I have been learning about the Mojave Water Agency and the R- Cubed project from every source I can. Recently the Daily Press has been running a number of opinion letters in support of the MWA and the R-Cubed project. I discovered that the MWA has been using tax dollars ($116,477.64 So Far) to run a multimedia campaign to " maximize community support for the R3 project and reduce and or/ neutralize community opposition." The 4 "deliverables" groups consist of Economic Development Outreach, Project Timeline Outreach,Construction Outreach and Water Quality Outreach. The work scope in each group is listed below. The part that got my attention was the Editorial Briefing and the Guest Editorial/ Letters To The Editor deliverables that our tax dollars are paying for.
Editorial Briefings – Proactively seek positive media coverage that reinforces the Community Outreach and Public Education Program core messages. This effort will also cultivate strong relationships with key reporters and editors.
Guest Editorials/letters to the editor – TMG will develop a series of guest editorials or columns and letters to the editors signed by third-party vaildators and supporters that can be placed in the local and community papers.
The Mojave Water Agency has used the services of TMG Communications since March 2008 to run a "Public Education and Community Outreach" program for the R- Cubed project. The contract with TMG was approved in May of 2008 to run to December of 2008. It was continued in January 2009 and extended again in October of 2009. TMG is paid a retainer of $6,500 a month plus expenses for "deliverables" on a month by month basis. Based on the checks that have been documented in the monthly MWA Board of Directors agendas, TMG has been paid $116,477.64 for running the program.
In a letter from TMG to MWA director Kirby Brill, TMG explains what the program consists of.
Re: Continuing Public Education and Community Outreach services for the Mojave Water Agency and the Regional, Recharge and Recovery Project (R3).
Dear Mr. Brill,
Thank you for your continued interest in using TMG Communications, Inc. to provide Public
Education, Community Outreach and Strategic Communications services to the Mojave Water
Agency (MWA) for the Regional, Recharge and Recovery Project (R3).
TMG proposes to design and implement a Public Education and Community Outreach Program that will build on our past successes to maximize community support for the R3 project and reduce and or/neutralize community opposition.
The program will include, but not limited to, the following tactics.
Group # 1 Deliverables: (Economic Development Outreach)
Project Hotline – Continue to monitor project hotline (toll free number) that has been established and included in all communication materials.
Targeted Database – Continue to maintain and expand targeted databases of community, business, political and opinion leaders throughout the High Desert region.
Web site – Enhance and modify R3 project Web site to reflect new information and project updates.
R3 Project Brochure #1 – Promote the R3 project and its local economic benefits generated from the project to regional business and community leaders through direct mail. Mailers will feature a return card, toll-free number and a Web site address to encourage two-way communications with the targeted audiences. Materials will available in Spanish upon request.
Economic Benefits Fact Sheet – Develop a fact sheet that outlines the local economic benefits generated by the R3 project. Fact sheet will include project hotline number and Web site address.
Electronic News Releases – Produce issue specific news releases at key project milestones. Upon approval, the news releases will be distributed to database contacts and media.
Email Blasts – Leverage the assembled database consisting of community, business, political and opinion leaders throughout the targeted areas by sending R3 related updates through issue specific email blasts.
Community Events – TMG will identify, coordinate and participate in community events where important information regarding R3 will be distributed to selective audiences in the targeted region. In addition, TMG will update the Power Point Presentation for key project representatives to present to local community and business organizations that will be identified. TMG will assist with identifying targeted audiences and help schedule presentations.
Media Kit – TMG will develop issue specific media kits to assist reporters in conveying accurate information on topics related to the R3 project. Media kits will include project fact sheet, Frequently Asked Questions sheet, Myth & Facts sheet, maps, project brochures, current news releases and third-party testimonials.
Editorial Briefings – Proactively seek positive media coverage that reinforces the Community Outreach and Public Education Program core messages. This effort will also cultivate strong relationships with key reporters and editors.
Guest Editorials/letters to the editor – TMG will develop a series of guest editorials or columns and letters to the editors signed by third-party vaildators and supporters that can be placed in the local and community papers.
Community Support – TMG will coordinate and communicate community support for the project to key decision makers in the form of letters, emails, calls and faxes.
Criminal Cases Trump Fines
10:00 PM PST on Thursday, December 24, 2009
Cassie MacDuff Riverside Press Enterprise
Campaign money-laundering allegations like those against the indicted San Jacinto council members are anything but rare.
The files of the Fair Political Practices Commission are replete with examples. Scores of violators have been fined in amounts that stagger the imagination.
A real estate developer in 1993 was fined $772,000 for violations that included laundering contributions to candidates for Oakland City Council.
An employee of the Los Angeles Marathon Inc. in 1994 was fined a total of $436,250 by the FPPC and the City Ethics Commission for laundering contributions.
And an ambulance company in 1997 was fined $377,000 for such violations.
What sets apart the San Jacinto case is that criminal charges were filed, not an FPPC action.
The indictments last month of Councilman Jim Ayres, developer Stephen Holgate, three other councilmen and four others reflect a growing trend toward prosecuting campaign money laundering instead of letting the FPPC handle violations administratively only.
San Bernardino County Assistant District Attorney Jim Hackleman said the trend reflects a greater depth of concern that money laundering has become more prevalent in political campaigns, which themselves are attracting more and more money.
Deputy Attorney General Gary Schons said prosecutors may be paying more attention because the FPPC fines -- however large -- haven't served to deter offenders. Donors may simply consider them a cost of doing business.
Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco, in announcing the San Jacinto indictments, said money laundering strikes at the heart of democracy.
It undermines the very purpose of the Political Reform Act: to let the public see who is supporting a candidate or office-holder and judge whether his or her actions are influenced by the money.
A 1996 campaign money-laundering case in San Bernardino County resulted in one of the highest fines then imposed by the FPPC.
The law firm Gresham, Varner, Savage, Nolan & Tilden was fined $228,000 after one of its partners, lawyer Mark Ostoich, admitted reimbursing staff members, their spouses and others for campaign contributions made at the behest of a client who was building Walmart shopping centers in San Diego and the Inland Empire.
But Ostoich was not charged criminally.
Fast-forward to 2008, when Pacheco brought criminal charges against auto dealer Mark Leggio for doing much the same thing -- reimbursing staff members for campaign contributions.
Leggio pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, serving the term on weekend work-release, completing it Nov. 30. The FPPC fined him $150,000.
But the Leggio case pales in comparison to the San Jacinto scandal beyond the nine indicted.
The FPPC has not opened cases against them, said spokesman Roman Porter. But the commission usually defers to prosecutors until criminal cases are concluded.
What Pacheco has unearthed in San Jacinto goes far beyond money laundering.
Ayers and his wife, who was also indicted, got a McMansion at a steep discount from the developer accused of largely bankrolling the money-laundering scheme, according to grand jury transcripts.
Ayres voted repeatedly in favor of projects that benefited the developer and didn't begin abstaining until after investigators searched his home last April.
If the FPPC goes after the San Jacinto bunch, that's the least of their worries.
Cassie MacDuff can be reached at 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@PE.com
Water drain
07:50 PM PST on Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Press-Enterprise
The days when Californians could sink a well and pump as much water as they wanted should have ended years ago. But the shrinking aquifers in the Central Valley show the need for the state to take a more active role in overseeing groundwater. California cannot craft sensible water policy by ignoring a source that accounts for 30 percent of the state’s water supplies.
At the least, the Legislature should require rigorous statewide monitoring of underground basins. And the state needs the enforcement muscle to stop pumping that threatens to dry up underground water supplies.
But satellite data released by NASA this week showed the futility of California’s hands-off approach to groundwater use. The satellite measurements tracked water loss between 2003 and March of this year. They revealed that the two largest aquifers in the Central Valley had lost nearly enough water to fill Lake Mead, the nation’s largest reservoir. The water is being pumped out faster than it flows back in, depleting the underground basins — a practice NASA scientists termed “unsustainable.”
But unlike other western states, California has little leverage to stop that excessive pumping. The state oversees water use from lakes and rivers, but has almost no role in groundwater use. Decisions are largely left to the local level. In many cases, landowners can drill a well and pump away without any permit from the state.
But such haphazard management of a key water source is madness for a state with an increasingly dry climate and a growing population. To cope with those trends, California will need to make efficient use of every drop of water it has.
The package of water bills approved by the Legislature last month made a tentative first step by requiring local agencies to measure basin water levels and report the data publicly. But the plan has gaps that make it less than comprehensive.
Setting rational policies requires knowing how much water remains in aquifers and how much people pump out. And the state needs better information on how much underground space is available for stockpiling water in the future.
Continuing to pump water without restriction also makes no sense for the state. Aquifers extend beyond private property lines and water district boundaries. How much water people take from one well affects the whole basin — and the state. California needs a mechanism for ensuring that reckless pumping does not deplete aquifers.
Some basins, such as those in San Bernardino/Riverside, Beaumont and Chino, have court oversight that limits pumping. But that basin-by-basin approach still creates a regulatory patchwork that hinders comprehensive management of underground water.
Groundwater is not merely a local concern anymore, but a statewide issue. California can ensure sufficient water for the future, but not through ignorance of underground supplies, or disregard for pumping aquifers dry.
News for Immediate Release
12/1/09
Contacts: - Ted Thomas, Chief Public Information Officer (916) 653-9712
- Don Strickland, Public Information Officer (916) 653-9515
DWR Releases Initial 2010 State Water Project Allocation
Sacramento – The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced an initial allocation of five percent of total contracted water deliveries to the State Water Project (SWP) contractors for 2010. Five percent is the lowest initial allocation percentage since the SWP began delivering water in 1967.
“The Legislature took a major step forward earlier this month to address the state’s water needs by heeding Governor Schwarzenegger’s call and passing the most comprehensive water package in California history,” said DWR Director Lester A. Snow. “Nevertheless, on the heels of a three-year drought, we need to prepare now so that we have adequate water supplies for homes, farms and businesses.”
The previous low for an initial allocation as a percentage of SWP contractors’ requests was 10 percent in 1993, but that number was increased to 100 percent during the year as supply conditions improved. The initial figure for 2009 of 15 percent was increased to a final allocation of 40 percent in May.
The historical average of final SWP allocations as a percentage of initial requests over the past 10 years has been 68 percent.
The initial allocation is a very conservative estimate of what DWR expects it can delivery as a percentage of SWP contractors’ initial requests for contracted water deliveries for a calendar year.
This year, the contractors have requested 100 percent of the maximum contractual amount allowed -- 4,171,996 acre-feet. While the initial 2010 allocation is only five percent of that amount, actual deliveries are expected to increase during the year once actual hydrologic and water supply conditions are known. SWP contractors provide water to more than 25 million California residents and more than 750,000 acres of farmland.
The initial allocation figure reflects the low carryover storage levels in the state’s major reservoirs, ongoing drought conditions and federally mandated environmental restrictions on water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect endangered fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The Department of Fish and Game’s most recent survey indexes indicate that all four Delta pelagic fish species (Delta smelt, Longfin smelt, Striped bass and Threadfin shad) are at their lowest-ever population levels.
DWR will continue to monitor water supply conditions and drought impacts to identify any necessary supplemental response actions this year and will move aggressively to plan for a potentially dry 2010 in coordination with other state, federal and local agencies and the water community.
The announcement is part of the Department’s effort to implement Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Drought Executive Order (S-06-08) directing DWR to help local water districts and agencies proactively address these conditions.
A notice to SWP contractors appears on DWR’s State Water Project Analysis Office Web site at: http://www.swpao.water.ca.gov/notices/
The First Projections for Water in 2010 Are Out: Prepare Now for Another Dry Year
By Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute
Posted on December 3, 2009, Printed on December 4, 2009
http://www.alternet.org/story/144344/
The western United States is still in a drought. If you have any doubts, take a look at the latest map from the U.S. Drought Monitor. Maybe we'll be lucky and the rains will start soon and be healthy. But California water agencies and users must begin planning for another dry year.
Water Number: 5%. Yesterday the California Department of Water Resources released its first water supply projection for 2010, telling State Water Project customers that they may get as little as 5% of their requested supply. This is a stunning number but it is grossly misunderstood by the media and the public, misused by narrow water interests in the state, and likely to be raised as the rainy season progresses.
First, it does NOT mean that all water users get only 5% of the water they need. Water users get water from a wide diversity of places, including state, federal, and local sources. The State system provides water to around 750,000 acres (of California's nearly 9 million acres of farmland) and to over 20 million urban users. When one source is low, such as deliveries from state surface systems, other sources are used to try to make up at least part of the difference.
Second, State Water Project customers always request more water than can be delivered. For 2010, SWP customers have asked for over 4.1 million acre-feet — the maximum contractual amount. But we now know that in average years (much less drought years) even 4 million acre-feet is more than the system can provide without destroying ecosystems. And the current water situation, in addition to causing hardship for farmers and cities, is destroying our ecosystems. All four Delta pelagic fish species are at their lowest-ever population levels. Lowest ever. One of the most serious flaws in the state's water system is the fact that our water systems are all over-allocated. Water agencies promised to give away more water than we actually have, and so people get upset. But we must now admit that expectations are unreasonable.
Third, the first projection by the CDWR almost always moves upward as the rainy season progresses. As the CDWR itself says, "actual deliveries are expected to increase during the year once actual hydrologic and water supply conditions are known." If no more rain falls, 5% may be close to accurate. If lots of rain falls in the next few months, 5% could end up being 60%, or 70%, or 80%, or more. Last year (the third year of a drought), state agencies initially projected that 15% would be available and it went up to 40% with a few late season storms.
Finally, we are still in a drought. Even a wet year is unlikely to refill our reservoirs and recharge our aquifers. We hope the drought is temporary. But we must plan for it being long-term. And that means rethinking how we allocate water by reducing what the state promises; rethinking how we use water by becoming more efficient and less wasteful; and rethinking how we manage water by enforcing water rights, monitoring water use, and using smarter economics to price water properly. Perhaps the only good news is that all of these options are possible, if we act together and quickly.
Dr. Peter Gleick is president of the Pacific Institute, an internationally recognized water expert and a MacArthur Fellow.
© 2009 Pacific Institute All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/144344/
Mojave Water Agency- Victorville R-3 Plan Puts Valley Water Supply In Jeopardy- Stealing Aquifer Water For New Victorville Northern Triangle -Buck Johns Development
60 Wells Planned For R3 - City of Hesperia Has 18 Wells Total
In a world of drought and climate change, thousands of vacant foreclosed homes, unemployment at 15% and the State of California and Victorville moving closer towards bankruptcy with each day. The Buck Johns controlled Victorville city council refuses to accept the reality that the rest of us are suffering through. This is what the R-3 water transfer scam was designed for, this is why Buck Johns controls the Mojave Water Agency, and members of the Victorville, Hesperia and Apple Valley city councils. This is the payoff in return for getting them elected.
Big dreams, big challenges
Victorville looking to develop more than 10,000 acres in Northern Triangle
BY BROOKE EDWARDS
STAFF WRITER Daily Press 11-22-09
VICTORVILLE
• When it comes to the future of development in the city, many eyes are fixed to the north.
The City Council will soon weigh in on a detailed plan to develop more than 10,000 acres in the area dubbed the Northern Triangle, due to the vshaped way it’s bordered by Interstate 15 to the east and the Mojave River to the west.
The plan, unanimously recommended for approval by the Planning Commission on Wednesday, includes commercial projects , master-planned housing along curved, landscaped streets and a golf course with estate lots on the hillside.
But that Desert Gateway Specific Plan, as its been named, is also hinged on hefty land swaps, relocation of a landfill and one controversial, tentative project: the DesertXpress train from Victorville to Las Vegas.
In exchange for building the train’s terminal in Victorville, a 2007 agreement granted developers DesertXpress Enterprises, Transit Real Estate Development and Inland Group exclusive rights to plan and control the Northern Triangle acreage for the next 20 to 30 years.
That agreement has already sparked one lawsuit, with Niles LLC — which unknowingly bought 430 acres controlled by the developers — suing over how it lowered property values.
George M. Soneff, attorney for Niles LLC, said he expects that suit to be settled if the council formally adopts the latest proposed specific plan in coming weeks.
The train terminus would mean a significant boon to that part of the city, Mayor Rudy Cabriales said, envisioning hotels, restaurants and other businesses to accommodate the flood of travelers that is expected to follow.
But if the DesertXpress project “does not come to fruition,” a staff report presented to the planning commission states, “a theme park shopping mall or academic college could take its place.”
After landing the train terminal, the next obstacle to developing the Northern Triangle as planned is a stinky one: the 600-acre county landfill that sits on its eastern edge.
Last year a few city officials were abuzz about the possibility of Victorville buying the landfill and turning it into a waste-to-energy facility, where the trash would be burned to create energy. No mention has been made of that plan in nearly a year, after 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt expressed doubt about its feasibility due to projections that it would cost all Victor Valley residents two to three times as much for trash service.
“I don’t know what the plan is to take care of that because that is a monumental challenge to get around that,” Cabriales said of the landfill site. “I would think that would be on the developers to figure out how to take care of that.”
Only a third of the land included in the area’s specific plan is currently in the city’s boundaries. Half of the acreage is in the city’s sphere of influence, but another 20 percent is owned by the federal Bureau of Land Management.
In order to get a large chunk of that land, the city is waiting on Congress to pass a bill authored by Rep. Howard P. “ Buck ” McKeon , R-Santa Clarita. The Soledad Canyon Mine Act would settle a longstanding dispute between Cemex cement company and the city of Santa Clarita by giving the company 5,000 acres of BLM land north of Victorville — land the city would then buy from Cemex.
Ironically, if the city does get control of all of the land included in the plan, officials said it also stands to take on the substantial tax revenues from Cemex competitor, TXI Riverside Cement.
“We’ve been waiting for something to happen out there,” Cabriales said. “Hopefully we won’t have to wait long.”
This map was included in the presentation to the Hesperia City Council. It shows the R3 project design, to drill 60 wells at the Mojave river and pipe 40,000 acre feet of water a year towards Victorville. The water that may be provided to Hesperia from R3 near Bear Valley road will be minimal. I think this pipeline should be in Victorville as they will benefit the most from this project. Like the waste water issues, Hesperia should opt out of R3 as we stand to lose more than we gain. Let Victorville build its own treatment plant and let the R3 pipeline cut through Victorville. Under the R3 plan Victorville gets the good aquifer water while the rest of the valley hopes that California Water Project recharge water will somehow be available in the future for our use.
The map above shows the proposed pipeline cutting across Hesperia in order to supply Victorville with water provided by the 60 wells that the Mojave Water Agency will drill in the Mojave River.
From the Notice of Determination - Found above on the State Clearing House website...
"Construction of new groundwater recharge, conveyance, and extraction facilities and operation of existing facilities to provide for import, banking and return of banked groundwater. Approximately 890 acres of new recharge, 15+ miles of new pipeline, and 60 new wells. Includes use of Mainstem Mojave River for active recharge and delivery to the Mojave River via releases from Lake Silverwood and from the California Aqueduct via existing facilities and a new release to an unnamed wash."
To put this project in perspective and scope, the description of the R3 project is above.
From Hesperia's yearly Consumer Confidence Report we learn that the entire water supply for Hesperia is provided by 18 wells. In 2008 it was 16,742 acre feet of water.
The City’s water is extracted through 18 wells placed throughout Hesperia, where the water is regularly tested and treated in compliance with all applicable State and Federal regulations. The water is pumped directly from the Alto Subarea sub basin of the Mojave River Groundwater Basin (Basin). The Basin is recharged by rainfall and snowmelt from the local mountains as well as imported water. Because the water quality of the groundwater meets State and Federal standards, the wells pump directly into the City’s distribution system or into storage reservoirs after disinfection. In 2008, the City of Hesperia Water District provided over 16,742 acre-feet of potable (drinkable) water to citizens.
R3 at "Ultimate" capacity will be pumping 40,000 acre feet per year out of the overdrafted Mojave River Basin. Most of this water is intended for Victorville, and the recharge water supply from the aqueduct is an unknown factor. How will this plan effect Hesperia,Apple Valley, Barstow and all of the other well owners who rely on the Mojave River Basin for water? MWA will ask that all of the local governments pay for this project up front that will ultimately benefit Victorville with 75% of the water pumped out of the basin ending up there. Will Hesperia get conned again and let Victorville put a water pipeline through Hesperia for Victorville's exclusive use? Remember the Golden Triangle deal, where Hesperia gave Victorville the land along the freeway? This deal is way bigger than that, as Victorville will place the entire water supply for Hesperia at risk while R3 water is piped through Hesperia to Victorville. And Hesperia gets to pay for it!
Victorville's Outrageous Water Use Growing
The chart above is the Alto water basin projected replacement water obligations through 2025.This is the amount of water that Victorville uses above and beyond what they are allocated. The parties are required by the Adjudication or the Judgement to replace the amount that they "overdraft" from the basin that is the sole source of water for the entire High Desert. All of the water districts overdraft but none come close to Victorville's numbers. They use more than double what Hesperia uses in every 5 year time period. The misleading bars are the 2 on the right hand part of every 5 year period. The purple bars that are the highest reaching bars on the chart represent Victorville Water District #1. The blue bar to the right of Victorville #1 is Victorville Water District #2. If the two districts were combined as they should be Victorville's water replacement obligations would be in the area of 16,000 acre feet for 2010 growing to 21,000 in 2025. Tie in the MWA buying $77 MILLION Dollars worth of water rights at $5,500.00 an acre foot for 14,000 acre feet spread out over the next ten years and you still come up 7,000 acre feet short for Victorville alone. Victorville has trouble paying its bills now but continues to green light private owned projects that use thousands of acre feet of water each year that the rest of us pay for at top dollar. The Dr.Pepper plant for example will use 1.9 million gallons each day. Around 1 million gallons a day will leave the High Desert in bottles that are transported to the rest of the country. Here's what the 1996 Mojave Water judgement says about transporting water out of the basin.
17. Injunction Against Transportation From The Mojave Basin. Except upon further order of the Court, each and every Party, its officers, agents, employees, successors and assigns, is ENJOINED AND RESTRAINED from transporting water hereafter Produced from the Basin Area to areas outside of the Basin Area.
Explain how Dr.Pepper or Snapple being transported to the rest of the country is not in violation of the Court Judgement.
My take is that the money drives all of the policy and or land decisions in the High Desert and the County. Follow the money and you find out who is pulling the strings on these puppets. These are the Buck Johns Inland Energy Projects that are being pushed through by the local politicians that Mr. Johns controls.
Inland Port / Intermodal Facility at Southern California Logistics Airport -Inland to coordinate infrastucture.
Victorville’s Inland Port will provide a long-term solution to the congestion and pollution problems that currently exist at the Ports of Long Beach / Los Angeles. As shipping volumes continue to grow at these two contiguous ports which already receive more than 40% of the nation’s imports, the bottleneck in processing and routing cargo promises to grow uncontrollably unless steps are undertaken now to develop an Inland Port at Victorville. The Ports have already commissioned a study of the Inland Port issue – results are expected in mid-2009.
In Victorville, at the site of the former George Air Force Base, more than $100 million has been invested in transportation infrastructure thus far; building an airport and freight facility that can alleviate many of the Ports’ problems – unlike most potential sites in southern California, SCLA sits astride the major truck, rail and air corridors and, most importantly, has the land and community receptiveness needed to create an effective Inland Port alternative.
This 5,000-acre development at SCLA has begun the initial buildout of a rail spur to connect the base to the major US rail network that is the core of the logistics market. Inland ‘s role is to coordinate the development of the infrastructure bridge between the two ports and the City of Victorville.
High Desert Transportation Corridor
The High Desert Corridor is a new regional highway beginning at US 395 in Adelanto and ending at SR-18 one-half mile east of the Town of Apple Valley, a distance of about twenty miles. Viable alternatives will represent the initial phase of the High Desert Corridor (HDC) and are expected to correspond closely to the alignment adopted for the HDC in earlier studies conducted by Caltrans and Regional Transportation Agencies.
The general purpose of the project is two-fold: initially it will improve intra valley accessibility and mobility as well as provide for throughput and safety for east-west regional travel demand; ultimately it will become a link in the HDC and provide a direct connection to the Antelope Valley, a by-pass to the LA Metropolitan Area and establish the backbone for the future Victor Valley Beltway. Viable project alternatives are expected to meet the following objectives:
Improve System Connectivity by interconnecting US 395, I-15 and SR 18 with freeway/expressway continuity
Improve Accessibility to the Southern California Logistics Airport( SCLA) and emerging industrial job centers
Support the efficient movement of goods by truck and minimize the disruptive effects of trucks on surface streets
Increase east-west capacity to meet future travel demand of Victor Valley’s 1.3-million population by 2035
570 MW Victorville 2 Hybrid Power Project
“Victor Valleys Plant #2 is the first hybrid plant of its kind in the world” - Mayor Mike Rothschild
In response to the looming shortage of electric generating capacity facing Southern California and to help generate local economic growth, the City of Victorville unanimously voted on March 11, 2005 to develop a 570MW “Hybrid” power plant at the Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA - formerly, George AFB). The City has retained Inland Energy, Inc. to manage the development of the plant which has been named the “Victorville 2 Hybrid Power Plant” (VV2).
VV2 will be the world’s first “hybrid” plant, combining the ultra high efficiency of the modern natural gas fired combined cycle technology with the proven renewable design of a solar thermal system, using parabolic trough mirrors to capture the sun’s energy and turn it into electricity. Much like a hybrid car, this approach combines the best features of two state-of-the-art technologies to produce a design that is an improvement over either one as stand-alone technologies. The result will be the cleanest and most efficient fossil fuel fired plant in the world.
The proposed Victorville 2 project would have a net electrical output of 563 MW megawatts (MW), with construction planned to begin in the spring of 2009 and commercial operation planned by summer of 2011. Victorville 2 is designed to use solar technology to generate a portion of the project’s output and thereby support the State of California’s goal of increasing the percentage of renewable energy supplies. Primary equipment for the generating facility would include two natural gas-fired combustion turbine generators (CTGs) rated at 154 MW each, two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs), one steam turbine generator (STG) rated at 268 MW, and 250 acres of parabolic solar-thermal collectors with associated heat transfer equipment. The solar thermal collectors would contribute up to 50 MW of the STG’s 268 MW output, and with plant auxiliary loads of about 13 MW, Victorville 2’s net output would be 563 MW.
Inland Energy partners with DesertXpress to create a much needed high speed train corridor to serve visitors going to Las Vegas from Southern California
The Pressing Need
Today, over one-third of the 38 million annual Las Vegas visitors come from Southern California, and most of them drive to Las Vegas on Interstate 15. Further, as Las Vegas has grown into a very large metropolitan area, the demand for travel to Southern California from Las Vegas has continued to increase as well. As the only roadway directly linking Southern California to Las Vegas, I-15 has rapidly evolved into a time-consuming, stressful, and often congested and dangerous travel experience.
A New Transportation Alternative
The proposed DesertXpress project would be privately financed and extend over nearly 200 miles on new, high quality exclusive double track with no at-grade crossings. DesertXpress would provide a convenient and efficient travel alternative to Interstate 15. This new “people pipeline” is estimated to carry more passengers than all of the airlines from all of the five Southern California airports combined (LAX, Ontario, Burbank, John Wayne, San Diego), most of whom otherwise would have driven on I-15.
The Route
From Victorville, a completely separate, dedicated two-track passenger railway would be constructed, largely following the north side or median of I-15, making maximum use of excess freeway right-of-way, and minimizing the impact upon the largely undeveloped land alongside the highway. There will be no grade crossings with vehicles or other traffic, thereby maximizing speed and safety.
Victorville as the Hub
Victorville is the ideal location for the Southern California hub. Located within only a 30- to 45- minute drive for roughly 5 million people who live in the Inland Empire, Antelope Valley, and the eastern portions of Los Angeles County, and only an hour’s drive for most of the rest of the Southland’s 20 million residents, the Victorville hub would provide convenient access from I-15, valet parking, hotel check-in and baggage service direct to a resort of choice – delivering on the Las Vegas experience starting in Victorville.
Proven, Reliable, Safe Technology
The DesertXpress will utilize proven off-the-shelf European high-speed trains capable of traveling at up to 150 mph and further customized for the unique setting of the corridor. Train interiors would be configured to maximize entertainment and passenger comfort. Individual cars within the train set would be self-propelled to provide the high power-to-weight ratio needed to follow the I-15 alignment and negotiate its relatively steep grades across the Mojave Desert. DesertXpress would speed by the congested automobile traffic making the 190-mile trip in 1 hour and 35 minutes, like clock work, every day of the year. The initial operations plan includes 16 train sets with 10 cars (9 passenger cars with a total seated capacity of 675 passengers), and an entertainment car.
A Fully Expandable System
The initial privately financed DesertXpress line could be extended over Cajon Pass into the Los Angeles basin, west through the Antelope Valley, or as otherwise needed to provide for connections with multiple transport options in the future, including the state of California’s proposed high speed rail network. And because the system would use non-proprietary, high quality, standard gauge steel rail technology, it does not tie the hands of the public sector. This ensures that the lowest possible cost can be realized for such expansions. 1 California Infrastructure Coalition: Economic Impact of Funding California’s Transportation Infrastructure, 2004
Inland to oversee Victorville sixteen square mile Master planned communities.
The City of Victorville is looking to enhance the quality of life of its current and future residents by master planning an undeveloped area into a modern community. This mixed used community will provide a mix of residential housing, retail, parks, schools and state of the art transit. This vision for the future is key to building a sustainable, vibrant new community in Victorville. Inland’s role is to facilitate the myriad development efforts required to ensure that this project succeeds.
The transit-oriented developments are compact, walkable communities centered around high quality transit systems. A fine grain mix of uses anhigher housing densities are important to sustaining transit service. Transit oriented development is a way to create a genuine place that builds community, enhances quality of life, and attracts investment.
The master plan calls for the development of nearly 16 square miles with an ultimate population similar to the existing City of Victorville in 2007, it is projected to take 20 to 30 years to build.
Below is a response to recent opinion stories ran in the Daily Press on the Dr.Pepper plant and water issues in the High Desert.
Valley Voices
Re: Dr. Pepper Snapple and valley water-printed in the Daily Press on 9-6-2009
The recent letter of Ms. Carolyn Russell in the Daily Press letters was not only thoughtful but it was the first in months that even touches upon the issue of water QUALITY.
In neither of the two Valley Voice letters captioned above is the issue of water quality meaningfully mentioned, discussed or dissected. Why? Clearly, Mr. Page (MWA director) and author of one of the letters, has motivation and desire (conflict?) to bring more water into the valley but he has not explained to the public that there is a price to pay for the imported inferior quality water. A price financially (someone has to pay) and a price in terms of ultimate contamination of the water filter (the sand and rock of the river bed) and the reduction of the existing underground water quality (a process known as blending). Blending is the procedure whereby very high quality water is mixed with low quality water and the result is a product of lesser quality.
The Mojave Water Agency(MWA) has a responsibility to protect our water supply as well as our water quality, although they deny this. As a local water well owner, I and others, believe through the process of the groundwater adjudication that the MWA may not allow the export of groundwater from the adjudicated area, even if they replace it later with inferior aqueduct water. To the best of our knowledge, the MWA has not produced a ruling from the superior court that allows exporting water outside of the MWA adjudicated area. If such a document exists, the MWA should produce a copy forthwith to ALL stakeholders, not just the water districts, and then provide time to study the document.
In documents of which we have copies, the MWA has asserted that “Water from the State Water Project has always been considered a high quality source...” In addition, the MWA has attempted to sell the idea to the public that “Water for the R3 (superwell) project will come from the State Water Project, through the California Aqueduct.” Now the argument is complete. State water project water is a high quality source and R3 water comes from the aqueduct, according to the MWA. Unfortunately neither of the above MWA arguments are true! Aqueduct water is highly inferior(ask the contaminated fish at Silverwood Lake) and the R3 water will come from the underground water source, not the aqueduct!
The Dr. Pepper/Snapple plant, according to the letter of Mr. Hampson, will “...use about 1.9 million gallons of water per day.” Of this amount, it appears that at least 1,000,000 gallons per day will leave our valley in the form of soda pop, which will be exported to areas outside of the Victor Valley. The remaining 900,000 gallons per day will become industrial wastewater. The above water use constitutes approximately 600,000,000 gallons of water per year of high quality Victor Valley water.
Although the issue of the QUALITY of the manufacturing by- product(wastewater) was not discussed in either of the Valley Voices letters, it is important for the public to know a bit about the record of ground and groundwater contamination by Snapple’s parent company, Coca Cola. Interested readers will find that a quick Google computer search under the generalization, “ Coca Cola ground water contamination”, will produce multiples of informational articles.Despite court rulings against Coca Cola, in some cases years have elapsed and Coca Cola has not satisfied the courts orders. This, in spite of the fact that there are State of California and federal laws prohibiting ground and groundwater contamination and pollution.
The Valley Voices letters are replete with grand and important reasons for the necessity of the MWA R3 (superwell) project. Primarily, jobs are the reasons for the project.
Who will truly benefit? The City of Victorville, ostensibly in debt over $200,000,000,
most dramatically needs the jobs. SCLA and Adelanto (to a lesser degree) will benefit.
Besides the Dr. Pepper/Snapple plant, Victorville needs the R3 water to build 25,000 homes and to supply additional generating plants they may have planned.
Who pays? The public through a lessening of water quality and the taxes that ultimately pay for any project of this type. The MWA will remind us that some of the financing for R3 is grant money. Nevertheless, it comes from the state and is tax based. The entire taxpaying public of the Victor Valley will be subsidizing this project for Victorville.
Who benefits the least? Perhaps Hesperia. The MWA wants Hesperia to give, free of charge, rights of way across the entire city for the water mains to transport the water from the Mojave River area, ultimately to Victorville’s water system. In addition, the MWA is asking, by default, for Hesperia to accept water of an inferior quality compared to that which exists. Finally, and perhaps most outrageously, the MWA wants Hesperia to give $6,000,000 toward their fair share of the project. For Hesperia’s FAIR SHARE, they will receive in turn, one or two water turnout valves attached to the cross- city water main. Hesperia could save $4,000,000 to $5,000,000 of that money by simply installing two additional water wells within city limits!
Water quality is an issue that has not even begun to be discussed. As an example, I ask Mr. Page and others why they have not openly discussed the Semi Tropic underground water storage area near Bakersfield? When the MWA was asked about Semi Tropic they became vague and lacking information. Semi Tropic is a water purchasing scheme in which the MWA is involved, and upon request and purchase, the MWA has water delivered from Semi Tropic and placed into the ground under the Mojave River bed. The problem? Semi Tropic underground water is contaminated with arsenic and other components.
The federal governments goal for arsenic in the underground water is 0. That’s correct. 0!
As a final note, the public should be aware that the MWA is currently allowing treated sewer water from Lake Arrowhead and other locations to be percolated into our aquifer. The MWA also has plans to place millions of gallons of inferior water from several sources into the aquifer and it will all be done south of Rock Springs Rd. Hmmm...? Mr. Brill(MWA manager), Mr. Page, Ms.Cox, why not place this water in Victorville? Please, don’t explain the geology. Explain the politics. Nevertheless, the MWA has come out in opposition to the reasonable solution to the problem of underground water quality. Simply put, a water treatment facility constructed at Highway 395, near the aqueduct, could solve Victorville’s water needs. Take the water directly out of the aqueduct, treat it and send it on it’s way to Victorville.
The MWA was recently awarded $4.9 million dollars of bailout money for construction of groundwater ponds and associated facilities(buildings). They also have several million dollars to construct new offices and large monetary reserves. However, since Mr. Brill is against water treatment facilities, none of the MWA’s millions will be used to construct a water treatment facility. No money for water treatment but millions to enlarge a bureaucracy which has been growing steadily.
The writer of this article was asked by two MWA directors just “... who exactly do you expect to pay for the facility?” My response was that “...those benefiting the most should pay the most.” Both directors blushed red in anger and they have not since discussed the subject.The water drought we are all experiencing is very serious. The MWA must plan to bring sufficient water to the Victor valley for our continuing progress. They must not, however, ignore the very real dilemma of groundwater quality and the long term safety of our families. Mr. Page suggested, “ I encourage High Desert residents to please do what Ms. Russell did-voice your opinion on water-related matters using this forum...” I am doing precisely that.
Sincerely , Al Vogler
For specific details go to Postmus Form 700 page .
Postmus' Land Deals Detailed
Riverside Press Enterprise 10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 25, 2009
CASSIE MACDUFF
Among the surprises contained in the search warrant affidavit released last Friday in the investigation of former Assessor Bill Postmus was this nugget:
Postmus allegedly used insider information when he and High Desert developer Dino DeFazio bought six parcels near Lucerne Valley through their Tri-Land Inc. real estate investment company.
A confidential informant told investigators Tri-Land bought three parcels because Postmus knew a major developer planned a large-scale development nearby.
Postmus didn't respond to a request for an interview Tuesday afternoon, so I couldn't ask him about his real estate deals.
But the affidavit spells out what investigators believed were violations of the law.
First, Postmus characterized Tri-Land as a partnership on his official Statement of Economic Interests, which elected officials are required to file annually to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
The company is not registered as a partnership; it's registered as a corporation and DeFazio is listed as the sole officer, so the statement was false, per the affidavit.
Second, on his 2007 Statement of Economic Interests, Postmus didn't declare the value of his ownership in Tri-Land as required.
Third, the deed for one of the parcels was transferred to Tri-Land as a gift, but Postmus didn't declare it as a gift on his economic disclosure form, the affidavit says.
Fourth, Postmus claimed in testimony before the grand jury that he used the proceeds of the 2007 sale of his home in Hesperia to buy the six parcels with Tri-Land.
But three of the six parcels were purchased before Postmus sold his home, the affidavit says.
And according to investigator Robert Schreiber, who has specialized training in white-collar crimes and has also been a licensed real estate broker for 27 years, it's unlikely there were any proceeds from the sale because Postmus had borrowed up to $299,000 against his home, which sold for $306,000.
It's important to note that, although Postmus has been charged with nine felony counts of grand theft, misuse of public funds, perjury and drug possession, he hasn't been charged with anything related to Tri-Land. Does this mean he's off the hook?
Lewis Cope, who heads the DA's Public Integrity Unit prosecuting Postmus and other former assessor officials, said his office is still investigating things that came to light during the two-year investigation of Postmus' office.
I asked Cope why Postmus wasn't charged with perjury or filing false documents, as was his former assistant Jim Erwin for failing to disclose a gift on his Statement of Economic Interests.
Erwin faces 10 felony counts because he didn't report a Rolex watch and a trip to New York he received from a developer.
Cope couldn't comment because of the ongoing investigation.
Nor could he tell me whether the matter has been referred to the Fair Political Practices Commission, which can sanction officials for failing to disclose gifts.
If Postmus did use insider knowledge to buy property he knew was likely to increase in value because of a development planned nearby, he was following in well-worn footsteps.
Former CAO Harry Mays, when he was county purchasing director, turned a tidy profit by buying six houses being sold by the county conservator and flipping them.
At a Tuesday afternoon ethics workshop, the Board of Supervisors was told the grand jury has recommended that the county ethics code be amended to bar public officials from using their offices for personal gain.
It should be a no-brainer. But some people must need reminding.
Cassie MacDuff can be reached at 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@PE.com
Way to go Daily Press for printing what a few of us High Desert "gadflys" have been claiming for years.
Informant: Postmus set up PACs to hide pay-off
DA suspected developer who sued county bribed supervisors
BY NATASHA LINDSTROM Victorville Daily Press STAFF WRITER 8-24-09
SAN BERNARDINO
Bill Postmus set up political action committees to hide a $100,000 pay-off for helping approve a $102 million settlement as 1st District Supervisor, according to newly released court records.
With the help of colleagues and political allies, Postmus created two PACs to funnel payments from a developer who sued the county for more than $300 million, according to search warrant affidavits prepared by the county District Attorney’s office. The affidavits — largely based on claims by informant and former Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman — further allege Postmus used campaign money to pay personal expenses.
Postmus called the allegations “lies, lies and more lies” that are part of a political witch hunt led by District Attorney Michael A. Ramos and 2nd District Supervisor Paul Biane. Postmus is facing nine felony charges for behavior as county assessor, but has not been charged for actions related to campaign funds.
“In the end, we will show that the DA’s office lied to the judge in order to obtain this warrant,” Postmus said Monday.
“We’ll settle that in court,” said Susan Mickey, spokeswoman for the District Attorney ’s office. “ We stand by the documents and we think they speak for themselves.”
In a landmark legal settlement, San Bernardino County supervisors agreed on a 3-2 vote to pay $102 million to the developer Colonies Partners in November 2006. The lawsuit involved a dispute over flood control improvements at an Upland development.
Within six months of the settlement, Colonies contributed $100,000 each to PACs tied to Biane, Board Chairman Gary Ovitt and then-1st District Supervisor Postmus — the three supervisors who voted in favor of the settlement.
According to the informant in the search warrant affidavits — identified as Aleman in three e-mail strings in support of the warrants — those contributions were payments to the supervisors and their staffs for their help facilitating the settlement deal.
In May 2007 Colonies Partners contributed $100,000 to Alliance for Ethical Government PAC, controlled by Ovitt’s chief of staff, Mark Kirk. Kirk then withdrew $10,000 from that PAC as a consulting fee, the informant told investigators.
“The accusation is false and really deserves no further comment,” Kirk said in an e-mail Monday.
Financial statements show that Kirk’s PAC paid two $10,000 expenditures to Kirk under the label “campaign consultant,” in November 2007 and April 2008. Kirk has not been charged with any wrongdoing related to the settlement or campaign funds.
In June 2007 Colonies donated $100,000 to San Bernardino County Young Republicans PAC, controlled by Biane’s chief of staff, Matt Brown. Ovitt and Biane did not return requests for comment Monday.
Colonies also contributed $50,000 each to two PACs the informant said were controlled by Postmus: Conservatives for a Republican Majority PAC and Inland Empire PAC.
At Postmus’ direction, Aleman told investigators, Apple Valley developer Dino DeFazio served as Inland Empire PAC’s chair, and Aleman had authority to act on DeFazio’s behalf. The PAC’s executive officer was Mike Richman of MPR Strategies, who is also a target in a county civil suit for misuse of funds in the Assessor’s office.
In a statement Monday, DeFazio deemed the affidavits “factually flawed and untruthful.”
“What is more egregious is the fact that the District Attorney’s ‘confidential informant’ is a convicted perjurer with a plea bargain to lessen his sentence,” DeFazio said.
According to the affidavits, Postmus directed Aleman and Richman to disperse money from the Inland Empire PAC to other local and state political campaigns, and to Postmus’ campaign account.
Of the Inland Empire PAC’s 38 contributions between March 2007 and mid-October 2008, five donations totaling $50,000 were deposited into Postmus’ campaign account, the Committee to Elect Bill Postmus.
In the affidavit, the informant charged that Postmus used funds from his campaign account to pay personal expenses.
“That is completely false and all my campaign reports have been made public,” Postmus said.
Jeffrey Burum of Colonies Partners declined to comment Monday.
But on Friday Burum defended himself and his company from making any unethical payments, saying he has "always adhered to the highest legal and ethical standards."
Last month Postmus was charged with nine felony counts of misuse of public funds, grand theft, perjury and drug possession. He pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to return to court Sept. 22.
None of those charges is related to the Colonies settlement.
Ramos has said his office continues to investigate possible corruption related to the Colonies settlement.
Chart from SB Sun story Colonies Money Trail.
State AG joins county in investigation
Posted: 08/17/2009 06:30:33 PM PDT
Special Section: SB County Watch
The state Attorney General's Office will join the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office in its prosecution of former Assessor's Office officials and an ongoing probe into the 2006 Colonies settlement.
The growing investigation has so far resulted in one conviction and the filing of criminal charges against former Assessor Bill Postmus and three of his former top staffers. It has expanded to a questionable legal settlement in November 2006 between the county and Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum and his development company, Colonies Partners.
Burum prevailed in the lawsuit after nearly four years of legal wrangling with the county over who was responsible for flood control improvements at Burum's Colonies development in Upland.
County prosecutors are also investigating negotiations involving the sale of a 1,200-acre chunk of county-owned land in Rancho Cucamonga, which was used as a bargaining chip during the county's settlement negotiations with Colonies but later taken off the table.
"This case is getting bigger. It's expanded from its initial focus on the Assessor's Office," Assistant District Attorney James Hackleman said Monday. He said the Attorney General's expertise in public corruption cases will be a major benefit to his office's investigation.
Gary Ovitt, chairman of the San Bernardino
County Board of Supervisors, declined comment Monday through his spokesman, Burt Southard.
Supervisor Neil Derry confined his comments to the following statement, "It's good to know the Attorney General is involved, but it would be nice to hear it from the Attorney General."
Bill Postmus, the central figure in the Assessor's Office scandal, declined comment Monday.
Former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin, one of the four defendants currently being prosecuted, is alleging selective prosecution and conflict of interest, and is pushing to have the District Attorney's Office recused from his case. Neither he nor his attorney, Rajan Maline, plan to let the latest development between the county and the Attorney General's Office deter them from their goal.
"It doesn't change our position. If the San Bernardino County District Attorney is involved in this prosecution, we're going to move forward with our recusal motion," Maline said.
"There can be 10 agencies involved in my case, but if one of them has a bias, that agency needs to be removed from my case," Erwin said.
Erwin has been charged with 10 felonies for failing to report about $15,000 in gifts he received from Burum in 2007, which included a luxurious trip to New York City on a private jet and a Rolex Daytona watch. The gifts were compensation for Erwin helping in the settlement negotiations between the county and Colonies Partners.
A claim filed recently by Erwin against the county alleges, among other things, civil rights violations, whistle-blower retaliation, racketeering and false arrest.
Erwin will next appear in court on Thursday, where an evidentiary hearing will be scheduled. His attorney is expected to file the recusal motion before the evidentiary hearing.
"It's unfortunate this all had to happen ... but I'm not going to back down," Erwin said.
On Aug. 4, District Attorney Michael A. Ramos directed his office's Public Integrity Unit to prepare a formal request to the Attorney General's Office asking that they assist in its prosecution of Postmus and a few of his former executive staff - Erwin, Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Rex Gutierrez and Gregory Eyler.
On Aug. 11, county prosecutors shot off a letter to the Attorney General's Office briefing them on the status of their investigation. On Aug. 14, the District Attorney's Office received word back from the Attorney General's Office, which informed them a deputy attorney general would be assisting in the prosecutions and ongoing corruption probe.
Hackleman said Erwin's chances of having the District Attorney recused from his case may suffer a drastic blow now that the Attorney General's Office has stepped in to assist.
"I think that's going to affect the validity of any recusal (motion)," said Hackleman. "Now that they are partnered with us, there's a question as to whether a recusal has any validity, but that is something that will ultimately be decided in the courtroom."
Attorney General Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. said via telephone Monday that Erwin and Postmus are throwing up a lot of smoke, and his office believes county prosecutors have a "righteous case."
"We're sending a deputy down to be part of the investigation and prosecution to ensure the people of San Bernardino County that this investigation is fair and it's done properly," Brown said. "From what my deputies advise me, this is a righteous case, and the defendants are throwing up a lot of smoke and trying to poison the jury pool."
This Sun editorial is right on the mark and repeats what many have been saying all along.
Time for state AG to step in
Posted: 08/08/2009 07:06:33 PM PDT
Very little is clear these days about San Bernardino County government, but one thing is: The county needs adult supervision.
We appeal to the state Attorney General's Office to shake loose two or three investigators and send them around to do two things:
1. Conduct an independent investigation of allegations about the conduct of District Attorney Michael A. Ramos.
2. Assist and oversee the district attorney's Public Integrity Unit in its investigation into the Assessor's Office and allegations of corruption elsewhere in county government.
It should be noted that we have full faith in the Public Integrity Unit's ability to investigate and prosecute the shenanigans that have been going on at the county's highest levels. But the latest allegations against Ramos threaten to unravel the unit's good work - even though he declared he will not be deterred.
Note too that we are not calling for the Public Integrity Unit to halt its investigation, sit back and wait for the state to take over. Instead, we want the unit to continue full steam ahead, but with help from outsiders who can provide assistance and objectivity and certify the results.
As it is, nearly everybody in the upper echelons of county government has been mentioned in one allegation or investigation (the DA's or the Hueston report commissioned by county supervisors) or another.
When Supervisor Neil Derry called for an independent investigation into allegations of sexual improprieties by Ramos, the other supervisors said it was politics and there was no need for such a probe. But now that one of Ramos' employees in the District Attorney's Office has filed a claim of sexual harassment, county officials can no longer ignore it. A claim filed against the county by Jim Erwin, the indicted former assistant assessor, alleges improper conduct by Ramos with two other county department heads, and certainly that can't be ignored.
Trouble is, it's impossible to shake the feeling that the allegations against Ramos - whether any of them may be true or not - are being used to undermine the prosecution of Erwin and former Assessor Bill Postmus, along with three other accused former assessor's employees.
Ramos, for his part, announced that the investigation extends to the $102 million settlement the county paid the developers of The Colonies, who have been major funders of the campaigns of at least two members of the Board of Supervisors. Erwin, Derry's former chief of staff, helped negotiate that settlement, and the charges against him deal with failure to report gifts he received from Colonies developer Jeff Burum.
Derry also got more than $400,000 from the county's safety employees union, which Erwin headed up, and to which the Colonies was a major contributor.
It's a mess.
Attorney General Jerry Brown got involved in San Bernardino County affairs last year when he required the county to address global warming in its general plan. Now he should get involved in stemming the county's political corruption.
AG Brown, come on down.
In my comments after the July 7 Hesperia City Council meeting, I asked for a legal opinion on the Dr.Pepper / Snapple bottling plant in Victorville and if the million gallons of water a day that they will use could be veiwed as "exporting" water out of the Mojave Basin adjudication area. While the rest of the high desert is faced with ever increasing water bills- and told to conserve in every way possible, Victorville keeps creating huge water guzzler projects that only benefit private interests.
The Bigger Picture- A Better Direction-A Water Purification Plant For the Entire High Desert
According to the State of California-Water Resources Board- We are in the 3rd year of a drought. It is, what it is, and we need to accept it for what it is. Water deliveries to ALL agencies are capped at 40% this water year from the State Water Project- the aqueduct. Water quality in the High Desert is getting worst as we pump from lower levels of the existing wells. We are not recharging the basin to equal the levels we are taking out of it, so quality will continue to decline. We need the ability to purify all of the different water sources that we have available to us. Sooner is better then later, we need to rethink water policy for the entire High Desert based on existing law and conditions.A snap shot of the MWA was included in the 07/08 Grand Jury Report-
The Mojave Water Agency (MWA) was formed in 1959 by an act of the California Legislature and was activated by a vote of the residents in 1960 to manage
declining groundwater levels in the Mojave Basin Area, Lucerne Valley and El Mirage
Basin. The Morongo Basin and Johnson Valley areas were annexed in 1965.
The Agency imports water through the California Aqueduct to recharge groundwater from which local water companies and well owners derive well water for all uses including domestic, agriculture and industrial. Current MWA usage of SWP water amounts to about 15 percent of overall water consumption. Two pipelines directly from the California Aqueduct were constructed to service the water needs of the Barstow area and the Morongo Basin area including the Joshua Basin. All water runoff from streams above Silverwood Lake are metered by the SWP, and the exact amount of water from runoff into the lake is metered out of the lake into the Mojave River basin.
The MWA has an annual contract for up to 75,800 acre-feet of water from the State Water Project (SWP), although due to variability in deliveries of SWP water, the average annual supply available is currently estimated to be 58,400 acre feet. Pursuant to long-term planning, in order to balance the basin by the year 2025, it will be necessary for MWA to utilize its full SWP supply.
The MWA has purchased and banked about 120,000 acre feet of water from the SWP California Aqueduct over that past three years, which is recharged into the water basins for future use. Because of cutbacks in state water supplies from the aqueduct, and in keeping with long-range planning to maintain adequate water supplies, the MWA Board has mandated that the Agency seek new supplies of water.
The High Desert Power plant in Victorville, California, is a state-of-the-art electric generating facility and one of the first major power plants built in Southern California since the early 1990s. High Desert Power produces 830 megawatts of energy— enough to power 800,000 typical California homes.
The source for the plant’s water is provided by the State Water Project, which conveys water from California’s Delta (near San Francisco), where it is plentiful, to more arid areas.
High Desert uses 3.5 million gallons of imported water in an average 24-hour day—which is about 5 percent of the Mohave Water Agency’s allocation of water from the State Water Project.
All power generated by High Desert Power is sold to the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR). The High Desert plant is located on a 25-acre site leased from the Victor Valley Economic Development Agency. The land is located at Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA). High Desert employs 25 full-time workers and is one of the leading property taxpayers in the High Desert region.
Water use for VV bottling plant
BROOKE EDWARDS Staff Writer
June 24, 2008 - 6:29PM
VICTORVILLE — In spite of its high water use, the recently approved bottling plant at Southern California Logistics Airport won’t effect water bills or bring stricter conservation requirements for residents, according to city officials.
Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s manufacturing and distribution plant is projected to use more than 1 million gallons of water each day, which is equal to roughly three times the amount consumed by the average user in one year.
However about 60 to 70 percent of the water used by the plant will be reclaimed according to Reggie Lamson, director of the Victorville Water District.
“The nice thing about the bottling plant is that it doesn’t use all the water,” Lamson said. “It produces a significant waste stream the city can collect and use to irrigate the golf course or cool the power plant.”
Lamson said currently the city uses water from the California Aqueduct to cool the High Desert Power Project. Once the Dr Pepper plant opens, he said, they will be able to use between 550,000 and 750,000 gallons of Title 22 or reclaimed water discharged from the plant each day in place of using state water.
In addition to foregoing the usual grassy landscaping surrounding the plant, the company plans to conserve additional water throughout the production cycle, according to Chris Barnes, manager of corporate communications for Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
He said they will pre-clean product containers with filtered deionized air instead of water, use state-of-the-art technologies to reduce liquid loss as soft drink concentrate is mixed with the water, make greater use of the rejected water filtered out during water purification and separating optimizing wastewater pretreatment to eliminate the additional use of water and chemicals.
Another concern raised by residents is how this project fits with the adjudication, preventing local water from being exported outside of the High Desert. The plant will ship roughly 50 brands of beverages — including Dr Pepper, 7-UP and Sunkist — to nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population.
Lamson said his understanding is that this portion of the 1990s court ruling was to prevent, say, the city from building a pipeline to provide water to Palmdale.
“There are a number of uses of water where it is shipped outside the community,” Lamson said. Unless the city plans on stopping every person who drives down the Cajon Pass with a locally made cup of Starbucks coffee, he said they cannot control appropriate uses such as manufacturing goods that bring good jobs to the community.
Kirby Brill, general manager of the Mojave Water Agency, said the exporting issue is at best a gray area with no clear violation of the court order, though he said some deep research would be needed to get a final answer.
Though his career is water, Lamson said the advantages of bringing quality jobs to the city so that his children don’t have to drive down the hill to work outweigh any concerns over the increased water use.
Brooke Edwards may be reached at 955-5358 or at bedwards@vvdailypress.com.
In addition to the private interests the population in Victorville continues to grow at a record rate.
Victorville still among fastest growing cities in U.S.
Drops from No. 2 to No. 14
July 2, 2009 - 10:38 AM
BROOKE EDWARDS Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE • Once again Victorville made the list of the 25 fastest growing cities in the nation, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released this week — though it dropped from the No. 2 spot to No. 14.
The city’s population grew by 3.3 percent from 2007 to 2008, up to 110,318 residents.
This is roughly a third the growth the city saw from 2006 to 2007, when Victorville’s population jumped by 9.5 percent.
Victorville’s slowed growth mirrors the nation as a whole: While 15 cities grew by 4 percent or more in 2007, only five cities did in 2008.
California and Florida — the two states often reported to be hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis — both gave up several spots on the list to states such as Texas, Colorado and Virginia.
Victorville is now the third fastest growing city in California, according to the report, trailing behind Roseville City and Irvine.
It was also the fifth fastest growing city in the nation between 2000 and 2008, the Census report states.
How does what happens in Victorville effect the rest of us? The water that we have in this valley is a shared resource that is supposed to be controlled by a California Supreme Court ruling.The ruling is posted on my site and the full version with footnotes can also be downloaded from this site. You can read it here, and makeup your own mind. From where I live at in Hesperia, Victorville has made more than a few bad choices lately.The full speed ahead-pedal to the metal attitude has consequences when it fails to deliver the goods as promised. It comes down to public interests vs private interests, with the public interests such as water for the residents of this valley coming after Victorville's business ambitions. Lets not pretend that everything is ok because Victorville says it is.
Financial woes infecting Victorville
By Joe Smilor on March 15, 2009 3:00 PM
Riverside Press Enterprise
Eight months after the U.S. Census Bureau declared it the second fastest growing city in the country, Victorville is plagued with a Herculean financial crisis, facing hundreds of millions of dollars in deficits, defaults and overstated assets.
According to a recently released audit, the city has not maintained adequate internal control and accounting records, so much so that basic financial statements included in the audit may be misstated and may not present a fair financial picture of the city, according to the auditor.
"The scope of our work was not sufficient to enable us to express, and we do not express, opinion on the city's basic financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2007," wrote an auditor for Caporicci & Larson, the San Diego-based accounting firm hired by the city in June 2007 to conduct the audit.
The audit was supposed to be completed by Dec. 31, 2007, but the city's lack of internal controls - adequate computer accounting software and record keeping programs - prompted further investigation and caused a 14-month delay of the audit's release, said John Sullivan, the city's finance director.
Among the audit's key findings:
The city is in default on an $83.7 million bond and $183 million purchase contract for two ill-fated power plant projects.
The city's general fund reserve dropped from $28.8 million in 2005 to just $2.2 million in 2008.
A study of the city's assets, completed in January, found the city overstated its assets by $203.5 million due to accounting errors.
The Southern California Logistics Airport Authority and Victorville Municipal Utility Services, two major funding sources for the city, had accumulated deficits of $97 million and $62.3 million, respectively, as of June 30, 2007.
Net assets showed a deficit of $97 million in 2007, and the city suffered a $36 million impairment loss in its hangars at the Southern California Logistics Airport.
DRASTIC MEASURES
Victorville's financial crunch is so great that on Wednesday, the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority, a joint-powers redevelopment agency comprised of the cities of Victorville, Apple Valley, Adelanto, Hesperia and the county, voted to shift administration of the agency from Victorville to Apple Valley.
Victorville has administered the redevelopment agency since its inception in 1993.
"The Victorville situation is something that has everyone in the Victor Valley concerned," said County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who also is chairman of the VVEDA board. "This move assures Victorville residents that the dollars used to redevelop (Southern California Logistics Airport) are not going to be subject to the current financial situation facing the city of Victorville."
The key issue surrounding the transfer of administration was the lack of Victorville's internal controls and accounting records as cited in the audit, Mitzelfelt said.
The VVEDA also voted to replace Sullivan as treasurer for the VVEDA with Apple Valley Assistant Town Manager Bill Pattison.
Pattison will set up new VVEDA bank accounts and deposit the agency's funds into them, Mitzelfelt said.
Sullivan said the move is in no way a reflection on him, but merely a reflection of his city's lack of adequate computer accounting software.
"Candidly, I had expected this would be done some time ago," Sullivan said. "I've got more than enough work than I could possibly accomplish just with the city of Victorville."
Mayor Rudy Cabriales and councilmen Mike Rothschild and Terry Caldwell could not be reached for comment Friday.
AUDIT CONTESTED
Some on the Victorville City Council have challenged the audit.
At the March 3 City Council meeting, Rothschild said he found the audit to be flawed in basic concepts and encouraged another firm to perform future audits, according to city documents.
Councilman Ryan McEachron, however, warned the council and city staff that changing auditors for the 2007-2008 audit would mean a duplication of efforts and a delay of up to 20 months.
Sullivan said a change of auditors would cost the city substantially more money.
It has already paid $330,000 for the audit to date, which is $190,000 more than the $150,000 the city originally expected to pay.
Gary Caporicci, senior partner with Caporicci & Larson, was on vacation and couldn't be reached for comment Friday.
BOOM AND DOOM
In July 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau named Victorville the second fastest growing city in the country next to New Orleans.
Its population climbed 9.5 percent, to 107,221, between July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007.
The city took great strides to profit from the boom, embarking on a number of projects aimed at creating new jobs and boosting the local housing and business markets.
Among its most ambitious projects were two new power plants at the Southern California Logistics Airport and Foxborough Distribution Center.
An $83.7 million bond was issued in May 2007 to acquire equipment for the Foxborough power plant. In December 2007, the city approved a $183 million contract with General Electric for the Victorville 2 (VV2) power plant project at the airport, putting down a $50 million deposit.
After the collapse of the housing and financial markets, the city found itself in a financial pickle.
On Jan. 26, Fortis Bank informed the city it was in default of its financing agreements for the Foxborough power plant.
On Feb. 19, General Electric informed the city it was in default for failing to make payments on the VV2 power plant project.
Since then, city officials have apparently been trying to figure out a way to dig themselves out of the hole.
Cabriales and representatives from General Electric took a trip to Venezuela this week to try and negotiate a deal to sell off $126 million worth of equipment intended for the Victorville 2 power plant.
General Electric has given the city some additional time to find a taker for its debt, but the clock is ticking.
FINANCIAL FUTURE
While some believe the city will rebound from its current fiscal crisis, others are not so sure.
Montgomery Van Wart, chairman of Cal State San Bernardino's Department of Public Administration, couldn't comment specifically on what's occurring in Victorville, but he did say that, in general, bankruptcies and defaults in the public sector are extremely rare.
He said there were between 2,000 and 3,000 defaults in the public sector during the Great Depression, but even so, most of the financial woes vexing local governments during tough economic times tend to get worked out.
"If this crisis is as deep as it might be, Victorville and some other cities may have some sustained economic emergencies that they need to deal with," Van Wart said. "Victorville, though it has problems, will emerge from them."
Others are less confident.
"I'm uncertain about Victorville's future because of the economy and some of the debts they have outstanding," Mitzelfelt said. "I can't say with any certainty where that's going to lead the city. Other people share my concern."
joe.nelson@inlandnewspapers.com
The Truth these days, is hard to come by. There are a couple of current news stories that have threads connected to what has happened in San Bernardino County with the 3 Bill Postmus rehab trips while acting as Supervisor or Assessor. The first story is about Apple founder Steve Jobs and his absence from Apple. The official Apple version was that Mr. Jobs had a "hormone imbalance", and that it was not serious. We find out months later that Mr. Jobs had a liver transplant because he had end stage liver disease. From an LA Times story on the Apple non-disclosure issue,
Companies are not required to divulge medical details about executives, lawyers said. But they are required to disclose "material" information, which is defined as what a reasonable investor would need to know to make an informed decision on buying or selling stock.
"If they tried to lessen the disclosure and make it misleading by omission, that's just as bad as telling something that flat isn't true," said Jeffrey C. Soza, a securities lawyer at Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard & Shapiro in Los Angeles.
The next story is about Gov. Mark Sanford going awol to Argentina for 5 days for an affair and how he led staff members to believe he was alone over Father's Day weekend, clearing his head by hiking the Appalachian Trail.
One of the oddest political episodes in memory -- the case of the missing governor -- ended Wednesday in a nationally televised news conference that played like a daytime soap opera. A tearful and rambling Sanford, absent his wife and four sons, confessed his infidelity and admitted to a whirlwind trip to Buenos Aires to secretly meet his lover.
The common link in the stories is that as stakeholders in what County government does and as citizens that are dependent on elected leaders to be "on the job", we have been mislead and lied to, time and time again. It is not acceptable in the private sector to "mislead by omission", nor is it acceptable in the public sector to cover up an elected officials illegal drug abuse while in office. What else has the public been lied to about in the ongoing Postmus saga? What will it take to learn the truth? Who will ask the tough questions and demand honest answers? Where are the feds when we need them? When will the DA's 2 year investigation end?
VALLEY VOICES-Victorville Daily Press 6-21-09
Regarding the Postmus suit
BOB CONAWAY
First, with pending criminal matters and a costly civil case in front of ex-First District Supervisor Bill Postmus and his former county employee buddies, not much money is going to be left to pay the county back if it wins a civil action — so the lawsuit by the county must have ulterior motives. There can be no "public benefit" to such a civil action if everyone burns up their money defending against a civil case and a looming criminal case.
Motives? Could they include using Postmus as the lightening rod for the corruption dialogue so everyone ignores his successor (Brad Mitzelfelt) who made it possible for Postmus to spend the time he did running for supervisor and later assessor, who said nothing about Postmus’ hospitalization for alleged drug addiction problems while supervisor, and effectively ran the county and Republican fundraising machine in Postmus’ absence, who apparently covered up the fact Postmus had a severe drug addiction problem when he ran for assessor, and, while Postmus’ chief of staff, promised Nursery Products he would use his position to find them a new location in the High Desert after the company was booted out of Adelanto?
And let’s not forget Biane, Ovitt & Gonzales (who benefited from Postmus’ fundraising sources and organization), and Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who took money from Nursery Products with an appeal pending (which she would have to vote on as a county supervisor) of a planning commission decision to issue Nursery Products a conditional use permit (since thrown out by a Superior Court judge).
Second, with the amount of money we pay for County Counsel (and the supervisors just gave that office a raise a year or so ago, as I recall), why do we need outside help?
The county counsel is either competent and we don’t need the outside expense, or they are not, and some decisions should be made about staffing. If they are competent, then the contract for John Hueston and his firm, Irella & Menella, is a gift of public money in violation of California Constitution, Article XVI, Section 6, and the County of San Bernardino should be sued for its gift of public funds because the end game will not result in any money to recover.
There can be no public purpose for drilling a dry well (us desert rats can appreciate that experience).
Third, has any written discovery been served in the suit against Postmus (a fact curiously not mentioned in any of the press coverage)? Has Postmus asserted the 5th Amendment privilege against self-incrimination? If not, the supervisors' lawsuit may have some serious problems with winning, and the suit's motive has to be questioned.
Where has the District Attorney’s office been on this? If the evidence points to abuses of public resources for private benefit, why haven’t misdemeanor charges been brought on the gift of public funds? Ahh yes — the statute on misdemeanors is one year. Did DA Michael Ramos deliberately blow the time to file misdemeanor charges against his political allies Postmus, Mitzelfelt and Paul Biane?
If so, then this lawsuit could be the county’s attempt to cover up a decision that, if fully understood, could implicate not only other supervisors, but the DA (The DA’s office, by the way, also got a fat raise from the board a little over a year ago).
It seems the news coverage continues to be softball lobbing, with no intention of getting at the truth.
Bob Conaway lives in Barstow and has been a candidate for the California Assembly and the
United States House of Representatives several times.
Pervasive scandal
Press Enterprise 09:21 PM PDT on Saturday, May 30, 2009
Every new bit of information that emerges from the corruption investigation in San Bernardino County seems to demand further scrutiny. The latest filing, in an arrest last week, raises troubling questions about the practices and attitudes of government in the county. And the investigation should not end until it can provide substantial answers for a discomfited public.
Investigators arrested Rancho Cucamonga Councilman Rex Gutierrez last week for grand theft and misappropriation of public funds. The charges stem from his job with the county assessor's office, which under former Assessor Bill Postmus became the focus of a criminal investigation.
But the declaration filed in Gutierrez's arrest echoes the separate report released this month, compiled by attorney John Hueston. Both portray a county catering to special interests, where government is a means to further personal ends at public expense. The allegations go beyond a rogue assessor, and cut to the fundamental way government operates in San Bernardino County.
The scandal raises wide-ranging suspicions about the county's political habits and behavior, and the investigation needs to address those issues fully. No government can afford to let basic questions go unanswered without vacating any claim to public trust.
Both Hueston's report and the declaration filed in Gutierrez's arrest, for example, say that Postmus hired Gutierrez in 2007 at the urging of developer Jeff Burum. Burum needed Gutierrez's vote on the Rancho Cucamonga council, and Gutierrez needed a job, one informant said.
That arrangement looks suspiciously like a trade of favors between politicians and a powerful developer. Burum, remember, was one of the Colonies' partners who received a $102 million legal settlement from the county in 2006. So does the county routinely hand out jobs to friends of developers, regardless of the cost to taxpayers? Who else on the county payroll owes his job to influence by well-connected insiders?
Investigators say Gutierrez did little actual work for the assessor, instead devoting his time to city business and political activities while collecting a full-time salary. And investigators say Postmus was aware of Gutierrez's work habits, but did not fire him because of the Burum connection.
Gutierrez also stayed on the assessor's payroll for six months after supervisors eliminated his position, thanks to Burum's influence. According to investigators, Burum even got Supervisor Paul Biane to intervene to help keep the county paying a worker who did no work. So just how can county officials justify retaining an employee whose job had vanished, and who did little of value for the county? Or does having powerful friends trump any concern about wasting public money?
But those are not the only questions that need further illumination. Hueston received some last-minute information that clearly deserves follow-up: One source alleged a broad "pay-to-play" scheme involving county land deals and assistance with planning and assessment issues.
This type of misconduct -- demanding payment for county contracts and services -- was at the heart of the scandals that rocked San Bernardino County government a decade ago. So has behavior really not changed, despite all the county's "reforms"?
Postmus and his cronies are just the most visible aspects of a county political culture that demands close scrutiny. The district attorney's office this month announced that its criminal investigation had expanded beyond the assessor's office. Good. County government needs a thorough airing, not a narrow focus on publicly obvious misconduct.
Postmus elected with little or no experience
03:57 PM PDT on Saturday, May 23, 2009
By BEN GOAD
Washington Bureau
Special Section: San Bernardino Co. Probe
Bill Postmus had little, if any, applicable experience when he was elected San Bernardino County assessor in 2006. The man that voters placed in charge of valuing properties across the nation's largest geographic county had no background in tax law or fiscal policy.
But he did have support from the county sheriff's deputies union and powerful developers, as well as a fundraising operation that dwarfed that of his competition, incumbent Don Williamson.
Postmus, former head of the county GOP, was a political animal, and investigators say he remained that way when he took over as assessor.
A county-commissioned investigative report released this month alleges that Postmus and his aides used the assessor's office to run a political machine at taxpayer expense and did little tax-assessment work. The county Board of Supervisors is now suing Postmus and five others to recoup public funds. Postmus and at least two others also face criminal investigations.
California's constitution requires county assessors, sheriffs and district attorneys to be elected to office. There are no professional requirements for candidates running for assessor.
But Postmus scandal-plagued reign as assessor raises questions about whether it's better to fill some government jobs by appointment, rather than putting the positions on the ballot.
Local and state officials say the danger of having unqualified, politically beholden officials would be greater if assessors were appointed, though Postmus' case raises questions about the need for requiring candidates to have some qualifications.
Postmus himself has said his successor should have relevant experience and should not be a career politician.
"The Board of Supervisors should give the highest consideration towards appointing a steward of the public trust with experience in the field of fiscal policy, preferably an individual with proven experience in the property tax assessment process," Postmus wrote in his Feb. 6 resignation letter. "As we have learned, political considerations should not be a priority for any county assessor."
Elected vs. appointed
"Being elected provides a degree of insulation from politics," said Riverside County Assessor Larry Ward, who also serves as the county's clerk and recorder.
Since assessors serve at the will of the voters, other elected officials don't hold as much influence over the office, Ward said. Were assessors appointed, they might feel more beholden to those who installed them in the position.
Some area assessors said they view the position as less political than city council member or county supervisor, since the office is charged with administering policy and not shaping it.
"Most of us don't really consider ourselves politicians, except that we have to run every four years," Ward said.
Assessors are charged with ensuring all taxable property in their jurisdiction is properly valued and fairly taxed. If assessors answered directly to governments instead of the public, there could be pressure for them to raise property values in order to generate more property tax money to bolster county coffers, they said.
"Because assessors are elected, it frees them from being intimidated by those who might prefer that they maximize revenue," said Dan Goodwin, president of the California Assessors Association.
Goodwin, assessor for Ventura County, said the alleged politicization of San Bernardino County's assessor's office has cast a bad light on the office in general.
"This Postmus thing was a disappointment to all of us," he said. "His actions frankly splashed mud on everybody."
Qualifications needed?
District attorneys need law degrees to be elected, and sheriffs' resumes must include law enforcement experience. But there are no required qualifications for assessor candidates in California.
State law requires assessors to become certified appraisers, but anyone newly elected to the office has a year to obtain certification. To do so, assessors must pass a test administered by the state Board of Equalization, which Postmus did eight months into his term.
Ward and Goodwin, who both have a background in assessment and tax policy, described the test as fairly basic.
The board also conducts surveys of assessments to ensure the counties are doing a good job, and issues recommendations about how to improve operations.
But with 58 counties, each assessor's office is audited only once every five years, board spokeswoman Anita Gore said.
In light of the Postmus case, Goodwin said increased requirements might help avoid a repeat of the San Bernardino County scandal.
"Maybe we should start looking at the possibility of some basic minimum qualifications," Goodwin said, though he emphasized that anything too restrictive could dissuade good candidates from pursuing the office.
Ward was less certain, saying some people with political backgrounds would make fine assessors.
Reach Ben Goad at 202-661-8422 or bgoad@PE.com
Board enabled Postmus abuses
| 07:55 AM PDT on Friday, May 15, 2009 Riverside Press Enterprise |
CASSIE MACDUFF
San Bernardino County supervisors bear significant responsibility for the political empire former assessor Bill Postmus built at taxpayer expense during his two-year tenure.
Before Postmus left the Board of Supervisors in late 2006, his peers let him pad his future staff with eight new positions, many of which had no apparent duties related to the office's purpose.
Why didn't the supervisors question what the additional staff members would be doing? They certainly didn't dish out staff increases to other department heads without scrutiny.
Postmus' predecessor, Don Williamson, had an executive staff of four, including himself.
Postmus quadrupled the top echelon of his office to 12 people. The grand jury pointed out last year that the budget increased by $1.3 million his first year in office.
I wrote last fall, after the grand jury report came out, that the supervisors were Postmus' enablers. They gave him carte blanche to abuse his office.
Independent counsel John Hueston's investigation, made public this week, makes clear that most of Postmus' "executive support staff" weren't working for the public's benefit; they were Republican political operatives at public expense.
Surrounded by his cadre of hand-picked politicos, you'd think Postmus would have been better insulated when he started displaying overt signs of drug abuse.
But the Hueston report shows they let their boss embarrass himself again and again.
On March 12, 2007, Postmus was supposed to deliver introductory remarks at a noon fundraiser for his hand-picked successor on the board, Brad Mitzelfelt.
When Postmus didn't show up, someone went to his home looking for him. He arrived at the event stuttering, with dilated pupils and hair askew. "Bill looked like he fell off a park bench," former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin told Hueston.
Witnesses said people were asking if Postmus was "stoned again," implying his drug use was common knowledge by then.
Erwin and two other executive staff members did an intervention after that, whisking him into rehab. But by September, Postmus began looking disheveled again, Hueston's report said, and a staff member searched his apartment, finding canisters of DVD cleaner.
Erwin, a former sheriff's deputy, concluded Postmus was "huffing," inhaling intoxicating fumes.
Doesn't that stuff cause brain damage?
In another shocking episode detailed in Hueston's report, one day in mid-2008, Postmus came to the office looking blue, with white foam around his mouth, according to a secretary. One of his arms was not moving and he was dry-heaving and convulsing.
He laid down for a nap and the secretary, "due to her concern," called his pastor. His pastor? Why didn't she call his doctor? It sounds like he was at death's door.
After lunch, Postmus' spokesman took him to a recorded interview with a newspaper reporter. The recording was posted on the Internet and the resulting story said Postmus was "hiccuping and dry heaving," the Hueston report said.
Why would his staff take him to an interview in that condition?
OK, maybe that was their cry for help. But nothing changed. Four months later, Postmus publicly told the supervisors he had overcome his addiction, only to be arrested on suspicion of drug possession nine days later.
With the report out, Postmus now decries it as unfair and says he wasn't given a chance to respond. He had a chance to respond but refused to talk to Hueston. Let the chips fall where they may.
Cassie MacDuff can be reached at 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@PE.com
I am going to use my home page to comment on the Hueston Report in detail. First, this is a plea to any and all other outside the County law enforcement agencies to get involved in the County investigation and prosecution. It's pretty sad having no faith in local law enforcement doing anything but so far they have done nothing but offer excuses. No charges after 18 months. In a related op-ed story
Time for DA to Get Off Fence
10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, May 16, 2009 Riverside Press Enterprise
CASSIE MACDUFF
Last summer, the San Bernardino County grand jury reported that political activity was taking place in the San Bernardino County assessor's office.
The tangible evidence was political e-mails that flew back and forth among employees during work hours. The grand jury also had the testimony of insiders.
Last week, "broad abuse of county resources and extensive political activity" in then-Assessor Bill Postmus' office was confirmed by special counsel John Hueston's investigation.
Hueston's unequivocal findings remove the district attorney's wiggle room over whether criminal charges are warranted against the employees who turned the executive office into Politics-R-Us.
Soon after the grand jury released its findings, Assistant District Attorney Jim Hackleman told me the law doesn't draw a bright line between "incidental use" of county time and equipment for political activity and when such use becomes criminal.
"We think it has to be more than a single e-mail. ... The question is how many?" he said then.
Here's what the Hueston report says about the quantity of e-mails:
"We uncovered hundreds of politically oriented e-mails just in the small sample of e-mails to which we had access.
"Mr. Postmus, Mr. Aleman and others received daily e-mails from political blogs, commentators and campaigns. Often times these e-mails were circulated and discussed.
"Employees often used e-mail to make specific requests of a political nature, such as requests to transfer campaign money, to obtain political proxies, or to discuss upcoming political events."
I wanted to ask Hackleman whether the evidence compiled by Hueston tilts the "incidental use" equation toward "criminal." But through a spokeswoman, he declined to be interviewed, citing -- once again, no surprise -- the ongoing investigation.
Shouldn't the investigation be wrapped up by now? No, spokeswoman Susan Mickey says it's actually widening. No telling when or where it'll end.
Couldn't prosecutors have charged some former workers for timecard fraud while the rest of the investigation continues? How about the six who were sued by the county last week to recover their fraudulently collected pay?
Hueston took less than four months to document the chicanery. The DA has been at it since 2007. Sure, prosecutors have to prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt. But come on ...
The only charges filed against former assessor officials so far are tangential: Adam Aleman, tampering with evidence sought by the grand jury; Jim Erwin, failing to properly report a Rolex watch and a trip to New York; Postmus, arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs but not charged yet.
Mickey said no charges will be filed until the investigation is completed. Prosecutors, she said, "are not going to piecemeal it."
They might want to rethink that.
Cassie MacDuff can be reached at 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@PE.com
The Hueston report mentions some whistleblower leads that need to be followed up on.
Mitzelfelt's campaign was the beneficiary of County time and assistance. This needs to be investigated. He was the appointed County Supervisor at the time. Using County resources for political purposes.
Then the Mitzelfelt staff doing political dirty work while on "vacation time", yea right. The last line in the second screen shot is just too funny. "It bears noting...
SB County keeps purchasing process despite claims that Postmus abused it
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/23/2009 07:48:43 PM PDT
Despite scathing criticism from the grand jury and a former federal prosecutor over a controversial contract granted to a political consultant in 2007, San Bernardino County hasn't instituted any changes on how such contracts are negotiated.
The scandal-tainted Assessor's Office was able to avoid Board of Supervisors' approval when it secured a purchase order for public-relations work in July 2007 by Michael Richman, a longtime political ally of former assessor Bill Postmus.
In exchange for his pay, Richman, according to reports and former Assessor's Office employees, hardly ever showed up to work, and when he did, it was all about politics and seldom about assessor-related activities.
Jim Erwin, a former assistant assessor, described the Richman contract as "compensation to take care of a buddy," according to a report released by attorney John Hueston, who was retained by the county in January to investigate allegations of misconduct in the Assessor's Office to help the county determine if there were grounds for a lawsuit.
Neither Jim Lindley, the county's former purchasing director, nor Richman's attorney, Steve Baric, returned repeated phone calls Friday seeking comment.
"According to numerous witnesses, Mr. Richman's attendance in the office was sporadic," Hueston said in his report.
"In any event, four witnesses said he was around 4-5 hours for one day a week."
The grand jury made similar findings in its report released in June.
"The Grand Jury found very little results from this contract that benefitted the Assessor's function and that the work product failed to justify the cost of the contract," according to last year's grand jury report.
The "Richman contract" and other alleged misconduct in the Assessor's Office including political activity, widespread time-card fraud and drug abuse has triggered a criminal investigation by the District Attorney's Office. This month, the county filed a lawsuit against Richman, Postmus, former assistant assessors Adam Aleman and Jim Erwin, former taxpayer advocate Greg Eyler and former intergovernmental officer and Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Rex Gutierrez.
Despite the fallout of the Richman contract, the county has not changed how purchase order contracts are handled.
"At some point, department heads have to be trusted to do the right thing and make sure the services provided by a vendor comply with the PO (purchase order) and serve a county purpose," said David Wert, county spokesman.
He said Lindley, now the director of the county's Public Health Department, signed off on the Richman contract, but only after working with the Assessor's Office and County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer to make sure the purchase order was not "influenced by political pressure" from Postmus.
"Eventually, the Assessor's Office came up with a PO for Richman that passed purchasing muster," Wert said.
As for checks and balances, Wert said they do exist, otherwise Postmus, Aleman and Richman would not have been investigated and sued.
"As the county learns more about the details surrounding the Richman agreement during the litigation process, perhaps some strategies will become apparent that could be instituted to deal with this type of situation more proactively," Wert said. "In the meantime, the fact that the county investigated and is suing over an improper situation is likely to serve as a deterrent to other managers who might otherwise consider not following the rules."
Wert said the county sets a policy limiting purchase order agreements for professional consulting to $50,000. All other purchases have a $100,000 limit.
On March 28, 2007, Richman, who knew Postmus from his work with the San Bernardino County Republican Party, set up a political consulting company, MPR Strategies, according to records on file with the Secretary of State's Office. The purpose was to have a business to secure a future contract with the county, said Jim Erwin, former assistant assessor of operations.
Erwin, one of the defendants in the county's lawsuit, pleaded not guilty to 10 felony counts Wednesday in San Bernardino Superior Court for allegedly failing to properly report about $15,000 in gifts he received from Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum in January 2007.
The gifts were compensation for Erwin's assistance in helping Burum reach a landmark $102 million settlement with the county in 2006 over an Upland flood-control project.
Wert said Richman could have received the contract as an individual, and didn't need to form a business to qualify under the county's purchasing rules.
Erwin said that is not the case, or at least it wasn't when he was working in the office.
"The instructions given to Aleman and Postmus by purchasing was that Richman had to have a legal entity to contract through. Otherwise he would have to have an employment contract," Erwin said. "So the only other way was for the individual to form an LLC (limited liability company) and have that individual be a contractor for the county."
People close to the investigation who were working in the Assessor's Office during the Richman negotiations say Lindley and Matt Brown, chief of staff for 2nd District Supervisor Paul Biane, who was at the time the board chairman, aided Aleman through the purchase-order process.
Brown denied the allegations Friday in an e-mail.
"I had zero involvement with the Richman PO, and I never offered anyone from the Assessor's Office advice on how to navigate the procurement process," he said.
Aleman, according to Hueston's report, first tried to get a $75,000 contract for Richman, but Lindley told him it would require approval from the Board of Supervisors. Aleman didn't think the board would approve a contract with a political consultant and believed it would create public- relations problems, so he sought another avenue.
Erwin said Lindley suggested the purchase-order method of getting Richman hired as a contractor.
Mark Mosher, information services manager for the Assessor's Office at the time of the investigation, told Hueston that the purchase order was the "path of least resistance" for hiring Richman.
Richman is now the chief of staff for Michelle Steele, who represents the state Board of Equalization's 3rd District, which includes most of San Bernardino County.
Staff writer Josh Dulaney contributed to this report
Report: Postmus built empire on county's clock
04:15 PM PDT on Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By DUANE W. GANG and IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
PDF: Read the report from special prosecutor John Hueston and the supervisors' lawsuit
PDF: Read former assistant assessor Adam Aleman's response to prosecutor's report
PDF: Read former Assessor Bill Postmus' reponse to prosecutor's report
Special Section: San Bernardino Co. Probe
San Bernardino County supervisors sued former Assessor Bill Postmus and five others Tuesday after an internal investigation concluded they had defrauded taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of dollars while operating a political machine on county time.
Postmus and his top staff knowingly conspired and engaged in political work while billing taxpayers, the lawsuit contends.
Some staffers rarely showed up for work, were paid higher-than-average salaries, engaged in questionable hiring practices and worked on political campaigns for Republican candidates, according to the report by attorney John C. Hueston, hired by the county to investigate the assessor's office under Postmus.
One employee reportedly showed up to work drunk. Another was paid for his work as a Rancho Cucamonga city councilman. Another was abusive and broke county cell phones by slamming them against walls, the investigation states.
Postmus denied any wrongdoing and called the report a "taxpayer-funded hit piece."
The investigation released Tuesday paints a scathing picture of Postmus and his executive staff, using the office for political purposes with little care for public money or the office's mission to serve taxpayers by setting property values for taxation purposes. The report was based on interviews with employees of the assessor's office, including the executive staff.
"In the words of one former assessor office executive employee, the work of the assessor's office was incidental to the political work pursued by the executive employees under the tenure of Bill Postmus," Hueston said. "Our investigation uncovered a scheme by which Bill Postmus brought in an executive staff at taxpayer expense to operate as his personal political machine."
The release of the 33-page Hueston report came after supervisors met for more than two hours Tuesday afternoon in a closed session.
It is the latest chapter in an ongoing scandal involving Postmus. The district attorney's office continues a criminal investigation and a spokeswoman said the report would assist prosecutors in their case.
Postmus is a former chairman of the Board of Supervisors and former head of the county Republican Party. He once was considered a rising political star but resigned as assessor in February.
In January, he was arrested for investigation of drug violations after a search warrant was served at his home. He has not been charged.
The report details concerns raised by employees about Postmus' alleged drug use. One employee told investigators Postmus came to the office "looking blue with white foam around his mouth. One of his arms was not moving and he was dry heaving and convulsing," the report stated.
Postmus has admitted to battling a drug addiction and said he has entered rehabilitation.
The county hired Hueston, a former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Enron executives, in January to investigate Postmus and build a case for his removal from office. After Postmus resigned, the county asked Hueston, whose services have cost the county about $225,000 so far, to complete his work.
Postmus, in an e-mailed statement, called the report unfair and lashed out at the supervisors for not giving him a chance to respond.
"This so-called report is neither shocking nor surprising," he said. "It was always intended to be as negative as possible toward my former office and those who worked for me."
If he had stayed in office and the supervisors had pursued his removal, Postmus said the county would have provided him an attorney and a chance to respond to the allegations.
"This is not just unfair," Postmus wrote. "The board's manipulation of a structured process for political ends goes against the most basic levels of American fairness and sets a dangerous precedent."
Executive staff
In addition to Postmus, the county sued four of his executive staff members -- former assistant assessors Adam Aleman and Jim Erwin, former intergovernmental affairs officer Rex Gutierrez and former taxpayer advocate Greg Eyler.
The county also sued a political consultant -- Mike Richman and his MPR Strategies firm -- that Postmus hired at taxpayer expense through a no-bid contract.
The civil complaint alleges violations to the California False Claims Act, a breach of fiduciary duty, improper expenditure of public funds, unjust enrichment and civil conspiracy.
"As a taxpayer and as a public official, I find the activities detailed in the report deeply disturbing," Board of Supervisors Chairman Gary Ovitt said in a statement.
Aleman edited the Republican Web site redcounty.com on county time, directed staff to assist in fundraisers and provided political support to candidates, according to the report.
Aleman was arrested last year on six felony charges of destroying public documents and providing false information to a grand jury. He has pleaded not guilty.
In a statement, Aleman said he never knowingly authorized political work on county time.
"I think it is clear that the report intends to portray only one side of that office's activities -- the negative one," Aleman said by e-mail.
Erwin, who later became chief of staff to Supervisor Neil Derry, criticized the county for including him in the lawsuit. As a result of a separate investigation, Erwin was charged in March with 10 felony counts for not properly reporting gifts he had received from a developer while assistant assessor. His arraignment is scheduled for next week.
Gutierrez, a Rancho Cucamonga city councilman, socialized and did city council work on county time, the report states.
Gutierrez was paid $59,883 when he was hired in March 2007 and immediately received a 10 percent raise.
"Mr. Gutierrez's work habits were so irregular that he was labeled with the nickname 'Intergalactic Officer,' " the report found.
When his position was being eliminated, Gutierrez asked Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum to intervene on his behalf and ask Postmus to extend his job. He got the extension.
Burum is a co-managing member of Colonies Partners, a development firm that received a $102 million legal settlement from the county in November 2006.
Gutierrez, who later went to work for the county Economic Development Agency, was terminated Tuesday afternoon, county officials said. He did not return a message seeking comment.
In an interview earlier this year, Gutierrez said he did his best in the assessor's office.
"I did the job I was given and did the best I could and represented my boss," he said.
Eyler, the taxpayer advocate, did little to interact with taxpayers and often didn't know how to respond to questions about property tax issues, the report found.
Postmus' executive secretary told investigators that Eyler once told staff during working hours that he and Postmus had just taken in a movie. Some witnesses said he came to work drunk. Erwin sent Eyler home because of the alcohol issue only to later be chastised by Postmus for doing so, the report states.
Eyler denied many of the allegations when interviewed by investigators, and could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
MISUSE OF FUNDS
Postmus expanded his executive staff from four to 12 people even before he officially took office in January 2007. While he was still a supervisor, the board approved the creation of the larger staff.
The investigation found that the larger staff and other expenditures were not needed. Among the highlights:
A contract for Richman was expanded after Richman lost his job as executive director of the San Bernardino County Republican Party. Richman received $49,200 for the contract, up from $37,000 but just under the $50,000 threshold that would have required a public board vote.
According to the report, Aleman explained the higher amount was set to get Richman the maximum without board approval.
Richman did little work for the county, the report states. He declined through an attorney to be interviewed for Hueston's report.
Richman currently is chief deputy for Board of Equalization member Michelle Steel. He could not be reached for comment.
Postmus hired Scott Becker, a longtime friend, to hang 14 pictures of himself in the assessor's office, even though county staff could have done the work. Becker was paid $1,434, or about $102 per picture.
Postmus' secretary, Sheila Raines, called the payment "irresponsible," according to the report, and offered to do the work for free. Postmus refused.
Hueston attempted to interview Becker but he warned investigators he would "shoot their heads off with a .12 gauge shotgun" if they showed up on his property.
At least two tuition reimbursements provided through the assessor's office potentially violated county policy.
Aleman received $8,280 to complete his undergraduate degree and Eyler received about $1,000. Aleman in a statement said the tuition reimbursement received proper clearance from county officials.
Executive staffers misused county equipment, broke cell phones and used them for political activity.
Aleman broke a number of phones by slamming them against walls in fits of rage.
The report added that the assessor's office still is searching for a laptop that had been issued to Aleman and also is waiting for Eyler and Ted Lehrer, Postmus' public information officer, to pay large phone bills. One of Lehrer's bills ranges from $1,600 to $1,900.
Board reaction
In a footnote to the report, Hueston states his office received many calls and e-mails from purported whistleblowers, most of whom raised issues beyond the scope of his investigation. One tip that may be investigated further raises the allegation of a "broad pay-to-play scheme involving San Bernardino land deals and assistance with planning and assessment issues."
Derry, whose county supervisor campaign reportedly received support from Postmus' executive staff, said the allegations raised in the report may just be the beginning and that the civil lawsuit, which will include an extensive discovery phase, could yield information on more wrongdoing by Postmus and his former employees.
"This is not going to be the end of it," he said.
Derry said he was surprised by the inclusion of Erwin in the defendants list.
"Nobody wants to sue a friend but I made the commitment to follow through on the Hueston report and the recommendations of the special counsel," Derry said.
Derry said he was disappointed in part by some of the allegations uncovered and said Erwin "perhaps could have taken a more preventative role." But he also defended Erwin as the chief whistleblower who provided Hueston with a roadmap of who and what to investigate.
In an interview Tuesday, Erwin said the county is "aiming at everybody they possibly can."
He called the lawsuit a "slap on the face."
"The county has no clue what it is doing," he said. "I am sure they would have just rather swept this under the rug. ... I was one of the ones that brought a bunch of this stuff out."
Postmus' former spokesman Ted Lehrer, who was among those interviewed for the report, accuses Erwin of spending at least an hour a day on running Derry's campaign between August to October 2007, when he left the office after a disagreement with Postmus.
Derry said he was unaware of any political activity on his behalf by Erwin at the assessor's office. He said his campaign did not begin in earnest until 2008, after Erwin left the office.
Lehrer also is cited as the source of allegations that Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt sought assistance from assessor's employees with his 2008 election campaign, including a request for property records related to one of his opponents, Rita Vogler.
Mitzelfelt said the request for records was made by an employee on her vacation time. His staff provided a copy of her timecard and a date-stamped request form showing that it did not take place on county time.
"I did not and would not encourage county employees to take part in political activities when they're on the clock," he said.
Supervisors began hearing rumors about some of the allegations but did not know the full extent of what was going on, he said.
"The Board of Supervisors does not supervise elected offices on a daily basis," he said.
In the end, the report found Postmus and Aleman the most responsible.
"Even if the county cannot fully recoup its losses, filing civil suits against corrupt employees sets a powerful precedent for all current and future county employees," the report states.
Staff writer Jim Miller contributed to this report.
Reach Duane W. Gang at 951-368-9547 or dgang@PE.com
Reach Imran Ghori at 951-368-9558 or ighori@PE.com
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
A synopsis of political activity allegedly conducted by executive staff members in the San Bernardino County assessor's office, as outlined in the Hueston report released Tuesday:
REDCOUNTY.COM: Adam Aleman, who was assistant assessor, is described as an editor of the Web site Redcounty.com, a conservative Web site designed to provide positive information about people loyal to Aleman and negative information about people Aleman did not like. Aleman and Ted Lehrer, a communications officer, provided information for the site, and Assessor Bill Postmus encouraged them to "keep it up."
POLITICAL FUNDRAISERS: Assessor's office employees were asked to assist at fundraisers for local politicians, including fundraisers for Postmus and Rex Gutierrez, a Rancho Cucamonga councilman who was an intergovernmental relations officer for the assessor.
MITZELFELT CAMPAIGN: Lehrer said he was asked by Aleman to help with Brad Mitzelfelt's campaign for San Bernardino County supervisor. Lehrer said he wrote letters to editors, composed blog entries, walked precincts and drove Postmus to strategy sessions with Mitzelfelt.
Lehrer heard Aleman call Mitzelfelt on the phone during working hours to tell Mitzelfelt that certain tasks had been completed.
Numerous witnesses said Aleman asked a staff member to pull the property records of a family member of Rita Vogler, who was running against Mitzelfelt. The records were to be used as political ammunition against Vogler, according to the witnesses.
MITT ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: Aleman told Lehrer to write favorable content about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Redcounty.com. Lehrer and other assessor's office employees were assigned to staff Romney's San Bernardino County headquarters.
According to former executive secretary Josh White, Aleman asked White to help Tim Johnson, district director to Supervisor Paul Biane, run Romney's campaign in the Inland Empire.
White said he did this during business hours and that he also designed e-mails sent by the group, Inland Empire Volunteers for Romney, and signed by Johnson.
SHAWN STEEL AND MICHELLE STEEL CAMPAIGNS: Aleman and consultant Mike Richman, who was under contract with the assessor's office, worked on behalf of Shawn Steel, a candidate for the board of the Republican National Committee. Lehman said that Richman spent almost all of 2008 collecting support for Shawn Steel.
Shawn Steel is married to Michelle Steel, another of Richman's political clients and a close Postmus supporter. Michelle Steel's campaign for the state Board of Equalization was frequently discussed in strategy sessions at the assessor's office. Richman was also a paid consultant for Neil Derry's campaign for county supervisor.
OTHER ACTIVITY: Aleman instructed assessor's office employees to work at campaign events and assist political candidates. Gutierrez attended fundraisers for himself and filled out campaign forms from his desk at the assessor's office.
Witnesses also said Richman worked to find news media opportunities for Steve Poizner, now state insurance commissioner, and that assessor's office staffers recruited candidates to run for the county GOP's governing body and helped candidates for city clerk, including Joseph Turner, who was a friend of Aleman and Postmus.
Turner is currently on Derry's staff.
