R.I.P. Doris Davies … (Copyright 2009 – Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, 12127 Mall Blvd., Suite A, Victorville, CA 92392 – www.joinbrad.com) … IN THE NEWS: … ‘Local governments among few winners in final budget deal’ … ‘Mitzelfelt asks workers for help cutting costs’ … ‘County deplores state plan for seizing local funds’ … ‘County OKs second phase of Barstow sheriff’s station remodel’ … Mitzelfelt Joins Lineup of Red Cross Economic Summit.

Doris Davies, who the Daily Press called “the Victor Valley’s spunky philanthropist and volunteer who championed youth throughout her life,” passed away Wednesday. It was an honor to know Doris for many years, including serving with her as a fellow member of the San Bernardino County Fair Board of Directors. I will always appreciate the example of selfless service she embodied and the personal advice and counsel she gave me before and during my time as an elected official. A celebration of Doris’ life will be hosted by the San Bernardino County Fair at the Victorville Fairgrounds Thursday at 6 p.m.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING, Tuesday, 10 a.m., San Bernardino. AGENDA ITEMS OF INTEREST (Full agenda available at: http://www.sbcounty.gov/sbco/cob/): All Special Districts adopting identity theft programs. Airports – RFP to repave Baker Airport runway. Public Works – El Mirage Road, repaving and eliminating undulations to improve sight distance and safety.

First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt walked onto the Apple Valley Maintenance Yard on Wednesday looking for answers. … (Continued below) …

…From the Daily Press, July 23, 2009 … By James Quigg, Staff Writer … (continued below) …

… As the county prepares for the state to seize local gastax revenue, San Bernardino County officials are looking for ways to fill a $47 million pothole in the county’s road-maintenance budget.

Apple Valley Maintenance Yard workers have been the source of several proposed cost-saving measures.

“This is the first time a supervisor has come to our yard,” said Joseph Bontpels, maintenance and construction supervisor. “It makes it personal for us.”

A likely option proposed by Apple Valley yard workers is switching to four 10-hour work days, cutting overtime over the course of a year.

“We’re looking for new ways to cut costs, to limit the damage,” Mitzelfelt said.

Another proposal is using different materials on the road, such as recycled and other materials that could reduce the need for regular maintenance.

“Every cost-saving idea is on the table,” said Mary O’ Toole, deputy chief of staff for Mitzelfelt. “We’re looking for ways to do more with less.”

BARSTOW – The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted to move forward with the remodeling of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department station in Barstow Tuesday. … (Continued below) …

…From the Desert Dispatch, July 22, 2009 … By David Heldreth, Staff Writer … (continued below) …

… The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to advertise for bids and approved plans for the second phase of a remodeling project at the Barstow sheriff’s station. The San Bernardino County Architecture and Engineering Department will begin advertising for bids by the end of the week, and will begin accepting bids at 2 p.m. August 25, according to project manager Ken Hylin.

A San Bernardino County grand jury report that was released July 1 recommended several repairs to the facility, including fixing roof and wiring problems and increasing the amount of locker rooms and bathrooms available to women.

Hylin said the remodeling of the station would address the conditions stated in the report, and would also take Americans with Disabilities Act requirements into consideration.

The total remodel is expected to cost more than $3.3 million and the second phase of the project will cost an estimated $1.4 million to complete. The second phase will include an approxminately 4,000-square-foot addition that will be built west of the current station. Lt. Don Riser said the additition will include an evidence room, break room, report room and locker rooms.

The existing buildings of the station will also get a facelift during the project, according to Hylin.

David Zook, First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt’s chief of staff, said that the Barstow station is overdue for a renovation.

“Mitzelfelt understands the importance of providing the deputies and other staff at the Barstow station with the best possible facilities to work at,” Zook said. “Honestly, the station is over 40 years old and it hasn’t been expanded.”

The first phase of the project, which included a parking lot expansion, is expected to be completed around the end of July, according to Hylin. Hylin said the next step in the renovation process will be a walk-through with potential contractors on August 3.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4126 or dheldreth@desertdispatch.com

Link to Article:
http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/barstow-6543-second-sheriff.html

Brad’s latest commentary, “Budget Alert to Read If You Live in a City or a County,” is a wakeup call to cities and counties who will, if some in Sacramento get their way, lose the local gas tax dollars they use for road maintenance. Read it here. (Copyright 2009 – Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, 12127 Mall Blvd., Suite A, Victorville, CA 92392 – www.joinbrad.com) … IN THE NEWS: ‘County supervisor blasts state proposal to seize local road funds’ … ‘$3.4 million in stimulus funds to VVTA’ … ‘Dennis Draeger appointed as new assessor’ …

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING, Tuesday, 10 a.m., San Bernardino. AGENDA ITEMS OF INTEREST (Full agenda available at: http://www.sbcounty.gov/sbco/cob/): Item 8 – Resolution to increase maximum limit of County Service Area Revolving Loan Program by $1,000,000, from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 (Four votes required). 15) Approve plans and specifications, and authorize the Director of the Architecture and Engineering Department to advertise for competitive bids for the Barstow Sheriff’s Station Renovation Project. 20) Request for Proposals for the Design of a Landfill Gas Extraction System at the Barstow Sanitary Landfill. 22) Agreement with the Southern California Gas Company that authorizes the County to construct improvements along El Mirage Road, located in the Adelanto area, within an easement owned by The Gas Company. 30) Purchase and Sale Agreement and Escrow Instructions between the County and Victor Valley Union High School District to sell an 8,440 square foot building consisting of offices and classrooms located on approximately 0.60 acres of land (APN 0395-122-12) in Victorville for the Community Development and Housing Department. 33) Request for Proposals (RFP) for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program. 34) Agreement with the Inland Empire Economic Recovery Corporation (IEERC) for participation in the County’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resale (ARR) program (NSP-4). 37) Amendment No. 1 to contracts with the following agencies to provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/First Aid Training Services, extending the term an additional 12 months through July 31, 2010, and increasing the total dollar amount by $150,000, from an amount not to exceed $150,000 to $300,000. 1. American Red Cross High Desert Chapter, 08-798 A-1; 2. American Red Cross Inland Empire Chapter, 08-799 A-1; 3. Learn CPR 4 Life, Inc., 08-800 A-1; 4. LifeTech, Inc., 08-801 A-1. 45) Approve grant application to the State Insurance commissioner in the amount of $847,635 to fund the San Bernardino County program for investigation and prosecution of automobile insurance fraud cases
for Fiscal Year 2008-09. 73) Amendment No. 1 to Agreement 08-687 with the City of Victorville/Victorville Fire Protection District (City) for the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District (County Fire) to provide an increased level of fire protection services to the City of
Victorville, in return for an annual base increase of $1,825,370 in
contract revenue to County Fire, thus increasing the annual base
contract amount from $11,844,299 to $13,669,669, commencing on August 1, 2009.

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The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors today appointed Dennis Draeger to the position of county assessor, five months after Bill Postmus resigned his elected position amid allegations of drug abuse and corruption in the office. … (Continued below) …

From The Sun, July 14, 2009 … By Joe Nelson … (continued below) …

… Draeger, a 34-year county employee who has served as interim Assessor since Postmus’s resignation in February, will complete Postmus’s term, which ends in December 2010. He said he will run in the June 2010 primary election. …(Continued below)…

“I look forward to the challenge. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Draeger, 59, of Yucaipa.

Supervisors Paul Biane and Brad Mitzelfelt said they favored an open recruitment process, but ultimately went along with supervisors Gary Ovitt, Neil Derry and Josie Gonzales and voted in favor of appointing Draeger.

“I’m supportive of Dennis Draeger for the position. I think he’s the right man for the job,” said Ovitt, the board chairman.

On Feb. 13, Assessor Bill Postmus resigned from his elected position amid allegations of drug abuse, political corruption and the commencement of a county-commissioned investigation into the alleged corruption by John C. Hueston, a former federal prosecutor best known for his successful prosecution of Enron’s Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.

Draeger was appointed interim Assessor and served in that capacity until the board made it permanent today.

In March, a bevy of Assessor’s Office employees submitted a petition to the Board of Supervisors with more than 100 signatures in support of Draeger’s appointment. Chief Appraiser Dan Harp was among them, and appeared before the board again today to “reiterate his desire” to have Draeger appointed Assessor.

Harp said Draeger has shown exceptional leadership in the office in the last few months – months that have truly tested Draeger’s fortitude. Extensive publicity surrounding the ongoing Assessor’s Office scandal, Hueston’s investigation, budget cuts and layoffs have all proven extremely difficult for the office and its employees, he said.

Since July 1, Draeger has lost more than 26 percent of his staff due to budget cuts and layoffs. Staff dwindled from 232 to 170, he said.

Dealing with fluctuating property values in a time of economic crisis is the biggest challenge facing the office right now, Draeger said.

In the last year, the Assessor’s Office has lowered the values of 185,000 of about 225,000 single family residential properties that were reviewed by office staff, Draeger said.

The recent layoffs and department cuts have imposed more work upon existing staff.

“It just means there’s more work for the staff that’s left,” said Draeger.
Some measures to help ease the workload have been implemented, including an automated mass appraisal program that improved efficiency by about 45 percent, Draeger said. “It’s the only way we can even come close to managing this workload,” he said.

Draeger began his career at the Assessor’s Office in 1975, working his way up the ranks to chief appraiser before leaving the office in November 1998 to work in the Treasurer/Tax Collector’s Office as assistant tax collector.

In November 2008, Draeger landed a promotion and wound up back in the Assessor’s Office as assistant assessor, succeeding Harlow Cameron, who retired.

When Draeger was appointed interim Assessor in February, he had his work cut out for him.

But Draeger was no stranger to scandal. When he went to work in the Treasurer/Tax Collector’s Office in November 1998, it was right when allegations were surfacing against former County Administrative Officer James Hlawek, who was involved in an elaborate bribery and kickback scheme with a trash hauler and a billboard company that tainted county contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The experience, Draeger said, helped him develop the skills necessary in dealing with problems of such magnitude.

“You don’t want to put it on the resume, but that did help me, no doubt about it,” Draeger said. “What makes it bearable is the caliber of the employees in this office.”

Link to the article:
http://www.sbsun.com/breakingnews/ci_12835141

Brad’s latest commentary, “Locals ‘Mount Up’ for Economic Recovery,” details how San Bernardino County and some cities therein are planning and adopting policies to jumpstart their local economies. Read it here. (Copyright 2009 – Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, 12127 Mall Blvd., Suite A, Victorville, CA 92392 – www.joinbrad.com) … IN THE NEWS: Locals ‘Mount Up’ for Economic Recovery (from Brad’s Blog) … ‘Mitzelfelt appoints Barstow mayor to county homeless council’ … ‘Mitzelfelt recognized for video screening program’ … Screening for criminal illegals goes hi-tech … Phelan firefighters get $2.8 million station … ‘BLM to study solar potential on area east of Barstow’.

Latest ‘MITZELFELT MEMO’ Newsletter … Headlines: (click here or to read the July edition online, or enter URL http://www.sbcounty.gov/bosd1/newsroom/bulletins/newsletters/20090702_mitzelfeltmemo.htm)

New Fire Station Dedicated in Phelan … Mitzelfelt Presents $50,000 to Victorville Anti-Gang Program …
Mitzelfelt Secures Funding for Rural Fire Stations … County Employees Serving in Military Receive Extended Benefits … Senior Meal Programs Receive Funding … Mitzelfelt Supports Proposed Creation of Solar Energy Zones in Desert. (Click here to read the July Mitzelfelt Memo Newsletter.)

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING, Tuesday, 10 a.m., San Bernardino. AGENDA ITEMS OF INTEREST (Full agenda available at: http://www.sbcounty.gov/sbco/cob/): Board of Supervisors: Consider appointment of Dennis Draeger as Assessor, or have an open recruitment process. Community Development and Housing: Senior Home Repair restructuring – Adelanto, Barstow, Needles, 29 Palms and unincorporated areas of the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Districts. Public Works: High Road repaving (east of Apple Valley); Meridian Road repaving, Lucerne Valley; fences on Central Road, Apple Valley. Preschool Services – Application for $4.2 million in ARRA (federal stimulus) to expand Head Start by 390 kids, AV, Barstow, Hesperia, Victorville. Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 – $23 million grant application for down payment/affordability assistance and Acquisition and Rehab of properties. Aging and Adult Services: $91,000 from ARRA for Senior Employment Program and $450,000 from ARRA for Senior Nutrition Program. Special Districts: Havasu Landing – results of mail ballot for parcel tax to expand fire staffing.

Note: This article is also posted on the FlashReport.org website here. This latest as well as all of Brad’s previous FlashReport posts can be found here.

By Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, San Bernardino County

As the latest budget stalemate continues, IOUs and BBB credit ratings are popular topics of conversation in California. In fact, while waiting for a table in the bar of my favorite local restaurant Friday night, nearly everyone I talked to asked what I know about those state issues and what I think is going to happen.

I said I don’t know. But one thing I do know is that in February, all of the Democrats and a few Republicans figured higher government revenues would result from the largest state tax increase in U.S. history. And four months later, Controller John Chiang announced that tax receipts were $1 billion lower than projected. Chiang was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, “[the legislature] must craft a new budget that recognizes California’s recovery has yet to begin.”

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer announced on CNBC on July 6 that California “should be able to pay its IOUs back in October.” Note the word “should,” coming from a guy who has a fiduciary duty to instill maximum confidence in California’s creditworthiness. One bond-rating service even lowered California’s bond rating to near-junk status as a result of its inability to produce a working budget that honors its debt obligations.

And the State still seems likely to further defer, or raid or borrow billions from cities and counties.

On the federal level, the Cavalry is nowhere to be found. The economic stimulus package passed in the same month as the tax increases only provides 15% of the $787 billion toward infrastructure projects, which provide true economic stimulus. Even so, very little of the 15% earmarked for infrastructure has been distributed at the local level for infrastructure. The money that has gone out is focused on supporting unemployment benefits and social service shortfalls. Basically, the money is evaporating into nothing.

So without help forthcoming from the Cavalry at the state or federal level, it’s up to us — as my cousin the former truck driver might say — a bunch of “local yokels and county Mounties,” whose innovation is and will continue to be essential to minimize the impacts of the recession on the people of California.

Last week, the Building Industry Association of Southern California, Baldy View Chapter, hosted an economic session that was attended by city managers and local elected officials from throughout San Bernardino County. One of the panelists, Inland Empire economist John Husing, Ph.D., said that construction, and significantly residential construction and housing-related activities — being one of the largest private economic engines in the Inland Empire — will be a key industry to recover if the recession is going to end prior to the year 2013. Driving this engine during 2003 through 2005, he noted, were more than 80,000 new residents coming in annually, while this slowed to 30,000 in 2007 and 5,000 in 2008. We also have the second-worst unemployment rate, at 12.8 percent, in the nation, next to Detroit, which depresses every other economic indicator.

Husing suggested that cities and counties do what some jurisdictions have begun to do: Whatever possible to remove the glut of foreclosures caused largely by the sub prime and other mortgage fiascos while helping get stagnant projects moving in new construction. Husing estimated that in order to generate a healthy and sustainable housing sector, prices for new construction would have to get down to 2002 levels, to where 69 percent of households can afford a new home. Despite the jobs-housing imbalance in the County, Southern California has a chronic housing shortage and San Bernardino County is still the natural place to build it.

One way to help stimulate that activity is for jurisdictions to temporarily reduce, delay or eliminate development fees and other costs, such as bonding requirements, regulatory restrictions and exactions, while extending the life of approved entitlements. Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario were credited for their recent innovative and successful moves to stimulate new construction in their cities.

Husing was quick to point out that focusing on generating jobs and taxable sales by bringing in new businesses and industries and retaining the ones already here remain just as important as ever. The two strategies are not mutually exclusive. Attendee Councilman Mike Rothschild from Victorville noted his city’s two job-creating milestones just this week: The hiring of 200 employees for its new Dr. Pepper bottling plant, and the graduation of the first class of newly minted FAA-certified Airframe and Power plant mechanics from its new School of Aviation Technology at Southern California Logistics Airport.

At the County level, in addition to supporting efforts such as bringing the Dr. Pepper plant and the aviation mechanics school to Victorville, San Bernardino remains one of the few large counties that don’t charge “impact fees.” These fees, while important for building infrastructure to support new residences, businesses and industries, are also expensive and can make development less economically feasible. The Board of Supervisors is in fact delaying implementation of the fees until the economy recovers.

And then there are things the county is uniquely able to do.

The Inland Empire Economic Recovery Corporation, co-founded by Supervisor Paul Biane and myself, is a non-profit public-private partnership between the Counties of San Bernardino and Riverside and their cities, along with private investors interested in helping the housing sector recover as quickly as possible.

Inland Empire cities can use some of their housing funds, such as their Redevelopment 20% set-aside funds (NSP funds aren’t allowed), to leverage their expenditures up to five-fold with private investor dollars simply by partnering with the IEERC. They can do so up to three times a year. These funds, which are required to be spent on low- to moderate-income housing anyway, go into local rehabilitation, rehab and resale to owner-occupants within their jurisdictions, and are paid back to the jurisdiction every four months. All of the work is done by local contractors, adding to the local economic stimulus generated by the sale of foreclosed homes. For more information, visit www.ieerc.org.

In addition to the IEERC is Proposition 90, which allows counties, by ordinance, to allow residents aged 55 and over and disabled persons from other counties to purchase a home in a Prop. 90 county and still maintain their previous property tax levels, if lower.

This incentive attracts buyers of new and resale homes within the Prop. 90 counties. And while the county technically would lose that tax revenue, at the same time property values are being assessed significantly lower (over 15 percent on average in my district), it’s well worth it when one considers the whole economic picture. It is common sense to attempt to fill vacant and deteriorating foreclosed homes at whatever property tax rate the county can get. Vacant homes are known to increase crime and drive down neighboring property values.

Retiring Baby Boomers are the richest and most populous generation this country has seen. These are the same people who drove the Nation’s economy for the past thirty years, who own the retirement pensions and savings. It is difficult to argue that if people moving to a particular bring with them a life savings and retirement benefits it would not result in that area benefiting, especially if it decreases the amount of vacant, foreclosed and/or rental homes in the area.

A year ago, I proposed that the Board of Supervisors authorize Prop. 90 benefits for a trial period of a few years. And while Supervisor Gary Ovitt co-sponsored my request, I was unable to get three votes to make it law. Since that time, Supervisor Neil Derry was elected to represent the Third District. I am hopeful that in the coming weeks as I bring this issue back to the board, with continued support from Gary Ovitt and hopefully new support from Neil Derry, the outcome will be different.

These initiatives will not solve all of our economic problems or lead to recovery. But it is important for us to “mount up” and do whatever we can at the local level to help shorten the downturn.

The National Association of Counties recently recognized 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt for a program to identify illegal aliens in the San Bernardino County jails. Mitzelfelt allocated $100,000 last year to create a Remote Video Immigration Screening program, which expanded the county’s existing program from one jail to five jails using video conferencing equipment and existing staff. … (Continued below) …

…From the Daily Press, July 5, 2009 … Staff Reports … ‘Mitzelfelt recognized for video screening program’ … (continued below) …

…“Our immigration screening program has been very successful in identifying illegal immigrants in our jails and through this use of technology we’re now able to identify even more inmates for deportation,” Mitzelfelt said. “In addition, the technology saves us hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in staffing costs because we are able to use existing trained staff to screen inmates throughout the county.”

San Bernardino County experiences a significant amount of crime committed by illegal aliens, with more than 4,000 illegal aliens incarcerated in the county jail system last year.

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Headlines: September 5, 2010 Mitzelfelt MEMO: September 3, 2010 ‘Better Days Ahead’ ‘County may start Barstow-to-Victorville bus service’ Headlines: August 24, 2010 Victor Valley leaders support Prop. 23 Mother Road Needs Makeover ‘County prepares for move into Barstow Mall’ Relief on the way for Oak Hills High dust Headlines: August 2, 2010

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