(April 9)  Fontana’s second and third police chiefs, Joseph Uhalley and Ben Abernathy, died five days apart, on March 23 and March 28.
A native of Akron, Ohio, Joe Uhalley was born in 1934, the son of Julia and Stephen Uhalley. The Uhalleys moved to Fontana in 1946. Joe Uhalley remained a resident of Fontana for 67 years. Uhalley was sworn in as an officer with Fontana PD in 1957. He was a 13-year veteran with the department when he was named police chief in 1970. He served in that capacity until 1981.
Frank Scialdone, who was later Fontana police chief as well as Fontana mayor, remembered Uhalley as unflappable and dedicated.
“I knew of Joe even before I was on the police force,” Scialdone said. “He was relatively young for a police chief. I followed his accomplishments  while I was in college and when I decided I wanted to move forward with a career in law enforcement, he hired me in 1973. He promoted me to detective and then later to sergeant. Joe was always looking forward. He wanted to upgrade the department from a technology standpoint and he went out and hustled grants from wherever he could. We did not have some of the most basic communications gear back in those days and he went out and got us that equipment. The department turned around during his tenure as chief.”
The morning of Uhalley’s funeral at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, his successor as chief, Ben Abernathy passed into eternity.
Abernathy, who was with the Fontana Police Department from 1961 until 1988, was born in Olathe, Colorado in 1931, to Clayton and Georgia Abernathy.  His family moved to Fontana in 1949. Ben Abernathy served in the United States Navy and attended college before joining the police department. He promoted to captain under Uhalley and succeeded him as police chief in 1981. During his tenure as chief the department was involved in a number of high profile cases, including Ricky Blue Sky’s murder of Nancy Charley.
Scialdone referred to Abernathy as “not only the heart and soul of our department, but the rock.” He said he was heavily influenced by Abernathy’s mentoring, saying Abernathy was “ahead of his time” with regard to policing technique.
“I will never forget my first meeting with Ben the week I was hired in 1973,” Scialdone said. “He called me into his office and discussed his expectations of me and his policing philosophy.  What he told me was profound and well ahead of its time in the policing world.  He told me that police officers are problem solvers and that was our primary job, to solve other people’s problems. Ben was talking about community policing long before the term became in vogue in the police world, long before the 1990s when there were classes throughout the country on the subject.”
Scialdone said Abernathy was   “low key and so even keeled. When times got tough, as we all know they do in our profession, he was the stabilizing factor, calm, thoughtful, analytical, and most important of all, supportive.  He was a leader who understood the importance of leadership and the importance of ‘serving, supporting and setting the example.’ By his high standards he served our community with honor and integrity.”
Scialdone said that “For those of us who knew Ben well, we knew how he really disliked attending council meetings while working at the PD.  He did not like politics.”
It came as a surprise to Scialdone therefore, when after Abernathy retired, he decided to run for city council. Scialdone intimated that Abernathy did so to protect the department from severe budget cuts during austere financial times facing the city.
“Ben cared deeply for our great department, not just when he was working but after he retired,” Scialdone said.  “The officers were ‘his boys.’  He was there to ‘protect his police department.’
Abernathy never relished the political limelight, Scialdone said.
“I will always remember Ben sitting behind the dais,  and as the meeting went on and on he would sit there with his head in his hand and you could see in his eyes him thinking ‘what am I doing here?’”

(April 6)  Danny Tillman said he believes he represents the most down-to-earth and qualified of the seven candidates vying for Congress in the 31st District.
Tillman, a Democrat, is joined by three other Democrats – Joe Baca, Eloise Reyes Gomez and Pete Aguilar – as well as three Republicans – Lesli Gooch, Paul Chabot and ryan Downing – in the race to succeed incumbent Gary Miller, who announced in February he will not seek reelection. The 31st District, which stretches from Rancho Cucamonga through a large portion of Fontana, Rialto, Colton, and San Bernardino to Redlands, has demographics that favor the Democratic Party.  Of its registered voters, 127,690 or 41 percent, are affiliated with the Democratic Party.  Registered Republicans in the district number 104,938, or 33.7 percent.
Tillman, a member of the San Bernardino City Unified School Distric Board of Trustees for 19 years and for 34 years an employee with San Bernardino County where he is currently the head of the Human Services Division, said he is a superior candidate for Congress because of his “perspective. I know the needs of this area.  I have two big things I will focus on in Washington, D.C. I will help lure businesses that will create jobs. And I am concerned about young people not being able to get employment. We have to invest in keeping our youth on top of the latest technology. We have to help them see how the things they involve themselves in and pick up naturally can be filled out with technical training that will make them employable. And we need to stop the things that keep them from being employable.”
The biggest challenge facing the district right now, Tillman said, is that “We don’t have people going to Washington, D.C. for us who have as their concern our problems. I am involved at the grass roots. I will talk to different companies who are limited in the way they perceive us. I will tell them and show them the story that never gets told. This is a place to locate your business if you need highly skilled workers. We do not need to build a more educated work force. That work force already exists here. Our workers are driving into Los Angeles every day. I want to convince those corporations who can that they should locate right here so people don’t have to spend five hours a day going to and coming back from Los Angeles.”
For nearly two decades, Tillman said, he has demonstrated, as a member of the school board, his value to the community and his ability as a leader.
“When I ran for the school board, I had no idea about how important the budget and finances were in terms of keeping the district’s educational mission going,” he said. “I had to learn that and I learned it quickly. We have kept a positive certification for 19 years and every year we see more students successfully complete their educations. I had not realized how big a part of that maintaining our budget is. But we have maintained it. The city [of San Bernardino, which filed for Chapter 9 protection in 2012] is bankrupt but the school district is the furthest thing from being bankrupt. None of the others in this race have the demonstrated track record that I have. I have what it takes for dealing with the real world problems facing this area. Once I get to Washington, D.C., based on my skill set, I can accomplish a lot more than those running against me. They have some backing and they have professional handlers and every buzz word in the book, but when it comes down to it, I have concern and experience that is proved. People are talking about my reputation. My reputation is for asking questions. People fear me because I always get to the crux of the motivation of why people do things.”
With regard to national issues he is passionate about, Tillman said he is against military action in all but the most dire of threatening circumstances against the American national interest.
“If we are going to have our troops put their lives on the line, we better be investing in that risk for the right reason,” he said. “I am not comfortable in having that decision fall to those folks I am running against. When you hear my competitors speak, it is obvious they are saying what they are told by their handlers. It won’t be different when they get to Congress. They will do just as they are told by the folks who have dined them and want them in that position only so they can control them. They have memorized what they are supposed to say. Look at their experience and their track record. The things they say do not go together with their experience. It is a scary scenario for me to contemplate any of them going to Congress. I am truly excited about what my campaign stands for. I invite those supporting my opponents now to examine my record and compare their candidate with scripted speeches to someone who has his own original ideas. I invite them to support a true grassroots effort and be on a winning team.”
Tillman dismissed suggestions that by being in the race he was helping to divide the Democratic vote and was tempting a repeat of the scenario in 2012 when Miller, a Republican, was able to gain election despite the registration advantage the Democrats enjoy in the district.
“That won’t happen,” he said about the possibility that two of the Republicans might end up outpolling the Democrats in the June primary.
Born and raised in San Bernardino, Tillman attended San Bernardino High School, San Bernardino Valley College and San Bernardino State, where he obtained his degree in business administration. He is married with four children.

(April 5)  Robert Larivee, one of nine candidates and eight Republicans vying for election in the 33rd Assembly District this year, said he believes it is his social and communicative skills and widely divergent background which qualify him to hold the office he seeks.
Incumbent 33rd District Assemblyman Tim Donnelly is not running for reelection to the Assembly, instead undertaking a long shot challenge of Jerry Brown in this year’s gubernatorial race. Donnelly’s departure resulted in a spate of Republicans – Larivee, Brett Savage, Rick Roelle, Jay Obernolte, Jerry Laws, Scott Markovich, Bob Buhrle, Michelle Ambrozic, and Art Bishop  – and one Democrat, John Coffey, vying for the post in California’s lower legislative chamber.
“I am running because I am a people person and I feel our government has separated itself from the people,” Larivee said. “It is time to rebuild our nation from the ground up. I can relate to people. I understand the issues. I feel I can represent the voters”
A major issue facing the 33rd District, Larivee said, is resolving the environmental challenges that come in the wake of economic growth.
“Geographically, this is a diverse district, with the mountains and the desert and their different climates and ecosystems.,” he said. “A major issue is sustainability. I believe we need to prepare the 33rd District for growth in the future and we need to make sure we have natural resources and transportation. Water is a huge consideration. There is one projection that we have a five to seven year supply of water in the aquifer. Another projection is we will be bone dry in three years. Our water supply need has to be addressed. In the High Desert we need adequate infrastructure and transportation to better position ourselves to grow and bring business into the area. We can grow but cannot grow like we did ten years ago. Those are the primary issues.”
Larivee said, “My solution for the sustainability of the water supply is to first deal with the drought and educate the public in more detail on how to conserve water. We have been depleting our aquifers since the 1960s. Conservation is one small quick fix. The second thing is to look at programs that will help businesses and homeowners install water saving  devices. The third thing is to work with the state water authority to figure out a comprehensive plan to deal with water issues across the state. We  basically need to open up the pump at the delta. I disagree with the decision made at the EPA level that problems with the delta smelt population necessitate holding back the water. There were things not addressed in the discussion. I disagree with the plan [Governor Jerry] Brown has to build a pipeline around the delta. I think there are less expensive options to get water to where we need  it. We could bring water from various places and release it into aqueducts. We should have pipelines not built by a single contractor but multiple contractors that would be competitively bid  all the way down from Canada or Alaska. If we can build an oil pipeline be can build one for water. If it is a pipeline there will be no evaporation since it is a closed system. We should start the pipeline in spots where there is a major surplus of water. We should reach outside the state to Oregon or Washington or wherever we have water north of us and can bring it down. It is less expensive to maintain a pipe system than an aqueduct.”
Larivee said “Safety and education  are the secondary county or local related issues. Those are things that are being dealt with by supervisors [Robert] Lovingood and [James] Ramos and the rest of the supervisors. I feel my position as an assemblyman would be to help county government and municipal government, and to implement at the state level policies to keep them doing what they need to do.”
Larivee demonstrated himself to be animated about the subject of education.
“California has the highest paid teachers of any state, yet our students are among the lowest academic performers in the nation,” he said. “What is the problem with California? We have multiple problems in administration. We simply have too many administrators. We could save money by reducing administrative costs. We need to make sure our teachers are prepared to teach kids.”
Larivee was not dismissive of his opponents.
“I am one of the people who has good ideas and intentions in this race,” he said. “That would apply to several of the other candidates. I would say I am probably the most well-rounded. If you are solely interested in public safety, vote for [sheriff’s lieutenant] Rick Roelle. If water rights are your thing, vote for Art Bishop, who has been a board member on the Mojave Water Agency.  If you are concerned about health issues, vote for Michelle Ambrozic.  I won’t go down the whole list, but there are some strong candidates with regard to several specific issues. But I think if you had a political scientist evaluate the field, the recommendation would be that you should vote for me.  They all have their various strengths. I know a little bit about all of the issues and a lot about some of them. I know where to find the answers. One of those places I would look for the answers is with the people of the 33rd District. People don’t get the credit they deserve for their wisdom about everything they are dealing with and having the right ideas. I think I am more on the level of the people than anyone else in this race. I am knowledgeable about the issues across the board. That is why I am the best man for the job. Everyone has good ideas. I believe in Republican values. I am not persuaded by the Democrats who are     paternalistic and want us to pay more taxes that  create programs for you but create programs which do not work.”
Born in Santa Monica, Larivee grew up in Alta Dena and attended John Bosco Technical Institute. He has a degree in architecture and attended Victor Valley College. He is now working toward a degree in business administration. He is married with seven children.

(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.