Recently in Mayor Pat Morris Category

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO -- A divided City Council refused to reimburse female employees of the City Attorney's Office for nearly $4,000 in legal fees incurred during a recent investigation of an alleged document theft.

The Police Department's investigation concluded without any charges being filed.

Monday's vote was the latest development in the intracity conflicts stemming from the leak of internal memo that occurred during 2009's mayoral campaign between Mayor Pat Morris and City Attorney James F. Penman.

The allegedly stolen memo reportedly went missing from a women's restroom on the top floor of City Hall before being delivered to Penman's office. An unknown party subsequently leaked the memo, which pertained to a police inquiry into the circumstances of a sex offender who performed work at a church that hosts one of the city's Operation Phoenix youth centers.

The memo reported that children were not in danger. Penman has repeatedly contended the document revealed an attempt to cover up the offender's presence.

Women working for the City Attorney's Office said Monday that they endured undue suspicion during the Police Department's investigation into how the document got from the restroom to Penman's office.

"Silly as it sounds, some of the employees were afraid to the restroom by themselves," deputy city attorney Stephanie Eastland said, adding that her 19 years working for the city convinced her that the theft allegation was just another part of the past year's election campaign.

"For me personally, I took it with a grain of salt," she said. "I considered the investigation to be business as usual in San Bernardino politics."

The female employees hired attorney Andrew Roth, husband of senior assistant city attorney Diane Roth, to represent them during the investigation.

The mayor said from the dais Monday that it would be "ludicrous" to spend taxpayer money on Andrew Roth's fees, maintaining the attorney advised Penman's employees not to cooperate with police.

Morris referred to the document's disappearance from the restroom as a crime and said prosecutors did not file charges only because they did not have enough evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the memo was actually stolen.

"I can't imagine the City Council agreeing to this type of reimbursement," Morris said.

Penman shot back that the document was accidentally picked up by one of his employees after being left in the restroom. He also disagreed with Morris' contention that employees did not cooperate.

Morris and Penman were locked in argument when Councilman Chas Kelley cq interrupted them to demand a vote.

"I want to call for the question. The election is over," Kelley said.

The council rejected the payback request by the 4-3 vote that is common in matters pitting Morris against Penman.

The council's pro-Morris bloc of Dennis Baxter, Tobin Brinker, Fred Shorett and Rikke Van Johnson voted not to pay the legal fees.

Johnson said he voted against the request because he thinks the decision to hire Diane Roth's spouse created a conflict for the city.

Council members Kelley, Esther Estrada and Wendy McCammack -- who often support Penman -- sided with the City Attorneys' staffers.

Estrada said the city should have aided employees who underwent an enormous amount of stress during the investigation.

San Bernardino Police Lt. Dan Keil said prosecutors have declined to file any charges following an investigation into the alleged theft of a city document.

The document -- a memo from Police Chief Keith Kilmer to City Manager Charles McNeely -- summarized the Police Department's check on registered sex offender who performed work at a church that hosts the city's flagship Operation Phoenix youth center.

City Attorney James F. Penman, who eventually lost to incumbent Mayor Pat Morris in city's mayoral race, has said the memo was lawfully delivered to his office after being discovered in a City Hall restroom.

Penman, who said the investigation was a political tactic originating in the Mayor's Office, also said that his office did not distribute the document.

"I'm not denying, I'm just saying it. That's not something we would have done," he said.

The memo mysteriously appeared during a City Council meeting at the height of election season. The council voted to demand the leadership of Master's Plan Church of the Nazarene ban all sex offenders or lose compensation for hosting the youth center.

The council rescinded that threat after massive protest from local clergy who interpreted the ultimatum as a violation of the church's First Amendment rights.

Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO - A memo written by the police chief to the city manager reports City Attorney James F. Penman lied about a document at the center of a City Hall theft investigation and the city's latest political blow-up.

Penman replied that the chief's message is the place to find falsehood. He said the new memo is an 11th hour campaign trick orchestrated by Mayor Pat Morris.

"It reads like a campaign flyer. The timing is obviously intended to coincide with the fact that the election is less than a week away," Penman said.

Penman is running against Morris in the Nov. 3 election. Contractor Rick Avila is also in the race.

Mayoral chief of staff Jim Morris said the mayor has not read the police chief's memo and had no comment. Pat Morris has said that he is not involved in the theft investigation.

Police Chief Keith Kilmer writes in the new memo, obtained by The Sun and dated Oct. 26, that a portfolio went missing from a City Hall women's restroom around Sept. 14. The package was reported stolen.

The portfolio contained an internal document that was leaked Sept. 21. Kilmer writes in the new memo that Penman said at that day's City Council meeting that he had not previously seen the allegedly stolen document.

"Now we are learning through comments of the City Attorney and his senior staff ... the memorandum and other documents from the portfolio were in possession of the City Attorney approximately a week prior to the Sept. 21 meeting," reads part of Kilmer's new memo.

Penman responded that he did not say Sept. 21 was the first time he had seen the document that was leaked that day. He said Thursday he saw that memo within 48 hours of its appearance at a council meeting.

He delivered the portfolio and provided a statement to the District Attorney's Office on Sept. 22. Penman initially refused interviews with what he called "the mayor's Police Department."

Penman based his objections on the mayor's power to fire the police chief and city manager. He said the investigation a Nixonian distraction from the first memo's revelation that a sex offender worked near a city youth center.

He later said he would respond to follow-up questions and police interviewed Penman earlier this week.

Penman said police have not yet interviewed any of his office's employees and there's no way for Kilmer to know how long he had access to the the allegedly stolen document.

He said it has not been revealed how that document found its way to the dais.

City Manager Charles McNeely declined to comment. Kilmer said the document was not political.

"I would make a memo for a purpose. Not a political purpose but a public safety purpose," Kilmer wrote.

City Councilwoman Wendy McCammack, one of Penman's allies, also said the new memo is a political ploy.

"There are only three people who could have released this new confidential memo, the mayor, the police chief, or the city manager. No one else had it," she wrote in an e-mail.

The new memo is the latest chapter in a story that started when the initial memo was leaked Sept. 21.

The first memo summarized a police investigation into the presence of a sex offender who performed work at Master's Plan Church of the Nazarene, which hosts one of San Bernardino's Operation Phoenix youth centers.

The center's former manager was arrested on suspicion of child molestation in July 2008.

The memo that was leaked on Sept. 21 reported no immediate dangers to children. The council sent an ultimatum to the church: ban sex offenders or lose money that pays for the youth center.

Penman sent investigators to the church the next day to pass out sex offender notification flyers. The church's pastor said the move both provocative and tardy, since the sex offender had moved away.

The council's rescinded its ultimatum on Oct. 19 when several local clergy protested the demand violated their First Amendment rights.

City Attorney James F. Penman said that not only has he turned in documents related to the investigation of an alleged theft to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office, he has also on two occasions given statements to top prosecutors.

"On September 22, I took the documents to the DA and I gave I statement to the DA I answered all his questions," Penman said Friday.

Penman also said that he provided information to Assistant District Attorney Jim Hackleman on Oct. 7. It's his opinion that since the District Attorney's Office determines whether any cases should go to court, his statements to that office are as valuable as any statements that could be given to city police.

District Attorney Mike Ramos, Hackleman and District Attorney's spokeswoman Susan Mickey were not available for comment Friday.

The documents in question were, depending on one's version of events, lost or stolen from a City Hall restroom. The papers included a memo that an unknown party delivered to the City Council prior to the public session of the council's Sept. 21 meeting.

The memo contained a summary of a police investigation into the circumstances of a registered sex offender who performed work at a church that also hosts the city's central Operation Phoenix center.

The release of the memo set off a debate over local government's ability to impose conditions on churches that have financial relationships with City Hall and revived memory of the scandal that followed last summer's arrest of the youth center's manager on suspicion of child molestation.

Police have announced that they are investigating the documents' disappearance as a theft. Penman has deemed that probe a political trick and said he won't allow himself to be interviewed by city police, since the City Charter gives Mayor Pat Morris power to recommend the hiring and firing of police chiefs.

Penman and Morris are running against each other for mayor. Police Chief Keith Kilmer said earlier this week that the investigation will move forward with or without cooperation from the City Attorney's Office.

Andrew Edwards and Stacia Glenn
Staff Writers

SAN BERNARDINO - The investigation of allegedly stolen city documents will continue despite City Attorney James F. Penman's announcement that he and his employees will not submit to interviews with city police, police officials said Wednesday.

"Varying levels of cooperation are common in any criminal investigation," Police Chief Keith Kilmer wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. "So we will proceed forward, hopefully without any interference or obstruction, and conclude the case in a timely manner."

The documents at the center of the investigation were either lost or stolen from a City Hall restroom. An undisclosed party delivered the documents to the City Attorney's Office.

An unknown party distributed the memo to the City Council on Sept. 21.

Penman contends the theft investigation is a smokescreen to distract the public from the memo's revelations.

The city attorney also said that despite the fact that the memo was marked confidential, it should be treated as a public record since it was addressed to a city manager's staffer instead of a law enforcement officer.

In the document, Kilmer reports that a registered sex offender performed work near the same city youth center whose manager was arrested on suspicion of child molestation in July 2008.

Kilmer concluded that police detected no violations of law related to the sex offender's working arrangements.

Mayor Pat Morris Morris said Tuesday there is video evidence of a city attorney's staffer carrying what may be the memo.

Penman said the mayor's version of events is not correct, and that the documents were lawfully delivered to his office. He also said he forwarded the materials to the District Attorney's Office.

"That shows I was going to an outside agency," Penman said.

District attorney's spokeswoman Susan Mickey confirmed this but would not comment further.

The documents included a memo, authored by Kilmer, that summarized the Police Department's inquiry into the presence of a registered sex offender who performed work at a church that is the site of a city youth center.

Southern California experts in local government said Penman may have a point in his contention that a noncity agency should handle the investigation.

Kilmer and City Manager Charles McNeely also said in interviews that the theft investigation is a routine case for city police.

"It's a fairly straightforward investigation, and we conduct all investigations involving city employees. We're quite capable of doing it," he said. "If there comes a time when it's prudent to turn it over, or if it's requested, we would consider it then."

Police are investigating the alleged document theft as the Nov. 3 mayoral election looms. Kilmer said he hopes the probe can be completed by that date.

Penman is running for mayor and charges the probe is a political stunt instigated by his electoral opponent - incumbent Mayor Morris.

"If he thinks I did anything wrong, he should turn it over to the (California) Attorney General," Penman said.

Penman also said he is willing to cooperate with investigators from the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office.

He said the investigation should be handled by another agency since the City Charter empowers the mayor to recommend the hiring and firing of police chiefs.

Jim Morris said the decision of whether another agency should handle the investigation is not the mayor's call.

"It's not our investigation, so we don't get to make that referral," Morris said.

Bob Stern of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies also said Penman has the right to refuse an interview if he is not given a subpoena.

USC political science professor Ange-Marie Hancock said regarding the mayoral campaign that Penman's decision not cooperate with police could be politically risky.

"I can say from a political perspective, it's highly ironic, and it doesn't bode well for the candidate," she said.

Penman said he's not worried about appearing noncooperative since he gave the documents to county prosecutors.

Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO - City Attorney James F. Penman said Tuesday he would not cooperate with police probing the alleged theft of a confidential city document.

Penman said he and his staff would only agree to interviews by the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office or the California Attorney General's Office.

The city attorney, who is seeking to oust Mayor Pat Morris from office in the Nov. 3 election, insisted that the theft investigation is a "Nixonian" ploy that has more to do with city politics than the pursuit of justice.

"We will not make ourselves available for interviews by the mayor's Police Department," Penman said.

The probe involves a memo by Police Chief Keith Kilmer. An unknown person distributed the document to the City Council on Sept. 21.

Morris said Tuesday during an interview with The Sun's editorial board that police have reviewed video evidence of a City Attorney's Office employee carrying what may be the memo in question.

The mayor said he has not seen the video and that the memo was stolen from a women's bathroom at City Hall.

Police Capt. Scott Paterson confirmed an investigation is ongoing but would not offer details.

Penman said no theft took place.

"Our office lawfully came into possession of a number of documents that were left in a City Hall restroom by a city manager's employee," Penman said.

The memo detailed a police investigation into a registered sex offender's presence at Master's Plan Church of the Nazarene, formerly First Church of the Nazarene, which hosts the city's central Operation Phoenix youth center and other children's facilities.

The memo's revelations prompted the City Council on Sept. 21 to send a demand that the church keep sex offenders off church property or lose "rent" for the youth center.

Dozens of local clergy complained of an affront to religious freedom. The council rescinded its ultimatum on Monday.

Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO - The pastor of a church presented with a demand to ban sex offenders or lose "rent" from a city youth center expects vocal support at Monday's City Council meeting.

Pastor David Rhone of First Church of the Nazarene said Friday that 60 local ministers are set to ask congregates to support his church when the council considers rescinding the ultimatum.

"Several of us will be speaking," Rhone said. First Church of the Nazarene, which hosts San Bernardino's central Operation Phoenix youth center and other children's facilities, is at the center of a controversy involving matters of religious freedom and government's duty to protect its youngest citizens.

The dispute also fuels election season antagonism between City Attorney James F. Penman - who is running for mayor - and incumbent Pat Morris.

The Morris Administration calls its anti-crime programs Operation Phoenix. New youth centers are one of the higher profile efforts.

Penman views plans to rally church members as a "media event" staged by clergy who support Morris' re-election effort.

"The congregation members don't know that they're being used for a political event," Penman said.

The council made the ultimatum Sept. 21 with a 5-0 vote. Councilman Rikke Van Johnson, who wants to retract the demand, was not present for that meeting.

The body delivered its ultimatum the night council members learned through a leaked memo that a sex offender had performed work at the church.

The memo, signed by Police Chief Keith Kilmer and labeled confidential, reported to City Manager Charles McNeely's office that police checked out the reported presence of a registered sex offender near the Operation Phoenix center.

Kilmer's memo concluded the offender's presence was not a crime nor an immediate threat to children. Penman disagreed and sent his own investigators to the church with flyers warning of a sex offender's presence.

He said the day marked the third time his office had notified the public regarding a sex offender and was the first time he took this action during election season.

Rhone has said the man had since moved away from San Bernardino and no longer worked nor attending religious services at the church. The pastor also said his church has a right to reach out to anyone.

"No government agency is going to tell me to whom I can minister," he said. "If that means no Operation Phoenix, then `see ya."'

But Rhone doesn't want to send away the Operation Phoenix center and feels an obligation to the program. The nonprofit Operation Phoenix Foundation, he said, provided more than $200,000 in private donations to convert an old parish hall into a gym.

He said the city does not actually pay rent but chips in 30 percent of utilities costs to cover the youth center's usage.

Rhone said the center has already generated its share of heartburn for the church. The center's former manager, Mike Miller, was arrested in July 2008 on suspicion of child molestation. He has pleaded not guilty.

City police are investigating how the memo got leaked. Morris referred questions on new developments to Kilmer, who confirmed that police are investigating a report that the document was stolen at City Hall.

Kilmer would not comment on details. Penman said his own office's investigation concluded no actual theft took place.

"Somebody left it (the memo) where they shouldn't have left it and it was a very public place," he said.

Penman's office generated the warning flyers while the Sept. 21 meeting was in progress.

He would not say Friday if his staffers had the memo before it was distributed to the council, but predicted more political fallout at City Hall.

"I have no comment on that right now. I'll wait until the PD finishes its investigation, then we'll let all the embarrassing details come," he said.

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO -- The City Council voted Tuesday night to adopt a new law aimed at restricting group homes for parolees at a time when city officials are dreading the potential of a major release of inmates from state prisons.

City Attorney James F. Penman, who has long supported restrictions on parolee housing, proposed the law to the council.

The new law, which was passed as an urgency item by a 5-1 vote, prohibits the establishment of any new group homes for parolees, probationers or sex offenders inside city limits.

The law also bans unlicensed, for-profit residential care facilities for the same classes of people. The new ordinance is similar to a temporary moratorium on parolee housing that is already on the books.

Council members Esther Estrada, Tobin Brinker, Fred Shorett, Chas Kelley and Rikke Van Johnson voted "yes."
Councilman Dennis Baxter, who asked if the law could withstand a lawsuit, cast the sole dissenting vote.

Although Penman acknowledged that a court may not uphold the entire law, he asserted that the law could at least serve as a barricade to anyone from Sacramento looking to dump ex-convicts in San Bernardino.

"The state is going to be desperate to release people when they have to release them from prison," he said.

Penman has sought to put the measure on the books since 2007, when the issue was but one of San Bernardino's political powder kegs before the Nov. 2007 election, when Penman was seeking his current term as the city's top lawyer.

At present, Mayor Pat Morris and Penman are opposing candidates in the mayoral race. Neither official directly attacked each other during Tuesday night's deliberations, but did engage each other in a spirited debate on whether a redevelopment project in the works for eastern San Bernardino would become a magnet for parolees.

This exchange stopped after a minute or so when Morris and Penman mutually acknowledged that the conversation had drifted into a mayoral debate at the dais.

Morris was skeptical towards Penman's proposal. When Penman cited Police Department figures marking an increase of 374 parolees between June 2007 and May 2009, the mayor suggested that the existing moratorium on group homes hasn't been an insurmountable barrier to parolees.

Morris said scholars who study corrections policies agree that the surest way to prevent ex-cons from committing additional crimes is to provide solid educational and rehabilitation programs in and out of prison.

However, he said the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has foregone rehabilitation efforts.

"Every work station, every gym, every place that's habitable (inside prisons) is filled with triple bunks," Morris said.

The mayor also said the state's prolonged budget crises have also prevented talks between city and state officials interested in reentry programs from actually being able to put their ideas into practice.

City Attorney James F. Penman is bringing forward a proposal that would new group homes for parolees, probationers and sex offenders.

The proposed urgency ordinance would also ban any new unlicensed residential care facilities for parolees, probationers or sex offenders.

Penman's proposal is up for discussion during Tuesday's City Council meeting. Penman said in news coverage earlier this week that the law had been stalled in a special committee. The committee, created specifically for talks on parolee issues, has not met since August 2008, Penman said.

The city attorney was displeased that Mayor Pat Morris has not convened the committee, thus making it impossible for committee members to report a ban on new parolee housing to the full council.

Morris said earlier this week that Penman does not need the committee's action to bring his proposal before the full council.

Readers who were following San Bernardino politics in 2007 probably remember that the question of what to do with the city's parolees was one of the year's most energetically debated issues. It looks the question is returning to the forefront.

What follows is an article slated to run in Wednesday's edition of The Sun, but before that are couple points that did not make it into the print article because of space limitiations.

Mayor Pat Morris contends that City Attorney James F. Penman's focus on his proposal to ban any new group facilities for parolees is a simplistic solution that would merely result in parolees being added to San Bernardino's homeless population.

Penman said that it may be a worthwhile initiative for the city to work on rehabilitative programs for parolees who were San Bernardino residents before going to prison, but he's concerned about making the city look like a target market for prison officials. He does not want San Bernardino to look like the ideal place to send ex-prisoners, especially if the Legislature reacts to mandates to release prisoners by loosening the restrictions on where parolees can go.

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO -- The Legislature's attempts to slice dollars from the prisons budget could inspire spirited debate here over parolee issues.

Mayor Pat Morris wrote an open letter dated Aug. 27 to Arnold Schwarzengger and the Legislature charging state officials with ignoring research-based proposals on prison reform in order to make budget cuts.

Morris and City Attorney James F. Penman - opponents in the current mayoral race -- agree that Sacramento's actions could create problems for San Bernardino. They disagree over what the city should do.

Whereas Morris sees a need for rehabilitative programs, Penman wants a city law blocking new parolee group homes.

Morris said his administration has spent much time working with officials in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on ideas to help parolees reenter society, but the state has never had enough money to make any of these ideas a reality.

"We need training. Job training," Morris said. "There is a vast sub-population of these parolees that are illiterate. There is a vast sub-population of these parolees that are mentally ill."

Penman said the city needs a strong legal tool to prevent state officials from inundating San Bernardino with ex-convicts.

The city attorney also thinks the city should have had such a law on the books well before the current wrangling in the state capital.

"We can't wait for Sacramento to release thousands of prisoners to cities," Penman said.

San Bernardino's City Council formed a special committee to examine parolee problems in 2007. The most recent scheduled committee meeting, which would have been held Friday, was cancelled at the mayor's order.

Morris wrote to committee members that the body should wait to meet until they have a more clear picture of what will happen in Sacramento.

But Penman and 7th Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack, cq one of the committee's members, said the committee has not met for the past year. Morris said he could not recall when the committee held its last meeting, but said Penman and McCammack were not correct.

Penman said the law he wants the council to consider was sent to that committee and is mired there until the committee can convene and decide whether or not to forward his proposal to the full council.

Morris replied that there is nothing to stop Penman from bringing his proposal to the council whenever he so chooses.

In Sacramento, both the Assembly and Senate have passed bills intended to cut prison spending. The Assembly version, which passed Monday without a single Republican vote, seeks to trim prison spending by $1 billion.

California also faces a federal judicial mandate to reduce its prison population by 40,000 inmates. That court order is intended to improve inmates' medical and mental health care.

Mayor Pat Morris' office announced Thursday that he has been invited to visit the White House next week to discuss anti-crime programs.

According to the Mayor's Office, he and other American mayors - as well as police chiefs and other figures, are set to meet with Attorney General Eric Holder to talk about how the federal government can assist local law enforcement.

Here's a somewhat longer version of a story slated to run in Saturday's edition on candidates who are set to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. It's still pretty basic even at this length, but there's plenty of time to give the issues and candidates more ink and electrons. After all, in San Bernardino, we actually like to cover city elections.

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO -- Election season begins now that the deadline has passed for candidates seeking the mayor's post and three City Council seats to file for the November ballot.

The coming months promise to be an interesting time for San Bernardino's politicos and voters. The Nov. 3 ballot is set to feature rematches in the race for both mayor and the council's Fourth Ward.

The council seats for the city's First and Second wards will also be up for a vote. In all races, San Bernardino residents will be tasked with choosing which men and women are best qualified to face the challenges of fighting crime, keeping city departments funded in the midst of a recession and establishing policies that can foster economic growth.

The Mayoral Race

As of Friday evening, three candidates have qualified to run for San Bernardino's top job. Qualification was pending for a fourth candidate.

Mayor Pat Morris is seeking a second term, and will compete with City Attorney James F. Penman and contractor Rick Avila.

Security company owner Sir Isaac Lindsay could also have his name on the ballot, pending the verification of signatures on his nomination papers.

Penman and Avila are both veterans of the 2005-06 mayoral race.

Morris won his current term by defeating Penman in a February 2006 runoff election. Both campaigned on anti-crime platforms.

Public safety is just about certain to be the central issue of this year's campaign as well. FBI statistics released earlier this year show that San Bernardino's murder rate declined by about half from 2005 to 2008.

The numbers also showed that over 2008, San Bernardino had the fourth-highest violent crime rate of all California cities with populations greater than 100,000 people.

Morris listed his achievements as including the passage of the Measure Z sales tax hike to fund an increase in the Police Department's force strength and the establishment of the Operation Phoenix program that relies upon inter-agency cooperation and the opening of two new youth centers.

In a basic sense, the choice for voters is whether the Morris Administration has done enough to reduce crime and blight or if its time to give someone else a chance.

"We've got a long way to go, but we won't back down on our crime fighting," Morris said.

Morris said Friday that he looks forward to publicly debating Penman in public.

Penman wants to reverse Morris-supported plans for an eastside redevelopment project that would set aside 100 rehabilitated apartments for low-income tenants, the elimination of the city's graffiti removal contract with a local nonprofit and decision to create a highly-paid city spokesperson's job at a time when Police and Fire positions have been allowed to remain vacant.

Morris and Penman have repeatedly quarrelled over the last few years, but Penman predicted that the fact that the incumbent mayor now has a record in city government makes it more likely that the campaign will be about policies instead of personalities.

"I think this campaign will be a lot more fun than the last one," Penman said.

Avila finished in fourth place in the Nov. 2005 mayoral vote. He also unsuccessfully challenged Fifth Ward Councilman Chas Kelley in 2007.

He said Friday that he wants to lower the city's utility users tax as a lure to new businesses, build a downtown arena and have City Hall hire foreclosure counselors who would advise troubled homeowners on how to keep their property.

"Foreclosures are very important. Nobody wants a boarded up house next to them," he said.
In an interview, Avila compared himself to the Count of Monte Christo. Like the fictional count, he says he was unjustly incarcerated when a judge jailed him for 14 days in 2008 after finding him in contempt in relation to a child support matter.

Avila said he has filed complaints with multiple agencies regarding what he considers to have been an unjust penalty.

Lindsay, the fourth potential mayoral candidate, wants to enlist residents into an expanded police volunteer team and build a stronger rapport between the Police Department and residents who are often afraid of their uniformed defenders.

He said many residents often feel they have been pulled over for nothing more than "driving while black."

"I do want to see a better relationship between the community and the police," he said.

The First Ward Race

The First Ward comprises downtown and a portion of the Westside. The race has two candidates, incumbent Esther Estrada and challenger Virginia Marquez.

Estrada, currently the council's longest serving member, is set to seek a sixth term in office. She said she wants to remain in office to oversee work on important public works projects, such as the future replacement of the Mount Vernon Bridge.

"I want to make sure that that's well under way," she said.

Marquez works as a part-time staffer for Democratic Rep. Joe Baca. She said she is a San Bernardino native former state parole agent and decided to run after living in other parts of the state, most recently Coronado Island, for three decades.

"I left 30 years ago and I came back and it's not what I remember," she said.

The Second Ward Race

The Second Ward contains many of the neighborhoods north of downtown and around Perris Hill park. Incumbent Dennis Baxter faces possibly two challengers, tow company owner Jason Desjardins and Alex Avila.

Baxter agrees with Morris that the city has made inroads against crime and wants to focus on services for young children, seniors and Perris Hill Park.

"I want to see some interesting things in Perris Hill Park," he said.

Desjardins owns Big Z Towing and has recently spoken out against a proposal to create a city-run impound lot. He also contends that the Second Ward does not receive its fair share of code enforcement and other anti-blight services.

"I want to ramp up graffiti cleanup and hold people accountable who are caught doing it," he said.

Alex Avila's nomination papers were still being verified as of late Friday. He said he works as a parent educator for Knotts Family Agency and the city to establish partnerships with local schools and tackle foreclosure-related problems.

"Certain groups are breaking into these houses and using them for drug sales and prostitution rings," he said.

The Fourth Ward Race

The Fourth Ward comprises San Bernardino's northeastern areas, including the 40th Street corridor. The race pits incumbent Fred Shorett against challenger Joe Arnett.

Shorett, who ran on a pro-business platform, defeated Arnett and two others in a special election that was held in March.

Firefighting promises to be a major issue, as Shorett and a majority of the council did not support proposals presented in April and May that would have reversed budget cuts affecting the Fire Department.

Arnett is accusing Shorett of breaking a pledge to support public safety, while Shorett says its also his job to be fiscally responsible.

"My only promise was to the taxpayers, to do the fiduciarily correct thing and be accountable to the voters," Shorett said.

To Arnett an IT manager at Loma Linda University, public safety trumps all other city operations.
"As much as I want nice parks, I want to make sure I have a safe park before I'm worrying about cutting the grass."

Mayor Pat Morris announced Wednesday that he wants city officials to prepare a new law that would hold parents liable if their their minor children are found guilty of graffiti-related crimes.

"The direct cost of property damage from graffiti to businesses and residents in our city is staggering and the indirect cost to our community from the loss of business, goodwill and pride is immeasurable," Morris stated in a written release.

The mayor reports that he asked City Manager Charles McNeely and Police Chief Keith Kilmer to model a new law on a Santa Ana ordinance. Santa Ana's law allows the city to hold the parent or legal guardian of a tagger liable for all fines. If fines are not paid, the city can place liens on the adults' property. . Santa Ana can also make taggers pay restitution.

If graffiti is not the number one complaint of San Bernardino residents, it's near the top of the list. Perhaps its no coincidence that the mayor is announcing a get tough on taggers proposal right before the beginning of campaign season.

City Attorney James F. Penman said by telephone today that he will refer the question of an alleged conflict of interest involving the mayor to the office of state Attorney General Jerry Brown.

"We're basically taking our office out of it," Penman said.

The alleged conflict, Penman has said, relates to a proposed homeless shelter. Penman first said publicly on July 28 that representatives of Carson-based Human Potential Consultants complained that the Mayor's Office had improperly interfered in HPC's attempt to set up a homeless shelter at a West Orange Show Lane business park.

The mayor's daughter was reportedly interested in establishing a gymnastics business at a nearby location and Penman reported that HPC was worried that the mayor's daughter's actions threatened to derail their efforts to set up a shelter in San Bernardino.

Mayor Pat Morris counter-argued that under California statute, no conflict could exist because his daughter is not a dependent child. Furthermore, Morris replied that his only action was to ask his daughter to consider other locations for her business.

The story got more complicated on Thursday when HPC attorney Lauren Nevitt sent a letter to city officials claiming that although HPC did bring their concerns to Penman's office, the organization never filed a complaint. Thus the alleged conflict of interest became an alleged alleged conflict of interest.

The Mayor's Office then accused Penman of fabricating a complaint to stir up controversy, while Penman responded that since his office has law enforcement duties, a party doesn't have to file a formal complaint for his office to respond to a report of potential wrongdoing.

Penman said during Monday's council meeting and again in a telephone interview Monday that he would seek the Attorney General's advice as to whether the evidence suggests that there might be some violation of the common law doctrine of conflict of interest.

If the Attorney General replies that there could be a conflict, Penman said he will refer the issue to the San Bernardino County District Attorney. If the Attorney General opines that everything is OK, "then that will be it," Penman said.

A little more than one week remains for potential candidates to pull papers to run for San Bernardino city offices in the November elections. The deadline is Aug. 7.

The Mayor's seat, as well as council seats for the First, Second and Fourth wards are up for grabs.

SB Now and The Sun will present more detailed stories on the campaign after candidates are officially on the ballot and campaigns begin in earnest. Here is a list of who has pulled papers so far:

- Mayor:

Pat Morris, incumbent
Sir Isaac Lindsay,
Rick Avila (also ran in 2005 campaign)

- First Ward City Council:

Esther Estrada, incumbent

- Second Ward City Council:

Dennis Baxter, incumbent
Sebastian Sanchez
Alex Avila

Fourth Ward City Council

Fred Shorett, incumbent
Joe Arnett (also ran in March Special Election)

Additionally, this reporter received a press release Thursday afternoon from political consultant Chris Jones announcing that Jason Desjardins plans to run for the Second Ward seat. Desjardins has been in the news recently as an opponent of the proposal to establish a city-run tow yard.

Jones is also working on Arnett's council campaign.

A note: Calls for an investigation are not new in San Bernardino politics.

The article posted below deals with City Attorney James F. Penman's insistence that Mayor Pat Morris be investigated for an alleged conflict of interest.

Penman himself was the subject of an election year investigation more than three years ago. He was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing in the matter.

In 2006, The Sun just happened to receive an anonymous complaint to the California Bar against Penman just days before the runoff election in the mayoral contest between Penman and then Judge Pat Morris, who won.

This newspaper did not rush to report on the complaint on the basis that it was by all appearances an episode of election-time gamesmanship. After the election, The Sun reported that the complaint was filed in December by then-Mayor Judith Valles, who supported Morris in that campaign.

San Bernardino is about to enter another mayoral campaign and Morris is seeking reelection. Penman has said repeatedly that he will not seek the mayor's post this time around, but the two officials often tangle at the dais, especially when legal matters are up for discussion. Morris is a former Superior Court judge.

This reporter asked Penman why he shouldn't assume that San Bernardino politics being what it is, he shouldn't assume that this episode isn't another round of gamesmanship.

His response:

"Unlike the allegation from Mayor Valles, the (new) allegation came from HPC," he said.

"That's why we need an investigation," he added.

HPC stands for Human Potential Consultants, an organization that has proposed a homeless shelter. Penman claims in two memos that HPC has alleged Morris has improperly intervened in their efforts.

The news article follows below. One almost wonders if future developments on the Sixth Floor will include a contest to determine who can punch harder.

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer

SAN BERNARDINO -- In a pair of memos, City Attorney James F. Penman calls for an investigation to see if his political rival, Mayor Pat Morris,has a conflict of interest relating to a proposed homeless shelter.

The Mayor's Office replies that the messages are nothing more than political spectacle designed to distract attention from the process by which the proposed homeless shelter is being considered.

In his memos, Penman writes that Human Potential Consultants, the Carson-based organization that has proposed the shelter, has alleged that Morris interfered in their attempt to establish a shelter in San Bernardino.

Penman reports that Human Potential Consultants has alleged that Morris improperly involved himself into the process because the Mayor's daughter has looked into doing business at a business park near the intersection of West Orange Show Lane and Arrowhead Avenue. The business park is one location under consideration for the proposed homeless shelter.

The City Attorney writes in his first memo, dated Tuesday, that if a conflict of interest exists, such a violation could result in civil and criminal penalties, the mayor's removal from office.

"The mayor should recuse himself and his office from all further involvement in this project until the allegations of HPC can be investigated," Penman wrote in Tuesday's memo.

It's rare for city attorneys to use such strong assertions when warning other public officials about potential conflicts of interest. Penman said Wednesday it's also rare for an organization with business before City Hall to accuse a San Bernardino official of interfering on behalf of a family member.

HPC could not be reached for comment Wednesday to discuss their reported allegations.
Morris responded with his own memo Wednesday. In his missive, Morris writes that he asked his daughter, Kathleen Willis, 43, to forego plans to locate her gymnastics school at an Orange Show Lane business park where the proposed shelter could also be established.

Willis was out of town Wednesday and unable to comment, a woman who answered the phone at her business, Inland Empire Gymnastics Academy, said.

Morris further writes California's conflict of interest laws do not apply to the situation because his daughter is not a dependent child. The mayor contended that the real issue is not the alleged conflict of interest but the public process.

During the July 20 City Council meeting, the agenda included a request to approve an urgency ordinance that would have allowed HPC to create a shelter in the 200 block of West Orange Show Lane. The request was signed by both Development Services Director Valerie Ross and Penman.

The council chose to put off a decision on proposed ordinance until its Aug. 3 meeting.
Morris and Third Ward Councilman Tobin Brinker said they were concerned that the urgency process did not provide notice for neighboring business owners to register their concerns regarding the proposal. Both Penman's and Morris' memos report that the shelter would serve parolees.

"We need to basically put this out with a process, a legal process that gives appropriate notice," Morris said in an interview.

Brinker said a shelter at the business park could discourage commerce there.

The City Council has previously rejected HPC's attempt to establish a shelter at a church site on North Sierra Way because that location is near a facility that serves domestic violence victims.

HPC has appealed that decision and according to the July 20 request for council action on the urgency ordinance, would withdraw its appeal if given a permit to develop a shelter on Orange Show Lane.

Here is a revised version of the previous post that has been updated to include quotes and some additional information.

An ambitious and controversial plan to redevelop a cluster of eastside apartments that some officials say are home to a host of troubles got the go-ahead Monday night.

The City Council, acting in its role to oversee the San Bernardino Economic Development Agency, voted 4 - 3 to OK a redevelopment plan that calls for the rehabilitation of several four-plex apartment buildings that have been foreclosed or abandoned.

Buildings that cannot be refurbished are set to be demolished and rebuilt.

Council members Dennis Baxter, Tobin Brinker, Fred Shorett and Rikke Van Johnson voted for the plan. Council members Esther Estrada, Chas Kelley and Wendy McCammack voted "no."

The council cast their votes after lengthy debate that included comments from about two dozen speakers, shouts from the audience, raised voices on the dais and a break to get news on the brush fire that burned during the meeting on Little Mountain.

The vote was a narrow victory for Mayor Pat Morris, who strongly favored the redevelopment plan which is set to focus on eastside apartments on Sunrise Way and 19th Street. The neighborhood in question is just southwest of the place once known as the "Arden Guthries."

The mayor called the vote said the vote was a major step in "a long and difficult battle to redeem this community."

Morris and EDA officials consider the plan a tool to bring life back to a troubled neighborhood, however, McCammack contended that the plan's immediate focus on apartments misses out on an opportunity to promote home ownership within the city.

Additionally, Estrada and Kelley said the funds could be better put to use if spread around the city.

Estrada said the EDA could spend the money to "bulldoze the crap" along a distressed stretch of Base Line while building senior housing in a place where new development may stimulate the commercial economy. She suggested E Street as an example of a place where business may benefit from such a booster shot.

The Arden Guthries, near the site of the new project, were another group of distressed apartments where redevelopment officials have already pushed the reset buttion. Several apartments that comprised the Arden Guthries have already been demolished in a previous redevelopment effort that was intended to reduce crime and clear way for commercial development along Highland Avenue.

Plans call for a Home Depot store to eventually go up in the location.

"This project is still in our plans but I don't have much to confirm beyond that besides that it is a few years out and needs to go through approvals," Home Depot spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher wrote in an email.

The new project is set to take advantage of about $8.4 million in federal dollars provided through Washngton D.C.'s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which is intended to help the city deal with problems created by recent foreclosures.

But Uncle Sam's money also comes with a mandate that one-quarter of the funds be used to provide housing for low-income individuals.

The low-income requirement marked a dividing line for the issue. Although EDA housing director Carey Jenkins noted that the plan will reduce the number of apartments in the neighborhood, some of the speakers said that setting aside units for low income people amounts to an invitation to crime.

Another point of contention was the question of how shady the neighborhood really is. Jenkins showed photographs of dilapidated structures and observed that one building in the area recently burned down. He said that was the very building where he was recently quoted as saying he wouldn't be surprised if the building burnt down before it could be acquired.

However, several speakers who identified themselves as area residents objected to the characterization of their homes as a dangerous place, and that they considered the colloquial designation of the neighborhood as "Little Africa" to be an insult. Speakers also opined that the problems that do exist in their neighborhood are to blame on irresponsible landlords and lax code enforcement efforts.

Another concern for residents is whether they will be forced to leave their apartments as redevelopment moves forward.

"Where are we supposed to go?," an audience member called out after the vote.

"We're human beings just like you," was another cry.

The council's vote also follows the EDA's recommendation to work with a San Clemente-based nonprofit to acquire, fix-up and manage rehabilitated apartments for low-income tenants.

That nonprofit, San Clemente-based Mary Erickson Community Housing, promised to screen future tenants and Morris and other proponents have said the organization would provide a shield against absentee slumlords.

Susan McDevitt, Mary Erickson's executive director, acknowledged after the vote that an unspecified number of current tenants will likely have to move. She said the law requires those people to receive assistance and that it could be possible for them to return to the area if they pass tenant screenings.

McDevitt said Tuesday that residents of 32 four plexes may be relocated as part of redevelopment work. Her nonprofit will be required to provide assistance to anyone forced to find a new place to live.

"It's a very strict process. We just don't dump them out on the street," she said.

City Attorney James F. Penman - who prefaced his remarks by digging up a set of old jury instructions that identified his office as a policy-making position - said he is not confident that the nonprofit will be more successful in managing the area than other property owners that sought to run the Arden Guthries when things in that area were much worse.

Proponents of the redevelopment plan have said that if local government does not act, absentee landlords will swoop in and buy properties on the cheap. Penman said the city could respond to that problem without redevelopment by threatening to begin eminent domain proceedings.

With the council's vote on the books, McDevitt said she expects to close the first acquisition in early August.

An ambitious and controversial plan to redevelop a cluster of eastside apartments that some officials say are home to a host of troubles got the go-ahead Monday night.

The City Council, acting in its role to oversee the San Bernardino Economic Development Agency, voted 4 - 3 to OK a redevelopment plan that calls for the rehabilitation of several four-plex apartment buildings that have been foreclosed or abandoned.

Council members Dennis Baxter, Tobin Brinker, Fred Shorett and Rikke Van Johnson voted for the plan. Council members Esther Estrada, Chas Kelley and Wendy McCammack voted "no."

The council cast their votes after lengthy debate that included comments from about two dozen speakers, shouts from the audience, raised voices on the dais and a break to get news on the brush fire that burned during the meeting on Little Mountain.

The vote was a narrow victory for Mayor Pat Morris, who strongly favored the redevelopment plan which is set to focus on eastside apartments on Sunrise Way and 19th Street. The neighborhood in question is just southwest of the place once known as the "Arden Guthries."

Morris and EDA officials consider the plan a tool to bring life back to a troubled neighborhood, however, McCammack contended that the plan's immediate focus on apartments misses out on an opportunity to promote home ownership within the city.

The Arden Guthries were another group of distressed apartments where redevelopment officials have already pushed the reset buttion. Several apartments that comprised the Arden Guthries have already been demolished in a previous redevelopment effort that was intended to reduce crime and clear way for commercial development along Highland Avenue. Plans call for a Home Depot store to eventually go up in the location.

The new project is set to take advantage of about $8.4 million in federal dollars provided through Washngton D.C.'s Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which is intended to help the city deal with problems created by recent foreclosures.

But Uncle Sam's money also comes with a mandate that one-quarter of the funds be used to provide housing for low-income individuals.

The low-income requirement marked a dividing line for the issue. Although EDA housing director Carey Jenkins noted that the plan will reduce the number of apartments in the neighborhood, some of the speakers said that setting aside units for low income people amounts to an invitation to crime.

Another point of contention was the question of how shady the neighborhood really is. Jenkins showed photographs of dilapidated structures and observed that one building in the area recently burned down. He said that was the very building where he was recently quoted as saying he wouldn't be surprised if the building burnt down before it could be acquired.

However, several speakers who identified themselves as area residents objected to the characterization of their homes as a dangerous place, and that they considered the colloquial designation of the neighborhood as "Little Africa" to be an insult.

Another concern for residents is whether they will be forced to leave their apartments as redevelopment moves forward.

The EDA recommended that the council approve a deal to work with a San
Clemente-based nonprofit to acquire, fix-up and manage rehabilitated apartments for low-income tenants.

That nonprofit, San Clemente-based Mary Erickson Community Housing, promised to screen future tenants and Morris and other proponents have said the organization would provide a shield against absentee slumlords.

Susan McDevitt, Mary Erickson's executive director, acknowledged after the vote that an unspecified number of current tenants will likely have to move. She said the law requires those people to receive assistance and that it could be possible for them to return to the area if they pass tenant screenings.

City Attorney James F. Penman - who prefaced his remarks by digging up a set of old jury instructions that identified his office as a policy-making position - said he is not confident that the nonprofit will be more successful in managing the area than other property owners that sought to run the Arden Guthries when things in that area were much worse.

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- Election season begins today as the nomination period for the Nov. 3 election opens.

The Mayor's Office and council seats for the city's First, Second and Fourth Wards are up for a vote. The nomination period is set to close on Aug. 7.

Mayor Pat Morris is seeking a second term in office and has already filed papers announcing his intention to run.

"What I hope the election portends is a discussion of what is best for our city," Morris said. "I hope this is not an election that is dominated by special interests."

Morris won his term by defeating City Attorney James F. Penman in a 2006 runoff election. Penman has said multiple times that he will not challenge Morris this year.

The mayor faces at least one opponent who said he plans to drop by the City Clerk's office today to formally begin his campaign. Sir Isaac Lindsay, who said he runs a Loma Linda-based security firm, plans to enter the fray.

"I'm about employment," Lindsay said. "If you give people jobs, they are not going to go out and rob anybody," Lindsay said.

The First Ward, which includes much of the city's downtown and southwestern area, is currently represented by Esther Estrada. The Second Ward, which includes the neighborhoods that surround Perris Hill Park, is represented by Dennis Baxter.

Like Morris, Baxter has already filed preliminary papers for his reelection campaign. Baxter said Friday that he considers his experiencing going through four budget cycles to be an advantage for his candidacy.

"This is no time for on the job training," he said.

The race to represent the northeastern neighborhoods of San Bernardino's Fourth Ward is so far the most competitive campaign of the year. Fred Shorett, who in March one a Special Election to fill the final months of former councilman Neil Derry's term is being challenged by Joe Arnett, cq who took second place in March.

Arnett launched his campaign Thursday outside City Hall with former Shorett supporters. Arnett is making an issue of Shorett's decision not to support a plan to reverse fire department budget cuts.

"As a councilman, I will absolutely put public safety first," Arnett said Thursday after accusing Shorett of reneging on a campaign pledge to support the Fire Department.

In regards to the Fire budget issue, a majority of the council decided not to restore money to the Fire Department.

No firefighters were laid off, but the cuts allowed a dozen firefighting positions to go unfilled, including eight jobs that had been filled by firefighters working overtime shifts. Eliminating the positions resulted in some engine companies being staffed by three firefighters instead of four.

Shorett said Friday that he didn't change his views, and will run on pro-business and pro-public safety platform.

"I'm trying to be fiscally responsible and provide services to the public," Shorett said.

Loma Linda University has announced that Mayor Pat Morris will receive an honorary doctorate in humanitarian service.

Morris is scheduled to receive the degree Sunday during graduation services for the university's School of Public Health.

Mayor Pat Morris is officially seeking a second term in office. More to follow.

Mayor Pat Morris sent out a press release today announcing that four alcohol retailers received citations for selling single serve alcohol in violation of their conditional use permits.

"We see public intoxication and all the crime that goes along with it, including high rates of violent incidents," Morris said in a press release. "That's why the city, when issuing its permits for alcohol retailers, has started restricting them from selling these kinds of products."

San Bernardino routinely prohibits alcohol vendors from selling single units of alcoholic beverages. However, this rule is seldom followed. It's easy to find single serve alcohol in many mini-marts or grocery stores, and a recent San Bernardino Counrty Department of Public Health survey of 190 licensed liquor dealers found that 165 of those retailers sold singles.

Singles are frequently sold in big bottles, such as the 40-ounce bottles of beer or malt liquor that are often seen in college parties and in gangsta rap videos from the 1990s. The survey found that the most common size for singles in San Bernardino are 24-ounce containers, followed by 32- or 40-ounce bottles. The city's prohibition applies to any size of single-serve bottle of beer or malt liquor.

The theory behind the prohibition on single sales is that customers purchasing a six-pack or case of beer are more likely to use alcohol responsibly. The assumption is that a package of alcoholic beverages will be taken to a residence, whereas a single can be opened and consumed on the street.

UC Riverside professor Robert Nash Parker advised city officials that singles can be associated with vandalism and other crimes.

"Gang members 'sip' 40-ouncers, they party, they get their courage up," he said in a press release. "For the most part, these are underage drinkers and alcohol plays a central part in their activities."

The anti-40 campaign marks an instance of cooperation between the often squabbling Mayor's and City Attorney's office. Parker is a consultant to Morris' Operation Phoenix program, and investigators from City Attorney James F. Penman's office are checking for unauthorized alcohol sales.

"We are taking this very seriously," Penman said in a press release. "Those who fail to comply could be liable for up to a $1,000 per day in fines."

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- Mayor Pat Morris cq and local spiritual leaders celebrated the city's religious diversity during the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.

"Adonai. Allah. Spirit. Yeshua. Savior. Mother Earth. Lord God. We use different names, but each implies a recognition that there is something beyond us, a higher power," said Rabbi Hillel Cohn cq of Temple Emanu El while delivering the invocation.

Cohn went on to ask those assembled Valencia Room of the National Orange Show Events Center to take part in a moment of silence.

The Mayor's Prayer Breakfast coincided with this year's commemoration of the National Day of Prayer, which President Truman proclaimed in 1952.

More than six decades later, the National Day of Prayer Task Force, an Evangelical nonprofit that is not part of the federal government, promotes the day for worship in accordance with Judeo-Christian worship. The mayor's breakfast was much more ecumenical. The event recognized Buddhism, Islam and the traditional beliefs of the San Manuel Band of Serrano Indians as well as Judaism and Christianity.

"Our city is not only the oldest and most historic city in the Inland Empire, we are the most culturally and religiously diverse," Morris said.

That diversity was featured on the Valencia Room's stage Thursday by monks from Khmer Buddhist Temple of San Bernardino who prayed while girls performed a wishing dance in traditional Cambodian dance costume.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake president Dale T. Poulsen cq read poetry, and 13-year-old Jayavana Herbert cq performed a praise dance to the music of Christian song.

Victory Outreach senior pastor Rick Alanis cq called upon those at the breakfast to remember the needy, even if the economy prevents those asked for help from providing material aid.

"We have to be willing to give, and we may not be able to give money or resources, but we can give the bread of faith, we can give the bread of hope and we can give the bread of love," Alanis said.

San Manuel Chairman James Ramos cq sang a historic bighorn sheep song in his tribe's native language. He rattled the song's rhythm by shaking a mass of strung hooves while he sang.

Cal State San Bernardino world language and literature professor Dany Doueiri, who is a co-founder of Islamicity.org, gave an account of the diversity within his own life.
Doueiri said his ancestors include an Orthodox Jew and an Orthodox Christian.

He was delivered by a Catholic nun when he was born in Kikwit, now in Democratic Republic of Congo. Later, he married a woman of Irish-Dutch ancestry and said he has an Evangelical pastor as a brother-in-law.

"It really shows you how we are no longer the products of one religions, we are no longer the product of one ethnicity," Doueiri said.

The file also contains the timeline for the hiring process for a permanent city manager.

Billdt timeline.pdf

Seventh Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack criticized interim City Manager Mark Weinberg during budget talks Monday night for what she sees as a failure to seek additional revenue enhancements.

McCammack maintained that the city should engage in more aggressive code enforcement and inspection efforts, thereby maximizing fee and fine revenues while cleaning up the city. She singled out a proposal to impose a new $80 fine for illegal signs when the city's administrative civil penalties law carries a provision for a maximum fine of $1,000 per day for any violation of the municipal code.

"Why would you undercut yourself if you've already got the legislative power to fine more?," asked McCammack, who has taken the position that the city should pursue new revenues before considering layoffs.

Weinberg and Mayor Pat Morris issued sharp rebukes to McCammack's suggestion. Weinberg asked McCammack if being pro-business, she would really want to start handing out $1,000 fines in the middle of a recession.

Morris, a former judge, maintained that such a hefty penalty for a sign violation is disproportionate to the offense.

"You're talking about people paying a $1,000 fines for minor infractions, and no judge worth his salt is going to enforce this," he said.

The proposed $80 fine for illegal signs could raise $45,000 in Fiscal 2009-10, according to Weinberg's office.

During Monday night's budget talks, 1st Ward Councilwoman Esther Estrada said an unnamed entity has expressed interest in purchasing the Norton Recreation Center, which is near San Bernardino International Airport.

The rec center and Galaxy Grand Ballroom or slated for closure in interim City Manager Mark Weinberg's new budget cut proposal. The move would lead to a pair of layoffs and is projected to save about $40,000 between April 1 and June 30.

City Finance Director Barbara Pachon said staffers are compiling a list of real estate that could be sold, although Weinberg said it could be difficult to close land deals quickly in the current economic climate.

However, Estrada emphasized that the city may have a ready buyer and that she wants officials to move quickly to sell surplus land when possible.

Mayor Pat Morris said it may be difficult to sell the property under current federal law because the U.S. Air Force gave the facilities to San Bernardino for recreational purposes after the closure of Norton Air Force Base. Morris said he would contact Reps. Joe Baca and Jerry Lewis regarding any necessary legislative action to allow a sale.

I spoke to Mayor Pat Morris earlier today regarding upcoming leadership changes in the city, specifically San Bernardino's need for a new city manager and a successor to Police Chief Michael Billdt. Billdt has said he will retire in March.

Morris is also eligible to run for reelection this year. When I asked him if he'll go for a second term, he didn't say "yes" or "no."

"I am focused on the present," he said. "We've got a host of important issues."

Morris identified - not surprisingly - public safety and the economy as paramount issues.

I'm not reading too much into Morris' remark. It's common for politicians to downplay their future campaign plans until they arrange the requisite hoopla for an official announcement.

In addition to the mayoral election, the November ballot is also scheduled to feature contests for the 1st, 2nd and 4th City Council wards. Those seats are currently held by Esther Estrada, Dennis Baxter, and nobody. Whoever wins the Special Election in March for the right to represent the 4th Ward will have to stand for reelection pretty much immediately.

I was able to reach Baxter before Tuesday's council meeting and he said he plans to seek reelection.

Here's some additional thoughts from City Attorney James F. Penman in relation to "Turning Point," a retrospective on the Mynisha Crenshaw murder that was published in Sunday's edition of The Sun.

Penman and Mayor Pat Morris were competing against each other in the 200-06 mayoral campaign. When Mynisha, 11, was killed in a gang shooting. The crime highlighted the issue of crime in that campaign.

Here is a follow-up on Penman's thoughts concerning how the shooting affected San Bernardino politics and policy:

City Attorney James F. Penman says the Nov. 2005 murder of 11-year-old Mynisha Crenshaw highlighted San Bernardino's crime problem, but only for a while.

"It had a short-term effect. It resulted in, first of all, there was a real spotlight on policing in San Bernardino by the press," he said.

Aside from affecting the mayoral campaign between himself and eventual winner Pat Morris, Penman said the short-term impacts of the shooting were a change in leadership in the Police Department and an influx of San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers who were assigned to assist patrol efforts in San Bernardino.

"That concentration of officers drove the crime rate back down," Penman said.

But Penman - who said San Bernardino needs 100 more cops - believes that city officials are now not doing enough to fight crime. He is concerned that City Hall has not been aggressive enough to eliminate illegal parolee housing.

Although the Measure Z sales tax has given city officials a tool to promise 40 new police officers over the 2006 force strength by June 30, 2009, Penman is not satisfied. He points to a recent ranking of San Bernardino as the 36th most dangerous city in the U.S. - actually an improvement over 2005, when the city was in 18th place - as evidence that San Bernardino has not done enough to improve safety.

"It's great to laud and say the chief is trying and really working hard, I think he is. We have some of the best police officers in the country, there are just not enough of them," Penman said.

Sunday's edition of The Sun featured an extensive retrospective of the events that followed the Nov. 2005 shooting death of 11-year-old Mynisha Crenshaw. This posting is a reprint of the small companion piece that focused on Mayor Pat Morris' thoughts on how the shooting affected San Bernardino.

Here is Morris' perspective:

A subsequent blog-only posting will provide a similar treatment to City Attorney James F. Penman's views. Penman was Morris' opponent in the 2005-06 mayoral campaign.

Mayor Pat Morris was still a candidate and a Superior Court judge when Mynisha Crenshaw was slain.

"That tragedy really did document or highlight the tragedy of juvenile violence in our city," Morris said.

"She was the epitome of innocence," he went on. "She wasn't a gang member. She wasn't involved in any of the gang sets in our city."

The child's death led to Morris and his opponent, City Attorney James F. Penman, to focus on crime during the last months of the 2005-06 mayoral campaign.

Crime remains a central issue in San Bernardino politics.

Voices like Morris' contend that a reinforced Police Department assigned to patrolling streets and solving crimes also needs a robust offering of youth services that can help steer young people away from drugs and gangs before they wind up as a suspect or a victim.

Penman and others reply that although social services may reap long-term benefits, San Bernardino still faces an immediate need to invest more resources into fighting crime.

Policy debates aside, Morris said San Bernardino still has a lot of work to do before the city can escape its reputation as a place of violence.

"We still have a long ways to go before we can brag about the day when we have no children gunned down," the mayor said.

Here's the link.

Mayor Pat Morris' remarks include his request that residents help the needy this year.

"In this holiday season, give generously to our local charities that serve the stranger in need. Hope is our never-ending song that emanates from our faith."

From Mayor Pat Morris' office:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS PROVIDES HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR SAN BERNARDINO YOUTH

-- Tribe to donate sports equipment for distribution to city youth through Operation Phoenix --

DECEMBER 16, 2008

SAN BERNARDINO, CA - On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 7:30 a.m., San Bernardino Mayor Patrick J. Morris and representatives from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians will shop for sports equipment at the Big 5 Sporting Goods store at 245 North E. Street in San Bernardino. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has offered to donate sports equipment to 150 needy youth in San Bernardino this holiday season. The sports equipment will be distributed to qualified youth at the City's community centers in the Operation Phoenix areas.

"I continue to be impressed with the generosity of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the multitude of ways they give back to our community," said Mayor Pat Morris. "Through the Children's Fund and Operation Phoenix Foundation, we are again providing holiday gifts to families in need and youth in our city. During this process, we found there were very few gifts appropriate for our older youth. We are grateful that the Tribe agreed to step-in at the last moment and help us fill that void through the donation of sports equipment, which is a wonderful gift that encourages healthy activity and lifestyles for our youth."

"The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is happy once again to team up with Mayor Morris to make the Holidays just a kittle brighter for some of the children in the city of San Bernardino," said James Ramos, San Manuel tribal chairman. "We wish all the children and families our sincere best for the Holiday Season and a joyous New Year!"

Here's a followup to our story on former Operation Phoenix director Glenn Baude's decision to retire. This is an extended version of the article that will appear in The Sun.

Baude was under a gag order for much of the time that Phoenix-related developments and controversies dominated the news during the summer. He's now able to speak his mind.

Note: Comments from Councilman Tobin Brinker and Rikke Van Johnson were added on Monday, Dec. 1.

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- Glenn Baude, the former leader of the city's Operation Phoenix program, says he's never been told whether any specific error on his part killed his career with the
city.

"I'm still wondering what I did wrong," Baude said Wednesday.

Baude has been cleared of wrongdoing by a pair of official investigations, but has nonetheless chosen to retire after spending about three months on administrative leave.

Now free to discuss Operation Phoenix-related matters that he was previously forbidden to talk about, Baude acknowledged that he and others made some mistakes in the difficult days after youth center manager Mike Miller was arrested on suspicion of child molestation.

But he also maintained that Operation Phoenix remains a worthy program to reduce crime and improve the lives of San Bernardino youth.

And he's worried that this summer's controversies have dealt too grievous a blow to the anti-crime initiative.

"You've destroyed a program that was the best program we've ever had in my tenure," he said.

Baude also served as the city's Code Enforcement director until being placed on paid leave in late July. He was Mayor Pat Morris' Operation Phoenix point man for about two years before the allegations against Miller inflamed city politics.

Mayor Pat Morris is scheduled to speak at Thursday's meeting of the Del Rosa Neighborhood Action Group, also known as Dr. Nag.

The meeting is scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Native Sons of the Golden West Building at 2701 Del Rosa Avenue.

I had a chance to speak with Mayor Pat Morris briefly during a break in Monday's City Council meeting.

He said that during his travels to Mexico last week, he met with economic advisers to Mexican President Felipe Calderon while on a mission with other local officials to find business opportunities between San Bernardino and Mexico.

Monday, he and San Bernardino Economic Development Agency interim director Emil Marzullo both said that their impression of the trip was that meetings held near Mexico City gave them a chance to establish beneficial contacts.

Morris and Marzullo also said that visitors from Mexico are expected to make a trip to San Bernardino to assess potential business prospects.

"There going to send a team to check us out," Morris said.

Morris said before leaving on his trip that one of he would like Mexican airlines to establish direct flights to San Bernardino International Airport.

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- Local officials who are set to take a red-eye flight tonight Saturday to Mexico said they want to bring more than their luggage home when they return.

San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris and Emil Marzullo, interim director of the city's Economic Development Agency, both said Friday that they hope talks can set a flight path for an airline or two to make direct flights between Mexico and San Bernardino International Airport.

City Hall officials announced the journey southward will mark the first time San Bernardino sent an official trade mission to Mexico. The conference is set to meet in Teotihuacan, near Mexico City.

Marzullo said that following a ribbon-cutting at an automated tortilla factory that's planned for Sunday, he and others on the trip will participate in trade discussions for the next two days before returning on Wednesday.

He said the Mexican government's security concerns prevented him from receiving a full schedule of the conference by the time he was interviewed Friday morning.

"This is a little bit of an open book but we're going to make some introductions and let them know we exist," Marzullo said.
Besides the possibility for international flights, Marzullo said the trade mission could also find new opportunities to import and export products and commodities.

"Whether it's avocados or tequila, we're open to any opportunities that may be out there," he said.

Morris said it makes sense to pursue flights and increased trade between San Bernardino and Mexico since the Inland Empire has a large Latino population.

"That tells you that you need not just to be good neighbors, but also building bridges of opportunity," he said.

Trade mission coordinator Concepcion Powell, 5th District County Supervisor Josie Gonzales and San Bernardino International Airport Director Michael Burrows and others are set to join Morris and Marzullo on the trip, according to City Hall.

"The important thing is to begin a balanced trade so that we can begin not just exporting jobs but exporting our products," Gonzales said.

[

Seventh Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack said today that she will not seek a District Attorney's investigation into whether other city officials violated the state's open meetings law.

"I think at this point, my conclusion, based on the evidence that I'm aware of, is not something the D.A. would file on," she said, adding that at least her allegations of improper behavior served as a notice of the importance of following California's mandatory processes for handling public business.

McCammack first voiced her allegations at an Oct. 6 City Council meeting while the body considered a proposal put forth by 3rd Ward Councilman Tobin Brinker that would have allowed the council to elect one of their own to a leadership position that's currently held by the body's most-senior official. At present, 1st Ward Councilwoman Esther Estrada fills that role.

The council approved Brinker's proposal at its Oct. 20 meeting. The council is now on pace to elect one its own as Mayor Pro Tem in March. Whoever is named to that post will have authority to appoint council members to various city committees.

During that meeting, McCammack alleged that the Brown Act's requirements had been somehow skirted to generate a consensus among council members prior to public discussion. Such action would violate law that prohibits local officials from meeting secretly in a group or holding a series of private talks that would render public meetings as nothing more than a formality.

Later on, McCammack accused Brinker and Mayor Pat Morris of failing to obey the Brown Act. Brinker and the Mayor's Office responded by saying McCammack's accusations were groundless.

Shortly after McCammack first alleged a Brown Act violation, City Attorney James F. Penman counseled that City Hall would be better served by a training session on Brown Act compliance than asking for an investigation.

McCammack said today that she wants such training to be held.

Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO - Caltrans workers and local firefighters are gearing up for another bout of Santa Ana winds expected to hit the area today and last through Thursday - with gusts predicted to hit 50 mph in some areas.

Caltrans workers continue to repair freeway guardrails, replace damaged road signs and clear burned and dead vegetation along the 215 Freeway from Mill Street to Base Line, where wind-
whipped fires destroyed a house and warehouse on Oct. 13 and also damaged a self-storage facility.

Caltrans, criticized by city officials for not clearing the tinder-dry brush along the freeway much sooner, issued an emergency order the next day, Oct. 14, allowing the state transportation agency to spend up to $1million on cleanup and repairs.

Mayor Pat Morris met with Raymond Wolfe, the new Caltrans supervisor for the San Bernardino area, and city fire officials on Tuesday to discuss the cleanup efforts along the freeway.

Morris said Caltrans has deployed about 150 workers on the cleanup mission. They're clearing the burned and dead brush along the medians and shoulders of the freeway and stripping away groundcover in order to stabilize the soil to prevent runoff when winter rains hit.

Workers are also clearing dead oleanders, trees and other vegetation along the freeway north to University Parkway. If all goes according to plan, the work should be done by the end of November, Morris said.

"They'll be working straight through and on the weekends," said Caltrans spokeswoman Barbara Miller. "I know they want to get this all cleared up and taken care of as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, firefighters are on standby and have bolstered manpower and equipment.

Dire predictions of gusty winds and extended periods of relative humidity below 10percent prompted the National Weather Service to issue a red-flag warning for the mountains and valleys of Southern California. It is expected to remain in effect through 11 p.m. Friday.

Northeast winds between 20 and 30 mph are expected, and 50 mph gusts are possible through and below passes and canyons.

The U.S. Forest Service is on high alert, with 25 local engines and five engines from the Plumas National Forest on standby. In addition, it has four hotshot crews, three airtankers, three Skycrane helitankers, two helicopters and an air attack plane at the ready should there be any flare-ups.

"We take the forecasted weather very seriously and add additional resources as needed," said National Forest Fire Chief Michael Dietrich in a news release.

He encourages the public to remain cautious and report any suspicious activity to their local fire or police agencies.

SANTA ANA WARNINGS

Another bout of Santa Ana winds is expected to hit the area today - with gusts predicted to hit 50 mph in some areas. A red-flag warning for the mountains and valleys of Southern California is expected to last until 11 p.m. Friday.

I took the 215 in to work today and say that the cleanup crews that Caltrans has promised are indeed working along the freeway, clearing away vegetation in the path of last week's fire.

San Bernardino officials have criticized Caltrans for not doing more to clean up dry plants as a preventive measure before the recent fires. Mayor Pat Morris and Fire Chief Michael Conrad are scheduled to meet with local Caltrans director Raymond Wolfe today to discuss the issue.

By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- City officials say that before a recent pair of fires, Caltrans failed to respond to requests to clean up combustible landscaping along the 215 Freeway.

Palm trees and dry vegetation along the 215 corridor fueled two brush fires that swept alongside the freeway on Monday. Santa Ana winds carried blazing embers that helped the fire to spread southward from its ignition point.

The second of the two fires destroyed a house, a warehouse and caused major damage to a self-storage business.

San Bernardino Fire Chief Michael Conradsaid he attended a meeting with Caltrans officials in July 2007 to press for improved landscaping efforts along 215. But as far as he can tell, the highway agency simply allowed landscaping to dry out.

"The bottom line is, it was left to die," Conrad said.

Following the urban brush fires, Caltrans pledged to immediately go to work on fire-related maintenance.

Agency spokeswoman Barbara Miller cq said that an emergency order -- issued Tuesday night -- will allow Caltrans to spend up to $1 million on work such as fixing guardrails and clearing out burned vegetation.

"They will be going through and removing all the damaged, dry brush and trees," Miller said.
Miller also said ongoing freeway widening efforts will eventually lead much of the current landscaping on 215 being replaced by pavement.

Monday's fires burned along more than one mile of 215, from Base Line to Mill Street. Conrad said the blazes have "pretty much fireproofed that area," but he's still concerned about the dead plants that could line the freeway in a year's time.

Mayor Pat Morris said that on Tuesday, he and Conrad plan to meet with Raymond W. Wolfe, cq director of Caltrans' operations in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, to talk about the continued hazards posed by 215 landscaping.

"We need to get out there and clean it up," Morris said. "There's still a lot of fuel out there."
Morris said Wolfe is new in his post and Tuesday's meeting will be the first time the two will be able to talk about the issue.

But that doesn't mean city officials haven't made previous entreaties to Caltrans. Besides the July 2007 discussion mentioned by Conrad, mayoral chief of staff Jim Morris said city Fire Marshall Doug Dupree has written to Caltrans about the dangers of dry vegetation on 215.

Dupree was not available to comment on Friday. Miller said she could not speak to Caltrans' past interactions with San Bernardino officials concerning hazardous landscaping.

Caltrans' pledges to make improvements don't erase the frustration felt by those who feel that Caltrans has ignored San Bernardino.

Seventh Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack said there's no reason for Caltrans officials not to be aware of the hazards posed by unmaintained landscaping.

"This is not the first, second or third time there has been a fire along the freeway," she said.

Laying aside the threat of urban brush fires, there's the issue of whether Caltrans has allowed the the appearance of freeways passing through San Bernardino to deteriorate.

Bob Edwards, cq a member of the city's building and code commission, fire hazards aren't the only landscaping-related problem along 215. He also maintained that freeways are better maintained as they pass through nearby Redlands and Rancho Cucamonga.

In his view, a driver approaching San Bernardino from the Cajon Pass is greeted by a tangle of unkempt landscaping that sends the same message as a "keep out" sign.

"There's nothing that says 'Stop. Let's shop here. Let's eat here. This is a nice town,'" Edwards said.

Here's a letter from Mayor Pat Morris and Fire Chief Michael Conrad requesting a meeting with local Caltrans director Raymond W. Wolfe to discuss the need to clean up vegetation along the 215 freeway.

The dry plants helped fuel two fires that swept through the freeway corridor on Monday.

Morris said a meeting is set for Tuesday.

Letter_Dr._Raymond_W._Wolfe.pdf

Mayor Morris' office chipped in this 4-page response at about 5 p.m.

In it, he applauds the DAs work, says it confirms what he thought previously and vows to continue to tighten the bolts in his beleagured program.

He also slams the City Attorney for providing those damning emails between Hawkins, Martin-Robinson and Baude to the press ...

Click below to read Morris' response ...

patmorrispressrelease.pdf

SBNOW last night broke the news that Mayor Pat Morris has added 7th Ward challenger Jim Mulvihill to his endorsement list.

Turns out Mulvihill, pictured below, was the last to know ....

The following was submitted to this reporter via email at 3:52 p.m. in response to calls to discuss Mayor Pat Morris' daughter, Kathleen Willis, being contracted with the city for two years without the knowledge of any councilmembers, the city attorney or city manager.

Mayor Pat Morris writes: "The Inland Empire Gymnastics Academy has very small contractual relationship with the City that predates my election as Mayor. My daughter, Katie Willis, is the owner and operator of this local business. The relationship provides community children the opportunity to sign-up for gymnastics classes at the Academy through the Parks & Recreation Department. The Department has a similar relationship with a number of other recreational contractors. Over the last 2 years, the total amount of money that has come to the Inland Empire Gymnastics Academy from signups through the Department has totaled $5,247, which conservatively represents approximately 1.6% of the Academy’s total gross revenue over this same period ...

In Wednesday's newspaper, a small story will appear in the Sun about Mayor Pat Morris' daughter having a contract with the city to provide youth gymnastics training.

The story states that at the Oct. 15 City Council meeting, 7th Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack and then City Attorney James F. Penman publicly questioned the procedure by which Morris' daughter was granted a contract that has paid her $5,248 since September 2005.

We have found no overt impropriety or influence by Morris on the contract received by his 41-year-old daughter, Kathleen Willis ...

He was slow to publicly throw his weight around, lurking on the sideline for more than a month before announcing support with an invective-charged assault on "the city attorney" ....

Mayor Pat Morris and others have worked very hard to sell the idea of a major linchpin of downtown housing at the site of the current Carousel Mall ...

The only questions approaching Thursday night's Marianne Milligan fundraiser were: How strongly would Morris condemn City Attorney James F. Penman and will the mayor also announce support for James Mulvihill, 7th ward council candidate ...

Marianne Milligan will have a star-studded campaign fundraiser Sept. 13 ...

On Monday this Sun blog broke the news that Mayor Pat Morris was a lock to endorse the opponent of City Attorney James F. Penman.

Mayor Pat Morris' difficulties with his city council have been well-documented. The boiling frustration has led many to speculate about what he may do this election season, with regular combatants like City Attorney James F. Penman, 7th ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack and 5th ward Councilman Chas Kelley all facing voters.