iePolitics.net (The old blog)

Here is an email I received tonight:

The word just came out about 1:00 or so today that Dean Arabatis (sp?) CFO’s last day is April 29th.  He is moving on to San Diego as the CFO.  He’s been with the County a L-O-N-G time (someone said since 1989 as an intern, but I don’t know that for sure).  He’s worked with a LOT of CAO’s, until now~!!

Source said that the CEO sent a letter to the Board today.

Some are wondering which person from Ontario the CEO has choosen to replace Dean…

Darn, I so hate to see that misogynistic ass leave . . . not!!!  At least the FBI knows where San Diego is.  He will be easily found when the time comes.

Why do you care?  Seriously.  Why do you care what I write on iePolitics?

First of all, I have been told that my blog is unprofessional and that you all prefer the consistency of  PC Blog.   That is the blog that is read by the “rich and powerful.”  It is read by the “important” people and the “people who count.”  Mine is read by low-level county employees and no one of importance.  I only get comments because of the low-level cops that read it.  Just ask its administrator.  That is what he told me.

I’ve been told that none of you really read iePolitics.  Devereaux denies reading it.  Dan Richards denies reading it.  Jeff Burum only notices if he gets something about himself in a Google Alert.  Mark Davidson gave up not long ago.  Mark Kirk gave up reading it over a year ago.  All the defense attorneys in the corruption cases deny reading it.  The entire Fifth Floor, with the exception of the Third District, denies reading it.  Sheriff Hoops tells me he doesn’t read it.  David Wert has told me he doesn’t care what it says.  Dean Arabatzis has told me he doesn’t read it.  I could go on and on.  NO ONE of importance reads iePolitics.

Read entire article.

For those who took the time to read the emails in the Hey Paul Biane post, here is some more information.

Last year I was invited by Supervisor Neil Derry to tour the Fifth Floor on a Friday.  The reason for that was the many complaints that certain districts and offices were taking off every Friday but charging the county for time worked.

This was during a time when District Attorney Mike Ramos was making all the accusations about time card fraud at the Assessor’s Office.  As we all know, the Assessor’s Office executive staff were hardly the only employees to abuse their exempt status.  It has become commonplace to work far fewer than 40 hours but charge the county 40 hours worked.

Read entire article.

I feel sometimes like we are beating a dead horse.  Unfortunately, that dead horse keeps coming back to life and rearing its ugly head.  There are several San Bernardino County department heads that have to go.  The county simply cannot afford to keep them on in these economic times.  Federal court and federal juries do not care how broke San Bernardino County may be when it awards judgments.  And Mr. Devereaux, you have some complete idiots (note HROs:  be sure to print this out to add it to “the list”) running the show who are going to ultimately cost taxpayers dearly.

At the top of the list is County Counsel Ruth Stringer.  How much longer are you going to tolerate her half-ass legal advice?  When you take an attitude of “we have 138 attorneys, so bring it on,” as did our former County Administrative Officer and our current County Counsel has, you’re assuming you can outlast us all.  Not all of us go away easily or cheaply. Read entire article.

With the pending arrival of newly hired San Bernardino County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux, we are pondering some points:

• Will Assistant County Administrative Officer Dean Arabatzis now be required to work 40 hours a week at the County Government Center?  Five days a week, every week?
• Will the Fifth Floor continue to be a ghost town on both sides of the isle on Fridays?
• Will CAO Devereaux also work five days a week?
• Will County Counsel Ruth Stringer and her deputy county counsels be allowed to continue to accrue millions in leave balances?
• What will replace our beloved “Service First”?
• Will Chicken Man show up to board meetings in a chicken suit?
• Will Board of Supervisors staff follow Devereaux’s lead and start working five days a week, 40 hours a week?
• Will department heads caught lying and cheating have consequences similar to line staff?
• Will David Wert be required to work 40 hours a week, five days a week, every week?
• Will department heads who go on vacation be required to green-slip their time?
• Will non-elected department heads be allowed to continue bonking their line staff?
• Will anything be done about sexual harassment and racial discrimination in the work place?
• Will anything of significance ever get accomplished by the Fifth Floor in a timely manner?

“Cautiously optimistic” and “nervous” are two of the phrases I have heard repeatedly about San Bernardino County’s new head honcho, County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux.  Even before assuming office, Devereaux has ended a decades-long policy of 9-80s for county management, a move that makes line staff very nervous as many depend on “flex time” to survive in these hard economic times.  But it is also a sign that Devereaux is not going to be afraid to lead.

After six years of despot leadership by former County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer and his band of thugs, it is easy to understand why line staff are wary of our new leader.  I’ve been asked my opinion repeatedly by everyone from the lowest level employee to managers to newspaper reporters.  Here is my standard response:

Seeing Devereaux’s close, personal relationship with the Fourth District makes me nervous on a personal level, especially when considering what the Fourth District recently did to me.  That being said, I have two friends who are long-term city of Ontario employees who have nothing but respect for Devereaux.  They are rank-and-file and are allowed to work 9-80s.  Ontario employees, most of whom are represented by San Bernardino County Public Employees Association, have the best contracts of any governmental agency in San Bernardino County.

From what I hear from those that know Devereaux, he is tough but also fair.  I also hear he will not take the crap from county managers that Uffer not only tolerated, but encouraged.   He will not play the games Uffer played and will not tolerate bad managers.  Unlike Uffer, he is consistently described as a ‘professional.’ Read entire article.

Well, justice administered disparately apparently is the theme de jure, or in this case, the theme de soir, and it remains alive and well in San Bernardino County.  Former San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office employee and Rancho Cucamonga councilman Rex Gutierrez appeared in court today for his preliminary hearing.  This desperado required the combined lawyering skills of six deputy district attorneys and two deputy attorneys general.

What crimes could have garnered such a showing of prosecutorial might?  Certainly Gutierrez must have executed a cross-country rampage leaving death and destruction at every turn.   “Right?” you ask. Read entire article.