(October 16)  Ruth Musser Lopez said she is running for the California State Senate in the 16th District, which stretches from Tulare County in the northwest through Kern County and into San Bernardino County’s Mojave Desert in the southeast, because the current office holder, Jean Fuller, has neglected the district.
“We have major challenges facing our desert rural communities that are not being addressed by the present incumbent,” Musser Lopez said. “We are losing out on Jean Fuller’s watch.”
Musser-Lopez said, “One of our major challenges is the attempt to pump and pipe desert water to the coast and other types of desert water heists, for example PG&E destroying the Hinkley water aquifer by contaminating it with Chromium 6.   Another challenge is the loss of our justice courthouses in SD16 in Tulare, Barstow and Needles.  We lost the entire justice community—judges, lawyers, clerks and other support staff and now people have lost their access to justice, and have to spend time and money traveling 8 hours to get to and from court.  As of the last big downpour, our bridges on Route 66 are washed out in at least three places, now rendering the route unusable.”
Musser continued, “Someone in the Senate position could do something about it, but Fuller seems disinterested in our troubles in the desert.  In the desert we have concerns about a water aquifer drop because of water heists and what that would do to the springs that support desert wildlife, vegetation and are multi-million dollar tourist industry.  Jean Fuller is low on her scores for the environment and gets an “F” grade from PAW PAC for her voting record on animal protection.  People enjoy wildlife and many of her constituents in the high desert are upset with her vote against the prohibition on Bobcat trapping around Joshua Tree National Park.   PG&E continues to be allowed to monitor their own Chromium 6 “clean up” activity and that tragic situation at the Hinkley aquifer is still going on after 20 years even after the situation was exposed by the famous movie Erin Brockovich.    Humans and wildlife have all suffered from this catastrophe.”
Musser-Lopez mentioned the lead advocacy role she played in opposing the Cadiz Water Project, which involves the Los Angeles-based Cadiz Company siphoning up to 50,000 acre-feet of water from the Eastern Mojave Desert’s water table and conveying it in a pipeline to Los Angeles and Orange County for sale there.
“I started fighting the Cadiz water heist two years ago and during this campaign, I went  into Bakersfield from the desert, introduced myself, then set about to expose all the troubles that Fuller could have done something about but didn’t,” Musser-Lopez said. “Bakersfield is key to this Senate election because that is where most of the voters live. My idea was also to find out how Bakersfield and other communities could conserve water so that they would not threaten to siphon off desert water.”
Regional water resources are being exploited by outsiders, Musser-Lopez said, depriving local areas of a key commodity need for economic development and the sustenance of existing agricultural and other activities.
“Even with all of the water that typically flows down from the Sierras in the Kern River right through the center of Bakersfield, the aquifer is dried up and collapsing…its called subsidence,” Musser-Lopez said. “Where is all of the water going?  Have you ever seen the Kern River channel with all of its oil wells?  Billions of gallons of water are being contaminated so badly in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) operations that it can’t be recycled and is thus sent down into old deep oil wells.  But this summer, California state regulators shut down fracking wells with incomplete analysis showing that, and I quote, ‘3 billion gallons of wastewater were illegally injected into central California aquifers and that half of the water samples collected at the 8 water supply wells tested near the injection sites have high levels of dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, a known carcinogen that can also weaken the human immune system, and thallium, a toxin used in rat poison.’  Do we deserve to know what chemicals the oil companies are using to frack?  Jean Fuller thinks this is none of our business and voted against a bill that would have required oil and gas companies to disclose what chemicals they are using above the Central Valley aquifer.  People are surprised when I tell them that PG&E’s poisoned Chromium 6 water was (and still may be being) transported by liquid waste haulers from Needles superfund site and released into deep wells around Bakersfield.”
Musser-Lopez indicated that she disagreed “with Fuller’s vote against a moratorium on fracking until studies are completed to understand the long-term impact.     Not only would I have voted for disclosure and a moratorium, I would also introduce an oil and gas extraction fee, similar to fees charged by other large oil producing states, which would generate 1-2 billion dollars in annual state revenue.  These funds could be used to enhance the environment and community from which they extract those natural resources.   Fuller’s contributors also include  CA Independent Petroleum Association, Chevron, Valero, Conoco Phillips, and BP.  Unlike our incumbent,  I owe nothing to polluter corporation interests and I will make sure that the people’s interests are represented in Sacramento.”
Musser-Lopez said she is qualified to serve in the state senate in large measure because she advocates policies contrary to Fuller’s.
“State Senate District 16 stretches across the state, encompassing an area that involves significant natural, cultural, technological, industrial, recreational and other resources of all kinds that need to be managed in a responsible manner and for the good of the people of California, particularly those who live here,” Musser-Lopez said. “Early in my adult years I was employed by the biggest land manager in Senate District 16—the federal Bureau of Land Management and I know this Senate District well, not just because I have lived here for 34 years but because this is where I worked as an Archaeologist throughout the Mojave Desert alongside experts in a variety of fields including range management, realty managers, geologists, biologists, and hazardous materials specialists.
Musser-Lopez continued, “Currently, we have a Senator who was a school teacher with a degree in education and then a school administrator before she turned politician. She is pretty impressive with her public speech, but where has she been?  Was she there for us when we were fighting the Ward Valley nuclear dump?  Was she there when we were fighting RailCycle—the L.A. trash train?  She was in office when we were trying to fight off the Cadiz water heist, why didn’t she help us?  Why hasn’t the Hinkley aquifer been seized out of PG&E’s control?   I’ve been a water conservation activist for almost 30 years and frankly, we’re just spinning our wheels by re-electing someone who does not serve our best interests.  She claims we are in this water crisis because we have failed to build new reservoirs and infrastructure.  I disagree.  Our above ground reservoirs evaporate and the ones we have now are extremely low.  We need to focus on recharging the underground aquifers. We are in the crisis because of global warming and the carbon emissions, but the Republicans vote against the High Speed Rail project that would significantly reduce the carbon footprint while creating thousands of good jobs over the course of the next 30 years and build for the future.”
Musser-Lopez said, “People should research what legislation Fuller sponsored, including alleviating the liability of rich people with their private airports.  Another was a bill that lessened the amount of time well owners have to protest condemnation by rich water districts. Fuller gets the lowest score of all Senators on the issue of equality and fair treatment of people and students with regard to their sexual orientation and gender.”
Musser-Lopez is a Democrat. Fuller is a Republican
Musser-Lopez said, “I support the Democrats no-frills water conservation project proposed in Measure 1 on our November 4 ballot that will reallocate money from unused bonds to make better use of the money. Our need for safe drinking water for all communities is critical and Measure 1 will start the ball rolling on filling up our dangerously low underground water aquifers in the central valley where we can store water naturally while protecting it from evaporation. Jean Fuller did not write or sponsor Measure 1, the water bond. She went along with voting for it but meanwhile voted against the companion SB1168, the landmark water conservation bill which gives the state authority to put to put the water bond money to work.   Her reason? She said it would put state people we didn’t vote for in charge of local water.  Meanwhile, in her own district, intra county water swaps saved Central Valley farmers during this last growing season. We cannot assume that the water crisis can be taken care of locally.  State officials are appointees of the governor and our elected representatives in Sacramento and the Water Commission is the right government entity to get the job done. We need to ensure that our farms and businesses get the water they need during dry years by managing our water resources efficiently in wet years and being in a good position to transport surface water from outside areas that have excess water to give.”
Musser-Lopez asked, “So what is Jean’s real reason for voting against measures that would require big farm corporations with junior water rights to meter their water?” She then posited a possible answer: “Fuller’s supporters include Monsanto, Paramount, California Farm Bureau, Dairy Institute, Kraft, Wine Institute and California Grain and Feed.”
Musser Lopez contrasted her approach with that of Fuller.
“On the contrary, I have been there for the people throughout our District’s struggles and I have fought for water conservation for going on 30 years,” she said. “In the 1990s, while my two children were attending public school in Needles, I dedicated myself to providing for them while I actively protested a national radioactive waste disposal facility that was to be cited over the water aquifer supplying the city and connected to the Colorado River.  I  authored and circulated a countywide voter initiative to prohibit the disposal of radioactive/nuclear waste in unlined trenches above desert aquifers.  Over 20,000 voter signatures were collected and soon after, the facility plans were discarded.”
Musser-Lopez said she offered a wider perspective on the full range of issues confronting California than does Fuller.
Musser-Lopez said, “The solution to pollution must not be dilution in our water aquifers.” She said that “I am for providing incentives for installing energy efficient roof top and road way solar and large solar plants over already disturbed parcels and corridors, and I want to create peace time jobs for veterans on projects that would lower the carbon footprint.”
“I am a published author,” she said. “I have a proven capability of being able to read, write, and sponsor law.   I went to UCLA and I graduated from the University of California, Riverside with honors (cum laude) but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that, right now, we’ve got the wrong person representing us in Sacramento.  We need change at the State level. I am offering my ability to work hard and dig in.  I am your neighbor and friend, the Archaeologist who will demand that Sacramento throw us more than just a bone.”
Musser Lopez attended and graduated from Chaffey High School in Ontario. She earned her degree in archaeology from the U.C. system, at both the Los Angeles and Riverside campuses. She was a member of the Needles City Council. With her husband, she has two children.

(October 14)  The arrest of the proprietor of Barstow’s  Downtown Market last week has triggered questions over the propriety of the action taken against him.
On October 8, detectives with the Barstow Police Department, accompanied by uniformed officers, served a search warrant at Downtown Market, located at 219 E. Main Street. That search warrant was apparently based upon a tip that the owner of the establishment, Omar Snoubar, had purchased some electronic items taken in a residential burglary in the 1400 block of Sage Drive on August 20 as well as well as two laptops that were shoplifted by  Andrew Paul Staggs and Carol Lin Crunk from Walmart on August 28.
During the October 8 search, police found what they believe to be the items stolen from the Sage Drive residence, a television and a computer. Snoubar handed the laptops over to police in September after Staggs and Crunk were arrested on September 15 and informed detectives they had sold them to Snoubar.
Snoubar was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property. Barstow police have alleged that Downtown Market was being operated as an illegal pawn shop.
Indeed, Snoubar, by either purchasing for resale or allowing his customers to hock merchandise, appears to have run afoul of California’s Business and Professions Code by operating a secondhand dealership without a license. Pawn shops are required to be licensed through the State of California, Department of Justice and the city.
Nevertheless, a number of people in Barstow, including Snoubar’s customers, employees, former employees and fellow merchants are questioning whether Snoubar had the requisite intent to be acting as a “fence” of stolen property, as police implied in the arrest of him.
Snoubar’s transgression in violating the Business and Professions Code, which his supporters insist was done out of ignorance, does not amount to the crime of theft, several said. They said any enforcement action against him should have been handled by the city’s code enforcement division or city attorney and that legal action should have been done through a civil process rather than a criminal one.
The licensing and registration requirements applicable to pawn shops, together with reporting protocols for the purchase or pawning of items and attendant arrangements for insurance and bonding of the operation is intended to allow law enforcement to monitor the merchandise being channeled through such establishments and check it against the roster of items reported stolen locally.
Snoubar posted bail on October 9. The district attorney’s office has not yet charged him with any crime. The police department has acknowledged that its investigation into the matter is yet ongoing.

(October 10)  Congressman Paul Cook says that his successful efforts at safeguarding the interests of his constituents merit him a second term in Congress.
A 26-year Marine Corps veteran who achieved the rank of colonel, Cook began his political career as a councilman and mayor with the town of Yucaa Valley and served in the California Assembly before  being elected to the  U.S. House of  Representatives for California’s 8th Congressional District in 2012.
With regard to his major accomplishments in his less than two years in Washington, D.C., Cook said, “The biggest victory, bar none, was in retaining over 100,000 acres of land for off-road vehicle use in Johnson Valley, at a time when the Marine Corps was poised to take everything. When I took office in 2012, everyone assumed the Marines would take it all. I fought back, built a coalition, and made my case in Congress. It worked.
“I’ve also had success in veterans legislation, passing legislation prioritizing claims for terminally ill veterans and those over the age of 70,” he continued. “I took a leading role investigating the widespread abuses at the Veterans Administration, passing vital legislation to reform it. I was able to pass legislation out of the House for a crucial land exchange for Mammoth Mountain in Mono County. I’m still hopeful that it will move through the Senate during the lame duck session late this year, but I know that with a Republican Senate in 2015, we’ll get this deal through, and it will help create a lot of jobs in a place that sorely needs it.
“Finally,” he said, “I’ve held the line on government spending. In fact, during my time in Congress I’ve helped reduce the deficit by over $23 billion. This is above and beyond the tens of billions in deficit reduction due to the sequester. That’s not nearly enough, but it’s a good start.”
Cook, a Republican, is opposed in this year’s race by Bob Conaway, a Democrat, who has assailed him on any number of issues, including charging that Cook is more loyal to Corporate America than the country’s citizens, that he failed to support more substantial funding to make a national response to the Ebola crisis, that  he had voted to in effect gut the Clean Water Act, that he promoted with his votes what Conway characterized as “substandard” health care plans, and that he has voted in support of legislation that Conaway said would “steal” money from pension funds.
“My opponent tends to engage in personal attacks, and I think that’s a huge disservice to America,” Cook said of Conaway’s biting criticisms. “Many of the claims are silly and not worth repeating. I work hard on issues brought before me, regardless of the source, and I stand by my votes and actions. I’m a proud American and proud combat veteran of the Vietnam era. I don’t apologize for either.”
Cook said he embraced his Republicanism, despite attacks on the party’s stances and policies and suggestions by Conaway that Cook is out of step with the priorities and values of the country at large, as he said the GOP is generally.
“California’s Eighth Congressional District is a conservative district, and I think I fit it very well,” said Cook. “This isn’t San Francisco; this is real America. I don’t ignore Democrats – local leaders from Barstow to the Morongo Basin will tell you that – but I am guided by my conservative principles: lower taxes, smaller more effective government, a strong military, and care for our veterans. These are my biggest issues, and I believe the overwhelming majority of my constituents agree with these priorities.”
On the other hand, Cook rejected assertions by a Republican who opposed Cook in this year’s  primary, Paul Hannosh, suggesting that for the majority of his constituents in the Eighth District, Cook is not conservative enough.
“I’d suggest that’s cheap rhetoric,” Cook said of Hannosh’s claim. “I vote to reduce and eliminate taxes at every opportunity, I vote for a strong military, and I want a smaller more efficient government. If one looks at my voting record – facts, not rhetoric – you’ll see I stand for liberty, constitutional rights, and all of the things that make America the greatest country on earth. I’ve voted to eliminate Obamacare, and I voted to create a balanced federal budget, one that will reduce the burden on working Americans. I don’t care how my detractors label it; I’m fighting to make government work for the people. We need to reclaim it for ourselves.”
Of the  major challenges facing the country, Cook said, “We’re facing new threats internationally from terrorist groups, and many Americans have lost faith in government and in their ability to gain employment that will allow them to thrive and raise a family. I don’t have confidence in our current president to face these challenges, so it’s up to Congress to continue addressing the problems of the nation. We need good jobs, and we need better national security. To do less is to endanger the future of our great nation.”
With regard to the major issues roiling in the Eighth District, Cook said, “Jobs are priority one. We still suffer from unemployment that exceeds the state and national averages. Nearly all improvement starts with good paying jobs.
“We also face a huge threat from federal bureaucracies trying to dictate to us how to use the land,” Cook continued. “I’m fighting a huge battle against a proposal by urban politicians to make our Mt. Baldy a national monument. Beyond that, we have trails issues in the north and renewable energy conflicts in Victor Valley, just to name a few. I want locals to have the leading voice in these land use decisions, not some bureaucrat in Sacramento or Washington DC. This is our land, and we need to fight for it.”
Cook said, “I want to find ways to utilize our district’s natural advantage in things like rail transportation systems, road transportation systems, and natural resources. We also have wonderful land availability and a number of local governments poised to work with new businesses. So my job is to create the incentives and improve the infrastructure in a way that draws businesses and jobs to the district.”
Cook asserted he is a better candidate for Congress than Conaway.
“I’ve traveled this entire district and met with countless veterans, retirees, and business owners,” Cook said. “They all want the same thing: a smaller government that works where it needs to work and stays out of their lives otherwise. I’m a combat veteran in an area with a huge veterans population, and I know the land issues that threaten our way of life. I also understand national security issues, learned during my 26 years in the Marine Corps. I’ll fight for our constitutional rights, and I’ll fight for lower taxes. That, I believe, is what the people want.”

(October 15)  Acquanetta Warren touted her leadership skills in explaining why she believes she deserves a second term as mayor of Fontana.
In sizing up her accomplishments over the last four years during which she has reigned as mayor and the eight years prior to that when she was on the city council, Warren said she had overseen “the complete transformation of the city of Fontana both economically and socially. We made the environment safe.”
The major challenges and issues facing Fontana, Warren said, consist of “making sure we continue maintaining and improving our neighborhoods and make it so our residents take better advantage of the transportation options available to them. I want people to know this is the logistics capital of the United States. We have to ensure that we maintain our infrastructure and utilities. That is what I have to work on over the next four years.”
Warren said, “We have three new interchanges coming in. One is being completed and the other two will be underway in a very short time. When they are completed, they are going to create a huge opportunity for economic development.”
Her formula for the city meeting the challenges it faces is to, she said, “continue to develop our city as the transportation hub it already is. I want to bring better jobs to Fontana. The way to do that is to expand and make our city a more desirable location for companies. We need to make sure our transportation advantages attract companies. We should be the power broker in moving goods in the region. We have to protect our way of life by keeping our neighborhoods safe. We have to work with all of the community’s agencies, including the local water companies to move forward with our idea of what the city should look like in the future. We need to continue our current partnerships and start new partnerships. One of the most important things is to have a balanced budget. The most important thing in my mind besides public safety is having a balanced budget.”
Warren said she merits reelection because “I have vision. I have drive. I have a proven leadership record. I have been a major driving force behind Fontana’s revitalization and its future. I have the leadership needed to fulfill the potential Fontana has. I have proved with the city’s Healthy Fontana Program, which is the umbrella for all of our promotion programs, that Fontana is second to none in terms of parks. Fontana is second to none in terms of facilities. Fontana is second to none in terms of police service. It is second to none in terms of economic development. Fontana is going to take its place as a leading city. With all the awards it has received, and there will be more, Fontana is an example of what the rest of the world will see when they look forward to California’s future.”
Warren grew up in South Central Los Angeles and attended Locke High School. She graduated from Occidental College with a degree in political science and urban studies. Before she advanced to the city council, she was a member of the Village of Heritage Citizens Landscaping Committee and was later a member of the city of Fontana General Plan Advisory Committee.

(October 11)  In the aftermath of his guilty plea to a single count of felony conflict of interest, former Upland city manager Robb Quincey has been given a 180-day weekend jail sentence that will likely entail him serving little or no actual jail time.
On September 9 Quincey entered a no contest plea to one count of conflict of interest, bringing to a close the case lodged against him by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office in 2012.
Dismissed as a consequence of the plea arrangement worked out between Quincey’s attorney, Michael Zwieback, and prosecutors were two additional charges, perjury and embezzlement/falsification by a public officer.
The case against Quincey, who was handpicked in 2005 by now-disgraced former Upland Mayor John Pomierski to serve as city manager, in some measure grew out of the circumstances leading to Pomierski’s 2011 indictment. Pomierski had been engaged in using his authority as an elected city official to shake down individuals with pending business at City Hall, including developers who had applied for project approval thorough the city’s land use process. Pomierski arranged for Quincey to receive a base salary and add-ons of $368,529 with benefits of $92,096, for a total annual compensation of $460,625, making him among the highest paid city managers in the state. Quincey was also empowered with the authority to fire the city’s department heads entirely at his own discretion. The ebb and flow of project approval in the City of Gracious living that was favorable to project proponents who had hired Pomierski as a project consultant and less than favorable to those who were not paying Pomierski directly or supportive of his political efforts raised suspicions about Quincey’s involvement in Pomierski’s depredations.
Ultimately, Quincey was undone when in June 2010 FBI agents serving search warrants relating to the graft that Pomierski was involved in panicked Quincey, who unburdened himself to city attorney Bill Curley of a secret relating to a July 27, 2008 domestic violence incident involving himself and his former fiancé, Jennifer Stelzer. That incident was punctuated by  Quincey’s alleged vandalism to Stelzer’s car and a series of profanity-laced text messages to her.  A police report on that incident was written by Upland police detective Craig Sipple under the supervision of then-sergeant John Moore. That eight-page police report recommending that the matter be reviewed by the district attorney’s office for possible prosecution was intercepted by then-police chief Steve Adams .
Consequently, the eight-page report Sipple originally authored was reduced to six pages and Sipple and Moore’s recommendation that the matter be referred to the district attorney’s office was changed to state that the case was given “Exceptional Clearance. Stelzer does not desire prosecution.” The redrafted six-page version of the report was buried in an inactive police department file that prevented it from being open to public scrutiny.
When Moore later applied for one of two open lieutenant posts with the department and was passed over, he retained the services of attorney Dieter Dammeier of the law firm Lackie Dammeier McGill & Ethir to represent him. Dammeier worked out a solution to the problem by which Quincey and Adams upped the number of captain positions with the department from two to three, promoted a lieutenant into that new spot, thereby creating another lieutenant vacancy, into which Moore was promoted. Dammeier presented the city with a $57,816 bill for his efforts on behalf of Moore. To keep the matter quiet and from coming to the attention of the city council and the public, Quincey used his maximum $25,000 annual discretionary spending authority as city manager to pay Dammeier’s firm in two $25,000 installments, one in the midst of the 2009-10 fiscal year on January 25, 2010, and another shortly after the initiation of the 2010-11 fiscal year on August 23, 2010.
According to former city attorney Curley, Quincey persuaded then-assistant finance director Ruby Carrillo, with whom Quincey was intimately involved, to miscode one of those checks to make it appear that the payment had been made for another police department-related matter the city was negotiating with the police union, specifically payment to officers for the time they spent just before their daily assignments donning their uniforms and the time after their shifts ended doffing their uniforms.
After Quincey’s panicked confession to him about what had occurred, Curley informed the FBI of what Quincey had told him. For nearly five months Quincey remained in place as city manager, but  after details relating to the train of events involving Quincey, Stelzer, Moore and Dammeier became public, the Upland City Council in January 2011 suspended Quincey and  placed him on paid administrative leave. Four months later, two months after Pomierski’s indictment, Quincey was terminated.
Quincey sued for wrongful termination and in the course of the hearings related to that suit, Quincey made what the district attorney’s office latter said were false statements, amounting to perjury.
While the perjury charge and that of embezzlement were dismissed, a felony conflict of interest by a public officer conviction was entered into the court record against him on September 9 as a result of a plea bargain.
On October 10, Judge Shahla Sabet sentenced him to serve 180-days in weekend custody at the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in Devore, stipulated three years probation and further memorialized a term of the plea bargain, to wit, that Quincey will make restitution of $50,000 to the city of Upland.  He has already put up $25,000 of that sum and will provide the rest by June 30, 2015.
Sabet further restricted Quincey from accepting or maintaining any employment position in which he would have access to city funds without prior notice to that employer of the nature of the offense he was convicted of and he is required to submit written proof to the probation officer signed by the employer within 10 days of employment. Quincey is prohibited from associating with Pomierski or any other felons  and he is not allowed to have a firearm or leave the country. He is not allowed to leave California  without first obtaining written permission of the probation officer, although Sabet granted him permission to travel to Minnesota.on the proviso that when departing and upon returning he is to advise the probation department.
Because of overcrowding at the sheriff’s detention facilities, including Glen Helen, as well as the non-violent nature of his offense, Quincey is very likely to be excused from actually being incarcerated at Glen Helen and will instead be consigned to home detention with an ankle monitor.

What was to become George Air Force Base was originally known as the Victorville Air Station. With war raging in Europe and President Franklin Roosevelt spurring the nation in a crash  aeronautic military capability development program, civic leaders in Victorville in April 1940 approached the United States Army in an effort to interest it in locating an airfield, which was initially sold as a training facility, in the High Mojave Desert. Citing the customary 360 days per year of sunshine and unencumbered open space, together with the availability of services from the nearby towns of both Victorville and Adelanto, they were able to convince the Department of War to approve tentative plans for such a facility.  In 1941, with war clouds growing ever more ominous, the United States Army Air Corps accelerated the plans and after an effort to secure the property in question was made, including buying parcels from willing sellers and using the threat of eminent domain against unwilling ones, an agreement was entered into and construction of the 2,200-acre base commenced with a groundbreaking ceremony on 12 July 1941. Special equipment to compact the earth for the runways and to lay down the tarmac was brought to the site. Construction on the air station’s four runways had begun in earnest by August 1941. Seven hangars were part of the facilities initial construction. In addition, four other auxiliary or sub-bases were constructed, which entailed Hawes Auxiliary Airfield (No 1); Helendale Auxiliary Airfield (No 2); Mirage Auxiliary Airfield (No 3); and Grey Butte Auxiliary Airfield (No 4). The first, third and fourth auxiliary airfields have been abandoned. The Helendale facility is today the home to a test facility operated by Lockheed Skunk Works.
In addition to the airfield, the building of a large support base was carried out with barracks, various administrative buildings, maintenance shops and hangars.
The station facility consisted of a large number of buildings based on standardized plans and architectural drawings, with the buildings designed to be the “cheapest, temporary character with structural stability only sufficient to meet the needs of the service which the structure is intended to fulfill during the period of its contemplated war use.” To conserve critical materials, most facilities were constructed of wood, concrete, brick, gypsum board and concrete asbestos. Metal was sparsely used. The station was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with not only hangars, but barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops. There were libraries, social clubs for officers and enlisted men, and stores to buy living necessities. Over 250 buildings, together with complete water, sewer, electric and gas utilities, the airfield served over 4,000 military personnel.
Training began in February 1942 on Curtiss AT-9’s, T-6 Texan’s, and AT-17’s for pilots, and AT-11’s and BT-13 Valiant’s for bombardiers. The Army operated an advanced twin-engine pilot training school at the field, its graduated generally flying C-47 Skytrain transports, B-25 Michell or B-26 Marauder medium bombers. The school also trained replacement crew members in the B-25 and B-26. The first class of flying cadets graduated on April 24, 1942.
In addition to the pilot training, a US Army Air Force Bombardier training school was operated. The 516th, 517th and 518th Twin-Engine Flying Training Squadrons being the flying squadrons. Bombardier training was conducted by the 519th, 520th, 521st and 522d Bombardier Training Squadrons. In April 1942, these training squadrons were organized under the 36th Flying Training Wing, which became the main flying operations command and control organization. The first bombardier classes had to practice their target runs at nearby Muroc Army Air Field (later renamed Edwards Air Force Base). The pilots used Highway 395 as a landmark and guide north to the bombing range.
Waco CG-4 Glider pilots were also trained at Victorville Field, with special emphasis on spot-landing and night flying. The gliders were an essential part of the 6 June1944, D-Day invasion as hundreds of gliders carried troops and equipment to strategic landing sites in Normandy, France. To ease the overcrowded runways at Victorville, glider students practiced take-offs and landings at the El Mirage Lakebed and El Mirage Field. There were seven oiled runways on the dusty dry lake and they worked well until the lake bed flooded in January 1943.
In March 1944 a school for P-39 Aircobra single-engine pursuit pilots was established and the following month the 3035th Army Air Forces Base Unit took over the administrative organization of the flight school at the Victorville Air Station.  Bombadiers also began training on B-24 Liberator that year and in September, a radar training school for Bombardiers was established.
In May 1945, with the surrender of Germany, the training at Victorville Field began to slow down, and on 15 August, all training at the base ceased. After the Japanese capitulation, the post commander was notified about 15 September that Victorville was to be placed in a standby status. On October 12, 1945, all flying at the airfield ended and the base was placed on standby status.

(October 13)  Josie Garcia said she is running for a position on the Montclair City Council “because we need to work to create more revenue for the city. We have to find a way to work together with business owners, city residents and community leaders to increase the value of our property, get better schools and raise the bar in the community.”
A commercial real estate broker and the owner of Valgar Realty, Garcia said, “I believe in community involvement. I am a bilingual Latina. With my business knowledge I believe I can represent the people and help the city.”
The major challenge facing Montclair, Garcia said, is “We’ve lost a lot of money. When we lost the redevelopment agency it hurt us. We need to really build a stronger business sector. We need more involvement from everyone. The city is short-staffed in a lot of its departments. To fill those jobs we need to create more revenue. We need to work with the building owners in town to fill the vacancies we have and attract the attention of businesses.
“My vision for the city is we need to work together to build the economy and the community,” Garcia continued. “I believe if we focus on core values such as education, business development, public safety and community improvement, we can build a stronger Montclair. If we insist on these things, we are sure to be paid dividends in the long run with things that will sustain our local community.”
Garcia said she is qualified to serve on the city council because “I am a self-made woman who worked from the bottom up to break through the glass ceiling and the barriers. I struggled to get to where I am. I was born to immigrant parents and was raised by a single mother. I was the first member of my family to graduate from college. I know the struggle the people in Montclair face. I am a commercial real estate broker who has managed properties for fourteen years successfully. I know how to maintain good relations with my clients and build trust. I have strong interpersonal skills and have supervisorial experience. I have a result-oriented mindset and the ability to work independently or in a team setting. Being bilingual in English and Spanish will help me lead successfully in Montclair. I believe my business experience will prove to be a suitable fit for the people of Montclair. I am a hardworking woman. I earned my college degree while working fulltime and raising a family. I have been on both sides of the fence as a resident and business owner.”
Garcia grew up in Los Angeles, and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School. She obtained a degree in business administration from Cal Poly Pomona. She has been active in the Promise Scholars Education Initiative which ensures acceptance at  Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State Bakersfield or Cal Poly for any students from the Ontario Montclair School District who graduate from high school. She is on the executive committee of the Democratic Club of Claremont. She is married with two children.

(October 14)  Susan Simmons said she is running for the Yucca Valley Town Council “because I want to make a difference. I feel the current town council has not been listening to everybody. I know many people are not too happy with their decisions. I want to contribute to the community and listen to everybody. I am an objective person. I have that ability. I am independent politically and I will be able to represent everybody, not just Democrats and not just Republicans. I want to see that everybody has a voice.”
In sizing up the major challenges ahead for the city, Simmons said, “We have a wastewater project that must be completed. That is a huge issue right now for this community.”
Ten years after its November 1991 incorporation, Yucca Valley was notified by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board that the lack of a sewage treatment system had resulted in nitrates accumulating in the water table. Simultaneously, the Hi-Desert Water District, which serves the Yucca Valley community, experienced nitrate traces in district wells. In 2007, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board declared Yucca Valley as a top priority for eliminating the use of septic systems.  In 2011, the town was firmly informed that it had only five years to take a definitive step toward water quality compliance, and the Regional Water Quality Control Board imposed three progressive phases of septic discharge prohibitions on Yucca Valley. Under the state mandate, phase 1 of a wastewater system must be completed or significantly on its way to completion by May 19, 2016 or enforcement action will be initiated. The first phase of the project is to cover the downtown area of Yucca Valley, the area most proximate to the heart of the groundwater basin.  Similarly, phase 2 must be completed or nearly completed by May 19, 2019 and phase 3 must be completed by May 19, 2022. The last two phases lie further out where future concentrated development is most likely to occur.
According to Simmons, “Another challenge According to Simmons, “ Another challenge is  the Yucca Valley Town Council has banned medical marijuana dispensaries. That is forcing people to grow their own. People with cancer cannot do that. Or they have to go to Palm Springs, where it costs them $100 for something that should cost them $60. For someone with a disease like cancer that is not practical. I think we should allow one to two dispensaries and regulate them and allow the tax benefits for the town to accrue to our accounts. We should provide access to this when we are dealing with people who need it medically only. I don’t support 18-year-olds getting medical marijuana. But it should be available in a medical situation. My husband has cerebral palsy and it could help him. We need regulations so that young people cannot get a hold of it.”
Simmons continued, “One issue that has been bothering me is the town is allowing Corporate America to build all over along the main highway corridor, but it is not setting aside any lands for hiking. Currently the town’s idea of open space is a grass park. I would like to see more public wilderness areas. These would benefit our teenagers. I think it would be good for us to have local trails right here and people in town would have access to them. They would be local and people would not have to get a ride to get to them.”
Simmons continued, “Another thing is that our town needs to fill up the empty buildings on the west end of town. I believe this can be achieved by the creation of a downtown partnership with the chamber of commerce. [Governor] Jerry Brown has started a new business incentive program.”
Simmons said she is qualified to serve on the town council because “not only do I possess common sense and integrity, but I have a business and accounting background. As a small business owner, I believe I can represent other business owners. The town needs new blood right now. You have had the same people running the town for way too long. The town needs change. We need change around here. The town needs fresh faces.
“I would like to think I am an honest person,” she said. “I don’t consider myself to be a politician. I’m not making promises. I am going to stick to the issues. I will make my decisions on the issues one by one. This is a nonpartisan election and I will look at things the way they are, objectively. I will make fair decisions. In my personal life, I sometimes research things to death before I do something. I drive my husband crazy that way. I already attend the council meetings. I read the packets to all the meetings. I like being informed. People making decisions need to be informed before making those decisions.”
Simmons was born in Lakewood and attended and graduated from Twentynine Palms High School after her father relocated the family to the High Desert when he was made postmaster in Twentynine Palms. She attended Copper Mountain College, where she studied accounting. She is the owner of Soap Suds Cleaning Service, which she founded in 2002. She has lived in Yucca Valley for 25 years. She is married with one child.

(October 13) Emphasizing that he was “born and raised in Redlands” and that “I have a very successful business here,” Paul Barich said he is now running for city council because he sees it “as the ultimate in volunteering. I am trying to give back to the community that has been so good to me.”
In sizing up what he sees as the major issues and challenges facing Redlands, Barich said, “I feel the major challenges are keeping the city fiscally responsible and encouraging businesses to locate here so we can expand our tax base and maintain our quality of life.”
Barich said the formula he would apply to meet the challenges consists of “making sure our fees are fair so businesses will love to come here. We have to make sure the city maintains its character as a green and beautiful city. We have to go out and recruit businesses and let business owners know this is a great place to do business and that if they come here they will be successful. I think we need to maintain our emerald necklace program, the greenbelt we are trying to complete around Redlands, which shows how unique we are. I think we also need to look into trying to jumpstart our emerging tourism industry.”
The Emerald Necklace is Redlands’ effort to provide urban open space, a collection of parks, orchards, agricultural lands, canyons, river beds, ranches, trails and otherwise undeveloped real estate to serve as a buffer for any further development in Redlands that does take place.
Barich said he has already demonstrated his commitment to Redlands, which he hopes the city’s voters will consider when they go to the polls. He said his business savvy also recommends him for a position on the council. “As a lifelong Redlands resident, I think I know what our community is and how everyone wants our city to be,” he said. “I started and built up a successful business here and I intend to use my business knowledge to make sure the city is operated properly, as opposed to how some cities are run. I have been involved in the community in so many different ways over the last 30 years. I feel most of the residents here know me and trust me. I was on the Redlands Municipal Personnel Advisory Board. I am on the community music association board. I am the gentleman in the white coat who introduces the musicians and the programs during the summer performances. I have been a longtime member of the Redlands Optimist Club. I’m pretty well recognized. This community has been so good to me I feel that I should give something back.”
A graduate of Redlands High, he went on to UCLA where he majored in history. He is the owner of Barich & Associates, an insurance marketing company. He is married with two daughters and two grandchildren.

(October 16) HESPERIA — A father and son from Hesperia, who are already office holders in the High Desert city of 90,173, can’t seem to get enough of politics.
Kelly Gregg is a board member on the Hesperia Recreation and Park District. His son, Cody, is on the Hesperia Unified School District Board of Trustees. When the junior Gregg was elected to the school board in 2012, he was, at the age of 21, the youngest elected official in San Bernardino County.
Now, two years later, his father is vying to join him on the school board, running with Maria Gomez and Marcy Kittinger as one of three challengers who are competing against the three incumbents in the race, Eric Swanson, Hardy Black and Niccole Childs. At the same time, Kelly Gregg is running for reelection to the Recreation and Park District board.
Cody Gregg, who yet has two years remaining on his current term on the school board, is looking to step up to the Hesperia City Council. He has joined with Chris Elvert, Paul Russ Stirling Christiansen, Anthony Rhoades and James Roberts in running for three positions on the city council up for election this year. Incumbents Bill Holland and Russ Blewett are competing to stay in office. Thurston Smith decided not to run.
Neither father nor son appear to be concerned that the combination of their vaunting ambition or their familial association will put voters off. Rather, the continual repetition of the Gregg surname in so many political contexts might be creating a synergy in that it gives both greater name exposure, name recognition, and possibly positive name identification, three factors crucial to an effective campaign.