So the BOS has set a second special meeting for tomorrow to discuss last week’s dismissal of the county’s case in the Colonies settlement. Our BOS members have been so jacked around by county attorneys and the CAO/CEO and they are too stupid to see it. Or are they? After all, it is not their tens of millions of dollars they are wasting for political advantage.
by AdministratorJanuary 9, 2013 By mmunson Our San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors needs to become more responsive to the constituents of our county.The inherent contempt of the constituents makes it more insulting to be represented by them. The way our board members navigate through rules and procedure to say they are following the rules makes me wonder if we are in Cook County, Illinois such as how they added responsibilities to County Operating Officer Greg Devereaux that were questionable according to our county charter. To read the rest of the story, click here.
by AdministratorHere is a great video:
by AdministratorMembers of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors today elected Janice Rutherford as chairman and Gary Ovitt as vice chairman. They will serve in their respective positions for two years. The entire orchestrated process took only a couple of minutes and there was no discussion. The outcome had clearly been determined prior to the public meeting, a likely violation of the Brown Act. The supervisors did not make any attempt to conceal that they had pre-determined who would be elected to the two positions or who would make the nominations. To read the rest of the story, click here.
by AdministratorNow that Joe Baca Sr. is going to be out of a job, someone suggested to me he would be a great replacement for Josie Gonzales. I don’t even know if he lives in the Fifth District or not since the congressional districts cover multiple areas. I am not a Baca fan but I would take some semblance of intelligence over the babbling village idiot we have now. Certainly, he would be an effective supervisor even if us Reps. disagree with him. It’s not like the Fifth District will ever elect a Rep again, so might as well go with a known entity.
by AdministratorJust days before the election, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman Josie Gonzales appeared confident during a pair of fundraisers. In her speeches to supporters, she discussed the board’s relationship with employee unions. Gonzales declared, “We are the parents. They are the children.” She was trying to explain to one mostly Republican audience in particular that the board of supervisors tells the unions what to do in reference to their members. To read the rest of the story, click here.
by AdministratorElections not only affect the quality of life for the human residents of this great nation, but also for our four-legged companions. Electing pro-animal welfare candidates is the only way to assure laws are in place that protect animals and punish animal abusers. In 2008, San Bernardino County Third District residents elected Neil Derry to represent them on the board of supervisors. Derry has been the only animal welfare advocate on the board in recent memory. He introduced a mandatory spay and neuter ordinance early in his term. More recently he pushed through an animal oversight commission to address concerns with San Bernardino County Animal Control policies and procedures. On Nov. 6, 2012, Third District voters chose to replace Derry with James Ramos, the former chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Derry’s departure leaves the animals of San Bernardino County without an advocate. To read the rest of the story, click here.
by AdministratorAdmin: For those who don’t know, Kieran Brennan is the original proponent of Measure R. Kieran Brennan Posted: 10/29/2012 06:34:47 PM PDT On Nov. 6 voters have a choice between two local initiatives to cap the pay of the members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. Only one of those measures provides real reform that will save taxpayers millions of dollars. That initiative is Measure R. Measure R is the only local ballot measure that was initiated and supported by a grassroots coalition of average citizens: Democrats and Republicans; tea party patriots and employee union members; animal welfare volunteers and hunting enthusiasts; and community activists and citizens seeking elected office for the first time. It is also the only local measure that more than 73,000 county residents signed to qualify for the ballot. As the original proponent of the “Elected Officials Pay Reduction Act,” now known as Measure R, I can tell you we have put forth a proposal that scares entrenched and unethical elected officials. Measure R not only reduces the pay and benefit packages of board members from a high of $308,000 to $60,000 a year, it requires that the board meet at least twice a month and it reduces staffing across the districts from $6 million to $1.5 million a year. To read the rest of the story, click here.
by AdministratorExaminer today started giving us our stats in comparison to other Examiners. They are based on page views. There are something like 85,000 Examiners. I was happy to learn that at the local level — Palm Springs — my animal welfare column and my government column are ranked No. 2 and No. 4 respectively. Bill has already made it to No. 5 for San Bernardino and Riverside.
by AdministratorWell the Orduno case did not go today. Why did it get continued? Because the arbitrator decided to go to the World Series instead. In the meantime, while he’s enjoying the game, the deputy is trying to figure out how to put food on his table. Remember, he was found not guilty in a court of law.
by AdministratorToday there have been 16 hits on Examiner articles. That equals .08. The blog will not survive on this.
by AdministratorIt doesn’t matter if anyone is guilty or not in this county, the bottom line is that if Mikey is after you, you are going down. The latest two to cut a deal to avoid another trial are the two brothers accused of bribing Bob Page, former Chief of Staff to Josie Gonzales. This has been one of the strangest cases. Although they admitted to it, Page’s involvement seems odd. I suspect we may never know the whole story. Here is a link to the Press Enterprise article.
by AdministratorSan Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Josie Gonzales voted against creation of an animal oversight commission during the July 10, 2012 board meeting. It passed 4-1 and will be on calendar for its second reading during the July 24, 2012 meeting. Gonzales has been a long-term opponent of shelter reform and the no-kill model. She has gone so far as to defend a 25 percent adoption rate which means most animals brought in to the shelter alive leave dead in barrels headed for the rendering plant. To read the rest of the story, click here.
by AdministratorOn March 27, 2012, animal activists converged on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to support creation of an animal services oversight commission. The commission is being proposed by Third District Supervisor Neil Derry and seemingly opposed by Chairwoman Josie Gonzales. Gonzales used her “chairwoman’s discretion” to move the item to the very end of the calendar. Activists had to sit through a few public hearings before they were allowed to speak to what was a consent item. This situation, however, proved to be enlightening. To read the rest of the story, click here.
by AdministratorI do believe Josie should be reassigned to Guantanamo. She would be far more effective than waterboarding. She made my brain hurt today. I know I would confess to anything to shut her up. Hopefully, I will get caught up on stories over the next few days but I will make some miscellaneous comments now. I was at the meeting mainly for the new animal commission; however, our part-time board of supervisors initiative was also being heard. On top of that, the Park Moabi matter was before the board along with David Zook’s departure and a board item to require minimum standards for members of the retirement board.
by Administrator(San Bernardino) – John Taack, a small business owner and former county employee, has filed to run for the Fifth District seat held by San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors chairwoman Josie Gonzales. It is the first time Gonzales will face an opponent as an incumbent supervisor. Taack worked for San Bernardino County as an HVAC supervisor. After witnessing county corruption for seven years, he returned to the private sector where owns his own business. To read the rest of the story, click here.
by AdministratorI had a bit of an odd occurence yesterday. On Wednesday I went to the library to get some work done on the blogs and websites and, lo and behold, all of my blogs and websites had been completely blocked on library computers. I called GoDaddy, which verified that everything was okay and checked all of my sites from two different servers to be sure. I called several friends who check from Blackberrys, iPhones, and regular PCs. Everything was fine. I refreshed numerous times on the library computer and then several hours later switched to a different computer. I still kept getting messages that my sites could not be accessed on library computers.
by AdministratorFrom the Sun: The proposed initiative would amend the county charter to establish a part-time Board of Supervisors. It would reduce the five supervisors’ staff budgets from $1.5 million per district to $250,000 per office. “Even if a supervisor worked for free, that amount of money could not sustain just the running of the office,” Gonzales said. She said if SEBA is successful, she likely will not run for a third term. “I will give very serious consideration not to run. I have financial obligations that I incurred before I came into office,” Gonzales said, adding that such a drastic cut to her pay and benefits on the Board of Supervisors would prevent her from meeting those financial obligations. “If I am not able to meet my obligations,” she said, “my responsibility is to back out and go and work and earn the money so I can pay my bills.” Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_19807496#ixzz1kcGzft9c
by AdministratorJanuary 3, 2012 By Dan Wilson Completely oblivious to the pulse of her own constituency County Supervisor Josie Gonzales just blurts out her typical nonsense. Redevelopment Agency Ruling will hurt San Bernardino County: Supervisor Gonzales | Best Syndication (Best Syndication News) The California Supreme Court ruled last week that Assembly Bill 1X 26, that will dissolve county and city redevelopment agencies, was a proper exercise of the legislative power. Redevelopment agencies across the state will cease to exist on February 1st of this year. The court also struck down a companion measure that would allow local RDA’s to continue to exist if they share money with schools, Assembly Bill 1X 26. The court said that the state has the authority to “create entities, such as redevelopment agencies… and the corollary power to dissolve those same entities when the Legislature deems it necessary and proper.” To read the rest of the story, click here.
by Margo SturgesCalifornia Penal Code section 182 reads: 182. (a) If two or more persons conspire: (1) To commit any crime. (2) Falsely and maliciously to indict another for any crime, or to procure another to be charged or arrested for any crime. (3) Falsely to move or maintain any suit, action, or proceeding. (4) To cheat and defraud any person of any property, by any means which are in themselves criminal, or to obtain money or property by false pretenses or by false promises with fraudulent intent not to perform those promises. (5) To commit any act injurious to the public health, to public morals, or to pervert or obstruct justice, or the due administration of the laws. As I was writing the story on ARMC last night—a story in which I could not begin to include all that has been done and covered up at ARMC—I could not help but think to myself about the concept of conspiracy as currently being applied to the Colonies Four and others versus what has taken place at ARMC and with the CAO/CEO’s contract. Here are two examples of real conspiracies in this county where laws have been broken and yet they are being almost ignored by District Attorney Mike Ramos.
by Administrator