Democratic gubernatorial candidate and attorney general Jerry Brown evaporated from the air waves yesterday after Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley arrived on the scene to set the record straight regarding his office’s investigation into the City of Bell salary and pension scandal.

Brown has evaporated from the media circuit since Cooley gave interviews to newspaper and radio stations on Monday.

Read the rest of this entry »

City managers will gather in Sacramento on Thursday to discuss damage control. Some say more residents are seeking salary information from city halls. The Legislature considers reforms as well.

By Sam Allen, Abby Sewell and Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

July 29, 2010

The scandal over high salaries paid to Bell officials has city leaders throughout the state scrambling to limit the political damage.

City halls have seen an uptick in residents calling to find out what their local officials make ever since the story broke two weeks ago and prompted widespread public outrage.

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/28/2010 05:30:35 PM PDT

RIALTO – Another woman has come forward in connection with an alleged sex scandal involving police officers and employees of the Spearmint Rhino strip club, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

“Last Friday, we had a woman file a complaint against one of the officers that we’ve identified in the investigation,” Police Chief Mark Kling said.

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

Redlands Planning Commission Chairman Paul Foster has qualified to run for a City Council seat in the November election.

Foster submitted nomination papers with 30 signatures on Monday. Twenty were validated, enough to qualify for the ballot, City Clerk Sam Irwin said Wednesday.

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

By JAN SEARS
The Press-Enterprise

The Redlands City Council today will consider asking residents to approve a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot.

The council conducted a July 20 public hearing on the tax and agreed afterward, on a 4-1 vote, to put the measure on the ballot. The action requires a second vote, scheduled today because Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Bean will be unavailable for the next regular meeting Tuesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Cassie MacDuff

People are understandably upset at high salaries paid to city officials, while municipal workers are being laid off and the public is being told it will have to settle for reduced services.

But lucrative pay is only half the story. When you add in the benefits public officials receive, the taxpayers are getting hit for even more than many people realize.

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10:49 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

By DAVID OLSON and BEN GOAD
The Press-Enterprise

The sharply divergent reactions that Inland residents had to a federal judge’s ruling Wednesday blocking full enforcement of Arizona’s tough anti-illegal-immigration law mirrored the outrage and joy expressed nationwide.

Lake Elsinore Mayor Melissa Melendez blasted the decision. “If that’s what they’ve done, and they’ve usurped the authority of the state of Arizona, then I am completely ashamed and appalled at what they are doing,” Melendez said.

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Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 07/28/2010 10:28:23 PM PDT

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – The former city manager of Bell, who stepped down last week after news reports unveiled his unusually high salary of more than $787,000, got his start in Rancho Cucamonga, where he rose through the ranks in eight years to become assistant city manager.

Robert Rizzo, 56, possibly the highest-paid city manager in the nation, was hired by Rancho Cucamonga as an administrative aide in 1980 and later became an administrative analyst and an assistant to the city manager before becoming an assistant city manager.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in

July 28, 2010 | 5:31 pm

Three highly paid administrators in Bell will not be permitted to draw their state pensions until the attorney general determines whether the city broke the law in awarding the hefty paychecks, according to an official with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

“CalPERS is concerned about the situation, and our intention is to not [to] entertain applications for pensions from any of these people until the investigation is complete,” said Pat Macht, the agency’s external affairs director.

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Yes, Attorney General Jerry Brown repeatedly claims he’s all over the City of Bell salary scandal.

Brown’s office has subpoenaed thousands of city records. He’s giving city officials twenty-four hours to turn them over.

Otherwise one can infer search warrants will be the order of the day.

Read the rest of this entry »

Steve Cooley

Investigators are looking into allegations of voter fraud and conflicts of interest, as well as the $100,000 salaries paid to four council members. The D.A. says several elections are targeted.

By Richard Winton, Jeff Gottlieb and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times

July 28, 2010

Los Angeles County prosecutors have launched a wide-ranging investigation into allegations of voter fraud and conflicts of interest involving municipal business in Bell, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Tuesday.

In an interview with The Times, Cooley described an investigation considerably larger in scope than previously acknowledged by prosecutors, saying that it was “multifaceted, rapidly expanding and full-fledged.” Investigators have been gathering evidence since March, he said.

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11:11 AM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Former Grand Terrace City Councilman Jim Miller pleaded guilty this morning to a misdemeanor charge stemming from payments he voted to approve to his wife’s weekly newspaper.

Miller pleaded guilty to having a financial interest by a state or local official in a government contract. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a felony conflict of interest charge, which could have included prison time.

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Gutierrez

Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 07/27/2010 03:49:10 PM PDT

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Last Thursday, Councilman Rex Gutierrez mulled a mayoral run, pulling papers just before City Hall closed for a three-day weekend.

On Monday, he changed his mind.

Read the rest of this entry »

Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2010 08:04:56 PM PDT

RIALTO – The sex scandal that has rocked the Police Department and attracted widespread attention has not shaken officials’ faith in rank-and-file officers or Chief Mark Kling, based on remarks they made at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

“My confidence in Mark is high,” said City Administrator Henry Garcia. “This is a small step backward.”

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Created: 07/27/2010 09:25:46 PM PDT

FONTANA – The City Council will continue its version of “Musical Chairs” on Wednesday night.

Council members are set to discuss how to fill a spot on the dais left open when they tapped Frank Scialdone to become mayor earlier this month after former Mayor Mark Nuaimi took a job as city manager in Yucca Valley.

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Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2010 07:35:08 PM PDT

COLTON – At least two City Council members say they’d like to see the city send out requests seeking the exact costs to outsource for police and fire services, following the results of recently completed audits of both departments.

They would also like the city to contact surrounding jurisdictions to examine the viability of forming a joint powers agreement for fire services.

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Deal includes furlough, cuts
July 27, 2010 5:41 PM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • The Hesperia Unified School District and Hesperia Teachers Association have apparently resolved their differences and have reached a three-year agreement, officials said Tuesday.

The tentative agreement includes nine furlough days (an effective salary cut of almost 5 percent), 1 percent pay cut and 2 percent savings on other monetary benefits for teachers.

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10:49 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By JACK KATZANEK
The Press-Enterprise

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest boosters Tuesday when officials triggered the demolition of the first building to make way for the proposed $3.7 billion March LifeCare campus.

The project could ultimately bring as many as 7,200 permanent jobs to the former March Air Force Base, at a health-care complex that will be anchored by a medical center, the project developer said. The ambitious plans call for a wide range of other medical buildings on the grounds of the former base, including facilities for senior citizens and retirees for ambulatory care patients.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By JAN SEARS
The Press-Enterprise

Redlands could face a general fund shortfall of $23 million by 2014-15 if the economy doesn’t improve and no steps are taken to correct the city’s financial course.

The City Council heard the gloomy financial report last week, as City Manager Enrique Martinez urged them to adopt a multiyear approach to budgeting.

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08:33 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
The Press-Enterprise

Traffic at Ontario International Airport dropped by 5.2 percent in June compared to the same month in 2009 and a 37.4 percent decrease since June 2007.

A total of 408,800 passengers used the airport last month, according to statistics from Los Angeles World Airports, the agency that owns and operates Ontario airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in

July 27, 2010 | 2:13 pm

A lawsuit filed Monday by a former Bell police officer makes a variety of serious allegations about city officials and suggests voter fraud in a 2009 election.

According to the lawsuit, filed by James Corcoran, off-duty police officers in Bell distributed absentee ballots in a 2009 municipal election and told would-be voters which candidates to support.

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown is apparently becoming a little sensitive to criticisms he is using his official capacity of Attorney General as a campaign platform.

In a Los Angeles Times story yesterday, Brown defended his investigation into pay practices in the City of Bell, deflecting allegations by the Meg Whitman campaign, that his actions were a campaign stunt.

Maybe someone should ask Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. The man with the tire tracks across his back.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hudson

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 26, 2010

By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside City Manager Brad Hudson may face tough questions today from his bosses on the City Council when they meet behind closed doors to discuss his performance.

Several council members said they have concerns about the sale of Police Department guns in 2005 to Hudson and Assistant City Manager Tom De Santis and city officials’ use of nearly untraceable license plates reserved for police work.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 26, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

Voters likely will be asked in November whether the city treasurer should be appointed by the city council.

The council will decide whether to put the issue on the November ballot when it meets Aug. 3. The treasurer currently is an elected post.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 26, 2010

Cassie MacDuff

With the scandal over exorbitant pay for Bell officials, Inland residents may wonder if their city governments, too, have approved extravagant salaries unbeknownst to them.

A 2007 Press-Enterprise survey showed Inland city manager salaries doubled between 1996 and 2006. Some now top $200,000.

Read the rest of this entry »

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 26, 2010

By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO – Several Inland governments, businesses and other groups have rallied behind a recently introduced state bill meant to preserve millions in revenue for the agency in charge of redeveloping the former Norton Air Force Base.

The support comes even though some of the agencies would stand to get more money if current law was left alone.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 26, 2010

The Loma Linda City Council will swear in its two newest members and choose a mayor Tuesday night.

Ron Dailey, the executive associate dean of Loma Linda University’s dental school, and Phillip Dupper, a San Bernardino County sheriff’s sergeant, won election June 8.

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Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 07/26/2010 09:31:00 PM PDT

LA VERNE – The City Council has approved a contract with Assistant City Manager Robert T. Russi to become the city manager, effective Aug. 6.

Russi will make $169,000 per year. He could make up to $195,000 by 2013 if he receives satisfactory evaluations from the council.

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July 26, 2010 3:52 PM
Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • One of the top forensic auditing firms in the country now has its own temporary office at City Hall, as an investigation into Victorville’s finances by the San Bernardino County Grand Jury moves forward.

The grand jury first began probing Victorville in spring 2009, interviewing a slew of city officials regarding troubled finances, reported handshake deals and more.

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Attorney General Edmund “Jerry” Brown

PolitiCal
On politics in the Golden State

July 26, 2010 | 4:45 pm

Ten television trucks and a crowd of reporters showed up for a news conference Monday where California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown announced that he had issued subpoenas for records as part of his investigation into “excessive” salaries in Bell, but the Democratic gubernatorial nominee insisted he was just doing his day job.

Last week The Times examined Brown’s dual roles as candidate and attorney general — prompting the campaign of his opponent, Meg Whitman, to request public records detailing Brown’s official travel and the personnel records of his communications staff.

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L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in

July 26, 2010 | 4:55 pm

Bell Mayor Oscar Hernandez issued a news release Monday apologizing to residents for high salaries the city paid administrators and said he would serve the rest of his term without pay. He will not run for reelection.

“Since my first day as mayor, my priority has been to make Bell a city its residents can be proud to call home,” Hernandez said in his statement. “To the residents of this great city, I apologize that the council’s past decisions with regard to the indefensible administrative salaries have failed to meet that test.

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Crime | Government | Medical marijuana | Education | Prop 8 | Traffic | Westside
L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in

July 26, 2010 | 7:37 am

The embattled Bell City Council will meet Monday night to consider cutting council member pay, which is now considered significantly higher than that of other cities of the same size.

The move comes three days after the council announced the resignations of three top city administrators, including the city manager who was making nearly $800,000 a year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Brown

Today, Attorney General, oops! I mean democratic candidate for Governor Edmund “Jerry” Brown was campaigning on the Bell pension fiasco vis press conference.

Yes indeed. Another “high-profile” issue has handed Brown a platform to campaign from for “free”.

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Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/25/2010 02:55:14 PM PDT

COLTON – Customers of the Colton Electric Utility pay more for electricity than customers of utilities owned by other surrounding cities, according to an audit of the city’s electric company.

Many residential customers and all commercial and industrial customers also pay more than customers of Southern California Edison, the investor-owned electricity provider that services most of the county.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/25/2010 08:06:37 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The move to amend the City Charter can be viewed as a debate over how to run the city – or just another smackdown between leaders who cannot get along.

The proposal to change the charter would give the City Council, with the mayor’s consent, power to appoint the city attorney, city clerk and city treasurer.

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Scandal a threat to Rialto gains
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/25/2010 08:27:08 PM PDT

RIALTO – Police Chief Mark Kling has described his department as embarrassed and frustrated over allegations that some of its officers were involved in a sex scandal connected to the Spearmint Rhino strip club.

“They don’t deserve that type of recognition,” Kling said. “It doesn’t represent the hardworking people of this department.”

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Council OKs reorganization of departments
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/25/2010 08:06:08 PM PDT

REDLANDS – The City Council has released a list detailing the total number of jobs it eliminated through recent budget cuts and the reorganizations of city departments necessary after the cuts were made.

The council unanimously approved a resolution making the reorganizations official by adding the cost for the remaining positions into the city budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

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City seeking unspecified cuts from contracts
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/25/2010 08:06:43 PM PDT

REDLANDS – Although the City Council has said it wants contract concessions from the unions representing city employees, union leaders say it hasn’t specified what is needed.

A council subcommittee manned by Jon Harrison and Mick Gallagher is conducting informal discussions with both unions about items in their employment contracts they could give up to save the city money. The discussions come after a budget season in which the council eliminated 47 full-time city jobs and was still left with a deficit of $877,500.

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July 25, 2010 11:00 AM
Natasha Lindstrom

ADELANTO • Two alternative energy companies slated to launch biodiesel production plants in Adelanto have both abandoned their local projects, city officials said.

One company is now embattled in a civil suit against a property owner. The other quietly abandoned operations after securing the city’s approval, leaving some of its private investors in the dark.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 07/25/2010 07:03:13 AM PDT

ONTARIO – It’s official: The City Council has agreed to recognize the Ovitt family by naming the public library in its honor.

The exact wording of the dedication will be determined at a future meeting.

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Brinker

Tobin Brinker
Posted: 07/24/2010 07:18:12 PM PDT

We have all seen tightrope walkers high above the crowd on a narrow rope balancing precariously as winds buffet them. It makes for riveting entertainment, as the viewer waits to see if the tightrope walker makes it successfully across or if he falls.

San Bernardino’s elected officials are attempting to walk a budget tightrope. We are buffeted on all sides by individuals with ideological biases. Some say “NO TAXES” and others say “NO CUTS.” Citizens groups and employee unions are lobbying the elected officials and mobilizing with letters to the editor.

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Schools pact set

Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 07/24/2010 07:08:33 AM PDT

CLAREMONT – The Claremont Unified School District and the Claremont Faculty Association on Friday reached a contract agreement, according to an union official.

The three-year agreement, which is retroactive to the 2009-10 school year, includes an $800,000 contribution that district officials said they needed from the union.

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10:00 PM PDT on Friday, July 23, 2010

Cassie MacDuff

Several bombshells from Redlands of late:

Council members are irked that the city manager and city attorney got salary increases unwittingly approved by the council.

City Manager Enrique Martinez acknowledged he has a consultant studying the city’s refuse operation, raising suspicions he’ll try to privatize it as he did in Colton in the 1990s.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bell officials step down
July 23, 2010 3:16 PM
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

BELL (AP) • The city manager, assistant city manager and police chief of this small, poverty-plagued suburb of Los Angeles stepped down following a public outcry over their salaries, which total more than $1.6 million a year.

Robert Rizzo, who served as Hesperia’s city manager from 1988 to 1992, was the highest paid Bell employee at $787,637 a year — nearly twice the pay of President Barack Obama. Census figures for 2008 showed about 17 percent of the city’s less than 40,000 residents live in poverty.

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Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/23/2010 06:50:33 PM PDT

COLTON – The city could save as much as $8.2 million by eliminating its police and fire departments and contracting with outside agencies, according to audits of the departments which were released Friday.

The firm estimates between $2.3 million and $8.2 million would be saved if the City Council elected to contract for public safety services or form a joint agreement with other cities in the area.

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Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 07/23/2010 06:08:43 PM PDT

The Claremont Unified School District has approved the placement of a $95 million bond measure on the Nov. 2 election ballot.

School district officials said the bond was necessary to update aging classroom facilities and improve classroom technology.

Read the rest of this entry »

L.A. NOW
Southern California — this just in

July 23, 2010 | 12:33 am

Bell’s top administrators, whose hefty salaries have stirred public outrage and calls for investigations, agreed to resign Thursday night during a closed-door City Hall meeting.

City Manager Robert Rizzo, Police Chief Randy Adams and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia will not receive severance packages. Rizzo will step down at the end of August and Spaccia will leave at the end of September. Adams will also leave at the end of August, after completing an evaluation of the Police Department.

Read the rest of this entry »

Gilbreath

Chantal M. Lovell, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/22/2010 06:31:21 PM PDT

Redlands Mayor Pat Gilbreath said she will make another run for city council in November, after stating she would not seek the office again.

Gilbreath sent a letter to her “longtime supporter(s)” announcing her intent to run for her council seat, which will be up for election Nov. 2, along with those of councilmen Mick Gallagher and Jon Harrison.

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July 22, 2010 4:14 PM
Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • Two city leaders clashed during Tuesday night’s meeting, with Councilman Ryan McEachron asking Mayor Pro Tem Mike Rothschild to stop “spouting off” against issues that are already settled and Rothschild accusing his colleague of letting “side politics” guide his decisions.

The conflict stemmed from Rothschild continuing to speak out at public meetings and in a letter to the Daily Press against decisions approved by the rest of the council, including Helendale’s efforts to expand and plans for Apple Valley’s Yucca Loma Bridge.

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July 22, 2010 5:42 PM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • Two weeks after a school board meeting that abruptly ended with board members taunting one another and calling each other names, the board will try again on Monday to finish their July agenda.

At the July 12 meeting of the Hesperia Unified School District school board, board members returned from a second period of closed-doors discussions determined to get through the 13 points remaining undone in the first four hours of the meeting.

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10:54 PM PDT on Thursday, July 22, 2010

By MARK MUCKENFUSS
The Press-Enterprise

Efforts are under way to station a contingent of active-duty Air Force troops at March Air Reserve Base.

Lt. Gen. Charles E. Stenner Jr., chief of the Air Force Reserve and the commander for the Air Force Reserve Command, was in Riverside on Thursday for the 12th annual Raincross Trophy Dinner. During a break in his schedule, the man whose domain includes the oversight of March Air Reserve Base spoke about a coming change in the way the base will operate.

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California Watch
A Project of the Center for Investigative Reporting
Public Safety

California WatchBlog

July 23, 2010 | Ryan Gabrielson

During normal times, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department hears from two to three small towns a year wondering how much taxpayer money they’d save by hiring deputies to replace their own police officers.

These are not normal times.

Read the rest of this entry »

Brown

Thursday, July 22, 2010 – 08:38 pm

Listeners to the KFI AM-640 John and Ken show were treated to a surprise unannounced five minute call-in from California Attorney General Jerry Brown this evening.

Brown wanted to talk about his new investigation into the City of Bell salary scandal. However, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou wanted to talk about illegal immigration.

Prior to Brown’s call-in John and Ken had adopted Calbuzz’s nickname for Brown, a.k.a “Krusty”.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jeff Gottlieb Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 22, 2010 | 3:59 p.m.

The highly paid members of the Bell City Council were able to exempt themselves from state salary limits through a little-noticed city ballot measure during a special election that attracted fewer than 400 voters.

Council members in Bell earn nearly $100,000 – a salary that has prompted an inquiry by the Los Angeles County district attorney. A state law enacted in 2005 limits the pay of council members in “general law” cities, a reform prompted by the high salaries that leaders in the neighboring city of South Gate bestowed on themselves.

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LAX/Ontario International

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Cassie MacDuff

Los Angeles officials have finally stopped pretending that running two competing airports doesn’t shortchange one of them.

The airports, of course, are LAX and Ontario, both controlled by the city of LA.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/21/2010 01:05:07 PM PDT

Redlands voters will have the final say in November on a half-cent sales tax measure the City Council is counting on to help balance the 2010-11 fiscal year budget.

The council voted 4-1 to place the measure on the Nov. 2 ballot. Councilman Mick Gallagher was the lone dissenter. The tax measure needed four of the five council members to approve it to place it on the ballot.

Read the rest of this entry »

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 21, 2010

By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise

After holding off in June, Riverside officials now are eyeing the November ballot for a measure that would increase the tax hotel visitors pay by two percentage points.

The City Council’s finance committee, made up of council members Nancy Hart, Paul Davis and Mike Gardner, on Wednesday recommended that the full council place the hotel bed tax increase, which would push it up to 13 percent, on the fall ballot.

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Increase would fund fire, police, roads
July 21, 2010 9:03 AM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • The largest crowd at a Hesperia City Council meeting in recent memory showed up Tuesday with a single message: “Don’t hike sales taxes.”

Approximately 100 residents attended the City Council meeting. It was their first chance to speak directly to the City Council about a proposed halfcent hike to the city’s current 8.75 percent sales tax.

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Elrod

Lori Consalvo, Staff Writer
Created: 07/21/2010 05:38:41 PM PDT

CHINO – The public comment session at Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting drew no mention from residents of Councilman Earl Elrod’s misdemeanor hit-and-run conviction in June.

But an Orange County developer who is in a fight with the city and a representative of Mothers Against Drunk Driving brought attention to Elrod’s case.

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When he steps down, City Manager Robert Rizzo will get at least $600,000 a year in pension checks, making him the highest-paid retiree in the state. The police chief will get more than $411,000.

By Catherine Saillant and Jeff Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times

July 22, 2010

Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, whose nearly $800,000-a-year salary has ignited community protests and calls for his resignation, will become the highest-paid retiree in California’s pension system when he steps down.

Rizzo, whose forced-resignation could come as early as Thursday, would be entitled to a pension of at least $600,000 a year for the rest of his life, according to retirement calculations made by The Times and reviewed by pension experts.

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010 – 07:40 am

Here is an update in the ongoing investigation into alleged inappropriate sexual conduct between members of the Rialto Police Department and employees of the Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen’s Club.

Two more officers have been placed under investigation according to Police Chief Mark Kling.

Read the rest of this entry »

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 20, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

The San Bernardino City Council has armed the city manager with a new weapon in wage negotiations with the police officers union: the threat of furloughs.

City Manager Charles McNeely told the council this week that talks with the San Bernardino Police Officers Association have dragged on longer than expected and asked for authority to impose unpaid furloughs on officers.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 20, 2010

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

Three years ago, San Bernardino police sought to improve response times to emergency calls, which then averaged more than six minutes.

They appeared to be successful. By the end of 2008, department statistics showed that officers were being sent to such incidents in just over four minutes, or 34 percent faster.

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The city manager, his assistant and the police chief will be asked to step down and give up their high salaries. City Council members may reduce their own pay too.

By Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times

July 21, 2010

Bell City Council members are seeking the resignations of the city manager and two other top officials amid growing public outcry over salaries that appear to be among the highest in the nation, according to three sources close to the discussions.

The embattled council directed its attorney to immediately begin negotiating with the three.

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Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/20/2010 08:32:04 PM PDT

REDLANDS – The City Council took the advice of City Manager N. Enrique Martinez and will try to balance the General Fund budget five fiscal years in advance.

Martinez suggested the council direct city staff to prepare a long-range plan to balance the next five budgets instead of focusing on one at a time.

Read the rest of this entry »

Chantal M. Lovell, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/20/2010 07:09:56 PM PDT

The two tea parties in Redlands are beginning a push to make their voices and concerns heard locally.

Members from the Redlands Tea Party Patriots and Redlands Townhall Patriots attended the evening session of Tuesday’s City Council meeting to make it known they do not support a sales tax hike proposed for the November ballot.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Wednesday, Jul. 21, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 3A

The state’s perpetual budget crisis makes headlines, but California’s 5,000 units of local government – counties, cities and school, fire, park and water districts – also are feeling financial pain unseen since the Great Depression.

Stagnant or declining revenues – property and sales taxes and state aid – and unsustainable, sometimes improper, spending have brought many local entities to the brink of insolvency.

Read the rest of this entry »

Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/19/2010 04:58:37 PM PDT

RIALTO – Internal investigators are probing claims that police officers were having sex on duty with employees of a popular strip club on Riverside Avenue, authorities said Monday.

“We’ve got confirmation that employees of the Spearmint Rhino were involved with officers in our department,” Police Chief Mark Kling said.

Read the rest of this entry »

06:47 PM PDT on Monday, July 19, 2010

By PAUL LaROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

Four Rialto police officers have been placed on paid administrative leave after allegations surfaced that they had sex while on duty with Spearmint Rhino waitresses at a police union building.

The officers, whose names were withheld because the personnel investigation is not complete, are among six being investigated, Rialto Police Chief Mark Kling said.

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07:24 PM PDT on Monday, July 19, 2010

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
The Press-Enterprise

The city of Los Angeles agency that owns and operates LAX and Ontario International Airport is reconsidering its efforts to spread air traffic throughout Southern California, considering the loss in passenger traffic at LAX.

“Here we sit on the incredible shrinking airport,” said Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports during her monthly report at a July 14 board of airport commissioner’s meeting.

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Council move puts pressure on contract talks
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/19/2010 07:49:44 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council decided by a single vote Monday to give the city manager authority to impose furloughs on police officers if city negotiators and the police union fail to reach a deal on pay concessions.

City Manager Charles McNeely has no immediate plans to force officers to take time off, he said. He presented the issue diplomatically, but the vote is essentially a decision to play hardball during what may be the closing rounds of negotiations.

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Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/19/2010 05:14:52 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – With the start of school for many city schools two weeks away, the teachers union and district have yet to ink a deal regarding reforms to be used at 11 campuses.

According to Rebecca Harper, president of the San Bernardino Teachers Association, many items are still being negotiated with the San Bernardino City Unified School District regarding the implications of the two models chosen.

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Overtime reduction creates backlog in evidence testing
Wes Woods II, Staff Writer
Created: 07/19/2010 06:19:48 PM PDT

Budget cuts that reduced overtime have slowed the analysis of narcotics evidence by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the police in Pomona and La Verne have noticed the effects.

“Routine narcotics evidence that has been sent to the crime lab has gone from taking a week to taking two to three weeks or sometimes more to get it back,” said Pomona police Sgt. Rob Baker on Monday.

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The developing sex scandal involving at least one, if not several officers within the ranks of the Rialto Police Department, is gaining momentum this evening.

News coming out of Rialto tonight says employees of the Spearmint Rhino club are involved.

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10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, July 18, 2010

By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise

The ink is barely dry on Riverside County’s last election results and filing deadlines for 2011 races are still months away, but interest is already building in the four Riverside City Council seats that are up for election in June.

Voters will choose council members in the odd-numbered wards, seats now occupied by Ward 1 Councilman Mike Gardner, Ward 3 Councilman William “Rusty” Bailey, Ward 5 Councilman Chris Mac Arthur and Ward 7 Councilman Steve Adams.

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Victorville

Agency: Projects look to be ‘defunct’
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/18/2010 09:49:59 PM PDT

VICTORVILLE – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has ordered the city to stop raising money from foreign investors for projects at the Southern California Logistics Airport, which the agency says appear to be defunct.

About $10 million has been raised for the projects USCIS’s EB-5 Regional Center program, which allows foreigners to obtain green cards in exchange for $500,000 investments in the U.S.

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/18/2010 06:49:11 PM PDT

RIALTO – A woman’s allegations that she had sex with a police officer while he was on duty has led Police Chief Mark Kling to place four officers on paid administrative leave while the Police Department investigates misconduct within its ranks.

Nancy Holtgreve, a 37-year-old waitress, said she had sex with Officer James Dobbs three times last year at the Rialto Police Benefit Association’s union building after she clocked off work in the early morning and while Dobbs was on shift for the department.

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Lori Consalvo, Staff Writer
Created: 07/18/2010 02:16:01 PM PDT

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – A search warrant was served at a bail bond business after sheriff’s deputies received word that bail agents were violating solicitation rules.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s detectives and investigators from the Department of Insurance served a search warrant Thursday at Bail Hotline Bail Bonds, 8821 Etiwanda Ave.

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Redlands group says City Council is wasting money
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/18/2010 09:48:58 PM PDT

REDLANDS – Representative of the Redlands Tea Party Patriots plan to attend the City Council meeting Tuesday to speak out against a tax measure.

Tea Party spokeswoman Sandy Ziegler said the council wants to pass the tax to make up for wasted money and that members of the group plan to urge the council to live within its means.

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City Council to focus on deficit Tuesday
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/18/2010 08:59:58 PM PDT

REDLANDS – The city’s budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year still isn’t balanced, and the City Council will meet Tuesday to discuss how to bridge the remaining deficit.

The council approved an unbalanced budget June 22. A deficit of $877,500 remained after the council cut 47 full-time jobs and assumed that voters will approve a proposed sales tax measure that could generate $462,500 for the General Fund.

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Saddled with policies adopted when times were good, many face dire consequences now. San Diego is a case in point.

July 18, 2010|By Tony Perry and Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from San Diego and Sacramento — After losing billions of dollars in recession-wracked investments, public pension funds in California are seeking to pare back the historically generous retirement benefits they provide to government workers, but not without push-back from unions.

About 70 local governments, stretching from Redding to Long Beach, are coming up with new, stingier formulas for calculating pension benefits for future hires.

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July 17, 2010 11:28 AM
Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • The city is prepared to accept three more $500,000 loans from foreign citizens through the federal EB-5 visa investor program, even while the federal government decides whether Victorville’s program will be allowed to continue.

If the council accepts these seventh, eighth and ninth loans, Victorville will have borrowed a total of $4.5 million through the program, which puts aspiring immigrants on the path to citizenship in exchange for a loan that creates at least 10 jobs.

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City adopts resolution supporting controversial immigration legislation
Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/17/2010 07:14:27 AM PDT

HIGHLAND – The line in the sand has grown longer as more jurisdictions begin to publicly express support for Arizona’s polarizing immigration law.

The impending law’s official language states when Arizona law enforcement officers make “any lawful stop, detention or arrest” of a person, that person’s citizenship status must be checked if there’s “reasonable suspicion” that the person is an illegal immigrant.

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10:52 PM PDT on Saturday, July 17, 2010

By ERIN WALDNER
The Press-Enterprise

Due to budget cuts, the Yucaipa-Calimesa school district will not provide transportation to and from school when classes resume in August.

The exception is busing for special education students.

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Plans changed for 11 failing campuses
Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/17/2010 09:31:33 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – School district officials say they are moving ahead with implementing plans to turn around 11 low-achieving elementary, middle and high schools.

But others, ranging from a county board of education member to the mayor’s chief of staff, say they are concerned the reforms, which the district changed in recent weeks, may not be enough.

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THE WEEK

Those are the two things Californians give their elected officials.

By Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times

July 18, 2010

Even a cursory look at events last week was enough to show the concept of “public service” being turned on its ear.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Ethics Commission took up the issue of elected officials getting freebie tickets, in the wake of investigations into Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s acceptance of tickets to dozens of sought-after events, sometimes from companies doing business with his administration.

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July 16, 2010 6:22 PM
Beau Yarbrough

HESPERIA • Politics can stir passions.

But a recent Hesperia Unified School District school board ended prematurely when board members erupted into shouting, name-calling — and even an invitation to throw down.

HUSD school board meetings are scheduled to end by 10:30 p.m., unless board members vote to extend the session longer. Monday night, they voted to stay until the 13 remaining action items were voted upon.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/16/2010 05:51:37 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council may impose police officer furloughs if administrators are unable to reach a concessions deal with the rank-and-file by Monday.

“We put that item on the agenda as a placeholder in case we don’t reach an agreement,” city spokeswoman Heather Gray said.

The looming threat of furloughs is the latest development in a negotiations process that has frustrated San Bernardino Police Officers Association leadership.

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/16/2010 01:39:52 PM PDT

FONTANA – There’s a new leader in City Hall.

Mayor Pro Tem Frank Scialdone was appointed to mayor by a 3-0 City Council vote on Wednesday night as officials moved to fill the seat vacated by Mark Nuaimi, who took a job as city manager in Yucca Valley earlier this month.

Councilwoman Acquanetta Warren said it was her honor to nominate Scialdone to the position.

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Monica Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Created: 07/16/2010 01:14:36 PM PDT

POMONA – A decision on whether to place a parcel tax measure before voters in the Pomona Unified School District in November has been postponed for at least two weeks.

The item was pulled off Wednesday’s Board of Education agenda after a district lawyer determined a public hearing on the item had not been properly noticed, Superintendent Richard Martinez said.

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District Attorney Mike Ramos

The San Bernardino County Sentinel
Friday, July 16, 2010

Former sheriff Gary Penrod accumulated compromising information and materials pertaining to district attorney Mike Ramos which was then utilized to blackmail Ramos and head off an incipient effort by the district attorney’s office to file criminal charges against Penrod pertaining to a host of criminal acts the sheriff was himself involved in.

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10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, July 15, 2010

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
The Press-Enterprise

When San Bernardino International Airport offered incentives to the first four airlines that brought a schedule of flights with them, none wanted to be the first when they could be the third or fourth instead, said airport executive director Don Rogers.

Having offered up to $1 million annually for two years plus $500,000 in marketing and startup costs since September and not getting any takers, airport officials decided to make their offer more exclusive.

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10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, July 15, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

Highland is joining Lake Elsinore and Hemet in supporting Arizona’s controversial anti-illegal-immigration law.

Senate Bill 1070 is a law requiring police in Arizona to investigate the immigration status of those they stop and suspect are in the country unlawfully.

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/15/2010 06:34:03 PM PDT

FONTANA – The City Council approved a resolution Wednesday night against a November ballot proposition that would legalize marijuana for those 21 and over.

Officials passed the resolution against Proposition 19, the so-called Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act, which aims to legalize marijuana use in a similar way as alcohol.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/14/2010 10:06:10 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Second Ward Councilman Jason Desjardins asserted Wednesday that he faces character assassination for opposing proposed tax hikes and City Charter changes.

The attack, Desjardins maintained, includes the revelation that he was investigated – but never charged – for rape and other crimes during his law- enforcement career.

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10:41 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 14, 2010

By GAIL WESSON
The Press-Enterprise

Four of the five San Jacinto City Council members will face a recall election after the Riverside County registrar of voters office certified Wednesday that enough valid signatures had been collected on petitions to trigger an election.

The targets of the recall — Mayor Dale Stubblefield and Councilmen Jim Ayres, John Mansperger and Jim Potts — are defendants in a political corruption case pending in Riverside County court.

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Jason Desjardins

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 13, 2010

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

A San Bernardino councilman now facing questions about how he transported a concealed loaded handgun was investigated for rape and other felonies while working as a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, prosecutors’ records show.

Jason Desjardins, a 36-year-old tow yard owner in San Bernardino, was the focus of 2006 probes by both LAPD and his Sheriff’s Department. In both cases, the LA County district attorney’s office declined to file charges, citing insufficient evidence.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 13, 2010

By DAVID DANELSKI and ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise

The city of Riverside has a spotty record when it comes to providing information sought under the state public records law.

In some instances, city officials appear to go beyond the call of duty to follow the spirit of California Public Records Act, a state law that requires most state and local government records to be disclosed following requests.

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Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 07/13/2010 05:36:06 PM PDT

UPLAND – Arizona’s controversial immigration law has the support of Mayor John Pomierski, but not the rest of the City Council.

A group of anti-illegal immigration activists on Monday requested that the city adopt a resolution supporting Arizona’s law that is set to take effect July 31.

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Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/13/2010 07:39:51 PM PDT

RIALTO – The City Council on Tuesday night voted 4-0 to approve a massive development on the north end.

Lytle Creek Ranch is a 2,447-acre project between the 15 and 210 freeways along Riverside Avenue that will feature parks, schools, retail and more than 8,400 residential units in a development that could see more than 25,000 new residents over the next three decades.

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July 13, 2010 9:27 AM
Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • One council member had no idea the city’s EB-5 investor program was being questioned by federal officials until reading about it in Sunday’s Press Dispatch, reflecting a communication gap she’s been raising concerns about for the last two years.

“I’m tired of it,” Councilwoman JoAnn Almond said by phone Monday, with a promise from City Manager Jim Cox when he returned to Victorville in January 2009 that all five members would always get the same information.

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Rialto asked to consider large housing project

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 12, 2010

Cassie MacDuff

Rialto tonight will consider a housing project along Lytle Creek Wash that it rejected more than a decade ago as leapfrog development that would strain city resources.

The council is poised to vote on Lytle Creek Ranch, a 2,447-acre tract that would quadruple the number of homes allowed south of Glen Helen Regional Park.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 12, 2010

The Press-Enterprise

The city of Redlands has received its seventh consecutive certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its 2008-09 annual financial report.

The association established the honor in 1945 to encourage state and local governments to prepare comprehensive annual financial reports in the spirit of full disclosure, city officials said in a statement.

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San Bernardino City Unified

James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/11/2010 07:54:25 AM PDT

In 1970, three years after Cajon High School opened, San Bernardino was home to about 104,000 residents.

The city’s population would grow by more than 81,000 – about 78 percent – before the San Bernardino City Unified School District built another high school, opening Arroyo Valley High in 2000.

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Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/11/2010 02:42:55 PM PDT

The Fair Political Practices Commission is taking its time to review a matter brought to it by City Councilman Mick Gallagher.

Gallagher had requested a determination as to whether his rental of a Redlands home to his son, Ryan, who works for the city as a firefighter, constitutes a conflict of interest.

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John “JP” Pomierski

Cloud over Upland

Mayor’s future is on the line
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 07/10/2010 07:08:31 AM PDT

UPLAND – Mayor John “JP” Pomierski was elected by Upland voters to save the city from the verge of bankruptcy.

The citizens trusted his abilities as an Upland businessman to lead them to the financial stability the city enjoys now, 10 years later.

But his own business dealings have come under scrutiny by federal investigators. A June 10 raid by FBI and IRS agents on Pomierski’s home, City Hall and two local businesses has left residents questioning the integrity of the mayor who helped pull the city out of its fiscal darkness, and wondering what his future might be.

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Raids by the FBI, IRS came as `big surprise’
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 07/10/2010 07:08:27 AM PDT

UPLAND – A recent raid by FBI and IRS agents at the mayor’s home and City Hall may have some residents wondering who their mayor is.

John “JP” Pomierski has been mayor since 2000. Most of the news coming out of the city has been related to finances and development, but on June 10 the focus changed to Pomierski himself.

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Edward Roski, Jr.

Sponsored bill got special treatment
Karen de Sa, San Jose Mercury News
Created: 07/10/2010 07:08:15 AM PDT

Before Southern California billionaire Edward Roski Jr. could satisfy the Los Angeles region’s craving for the return of pro football, he needed a stadium.

And before that stadium could be built on 592 acres of land in city of Industry on the edge of Diamond Bar, Roski needed to resolve a pair of lawsuits over whether the project complied with the state’s environmental laws.

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10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, July 10, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

The San Bernardino City Council has approved a measure paving the way for the Fire Department to use federal grant funds to pay the salaries and benefits of 12 firefighters for the next two years.

A $2.7 million grant obtained by the Fire Department from the Homeland Security Department’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program could help the city cope with a $24 million shortfall in its budget for the current year.

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Immigration officials question ‘viability’ of city projects
July 10, 2010 8:04 PM
Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • Federal officials intend to halt the city’s efforts to raise much-needed funds through loans from foreign citizens, unless Victorville can convince them it hasn’t misrepresented itself in marketing the program and that projects deemed “defunct” are still viable.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved Victorville’s application as an EB-5 Regional Center in June 2009, allowing the city to solicit $500,000 loans from foreign citizens so long as that money helps create 10 local jobs. In exchange, the aspiring immigrants are put on the fast track to getting U.S. visas.

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District to use turnaround reform
Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/10/2010 10:13:32 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – School district officials have once again revised their plan for turning around 11 low-performing elementary, middle and high schools.

After finding out that several schools on that list had experienced a significant turnover in staff in the last two years, the school board decided last week to go with the turnaround reform instead of making six of the schools district-run charters.

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Victorville stands by airport operations
July 10, 2010 12:04 PM
Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • The runway at Southern California Logistics Airport has perhaps never been busier, with Boeing testing high-profile jumbo jets and a number of major airlines sending grounded planes to Victorville for repainting or temporary storage.

But even as traffic picks up, staffing levels are going down, with the airport’s top two aviation professionals gone and their positions unfilled.

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11:31 PM PDT on Saturday, July 10, 2010

By JEFF HORSEMAN
The Press-Enterprise

The debate over immigration reform is shifting from Washington and Sacramento to Inland city halls.

Frustrated by what they see as the federal government’s failure to address illegal immigration, several city councils have passed resolutions supporting Arizona’s new law, which requires police to investigate the immigration status of those they stop and suspect are in the country unlawfully.

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11:21 PM PDT on Friday, July 9, 2010

By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise

Riverside voters want to see more public facilities improved, but not enough want to pay for it to approve a tax measure, a city-commissioned survey has concluded.

The survey, released Friday, asked 600 registered voters in Riverside their opinions on the $1.57 billion Riverside Renaissance public works program. It asked whether they think more public improvements are needed and if they were willing to tax themselves to pay for more projects.

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Staff Report
Posted: 07/09/2010 08:14:19 PM PDT

San Bernardino Professional Firefighters reported Friday that City Hall has rejected a salary concessions offer.

Firefighters offered givebacks worth $1.6 million from their salaries and $500,000 in benefits, union president Scott Moss said.

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10:00 PM PDT on Friday, July 9, 2010

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

The runway at Rialto Municipal Airport is deserted, with no signs of airplanes landing or taxiing to takeoff.

The only activity is a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department helicopter lifting off, a couple of mechanics working on an airplane in one of the hangars and three stray dogs running around.

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Point of View

Richard Grenell
Created: 07/08/2010 07:52:54 PM PDT

In the aftermath of the announcement that District Attorney Mike Ramos’ team failed miserably to prove that Rex Gutierrez participated in a conspiracy or lied on his time card, there was one little-noticed comment that stood out.

Assistant District Attorney Jim Hackleman, Mike Ramos’ appointed hatchet man, accidentally confirmed a suspicion many San Bernardino County residents had suspected for many months. Hackleman was asked by the media if the DA’s Office would seek a re-trial of their failed and costly conspiracy case and his comments were very telling. Hackleman proved just who was driving this wild political investigation when he said, “We’re going to sit down with our partners in the Attorney General’s office and will thoroughly review and refine our case with them.”

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Rex Gutierrez

08:44 AM PDT on Thursday, July 8, 2010

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

Former San Bernardino County assessor’s official Rex Gutierrez will be retried starting Aug. 30 on corruption charges.

Superior Court Judge Duke Rouse scheduled the new trial at a brief hearing Wednesday. A pre-trial conference will be held Aug 6.

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Gutierrez

A new trial date has been set for Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman and former Assessor employee Rex Gutierrez.

During a status conference yesterday, Superior Court Judge Duke Rouse set a pre-trial hearing for August 6th and a new jury trial for August 30th.

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 7, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

A divided San Bernardino City Council has voted to advance plans to put a half-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot and to hire a consultant to help “educate” voters on the need for its passage.

In a 4-3 vote Tuesday evening, the council ordered City Manager Charles McNeely to prepare ballot documents for final council approval. Council members Jason Desjardins, Chas Kelley and Wendy McCammack were opposed.

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Cassie MacDuff

Who knew serving in city government requires cloak-and-dagger techniques?

Untraceable license plates, concealed weapons, badges to flash: The public servants at Riverside City Hall employed such tools — till the attorney general red-flagged them as illegal.

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July 07, 2010 5:32 PM
Brooke Edwards

VICTORVILLE • Even as the city starts this fiscal year with a balanced budget, officials are advising that Victorville isn’t out of the woods yet.

“I want to caution the council, we are using $4.7 million in reserves in order to balance this budget,” Deputy City Manager Doug Robertson said during the city’s recent budget workshop. “So in essence between now and June 30 of next year we need to see revenue increases and expenditure decreases that equal $4.7 million or we’ll have to make further cuts of some type.”

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Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/07/2010 06:30:15 PM PDT

REDLANDS – With a filing deadline fast approaching, the City Council will likely get a look at a new half-cent sales tax measure during its next meeting.

Councilman Pete Aguilar gave an update this week on the status of the proposed measure. The City Council will review a draft of the measure at its July 20 meeting.

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Says comments were out of context
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/07/2010 09:00:24 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Statistics regularly show that even with the downward trend in crime, this is one of California’s most dangerous cities.

It’s just not always diplomatic for politicians to say so.

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By Joel Fox
Editor of Fox & Hounds and President of the Small Business Action Committee
Wed, July 7th, 2010

Despite Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s success in negotiating some concessions from state unions on the pension front, heated action in the battle for pension reform is happening in California’s cities.

Yesterday, initiative petition signatures were filed in San Francisco to require thousands of city employees to contribute 9% of their salaries towards their pensions and health care plans. Currently, many (but not all) contribute nothing. The initiative would also boost public safety workers contributions to 10% of salaries. Police and firefighters just saw their contributions increased to 9% by voters in the June election.

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 6, 2010

By ALICIA ROBINSON
The Press-Enterprise

While some shows in the Riverside Fox Performing Arts Center’s first season played to sold-out crowds and others had unimpressive ticket sales, many shows had one thing in common: city officials sitting in the audience for free.

Riverside elected officials attended events at the Fox 48 times during the inaugural season, from the Jan. 15 opening gala to a June 5 performance by Bill Cosby, according to information on the city website.

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Ideas for impound yard, charter also inch along
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/06/2010 10:00:47 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council on Tuesday moved toward higher sales taxes and a renewal of last year’s effort to create a city-run impound yard.

Both issues were decided by narrow votes. In another closely divided vote, the council approved language for a City Charter amendment that would give it and the mayor the power to appoint three key city positions.

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10:16 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 6, 2010

By GENE GHIOTTO
The Press-Enterprise

A Lake Elsinore businessman and one of his former employees pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that they conspired to hide the businessman’s involvement in the failed recall attempt of a city councilman.

Michel Knight, owner of Trevi Entertainment Center, and Enelida “Nellie” Caron, who worked at Trevi, entered their pleas before Superior Court Judge Richard Fields in Riverside.

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10:12 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 6, 2010

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise

In the midst of routine public comments at a recent San Bernardino City Council meeting, Councilman Jason Desjardins made an unusual plea.

“If you happened to have smashed the window out of my van on the corner of Genevieve and 40th, please return my stuff,” he said at the June 21 session. “Give it to the police department. I will waive my desire to prosecute. Just give me my stuff back. You know who you are.”

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10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 6, 2010

By JAN SEARS
The Press-Enterprise

The Redlands City Council wrapped up a loose end hanging from the 2010-11 budget with an agreement Tuesday on how to cover the inability of one city fund to pay a nearly $1 million debt.

The public facilities fund, which collects revenue from development impact fees, is obliged each year to pay half of a nearly $2 million bond debt. The bonds were issued in the 1980s to build a corporate yard, fire station and parking garage and to improve A.K. Smiley Library.

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Officials watch Sacramento for more takeaways
Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 07/05/2010 09:00:19 PM PDT

RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Three weeks after the city passed a $91.8 million budget, city leaders approved a number of measures to address recent budgetary changes, which include a $1.4 million hit due to the outcome of the San Bernardino County sheriff’s contract negotiations.

Last week, the City Council approved the allocation of $150,000 in law enforcement reserves to facilitate schedule changes proposed by the Sheriff’s Department. City leaders also directed staff members to draft a contingency plan to prepare for possible loss of redevelopment funds and to strengthen funding for employees pension reserves.

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Budget woes force layoffs, cutbacks
Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/05/2010 08:06:23 PM PDT

REDLANDS – The Police Department fared worse than other city departments in a series of job cuts and layoffs.

However, they refuse to take it lying down.

The Police Department eliminated a total of 21 jobs – including 15 through layoffs.

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10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 5, 2010

By JAN SEARS
The Press-Enterprise

Fees for services provided by the city of Redlands — from animal adoptions to building permits — likely will be going up in the next few months.

The issue of fee increases came up in June, during a long series of budget meetings, when the City Council narrowed the deficit from almost $9 million to about $877,000.

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Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 07/05/2010 08:06:26 PM PDT

ONTARIO – Time has mended the once rocky relationship Mayor Paul Leon had with Councilmen Alan Wapner and Jim Bowman.

What once was a visible rift between the council members and the mayor has turned into a professional, working relationship.

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Touting their value

Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/05/2010 07:02:52 AM PDT

FONTANA – Despite criticism from some that redevelopment agencies are little more than corporate welfare centers for well-connected developers, city officials are quick to tout their value, especially when their’s is among the wealthiest in the state.

“For this community, it is our primary tool to create jobs, build infrastructure and to bring growth to the area,” City Manager Ken Hunt said.

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