Recently one of my opponents posted a lengthy comment about bringing more property tax dollars back to Hesperia. Fighting for more local dollars is a constant theme that many candidates repeat in order to get elected. But what does it really mean and how can you trust a candidate to deliver on that promise?
First, the issue of more property tax dollars is a simple one that often gets confused. People who own property pay taxes each year equal to 1% of the assessed value of the property. Now, you may pay more than that based on local school bonds, water bonds, etc., but the portion we’re talking about, property tax, is fixed at 1%. More »
HESPERIA — There’s at least one issue that all the candidates running for the City Council seem to agree on — residents deserve better roads.
Candidate Dennis Arquette, a histology technician supervisor at Veterans Affairs Loma Linda Healthcare, stressed creating “roads that are drivable” should be a top priority, before the city of Hesperia can focus on better public transportation. More »
Not much to report today. I did formally decline the Skelly but also let Mark know my list of reasons why. I feel I’m justified but I’m sure there are those who don’t.
By the way, I believe I will be asking that the other Civil Service hearing be continued until next month. There is enough going on behind the scenes that leads me to believe we could have some resolution. I do not want to go the Civil Service route except as a last resort.
but I can’t stop laughing at it because it so bad. The Michael Jackson moves are priceless. I wish all praise bands would do something like this so that we could have a good laugh in church.
Mykel had it on his blog last week and I linked to his blog, but I need it over here so I can have a laugh now and then.
I was in the mood for some Elvis, some Oak Ridge Boys and some gospel so I found one video that had it all–at least one Oak Ridge Boy before he was an ORB. Richard Sturben (Elvira) was with Elvis before he joined the Boys. His voice is prominent in this song. Elvis liked for him to be nearby when performing. Anyone who has experienced an ORB concert would know why. Here it is:
This year’s race for the Hesperia City Council is not Russ Blewett’s first political campaign, not by a long shot.
Blewett, 64, grew up in Baldwin Park, and for eight years in the 1970s, he served on the city council. In 1971, he was the youngest mayor in America. More »
I just received a phone call regarding the Women’s Expo in Victorville on October 18. I was asked if I was interested in working the Hi-Desert Republican Women, federated booth to register voters. It would very cool to meet some of you, so if you’re attending the event, stop by and say hi even if you’re already registered!
Not sure why I’m bothering to give Brad any further publicity since he is one of them that apparently has told Uffer to fire me, but since I live in the First District, here is something from him anyway.
In This Issue…
October 1, 2008
Election Just One Month Away
As we enter the month of October, San Bernardino County is making preparations for the 2008 Presidential General Election on November 4. Voters will cast their ballots for not only a new president, but also for a number of state and local measures and candidates. More »
SAN BERNARDINO • Several funding options are being explored to build a Rock Springs Road bridge, bypassing the Mojave River. The bridge will help avoid closures due to flooding, which inconvenience more than 11,000 vehicles that use the road daily.
Tuesday, the project is expected to be pushed to the number one priority in the area’s transportation facilities plan. More »
Newspapers, and journalism in general, have run into some ethical challenges brought on by the Internet and blogs.
Reporters have been taught for generations to beware of hazards from anonymous sources. Use them at your peril.
But they have ways of sneaking in under the radar. The rules are less stringent on the Internet and especially blogs, a contraction of the term Web log. And when those looser Internet practices slide under the newspaper’s door, what do you do? More »
After reading the Red County article, I decided to look for a Sarah Palin video and found this one from a couple of weeks ago. There is something about Sarah that reminds me of Ronald Reagan. Here it is:
but I just feel like writing about it. This past Tuesday afternoon my cellphone rings. I answer it. The voice on the other line says, “Hi Sharon. This is Mark.” Now understand, that the night before Uffer got a nasty email from me over the proposed suspension so I wasn’t expecting to hear from him. I had already spoken to Mark Kirk for quite a while so I wasn’t expecting to hear from him either. So my response was, “which Mark.” Don’t think Uffer is used to hearing those words. So he responds, “Mark Uffer, how are you?” My response was, “I’m very pissed off at you.” Don’t think he’s used to hearing that either! But as I later told him when we met, I’m to the point of simply no longer caring about anything. More »
During my tenure in Government, fighting sex offenders has been a constant theme. The issue boiled to a head when I worked for the Runners, out in Phelan when the State tried to place several mentally handicapped sex offenders in a residential neighborhood. Having taught at Pinion Mesa Middle School, right down the street from the proposed location, I knew first hand the numbers of children who walked through that neighborhood on a daily basis. We rallied together with the residents of the community and eventually convinced the State to change their plans.
From that point on it seemed as though we had our mission. Fighting to protect our communities, and specifically our children, from sexual predators. This mission continued when I went to work for Gary Ovitt. We placed Megan’s Law information on sex offenders on the County’s website, and we started researching how we could use GPS technology to track County probationers of high concern. Shortly thereafter we created a program to place probation sex offenders on GPS tracking devices. A program completely funded by offenders, not taxpayers. More »
A few weeks ago an opportunity presented itself that resulted in me volunteering to help register voters for the upcoming election. Because of the recent accusations by the Democrats about registration fraud, I thought it’d be interesting to do this myself and write about it. I did not do it for a professional signature gatherer but rather for the Republicans, so as I said I was not paid for it. More »
When I received the “from a blogger” email last night I had to share it because of this one concept. I’m trying to get confirmation from others who might have heard Bob’s comment.
For those who don’t know, there is a gentleman by the name of ET Snell who shows up at the BOS wearing a clown costume to speak before the BOS. His appearance has upset one board member so badly that County Counsel was asked to give the BOS a decision on whether or not someone could be removed for wearing a clown getup to a BOS session. I assume there is one deputy county counsel that actually knows something about the First Amendment and decided that it is within his rights. More »
Y’all will have to read between the lines on this one.
LOL. I know, I know! I figured that it was Bob. Could’ve been Uffer at this point. LOL.
I say LOL but it really isn’t funny. At least George can see where the real personal attacks are. They want to go on and on lying about how bloggers attack people personally and what they fail to do is to actually read all of the posts and comments. LOL. But seriously, I would never blog about gossip. I even stopped using MotherUffer when I read the post about his Mother at the Bingo Parlor because I didn’t want anyone to misunderstand the pun as a criticism of his Mother. It had honestly never occurred to me that there was a real Mother Uffer.
What I am trying to say is that I am quite conscious as are others who blog of the fact that this is not personal. When Bob Blough suggested in front of others that one action (pre 1st vote) against the County that he was considering picketing Uffer’s home I realized Bob was nuts. Who does that? Who suggests such a thing? Does Uffer know that he did this? Employees were offended at the prospect. Just as we were offended when the guy dressed up like a Chicken in BOS chambers. When TAD DM’s and DD’s are embarassed you know it’s bad! You see Mark needs to understand that some of us even those with tatoos take the BOS seriously.
As recently shown, it is the Center of County Government and they have a great deal of influence when they choose to use it. The fact that they are currently an embarassment doesn’t take away the respect that should be shown for one’s bosses. I have no problem with the Clown guy because he is not speaking to his bosses or representing anyone but himself. We were also offended when Bob Blough referred to “the County” as our enemy. It’s just so ridiculous. Sorry to rant!
I just feel bad that they are attempting to attack you personally. Just know that many of us are out there spreading the TRUTH about what SBPEA has done to you and to others whom they are supposed to represent and about what TAD and now Uffer has done to you and others as well. I’ll be at the civil service commission on Wed if nothing else for moral support. He will be there to.
By the way, the article (with no help from me) made its way to the break room wall. Uffer really knows how to poke a bear! Someone should tell him about EW’s! LOL.
I have to admit that I was nervous about Gov. Sarah Palin’s performance Thursday night considering the recent polls and interviews. However, she blew me away. Her message of mavericks, reform and shaking up Washington resonates with the average American; especially in times such as these.
If you want a team of mavericks who have a history of challenging the corrupt establishment and reaching across the aisle, vote for Sen. John McCain and Palin. If you want to vote for a man whose vice president is more qualified to occupy the White House than himself, vote for Sen. Barack Obama. More »
Measure S in San Bernardino County offers voters reform lite: a few modest changes that do little to reassure voters after the abuses in the county assessor’s office. The measure merits voters’ support, but no one should mistake this timid proposal for substantial reform.
Measure S would change the county charter to create new requirements for the top staff members of county elected officials. The measure would extend the ethics training now required for the Board of Supervisors to all elected county department heads and the top staffers of all county elected officials. Supervisors’ aides would all work under contracts that require approval by four-fifths of the board, and supervisors’ staffers could also be fired by a four-fifths board vote. More »
Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane has presented another Trojan horse to the voters of San Bernardino County.
Like his ballot measure two years ago that wrapped a fat pay raise inside term-limits packaging, Measure S hides new powers for the supervisors inside ethics reform. More »
Three perjury charges must be re-filed in the illegal campaign contribution and perjury case against Inland auto dealer Mark Leggio and three codefendants, a judge ruled Friday.
San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Bryan Foster agreed with Leggio attorney Thomas J. Warwick that the counts did not sufficiently describe the alleged acts, which focus on the filing of a state campaign contribution disclosure form. More »
Someone suggested I post this link again. It is County Counsel’s opinion on what can be done about Assessor Bill Postmus. For all of those that are criticizing the BOS, you need to read this.
I didn’t see a lot that I wanted post, or should I say that needed posting more than I need sleep, so this will be almost it for tonight. The email and phone calls to my Blackberry have been non-stop. I promise to try to get back to everyone eventually.
I had a chance to speak with Supervisor Gonzales tonight and I apologized for what I wrote about her. I know she had nothing to do with the 15-day suspension. Both she and her COS told me she was very upset when she found out what happened. This is far from over and I’ll keep you all posted as I can.
Tuesday was the deadline for the Governor to either veto or sign bills into law.
Among those that he signed was “Michelle’s Law,” also known as Senate Bill 1168, a bill I authored that allows dependent college students to continue receiving health insurance for up to one year upon taking an academic leave of absence due to serious illness or injury. More »
Postmus’ leave of absence expired Oct. 1. He had taken a paid 10-week medical leave that began July 24.
Today, his spokesman, Ted Lehrer, said Postmus is consulting with his physician as to when he can resume his responsibilities as assessor. Assistant Assessor Harlow Cameron has been overseeing the office in Postmus’ absence. More »
Special Section: San Bernardino County Assessor’s Probe
When San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus resumes his duties this month after a nearly three-month medical leave, his tenure will be clouded by unanswered questions. More »
I’ve needed a break from SBPEA stuff but it’s time to start back at them. This is the conclusion I’ve come to. Let’s end Modified Agency Shop and then those who like what SBPEA is doing can belong and those that don’t will not have to pay dues. I’m thinking we will try ending Modified Agency Shop first with Administrative Services. If that works, then we will try it with the rest of the units. Let me know what you think. I will need about two dozen volunteers from the Admin Services unit to collect signatures county wide. If I don’t get the volunteers, then I’m not going through with this.
Last Sunday, I wrote a column regarding the sometimes fine line between blogging and credibility, and the newspaper’s responsibility when it comes to publishing - or not publishing - comments from the community.
Sharon Gilbert, a county employee whose own blog reportedly has resulted in her being suspended, has strong feelings on the subject:
Even as a small-time blogger I face the same dilemma. I have censored entries in the past when they would harm innocent third parties, but otherwise take the First Amendment approach. More »
