If Grand Terrace eliminates a service specialist and cuts detective hours, it’ll save but maintain service

BY DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
STAFF WRITER
dsantschi@pe.com

Published: 26 February 2012 06:59 PM

Grand Terrace could cut back two law enforcement positions without increasing the risk of crime, a San Bernardino County sheriff’s lieutenant says.

Lt. Steve Dorsey, who serves as chief law enforcement officer in Grand Terrace under a $1.6 million contract with the Sheriff’s Department, outlined his recommendation during a recent City Council workshop.

Dorsey said that eliminating the presently vacant job of sheriff’s service specialist and cutting the hours of a detective in half would save the financially pinched city $202,000 a year.

In both cases, he emphasized, the department would fill in gaps as necessary with employees assigned to other areas of the county.

“We are a family in the Sheriff’s Department, so if there is an incident … we are going to throw the amount of resources at it that’s necessary. I think it’s a good option for you to consider,” Dorsey said.

He said the detective could be shared with another contract city.

The service specialist organizes neighborhood watches and other crime-prevention programs and takes some crime reports to save time for patrol deputies.

“I know there are some concerns with the crime prevention and the volunteers” handled by the specialist, he told the council. “As I stated before, we are going to make sure that is taken care of. We are doing that now.”

Councilman Bernardo Sandoval voiced concern about law enforcement at the new Grand Terrace High School, scheduled to open in August.

To read entire story, click here.

BY DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
STAFF WRITER
dsantschi@pe.com

Published: 20 February 2012 09:15 PM

Disincorporating Grand Terrace would not wipe away the cash-strapped city’s bills.

City Manager Betsy M. Adams warned City Council members at a workshop session recently that the agency that oversees boundary changes in San Bernardino County would require Grand Terrace voters to approve a tax measure to pay any outstanding city debts before agreeing to disincorporate the town.

That means voters would have to agree to tax themselves to make up a deficit of at least $1.7 million and pay off more than $3 million the city borrowed from its now-defunct redevelopment agency.

Adams showed council members a 13-page research paper she was provided by the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission, which had been approached by a resident inquiring about the subject.

She said the agency “wanted to make sure that the city understands that if it were to consider (disincorporation) at some point in time, that it’s not an easy process. Also, to make us be aware that LAFCO is already looking at it.”

Adams and some council members insist that the city is not seriously considering disincorporating despite widespread rumors.

“It never really was on the table,” Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz said in a telephone interview.

To read entire story, click here.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/26/2011 07:47:46 PM PDT

RIALTO – One well serving residents more than a decade ago might have delivered concentrations of perchlorate high enough to affect the development of fetuses, infants and children, state officials say.

But a new study says that drinking water supplied to residents currently by the Rialto-based West Valley Water District, the city of Rialto, the city of Colton and the Colton-based Terrace Water Co. is safe to drink and doesn’t put people at risk for health problems.

The study, a draft report open for public comment, is called “Evaluation of Exposure to Contamination at the BF Goodrich Superfund Site” in Rialto. It will be discussed by California public health officials at a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Rialto Senior Center, 1411 S. Riverside Ave.

The BF Goodrich site is a one-quarter mile area north of Rialto, where from 1952 to the mid-1980s, several companies made fireworks and different explosive devices, using among other chemicals, perchlorate and trichloroethylene.

Over time, these chemicals leaked out of pits where they had been dumped and into the groundwater of the Rialto-Colton basin, which serves a portion of the water needs of five water agencies.

Monitoring water supplies for perchlorate began in 1997.

The draft of the state Public Health Department study said that some drinking water supplied by the West Valley Water District’s Well No. 22, when it was used in the years 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988, may have had amounts of perchlorate that could have been high enough to modestly impair iodine absorption by the thyroid gland.

This could potentially have lowered the levels of thyroid hormones in fetuses, infants and children below the amounts necessary for healthy development.

But state officials no longer believe that is the case.

On learning of the report, Anthony Araiza, general manager of the West Valley Water District, wrote state health officials that Well No. 22 was blended with water from other sources, including Lytle Creek.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/13/2011 10:01:02 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – After nearly five months of closed-door negotiations, the city agreed Tuesday night to pay almost $2.3 million owed to the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.

Grand Terrace learned of the debt in May, after the water district realized that in fiscal years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, the county Auditor, Controller and Treasurer’s Office used the wrong formula to calculate the amount Grand Terrace’s redevelopment agency needed to pay to the district.

Despite early agreement on the basics of a repayment plan, details were repeatedly changed because of a law abolishing all California redevelopment agencies – which was passed in June, along with another law allowing cities to pay to maintain the agencies, then stayed by the state Supreme Court – said City Manager Betsy Adams.

“This is an item that’s been in closed session a long time, and some ancillary issues still are but we can now report the debt and that the water district gave us 10 years to repay it,” Adams said. “It was extremely generous of them to do so, and I think it’s important for that to be publicly acknowledged.”

The court’s stay prevents redevelopment agencies from entering into new agreements, so the council – which also sits as the board of the redevelopment agency – agreed to repay the debt out of city funds.

The debt was discovered as Grand Terrace grappled with a $50,000 general fund deficit. Finances remain extremely tight in the city.

To read entire story, click here.

Derry

Friday, September 2, 2011 – 09:20 a.m.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry today announced that his campaign has received the endorsement of four respected local elected officials.

Loma Linda Mayor Rhodes “Dusty” Rigsby, Grand Terrace Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz, Loma Linda Mayor Pro Tem Ovidiu Popescu and Loma Linda Councilmember Phill Dupper have endorsed Neil Derry’s re-election as Third District Supervisor.

Each of the four elected leaders praised Derry for his responsiveness to the needs of local residents.

“These four elected officials are all effective leaders for their communities. I am honored to earn their endorsements and active support for my re-election to the County Board,” said Derry. “Together we have built an outstanding working relationship to address regional concerns and oppose local revenue grabs by the politicians in Sacramento.”

The new endorsements come on the heels of Derry receiving support from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and State Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-Twin Peaks).

A United States Marine and former local City Councilman, Supervisor Neil Derry won election to the Board of Supervisors in 2008 by defeating an incumbent. During his first term, Neil authored the County’s new sunshine ordinance and is leading the fight for a County Ethics Commission to combat corruption.

Derry is being challenged by San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos.

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 10, 2011

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
Staff Writer dsantchi@pe.com

The Grand Terrace City Council is making it official and will pay the state in order to restart the city’s redevelopment agency.

The council voted 5-0 Tuesday night to give final approval to an ordinance restarting the agency in 30 days, but will have to make what Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz called “extortion payments” to the state.

Two new state laws require local redevelopment agencies to either shut down redevelopment, used to fund public improvements, or voluntarily turn over a large chunk of redevelopment revenue to help balance the state budget.

Grand Terrace has joined in a lawsuit filed on behalf of redevelopment agencies throughout California challenging the constitutionality of the two state laws.

To read entire story, click here.

Citing family needs, she takes Upland job
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/03/2011 04:25:17 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – Brenda Mesa is resigning as city clerk, saying she took a part-time position with the city of Upland so she can work closer to home.

“My son is getting ready to start school,” said Mesa, 45, an Upland resident. “He’s starting kindergarten, and I want to be close to his school.”

Mesa submitted her resignation Monday, and her last day will be Aug. 11. She has been the clerk since 1992.

Her resignation comes a month after the City Council laid off Assistant City Clerk Tracey Martinez to help balance its budget and follows recent departures by other longtime employees.

“We went a lot of years without turnover, and I think it’s just (coincidence),” Mesa said. “My decision has everything to do with my family and nothing to do with the city.”

Martinez will return to fill the city clerk position until a permanent replacement is found, said Community and Economic Development Director Joyce Powers, who is in charge of city operations this week while City Manager Betsy Adams is on vacation.

To read entire story, click here.

City will appeal payment to state
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/27/2011 03:30:39 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – Calling the Redevelopment Agency a vital revenue source, City Council members have agreed to pay the state more than $2.8 million in what they consider “extortion payments” to keep access to the agency and also hired a consultant to appeal the payment amount.

Tuesday evening’s actions follow votes by the state Legislature that abolished redevelopment agencies but allowed them to be reinstated by cities that pay their share of revenue the state thinks it would bring in by abolishing them.

Based on state formulas, the California Redevelopment Association estimates Grand Terrace will have to pay $2.8 million in fiscal year 2011-12 and $670,745 every year afterward, but City Manager Betsy Adams thinks the city could knock that number down to about $2 million this year and $550,000 in the future.

To potentially save that money, the council agreed to pay as much as $14,560 to Santa Ana-based Rosenow Spevacek Group to prepare an appeal to the California Department of Finance.

The council vote to appeal the amount was 4-1. Councilman Gene Hays, an attorney, said he voted against it because he didn’t think it was worth the cost.

“It’s an appeal based on data, data that we probably already have,” he said. “I’ve seen some very difficult appeals done for less, so I don’t see this as a $14,000 appeal – especially when we’re talking about someone who’s probably going to deny it because it’s political.”

To read entire story, click here.

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 20, 2011

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

Grand Terrace may have to surrender $2.8 million to the state of California this year and more than $670,000 a year in the future to keep the city’s redevelopment agency alive.

The City Council voted preliminary approval July 12 of an ordinance re-starting the agency after state budget legislation abolished local redevelopment agencies. The state left the door open to reinstate them on a voluntary basis, provided local governments pay the state hefty shares of the money they raise.

The Grand Terrace council is expected to take up final approval of the ordinance Tuesday.

City Manager Betsy Adams told the council that Grand Terrace will appeal the $2,850,665 amount it owes this year to the state’s Director of Finance, who could rule on the appeal by Sept. 15 and has the option of extending the deadline another month.

The city is also hoping the state legislation will be overturned by the courts as a result of a lawsuit filed on behalf of local redevelopment agencies.

“This is a money grab. That’s all this is,” Grand Terrace Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz told his fellow council members. “The state is extorting $2.8 million out of Grand Terrace.”

He said that without redevelopment, 22 cents on every tax dollar paid by Grand Terrace residents would come to the city. With redevelopment, 64 cents comes to the city, he said.

Councilman Bernardo Sandoval said that if the state wanted to abolish redevelopment for the benefit of taxpayers, it would have lowered property taxes to refund the money.

To read entire story, click here.

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

The Grand Terrace City Council is looking to lift restrictions on the posting of campaign signs.

The council voted July 12 to give preliminary approval to a new city ordinance regulating political signs. Final approval will come with its second reading, as early as Tuesday.

The changes were made at the urging of the city attorney, who said the current rules violate First Amendment rights by limiting length of time signs are posted and their height and requiring a city permit to put them up.

The new ordinance would repeal provisions enacted in 1990.

Those provisions forbid candidates from posting signs earlier than 30 days before an election, limit the signs’ overall height to 6 feet above grade, and require candidates to obtain a permit that includes a map showing the sign’s location.

A $50 permit fee required by the ordinance “would restrict persons that were not able to pay the fee,” Community and Economic Development Director Joyce Powers wrote in a report to the council.

Court rulings since the current ordinance was adopted suggest that Grand Terrace’s rules could be successfully challenged in court, the report said.

To read entire story, click here.

Sunday, July 17, 2011 – 11:30 a.m.

A scathing report the San Bernardino County Grand Jury dropped the San Bernardino International Airport Authority (SBIAA) back on June 28 will most likely have an unintended consequence.

The report, which has received wide-spread attention in the news media and on the Internet, will likely attract federal attention.

And it’s attention which is likely warranted.

The SBIAA has received millions of dollars in federal support, giving rise to the strong possibility of inquiry or investigation.

The voluminous report list several damning practices.

And one of the many troubling allegation involves San Bernardino Mayor Patrick Morris. Morris also acts as Chairman of SBIAA.

Page 2-26 of an audit report commissioned by the Grand Jury, and performed by the well-respected Harvey M. Rose Associates, reveals an alarming practice involving Morris, a licensed attorney and former Superior Court Judge.

The section titled Commission Chair’s Level of Involvement in Funding Process Unusual reads as follows:

The chair of the Commission has been given an active role in the approval of Terminal Development and FBO (meaning Fixed Based Operations) project expenses, normally reserved for staff-level positions who had substantial capital project experience and knowledge of the details of the project. Under the fund control process set up for the two projects, three signatures are required before the fund control agency can issue checks to the payees. One of these signatures must be from a representative of the developer, a second signature must be from the IVDA/SBIAA (the Interim Executive Director, Assistant Director, or Chief Financial Officer), and a third signature must come from a Chair of the SBIAA Commission/IVDA Board or from the Vice-Chair of the Commission. A review of a sample of Terminal and FBO project payment vouchers has found that the Chair of the SBIAA Commission has approved the vast majority of expenses submitted. Further, there is no evidence that the Chief Financial Officer approved any of the expense vouchers for either project.

The SBIAA’s response to the report, so far, has been to call the document a hit piece and rebuke it by saying it misrepresents facts.

If the saying, where there’s smoke, there’s fire, holds true. Then the situation at the SBIAA is a volcano.

The big question here is how did a well-intentioned endeavour get so far off course and become basically a black hole for taxpayer money?

Another question is when did Morris obtain the training and experience necessary to exercise such power over project review and disbursements?

The likely answer to this question is he didn’t.

The Cities of Highland, Grand Terrace, and Loma Linda and the County of San Bernardino all sit on the governing commission and all bare responsibility.

It’ll be interesting to see what familiar names are tied to the SBIAA money machine behind the scenes.

Developing………….

Changes could help campaigns
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/13/2011 08:18:09 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – In what some are framing as a battle between freedom of speech and freedom of vision, the City Council will decide whether to remove restrictions on the posting of political signs that court rulings indicate could run afoul of the First Amendment.

“This has been an illegal ordinance for a long time,” said Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz of the restrictions.

“I kind of feel like it is my job to keep us from getting sued for stupid things.”

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to hold a meeting to decide the issue, which Stanckiewitz said will take place July 26 or Aug. 9.

Based on court decisions since the original city ordinance was passed, three sections that limit political speech more than commercial speech appear unconstitutional, according to City Attorney John Harper.

The proposed replacement ordinance removes restrictions on how long before an election people may post signs about a candidate or issue, previously limited to 30 days.

It also cuts requirements that signs be placed six feet above grade and issued a permit, because the $50 permit fee poses a potential burden.

Signs still cannot be larger than 16 square feet, cannot block the public right of way or “obstruct visibility,” and must be removed by 10 days after an election.

But they still can be an eyesore, said Doug Wilson, chairman of the Planning Commission, who voted against the proposed changes when they came before that body.

“I don’t think it makes the city a better place,” Wilson said.

To read entire story, click here.

2011-12 spending plan includes $533,692 in cuts
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/29/2011 08:58:05 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – It’s not the budget city officials hoped for, but it’s the one they expected and one they can live with.

After the third consecutive week of reviewing a set of proposed cuts and hearing updates on state budget developments that play a big part in the city’s plans, the City Council voted Tuesday night to accept a package of cuts as part of a balanced budget.

The city cut $533,692 by removing positions, reducing programs and consolidating services. That leaves it with a surplus of $290,793 in its General Fund for fiscal year 2011-12, which begins Friday.

City staffers, council members and citizens had repeatedly reviewed the city budget because they were unsure how decisions made by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature would affect the city.

Council members said that led to a grudging acceptance of the necessary cuts, which they approved unanimously.

“The thought is, (let’s) move forward with all this that there’s some comfort level with, even though it’s very painful,” Councilwoman LeeAnn Garcia said. “Whatever the dangers that are going to hit our city, I know we’ll weather it together.”

The city cut the position of the deputy city clerk, a longtime city employee, and a management analyst from the Community Development Department. It also ended city sponsorship of events like Grand Terrace Community Days, reduced maintenance of parks and City Hall and merged several departments.

On the heels of a report showing most categories of crime declining in the city, they also cut a traffic deputy position and will share a patrol deputy with Loma Linda.

Also, a patrol deputy’s hours might be cut in half, to 20 hours a week, if funding is not found through the state Community Oriented Policing Services grant.

To read entire story, click here.

Budget efforts hit with uncertainty
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/22/2011 06:34:25 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – After its second budget-specific meeting in as many weeks, the City Council still isn’t sure what cuts it will have to make to pass a balanced budget at its meeting Tuesday evening.

Council members have accepted a framework they think will allow them to close what had been a $553,116 deficit in the General Fund – out of nearly $5 million in yearly spending – by cutting programs and positions.

But the small city’s budget hinges on plans at the state and county level, where city officials have been watching for signs of stability.

“I’m a problem-solver,” said Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz. “If I know what the problem is, I’ll work to find a solution…but this is `it could be this problem, it could be this problem, it could be this problem.”‘

Grand Terrace, which collects very little sales tax revenue, leans heavily on its Redevelopment Agency.

City Manager Betsy Adams has said she doesn’t know another city equally dependent on redevelopment dollars – making Grand Terrace particularly susceptible to plans to eliminate the agencies statewide.

An alternative bill, requiring cities and counties to pay to continue using the agencies, would also leave the city ineligible for $300,000 it otherwise expects.

That loss would go into effect for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 if Gov. Jerry Brown signs the bill by June 30, and the following year if he signs it after that date.

Adding another wrinkle, the city’s contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement depends on a Community Oriented Policing Services grant that might be cut, and the city’s contract cost will likely increase either 2percent or 6percent, depending on negotiations between the deputies’ union and the county.

The results of the union’s vote on the 2 percent increase are expected by June 30.

Despite such uncertainties like these, Adams modified a consultant’s recommendations and presented eight of them to the council.

In a meeting Tuesday, the council accepted six. Those changes save an estimated $415,288 by:

# Removing a traffic deputy position.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/25/2011 05:08:06 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – A presentation on how to rebuild the city’s budget to escape what a consultant called serious financial trouble was delayed about 10 minutes Tuesday evening – when the lights went out at City Hall.

“These are not part of the cutbacks,” joked Councilman Bernardo Sandoval.

But it might get to that point if changes aren’t made soon, according to consultant Jim Simon of Santa Ana-based Rosenow Spevacek Group Inc.

The city is facing a projected deficit of about $550,000, about 10 percent of the General Fund, for the fiscal year beginning July 1. That figure is expected to balloon to $1 million for 2015-16, if no changes are made.

“You’re not at a point where this is insurmountable,” Simon said, “but you are at a point that a lot of cities have been at a crossroads and made the wrong decision.”

If the city doesn’t enact some combination of service cuts and increased taxes, he said, the city will run out of money by 2015.

Simon recommended rethinking the budget by dividing it into three priority levels: legally required functions; services the city considers essential, such as business development; and optional services.

“It’s not about deciding what line items are we going to delete but what’s most important, next and next,” he said.

Projections of rising costs for services such as law enforcement – 70percent of the city’s budget – show the city will need to raise more money if it wants to keep service levels above what unincorporated communities receive from the county.

It’s something people have said about the bedroom community since it incorporated.

“It’s true what was said back in 1978: You really have no other sources of revenue,” Simon said. “The city’s gotten by for years doing things – pulling money from reserves, relying on redevelopment – that quite frankly are not sustainable.”

Grand Terrace, which has very few businesses, draws heavily from its Redevelopment Agency to fund many basic functions – including part of the salary of 13 of the city’s 20 full-time employees.

But the agency expires in 2034, and Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed eliminating all redevelopment agencies this year.

“Redevelopment loss would be catastrophic,” Simon said.

But the city does have bright spots, including a small employee roster that saves it from the ballooning pension costs crippling many other cities.

And it still has until July 1 to incorporate Simon’s suggestions into a working budget.

City Council members, who had warned about the city’s financial situation before hiring a consultant for $25,000, said they want residents to tell them which services they consider essential.

To read entire story, click here.

GRAND TERRACE – The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency board, has authorized up to $29 million in bonds, which officials hope to use on infrastructure to lift the city’s stagnant tax base.

The bonds can’t be used to cover the city’s General Fund deficit, projected at about $550,000 – 10 percent of that fund – and also projected to increase in the coming years if no changes are made.

But as consultant Jim Simon of the Santa Ana-based Rosenow Spevacek Group told council members on Tuesday evening after they voted unanimously to authorize the bonds, the shortfall can’t be met entirely by cutting expenses in the bedroom community.

The money from this bond could attract businesses to help increase the city’s tax base, said Community and Economic Development Director Joyce Powers.

“We’re primarily interested in building new infrastructure for the city that would allow us to build new revenue,” Powers said.

The money is intended for road widening, storm and street rehabilitation and hill stabilization, according to Powers’ report.

She also listed infrastructure projects in the southwest area of the city, east of the 215 Freeway between De Berry Street and Pico Street.

Public Works Director Richard Shields filled in some details, such as a plan to expand Michigan Avenue so it can function as a secondary highway and handle increased traffic from the opening of Grand Terrace High School, expected in August 2012.

But resident Sylvia Robles said she wasn’t sure how such “nebulous” projects would help raise money.

To read entire story, click here.

Water bill error cited in new debt
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/23/2011 05:02:54 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – County auditors report that the city owes more than $2 million to the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, worsening an already precarious budget and possibly imperiling efforts to sell bonds for city projects.

In fiscal years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, the office of the county auditor, controller and treasurer used the wrong formula to calculate the amount owed by two redevelopment agencies, including Grand Terrace’s, that were created before 1989, according Matt Brown, spokesman for the county office.

The other agency that should have had its apportionment computed differently – the Inland Valley Development Agency – owes more than $6.5 million to the water district, according to county records.

“Ultimately, it was human error,” Brown said. “Obviously, we accept responsibility.”

Brown said county staff had been shuffled and an additional supervisor assigned to prevent such oversights in the future, and re-checking entries confirmed that the error only involved the two redevelopment agencies during those two years.

That leaves Grand Terrace to negotiate a repayment schedule for its newly discovered nearly $2.3 million debt, even as the city struggles to close a deficit in its general fund of roughly $50,000 and growing – equal to about 10percent of that fund.

The payment won’t come out of Grand Terrace’s general fund – the Redevelopment Agency is a separate city-controlled entity – but it further limits options for a city that is scheduled to review a plan at tonight’s City Council meeting that recommends severe cuts.

Most of the city’s redevelopment revenues were committed to projects early this year, a tactic council members described at the time as a prudent move in light of Gov. Jerry Brown’s plans to disestablish California’s redevelopment agencies and honor only existing debts as part of his efforts to balance the state budget.

The status of that plan, which many in the state Legislature opposed, is still undecided.

Worse, according to Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz, is that the error was announced just before the city planned to issue up to $29million in bonds to finance public infrastructure improvements.

“The timing was really bad,” Stanckiewitz said. “We’re trying to put together a bond offering and this pops up, which we had to make public.”

Generally, investors demand higher rates on bonds when cities have higher debts. That means less money in the city’s pocket.

To read entire story, click here.

By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 04/28/2011 06:44:24 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE – City Attorney John Harper, who has provided legal advice for the city since it incorporated and served as city attorney since 1988, resigned Thursday.

The resignation takes effect July 1.

The announcement follows two City Council votes that affected Harper’s role, culminating with a decision Tuesday night to ask for proposals from other firms interested in offering a new city attorney.

“I’ve been here for a long time, and I love Grand Terrace and the residents,” Harper said.

The City Council voted April 12 to select a new firm – Straddling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth – to serve as bond counsel. Harper had performed that job, which includes advising the city’s redevelopment agency about whether to issue bonds, while serving as counsel to the redevelopment agency and city attorney.

That switch inspired a broader search, said Councilman Bernardo Sandoval.

In his resignation letter, Harper offered to continue serving at his current rate of $145 per hour or a retainer of $5,000 per month until a replacement is found, but he thought it was in the city’s best interests for him to leave.

“The purpose of this resignation is to avoid having the selection of the city attorney become an issue which will detract from the progress of a city which I love very much in meeting its current challenges,” he wrote.

In the last few years, a series of irregularities have come to light in Grand Terrace.

But Harper, who is a partner at Harper & Burns and also serves as city attorney in Norco, said those issues were not his responsibility.

To read entire story, click here.

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

The Grand Terrace City Council will consider lifting restrictions on the posting of campaign signs.

The council voted this week to hold a public hearing on changes recommended by the city attorney, who contends that limits on the length of time signs are posted, their height and requiring a city permit to put them up violate First Amendment constitutional rights.

Community and Economic Development Director Joyce Powers said she expects the hearing to be held May 24.

A change in the city’s political sign regulations would repeal provisions enacted in 1990.

Those provisions forbid candidates from posting signs earlier than 30 days before an election, limit their overall height to 6 feet above grade and require candidates to obtain a city permit that includes a map showing the location of the sign.

A $50 permit fee required by the ordinance “would restrict persons that were not able to pay the fee,” Powers wrote in a report to the council.

The report, presented to the council Tuesday, said that court rulings since the ordinance was passed suggest that Grand Terrace’s ordinance could be successfully challenged in court.

To read entire story, click here.

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.

“If our RDA goes away, there’s a strong possibility that our city as we know it will go away,” he said. “That’s one of the options. You’re looking at us cutting back to providing just the services that we are required by law to provide as a municipality or a chartered city.”

That’s because, for decades, administrators engineered the city’s day-to-day operations to qualify for redevelopment funds, which were more plentiful than ordinary tax revenues.

“This city has always relied heavily on the RDA for operation purposes, and I think that going forward that’s something that has to be a priority is weaning off of that,” said City Manager Betsy Adams.

While Adams backs away from talk of disincorporation, saying her staff is preparing contingency budgets that would allow the city to eke by, the city may not have much time.

By Adams’ estimate, Grand Terrace – which already runs at a slight deficit – would lose a net $900,000 it had counted on as “operating expenses” for Fiscal Year 2011-2012 if Gov. Jerry Brown proposal to abolish redevelopment agencies goes through.

More than half of that money goes toward personnel, with 13 of the city’s 20 full-time employees – plus City Attorney John Harper – receiving 25 percent to 50 percent of their pay from redevelopment funds, based on the portion of their job the city logs as redevelopment-related.

Cutting compensation by half might lead many to leave their jobs, Adams said, even if the work load also dropped.

But if expenses aren’t cut, the loss of $900,000 would eat up 20 percent of the General Fund reserve each year.

Even critics of redevelopment agencies acknowledge that Brown’s proposal could devastate Grand Terrace.

“Unless they find some other way of coping, it doesn’t look good,” said Karen Renfro, who heads Riverside Grassroots Redevelopment Abolitionists and closely studies Grand Terrace. “I think Grand Terrace is like an addict that woke up in the gutter one day and discovered they don’t want to be down here anymore and don’t have any means of support.”

She said she sympathizes with residents but that money shouldn’t be taken from county schools – one of the main places taxes are diverted from to fund redevelopment – because Grand Terrace residents formed a city without the tax base to support one.

“That’s not what redevelopment is for,” Renfro said. “Redevelopment is for – and this is absurd, too – stimulating the local economy.”

City leaders partly agree.

Since taking the city’s reins in December 2009, Adams said, she’s had two priorities: minimizing dependence on its Redevelopment Agency, which was already set to expire in 2024, and paying back $4.6 million in redevelopment loans that officials say her predecessor used to balance the General Fund.

The city has reduced that debt to about $3.5million, mainly by re-classifying old projects, but Stanckiewitz – whose 2010 election campaign included frequent criticism of what he called redevelopment abuse – said the city can’t simultaneously re-pay it and lose its Redevelopment Agency.

“We are by no means to be considered a poster child for why redevelopment should continue because of what has gone on in the past,” Stanckiewitz said. “But we are saying we have discovered it, we are in the process of fixing it, and we can’t fix it if everything goes away instantly. It needs to go away in an intelligent manner that allows us to survive.”

To read entire story, click here.

By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 02/25/2011 03:48:03 PM PST

GRAND TERRACE – A month-long review of more than a decade of decisions has chipped more than $1million off what was once a $4.6million debt.

The city owes the money to its Redevelopment Agency, a city-controlled body that former City Manager Tom Schwab often borrowed from to balance the city’s general fund, officials said.

After resigning for medical reasons in 2009, Schwab told the City Council he intended to dissolve the Redevelopment Agency without paying back the debt, a plan that current officials say would not work.

Instead, City Manager Betsy Adams and her staff have been poring over documents to find projects paid for out of the General Fund that could have qualified for redevelopment funding.

If the agency had initially paid for the city’s $819,235 road project, the city would not have needed to use General Fund money and then borrow from the redevelopment fund to cover other General Fund expenses.

So, after running the idea by the city’s auditor, attorney and the California Redevelopment Association, the City Council voted to use redevelopment money retroactively for the project and lower its debt.

The accounting move has shrunk the debt to about $3.5million, when combined with Tuesday’s repayment of a loan in the other direction – $267,622 left over from 2003, when the Redevelopment Agency borrowed from the city and only partially repaid it.

Minimal documentation from the time makes it unclear why the agency borrowed city money, reversing Grand Terrace’s usual trend, or why the loan was not repaid.

“They started paying it off, so it’s clear they intended to,” Adams said. “It’s not clear whether, perhaps, they lost track of it.”

Adams said her search leaves her confident there are no other loans that haven’t been paid off. But there may be other opportunities to inch down the debt.

“We’re still working through that, and there’s probably at least one more item to do,” Adams said.

To read entie story, click here.

10:00 PM PST on Wednesday, February 23, 2011

By JAN SEARS
The Press-Enterprise

Redevelopment money intended for a five-year economic development agreement between Grand Terrace and Stater Bros. was safeguarded by the City Council on Tuesday.

The council voted unanimously to appropriate about $1.2 million of the Community Development Agency’s non-housing funds to pay for incentive programs the city and Stater Bros. agreed to last September.

“We’re doing what many agencies are doing because we don’t know where the state will end up,” Grand Terrace Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz said Wednesday.

Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed eliminating redevelopment agencies throughout the state and spending their money — possibly as much as $3 billion — on courts, health care for the poor and schools.

“There is so much uncertainty about redevelopment, and this incentive package spans five years,” Stanckiewitz said. “We said. ‘Let’s just set it aside now.’ ”

The city reached the incentive agreement with Stater Bros. about five months ago, before Brown was elected.

The grocery chain has begun construction of a store on Barton Road and eventually plans to create a shopping center at the site called Town Square.

The project will create about 140 construction jobs and 77 permanent full-time jobs. The city has agreed to pay Stater Bros. $2,500 per job, or up to $192,500 per year over five years, a staff report states.

The city also plans to use as many as 45 parking spaces at the site for a park-and-ride site, for which it will pay Stater Bros. $49,000 per year, the report states.

“We’ve noticed that Barton Road has become increasingly heavy with traffic,” said Joyce Powers, the city’s community and economic development director.

The park-and-ride lot would offer commuters a safe place to leave a vehicle and carpool to work. The city hasn’t yet worked out whether commuters would park for free or pay a fee, Powers said.

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GRAND TERRACE – Gene Hays, an immigration attorney with no government experience, will be sworn in today as the fifth member of the City Council.

The council members voted 3-1 on Tuesday to select Hays after interviewing 13 applicants.

“I’m looking forward to rolling my sleeves up and getting down to business,” Hays said.

Several residents had expressed fear that the open seat, held by Walt Stanckiewitz until he was elected mayor in November, would lead to repeated 2-2 stalemates until the next election in 2012.

And at first, the council appeared to be headed down that path, as eight successive candidates were nominated, then failed either for lack of a second or in a 2-2 split with Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz and Councilman Bernardo Sandoval on one side and councilwomen LeeAnn Garcia and Darcy McNaboe on the other.

Sandoval then proposed voting again on Hays, who was originally nominated by McNaboe, and all but Garcia approved.

Garcia and Hays said afterward they were focused on the future, not the nomination.

“I look forward to working with you,” Garcia told Hays after the meeting. “I was unable to support you, as I really do not know you.”

Hays said finances were the council’s biggest challenge, exacerbated by contracts where he said the city had not protected its interests.

To read entire story, click here.

GRAND TERRACE – A fifth member could join the City Council this evening, preventing what many say would otherwise be a 2-2 deadlock for the next two years.

But first, current members will interview the 14 applicants for the position and agree on a future colleague.

The field includes familiar faces from the 2010 election – council candidates Sylvia Robles and Tom Schwab and mayoral candidate Doug Wilson – as well former Councilman Herman Hilkey.

Most of the remaining applicants are relative newcomers to the city’s political scene, including many who have not spoken at a City Council meeting in at least the last year, according to the minutes of those meetings.

“There are some very good candidates, and I can honestly say there’s a bunch of them I don’t even know, so I can tell you they’re not a part of a voting bloc of mine,” Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz said.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/22/2010 08:13:31 PM PST

GRAND TERRACE – After lengthy debate, the City Council has voted to accept applications for an open seat on the council.

The 3-1 decision, with Councilwoman Lee Ann Garcia dissenting, came following extended discussions at a special meeting Tuesday and the previous week, when the City Council delayed the decision to avoid an apparent 2-2 stalemate over whether to hold a special election or appoint someone.

“Everybody was surprised that we were able to come together,” Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz said afterward. “See, we can agree. People shouldn’t be afraid that one group is trying to get power over the other.”

Many of the citizens advocating for an election had expressed concern that the four council members would be unable to agree on a fifth member. Some also worried that if they chose the most-recommended appointment suggestion – Sylvia Robles, who lost in November by 1 percent – she would align with Stanckiewitz and Councilman Bernardo Sandoval to overpower the remaining two council members.

Others said allowing the council to choose its own member was undemocratic.

But the majority of residents said the city could not afford an election, which the registrar of voters said would cost $31,000 to $50,000.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/19/2010 06:08:19 PM PST

GRAND TERRACE – The City Council will decide whether to elect or appoint the fifth member of the body at a special meeting starting at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The council was scheduled to decide how to fill the seat, which opened up when Walt Stanckiewitz became mayor, at its regular meeting Dec. 14.

But with two of the four members indicating an election was necessary to give the people a proper voice and two saying the city could not afford the price tag, they agreed to meet again after checking to see if that price could be lowered by scheduling the election alongside another city’s.

The county registrar of voters said no – the election would still cost $45,000 to $50,000, or $31,000 if the city used mailed ballots.

Seventeen residents spoke about the issue at the last meeting. Most argued the council should appoint Sylvia Robles, who lost November’s two-person council race by 45 votes. Five said the city deserved an election.

Council members avoided coming down definitively.

Councilman Bernardo Sandoval said he wasn’t sure the city could afford the election – which would come out of a General Fund reserve of nearly $1.6 million – but was sensitive to community members who thought Robles would form a bloc with him and Stanckiewitz because they based their elections on similar issues.

“I have talked to Sylvia probably on four or five occasions,” he said. “We have fundamental disagreements, especially on the school board.”

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GRAND TERRACE – Big tasks are in store for the newly elected City Council, but one of the first decisions will shape the others.

The council is scheduled to decide tonight what the future holds for the seat vacated by Councilman Walt Stanckiewitz when he becomes mayor today.

The council can opt to appoint someone to the seat, hold a special election, or leave the seat vacant until the next regular election in November 2012.

An empty council seat could lead to potential 2-2 gridlock for the rest of the two-year term.

While the four incoming members say they will consider all sides and any public input, initial positions indicate the decision on how to end the deadlock may deadlock.

Stanckiewitz and Councilman Bernardo Sandoval say the city can’t afford the cost of an election. Councilwomen Darcy McNaboe and Lee Ann Garcia say residents deserve to have their voices heard.

An election in the city would cost $45,000 to $50,000, or $31,000 for a mail-in election, according to estimates by the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters. That money would have to come from the city’s General Fund reserve of $1.6 million, according to the staff’s report.

“We’re sitting here talking about conserving our resources, and this has a price tag I’m not sure we can afford,” Stanckiewitz said. “That’s something we’ll have to discuss and come to a solution.”

Stanckiewitz said he hoped people who had not previously run would apply for the job, but many think an appointment would go to Sylvia Robles, who lost to McNaboe in November by 45 votes, just over 1 percent.

“I think the voters have already spoken,” Robles said. “While the city is considering their cost in an election, my supporters put in a serious cost as far as money and time also.”

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/10/2010 08:53:31 PM PST

Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series on Grand Terrace’s new City Council members.

GRAND TERRACE – About a year ago, Bernardo Sandoval thought a man was getting a raw deal, so he started attending City Council meetings to see if he could do something about it.

That man – then-Councilman Jim Miller, who had voted with the rest of the council to approve routine payments for city advertisements in his wife’s weekly newspaper – would later resign and plead guilty to a misdemeanor conflict-of-interest charge.

But Sandoval’s limited fight for Miller soon exposed him to bigger revelations about the 12,000-person city where he’d grown up, particularly the $4.6million debt it owed to the redevelopment agency.

Dismayed by the placid response from longtime players whom fellow reformers termed the old guard, Sandoval decided that the best way to change the culture of the local government was to campaign to join it.

In a four-person race that included incumbent Bea Cortes, voters gave Sandoval 36 percent of the vote. His next closest opponent, former City Manager Tom Schwab, garnered 23 percent.

Combined with a convincing victory by his running mate, Mayor-elect Walt Stanckiewitz, Sandoval sees a mandate.

“It’s a new day,” Sandoval said. “I represent now, in this seat, the people of Grand Terrace. I did make very clear what my positions were. I do believe in a balanced budget. I believe that as a city we must live within our means. We must make very deliberate efforts to hold vendors and contractors of the city accountable to perform.”

Stanckiewitz and Sandoval campaigned explicitly against a long-standing status quo represented by Schwab, whom they said had broken the city’s trust during his 20 years at its helm.

“I felt that there were abuses of the RDA and also misrepresentations concerning the financial situation of the city,” Sandoval said. “The $4.6million debt that no one was aware had developed over the years? Inexcusable, in my mind.”

Schwab declined to comment further, but he has said in the past that the City Council knew about the debt.

Even as he vows to open up the city to increased scrutiny, Sandoval said his main goal now is unity – not just among Grand Terrace’s factions, but between the city and the school district it’s in, Colton Joint Unified.

“The relationship between the Colton school board and Grand Terrace was caustic,” Sandoval said, detailing a history of distrust that recently boiled over in debates about construction delays at Grand Terrace High School, which was supposed to open in fall 2011.

To heal those fissures, Sandoval already has met with new school board members concerning minor disagreements and spoken with David Zamora, Colton’s new mayor.

Both sides also say that more like-minded voices now represent Grand Terrace and the school district.

To read entire story, click here.

Cortes

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 – 11:20 a.m.

Grand Terrace residents ejected a polarizing figure from their city council Tuesday night.

Council member Bertha ‘Bea’ Cortes only pulled just under 18% of the vote in a field of four.

She came in last place.

A large contingent of the community sought to oust Cortes, who was accused of dirty politics in the prosecution of former city council member Jim Miller.

Another sore spot with Grand Terrace residents was Cortes’ continuous flaunting of her close relationship with San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos.

11:01 PM PDT on Monday, October 25, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

The city’s handling of recent scandals, luring business and developing programs for young people are among the top issues in the race for mayor of Grand Terrace on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Four candidates are seeking the seat being vacated by Mayor Maryetta Ferre, who did not seek re-election. They are Councilman Walt Stanckiewitz, Planning Commission Chairman Doug Wilson, Chamber of Commerce President Sally McGuire and real estate associate Denise “De De” DeCenty-Steinberg.

The election comes as the city struggles to clean up its image after a series of embarrassments. Those include recent revelations that the city had not paid federal payroll taxes on council members’ monthly stipends for more than 30 years and that the city’s general fund will be paying back $4.6 million in redevelopment money used to balance past budgets.

Wilson and McGuire contend that the city should not dwell on its mistakes.

“I don’t think we should be spending so much time picking the daylights out of past performance,” said Wilson, a business consultant who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2006 and lost a race for a council seat two years ago. “I know they had the issue about the stipend and they squared that away.

“Any time you have human beings involved in a process, there are going to be some corrections along the way,” he said. “I think what is more important is to serve the citizens, to concentrate on the economic aspect of government and concentrate on jobs, concentrate on youth.”

McGuire, a first-time candidate, says “We need to move forward. I don’t believe in living in the past. … In the last couple of years, the citizens here have been what I am going to say is demoralized. It’s unfortunate for us.”

She said redevelopment money should be used “to better the city. I believe that’s what has been done.”

DeCenty-Sternberg said the entire council should be carefully overseeing the city’s spending “rather than one person. That’s why you have a body of people. That’s what they’re there for.”

Stanckiewitz, a restaurateur who would retain his seat on the council if he is not elected mayor, said turmoil generated by recent scandals “has been horrendous.

“First of all, you have to admit that things were done wrong and fix it,” he said. “My position is, you can’t build for the future when the foundation is bad. You have to dig up the foundation, put in a new foundation and then we can build a house that will stand up.”

DeCenty-Sternberg said she wants the city to make an effort to attract small businesses, but to avoid duplicating existing stores.

“The city should have things for children to go to, like bowling alleys, maybe a theater, and a YMCA and YWCA,” she said. “Our children are bored out of their gourds.”

To read entire story, click here.