“Our city must get its financial house in order,” Greg Bradley said in explaining what is prompting him to seek the treasurer’s position in this year’s Upland Municipal Election.
Over the last couple of years and then peaking with the recent resignation of City Treasurer Larry Kinley, just how critical the financial situation has grown in the City of Gracious Living gradually became clearer to Bradley and a closely-knit group of residents and local business owners of which he is a part, Bradley said. The seriousness of the matter led to a determination among them that something had to be done about it.
Previously, Bradley said, he and others had been confident that the city’s finances were being competently minded by Kinley, a former vice president with the Bank of America who had overseen that bank’s problem loans division. Kinley was elected Upland treasurer in 2016. But alarmingly, when Kinley became concerned over the city’s runaway pension debt which had reached somewhere approaching $100 million around the time Kinley took office and had climbed to $121 million by the close of the 2019-20 fiscal year in June, other city officials undercut the treasurer and his function as Kinley crusaded to fix the problem as he saw it. Kinley had sought to directly address the pension cost escalation issue by informing the city’s residents about its implication, which includes the consideration that, given the current trajectory of city finances and the growth in Upland’s pension obligation, by 2028 the city will be paying its retired former employees more annually than it will be paying its working employees, requiring a serious downscaling in the municipal services the city will be able to provide to its residents. Rather than embrace Kinley’s call for reform, the city council and former city managers Marty Thouvenell, Bill Manis and Jeannette Vagnozzi and current City Manager Rosemary Hoerning denied him a place at the public meeting dais and then censored his efforts to make reference to the unfunded pension liability in the city’s monthly treasurer’s report. All four of those city managers stood to reap substantial pensions upon retirement, in most cases approaching or exceeding one of $200,000 per year. To Kinley, this was a conflict of interest on their part that he could not overcome. Ultimately frustrated at the way in which he was being thwarted by city officials who were more interested in ensuring that city employees continued to receive their lucrative pensions than seeing that adequate means existed to cover the cost of providing city services, Kinley earlier this year resigned, leaving the city without a treasurer.
Though Bradley is aware of what befell Kinley, he is not daunted by it.
“I’ve been distantly aware of issues at Upland City Hall and the growing financial crisis for some time,” Bradley said. “Due to some of my family members’ health issues, for more than a decade I was too busy to pay much attention to the city’s problems. As I was able to refocus on the city’s financial issues more recently, I realized things had declined even further. I am not a politician, so I looked for ways to help. When Larry Kinley resigned, this came to a head. Many other people and I were all putting our heads together to try to find a qualified candidate and support him or her. Finally they all started pointing at me and I realized I was ‘it.’”
In sizing up what he thinks he might be able to accomplish as treasurer, Bradley said, “Upland has traditionally provided a narrow range of duties for the treasurer. Those duties were further limited when Larry Kinley tried to warn of imminent disaster. If I am elected and the new city council and city manager continue that limitation, I will have a tough time doing much, but I will do what I can. I will have a title that may allow my warnings of financial conditions to be taken more seriously and I may be able to help with information. If the duties are restored, I will be able to do more. If the duties are expanded to match those of the treasurer in some other cities, I will be able to do even more, still.”
In considering what his qualifications are and what distinguishes him from Stephen Dunn and Darwin Cruz, the two others seeking the treasurer’s position in Upland, Bradley said he is capable of intense focus on making a company, collective or institution function within the confines of its financial means and conducting itself responsibly based upon its fiscal reach.
“I am a total nerd in basic personality, but have started to become more vocal in my old age due to becoming irritated with the condition of my beloved city,” he said. “I was the 10-year-old kid reading encyclopedias from cover to cover. I skipped grades and went to one of the best prep schools in the country. I was the youngest nerd in a school full of nerds from all over the world. I learned to deal with lots of people who were very different from me. I was in college at 15. I was accepted to several of the best universities, but went to Cal Poly so I could work in my business ventures while attending. While others were out partying, I figured out ways to make money and bought a house and a new Jaguar at 19 that I still own. I was partially retired at 30 and spent the 1980s with a nice house on 20th Street but spent winters skiing at my house in Park City and summers at my house on Admiralty Island. I’m not a plodder who’s main asset is the other people in public office who were his buddies in community college. I believe in producing something and getting things done. I have a wide variety of friends in various fields whom we refer to as our brain trust. I have experience in building businesses and recovering businesses that many consider beyond saving.”
Bradley enumerated what he considered to be the major financial issues facing the city.
“The California Public Employees Retirement System needs to have a plan on how to deal with its unfunded actuarial pension liability,” he said. “The city has already started investigating the details of issuing pension bonds, which is great. The city will likely want to make a decision on if we should move forward on that. We will then have more current information on the financial environment that may be heavily affected by the results of the national election.”
Bradley said, “We need to stop digging a bigger hole on the California Public Employees Retirement System’s unfunded actuarial pension liability.”
He said, “We need to work on ways to bring more money into the city and minimize any downsides from those actions.”
In addition, he said, “We need to improve the efficiency of certain operations in order to use the money available from the savings we can realize by doing that.”
He observed, “There is much deferred maintenance on infrastructure. We need to start working on that. We need to prioritize District 3 and District 4, as they have been lower on the priority list and deserve to be on the top for a while.”
Bradley said he was acutely aware of what the lines of authority are at City Hall and that the treasurer does not have a vote with regard to policy as does the city council, but is rather a watchdog over the city’s financial affairs. He said it was therefore unrealistic for the treasurer to attempt to dictate policy, but that if elected he would instead seek to influence the council by offering quiet counsel that is well considered and thought through and based upon confirmed facts.
“If someone tries to convince me I should listen to him, I become suspicious of his motivation,” Bradley said. “Salesmen sell. I work quietly and let people learn that my statements are carefully considered and worth hearing. My consulting business has had an unlisted phone number for 30 years. I do not make quick statements and hope to be right more often than wrong. Any recommendations I make would need to be considered carefully. I won’t gamble with my city and hope for the best. We have far too many politicians who just say something they think will be popular and hope to be right or bury it in the next news cycle. We are going to have to make some tough choices to make it through the next few years and we need to make sure the public understands the full reality in order to make the best choice.”
The city is facing an unforgiving financial reality, Bradley said, and is in need of someone with the fiscal discipline to see it through these tough times.
“We have some work to do to make things better,” Bradley said. “The city has tried to further limit the duties of the treasurer, which are already far more limited than most people realize. Once those limitations are determined, I will be the one who collects facts and opinions, adds my own, and presents a recommendation. If Upland is to remain solvent and maintain a basic level of services including public safety, infrastructure upgrades, and community services, the city must find new revenue streams. Since the city generates revenue through fees, property taxes, and sales tax, the logical and most equitable course of action is to place a sales tax increase on the next ballot for the voters. However, before this happens, the city must undertake a sincere effort to educate the community on why the sales tax increase is needed and how it will be used by the city to support services. The residents must have reassurance and trust that the city will use the sales tax revenue to enhance city services and not to pay unfunded pension obligations.”
-Mark Gutglueck

In speaking to her intention in running for First District Councilwoman in Upland this year, Shannan Maust said, “I believe I have the experience and vision necessary to ensure that as Upland changes and grows, it remains an inclusive and vibrant community where everyone can be put in a position to succeed and thrive.”
This November’s election will be the first-time an election is held to select a representative in Upland’s District 1 following the city’s switch to by-district voting in 2018, after a 112-year tradition of electing its city councilmembers in at-large elections. Two years ago, the city held contests for District 2, which blankets the northeast portion of the city; District 3, which covers the southwest corner of the city; and District 4, which overlays the Upland’s southeast quadrant. This year, the mayor’s position is up for election, and the voters in the city’s northwest sector, designated as District 1, will be choosing their council member. Vying against Maust for that honor is David Hazelton.
“This year, Upland will have the opportunity to elect its very first District 1 City Councilmember,” Maust said. “I am asking for the votes I need to be our community’s voice and representative on the Upland City Council. As a life-long resident, I know that Upland is a great city to live in, raise a family, own a business, enjoy retirement and a place anyone would be proud to call home.”
Maust said, “District 1 residents desire a variety of shopping options and experiences that are lacking in our city. I also see significant challenges coming our way from revenue loss due to the pandemic. I will work on bringing economic development and tax generating business to Upland to offset the financial loss.”
She is qualified to hold the position of city councilwoman, Maust said, through her experience in the private sector.
“Prior to becoming a business owner with my husband, I was employed at Nordstrom for 23 years,” she said. “My career in sales, customer service and public relations has provided me with skills and insights that I believe would be useful at the council dais, in serving the public, and in dealing with our neighboring municipalities. Over the years at Nordstrom I was tasked with challenges requiring creative solutions and problem-solving, and at the time of my retirement, I directed training programs. While I understand city government operates differently from the private sector, providing a positive customer service experience is the shared denominator. This basic foundation is a tool I intend to utilize in my role as a city council member. One of my responsibilities included managing several million dollars in retail accounts as an account executive. I interfaced with many employees, conducted selling quotas, executed events, designed programs, trained employees on workplace efficiency and managed multiple stores’ schedules. My priorities also included balancing and satisfying the needs of both retailers and vendors.”
She contrasts favorably with Hazelton, Maust said.
“Though I have not met or ever spoken with my opponent, I believe that experience is one of many distinctions between us,” she said. “I am a wife, a mother, a business owner, a community volunteer, and an active participate in community affairs. I have a comprehensive understanding of the numerous challenges our city is facing and a vision to help navigate through those challenges.”
She offered her view that “Upland’s success is determined by our residents, businesses, and city leaders all working together for the betterment of our community. I believe effective municipal government must begin with institutional policies designed to promote transparency, foster community participation and awareness, and deliver services for residents with quality customer service. My professional career with Nordstrom instilled in me a deep respect and appreciation for quality customer service. I intend to collaborate with residents and city staff to develop and implement a ‘resident first policy’ aimed at improving the overall customer service level experienced by Upland residents when interacting with the various city departments.
“I believe that taking on a leadership role requires an individual to lead by example,” Maust continued. “I will make myself accessible to the residents I represent. As your city councilmember, I believe it is my fiduciary responsibility to listen to the ideas, concerns, and opinions of all residents and not just the voters in District 1. If as a resident, you need to reach out to me, I will get back to you. I know how frustrating navigating government institutions can often be. I will always do my best to facilitate and navigate your comments or concerns through the proper channels at City Hall in order to best address the matter. I believe if residents need to contact City Hall or contact their city councilmember, their experience should always be professional, courteous, and respectful.”
She has demonstrated her commitment to Upland, Maust said.
“I have spent many years volunteering in Upland,” she said. “I treasure every experience and opportunity with one goal in mind; bringing people together and improving the quality of life in our community. My experiences have allowed me to see the best of what Upland has to offer and a front seat view of the incredible potential for our community. Improving and protecting Upland’s fiscal future will require out-of-the-box thinking. Upland needs dedicated leadership from its elected city leaders with the skill set, knowledge, and courage to make tough decisions, while also affording residents opportunities and access to participate in planning and goal-setting endeavors for Upland.”
In sizing up the major issues facing the city, Maust said, “Our city has always struggled to increase revenue and offset increasing expenditures while remaining a bedroom community. The Upland Police Department is underfunded, causing our officers to seek employment at other municipal police departments which offer higher pay. Underfunding also creates challenges for recruiting new police officers to come and serve the Upland community. Unfortunately, with the current pandemic, several factors are yet to be determined regarding our already challenged general fund. The expansion of development without the ability to provide first responder and public works services to the increased population is an issue. The California Public Employee Retirement System’s unfunded liability has placed our city on the financial ‘at risk’ list, like many other cities. It is a continuous issue to watch.”
To overcome those challenges, Maust said the city should “increase revenues to properly fund and staff the Upland Police Department and other city staff departments, focus on building an economic development department and marketing the city to attract new viable tax generating businesses, continue building relationships with our current businesses and streamline the planning process for new businesses in-house, making it easier to conduct business in Upland. The economic development department would help facilitate workshops for new businesses being established in the city.”
Furthermore, Maust said, “We should regroup with our directors, mainly the public works department, on service priorities and protocols. We need to generate a monthly report of accomplishments in our city for the residents to view progress. The California Public Employees Retirement System should be a topic of continuous conversation with regard to options for satisfying our commitment to current and past employees in terms of their pensions, and we should build relationships with other cities for further options or ideas.”
Maust said City Hall should champion rejuvenating the city’s commercial base. “I believe we can increase the visibility of and buy in on the Shop Upland campaign,” she said. “We need to educate residents that when internet shopping increases, the city’s sales tax revenue decreases. We would be well-advised to promote the necessity of shopping local.”
In coming to terms with the city’s stagnating financial condition, Maust said, “Realistically the city leadership will need to prioritize with the residents on services provided. Without a known influx of revenue, the city will not be able to expand on any program or increased needs of the city. The council will need to communicate effectively to our residents our situation as it unfolds from the loss of revenue.
“I will be a trustworthy steward of public funds, improving programs while respecting budget limitations,” Maust continued. “I will protect infrastructure investments by planning ahead for future maintenance projects. We need our council to work together with the public, openly and enthusiastically. As a lifelong resident, a graduate of Upland High School, a small business owner, and longtime community volunteer and advocate, I have the relationships and history of working with the community to make this happen.”
Maust said she advocated “redeveloping the city website to be more user friendly and serve as a community resource for residents, developing a ‘resident first policy’ designed to empower city staff to create a positive customer service experience when engaging with residents, and promoting resident participation and develoing new avenues to increase communication and outreach with the public.”
She possesses previous experience relating to government, Maust said.
“My recent experience includes being a member of the city council advisory committee for the past two years,” she said. “This committee researched and advised the council on multiple items. This opportunity has permitted me to have interaction, insight and a close view on how government operates. Over the past 3 years, I have attended every committee meeting, read agendas and packets for city council meetings and I am now or was involved in other areas of volunteerism in the city, including as an Upland Police Department Business Watch volunteer, a member of the Shop Upland Committee, a member of the Say No to Panhandling Committee and the Cooper Museum Christmas Parade Committee. I was the fundraising vice president of the Upland High School Choir Board, a member of the Upland High School Theatre Booster Board, a participant in the Southern California MCC Conference for Hunger Relief, a member of the Parent Teacher Association and I was the administrator of the Eat Upland Facebook Page. I have also been a Neighborhood Watch Captain from 2010 to the present, and received my certificate in 2017 as a graduate of the Upland Police Department Citizens Academy.
Proudly, Maust said, “I am a lifelong resident of Upland, 51 years. I attended Upland public schools, graduating from Upland High School in 1986.”
Additionally, she said, “I graduated Cal State University, San Bernardino in 1994 with a degree in business management.”
Maust said, “My husband Mark and I have been married for 24 years. We have two daughters who attended Upland schools. Both children have enjoyed being involved in numerous activities at school. Our oldest daughter graduated from California State University, Fullerton in 2020 and our youngest daughter will graduate from Upland High School in 2022. My husband and I own an investigations business and our office is in Upland.”
Maust said, “I have watched Upland grow from being a spacious, tight knit community with strong homeowner pride and a wonderful hometown feel to the Upland we see today. Every city faces unique challenges. However, how a community and its elected leaders rise up to respond and overcome those challenges are what defines the very essence of a community. I am running for city council so I may be part of the discussion and decision-making that will direct the future of our city. Upland has many unique strengths and positive qualities which continue to draw future residents from throughout Southern California. I wish to continue that tradition by working together with all stakeholders to enhance those unique qualities that make Upland our home.”
Maust said, “As a wife, mother of two daughters, homeowner, and community volunteer, I am invested in the future success of Upland. If elected, I will continue to be a dedicated advocate for our community. I will support ideas and programs that bring services and people together with the goal of improving the quality of life in our community. Decisions from our policymakers must always reflect the values of residents they represent, free from the false claims, misinformation, distortions, and conflicts of interest of outside elements.
“If elected, I will advocate for enhancing public safety by supporting our Upland Police Department, enhancing a continued high level of safety for residents through retaining and recruiting quality police officers and proactive policing and timely response to calls for service,” she continued. “I endorse fiscal viability and accountability, pension reform with sustainable goals, undertaking a review of existing systems with an eye on making operations more efficient and reducing cost. I will evaluate what will be needed to align for our residents’ service needs with making sure the city prioritizes and works in an efficient manner. I will increase transparency and visibility for contract bidding. I pledge to strengthen our local businesses, which will help to support our local economy, provide jobs, and increase sales tax revenue while generating new revenue generating opportunities. I will market Upland to attract companies and business opportunities and support policies that increase sales tax revenue.”
-M.G.

Three months after a controversial move by Upland’s mayor and city manager to abruptly suspend Police Chief Darren Goodman followed by his equally sudden reinstatement, Upland City Council Candidate Carlos Garcia offered his perspective on the performance of the department under Goodman’s watch.
In doing so, Garcia sounded a note of caution to the council, pointing out that city officials need to carefully consider the full implication of their actions. He said the council should not seek to transfer blame for difficulties in the city’s ongoing operations to an overburdened staff which has been saddled with overwhelming assignments exacerbated by financial challenges that are the outgrowth of mismanagement at the top of the municipal organization as well as misdirection by the council itself.
Garcia indicated that he considers efficient and equitable law enforcement operations to be a key component of Upland living up to its reputation as The City of Gracious Living. It is his opinion that Police Chief Goodman embodies the requisite qualities and the nuanced appreciation of the Upland community to allow the police department to calibrate its operations and responses to the city’s varied needs and the demands of the wide range and character of its neighborhoods.
Garcia said he was concerned that the cavalier treatment of Goodman that occurred earlier this year had the potential of depriving the city of someone he said arguably represented the city’s premier human resource.
The precise reason why the city manager abruptly placed Goodman on paid leave of absence has never been fully explained officially. The rapidity with which the police chief was returned to his assignment overseeing the department – within seven days – and the firestorm of protest his brief departure provoked was a demonstration that the action, which was effectuated without the full backing of the city council, had not been fully thought through. Moreover, revelations that leaked out in the midst of Goodman’s suspension suggested City Manager Rosemary Hoerning, with the consent of Mayor Debbie Stone, had proceeded with placing Goodman on leave based on incomplete information.
What is known is that on Friday, June 19, a specially-called meeting of the city council, one hastily convened on the basis of what was said to be an emergency that dispensed with the normal 72-hour notification provided in advance of governmental board meetings, was held. At that meeting, the council discussed the potential of the city being sued by a member or members of the police department.
Less than a month earlier, on May 31, Third District Councilman Ricky Felix’s resignation tendered on May 11 had become effective. Thus, the council that met on June 19 stood at four-fifths strength, consisting of Mayor Stone, Second District Councilwoman Janice Elliott, Fourth District Councilman Rudy Zuniga and Councilman Bill Velto, who had been appointed into what was the council’s last remaining at-large council seat. The Sentinel is reliably informed that no discussion of, nor consensus to effectuating, a suspension or firing of Goodman was arrived at during the June 19 closed door meeting. Velto was lukewarm on the idea and both Zuniga and Elliott were less than sold on the necessity of any precipitate action.
What is unclear is whether Hoerning explained during the course of that meeting that the grounds she felt justified Goodman’s placement on leave was an accusation leveled at Goodman by Luz Barrett, a police department clerical worker who had temporarily been elevated by Goodman shortly after he became police chief to serve as his executive assistant. Barrett charged that Goodman had availed himself of her services as a translator in dealing with his Spanish-speaking housekeeper, what Barrett had represented as being a misappropriation of department resources. It was Goodman’s contention that he had compensated Barrett for her translation assistance. Just prior to Barrett unleashing the accusation at Goodman, he had acted to return her to her former position, based on his judgment that Barrett’s function as executive assistant was below the standard needed in the position.
In lodging her accusation against Goodman, Barrett contended that she had, at Goodman’s behest, forged a timecard to obtain city payment for her translation work for Goodman. An examination of the timecard, however, demonstrated that it did not bear Goodman’s hand signature but rather a stamp of his autograph, not his physical signature, which is contrary to Goodman’s established policy of actually signing with a pen the timesheets he personally reviews. Thus, the prevailing evidence is that Barrett never submitted the timesheet to Goodman and instead added his stamped signature to forge the timecard on her own initiative before forwarding it to the city’s payroll division. Neither Hoerning nor Stone informed the other three members of the city council that Barrett had forged the timecard in her effort to implicate Goodman.
The Sentinel was told that Hoerning has developed some level of resentment toward Goodman, potentially because her $230,000 annual salary before benefits is less than the roughly $250,000 the city council earlier this year indicated it was prepared to pay Goodman to stay in place as police chief beyond this year to prevent him from jumping ship to take the assistant police chief’s position that has reportedly been offered to him in Riverside. Goodman’s academic credentials exceed those of Hoerning, as he holds a PhD from USC’s Rossier School of Education.
Three days after the June 19 closed-door meeting of the council, on Monday, June 22, Hoerning acting solely with the authority of the mayor’s backing and without the backing of the remainder of the city council, suspended Goodman. When informed late that morning about the suspension of the police chief, Councilman Zuniga said he had not been informed in advance that it was going to take place. He said neither he nor the council voting together had authorized the suspension.
On June 29, after the city had attempted but failed to prevent the widespread public surfacing of information relating to Barrett’s accusations against Goodman forming the grounds for the police chief’s suspension, Hoerning at the direction of Zuniga, Elliott and Velto reinstated Goodman.
Carlos Garcia is running in a specially-scheduled election in the Third District, which is located in the city’s southwestern quadrant, to fill the gap on the council created as a consequence of Ricky Felix’s resignation. The winner of that race, which also involves candidates Gino Filippi, Tauvaga Hoching and Lamonta Amos, will serve as Third District councilman for the two-year-period between December 2020 and December 2022.
Garcia said, “As a candidate running for office, the first item on my platform is public safety. I am grateful to the women and men of our Upland Police Department for their great sacrifice in keeping our community safe.”
Garcia indicated he would have been a strong voice against the effort to discredit Goodman that took place in June if he had been a member of the council.
“I am a big supporter of exemplary leadership, and Chief Goodman sets that example,” Garcia said. “As a city, we are very blessed to have such a great individual leading our police department. During the short amount of time Chief Goodman has been here, I have seen him work hard to undertake a number of enhancements to the department’s operations and the safety of Upland in general. He has improved efficiency; doing more than any other chief has done with less by operating with frozen positions two consecutive years. He has established creative deployment of reduced resources through developing proactive enforcement teams to address serious crime and quality of life issues. Unfortunately, those teams are now being disbanded due to cuts the city made and staffing shortages. The chief has increased training and executive development. He has advanced investigations, emphasized de-escalation during confrontational department operations and improved tactical proficiency. He has also restructured the city’s homeless coordinator position and achieved improved homeless outreach. The improved program utilizes someone with expertise in homelessness, and who works collaboratively with the police department, behavioral health, and other support services. Chief Goodman has improved public engagement and transparency. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, he held quarterly community forums in each district; coffee with a cop events; open houses; and had a heavy social media presence. Chief Goodman has produced results, having reduced the homeless count two consecutive years; lowered crime; improved morale; and increased community confidence in policing.”
-Mark Gutglueck

Charles Morton, 39, the leader of the Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Squad, was killed September 17 while battling the El Dorado Fire, which from its inception on September 5 has ranged over 22,588 acres in the foothills and mountains above Yuciapa.
At the time of his death, Morton was working with his crew near Pinezanita, which is northeast of Angelus Oaks, at a spot along the periphery of where the central portion of the fire had migrated.
So-called hotshot crews have been in existence since the 1940s in California, where they were first used in the Cleveland and Angeles National Forests. They are highly mobile and specially skilled hand crews intended to be flexible with the migration of a fire, and are trained, conditioned, equipped and qualified to be utilized in combating wildland fires. Hotshots are often employed in using shovels and other tools in seeking to reroute the direction of a fire’s progression, often on very difficult terrain at locations remote from the main body of firefighters in a given area. In many of those cases, hotshot crews function without water or hoses. Morton was particularly accomplished and proud of his firefighting capability under such demanding conditions.
The U.S. Forest Service has been less than fully forthcoming in providing details with regard to Morton’s death, which occurred, an analysis of available information unearthed by the Sentinel, at sometime around 10 p.m. in the evening of September 17. There was word that a firefighter had died in the line of duty over the weekend of September 19 and 20, but no identity of the fallen fire line employee was provided at that time. Morton was identified in a statement put out by the San Bernardino National Forest’s office of administration on Monday night, September 21. The Forest Service statement said that Morton had died while “engaged in fire suppression operations” late Thursday.
Accompanying that statement was a quote from U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. “Charlie was a well-respected leader who was always there for his squad and his crew at the toughest times,” Christiansen said. “Our hearts go out to Charlie’s loved ones, coworkers, friends and the Big Bear Hotshots. We will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”
The Sentinel has obtained the firefighter fatality notice put out by the Forest Service in reference to Morton. According to that document, death overcame Morton as he was in an “advance hose lines/fire attack” on “September 17, 2020 22:00.”
Of the modicum of biographical detail relating to Morton that the Sentinel has been able to assemble, he comes across as a rugged individual who rushed to meet the challenges of life, doing so in an environment that makes the path he cut all the more impressive because of its proximity to death.
Morton was born on August 7, 1981, in San Diego. He graduated from Ocean Shores High in Oceanside in 1998. At the age of 21, he committed to a career in firefighting, eschewing the staid assignments of a firehouse in an urban environment for the more intensive and challenging work of combating wildland fires.
His first primary job in the field was as a corpsman with the California Conservation Corps at the Butte Fire Center in Magalia in 2002. A notable experience he had relatively early in his career was that of the firestorms that beset Chico during the 2006 fire season. That same year, his 4-year Forest Service career began when he became a member of the Truckee Interagency Hotshots on the Tahoe National Forest. Morton then moved south to join the San Bernardino National Forest in 2007. He worked on both the Front Country and Mountaintop Ranger Districts, for the Mill Creek Interagency Hotshots, Engine 31, Engine 19, and the Big Bear Interagency Hotshots.
It was with the Big Bear Interagency Hotshots that be acceded to the position of a crew leader, burnishing his reputation as an intrepid lion among a den of paladins unwilling to give in to fear.
Tributes were paid to him earlier today, September 25, at the Rock Church in San Bernardino where a memorial service was held in his honor. Following the posting of colors, an agency dispatcher initiated a “last call” to Morton, imploring him to report to duty. When he did not respond, a second call was made. Morton’s second silence was then received as a recognition that his end of watch has been reached. Thereafter followed the Hotshot Prayer and a knelling of bells.
Most of the last month of Morton’s abbreviated life was spent on continuous duty. Prior to taking on the task of battling the El Dorado Fire, Morton had been leading the Big Bear Hotshot team in the effort to arrest the Apple Fire that had begun south of Oak Glen and migrated toward Beaumont, Banning and Cherry Valley in Riverside County.
The El Dorado conflagration began at 10:23 am on September 5, 2020, in the El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa, when an as-yet-unidentified couple held a gender reveal party which featured a smoke generating pyrotechnic device, intended to emit blue or pink smoke. The device sparked the fire, which thereafter raged out of control.
Toni Atkins, president pro tempore of the California Senate said, “San Diego, and the state, lost a true hero last week.”
The U.S. Hotshots Association’s tribute to Morton told him to “Rest easy brother. May the wind be at your back.”

By Mark Gutglueck
Gary McBride is on his way out as San Bernardino County’s chief executive officer.
He will depart from the county’s top staff position, which he has held for two years and ten months, as early as next Tuesday, when the board of supervisors is scheduled to appoint him to the role of strategic projects director, a position which McBride and other county officials said is being created to “better address COVID-19 fiscal challenges.”
It is widely anticipated that County Chief Operating Officer Leonard Hernandez will fill in for McBride, at least on a temporary basis, as the county’s top executive. Word is that no firm decision has yet been made on whether the board will conduct a full-blown recruitment effort to replace McBride, as at least two members of the board of supervisors, as it is currently composed, consider Hernandez to be well-suited for the chief executive officer’s post. Hernandez was enlisted to serve as San Bernardino County librarian in 2011 and was subsequently tasked to fill in as the director of the San Bernardino County Museum while yet in the librarian post. In 2015, while Greg Devereaux was the county’s chief executive officer, Hernandez was promoted to the position of deputy executive county officer. He was elevated to the position of the county’s chief operating officer in 2017. He is valued for his decisiveness and willingness to act, and has become known, indeed feared, throughout the county as McBride’s hatchet man, as the affable and easy going McBride is uncomfortable with being confrontational with county staff and department heads, and thus ill-suited to carry out firings. Virtually every county employee has come to dread the prospect of looking up to see Hernandez make his way unannounced into his or her office and closing the door behind him, at which point he will unceremoniously present him or her with a pink slip to let the unfortunate individual now he or she has been terminated and is to be separated from the county at once, oftentimes without the opportunity or privilege to clean out his or her desk.
In this way, Hernandez is considered to be an efficient and ruthless operator, one who has found favor with at least some on the board of supervisors. Moreover, his position as head of county operations for nearly three years has given him an even more comprehensive command than even that of McBride in knowing how the county is being run, including specifics of the county’s various departments along with on the staffs of the supervisors themselves. This suggests that Hernandez has all order of information with regard to actions taken at the behest of the individual supervisors in terms of legitimate constituent services as well as what are the more questionable uses of governmental authority and power, including what might be termed political activity. That knowledge has rendered Hernandez into a very powerful position, and there is nothing to indicate that his ambition does not extend to his becoming chief executive officer.
While McBride is to remain as a county staff member, county officials offered a relatively puerile justification for his departure as chief executive officer.
“As part of the county’s ongoing effort to meet the unprecedented challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of supervisors on Tuesday, September 29, plans to modify Chief Executive Officer Gary McBride’s contract with the county, placing him in the newly created position of strategic projects director,” an entry on the running informational section contained on the county’s website with the heading “County Wire.” According to that entry, “The Board on Tuesday will begin discussions on the appointment of a new CEO,” thereafter offering an explanation provided by Board of Supervisors Chairman Curt Hagman that “The COVID-19 pandemic has placed highly complex strains on the county’s fiscal and organizational status and outlook. This crisis requires the undivided focus of Gary’s experience, unique understating of county finance, and problem-solving talents.”
The County Wire entry emphasized that McBride “previously served for four years as the county’s chief financial officer.”
County Wire then quoted McBride as stating, “This is a great opportunity for me to concentrate my talents and passions in a way that will be of great service and benefit to the people of this county, the board of supervisors, and this organization. The crisis of COVID-19 presents us with opportunities to rethink how we address public health challenges and funding in this new era. Those are the kind of challenges I love tackling and I am excited that the board wants to focus on them.”
There were some outstanding anomalies in McBride’s sudden reassignment, not the least of which was the abruptness with which it is taking place. The 49-year-old McBride has spent the entirety of his 26-year professional career as a governmental employee/manager/administrator with San Benardino County. He was immediately preceded in the county CEO position by Dena Smith, who served nine months in an interim capacity after what was essentially the forced departure of Devereaux in January 2017. Smith had for most of her time with the county been the clerk of the board of supervisors before she was moved into the post of deputy executive officer and then that of chief operating officer under Devereaux. Devereaux had served as chief executive for seven years. It was hoped if not outright anticipated that McBride, who was 46 when he became CEO, would remain at least as long as Devereaux, and perhaps twice as long, that is until he reached the age of 60, providing the county with long-term stability in its leadership. That he is departing as the county’s top staffer to take on an assignment of lesser authority and reach is, at best, curious if not outright counter to the manner in which governmental administrative positions are assigned. Moving McBride into a lesser county post, one that will be answerable to his successor, also appears to squander the advantage that having someone who has gained three years worth of experience in handling the responsibility of the county CEO remain in that capacity represents.
Nevertheless, County Wire sought to provide a rationale for moving McBride downward on the county’s chain of command.
“As strategic projects director, McBride will assist with the development of countywide strategies to improve outcomes and efficiencies,” the posting states. “Initial projects would include analyzing and developing strategies to address the immediate and long-term fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including identifying the most effective application of [federal] CARES Act monies and other available funding vehicles. McBride will also be charged with providing the county information for determining strategic direction related to complex issues that require a multi-departmental response. One example of this is the nexus between homelessness, mental health, and incarceration.”
In seeking to further justify moving McBride out of the CEO post into the strategic projects director, the County Wire entry on the subject presented a contradiction in logic by offering praise for the county’s response to the coronoavirus pandemic so far, which was effectuated under McBride’s leadership while he was CEO, which would suggest that he was able to meet the challenge the COVID-19 crisis entails while serving in his capacity as chief executive officer. The County Wire passage pointed out that since the advent of the pandemic, McBride as CEO had overseen the county’s creation of “the first-in-the-nation COVID-compliant business partnership program, which provides cash grants to businesses, churches, schools, and nonprofit organizations who agree to operate in a COVID-safe manner to assist with the costs of safety supplies and modifications” as well as the creation of “additional capacity within the County Public Health Department so it could strategically focus on health guidance, contact tracing, vaccinations, and other core health duties” which was credited to “the county proactively [having] assigned other key pandemic-related functions to other county departments and agencies for greater efficiency.”
Moreover, according to County Wire, the McBride led county “assigned the management of COVID-19 testing to the County Office of Emergency Services, which specializes in securing facilities, staff, and supplies in crisis situations” and “assigned management of the SNF Task Force, created by Public Health to address and help prevent outbreaks in state-regulated nursing facilities, to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.”
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center is the main campus of the county hospital.
An additional point praising McBride’s leadership as county CEO contained in the County Wire script was that “The county assigned complaints about noncompliant businesses and enforcement to a multi-agency task force headed by the county administrative office, which created the proactive education/engagement/enforcement Plan. Partners include the sheriff’s department, county fire marshal, environmental health services, code enforcement, and county counsel.”
At pre-press time on Thursday, September 24, the agenda on which the item relating to McBride’s reassignment to the post of strategic projects coordinator, was not yet publicly posted. It is therefore not clear what level or remuneration McBride will be given in his new capacity, and whether it will represent a diminution of his current level of remuneration, which stands at $557,252.52 in total annual compensation, which includes $346.192.95 in annual pay, $36,686.90 in other pay, and $174,373.70 in benefits.
If, as is anticipated, Hernandez is moved into the position of interim chief executive officer, it is likely that Luther Snoke, a current deputy executive officer, will, on at least a temporary basis, replace Hernandez as chief operating officer.

Saying “Hesperia has suffered through aimless leadership and stagnation long enough,” Mark Dundon indicated his impatience with the status quo has formed the basis of his effort to displace current Mayor Larry Bird in this year’s election.
“So, I am running for Hesperia City Council because I have a comprehensive plan of specific steps to bring many jobs to Hesperia, pave more roads, and improve our safety with more police officers and firefighters, as well as traffic measures that will reduce stop sign running,” he said.
For the first three decades of its existence as a municipal entity, Hesperia held at-large elections. But under threat from Hispanic voting rights advocates, the city adopted by-district voting in 2018. That year the council held elections in the Second, Third and Fourth districts. This year, the city is holding elections in its First and Fifth districts. Hesperia does not directly elect a mayor, but rather follows a tradition of elevating one the council’s five members to serve one-year terms as mayor.
Larry Bird, elected to an at-large council position in 2016, was appointed mayor in December 2018 and reappointed to that honorific in December 2019. As a resident of District Five he is now standing for election. Dundon is opposing Bird.
Dundon said he is qualified to hold the position of city councilman. “My education includes a bachelors’ degree in business and a masters’ degree in administration,” Dundon said. “As a business owner, I have run my own real estate and tutoring businesses. As a leader, I have served the Hesperia Unified School District as a governing school board member and clerk for two years. As a professional educator, I have served in several leadership positions where I have learned to very effectively collaborate with people to find our shared need to be successful and steer us toward making the best decisions possible in every situation.”
Dundon said, “There are two major distinctions between myself and my opponent. I am a strong supporter of our Hesperia businesses and will streamline the business and building departments to greatly reduce the burden on our local business owners. To grow our bedroom community into the city it was always meant to be, I will create a business enterprise zone along the freeway corridor with tax incentives and advertising to encourage high paying job growth that will generate the tax revenue we need to improve our safety and pave our roads. There will be no increase in taxes, period.”
The second distinction, Dundon said, consists of the fashion in which Bird involved himself in removing former City Councilman Jeremiah Brosowske from the city council in September 2019, ostensibly on what Bird and councilmen Bill Holland and Cameron Gregg maintained were residency violation grounds.
“I hold our U.S. Constitution and the rights it establishes as our most consecrated guarantees in our American way of life,” Dundon said. “My opponent, our mayor, led the charge with two other Hesperia city councilmembers to vote to overturn the results of the 2018 Election and eject a duly elected councilmember, which violated the 4th and 15th Amendments to our U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution. At the same time, I consider this a crime against our American values, for elected officials to violate their oaths of office and violate the rights of 1,688 Hesperia voters. All Hesperians are victims of this crime that deeply offends me and disrespects our serving military and veterans. I will protect all of our rights, whatever it takes.”
Dundon said Bird, Holland and Gregg “appointed their political ally who lost the election. It is time for the Hesperia City Council to quit playing petty political games and seriously work to improve our city in meaningful ways.”
In enumerating the major issues facing the city, Dundon cited “the skyrocketing crime rate in certain parts of Hesperia, up to a 300 percent increase; few local jobs; stifling, burdensome overregulation of our local businesses; bad road conditions in many parts of Hesperia; corruption within Hesperia operations and leadership; complete disregard for our Constitutional Rights to vote and entitlement of due process of law, including disregard of the voice of the people in election results.”
Dundon said, “All of these issues will be completely resolved if I am elected because I am so frustrated by the continued failures of the Hesperia City Council that are only getting worse and more dangerous. To alleviate the undue burden on our local businesses, I will work to revamp the Hesperia business and building departments to streamline their processes and reduce fees to stimulate our economy immediately. I will work to create a priority list and schedule the funding of public safety improvements and road paving. To transform our city to a prosperous balance of city and suburb, I will work to create a business enterprise zone to entice higher wage businesses to open and expand into Hesperia. In order to accomplish this, I will work to annex more land along the I-15 Freeway corridor, rezone it for business use, and offer tax and other incentives to bring economic prosperity to our community.”
Dundon said, “I know I can do this because I have done it before. As a Hesperia school board member, I added 50 percent more police officers to protect our schools and invested in our infrastructure. I will bring order, mutual respect, problem-solving, and respect for our U.S. Constitution back to Hesperia City Hall to serve our people by delivering prosperity to everyone in a balanced manner that preserves our way of life.
“To correct the corruption within operations and leadership, I will hold all council members responsible for any inappropriate actions and statements as well as replace any city staff who are not willing to perform their duties objectively and by the book,” Dundon continued. “To correct the wrongs of violating a council member’s and 1,688 Hesperia voters’ Constitutional Rights, I will completely obey and cooperate with the coming circuit judge’s ruling on the lawsuit brought forth by the wronged council member that has been ratified by the California State Attorney General.”
In addressing how he proposes for the city to pay for the solutions he suggests, Dundon said, “The growth and expansion of Hesperia’s business tax base produced by the streamlining of the Hesperia business and building offices and the Hesperia Business Enterprise Zone will,” he said, create a revenue stream with “which to sufficiently fund Hesperia’s growing needs in a proper and quality manner.”
He has sufficient previous experience relating to government to be able to carry off the strategy he is advocating, Dundon said.
“For two years, I have served on the Hesperia Unified School District’s governing board,” Dundon stated. “For five years, I served as president or an executive officer for a local chapter of the Association for California School Administrators, in support of government and school-based programs. From Cal State, San Bernardino, I have earned a master’s degree in school and public administration to expand upon what I learned in earning my bachelor’s degree in business.”
Dundon has lived in Hesperia for 22 years. He attended Cal Poly Pomona, where he achieved a bachelor’s degree in business, with heavy course work in finance, real estate, and law. After obtaining his first teaching credential at the University of Redlands, he later added five more teaching credentials and two master’s degrees in school and public administration and special education from Cal State San Bernardino. His teaching credentials are in the areas of mild-moderate special education, moderate-severe special education, multiple subject and single subject in the disciplines of biology, geosciences, and social sciences.
He is currently employed as a teacher and a business owner of a tutoring service.
“I am happily married for 23 years, with 3 children who all attend Hesperia USD schools, including one at Victor Valley College,” he said.
Dundon said, “Throughout my life, I have always felt the need to do meaningful things to help people in significant ways. That is why I became a family man, a teacher, and a school board member. Now, I want to help all the people in our city by improving their quality of life with less crime, more employment, less commuting, more good roads, lower taxes, and more safety for the sake of all of our families.”
-M.G.

By clicking on the blue portal below, you can download a PDF of the September 18 edition of the San Bernardino County Sentinel.

Sentinel 09-18-20

By Mark Gutglueck
San Bernardino Mayor John Valdivia’s political career is headed toward a dead end, with virtually no chance that he will be able to gain reelection in 2022 despite his superior fundraising position at present, a former politician who was one of the mayor’s key political backers in 2018 told the Sentinel.
A factor central to Valdivia’s unraveling is that Chris Jones, the political consultant who was the architect of Valdivia’s 2018 electoral victory over then-incumbent Mayor Carey Davis, is abandoning the embattled mayor.
Valdivia’s once seemingly promising political career hit a major snag in January when three members of his staff abruptly left their positions of employment at City Hall. One of those – his field representative Jackie Aboud – was fired. The two others – his resident services representative Mirna Cisneros and his mayoral office assistant Karen Cervantes – quit. In February, Cisneros and Cervantes, represented by Attorney Tristan Pelayes, filed claims against the city and Valdivia, alleging he had put the make on them, sexually harassed them and then created a hostile work environment when they failed to yield to his requests to be sexually accommodated. Parenthetical to those charges of sexual harassment contained in the claims was that Valdivia had engaged in other improprieties and illegal activities, which included bribetaking, misappropriation of public funds and the illicit use of public resources for partisan political purposes. Aboud also retained Pelayes, and in her claim she echoed the charge that Valdivia had sought to induce her to have a sexual relationship with him, and that after she refused to do so, he maltreated her and then fired her. Subsequently, two of Valdivia’s male staff members – his chief of staff Matt Brown and his field representative Don Smith – likewise retained Pelayes and filed claims of their own, alleging abusive behavior by Valdivia and corroborating some of the details in the Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud claims. Smith related further incidents of political corruption. Brown disclosed an effort by Valdivia to spur false charges and create a falsified record against Cisneros and Cervantes to counteract the prosecution of their claims and the eventual legal action they foreknelled. Adding to Valdivia’s difficulties was that Alyssa Payne, whom Valdivia had appointed to the  Arts and Historical Preservation Commission and the San Bernardino Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission, retained Pelayes, as well, asserting that Valdivia had engaged in predatory behavior with her on the order of what Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud had described.
For nearly six months, Valdivia and his political team engaged in a strategy of denial, dismissing the claims and their accusations as a politically motivated attack. In seeking to map his way out of the scandal and remain in office, Valdivia had turned to Jones, whose guidance had proven impeccable in getting him into office. And indeed, Jones had a vested interest in maintaining Valdivia in office and perpetuating his political career.
Jones bears similarities and dissimilarities to other political consultants.
Like virtually all others in the political consulting arena, Jones has cultivated an expertise in how to get a candidate elected, using a variety of stratagems, from finding a perfect catchphrase or slogan for a political campaign to creating handbills, brochures and mailers to tout a candidate and his qualities; from devising radio, television and newspaper ads to printing yard signs and securing billboard space; from identifying those voters most likely to vote and concentrating a major portion of a campaign’s effort on them rather than squandering resources appealing to those unlikely to show up at the polls to discerning differing voter types and taking steps to ensure that a campaign is variegated enough and selective in its targeting so properly calibrated brochures or mailers go exclusively to the voters those specially-focused electioneering appeals are designed and intended for; from designing hit pieces to attack the opponent or opponents of the candidate he is working for to creating or having at the ready an independent expenditure committee that can maneuver around limitations on donations that can legally be made to a candidates and which can take responsibility for those hit pieces attacking a politician’s opponent without the attack being associated with the politician the attack is benefiting; and having connections with those entities or operations sending out slate mailers recommending or endorsing candidates so that his clients can secure through payments those endorsements.
Jones, nonetheless, is unlike most other political consultants in one respect. Whereas nearly all other political consultants await the candidates to approach them to engage their services and then charge a handsome price for the assistance they render, Jones is known to take a survey of an upcoming race and the field of candidates in it and to then approach a candidate he feels has potential. Jones will accordingly offer that candidate not just his services in running his or her campaign but will offer his fundraising capability as well. Jones has developed a considerable list of potential campaign donors to whom he can appeal to back the candidates he represents. Built into this arrangement is what is tantamount to a guarantee that the candidates Jones works for will be well-funded, which thus translates into a substantial payday for himself. The evidence of this mode of operation on Jones’s part is the tremendous commonality among the donors to the candidates Jones represents. Inherent in these arrangements is the understanding that in return for their donations to the politicians that Jones is consulting to, the donors will have access to and influence over those politicians they are monetizing. In this way, Jones, in addition to advising candidates on what they need to do to get elected, remains as an informal advisor to those politicians if and once they succeed in getting into office, suggesting to them how they should vote, particularly when a vote will have an impact on a campaign donor. An examination of the body of campaign donors Jones over the years has succeeded in getting to support his clients shows that virtually all of them are in the position of needing the help of government to further their business or monetary interests.
Moreover, Jones’ continuing connections to the candidates who employ him after they have assumed office makes for the creation of a network among politicians, including politicians serving on the same decision-making panel, which provides for a cohesiveness and coordination with regard to policy that ultimately redounds to the benefit of the army of campaign contributors Jones has assembled to support his clients.
The predominate number of politicians Jones works for are Republicans.
In the immediate aftermath of the accusations pouring in against Valdivia, the mayor was being advised by Jones on how to weather the storm. Dozens, indeed scores, of campaign donors, a large number of whom had been vectored to Valdivia by Jones, had a lot riding on the mayor remaining in power in San Bernardino, which, in addition to being the county seat, is the largest city population-wise in San Bernardino County.
Upon his election in 2018, Valdivia seemed to occupy the catbird seat in 218,000 population San Bernardino. The mayor had a strong political bond with Sixth Ward Councilwoman Bessine Richard, who had also retained Jones as her political consultant. On a majority of substantive issues, Valdivia was likewise aligned with Fifth Ward Councilman Henry Nickel, with whom he had served on the council for five years at that point. Upon acceding to the mayor’s position in December 2018, Valdivia could also claim as allies the two members of the council who had been newly elected in the 2018 contest, First District Councilman Ted Sanchez and Second Ward Councilwoman Sandra Ibarra. Jones was Sanchez’s political consultant on his 2018 campaign. In the 2018 Primary Election in the Second Ward, Valdivia had backed his then-council ally, incumbent Benito Barrios. But after Barrios had finished third in that contest, forcing a run-off between Ibarra and Cecilia Miranda-Dolan in the November election, Valdivia supported Ibarra, which included bringing Jones in to assist her in the final stages of the campaign. In the initial days, weeks and months of Valdivia’s tenure as mayor, the only opposition he had on the council consisted of Fourth Ward Councilman Fred Shorett and Seventh Ward Councilman Jim Mulvihill, which thus endowed him with a 4-to-2 ruling coalition. Because his mayoral victory had come while he yet had two years on his council term representing the city’s Third Ward, Valdivia was obliged to resign as councilman, and the city called a special election, held in May 2019, to fill the gap on the council. Valdivia endorsed and campaigned on behalf of Juan Figueroa, transferring money from his campaign account to Figueroa’s, which was used to partially defray payments made to Jones, who served as Figueroa’s campaign consultant. Figueroa prevailed in the Third Ward race over Treasure Ortiz. This gave the Valdivia political juggernaut an even more solid 5-to-2 lock on the council.
With the advent and then the advancement of the mayoral crisis precipitated originally by the Cisneros and Cervantes claims, the Valdivia-led coalition began to fray. Valdivia sustained the first tangible blow to his grip on the council on March 3, 2020 when Mulvihill, Richard, Nickel and Figueroa needed to stand for reelection in this year’s California Primary Election. Richard lost outright to Kimberly Calvin. While Richard is to remain on the council until December, she is doing so as a lame duck. Gradually, over the last seven months, the defection of Ibarra, Nickel and Sanchez from the Valdivia political camp has become more and more apparent. At one point, Ibarra publicly called upon Valdivia to resign if the accusations contained in the claims lodged by Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud were true.
Well into June, Valdivia and members of his team, which yet included Jones, were confident that the mayor would be able to stand down or stonewall the accusations being made against him, and that he was capable of wielding the power, position and authority that the voters of San Bernardino had vested in him to employ the machinery of municipal government to protect himself and discredit his accusers.
For a time, Valdivia and his entourage, which had grown to include his legal representative, Rod Pacheco, effectively, or so it seemed, held off the mayor’s detractors. Pacheco, like Valdivia, is a rare example of a Hispanic Republican who achieved substantial political success despite the consideration that the vast majority of Latino politicians in California and Latinos in general throughout the Golden State identify as Democrats. In 1996, when Pacheco was victorious in his run for the California State Assembly, he became the first Hispanic Republican elected to the California Legislature in more than a century. He was elected Leader of the Republican caucus, marking the first time in the state’s history that a Latino had served in that capacity.
With panache, Pacheco asserted that Valdivia was a hardworking politician committed to rejuvenating San Bernardino and its sluggish economy after a serious erosion of the municipality’s financial condition led to it having to declare bankruptcy in 2012 and remain in that state until 2017. Valdivia, Pacheco asserted, was under political attack by Democrats resentful of his Republican affiliation and the effective manner in which he was guiding the city toward firm financial footing. The false accusations being heaped upon Valdivia by Cisneros, Cervantes, Aboud, Brown, Smith and Payne were cheap Democratic tactics, Pacheco insisted.
Simultaneously, Jones was working furiously to salvage Valdivia’s political career. The barrage of negative publicity about Valdivia’s comportment had reverberated around the community, exposing cracks in the foundation of the Republican political establishment of which both Jones and Valdivia are a part. When members of that establishment began to speak among themselves and then more openly about their observations of Valdivia’s behavior and parallels with the actions Valdivia was accused of in the claims filed by those Pelayes was representing, Jones leapt into the breach, seeking to convince those once within the mayor’s circle who were badmouthing him to desist. At that point it was yet Jones’ hope that Valdivia would be able to survive the challenges that Pelayes and his clients were throwing at him, maintain control or at least substantial control of the city council and continue to meet the expectations of the political donors who had bankrolled his political rise by ensuring that their projects or their contracts to provide goods and services to the city were given approval.
As spring advanced fully into summer and now as summer is about to give way to fall, however, the ground beneath Valdivia’s feet began, and has continued, to give way. Foremost, perhaps, in the mayor’s declension was the outcome of an investigation the city council, at the recommendation of City Attorney Thomas Rice and Deputy City Attorney Sonia Carvalho, commissioned to examine the allegations made against Valdivia in the Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud claims. Ultimately, the city council retained Los Angeles-based attorney Carla Barboza to look into the matter, paying her $68,000 to conduct interviews and examine evidence relating to accusations leveled at Valdivia. The lion’s share of Barboza’s analysis dwelt on what the city defined as the incidents of sexual harassment allegedly perpetrated by Valdivia, though Barboza’s examination extended to other elements in the Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud claims.
According to the executive summaries of Barboza’s investigations of the three claims, the one filed by Mirna Cisneros could be reduced to 43 separate and distinct accusations; that filed by Karen Cervantes comprised 44 allegations; and the claim filed by Aboud boiled down to 29 accusations. Barboza encountered some rough sledding in trying to cover the entirety of what had been alleged against the mayor and ascertain the truth and validity of those accusations. Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud, advised by Pelayes that the city’s investigation was angling toward a preset conclusion, declined to be interviewed by Barboza. Valdivia likewise refused to be interviewed. With only a few exceptions, Barboza did not identify in her executive summaries of the Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud investigations the witnesses she interviewed. Each of the executive summaries mentions that 17 witnesses in total were interviewed, which would suggest that she was referencing the same 17 witnesses throughout her investigation of each of the claims. Barboza was limited, it appears, in the documentation she was provided. In the executive summaries, she states that the Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud claims were the only documents available to her containing the specific allegations relating to Valdivia. This would suggest that the city itself withheld from Barboza the reports that Pelayes maintains Cisneros, Cervantes and Aboud filed with Valdivia’s chief of staff, Matt Brown, the city’s human resources department, Human Resources Director Helen Chan and City Manager Teri Ledoux prior to Cisneros’s and Cervantes’ voluntary and Aboud’s forced departures from the city in January.
Nevertheless, despite those limitations, Barboza indicated she was able to make a thorough enough analysis to derive conclusions as to the truth or falsity – the overall validity – of the multitude of accusations leveled at Valdivia. According to Barboza, she used what she referred to as the “preponderance of the evidence standard,” in making her analysis of all three claims, which she explained as being a conclusion “whether it was more likely than not that the complained-of action or conduct occurred.”
According to Barboza, her analysis of the allegations, the available evidence and the statements of witnesses led her to conclude that 20 of Cisneros’s 43 accusations relating to Valdivia and his conduct could be substantiated; that 13 accusations of the 44 allegations in Cervantes’ claim could be fully substantiated and some though not all of the elements within another one of Cervantes’ allegations were verified; and that three of the 29 accusations lodged against the mayor by Aboud could be substantiated.
Despite the accusations of sexual harassment against Valdivia having garnered the lion’s share of the publicity in the early public exposure of the scandal, Barboza was unable to find sufficient backing to establish that Valdivia had engaged in most of the sexual harassment incidents he was accused of which involved overt sexually-tinged comments or suggestions. Of Cisneros’s 21 allegations of such patently sexually-based transgressions on the mayor’s part, Barboza found seven substantiated and 14 unsubstantiated. Of Cervantes’ allegations against the mayor, 10 related to direct sexual comments, requests, suggestions or references and his attempt to ply her with liquor. Barboza said nine of those were unsubstantiated, finding only one to be, in her parlance, “partially substantiated.” Of the 29 allegations against the mayor in Aboud’s claim, 15 related to him sexually pressuring her. One passage in Aboud’s claim said what she experienced while serving as the mayor’s field representative consisted of Valdivia having “told her that she needed to ‘develop a personal relationship’ with him and that she also needed to spend more time with him ‘outside of work’’’ and Valdivia telling Aboud “he would ‘terminate’ her if she did not develop this ‘personal relationship’ with him.” Aboud’s claim also stated that “Valdivia’s intention for compelling claimant to develop a personal relationship with him was to date claimant and advance Valdivia’s sexual desires on claimant.” Barboza found all 15 of those sexually-based allegations unsubstantiated.
Despite Barboza’s determination that most of the accusations relating to sexual harassment by the mayor could not be substantiated, she sustained as verifiable numerous accounts, particularly ones emanating from Cisneros, that Valdivia had engaged in improprieties with regard to taking money, gifts and favors from questionable sources in ways that bordered on or crossed the line into the province of bribery, and that Valdivia played fast and loose with regard to the rules relating to filing the reports, certified under the penalty of perjury, required of public officials relating to the reception of those gratuities. Barboza also sustained other accusations that Valdivia had falsified his travel and expense vouchers for activity he engaged in while junketing or traveling on what was supposed to be official city or government business. Moreover, Barboza found credible reports that Valdivia used the authority of his office and public assets, facilities and personnel, to engage in political activity, which is strictly forbidden under the law.
Barboza said her investigation substantiated an allegation by Cisneros that Valdivia pressured his staff members to participate in what was scheduled [but later canceled] to be a campaign event for him on opening day of the 2020 baseball season at Dodger Stadium in April; that Valdivia attempted to force Cisneros and another female co-worker [identified by the Sentinel as Mayoral/City Council Secretary Renee Brizuela] to work on the reelection campaigns of two of his council allies, Juan Figueroa and Bessine Richard, running in the March 2020 election; that Valdivia had accepted a $900 bottle of wine gifted to him by an ambassador without reporting the gratuity on his statement of economic interest as required by California law; that Valdivia had stated he was constantly receiving gifts he did not properly report; that he had instructed Cisneros to be “vague” in filing Valdivia’s request for reimbursement for hotel accommodations and meals from the San Bernardino International Airport Authority, of which he is a board member, when the activity he carried out on that particular trip apparently related to his having met with donors to his campaign fund; that he was the recipient of free travel, including flights in a Gulfstream, from a particular businessman or businessmen; and that Valdivia told Cisneros that he had an inside contact at the district attorney’s office who was delivering to him information relating to any investigation or investigations that office was conducting relating to his activity.
Even prior to the public release of the executive summaries of Barboza’s investigations of the three complaints on September 8, there were indications that Jones, who was so assiduously committed to keeping the viability of Valdivia’s career intact just a few months ago, has come to view Valdivia as more of a liability to his political consulting kingdom than an asset.
According to one well placed individual within the Jones organization, Jones for some time has been concerned with the manner in which Valdivia has defied the advice given him on how he should conduct himself both publicly and privately, but did not consider the relatively minor flare-ups Valdivia’s behavior caused to be an issue that compromised the potential Valdivia possessed in both an immediate and future political context. More recently, however, with the emergence of information and evidence that Valdivia has engaged in arrangements involving monetary exchanges with individuals with business before the city, taking in what otherwise might have been justified as political donations if they had been reported as such but which were never cataloged in Valdivia’s campaign finance documents, it has become clear to Jones, the Sentinel was told, that Valdivia is running the risk of being indicted on bribery and political corruption charges. Given the fashion in which Jones’ services to his various clients already skirts the boundary of pay-to-play politics, remaining associated with Valdivia appears to have grown too dangerous for Jones.
As of June 30 of this year, the John Valdivia for Mayor 2022 campaign fund had an ending balance of $70,509.73, an impressive head start that would seem to favor Valdivia with regard to his effort to stay in office, which will be tested at the election now scheduled for June 7, 2022. The vast majority of the money in that campaign account was accumulated with Jones’ assistance. Since that time, a $5,000 contribution from Michael Armada, the owner of Armada Towing, a $1,000 contribution from AAJ Management, doing business as Town Lodge Motel in San Bernardino, and a $2,000 contribution from Gil Botello’s campaign fund for his current effort to be elected to the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Board have been made to Valdivia’s electioneering fund. Though that $78,509.73 may be sufficient to ward off some who might consider challenging Valdivia for reelection in two years, there are indications that a few ambitious politicians and would-be politicians are intent on vying for San Bernardino mayor themselves, convinced that the incumbent is vulnerable.
Word came to the Sentinel last week that Jones will not be serving Valdivia as his primary advisor/campaign consultant when 2022 dawns. A former holder of multiple elected offices who was himself within the Jones political camp told the Sentinel, “John may run, but he will not win. He has some money, and he still has a few backers, but his sources of money are drying up. You didn’t hear it from me, but Chris is done with John.”
There is another unmistakable sign that Jones and Valdivia are parting ways. Valdivia has hired Gil Botello to serve as his campaign consultant. In the campaign report that Valdivia’s committee was obliged to provide showing fundraising and expenditure activity during the first six months of 2020, it was reported that Botello was paid $850 to begin serving as Valdivia’s campaign consultant at the tail end of June. Botello’s credentials as a campaign consultant are questionable. As a candidate for the San Bernardino City Council in the First District in 2018, Botello lost to Ted Sanchez, who was supported by Valdivia and who employed Jones as his consultant. More recently, Botello, who is currently running for the seat representing Division 2 on the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Board, was outmaneuvered in his bid to capture the Democratic Central Committee’s endorsement in that race. While the San Bernardino County Democratic Central Committee panel interviewing candidates vying for election this year initially recommended to the entirety of the central committee that Botello be given the party endorsement over the incumbent, Gil Navarro, when the entire central committee considered information brought forth connecting Botello to Valdivia, the full body voted to endorse Navarro over Botello.
Despite Valdivia’s support of Sanchez in his run against Botello in the 2018 election, the alliance between Valdivia and Sanchez has dissolved. This became apparent in October 2019, when Valdivia moved to appoint Botello to the city’s Personnel Commission, which was widely seen as a slap at Sanchez. Botello and Valdivia have grown ever closer, with Valdivia now, it appears, employing him as his main advisor and political consultant, supplanting Jones. According to several San Bernardino city officials and employees, Valdivia is allowing Botello to work out of Valdivia’s office on the third floor of the Vanir Building, which is now serving as the interim City Hall in the aftermath of the shuttering of San Bernardino City Hall because of seismic instability considerations.
Valdivia providing Botello, who is engaged in political activity on the mayor’s behalf, with office space within the city’s governmental premises is illegal. Valdivia’s calculation that his position of power will prevent any enforcement activity with regard to misuse of government facilities, while likely correct, is an example of the errors in judgment and risk taking on the mayor’s part that has convinced Jones that it is best that he end his professional relationship with Valdivia.