Supervisor Neil Derry proposes hiring Joseph Turner for his staff
San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry is proposing to hire controversial anti-illegal-immigration czar Joseph Turner to serve as his special projects coordinator.
Derry's proposal goes before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday for action. It comes five days after his chief of staff, Jim Erwin, was arrested and charged with 10 felony counts of perjury and filing forged or falsified documents relating to gifts he took from an influential Rancho Cucamonga developer in January 2007.
Derry placed Erwin on administrative leave the day of his arrest. He rejected Erwin's voluntary resignation, but has not said if he plans to stand by Erwin during his criminal proceedings.
In 2006, Turner proposed a ballot measure to ban city-funded day laborer centers in San Bernardino and require all city business be conducted in English only. He also proposed penalizing landlords who rent to illegal immigrants. His actions made San Bernardino a focal point in the heated national debate on illegal immigration and possible border reform.
In June 2006, Turner got into an altercation with a man outside the San Bernardino County Courthouse following a court hearing challenging his ballot intiative. He admitted saying to the man, "Do you know what? Your mother can go (expletive) herself!" The man, in turn, slapped Turner, sheriff's officials said.
In October 2006, the San Bernardino City Unified School District union rescinded its endorsement for Turner as a school board member, citing his anti-illegal-immigration activism. Some board members were angry after seeing Internet photographs of Turner alongside neo-Nazis at a rally against day labor centers.
In 2003, Turner started the anti-illegal-immigration nonprofit Save Our State. The home page on the Web site asked the question: "Is your community becoming a 3rd World city?"
Turner currently works for the county's Department of Public Health as a staff analyst.
Derry said that out of a candidate pool of more than 20 people, Turner is most qualified due to his exceptional writing skills and aptitude for finance.
Turner graduated from USC with a degree in finance in 2000.
"He's very bright when it comes to financials, and he's going to work on special projects and communications for the office," Derry said.
Turner couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
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