By Count Friedrich von Olsen 

After 12 years, Upland City Councilman Brendan Brandt is leaving office, having chosen not to run for reelection. That decision was made as a tangle of conflicts were on the brink of overwhelming him. He was unable to act with regard to Upland’s pending pension crisis because he is a member of the county pension board and that creates a conflict for him. Earlier this year, he was unable to vote on a controversial trash franchise contract extension because his law firm does work for companies involved in the region’s variously franchised trash hauling industry. His most overwhelming conflict was his close political association with Upland’s indicted and convicted former mayor John Pomierski. In 2002, Brendan was first elected to the council with the assistance of Pomierski and his political machine. This occurred despite the misgivings Brendan’s father, Barry, another highly respected attorney, had about the political financial support network that had adhered itself to Pomierski. Upon being elected, Brendan immediately became a member of “Team Upland,” Pomierski’s cabal. In carrying out his perfidious exploitation of Upland’s citizenry, accepting bribes in return for making sure projects were approved or permitting was granted, Pomierski asserted he enjoyed the full backing of “Team Upland” and its authority. The one roadblock Pomierski encountered was councilman Ray Musser, who opposed him in 2004’s mayor’s race and again in 2008. With the assistance of his “Team Upland,” which included Brandt and councilmen Tom Thomas and Ken Willis, Pomierski isolated and then politically neutered Musser. In 2010, the FBI closed in on Pomierski, serving search warrants at his home, business and at Upland City Hall. Pomierski’s political jig was up, but Brendan Brandt brazenly sought reelection later that year, carefully avoiding any talk about Pomierski or “Team Upland.” Public perception had yet to fully catch up with him, though fellow team member Thomas was voted out of office in 2010. Pomierski was indicted the following year and convicted the next. This year more than one Upland City Council hopeful was loading up to let Brendan Brandt have it by celebrating his long and deep connection to John Pomierski. Brendan decided not to run. This week, at the last full council meeting Brendan attended as a council member before the first meeting in December when his replacement, Carol Timm, will be sworn in, his council colleagues talked of his “wisdom.” And indeed he was wise, getting out when the getting was good…
Speaking of getting out of Upland, it was revealed this week that two other city officials are leaving the City of Gracious Living. Police chief Jeff Mendenhall and city attorney Kimberly Barlow…
Jeff Mendenhall announced he will be departing the city in the next two to eight months as he works with his wife, Stephanie Mendenhall, the city’s personnel director (and city clerk and city administrative services director) and city manager Rod Butler on finding his replacement as police chief. Chief Mendenall has been on the Upland force 32 years. He was a lieutenant and captain during the years when John Pomierski was at his pernicious peak. Ultimately, it was not the police department but the FBI that put the kibosh on Upland’s felonious mayor, which suggests that Mr. Pomierski was acting under an umbrella of police department protection. It seems passing strange that two of the city officials in such high positions who stood by while John Pomierski raped the city will now be intimately involved in the hiring of the next police chief…
I am not at liberty to say precisely why Ms. Barlow is on her way out, to be replaced by another member of her firm, Richard L. Adams II. Let it suffice to say that when a lawyer is tasked to write a letter on behalf of a client, she should be careful about the tenor, tone and language used, especially if the recipient of the letter is a well-heeled entity with a bevy of high-priced attorneys of its own…