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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10:00 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.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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10:12 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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San Bernardino voters may face referendum
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/04/2010 10:27:04 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City voters who agreed four years ago to raise sales taxes as a way to hire more police officers may soon be asked to ratify another tax hike to maintain the city’s fiscal solvency.

A proposal to raise San Bernardino’s sales taxes by half a percent is on the City Council’s Tuesday agenda. The council may direct City Manager Charles McNeely to prepare a tax referendum for the November ballot.

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10:40 PM PDT on Saturday, July 3, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

SAN BERNARDINO – Having rejected two tax-raising measures last week, the San Bernardino City Council on Tuesday will consider a half-cent sales tax increase to balance its teetering spending program.

The council approved a $131 million general fund budget Wednesday that is intended to pay for day-to-day expenses but hinges on the council finding a way to plug a $24 million deficit.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/02/2010 05:50:30 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – A vote on the City Charter will be an opportunity for the electorate to decide if they can trust the City Council to choose a trio of key city officials – or if they want to keep that power for themselves.

A narrowly-divided City Council has set the stage for a City Charter amendment that would give the council authority to select the City Attorney, City Clerk and City Treasurer.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/01/2010 06:22:08 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – All of a sudden, it’s an election year in San Bernardino.

San Bernardino voters elect city officers in odd-numbered years, but a City Charter amendment that appears headed to the November ballot could generate as much politicking as a mayoral race.

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Status-quo fiscal plan adopted as interim measure
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/30/2010 09:27:24 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City officials may still consider taxes as a method of solving a $24 million deficit, but City Council decisions made on Wednesday changed the focus on higher sales taxes rather than previously proposed levies on real estate.

The council also approved a conceptual “status quo” budget that stands virtually no chance of surviving as the council’s real spending plan for the fiscal year that begins today.

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More than 100 police, fire posts may get ax
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/29/2010 07:32:49 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The city manager’s worst-case budget proposal, released Tuesday, would take more than 100 police officers and firefighters off the job while also shutting down branch libraries and Operation Phoenix youth centers.

“It’s a nightmare scenario,” 3rd Ward Councilman Tobin Brinker said. “The dollar amounts are daunting. The service cuts are terrible.”

Combined, the proposed cuts would slice about $20.7 million from a citywide $139.6 million in spending over the fiscal year that begins Thursday.

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Council considers effects of raising levy on property sales
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/27/2010 09:51:17 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Attempts to solve a $24 million deficit could soon give the City Council a chance to decide if a higher tax on real property sales makes sense.

The question for the council – and maybe San Bernardino voters – is whether the tax will help the city solve its budget problems while blocking absentee landlords from the city, or if it will just impede recovery in the city’s housing market.

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City is looking to trim benefit for future hires
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/26/2010 10:03:17 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City Hall’s long-range plan to halt growing deficits includes negotiations aimed at whittling away at the retirement benefits that could be owed to future employees.

City employees’ contracts expire at or before the end of this year, and the city’s weakened financial position could be a premise for difficult bargaining sessions.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/24/2010 05:19:56 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City leaders may try to wring millions of dollars from the city’s refuse business and other utilities as part of plans to solve San Bernardino’s $24 million deficit.

That idea is in line with a recent consultants’ report listing 100-plus ways to reform trash collections.

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San Bernardino International Airport still has no carrier deal.

10:21 PM PDT on Wednesday, June 23, 2010

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino International Airport expects to operate at a loss of about $4.9 million when its fiscal year starts July 1, according to the budget approved Wednesday.

That’s also assuming an airline would bring in $2.5 million in revenue. So far, no airline has chosen to land at the airport despite the terminal being essentially complete.

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Marquez

Councilwoman says it needs reform
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/21/2010 04:40:51 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City Charter reform came close to dropping off the City Council’s to do list, but Councilwoman Virginia Marquez said during Monday’s council meeting that she wants to make sure the issue returns to agenda.

“I believe some critical streamlining and critical efficiencies can only be realized by amending our City Charter,” Marquez said.

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www.iepolitics.com

Written by Administrator
June 20th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

This past week San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney John Goritz and state of California Deputy Attorney General Melissa Mandel unveiled their “conspiracy theory” in the trial of former Assessor’s Office employee Rex Gutierrez. In addition to having worked for the county, Gutierrez also is an elected member of the city of Rancho Cucamonga City Council. Gutierrez is accused of conducting city of Rancho Cucamonga business on county time.

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10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, June 19, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

The City Council will have to wait at least another week before taking on tough decisions it must make to trim a projected $24 million budget deficit.

City Manager Charles McNeely told council members this past week that he will stick to the painstaking budget process that began with a retreat earlier this spring.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/19/2010 07:11:34 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – After plunging 44 percent in just four years, this city’s sales tax revenue appears to have stopped falling, offering another cautious sign that the economic recovery taking root throughout the state and nation could be gaining momentum in the heart of the Inland Empire.

“Business is getting a bit better,” said Nick DePasquale, a partner at Fairview Ford.

Business at the San Bernardino car dealership is up about 10 percent from the darkest days of the recession in late-2008 and 2009, he said. The improvement is prompting optimism the business can grow again beyond its repair operation.

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Service cuts pending?

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/16/2010 09:43:12 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The city’s financial situation is serious enough that policymakers and city employees have openly worried of police layoffs and other major service cuts, but budget briefings have yet to provide any details on which jobs or programs may be eliminated if there is no other way to solve a $24 million deficit.

The City Council is at the beginning of what may be a prolonged process to figure out what the city can afford. San Bernardino’s policymakers are going through the budget on a department-by-department basis. Police Chief Keith Kilmer and Fire Chief Michael Conrad briefed the council on their plans on Wednesday, as did Community Development Director Valerie Ross.

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Six San Bernardino County high schools made Newsweeks’s 2010 list of America’s Best High Schools.

The magazine ranks the country’s top 1,600 high schools. (6% of the total)

San Bernardino County schools making the cut are:

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Spending plan crafted

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/15/2010 09:29:25 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Yet another year of declining revenue from sales and property taxes portends to make the summer of 2010 a tough budget season at City Hall.

The City Council convened Tuesday evening to begin its task of crafting a spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. City Hall has only released its “Plan A” budget, the one that assumes that the council and voters will agree that existing city services are valuable enough to justify raised taxes and higher fees.

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Delgado

SBCUSD leader loses to Thomas
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/09/2010 03:37:15 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – He’s not going anywhere.

That’s what Arturo Delgado, superintendent of the San Bernardino City Unified School District, said Wednesday in the wake of a decisive loss to Gary Thomas in the race for the San Bernardino County superintendent of schools.

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Council narrows focus

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/07/2010 09:06:46 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council on Monday instructed City Manager Charles McNeely and his staff to focus on five tax and fee proposals in the attempt to solve a $24 million deficit.

The proposals include the renewal of a citywide assessment district that could result in the city levying a parcel tax to pay for libraries, parks or other city services. The city had this system in place until the 1997-98 fiscal year. The official estimate is that bringing it back could allow City Hall to collect $6 million to $7 million annually.

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10:28 PM PDT on Sunday, June 6, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino City Unified School District board members have finalized plans to remake five schools, convert six others to charter status and replace nine of the 11 principals at those low-performing schools.

Now the district awaits word from state officials on how soon to submit applications for grants of $50,000 to $2 million at each of the schools to help boost student achievement.

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Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/04/2010 02:58:58 PM PDT

Classrooms will be more crowded, elementary school teachers may lose their jobs and there will be more furlough days ahead for staff in the San Bernardino City Unified School District during the 2010-11 school year.

The sacrifices have been made to ensure the district has a healthy and viable budget in the months ahead.

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San Bernardino City Attorney Jim Penman donating $500 to District Attorney Mike Ramos’ reelection campaign?

Yes indeed. What a surprise, especially for these two politicos.

Ramos’ latest campaign finance disclosure filed this week shows Penman coughing up the cash.

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Stacia Glenn and Andrew Edwards, Staff Writers
Posted: 05/27/2010 06:19:52 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – In a jumpstart to negotiations that turned hostile the last go-round, police union leaders have volunteered to continue their concessions for two more years to help close the city’s $24 million budget deficit.

The San Bernardino Police Officers Association’s made the offer Monday during a meeting with a professional negotiator recently hired by the city.

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Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/26/2010 06:17:45 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Teachers, parents and principals will have a bigger role in running new district charter schools than an executive board comprised of community leaders.

And that’s not sitting well with members of the executive board, who describe the move by district officials as a “lost opportunity.”

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/26/2010 06:36:08 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – An attempt to craft a new “code of conduct” for City Council members is still unfinished, and some proposals have aroused fear of censorship among the council’s minority bloc.

“They’re trying to say we don’t get along, but what it is, is we don’t conform,” 2nd Ward City Councilman Jason Desjardins said Wednesday.

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Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/25/2010 08:59:05 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – After weeks of meetings downtown and in the community, the school board discussed final plans on what to do about 11 district schools at a special meeting Tuesday evening.

At five of the San Bernardino City Unified schools that recently landed on a list of lowest performing in the state, the principals will be replaced and a new evaluation process will be put in place for teachers.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/19/2010 03:45:34 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Redevelopment officials here say that combining the city’s several redevelopment zones into two big zones will make it easier to manage public money and exercise their agency’s powers.

“The merger is essentially a technical correction for us,” said Emil Marzullo, interim director of the San Bernardino Economic Development Agency. “What we have now is 14 redevelopment areas and it makes it somewhat unwieldy.”

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Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/19/2010 03:43:33 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Teachers in the city’s school district have agreed to take a pay cut for the 2010-11 school year and beyond.

This week the school board approved teachers taking an almost 2 percent pay cut, following recent negotiations between the district and the San Bernardino Teachers Association.

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Posted: 05/16/2010 08:23:14 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO — The City Council could discuss a variety of tax proposals during its Monday meeting.

The council’s meeting agenda contains an item to “discuss and take action concerning revenue enhancement options.” There is no additional backup information attached to the online version of the agenda.

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10:00 PM PDT on Friday, May 14, 2010

Cassie MacDuff

I sure hope San Bernardino International Airport isn’t the Inland Empire’s bridge to nowhere.

How many more taxpayer dollars will be spent to convert the former Norton Air Force Base into a commercial airport that sits sparkling-new but unused?

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10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 12, 2010

By KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
The Press-Enterprise

A little more than a week after the new Million Air terminal opened at San Bernardino International Airport, airport and company officials learned that the facility hadn’t gotten the official go-ahead from the city to move in.

A certificate of occupancy, temporary or permanent, is now being sought by the general contractor of the project, San Bernardino-based V2 Construction, said Matt McGuire with V2. He wouldn’t say if anyone would be working inside the building until then.

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San Bernardino, an “All America” designated city in 1976.

Thirty-four years later it’s a city exactly the opposite.

Decades of petty political infighting and misguided priorities further complicated by a antiquated Councilmatic Ward System has pretty-much destroyed a city that’s only viable because of a California State University campus, a courthouse, an Indian casino, and county government operations speaks volumes to the situation.

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10:13 PM PDT on Sunday, May 2, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

At least five principals will be replaced and six schools will be converted to charter status in the wake of a state report ranking 11 San Bernardino schools among the state’s lowest-performing 5 percent.

Two of the principals — Karen Craig of Arroyo Valley High School and Sandy Robbins of San Gorgonio High — already planned to retire, San Bernardino City Unified School District Superintendent Arturo Delgado said by phone.

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10:59 PM PDT on Friday, April 30, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

Parking, emergency telephone and expanded utility taxes are out. Nearly everything else is still on the table after San Bernardino City Council members have reviewed potential plugs for a $24 million hole in the city budget.

The council, which has held two workshop sessions over the last two weeks, will now wait for city staff members to work out details of possible cuts.

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Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/29/2010 02:33:00 PM PDT

San Bernardino City Unified School District officials are considering laying off more than 400 classified employees and teachers by the end of the school year.

The employee cuts, along with reducing the school year by five days and eliminating student programs, have all been proposed by the district to eliminate a $30 million budget shortfall for the 2010-11 school year.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/29/2010 05:49:57 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City policymakers may ask voters to consider several taxes this year as City Hall managers struggle to solve a $24 million deficit.

New or increased levies could include a tax on property sales, higher hotel taxes, new warehouse and quarry taxes and a parcel tax to finance library and parks programs.

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

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

The San Bernardino City Council resumes discussion tonight on how to plug a $24 million hole in its budget for the coming fiscal year that could widen to $188 million over the next five years.

“This will begin the most difficult discussion we will ever have,” Mayor Patrick Morris told the council at the start of last week’s budget study session.

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/22/2010 05:58:33 PM PDT

With the city facing a $24 million budget deficit in the coming year, San Bernardino City Manager Charles McNeely presented the city council Thursday with a list of cuts, new and increased taxes and fees and other changes that could shrink or eliminate that gap.

“Our finance department has worked with all the department heads to come up with a pretty comprehensive list,” said city spokeswoman Heather Gray. “We can say, `Here are all of our options, you tell us what you think is the best choice.”‘

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

The City Council will meet tonight to hear options for closing a $24.4 million hole in its budget for the coming fiscal year.

Among the options it will look at is placing tax measures on the ballot, increasing fees, selling the city’s convention center to the Redevelopment Agency and partnering with other public and private agencies on such projects as a regional animal shelter.

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Andrew Edwards and Joe Nelson, Staff Writers
Posted: 04/10/2010 10:09:49 PM PDT

The effort to transform the former Norton Air Force Base into a commercial airport is a gamble of more than $200 million that may well determine if San Bernardino can rediscover prosperity. Success would mean domestic and international flights landing and taking off from San Bernardino International Airport. It would mean travelers spending money at local hotels and restaurants. It would mean a busy airport employing well-paid professionals like air traffic controllers and aircraft mechanics.

It would also result in the initials SBD becoming as well known to Southern California travelers as LAX, L.A./ONT or JWA.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/05/2010 08:34:16 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council selected Third Ward Councilman Tobin Brinker as Mayor Pro Tem in a divided vote Monday after talks that included two other nominations and allegations of Brown Act violations.

The Mayor Pro Tem is responsible for chairing council meetings in the mayor’s absence and also gets to assign other council members to legislative, budget and other committees.

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Debbie Pfeiffer Trunnell, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/05/2010 07:09:16 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Few were surprised when Davidson Elementary School landed on a list of the state’s worst five percent of public campuses last month.

Since being named a California Distinguished School in the late 1990s, Davidson’s test scores have been among the poorest in the San Bernardino city school system, which had more failing schools than every district in the state except Los Angeles.

For more than a decade, district and schools officials have thrown every potential solution they could muster at Davidson, from extra teaching aides and individualized attention, to new technology and data-tracking methods.

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By Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/04/2010 09:18:40 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – After a few months of comparatively lackluster meetings, the City Council is scheduled to meet Monday for a busy session that includes a proposal that could be the first step toward a change in the City Charter.

Second Ward Councilman Jason Desjardins has a request on the agenda to have the City Attorney’s Office prepare language for a charter amendment that would change the city’s hiring policies.

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Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 03/29/2010 03:44:48 PM PDT

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will resume private discussion today regarding the purchase of the Carousel Mall property in downtown San Bernardino, where a new government center is being proposed.

The board began the private talks nearly a year ago and has discussed other potential sites for county offices as far west as Ontario.

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Proposal seen as way to streamline services
Andrew Edwards
Posted: 03/27/2010 07:06:05 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City Manager Charles McNeely on Saturday presented a plan to streamline city government without requiring changing the City Charter.

The proposals would reshuffle city operations in an attempt to focus city administrators on core duties, McNeely said.

Although McNeely said the adjustments would not require changes to the Charter, the idea of charter reform is still on the table.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/26/2010 06:28:18 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The second day of the City Council and Mayor’s retreat was dedicated to long-range thinking as top officials jotted down wish lists for the kinds of improvements they want to see by 2025.

Whereas the retreat’s Thursday evening session was something like a college class on local government, Friday’s gathering was more like an all-day brainstorming session. In their second consecutive day together, the City Council and Mayor Pat Morris attempted to articulate a vision for what San Bernardino should become by 2025.

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Created: 03/22/2010 05:33:19 PM PDT

When the economy began to decline in 2008, investments through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System took a hit.

As a result, cities in the Inland Empire have been juggling losses in revenue while making sure they meet employees’ retirement obligations.

This is the status of pension obligations of some Inland Empire cities:

COLTON

CONTRIBUTION: $5.75 million in 2008-09
PENSION OBLIGATION BOND: $31.14 million
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION RATE: 19.498 percent fire, 20.052 percent police, 7.060 percent misc.
EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTION RATE: 9 percent fire, 9 percent police – paid by city. 8 percent misc. – city pays 4 percent.

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Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/19/2010 07:36:00 PM PDT

COLTON – Pricey pension packages, budget breakdowns and deep deficits have reduced or jeopardized the reserves some cities have amassed over recent years.

Both Colton and San Bernardino are struggling with dwindling incomes that have burned cash reserves to dangerously low levels.

Rialto is struggling with higher pension costs set to start July 1, which a top official has said will deplete a sizeable $31 million reserve within three years if employees don’t agree to concessions.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/11/2010 08:05:03 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – City Hall will once again attempt to solve a budget deficit through borrowing, but a fix intended to allow the city to keep its books balanced for the next few months was made in the face of rather dire predictions for the longer term.

“The economy has still not bottomed out. We’re still feeling the effects of the economic decline,” City Manager Charles McNeely said. “The more problematic issue that we’re aware of is, what do we do next year?”

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James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/09/2010 06:31:39 PM PST

A day after seven San Bernardino schools were named as being among the worst in the state, parents and schools officials defended the campuses against withering criticism from critics who say the district needs a shakeup.

Six elementary schools and Pacific High School were named Monday as being among the 188 worst schools in California, based on student achievement. County school board member Gil Navarro said the San Bernardino City Unified School District has for too long settled for incremental improvement.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/26/2010 07:03:49 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – A woman who believes government officials denied her the right to vote on whether her neighborhood should be merged into the city has filed a lawsuit in a new attempt to block the annexation.

Susan Hulse, who attempted to convince officials to undo the annexations, filed the lawsuit in San Bernardino Superior Court on Thursday. The lawsuit names the city of San Bernardino and the San Bernardino Local Agency Formation Commission as defendants.

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Former candidate jailed after domestic violence call
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/22/2010 05:33:37 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – Attorney and former political candidate Tim Prince was arrested Monday on suspicion of domestic violence and threats.

Prince was arrested shortly before 9 a.m. after police responded to “a call from a female victim alleging domestic violence at her house,” police Lt. Dan Keil said.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/17/2010 08:56:21 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – The government panel empowered to decide when cities can annex new land voted Wednesday to uphold last year’s decision to incorporate six areas into this city.

The Local Agency Formation Commission for San Bernardino County, also known as Lafco, made the decisions. The panel acted in the face of opposition from frustrated residents who do not want to join San Bernardino.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/15/2010 05:24:45 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – The long wait between the 2009 elections and the swearing-in of new city officials is almost over.

Tonight’s City Council meeting will mark the end of terms belonging to council members Esther Estrada and Dennis Baxter.

Estrada – who for the next couple weeks is still the council’s longest-serving member – and Baxter respectively lost their seats to challengers Virginia Marquez and Jason Desjardins as a result of the Nov. 3 election.

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Well just when you thought you had heard it all another unbelievable story emerges.

This time it’s from the San Bernardino City Unified School District.

Sources from within the district tell InlandPolitics that schools in the district have ran out of money for supplies for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Meaning teachers and principals cannot submit requisitions through June 30, 2010.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/21/2010 06:01:12 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – It may not be the most ringing of endorsements, but the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce is pretty much in favor with the prospect of a new downtown civic center.

The Chamber’s board voted Thursday to adopt a resolution supporting a new County Government Center in downtown San Bernardino. Some city and county officials – including San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris – want to build a new government complex on property currently used by Carousel Mall, but that idea has not gained universal support.

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Supervisor Neil Derry

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/20/2010 03:13:20 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – Third District Supervisor Neil Derry said Wednesday his office will pay the $6,600 cost of challenging a government panel’s power to merge six county islands into the city.

The basis of the challenge is whether the Local Agency Formation Commission for San Bernardino County, also known as Lafco, correctly followed state laws that allow cities to annex unincorporated territory without a popular vote.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/13/2010 09:21:01 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – Councilman-elect Jason Desjardins has been charged with two misdemeanor theft counts for allegedly stealing campaign signs from his opponent and the mayor.

Desjardins, a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, declined to comment Wednesday except to say the charges are without merit.

“It’s politically motivated,” Desjardins said.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/12/2010 06:34:07 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – Wal-Mart executives are planning to expand the retailer’s store in northeastern San Bernardino, but an attorney with offices in Upland and San Diego has filed an appeal to block the project.

Wal-Mart is seeking to expand its store near the crossing of Highland and Boulder avenues. If the company completes its plans, the store would grow from its current size of about 130,000 square feet to more than 171,000 square feet.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/04/2010 08:23:08 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – A divided City Council refused to reimburse female employees of the City Attorney’s Office for nearly $4,000 in legal fees incurred during a recent investigation of an alleged document theft.

The Police Department’s investigation concluded without any charges being filed.

Monday’s vote was the latest development in the intracity conflicts stemming from the leak of internal memo that occurred during 2009′s mayoral campaign between Mayor Pat Morris and City Attorney James F. Penman.

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Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/22/2009 08:56:21 PM PST

The San Bernardino Chamber of Commerce plans to present a resolution stating its position on a proposed county government center at the Carousel Mall by the first of the year, chamber president Judi Penman said Tuesday.

The chamber is pushing to have its resolution presented to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors sometime after its first meeting in January, Penman said.

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Well, here we are. December 2009. The date promised for the arrival of the long-awaited passenger airline.

It’s time to justify the $130 million in taxpayer funds spent on the upgrade and construction of facility improvements to include a new passenger terminal.

I was stationed at the former Norton Air Force Base four more than four years in the 1980′s. I was saddened to see the base close and drain the area of its life blood. I would like nothing more to see air traffic once again fill the sky over SanBernardino . But let’s face the facts. The severe economic downturn enveloping the area and the country has delayed any potential arrival of a air carrier to the converted military base.

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Posted: 12/17/2009 06:56:03 PM PST

Plans to redevelop Carousel Mall into a government center with shops and offices offer more hope for San Bernardino’s struggling downtown than we’ve seen in a while.

Clearly, change is needed downtown, which suffers from a dearth of entertainment venues and empty storefronts. Just as clear is the need for change at Carousel Mall, the decades-old shopping center that occupies a prime piece of downtown real estate east of the 215 Freeway. The mall is not the moneymaker it was in the 1970s, and today costs the city of San Bernardino more than it can give in return.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/14/2009 10:48:30 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – City officials said Monday that a $350,000 budget mistake was a result of miscommunication and honest oversight that should never happen again.

The error prompted a Monday morning meeting with Mayor Pat Morris and other top officials, which mayoral chief of staff Jim Morris said involved conversations on how to prevent future errors and make San Bernardino government more efficient.

Jim Morris said the mayor met with City Manager Charles McNeely and interim San Bernardino Economic Development Agency chief Emil Marzullo. City Hall and the EDA have separate budgets and officials have blamed the error on the Finance Department’s incorrect assumption the EDA would transfer $350,000 in golf course money to the city’s budget.

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Jeff Mayer
Posted: 12/12/2009 05:14:12 PM PST

San Bernardino is embarking on a major transformation, a renaissance to be applauded locally by the San Bernardino community and on a broader scale by organizations such as the Urban Land Institute (ULI). Last April, San Bernardino officials presented a visioning effort for revitalizing downtown and solicited feedback from a panel of planning experts to gauge its feasibility. As a panelist, I was presented with the Vision Plan for Downtown San Bernardino, and saw great promise.

Clearly, the city has done its homework. I was impressed that they had retained professional counsel throughout the planning process from outside, objective experts. The result – a mindset change from a microscopic, “Band-Aid” approach to a comprehensive, macroscopic approach that encourages the city and businesses to work together to maximize land use for profitability and customer experience, a must for a successful revitalization effort.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/09/2009 07:09:21 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – Gloomy economic forecasts and the complexities of government finance have combined to nearly double the size of the city’s budget shortfall.

The revelation that the city’s financial problems are worse than expected, however, does not mean that City Hall is yet again contemplating the kinds of layoffs or deep service cuts that were made in 2008 and in February.

Finance Director Barbara Pachon revealed Wednesday that San Bernardino’s projected deficit is now pegged at about $4.9 million, up from an estimate of nearly $2.8 in November.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/26/2009 05:43:09 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – Some members of the business community may be gearing up to oppose the possible construction of a new government center on land currently occupied by Carousel Mall.

The San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce has created a committee to consider whether a new government center, or as some call it, a Taj Mahal, is a good idea. The Chamber may a take an official position in December or after the new year.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/25/2009 03:14:31 PM PST

SAN BERNARDINO – City Attorney James F. Penman said Wednesday that he has agreed to pay a $5,000 settlement to the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission over a free membership he accepted at Arrowhead Country Club.

“I didn’t think I violated the law, but the FPPC feels differently … I have to respect their decisions,” Penman said, emphasizing that his settlement is not an admission of any criminal wrongdoing.

Penman said the commission staffers concluded that he did not report the full value of his honorary club membership in 2005 and 2006.

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Point of View

Supervisor Neil Derry
Posted: 10/29/2009 05:56:52 PM PDT

On Oct. 25, we recognized the sixth anniversary of the Old Fire that ripped through the city of San Bernardino destroying more than 400 homes in a single day, forever changing the landscape of the Del Rosa neighborhood that I represented as the 4th Ward City Council member.

Our neighborhoods in the foothills have always been areas most threatened by natural disaster. One need only be reminded of the Panorama Fire 20 years prior and Little Mountain that burns annually to see this truth, not to mention the flooding that always seems to follow.

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San Bernardino councilwoman alleges bribery attempt
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/29/2009 06:22:12 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – City Councilwoman Esther Estrada publicly accused the developers of a senior housing complex with offering her and three other council members “whatever you want” in exchange for votes.

“We were offered a bribe,” Estrada said at the close of a candidate forum this week before Home of Neighborly Service.

Jasmine Borrego, president of Telacu Residential Management, which is developing the housing project, said there are no facts to support allegations of bribery.

“This is a project that no one can say is a bad one,” Borrego said.

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October surprise? Leaked memo adds controversy to San Bernardino mayoral race
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/29/2009 07:56:12 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – A memo written by the police chief to the city manager reports City Attorney James F. Penman lied about a document at the center of a City Hall theft investigation and the city’s latest political blow-up.

Penman replied that the chief’s message is the place to find falsehood. He said the new memo is an 11th hour campaign trick orchestrated by Mayor Pat Morris.

“It reads like a campaign flyer. The timing is obviously intended to coincide with the fact that the election is less than a week away,” Penman said.

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