TWENTYNINE PALMS — The Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians has revived in earnest its effort to develop and operate a casino on tribal land in Twentynine Palms.
If the tribe achieves environmental and land use approval for the project and takes it to completion, the casino will become the third gambling house  operating in San Bernardino County and the second one operated by the Twentynine Palms Band, which since 1995 has operated the Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella in Riverside County.
The submission of a draft environmental impact report for the project within 29 Palms signals that the tribe has abandoned a similar effort in Joshua Tree after it was earlier discouraged from proceeding with the effort on its Twentynine Palms property, first submitted in 2007, for a 60,000-square-foot casino with 350 slot machines along with table games, a bingo hall, two restaurants and a sports bar.
At that time, the tribe was looking to attract not only traditional gamblers but a unique subset thereof as well, ones who would be content to spend the night not in a swanky casino hotel, but rather in recreational vehicles. Also proposed in the 2007 plan for the 160-acre development was an RV park that would accommodate up to 100 RVs and also provide tent camping and rustic cabins, campfire rings and barbecue facilities, along with hookups for   electricity, water, cable TV, and wastewater treatment. The project also called for wireless Internet access, swimming pools, showers, locker rooms, and a laundry facility.
The tribe, led by Darrell Mike, dubbed the proposed gaming house the Nüwü Casino.  Part of the reason that made the concept of locating the facility at the site south of Baseline Road and west of Adobe Road in Twentynine Palms attractive to the tribe made it unpopular with several forces to be reckoned with. The proximity of the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base, with its 8,400 plus service members and dependents, promised to make the undertaking a lucrative venture. But the Department of Defense was less than enthused at the prospect of having the temptation of a gaming enterprise at such easy disposal to its troops. Moreover, there was stiff resistance from a contingent of local residents and government agencies like the National Park Service. The project site is located within the city of Twentynine Palms’ National Park Buffer Overlay, which is intended to deter development that will interfere with the natural panorama.
Two years ago, the tribe reluctantly abandoned that plan and resolved to relocate the proposed Nüwü Casino some 23 miles away, in Joshua  Tree, on a 130-acre parcel on the north side of Twentynine Palms Highway west of White Feather Road east of downtown Joshua Tree and just east of Desert View Homes’ metal dinosaurs. That site was well outside the tribe’s reservation and what is recognized as the tribe’s ancestral land. To overcome the opposition of many vocal Joshua Tree residents as well as that of then-county supervisor Neil Derry and Joshua Tree municipal advisory council member David Fick, the tribe was forced to jump through a number of hoops. Those included filing an application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to place the land in a public trust, transferring the tribe’s right from its tribal property to the Joshua Tree site and making a case that the tribe had ancestral roots in the Joshua Tree area, where it had an historical relationship to the property in question by virtue of aboriginal activity, including hunting, foraging and trading in particular.  That application would have entailed an anthropological study to demonstrate the tribe’s ancestors ranged into Joshua Tree.
Mike and his advisors, including the band’s chief financial officer, Steve Gralla, reassessed the likelihood of prevailing in a bruising battle with project opponents, and considered other issues relating to the project. Among those is the consideration that in December Derry was replaced as supervisor by James Ramos, the one-time chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, which operates what is the largest Indian Casino in San Bernardino County, the San Manuel Casino in Highland. The San Manuel Band followed all elements of protocol in building its casino on tribal land.
The Twentynine Palms Band played things relatively close to the vest, undertaking in-depth surveying of the site in Twentynine Palms without making any sort of public pronouncement. When surveyors and other workers were spotted on the property in early January, Twentynine Palms City Manager Richard Warne inquired as to what was up, at which time it was disclosed that the tribe was considering the property once again as the site of its proposed gaming complex.
Mike has indicated the tribe wants to initiate construction as early as March.
On January 28 the tribe released a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed casino that had been prepared by Sacramento-based Environmental Science Associates.
That draft statement leaves no doubt that the tribe’s plan for constructing the 30,000-square-foot casino has advanced considerably.
According to Environmental Science Associates, what was formerly to be called the Nüwü Casino will now be known as the Tortoise Rock Casino and cover a footprint of roughly 32 of the 160 acres at that location owned by the tribe. In deference to the casino’s new namesake, a tortoise-exclusion barrier will be erected to protect the species from danger that might befall it on the to-be-developed property, which is to include a parking lot with 450 parking spaces.
The casino will be 35 feet high and offer its customers 500 slot machines, six card or roulette tables, a delicatessen, restaurant, bar, administrative offices and ancillary structures. The casino will employ approximately 100 full- and part-time workers.
In keeping with its presence within the National Park Buffer Overlay, the casino’s design is to incorporate natural colors in its building materials and paint schemes that complement the existing landscape as well as having external lighting shielded to keep light from being projected upward or onto adjacent property, in keeping with Twentynine Palms’ Night Sky Ordinance, according to the draft environmental statement.
The casino will be visible from Palm Vista Elementary School on Baseline Road, located 3,375 feet northeast of the project, as well as the  Oasis of Mara, which is a half mile northeast of the site. According to Environmental Science Associates, the one-story structure will obstruct to some degree the scenic views from residences to the north and east, Palm Vista Elementary to the northeast, the Oasis of Mara and those of motorists transiting Baseline Road, Adobe Road and Utah Trail. That obstruction will not be total, according to the draft report. “[T]he tops of mountainous areas to the south and west would still be visible behind the proposed development,” according to the draft statement.
Some negative impact on air quality in the nearby area will result from construction activity, according to the draft report.
“During project construction the project would result in dust emissions, exhaust from on-road vehicle and off-road equipment and fugitive emissions from pavement and architectural coatings” which will primarily impact Palm Vista Elementary School, and existing residential development 350 feet north and 2,200 feet southwest of the project site, the draft statement indicates.
To reduce air quality impacts during construction, the report says contractors will maintain their equipment and will anchor dust by watering dirt access roads and using surfactants on exposed earth, and suppress the creation of dust by reducing truck speed on unpaved surfaces. Grading will be discontinued on days when winds reach 25 miles per hour. Ground covering vegetation that is uprooted during the construction phase is to be replanted as soon as possible, according to the draft report.
The only impacts air quality-wise that will continue after the project is completed will be diesel emissions from bus and truck travel to the casino as well as minimal increases in “emissions from energy use, area sources… mobile sources…  landscape maintenance equipment, consumer products and architectural coatings used for routine maintenance,” according to the draft statement.
Water to the project will be provided by the Twentynine Palms Water District, which will extend servicer to the site by means of an 8-inch water line on Baseline Road.
With regard to the harm to biological resources near the site, the draft statement says the endangered desert tortoise does inhabit some of the tribe property, particularly within the southwestern portion of the reservation.
“Five desert tortoises have been identified on the reservation since 2009, of which four have been radiotagged,” according to the draft statement. “To date the four radiotagged tortoises have been located along the lower slopes of Queen Mountain, i.e. in the southwest corner of the reservation and nearby off-site areas.”
Care has been taken in locating the site where it is now proposed, according to the draft statement, with the tortoise in mind. “The project site has been chosen based on the absence of burrows and other signs during the 2013 clearance survey in the northwestern portion of the reservation.” Moreover, according to Environmental Science Associates, “As the project site does not contain desert tortoises and an exclusion fence would restrict desert tortoises from entering the development area, the construction/operation of the proposed project is not anticipated to result in direct significant, adverse impacts to desert tortoises.”
Public comment on the draft report can be made until near the end of the month and that input will be used in the drafting of a final environmental impact statement.
Written comments must be emailed or postmarked no later than 5 p.m. Feb. 27 and should be sent to Jennifer Wade,  Environmental Science Associates, 2600 Capitol Avenue, Suite 200, Sacramento, Calif. 95816 or to jwade@esassoc.com.

Kerri Tuttle has been appointed to replace Theresa Kwappenberg on the San Bernardino County Planning Commission.
After completing the interview process, Third District Supervisor James Ramos, who succeeded Neil Derry in December, appointed Tuttle to represent the Third District on the county’s planning panel. The county board of supervisors approved the appointment on February 12.
Tuttle, a Joshua Tree resident, has more than 15 years of professional experience in development and land use issues.  She has specialized in water policy, land use and planning, compliance with the California Environmental Protection Act and the National Environmental Protection Act and other developmental policies. Recently, Tuttle has assisted the Bureau of Land Management with getting an emergency land lease proposal through the permitting processes.
Supervisor Ramos commented, “Ms. Tuttle has a wealth of professional and educational experience in planning and land use procedures.  I believe she will bring valuable contributions to the commission.”
Tuttle joins the four other Commissioners who are appointed by the board of supervisors and who are charged with overseeing the development of San Bernardino County.
Simultaneously, the board of supervisors approved First District Supervisor Robert Lovingood’s reappointment of Randolph J. Coleman to the Planning Commission.
The planning commission will next meet on February 21.

From Bob Goodwin, President  Hope For The Hills

1.    As of today, we have not won.  The California Public Utility Commission’s final decision regarding the future of the towers through Chino HIlls and our lives will occur in mid-July 2013.
2.    We have no guarantee the California Public Utility Commission will order undergrounding although we are working every day to achieve that goal.

3.    “If” the commission orders undergrounding, the residents of Chino Hills will not have any additional surcharges attached to their utility bill to pay for this project.  California Public Utilities Commission  President Michael Peevey represented, “the cost of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project  will be shared by residents statewide as this is a project that benefits the entire  state.”

4.    Hypothetically, $500 million divided by the estimated 20 million ratepayers in California equals $25 per ratepayer (total).  If amortized over 5 years, it will equal $5/year or 42 cents/month (per ratepayer). The cost would be minimal to remedy Southern California Edison’s blatant disregard for our health & property.  Keep in mind, it’s not the cost but rather the precedent Edison wants to avoid.

5.    Benefits of undergrounding high voltage power lines are:

a.    Elimination of  the electrical field through shielding and significant reduction of  the magnetic field through phase cancellation.
b.    Reduction of  the negative health impacts of overhead line electromagnetic fields  to almost zero.
c.    Elimination of  the negative health impacts of the overhead line corona effect.
d.    Greater efficiency and lower transmission loss costs.
e.    Comparable capital costs to the erection of  overhead lines.
f.    Non-interference with the visual  aesthetics of any community and accompanying  property values.

6.    The CPUC ruling on Tuesday, January 29, 2013, was very encouraging but it was not a final decision. It gave Southern California Edison the approval to move forward and begin testing cable, submit requests for engineering and construction quotes, begin preparing permits and environmental documents and to submit real estate needs and plans. This eliminates Southern California Edison’s time constraint concerns “if” the California Public Utility Commission’s final decision is to underground.

7.    It’s evident the commission is ensuring its final decision will withstand legal, regulatory and environmental review.  In other words, we will live with whatever happens in July 2013.  With that in mind, we must  continue to apply the pressure and work together to ensure an undergrounding decision is implemented.

8.    While the recent information regarding The Oak Tree Downs section of the project is not positive, we want to emphasize this information has been known to all concerned since early 2012. Hope For The Hills learned, at that time, that Southern California Edison had always maintained undergrounding would not be feasible in that area.   We continue to support and options are being researched.

9.    We welcome new members and would appreciate any involvement you can donate towards this epic battle.  Thanks!

Remember, We can and will make a difference!

Regards,
Bob Goodwin

The three pathologists working at the senior level of the county coroner’s office were provided ten and eleven percent raises, effective this week.
While county employees in most divisions already have or are being asked to accept downward adjustments in their pay rates, sheriff’s captain Steve Higgins, who previewed the agenda item calling for the increases to the board of supervisors, said the “salaries of the pathologists were increased to retain parity with area counties. Given there are only an estimated 500 forensic pathologists nationwide, it is imperative that salaries remain competitive to enable the county to recruit and retain these highly sought-after individuals.”
In San Bernardino County, the coroner’s office is a division of the sheriff’s department.
Dr. Frank Sheridan, the county’s chief forensic pathologist, will be given a ten percent increase from $97.53/hour to $107.28/hour, representing a $20,280 per year increase. His total annual compensation will be $295,870 ($228,134 in salary and $67,736 in benefits).
Dr. Chanikarn Changsri, a forensic pathologist, will receive an 11 percent  increase, from $88.78/hour to $98.55/hour, representing a $20,322 per year increase. His total compensation package will jump to $264,813 ($204,984 in salary and $59,829 in benefits).
Dr. Dennis Rhee, a forensic pathologist, will get a ten percent increase, from $73.53/hour to $81.51/hour, a $16,598 per year increase. His total annual compensation will be adjusted upward to $225,448 ($169,541 in salary and $55,907 in benefits).
In addition to his base salary, Dr. Sheridan will continue to receive $2.40 per hour specialty pay for possessing American Board of Pathology certification in neuropathology.
According to Higgins, the salary increases will not result in larger paychecks to the doctors, as they are being provided to shield the doctors from the county’s takeaway of its previous perquisite of having the county’s taxpayers make county employees’ pension fund contributions.
“These contracts include updated benefit language and contribution levels,” Higgins said. “It is the intent of the county to ensure as much consistency as possible in all employee groups regarding compensation and benefit structure. The county’s objective is to have employees pay their portion of retirement benefits, eliminate any remaining benefit plan contributions that are pensionable and replace those with a non-pensionable medical premium subsidy. These salary increases are entirely offset by the elimination of the county’s contribution to the employee’s portion of the retirement contribution and discontinued special assignment compensation.”

San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Walker said he is running for state senator in the 32nd District because “We are at a crossroads in our state’s history, and I feel that many important things are on the line in the next two years. I believe that now more than ever we need somebody who brings an outsider’s perspective to Sacramento, but who has the years of experience necessary to be prepared to pursue these issues, and I believe that I have those qualities.”
Walker added, “As the San Bernardino County auditor-controller, recorder, commissioner of marriages, treasurer, and tax collector, and as a former county supervisor, a mayor, a realtor, an attorney, accountant, and officer in the US Naval Reserve, I have had varied and complementary experiences in the public and private sector throughout my career that allow me to view any government program from several different angles. My background will be valuable when asking the questions ‘is it efficient?’ and ‘how can we cut waste?’ Some legislators may have the background to look at an issue with a single type of expertise, but not many legislators have the background to approach an issue this comprehensively.’
The major challenges facing the state, Walker said, are “budget reform, unemployment and the need for improved economic growth, and improvements in education and transportation, and maintenance of public safety.  Finding ways to overhaul the state budget is a critical challenge.”
In the 32nd District, Walker said, “The state’s fiscal mess has a huge impact on our community, including the reductions in school funding it has caused.  Public safety and improving transportation are key challenges as well.  We need to find ways to encourage economic growth and jobs in our region.”
In meeting these challenges, Walker said, “Fiscal discipline is an important tool that I hope to bring to Sacramento.  I want to make sure that Proposition 30 money is being spent on things that matter – ending our structural deficit, returning money to education and public safety – and that it is not just being spent to kick the can down the road.” Proposition 30 was a statewide tax measure approved by the voters in 2012.
“Over the next two years, I want to bring the perspective of an accountant and a county auditor-controller to the state budget,” Walker said. “Sacramento needs a sober outside voice, a pragmatic accountant.  I will seek to implement policies that encourage economic growth, balanced with maintaining our environmental values. Transportation improvements are important in our area.  I will be a tireless advocate for return of Ontario Airport to local control, and for the extension of the Alameda Corridor East to include rail lines in this district.”
Walker said that he is a superior choice to the others vying for state senator. “Often there is a trade-off in electing a state legislator – either you get a tired old incumbent who is a part of the problem, or you get an outsider who has new ideas, but not very much experience,” he said. “Because of the range of my experience as a fiscal watchdog in local government, I can be an exception to that rule: a candidate free of the tired old partisan Sacramento groupthink, but who is ready to step into the job on day one.”

Assemblywoman Norma Torres is one of six candidates vying to replace Gloria Negrete-McLeod in California’s upper legislative house in the special election to be held in Senate District 32, encompassing all of Pomona, Montclair, Ontario, Fontana, Rialto, Bloomington and portions of Chino and San Bernardino, on March 12. That election was necessitated when Negrete-McLeod was elected to Congress in November with two years remaining on her State Senate term.
Torres said she is seeking to advance from her current position in the California Assembly to the State Senate because, “This was something I was planning to do all along. I have been in the Assembly for the last four years and this is my last term,” Torres said. “In 2014, when the sitting senator would have had to retire, I would have run then. I am taking this opportunity to run now.”
Torres said that among the major challenges facing the 32nd Senatorial District “is the economic downturn we have suffered. Since 2005 we have had had major job losses primarily in the construction industry. The housing market in the Inland Empire has been one of the hardest hit in the state in terms of foreclosures. I have been at the center of the fight to keep families in their homes. I also see Ontario Airport, where there has been a steady decline in flights with the downturn in the economy, as a major issue in this area. I think it was very shortsighted for the city of Ontario to have let Los Angeles take over the airport. At the time, they had what they thought were very good reasons, but I think it would have been better to keep it in the hands of the locals, not just the city of Ontario and the county of San Bernardino, but under the control of a regional board. I think the airport represents something that is of tremendous value to this area. It is an economic engine for the entire inland area stretching all the way down to northern San Diego County. I believe sensible management of the airport can provide huge opportunities for job growth in every part of the region’s job market.”
The major issue facing the state, Torres said, consists of obtaining “stability with our state budget. Since I have been a state elected official, I have seen huge budget deficits. We are four years into those deficits and those decisions we made to be able to rein in our expenses are my proudest achievements. We are now in a better position to grow our economy and grow jobs. At present we are now growing jobs faster than any other state in the nation. I see at present an   opportunity to work with the folks in the [State] Senate to pay back on the huge wall of debt we have created and work toward structural change at the state level.”
Torres said her formula for curing the state’s economic ills is discipline.
“A very important factor is resisting the temptation to recreate programs that have been cut,” she said. “During these times we are still vulnerable. As Democrats we now have a supermajority in the state and with that comes a lot of responsibility. We have to resist the pressure so that we do not go out and spend the money that is coming in and then end up having to cut programs at the end of the year. The problem is we do not have a stable tax system. We do not have a stable inflow of tax into our budget. Just because we have a huge pot of money coming in at the beginning of the year does not mean we will have it at the end of the year. I believe we have to hold the line on taxes and support small businesses.”
Torres said this philosophy did not necessary put her out of step with the rest of the Democratic Party. She suggested the representation of Democrats as liberal spenders of taxpayer money was an inaccurate stereotype. “The great thing about being a Democrat is the party looks like the quilt that makes up the state. We have very different life experiences and backgrounds, but we are a close collective at the table, and working together we have been a benefit to the state the last four years.”
In sizing up her competition, Torres said she represents the best choice among the six candidates in the race to represent the 32nd District in Sacramento. Three of the candidates – current San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Walker, Ontario Mayor Paul Leon and Torres – have served as mayors of good-sized cities, in her case, Pomona and in Walker’s case, Chino.
She said she was the best choice because “I have had the experience. A lot of my experience is shared with my opponents, Mr. Walker and Mr. Leon, who have been mayors like me. But I have also lived through the last four years as a state official during a very difficult state budget challenge. I think I have been a proven leader. I have stood my ground for my constituents in my community, in the local neighborhood and in Sacramento. While we are struggling with the budget, that would have been the time when most elected officials shy away from facing their constituents.  I was still going door to door talking to my constituents and not just registered voters. I was posting and holding community outreach events to ensure my residents have the opportunity to meet me one on one and talk about the pressing issues for them and their community. I do not see any of my opponents having done that. It is one thing to go to parades and wave, but I have been a different type of representative. I have been able to balance the budget, but at the same time I have been supportive of bringing in some assistance to the homeowners in these communities. My approach has been to apply for federal funding through state agencies and then hold those agencies accountable to provide the assistance. We obtained a $2 billion federal grant that went into the Keep Your Home California program to help our families stay in their houses.”
Of the other five candidates in the race, the only one which Torres deigned to take a swipe at was Walker, who like her, is a Democrat. “Mr. Walker is the highest paid public official in this region. He is paid $256,000 in base salary and another $178,000 in benefits, including a gym membership. What corporate executive who makes over $400,000 also gets the perk of a gym membership? That he is the tax collector and is keeping that great of a portion of what he is collecting for himself when everyone else in government has taken a cut in pay is almost criminal. We are all taking pay cuts. We are imposing furloughs. In the last year, the board of supervisors took a cut in pay. Even though it was forced on them, they still took a pay cut. In the same time, Mr. Walker has received increases in his pay. When he was asked why, he said that no one had required him to reduce his salary or benefits. He should lead by example. As we work on pension reform, he is the poster boy for pension abuse. We need to focus on these half a million dollar salaries that are being retired at 90 percent. We have workers, state workers, making less than $50,000 who will be getting pensions of just $30,000. He will be getting a pension of $300,000 or more. That is not right.”
Torres is a graduate of Mountain View High School in El Monte. She attended Rio Hondo and Mount San Antonio community colleges and obtained her degree from in labor studies from National Labor College in Silver Springs, Maryland. She is married with three children.

Rossana Mitchell has entered the political fray once more, and is now one of four candidates vying to replace Wilburn “Bill” Kruger on the Chino Hills City Council, following his abrupt September resignation.  His vacancy came too late for the special election to choose someone to serve out the remaining two years on his term to be joined with the balloting in November, when two other positions on the city council were contested.  Mitchell ran in November, but that contest was won by Art Bennett, the incumbent mayor, and Cynthia Moran.
Mitchell was on the council a decade ago. In 2003, she was elected to the city council in a special election to replace James Thalman after his death. The following year, she lost to Kurt Hagman. Mitchell has also served four years on the Chino Valley Unified School Board, which, she noted, has a larger annual budget than the city of Chino Hills.
“With this open seat coming available, I believe I have the experience and insight that has been missing on the council in the past,” she told the Sentinel. “Right now the city and the council are facing the challenges of the Edison towers,” she said, in reference to the utility giant’s efforts to traverse the city with its 500 kilovolt electrical line that is to carry electricity generated at what is to be the world’s largest wind farm near Tehachapi in Kern County. Residents have objected to the placement of the 197-foot high towers in upscale Chino Hills after the California Public Utilities Commission approved the transmission line. The above-ground placement of the line is now under review.
“I am a Hope for the Hills member,” she said, alluding to the group that has led the citizen-backed effort to have Edison underground the electrical cables. “I will continue to fight that good fight. We need a councilmember who is vigilant and non-complacent to ensure that Edison does everything that is asked of it in terms of burying those cables. It has now been revealed that they do not intend to underground the cables through Oak Tree Downs. Communication between staff and the city council broke down. That is unacceptable and there needs to be someone who will not back down in the face of this. The undergrounding of those cables at the mouth of Carbon Canyon needs to be addressed.”
“I am more than ready to stand up and address the challenges we face, such as the maternity hotels that were established in our city,” Mitchell said. “There were three of them.”
Those operations were birthing houses where pregnant foreign women took up temporary residence so their offspring would be born as American citizens.
“They are vacant now, closed down,” Mitchell said. “I was active in the fight against those. We should fight to remain a family-oriented community. It is clear that the council was not aware of those maternity hotels for the first eight months they existed. If I am on the council, I will continue to be vigilant. I will make sure that our general plan isn’t changed and that open space and low density in Chino Hills continues to be a  part of our heritage.”
Mitchell said she favors “building our commercial base so we can meet our financial challenges.” She said the city should not give way to requests to intensify the level of development by increasing density or the number of units that can be build on one acre.
She said she has been “committed to the community for 23 years. I am very interested in establishing a city-run program for seniors. Chino Hills also does not have a dog park. Other cities do and several residents have expressed the wish that we get one. That is what I am hearing as I go door to door.”
Mitchell said taking on the responsibility of overseeing the city on the city council “requires experience and knowledge. I am an attorney. I have the knowledge. I also have the energy and enthusiasm to be non-complacent when things get rough. The city needs someone with experience but also with a fresh viewpoint.”

Yashdeep “Jesse”  Singh said he is seeking a position on the Chino Hills City Council in the March 5 mail-in election because “I’ve lived in Chino Hills my entire life and I have wanted to give back to the city where I grew up. With my strong academic background, I believe I can be an advocate for everyone. I think my youth infuses me with a new energy that is needed on the city council. By not being politically encumbered, I believe I can bridge the gap between the different interest groups in our city.”
Singh said that as a resident and now as a candidate, “One of the things I have pushed for is small business growth. I have a three pronged approach. The first is actively recruiting new businesses and encouraging existing businesses to remain in Chino Hills. The second is assessing from the business perspective what we can do to make our city more business friendly. We need a long term open channel of communication. There has been a large disconnect between the business community and the city.  We need to allow our businesses to be a part of policy making process. If we create positive relations with the businesses and make them feel they are a part of the community they will give back to the community. The third prong in my approach is to encourage our residents and those in the surrounding communities to shop in Chino Hills. We have already put together quality businesses. The more businesses we have, we will boost our economy and increase our tax revenue and provide jobs.”
Something he is serious about, as well, Singh said, is “youth engagement in civic matters.” He said that there are teens and young adults who have sought to become involved in local government but that they have met resistance by the established authorities and politicians. “It has not been the two way street I was hoping for,” Singh said. “There is room for the city to reach and engage youth in ways that have not been tried. I would look toward creating programs to bring in resident participation in our city government, including a city council or municipal advisory commission or committee with mandatory youth positions or participation. I am also interested in promoting a foundation for college scholarships for our high school graduates who show civic involvement.  On many fronts the city has done well and people have responded well in terms of opportunities for involvement and we have supported many of our city’s demographics, but the one we have neglected, I think, is our teens. My youth will allow me to bridge that gap. I think we should explore how to do that in a cost-efficient way.”
An attorney since 2011, Singh said he believes that by virtue of his profession, he will assist the city in wrestling with its current challenges.
“With Southern California Edison trying to put 200-foot high electrical towers through our city and residents at odds with the city over encroachment in the city’s right-of-way, we have a lot of different legal issues,” Singh said. “Hopefully as an attorney I can bring an element to the council that has been missing in the past.”

Bob Leone is seeking to return to the Yucca Valley Town Council in the March 5 special election to replace Isaac Hagerman, who resigned last July.  Leone and two others, Jennifer Collins and Michael Hildebrand, are vying to fill the remaining year and nine months that remain in Hagerman’s term.
Leone, a retired New York City and Los Angeles policeman, served 12 years on the council before deciding not to seek reelection in 2008 because of health challenges both he and his wife were then facing. They are both recovering now, Leone said, and he explained, “There are a number of issues  facing the city at this time. I would like to complete road safety projects and other ones relating to the health and well being of our community. I would like to establish a senior citizens center. I want to return to the council because I believe there is unfinished business from before that I would like to complete.”
Leone was not on the ballot in November, when George Huntington and Robert Lombardo ran unopposed, though he did surface as a write-in candidate.  That was part, Leone said, of his effort to defeat Measure U, which would have imposed a one cent sales tax in the town. Leone said he opposed Measure U, because it was a thirty year-long tax arrangement that was not dedicated to any specific application, although city officials said it would be used to defray the cost of building a municipal sewer system.
Though he supports the construction of a city sewer system, Leone said the use of an undedicated sales tax measure to fund such an undertaking was not something he favored.
“Measure U was not structured properly,” Leone said. “The major issue Yucca Valley is facing is we have a mandate from the state of California to put a sewer system in place with the first phase downtown by 2016. It is going to be very costly and an assessment will be a hardship for many people who live here and don’t have financial means or are living on fixed incomes.  Measure U was offered to pay for that, but it did not guarantee the money would be used for the sewer system and it was scheduled to last for 30 years, meaning a future city council could use that money for other purposes.  I opposed it and I took it as a victory that it failed. It only need fifty percent plus one to pass. I am in favor of a dedicated sales tax, of one-half percent, that will be used only for that purpose.”
Water and water quality is of tremendous moment in Yucca Valley, Leone said. “We need water, quality water, if we are to grow,” he said. “It is a serious problem. My own well has dropped considerably. We cannot have further septic seepage into our aquifer.  I would support a modest half cent tax that will allow for the sewer system to be built, which will encourage growth and with economic growth in the future we will increase revenue into the town’s coffers. A dedicated tax initiative will require approval of 66 percent of the voters.”
A graduate of Samuel J. Tilden High School and Brooklyn College, Leone worked as a police officer in New York and Los Angeles, before retiring to Yucca Valley in 1989. He was a member of the planning commission before he ran for the council and served three one-year terms as mayor.
“I have the experience,” he said, in responding to how he is distinguished from the others in the race. “I know how to balance a budget. I know what is necessary to cut. I know the pulse of the people. I am ready to listen to people of various political affiliations, Democrat or Republican, progressive or conservative, fundamentalist Christians or atheists, as long as they express concerns about the town. No matter what their persuasion or standing, I will take what they say into consideration. I have leadership skills. I graduated from the California League of Cities Leadership Seminar and have that certification. I know how to lead and I have common sense. I think I reflect what everyone wants in Yucca Valley, which is that basically we have a safe community, with safe streets and clean water.  I am a 77-year-old former policeman. I could have retired just about anywhere, but my choice was Yucca Valley.”

The egregious misconduct of former San Bernardino County officials obviates the county’s contention that the city of Upland, Caltrans and the county’s own transportation agency should reimburse any part of the $102 million legal settlement the board of supervisors conferred upon the Colonies Partners in 2006, a San Diego Superior Court judge ruled this week.
In his tentative ruling entered last week and officially confirmed on February 5, San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald Prager dismissed the gist of a lawsuit the county brought against those three entities, leaving only a minor and peripheral issue in the case yet to be litigated.
The Colonies Partners sued San Bernardino County in 2002 over the county flood control division’s design and construction of a storm drain on behalf of the city of Upland. The Colonies Partners alleged that storm drain, which collected water originating in the northwestern portion of Upland, vectored water onto property at the Colonies at San Antonio subdivision, which damaged the company in that it inhibited the development and sale of that property.
In 2004, the county filed suit against Upland, the county’s own transportation agency,  San Bernardino Associated Governments (known as SANBAG), and  the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which had constructed the 210 Freeway in that vicinity, necessitating that the storm drain’s terminus be placed upon the Colonies Partners’ property, located in northeast Upland. That suit, which alleged both  transportation agencies and Upland  were at least partially responsible for the county’s undertaking of the project, known as the 20th Street Storm Drain, sought to have those entities partially defray the county’s costs if the Colonies Partners prevailed in the lawsuit.
Four years of legal wrangling over the matter included a trial before former Superior Court Judge Christopher Warner. Before Warner ruled with regard to the damages the Colonies Partners had sustained as a result of the placement of the storm drain, the board of supervisors, then led by board chairman Bill Postmus, in November  2006 voted 3-2 to end that litigation by conferring the $102 million settlement on the Colonies Partners, which had as its co-managing partners Jeff Burum and Dan Richards.
In 2010, Postmus, who was no longer on the board of supervisors, was indicted and charged with conspiracy, soliciting a bribe, accepting a bribe, fraud, perjury and criminal conflict of interest in conjunction with the settlement vote. In March 2011, Postmus pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts, in so doing acknowledging that he had been bribed by Burum to vote to approve the settlement. In May 2011, Burum was indicted along with Paul Biane, a former member of the board of supervisors who had voted with Postmus to approve the settlement, as well as Mark Kirk, the chief of staff of the other supervisor, Gary Ovitt, who had approved the payout. The indictment alleged conspiracy, bribery, extortion, fraud, perjury, misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest stemming from the vote and Burum’s provision of separate $100,000 donations to political action committees controlled  by Postmus, Biane and Kirk.
Lawyers for Upland,  SANBAG and Caltrans held the settlement was tainted by bribery, extortion and other illegal actions that included corruption on the part of key county officials who were party to that settlement, rendering the county’s suit invalid.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald Prager, to whose courtroom the case was removed to prevent a conflict of interest that might ensue in San Bernardino Superior Court, this week confirmed a tentative ruling he made last week that the county’s settlement vote was so tainted by the corruption of the officials who made it that the county has no basis to recover any damages from the other three public agencies.
The county maintained that its filing of the suit two years before the settlement was made centered on issues that had nothing to do with how the settlement was arrived at. Upland, Caltrans and SANBAG bore responsibility for mishandling the flood control issues at the center of the suit brought by the Colonies Partners against the county, the county claimed.
But Prager ruled that the county cannot compel Upland, SANBAG, and Caltrans to pay for a settlement that violated state law. He referenced both the state’s conflict of interest code, Government Code Section 1090, and Penal Code Section 182, the prohibition against bribery.
“Postmus’ guilty plea is evidence of a violation of section 1090,” Prager noted. He also cited the consideration that “the county issued a press release on April 8, 2011 admitting the settlement violated section 1090,” which he said rendered the settlement with the Colonies Partners null and void. “SANBAG presented evidence that Postmus pled guilty to conspiracy to accept a bribe, in violation of penal code section 182 and having a conflict of interest in violation of section 1090 by accepting bribes from Jeff Burum to vote in favor of the settlement agreement,” Prager wrote. The activity Postmus and others engaged in was “unseemly… disgusting” and representative of the “worst of the worst” in government, Prager said, making it “fundamentally wrong to perpetuate this case.” Prager all but directed the county to seek to recover the money from the Colonies Partners rather than pursuing  redress from the three governmental entities it had sued.  “I don’t understand why the County of San Bernardino is not going after the Colonies and getting their money back,” Prager said.
A single element of the case Prager will allow to proceed to trial is the county’s claim against Upland that it was responsible for the ownership of the storm drain and shared responsibility with Caltrans for certain elements of its design that led to the underlying suit brought against the county by the Colonies Partners.