Internal Squabbling Among Local Republican Party Leaders Is Endangering Their Party’s Advantage & Former Ability To Outhustle The County’s More Numerous But Less Cohesive Democrats, Munson Says

By Matt Munson
A political party on auto pilot since the 2022 elections is not an effective political party. The San Bernardino County Republican Party is a deep disappointment. It is more of a monarchy that focuses on the interests of the chairman than the good of the organization. It started from the beginning when the chairman Phil Cothran Sr became finance director under former chair Jan Leija in 2020 saying that he would deliver the heavens to the organization, but we all fell flat on our feet. Even despite COVID he was still able to help raise funds for his compatriot now Supervisor Jesse Armendarez in his first run for supervisor in 2020. We had over 50k in debt due to the nonpayment of our executive director Regina Santamaria and we had one major fundraiser with Dinesh D’Souza to pay her off after Phil became chairman in 2021, but no big fundraisers aside from that. The irony is Orange, Riverside and San Diego County have regular fundraisers, but we are just stuck in a state of statis.
2022 came along and there was money for the organization, but it was diverted to Jesse instead of the body. Most of the big checks were earmarked for the supervisor campaign due to the favorable donation regulations political parties have compared to general political action committees. The only priority was to get Jesse elected over anything else. However, when the primary happened, it was a Republican versus Republican race, and the organization became even dirty. The zeal to get Armendarez elected reduced the enthusiasm of the grassroots to participate in the party where the nomination convention slash fundraiser in August ended up going under in debt where there is over 20,000 in unpaid bills owed to the chairman. I did ask personally if we are going to get these debts paid off, but the chair said this is none of your concern. However, despite his personality, we should do our best to get in the black where he should even be repaid. Continue reading →

Associated Chino Teachers, the union/bargaining unit for educators employed by the Chino Valley Unified School District, have lodged a dual protest/complaint with the California Public Employment Relations Board, contesting what the union said was a curtailment of its members’ free speech rights along with the district’s board vote on July 20 requiring that faculty inform parents if their children are reidentifying their gender.
On July 20, the board revisited a policy that was previewed on June 15, which essentially reproduced a requirement that had been embodied in Assembly Bill 1314, which was introduced in the California State Legislature in March by Assemblyman Bill Essayli. AB 1314 sought to impose statewide a requirement that school officials not keep information pertaining to the gender reidentification that students insist upon within a school setting from the parents of those children. Essayli’s bill failed when it failed to make it out of committee into consideration by the entire lower legislative house.
The district’s version of the mandate consists of a requirement that educators at the school where a child identifies as transgender or openly speaks about suicide notify his or her parents in writing within three days. The policy, in clarifying what constitutes gender reidentification, referenced a student seeking to change his/her name or pronouns or asking for access to gender-based sports, bathrooms or changing rooms that do not match his or her assigned gender at birth. Continue reading →

The San Bernardino County Department of Public Works is seeking a $30 million grant to assist it in the rehabilitation of 27 timber bridges that were constructed prior to or in the early stage of the completion of Route 66 through the Mojave Desert.
Department of Public Works Director Brendon Biggs this week was given clearance by the county board of supervisors to make a digital submission of a grant application to the United States Department of Transportation’s Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Program.
If successful, the county’s reception of the money would require that it venture at least 20 percent of the estimated $79 million cost toward completing the project.
The 27 timber bridges, all of which are of a length of no more than 20 feet, are located at various spots on the National Trails Highway, between Daggett/Yermo Road and Amboy Road.
The National Trails Highway, also known as the National Old Trails Road or as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912. At 3,096 miles, it stretched from Baltimore to California. In the Southwest, it traced much of the old National Road and the Santa Fe Trail. Much of the road, from Colorado west became Route 66 in 1926 and from Colorado east became U.S. Route 40 in 1926.
Route 66 for nearly 60 years was a primary travel route from Los Angeles to Chicago. In 1985, it was decertified as a national highway and has been supplanted in large measure by Route 40. Continue reading →

A confluence of events and circumstance has resulted in San Bernardino County’s top ranking staff member being placed on an involuntary extended vacation leave, by the end of which it is anticipated his not quite three-year reign as the chief executive in the largest geographical county in the lower 48 states will draw to a close.
San Bernardino County Chief Executive Officer Leonard Hernandez’s steep and dramatic rise from what originally seemed a studious librarian with relatively humble aspirations to what was arguably the county’s most domineering administrator in its 170 year history now appears to be on the brink of being matched with a no less dramatic and even more abrupt plunge into premature retirement.
Primary factors in the turnaround include his inability to put a cap on the forceful nature of his personality that at first had so impressed his political masters on the board of supervisors with his can-do attitude and a classic entanglement with a femme fatale he unwisely welcomed into his administration.
In September 2020, Hernandez was promoted to assume the post of county chief executive officer and replace Gary McBride, his predecessor, the following month.
Hernandez, 45, has now spent a quarter of a century employed in government, having begun in 1998 at the age of 20 as a part-time library assistant at the Chino Branch Library while he was attending Cal State Fullerton while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history. Upon graduating from college, he obtained a full-time position at the James S. Thalman Chino Hills Branch Library. He then earned his Master of Science degree in library science through Pennsylvania’s Clarion University’s online learning program and promoted into the position of the Fontana Branch Library manager within the San Bernardino County Library System. In 2008, he became the director of libraries with City of Riverside, but in 2010, anticipating the retirement of San Bernardino County Librarian Ed Kieczykowski, returned to San Bernardino County. In 2011, upon Kieczykowski’s departure, Hernandez moved into the position of San Bernardino County librarian. Continue reading →

A confluence of events and circumstance has resulted in San Bernardino County’s top ranking staff member being placed on an involuntary extended vacation leave, by the end of which it is anticipated his not quite three-year reign as the chief executive in the largest geographical county in the lower 48 states will draw to a close.
San Bernardino County Chief Executive Officer Leonard Hernandez’s steep and dramatic rise from what originally seemed a studious librarian with relatively humble aspirations to what was arguably the county’s most domineering administrator in its 170 year history now appears to be on the brink of being matched with a no less dramatic and even more abrupt plunge into premature retirement.
Primary factors in the turnaround include his inability to put a cap on the forceful nature of his personality that at first had so impressed his political masters on the board of supervisors with his can-do attitude and a classic entanglement with a femme fatale he unwisely welcomed into his administration.
In September 2020, Hernandez was promoted to assume the post of county chief executive officer and replace Gary McBride, his predecessor, the following month.
Hernandez, 45, has now spent a quarter of a century employed in government, having begun in 1998 at the age of 20 as a part-time library assistant at the Chino Branch Library while he was attending Cal State Fullerton while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in history. Upon graduating from college, he obtained a full-time position at the James S. Thalman Chino Hills Branch Library. He then earned his Master of Science degree in library science through Pennsylvania’s Clarion University’s online learning program and promoted into the position of the Fontana Branch Library manager within the San Bernardino County Library System. In 2008, he became the director of libraries with City of Riverside, but in 2010, anticipating the retirement of San Bernardino County Librarian Ed Kieczykowski, returned to San Bernardino County. In 2011, upon Kieczykowski’s departure, Hernandez moved into the position of San Bernardino County librarian. Continue reading →

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME CASE
NUMBER CIVSB 2316335
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS: Petitioner: JOSE JAIME GODINEZ JR filed with this court for a decree changing names as follows:
JOSE JAIME GODINEZ JR to JOSEPH JAMES MARTINEZ.
THE COURT ORDERS that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 09/01/2023
Time: 08:30 AM
Department: S24
The address of the court is Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this order be published in the SBC Sentinel in San Bernardino County California, once a week for four successive weeks prior to the date set for hearing of the petition.
Dated: 07/21/2023
Judge of the Superior Court: Brian S. McCarville
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on July 21, 28 and August 4 & 11, 2023.

FBN 20230007087
The following entity is doing business primarily in San Bernardino County as
HOUSE OF PACKAGING 14880 MONTE VISTA AVENUE CHINO, CA 91710: UNIVERSAL CONTAINER & PACKAGING, LLC 14880 MONTE VISTA AVENUE CHINO, CA 91710
The business is conducted by: A LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY registered with the State of California under the number 199817510112
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: JUNE 19, 2023.
By signing, I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime (B&P Code 179130. I am also aware that all information on this statement becomes Public Record upon filing.
s/ JOSEPH TOMA, Vice President
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 7/14/2023
I hereby certify that this copy is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office San Bernardino County Clerk By:/Deputy I8806
Notice-This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see Section 14400 et seq., Business and Professions Code).
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on July 14, 21, 28 & August 4, 2023.

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