$1.8M goes to Hinkley School water system
February 02, 2012 5:11 PM
KATIE LUCIA, Staff Writer

HINKLEY • The regional water board signed a $3.6 million agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric on Wednesday night, dedicating half of that money to build a new water filtration system at the Hinkley School.

The settlement was concerning PG&E’s violation of their cleanup order requiring them to contain the rapidly growing plume of water that’s contaminated by chromium 6, a cancer-causing metal, said Lauri Kemper, assistant executive officer of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.

PG&E pushed to have as much of that settlement money given to the community as possible, according to company spokesman Jeff Smith. They decided on a water system for the school after community members voiced concerns about the facility’s quality of water. Currently PG&E supplies bottled water to the school to address those concerns.

“It’s good to see the school got (that money) so they can put a new water system up there and take care of the kids,” said Hinkley resident Jim Dodd, who serves on the community advisory committee. “It’s just nice to see something getting done.”

Barstow Unified School District Interim Superintendent Jeff Malan said the district was excited about the news and looked forward to working with PG&E and the water board.

PG&E is responsible for cleanup and containment of the contamination of chromium 6 that leaked into the groundwater from PG&E’s cooling towers in the 1960s.

The water board, which is overseeing the cleanup, issued a notice of violation to PG&E in 2009 after the company found the contamination was on the move, Kemper said. In the last three months alone the plume has extended more than one mile, she said.

The company maintains there was no actual violation, Smith said, as the change in plume boundary is due to new information gathered from recently installed monitoring wells rather than actual migration.

While Kemper agrees there may have been contamination not previously discovered in the area, she said there is substantial evidence the contamination is in fact migrating north.

The notice was issued after PG&E found one of their monitoring wells was reading higher levels of chromium 6, Kemper said. The well, located on Alcudia Road, used to read less than the maximum background level of 3.1 parts per billion, but increased to 9.5 parts per billion. Increased chromium 6 levels were also found in private wells, she said.

Kemper said the contamination is growing primarily because the groundwater naturally moves north. Additionally, individual pumps may be pulling the water in that direction.

Had the two not reached a settlement, the board could have imposed a maximum fine of $5.5 million or recommended the case to the state Attorney General’s office. In either case, all of the money would have gone to the state water board’s fund and none to the community.

PG&E and the water board will be hosting a meeting to describe the settlement agreement and hear public comments on the matter. The meeting will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 16 at the Hinkley School, 37600 Hinkley Road

Katie Lucia may be reached at (760) 256-4123 or KLucia@DesertDispatch.com.

Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/31/2012 12:33:41 PM PST

HINKLEY – The northern boundaries of that plume of contaminated groundwater continues to advance.

Water samples from new test wells – many installed this past summer – show chromium 6 contamination, above background level, extending north of Mountain General Road for the first time.

It is not clear, however, if the plume is growing at a rapid pace, or if the plume has been larger than originally thought for some time.

The thought behind some of the new well placements was to get ahead of the plume and then work backward to map its location.

It now appears the drilling may not have extended far enough north to get ahead of the plume.

The results of new samples from test wells were released Tuesday.

To read entire story, click here.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/08/2012 06:03:56 AM PST

HINKLEY – The water agency supervising the clean-up of chromium 6 groundwater contamination here has asked Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to provide more scientific details on the study it did to determine the naturally occurring background level.

The request follows critical reports from three independent scientists recruited to evaluate the 2007 study which determined the Hinkley area has a naturally occurring chromium 6 level of 3.1 parts per billion.

Determining the background level is “critically important” because it sets the bar for how far PG & E has to go to return the Hinkley’s groundwater to its original condition, said Jeff Smith, a PG & E spokesman.

In the 1950s and 1960s, PG & E used the cancer causing chemical chromium 6, also known as hexavalent chromium, to prevent rust and algae buildup in its Hinkley cooling towers.

The chemical, widely used before its cancer-causing properties were known, was discharged into unlined ponds and from there entered the groundwater.

Late last year it was revealed that the plume grew a mile in 2011, a rate that surprised geologists and engineers at the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Traditionally the plume has migrated northward at about a foot per day.

Laurie Kemper, assistant director of the water agency, said that the staff is first pursuing some of the questions raised by Stuart Nagourney, an adjunct professor of chemistry at The College of New Jersey.

Nagourney, in his critique of the background study, raised many technical questions on the detection methods used in the background study, which was paid for by PG & E.

He said these analytical data, and the decisions about how they were arrived, directly impact the conclusions of the study.

Kemper said that in formulating its questions, her agency consulted with a scientific laboratory it uses to analyze water samples.

Kemper said that the decision was made to pursue the issues raised by Nagourney first, in order to determine “if we can trust the data in the study.”

To read entire story, click here.

Coleman to serve as mayor pro tem
December 13, 2011 10:02 PM
BY Gretchen Losi

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY PRESS

APPLE VALLEY • Barb Stanton is the new mayor in town, with Ginger Coleman tapped to serve as mayor pro tem.

The two were voted and sworn in at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting.

Stanton said she looks forward to fulfilling many of the campaign promises she made when she was elected in 2010, such as bolstering transparency. But she’s also excited about tackling several new endeavors in 2012 as she takes over the mayorship from Scott Nassif.

Her first priority is getting a grasp on the water issues in the town.

“Our Blue Ribbon Water Committee will present their findings in the next couple of weeks,” she said in an emailed response, “and we then will make decisions on whether to purchase Apple Valley Ranchos Water Company.”

Stanton said the town is moving forward as quickly as possible with a water reclamation plant, hoping to use the water on parks and the golf course.

There are also discussions that Apple Valley may be able to utilize catch basins for water run-off and receive credit for recharging the basin, she said. If that happens, Stanton said it will pave the way for growth in the industrial section of north Apple Valley.

Stanton has always been an advocate for “open, clear and transparent town business,” and said she is proud the town now provides monthly financial reports on all expenditures including the golf course — but she plans to take things a step further.

To better serve the folks of Apple Valley, Stanton said she will be asking for a community meeting with council and department heads.

“Thus there will be ready answers to citizen’s questions rather than, ‘I will check and get back with you,’ ” she said.
She also hopes to start a quarterly “Coffee with the Mayor.”

“This is already in the planning stages to assist citizens with questions, problems and solutions, and to continue to open the door to transparency,” she said.

During her tenure as mayor, Stanton also hopes to find a way to keep Animal Control open on Saturdays.

It was a year filled with new beginnings and tragic ends for Stanton, who, while serving her first year as a council member, lost her sister to cancer in August. She also stepped out of the radio spotlight to focus all her energy on serving the town.

When asked what her first 12 months with the Town Council has taught her, Stanton replied: “Government moves very slowly. Apple Valley wasn’t built in a day.”

The known northern boundary of the plume of chromium 6 contamination in Hinkley grew one-mile in a year, according to the Lahontan Water Board. In the third quarter of 2010, the plume was touching Thompson Road. This year’s third-quarter map shows the plume slightly north of Sonoma Street (Click for a closer look at the official map documents)

Posted: 12/10/2011 02:15:51 PM PST

HINKLEY – The plume of chromium 6 contamination in this unincorporated community eight miles west of Barstow has leaped a mile in a year, according to maps released by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Traditionally the plume has migrated about a foot per day, said Lisa Dernbach, senior engineering geologist with the water board.

“We surprised by the movement of the plume in the last last year,” Dernbach said during a question and answer session following a town meeting hosted by the water board at Hinkley Elementary School late last week.
Hinkley Plume Boundary Expanding

This site is the only school in this town of not quite 1,700 made famous by the year 2000 hit movie “Erin Brockovich”.

Agricultural wells in the area could be pulling the plume along more quickly, she said.

Another action coming into play, is likely the narrowing of the underground valley on the plume’s northern edge, which is naturally causing the plume to move more quickly, Dernbach said.

Imagine a wide, slow moving river that is gradually narrowing, Lauri Kemper, assistant executive officer with the water board, said in an interview.

The water travels faster and faster as the river narrows. The same thing happens to underground rivers, she said.

In the 1950s and 1960s, utility company Pacific Gas & Electric Co. emptied water containing chromium 6 from its Hinkley natural gas pumping station, which then seeped in the town’s groundwater.

At that time, before the cancer risks from chromium 6 were recognized, it was used to kill microbes and provide corrosion protection for the utility’s massive cooling towers in Hinkley.

The resulting plume now measures four miles long by about two miles wide, Dernbach told about 60 people gathered in the school’s gymnasium.

The plume map for the third quarter of 2010 showed the plume’s northern edge extending to Thompson Road. The most recent map shows it crossing Somona Street, with one well showing a concentration of chromium 6 exceeding 4 parts per billion.

To read entire story, click here.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/25/2011 01:57:04 PM PDT

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has filed an appeal with the state’s Water Resources Control Board to stop an order that it provide permanent replacement water to Hinkley residents affected by a toxic groundwater plume.

The utility’s action Tuesday afternoon comes two weeks after the Lahontan Water Board ordered PG&E to provide a new replacement water system to Hinkley water users.

PG&E has been providing bottled water at more than 80 locations in Hinkley, including homes and the town’s only school and senior center.

“We remain committed to continuing to work cooperatively with the water board, interested agencies and the Hinkley community to address environmental impacts and community concerns stemming from our past operations…,” PG&E spokesman Jeff Smith said.

Those operations have for decades forced PG&E to grapple with the High Desert town’s groundwater contamination problem.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the utility used the cancer-causing chemical hexavalent chromium, or chromium 6, to prevent rust and algae buildup in its cooling towers, long before the harmful side effects of the chemical were known. The chemical leaked into unlined ponds and contaminated Hinkley’s groundwater.

The plight of Hinkley’s residents, who claimed the contaminated groundwater was the cause of myriad health ailments, and their landmark lawsuit against PG&E was the subject of the 2000 film “Erin Brockovich.”

Last year, the state Regional Water Quality Control Board, Lahontan Region, learned the contaminated plume had expanded to roughly 21/2 miles in length and about a mile in width. It ramped up its orders to PG&E to expedite the cleanup process.

A series of community meetings were launched, and Erin Brockovich was again summoned to the town to gather with residents and discuss their concerns. Talk of another lawsuit swirled through the community.

Smith said on Tuesday that PG&E is concerned about the “wide-ranging and statewide policy implications of certain provisions” with Lahontan’s Oct. 11 abatement order.

To read entire story, click here.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/12/2011 01:03:21 AM PDT

HINKLEY – The water agency overseeing the cleanup of Hinkley’s contaminated groundwater ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Tuesday to provide a new permanent water source to affected users.

PG&E has been providing bottled water to replace tap water for drinking purposes at more than 80 Hinkley locations, including residences, a school and a senior center.

But Lahontan Water Board’s order said that’s not good enough for the long term.

The agency was motivated by water users’ need to get quality drinking water out of their own taps, something many Hinkley residents couldn’t do.

“Replacement water service should have the comparable quality to the water pumped prior to the well being affected by the discharge of the waste,” the order said.

“This is a major shift, moving from intermediate replacement water to something more permanent,” said Harold J. Singer, the executive officer of the Lahontan Water Board said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

During the early 1950s and 1960s, PG&E used chromium 6 at its natural- gas-pumping station in Hinkley to control algae and protect metal against rust, a practice common in that era before cancer-causing side effects of that chemical were known.

Over the years, the plume contaminated by the chromium 6 has grown, forcing more residents to use bottled water.

But the board said whole- house replacement water was needed to meet users’ demands for water to prepare foods, shower and other uses, said Lauri Kemper, the board’s assistant executive officer.

To read entire story, click here.

PG&E will install an agreed-upon system for the polluted area
September 29, 2011 3:03 PM
SARA MITCHELL
Staff Writer

HINKLEY • Out of five water replacement options presented by Pacific Gas and Electric on Wednesday, Hinkley residents with elevated levels of chromium 6 in their water spoke heavily in favor of keeping their wells and against signing up with Golden State Water Company.

PG&E hired an independent water consulting company to offer five possible plans for providing permanent replacement water to residents, whose water sources were contaminated with chromium 6 after PG&E used the chemical to prevent rusting in cooling water tanks at its Hinkley compression station in the 1950s and 1960s. The water had discharged into unlined ponds, where it slowly began seeping into the groundwater.

Ed Means, vice president of Malcolm Pirnie, explained the options for which PG&E would pay at Wednesday’s community advisory meeting at Hinkley School. The options were to build a 12-mile pipeline from Golden State’s pipes in Barstow to Hinkley, to install a central treatment system for the whole community or individual water systems on each home, to deepen the wells to tap into uncontaminated water and to truck in replacement water regularly.

Hinkley residents defended their right to use their well systems, as opposed to relying on Golden State water or trucking in outside water.

“That’s why we live out here,” said Joel Valenzuela, a member of the community advisory committee. “We care about our independence.”

Billy Hernandez told the crowd he shouldn’t have to pay water bills to Golden State when his well is a cheaper, independent source of water. Multiple people referenced the issues that Barstow residents are facing with increasing water bills and Golden State’s proposed rate increases.

“Once you don’t control it, it is in somebody else’s hands,” Hernandez said after the meeting. “And you’re stuck with what you’re stuck with.”

Most residents were in favor of the home systems, which would run off the wells and would be installed and maintained by a separate vendor.

To read more about the community advisory meeting, see the full story in Friday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Sara Mitchell May be reached at (760) 256-4126 or smitchell@DesertDispatch.com.

BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com

Despite court setbacks, a proposed open-air sludge composting facility near the high desert town of Hinkley has once again won approval from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

On Tuesday, the board voted 3-1, with Supervisor Neil Derry absent and Chairwoman Josie Gonzales opposed, to certify the Nursery Products environmental report for the third time.

The Nursery Products project was first approved by the board in 2007, but a Superior Court judge ordered the county to overturn its approval after finding part of the original environmental impact report was flawed.

Supervisors certified the project study again last year after conducting additional environmental reports.

In April, a judge found the report still inadequate.

The sole remaining issue ordered by the court was a water study showing the project would have a proper supply, said Jim Squire, a planning consultant for the county. A water study by a county hydrologist making those findings was part of the board approval.

To read entire story, click here.

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/25/2011 07:03:17 AM PDT

HINKLEY – Think about this happening to your part of the world.

Eight miles away there are plans for a commercial composting facility that would bring 1,100 tons per day of biosolids – the sludge left over after sewage water is treated – plus a like amount of green materials – like wood chips – and mix them in the open air and allow the mixture to cook in the sun.

And oh yes, there will be nearly 50 large trucks delivering the biosolids every day.

On Tuesday, San Bernardino County Supervisors – again – are going to take up an issue related to this project, which they have approved twice before.

This time supervisors are going to vote on whether to approve water supply assessment addendum number two, which

Nursery Products LLC is proposing an 80-acre open-air composting site eight miles west of Hinkley (green point). The site would be used to compost waste solids from water-treatment plants and green materials to produce agricultural-grade compost.

Nearby residents are concerned about dust and other pollution from the site.

The developer anticipates the business will receive 1,100 tons of biosolids daily, arriving on 48 trucks.

The 29-page report concludes that current water supplies are sufficient to meet demands through 2044.

But some Hinkley residents doubt that as does an environmental attorney also opposing the project.

For five years, many Hinkley residents have been fighting this project. They have health concerns about the dust, pathogens, and water usage of the project.

Keep in mind that these folks might have a reason to be suspicious – these are the people who have a large and growing plume of cancer-causing chromium 6 that has plagued their water supply for decades.

Remember the year 2000 hit movie “Erin Brockovich”? That was about Hinkley’s battle with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. over the pollution and its remedy, something which continues.

The type of conflict over Victorville-based Nursery Products proposed Hawes Composting Facility has played out in different ways across Southern California and the nation for decades, said Ed Barnes, chief financial officer for Cal Poly Pomona, who prior to that job was a professor of soil science.

To read entire story, click here.

PG&E – Hinkley

Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/06/2011 10:50:45 AM PDT

HINKLEY — When Elaine Kearney and husband Greg first purchased their 10 acres here, they would bottle up some fresh well water to take back to their Ontario home.

That was in the mid-1980s and although there may have been rumblings about mysterious illnesses in town, the Kearneys never heard about them.

For the Kearneys, the area was magical. The simple, High Desert lifestyle led them to build their dream house on the property in 1995 and sell out in Ontario.

“We were desert people. Everyone in the family loves dirt bikes,” Elaine said.

Now they want out of Hinkley.

They are one of two kinds of people here: Those that want the groundwater water cleaned up and life restored before the town became a symbol for chromium 6 water contamination, and those that just want to leave.

Both paths have their own set of difficulties.

As for those who want to leave, well, ask yourself this question: Would you want to buy a house in Hinkley?

Real estate agents won’t show houses in Hinkley. And even if they did, not many would want to see them.

“We shy away from Hinkley because of liability,” said Joe Brady, who owns Barstow Reality Group and is president of the The Bradco Cos. in Victorville, a commercial real estate company. “There are some huge disclosure issues on the real estate there.”

Unincorporated Hinkley’s population is estimated this year to be slightly less than 1,700, down about 10 percent from 2000.

Plume apparently growing

Instead of getting better, there is growing evidence that the tainted water plume — made famous in the 2000 hit movie, “Erin Brockovich,” is either spreading or was always larger than believed.

Last month, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials announced 12 of 56 new water sampling wells placed beyond the known northern plume boundary showed chromium 6 levels higher than what is thought to be the naturally occurring background level.

The state and federal governments have not determined how much chromium 6 in water is too much, although both are working on it.

Late last year, a California agency determined that 0.02 parts per billion is the public health goal, but that number is not an enforceable limit.

At this time, 3.1 parts per billion is thought to be the maximum amount of chromium 6 that could be naturally occurring in Hinkley.

Amounts higher than that are generally thought to be the result of PG&E’s past industrial wastewater disposal practices.

PG&E contractors are currently drilling or have recently drilled many sampling wells well north of 12 contaminated ones in an effort to find where the plume is not.

“We are glad they decided to go well north,” said Lauri Kemper, assistant executive officer for the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board, which is overseeing PG&E’s management of the contaminated plume and will determine how — and when — it is to be cleaned.

“Their normal approach has been to go out north in little steps away from the last detection. But this is a giant leap forward” with the idea of getting ahead of the plume and working backward to where it is, Kemper said.

Starting in the 1950s, PG&E used chromium 6 to kill microbes and provide corrosion protection for its massive cooling towers at a natural gas pumping station in Hinkley.

The water from the cooling tower was frequently drained into unlined ponds – a common practice at the time, when the cancer risks of chromium 6 were

Hinkley resident and critic of PG&E’s toxic groundwater remediation process wants more monitoring wells to better track the contamination in Hinkley. (Eric Reed/For The Sun)
unrecognized.

From the ponds, the contaminated cooling tower water seeped into Hinkley’s groundwater.

As part of its clean-up strategy, PG&E pioneered and is operating the largest plant in the world, which uses alcohol injected into the groundwater to change cancer causing chromium 6 into chromium 3.

To read entire story, click here.

Area north of chromium 6 ‘plume’ shows elevated toxins
August 18, 2011 9:06 AM
SARA MITCHELL
Staff Writer

HINKLEY • Recent tests show elevated levels of chromium 6 in a dozen monitoring wells north of the contaminated Hinkley plume, with one well registering more than three times what’s considered a safe amount of the heavy metal.

The results mean Pacific Gas and Electric will begin supplying more residents with bottled water and add more monitoring wells further north of Thompson Road, company spokesman Jeff Smith said, as the power giant attempts to control the problem that’s plagued this town for more than half a century.

PG&E used chromium 6 in the 1950s to fight corrosion in a Hinkley cooling tower water. Erin Brockovich exposed the dangerous effects of the contaminant nearly two decades ago, in a landmark lawsuit made famous by the 2000 Julia Roberts movie.

Since the groundwater contamination was revealed, the company has had to supply replacement water and regulate water sources for chromium 6 levels in an affected plume that’s about three miles long and almost a mile-and-a-half wide. But that plume continues to grow, with elevated toxins found in a dozen of the 56 wells PG&E was ordered in April to install a halfmile further north.

Chromium 6 has been found to cause tumors and anything higher than 3.1 parts per billion is considered above background level. In the latest tests, PG&E found that 12 wells had more than 3.1 parts per billion, with one plume showing 11 parts per billion of chromium 6. Most of these wells had between 3.2 and 5.0 parts per billion.

To read more about the new wells’ results, see the full story in Thursday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has asked a water quality board to reconsider its order requiring the utility to provide permanent replacement water for many Hinkley residents for all indoor uses including drinking, cooking and bathing.

The order potentially affects those living within a mile of the current plume boundary.

PG&E’s request to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board was filed Tuesday afternoon, the last day comments could be filed before the order takes effect.

For about a year, PG&E has provided bottled drinking water to all water well users with chromium 6 levels above natural background levels as well as to the Hinkley School and the Hinkley senior center, said Jeff Smith, a spokesman for the San Francisco-based utility.

Recently, PG & E has expanded its bottled water program to well water users within one mile of the plume regardless of the chromium 6 level found in their water.

The proposed order “represents an unsupported and unreasonable expansion of water replacement requirements and sends a confusing message to the Hinkley community,” PG&E said in its letter to Harold Singer, the water quality board’s executive officer.

The proposed order has also drawn fire from the California Department of Public Health and the Association of California Water Agencies, which represents more than 90percent of the state’s water delivery providers.

In the 1950s and 1960s, PG&E emptied water containing chromium 6 from a pumping station, which then seeped into the town’s groundwater.

It was common to use chromium 6 as a rust preventative at the time, before its health hazards were known.

Neither the state nor federal government has set a standard for safe levels of chromium 6, also called hexavalent chromium, in drinking water.

But the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment earlier this year proposed that the state public health goal should be 0.02 parts per billion.

That goal will be used as one of several factors in setting the legally enforceable maximum allowable amount – a process that could take years.

The California standard for all forms of chromium in water, including both chromium 3 and chromium 6, is 50 parts per billion.

Chromium 3 in low doses is considered harmless and is often used as a vitamin supplement. Chromium 6 is a known carcinogen.

The Lahontan board previously determined that the natural background level of chromium 6 in the Hinkley area was between 1.2 parts per billion and 3.1 parts per billion.

The draft order would require PG&E to provide replacement water for wells within one mile of the current plume boundary if chromium levels in their wells were greater than the proposed public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion.

To read entire story, click here.

Council weighs cuts to employee compensation to avoid dipping further into reserves
June 25, 2011 1:00 PM
Brooke Edwards
Staff Writer

APPLE VALLEY • The town will likely be the only local municipality to start the coming fiscal year without an approved budget, as Apple Valley’s Council asks for more time to weigh controversial issues such as funding the golf course and potential cuts to employee compensation.

Though Apple Valley still has a healthy $8 million in its reserves to cover any shortfalls in operations, that safety net is nearly half what it was three years ago due to revenue declines during the recession, ongoing subsidies to Parks and Recreation and the Town Council’s vote to purchase Apple Valley Golf Course.

Staff put together a proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 that called for another $1 million draw on reserves to support those services. But, hesitant to continue draining that fund — and with too many questions unanswered about what other options are available — the Council is expected Tuesday night to extend the current budget for another 60 days until Sept. 1.

The Town Council will also discuss offering an early retirement incentive through the California Public Employee Retirement System as a way to trim expenses.

From more about the budget, read the full story in Sunday’s Press Dispatch. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

APPLE VALLEY • The Mojave Water Agency has moved into its new headquarters, consolidating from three buildings to one $6 million site a short distance away.

MWA’s facility on Conference Center Drive is powered largely by solar panels, features a larger board room, will allow for live-streamed meetings and should accommodate the agency for the next 50 years.

“We’ve known for quite a while that we’ve needed for a number of reasons to relocate,” said Art Bishop, who saw plans for the building when he joined MWA’s Board of Directors six years ago.

The agency had been based at 22450 Headquarters Drive since 1988. It’s since added a temporary portable and tilt-up concrete structure nearly a mile away to house its staff of 34, which oversees the High Desert’s water supply.

MWA has been setting aside money out of its operations fund to relocate for years, spokesman Mike Stevens said, able to pay cash without affecting water rates, stalling other capital projects or incurring debt.

To read more about the new MWA headquarters, see the full story in Sunday’s Press Dispatch. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

June 14, 2011 3:03 PM
Tomoya Shimura
Staff Writer

The High Desert housing market in May mirrored that of Southern California overall, where median home prices saw the largest year-over-year drop in 20 months.

Local home prices last month decreased by 9.4 percent compared to May 2010 and 3.1 percent from April, according to a data compiled by Larry Trombley of Century 21 Rose Realty in Hesperia. The average price in May for the High Desert was $59.66 per square foot, down from $65.88 at the same time last year.

The median home price in Southern California dropped 8.2 percent during the same period, according to San Diego-based DataQuick.

But Trombley attributed the decline to last year’s tax break, which prompted home buyers to rush to the market.

“I think that helped raised the price and sales (last year),” he said. “I honestly don’t see anything to be concerned about. We have a leveled market.”

For more about High Desert home sales, read the full story in Wednesday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Tomoya Shimura may be reached at (760) 955-5368 or tshimura@VVDailyPress.com.

The economic woes that have plagued the state, county and Victor Valley cities could lead to reductions in specialized law enforcement teams.

Due to budgetary cuts, some members of local gang teams may be reassigned, according to those close to the program.

“As far as the (San Bernardino County) Sheriff’s Department is concerned, there are no plans to cut any of the positions from the gang team although many of the teams are not just made up of sheriff’s department employees,” Cindy Bachman, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department said and confirmed that at least one officer from an outside agency had been taken off of one of the desert gang teams. But some believe more can be at risk.

Sgt. Stan Wijnhamer recently had to go to bat for an integral member of his gang team whose position was in danger of being eliminated.

According to Wijnhamer, there has been a rise in the number of gang members and gangs within the last five years and a reduction of gang team members would not be wise.

“I have 10, 5-inch binders with documented gang members just in Hesperia from all different gangs,” he said. “It’s dangerous for us to do any kind of elimination of any member of any gang team in the desert.”

He acknowledged with cities and counties looking to trim their budgets, teams like SMASH could be reduced or eliminated.

“We were told that we would not be cut but, really, it all depends on the budget,” he said. “We’re the specialized team and we’re the extra.”

To read more about possible cuts, see the full story in Tuesday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Beatriz E. Valenzuela may be reached at (760) 951-6276 or at BValenzuela@VVDailyPress.com.

Town budgeting for Yucca Loma Bridge this year
June 11, 2011 3:00 PM
Brooke Edwards
Staff Writer

APPLE VALLEY • The town will have to dip a bit further into its reserves to continue subsidizing its park system and golf course in the coming year. However, no layoffs are projected and few cuts to services, even as Apple Valley prepares to launch construction of the Yucca Loma Bridge, according to a draft budget up for discussion during Tuesday’s workshop.

Staff is proposing a total budget of $127 million for the 2011-12 fiscal year. That’s just 0.6 percent below the current year’s $127.8 million budget.

Most revenue sources are expected to remain relatively flat, Town Manager Frank Robinson wrote in his opening budget letter, even as fuel, utility, insurance and other operational costs increase. And so Robinson cautioned that the town can’t expand programs or services, hire more workers or take on other capital improvements projects in the future without getting new revenue sources.

The budget calls for $38.6 million in road projects, with $30 million for beginning Yucca Loma Bridge to connect Apple Valley Road with Green Tree Boulevard. The town expects to spend another $18.3 million on the project next year and $6 million in 2013-14.

To read more about the draft budget, see the full story in Sunday’s Press Dispatch. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

June 06, 2011 4:39 PM
Brooke Edwards

APPLE VALLEY • Computer problems, a staffing change and tight finances have stalled budget talks for Apple Valley, with the Town Council expected to get its first look at the plan just three weeks before it should take effect.

Mayor Pro Tem Barb Stanton said she was “flabbergasted” that Apple Valley hadn’t held a budget workshop yet, saying it “borders on outrageousness” and that she was “very, very disappointed.”

Town Manager Frank Robinson apologized for the delay during Thursday’s special meeting, saying they’d experienced a major computer system failure that forced them to push back last week’s anticipated release of the draft 2011-12 budget.

“It is our intent to send out a draft copy as soon as it is available later this week,” Marc Puckett, the town’s new finance director, said via email Monday.

To read more about Apple Valley’s budget, see the full story in Tuesday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

June 02, 2011 11:33 AM
Brooke Edwards
Staff Writer

APPLE VALLEY • Councilwoman Ginger Coleman is asking her colleagues to take another vote on which developer will partner with Apple Valley in building a low-income apartment complex for seniors near Town Hall.

Mayor Scott Nassif called a special meeting for Thursday evening to reconsider awarding the project to AMCAL Multi-Housing, a private development firm out of Agoura Hills.

The Council voted unanimously May 24 to help AMCAL finance construction of affordable apartments for seniors on town-owned property at the northwest corner of Dale Evans Parkway and Thunderbird Road. The vote appeared to be largely based on AMCAL’s plan to build a low-density project at the site, with the company calling for just 50 units over the 73 and 76 units pitched by their competitors.

However, that decision contradicted a recommendation from a five-member panel of evaluators, who’d interviewed bidders, rated them on 35 factors and unanimously suggested awarding the bid to Related California out of Irvine.

“For Apple Valley, this is kind of a monumental thing. This is our first affordable housing project,” Coleman said by phone Thursday. “I went home after our vote and spent a lot of time thinking about what we did and how little discussion we had.”

Coleman said she also received additional information after that meeting, which raised more questions about what rent for the apartments would be and how that might impact the viability of the project.

“It is public money,” Coleman said. “We have to make sure we’re choosing the best project to put that into that has the best chance of success.”

Under a tight timeline to negotiate a contract for the project and award funding, the Council called a special meeting for 4 p.m. Thursday in Town Hall, at 14955 Dale Evans Parkway.

Residents can also watch the meeting live at www.AppleValley.org.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Sunday, May 29, 2011 – 10:50 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, June 2, 2011 – 08:09 a.m.

A review of public records from 2007-2009 show alleged bribes, made in the form of political action contributions by Colonies Partners, inexplicably went far and wide.

Not politicians pockets as has been portrayed in the media.

Not to any certain official as alleged in court filings.

A thorough review of campaign disclosure documents filed with the California Secretary of State and San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters reveals some very interesting information.

In this article we take a look at the Inland Empire PAC. The committee operated by High Desert Developer John Defazio, but alleged to be “secretly” controlled by former Assessor and County Supervisor Bill Postmus.

Monies received by the PAC was disbursed to various state and local candidates and service vendors.

Yes, service vendors!

The filings reflect the following information.

COLONIES CONTRIB                                $ 50,000.00 ON 7/05/07
COLONIES CONTRIB TRANS FROM REP MAJ PAC         $ 43,455.41 ON 8/17/07
CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED PRIOR TO COLONIES        $ 93,000.00 EXCLUDES COLONIES
CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED AFTER COLONIES		$176,549.00 EXCLUDES COLONIES
PAYMENTS MADE BENEFITING SUPERVISOR OVITT	**NONE**
PAYMENTS MADE BENEFITING SUPERVISOR BIANE	$ 12,000.00
PAYMENTS MADE BENEFITING ASSESSOR POSTMUS	$ 50,000.00
LOANS FROM POSTMUS ASSESSOR COMMITTEE		$ 16,500.00 $4,500.00 OUTSTANDING
PAYMENTS MADE BENEFITING SUPERVISOR GONZALES	$  1,000.00
PAYMENTS MADE BENEFITING SUPERVISOR HANSBERGER	$  3,500.00
PAYMENTS MADE BENEFITING SUPERVISOR DERRY	$ 13,000.00
PAYMENTS TO SBCO TAXPAYERS ASSN.(OPPOSE DERRY) 	$  5,000.00
PAYMENTS MADE BENEFITING SUPERVISOR MITZELFELT	$107,500.00
LOAN TO SUPERVISOR MITZELFELT COMMITTEE		$ 30,000.00 REPAID PER. 1/1-3/17/08
PAYMENTS MADE BENEFITING MARK KIRK		$  2,000.00 CITY COUNCIL CAMPAIGN
FEE PAYMENT TO JOHN DEFAZIO			**NONE**
FEE PAYMENT TO MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)	$ 12,600.00
PAYMENTS TO COMMITTEE TREASURER BETTY PRESLEY	$ 12,200.00
***Disbursements***

DATE	 PAYEE					        AMOUNT      PURPOSE

02/27/07 ADAM ALEMAN					$  1,012.19 FUNDRAISING
03/01/07 ANTHONY ADAMS FOR ASSEMBLY			$  3,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
03/01/07 PAUL BIANE FOR SUPERVISOR			$ 12,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
04/23/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BRAD MITZELFELT		$ 20,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
05/22/07 BOB SMITH FOR ASSEMBLY				$  2,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
06/07/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BRAD MITZELFELT		$  5,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
06/29/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BRAD MITZELFELT		$ 30,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
06/29/07 FRIENDS OF CURT HAGMAN				$  1,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
06/29/07 NEIL DERRY FOR SUPERVISOR			$ 10,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
06/29/07 RUSS BOGH LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE			$  1,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
06/29/07 STRICKLAND FOR SENATE 2008                     $  3,600.00 CONTRIBUTION
07/11/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT JIM NEHMENS			$ 10,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
08/15/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT JIM NEHMENS			$  2,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
08/17/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BILL POSTMUS                $ 15,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
08/17/07 FRIENDS OF RUSS BLEWETT                        $    500.00 CONTRIBUTION
08/24/07 RUSS BOGH LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE			$  3,200.00 CONTRIBUTION
08/27/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BILL POSTMUS                $ 10,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
09/04/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BILL POSTMUS                $ 10,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
09/04/07 FIONA MA FOR ASSEMBLY				$  3,200.00 CONTRIBUTION
09/12/07 COMMITTEE TO REELECT JIM NEHMENS               $  1,500.00 CONTRIBUTION
09/18/07 BOB SMITH FOR ASSEMBLY				$    600.00 CONTRIBUTION
09/18/07 FRIENDS OF CURT HAGMAN                         $  2,600.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/10/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BRAD MITZELFELT		$ 12,500.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/10/07 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONSULTING FEE
10/23/07 FRIENDS OF JOSEPH TURNER			$    950.00 CONTRIBUTION
11/02/07 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONSULTING FEE
11/30/07 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BRAD MITZELFELT		$  2,500.00 CONTRIBUTION
11/30/07 HANSBERGER FOR SUPERVISOR			$  1,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
11/30/07 JOSIE GONZALES FOR SUPERVISOR			$  1,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
12/03/07 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONSULTING FEE
01/03/08 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONSULTING FEE
02/01/08 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONSULTING FEE
02/27/08 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BILL POSTMUS                $ 10,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
03/03/08 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONSULTING FEE
03/12/08 HANSBERGER FOR SUPERVISOR			$  2,500.00 CONTRIBUTION
03/17/08 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BRAD MITZELFELT		$  7,500.00 CONTRIBUTION
03/28/08 FRIENDS OF KEN MADDOX				$    150.00 CONTRIBUTION
04/01/08 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONSULTING FEE
05/20/08 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONSULTING FEE
05/22/08 SBCO TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION PAC (MATT BROWN)	$  3,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
05/30/08 SBCO TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION PAC (MATT BROWN)	$  2,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
06/01/08 MPR STRATEGIES (MIKE RICHMAN)			$  1,400.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/16/08 COMMITTEE TO ELECT BILL POSTMUS                $  5,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/16/08 COMMITTEE TO ELECT RICK ROELLE			$  5,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/16/08 FRIENDS OF RUSS BLEWETT                        $  7,500.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/16/08 NEIL DERRY FOR SUPERVISOR                      $  3,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/16/08 PROBOLSKY RESEARCH, LLC                        $  7,500.00 POLLING
10/29/08 COMMITTEE TO ELECT CHARLIE GLASPER             $    250.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/29/08 COMMITTEE TO ELECT STEVE BAISDEN               $    250.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/29/08 FRIENDS OF GINGER COLEMAN                      $  2,500.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/29/08 FRIENDS OF RUSS BLEWETT                        $  4,100.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/29/08 STRICKLAND FOR SENATE 2008                     $  3,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/30/08 CHRIS LINDSAY FOR SCHOOL BOARD                 $  5,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/30/08 FRIENDS OF GINGER COLEMAN                      $  2,000.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/30/08 FRIENDS OF RUSS BLEWETT                        $  1,400.00 CONTRIBUTION
10/30/08 MARK KIRK FOR CITY COUNCIL			$  2,000.00 CONTRIBUTION

April 28, 2011 8:49 AM
Brooke Edwards
Staff Writer

APPLE VALLEY • The Victor Valley’s first Walmart Supercenter could break ground in Apple Valley by fall, after a split Town Council approved the project without sending it to the ballot at taxpayers’ expense.

The project, slated for the corner of Dale Evans Parkway and Thunderbird Road, has been in the works for seven years and was progressing through the usual development process, with plans approved by Apple Valley’s Planning Commission in January. But a few weeks after getting the green light — in the wake of threatened litigation from an out-of-town attorney who’s successfully stalled other local Walmart stores — the discount chain abruptly pulled its permit application and announced plans to instead take the project to the ballot for voter approval.

Once Walmart gathered the 5,015 signatures needed to qualify the petition for the ballot, state Election Code dictated the Town Council had three options: Refer the project for further review, submit the petition to voters or approve the project as it stood.

The project was approved on a 3-1 vote Tuesday night, with Councilman Curt Emick recusing himself due to a potential conflict over his position as a Target pharmacist and Councilman Rick Roelle opposing the decision.

With construction expected to take one year, shoppers could be buying their groceries, toys and tires at the new store in fall 2012.

As the project progresses, job notices will be posted online at WalmartStores.com/Careers.

To read more about the meeting and the planned Walmart Supercenter, see the full story in Thursday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

Staff asks Town Council to approve project rather than send it to voters
April 23, 2011 2:03 PM
Brooke Edwards

APPLE VALLEY • Residents may not have a chance to determine the fate of a planned Walmart Supercenter after all, with staff recommending that the Town Council approve the project rather than send it to the ballot.

The town’s first Supercenter, slated for the southeast corner of Dale Evans Parkway and Thunderbird Road, has been in the works for several years. It would replace the existing Walmart a mile away along Highway 18.

Plans for the Supercenter came before the Planning Commission without protest, and the 30-acre project was unanimously approved Jan. 5. But a few weeks later, in the wake of threatened litigation from an out-of-town attorney, the discount chain abruptly pulled its permit application and announced plans to instead take the project to the ballot for voter approval.

For more about the planned Walmart Supercenter, read the full story in Sunday’s Press Dispatch. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

Victorville is calling for the regional wastewater authority to hire a new attorney, citing conflict of interest concerns.

Mayor Pro Tem Rudy Cabriales presented the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority board with a letter during Thursday’s meeting from Mayor Ryan McEachron, asking the agency to advertise for legal services.

Best, Best & Krieger attorney Piero Dallarda currently represents VVWRA, which is a joint agency between every local city. Dallarda’s firm has also represented the city of Victorville on some occasions and represents the town of Apple Valley, with Dallarda personally involved in helping Apple Valley settle a water rights suit.

The request to oust Dallarda came in reaction to a vote Wednesday night by the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority to consider dumping agency attorney Andre de Bortnowsky, with Hesperia, Apple Valley and San Bernardino County representatives citing conflict concerns since he serves as Victorville’s city attorney. That move passed on a split vote, over opposition from McEachron and Adelanto’s representative.

The VVWRA board refused Cabriales’ request to add the issue as an urgency item Thursday morning. However, Cabriales said he intends to agendize a future vote asking the agency to advertise for a new attorney.

Victorville Councilman Mike Rothschild raised conflict of interest concerns regarding Best, Best & Krieger during Tuesday’s Council meeting, accusing the firm of having helped Councilwoman Angela Valles draft letters that cite case law and ask questions about a number of serious city issues.

Valles, who is VVWRA’s director of finance, denied she had help from BB&K in drafting her letters, stating that, as a certified paralegal with a Master’s degree, she’s capable of looking up case law herself.

Dallarda told the Daily Press that neither he nor anyone else from his firm to his knowledge played any role in assisting Valles with the letters in question, or with anything else related to her role on the Victorville Council.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Andre de Bortnowsky

Split commission may oust Victorville’s de Bortnowsky over conflict of interest concerns
April 21, 2011 3:49 PM

He’s been their attorney for 20 years, since representatives from each local city formed the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority to help redevelop the area surrounding shuttered George Air Force Base.

But three out of five VVEDA commissioners voted this week to consider replacing Andre de Bortnowsky, concerned over a potential conflict of interest since he also serves as attorney for the city of Victorville.

“They are your major client and I would expect you to take care of your major client,” Hesperia Mayor Pro Tem Russ Blewett said to de Bortnowsky during VVEDA’s Wednesday night special meeting.

Blewett first requested that VVEDA put out a request for qualifications on a new attorney during the agency’s March 16 meeting, saying he considered it an “incredible conflict” for Victorville’s attorney to represent the best interests of the city and the regional group at the same time.

While Brad Mitzelfelt, 1st District Supervisor for San Bernardino County and VVEDA’s chair, said he isn’t certain whether there’s a legal conflict of interest, he said there’s certainly a perception of one — a problem Apple Valley Councilman Curt Emick echoed.

“I think it’s going to be a tremendous task to find any law firm that doesn’t have any sort of conflict with a member jurisdiction sitting around this table,” Victorville Mayor Ryan McEachron objected. McEachron also cited concern over how much it will cost to hire a new attorney and pay them to get up to speed on all of the complicated issues facing the agency.

For more about VVEDA’s legal services, read the full story in Friday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

Thursday, April 21, 2011 – 07:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, April 21, 2011 – 09:05 a.m.

On a 3-2 vote the governing board of the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority (VVEDA) fired its general counsel Wednesday night.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, Hesperia City Councilman Russ Blewett and Apple Valley Town Councilman Curt Emick voted to oust attorney Andre de Bortnowsky.

Allegations that de Bortnowsky has an inherent conflict of interest due to his role as city attorney for Victorville, was the primary factor driving his dismissal.

Newly-elected Victorville city council member Angela Valles is another.

Valles has been ripping the curtain off of every dirty little secret her colleagues have been hiding from taxpayers.

Much of what Valles has caused to be disclosed has surrounded her city’s impending financial collapse.

Observer’s say that by her actions, Valles has rightfully brought embarrassment to her colleagues, in addition to costing long-time political player Buck Johns, CEO of Inland Energy millions of dollars.

VVEDA board member and Victorville Mayor Ryan McEachron voted against de Bortnowsky’s removal and expressed his anger over the decision.

In recent months McEachron has converted from a platform of change to being nothing more than a bag man for High Desert old guard political interests.

A move that appears to possibly be due to fear of others.

Sources say lately McEachron has been trying to do everything in his power to silence Valles by limiting her access to city officials and information.

But Valles doesn’t seem deterred. She was at Wednesday night’s meeting making her opinion known from the public audience.

Another surprise was that while Mitzelfelt’s comments were described as neutral, his vote came down on the side of dismissing de Bortnowsky.

VVEDA will initiate a request for proposal process to select a new legal counsel.

de Bortnowsky is a partner in the Calabasas-based law firm of Green de Bortnowsky et al.

HINKLEY – Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is forming a Community Advisory Committee related to its cleanup of groundwater contaminated with cancer-causing chromium 6.

The purpose is for Hinkley leaders and residents to advise, share concerns and give direct input to PG&E on its environmental and community programs in Hinkley, said Jeff Smith, a PG&E spokesman.

Up to six community members are being sought for the committee, with preference given to those who live, work or own property in Hinkley.

The application deadline is Tuesday, Smith said.

For decades, PG&E used chromium 6 to kill microbes and provide corrosion protection for its cooling tower at a natural gas pumping station in Hinkley.

As was common practice in the 1960s and 1970s – before the cancer risks of chromium 6 were recognized – water containing chromium 6 was drained from the cooling tower into unlined ponds, where it seeped into Hinkley’s groundwater.

Last month, the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board asked its staff to prepare appropriate civil penalties against PG&E for its alleged failure to control the spread of a chromium 6 plume beyond boundaries established in 2008.

The pollution in Hinkley was elevated into an international story by the 2000 hit movie “Erin Brockovich,” which chronicled how the involvement of a Los Angeles law clerk in Hinkley’s water problems led to a $333million civil court settlement between residents and PG&E.

“We want to make sure we have a good, productive dialogue with the community,” Smith said of the new community advisory group effort.

He declined to speculate on the total size of the panel, saying only that it would be intimate.

“The (committee) will reflect the composition, diversity and interests of the local community,” said a flier announcing its formation.

A four-member panel will select people to join the committee, the announcement said.

The first meeting will be held later this spring and will be open to the public.

Members of the committee will also include representatives from PG&E, the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Barstow school board.

To read entire story, click here.

Mayes

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 – 11:55 p.m.

Yucca Valley Town Councilman Chad Mayes has resigned his council seat.

Mayes, who broke the news at Monday night’s council meeting, says his duties as chief of staff to San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford was demanding too much of his time, and combined with his council obligations was interfering with family life.

Marks at least fourth position Frank Robinson has tried for in less than three years
March 28, 2011 2:53 PM
Brooke Edwards

APPLE VALLEY • Town Manager Frank Robinson is a finalist for a city manager position in Iowa, marking at least his fourth attempt to take another job since coming to Apple Valley less than three years ago.

Robinson is one of two candidates in the running to take the helm of West Des Moines, according to a release posted Monday on the city’s website. He’s up against a city manager from Mountain Village, Colo., with both men sharing their vision for the growing Iowa city during a public reception there Monday morning.

In the fall, Robinson was one of five finalists to become city manager of Round Rock, Texas. He’d previously been a candidate for a city manager position in Harlingen, Texas, and to become president of the Center City Commission in Memphis, Tenn.

For more about Robinson, read the full story in Tuesday’s Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the “exactly as printed” Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

The Victor Valley has grown much more rapidly over the past decade than San Bernardino County or California overall, according to 2010 U.S. Census data released this week.

The local population has also gotten much more diverse, the census reports show, with the percentage of residents identifying themselves as white declining in every local city other than Wrightwood.

Victorville saw the most dramatic local growth, nearly doubling its population since 2000 to 115,903 residents.

Adelanto saw a 75 percent increase, followed by Hesperia at 44 percent and Apple Valley — which has exhibited the most marked attempt to hang onto its rural township quality — at 27 percent.

Meanwhile, the county grew by 19 percent over the same time period and the state grew by just 10 percent.

“I think probably the biggest driving factor would be affordable housing,” Victorville Mayor Ryan McEachron said, when asked about his city’s remarkable growth.

The larger population has certainly added to the sales and property tax Victorville takes in, McEachron said, helping to offset some of the loss local cities have seen in these revenue streams due to the economic collapse.

“That growth has also caused a lot of commercial development to occur,” McEachron said, drawing many of the shopping, dining and other entertainment opportunities that all Victor Valley residents now enjoy.

It’s also forced a delicate balancing act, he added, as local cities try to keep up with the increasing demand for public safety, road improvements and other service needs that larger population requires, all amid decreasing revenue and support from strapped state and federal government sources.

The Victor Valley’s ever-increasing diversity could trigger a political shift, with populations who traditionally vote Democrat now outnumbering their counterparts in an area that’s been a lock in the past for Republican candidates.

Hesperia saw a 19.5 percent rise in its Hispanic population during the past 10 years. That’s nearly double the countywide increase but significantly below the statewide figure of 28 percent.

There were 7.4 percent more Adelanto residents who identified themselves as black in 2010 than in 2000, while the county’s black population declined slightly by 0.2 percent and the statewide figure dropped by 1 percent.

Adelanto is the only local city where Hispanics were the majority last year, with more than 58 percent of residents claiming Hispanic or Latino heritage.

Hesperia and Victorville are approaching the 50 percent mark. If the Hispanic population continues to grow at the same rate, it will be the majority race in Hesperia within a year and in Victorville within two years.

California saw a huge surge in its Asian population — up 38 percent over the last decade. While every Victor Valley city registered growth in its Asian population, the rise was much more measured, ranging from a 0.3 percent increase in Adelanto and Wrightwood to 1.2 percent in Hesperia.

The census data is being released in waves, with later reports to include statistics on income levels, marital status and other socioeconomic figures.

Brooke Edwards may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.