Jun

24

‘County OK’s gang prevention programs; Supervisors pass balanced budget”

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SAN BERNARDINO – Funding to expand gang intervention and prevention programs in the High Desert, along with start-up funds for a fire station to cover Interstate 40, was approved Tuesday by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. …

From the Victor Valley Daily Press, June 24, 2008…From Staff Reports… (Continued below)…

“After this month’s successful Operation Desert Heat, which led to more than 1,000 arrests in three weeks as part of a coordinated crack-down against gangs in the High Desert, it’s natural to ask ‘What’s next?’” 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said. “What’s next includes a long-term commitment to fighting gangs from all angles. In addition to making sure gang members are locked up, we must prevent youth from getting involved in gangs in the first place.”

During Tuesday’s final hearing on the County Budget, Mitzelfelt requested $200,000, with $100,000 to be split between Apple Valley’s S.H.O.C.K. program and Victorville’s U-Turn program. The rest will be divided among Adelanto, Barstow, Hesperia, Needles and Twentynine Palms. Each city may work with county departments and Mitzelfelt’s office to identify the best use for the gang-prevention funding.

“With 67 gangs and more than 2,100 gang members in the High Desert, a strong partnership between the County and the cities is essential” Mitzelfelt said in a press release. “We’ve already proven the strength of this partnership, in both our enforcement actions and prevention efforts,” Mitzelfelt said, noting that he and the Victor Valley cities contributed a combined $135,000 to help fund Operation Desert Heat.

Despite the fiscal crises affecting countless jurisdictions, the Board Monday gave final approval to a balanced $4.3 billion budget with no drastic cuts or layoffs. Mitzelfelt added that no county building projects will be delayed as a result of the economic downturn.

Link to online article:
http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/gang_7110___article.html/prevention_programs.html

Jun

23

‘Mitzelfelt elected chairman of transportation committee’

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APPLE VALLEY – First District San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt has been unanimously elected to serve as chairman of the San Bernardino Associated Governments Mountain-Desert Committee. … (Continued below)…

…From the Victor Valley Daily Press, June 21, 2008, Page B-1… (Continued below)…

…SANBAG is the council of governments and the transportation planning agency for San Bernardino County.

“I’m thankful for the trust my fellow board members have shown in selecting me as chairman of the committee,” said Mitzelfelt, who was also recently elected to a four-year term as county supervisor. “I would also like to commend outgoing chairman Rick Roelle for his leadership during his chairmanship.”

Mitzelfelt said his goal as chairman is to ensure efficient use of transportation funds while improving existing roads.

Roelle, who nominated Mitzelfelt for the chairmanship, will continue serving on the committee.

Jun

9

‘New staff added for fire season’

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‘Officials pad local stations; increase costing $100,000 pending approval by board of supervisors’

Three additional firefighters have been added to local stations to combat what officials are predicting will be a very active fire season.

The Wrightwood, Lucerne Valley and Phelan fire stations each have an extra person to better suppress both small brush fires and wildfires, said San Bernardino County Deputy Fire Chief Dan Wurl. …

From the Victor Valley Daily Press, June 9, 2008 … By Ryan Orr, Staff Writer… (Continued below) …

…Â It is the fourth year that the department has requested extra staff, which Wurl said has made a huge difference in suppressing fires.

Countywide, the department is asking for eight seasonal fire staff that will be working for up to six months.

The extra staff will cost an estimated $100,000 and is pending approval Tuesday by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. The stations that were chosen for the supplemental staff had engines with only two firefighters. “We’re looking to make an effective crew,” Wurl said. Wurl said that the extra staff not only helps fight major wildfires, but is key in quickly suppressing smaller fires that break out in each station’s coverage area.

“As long as I’m supervisor, I will make sure we get this staffing,” said San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt. “During fire season, we need extra man power.”

And Wurl is predicting a busy fire season.

“It’s hard to predict anything less than that,” Wurl said. “The Southland had a decent amount of rain, but we’re entering into our dry spell and we’re going to have another active fire season.”

Ryan Orr may be reached at 951-6277 or rorr@vvdailypress.com.

Jun

8

‘Hospital honors Rajasekhar, Mitzelfelt’

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VICTORVILLE – During a festive gala Saturday night, the Victor Valley Community Hospital Foundation honored Dr. Damodara Rajasekhar and 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt for their work in strengthening local health care. … (Continued below)…

…From the Press-Dispatch, Sunday, June 8, 2008… From Staff Reports…

…Rajasekhar, chairman of the hospital’s neonatalogy department, was recognized for his compassionate patient care.
“If you had Dr. Rajasekhar involved with the health of your child, that is the world to you,” said Lovella Sullivan, Victor Valley Community Hospital’s community relations officer. “I know it would be to me.”

First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt was recognized for his contributions to local health care.

“He has done some fabulous things for health care in our area and our hospital that serves our community,” Sullivan said.
Themed “Arabian Nights,” the fundraiser gala was expected to exceed last year’s $237,000 goal.

The proceeds will go toward the hospital’s Neo-Natal Intensive Unit Expansion Campaign as well as Community Wellness programs. The NICU Expansion Campaign goal is $1 million, which will upgrade and expand the current two-bed capacity to a state-of-the art six-bed unit.

Since its formation in 2001, the Victor Valley Community Hospital Foundation has provided funds for the hospital’s Women’s Health Center & Outpatient Imaging Services offering low-cost and no-cost mammogram programs, Labor & Delivery Room renovations, and the annual Kids Care Fair in July.

Link to online article: http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/honors_6825___article.html/hospital_mitzelfelt.html

Jun

6

‘Mitzelfelt wins, avoids run-off’

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First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt can drop “appointed” from his title as he won his first election with 62 percent of the vote, avoiding a November run-off with Hesperia City Councilwoman Rita Vogler. “I’m very glad to win without a run-off because I really feel that it will give me more of an opportunity preparing for the next four years and continuing the work that we’ve started without having to worry about more campaigning,” Mitzelfelt said. “It’s a great feeling to have that behind me going into my own term of office.” … (Continued below)…

…From the Victor Valley Daily Press, June 4, 2008… By Ryan Orr, Staff Writer… (Continued below)…

…Mitzelfelt said he was always confident that he could win in June, but wasn’t sure that he would avoid a run-off with Vogler, who finished with 21 percent of the vote overall.

“I’m greatly honored that the voters have faith in me and I’m looking forward to serving a full term,” Mitzelfelt added.

He said that he stuck to three main points: public safety, transportation and economic development.

“I feel we’re on the precipice of making major strides in all of those areas,” Mitzelfelt said. “These are concrete things that we have solid plans to address.”

Hesperia City Councilwoman Rita Vogler – who intentionally declined any campaign contributions – said she was proud of the campaign she ran.

“I’m very fortunate that I was able to participate. I feel that voters obviously had choices,” Vogler said.

As far as spending goes, Vogler said she would not dishonor the voters by saying that “money talks” but did say that she may have misjudged how many volunteers she needed.

“I had a lot but probably needed a lot more,” Vogler said.

Hesperia Resident Bob Nelson came in third with 10 percent of the vote, despite spending under $1,000 on his campaign.

It was Nelson’s third bid for supervisor, but said at 71 years old, he’s unsure if he will take another run at it in four years.

Nelson was hoping to get the extra 3,457 votes to force a run-off between Candidate Rita Vogler and Mitzelfelt, but said that the Registrar of Voter Office claiming that he owned property worth more than $1 million cast a negative light on him as a candidate. He said he doesn’t own any property.

“I’m quite pleased that 2,800 people thought enough of me to vote for me,” Nelson said.

Mitzelfelt needed a simple majority to avoid a possible run-off with the next highest vote getter.

Bob Conaway, who finished last with 7.5 percent of the vote, did not return a call for comment.

Ryan Orr may be reached at 951-6277 or rorr@vvdailypress.com.

Jun

5

Re-Election Message: ‘Thank You!’

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Thanks to the help of so many friends and supporters, the Brad Mitzelfelt campaign on June 3rd won election for four more years representing the First District of San Bernardino County. Garnering more than 62.5% of the vote, we comfortably exceeded the required plurality of votes — despite the fact that we faced three opponents — to avoid a November runoff. This will allow us to redouble our efforts right now, continuing the public safety, transportation and economic development projects we’ve started in order to make the High Desert a better place to live, work and play. Thanks again to all who helped!

Jun

1

Operation Desert Heat ‘Surges’ Against Gangs

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By Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt and Sheriff Gary Penrod, Special to the Press Dispatch… Gangs are the worst crime threat facing the Victor Valley and San Bernardino County. These networks of criminals carry out thousands of violent crimes in our county, terrorizing residents and burdening our law and justice system.

Criminal gang activity poses an ever increasing threat to our county’s citizens. About 15,000 gang members and more than 700 gangs have been documented in our County. At least 1,000 of those gang members and close to 100 of those gangs are here in the Victor Valley. We know there are many more gang members out there – these are just the ones that have been documented. And these gangs continue to grow with new recruits and transplants from bigger cities. …

From the Press-Dispatch, June 1, 2008… Valley Voices — ‘Turning Up the Heat’… (continued below)…

…Gangs are a major problem in communities across the nation, where they have traditionally been found in larger cities. But today, gangs have infiltrated our rural areas as well. Our response to gangs can set the stage for how quickly gangs will grow or how quickly they will become a thing of the past.

We’ve seen the unfortunate results in other communities, such as the Antelope Valley, that used to be rural but now have a reputation for gang infestation. We cannot allow that to happen in the Victor Valley.

There are things we can do to defeat gangs before they become a problem. We’ve declared a War on Gangs and we’ve already taken several steps to attack the problem. We created a gang task force with officers who focus on gang enforcement. We created a unit in the District Attorney’s office to seek civil court injunctions against gangs. We began using GPS technology to track gang members on probation. We created a program to eradicate gang graffiti. And we’ve funded youth programs in an effort to direct youth toward positive activities and cut off the supply of new recruits for gangs.

But this is a war. When you’re fighting a war and the bad guys increase in number – the good guys need to call in more troops. We’ve seen the success General Petraeus has had with his troop surge in Iraq – as more troops hit the streets, violence has been slashed.

It’s time for a troop surge of our own – and it’s called Operation Desert Heat. The enforcement action, which began this weekend, will be an extended operation against Victor Valley gangs that will include a major surge in the number of law enforcement officers on the street.

We’re turning up the heat on gang members. Through Operation Desert Heat, $135,000 is being allocated to saturate the Victor Valley with law enforcement officers, adding dozens of sheriff’s deputies to the streets – and they’ll be supplemented by officers from other agencies as well, including the Probation Department, Parole, the Highway Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Gangs use tools such as fear and intimidation to gain strength in communities. Operation Desert Heat is going to result in gang members finding out what it’s like to feel fear and intimidation.

To prevail in the War on Gangs, we have to be stronger, smarter and tougher. Operation Desert Heat will send a strong message to gang members – gangs will not be tolerated in our community.

The Victor Valley is our home and we’re not going to let gang members take it away from us. Our message to gang members is clear – reform, get out of our county or you will go to jail. We can stop gangs from becoming a major problem in our community, and in the process, we’ll make San Bernardino County a safer place to live.

(Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt represents San Bernardino County’s 1st District, which includes the Victor Valley. Gary Penrod is the sheriff of San Bernardino County.)