By clicking on the portal below, you can download a PDF of the November 20 edition of the San Bernardino County Sentinel.

Sentinel 11-20-15

By Mark Gutglueck
SAN BERNARDINO-The San Bernardino City Council this week walked into a buzz saw of controversy with a 6-1 vote to outsource the county seat’s municipal sanitation division to Burrtec Waste Systems.
The decision to provide the franchise to the Fontana-based company came more than three years after the city’s 2012 bankruptcy filing raised the concept of dismantling existing city departments and creating franchises to directly reduce the city’s operational costs and boost its revenues through the collection of franchise fees.
That issue became even more critical in recent months as the city’s bankruptcy exit plan calls for utilizing the trash franchise fees to balance San Bernardino’s ledger. Nevertheless, in selecting Burrtec, the council majority spurned what appeared to be an even more lucrative competing offer from rival trash hauler Athens Services.
Indeed, with regard to practically every aspect of the trash hauling contract, the Athens proposal met or beat the terms offered by Burrtec. The superiority of the Athens contract in these regards was reflected in an analysis completed by a team of consultants and city staff members who examined the proposals. Curiously, however, the recommendation in writing which reached the city council omitted several pieces of information favorable to Athens, while highlighting Burrtec’s offer. In what would prove to be one of his last gestures as city manager, Allen Parker recommended that the city hold off on the decision until elements of the competing proposal could be more thoroughly compared. As it would turn out, the city council in closed session voted to buy out Parker’s contract.
Additionally, numerous statements made by city employees within the city’s sanitation division revealed that Burrtec had violated a key provision of the bidding process for the franchise contract.
An internal city document obtained by the Sentinel shows that Athens matched Burrtec in the provision of identical $10,000 proposal evaluation fees and $150,000 contract fees.
While the document, as finally presented to the city council, made the representation that Burrtec made a $6.5 million offer to purchase the city yard where sanitation division-related activities take place and promoted that as a selling point to encourage the council to embrace the deal with Burrtec, it made no mention of Athens’ identical $6.5 million city yard purchase offer.
The same document shows that Athens, over the first ten years of the franchise would guarantee the city $29,278,968 as opposed to $24,876,468 paid to the city over that same ten year period by Burrtec and that Athens would guarantee the city $54,348,968 over 20 years as opposed to $35,126,468 guaranteed to the city over the same two decades by Burrtec. A major portion of that revenue consisted of ongoing franchise payments the respective companies were willing to dole out to San Bernardino. In the case of Athens, it offered to provide $21,600,000 in franchise payments for ten years and $45,600,000 for twenty years; Burrtec, by comparison, was willing to pay the city $4.5 million over ten years and $9 million over twenty years.
An indication of what some said was an effort to shoehorn the council into a decision in favor of Burrtec or shield the council from charges of graft was that while the proposal to outsource the refuse division was first made more than three years ago, the analysis of the competing proposals from Burrtec and Athens did not reach the council until November 12, a mere four days before the vote was made, with key provisions allowing for a precise comparison of the competing offers missing.
At the root of the justification for outsourcing is relieving the city of the burden of the cost of maintaining and providing trash service – consisting of salaries and benefits for 100 city sanitation workers – 72 of them full-time employees and 28 of them part-time employees – and $20 million in pressing overdue equipment replacements. Additionally, the city stood to gain revenue by means of the franchise fee to be paid by the winner of the competition. And while there was no relative advantage in choosing either Burrtec or Athens in terms of relieving the city of the employee and equipment replacement costs, Athens head and shoulders bested Burrtec when it came to revenue into the city from franchise fees. This was stated on the record by councilman Fred Shorett, who said, “If you just had to do it [make a decision between the two companies based] on revenues, Athens would be the one.”
A major factor that was seemingly used to swing the council majority behind the Burrtec proposal, was an emotionally charged push by more than a score of current city sanitation workers, nearly all of whom were clad in their orange-colored work clothes and some of whom were accompanied by family members, who vociferously lobbied on Burrtec’s behalf.
During the council meeting Monday night, from both the context and direct content of several of the sanitation division workers’ statements, it was evident they had direct contact with Burrtec. In the words of one, the city employees were “shown the love” by Burrtec. Others claimed to have met the owner and to have been told Burrtec would take care of them. Another stated that Athens was “nowhere to be found.” This either made a genuine impression upon at least some members of the city council or it was seized upon by them as a factor that tipped their votes in favor of Burrtec.
The sanitation workers’ statements, however, are problematic. The request for proposals that went out to the various companies that competed for the franchise specifically forbade contact with city employees. Page 3 of the official request for offers states, “During the request for proposals process, proposers and their agents are strictly prohibited from any contact with city staff, city consultants and/or elected officials.” Based upon the sanitation workers’ statements, Burrtec clearly violated that provision.
The city’s consultant on the matter, Management Partners, led by principal Andrew Belknap, tendered a recommendation, which, prior to the meeting was embraced by city manager Allen Parker, that Burrtec be given the nod. But as Monday night’s hearing progressed and representatives from Athens offered penetrating references to how the request for proposals was faulty and crucial documentation relating to how Athens’ proposal would be more lucrative to the city had been omitted from the staff/consultant report and recommendation, both Belknap and Parker shifted their position, indicating the emerging information merited further study.
Ultimately, the council voted 6-1, with Shorett dissenting, to give Burrtec the franchise.
Subsequent to the vote, there were a number of developments that threw the vote into sharp relief, begetting questions about not only the integrity of the staff/consultant recommendation/report and the decision-making process but the integrity of the city council as well.
There was immediate fall-out after the meeting. It was revealed that Parker’s exodus from the city, effective December 31, had been arranged for during a closed session of the council that day. Numerous issues had led to a somewhat strained set of relationships between Parker, who has been city manager since February 2013, and the council, some more pointed than others. Upon his hiring, Parker was given no job security assurances beyond a 60-day noticing clause, which would have entitled him to a de-facto severance of $36,999.33 plus any accrued leave time. With things growing testy, in June Parker sought to make an exodus from the city on the condition that he be given a six month severance, equal to 110,988. The council overwhelmingly rejected that overture at the time, 4-2. But this week, the full council acceded to his leave taking conditional upon his receiving a full year’s salary, $221,976 plus 12 months of benefits and medical coverage for him and his wife. The timing of his departure, in conjunction with his lukewarm endorsement of and then reluctance over the Burrtec contract, set tongues wagging.
Within two days, the city’s website, which normally provides access to videos of city council meetings, took down the video of the November 16 meeting.
The council’s vote placed city attorney Gary Saenz into what was described as “an impossible situation.” In San Bernardino, the city charter bestows upon the city attorney extraordinary authority, consisting of considerable reach in providing input on policy and checking council legislative or administrative action deemed inconsistent with state law or local statutes. Moreover, the city attorney has the autonomy to initiate, at his own discretion, investigation of council action.
Saenz, who was present during the council meeting and witnessed the statements by the city’s refuse workers acknowledging that Burrtec corporate officers had contact with them, is acutely conscious that Burrtec had disobeyed the instructions contained in the request for proposal and violated the city’s bidding protocol. He is also alive to the implication of the council having approved a franchise contract with Burrtec that is scheduled to return to the city less revenue than would have been realized had the franchise with Athens been approved. Saenz, who with outside counsel, is coordinating the city’s bankruptcy court litigation, recognizes the city council’s vote in accepting a less lucrative franchise arrangement may complicate the city’s position in bankruptcy court as the bankruptcy court is requiring that the city make every effort to maximize revenue and reduce costs. In this way, Saenz, has been thrown into a state of virtual paralysis, sources tell the Sentinel. Saenz is said to want to initiate an investigation into the integrity of the decision-making process with regard to the trash franchise contract including any conceivable misfeasance or venality on the part of staff and the council in its vote. Yet, he is highly reluctant to do so, since any publicity relating to the city’s failure to achieve the most lucrative trash franchise arrangement could strengthen the hand of the city’s creditors in the bankruptcy arena.
Most shocking to many San Bernardino City Council observers were the votes by Henry Nickel and John Valdivia, both recognized for their usually exacting financial analysis of issues before the council, in supporting the Burrtec proposal over the Athens offer. Athens, which last year was selected by the County of San Bernardino to replace Burrtec as the firm managing San Bernardino County’s landfill system, held a strategic advantage over Burrtec in being able to work into its proposal to the city savings with regard to the processing of trash within the landfill system. Burrtec, which had managed the landfill system for over a decade, lost that advantage last year. Thus, Burrtec would need to pay full freight on its tipping and trash processing fees at the landfills it would use, both inside and outside San Bernardino County, and is not in a position to pass any such economies along to San Bernardino. Neither Nickel nor Valdivia dwelled on the consideration that Athens could provide the city with both operational savings and increased revenue over Burrtec’s proposal.
Repeated phone calls to Nickel went unanswered.
Valdivia told the Sentinel that his vote in favor of Burrtec was based upon the staff/consultant recommendation.
“The source of the council’s decision were the numbers in the staff report,” Valdivia said. “There were other considerations and intangibles in the Burrtec proposal in terms of preservation of manpower and savings on equipment apart from the host fees and additional revenues in what they offered. That is why I felt comfortable in my vote.”
Valdivia then said that an added benefit to bringing Burrtec into the city’s fold was that it “kept our employees satisfied.” When queried about whether that factor was properly considered, given the prohibition in the request for proposals against an applicant having contact with city employees during the bidding and evaluation procedure, Valdivia asserted that he and the council were “not in the position to be policing that type of action. It is not in my purview to be monitoring what type of contacts they made with city employees. I don’t think that is germane to the discussion.”
Valdivia inquired at that point as to the basis for the assertion that Athens’ numbers compared favorably to Burrtec’s. When Attachment 4 to the evaluation committee report showing the $29,278,968 to $24,876,468 and $21,600,000 to $4.5 million advantages that Athens presented over Burrtec’s proposal, Valdivia said, “If I had my binder in front of me I could point out a number of reasons why it made more sense to go with Burrtec. I relied on the staff report. I don’t feel comfortable in telling you how it was I made the decision I did without referencing the specific items I had highlighted in the comparisons between the two proposals. I know if I had the numbers available, I can show you a comparison of them and how the having Burrtec is of benefit to the city.”
A thorough analysis of the staff report shows that the author of the report engaged in some liberal construction bordering on sleight-of-hand to deliver a recommendation favoring Burrtec. The evaluation committee took $24 million of guaranteed revenue and added $10 million in non-guaranteed revenue to inflate Burrtec’s value to $34 million, which was higher than the $29 million Athens guaranteed. This mixing of the numbers was not clarified in the committee’s report to the council, being disclosed in a somewhat vague manner. In the presentation to the council the $10 million in non-guaranteed revenue was noted by the committee, on Attachment 4 as, “difficult to quantity” and “ contingent on construction of a new biofueling station.”
In an effort to quiet criticism of the council’s Monday vote, on November 19, Monica Lagos, the city’s manager of communications, put out the following release: “On Monday, Nov. 16, the mayor and common council gave city staff the green light to move forward with negotiating a 10-year service contract with
Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc. The move to a contractor-based service will ensure that the city’s 46,800+ resident and business accounts receive adequate solid waste and recycling, street sweeping, and right-of-way clean-up services in the long-term.
Burrtec’s current proposal will maintain customer rates at current levels for the first year, absorb existing full-time employees, provide the city a $5 million one-time payment and guarantees revenues in the amount of $24.9 million over the term of the contract. ‘The financials fall in-line with those indicated in the recovery plan submitted to the federal bankruptcy court in May 2015,’ city manager Allen Parker said after Monday’s meeting. ‘This is a vital component to getting the city back on a sound financial path, and alleviating us of an estimated $20 million investment needed by year-end to replace equipment for the three divisions. Our current internal service structure does not bring in enough revenue to cover those costs.’”
The press release continues, “The six month process included a review of each proposer’s financial value, qualifications and experience, financial ability, litigation and regulatory history, local employment, purchasing, and preference. Proposals were received from Athens Services, Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc.,
CR&R Waste and Recycling Services, and Republic Services. Following the initial review and interviews, Athens and Burrtec advanced to a final review resulting in a side-by-side comparison of their offering. The evaluation committee, consisting of deputy city manager Bill Manis and external consultants, concluded Burrtec was the best overall proposer. “We sought a service provider that would maintain rates initially, absorb current employees, bring added value to the table and ultimately provide improved customer service,” said Bill Manis, a member of the evaluation team who oversees multiple customer-service divisions including public works. “Other key factors that set Burrtec apart were proposed operational enhancements that could yield an estimated $10 million in cost savings and added revenue, the possible takeover of the city’s existing landfill at no added cost to the city, and the building of a BioCMG facility to recover and convert biogas into vehicle fuel for the Burrtec and city fleets and public vehicles.”
The press release continues, “’We see a great opportunity to contribute to San Bernardino’s revitalization and look forward to finalizing an agreement with the city,” said, Mike Arreguin, vice president, Burrtec. “Our strong proposal demonstrates our long-term commitment to bring quality service the community.’
A contract consistent with Burrtec’s proposal and the terms of the request for proposal is expected to be presented to the Council, for final approval, no later than January 2016.
The press release concludes, “For over 50 years, Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc. has consistently prided itself on providing excellence in service and satisfaction with a strong loyalty to the future of the communities in which it serves. Burrtec and its sister company, EDCO Disposal Corporation, comprise one of the largest privately held solid waste companies in California. Originally started in 1955, the company is still owned and operated by the Burr family. Burrtec prides itself on valuing the markets which it serves and the unique needs of its customers, whether those customers are industrial, commercial, municipal jurisdictions or residential subscribers. Burrtec understands that these communities place their trust in Burrtec, and seeks to follow a corporate policy of always putting its customers first.”

Military veteran and U.S. Congressional hopeful Paul Chabot pledged to fight for and develop what he labled “Joint Military Base San Bernardino (JBSB)” where Norton Air Force Base once stood.
“For the future of our region, and defense of our Nation we must work together to make Joint Base San Bernardino a reality. This will be a top priority when elected to Congress. The world is more dangerous today. Our enemies have grown while our military has been reduced to dangerously low levels. We owe it to our children to ensure their generation has the resources necessary to defend themselves and live without fear.” said Chabot.
He continued, “The creation of JBSB is not only vital to the dynamic economic growth of the San Bernardino region of California, but is necessary to counter the growing threat in the Pacific from China, Russia and North Korea in order to better advance the Pentagon’s ‘pivot to the Pacific,’ while buffering U.S. efforts to better counter aggression from Iran, Russia and the proliferation of worldwide terrorism.”
After the Cold War, in 1994, Norton Air Force Base (AFB) in San Bernardino was closed under the Federal government’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program. This termination economically devastated the local region, especially the City of San Bernardino, which in 2011 filed for bankruptcy.

With the global rise of China and Russia militarily into the Pacific, it’s time now to build a state of the art base in San Bernardino – but not just any base – a Joint Base, that combines the forces of all branches of the military working together. Currently, the United States has just a handful of Joint Bases and none on the West Coast. We must also incorporate logistics utilizing the existing long-rang runways in the city (formerly Norton AFB), with easy access to major transportation highways in the region. JBSB can incorporate military intelligence, cyber-security and a Joint Special Operations Command Headquarters for the Pacific, while providing military training utilizing our unique proximity to the sea, deserts, mountains and valleys.
With an infusion of military, contractor and other private sector employers moving back into San Bernardino, we will see transformational change at a revolutionary level that will significantly decrease unemployment, increase wages, improve real-estate, decrease crime – and, bring pride back to our region. We can find work for our unemployed, including military veterans and college graduates. Poverty and the area’s high welfare rolls will plunge. Active duty, contractors and other civilian employees will spend their money in our region; businesses will flourish as Fortune 500 companies contract with JBSB, and much more.
San Bernardino was once one of America’s greatest cities, and in the 1980’s won the national distinction as such, but that is a distant memory. San Bernardino is now the poorest of its population size in California and the second poorest in America only behind Detroit. When Norton AFB closed, it devastated the region. The dreams of an international airport never fully evolved and although distribution centers now dot the area, the region has not achieved what was intended, and the consequences are clear. Timing is right for JBSB, said Chabot.

Learn more at: www.paulchabot.com/jbsb

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Paul Chabot is a Republican Candidate for U.S. Congress and current LT Commander, Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves. He served on Active Duty in Iraq in 2008 with Joint Special Operations Forces. Prior assignments included: Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon; Office of Naval Intelligence; Defense Intelligence Agency; Fleet Intelligence Training Center, Command Third Fleet HQ; Naval Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare Command; Command Pacific Fleet Intelligence and Joint Special Operations Command.

During Chabot’s tour of duty, he served at Joint Base Balad – Iraq (among other locations), and has extensive knowledge of Joint Base operations and capabilities. Chabot holds a certificate in Joint Professional Military Education from the Naval War College with a doctorate degree in organizational leadership from George Washington University.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved an allocation to County Fire to fund the San Bernardino County Joint Sheriff/Fire Air Rescue Program.
The Air Rescue Program is a joint collaborative program between San Bernardino County Sherriff’s Department and San Bernardino County Fire Department; capable of operations 24 hours a day with innovative rescue tactics.
The Sheriff’s Department provides an established infrastructure, fleet, and personnel while County Fire provides licensed healthcare providers certified at the paramedic level. These benefits coupled with the technical rescue capabilities of both agencies make this a highly efficient and successful program.
San Bernardino County extends over 20,000 square miles with First and Third Districts of the County having the most geographically diverse terrains in the desert and mountain communities. Chairman James Ramos and Vice-Chairman Robert Lovingood pushed for the allocation of funds to be included in the First Quarter Budget.
“Our County has a great team of well-trained first responders capable of responding to any emergency need that our residents might face,” stated Vice-Chairman Robert Lovingood. “Chairman Ramos and I represent areas of very rural terrain so it was very important for us to push for an increase in fund allocation.”
The Air Rescue Program offers quick response time to any emergency need. Each year, the program responds to approximately 250 calls for service. These calls range from technical hoist rescues, swift water rescues, injured skiers/boarders/hikers, and major accident trauma victims.
Currently, County Fire is using the Sheriff’s Department’s refurbished helicopters for 10 hours each day Monday through Thursday to respond to emergency medical calls. The approval of fund allocation will extend air rescue program services from 4 days a week to 7 days a week, on a pilot basis.
Chairman Ramos commented, “Now is the time to focus on the needs of our County residents. We do not know when or where an emergency need will occur but what we can control is our ability to be prepared. This multi-mission rescue program is a great advantage for our County and its residents in its ability to rapidly respond and secure a scene in any emergency. I am proud to see the Board of Supervisors continuing to work together to serve the needs of our County residents.”
More information regarding this item can be found in the Nov. 17th agenda at http://cob-sire.sbcounty.gov/sirepub/.

The county, at the recommendation of its behavioral health division director, CaSonya Thomas, will pay a psychiatrist more than $350,000 for his services.
The board of supervisors this week, after being called upon to do so by Thomas, approved a contract with Calvin Flowers, M.D., Inc., a professional medical corporation, to provide psychiatric services, in the amount of $527,879, for the period of December 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017.
The San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health utilizes the services of specialized medical personnel, including psychiatrists and physicians, for the treatment of adults and children with a mental illness or substance use disorder.
According to Thomas, “The recommended contract with Calvin Flowers, M.D. will provide psychiatric services to department of behavioral health clients at an estimated average rate of $135.06 per hour.
The department of behavioral health is the mental health plan for the County of San Bernardino, and similar to other health management organizations, is required to provide a qualified network of psychiatric providers to ensure timely access to mental health services. Per Contract No. 13-358 with California Department of Health Care Services, the department of behavioral health is required to maintain a qualified provider panel of psychiatrists sufficient to provide adequate medication support services, as specified in California Code of Regulations, Title 9, Sections 1810.225 and 623. The department of behavioral health utilizes the services of specialized medical personnel, including psychiatrists, for the treatment of children, youth, and adults with mental illness or co-occurring disorders.”
In her report containing the recommendation to hire Flowers, Thomas explained why he is being paid more than a third of a million dollars annually.
“Due to a severe shortage of qualified physicians and psychiatrists available to provide these services, recruiting and retaining physicians is extremely competitive,” Thomas said. “The county utilizes temporary staffing agencies to obtain psychiatrists and provide coverage during times of physician shortage or increases in patient caseloads throughout the county. This method of meeting department labor needs is consistent with County Policy No. 07-12 (employment of contract, temporary, extra-help and recurrent employees) and allows the department of behavioral health to meet mandated staffing requirements. On May 19, 2015, the board of supervisors approved contracts with three temporary agencies (Jackson & Coker; LocumTenens.com; and Staff Care) to provide for temporary psychiatric services, for the period May 19, 2015 through June 30, 2017. Each of these agreements included a recruitment fee (hiring fee paid by the county to the temporary agency) for any psychiatrist who agrees to become contract or regular staff at the department of behavioral health. Since July 2015, Flowers, M.D., Inc. has provided psychiatric services to the department of behavioral health clients as temporary staffing through the county’s agreement with LocumTenens.com. Upon conclusion of the corporation’s temporary assignment, the department of behavioral health entered into negotiations with Flowers, M.D., Inc. to provide services as a contract provider under the board approved template services agreement. The template agreement for psychiatric and physician services with professional medical corporations is utilized to ensure these crucial services are available when needed. Due to unique changes to the terms and conditions specific to Flowers, M.D., Inc., the standard template language has been revised requiring a separate board action for this particular contract.”
Thomas said that “The proposed contract with Flowers, M.D., Inc. includes language whereby the corporation agrees to provide services for a minimum of one full year from the effective date of the contract. Should Flowers, M.D., Inc. voluntarily terminate its contract with the county without cause before the full 12 months, he agrees to repay the recruitment fee of $40,000. The amount of repayment will be reduced by one-twelfth for each full month of services provided by Flowers, M.D., Inc.”

The latest in a series of threats of violence, at least one of which resulted in nearly half of the student body at a regional high school failing to show up for classes last Friday, was determined to be a practical joke.
On Wednesday, November 18 social media posts threatened mayhem at the high school campus. By that evening, sheriff’s deputies, who traced the origin of the Twitter tweets to a 15-year-old student, determined the threats were not credible nor legitimate.
Things may not go well for the student, a 15-year-old male said to have been engaging in a “prank.” According to the Twitter post, someone was set on undertaking to “shoot up YHS” yesterday, Thursday November 19.
The fictitious threat followed two earlier ones in the expanded geographical area south of Yucaipa, in the Riverside County communities of Temecula/Rancho California and Beaumont. Yucaipa lies at the extreme south end of San Bernardino County, abutting Calimesa in Riverside County. On November 12, in Temecula Valley High, a written threat was found on the campus. On November 13, roughly half of Temecual Valley High’s students did not attend class. Another threat was made at Beaumont High earlier this week.
There is some speculation that the cooked-up threats are ruses by which some students are trying to avoid having to go to school. Officials, however, cannot be cavalier about the threats and must, at least initially, assume they are serious.
In Yucaipa, according to deputy Eric Lugo of the Yucaipa Station, “On November 18, 2015, the Yucaipa Police Department was notified of a post on social media that threatened violence on the Yucaipa High School campus. Investigators, working in conjunction with personnel from the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District, worked through the night and were able to identify the person who posted the original threat. The suspect has been identified as a 15-year old Yucaipa High School student. Investigators believe the student was acting out a prank and at this point, the immediate threat has been unfounded.”
Lugo said, “The completed investigation will be forwarded to the district attorney for review.”
Whether or not the student, who has not been identified publicly, will face criminal charges, he will face an inquisition by district and high school officials who are displeased with the interruption of the school day at Yucaipa High School on Thursday morning. Deputies were visibly present on the campus and a half dozen or more students were kept out of school by their parents.
The district administration will conduct a hearing for the youth, who is likely to be suspended. If officials determine that his action was egregious or that he continues to represent a problem, he may be expelled.
Investigators determined that the “target” of the false threat actually did not attend Yucaipa High School. A number of students at the high school, however, retweeted the message.

In a shrewd and safe political move that will benefit him with even greater name recognition even if he loses, Chino Hills Councilman Ray Marquez was the first hopeful to declare his candidacy to succeed Ling Ling Chang, now that she is ready to vacant her post in the 55th Assembly District to run for the State Senate.
Marquez, who has been on the city council since March 2013, when he replaced former councilman Wilburn “Bill” Kruger in a special election, was reelected in 2014. A retired firefighter with 28 years’ experience on the Santa Fe Springs Fire Department who was on the Chino Valley Fire District Board, Marquez in 2013 outpolled Rossana Mitchell, Debra Hernandez and Jesse Singh. In 2014, he again outdistanced Mitchell and Hernandez, as well as Lou Alfonso in the November municipal election.
Chang is giving up the 55th Assembly District seat early, taking advantage of the departure of Bob Huff in the 29th State Senate District. Huff will be termed out and cannot run again. Chang, like Huff, is a Republican and she hopes her incumbency will benefit her in the heavily Republican 29th.
Marquez is probably a longer shot than Chang. The 55th Assembly district stretches from Chino Hills in San Bernardino County in the east to Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights and Walnut in Los Angeles County and through Brea, La Habra, Placentia, Yorba Linda and slivers of other cities in Orange County. He enjoys less name recognition in Los Angeles and Orange counties than he does in Chino Hills, but he has already contracted with San Francisco-based political strategist James Fisfis to carry out an energetic campaign that is starting early, seeking donations, heading off possible competition and familiarizing Marquez with voters across the district.
While obtaining a berth in the lower legislative house in Sacramento may prove to be an upward battle for Marquez, the upcoming campaign will very likely intensify his name recognition in his hometown through repetition, word of mouth and sign visibility. If he does not succeed in his Assembly run in 2016, that effort toward electioneering visibility will very likely increase his reelectability in Chino Hills in 2018.

San Bernardino County taxpayers and the federal government will pay $800,000 next year to provide kidney dialysis to inmates in the county jail system who need that treatment.
Since 1998, the sheriff’s department has contracted with outside dialysis providers to provide on-site dialysis treatment, which, according to lieutenant Sam Fisk, “is more efficient operationally, provides increased public safety, and is more economical than transporting inmates to a dialysis clinic for treatment.”
American Correctional Solutions, Inc. has provided dialysis to county inmates since 2012 and the county elected to renew its contract this week. “The department is requesting to exercise the second and final option to extend the current contract with American Correctional Solutions, Inc. by one year, from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, and increase the amount by $800,000, (from $3,200,000 to $4,000,000), to provide dialysis services,” Fisk told the board of supervisors, which followed that recommendation.
The contract provides for compensation to American Correctional Solutions, Inc on a fee-for-service basis. The contract is not to exceed, however, $800,000 for the one year extension.
American Correctional Solutions, Inc. was initially selected to provide dialysis services as the result of a competitive process. On December 13, 2011, the board of supervisors approved Agreement No. 11-936 with American Correctional Solutions, Inc. through December 31, 2014, with two one-year options to extend. Subsequently, on December 2, 2014, the board approved Amendment No. 1 and the first one-year option to extend the contract through December 31, 2015.
“The estimated annual cost of this service, in the amount of $800,000, was included in the sheriff’s department 2015-16 detention’s general fund budget,” Fisk said. “The department typically has between two to six inmates requiring dialysis at any given time, with approximately half of those being federal prisoners, as this is one of the particular services offered by the county to the U.S. Marshals Service. Therefore of the annual contract amount, approximately 50 to 60 percent will be recovered through the county’s contract with the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal prisoners. In addition to recovering the direct cost of providing dialysis services to federal prisoners, the department also recovers $500 per day for the prisoner to be housed in the jail’s medical unit, as opposed to $80 per day for housing a typical federal prisoner.” The estimated cost of dialysis services will be defrayed with $400,000 earmarked for January through June and $400,000 to cover July through December.

By Count Friedrich von Olsen
Things have always been complicated and they are getting even more so. Of late the conversation has turned to eradicating ISIS – the Islamic State in Syria. There have been all sorts of suggestions. A major complicating factor is that the Russians – the Soviets – are already at the focal point of this whole thing – Syria – and they have some different alignments and different goals than do we in the West. The move by ISIS recently in which they downed a Russian tourist jet over Egypt, notwithstanding, which would seem to put us both, if not on the same page at least in the same book as the Soviets, there is still tremendous tension in the American-Russian relationship. Thus, when I hear people say that we should join forces with the Russians to eradicate ISIS, I must shake my head because I know it is not that simple…
A case in point is what the Russians are doing to us in Syria. They are blinding us. They have a device, called the Krasukha-4, which they have deployed in that war torn part of the world. This is really quite surprising because the Krasukha-4 is a very advanced piece of military hardware and one would think they would be holding it in reserve, and not let us know about it or its capabilities. The Krasukha-4 is an advanced version of the Krasukha, the Krasukha-2 and the Krasukha-3. The Krasukha is a mobile broadband multifunctional jamming station intended to guard against and defeat electronic surveillance and communications, including ground, air and satellite-based radar and radios.
The Krasukha-4 is able to effectively shield objects on the ground against radio-locating surveillance satellites, ground-based radars, or aircraft-installed Airborne Warning and Control Systems, our vaunted AWACS, as well as space-based systems up to 170 miles away. This means that we – our military, the Pentagon, the DIA, the NSA and the CIA cannot see what is going on in Syria. We don’t know where the Russian troops are, we can’t see them and we can’t listen in on their communications. For most of the day and night, the United States in Syria is no different than I am when I’ve dropped my monocle. At such times, I can’t see a damn thing…
The United States and our ally, Britain, have always been way ahead of the game in our military endeavors because of our surveillance capability, and we have known what our enemies are doing or about to do in many cases well before they did it and in some cases, from our being able to listen into wavelength channels by which commanders would communicate to troops in the field, even before the forces that were to actually carry out those missions knew themselves what they were to do…
Because of the Krasukha-4. that is no longer the case, at least in Syria most of the time. Actually, for very short periods during the day, we do have an electronic window on Syria that works. As I said, the Krasukha-4 is effective out to roughly 170 miles. This is within the range of our geosynchronous satellites stationed over Syria, the stationary ones that hover directly above that country permanently. We do have some other surveillance satellites that orbit around the earth, passing for a short time of their continuous circular or oblong looping trajectory over Syria. Thus, for maybe 15 minutes or so a half dozen times or so a day, we can get a fleeting glimpse of things there. But that is problematic because the Russians are tracking those satellites and they know when they are in range of Syria…
This is not to mention, of course, the interference the Krasukha-4 can cause, interrupting and jamming our communications or signals, rendering our radio-controlled missiles or drones ineffective. I am told that the generals and admirals and colonels and commodores in the Pentagon are so frustrated by the Krasukha-4 that they sent someone to very politely and very diplomatically ask Vladimir Putin to have them turned off. I don’t know whether his reply was polite or diplomatic, but my understanding is Vladimir Putin refused…
Another complicating factor in the struggle against ISIS is Captagon…
What is Captagon? It is a very powerful stimulant – an intensified amphetamine if you will. It is similar to or indistinguishable from the synthetic drug known as fenethylline. It has become the drug of choice of your radicalized al-Qaeda warrior, Islamic Iraqi insurgents, Arab jihadist or ISIS member. Shortly after ingesting it, its user slips into a semi-euphoric state, yet filled with fervor and energy. On Captagon, I am told, one can stay awake and alert for as long as 48 hours and remain in a fearless and intense demeanor in which he can ruthlessly and recklessly inflict destruction upon an enemy even in the most demanding of circumstances.
There are anecdotal accounts of Iraqi insurgents, Syrian soldiers and ISIS jihadists using it to fuel their murderous rampages. And while the drug’s addictive power is known to eventually consume those who repeatedly make use of it, turning them into chronic users and addicts whose vital organs are racked and destroyed by this narcotic’s ravages, that demise, alas comes too late for the victims lost to its users’ homicidal frenzies…

Born on May 6, 1868 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, George S. Biggin was the youngest of five children born to William H. and Emily (Bolton) Biggin, who met shipboard in 1854 en route to North America from their native England. They were married in New York in 1855. William H. Biggin had learned and followed the trade of wagon maker but aspired to be a farmer. He took up that trade, farming in Ohio. After spending about a year in Canada, they returned to Ohio where they eventually achieved substantial success at farming.
George grew up in Warren, Ohio. He was liberally educated in the East, finishing in a special preparatory school in Boston. He worked on his father’s farm and shared in its duties until he was about twenty-three. In the meantime he attended school receiving a high school education. He came to Redlands in 1890 where his Uncle, Henry Biggins, a well-known rancher and nurseryman, had preceded him. His first regular work was as a clerk in the grocery store of L. E. Shepard, and three years later he joined the grocery firm of Dutton and Edwards, with whom he remained for ten years. He and C.W. Clark eventually purchased the stock and business of his employers and conducted the business profitably as a partnership for two years, at end of which time Mr. Biggin sold his interest to Clark.
George Biggin and Miss Hattie D. Ellis, of Springfield, Vermont , were married on January 17, 1894. They raised two children. Their daughter, Elfreda M. Biggin, was born July 8, 1898. She and eventually graduated from Redlands High School before going on to Pomona College, where she majored in English. They also had a son, Leslie, whose birthdate is not available.
Biggin was a captain in the Redlands National Guard Company at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. He immediately recruited the company to its fullest strength and was mustered into the federal service as captain of Company G, Seventh California Infantry. The company left Redlands for the Presidio in San Franciso on May 6, 1898. All were eager to get to the Philippines, but the company was held on duty at the Presidio until mustered out at Los Angeles, December 3, 1898. During World War I, Biggin made application for active service in the army, but was rejected and had to be satisfied with what he could do as the patriotic citizen in work at home.
During the duration of the war, Biggin served on practically every important locally-based war-related committee and was a member of the State Council of Defense.
One vital project for which he tirelessly worked was the construction of the Redlands-to-Beaumont Highway. He later became the first commander of the Redlands Unit of the United Spanish-American War Veterans.
After his retirement from the mercantile field, Biggin was active in the insurance trade, at first as a salesman of life insurance, later becoming the principal in a well-organized general agency handling all departments. In connection he subsequently began dealing in real estate, achieving a number of prominent sales in the vicinity of San Bernardino. His activity in advertising the value of real estate brought a attention to, value and cachet to the community.
Biggin first became a candidate for public office in 1916 when J. B. Glover announced that he would retire from the office of county supervisor. Biggin declared himself a candidate as his successor, but eventually Mr. Glover reconsidered his decision and then Biggin withdrew. Mr. Glover was re-elected and rounded out a service of twenty-four years as supervisor. In 1920 Mr. Biggin again came forward, received the nomination and was elected. “His conduct in office justified the generous support given him by his friends,” two of his contemporaries, writers John Brown and James Boyd, wrote in their 1922 book, History of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.
Biggin was a director of the Chamber of Commerce for 24 years and was president one term. He affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was also on the Redlands Insurance Board and the Realty boards of Redlands and the State of California. He held the distinction of being the oldest director of the Redlands Chamber of Commerce in terms of continuous service and was on the committee which financed and built the chamber of commerce building. He was also president of that organization.
Biggen served as the Third District supervisor for twelve years, during which period he was part of the board that elected to push ahead with the construction of the County Courthouse in downtown San Bernardino.
Upon leaving the board of supervisors in 1932, Biggen resumed his insurance sales business, but declining health dictated a reduction in his activities. On January 11, 1942, follow a period of serious illness, Biggin died at his home in Redlans He was survived by his wife, Hattie, daughter Elfreda, a teacher at the Santa Ana Junior High School; his son, Leslie, of Redlands; and two sisters Mrs. Ana Cook of Redlands and Mrs. Sarah Biggers of Warren, Ohio.