(August 16) SAN BERNARDINO—Whether three of four recall elections targeting city officials in the county seat are to be consolidated with the November municipal election will likely be decided on August 22.
Beginning in April, the group San Bernardino Residents for Responsible Government undertook a wholesale recall of nine San Bernardino elected officials, including mayor Patrick Morris, city attorney James Penman and the entire city council. San Bernardino Residents for Responsible Government, led by Scott Beard, cited the city’s 2012 filing for bankruptcy protection and related municipal mismanagement issues as the grounds for the effort to remove the officials from office. Subsequently, city clerk Gigi Hanna became the target of a separate, ostensibly unrelated recall attempt.
Eventually, the group would cease its recall effort against Morris, who had previously declared he would not seek reelection this year. The group also discontinued its campaign against council members Fred Shorett, Robert Jenkins and Virginia Marquez, who must stand for reelection in November to remain on the council past next March.
Though recall proponents turned in what appeared to be a sufficient number of registered voters’ signatures on the recall petition to qualify the advancement of the recall election against Penman and council members John Valdivia, Wendy McCammack and Chas Kelley, Hanna, as the city’s election officer overseeing the process, disqualified the petitions against Penman, McCammack and Kelley on the grounds that the group had failed to publish the responses those three targeted officials provided to the allegations of the recall proponents.
Michael McKinney, the recall effort’s campaign manager, and Michael Allen, an attorney representing San Bernardino Residents for Responsible Government, filed a writ of mandate with the Superior Court on July 29 to force the city to process the recall petitions and qualify the recall vote for the ballot. Of issue now is that a decision with regard to the qualification of the recall election be made before the end of August so that the recall election takes place on November 5, the same day San Bernardino’s voters will go to the polls to elect a new mayor and voters in the First, Fourth and Fifth wards, where Marquez,  Shorett and Kelley are incumbents, to determine who will represent them from March 2014 to March 2018. The recall effort against Ward Six Councilman Rikke Van Johnson did not achieve enough signatures to succeed.
Judge David Cohn is hearing the matter. Hanna continues to maintain that the recall proponents failed to meet the burden of qualifying the recall question against Penman, McCammack and Kelley for the ballot. Hanna, who is supported by the city council, is represented by the law firm of  Straddling Yocca Carlson & Rauth.
Hanna and Straddling Yocca Carlson & Rauth maintain that Penman, Kelly and McCammack sought to have their response to the recall proponents’ charges published with the notices of the intent to circulate recall petitions naming them and that this omission disqualifies the application for a recall question against them. Councilman John Valdivia did not submit a response, so the sole criterion relating to the qualification of the recall election against him is whether there are sufficient signatures on the petition to qualify it.
The recall proponents maintain that they repeatedly sought to determine if any of the recall targets had made official responses to the recall papers they had been served with and had not received timely notice of those responses before the intent to recall notice was published. The recall proponents cite the consideration that city manager Allen Parker confiscated from Hanna all documentation relating to the recall and held it in his office from May 21 To June 5.
Should Cohn determine that the recall proponents met their burden, the recall question against Penman, Valdivia, McCammack and Kelly will come before voters on November 5, saving the city the expense of holding a separate recall election. Adding questions with regard to the recall of  McCammack, Kelley, Valdivia and Penman to the November 5 ballot would cost the city roughly $90,000. Holding the election at a later date would cost $250,000.
Hanna and Straddling Yocca Carlson & Rauth maintain that the late filing of certain recall related documents and delays in the submission of the petitions has resulted in the city being unable to consolidate the recall election with the municipal election.  Recall proponents maintain that city officials, in particular Hanna and Parker, were responsible for several of those delays.
Outside the context of the court, several of the city officials targeted for recall and their supporters have suggested that the recall proponents are not sincere in wanting to see all city officials removed from office and that they are engaged in a partisan effort that is actually militating against the Republican members of the council – McCammack, Kelly, Valdivia and Robert Jenkins, as well as Penman.
In addition to determining whether the recall efforts against McCammack, Kelley and Penman should be allowed to proceed and whether the recall questions should be included on the November 5 ballot, Cohn is also scheduled to determine on August 22 whether 2,500 withdrawal signatures, allegedly obtained from city voters who endorsed the recall petitions, can be used to rescind those signatures.

(August 16) The homeless encampment on city owned property off Baseline Avenue west of Sterling Avenue was razed by Highland officials on August 8.
The city prevailed upon the squatters to take their leave by means of notices beginning in late July and a posting calling for evacuation within 24 hours on August 6. When city building officials arrived at the site on August 8 accompanied by sheriff’s deputies, none of the more than two dozen denizens of the lot and nearby properties were present. Some of their possessions, including clothing, sleeping bags and shelters fashioned from fabric and cardboard, were demolished when a bulldozer cleared the site.
No arrangements were made to relocate the displaced population.
The city has fenced the lot it owns and is encouraging the owners of the adjoining properties to do the same to discourage the return of the squatters to the abandoned properties.

(August 9) Fourth District Supervisor Gary Ovitt has quietly removed Larry Enriquez as his chief of staff and replaced him with Joy Chadwick, who had previously served Ovitt in the capacity of deputy chief of staff.
Brian Johsz,  who had previously held the position of district director for Ovitt, was elevated to deputy chief of staff.
Enriquez was moved into the position of policy advisor, which pays nearly as much as the chief of staff job.
Enriquez was chosen by Ovitt to be his chief of staff in the wake of the resignation of Ovitt’s former chief of staff, Mark Kirk, who was indicted in 2011 and charged with receiving bribes in exchange for influencing Ovitt in his November 2006 vote to approve a $102 million settlement of a lawsuit brought against the county over flood control issues at the Colonies at San Antonio residential and Colonies Crossroads commercial subdivisions in northeast Upland. Kirk’s indictment occurred in conjunction with the indictments of Colonies Partners principal Jeff Burum, who was charged with furnishing bribes, and former assistant assessor and sheriff’s deputies union president Jim Erwin, who was charged with facilitating the acceptance of the bribes, and former county supervisor Paul Biane, who was alleged to have accepted one of the bribes and who voted with Ovitt and former supervisor Bill Postmus to approve the settlement. The indictment came after Postmus, who had previously been indicted with Irwin, pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe from Burum.
Enriquez had been the pastor at Ovitt’s church, the Community Christian Fellowship, an Evangelical Christian Church in Ontario he had headed for 17 years.  The elevation of Enriquez to that position had been roundly criticized because of his lack of governmental experience. Ovitt and his defenders cited Enriquez’s 14 years experience as the executive director of the Ontario/Montclair YMCA, in which he had interacted with both the cities of Montclair and Ontario, as the basis for his hiring.
A graduate of Christian Associates Seminary from where he received a Masters in Christian Studies, Enriquez remains the pastor of the Community Christian Fellowship. He is also a chaplain for the Ontario Police Department.
Chadwick has been employed with the county since 1998, originally with the department of behavioral health, before moving into the human services division. She began working on the staff of the Fourth District Supervisor’s office, first for Fred Aguiar and then for Aguiar’s wife, Patty, after she succeeded her husband when he went to work with the administration of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. When Ovitt was elected in a special election to succeed Mrs. Aguiar in 2004, Chadwick remained as one of his staff members.
Chadwick has had diverse duties within Ovitt’s office, including collecting, analyzing, and presenting data relating to community issues and governmental programs, responding to requests for information on governmental functions and community activities and programs, performing  special assignments such as researching new programs and evaluating services, representing the supervisor at meetings and conferences, and acting as a liaison between the community and various county departments and agencies.
She received her BA in business administration from Tourou University in December 2004, and her masters in public administration from Cal State San Bernardino in 2012.
As district director, Johsz was responsible for constituent communications, investigating concerns raised by the public and assisting groups and individuals in obtaining services or resolving complaints. He represented Ovitt at meetings.
A native of Huntington Beach, Johsz attended Mater Dei High School and U.C. Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor of arts in political science. He has since obtained a master of public administration degree from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.
Chadwick’s total compensation package as chief of staff is $190,716 annually, with a base salary of $110,873 and benefits of $79,843.
As policy advisor, Enriquez will earn $105,548 per year in salary and receive another  $84,883 in benefits for a total compensation of $190,431.
Johsz as deputy chief of staff will receive total compensation of $189,057, including a salary  of $105,548 and benefits equal to $83,509.

(August 9) The construction cost on the Adelanto Detention Center project this week increased for the nineteenth and twentieth times, zooming to $118,310,972.
The construction bill on the project was originally slated at $90,951,937.
Moreover, the total cost of the project, including engineering, architectural, licensing  and inspection costs, has moved beyond  $145 million, $25 million more than the $120 million projected to be the project’s overall cost including a ten percent cost overrun contingency.
The expansion will add 1,392 new beds to the existing 706-inmate capacity of the facility, which was  formerly privately owned and run while known as Maranatha Prison. The owner of that facility, Maranatha Private Corrections, a part of the Moreland Family Trust, in April 2005 sold the prison, located on 9438 Commerce Way in Adelanto,  to the county of San Bernardino for $31.2 million.
This week the board of supervisors approved the ninth change order to its construction contract with Lydig Construction, Inc. in the amount of $326,568, increasing the total contract amount from $117,274,871 to $117,601,439. Immediately thereupon, the board approved the eleventh contract amendment to the contract, increasing the total contract amount from $117,601,439 to $118,310,972.
The change order is intended to compensate Lydig for the labor and materials related to five constructability issues that involve the addition of countertop supports at the center core of the housing units; hard wiring of the dryers in the compressor room; modifications to the detention ceilings and drywall in various areas of the housing units; and revisions to the light fixtures in the dormitory ceilings and the center core of the housing units, along with three items related to the fire alarm system; as well as  three issues pertaining to the exterior of the new facility that include the addition of protection bollards; installation of decomposed granite in specified areas; and the addition of sidewalks and a ramp between the new housing units and the existing buildings.
The contract amendment covers what was characterized as the “unforeseen requirement” for the installation of a third electrical service necessary to increase the available power for the expansion of the facility while providing capacity for future upgrades of the facility; the installation of a fire booster pump to ensure the proper flow and functioning of the fire protection systems; the expedited procurement and delivery of smoke control panels and supervisory panels necessary to achieve the scheduled project completion date; and the relocation of smoke detectors in the dormitory sleeping areas as required by the Board of State and Community Corrections.
There have been multiple overruns on the project, which the county’s architecture and engineering officials claim stem from what they say were unanticipated developments. Those changes, however, now exceed more than 20 percent of the original budget – well beyond the ten percent contingency initially allowed when the project was approved.
Recurrent issues in the construction cost increases have been functionality problems and design changes with the smoke control and fire sprinkler systems and change orders and contract amendments pertaining to a water well on the site which was intended to provide water to the facility that turned out to be contaminated with a high level of fluoride.
Bellevue, Washington-based Lydig Construction, Inc. has been the beneficiary of all of the construction  upgrades to the contract.

(August 9) Congressman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) has called for a federal review of the Cadiz Valley Water Project.
That project, the proponent of which is Los Angeles-based Cadiz, Inc, upon completion will extract an average of 50,000 acre-feet of water from the East Mojave Desert annually and convey it via pipeline to Orange and Los Angeles counties for use there.
The Santa Ana Margarita Water District in Orange County, which lies 217 miles from the  project area and which has contracted with Cadiz, Inc. to purchase one-fifth of the desert water, assumed lead agency status with regard to approval of the project and its environmental certification, including acceptance of the environmental impact report for the undertaking. The county of San Bernardino, which contemplated challenging Santa Ana Margarita’s role overseeing the project, ultimately laid aside its authority as lead agency and last October accepted a water use monitoring plan for the project which gave Cadiz, Inc. procedural clearance to move forward with the project.
The project, however, has provoked eleven separate lawsuits challenging the project.  Those lawsuits allege, variously, that the project will drain the aquifer in both the Cadiz Valley and nearby Fenner Valley, wreaking environmental harm; that the approval process for the project which allowed a water district in Orange County more than 200 miles from the  project area to serve as the lead agency for the project and oversee its environmental certification violated state and federal environmental laws; that the county of San Bernardino failed to abide by its own desert groundwater management plan by acquiescing to the project; that the environmental impact report for the project was inadequate; that approval of the project violated provisions of both the National Historic Preservation Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and that the Bureau of Land Management failed to conduct a proper review of the cultural and environmental impacts of the project; that the extraction of the water will interfere with salt mining and other pre-existing industrial operations in the area; and other issues.
The county has spent $1.5 million so far on outside legal counsel in defending itself against those lawsuits. As part of the county’s acceptance of the groundwater management plan for the project, Cadiz, Inc. is required to reimburse the county for any legal costs it experiences as a consequence of the project.
In a letter dated June 12 to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, Cook stated, “I am writing to request a reevaluation of the impact the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery, and Storage Project will have on my constituents in the 8th District of California. The Cadiz Project, as it currently stands, is likely to impact San Bernardino County’s water resources, harming ranchers, rural communities, East Mojave landowners, and the National Chloride Company of America’s brine mining operation on Bristol Dry Lake. Moreover, the aggressive project pumping could harm the springs of the Mojave National Preserve and regional air quality, while exporting precious water resources out of San Bernardino County to ratepayers in Los Angeles and Orange counties.”
Cook’s letter continues, “In order to ensure this project won’t adversely affect my district, I respectfully request the Cadiz Project be subject to a National Environmental Policy Act review. This may be achieved by the Department of the Interior requiring the project to obtain permission to use a railroad right-of-way contingent on federal analysis of its impact to adjacent public lands. Additionally, I request that the United States Geologic Survey conduct an updated analysis of the hydrologic features of the project area and that any new or revised Cadiz Project proposals adhere to the principle of sustainable yield, meaning no more water would be pumped out of the aquifer than would be replaced through natural recharge as determined by the United States Geologic Survey. This is intended to protect sustainable water supplies for East Mojave communities and businesses.
“Currently, no federal environmental reviews or approvals have been conducted, despite numerous requests from the Bureau of Land Management that Cadiz Inc. supply them with specific project information relating to the construction of a 43-mile water conveyance pipeline along the Arizona and California Railroad right-of-way,” Cook further wrote. “While Cadiz Inc. claims it is furthering a railroad purpose by installing fire hydrants and building redundant emergency access roads along he rail line, railroad experts have reported that these actions are not industry standard.“
Noting, “Professional independent reviews have called into question the 32,500 acre-feet per year recharge rate Cadiz Inc. claims will naturally occur,” Cook went on to state, “These independent scientists concluded that the actual recharge rate is between 2,000 and 10,000 acre feet per year. There are serious doubts about the validity of the previous environmental studies, specifically the draft environmental impact statement” for the project. Cook concluded, “This project must be examined thoroughly before it moves forward.”
Floyd Wicks, a water resources engineer who is a consultant to Cadiz Inc. on the project, said, “A new federal review would be a waste of taxpayer dollars. Doing so disrespects our state’s environmental process, discounts the voices of supportive stakeholders and impedes needed water supplies and jobs for thousands. Numerous government agencies, independent groups, scientists and hundreds of individuals reviewed and commented on the project proposal.”
Wick’s insisted that building the pipeline that will be used to convey the water to Orange County “serves the public’s clear interest in constructing infrastructure projects where they do the least environmental harm. Cadiz specifically chose an active railroad route to avoid untouched desert lands.”

The county has purchased for the sheriff’s department a refurbished armored BearCat vehicle for use by its specialized enforcement division/SWAT team.
The board of supervisors this week authorized the expenditure of $140,494 obtained through a special revenue fund drawn from money passed through to the county by the Department of Justice as part of its Federal Seized Assets program.
The BearCat is to be purchased from LENCO Armored Vehicles.
According to sheriff’s captain Steve Higgins, “The acquisition of a refurbished vehicle will generate approximately $75,000 in savings compared to the cost buying a new one.”
Higgins told the board of supervisors before that panel approved the purchase that “Approval of this item will authorize a non-competitive purchase order with LENCO Armored Vehicles for one refurbished armored BearCat vehicle. County Policy No. 11-04 requires county departments to seek board approval for any non-competitive procurement of goods or equipment in excess of $100,000. The sheriff department is requesting a non-competitive procurement of a efurbished, 2002 model, BearCat armored vehicle from LENCO Armored Vehicles to be used by its specialized enforcement division/SWAT team to be stationed in the High Desert area of the county. The department already has one 2006 model LENCO BearCat that is stored in the San Bernardino area and deployed to emergency situations county-wide. The additional armored vehicle will be stored in the High Desert to improve the department’s response times to critical incidents requiring the presence of such specialized tactical equipment in the High Desert area and beyond, while maintaining the safety of its personnel. LENCO is the manufacturer of the BearCat and is able to refurbish these vehicles when they are no longer needed by the military and convert them for non-military use. The department is requesting a non-competitive procurement with LENCO in order to maintain standardization with its existing equipment to facilitate SWAT training.”

(August 9) There are indications that Chad Mayes, the chief of staff for San Bernardino County Supervisor Janice Rutherford, may not remain in his current position, even if Rutherford seeks and successfully obtains reelection next year.
Mayes is himself a declared candidate for the state Assembly in 2014. Along with two others, Mayes is vying to replace Brian Nestande, who must leave office as the 42nd District Assemblyman after his current term because of California’s term limitations on state office holders.
Mayes, a former mayor in Yucca Valley, resigned that post to become Rutherford’s chief of staff two years ago. Despite an eighty-mile commute to work in Rancho Cucamonga and a sixty-mile commute to work in San Bernardino, Mayes remains a resident of Yucca Valley as well as the 42nd Assembly District, which covers much of the desert areas of adjoining eastern San Bernardino and eastern Riverside counties.
The pace of fundraising activity for the upcoming race in the 42nd is accelerated this year because of Nestande’s pending departure. In the sweepstakes for money to be used in next year’s electioneering, Mayes so far is leading the pack.
Between January 1 and June 30 of this year, Mayes banked $95,652, more than double of his nearest competitor, former Palm Springs police chief Gary Jeandron and roughly eight times what Banning businessman Chris Mann collected. Jeandron brought in $45,179. Mann stacked up $12,084.
Mayes, Jeandron and Mann are all Republicans. The 42nd leans strongly in favor of the GOP.
Touting himself as a conservative Republican, Mayes previously based his political campaigns on right-wing values, including appeals to religious principals and causes, among them a stance against abortion. He is a member of Grace Community Church, where his father, Roger, is the pastor, and his mother, Ruth, is the principal of the affiliated Christian school. Chad Mayes was educated at Jerry Falwell’s fundamentalist Liberty University.
While on the city council, he championed several “limited government” laissez faire economic and government policies.  He was the co-founder of  the Morongo Basin Lincoln Club.
Mayes’ political ambition, in particular in an Assembly District significantly removed from the San Bernardino County Second Supervisorial District in which he is employed, is seen as a signal that Rutherford, who must herself stand for reelection in 2014, will be seeking a new chief of staff as the primary election in June 2014 approaches. While there is no legal requirement that Mayes resign or take a leave of absence from Rutherford’s staff while he campaigns for state office in the 42nd District, having a chief of staff who is focused on political issues far removed from the Second District could prove disadvantageous to Rutherford in her reelection effort.

(August 9) The county has extended by two years the time a meat packing plant will be permitted to maintain its ongoing operations on county owned property in the former Chino Agricultural Preserve.
This week, the board of supervisors approved an amendment to its lease agreement with American Beef Packers, Inc. to extend the term from October 15, 2013 through October 14, 2015 for 34.77 acres of county-owned dairy land and improvements in Ontario for total revenue in the amount of $102,000.
According to David H. Slaughter, the director of the San Bernardino County Real Estate Services Department, “On May 18, 1993, utilizing funds made available to the county under the provisions of Proposition 70, the county purchased a 34.77 acre dairy, located at 7777 Schaefer Avenue in Ontario for $2,200,000. Following acquisition, this dairy was leased to the seller until December 2008. Because of unfavorable economic conditions in the dairy industry at the time, the county was unable to attract a new operator to the site and the property remained vacant until 2010.
California Proposition 70, or the Wildlife, Coastal, and Park Land Conservation Act of 1988, was approved by voters on June 7, 1988 and authorized a $776 million general obligation bond to provide funds for the “acquisition, development, rehabilitation, protection, or restoration of park, wildlife, coastal, and natural lands in California including lands supporting unique or endangered plants or animals.”
According to Slaughter, “On November 16, 2010, the board of supervisors approved a three-year lease with one two-year option to extend with American Beef Packers, Inc. for the dairy property at 7777 Schafer Avenue in Ontario for use in their beef cattle production operations. Loss of equipment through theft and vandalism that occurred during the time while the property was vacant precludes the use of the property as a dairy. American Beef Packer’s operation on the property includes the use of the corrals, but not the dairy barn and milking equipment.”
Slaughter said the amendment passed by the board this week “extends the term from October 15, 2013 through October 14, 2015 at a monthly rent of $4,250 which is consistent with rental rates for comparable dairy properties in the Ontario and Chino areas.”
Under the lease, maintenance on the property is to be provided by the tenant except for the residential septic system, roof, heating and air conditioning system, and all major subsurface infrastructure systems including water wells, well casing, septic systems and utility piping located on the dairy, unless the cause of such failure is due to negligence of the tenant.

(August 9) The county has hired Dr. Brian Hutch to serve as one of its forensic pathologists in the coroner’s department.
The coroner’s office, which since 2004 has been a division of the sheriff’s department, investigates deaths within the county to determine the manner and means of death. In certain instances, forensic pathologists conduct autopsies to provide expert diagnosis as to the cause of death. Historically the department has had four full-time and two part-time employment contracts for forensic pathologists. In recent months, the department  had one full-time forensic pathologist vacancy.
The department requested the board of supervisors approve an employment contract with Dr. Hutchins to fill its vacancy. The contract approved provides compensation at a rate of $72.12 per hour with subsequent 2.5% step advancements up to a maximum hourly rate of $101.90 per hour. The
benefits are consistent with those provided to the department’s existing full-time contract forensic pathologists, which have recently been updated to ensure consistency across all county departments.
Provisions include the contractor paying a portion of retirement benefits and receiving the non-pensionable medical plan subsidy benefit. The contract is for a period of one year at a total cost of
$193,700, which includes a salary of $150,010 and benefits of $43,690. The contract automatically renews for successive one-year periods, but may be terminated by either party upon 14 days advance written notice.

LAKE ARROWHEAD–Jerimiah MacKay, who was gunned down by renegade former LAPD officer Christopher Dormer during his February rampage, has been honored, along with his late grandmother, by the dedication of a park in the San Bernardino Mountains bearing the family name.
MacKay Park is the first park to be dedicated in the Lake Arrowhead community. It is located above Papoose Lake off Highway 173.
On July 13, dignitaries representing the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol, Cal Fire, the county Fire Department, the U.S. Forestry Service, the Lake Arrowhead Dam Commission and the Arrowhead Lake Association, dedicated the park in the memory of Audrey MacKay and Jeremiah MacKay with scores of community members in attendance.
Jerimiah MacKay was raised in the San Bernardino Mountains, having spent his childhood in Lake Arrowhead. He had achieved the rank of detective when he and another sheriff’s deputy, Alex Collins, encountered Dorner near Barton Flats on February ??. Both were shot multiple times by Dorner. Collins survived.
Jerimiah MacKay’s grandmother, Audrey, was a leading member of the Lake Arrowhead community and was a founding member and the first chairperson of the Lake Arrowhead Dam Commission, which was started following the Sylmar earthquake of 1971. The commission’s charter was to monitor and maintain the integrity of the dam. Technical evaluation of the dam determined that the original dam, now a section of Highway 173, was seismically unsound. The dam commission, led by Audrey MacKay, undertook to build a second dam, creating Papoose Lake in so doing. .
MacKay Park, which was fashioned out of a piece of ground formerly known as “the flats,” entails a toddlers’ playground, a picnic area, walking paths and a viewing deck offering views of both Papoose Lake and the Lake Arrowhead marina.