SAN BERNARDINO – Each of three proposals to slightly change the boundaries of the seven wards that make up the city contained problems for some City Council members, leading them to delay a vote on those boundaries until staff members come up with a fourth proposal.

The vote was originally scheduled for Monday. A new map fixing each of the issues raised then could be ready by the June 14 meeting, said Margo Wheeler, director of community development and coordinator of the city’s redistricting process.

New boundaries to the city’s wards – portions of the city that are each represented by a different council member – are required because of the 2010 Census, which showed the population of some wards had grown faster than others.

Population shifts have been relatively small compared to past redistricting, leading to small changes to the margins of the wards that council members said could nonetheless have important implications.

Extensive changes make it difficult for elected representatives to build a relationship with the residents on whose behalf they’re supposed to vote, said Councilwoman Wendy McCammack, whose 7th Ward includes much of the north-central part of the city.

“In the case of the 7th Ward there’s one section that’s jockeyed back and forth (between wards) every time we go through redistricting, and it makes it difficult for people to know what ward they’re in and for council members to familiarize themselves with their residents,” McCammack said at first, as she pushed for Plan A because she said it minimized those changes.

But she later said each of her colleagues brought up good points, which is why she recommended a fourth proposal that combines elements of the other maps but eliminates those concerns.

To read entire story, click here.

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 20 May 2012 07:31 PM

The San Bernardino City Council must choose between three redistricting plans that will determine council ward lines in future elections.

The plans will go to the council Monday, May 21, for a 4 p.m. public hearing. If one of the options is selected, an ordinance will return to the council for adoption June 4.

The city must approve a redistricting plan every 10 years using census data to balance populations between its seven wards.

A redistricting task force was created last year to analyze the census data and recommend options. The task force was made up of representatives from the city manager, clerk, attorney and council offices and the community development, information technology and public works departments but no elected officials.

According to a report to the council, population growth in the northwest and foothill areas of the city led to imbalance among some wards. The proposal seeks an average population of 30,000 for each ward.

Ward 5, in the northwest area of the city, including Cal State San Bernardino, grew the most and is about 1,500 people over the average. Ward 7, which includes the area north of Highland Avenue and south of 40th Street, exceeds the average by 700.

To read entire story, click here.

Posted: 05/14/2012 06:14:43 PM PDT

SBD Airport Services’ attempt to convince a federal judge to restore the company’s access to San Bernardinno International Airport’s fueling facilities has been postponed to June 18.

The company was previously scheduled to make its argumen tbefore Judge Deborah J. Saltzman on Monday at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside. The fuel issue is part of the company’s ongoing bankruptcy case.

SBD Airport Services declared bankruptcy in March, about one month after interim SBIA chief A.J. Wilson terminated the company’s fuel contract. Wilson moved against the company after the firm did not have enough fuel on hand to propvide the full amount of fuel requested by a 727 pilot.

To read entire story, click here.

Staff report
Posted: 05/12/2012 03:07:54 PM PDT

Attorneys for the bankrupt SBD Airport Services will go before a federal judge Monday to contend that interim San Bernardino International Airport chief A.J. Wilson acted improperly when he cut off the company’s access to jet fuel.

The hearing is scheduled to take place Monday afternoon at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside.

SBD Airport Services filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. The bankruptcy filing came one month after Wilson asserted the company violated its fuel contract and blocked the firm’s access to the airport’s fuel supplies and trucks.

Monday’s hearing is related to the bankruptcy hearings, as SBD Airport Services attorneys have argued the company needs access to the airport’s “fuel farm” in order to conduct business.

In a court filing, Wilson and the airport reply that SBIA officials had a right to terminate the airport’s fuel services agreement with SBD Airport Services because the company did not have the minimum amount of fuel in its tanks to live up to its side of the deal.

The fuel dispute stems from a February incident in which the pilot of a 727 jet was unable to purchase the full amount of requested fuel.

Wilson moved quickly to cancel SBD Airport Service’s fuel contract. Airport staffers have since handled fuel sales on their own.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 05/10/2012 11:09:14 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The results of the election for city clerk will stand, a Superior Court judge ruled Thursday, rejecting a claim by 15 voters whose ballots weren’t counted because of signature mismatches.

The trial had the potential to change the outcome of the city clerk’s race, in which Georgeann “Gigi” Hanna – a former public relations official and journalist who took office March 5 – gathered six votes more than Amelia Sanchez-Lopez, who heads the county Alcohol and Drug Services Administration.

But Superior Court Judge Donna Gunnell Garza ruled that county Registrar of Voters Michael J. Scarpello acted properly when he discarded 64 ballots with signatures Scarpello and other elections officials decided didn’t match

“The parties were not denied the right to vote because the right to vote involves the right to be counted properly,” Garza said, noting that the Election Code says ballots with signatures that don’t match shall not be counted.

One vote, from a disabled man whose wife signed the ballot, should have been counted, Garza said, but that wouldn’t change the overall result.

Sandra Garcia, the lawyer representing the voters, argued Scarpello should have contacted them between the time he noticed the signature discrepancy and the Feb. 7 election date or between then and the Feb. 28 recount.

“The voters were denied – not once but twice – their opportunity to be heard,” Garcia said. “It’s not about the candidates. It’s not about the office. It’s about their fundamental right to vote.”

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/10/2012 09:02:22 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Final layoff notices for 224 teachers were approved at an emergency school board meeting Thursday so the notices could be sent before a state-mandated deadline.

The decision, made by the board of the San Bernardino City Unified School District at a sparsely attended meeting, was an expected consequence of earlier budget decisions.

The number is lower than the record 251 preliminary layoffs approved March 7, and it’s significantly higher than the number of people they think will actually be forced out.

But a combination of budget constraints and legal requirements mean teachers need to be given the notice now, said board member Judi Penman.

“I know it’s painful, and it’s painful for us, too, because we’re the bad guys,” Penman said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to retain everyone, or ask everyone to come back, but we don’t know that yet. …The bottom line is we have to follow the law.”

State law requires districts to notify teachers no later than May 14 in most cases – a day before the board’s next scheduled meeting Tuesday – if being laid off is a possibility.

Laid-off teacher Malissa Esquibel said district administrators should have worked faster to account for teachers who accepted early retirement offers, which is expected to significantly reduce the number of layoffs.

“Once they lay people off, we lose our school site, and you get seniority based on your school site,” Esquibel said. “They don’t put us on track where we used to be – they say they’re going to try but they can’t guarantee it.”

Besides extra stress, that means a greater chance of being laid off in the future, said Esquibel, a fourth-grade teacher at Muscoy Elementary who has received a preliminary layoff notice each of her four years of teaching and a final layoff twice.

Sending large numbers of “final” layoff notices and then rehiring those people before the start of the year has become an annual ritual in recent years, as districts statewide deal with tight funds and an uncertain budget based largely on numbers the Governor’s Office doesn’t release until layoff notification deadlines have passed.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/09/2012 11:28:12 AM PDT

A trial will begin again Thursday that could change the outcome of the San Bernardino city clerk’s race by forcing the registrar of voters to count mail-in ballots that he initially discarded because he said signatures on them did not match those he had on file.

After a series of hearings determining that Registrar of Voters Michael J. Scarpello can be called to testify about why he made that decision but that other outside evidence would not be allowed, lawyers representing Scarpello, City Clerk Georgeann “Gigi” Hanna and 15 voters whose ballots won’t counted will begin arguments.

Hanna, a former journalist and public relations official, narrowly won the Feb. 7 run-off election against Amelia Sanchez-Lopez, who heads the county Alcohol and Drug Services Administration. Sanchez-Lopez called for a recount, which expanded Hanna’s lead to 6

To read entire story, click here.

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 07 May 2012 10:03 PM

The San Bernardino City Council is looking at leasing more city property for cellphone towers to help solve its budget troubles, but has tabled for now a proposal to bring parking meters downtown.

The proposals were brought to the council Monday night, May 7, after it rejected a plan last month that would have relied on across-the-board cuts and holding some positions vacant.

The council majority — controlled since March by critics of San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris — had balked at any public safety cuts and voted against the recommendations brought by then-City Manager Charles McNeely on a 4-3 vote.

Councilman Chas Kelley introduced the two measures as a way “to look at all funding opportunities for the city.”

The council voted, 6-0, to direct city staff to study the cellphone lease proposal. Councilman Rikke Van Johnson was absent.

The city already earns about $19,000 a month from cellphone tower leases but Kelley suggested that it could seek up-front lump payments of about $1.5 million.

The possibility of bringing parking meters downtown was studied several years ago but the council decided not to pursue it at the time because of concerns that it could hurt businesses.

To read entire story, click here.

Sunday, May 6, 2012 – 10:45 p.m.

It was interesting to see the approach, runway and taxi lights activated at San Bernardino International Airport on Sunday night.

An unusual event at the mostly dormant facility.

Rumor has it Wonder Woman was landing her invisible jet.

Sunday, May 6, 2012 – 10:30 a.m

Ramos struggles through final candidate forum.

Former San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman and San Bernardino County Board of Supe’s candidate James Ramos showed up for the final candidate forum held at Copper Mountain College on Friday night.

Nothing changed.

The conversation was basically between County Supervisor Neil Derry and Former TwentyNine Palms City Councilman and Defense Department employee Jim Bagley.

With all due respect, the can’t we all get along and come together answer to every question is getting old for Ramos.

A county supervisor can’t function by way of reading from a notepad.

To get a flavor for Ramos’ command of the issues, click this link and select county supervisor forum: http://www.channel6bigbear.com .

The link is to a candidate forum sponsored by the Big Bear Democratic Club.

Last week, Ramos ditched a, previously committed to, live on-the-air event on KBHR-FM 93.3.

The key words in the last sentence being on-the-air.

Derry and Bagley did show up.

House of cards about to fall for San Bernardino

The financial house of cards is about to fall for the city of San Bernardino.

That is, now that the piggy bank known as redevelopment money has been turned off.

For years, San Bernardino has been using its economic and redevelopment agencies to augment its general fund operations.

Now that the music has stopped, it’ll be interesting to see just how much the California Department of Finance forces the city to repay.

Expect the city to start leveraging it’s city-owned water department and discuss converting its refuse operation into a franchise.

Three tax measures likely headed to California ballot in November

It looks like three differing tax propositions will be headed to the November ballot in California.

With three measures to consider, voters will likely reject them all.

The measure backed by Governor Jerry Brown, at this point, is polling in the low 50% range.

National debt finally exceeds Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The U.S. debt is now 101% of the country’s total annual output of goods and services.

As the number climbs the likelihood of a debt default increases.

Expect the percentage to accelerate as deficit spending continues unchecked.

Keep in mind this is the U.S. national debt and does not include state and municipal obligations.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/04/2012 06:52:55 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The area’s economy got a significant boost with Amazon’s decision to open a 950,000-square-foot shipping center at the site of the former Norton Air Force Base, officials said Friday.

The facility will provide full-time jobs for more than 1,000 people as early as fall, said Amazon spokesman Ty Rogers.

Those jobs are much needed but are just a down payment, said Jim Morris, son and chief of staff for Mayor Pat Morris.

“This is, I think, a culmination but also a beginning,” Jim Morris said.

Amazon, he said, “portends an ambitious future” for the rest of Southgate, the last major open space on the base site. The Southgate area was a golf course when the base was operating. Amazon is the first business to commit to opening there.

Amazon – which says it’s the world’s largest online retailer – should help bring in other businesses, said Mike Burrows, assistant director of San Bernardino International Airport.

“That’s the hope,” Burrows said. “This is a real validation, and it should help with the rest of Southgate and the IVDA area.”

The Inland Valley Development Agency, a multi-government agency developing the former base, has brought in more than 4,000 jobs directly relating to the former base site – about half of them from Stater Bros. Markets – and about 5,000 indirectly, according to a 2010 study by Cal State San Bernardino.

“This project is a perfect example of how the IVDA continues to benefit our community by creating private/public partnerships which have now added over 11,000 jobs to the city of San Bernardino,” said IVDA board member Ovidiu Popescu, a Loma Linda councilman who also is vice president of the San Bernardino International Airport Authority. “We have spent millions in infrastructure to benefit the airport and private investment.”

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/27/2012 07:31:51 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Associate Superintendent Mel Albiso, a 22-year veteran of the school district who in recent years was sometimes the target of heavy criticism from employees, has accepted an early retirement offer.

Albiso, 56, will retire at the end of the school year and receive an annuity for five years based on his salary of $151,188 per year.

The school board made the offer, known as a Supplemental Early Retirement Plan, or SERP, to all employees of the San Bernardino City Unified School District as a cost-saving measure to reduce the number of employees and minimize layoffs.

“I’ve been contemplating retirement, and I think this is what’s best for the kids and the district,” Albiso said. “It was never my intent
to stick around too much longer.”

The board accepted Albiso’s offer April 3.

That’s less than a year after Albiso accepted last year’s SERP but was lured back when board members offered 7percent compensation increases to him and John Peukert, assistant superintendent of facilities and operations, to prevent their retirements.

The district needed their experience and would spend more if they gave SERPs to the two administrators and hired replacements, the six board members who approved that deal argued amid heavy criticism at the time.

All of the four members who remain on the board and Danny Tillman, the only member to vote against it, were unavailable or declined to comment on the changed circumstances this year.

Albiso said Friday that top administrators hired in the summer of 2011 now had the experience to lead the district effectively.

“I think they’ll be fine,” he said. “They have some new assistant (superintendents) in, and that’s what they told me, is they wanted some cabinet-level stabilization.”

To read entire story, click here.

SAN BERNARDINO – Scratch another $300,000 from the school district budget.

Following its earlier ruling that former Personnel Director Abe Flory was wrongfully terminated and should be given more than $550,000 in back pay and interest, the Personnel Commission decided Wednesday that the San Bernardino City Unified School District must pay Flory’s legal costs – more than $250,000 in attorney fees and nearly $13,000 in court reporter fees.

The independent panel, which is tasked with ensuring the district follows the merit system, also extended his back pay from February – when a hearing officer recommended giving him back his roughly $120,000-per-year job more than four years after he was fired and calculated how much he’d accrued during that time – to his first day on the job.

Flory is expected to start May 1.

But district officials, who have long disagreed with the commission over the extent of its powers, were at a conference Thursday and Friday and did not say whether they would challenge the decision.

Flory said he looked forward to starting soon and pushing for a stronger merit system.

“This is a victory for me, but also for classified workers and the merit system,” said Flory, who was fired after 29 alleged acts that district officials described as insubordination, dishonesty and unwillingness to perform his job but Flory characterized as whistle-blowing.

The district had resisted paying Flory’s attorney fees, which covered a team of four lawyers earning up to $425 an hour. By contrast, the district’s lawyers charged $185 an hour, but billed more than three times as many hours, for a total charge just under $400,000.

A lot of good money was wasted on the case, said commission Chairman Gino Barabani.

To read entire story, click here.

Morris

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/26/2012 07:24:56 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Speaking in the sparkling Sturges Center for the Fine Arts – one of many city assets threatened by the abolition of the city Redevelopment Agency, which owned the building – Mayor Pat Morris focused on both challenges and opportunities Thursday evening in his annual state of the city address.

Rather, the states of the two cities.

Like 18th century Paris in the Charles Dickens novel, Morris said, San Bernardino is in the best of times and the worst of times.

“(This is) a city that is currently in the midst of an unprecedented set of infrastructure investments totaling more than $1.5 billion that are creating opportunities that – if cultivated, nurtured, and built upon – are poised to make the coming decades some of the `best of times’ for our city,” Morris said.

But he also said the city was on the brink of financial disaster, noting a projected $16 million deficit for the coming fiscal year – 12 percent of the budget – and a projected $60 million deficit by 2016.

To overcome those financial difficulties and bring out the best of the city, Morris pushed for reforms in two main areas: pensions and what he termed inefficient government services.

“The first step to financial health for San Bernardino is the same step that is being taken across the state and in Sacramento: reform and recalibration of public pensions and benefits,” he said, advocating a plan modeled on Gov. Jerry Brown’s pension proposal.

That plan would require new and current employees to pay 50 percent of their pension costs; return the retirement age to 1932 levels – 65 for nonpublic safety workers compared with 55 today; and shift more risk from taxpayers to employees, as is the case with most private-sector workers.

Morris also wants pensions to be based only on salary, not bonuses or other forms of compensation.

To read entire story, click here.

Thursday, April 26, 2012 – 09:45 a.m.

Here’s some interesting news on the transom this week.

Retirement savings plans under attack.

Yes, it’s finally happening. The feds are discussing the taxation of various retirement savings accounts to generate revenue. As their coffers dwindle, expect federal, state and local government to squeeze taxpayers.

Unemployment claims rising again

388,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. Not a good number for an economy that’s supposedly improving. Should claims break 400,000 it would definitely be an omen of bad things to come.

Romney steam rolling to nomination

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney swept 5 primaries Tuesday night on his way to the republican nomination. Texas Governor Rick Perry has already endorsed Romney. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich and Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum are expected to follow. Romney’s early taking of the field doesn’t bode well for President Barack Obama, who was counting on and extended GOP primary fight to consume Romney’s funding.

Morris for San Bernardino Mayor?

The other Morris that is!

Yes, sources are saying that, Jim Morris, the chief of staff to, and son of San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris, is pondering a run to replace his father.

Taxpayer lawsuit over Colonies settlement hits the skids

The taxpayer lawsuit filed against the San Bernardino County Flood Control District by Upland Attorney Corey Briggs hit the skids this week after Colonies Partners, L.P. filed a motion to throw the case out of court. Briggs amended his complaint to keep the case on life support until Colonies attorney Stephen Larson files a new demurrer in San Bernardino County Superior Court.

Aleman making a comeback?

Former Assistant Assessor and Bill Postmus operative, Adam Aleman, may be trying to re-enter politics. Aleman is rumored to be working on the Paul Cook congressional campaign and assisting anti-drug crusader and former Assembly hopeful Paul Chabot.

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/19/2012 06:17:07 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Attorneys for the bankrupt SBD Airport Services are asking a federal judge to force San Bernardino International Airport administrators to restore the company’s access to the airport’s fueling facilities.

“Defendants’ wrongful conduct, including but not limited to the purported termination of the Fuel Agreement … will cause great and irreparable injury,” the complaint reads.

The complaint also alleges that SBD Aircraft Services suffered at least $20 million in damages after airport managers blocked the company from SBIA’s fueling facilities in February.

The attorneys filed their new complaint on Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside. SBD Airport Services sought bankruptcy protection in early March and the company has claimed SBIA’ leaders have tried to cripple their business operations.

SBD Aircraft Services is one of multiple companies at SBIA that are managed by Scot Spencer. SBD Aircraft services declared bankruptcy in March after the airport’s interim chief, A.J. Wilson, blocked the Spencer-managed SBD Properties from accessing the airport’s “fuel farm.”

To read entire story, click here.

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/17/2012 10:50:07 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The special oversight committee in charge of unwinding the Inland Valley Development Agency’s redevelopment powers has yet to finish compiling a list of financial obligations that could determine whether planned improvements around San Bernardino International Airport are accomplished or not.

“There could be some decisions that effect whether certain projects go forward or not,” said committee member Jim Morris.

Morris is chief of staff to San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris and represents San Bernardino on the oversight board.

Tuesday, the IVDA’s oversight board met to consider a payment plan for the agency’s debts due between July and the end of the year. Board members held off a decision until an additional meeting planned for next Tuesday.

The IVDA provides financial support to the development of San Bernardino International Airport and is also empowered to provide redevelopment incentives for surrounding land and improve nearby roads.

The agency has more than $949.5 million in financial obligations.

Some of the money would be spent on road projects like improvements to Tippecanoe Avenue or a new bridge for Mountain View Avenue. The oversight board has to prove to the state Department of Finance that those and other projects are part of existing obligations that cannot be escaped.

The oversight board’s work is part of the unwinding of redevelopment in California.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/17/2012 11:43:29 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – In a court case that could change the outcome of the city clerk election, the registrar of voters will be required to explain why he didn’t count votes by people whose signature didn’t match records but signed affidavits swearing they had voted.

The decision by Judge Donna Gunnell Garza on Tuesday modifies her earlier decision not to allow any outside evidence.

The case was brought by 15 residents who say they voted in the Feb. 7 mail-in run-off election for city clerk but whose votes Registrar of Voters Michael J. Scarpello did not count.

Georgeann “Gigi” Hanna beat Amelia Sanchez-Lopez by six votes, according to a recount, and took office March 5.

At the time, Scarpello pointed to the state Election Code saying signatures must match.

But registered voters should have been allowed to vote or at least notified of the discrepancy so they could fix it, alleges a lawsuit brought by Los Angeles-based attorney William Trejo on their behalf.

“I’m very pleased,” Trejo said of Tuesday’s decision. “All we’re seeking is the truth and the information that the registrar acted on.”

Trejo said the law is clear that anything in a voter’s file – including an affidavit – could be used to determine a signature’s validity.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen
Posted: 04/17/2012 01:41:03 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The City Council on Monday delayed a decision on more than $3 million in proposed cuts to its 2011-2012 budget, sending the proposal back to the budget committee that considered them last week.

The full council will vote on the cuts – which include a rotating brownout of a fire station and contracting out for refuse collection – at its next meeting, May 7. That’s less than two months before the end of the fiscal year the cuts will affect.

Several council members expressed frustration with the delay, which follows a budget workshop on the proposals and an earlier study by the ad hoc budget committee, made up of Councilmen Rikke Van Johnson and John Valdivia and Councilwoman Wendy McCammack.

“Time is wasting, in a sense,” said Mayor Pat Morris. “The longer we wait, the harder it is to bring this budget back into balance.”

Most of the proposed savings come from deciding to close vacant positions, meaning the money saved would be the same regardless of when they’re made, but others would compound over time.

McCammack was among several who said she was concerned public safety was being sacrificed.

“I’m very concerned that seven police officers’ positions being left vacant, and more important, 17 firefighter positions being left vacant,” she said.

She also said the proposal should have included more revenue options, especially considering additional revenue the new finance director, Jason found when he reviewed the budget. And she repeated her contention that issuing administrative civil penalties to fine noncompliant foreclosed homes could have bridged the budget gap and improved the appearance of the city.

Others said collecting any more money from residents was unacceptable.

“Residents can be assured that no new taxes, no new fees, no new revenues will come by my desk – no anything on the backs of our residents,” Valdivia said.

To read entire story, click here.

SAN BERNARDINO – From the viability of L.A./Ontario International Airport to ongoing progress at San Bernardino International Airport, legislators from the Inland Empire held a hearing on Thursday evening to discuss the importance of air transportation in the region.

The Select Committee on Inland Empire Transportation, led by Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter, D-Rialto, met Thursday evening at the main auditorium at the Norton Regional Events Center.

“We must strive to expand capability and utilize our transportation,” said Carter, who noted the importance of the 10 Freeway corridor between the two airports and the role goods movement plays in the region.

On the mind of many in the audience was the ongoing battle between the cities of Ontario and Los Angeles over control of the struggling Ontario airport.

Assemblywoman Norma Torres, D-Chino, said the hearing was important to discuss the continuing decline at ONT. Torres said it will be up to local leaders to find a way to grow the medium-hub facility because the city of Los Angeles “will always take care of LAX first.”

State Sen. Bob Dutton, serving as the moderator of the panel discussion on ONT, likened the issue at the Ontario airport to an absentee landlord.

“The airport is underperforming,” said Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga.

Right now annual passenger traffic is at 4 million, levels last seen in 1987.

Dutton has been lobbying for local control. He even ushered legislation that would create an airport authority to control the Ontario airport.

The bill was put on hold last year in order to give both parties time to continue negotiations. Dutton said he is waiting on a report from a Los Angeles City Council subcommittee, which is reviewing Ontario’s plan to wrest control away from L.A., before he moves forward with his bill.

Addressing the elected officials, Ontario Councilman Alan Wapner painted a picture of the ongoing decline at ONT.

Wapner pointed to Los Angeles World Airports – which manages ONT and Los Angeles International Airport – for the decline, saying saying LAWA has not invested in marketing or offered incentives to airlines to fly out of the Ontario facility.

“With one small change we could turn everything around,” he said.

To read entire story, click here.

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/11/2012 08:12:10 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The stench of urine and stale beer assault the senses as soon as Steve Willkomm opens the door to the foreclosed home.

But after years of similar experiences, the new head of the city’s code enforcement division focuses immediately on the gutted remains of a radiator.

“You see this a lot: Someone’s already taken out all the metal they can get,” Willkomm said.

That’s why parts of the walls had been ripped out to steal the copper wire, he said. More importantly, it means the squatters who had been living in the house had no working central heating system.

“There’s a reason code requires a heating system, and the reason is that when it gets cold people are going to get heat somehow,” he said.

“Propane, barbecues – if we don’t come out to these places early enough, we find out about them because there’s a fire.

“That’s one of the reasons we need to make sure we’re getting out to these residences as quickly as possible.”

But that often doesn’t happen, according to a scathing report by Los Angeles-based Matrix Consulting Group.

The study – which Willkomm and his bosses say is right on target and offers useful suggestions – notes that the first visit to a property considered “hazardous” took an average of 28 calendar days.

That’s just one example of productivity levels far below the average for California cities with similar populations and demographics – despite a relatively high number of employees, said Gary Goelitz, vice president of Matrix, as he presented the study to the City Council last week.

“You have the resources to be the most beautiful city in the state,” he said, but noted that many code enforcement employees are working at 60percent of capacity and some at just 20percent.

“I’ve never seen a productivity level that low,” he said.

Goelitz recommends a number of changes, focusing on increased accountability.

Those include reorganizing the code enforcement division so that employees are assigned to specific geographic areas, rather than specializing in certain types of calls. And the progress by individual employees needs to be tracked, he said.

Other recommendations include prioritizing areas that often have code violations, retraining employees and shrinking the division by leaving many positions unfilled as employees leave.

A committee of City Council members is reviewing the recommendations. The full council will decide whether to make any policy changes.

Something needs to change, council members said.

That’s what Margo Wheeler, who leads the Community Development Department, which is in charge of code enforcement, expected to find when she requested the study.

To read entire story, click here.

A S.B. County Superior Court judge rejects efforts to hear from voters whose ballots were disqualified

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Published: 10 April 2012 08:38 PM

A legal challenge to San Bernardino City Clerk Gigi Hanna’s election victory suffered a setback Tuesday when a judge ruled that voters whose ballots were disqualified cannot testify.

San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Donna Ginnell Garza tentatively ruled in favor of a motion by attorneys for Hanna and the Registrar of Voters seeking to limit testimony in a hearing next week.

Hanna took office last month following a close election in February that led to a recount and a six-vote margin of victory.

Supporters of Amelia Sanchez-Lopez, Hanna’s opponent in the Feb. 7 election, filed suit seeking to force the registrar to accept declarations of voters swearing they cast ballots that were disqualified because signatures on their mail-in envelopes didn’t match signatures on their voter-registration cards.

A total of 64 such ballots were disqualified, according to the registrar.

The complaint represents 12 of those voters although attorney Sandra Garcia said she plans to challenge the disqualification of 33 ballots.

Hanna’s attorney, Stuart Leviton, said all 64 ballots should be examined and the plaintiffs can’t just “pick and choose.”

Garcia said her clients’ rights to vote and due process to challenge the registrar’s disqualification were violated.

To read entire story, click here.

By Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/04/2012 06:19:43 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – A city budget committee will meet next week to consider solutions to a $3.8million shortfall that popped up in this year’s budget and must be closed within three months.

But the panel will also be looking for a way to avoid repeating that surprise in future years.

The biggest single reason the 2011-2012 budget didn’t match projections is $2.4million paid to retiring or resigning employees who then collect the cash equivalent of years of unused sick leave and vacation time, said City Manager Charles McNeely – and San Bernardino is one of the few cities that doesn’t set aside money to cover those buyouts.

And so the City Council unanimously directed its ad hoc budget committee to study how to set up that reserve fund.

But it’s hard to set aside extra money and simultaneously reverse a deficit, said Councilman Rikke Van Johnson, who chairs the committee.

“That’s the million-dollar question – where is this money going to come from?” he said Wednesday. “We put ourselves in a financial position where it’s kind of hard even to establish something.”

For the past few years, San Bernardino has paid an annual average of $2million in buyouts, McNeely said, but what’s changed is that departments have lost their ability to offset the blow with money set aside for positions that were unfilled. Those vacant positions were eliminated in previous budget-cutting cycles.

One longer-term solution – and a more controversial one – is limiting the buyouts.

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Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/03/2012 08:18:00 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The city is $3.8 million behind on its annual budget for this year and must cut that money by July 1.

The City Council held a workshop Tuesday to review the budget situation and directed its budget committee to review proposed cuts next week and present their recommendations at the April 16 meeting.

General fund revenues for the 2011-2012 fiscal year are expected to be about $343,000 more than the city projected last summer, but that’s dwarfed by several departments spending far more than projected.

Highest over budget is the Fire Department – $2.8 million – mostly because the city expected a 10 percent salary reduction. The city imposed that contract, but a judge overruled it. The city has appealed that decision.

The Police Department is expected to finish the year $913,400 over budget because of payouts to retiring employees, and the City Clerk’s Office is more than $200,000 over budget because of retirements and a run-off election.

Even if the $3.8 million is cut, the city will still have a reserve of about $622,000 – an amount that must grow, McNeely said.

“If these efforts are not made, insolvency or bankruptcy may result,” he said.

Councilwoman Wendy McCammack said she wanted the budget committee to have more power to raise revenues by increasing the number of administrative civil penalties (ACP) given to residents or businesses that break city codes.

“If we had slapped an ACP on every property that was not maintained last year, we would have no deficit – none,” she said. “I don’t see any revenue enhancement, and that’s not enough for me.”

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/03/2012 10:38:18 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The Inland Valley Development Agency’s leaders don’t know yet how much – if at all – their organization will be affected by the end of redevelopment in California, but they could lose roughly $20 million per year in certain property tax revenue if events do not go their way.

That money could be devoted to improvements at San Bernardino International Airport and its surrounding infrastructure, and at this point, it’s uncertain whether the IVDA will be able to continue to collect those dollars or if the money will go to state government.

It’s also unknown, thus far, what a loss of that money may mean for the development of San Bernardino International Airport facilities or improvements to nearby roads.

“We assume that we can make payments for the airport, and Tippecanoe and etcetera,” said interim IVDA director A.J. Wilson.

Tuesday, the IVDA’s new oversight board met to begin the process of unwinding its redevelopment power, in case that becomes necessary.

The IVDA is preparing to go to court to seek a ruling that it is exempt from the state law that ended city and county redevelopment agencies this year, Wilson said.

The IVDA is different from most redevelopment agencies, which were created, typically by a single local government, to stop urban blight.

Instead, San Bernardino County, along with the cities of San Bernardino, Colton and Loma Linda, created the IVDA in 1990 to deal with the then-pending closure of Norton Air Force base.

The IVDA has since provided financial support to San Bernardino International Airport and is also empowered to provide redevelopment incentives for surrounding land and improve nearby roads.

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U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside/KIMBERLY PIERCEALL/STAFF PHOTO

BY KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
STAFF WRITER
kpierceall@pe.com

Published: 30 March 2012 11:18 AM

Norton Property Management Services LLC, a company affiliated with Scot Spencer that filed for bankruptcy in December to avoid eviction from a hangar at San Bernardino International Airport, was granted another 90 days to either keep or reject the amended lease it has had with the airport since October 2010.

The company now has until July 3 to decide if it will keep the lease or reject it. The San Bernardino International Airport Authority has maintained that the company is in default.

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By Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/28/2012 07:50:12 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – The agency formed to revive the former Norton Air Force Base plans to file a lawsuit next week to keep from falling under the clutches of the state law that has dissolved more than 400 municipal redevelopment agencies across California.

The Inland Valley Development Agency will ask a state court judge next week for an injunction to shield it from the effects of ABx1 26, the law which abolished redevelopment agencies and requires them create oversight boards to proceed with the liquidation of assets, Tim Sabo, attorney for the agency’s board, said Wednesday.

The agency is not under threat of liquidation, but its independent redevelopment powers are in jeopardy, said A.J. Walker, interim executive director said in an interview.

During a regularly scheduled meeting, the board approved a measure authorizing certain appointments to an oversight board, which may be required under ABx1 26.

Sabo said, in an interview after the meeting, that the legislative act which created municipal redevelopment agencies is different from the enabling legislation creating the IVDA in 1990. Therefore, the the IVDA should be immune to last year’s state Supreme Court ruling which upheld the state’s right to dissolve local economic development agencies.

Potentially millions of dollars a year are at stake, Wilson said.

Sabo said state finance representatives maintain that since the IVDA uses tax increment financing as a tool, as did municipal redevelopment agencies, it is subject to the act.

“We haven’t been able to get to someone high enough (to reverse that stance),” Sabo said.

Sabo said the agency’s position is that if the state intended to sweep it into the same net as city RDAs, then the language of ABx1 26 would have referenced the act which created the IVDA.

“If it walks like a duck, then it must be a duck” is the state’s attitude, Sabo said.

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San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairman James Ramos speaks at press conference

By Michel Nolan, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/28/2012 06:40:49 PM PDT

San Manuel Stadium is ready for the Inland Empire 66ers to host their California League matchups.

Ready to serve hot dogs.

Ready for screaming fans.

Home of the city’s minor league baseball team, the 16-year-old stadium has been renamed to honor the longstanding parnership with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, it was announced on Wednesday.

“This is an evolution of our partnership that we are unveiling naming rights,” said Donna Tuttle, 66ers co-owner.

“Visually, we have the new signs of an important collaboration that has been going on for years,” she said.

The name change does not affect the Inland Empire 66ers ownership. The team is still owned by Elmore Sports Group and is affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

“The people of the San Manuel are not new to coming to this stadium,” said Tribal Chairman James Ramos. “We used to go to Fiscalini Field, now we have a beautiful stadium we can come to and share – root people on, eat the hot dogs and yell at the ump when he makes a bad call.”

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Kelley

By Chas Kelley
Posted: 03/28/2012 05:25:49 PM PDT

There is a palpable new spirit of optimism in the city of San Bernardino.

Despite recent publicity about several city administrative officials leaving, the San Bernardino City Council and mayor are working more harmoniously than we have for many years.

The old political fault lines have shifted with council members looking to the future rather than dwelling on the past. For the first time in history, the San Bernardino City Council elected our mayor pro tem with a unanimous vote. City leaders also moved unanimously to develop an economic strategic plan to build the strong job creation base our city needs to thrive.

San Bernardino’s mayor and city attorney have been meeting frequently in recent weeks and seem to be establishing a more positive working relationship. The City Council responded by voting to provide needed funding for the City Attorney’s Office, but we also demonstrated our independence by saying no to his request for additional staff.

The election of a new generation of leaders like Councilmen Robert Jenkins and John Valdivia affords San Bernardino a golden opportunity to move away from politics as usual and toward the path to prosperity.

We only need to look at the city of Fontana to observe a proven road map that San Bernardino can follow to future success.

Two decades ago, Fontana faced a similar predicament that San Bernardino does today. At that time, Fontana was a declining city with high crime and a diminished revenue base due to cutbacks in the steel industry.

Then a new group of young, energetic leaders – including Mark Nuaimi and Janice Rutherford – won election to the Fontana City Council. By focusing on economic development and building on a successful racing speedway, these leaders transformed Fontana into the dynamic community it is today.

I believe that the elections of 2011 will serve as the same kind of community turning point for San Bernardino that the election of Mark Nuaimi and Janice Rutherford was for Fontana.

The upcoming vacancy in our city manager’s office provides the chance for a fresh start by developing a staff leadership team that reflects the new City Council’s focus on job creation and economic development.

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Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/27/2012 10:44:33 AM PDT

San Bernardino International Airport’s governing board may take action Wednesday to help the San Bernardino County Sheriff move its aviation division from Rialto Municipal Airport to the former Norton Air Force base.

Although the airport board is set to consider a relatively straightforward financial agreement involving Rialto and San Bernardino County government, the end of redevelopment agencies in California complicates the plan.

The Rialto Redevelopment Agency owned Rialto Municipal Airport, and previously, redevelopment officials planned to sell the airport to a developers group and turn the money over to Rialto’s city government.

The sale could have generated an amount between $26 million and $35 million, Rialto economic development director Rob Steel said.

More than $4 million, as outlined in the deal SBIA board members are scheduled to discuss today, would have been ultimately delivered to SBIA to help the sheriff’s aviation division set up a new base in San Bernardino.

But after the courts upheld legislation to end redevelopment agencies, Rialto Municipal’s ownership is under a cloud. Rialto will have to send representatives to a state oversight board to contend that Rialto Municipal should be under city control.

“We’re going to have to convince them the rightful place for the property is the city, not some dissolution or liquidation sale,” Steel said.

The sheriff’s department and others at Rialto Municipal have been expected to move to SBIA since Congress approved the former airport’s closure in 2005.

SBIA assistant director Mike Burrows said officials at the San Bernardino airport have planned for the sheriff’s flyers to be the first Rialto Municipal tenants to move to SBIA.

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