(April 7)  Former California State Senator Bob Dutton said he is running for county assessor “because I think I can do a good job for San Bernardino County. I looked at running four years ago but at that time [current assessor] Dennis [Draeger], who had been appointed by the board of supervisors, decided to serve another term and I decided to finish my last full term in the [state] senate. I have considered the availability and I am making good now on my deciding to run for assessor once I got out of the senate.”
Dutton said he is “uniquely qualified to serve as assessor.” He began working in the real estate industry in 1972 and in 1998 successfully ran for city council in Rancho Cucamonga. In 2002 he was elected to the state Assembly. Two years later he moved into the California Senate, serving the maximum two terms permitted under California’s term limitations applicable to him at that time. In his last two years in the state’s upper legislative house he was the Republican leader. It is his private and public sector experience, Dutton said, which distinguishes him from his opponent in the June election, assistant county assessor Dan Harp.
He said he had not undertaken his candidacy to oppose Harp and that he had “no opinion [about Harp] one way or the other. I only met him once and I’m not going to make snap judgments on people.”
It is not unthinkable that Harp would remain as assistant assessor following a Dutton victory.
“I don’t know,” Dutton said with regard to whether Harp would be chosen as his second-in-command if he is victorious. “I do plan to bring some new people in. There are already a lot of good people there. I will put people in positions I feel will be part of the solution and have a vision for the future. The county is suffering from a lack of economic development. We need growth. Those in the assessor’s office and county clerk’s office are a part of that. I want people in place who can make sure there is follow through. I believe in a high level of accountability. I have operated that way in the private sector. At one time I had over 100 employees and had $100 million worth of property under my supervision. I am service oriented. The way I have carried out my duties on the city council and in the assembly and state senate have been consistent in that way.”
As to the current function of the assessor’s office, Dutton said, “I am not criticizing anything in particular. Based upon my combination of  business experience  in the private sector and background in government, I want to keep the assessor’s office moving forward. My priorities are to have the office operate at a high level of integrity, with maximum openness and greater efficiency by streamlining the processes.”
How he would obtain greater efficiency, Dutton at this point said, “is hard to say. The election, one way or the other is going to be over by June. There are only two of us in this race. If I win, I will call for an immediate 120-day performance review prior to my taking office. That will give me an idea of what needs to be improved upon and I will have a plan of action in hand when I assume elected office. I will want elected officials, people from the private sector and people from the department itself involved in that review so that the assessor’s office employees will buy into it.”
Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Dutton  moved to California for basic training at the age of 19 in 1969.  After he left the military he attended Los Angeles Valley College in Van Nuys, where he obtained his Associate of Arts degree and joined with his father to found a real estate company the year after he graduated.  He is married with one grown child.

(April 8)  Retired San Bernardino County fire captain Bob Buhrle said he is running for assemblyman in the California 33rd Assembly District because “I believe I can use my more than 20 years’ experience in various elected positions to be of benefit in helping straighten up California.”
Buhrle said “We need solutions” and that part of the cure is “having small businesses create new jobs. This can be done if we work together at all levels of government in cooperation with the private sector, with corporations and citizens. We need more water for all of California. We are in a drought. We should make an effort to use desalinization plants. I have been to Saudi Arabia and have seen a desalination plant that produced two million gallons of water per day. If we are going to have more building in California, more growth in the desert and in the mountains, we are going to need more water. In the Crestline-Lake Arrowhead Water Agency we have to expand our pipelines. A case in point is a few years ago there was concern about water in Big Bear and the leadership said they had it wired. But the water in the local aquifer in Big Bear is owned by the Big Bear Mutual Water Company, which is based in Redlands. For the sake of California as a whole, for jobs to grow, for businesses to expand, we need more water. To stimulate the economy and the job market we need more water.  Governor[Jerry] Brown has this bullet train project to San Francisco. Instead of spending that money on a bullet train we should be using it for all of California by securing more water.”
Despite the recent rebounding of the stock market, which Buhrle intimated was good for Wall Street but not reaching far beyond that, further efforts to redress the financial malaise on the West Coast is needed, he said.
“We have to simulate the economy somehow,” he said. “It is going to take effort from everyone to get us out of the recession. The job market is still hurting. In talking to college students, for instance, I have heard it is difficult for college students to get loans and to transfer units from one college to the next. We need to make it easier for colleges to transfer units. This would be no easy project, but if I am elected I would get together with college students and others to see if we could get more funding for their college tuition, get classes on line for upper division units, and make classes compatible for use at various colleges.”
At various times over the last three decades he has been on the board of directors at the Big Bear Municipal Water District, a board member of the High Desert Medical Center,  a board member of the Lake Gregory/ Crest Forest County Water District, a member of the Arrowhead Lake Association Board of Directors, a board member of the Big Bear City Community Service District, which oversaw the budget and management of municipal sanitation, water, fire safety and  refuse disposal services, a member of the board of trustees for the Rim of the World Unified School District, and a member of the San Bernardino County Regional Parks Advisory Board.
“Because I have multifaceted experience with water districts, the school district, the community services district, the hospital district and the regional parks board, I do think that combination makes me a better choice than the other candidates who cannot claim that range of experience,” he said.
He said that in several of those capacities, he had been part of successful efforts to obtain grant funding.
“We obtained a grant for Big Bear Dam,” he said. “During my 17 years with the regional parks board we were getting grants for all the major parks in San Bernardino County. This gave me experience in how to apply for grants and the knowledge that they are available. Grants are getting a little tight nowadays, but they are still a possible form of funding if you know where to look and how to apply.”
Born in Los Angeles, Buhrle grew up in San Bernardino. He served with the Army in Vietnam, in an air crash rescue division. He attended the University of Redlands and obtained a degree in management. He began working for the U.S. Forest Service as a firefighter and later was hired by Cal Fire and the San Bernardino County Fire Department, where he achieved the rank of fire captain.
Single, he joined the Air Force Reserves, achieving the rank of master sergeant. He subsequently saw duty in Iraq and Bahrain and served as fire chief at Camp Falcon in Baghdad.

By clicking on the portal below you can access the April 4 Edition of the SBC Sentinel.

Sentinel 04-04-14

(April 2)  Members of the San Bernardino City Council have appointed and confirmed  nine members of the city’s newly-created charter reform committee.
All those appointed to the panel are men. They have been tasked with studying the city’s current charter and recommending possible changes to it so those proposed amendments can be placed before city residents for a citywide vote in November.
San Bernardino is a charter city as opposed to a general law city. Its charter and amendments thereto, per state law, are approved by the city’s voters. Provisions put into the charter by means of a citywide vote over a decade ago require that the city’s public safety employees – firefighters and police officers – be paid on a scale equal to the average pay of police officers and firefighters in ten similarly sized California cities.
San Bernardino has been beset with financial difficulties that culminated in the city’s filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in 2012. Former mayor Patrick Morris has maintained that a major factor in the city’s fiscal deterioration is excessive salaries and benefits provided to city employees and retirees. Carey Davis, an accountant by profession and a political ally to Morris, succeeded Morris last month after defeating Wendy McCammack, a former councilwoman who has long championed generous pay increases for municipal safety employees.
As one of his first acts in office, Davis called for the creation of a municipal commission to consider charter changes, suggesting that the requirement that police and fire officers be provided with raises based on salaries given to their counterparts in cities free of the financial challenges San Bernardino faces should be done away with. That move failed when it was pointed out that a municipal commission cannot be formed without prior voter approval. The proposal was adjusted to allow the creation of a citizens committee to review the city charter.
While the committee’s recommendations are by no means pre-ordained, it is anticipated that the members will at the very least consider the Morris/Davis suggestions with regard to undoing the mandate that the city’s safety employees remain well abreast of their municipal counterparts elsewhere with regard to compensation.
The resolution that called for the creation of the committee that was passed by the city council on March 17 delineated that each of the council’s seven members would choose one registered voter from their respective wards to serve on the committee and Davis would get two appointments to the panel, including one culled from the city’s business community.
This week it was revealed that Ward 1 Councilwoman Virginia Marquez had selected Casey Daily for the committee, Ward 2 Councilman Benito Barrios  chose Dennis Baxter, Ward 3 Councilman John Valdivia appointed Gary Walbourne,  Ward 4 Councilman Fred Shorett selected Hillel Cohn, Ward 5 Councilman Henry Nickel chose Michael Craft, Ward 6 Councilman Rikke Van Johnson brought in Hardy Brown and Ward 7 Councilman James Mulvill tapped Philip Savage.  Davis selected Thomas Pierce and Dan Carlone.
The next order of business is for the city to find and retain a consultant highly conversant with city charters who can advise the committee and the city council with regard to how the charter can be changed.
The committee must meet a May 19 deadline to deliver their recommendations so language in any proposed amendments can be delivered to the registrar of voters office in time to include the charter amendments on the November ballot.

(April 3)  The Rancho Cucamonga City Council on April 2 adopted a resolution calling upon the managers of the court system in San Bernardino County to preserve its branch courts unless it can be demonstrated the closures will result in a savings of at least ten percent of the court system’s budget.
That resolution calls into question the wisdom of San Bernardino County Superior Court Presiding Judge Marsha Slough’s proposed court realignment.
The realignment will entail transferring all civil cases countywide to the new San Bernardino Justice Center, an eleven story edifice with 35 courtrooms now in the final stages of completion. In addition, San Bernardino district criminal cases, now being heard in the San Bernardino Central Courthouse built in 1927, will be tried in the new San Bernardino Justice Center.
West Valley Superior Courthouse in Rancho Cucamonga, which currently is the venue for both civil and criminal cases originating on the west end of the county, will be devoted almost entirely  to criminal cases, including those arising on the county’s west end and other felony and misdemeanor cases from the county’s central district which are currently routed to the Fontana Courthouse.  A small portion of the criminal cases now heard in Fontana will be adjudicated in San Bernardino. At least temporarily, hearings on both civil and domestic violence restraining order matters will be heard at the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse.
The historic San Bernardino Courthouse will remain as the forum for the family law cases it currently hosts and will soon serve as the venue for the family law cases presently heard in Rancho Cucamonga.
The Fontana Courthouse will become the stage for all small claims, landlord tenant disputes and traffic/non-traffic infractions from the San Bernardino, Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga districts. The lion’s share of criminal cases now being heard in Fontana will transfer to Rancho Cucamonga. A lesser number of the Fontana criminal cases will go to San Bernardino.
The Victorville Courthouse will remain a venue for High Desert family law cases.
These changes are due to go into effect next month, when the San Bernardino Justice Center is given its certificate for occupancy.
Far flung San Bernardino County, which spans more than 20,000 square miles, is the largest county in the lower 48 states, with a land mass greater than the states of Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. The logistical burden on many of the county’s citizens who need to access the courts will be tremendous. Driving distance from Needles to San Bernardino, which will host the only courtrooms in the county where civil cases will be heard, is 212 miles, with an average one-way traveling time of three hours and nine minutes.
Rancho Cucamonga was the first city in the county to take an official stand in opposition to the proposed realignment.
The city council unanimously endorsed the resolution and gave direction to city staff to carry the resolution to local members of the state legislature and insist on a response from them.  The council further directed Mayor Dennis Michael to take up the court realignment issue with the San Bernardino Association of Governments, the county’s transportation agency and regional planning board which has as its voting directors mayors or council members from each of the county’s 24 cities as well as all five members of the board of supervisors.
Among those who spoke at the meeting about the importance of access to justice and preserving local courts were several attorneys, including Liz Courtney; Richard Anderson, who was formerly Upland’s mayor; and former president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association Jim Banks. Also addressing the council was Marsha Meek Banks, a certified public accountant. Courtney, a family law attorney, said the realignment would place undue hardships upon and potentially legally disenfranchise individuals with family law cases. Anderson decried the change which he said would inhibit court access to residents of the West End communities. Jim Banks asserted that the realignment will produce little in cost savings and achieve only limited administrative and managerial efficiency at much greater expense in terms of logistical challenges and inconvenience to tens of thousands of county residents. Marsha Meek Banks spoke of the dangers lawyers and litigants will experience in San Bernardino, where the lack of parking at or near the newly constructed courthouse will require that those using the courthouse park in and then traverse by foot a crime-infested neighborhood.
The day before the council meeting, Dennis Stout, who was formerly both the mayor of Rancho Cucamonga and the district attorney of San Bernardino County; John Mannerino, another former president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association who was on the Rancho Cucamonga  Planning Commission for 5 years.; and Jim Banks met with Mayor Dennis Michael and his council colleague Sam Spagnolo. During that meeting, the Sentinel has learned, Stout and Mannerino spoke forcefully and frankly about the realignment as one that was ill-advised and being unilaterally imposed without adequate input from those it will impact.
That presentation had an apparent deep impact on Michael and Spagnolo. At the following night’s council meeting, council members repeatedly emphasized the need for all of the affected cities in the county to coalesce in opposition to the realignment.
Efforts are now under way, the Sentinel has learned, to encourage other city councils to pass similar resolutions to the one ratified by the Rancho Cucamonga City Council Wednesday evening.

(April 3)   Grand Terrace City Councilwoman Sylvia Robles said this week she had moved her personal political timetable forward to enter the race to succeed Norma Torres as state senator in the 20th District.
Robles, who has been on the Grand Terrace City Council just 16 months, said she was interested in higher office but was prepared to wait until term limits created a logical jumping point into the state legislature further down the road.
Torres, the former Pomona mayor who had gone on to the Assembly and then moved up into California’s upper legislative house when Gloria Negrete-McLeod departed the California Senate to claim her current position in Congress after her 2012 victory over former Congressman Joe Baca, is now set to depart the state Senate to run for Negrete-McLeod seat..
“Because of the domino effect with Gloria McLeod leaving Congress and Norma running for her spot, that left an opening for me,” Robles said. “I felt the East Valley has been underepresented in the past and the emergence of this open position and the demographics are favorable for me at this point. I believe I can better represent the community by stepping into the state senate seat. [Assemblywoman] Cheryl Brown did not step up and I think 12 years is too long for me to wait until there is another opening like this. I might not get another chance soon.”
Competing with Robles for the post, which represents Pomona, Ontario, Chino, Fontana, Rialto, Colton, West San Bernardino, Grand Terrace, Muscoy and Bloomington, are Connie Leyva, Matthew Munson, Shannon O’Brien, and Alfonso Sanchez.
Robles said the major issues facing the district are “job creation and retention, looking at pension reform, and budget stabilization at the state level.”
Upon getting into office, Robles said, “My first job would be to make sure all of our finances are in order. In the Inland Empire we are still suffering from a lack of recovery in the housing market. We are still having a difficult time attracting high paying and intensive skill jobs. The only other parts of the economy that remain healthy here are companies involved in the service industry and warehousing. I would address and make sure our labor is adequately compensated and there is no abuse in those industries. In warehousing in particular there is abuse where employers are giving employees half shifts, in some cases seven full days of half shifts. These are people who are paid an average of $22,000 per year. They are having their shifts split and that way the employers are making it so the employees are not getting benefits. I believe I have to focus on the work environment and pay equity and other issues as far as having a fair working environment.”
Beyond that, Robles said, there is a need for the legislature to ensure that tax money expended as incentives to corporations is utilized for the purposes intended and outlined in the programs through which the subsidies were granted.
“A more global part of what I would do as state senator is work on tax money being expended as subsidies,” she said. “Right now, there is little or no transparency in subsidizing businesses. I will look at that and see how we can reconfigure subsidies to corporations so there is some kind of contract there. We provided a significant amount of money to Tesla Motors and now they are moving on to another state. This is the same paradigm that existed with redevelopment abuse. Instead of bringing in businesses, we have those businesses shopping states for the best subsidies.”
Robles said the legislature has to be mindful of how the latest windfall the state received is utilized.
“Another issue is that as of last month, state controller John Chang got almost 1 billion dollars in unanticipated revenue from Proposition 30. So between Proposition 30 and tax expenditures, we have $7 billion the legislature needs to look at to stabilize California. Counties and cities are subunits of the state and they should get what is due to them. In San Bernardino employees are being asked to pick up seven percent of the pension costs. I am concerned if we are paying sales tax, that is contributing to the $1 billion. Perhaps now is the time to help local governments stabilize their budgets and make them whole, unfreeze the money the state has collected in the last several years and rebate it to the cities based on how much they contributed. “
With regard to pension reform, Robles said. “I don’t think we need to do this through a ballot measure. I think we can do it through the collective bargaining process. With our final budgets, we need to rein in compensation statewide. We  should not create any new programs until we stabilize local government and pensions.”
She said she detected a disparity in the ebb and flow of money in the state educational system, particularly at the university level. Administrators were being overcompensated, she said, while “The public with lower pay scales are paying high tuition and fees. We are  basically talking about employment pay equity. People are going to college to better themselves and increase their earning potential but the cost is prohibitive. Colleges exist to rebuild our middle class. The universities have too much administration. We should freeze tuition now.”
Some private schools that are now beyond the regulation of the state should be examined closely, she said.
“We have predatory career colleges that fail to provide meaningful education,” she said. “The state should provide oversight and move to close those that are not providing what they say they will give students. The Inland Empire is constantly being ridiculed as full of poor and unmotivated people. Well, there are young people who work hard and are trying to get out of this economic trap and pull themselves into the middle class. There are trade schools and career colleges which promise a meaningful vocational education and then just walk out on them. They take the tuition and just shut down, leaving them without skills or a certificate. There have been three waves of this. We need an accreditation system for these schools.”
Robles said she believes she is the best choice among those vying for state senator in the 20th District.
“I am 61 years old, with 25 years of work experience in the public sector. I have a graduate degree augmented with consistent study. I have kept current on policy work and  research. I am beholden to no special interest group. Connie [Leyva] can offer the community nothing without going to her union for guidance. Shannon O’Brien is someone who has been on a school board for a short while.  Alfonzo Sanchez is new and just not as time tested in the workplace or the policy world. He is an emerging but unproven person in that arena. I am ready. This is something I am prepared for. I have been involved in the community and government for a long time.  Because of my maturity and work experience and education, I will not need to depend on staff and lobbyists to  get to work. I do not need to be tutored to hit the ground running. I am more grounded in the policy arena than any of my opponents.”
Born and raised in San Bernardino, Robles attended San Gorgonio High School and San Bernardino Valley College before going to the University of Redlands, where she received a bachelor’s degree in business management. She subsequently obtained a master’s degree in public administration from San Bernardino State University. She retired from the county of San Bernardino where she had been a social worker, field representative for former Third District Supervisor Barbara Cram Riordan and later a special districts budget analyst. She is married with three children.

(April 2)  Mount Baldy School District Board Member Paul Hannosh is seeking to unseat his fellow Republican, Paul Cook, as congressman in California’s 8th Congressional District.
Hannosh was born in Detroit, Michigan but grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. He attended Pasadena City College and majored in liberal arts  at Cal State LA, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree.
Cook, who was a colonel in the Marine Corps prior to beginning his political career as a member of the Yucca Valley Town Council before going on to the California Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives, faces in Hannosh another veteran. Hannosh served in the U.S. Army.
Nevertheless, Hannosh sees military action as a last resort and while at Cal State LA he formed a coalition for peace in the Middle East.
Hannosh has worked in real estate and is now a biology and history teacher in a different school district from where he is a board member.
Now married with a daughter, Hannosh characterized himself as a political conservative who considers Cook too liberal for the constituency he represents.
“I believe like 90 percent of Americans that Congress is not working in our interest,” Hannosh said. “There is too much money corrupting our system. Our politicians and our political system should put Americans first, not the lobbyists.”
He tore into President Barack Obama, saying he was pursuing counterproductive policies.
“One of them is the Affordable Health Care Act, which cost me personally over $4,000 per year in increased premiums,” he said. “From this there is a loss of jobs. Employers are letting people go so they can avoid the mandate. Job creation is hugely important to the citizens of this district. We have too many unemployed and underemployed. I want to reform our tax system that is hurting our employment situation by embedding a 22 percent hidden tax on all domestically produced goods, which makes imports cheap and inflates the cost of  American–produced products.  I advocate a fair tax – HR25 – which would grow the economy and simplify our tax system by creating a national consumption tax in place of the income tax. I also oppose amnesty because of our current economic system cannot afford to import poverty and take jobs away from American citizens.
I also believe it is important for us to end foreign intervention and bring our troops home so we are not subsidizing foreign economies.  I believe we should speak out on behalf of the world’s most persecuted group, the Christian minorities in the Middle East, by ending all foreign aid to the countries that persecute Christian minorities. I support the second amendment very strongly and I believe our current congressman has not been representing one of the more conservative districts in the county adequately. My opponent Paul Cook is out of touch with what the Eagle Forum says is the 87th most conservative district in the country. His congressional voting record scorecard according to the Eagle Forum is 33 percent. He votes with the Democrats more than the Republicans  I also oppose government snooping and spying on Americans and the collection of their electronic data without a warrant.”
Hannosh continued, “I believe we need to reform our banking system by auditing the Federal Reserve as the Federal Reserve has been a failure at its two main goals of fighting inflation and preventing recessions.”
Though he espoused conservatism, Hannosh said he was not going to tap into political action committee money available from conservative coalitions.
“My campaign motto is to put Americans first  I am willing to take on the establishment  in order to restore power back to the people,” he said. “Because I’m not taking money from the large PACs  my support is coming from average citizens and I want to be a humble servant and listen to the people by creating an electronic town hall where my constituents can give me feedback and help me understand what the important issues to them are. Paul Cook supported the bank bailouts of 2008 and I pledge to reform our banking system. I served my country in the Army and I serve my community as a teacher and we need someone who will put Americans first, not special interests. We’ve had enough of the insiders who control Washington. We need an outsider who can’t be bought. I am not a career politician.”
Hannosh has received an endorsement from the Federation of Republican Women, the National Republican Liberty Caucus and Paul Schrader, who is running for San Bernardino County sheriff.

(April 3) Conditions on Carbon Canyon Road, which serves as the entrance to San Bernardino County at its extreme southwest corner, remain sketchy.
The road has been closed on and off since the La Habra earthquake on March 28, at which point the road became vulnerable to hillside erosion and landslides.
Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, has been engaged in attempting to remove parts of the hillside that glided down onto the roadway and to install makeshift barriers to prevent further obstructions.
At press time, word was that Caltrans would again close the road commencing today, Friday April 4, at 9 p.m. Road crews will engage in road repairs and hillside amendment over the weekend. It is anticipated the road will reopen on Monday, April 7 at 4 a.m.
Those wishing to remain updated on the condition and passibility of the road can sign up for alerts by visiting http://www.chinohills.org/list.asp?mode=del.

(April 2) Dr. Rita Ramirez Dean, a college professor and former board member with the Copper Mountain College Board of Trustees and previous Democratic candidate for Congress in the 41st Congressional District as well as in the 65th California Assembly District, is now seeking election as San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools.
Dean touts her 38 years’ experience as an educator and her own academic achievements in reciting her qualifications for the post.
She is running against Ted Alejandre, who was recently promoted to the position of assistant county schools superintendent by current county superintendent Gary Thomas, and another candidate, Frank Garza.
A professor at Copper Mountain College in Yucca Valley from 1972 until 1999 and professor at Copper Mountain and its sister campus College of the Desert in Palm Desert from 1999 until 2004, Ramirez Dean was the chair of the foreign language department and later the chair of the reading department, which she founded. From 2008 until 2012, she was a member of the Copper Mountain College Board. She holds a doctorate in education from Louisiana State University.
If elected county superintendent, she said, her first emphasis would be on “the dropout rate. San Bernardino County has the worst dropout rate in the state and nation, particularly among Latino and African American students. Our Latino and African American students in 2010 had a dropout rate of 52 percent. In the county as a whole we have a dropout rate of  26 to 28 percent. That is what began my desire to be county superintendent. Enough is enough. There is no future without education. The only way to do it is do it for yourself. I bring 38 years in educational experience to my candidacy. I have taught languages, mathematics, history, business administration, and  biology. I have broad experience. I taught for four years at the primary school level. I taught at the college level for more than three decades. As soon as I am in the superintendent’s office, I would do a diagnostic of curriculum in the areas of English and science and math, so if a student is in a failing situation we can put him or her into a lab so they can get back to where they should be and not fail. I want to create alternative education for those who do not want to go on to college, vocation academies. Parents want to have for their children the best education and best job skills. I think we need to provide them more than just preparing for higher education. I think we should hire professionals in law enforcement, music, and auto technology and put them into place so students who wish can learn work skills in their respective fields.”
Ramirez Dean said schools should not give up on students after they have failed.
“Dropouts find themselves without job skills,” she said. “We need to establish education centers to bring them back to school to get diplomas. We also need to establish English as a second language classes for parents and those who want to become citizens. I believe that if people are here and they are speaking Spanish that is wonderful. I do not believe people should forsake their native language. But the only way to survive in our world is to learn English. I think we need to look after everyone from young to old.”
Ramirez Dean said adequate teaching manpower is available. “We have good teachers, parents and schools, but things need to be done to get those teachers who have been furloughed back into the classroom. We need to enhance safety and security so children do not get hurt.”
She said an effort to end truancy is needed.
“As for those students who are not at school, we need to get them back into the classrooms if they are not ill,” she said.
Ramirez Dean said she is cut out to be the county superintendent of schools.
“I not only have experience and knowledge, I have the heart and I speak both languages – English and Spanish – and can communicate with students, teachers and parents in both English and Spanish. I know what teachers feel. I am not only a teacher but the mother of two sons, both of whom are teachers. I am not limited to just being an education administrator, or just being a teacher or just a professor or just being a parent. I have and will continue to have an open door policy. Those with a stake in our schools and educational system can talk to me in either language. I am here for everyone. I know we must defend our students and do everything possible for their future. I spent six years teaching elementary school and junior high and have been teaching at the community college level for 32 years. It is my love of education that has inspired me to run. In my own life, I have had to suffer and sacrifice. I was ten years old when my father died. I was the youngest of four daughters. My mother knew that if we did not get an education we would not survive. All three of my sisters and I have college educations. My mother held our family together and education was central to that. Parents will do anything for their children and make sure they receive the best education. They are entitled to the American Dream, even those who are not yet but want to become American citizens. With education comes jobs and prosperity and everyone is better off.  I suffer when I see children not receiving a proper education. I suffer when I see parents trying to do the right thing and education is not available for their children  because of the elimination of resources and teachers being put on furlough.  I would be the first Hispanic women to run and serve and the second woman to become superintendent in this county. The first was elected in 1926. I love children and respect parents.”
Ramirez Dean grew up in Orange County.

(April 2)   Melissa O’Donnell, who carried the standard for the Democrats in 2012 when she ran against Bill Emmerson in California State Senate District 23, has once again entered the political fray, this time seeking a berth in the State Assembly.  This time around O’Donnell has set her sights on the 40th Assembly District, representing Rancho Cucamonga, the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, a portion of the city of San Bernardino, Redlands, Highland, Loma Linda and Grand Terrace. Squaring off against her are Democrats Art Bustamante, Kathleen Marie Henry, and Republican Marc Steinorth.
O’Donnell has worked as a teacher, has sold real estate and she now owns an education company, Time To Learn Fast.
O’Donnell characterizes the residents of the 40th District as “hardworking” and says they need and deserve able leadership capable of bridging the partisan divide.
“I think I am ready for the position,” she said. “I am qualified. I can bring needed change to the area. I am a business owner. People and politicians talk about creating jobs, but it does not happen. I would concentrate on convincing corporations to take advantage of our trained and skilled workforce. I would give those corporations incentives to come to the area and with that I think we can bring a lot of progress to the area.”
O’Donnell said she is acutely conscious of the range of diversity and different opinion within the sprawling 40th District.
“I have met with different groups,” she said. In her search for commonality among her would-be constituents, she said, she has learned that they all want the economy to grow. She said that shared goal dovetails with a portion of the Democratic Party’s agenda for the state.
“They tell me they see stability over the long term as very important,” O’Donnell said. “I am a supporter of Covered California. Everyone deserves health insurance. It will reduce costs long term. People will not need to go to emergency rooms for non-emergency care if everyone signs up for insurance.”
She said she embraced her party’s stand with regard to environmental protection.
“I am interested in keeping the environment safe and clean as possible,” she said. “I want to prevent water pollution and air pollution.”
At the same time, she said, she is sympathetic to issues Republican hold dear.
“I have been going around and hearing a lot of different viewpoints,” she said. “I am a good listener,” she said. “I am serious about hearing whatever everyone has to say. I think I have a lot of experience. When it comes to holding public office, I can work across the aisle. I have friends in the Assembly and Senate. There are a lot of different viewpoints.”
As for her opponents, O’Donnell opined, “I don’t think they have what it takes. I ran for State Senate in 2012 and received 45 percent of the vote in San Bernardino County. I am meeting with members of Assembly now. I will know what to do when I step into the job. I will begin by working to meet expectations early. There are a lot of Republicans and Democrats in the district. I will try to be the leader for everyone. The majority in Sacramento are Democrats. They will be more willing to hear what I have to say. I will support and represent both Republicans and Democrats. I would not be a one-sided leader.  I want everyone to know I support views of the Republican and Democrats.”
Born and raised in Orange County, she attended Los Angeles High School ForThe Arts and Chapman College, where she received her bachelor’s degree in education. Unmarried, she is a resident of Highland.