Uffer Era Ends on a 3-2 Vote

Mark H. Uffer’s five-year tenure as the county’s top administrative officer drew to a close this week with a 3-2 vote of the board of supervisors.
The sacking of Uffer, who was named interim county administrative officer in March 2004 and then given the official title as CAO in September 2004, [...]

The California Fair Political Practices Commission Opens Probe of DA Mike Ramos

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has opened an investigation into San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos relating to his failure to properly report income provided to his wife, the Sentinel has learned.
The matter under investigation, according to sources who were instrumental in bringing the relevant information to [...]

County Extends Contract with Corruption Figure’s Firm

The county has extended by one year the contract it has with its Sacramento lobbyist, Platinum Advisors, despite a scandal involving the company and its simultaneous representation of the county and a company from whom the county purchased the Adelanto jail for $31.2 million in 2005.
After whispers of the double [...]

Former Corrupt San Bernardino County DA says he may run against Ramos

Former San Bernardino County District Attorney Dennis Stout announced Wednesday that he is considering running for his old job in 2010 — challenging District Attorney Mike Ramos, who defeated him in 2002.
Stout, who served as the county’s top prosecutor for eight years, said he believes political corruption is worse than [...]

State to join San Bernardino County corruption probe

The state attorney general’s office will join an expanding probe of political corruption in San Bernardino County centered largely on the past activities of the assessor’s office, officials said Monday.
So far the investigation has led to the arrest of former Assessor Bill Postmus and four former employees in his office.
Allegations [...]

Postmus files claim against county

SAN BERNARDINO – Former Assessor Bill Postmus filed a claim against San Bernardino County on Wednesday, alleging, among other things, civil rights violations, breach of contract and malicious prosecution related to criminal and civil cases pending against him.Postmus, 38, who resigned from his elected office on Feb. 13 amid [...]

Ramos Accused

SAN BERNARDINO – A District Attorney’s Office employee who claims she had a 17-month affair with District Attorney Michael A. Ramos said Thursday that she has lodged a sexual harassment complaint against him with the county’s human resources department.
The complaint comes in the wake of a call by San Bernardino County [...]

Truth & consequences

Investigators bold enough to take on corruption in San Bernardino County have themselves seldom escaped controversy.Some have been criticized by the same leaders who hired them. For others, the stakes have been even higher.
Former District Attorney Dennis Stout, 61, says his political career was upended in large part because he lost [...]

Web of corruption

The county’s most extensively documented scandal, and the one that many consider to be one of the most egregious abuses of power in the county’s history, began in the 1990s and became public in 1998, when County Administrative Officer James Hlawek resigned and the Board of Supervisors announced the FBI [...]

County supervisor says rumors about DA should be investigated

PDF: Read San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry’s statement
Special Section: San Bernardino Co. Probe
San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry on Thursday called for an independent investigation of allegations that District Attorney Mike Ramos has engaged in improper behavior.
Derry said he is troubled by rumors that have been swirling in [...]

San Bernardino supervisors are skeptical of Grand Jury reform recommendations

Members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors weighed in Thursday on the Grand Jury’s recommendations for limits on campaign contributions and establishment of an ethics commission to help thwart corruption and the perception of it.
The Grand Jury’s 2008-2009 report released Wednesday included for the first time a special [...]

D.A. investigators pay visit to County Government Center

Investigators from the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office paid a visit Wednesday to the fifth floor of the San Bernardino County Government Center on Arrowhead Avenue, said Lynne Fischer, a county spokeswoman.
Investigators have launched “multiple investigations” on current and former county officials based on various tips they received in the [...]

Handheld stealth

New technology should not be a tool for subverting citizens’ power to monitor government actions. San Bernardino County’s example shows the need for cities and counties to ensure that all communications about official business are open to public scrutiny.
County special counsel John Hueston raised the issue in his investigation of [...]

Erwin wants lawsuit moved out of county

SAN BERNARDINO – An embattled Jim Erwin wants a lawsuit against him, filed two years ago by the union for the county’s public attorneys, moved out of San Bernardino County because he believes he cannot get a fair trial.A lawyer for Erwin filed the motion for a change of venue within [...]

San Bernardino County Scandal Spills Into Riverside County

The San Bernardino County’s District Attorney’s investigation into public corruption has led to three resignations and arrests.
Republican party political operative Adam Aleman was the first to be arrested following his resignation as an Assistant Assessor to then San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus.
After Aleman’s arrest and his cooperation with investigators, [...]

Former San Bernardino County assistant assessor, Jim Erwin, is arrested

A widening criminal probe of the San Bernardino County assessor’s office led to the arrest Thursday of James Erwin, chief of staff for county Supervisor Neil Derry and a former assistant assessor, on 10 felony counts including “failure to disclose receipt of prostitution and masseuse services.”Investigators from the district attorney’s [...]

Spokesman for recall drive against S.B. County assessor Bill Postmus arrested on child porn charges

The spokesman for a recall drive against San Bernardino County’s former assessor has been charged with possession of child pornography, San Bernardino County Superior Court records show.
See his case report on the child porn charge
See his case report on spousal abuse and witness tampering charges
See his case report on [...]

San Bernardino County Official Discloses Gifts Amid Corruption Probe

Jim Erwin, Chief of Staff for San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry now says that he received a $13,000 Rolex and a trip to New York City as compensation for consulting work he performed over a six-month period for Colonies Partners, a developer at one time engaged in a protracted and [...]

Sealing of Postmus warrant questioned

SAN BERNARDINO – A judge may have violated the First Amendment when he sealed a search warrant involving the San Bernardino County assessor without any explanation, an attorney for a free-speech advocacy group said Monday.
“You need to provide a reason,” said Rachel Matteo-Boehm, an attorney for the California [...]

San Bernardino County Assessor Postmus arrested

Detectives investigating San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus fanned out across Southern California on Thursday morning seeking evidence of political malfeasance but stumbled across something else – his stash of methamphetamine, authorities said.
One of the county’s top political players was promptly arrested at his Rancho Cucamonga town house. But the political [...]

Scientists Back Brain Drugs For Healthy People

NEW YORK — Healthy people should have the right to boost their brains with pills, like those prescribed for hyperactive kids or memory-impaired older folks, several scientists contend in a provocative commentary.
See:
Welcome back, Bill Postmus
Cranking Out the A’s
The U.S. Military Needs Its Speed

Former assistant assessor to appear in court again Wednesday

Former Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman is scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a status hearing in his alleged political corruption case.
The 25-year-old Aleman and his lawyer, Grover Porter, are scheduled to appear in San Bernardino Superior Court.