The acrimony in the race for Third District county supervisor ratcheted up a notch with a Fair Political Practices Commission filing last month by a supporter of the incumbent, supervisor Neil Derry, charging one of Derry’s opponents, former San Manuel tribal chairman James Ramos, with having previously failed to disclose all of  his income and real property interests on state campaign reporting forms.
The complaint was lodged with the commission on April 12, alleging that in serving as a board member with the San Bernardino Community College District, Ramos withheld information pertaining to property he owns in Big Bear Lake, along with Pfizer Inc. and  General Electric stock he owns, and that he did not report any income from his tribal stipend, interest in the tribe’s affiliated holdings and any income or loss from two of his San Bernardino-based holdings, Yum Yum Restaurant and Pepito’s Restaurant on any of the statements of economic interest he was required to fill out as an elected official, known as California Form 700s.
As a member of the college district board, to which he was first elected in 2005 and elected to again in 2010, Ramos was required to complete the forms. He also had reporting requirements relating to having been appointed to the state Native American Heritage Commission and the state Board of Education.
The information contained in the complaint and upon which the reporting violation was alleged  was gleaned from Ramos’ most recent filing of a Form 700, made in March in conjunction with his candidacy for supervisor. In that document, Ramos disclosed his stock in Pfizer is worth between $10,000 and $100,000 as is his stock in General Electric. The dates Ramos acquired the stock is not provided. Collectively, the Dum Dum and Pepito’s restaurants are valued between $100,000 and $1 million and together produce over $100,000 in revenue per year, according to the filing. The property in Big Bear is valued at over $100,000 but less than $1 million, according to the filing.
This week, the FPPC informed Marge McDonald, who had filed the complaint, that the discrepancies between  Ramos’ earlier filing and the one for supervisor  “appropriately reflect the different disclosure requirements to each position he holds,” and that the commission would carry out no further investigation.
Derry was himself charged last year with failure to properly disclose a $5,000 campaign donation from developer Arnold Stubblefield in 2007 during the lead-up to the 2008 election. Derry last summer entered a no contest plea to failing to properly disclose a campaign contribution.
In McDonald’s complaint, she said, “Mr. Ramos is aware of this [reporting] requirement and has failed to file the appropriate amendment.”