38:59 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Attorneys for four men charged with bribery and other crimes in connection with the county’s $102 million legal settlement with Colonies Partners LP received transcripts Friday of grand jury proceedings that resulted in a 29-count criminal indictment last month.
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, June 10, 2011
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
San Bernardino County’s proposed budget calls for significant cuts to the district attorney and probation department and would reduce the hours of county employees if they refuse decreased health and retirement benefits.
By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 06/10/2011 05:07:03 PM PDT
COLTON – Classified employees have agreed to take five furlough days during the 2011-12 school year in exchange for a promise of no layoffs, calling the deal a win-win.
Democrats stand to gain in Congress and state Legislature under panel’s redrawn districts.
By Evan Halper and Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times
June 11, 2011
Reporting from Sacramento and Washington — California’s new voting districts could put Democrats within reach of as many as five more seats in Congress and enough in the state Legislature for the two-thirds majority needed to raise taxes, according to Democratic and Republican analysts.
By Kevin Yamamura and Torey Van Oot
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jun. 11, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Senate Republicans blocked a tax solution to the deficit Friday, prompting Democrats to respond with a countermeasure expanding local taxation powers.
By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
June 11, 2011
Reporting from Sacramento— The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has begun automatically deleting any emails older than 60 days, raising concerns among watchdog groups that the giant pension fund could be destroying evidence of misdeeds.
Saturday, May 14, 2011 – 11:30 p.m.
Political television and radio talk show host Mike Huckabee has announced this evening that he won’t place his name in the hat for the GOP nomination for President.
Mayors Pat Morris, Pete Aguilar, Larry McCallon, David Zamora and Rhodes Rigsby
Posted: 02/26/2011 07:09:41 AM PST
As the mayors of five cities in the heart of the east San Bernardino Valley, it is our collective responsibility to ensure we make the strategic investments required to rebuild our regional economy and ensure its vibrancy and sustainability for the 21st century. Our highest priority has been modernizing our region’s transportation infrastructure to ensure our valley is economically attractive to businesses, jobs and residents.
City officials often differ on the use of RDA funds
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/26/2011 04:08:51 PM PST
After Gov. Jerry Brown proposed eliminating redevelopment agencies, a seemingly unanimous chorus of city and county leaders up and down the state called Brown’s plan a bad idea.
But officials in San Bernardino are singing a slightly different tune. They say the state should keep some redevelopment agencies and eliminate others.
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/26/2011 03:54:51 PM PST
GRAND TERRACE – As cities statewide argue that eliminating redevelopment agencies would jeopardize vital infrastructure and job creation, officials here worry it could claim another victim: the city itself.
Grand Terrace might have to disincorporate within a year if it loses its Redevelopment Agency, fears Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz.
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/26/2011 03:30:41 PM PST
Inland Empire cities can and have used redevelopment agencies to build freeway interchanges, storm drains and other big public infrastructure projects that aim to open land to new development.
But there are other ways to pay for those projects. One way, said Redlands-based regional economist John Husing, is to create community facilities districts or CFDs – also known as Mello-Roos districts.
Taxpayers may face larger costs
Staff and Wire Reports
Created: 02/26/2011 07:05:29 AM PST
As California school districts anticipate possibly the worst budget crisis in a generation, many will try to lighten their burden by enticing older teachers into retirement.
But as more and more teachers retire – with a pension averaging 55 percent to 60 percent of salary – they will be straining a system that already can’t meet its obligations.
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