By Mark Gutglueck
For the third time running, Denise Davis’s overarching ambition to become Redlands mayor has worked against her, as she was again unable to construct a broad enough platform and support network within either the community at large or City Hall to garner three votes to confer the mayoral honorific on her.
The third city in San Bernardino County to incorporate in 1888 following the chartering of San Bernardino and Colton in 1868 and 1887, respectively, Redlands is therefore one of the county’s most mature municipalities. Nonetheless, unlike Ontario, Upland, Chino, Rialto, Needles, Barstow, Fontana, Montclair, Rancho Cucamonga and Grand Terrace, founded as cities in 1891, 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1926, 1947, 1952, 1956, 1977 and 1984 and all of which hold mayoral elections, Redlands does not leave the selection of its mayor direct to its residents, instead having the city council appoint from among its ranks who is to serve as the city’s political figurehead and the council’s presiding officer.
For more than a century during the first several phases of San Bernardino County’s history, Redlands was the most affluent and arguably the most influential district in the far-flung county. A significant number of the business owners in the county seat of San Bernardino in the early days built their stately homes and mansions in Redlands, in and around Smiley Heights. In those days, Redlands was halfway between being an agricultural wonderland, which had as its centerpiece its expanses of citrus groves, and a resort town, where the wealthy investors from Chicago who had founded the community would winter during what in Illinois were the inclement months of November through February. After the turn of the 19th to the 20th Century and into the Roaring ‘20s and beyond, while San Bernardino was still the nucleus of the county, Redlands became the place where the county’s prime movers, decision-makers, politicians and kings of industry settled and lived, even if they had to do so unofficially for registration purposes. Beginning slowly in the 1950s and 1960s and with increasing momentum in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the upstart west end of the county, first with Ontario and Upland and then Rancho Cucamonga, began to assert itself. As much of Los Angeles County was by the 1970s and 1980s built out, still-wide-open San Bernardino County was beginning to see what was then unprecedented growth, which continued thereafter to intensify. The profit to be turned by converting the county’s agricultural districts into housing and commercial subdivisions was so great that the development community was able to apply political grease – out and out bribes – to the incumbent politicians who would accommodate them by approving their projects and increasing the intensity of land use and bankrolling the campaigns of alternative candidates to drum out of office any politicians who refused to go along and opposed the rezoning of groves, vineyards, farms and dairies into square mile upon square mile of residential neighborhoods with commercial components lining the region’s major arterials. Once the agricultural properties had been converted to residential specific plan areas, the next shift consisted of changing the single family residential density designations of the number of houses to built from four units to the acre to six to the acre to eight to the acre to ten to the acre to 12 or 14 to the acre, or simply converting the land into multi-family apartment units, yielding the building industry and development community ever greater profits. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: December 2024
Federal Prosecutors Charge Chino Hills Man With Political Tampering On Behalf Of Mainland China
A Chino Hills man who for the last several years has been acting as a propagandist for the People’s Republic of China was arrested by FBI agents yesterday on federal charges that allege he acted as an unregistered agent of a foreign country.
Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 64, was arrested without incident and made an appearance in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles Thursday at which the charges against him were read.
There is reason to suspect or otherwise believe that Sun was involved in efforts to promote the political careers of Chinese nationals who have emigrated to the United States and become naturalized citizens as part of a plot to infiltrate differing levels of American government with operatives loyal to Communist China.
According to federal prosecutors, Sun was employed as an agent of the People’s Republic of China while he was known to have been serving as the campaign manager for a person identified in court papers as a Southern California city council candidate who was elected in 2022, an individual provisionally identified by the Sentinel as Arcadia City Councilwoman Eileen Wang. It appears, but was not confirmed by federal authorities, that he was active in promoting the candidacies of other Chinese-American candidates for local office in the region.
Documents, some of which were redacted, provided with a criminal complaint filed Tuesday and unsealed Thursday morning offer a somewhat elliptical, discontinuous and incomplete narrative with regard to Sun’s activities. Based upon those documents, it was Sun’s association with another Chinese national in the United States, Chen Jun, which brought him under the scrutiny of federal authorities. Chen’s activities, many of them on the East Coast, on behalf of the People’s Republic of China resulted in his being sentenced to federal prison in November for acting as an illegal agent of the Communist Chinese government, including closely monitoring and interfering with U.S.-based congregations of the Falun Gong religious sect. The Communist regime in China has outlawed the worshiping practices of Falun Gong on Mainland China, and there is concern among Chinese leaders that the Falun Gong movement represents a long-term seditious threat to the Chinese government. Continue reading
Needles Makes Minor Tweaks To Representation After Election
With the confirmation of the November 5 election results, a former member of the Needles City Council was reinstalled on that panel amid a few other subtle personnel changes on city commissions.
The rollover of three members of the council and appointments to city commissions took place on December 10 at the El Garces public house.
Re-elected in November were Mayor Janet Jernigan and council members Tona Belt and Ellen Campbell. Zachery Longacre, who was on the council previously, from 2018 to 2022, was returned to the council by the city’s voters. All four were sworn in by interim City Clerk Candace Clark, who has taken on that role in the aftermath of the unexpected death in October of longtime City Clerk Dale Jones.
Councilwoman Kirsten Merritt was previously serving in the capacity of Mayor Pro Tem. She did not seek reelection. As a result, Longacre replaced her on December 10. The council, by a 5-to-1 votes elevated Campbell to mayor pro tem.
David Kearnes was appointed and Jon McNeil reappointed to the public utilities board. Kearnes was brought in to replace Steven Moffett.
Joe Payson was appointed to a full term on the planning commission expiring in 2028 and Owen Long was appointed to complete the term of Planning Commissioner Bob Rath, who is leaving midterm. Long will remain in place until the end of 2026. The council by a vote of 4-to-2, with Longbrake and Councilwoman JoAnn Pogue dissenting, previously rejected appointing former Chamber of Commerce Director Wayne Colburn to the position captured by Long.
Ken Kloepfer, Once Rising West End Legal Star & Imperious Municipal Court Judge
Kenneth Kloepfer, infamously celebrated as the Rancho Cucamonga Justice Center’s ill-tempered judge, has died at the age of 82.
Kloepfer last practiced law in 1997, eight years after he was removed from the bench.
Kenneth Lynn Kloepfer was born on October 13, 1942 in Sacramento, California, the second son of Lynn William and Marguerite nee Fonnesbeck Kloepfer. At that time, his father, who had an illustrious career as an attorney which included work for the United States Department of Agriculture in its field offices and as its solicitor, was the chief attorney for the Sacramento Abstract and Title Company in the state’s capital.
In 1947, Lynn and Marguerite Kloepfer relocated their family to Ontario where he opened up a general law practice. Ken Kloepfer began kindergarten in Ontario later that year. In 1952, when he was in the fifth grade, his father became Ontario City Attorney, a post Lynn Kloepfer held until 1975. In this way, during his formative years, Ken Kloepfer was given a close window on the legal profession and the use of both administrative and municipal authority.
Ken Kloepfer graduated from Chaffey High School in 1960. After graduating from USC with a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations, obtaining a Juris Doctor degree from USC Law School in 1968 and passing the bar on his first attempt in 1969, he had a private practice in what was then the unincorporated community of Cucamonga, often handling cases at the old Cucamonga Courthouse.
His brother, Robert Kloepfer, later became an attorney.
Ken Kloepfer successfully ran for a San Bernardino County Municipal Court judgeship in 1980 and was sworn into that position on January 5, 1981. Continue reading
Letter To The Editor
I am writing to address a recent statement made of the San Bernardino Police Officers Association that was reported in your publication.
It has come to my attention that certain claims made of the Association may contain inaccuracies that could mislead the public and affect community trust in law enforcement. These statements have significant implications, and it is essential that the information being disseminated is both accurate and fair. The San Bernardino Police Officers Association has endorsed Rochelle Clayton to become our next City Manager with no promises of a better contract from her office. We have endorsed Rochelle Clayton due to her work ethic and her vision to make our city better. Rochelle Clayton has lived in our city for several years in the past and knows the city better than our previous city managers.
I urge you to consider the implications of these statements and the importance of ensuring that all claims are thoroughly fact-checked before publication. Transparency and accountability are vital in maintaining the integrity of both the Police Officer Association and the media.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I believe it is crucial for our community to have access to reliable information that reflects the truth of the situation.
Jose Loera
President
San Bernardino Police Officer Association
At
The
Ready
SBC Sentinel December 20 Legal Notices
FBN20240010185
The following entity is doing business primarily in San Bernardino County as
MS. SEXY BOSSLADY INDIGO 154 W. FOOTHILL BLVD SUIT A # 345 UPLAND, CA 91786: DEBRA A HUNT
Business Mailing Address: 154 W. FOOTHILL BLVD SUIT A # 345 UPLAND, CA 91786
The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL.
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: AUGUST 15, 2024
By signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130). I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
/s/ DEBRA A HUNT
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 11/05/2024
I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/Deputy J7527
Notice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on November 29 and December 6, 13 & 20, 2024.
SUMMONS – (CITACION JUDICIAL)
CASE NUMBER (NUMERO DEL CASO) 24PSCV02195
NOTICE TO ASHLEY BUSTAMONTE, AN INDIVIDUAL; AND DOES 1-100, inclusive
(AVISO DEMANDADO):
YOU ARE BEING SUED BY PLAINTIFF:
(LO ESTA DEMANDANDO EL DEMANDANTE):
THOMAS ANDREWS, an individual.
NOTICE! You have been sued. The court may decide against you without your being heard unless you respond within 30 days. Read the information below.
You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this summons is served on you to file a written response at this court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear your case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court.
There are other legal requirements. You may want to call an attorney right away. If you do not know an attorney, you may want to call an attorney referral service. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services from a nonprofit legal services program. You can locate these nonprofit groups at the California Legal Services Web site (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp), or by contacting your local court or county bar association. NOTE: The court has a statutory lien for waived fees and costs on any settlement or arbitration award of $10,000 or more in a civil case. The court’s lien must be paid before the court will dismiss the case.
¡AVISO! Lo han demandado. Si no responde dentro de 30 dias, la corte puede decidir en su contra sin escuchar su version. Lea la informacion a continuacion
Tiene 30 DIAS DE CALENDARIO después de que le entreguen esta citación y papeles legales para presentar una repuesta por escrito en esta corte y hacer que se entreque una copia al demandante. Una carta o una llamada telefonica no le protegen. Su respuesta por escrito tiene que estar on formato legal correcto si desea que procesen su caso en la corte. Es posible que haya un formulano que usted puede usar para su respuesta. Puede encontrar estos formularios de la corte y mas información en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en la biblioteca de leyes de su condado o en la corte que le quede mas cerca. Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentación, pida si secretario de la corta que le de un formulario de exencion de pago de cuotas. Si no presenta su respuesta a tiempo, puede perder el caso por incumplimiento y la corta le podrá quitar su sueldo, dinero y bienes sin mas advertencia.
Hay otros requisitos legales. Es recomendable que llame a un abogado inmediatamente. Si no conace a un abogado, puede llamar a un servicio de referencia a abogados. Si no peude pagar a un a un abogado, es posible que cumpia con los requisitos para obtener servicios legales gratu de un programa de servicios legales sin fines de lucro. Puede encontrar estos grupos sin fines de lucro en el sitio web de California Legal Services, (www.lawhelpcalifornia.org), en el Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California, (www.sucorte.ca.gov), o poniendoso en contacto con la corte o el colegio de abogados locales. AVISO: Por ley, la corte tiene derecho a reclamar las cuotas y los costos exentos gravamen sobre cualquier recuperación da $10,000 o mas de vaior recibida mediante un aceurdo o una concesión de arbitraje en un caso de derecho civil. Tiene que pagar el gravamen de la corta antes de que la corta pueda desechar el caso.
The name and address of the court is: (El nombre y la direccion de la corte es):
POMONA COURTHOUS SOUTH 400 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA POMONA, CA 91766
The name, address and telephone number of plaintiff’s attorney is: (El nombre, la direccion y el numero de telefono del abogado del demandante es):
JASMINE MOTAZEDI, JM LAW FIRM, APC; 23586 CALABASAS RD., SUITE 204, CALABASAS, CA 91302, (818) 574-8186
DATE (Fecha): 17/08/2024
Clerk (Secretario), by A. GREER
Published in the SBCS Rancho Cucamonga on: 11/29/2024, 12/06/2024, 12/13/2024 & 12/20/2024.