Results tagged “Council members” from RCNow

It was a one man show at the public works subcommittee meeting yesterday with Councilman Rex Gutierrez in charge. He was probably loving every minute of it.

A stop sign on Hillside and Amethyst was on the agenda and a subcommittee consisting of Gutierrez and Councilwoman Diane Williams was supposed to hear residents' concerns. Unfortunately, Williams' husband had to go to the hospital for surgery and she couldn't make it.

It took four hours for Gutierrez to drive to the two-hour meeting. He came from Delano, or as he called it, De-lame-o.

About 30 residents, mostly supporters of the stop sign, attended. Three spoke against the stop sign but one later retracted his objections after hearing arguments for it.

The issue will be addressed by the full City Council at the beginning of next year.

 

                                                                                                                        Frank Perez/Correspondent

To see other photos of yesterday's Veterans Day event, visit Will Lester's photo gallery.

Hundreds showed up to Councilman Rex Gutierrez's Veterans Day event last night. What lured them were these flickering helium balloons that decorated the sky at Central Park.

Participants wrote words of love and praise to their favorite veteran on the balloon. Some of the messages include "For those who didn't come home," "We miss you" and "Veterans Day is fun."

Cheryl Diego of Rancho Cucamonga had something simple to say to her father, "Thanks Dad, for 33 years of service."

The event, costing about $13,000, was paid for by Gutierrez's campaign. The councilman holds annual Easter and Veterans Day events in the city. Gutierrez said with his political future uncertain, Wednesday's event could be his last.

Interesting note -- Mike Morrell, candidate for the 63rd Assembly District, was invited to say a few words to the crowd. I guess Gutierrez isn't supporting the mayor for that position.

After six months of unemployment, Councilman Rex Gutierrez has found a job working for his brother in Delano, Ca. Gutierrez is helping the Delano Association for the Developmentally Disabled with its fundraising efforts. It's a temporary full-time position lasting until January.

In the meantime, Gutierrez is also studying to get his real estate license.

"I'm trying to do what I can to be productive," Gutierrez said.

Delano is north of Bakersfield, approximately 180 miles from Rancho Cucamonga. Gutierrez is spending most weekdays there and returning to the city on weekends and on nights during City Council meetings. He's missed two special meetings so far because they took place during the afternoon and thus conflicted with Gutierrez's schedule.

Gutierrez spent a portion of his childhood in Delano, where his mother and siblings still live. He said he's living in the same home that he did in the ninth grade.

In May, Gutierrez was fired from his position with the county's Economic Development Agency after the county sued Gutierrez for his role in the Assessor's Office scandal. Since then, Gutierrez started a private tutoring business but he said it has not been very successful.

Council gadfly Jim Moffatt had a message for Don Kurth at yesterday's City Council meeting but the mayor was absent. The message was -- hey, why aren't you here?

"If he wants to be assemblyman, he can spend all the time he wants running for Assembly. He was elected to do a job and I'm sure all the residents of Rancho Cucamonga expect him here," Moffatt said.

Perhaps the message would be more effective if Moffatt saved it for Kurth's return.

The mayor was in Washington D.C. yesterday speaking to legislators about health care reform.

Kudos to Councilman Dennis Michael, who was recently named president of the Inland Empire division of the League of California Cities. Michael will serve a two-year term.

The League is an association of local leaders advocating legislation that help cities. The Inland Empire division represents 15 cities in the San Bernardino County.  

It might not have been the meeting that Mayor Don Kurth wanted ...

The City Council took the middle ground in regards to anti-smoking legislation earlier today, remaining hesitant to back strict restrictions on apartments and local businesses.

But it agreed that a ban should be in place for some public areas and directed staff members to draft an ordinance that would prohibit smoking in transit stops and outdoor service lines.

It was a mild defeat for Kurth, a physician specializing in addiction medicine who led the effort to enact a smoking ban on city-owned properties. Kurth felt the need to protect non-smokers' right to breath clean air but his colleagues felt the need to protect local businesses in this sinking economy.

"I don't want Rancho Cucamonga to be known for being lackadaisical about smoking but I don't want the city to be known for being a nanny city either," said Councilwoman Diane Williams.

"What about the kids? What about the people who don't want to inhale smoke?" asked Kurth. "We as government are responsible for protecting the rights of those who wish not to breath that smoke. I think it's time for our council to protect those who are not in the position to protect themselves."

Councilman Rex Gutierrez recently took his dog Nellie out for an excursion to Cucamonga Canyon.

This is the wilderness area in the northwest part of the city where residents have been complaining about impolite youngsters parking and loitering in their neighborhood. The canyon has often been a popular spot but it has grown in popularity thanks to a couple of blogs bragging about it.

Last night, Gutierrez ended the council meeting showing an 18-picture slideshow of the beautiful and peaceful the canyon. Gutierrez said he picked up trash as he walked through the neighborhood and then took a short cut through private property.

"It is much shorter," he declared.

Perhaps his intentions were good but many neighbors might not appreciate this. They are already fed up with visitors in their neighborhood and now a councilman is declaring on television how great and peaceful it is up there?

Well, at least Gutierrez picked up after his dog.

Nellie "did some business" in a neighbor's lawn, which Gutierrez quickly scooped up and disposed in another neighbor's trash can. Unfortunately, it was after pick-up so the trash can was empty.

To the neighbor who had to endure Nellie's "business" in their trash can for the last seven days, the councilman is sorry.

Today's meetings begin at 4 p.m. when the public works subcommittee, which consists of Council members Rex Gutierrez and Diane Williams, will discuss the issue of permit parking near Chaffey College.

At 6 p.m., the City Council will honor a number of community members and organizations at a special meeting. Honorees include library telethon donors, fire district volunteers, little league champions and others.

At 7 p.m., the City Council is expected to extend the moratorium prohibiting human and animal crematories in the city. Redevelopment Director Linda Daniels will update the council on ideas to solve the parking issue near Cucamonga Canyon. Kelly Matheny is expected to be appointed to the Park and Recreation Commission.
 

Due to scheduling changes, Mayor Don Kurth will not hold a "Meet the Mayor" event this Sunday as earlier reported. 

Mayor Don Kurth will host his monthly "Meet The Mayor" at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Victoria Gardens from 1 to 3 p.m. this Sunday. For those residents vexed by the parking situation near Chaffey College or Cucamonga Canyon, this might be a good time to grab his ear.

This event was canceled.

It's unclear why former Assessor Bill Postmus hired a private investigator to snoop on Rex Gutierrez last year. In a recent e-mail, Postmus claimed county departments routinely hires outside investigators on personnel matters.

What we do know is Postmus used $1,594 of taxpayers' dollars to hire someone to investigate Gutierrez. He also spent $3,535 of taxpayers' dollars for the investigator to get information on MPR Strategies, the firm Postmus hired to do public relations work.

According to court documents, the investigator was asked to find out whether Gutierrez was conducting city business on county time. You'd think as a department head, Postmus could have found out himself what his employees were up to without spending more than $5,000.

More details in tomorrow's paper. 

Last week, I wrote that many people who run for City Council are retired like council members Sam Spagnolo, Diane Williams and Dennis Michael.

That was not accurate. Williams, 67, was a sprightly 49 and still working when she first ran for council. The youngest member now, Rex Gutierrez, 49, was just 33 when he first ran. They were just babies!

Some might be aghast that I disclosed a councilwoman's age. But I've always found the adage, "Never ask a woman her age," to be so old-fashioned. I mean, 67? Didn't someone say that's the new 57?

Commenters on this blog have brought up the issue of council members' age, saying the city needs younger representatives.

The average age of the current council is 61. Here goes the breakdown: Don Kurth, 60, Dennis Michael, 62, Diane Williams, 67, Rex Gutierrez, 49, and Sam Spagnolo, 67.

I would imagine it's difficult for young working people to find time to be a council member. That's why many people who run are already retired, like Michael, Spagnolo and Williams.

Does age matter? Is the current council too old?

Here are the City Council's campaign statements for the first six months of the year. Don Kurth raised the most during this period, collecting $51,440.62 as mayor. The single biggest contributor was Diversified Pacific. Jeff Burum's development company contributed $10,000 to Councilman Sam Spagnolo.


Kurth 460, 2009.pdf
Michael 460, 2009.pdf 
Spagnolo 460, 2009.pdf 
Williams 460, 2009.pdf 
Gutierrez 460, 2009.pdf

Kurth is also running for the Assembly in 2010.
Kurth assembly.pdf

Don Kurth's "Meet the Mayor" event is Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Victoria Gardens.

The mayor said many residents expressed their concerns over the future of health care when he attended National Night Out events earlier this week. You can share your thoughts with him this afternoon. The city is looking to host a town hall meeting soon on this topic with Rep. David Dreier.

According to courts reporter Mike Cruz, Councilman Rex Gutierrez was arraigned this morning in San Bernardino Superior Court on charges stemming from the county's investigation into political malfeasance in the Assessor's Office.

Read more here.

In other Diane Williams-related news ...

The longest serving councilwoman member, whose term is up next fall, has eyes on another term.

Williams told me she had one more term left in her last December. But recently, I heard from two sources who said they heard Williams wasn't seeking re-election. I figured the two statements make it a half truth so I asked Williams again.

"Don't know where you're hearing the rumors but I am planning on running for re-election next year," Williams wrote in an e-mail. "I figure I've got at least one more term worth of things I'd like to see finished."  

In case you missed it, here's a flier for the Rex Foundation For Learning, which was passed out to various homes over the weekend. You may remember that RFFL was mentioned in this space a month ago.

RFFL is Councilman Rex Gutierrez's latest venture. Gutierrez, who no longer works for the county, is hoping to be a personal tutor.

Many are curious whether the allegations against Councilman Rex Gutierrez are true. The former intergovernmental relations officer of the Assessor's Office is accused of attending city events and conducting city business on county time.

Apparently Gutierrez's former boss, Bill Postmus, was wondering the same thing. According to court documents in support of criminal charges filed against Postmus this week, Postmus and former Assistant Assessor Harlow Cameron hired an investigator to find out if Gutierrez was conducting City Council business during work hours.

Cameron, who now lives in Washington state, told me he was merely the go-between. His role was to contact the private investigator on Postmus' behalf.

Postmus would not comment on why he hired an investigator to find out information about his own employee. Instead, he pleaded patience in an e-mailed statement.

"All I humbly ask is that the citizens of San Bernardino County have an open mind and reserve judgment until all the facts are presented in an impartial forum and in a fair manner," Postmus wrote.

More details to come in tomorrow's paper.

A City Council regular recently asked the elected officials: Who on earth is Jeff Burum and how much has he given you in campaign contributions?

Burum, of course, is the well-known develolper based in this city, who's behind the Colonies project in Upland. In 2006, the Colonies Partners won a much scrutinized $102 million settlement with San Bernardino County over flood-control improvements on the property. Burum and other Colonies investors, including Tony Mize, a Community Foundation Board member, are regular contributors to Rancho officials, county supervisors and others.

The Safety Employees Benefit Association and the SEBA political action committee are also noteworthy contributors to local campaigns. The SEBA political action committee is just one of many committees that Burum contributes to, which in turn, contribute to various political campaigns.

Since 2003, Mayor (and Councilman) Don Kurth has received at least $49,150 from the Colonies and their investors and $61,547 from SEBA in monetary and in-kind contributions.

Since 2008, Councilman Sam Spagnolo has received at least $10,200 in monetary and in-kind contributions from the Colonies and their investors and $7,500 from SEBA.

Since 2004, Councilman Dennis Michael has received at least $20,700 in monetary and in-kind donations from the Colonies and their investors and $23,500 from SEBA.

Since 2002, Councilman Rex Gutierrez has received at least $41,510 in monetary and in-kind contributions from the Colonies and their investors and $37,500 from SEBA.

Since 2000, Councilwoman Diane Williams has received at least $16,600 from the Colonies and their investors and $26,750 from SEBA.