For Five Straight Election Ontario Cycles, Leon, Wapner & Bowman Have Prevailed

Over the last 14 years, the quartet of Ontario Mayor Paul Leon and his colleagues Councilman Alan Wapner, Councilman Jim Bowman and Councilwoman Debra Dorst-Porada have evolved to become an uneasily aligned political establishment at what is the center of San Bernardino County’s financial universe. Ontario is the most economically sound of all 24 of San Bernardino County’s municipalities, with more than two-thirds of a billion dollars running through all of its funds annually, making it more than twice as wealthy as its nearest competitor among the county’s cities and incorporated towns. It boasts being host to the corporate headquarters of a number of companies, by which the city claims the sales tax those entities generate. It is the location of the Ontario Mills, which features more than 200 stores and is billed as California’s largest outlet and retail shopping destination. In 2015, it closed a deal with the City of Los Angeles to have the megalopolis return to Ontario control over Ontario Airport, which Los Angeles had operated since 1967 and owned since 1985. Continue reading

Warren & Company Maintain Her Vice Grip On Fontana’s Municipal Scepter

There were no surprises in Steel Town this electoral season, as Acquanetta Warren and the two incumbent members of her political machine cruised to easy victories in the 2022 Fontana Municipal Election.
Warren, who was appointed to the city council in 2002, elected in her own right and reelected in 2004 and 2008 and elected mayor in 2010 and reelected in 2014 and 2018, bested her two opponents in this year’s race, Shannon O’Brien and Councilman Jesse Sandoval.
Warren, as of the results available from the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters office at 4 p.m. on November 10, held 8,418 or 47.75 percent of the 17,628 votes counted to that point. O’Brien had received 4,071 or 23.09 percent and Sandoval 5,117 or 29.03 percent.
In the city’s District 1 council contest, Councilman Phillip Cothran Jr, with 3,579 or 63.55 percent of the 5,632 total votes cast, trounced his competitors, Ricardo Quintana, who registered 646 votes or 11.47 percent, and Alfred Gonzales, who came in second with 1,399 votes or 24.84 percent. Continue reading

Tran To Replace Valdivia As Mayor, Three Years After His Antics Sent Her Packing

Based upon the election returns from Tuesday night’s voting, Helen Tran will become the City of San Bernardino’s first Asian mayor and, at the age of 40, one of the youngest in the city’s 168-year history.
According to the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters’ office, Tran comfortably outdistanced former San Bernardino City Attorney Jim Penman in the contest, 9,444 votes or 62.02 percent to 5,763 votes or 37.85 percent as of 4 p.m. Thursday, November 10.
Tran will replace incumbent Mayor John Valdivia next month.
Valdivia, who first sought an elected position on the San Bernardino City Council when he ran unsuccessfully for Ward 4 councilman in 2009 and then succeeded when he relocated to Ward 3 and defeated then-Councilman Tobin Brinker in 2011, beat incumbent Mayor Carey Davis in the 2018 election after the city switched to even-number year elections. Continue reading

Two Years Later, Hernandez Resurfaces In Barstow District 4 To Reclaim Council Berth

In a rematch between the two losing candidates in the 2020 race for District 4 in Barstow, Carmen Hernandez competed and prevailed this week against Martha O’Brien, with the prize this time being the District 1 council position.
Council terms in Barstow, as elsewhere, run for four years. Hernandez and O’Brien were able to run again in just two years because of the shift in district lines that came about with the redrafting of the city’s electoral map in 2021 following the 2020 census.
Councilman Tim Silva, who has been on the Barstow City Council for nearly 16 years, is the current District 1 representative. He opted out of running for reelection.
Hernandez was an incumbent council member in 2020. She was challenged at that time by O’Brien and Marilyn Dyer-Kruse. When the dust had cleared, Kruse came out on top, with 570 votes 37.25 percent. Hernandez was turned out of office, having come up a bit short with 549 or 35.88 percent. O’Brien trailed both, with 411 or 26.86 percent. Continue reading