Surveying the carnage
The story in tomorrow's Sun will be all about mending fences and licking wounds, or not.
One day removed from a resounding affirmation of two incumbent councilmembers and the city clerk, as well as less resounding victories for city attorney and 6th ward council, we look to analyze what this means for the next two years.
The verdict: Mayor Pat Morris versus at least three members of the council and the city attorney on major issues.
I talked to many involved today, and their disparate comments provided an interesting sketch of where this rancor stands and what it means moving forward.
SAN BERNARDINO — It was past midnight, and all the precincts in the city had tallied votes.
City Attorney James F. Penman wasted no time ringing a victorious - and foreboding - tone.
His nemesis, Mayor Pat Morris, the man who trounced him for mayor and pumped money and support into candidates running against he and his council allies, weighed on Penman’s mind during the predawn hours.
“The mayor rolled the dice,” Penman said, allowing the words to sink into his cell phone receiver.
“He rolled the dice and lost.”
With the dust settled over what was one of the more vicious campaign seasons in recent memory, combatants and observers were quick to assess the post-election landscape Wednesday. The common conclusion was that Mayor Pat Morris now faces the daunting task of forging policies with a handful of elected officials who clawed through his political opposition.
Don’t expect swift reconciliation, most say. Instead, look for an emboldened council opposition eager to wrest political power from a mayor weakened by the failure of his total effort to reconstitute city government with officials more aligned to his policy-directions.
In the 5th Ward, incumbent Chas Kelley beat Morris-backed Carolyn Tillman. In the 6th Ward, incumbent Rikke Van Johnson is ahead of Betty Dean Anderson, but may be facing a runoff. In the 7th Ward, incumbent Wendy McCammack defeated Morris-backed Jim Mulvhill. Penman remains, narrowly turning back a Morris-backed attempt on his office from Marianne Milligan, a former Penman employee.
“We are going to have to take the reins back from the mayor,” said 7th Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack.
“It’s up to the mayor if he wants to be part of this collaboration.”
McCammack garnered 54 percent of the votes in the race, with Mulvihill managing 37 percent.
Morris gave Mulvihill money and name support, similar to what he provided to the losing causes of Tillman and city attorney candidate Milligan
Reached at City Hall Wednesday, Morris noted what he called “razor thin” margins of victory by Penman and McCammack over relatively unknown opponents.
“To think (the narrow victories) gives them the right to try to jerk around our city government is reprehensible,” Morris said. “(Penman and McCammack) misunderstand what our voters expect of us as public officials. (The public) expects us to work together to solve the problems of our city.”
If a new era of collaboration is to begin, it will have to occur with the same cast that has ground to a divisive halt in 2007, after largely filing in behind Morris’ anti-crime and economic development agenda during his first year in office.
The only race potentially still in doubt is the 6th Ward, where Johnson stands one-half percent below the 50 percent he needs for an outright victory. If he stays just below 50 percent, he’ll be forced into a February election against Anderson.
Johnson, who has staunchly backed Morris, forecast continued inclement conditions at City Hall.
“It’s going to be challenging to get in a direction to combat all the things we need to combat in this city,” Johnson said. “Especially public safety, everybody has a different philosophy.”
Morris’ opponents, led by Penman, swelled Wednesday with the notion that the election was a resounding defeat of the mayor - and to his ability to provide what they regard as inflexible leadership on crime, downtown redevelopment and other issues.
“For the mayor to lose ... and make no mistake, we were all running against the mayor,” Penman said Wednesday,
“is a chilling indictment of his leadership.”
Morris had hoped to help pack the council and city attorney’s office with like-minded, politically progressive candidates who had already demonstrated philosophical agreement with his holistic anti-crime strategies and commitment to revitalize downtown.
In that effort, he provided thousands of dollars as well as public endorsements and even telephone and door-to-door outreach.
Although none of his challengers won, Morris said they performed well and he harbored no regrets.
“I think the competitiveness of those elections sends a message to these incumbents, who had the distinct advantage of their incumbancies, that they need to work with the mayor on this larger vision for our city,” said Morris, who added that he believes he still has the “mandate” he earned with his landslide victory 20 months ago.
But Morris’ view holds little weight with most on the council, said 4th Ward Councilman appointed council leader Neil Derry, who was not up for election but supported the anti-Morris candidates. Derry said the electoral skirmish paves the way for a major pendulum swing in City Hall power.
“The victories by those opposed by the mayor show that he’s significantly weakened politically,” Derry said. “You’re going to see the council step up to the plate and take a more active role in the administration of city governemnt.”
Morris’ major policy initiatives - and sources of disagreement with council factions - have been his Operation Phoenix anti-crime program and his emphasis on downtown redevelopment. Council opponents, led by Kelley, Derry and McCammack, take a harder-line on crime than Morris, who supports prevention and intervention programs to augment more police. They also generally see downtown as a false focus, while real economic growth is poised for other areas of the city.
Morris’ popularity, and his ability to dictate the future direction on these and other policies, has been weakened, his council opponents contend.
Johnson disagrees, saying Morris remains a force throughout much of the city.
“The mayor’s support for issues or for candidates, is still an asset, especially in the 6th ward,” Johnson said.
But electoral enmity may not soon fade. Penman, after escaping a Morris-backed assault on his political life, didn’t hesitate comparing the politics to warfare.
“The mayor declared war on us, not vice versa, and he’s the only person who can end the war,” Penman said.
robert.rogers@sbsun.com (909) 386-3855
Did I just read the reporter's comments to say that the winners were NOT politically progressive? What dream did you get that from? I think Kelley and McCammack are the only progressive councilmembers up there. They are the only ones who want real crime reduction progress. And did the Mayor really say that Penman and McCammack beat their relatively unknown opponents? Mulvihill is HIS planning commissioner, was beat by McCammack twice before and was endorsed by the Mayor. How much more recognition does he need to beat her.
Only a Crack Addict would refer to a 20 and 40 point victory as "RAZOR THIN".
Sounds like desperation to maintain a self-consumed superiority complex to most.
The results of the election could not have turned out worse for this City. And shame on the other 89% or so of the voters who didn't turn out. What the future holds for this City is your fault for not caring enought to vote into office people who can make a change for the better. Four years from now when the City has further declined because of the Mayor's inability to implement anything, those who stuck with Penman and his crew will be wondering what the heck happened. I, for one, do not feel optimistic and feel election day was a sad one for this City. We had a chance for change and blew it, but at least almost half of those who did vote recognized that a change was in order.
Sounds like someone might be looking for a new job in four years, ouch!
So now "Hopeful" is "Troubled".....did you start packing yet? Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help with your relocation.....
Four years from now? Is someone announcing their decision to run again? The current term for mayor ends in March 2010. Or will his son try to continue the family "dynasty" and considers Penman an impediment to his holding the position?
Not every Mayor of San Bernardino has had a problem with Mr. Penman - only those with their own "special" agendas like Valles and Morris.
Mr. Penman and the supposed "non-progressive" councilpersons are trying to make this city change for the better, not just sitting there at council meetings nodding to whatever the Mayor is saying.
"Hopeful", I mean "Troubled" is now digressing to the "it's your fault" mentality so that they (Camp Morris) can start blaming the failure of Operation Phoenix on Penman and the "non-progressives" because it can't be the Mayor's fault!
Has anyone ever gone to these Phoenix things? What the city is doing is handing out free food, T-shirts, TV's, and stuff to get the residents there! Sorry, it's true. I've seen it. Ninety-five percent of the attendees aren't concerned with cleaning up their neighborhoods.....and the other five percent that are trying to clean up their neighborhoods are ignored and not supported by the Mayor.
And keep in mind that the WHOLE City Council supported the Mayor in Operation Phoenix. Not all were happy with it but they DID vote for it. So the Mayor can't blame them for its imminent failure.
Besides "partnering" with people that one day the Mayor's Office will regret,
Operation Phoenix has been neglected by the Mayor's Office while they foolishly campaigned for Milligan. "Troubled" thinks she is better because she wasn't going to do anything - like she did NOTHING in office while she was in the City Attorney's Office (as she stated in her e-mails through the city mail servers). At least that was better than what she is doing to the Code Enforcement Department now.
Obviously most of us in the city are happy to be “stuck” with Mr. Penman.
Do we need to start a collection to get you a moving van?
CJ, I have no idea what you are talking about with regards to "Hopeful." This is my first time posting a blog and only did so in response to Mr. Roger's article. I think he has been quite fair and neutral in his covering of the elections this year.
I did not see any comment on this blog by someone named "Hopeful", so I am confused by your comment. And I am certainly not moving anywhere. I am the second generation in my family to live in San Bernardino. My family has seen the good and the bad and in my 64 years living here, it is MY personal opinion that Penman has been bad for this City. I thought Mayor Valles was a class act and was sorry that her vision was not allowed to be carried out. If you are "happy to be stuck with Mr. Penman" that is your right, just as it is my right to NOT be happy to be "stuck" with him.
low turnout, that's the story.
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.
At the time of a good City Attorney suggested proposal many weeks ago, three of the four council people who never seem to say a word about anything came up with slogans fed to them that went like this. One said this is too political; another said, this help at that time would derail the train. I don’t know how anyone can derail a train that doesn’t have wheels and isn’t moving, but that was one of the senseless non-answers. The third one stated; there is no money in the budget for this. When this third one was told how money could be made available, he said “wait until after the election.” Of course, all these responses were thrown out against our City’s progress in the interest of “working together”; which actually means lets work together to oppose any sensible efficiency ideas that might benefit the City. It also means “let’s work together” and against any of our common sense leaders such as Derry, Kelley, MCCammack, and Penman. It was one circus act after another and every roadblock possible was thrown in front of what could have already been producing results for people wanting to do business in San Bernardino.
After all is said and done, I have advise to all those special interest campaign financeers who left our City the day after the elections. You literally saw the all the Winnebagos and other motor homes jamming the freeways on the way back to Riverside, Orange County, the Desert, and lastly, back to San Francisco and Berkeley. As Mr. Kelley describes them so eloquently, the carpetbaggers denied the purchase of Our City by their expensive campaigning in the interest of saddling us with one of the Mayor’s clones as a would be city attorney that would be perfectly simpatico and compatible to those council members whose performance is to throw roadblocks and spike strips to keep any progress from taking place any time soon in the City, no matter what it is.
Need an example of the non-performers? Look at the 11-19-07 council meeting. These 4 amigos looked like a bunch of synchronized swimmers as they did their usual road blocking in addressing the parolee issue once again. They are only talented in the synchronized performance when it means impeding progress, OR if it means going against our good Council people or Jim Penman, our City Attorney.
To those home town kneecapping politicos who are still lurking in the back shadows still waiting to be let in the front door, or any door they can sneak in, to do damage to the City taxpayers, My advise is to DON’T BE HATEFUL, BE GRATEFUL, for a lesson well taught to you that not all the voters can be bought with expensive kneecapping type campaigns in attempts to unseat our good City representatives. ….