(April 3)  The Rancho Cucamonga City Council on April 2 adopted a resolution calling upon the managers of the court system in San Bernardino County to preserve its branch courts unless it can be demonstrated the closures will result in a savings of at least ten percent of the court system’s budget.
That resolution calls into question the wisdom of San Bernardino County Superior Court Presiding Judge Marsha Slough’s proposed court realignment.
The realignment will entail transferring all civil cases countywide to the new San Bernardino Justice Center, an eleven story edifice with 35 courtrooms now in the final stages of completion. In addition, San Bernardino district criminal cases, now being heard in the San Bernardino Central Courthouse built in 1927, will be tried in the new San Bernardino Justice Center.
West Valley Superior Courthouse in Rancho Cucamonga, which currently is the venue for both civil and criminal cases originating on the west end of the county, will be devoted almost entirely  to criminal cases, including those arising on the county’s west end and other felony and misdemeanor cases from the county’s central district which are currently routed to the Fontana Courthouse.  A small portion of the criminal cases now heard in Fontana will be adjudicated in San Bernardino. At least temporarily, hearings on both civil and domestic violence restraining order matters will be heard at the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse.
The historic San Bernardino Courthouse will remain as the forum for the family law cases it currently hosts and will soon serve as the venue for the family law cases presently heard in Rancho Cucamonga.
The Fontana Courthouse will become the stage for all small claims, landlord tenant disputes and traffic/non-traffic infractions from the San Bernardino, Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga districts. The lion’s share of criminal cases now being heard in Fontana will transfer to Rancho Cucamonga. A lesser number of the Fontana criminal cases will go to San Bernardino.
The Victorville Courthouse will remain a venue for High Desert family law cases.
These changes are due to go into effect next month, when the San Bernardino Justice Center is given its certificate for occupancy.
Far flung San Bernardino County, which spans more than 20,000 square miles, is the largest county in the lower 48 states, with a land mass greater than the states of Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Connecticut combined. The logistical burden on many of the county’s citizens who need to access the courts will be tremendous. Driving distance from Needles to San Bernardino, which will host the only courtrooms in the county where civil cases will be heard, is 212 miles, with an average one-way traveling time of three hours and nine minutes.
Rancho Cucamonga was the first city in the county to take an official stand in opposition to the proposed realignment.
The city council unanimously endorsed the resolution and gave direction to city staff to carry the resolution to local members of the state legislature and insist on a response from them.  The council further directed Mayor Dennis Michael to take up the court realignment issue with the San Bernardino Association of Governments, the county’s transportation agency and regional planning board which has as its voting directors mayors or council members from each of the county’s 24 cities as well as all five members of the board of supervisors.
Among those who spoke at the meeting about the importance of access to justice and preserving local courts were several attorneys, including Liz Courtney; Richard Anderson, who was formerly Upland’s mayor; and former president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association Jim Banks. Also addressing the council was Marsha Meek Banks, a certified public accountant. Courtney, a family law attorney, said the realignment would place undue hardships upon and potentially legally disenfranchise individuals with family law cases. Anderson decried the change which he said would inhibit court access to residents of the West End communities. Jim Banks asserted that the realignment will produce little in cost savings and achieve only limited administrative and managerial efficiency at much greater expense in terms of logistical challenges and inconvenience to tens of thousands of county residents. Marsha Meek Banks spoke of the dangers lawyers and litigants will experience in San Bernardino, where the lack of parking at or near the newly constructed courthouse will require that those using the courthouse park in and then traverse by foot a crime-infested neighborhood.
The day before the council meeting, Dennis Stout, who was formerly both the mayor of Rancho Cucamonga and the district attorney of San Bernardino County; John Mannerino, another former president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association who was on the Rancho Cucamonga  Planning Commission for 5 years.; and Jim Banks met with Mayor Dennis Michael and his council colleague Sam Spagnolo. During that meeting, the Sentinel has learned, Stout and Mannerino spoke forcefully and frankly about the realignment as one that was ill-advised and being unilaterally imposed without adequate input from those it will impact.
That presentation had an apparent deep impact on Michael and Spagnolo. At the following night’s council meeting, council members repeatedly emphasized the need for all of the affected cities in the county to coalesce in opposition to the realignment.
Efforts are now under way, the Sentinel has learned, to encourage other city councils to pass similar resolutions to the one ratified by the Rancho Cucamonga City Council Wednesday evening.

(April 3)   Grand Terrace City Councilwoman Sylvia Robles said this week she had moved her personal political timetable forward to enter the race to succeed Norma Torres as state senator in the 20th District.
Robles, who has been on the Grand Terrace City Council just 16 months, said she was interested in higher office but was prepared to wait until term limits created a logical jumping point into the state legislature further down the road.
Torres, the former Pomona mayor who had gone on to the Assembly and then moved up into California’s upper legislative house when Gloria Negrete-McLeod departed the California Senate to claim her current position in Congress after her 2012 victory over former Congressman Joe Baca, is now set to depart the state Senate to run for Negrete-McLeod seat..
“Because of the domino effect with Gloria McLeod leaving Congress and Norma running for her spot, that left an opening for me,” Robles said. “I felt the East Valley has been underepresented in the past and the emergence of this open position and the demographics are favorable for me at this point. I believe I can better represent the community by stepping into the state senate seat. [Assemblywoman] Cheryl Brown did not step up and I think 12 years is too long for me to wait until there is another opening like this. I might not get another chance soon.”
Competing with Robles for the post, which represents Pomona, Ontario, Chino, Fontana, Rialto, Colton, West San Bernardino, Grand Terrace, Muscoy and Bloomington, are Connie Leyva, Matthew Munson, Shannon O’Brien, and Alfonso Sanchez.
Robles said the major issues facing the district are “job creation and retention, looking at pension reform, and budget stabilization at the state level.”
Upon getting into office, Robles said, “My first job would be to make sure all of our finances are in order. In the Inland Empire we are still suffering from a lack of recovery in the housing market. We are still having a difficult time attracting high paying and intensive skill jobs. The only other parts of the economy that remain healthy here are companies involved in the service industry and warehousing. I would address and make sure our labor is adequately compensated and there is no abuse in those industries. In warehousing in particular there is abuse where employers are giving employees half shifts, in some cases seven full days of half shifts. These are people who are paid an average of $22,000 per year. They are having their shifts split and that way the employers are making it so the employees are not getting benefits. I believe I have to focus on the work environment and pay equity and other issues as far as having a fair working environment.”
Beyond that, Robles said, there is a need for the legislature to ensure that tax money expended as incentives to corporations is utilized for the purposes intended and outlined in the programs through which the subsidies were granted.
“A more global part of what I would do as state senator is work on tax money being expended as subsidies,” she said. “Right now, there is little or no transparency in subsidizing businesses. I will look at that and see how we can reconfigure subsidies to corporations so there is some kind of contract there. We provided a significant amount of money to Tesla Motors and now they are moving on to another state. This is the same paradigm that existed with redevelopment abuse. Instead of bringing in businesses, we have those businesses shopping states for the best subsidies.”
Robles said the legislature has to be mindful of how the latest windfall the state received is utilized.
“Another issue is that as of last month, state controller John Chang got almost 1 billion dollars in unanticipated revenue from Proposition 30. So between Proposition 30 and tax expenditures, we have $7 billion the legislature needs to look at to stabilize California. Counties and cities are subunits of the state and they should get what is due to them. In San Bernardino employees are being asked to pick up seven percent of the pension costs. I am concerned if we are paying sales tax, that is contributing to the $1 billion. Perhaps now is the time to help local governments stabilize their budgets and make them whole, unfreeze the money the state has collected in the last several years and rebate it to the cities based on how much they contributed. “
With regard to pension reform, Robles said. “I don’t think we need to do this through a ballot measure. I think we can do it through the collective bargaining process. With our final budgets, we need to rein in compensation statewide. We  should not create any new programs until we stabilize local government and pensions.”
She said she detected a disparity in the ebb and flow of money in the state educational system, particularly at the university level. Administrators were being overcompensated, she said, while “The public with lower pay scales are paying high tuition and fees. We are  basically talking about employment pay equity. People are going to college to better themselves and increase their earning potential but the cost is prohibitive. Colleges exist to rebuild our middle class. The universities have too much administration. We should freeze tuition now.”
Some private schools that are now beyond the regulation of the state should be examined closely, she said.
“We have predatory career colleges that fail to provide meaningful education,” she said. “The state should provide oversight and move to close those that are not providing what they say they will give students. The Inland Empire is constantly being ridiculed as full of poor and unmotivated people. Well, there are young people who work hard and are trying to get out of this economic trap and pull themselves into the middle class. There are trade schools and career colleges which promise a meaningful vocational education and then just walk out on them. They take the tuition and just shut down, leaving them without skills or a certificate. There have been three waves of this. We need an accreditation system for these schools.”
Robles said she believes she is the best choice among those vying for state senator in the 20th District.
“I am 61 years old, with 25 years of work experience in the public sector. I have a graduate degree augmented with consistent study. I have kept current on policy work and  research. I am beholden to no special interest group. Connie [Leyva] can offer the community nothing without going to her union for guidance. Shannon O’Brien is someone who has been on a school board for a short while.  Alfonzo Sanchez is new and just not as time tested in the workplace or the policy world. He is an emerging but unproven person in that arena. I am ready. This is something I am prepared for. I have been involved in the community and government for a long time.  Because of my maturity and work experience and education, I will not need to depend on staff and lobbyists to  get to work. I do not need to be tutored to hit the ground running. I am more grounded in the policy arena than any of my opponents.”
Born and raised in San Bernardino, Robles attended San Gorgonio High School and San Bernardino Valley College before going to the University of Redlands, where she received a bachelor’s degree in business management. She subsequently obtained a master’s degree in public administration from San Bernardino State University. She retired from the county of San Bernardino where she had been a social worker, field representative for former Third District Supervisor Barbara Cram Riordan and later a special districts budget analyst. She is married with three children.

(April 2)  Mount Baldy School District Board Member Paul Hannosh is seeking to unseat his fellow Republican, Paul Cook, as congressman in California’s 8th Congressional District.
Hannosh was born in Detroit, Michigan but grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. He attended Pasadena City College and majored in liberal arts  at Cal State LA, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree.
Cook, who was a colonel in the Marine Corps prior to beginning his political career as a member of the Yucca Valley Town Council before going on to the California Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives, faces in Hannosh another veteran. Hannosh served in the U.S. Army.
Nevertheless, Hannosh sees military action as a last resort and while at Cal State LA he formed a coalition for peace in the Middle East.
Hannosh has worked in real estate and is now a biology and history teacher in a different school district from where he is a board member.
Now married with a daughter, Hannosh characterized himself as a political conservative who considers Cook too liberal for the constituency he represents.
“I believe like 90 percent of Americans that Congress is not working in our interest,” Hannosh said. “There is too much money corrupting our system. Our politicians and our political system should put Americans first, not the lobbyists.”
He tore into President Barack Obama, saying he was pursuing counterproductive policies.
“One of them is the Affordable Health Care Act, which cost me personally over $4,000 per year in increased premiums,” he said. “From this there is a loss of jobs. Employers are letting people go so they can avoid the mandate. Job creation is hugely important to the citizens of this district. We have too many unemployed and underemployed. I want to reform our tax system that is hurting our employment situation by embedding a 22 percent hidden tax on all domestically produced goods, which makes imports cheap and inflates the cost of  American–produced products.  I advocate a fair tax – HR25 – which would grow the economy and simplify our tax system by creating a national consumption tax in place of the income tax. I also oppose amnesty because of our current economic system cannot afford to import poverty and take jobs away from American citizens.
I also believe it is important for us to end foreign intervention and bring our troops home so we are not subsidizing foreign economies.  I believe we should speak out on behalf of the world’s most persecuted group, the Christian minorities in the Middle East, by ending all foreign aid to the countries that persecute Christian minorities. I support the second amendment very strongly and I believe our current congressman has not been representing one of the more conservative districts in the county adequately. My opponent Paul Cook is out of touch with what the Eagle Forum says is the 87th most conservative district in the country. His congressional voting record scorecard according to the Eagle Forum is 33 percent. He votes with the Democrats more than the Republicans  I also oppose government snooping and spying on Americans and the collection of their electronic data without a warrant.”
Hannosh continued, “I believe we need to reform our banking system by auditing the Federal Reserve as the Federal Reserve has been a failure at its two main goals of fighting inflation and preventing recessions.”
Though he espoused conservatism, Hannosh said he was not going to tap into political action committee money available from conservative coalitions.
“My campaign motto is to put Americans first  I am willing to take on the establishment  in order to restore power back to the people,” he said. “Because I’m not taking money from the large PACs  my support is coming from average citizens and I want to be a humble servant and listen to the people by creating an electronic town hall where my constituents can give me feedback and help me understand what the important issues to them are. Paul Cook supported the bank bailouts of 2008 and I pledge to reform our banking system. I served my country in the Army and I serve my community as a teacher and we need someone who will put Americans first, not special interests. We’ve had enough of the insiders who control Washington. We need an outsider who can’t be bought. I am not a career politician.”
Hannosh has received an endorsement from the Federation of Republican Women, the National Republican Liberty Caucus and Paul Schrader, who is running for San Bernardino County sheriff.

(April 3) Conditions on Carbon Canyon Road, which serves as the entrance to San Bernardino County at its extreme southwest corner, remain sketchy.
The road has been closed on and off since the La Habra earthquake on March 28, at which point the road became vulnerable to hillside erosion and landslides.
Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, has been engaged in attempting to remove parts of the hillside that glided down onto the roadway and to install makeshift barriers to prevent further obstructions.
At press time, word was that Caltrans would again close the road commencing today, Friday April 4, at 9 p.m. Road crews will engage in road repairs and hillside amendment over the weekend. It is anticipated the road will reopen on Monday, April 7 at 4 a.m.
Those wishing to remain updated on the condition and passibility of the road can sign up for alerts by visiting http://www.chinohills.org/list.asp?mode=del.

(April 2) Dr. Rita Ramirez Dean, a college professor and former board member with the Copper Mountain College Board of Trustees and previous Democratic candidate for Congress in the 41st Congressional District as well as in the 65th California Assembly District, is now seeking election as San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools.
Dean touts her 38 years’ experience as an educator and her own academic achievements in reciting her qualifications for the post.
She is running against Ted Alejandre, who was recently promoted to the position of assistant county schools superintendent by current county superintendent Gary Thomas, and another candidate, Frank Garza.
A professor at Copper Mountain College in Yucca Valley from 1972 until 1999 and professor at Copper Mountain and its sister campus College of the Desert in Palm Desert from 1999 until 2004, Ramirez Dean was the chair of the foreign language department and later the chair of the reading department, which she founded. From 2008 until 2012, she was a member of the Copper Mountain College Board. She holds a doctorate in education from Louisiana State University.
If elected county superintendent, she said, her first emphasis would be on “the dropout rate. San Bernardino County has the worst dropout rate in the state and nation, particularly among Latino and African American students. Our Latino and African American students in 2010 had a dropout rate of 52 percent. In the county as a whole we have a dropout rate of  26 to 28 percent. That is what began my desire to be county superintendent. Enough is enough. There is no future without education. The only way to do it is do it for yourself. I bring 38 years in educational experience to my candidacy. I have taught languages, mathematics, history, business administration, and  biology. I have broad experience. I taught for four years at the primary school level. I taught at the college level for more than three decades. As soon as I am in the superintendent’s office, I would do a diagnostic of curriculum in the areas of English and science and math, so if a student is in a failing situation we can put him or her into a lab so they can get back to where they should be and not fail. I want to create alternative education for those who do not want to go on to college, vocation academies. Parents want to have for their children the best education and best job skills. I think we need to provide them more than just preparing for higher education. I think we should hire professionals in law enforcement, music, and auto technology and put them into place so students who wish can learn work skills in their respective fields.”
Ramirez Dean said schools should not give up on students after they have failed.
“Dropouts find themselves without job skills,” she said. “We need to establish education centers to bring them back to school to get diplomas. We also need to establish English as a second language classes for parents and those who want to become citizens. I believe that if people are here and they are speaking Spanish that is wonderful. I do not believe people should forsake their native language. But the only way to survive in our world is to learn English. I think we need to look after everyone from young to old.”
Ramirez Dean said adequate teaching manpower is available. “We have good teachers, parents and schools, but things need to be done to get those teachers who have been furloughed back into the classroom. We need to enhance safety and security so children do not get hurt.”
She said an effort to end truancy is needed.
“As for those students who are not at school, we need to get them back into the classrooms if they are not ill,” she said.
Ramirez Dean said she is cut out to be the county superintendent of schools.
“I not only have experience and knowledge, I have the heart and I speak both languages – English and Spanish – and can communicate with students, teachers and parents in both English and Spanish. I know what teachers feel. I am not only a teacher but the mother of two sons, both of whom are teachers. I am not limited to just being an education administrator, or just being a teacher or just a professor or just being a parent. I have and will continue to have an open door policy. Those with a stake in our schools and educational system can talk to me in either language. I am here for everyone. I know we must defend our students and do everything possible for their future. I spent six years teaching elementary school and junior high and have been teaching at the community college level for 32 years. It is my love of education that has inspired me to run. In my own life, I have had to suffer and sacrifice. I was ten years old when my father died. I was the youngest of four daughters. My mother knew that if we did not get an education we would not survive. All three of my sisters and I have college educations. My mother held our family together and education was central to that. Parents will do anything for their children and make sure they receive the best education. They are entitled to the American Dream, even those who are not yet but want to become American citizens. With education comes jobs and prosperity and everyone is better off.  I suffer when I see children not receiving a proper education. I suffer when I see parents trying to do the right thing and education is not available for their children  because of the elimination of resources and teachers being put on furlough.  I would be the first Hispanic women to run and serve and the second woman to become superintendent in this county. The first was elected in 1926. I love children and respect parents.”
Ramirez Dean grew up in Orange County.

(April 2)   Melissa O’Donnell, who carried the standard for the Democrats in 2012 when she ran against Bill Emmerson in California State Senate District 23, has once again entered the political fray, this time seeking a berth in the State Assembly.  This time around O’Donnell has set her sights on the 40th Assembly District, representing Rancho Cucamonga, the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, a portion of the city of San Bernardino, Redlands, Highland, Loma Linda and Grand Terrace. Squaring off against her are Democrats Art Bustamante, Kathleen Marie Henry, and Republican Marc Steinorth.
O’Donnell has worked as a teacher, has sold real estate and she now owns an education company, Time To Learn Fast.
O’Donnell characterizes the residents of the 40th District as “hardworking” and says they need and deserve able leadership capable of bridging the partisan divide.
“I think I am ready for the position,” she said. “I am qualified. I can bring needed change to the area. I am a business owner. People and politicians talk about creating jobs, but it does not happen. I would concentrate on convincing corporations to take advantage of our trained and skilled workforce. I would give those corporations incentives to come to the area and with that I think we can bring a lot of progress to the area.”
O’Donnell said she is acutely conscious of the range of diversity and different opinion within the sprawling 40th District.
“I have met with different groups,” she said. In her search for commonality among her would-be constituents, she said, she has learned that they all want the economy to grow. She said that shared goal dovetails with a portion of the Democratic Party’s agenda for the state.
“They tell me they see stability over the long term as very important,” O’Donnell said. “I am a supporter of Covered California. Everyone deserves health insurance. It will reduce costs long term. People will not need to go to emergency rooms for non-emergency care if everyone signs up for insurance.”
She said she embraced her party’s stand with regard to environmental protection.
“I am interested in keeping the environment safe and clean as possible,” she said. “I want to prevent water pollution and air pollution.”
At the same time, she said, she is sympathetic to issues Republican hold dear.
“I have been going around and hearing a lot of different viewpoints,” she said. “I am a good listener,” she said. “I am serious about hearing whatever everyone has to say. I think I have a lot of experience. When it comes to holding public office, I can work across the aisle. I have friends in the Assembly and Senate. There are a lot of different viewpoints.”
As for her opponents, O’Donnell opined, “I don’t think they have what it takes. I ran for State Senate in 2012 and received 45 percent of the vote in San Bernardino County. I am meeting with members of Assembly now. I will know what to do when I step into the job. I will begin by working to meet expectations early. There are a lot of Republicans and Democrats in the district. I will try to be the leader for everyone. The majority in Sacramento are Democrats. They will be more willing to hear what I have to say. I will support and represent both Republicans and Democrats. I would not be a one-sided leader.  I want everyone to know I support views of the Republican and Democrats.”
Born and raised in Orange County, she attended Los Angeles High School ForThe Arts and Chapman College, where she received her bachelor’s degree in education. Unmarried, she is a resident of Highland.

(April 2) Morongo Unified School District Board Member Karalee Hargrove is running for the California Assembly in the 42nd District, the sole Democratic candidate in a race that features Republicans Chad Mayes and Gary Jeandron.
“I saw that no Democrat and no woman was running and I thought, ‘Why give the seat away to someone who does not represent me?’ I am talking about the issues in the state of California – vocational education, water, economic opportunity  and the need to address how we are going to spend the money that will come available with the budget surplus we are now anticipating. How are we going to backfill the cuts we have made in recent years?  I think we need as a leader someone who has been in the shoes of employees who were furloughed or had to take an eight dollar an hour job because that was all they could get. That is why I thought I would run.”
The district includes a number of desert communities in both San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Included in the district are the cities and communities of Banning, Beaumont, Cabazon,    Calimesa, Cherry Valley, Hemet, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, San Jacinto, and Whitewater in Riverside County and Joshua Tree, Landers, Morongo Valley, Pioneertown, Twentynine Palms, Yucaipa and Yucca Valley in San Bernardino County.
A major issue facing the district, Hargrove said, is what development and regulatory standards are going to be applied to solar power projects in the desert.
“There are a lot of solar farms seeking out our valuable desert land,” she said. Other issues include “creating infrastructure and jobs where people can make prevailing wage, ensuring an adequate water supply and educating students for the workplace.”
“Why do we have so much grass in the desert,” she asked, indicating xeriscaping should be encouraged. “Seventy percent of our water goes to agriculture. We need to devote a larger share of our education to vocationalization. Eighty percent of our high school students do not go to college. How are we preparing those students for real life skills?”
Hargrove said, “The overall state issues I am concerned with are prison overcrowding, housing, water, vocationalizing education.  We invest a tremendous amount of money in educating students and when they hit the age of 18 and get their diploma we cut them loose. We need to focus on job training and not just college readiness. I also believe every child four years old should be put into a preschool setting,”
Hargrove said she understood that she was a Democrat in a district that is predominantly Republican. But she pointed out that sending a Republican to the statehouse to represent the 42nd District will not be beneficial politically, given the heavy majority of Democrats in the legislature. She said she is capable of voicing the concerns of her Republican constituents.
“I’m ready to listen and learn about the issue and take action that the people I will represent feel is important,” she said. “I think it is easier for fellow Democrats to engage with each other than with Republicans. If you send Republicans to Sacramento without bipartisan support you will end up with what we have had for the last several years, which is ineffective representation. We have not had a visible assemblyperson. If I am elected I will put an office into the Morongo Valley. We have had representatives who are very loyal to just those financing their campaign. The only people I have to answer to are the people of the 42nd District. With me, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not taking money from big money donors. Once in office I will pursue campaign finance reform. We need to stop allowing special interests from buying our representatives’ seats. When we do that we will have fair representation at the state and national level and have people elected on what they can do for and bring to the district and not on how much money they have raised.”
Hargrove contrasted herself with Mayes, an avowed foe of legalized abortion. “When it comes to reproductive rights, women must be able to make decisions for themselves,” she said.
With regard to economic opportunity, she said, “A strong economy is not built completely at the local level. Big things require big involvement. When California borrows money it should not be squandered. Borrowing and tax revenues fluctuate with the highs and lows of economic cycles. When the economy is strong we should be planning to weather the next downturn. Long term planning is more effective than responding to repetitious crises. Government regulation should serve to establish ground rules for fair competition, health, and safety. Legislating preferences for one group over another abuses the role of government.”
She has been endorsed by the  State Democratic Party and the National Women’s Political Caucus of California
Hargrove grew up in Wilmington and obtained her high school diploma at Fayetteville Technical College in North Carolina. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from American University and has a minor in political science and a major in childhood and family development. She is married with five children between the ages of two and 12. She has lived in Twentyine Palms off and on since 2000. Her husband is employed by the Department of Defense and he works at the Twentyine Palms Naval Hospital on the Marine Base.

(April 2) 75-year-old retired truck driver Jerry Laws is running for the state assembly in the 33rd District.
A Republican competing against eight other Republicans and one Democrat, Laws insisted, “I am going to win in landslide. I only have twenty years left and so now is the time to put me in there. We have an attractive lady, a handsome guy and some others running for this office. None of them are as good as me. Vote for me now so you won’t have to vote for yourself.”
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Laws came with his family to Southern California as a youngster. He graduated from Redondo High School and spent one year at El Camino College, the most memorable part of which Laws said was his competing as a member of the water polo team.
In 1957, he joined the Marines. He looked forward to duty oversees and almost shipped out for the Middle East during the Lebanon Crisis, for which his unit was put on standby. He did not actually make it to Lebanon, but got some fulfillment when he did a tour of duty in Panama. He left the Marines but attempted to get back in during the Viet Nam conflict. By that point he was married with children and the Marines demanded that he first get clearance from his first wife, who refused to give it. At the age of 62, in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on Manhattan and the Pentagon, Laws tried to reenlist. The Marines rejected him on the basis of his age.
Laws carries with him the soldier’s commitment to his country, which informs his ambition toward elective office.
“I certainly believe in God, county, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” Laws said. “I was a commercial truck driver with all of the qualifications. My last job was with  Westwood Building Material in Inglewood and Manhattan Beach. Early on I worked as a county lifeguard, including at Will Rogers Park.”
Laws  proudly proclaimed that he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and  insisted that he embodied the elements of his faith.
“”For me, the promised land is the top of Canada to the bottom of South America,” he said. “I’m here and I am committed to defend my country my  way.  I’d like to see a flat tax rate in California. We can’t get the feds to do it.  I want the federal land in California turned back to the state. Right now the federal government will not let states drill or put pipelines in or anything along that line. The states made the government. The government did not make the states. There is a mine up in Calico. I asked our county  supervisor a while back why we could not use that mine for silver or borax. I said  we could use it to pay our bills and we could do it without messing with the ghost town around it, which is a historic site. Inyo County  was using its gold mines to pay their bills. The federal government should return most of what it took over back to the states. To join the United States the states, which were territories at the time, gave up a lot of land. My main goals are to protect the Constitution and the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms.  It is very simple. The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights says the right to bear arms shall not be infringed. Get a dictionary and read what infringed means. Look at U.S. Code Title Ten Section 311. I don’t care who you are, the president of the United States or the governor or the legislature or the county sheriff or the mayor,  you are to pass no laws to restrict guns. I figure I’ve got 20 years left and let’s see if we can’t defend our states’ rights and the Second Amendment. I don’t have a lot of money behind me but I have the support of five or six gun clubs. They’ll help me out. I’m making this run in the largest county and in my first tour of duty I want to make it the most God fearing county in the country. This country is great and free because of the Constitution and the Second Amendment. No one has ever invaded this country. They attacked Hawaii but they didn’t come ashore because our citizens have weapons. We have good families and good people of all backgrounds living here. We have fought wars. Those soldiers did not fight for all this nonsense we have going on now. The federal government is too large. The size of our governments is opposite of what it should be. We need to get the federal government out of our pockets and out of our lives. The local government should be the largest.  The next largest should be the county government. The next largest should be the state government. The federal government should be real small.”
Laws took a deep breath and continued, “This is the Promised Land. I don’t think we need to bring  people into our state. They can stay in their own country. We need to get people working again. We can get people working again. We have plenty of land, plenty of resources. We need to get back to the basics. I am not going to make promises I can’t keep. Take the delta smelt. We are going to have a food shortage . We are short of water because of some little smelt The Lord gave us authority over the all of the creatures and animals of the earth. We are to use the land and water for ourselves. We own the land. We own the mines. We own the oil. The Constitution and Bill of Rights gives us the right to do what is best for ourselves. Enough is enough!”
Married twice, Laws has  nine adult children, 27 grandchildren and  25 great grandchildren  “I  want to leave them a legacy,” he said. “They think I am crazy for running. I tell them, ‘It takes a few years to make a good prophet. It took a few years to make a good Constitution. It’ll take me a few years to become a politician but you will be proud of my service.’ I tell them, ‘If the Savior doesn’t come back by the time I’m elected, you may want to study history.’”

You can access a PDF of the March 28 Edition of the San Bernardino County Sentinel by clicking on the portal below.

Sentinel 03-28-14

(March 27)  Nine former presidents of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association and two former San Bernardino County Superior Court judges have joined the growing chorus of legal professionals who have taken a public stand in opposition to current San Bernardino County Superior Court Presiding Judge Marsha Slough’s announced realignment of the county court system.
The realignment will entail transferring all civil cases countywide to the new San Bernardino Justice Center, an eleven story edifice with 35 courtrooms now in the final stages of completion. In addition, San Bernardino district criminal cases, now being heard in the San Bernardino Central Courthouse built in 1927, will be tried in the new San Bernardino Justice Center.
West Valley Superior Courthouse in Rancho Cucamonga, which currently is the venue for both civil and criminal cases originating on the west end of the county, will be devoted primarily to criminal cases, including those arising on the county’s west end and other felony and misdemeanor cases from the county’s central district which are currently routed to the Fontana Courthouse.  A small portion of the criminal cases now heard in Fontana will be adjudicated in San Bernardino. At least temporarily, hearings on both civil and domestic violence restraining order matters will be heard at the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse.
The historic San Bernardino Courthouse will remain as the forum for the family law cases it currently hosts and will soon serve as the venue for the family law cases presently heard in Rancho Cucamonga.
The Fontana Courthouse will become the stage for all small claims, landlord tenant disputes and traffic/non-traffic infractions from the San Bernardino, Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga districts. The lion’s share of criminal cases now being heard in Fontana will transfer to Rancho Cucamonga. A lesser number of the Fontana criminal cases will go to San Bernardino.
The Victorville Courthouse will remain a venue for High Desert family law cases.
Slough, who formulated the realignment plan in conjunction with former assistant presiding judge Larry Allen, former county courts executive officer Stephen Nash and current county courts executive officer Christina Volkers, said the realignment, which is to go into effect in May, is necessitated by the state’s severe and ongoing cuts to the court system, which included a nearly $11 million reduction in fiscal 2009-10, a $5 million reduction in 2011-12,  and a whopping $19 million reduction in 2012-13.  In the current year and next year, the court system  in San Bernardino County is to function on identical $98 million annual budgets, which Slough said is greater than the allotment in 2012-13, but still $12 million less than what it had to run its affairs in 2008-09.
While sympathetic to the fiscal constraints Slough must function within, a number of attorneys expressed alarm when Slough tentatively announced the intended realignment late last year. They pointed out that over the last two years the closures of the Needles courthouse at the county’s northeast end, the closure of the Chino courthouse at the county’s southwest end, the closure of courthouses in the San Bernardino Mountain communities and the removal of civil cases from the Victorville and Joshua Tree courthouses had already greatly inconvenienced large numbers of the county’s residents and compromised their access to justice. The realignment, they assert, will virtually prevent a major segment of the county’s population from going to court altogether.
Far flung San Bernardino County, which spans more than 20,000 square miles, is the largest county in the lower 48 states, with a land mass greater than the states of Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Connecticut combined.
Even before the civil courts were closed in Victorville, it was a forbidding sojourn for some county residents seeking justice. Driving distance from Needles to Barstow is 144 miles one way, with an average traveling time of two hours and eleven minutes. The trip from Needles to San Bernardino, which in less than two months will host the only courtrooms in the county where civil cases will be heard, is 212 miles, with an average traveling time of three hours and nine minutes.
Residents of Chino Hills and Chino, who two years ago had the courthouse in Chino at their disposal but since December 2012 have needed to travel anywhere from 18 to 30 miles to reach the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse, will need to travel 40 to 52 miles to access the civil courts in San Bernardino.
Large numbers of attorneys, including Dennis Stout, who was formerly the county district attorney and mayor of Rancho Cucamonga; Gus Skropos, a former judge and former mayor of Ontario; Richard Anderson, who has been practicing law since 1968 and was formerly Upland mayor; as well as James Banks and David Ricks, a past president and the current president-elect of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association, respectively, assailed the realignment as an ill-conceived move that would produce only marginal cost savings for the court system itself while transferring the financial burden to the county’s residents and other public agencies, while simultaneously legally disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of the county’s residents.
Numerous problems with the realignment were cited, including:
•    The sheer distance large numbers of county residents will need to travel to have their cases heard;
•    The disadvantage that poorer defendants and litigants will suffer vis-a-vis contesting charges against them or responding to or pressing forward with lawsuits filed by or against well-heeled adversaries;
•    The concentration of criminal defendants into Rancho Cucamonga’s downtown district;
•    The lack of adequate parking in downtown San Bernardino to accommodate the influx of litigants, lawyers, witnesses and jurors;
•    The perception that transferring all of the county’s civil cases to San Bernardino was being done not to conserve finances or improve the provision of justice but to assist with the urban renewal of San Bernardino, which as the county seat and the largest of the county’s 24 cities, suffered the ignominy of having filed for bankruptcy in 2012.
This week, the Sentinel was provided with the responses obtained so far from a survey of past presidents of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association, querying them on their perspective on Slough’s realignment proposal.
The West End San Bernardino County Bar Association was formed in 1958. It took as its first major undertaking an ultimately successful lobbying effort to have a full-service courthouse handling all manner of civil and criminal cases constructed in the western portion of the county. Ultimately, because of that effort, a court house was established at Sixth Street and Mountain Avenue in Ontario. That facility was later replaced by the West Valley Courthouse in Rancho Cucamonga.
William Pitt Hyde, who was the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association president in 1960-61 and was later a Superior Court judge, said of the realignment, “It is so stupid I can hardly believe they’re doing it.”
Don Maroney, the president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association in 1964-65 and Upland’s city attorney for more than two decades, said, “I think it’s a bad idea.”
Kenneth Ziebarth, who was the mayor of Montclair, the president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association in 1968-69 and later a Superior Court judge, said, “This is contrary to all of our efforts to increase public access.”
Bruce Lance, the president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association in 1971-72, said, “This is retrograde.  They are dumping a system that served the public well.”
Sidney Jones, the president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association in 1972-73, said, “The plan forgets service to the public. The managers are thinking of themselves only and not the purpose of the courts to serve the needs of the public.”
Bob Dougherty, the president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association in 1974-75 and later the city attorney in Rancho Cucamonga, opined, “Those people are nuts. Who and what are they thinking about?  Not the public. This is a dumb and unnecessary decision, which will adversely impact our lives. Moving civil cases from a closing court branch to the county seat might make sense, but what good will come from moving civil cases out of a branch court which remains open?”
Barry Brandt, the president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association in 1977-78, said, “I am strongly opposed.”
Ken Glube, the president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association in 1978-79, said, “It is a foolish idea, unnecessary, uneconomical and inconvenient to all involved.”
Tracy L. Tibbals, the president of the Western San Bernardino County Bar Associaiton in 1985-86, said, “It sounds nuts.  I can’t see any savings to the court and lots of expense to the public they’re supposed to serve.”
In addition, two retired Superior Court judges weighed in against the realignment.
Joseph E. Johnston called the pending change “a disaster.”
Ben Kayashima, who was presiding judge in 1990 and 1991, called the realignment “disgusting.”