The West Valley Water District’s hiring of William Fox is being hailed inside and outside the district as a major stride forward, beyond the financial misfeasance crossing into the arena of malfeasance that agency engaged in under the leadership of its two most recently departed board presidents.
Fox has both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a Master of Business Administration degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. According to the West Valley Water District, he has “more than four decades of experience in auditing and public finance,” which includes being the director of finance and treasurer for the City of Vernon, chief financial officer for the Las Vegas Water District, assistant general manager of finance and risk management for the City of Glendale and internal audit manager for Southern California Edison. His most recent foray into the public sector was as the contract interim finance director with the City of South El Monte in 2020.
Of note is that in addition to being a certified public accountant, Fox holds licenses as a certified internal auditor and certified fraud examiner. Continue reading →

In a move some have said represents an illegal suspension of the California Elections Code and violation of the California Constitution, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has bypassed the county’s voters and appointed currently acting County Assessor Christopher Wilhite to serve as assessor from next month until January 2025.
The board in September appointed Wilhite to serve as assessor, recorder and county clerk, less than two months after the July 23 death of the incumbent assessor/recorder county clerk, Bob Dutton.
Dutton, who served as a Rancho Cucamonga councilman from 2000 until 2002, as an assemblyman from 2002 until 2004 and as state senator from 2004 to 2012, was first elected county assessor in 2014 and was reelected without opposition in 2018.
It was shortly after the 2018 election that signs of the prostate cancer that would kill Dutton first manifested, ones which he ignored. By 2020, Dutton’s cancer had advanced to the point of being inoperable and terminal, a condition he shared with only a handful of those closest to him. Despite recognizing that he would not be likely to serve out a full third term as assessor, he opted to seek reelection this year, filing for and qualifying his candidacy in February for the election to be held in conjunction with the June 6 California Primary. Based on his status as a two-term incumbent, his familial wealth and his fundraising capability, Dutton was able to ward off any opposition, despite the consideration that former San Bernardino County Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales was interested in acceding to the assessor’s post and, upon creating a campaign committee for a run for the office, had accumulated $495,147.83 toward such a campaign. Similarly, outgoing Second District Supervisor Janice Rutherford was said to be interested in serving as assessor, and she had $32,437.74 left over in her dormant supervisor’s campaign account she could have readily converted toward use in a run for assessor. Continue reading →

While the November 8 election did succeed in creating a significant changeover in terms of the composition of the the San Bernardino City Unified School Board, it did not cure the one-person deficit within its ranks that has existed for nearly a year at this point.
Margaret Hill, the venerable educator involved in local schools for nearly five decades, most of those as a teacher and administrator with San Bernardino City Unified before she was elected after her retirement to the district’s board in 2012, died on December 19, 2021.
That reduction of the board to six-sevenths strength had a profound and an up-to-the-present impact on the district and its dynamics.
Earlier in 2021, Harry “Doc” Erwin, then the superintendent of the Bakersfield City School District who before that had been the superintendent of the Greenfield Union School District in Monterey County, was persuaded to take the post of superintendent with San Bernardino City Unified as of June 1, 2021. San Bernardino City Unified had been seeking a leader since Dale Marsden’s abrupt December 2019 announcement that he would leave as superintendent in March 2020. Continue reading →

By Mark Gutglueck
All three incumbents up for reelection to the board of the Trona Joint Unified School District will remain in place, according to the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters.
Trona, an unincorporated community of 1,800 in the west Mojave Desert at the periphery of Searles Dry Lake near the mouth of Death Valley east of the Kern County border and south of the boundary with Inyo County, is the northwesternmost populated area within San Bernardino County.
Priscilla Benadom, Cathy Heseman, and Skylar Wayne McCullar sought reelection in the November 8 balloting. Shannon Nichole Stephens and Victoria Flores were challenging them.
Tallying of the vote shows that Heseman, with 268 of the 968 votes cast, or 27.1 percent, led the pack, followed by Benadom, with 227 votes or 22.95 percent. McCullar captured third place, also gaining reelection, with 215 votes or 21.74 percent. Stephens polled 141 votes or 14.26 percent and Flores gathered 138 voter endorsement for 13.95 percent.
Benadom, Heseman and McCullar will remain on the board with their colleagues, Samantha MacLean and Sandy Sprouse.

By Mark Gutglueck
The fentanyl overdose death of an Upland High student last weekend entailed elements that virtually all of those involved in the fatality, even at the most removed and indirect levels, are loathe to have fully explored for a variety of reasons, from potential criminal culpability to political correctness to philosophical discomfort to deep personal grief. Simultaneously, family members, school district officials and police investigators are all stymied by questions about what occurred, what responses are appropriate and socially acceptable and how much information can and should be released. Consideration extends to the balance between the courtesy of being respectful to family members grieving their loss versus the necessity of making efforts to prevent the victim’s misfortune from being visited upon others. Continue reading →

FBN 20220010587
The following entity is doing business principally in San Bernardino County as ALL AMERICAN REAL ESTATE & CONSULTING 61711 TWENTYNINE PALMS HWY JOSHUA TREE, CA 92252: THEODORE R AMIDON 9964 SILVER MAPLE WAY HIGHLANDS RANCH, CO 80129
The business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL
The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on: DECEMBER 12, 2006
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/ THEODORE R AMIDON
Statement filed with the County Clerk of San Bernardino on: 11/16/2022
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 J3108
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 11/18, 11/25, 12/02 & 12/09, 2022.

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: ARMANDO CARLOS RUIZ
CASE NO. PROSB2201606
To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both of ARMANDO CARLOS RUIZ
A PETITION FOR PROBATE has been filed by WILLIAM RUIZ in the Superior Court of California, County of SAN BERNARDINO.
THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that WILLIAM RUIZ be appointed as personal representatives to administer the estate of the decedent.
THE PETITION requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.
A hearing on the petition will be held in Dept. No. S-36 at 9:00 a.m. on DECEMBER 22, 2022 at Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 247 West Third Street, San Bernardino, CA 92415, San Bernardino District.
IF YOU OBJECT to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.
IF YOU ARE A CREDITOR or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under Section 9052 of the California Probate Code.
Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.
YOU MAY EXAMINE the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.
Attorney for William Ruiz:
ANTONIETTE JAUREGUI (SB 192624)
1894 S. COMMERCENTER WEST, SUITE 108
SAN BERNARDINO, CA 92408
Telephone No: (909) 890-2350
Fax No: (909) 890-0106
Published in the San Bernardino County Sentinel on November 25, December 2 & December 9, 2022.

Continue reading →

Congressman Pete Aguilar this week continued his meteoric political rise, achieving what is widely considered to be the third highest-ranking position among Democrats in the House of Representatives.
For Aguilar, the accomplishment was welcome but somewhat bittersweet, as it comes within two weeks after late returns in a handful of close congressional races confirm that Republicans will hold a majority of the House seats during the 118th Congress that is to convene on January 3, 2023 and last until January 3, 2025, a change from the current 117th Congress, wherein the Democrats had a House majority.
On Wednesday, November 30, House Democrats selected Aguilar as House Democratic Caucus chairman. His advancement was part of a complete makeover of the Democratic leadership in the House, as he is replacing Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who was the majority leader during the 117th Congress; Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York is to replace Nancy Pelosi, who was Speaker of the House, as the Democratic Party leader; and Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is to replace James Clyburn of South Carolina as Democratic Whip on January 3. Continue reading →

Less than a month after Jesse Armendarez’s November 8 electoral victory over Luis Cetina in the race to fill the Second District supervisorial position for the coming four years, a few details have emerged about how he will staff his office.
Of major note is that reports are Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren is to have a prominent staff position in the Second District once Armendarez is sworn into office in January.
In addition, Neil Derry, who served as Third District supervisor for four years until he left office a decade ago, is to come in and guide, for six months or thereabouts, Armendarez’s assumption of the Second District reins from outgoing Supervisor Janice Rutherford.
Armendarez appears determined, at least initially, to rely upon old hands in taking on the supervisor’s role, ones who have considerable governmental experience, notably in elected roles. Continue reading →