(August 26)  Ruben Valencia is vying against two incumbents and two other challengers in this year’s Ontario City Council election. He is campaigning on a platform that includes greater openness in local government and facilitating business and development opportunities.
“Three is a lack a lack of transparency at City Hall,” Valencia asserted. He continued, “I recently read in the paper that Ontario was ranked as being 141st out of 150 in terms of being a friendly place to do business nationwide.  There is a lack of transparency and too much red tape at City Hall. I have a good buddy, who has been a contractor for close to fifty years, named Ken. I asked him if it was true about our city  being so difficult. He said, and I can just about quote him that whenever he does a project in Ontario, he says a prayer for God to give him patience to get through the project.  That kind of reputation for our city is unacceptable. I will be a hands-on individual who will walk with a contractor through the procedure to see what roadblocks are so we can get rid of them and expedite getting projects approved and under way. This is the type of reputation Ontario has  to change.”
Valencia hinted that elected city officials are exploiting their authority for their own benefit and working against the interests of the public at large.
“We have what seems to be a pay to play city council,” he said. “If you look at the incumbents, I am running against, one has received over $150,000 from questionable sources. By that I mean ones who have a direct interest in how he votes. Close to 90 percent of his donations came from developers, the fire department union, the police department union, tens of thousands of dollars over the years. As far as public trust goes, residents and voters see these large sums of money that the unions keep feeding the incumbents to get them elected.”
Valencia called for reform that would include having the campaign reporting documents , known in California as Form 460, immediately available to the public.
“I believe if we start having transparent government where, for instance, our 460 forms are posted online so the public has access to them and does not have to go to City Hall and pay to have them printed out, it would curb a large amount of money that is coming in,” he said. “Politicians would have to answer to the public if they are not able to hide where they are getting their money from. Most of the public does not know how to go about finding 460s and such. I also think we should have term limits. I think term limits would be a step in the right direction. I believe incumbents become comfortable and forget what their original game plan was when they got elected.”
Valencia took a shot at the city’s political establishment.
“In talking to the public right now, a hot topic in Ontario is that we in Ontario currently have the same law firm that the city of Bell had during the political scandal there,” Valencia said. “Our city attorney was a managing partner in the firm that was a central figure in one of the worst abuses of municipal authority in recent years. People are very sensitive to that. How can the people of this city trust its leaders to do what is right when they are getting their legal advice from the same law firm Bell had?”
Valencia said he believes he is qualified to serve on the city council because “ I am not part of the status quo. I am energetic. I can think outside the box. I can work well with different entities as far as connecting the dots between the federal, state and local levels in getting things done. I believe we need to change our image and I believe I can bring about that change in image. We have to reinvent our image. If you look at the surrounding cities, when you go to Upland or to Rancho Cucamonga, you see nice, artful signs telling you you are entering their city. In Ontario, we have a metal sign that is inadequate. Our presentation is not what it should be. We need to put our best foot forward. “Ruben Valencia is a two decade resident of Ontario, having been born in Pico Rivera. He graduated from Whittier High School and attended Rio Hondo College. He is employed as a deputy with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.