A preview of tomorrow's report
Here's a glimpse of what we're working on for tomorrow's Sun:
By Robert Rogers
SAN BERNARIDINO — It was a banner day for incumbents, but a dismal day for Mayor Pat Morris.
With three City Council seats and the city attorney and city clerk’s offices facing seemingly strong fields of opposition, many thought a major realignment could occur in the city’s political structure.
It didn’t happen.
With the exception of 6th Ward incumbent Rikke Van Johnson - who could be headed for a runoff with second place finisher Betty Dean Anderson - all the incumbents retained their seats.
City Attorney James F. Penman faced the stiffest test, garnering 52 percent of the popular vote to defeat Morris-backed challenger Marianne Milligan.
All told, Morris’ endorsees performed miserably. Carolyn Tillman, whom he endorsed in the 5th ward against incumbent Chas Kelley, took a disappointing 21 percent of the vote.
In the 7th Ward, Morris backed Jim Mulvihill, who took 37 percent of the vote in losing to Morris adversary Wendy McCammack.
Morris worked hardest in the city attorney’s race, providing money, an endorsement and campaign work including recorded phone calls to voters in an effort to dislodge Penman.
He came up short.
With the exception of City Clerk Rachel Clark, who had broad support by all factions at city hall, no one Morris supported received a majority of votes.
Johnson, whom Morris endorsed first last summer, took 49 percent of the vote against Anderson’s 40 percent, meaning a runoff between the two will be set for February.
Johnson said he was braced for an onslaught in the runoff race, with Penman, McCammack and others likely to aggressively back Anderson.
“I’m sure there will be a lot of outside forces that will try to come in and influence the voters 6th ward on how they should be represented,” Hohnson said.
Johnson added that he remains pleased to have Morris’ support, despite his underwhelming showing Tuesday.
“The mayor’s support is an asset, especially in the 6th ward,” Johnson said.
I for one will be backing Betty, even though I don't live in her ward. Johnson just sits there like a bump on a log and is a yes man for the Mayor. I for one am tired of Esther, Dennis and Tobin too.....stand up and represent your wards.
Why not have Rikke's "speech writer" run for his spot?
If you watch the council meetings, Rikke has to read from the instant messages that he receives during the meeting on his laptop! It is painful to watch him use the fifty cent words they send him in his nickel sentences.
Who is Van Johnson's Geppeddo??? Inquiring minds want to know!
Go Betty Dean!!!
And all this time I thought Rikke was just surfing the internet .....
To all the residents of the 20 block Operation Phoenix:
Anyone reading this has heard many times the paraphrasing that states
The following: GIVE A MAN A FISH, AND YOU FEED HIM FOR ONE DAY, TEACH A MAN TO FISH, AND YOU FEED HIM FOR A LIFETIME.
I would ask the residents of the soon ending Op. Phoenix the following questions. These inquiries are made after the intensification of every and all City resources was brought to bear on your 20 Block mini city Operation Phoenix for the last year. I would hope the Mayor has taught well, but your responses will tell you what we in other parts of the City already know all too well.
If you do not know the answers, please ask Betty Dean Anderson, a true San Bernardino citizen who either has, or knows who has, the answers to any questions it will be in your best interest to know.
My questions are not easy to answer, but you need to know that you will be asking them very soon. The Mayor has received all the free publicity from your area and the additional Police you have had available will again be deployed back to the rest of the entire City. The first series of questions are:
What have you been taught about defending your area from the murderous rampage that threatens to become one of the highest statistics this year for our City? This is compounded by the fact that the Mayor has not hired a single officer to answer the Measure Z requirement, only few replacements for those who have retired or otherwise left the force. Another question is how has the Mayor taught you to defend yourselves against the tide of gangsters, prostitutes, graffiti taggers, drug pushers, druggies, drug houses, burglars, sexual deviant predators, home invasion crews, scam artists preying on seniors and youngsters alike, internet type scams, and other types of criminals? Why is the Mayor stalling the Parolee housing moratorium that top Council persons and the City Attorney have proposed to insure safe, neighborhoods, and also existing safe code compliant parolee homes?
Has the Mayor taught you how, when, and who to report to, and ask for help in keeping up services such as your street lights, street sweeps, street repairs, graffiti eradicators, trash haulers, code violators who have no regard for property values around you, slum landlords, obnoxious loud music, late parties, and other basic services necessary for animal control, junk cars, flooding, tree services, just to mention a few?
Has the mayor promised all of you and all your Church religious leaders in the 20 block Phoenix area a “town hall” type meeting with him 60 days, 90 days, or 120 days after the end of the Police crime suppressed perimeter
Words cannot describe the gratitude I felt to the writer of the The Sun’s Thursday’s editorial. I so much appreciate the humor in that article. I have not laughed as long and as hard as I did in a long, long time. Thank You so much. I have to assume that the editor who wrote that piece about changing the status quo to our City’s challenges and opportunities must be someone who has been brought in from the OC to replace the injured Steve Lambert. As I read recently, Steve is the regular editor who had a jogging accident recently.
My reasoning behind the OC comment is to illustrate the naivety and inexperience of the imported editorial writer featured in the Thursday editorial. As is the case of the Deputy Code Enforcement Director, Milligan, a recent OC resident, The Sun writer of that article knows nothing about the very recent events that have transpired in San Bernardino just in the last 18 months. The comparison to Milligan ends there. While the writer brings humor in his work, The OC Milligan brings sad ineffectiveness and fiascos to individual citizens in the performance of her duties.
Thanks to the Mayor, the City’s image has been, and continues to be tarnished, as long as she is kept here by the Mayor.
This started when would be King Pat Morris mistook the title of Mayor to mean “King”. Since he took that office, not only has City Hall, been badly and sadly transformed, but also many of the City’s top Departments and staff members have been imported from other cities. I suppose the Mayor cannot trust the City of San Bernardino residents and experienced local City workforce. He feels he has to fill not only the real vacant positions, but also the Mayor-created positions he has brought in from outside our area.
If you have been on an extended vacation to another continent or have just awakened from a long coma after 18 months, you may not have heard of the disaster we have had brought here from OC. This was brought to our City by Mayor Pat Morris.