Red Words

I had a brief chat with Gilberto Gil on Wednesday. Gil's term on the City Council will end next week when newcomer Jerry Bean is sworn into office.

We only talked for a minute or so but Gil said he plans to visible around Redlands come 2008. He's maintained a pretty low profile since his loss in the Nov. 6 election and we'll see what happens next.

Incidentally, Councilman Pete Aguilar, who won election to his first full term in November, let me know that I wasn't completely correct when I blogged that "the city" removed Gil's portrait from the wall at City Hall. Aguilar said Gil took the photo down on his own.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I felt a few of them while walking around central Redlands today.Haven't seen any sustained rainfall around town, but the National Weather Service is reporting that there's a 20 percent chance of rain Friday, increasing to the 30 percent chance of preceipitation on Saturday.

As far as Saturday night goes, forecasters report the weather will be partly cloudy with a low of 40 degrees. If the prediction turns out to be accurate, that's good news for the spectators and participants who are planning on being a part of the annual Redlands Christmas Parade, which is set to begin at 6 p.m. downtown.

If meteorologists underestimated the upcoming weather and buckets of rain fall on the East Valley, parade planners plan on postponing the procession until Dec. 8.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Councilman Gilberto Gil has kept a very low profile since losing his seat as a result of the Nov. 6 election.

As a California parole officer stationed in San Bernardino, Gil probably has enough work to keep himself busy. But unless he dropped by City Hall during the short part of Tuesday's City Council meeting that I was late for, Gil was absent from what is almost certain to be the last Council Meeting of his term.

I placed a phone call to Gil in the morning but was only able to leave a message. I've been curious if he plans to stay involved in city politics but I haven't heard from him since the election. I'll let you know if lets me know that he has anything interesting lined up.

Incidentally, the city has already removed Gil's portrait from the hallway outside Council Chambers even though his successor, Jerry Bean, is not slated to be sworn in until December 4.

It's interesting to note that I have seen City Treasurer Mike Reynolds at City Hall more often than Gil. Reynolds has been charged with three felonies - he has denied wrongdoing - relating to a transfer of about $38,000 from an account under his control to the city's general account. Prosecutors have alleged that Reynolds shuffled the money to cover-up a shortage in the city's petty cash fund. He's scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 5 in San Bernardino Superior Court.

Reynolds attended Tuesday's council meeting but did not participate.in discussions. I've seen him at City Hall on a few other occassions although his duties to oversee the city's investments have been transferred to an interim employee.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 6:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First of all, Thanksgiving greetings to all the Redlanders and anyone else reading this on the Web today.

Secondly, I wanted to add a blog post on the reorganization that's going on at City Hall. I spoke with City Manager N. Enrique Martinez today on that subject and will be writing a story on the topic that will likely run this weekend. In the meantime, here are some highlights for all you city-watchers:

1) The Public Works Departments and Municipal Utilities Departments are being merged. Martinez said this will place all of the city's engineering activities under one banner and eliminate a department head's position from the city payroll. The City Manager expects to save $85,000 to $95,000 through the move and plans to funnel that money into new information technology investments.

2) Police Department spokesman Carl Baker and the city's Channel 3 video crew will be transferred from the PDs purview to the City Manager's supervision.

3) Leadership changes are in the works. Public Works Director Ron Mutter has already retired and is set to be followed by Community Development Director Jeff Shaw and Municipal Utilities Director Gary Phelps by the end of the year. Redlands also lacks a permanent Redevelopment Director (Steve Dukett is an interim employee). Martinez said a head-hunting firm has lined up finalists to succeed Mutter/Phelps and Dukett as well as job candidates to take charge of the city's human resources efforts. Panel interviews are set for next month.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 5:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Redlands Fire Battalion Chief Cameron Teter and Capt. Scott McDonald were both recognized at Tuesday's City Council meeting for saving a photographer who wandered close to a downed power line near Arrowbear Lake on Oct. 27.

"(The photographer's) next step would would have been his last," Teter said before the meeting started.

Before accepting a framed copy of the a proclamation honoring his work, Teter told me he didn't recall the photographer's name, but said the photojournalist wore a press pass with an Associated Press insignia. This confirms my co-worker's hunch that the guy wasn't a local, since Inland Empire photographers need to know their way around a wildfire to do their jobs.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The numbers after the Registrar of Voters' Monday update:

JERRY BEAN 4135 22.81%
PETE AGUILAR 3113 17.17%
NANCY RUTH WHITE 2965 16.36%
JEFF SCERANKA 2844 15.69%
GILBERTO GIL 2405 13.27%
HENRY WILLIAM NICKEL 1350 7.45%
EDDIE TEJEDA 1285 7.09%
Write-In 29 0.16%

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Who was the photog who Redlands fire personnel saved from a potentially shocking experience in the mountains?

Battalion Chief Cameron Teter and Capt. Scott McDonald are both set to be honored at Tuesday's council meeting for keeping a photographer away from an energized power line that tumbled to the ground on Oct. 27 near Arrowbear Lake. Redlands fire crews were "up the hill" that day to assist other firefighters who were mopping up the Slide Fire's remaining hot spots.

A Sun photographer and videographer both assured me that none of our co-workers was the unnnamed photographer who, according to the city's proclamation, "continued past a safe distance and ignoring warnings from both BC Teter and Capt. McDonald, began walking toward the area of the downed power line ... BC Teter and Capt. McDonald both moved quickly to the photographer's location, and stopped him just before he made contact with the power line."

My co-workers said they haven't heard any scuttlebutt about anyone from any other inland publications being the aforementioned photographer, but I've never met a photog who would boast about having to be rescued from possible electrocution. I'll be surprised if this guy shows up to the City Council meeting.

California law (Penal Code 409.5) allows news media to access disaster zones, but it's interesting to note that during a fire safety meeting held at our newsroom earlier this year with a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Bill Peters, myself and other Sun reporters were reminded that emergency responders are not necessarily required to rescue media personnel who wind up in trouble covering a fire, flood, earthquake etc... When I was in college I read a little guide on media law that called the PC 409.5 something along the lines of the "everybody has a right to get killed law."

Of course, Peters noted that firefighters, like Redlands' Teter and McDonald, are likely to help out a reporter or photographer in trouble anyway. I've never wound up in that kind of situation myself, but there was a time a few months back when there was a bomb scare in Rialto and a police lieutenant warned me that I was standing to close to the possible blast area.

It didn't turn out to be a real bomb, but I was willing to accept the Rialto officer's advice. I hear it's hard to meet your deadline from the emergency room.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After some recent technical difficulties, Red Words is back in action.

The return of the blog gives me a chance to post the latest numbers on this year's City Council votes. The numbers below came out on Friday afternoon, and show that newspaper executive Jerry Bean and incumbent Pete Aguilar are still the two winners.

JERRY BEAN 4135 22.81%
PETE AGUILAR 3113 17.17%
NANCY RUTH WHITE 2965 16.36%
JEFF SCERANKA 2844 15.69%
GILBERTO GIL 2405 13.27%
HENRY WILLIAM NICKEL 1350 7.45%
EDDIE TEJEDA 1285 7.09%
Write-In 29 0.16%

Another updated count is scheduled to be released at 5 p.m. today.

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Posted by Andrew Edwards at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of the ballots counted so far, less than 150 votes separate second-place finisher Pete Aguilar from third place finisher Nancy Ruth White.

That difference is the difference between victory and maybe running again sometime. White on Thursday visited the Registrar of Voters office to find out if enough ballots remain uncounted to change the outcome.

White said she was informed that about 5,600 absentee ballots from across the county remain uncounted, as are about 1,200 provisional ballots. However, it's not yet known how many of those untallied are from Redlands.

The Registrar of Voters' next vote-count update is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday. White remains hopeful that she could still win a council seat, but said she is not considering a recall if things get really close.

"At this point, that's not really in my head," she said.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A quick note on the Mike Reynolds case:

On the phone today, Deputy District Attorney John Goritz said the reason the case is still investigation is to determine if anyone in the Treasurer's Office has stolen any money. So far, Mike Reynolds has been charged with misappropriation of public funds and two other offenses but has not been accused of stealing anything.

When I last spoke with Reynolds' attorney, Patrick Milligan, (this was Monday) I was told that Reynolds has hired an auditor to investigate whether money was placed in the wrong account or has actually gone missing.

The case revolves around a check that Reynolds wrote in December for about $38,000. The check transferred money from an account under Reynolds' control to the city's general account.

District Attorney's investigators have contended that the transfer was an illegal attempt to cover-up a shortage in the Treasurer's petty cash fund.

Milligan's side of the story is that Reynolds moved the funds around so the city wouldn't be short any dollars pending an internal investigation to learn if money had been misplaced or lost.

We'll see where it goes from here.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 9:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The San Bernardino County Taxpayers Coalition, an independent expenditure committee that reported spending close to $3,000 on phone calls and mud-slinging mailers wasn't very successful in knocking down their targets.

Late in the campaign, the Coalition dispatched hit pieces attacking newspaper executive Jerry Bean and retired teacher Nancy Ruth White. The futility of the pieces can be measured in the fact that Bean emerged as the top vote getter and White finished in a competitive third place.

Bean and incumbent Pete Aguilar won the two seats that were up for grabs this year. Some of the same campaign donors who supported Aguilar gave money to the Coalition. Aguilar, who was himself targeted by a negative phone call, disavowed the mail pieces.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Most precincts have reported vote totals. Here are the early figures.

City Council:

Candidate Votes Percentage
JERRY BEAN 3179 22.34%
PETE AGUILAR 2489 17.49%

NANCY RUTH WHITE 2319 16.30%
JEFF SCERANKA 2190 15.39%
GILBERTO GIL 1929 13.55%
HENRY WILLIAM NICKEL 1079 7.58%
EDDIE TEJEDA 1026 7.21%

Write-In 20 0.14%

City Clerk
LORRIE POYZER 4840 66.30%
JOELL ACKERMAN 2426 33.23%

Write-In 34 0.47%

City Treasurer
MICHAEL REYNOLDS 4475 88.88%

Write-In 560 11.12%

Measure F (Distribution Center Tax)
YES 5200 69.84%
NO 2246 30.16%

Please check this blog later Wednesday for additional reporting.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 1:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Besides the fact that today is Election Day, the buzz among City Council candidates during the past two days has been a series of mailers attacking candidates Jerry Bean, a newspaper executive and Nancy Ruth White, who is a retired teacher.

One mailer shows a person in bed, gripping the sheets as if one has recently awakened from a nightmare. Bean and White are shown in monochrome photographs with a red haze over the faces. The other depicts two cartoon torturers (one male, one female) stretching a victim on a rack. The male torturer taunts "Don't be such a baby, Redlands is rich."

Only one tax is on this year's ballot. The proposed Measure F would charge a business license tax on distribution centers, which currently only pay the city $24 each year to operate in Redlands. The tax has broad support in Redlands' political circles and is opposed by members of the distribution center industry.

A much-discussed proposal to hike the sales tax was kept off the November ballot. Bean opposed that tax and White has also said she does not support new taxes.

Neither mailer was funded by any of the five other candidates in this year's race. However, campaign finance records show the attack pieces were bankrolled by some of the same interests who have supported incumbents Pete Aguilar and Gilberto Gil.

Aguilar and Gil both distanced themselves from the mailers.

"It's awful. I don't like it," Aguilar said. He then addressed the fact that some of his supporters helped by for the mailers.

"That's unfortunate. It is what it is at this point."

A negative phone call targeted Aguilar earlier in the campaign.

The mailers were funded by a group called San Bernardino County Taxpayers Association (or Coalition on one piece). Records show the group received $2,500 from Jim Rissmiller, who last year retired as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection battalion chief in charge of fire protection in Highland.

Sun archives show the group had a big role to play in the 2004 recall of three Highland City Council members, an electoral coup that was supported by Rissmiller.

Rissmiller is intelligent and has a long record of service to Highland. His involvement in the recall proves that he knows how to play hardball. He did not return phone calls requesting an interview.

Groups funding the San Bernardino County Taxpayers Association include attorneys John Mirau ($1,500) and Mark C. Edwards ($5,000), Mentone Investments Advertising, LLC ($1,500), Matich Corp. ($10,000) and Majestic Realty ($5,000)

Mirau and Edwards' firm, Matich Corp. and Majestic Realty (the developers behind Citrus Plaza) all gave money to Aguilar's campaign.

Matich Corp. and Mentone Investments have supported Gil.

East Valley politicos also supported the mailers. Third District Supervisor Dennis Hansberger and Assemblyman Bill Emmerson also supported the Coalition. Business records filed with the California Secretary of State show James Foster, Hansberger's former chief of staff, is a contact person for Mentone Investments Advertising.

White interpreted the mailers as the acts of people who are worried the incumbents will be unseated.

"I think they are a little scared," she said. "It was real interesting to see the turn of the tide. We were having a real civil campaign and all of a sudden these three mailers come."

The other challengers in the race are Henry Nickel, Jeff Sceranka and Eddie Tejeda. The first round of semi-official election results should be released soon.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Incumbent Gilberto Gil reported a $1,000 donation from the National Staff Assault Task Force on Nov. 2.

That specific group didn't come up on a Google search, but an organization called the California Staff Assault Task Force was listed on a Web site that listed nonprofits. That group was listed with the same address as the organization listed on Gil's report.

Gil is a California parole officer, and the California Staff Assault Task Force describes itself as a nonprofit that sues prison inmates on behalf of guards who are assaulted. The organization's mascot is a hardcore-looking bull wielding a gavel.

Gil has also filed an amended financial disclosure showing contributions received between Sept. 23 and Oct. 20. A $5,000 campaign donation now shows its source as being from the Redlands Police Officers Association, when the money was previously reported as being from the Redlands City Federal Employees Credit Union. The check was written from the police union's account at the credit union.

The amended report shows that the POA gave Gil $5,150 during the recent reporting period, which is a crazy amount of money.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The city has yet to complete repairs from last month's sewage backup and now there's another problem with a city building.

As it turns out, Safety Hall is not so safe. The building is the headquarters for the Police Department's field operations and the city hired an engineering firm to check out the building's former City Council room in preparations for plans to move the city's dispatch center into that room.

But there's one big problem. Engineer Weiquan Tan visited Safety Hall last week and found cracks at the top of four wall panels.

"The cracks indicate the structural failure of the concrete panels, which could cause the collapse of the proposed dispatch room and possibly, adjoining structures," Tan wrote in a letter that was excerpted in a press release by Police spokesman Carl Baker.

"I suggest that the City of Redlands take measures to prevent bodily injury or death from a possible collapse in the structure," Tan's letter also said.

Baker said late Monday that city officials don't know how much it will cost to repair Safety Hall. It's also unknown how long any repairs will delay the planned move of the city's dispatchers to a new location.

It's also still unknown how much the final cost of repairing City Hall from last month's flooding will be. Baker said E. Coli bacteria has been found in the Fire Administration offices, which must be disinfected before damaged drywall can be removed.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Patrick Milligan, defense attorney for City Treasurer Mike Reynolds, called me Monday afternoon to discuss the Public Integrity Unit's case against his client.

The Public Integrity Unit is the part of the District Attorney's office that investigates local officials. Reynolds, who has been Redlands' City Treasurer since 1980, was arrested Oct. 24 and has been charged with one count each of misappropriation of public funds, keeping a false record and falsifying documents.

The charges revolve around $37,880.96 that court filings show Reynolds deposited from the Treasurers Trust Account (the account holds money given to the Treasurer's Office before being deposited into city accounts) into city's general account around Sept. 12. One court document shows investigators' view that Reynolds made the transfer to cover up a hole in the city's petty cash supplies.

Milligan seemed confident, and was especially glad to see that Deputy District Attorney John Goritz has said on record that Reynolds is not specifically charged with theft. It looks like Milligan's defense will revolve around the contention that there was no impropriety in the September money transfer.

"If a person was going to cover up a loss, they would not do it by writing a check," Milligan said.

Milligan contended that the check provides a permanent record of the money transfer, and it wouldn't make sense for Reynolds to do such a thing if he were trying to hide his actions from City Hall or taxpayers. Milligan said Reynolds made the transfer so the city would not be short on funds while Reynolds tried to figure out why nearly $38,000 in petty cash is missing from his office.

Reynolds and Milligan have both acknowledged that something is wrong with the accounting of the city's petty cash supplies. Milligan said Reynolds has hired an auditor to determine if the shortage is the result of a bookkeeping error or a physical error (meaning that the money was deposited in the wrong account or is actually missing.)

Results of the audit will be given to the media and prosecutors, Milligan said.

Milligan argued that Reynolds' position gives him the right to transfer monies as he sees fit pending an internal investigation to determine where the missing funds are. He made the analogy that if similar events happened in the private sector, the situation would not rise to the level of a criminal matter.

"If an account goes wrong, the bank president doesn't call the police department or go to his board of directors and confess incompetance," Milligan said.

Investigators filings also contains photocopy of a form, dated Aug. 31, that shows petty cash balances with a shortage in the same amount of the September money transfer. Another photocopy shows a reassembled copy of the same type of form that shows no shortage.

Milligan said Reynolds was not seeking to dishonestly manipulate data and said the forms show drafts of Reynolds' attempts to reconcile financial information.

"He was working to try to fully and honestly recreate that account," Milligan said.

Reynolds is set to appear in court on Dec. 5 and Milligan predicted that his client will be exonerated as the case moves forward.

"We'll get it all taken care of. That's why the courthouse is over there," he said.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Money has continued to flow to City Council candidates in final days of this year's campaign.

I've posted some late contributions here. Expect to see more information posted here.

Pete Aguilar:
$1,000 from the Blommington-based United Food and Commercial Workers received on Oct. 24.

$1,000 from Progressive Majority received Oct. 28.

Progressive Majority is a Washington, D.C.-based PAC that seeks to help left-leaning candidates win elected office. Progressive Majority's Web site shows the group also supports San Bernardino City Council candidates Rikke Van Johnson and Carolyn Tillman.

Although Progressive Majority's stated goal is to help liberals win electoral victories over conservatives, Aguilar (who once worked for Gov. Gray Davis) presents himself as a centrist candidate and is supported by many of the Inland Empire's elected Republicans, including Third District Supervisor Dennis Hansberger and Assemblyman Bill Emmerson.

Nancy Ruth White
$2,600 from Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties received on Oct. 28.

White is a former Planned Parenthood board member. She has portrayed herself as a "grass roots" outsider candidate in this year's campaign but she has a good deal of poltical experience. White is the current finance chairwoman of the San Bernardino County Democratic Party and has previously served as chairwoman for the county Dems' organization. She has also represented Democratic Party interests as a convention delegate and her resume lists experience as an active member of the California Teachers Association.

Gilberto Gil:
$2,000 from San Bernardino-based Matich Corp. received on Oct. 27.

Matich Corp., a paving and construction firm, has also made a substantial contribution to Aguilar's candidacy. Several Redlands streets need repairs, so it's not really surprising that Matich is interested in the city.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)