By Mark Gutglueck
Another element of Councilman Alan Wapner’s campaign for mayor is vectoring attention to the pay-for-play ethos and graft that has infested politics and governance in Ontario for a generation.
Wapner has been in place on the city council since 1994. Over that more-than-three-decade-long period, he has proven to be the most generously financially endowed politician among all of San Bernarino County’s local elected officials, having received over $3.2 million in donations to his various political funds, primarily into his city council electioneering war chest.
With some exceptions, the list of the major donors to Wapner’s campaign fund represents a virtual who’s who of the entities which have obtained clearance from the City of Ontario for development projects or which have contracts for goods and/or services with or franchises granted by the city or the various governmental agencies/joint powers authorities Mr. Wapner represents or heads.
There is a widespread perception that donating money to Alan Wapner to assist him in perpetuating his political career is a requisite for those who have applications for approval of development projects being considered by the Ontario planning division, business owners who are seeking a contract with the city or those who are competing for a city franchise if they want the project approved, to obtain the contract or to be granted the franchise.
Accounts abound about Wapner shaking his donors down. This appears to take place after he has mined the lists of the donors to other nearby politicians to find those whom he can himself approach, in so doing skillfully suggesting without saying so explicitly but nonetheless suggesting that if they do not enlarge their largesse to include him, their next efforts to obtain project approvals or obtain governmental contracts or get or retain their governmentally-granted franchises will not go so well.
Those who put it politely describe Wapner as being extremely transactional in his approach to governance and his duty as an elected official and politician. Those who speak more bluntly characterize him as being on the take, entangled in quid pro quos or receiving bribes and kickbacks. Essentially what is alleged and the way it appears is that he is willing to accept political donations – generally substantial political donations – in exchange for action taken in his capacity as both an elected official and appointed official, involving votes on the Ontario City Council as well as a member of the Ontario International Airport Authority, the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, the Omnitrans board and the boards of the other regional and adjunct governmental joint powers authorities on which he serves.
Part and parcel with all of that is the widespread perception that the staff members of the city and the agencies Mr. Wapner oversees are absolutely aware of his approach to governance and are now and have been for years complicit in the way he does business. That is, what is suggested or outright said to be the case is that these staff members assist him in shutting the door on those applicants or contractors or consultants who do not play ball by donating money to Wapner’s campaigns and opening the door for those who assist him in his electioneering efforts.
For their part in Wapner’s exploitation of his constituents and the voters who had placed their trust in him, the employees of the city, the airport authority, the county transportation agency, Omnitrans and the other regional and adjunct governmental joint powers authorities on which he serves earn for themselves not only his gratitude but job security and augmented with promotions and raises.
Emerging in the run-up to the upcoming 2026 Ontario mayoral race is Barbara Erwin, who is currently the operations safety coordinator at Ontario International Airport.
Erwin was formerly the safety and security regulations compliance officer with Omnitrans, in which capacity she was provided with $384,276 in total annuthat year hosted a al compensation, including salary, overtime, perquisites and pay ad-ons and benefits , in 2022,
That year, Wapner was vying for reelection for the seventh time. Erwin, in a gesture of support, hosted what is referred to as a “coffee,” at which she introduced members of the community, in particular ones who were in a financial position to assist Wapner in funding his campaign.  Wapner was handily reelcted in the November 2022 election.
Erwin in 2023 left the employ of Omnitrans. Subsequently, she was hired by the Ontario International Airport Authority to serve as the safety and compliance officer at Ontario International Airport.
Erwin is once again hosting coffees for Wapner, this time in support of his run for mayor.
People analyzing the circumstance  have noted that Erwin’s ascendancy into a very lucrative position with Omnitrans took place during Wapner’s tenure as an Omnitrans board member and while he was serving in the capacities of what is variously described as vice-president, vice-chairman, president or chairman of the Omnitrans board.
When she left Omnitrans, Erwin landed very shortly thereafter the position of operations safety coordinator at Ontario International Airport/Ontario International Airport Authority, which is overseen by a board on which, since its formation in 2012, Alan Wapner has been the only president.
There are multiple competing explanations for Erwin’s run of professional advancements over the last decade. One is that her holding of the safety direction positions with an entity over which Wapner has authority, her support and endorsement of his electoral campaigns, her assistance of his efforts to raise money to advance him in his political career and her landing of another lucrative position with an entity over which Wapner has authority is a coincidence. Another interpretation of the situation is that Erwin is a competent professional, well-established as a safety systems expert and safety policy administrator, and that Wapner, in his capacity as an Omntrans board member, was in a position to recognize her talent, skill level and work ethic, and therefore jumped at the chance, as the head of the airport authority, to either lure her away from Omnitrans to come to work at Ontario International Airport or hire her when she left Omnitrans. At the same time, there are other interpretations of what occurred, a few of which are far less complimentary and flattering toward Erwin and Wapner. Under one such account, Erwin had promoted and acceded to the position she had at Omnitrans because of her willingness to assist Wapner in his shakedowns of political donors interested in getting work or lucrative contracts with Omnitrans and after she left that position he hired her to come over to the Ontario International Airport Authority because he could and now does count on her to assist him in shaking down political donors and potential political donors who can serve as vendors or service providers or consultants to the airport authority or who have and want to retain or who want to obtain franchises granted by the airport authority board.
Some, particularly those who have a positive and optimistic estimation of humanity in general or just prefer to look on the bright side of things, are inclined to accept the former interpretation. Erwin’s recent hosting of coffees intended to benefit his mayoral run – opportunities to introduce him to members of the community and, in particular, donors or potential donors – has pushed many others in the Ontario community to the opposite conclusion.
It is widely recognized that Wapner is not shy about using city employees or members of the staffs of the adjunct agencies he oversees as a board member as “campaign volunteers.” Some have questioned how voluntary that function is and it is cited as a further example of his transactional approach to governance, such that individuals like Erwin are promoted to lucrative assignments with the city or agencies Wapner oversees in exchange for assistance in his reelection efforts.
An implication of this circumstance is that some city employees and some of the staff of the joint powers authorities or agencies Wapner oversees as a board member are prized and valued less on the strength of their competence and ability than for their willingness to engage in political activity aimed at keeping Wapner in office. By extension, a conclusion that can be drawn is that in some cases, at least, the City of Ontario or Ontario Airport or the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority or Omnitrans or other agencies Wapner has led are not employing the best and most qualified individuals in the positions they hold but rather those who are most loyal to the politicians who oversee them.
In the case of Erwin, it has been suggested that  she is a prime example of this corruption of governance, given that her capacity/title at Ontario International Airport is that of “safety and compliance officer,” and she is fulfilling her assignment as a compliance officer in that she is allowing Wapner to engage in multiple depredations which include traveling extensively at the expense of the airport authority/taxpayers while engaged in activity that has nothing to do with airport-related or airport authority-related business as well as utilizing airport authority staff to engage in political campaign-related activity. As the airport’s and airport authority’s compliance officer, they say, Erwin should be ensuring that the airport’s operational and ethical rules and regulations are understood and obeyed by all personages from the top of the chain of command to the bottom.
The Sentinel asked Erwin to go on record with regard to how she has become the center of attention as Wapner’s campaign is opening up and the corners he is cutting and more serious abuses of his authority are coming into the limelight.
Erwin declined to confirm that she had assisted Wapner in his past political campaigns and that she is now involved in his current mayoral campaign. Erwin was unwilling to discuss whether her promotions at Omnitrans or her hiring at Ontario International Airport had come about partially or wholly as a consequence of  assistance she had provided, while she was employed with Omnitrans, to Wapner’s campaign donors and obstructing those who would not or did not donate to his political campaigns.
Erwin did not respond to questions as to whether assistance she had provided to Wapner’s political campaigns had any bearing on her hiring by the Ontario International Airport authority.
The Sentinel’s question to Erwin with regard to whether she saw any ethical conflict in being an employee of an agency for which Wapner is the board president and engaging in activity related to his  political campaign garnered no response, as did a question inquiring if there was a quid pro quo involved between her hiring and continuing employment by the Ontario International Airport Authority and her past efforts assisting Mr. Wapner’s political campaigns.
Similarly, Erwin disregarded a question as to whether there is a quid pro quo involved between her hiring and continuing employment by the Ontario International Airport Authority and her current efforts in assisting Wapner’s political campaign for mayor.
Erwin did not venture a response to whether she considered there to be a legal conflict of interest inherent in her being an employee of the Ontario International Airport Authority and her involvement in Wapner’s political campaign for mayor.
Erwin was unwilling to say whether she believed those who are critical of her relationship with Wapner are being overly fastidious.
Erwin declined to get into a discussion with regard to Wapner’s attributes which she believes qualify him to hold the elected office he now has and for the mayoral position he is seeking. She spurned a request by the Sentinel to elucidate why she holds Wapner in such high esteem. Offered an opportunity to provide an inventory of Wapner’s qualities and qualifications and value as a public servant based on her experience as an employee of two agencies that he oversaw or oversees as a board member, Erwin remained silent.