August 2008 Archives

UPDATE: Here's the link: http://www.sbcounty.gov/dehs/restgrades/default.aspx

If you're curious about how clean your favorite restaurants are, you can check them out at the Department of Public Health Web site.

Just click on the colored region you're curious about and then select the community you live in. The Web site will list all the restaurants, convenient stores and other food service organizations and what they have been rated. Strangely, only restaurants that have received A's and B's are listed.

You can also follow what citations have been handed out by food inspectors. Data going back to 2004 is available.

For example, over the last two months, there have been three brief closures in San Bernardino:

The Democrats have been tearing up the political scene with a bevy of events recently.

And it looks like the Republicans in San Bernardino County might have a hard time topping this one.

The latest Democratic event will be a big blockbuster to celebrate the Democratic National Convention. The event will feature a 300-square-foot TV and a 4,000-watt sound system to broadcast Barack Obama's acceptance speech live from convention.  Local delegate Nancy Ruth White, of Redlands, will report from the floor of the convention.

Event details:

When: 5-8:30 p.m. this Thursday, Aug. 28, from 5 to 8:30 p.m.

Where: Roosevelt Bowl on the grounds of Perris Hill Park at 1001 E. Highland Ave. in San Bernardino.

Who wil be there: San Bernardino County Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Robb,  41st Congressional district nominee Tim Prince,  31st State Senatorial district nominee Ameenah Fuller, 59th Assembly District nominee Don Williamson and 63rd Assembly District nominee Mark Westwood.

Cost: A contribution of $5 per person, or $20 for a family of four or more, is requested to help Democratic candidates win office in the November election. 

Information: www.BlueCounty.net.

In the frenzy of government activity since the San Bernardino County grand jury released its report describing how Assessor Bill Postmus used his office for partisan politics and placed unqualified people in executive-level high-paying jobs - as well as the revelation that Postmus is addicted to meth -  it seems all too difficult to keep government accountability in the crosshairs.

First, there was the charter amendment approved by the board which, if passed by voters, will give the supervisors more control over the hiring and firing of each other's staff.

Then, on Monday, The Sun reported that most of the supervisors supported drug testing, Yesterday, David Wert, county spokesman confirmed that all of the supervisors had been drug tested and none tested positive for drugs.

In the meantime, Postmus has been on medical leave while receiving his full salary, and yesterday, failed to appear before the board for questioning.

Over the past seven weeks, he has not been had to face any sanctions or repercussions for the misuse of a public office.

Which leads to the question: Should the supervisors be using their time for drug testing or should they be attending to the business of addressing the issue at hand?  

Some of the supervisors have said the voters must be the ones to hold Postmus accountable. A recall petition, however, which would require tens of thousands of signatures, a difficult and expensive feat to accomplish in the largest county in the lower 48 states.

But with reports earlier this month that Postmus' drug addiction has spanned years and that even Paul Biane, the chairman of the board, knew about one of Postmus' trips to rehab, it seems possible that other top officials knew as well of Postmus' addiction.

Did others stand by and do nothing as their colleague harmed himself with a horribly addictive drug and possibly neglected his duty to serve the taxpapers of San Bernardino County?

The Press Enterprise and Victorville Daily Press have been reporting that County Assessor Bill Postmus could receive a disability retirement package of $87,000 annually. (Just to remind you: Postmus is currently on medical leave from his job, and The Sun broke the story that Postmus who was in line to go to Congress has been fighting a years-long drug addiction.)

While those two papers have been reporting a much higher number, The Sun has reported a much more conservative number, about $54,000 a year. So how did we get that amount?

It turns out there are two types of disability. If a county employee can prove on-the-job disability, he can get 50 percent of his salary. If the employee can prove a disability, but cannot show it's job related, he can get 20 percent of his income plus 2 percent for each year of service after five years. It's complicated, I know.

We estimated Postmus salary is $141,000. On top of that he receives a benefits package, including a monthly cell phone and travel allowance, that totals $20,400 annually. A total of $161,400 a year.

In coming up with an estimate, we opted to calculate the disability retirement stipend assuming Postmus could not prove on-the-job disability. This resulted in the $54,000 number.

The Victorville Daily Press and Press Enterprise appear to have gone with the more sensational number of $87,000, likely calculated using the assumption that Postmus would be able to get on-the-job disability.

Still, that number may be off. Fifty percent of $161,400 is $80,700. 

Which leads to some questions: Are the PE and Daily Press aware of a different benefits package that would boost Postmus' salary to $174,000 a year? Or is the $87,000 number a typo?

The rapid changes at the San Bernardino County Department of Health are enough to make anyone's head spin. Today, the Board of Supervisors named a new health officer, the third new appointment in little more than a year.
Also today, Chairman Paul Biane released a statement addressing the turnover and internal department tensions that the media has been reporting on. You can read his statement here first:

The County of San Bernardino seeks out and welcomes any opportunity to work with the public and community groups who seek to improve services provided by the county. However, it is patently false to contend that the departures of Dr. Eric Frykman, Dr. Margaret Beed, and Dr. Maury Manligius are an indication that the department is failing to carry out its vital public health missions, as each of the doctors separated from the county under vastly different circumstances:

-Dr. Frykman left the county to pursue a career opportunity that was not available to him in San Bernardino County, specifically a position as both a county public health officer and public health administrator. The County of San Bernardino does not have such a position.

-Dr. Beed's departure was based purely on private personal reasons the county is not at liberty to disclose. Her separation had nothing to do with the operations of the department or any disagreement she had with the county's administration of Public Health.

-Dr. Manligius, who was appointed interim health officer in June 2008 and who knew he would hold that position only as long as it took for the county to find a qualified physician to serve as health officer, did raise concerns before resigning.

The county disagrees with many of his accusations and, clearly, his approach did more harm than good in terms of resolving issues that may deserve attention. However, the county immediately honored his request that his concerns be forwarded to the grand jury, and the county is examining the concerns he raised concerning the style of management currently being employed by the department's leadership.

The County Administrative Officer on Thursday, August 7, 2008, visited the San Bernardino Public Health Clinic and met with about 50 doctors, nurses, and other employees for more than an hour. He listened to their concerns, explained the county's philosophy concerning Public Health services, and invited employees to bring their concerns directly to him via e-mail or private meetings.

The Board of Supervisors is on track to name a highly qualified physician to the post of Public Health Officer on Tuesday, August 12, 2008.

The County of San Bernardino Department of Public Health is running well and is actually increasing the services provided to the community despite a reduction in local, state, and federal revenue. During the past year the county has expanded services at Women, Infants & Children nutrition clinics from four to five days a week.

The department has also recently been lauded in the news media for its efforts to combat lead paint poisoning, West Nile Virus, heat-related health issues, and to promote healthy eating among children and the African-American community.

The county believes much of any discord among Public Health staff people revolves around the county's efforts to form partnerships between Public Health, Behavioral Health, and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. Some staff people mistakenly view this as a threat to traditional Public Health methods and as an effort to place ARMC "in charge" of Public Health - which is not the case.

The county will remain committed to strengthening the bond between the county's three health departments for the benefit of the public and in the interest of efficiency. I said the Board has always and continues to make the public's health a well-being one of the county's top priorities every time it adopts a budget, sets goals, and initiates various public health programs.

Barely a week goes by without a major newspaper highlighting a specific innovative and effective Public Health program. As far as management is concerned, every manager at Public Health has strong public health credtials with the exception of Jim Lindley. His position, however, is designed to be administrative in nature and work in cooperation with other managers who have strong public health backgrounds.

Regarding programs for minority communities, I said the department has several program that cater to minority communities (the black infant health care program, the black women's nutrition program highlighted in the PE last weekend, WIC Espana, etc.), as well as countless programs that by their nature benefit minority communities because of the specific issues they address.

I also said the county would welcome any specific examples of how Public Health may be falling short so that the county may address them. I also said the county welcomes the opportunity to work with organizations that have concerns, and that a press conference is no substitute for collaboration.

The outlook isn't looking good for the desert tortoise.

First, its fragile habitat was encroached upon by development, off-road vehicles and the expansion of Fort Irwin's boundaries. Then, biologists found that a deadly disease - which starts like a bad cold but never goes away - was decimating tortoise populations in our area.

Now, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is weakening a recovery plan for the endangered terrapin.

According to a press release from the center:

"Though desert tortoise populations have continued to crash since that listing, the new draft plan weakens protections and provides few on-the-ground actions for tortoise conservation. 
...
In place of providing immediate, firm protections for desert tortoise, the draft plan proposes a time-consuming process of monitoring and adaptive management. The plan provides only vague descriptions of recovery actions and fails to derive those actions from the best available science. For example, it fails to tackle solutions to many of the scientifically recognized threats to desert tortoise, including disease, roads, off-road vehicles, grazing, weeds, increased fire risk, and other causes of habitat degradation."

You can draw your own conclusions. The plan is online and can be accessed by clicking here.