(September 23) The county has increased the contract it has with the environmental engineering firm working on contamination issues at Chino Airport by $290,000, taking the entire contract amount from $1,695,880 to $1,985,880.
According to James Jenkins, the director of the San Bernardino County Department of Airports, the San Bernardino-based firm of with Tetra Tech, Inc. has already been paid $1,695,880 for historical site assessment, environmental site assessments, environmental compliance audits and the conducting of a monitoring program at Chino Airport.
On October 31, 1990, the Regional Water Quality Board issued Clean-up and Abatement Order No. 90-134 to the county of San Bernardino for suspected contamination of ground water beneath Chino Airport. At that time, it was thought that the groundwater had been contaminated due to past usage of perchloroethylene/trichloroethene.
Perchloroethylene/trichloroethene were solvents that were commonly used in the aeronautic industry from the 1930s until the 1990s.
The county complied with the order by conducting activities at the Chino Airport to identify all potential sources of contamination, characterizing identified source areas, remediating discovered soil contamination; characterizing ground water contamination; monitoring groundwater contamination; and mitigating identified groundwater contamination within the confines of the airport grounds.
On October 17, 2006, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved a $200,000 contract with Tetra Tech, Inc. to conduct a groundwater assessment of the water table at the Chino Airport and investigate possible sources of contamination from the airport property. On September 11, 2007, the board approved a $200,000 amendment to extend the assessment services, including investigation, characterization, testing and quarterly report preparation required to identify and mitigate soil and water contamination together with preparing bid documents for an additional 24 months. The county received a new clean-up and abatement order from the water board in June 2008. That order required the county to conduct investigation, containment and mitigation of volatile organic compounds (VOC) down gradient of the Chino Airport.
In 2008, the county installed nine monitoring wells on and adjacent to Chino Airport to assist in the vertical characterization of the suspected contamination plume.
On September 22, 2009, the board approved a $185,000 amendment to extend the assessment services  with Tetra Tech an additional 12 months to continue its efforts.
In 2010, the county installed 10 additional monitoring wells on and adjacent to the Chino Airport to assist in the horizontal characterization of the VOC impacted groundwater plume.
The game changed  when on the afternoon of July 22, 2010, during trenching for installation of a storm drain pipeline for a new Southern California Edison facility, the first three of what turned out to be 51 drums of what is believed to have been napalm were discovered to have been buried at the airport. The county of San Bernardino Department of Airports was notified and it contacted the county fire department’s hazardous materials division and Tetra Tech.  Tetra Tech retained Double Barrel, a commercial hazardous materials emergency responder, to assess the situation.
Additional drums were discovered that day and by sunset on July 22, 2010, eight buried drums had been removed from the excavation. The drums did not have lids and contained soil on top of a tan resinous material. The contents of the drums were field tested using a chemical identification kit and determined to be a non-explosive, flammable, non-corrosive, organic resin-type material.
Soil samples were delivered to Microbac Laboratory in Riverside for analysis. Microlab determined the drums contained high concentrations of benzene together with lesser amounts of  toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, styrene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, and naphthalene, leading to the conclusion that the tan resinous material was a jellied fuel mixture, most likely napalm. In all, 51 barrels were unearthed.
In 2013, the county increased its contract with Tetra Tech, Inc. to $1,695,880 and extended it through April 30, 2015.
This week, Jenkins told the board of supervisors that Tetra Tech has essentially completed work that exhausts  its previous contract allotment. He asked the board to appropriate another $290,000 to “provide additional funding necessary for the continuation of engineering, testing, monitoring well installation oversight and inspection services resulting from the characterization of a plume of perchloroethylene/trichloroethene (PCE/TCE) contamination extending south of the Chino Airport.”
Based upon Jenkins’ report to the board of supervisors, it is not clear whether there has been any cross-contamination involving the perchloroethylene/trichloroethene and the napalm. His report referenced only the perchloroethylene/trichloroethene contamination.
“The groundwater is suspected to have been contaminated due to past usage of PCE/TCE,” Jenkins wrote. “The county has complied with and continues to comply with this order by conducting activities at the airport to identify all potential sources of contamination; characterize identified source areas; remediate discovered soil contamination; characterize ground water contamination; monitor ground water contamination; and mitigate identified ground water contamination within the confines of the Chino Airport, located at 7000 Merrill Avenue, Chino.”

By Mark Gutglueck
Albert S. White was one of those figures from San Bernardino County’s history who is most closely associated with that section of San Bernardino County no longer within its jurisdiction, i.e., Riverside County.
Indeed, though he was at one time one of San Bernardino County’s elite and a member of its establishment, ultimately he proved a traitor to the county when he joined with the forces that saw Riverside County removed from it.
Though he resides in infamy in San Bernardino County, he is celebrated in Riverside County as one of its founders.
San Bernardino County, which was itself formed when it was de-annexed from Los Angeles County by a legislative act on April 26, 1853, was itself cut up in 1893, when Riverside County gained its independence.
Albert Starett White was born in Belfast, Maine, in 1840. He moved to New York City while still a child. He was mercantilist there during his early manhood. Ill health forced him to leave the metropolis for a more moderate climate.  In January 1876 he crossed the continent and sampled several of the well known health resorts along the Pacific Coast. The coastal climate did him no good; indeed, it seemed to worsen his condition. He ventured inland, seeking a higher altitude and drier climate.  Riverside suited him well. He spent the entire winter there, regaining his strength.
At that point, Riverside numbered fewer than 400 people. He purchased 40 acres of land along what is now Magnolia Avenue. He returned to New York to settle his business affairs there and headed back to California, arriving in Riverside again in the fall of 1876.
With zeal, he undertook the improvement of his barren ranch property, planting there the choicest varieties of fruit trees and vines which he had brought with him from the East Coast.
He established himself as an expert horticulturist and built up one of the most productive nurseries in the small Riverside colony.
Together with a man with the last name Rudisill, Albert White organized the first citrus fair in Riverside. That effort proved a success and he undertook a fundraising campaign to build a suitable structure in which to hold future fairs.
The Citrus Fair Association and the erection of a pavilion was the result of his labors and in all succeeding expositions Mr. White was the leading principal, devoting time, energy and money to the fair’s advancement and success.
Among the endeavors he devoted himself to were the building of the Universalist Church and the Arlington School House. He was a founder of the Library Association and was a library trustee for many years. He had a leading role in the construction of the Carnegie Library Building.  White was also the organizer of the Citizen’s Water Company and its successor, the Riverside Water Company, and he served as a director on each board and as president for one term. He was for several years the vice-president of the Riverside Land Company and was a director at the time of his death. White was one of the original incorporators and directors of the Riverside and Arlington Railway Company. When the State Board of Horticulture was organized, he was appointed to that board for two years by Governor George Clement Perkins as the representative from Southern Californa. White was for four years a trustee of the city of Riverside and for part of that time was president of the board and acting mayor.
In 1887, Mr. White associated himself with Frank A. Miller and entered the real estate and insurance business, in which his firm enjoyed a great success. He was one of the promoters of the Riverside Improvement Company, which, conversely, proved a disastrous failure and his reserves were seriously eroded in trying to make good that enterprise’s indebtedness. One of his most successful enterprises and one which recouped for him some of his previous fortunes, was the White’s Addition Subdivision. White was the pioneer on the east side of the canal, having realized early on the great potential for the development of that section of the city. His addition to Riverside, comprising eighty acres originally owned by the North family, was one of the means by which the borders of the city were enlarged. That part of the city was laid off with sidewalks added and a strip of land specially reserved for shade trees on each side of the street and on the outer side of the sidewalk. The street trees were also planted by White and his associates – W.A. Hayt and C.W. Sylvester. Everything was thus ready for making a very attractive addition to the town in conformity with the movement that in later years became the policy of the city authorities in regard to the planting and care of street trees.
White was elected to the office of San Bernardino County Third District supervisor,  which included the town of Riverside, serving from January 5, 1885 to January 7, 1889. He was again elected in 1891. It was at this point that his perfidy with respect to San Bernardino County reached its zenith, as he actively militated to have Riverside County secede from San Bernardino County. He served as supervisor from January 12, 1892 to August 14, 1893, when Riverside County was officially formed. He continued as supervisor, this time south of the county limits,  serving his new county. During his latter term of office the Box Springs Road on the way to Perris and the eastern part of the county was built. At the time the road was finished, it was one of the best in California.
When the road was planned, White insisted that it run in a straight line from the head of Eighth Street to the front of the grade, as there was at the time a site for a town laid off on the level land to be supplied by water from a tunnel fun into the hill near the original Box Springs. The idea of a town was abandoned when the supply of water proved inadequate.
A monument to White was created with Albert S. White Park, which occupies part of the four blocks situated between Eighth and Tenth, Market and Chestnut Streets.. White donated the land for the park. A deed from the Riverside Land and Irrigating Company contained conditions about it being improved as a park, and White spent several of the last years of his life seeing that its conversion to a park was fulfilled. . He laid the park out, planning its design and landscaping it.  There were features to the park that would have been difficult to duplicate elsewhere, the most noted of which was one of the largest collections of cacti to be found anywhere.
White was the first president of the Rubidoux Hotel Association. In 1889 he was a director of the Loring Opera Stock Company, which gave Riverside the most elegant opera house in Southern California. He was a member of the Huntington Park Association, which had the first auto road installed to the top of Mt. Rubidoux in 1906. He was one of the founders of the Knights of Pythias Lodge in Riverside. White was one of the city of Riverside’s park commissioners. He died on June 21, 1909, while still serving in that capacity.  Unmarried, Mr. White was survived by various cousins and their families.

(September 22)  Trisha Martinez said she is running for city council in Montclair “because I want to keep Montclair a good place for children to play and I want to keep the economy going forward and moving ahead.”
Montclair has been among the most politically stable of San Bernardino County’s 24 cities over the past decade. Its council lineup of Mayor Paul Eaton and council members Bill Ruh, John Dutrey, Leonard Paulitz and Carolyn Raft has held steady over the last several election cycles. Paulitz has opted out of seeking reelection this year, meaning that for the first time in a half generation, the Montclair Council will swear in a new member in December.
Ruh is seeking reelection. Among those seeking election are Josie Garcia, Sean Brunske, Benjamin Lopez, Richard Beltran and Martinez.
Brunske and Beltran vied for election two years ago but were unsuccessful. They were backed by the city’s public safety employee unions and a contingent of city employees who were unhappy with the economies imposed on city workers by city manager Ed Starr during the deepening recession that hit the nation, state and region that began in 2007 and continued for the next half decade.
The current council backed Starr in his formulation of a plan to deal with the city’s fiscal challenges, which included staff reductions and further reductions in benefits provided to surviving city workers. Brunske and Beltran were unable capitalize on the support of city workers to actuate effective campaigns to dislodge either of the incumbents then up for election, Dutrey and Raft.
Martinez is seen as having an approach consistent with the city’s current council.
A major plank in her platform is ensuring the city’s passage of its soon-to-be-revamped five year strategic plan as it has been refined by top management at the guidance of the council.
“The major challenge we are facing as a city is the loss of our redevelopment agency, like every other city,” she said. “Even though we are coming off that loss, thank goodness we have a good city manager who kept our heads above water. We have a $25 million budget with $4 million in reserves. One of our greater challenges is keeping someone from getting elected who would oppose or change the strategic plan. If someone who is not a team player gets elected who doesn’t understand the necessity of moving forward, one mistake could cause us a problem and end up costing the city millions of dollars. I am the only one running other than Bill Ruh who understands the importance of going forward with the strategic plan. The others have not been involved. They started attending the city council meetings after they decided to run for the council. I have been attending the meetings long before I even thought of running.”
Martinez made an oblique reference to the tension underlying the surface at City Hall involving past layoffs and the reduction of city employee benefits.
“When we lost our redevelopment agency, our employees had to start paying their own pension contributions,” she said. “That created a little bit of animosity. They are now paying their share. We are recovering financially as a city and are moving forward. Perhaps [the employees covering their own pension costs] is an issue in the minds of those who were reluctant to pay. I don’t want that to interfere with the camaraderie of Montclair. I see that everybody is willing to keep sacrificing to make Montclair a good city. In the 24 years I have lived in Montclair, there have been ups and downs, but the people are still there very strong in their sense of community. One minor challenge that we might still have some employees who are still bitter and that could affect their morale. I pray for them every day. As the city’s finances get better, we might be able to compensate them for the sacrifices they are making.”
On her ballot designation, Martinez is listed as a community volunteer.
She has been active in the Ontario-Montclair Junior Women’s Club, including its Eastern Extravaganza event and its annual scholarship program. She is also the liaison between Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School and the Montclair Chamber of Commerce.
“I want to give back to the community,” Matinez said. “After it became known Leonard Paulitz wasn’t going to run, people approached me and asked if I would use the opportunity to run. I have been active in several community based organizations, including working with senior citizens and I was concerned there might be a conflict. I asked the city manager about it and he consulted an attorney. He called me back a few days later and said, ‘You’re good to go.’ I am running because I believe I am qualified. I am informed. I am ready to make a difference. I want to make this city better for our children. I am ready to go ahead with Montclair’s five-year plan.”
She attended high school in Anaheim and Oregon. She studied at Chaffey College and USC and California Southern University. She is married with two children.

(September 22)  After 30 years on the Colton Planning Commission, Richard Prieto is seeking voters’ approval to transition to the city council.
With councilwoman Susan Oliva having chosen not to seek reelection as District 4 councilwoman, Prieto is running to fill the void. Luis Gonzalez is also vying for the seat.
“I have been a commissioner for 30 consecutive years,” said Prieto. “In that time I’ve worked with all of the different council members, eleven city managers, several city attorneys and all the different department heads. I was able to work with all of them at all times. With the 30 years of experience I have gained I believe I can get into City Hall and show what I can do.”
Colton’s major issue is economic development, Prieto said, and the biggest challenge is “bringing more business here. We are getting a new Starbucks. LA Fitness is opening. More homes are being built in the La Loma Hills. That’s a start. Hopefully, if I am elected, I can convince businesses to come here. We are the hub of the Inland Empire. We have land that is right up against the freeway. With our economic development program, we can offer them good deals. It is a little bit harder now that we have lost our redevelopment agency to the state. But I am sure we can do it by offering these companies economic incentives to come here.”
Prieto said he is qualified to serve on the council by “the fact that I have thirty years’ experience in city government and I know my district. I have been in my district my whole life. Anyone can say they know what it takes to represent this district and Colton, but I have been a planning commissioner for thirty years, looking at housing and zoning and development of all sorts. I am well aware of the things that are going on in the city. I am on top of the issues that could bring in more development.”
Moreover, Prieto said, he embodies the right attitude when it comes to representing his fellow residents.
“I listen to the people,” he said. “A lot of people have had some issues and they have brought them to me. I have responded to their needs. I will continue to have an open door policy and will respond to them, so they can be comfortable in the knowledge that I care about them. I am going to make my cell phone number public. You can deal with me on a one to one basis. I will have my email address published. The people of District 4 can write to me about their concerns. I am not elected yet, but I want people to know that if I am elected I will let them know everything about the city and its decisions and action that I can. I am not going to make promises I cannot keep but I will tell the people of Colton the truth, whether they like to hear it or not.
A 1967 Colton High School graduate, Prieto served in the U.S. Army. After his discharge he worked at Bendix homes as a lead worker in the cabinet shop. He was later a car man with the Southern Pacific Railroad, worked in the Parks Department with the city of Rialto, and was a delivery driver with Seven-Up and Yellow Freight Systems. He is married with four children.

(September 23) Charles McHenry is running for Yucca Valley Town Council, he said, “because I love the community and with everything going on I thought I’d step forward.”
There are many issues the city faces, McHenry said, and he adjudged the demands being placed upon it by the State’s Water Quality Control Board as the most critical.
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.
“I’d like to take care of the big sewer issue that is coming, get a plan in place and get it moving forward,” McHenry said.
McHenry acknowledged that “it is going to be expensive.” He said that technically, the town is not the lead agency with regard to the construction of the water treatment system.
“The water district has to take care of that and the financial burden,” he said, “unless the town decides it wants to take over for the district. I am not in favor of the town putting out a tax measure, as I don’t think it would be a good idea at this time. Maybe down the road. But I think the town can apply for grants and work to help the water district. They should do that to see the project gets done. The town and the district need to work closely together to make this smoother and easier for the town’s citizens.”
A secondary issue, McHenry said, is revitalizing Old Town Yucca Valley.
“I’d like to see it a little more developed,” he said. “There is infrastructure that needs to be taken care of. There are a lot of people in town whose voices are not being heard. The town council needs to talk with the business owners to find out what the Old Town area business owners want. The council is not listening to them. I have. There are a lot of tourists who come through town who do not see our Old Town area. We could bring money in here rather than it going to the next town down the road.”
McHenry, who has served on Yucca Valley’s general plan advisory committee and its traffic commission, said he believes he is qualified to serve on the city council in that “I have served on a civic committee and commission and the boards of nonprofits in Yucca Valley and worked well with people. I have voted for things that passed and did not pass. I know it doesn’t have to be my way. It has to be best for what is in the town’s interest. I am an average citizen of the town. I am used to living with the things here, like the other voters. Sometimes the right choices aren’t always the easy ones.”
McHenry grew up in the Sacramento area and attended American River College. He served for six years in the Navy. He works for the U.S. Marine Corps as a civilian employee. He is married with two children.

(September 25) Gino Filippi said he is seeking reelection the Upland City Council “to promote financial stability and protect Upland’s quality of life through a balanced budget that will work to rebuild emergency reserves, promotion of policies designed to both attract and retain businesses and responsible management of our public services in order to ensure dependable public safety.”
Filippi said the major issues facing the city include revamping its financial circumstance, rebuilding reserves, economic development, maintaining public safety, pension reform and addressing the large number of homeless people within city limits.
Financial revitalization can come, Filippi said, by the city adhering to “a financial recovery plan was drafted and presented by (former) City Manager Stephen Dunn. The plan was reviewed and endorsed by a 10 member Fiscal Response Task Force Committee.”
Filippi said, “I am focused on keeping established businesses and attracting new business to grow sales tax revenues within the city. Last year, the BIA (Building Industry Association) recognized the City of Upland’s efforts to improve customer service with an award of excellence. Over the next 12 months Upland will experience continued retail sales growth at Colonies Crossroads, new housing developments along the Foothill corridor and near Upland’s Metrolink Station and historic downtown.”
Filippi, who has been in office since 2010 and has had support from the city’s various employees’ unions, including the Upland Police Officers Association, was less optimistic about the city’s ability to deal effectively with one of its gravest financial challenges, tha is, its unfunded pension liability, the product of what many officials now recognize as overly generous commitments to city employees with regard to their retirement benefits. The pension problem consists not just in the size of the pensions themselves, which in many cases will exceed $100,000 per year to city retirees for the rest of their lives, but the consideration that the employees are not contributing anything toward those pension plans themselves. Rather, the pensions are funded entirely by the city’s taxpayers, who pay the city’s contribution and what years ago was considered to have been the employees’ contributions. At present, the pension costs represent over $6 million of the city’s $39 million annual general fund budget. That cost is growing. For the city to buy its way out of the California Public Employees Retirement System, it would have to pay out over $90 million.
“Unlike the private sector where pension and/or salary schedules can be changed at anytime for work not yet performed (except for new hires not yet under contract) the public job in California is protected by law that can only be changed by a vote of the people at the ballot box,” Filippi asserted. “This is a concern for most all cities. Upland has however made changes in how services are delivered and has entered into new agreements with both employee groups and private firms which have resulted in savings of nearly 3 million dollars over the past 12 months. This is a work in progress and will continue to be perused.”
Filippi said he is committed to “maintaining responsible public safety.” He said, “As in many cities throughout our county, we have experienced increased calls for police, fire/paramedic, and public works services in the midst of state takeaways, budget cuts, and lingering effects of the recent recession. I remain dedicated to ensure responsible management of our public safety services in order to protect our quality of life and promote financial stability. I understand that Upland residents and businesses embrace having their own police and fire/paramedic services.”
Filippi said, “Upland finds itself as one of our County’s leading populations of homeless. Our city has limited resources available to assist those that are truly in need. Local outreach and faith-based organizations are also having difficulties and this coupled with the cutbacks in services and funds from the state and federal government has only made the situation worse. I am concerned with the criminal element that takes advantage of and victimizes defenseless women, children and men that cannot care for, or protect themselves. Personally, I believe we need to focus more on the newly homeless and helping them and I continue to work toward this effort.”
He merits being reelected, Filippi said.
“Since first being elected as the reform candidate to City Council in 2010, I have worked diligently on behalf of residents and businesses making difficult budget and policy decisions while remaining focused on keeping our neighborhoods safe and demanding fiscal responsibility. I not only bring a business approach to City Hall, I understand local government from the vantage point of both a resident and a business owner who has worked extensively with government on private/public projects. Partnerships and outsourcing of some services is good sense for a city the size of Upland.”
Filippi concluded, “Unlike many politicians I am always willing to listen and handle my constituents concerns without delay. I’m easily accessible and work hard to bring timely results. Whatever the case may be, I lead, correct, or advise to resolve problems.”

The Painted Lady is a medium to large butterfly, with a wing span of two to three-and-a-half inches. They are identified by the black and white corners of their mainly deep orange, black-spotted wings. They sport five white spots in the black forewing tips and while the orange areas may be pale here and there, there are no clean white dots in them. The hindwings carry four small submarginal eyespots on dorsal and ventral sides. Those on the dorsal side are black, but in the summer sometimes manifest small blue pupils. There are different types of Painted Ladies, but in California the  West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella) is the most prolific. West Coast Painted Ladies do  not have obvious ventral eyespots. On the dorsal side, annabella lacks a white dot in the subapical orange found in other butterflies, and is a purer orange color. Vanessa annabella has a fully orange subapical band and leading edge on the forewing. The submarginal row of hindwing spots in annabella features three or four blue pupils. The two larger pupils in annabella are the inner spots, rather than the outer spots as in other butterflies
The lifespan of a Painted Lady Butterfly is 2–4 weeks.
The life of a Painted Lady  begins when the female oviposits (lays an egg) onto a host plant. Eggs are laid, usually, singularly on the tops of the host plant leaves¸ though on occasion eggs will be laid  one on top of another or, more rarely, in clusters. Eggs are a light green color and somewhat barrel-shaped. They have horizontal lines that go from tip to bottom. After four days or so, a caterpillar will hatch from the egg. After it has emerged, it will turn around and go back to eat the chorion or outer eggshell. This first meal provides the larva with protein. It will then feast upon the leaf upon which the egg had been laid.
First instar Painted Ladies are extremely small. They soon sprout bristles and the head shrinks a bit to become more proportional to the rest of the body. Soon little white ‘dots’  form at the base of some of the bristles in the next instar. Molting, or the shedding of skin takes place in several stages. With each successive molt, it grows larger and the larval features become distinctly different. the larval period lasts ten to thirteen days. By the fourth instar, the caterpillars grow very bristley and thicken. A white  stripe is visible  along its side and spiracles, which appear as little spots on the caterpillar’s sides, form. They are part of its respiratory or breathing system.
Soon, the larva will be ready to pupate. As do most brush-foot butterflies, the Painted Lady to deter predators will find a spot usually a distance away from its host plant upon which to pupate.
A silken button will be made and the caterpillar will suspend from its last prolegs in a ‘j’ position with its head hanging downward. It can take upwards of 24 hours for this final larval molt. A little black blob will attached to the chrysalis or on the ground nearby. This is the remaining exuvia, the final ‘molt’ from the caterpillar stage. It will include the head capsule of the caterpillar. The chrysalis or pupa is a non-descript brownish or tan colour with gold flecks. Close inspection will show  the spiracles and other features of the soon-to-be butterfly.
To stand off predators, the pupa may begin to rapidly jiggle.
In about ten days, the pupa will begin to change color and then a butterfly will eclose. It will take about an hour for the butterfly to fully expand its wings. The wings are very soft and unsupportive. They will require time to ‘harden.’
An orange-red liquid will often be found either in the exuvia (chrysalis ‘shell’) or on the ground. This is called meconium and is the waste material from the pupa. It is not blood as butterflies do not have blood; they have what is called hemolymph.
During the time the wings are drying, the proboscis (tongue tubes) will uncoil and recoil, as the imago (adult butterfly) readies itself to go out into the world to begin its 2-week or so life to procreate.
Each Spring, Painted Lady butterflies begin migrating northward, much like the ‘famous’ Monarchs. In California, every few years, particularly after an El Niño, there is a massive migration of Painted Ladies that will come up from Mexico. The rains from the El Niño help to increase the growth and number of host plants, and the Painted Ladies will then have a large number of options upon which to oviposit eggs as they travel. Although they migrate annually, it is during these El Nino seasons where they become highly noticeable, with hundreds of them traveling together, en masse.
The adult Painted Lady nectars on many plants, especially the composite flowers of the Asteraceae plant family. Favored nectar sources include thistle, aster, cosmos, blazing star, ironweed, and joe-pye weed. Painted Lady caterpillars feed on a variety of host plants, particularly thistle, mallow, and hollyhock.
The Painted Lady’s mottled colors look much like military camouflage, and provide effective cover from potential predators. The small caterpillars hide in their silk nests.
The Painted Lady inhabits open meadows and fields, disturbed areas and roadsides, and generally any sunny place that provides appropriate nectar and host plants.
Painted Ladies can cover a lot of ground, up to 100 miles per day during their migration. A painted lady is capable of reaching a speed of nearly 30 miles per hour. Painted ladies reach northern areas well ahead of some of their more famous migrating cousins, like the monarch butterflies.
Male painted ladies actively patrol their territory for receptive females in the afternoon. Should he find a mate, he will usually retreat with his partner to a treetop, where they will mate overnight.

By clicking on the portal below, you can download a PDF of the September 19 San Bernardino County Sentinel.

This week the paper has articles about:

* Christina Talley’s removal as city attorney in Colton after a series of miscues and errors that embarrassed the city council and endangered the city’s current contract for legal representation with the law firm of Best Best & Krieger;

* The latest in a series of rulings by Federal Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury favoring the city of San Bernardino against its various creditors following its 2012 filing for Chapter Nine bankruptcy protection;

* The city of Hesperia’s extension of discounts it is making to its developer impact fees in an effort to spur further growth in the city of 90,000 plus;

* The candidacies of Rod McAuliffe for city council in Upland, Bill Hanlon for city council in Rancho Cucamonga, Jermaine Wright for mayor in Adelanto, John Harrison Montgomery for city council in Redlands, Walt Stanckiewitz for mayor in Grand Terrace; Greg Bogh and Tom Powell for city council in Yucaipa, and Ed Graham for city council in Chino Hills; and

* Nicholas Bourikas’ resignation from the Twentynine Palms Water District Board of Directors.

As always, the Sentinel includes its county history column, its wildlife column and Grace Bernal’s column on fashion trends in Southern California

Sentinel 09-19-14

(September 18) Christina Talley has been relieved of her position as Colton city attorney, the Sentinel  has learned.
The move comes after a series of acts or omissions by Talley that has put the contract for legal representation between Colton and the firm for which Talley works, Best Best & Krieger, in jeopardy.
Earlier this year, former Colton city manager Stephen Compton had given indication that the city was contemplating carrying out a review of its contract for legal services with Best Best & Krieger, to be accompanied by a solicitation of proposals from other firms or attorneys to determine whether the legal services being provided by Talley and Best Best & Krieger were cost effective, and whether comparable, or better, legal service could be had at a lower cost.
Ironically, Talley’s reaction to that circumstance, together with other issues, exacerbated the situation.
In Colton, as in other cities, members of the city council and city staff rely upon the city attorney for guidance with regard to staying within the parameters of the law.
The California Government Code, the Political Reform Act, and multiple other provisions of state law impose limitations on how a local government can operate. In addition, California cities are generally of two orders: general law cities, which follow a standard protocol of governance, and charter cities, which are subject to voter approved charters of their authority that lay down a protocol of governance that is particular to that city. City attorneys are called upon to make interpretations as to general law or municipal charters, where they apply. A goal in the provision of this advice is to bring a city into compliance with the law to prevent legal challenges to the city’s action or to ensure that the city will prevail legally if there is such a challenge. The city attorney in most circumstances is called upon to represent the city in those cases where a legal challenge ensues.
One primary law applicable to cities is the Ralph M. Brown Act, California’s Open Meeting Law, which sets standards with regard to the transparency of the governing process, and spells out the requirements a city and its officials must meet if it or they want to restrict the public flow of information with regard to official municipal action. Such secrecy is permissible only under strictly defined conditions, such as when the information pertains to labor negotiations, personnel matters, contract negotiations, real estate selling or acquisition negotiations, or pending or ongoing legal action.
Among the problems relating to Talley’s performance in Colton are those areas where it appears the city fell out of compliance with the Brown Act. The Brown Act requires that items to be discussed and voted upon by the city council be agendized prior to council meetings so that the public is given notice of the pending action and can provide input before the council takes official action with regard to it. Talley allowed non-agendized items to be discussed by the council, including ones where an apparent consensus was arrived at.
One of the more egregious examples of Talley’s failure to adhere to the law occurred at the June 3 council meeting, at which a decision to place Compton on administrative leave was made.
Compton’s inquiry into questionable financial practices, including “off-the-books” projects in the public works department in the previous months brought him close to uncovering details of how certain projects were funded, including several unauthorized projects which were being run out of the public works department.  This brought scrutiny to the actions of public works director Amer Jakher, who enjoyed a close relationship with a majority, though not all, of the members of the city council.
This brought scrutiny to the actions of public works director Amer Jakher, who enjoyed a close relationship with a majority, though not all, of the members of the city council.
In the same time frame, some council members were pushing Compton to examine the city’s contract with  Best, Best & Krieger and Talley, and potentially put the contract for city legal services out to bid.
With Compton’s audit coming so close to the questionable use of city personnel, equipment, resources and funds,  which in at least two cases appeared to possibly benefit council members, and a move to perhaps bring in new legal counsel, the city council at its April 1, May 23 and June 3 regularly scheduled meetings adjourned into closed sessions to engage in, according to those meetings’ published agendas, “public employee performance evaluation[s] pursuant to Government Code Section 54957 Title:  City Manager.” After closed door discussions from which the public was excluded at each of those three council sessions, the mayor and council returned without the city attorney giving any indication of reportable action. Two days after the June 3 meeting, however, toward the end of the business day, Compton was informed that he was being placed on administrative leave. He was then abruptly and ignominiously walked out of City Hall by a plain clothes police officer.
No council meeting, closed or open, was held between June 3 and June 5, the day Compton was suspended. It thus appears that Talley misinformed the public when she said the council had taken no reportable action on June 3.
Subsequently, when questions about the action taken against Compton surfaced, the public was met with statements that no information could be provided to the public because it was a confidential personnel issue. It was disclosed, however, that the city was carrying out an investigation into Compton’s action as city manager.
In July, a group of Colton residents filed a complaint with the city to investigate alleged irregularities in the city’s public works department alleging potential misappropriation of public funds, gift of public funds and misuse of public funds which benefitted two city council members. The citizens provided documentation indicating that the “off the books” activity, i.e., work that had not been considered or approved by the city council, had indeed taken place in the public works division. That request was moved forward by police chief Steve Ward, who was then acting in the capacity of city manager during Compton’s absence. Chief Ward initiated an investigation and personally forwarded the request to Talley. The investigation was handed over to another Best Best & Krieger attorney, Ronald Ball, who is “of counsel” with the firm. Several weeks later it was discovered that Talley, however, neglected to provide Ball with the background documentation that had been provided to the city by the group of residents requesting the investigation. Thus, the investigation failed to focus on the “off-the-books” activity in the public works department that was at the root of the concerns expressed by the citizens group, and the final report reflected an incorrect timeline of events which discredited its conclusion that two of the members of the council, Frank Gonzales and Susan Oliva, had not benefited from the misapplication of resources in the public works department.
Ball spurned the Sentinel’s efforts to obtain his version of events with regard to the materials withheld from him during his investigation of the Colton matter.
Last month, city staff removed from the city’s website information pertaining to the city’s policy relating to the construction of speed humps, including the protocol for getting those items approved, which had been authored by Jakher as the city’s public works director. An inquiry into that action prompted the city clerk’s office to disclose that the information had been removed at the city attorney’s direction. Talley does not have authority to alter the city’s website.
Beginning in August, Talley became less and less visible in Colton. She was replaced in some venues by Marco Martinez, a partner with Best Best & Krieger. In fact, Talley’s mishandling of the Colton account appears to have impacted her standing with Best Best & Krieger, which now appears to be in danger of losing Colton as a client altogether. Talley, who formerly had an office in Best Best & Krieger’s Irvine office, where she was formerly listed as an “associate,” has been consistently unavailable at that location since August. She is no longer listed as an “associate,” but is now deemed to be “of counsel,” an indication Best Best & Krieger is seeking to disassociate itself from her.
The final straw which set the stage for Talley’s departure appears to be events at the September 2 council meeting. Talley violated attorney-client privilege by publicly disclosing the results of the investigation initiated by the Colton citizens without seeking the approval of the full council. Councilman Frank Gonzales, one of the two council members alleged to have benefited as result of the “off-the-books” activity in the public works department, convinced Talley to discuss the investigation’s results publicly during his council comments, which not only violated attorney-client privilege, but appears to have violated the Brown Act as well since discussion took place on a non-agendized item.
This disclosure further violated Compton’s right to confidentiality with regard to his status and performance as a city employee/former employee.
During questioning by the council, Talley went on to disclose that the results of the investigation would be made available to the public, once again bypassing attorney-client privilege. She also indicated that the investigation into the public works portion of the complaint was ongoing, which contradicted information provided by Ball.
Within the last two weeks, Best Best & Krieger has brought Carlos Campos, a partner in the firm and the city attorney for the city of Coachella, in to serve as the acting city attorney of Colton. Indications were that Campos, who speaks Spanish and has published articles with regard to international human rights law, was handpicked by the higher powers within Best Best & Krieger to shore up the firm’s relationship with Colton officials in an effort to salvage the contract for legal services the firm has with Colton.
Marco Martinez did not return any of several phone calls seeking input for this article.

(September 17)  RIVERSIDE—In federal bankruptcy court, the city of San Bernardino continues to rack up victories that in total have begun to chip away at what public employee unions and the massive state public employee pension system have long maintained are their sacrosanct status immunizing them from responsibility in the financial crisis precipitated by too-generous public employee contracts in the past.
Over the last several years, many California cities and governmental agencies are beset with dwindling revenues, an outgrowth of the long stagnating national, state and regional economies. Nearly all municipalities and governmental agencies have seen some drawdown in services provided to constituents and taxpayers. Many of those agencies have experienced layoffs. Others still have negotiated employee givebacks on contracts or less generous contracts going forward.
In the face of all of this, public employee union representatives as well as the representatives of CalPERS, the California Public Employees Retirement System, have asserted that a deal is a deal, and that any contractual commitments made by cities or agencies to their employees or those employees’ bargaining units are etched in stone and cannot be rescinded, even if the financial means to make good on those commitments are drying up. Simultaneously, there have been multiple exposés about how public employees participating in CalPERS and other public employee pension systems  have utilized pension spiking to inflate the pensions they receive to annual payouts that exceed the amount of salary those employees were paid during their highest earning year while actually working. This practice, which was outlawed by the state of California in 1938, proliferated nonetheless. An employee would pension spike by waiting until he or she had been promoted to a high position, thereby receiving a high salary, and at that time collect deferred vacation time payouts, sick leave payouts, education coverage payouts, communication device payouts, clothing payouts, travel payouts, computer payouts and the like. During that year, the employee’s total compensation would reach an amount that in some cases exceeded 150 percent or approached 200 percent of his or her highest salary. That total compensation for that year would then be used to calculate the amount of that individual’s pension. In this way, former San Bernardino County Undersheriff Richard Beemer is drawing an annual pension of $290,901.96, even though his highest annual salary was $196,000.
In 2012, the pension spiking scandal had resonated so loudly that the state legislature outlawed its use by any public employees hired on January 1, 2013 or thereafter. CalPERS has nonetheless maintained that its retirees are due the pensions they qualify for under whatever formulas were said to be in place at the time those employees applied for them.
CalPERS lawyers have been leashed upon any entities, public or private, which maintain differently.
The bankruptcy filings of three major California cities – Stockton, Vallejo and San Bernardino – set the stage for whether the guarantees provided to public employees that they can collect on their benefits – no matter how generous – are as ironclad as their representatives state.
After years of financial challenges, San Bernardino filed a Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition in August 2012. In its filing, the county seat asserted it had $180 million in ongoing unfunded liabilities and a $49 million annual operating deficit. Shortly thereafter,  CalPERS contested the city’s filing, maintaining San Bernardino has hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets it could liquidate to make good on its responsibility to its creditors.
CalPERS is San Bernardino’s largest creditor. The city currently has a $26 million annual obligation to the retirement system and it withheld more than $14 million in pension fund payments from July 2012 until July of 2013 and has continued to underpay CalPERS the amount the system’s administrators maintain is continuously due it. The city has offered to make partial payments into the system until such time as it gets back on its feet financially. Even more alarming to CalPERS was the city’s effort to forge a long-term solution that includes renegotiating the amount of its commitment to the retirement system altogether.
CalPERS deemed such an eventuality unacceptable, as it would set a precedent in California of allowing municipalities in financial straits to stiff the pension system. Moreover, the reduction of the pensions of retired or soon-to-retire employees in cities seeking to dodge their commitments to the system could severely undercut the faith of the state’s public employees in the system, a crisis of confidence that could lead to the system’s demise.
In addition to opposing San Bernardino’s bankruptcy petition outright, CalPERS asserted that the pension fund system has a special status among the city’s creditors and that it should go to the front of the line when the city begins to pay those to whom it is in arrears. The federal bankruptcy judge overseeing San Bernardino’s bankruptcy filing, Judge Meredith Jury, did not accept that, ruling that CalPERS has no greater or lesser standing than the scores of other entities the city owes money to.
Moreover, Jury consistently ruled that San Bernardino is as insolvent as it claims. In August 2013, she ruled that the city’s bankruptcy should be granted pursuant to a pendency plan by which the city continues to pay its employees and other expenses critical to its day-to-day operations but services its other debts on the basis of the limited financial means available to it.
CalPERS wanted out of Jury’s courtroom and previously pressed for leave to appeal the matter to another judge, a request Jury denied.
CalPERS took a writ to U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, where Judge Dolly Gee granted the pension fund’s request to appeal Jury’s findings directly to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
While the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s request to have the 9th Circuit here the case was pending, further efforts at mediation between the city of San Bernardino and CalPERS continued under the guidance of a court-appointed mediator, Judge Gregg Zive.
The mediation between the city and CalPERS was not the only touchy issue that grew out of the bankruptcy. The city is also involved in delicate negotiations with creditors, bondholders, service providers and vendors, as well as city employee bargaining groups.
In May, Jury expressed dismay at the lack of progress in the mediation talks and said the delay in coming to a workable arrangement with CalPERS was preventing the city from coming to terms with  both its police and fire unions, which have disputes with the city over the declining revenue available for public safety employee salaries.
In June came word that the attorneys for the city and CalPERS had arrived at some form of tentative agreement that will allow the city’s bankruptcy reorganization plan to proceed, though the terms remain secret.
A terse case status update noted that the terms of the agreement were in Zive’s possession, and an early draft of the agreement had been provided to attorneys for the city’s employee unions and the legal representatives of the city’s other creditors. That document was subject to the confidentiality restrictions imposed by Jury with regard to the mediation effort, such that no public disclosure of any of the agreement’s particulars has been made.
That secrecy is an indication that the terms worked out were less than absolutely favorable to CalPERS, and that the confidentiality is being maintained to limit damage to the pension system’s position in any future bankruptcy proceedings.
This week, Judge Jury entered two tentative decisions that favored the city in its ongoing efforts to come to terms with the union for its firefighters.
In the first of those, Jury tossed out the current bargaining agreement between firefighters and the city, giving the city authority to impose a new contract not agreed to by the firefighting rank and file. The city appealed to Jury by telling her it wanted to jettison the existing contract to allow it to opt out of a mandatory constant staffing protocol and instead institute selective minimum staffing during shifts when those firefighters’ presence is not critical, thereby saving up to $4 million in overtime pay the city shells out to firefighters in a typical year. The city also asked Jury to allow it to mandate that firefighters pay the retirement contributions that the city until January 2013 paid toward the firefighters pensions.
Jury’s ruling gave the city the flexibility to float the proposals but did not lock them in, at least as of yet. Jury said the city would need to abide by, at least for now, a city charter provision that requires city public safety employee salaries stay at an average of what is paid their counterparts in ten other similarly sized California cities. That charter provision is going before city voters in November for possible revision.
Jury also tentatively rejected the firefighter union’s motion to be let out from under a stay that prohibits the filing of a suit against the city while its bankruptcy is pending. Firefighters wanted leave to file a suit because their attorneys maintain the city had violated certain provisions of state law pertaining to the conduct of negotiations.