iePolitics.com

By Lauren McSherry, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/25/2008 07:11:11 AM PST

After convincing the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to rescind nearly $3 million in projects, Supervisor Neil Derry says he is gradually reinstituting the money for a number of initiatives to aid communities in the San Bernardino Mountains.

So far, the board has returned funding for two projects. The $15,000 previously set aside for the film camp program hosted by the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival was re-allocated, as was $1.2 million to erase the debt of Arrowhead Manor Water Co.
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Lauren McSherry, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/09/2008 09:56:09 PM PST

After a mere seven days in office, Neil Derry boldly beseeched his colleagues Tuesday morning to rescind millions of dollars in projects initiated during his predecessor’s last days in office.

The problem? All the documents pertaining to those projects have gone missing.
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Lauren McSherry, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/10/2008 09:02:25 PM PST

Former Supervisor Dennis Hansberger said Wednesday that he disposed of records in his office before his term expired Nov. 30.

“We cleaned out the documents appropriately,” Hansberger said. “Every day people dispose of documents. I don’t keep documents in my office which are departmental in nature, and 99 percent of what we do is departmental in nature.”
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11:16 PM PST on Sunday, November 16, 2008

By ZEKE MINAYA
The Press-Enterprise

At meetings of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, Dennis Hansberger often seems more of a professor. His comments may include mentions of regional history and detailed policy analysis.

“To the irritation of many,” Hansberger, 67, said jokingly.

No one, however, survives for 20 years in the rough and tumble world of San Bernardino County politics on the charms of collegial airs. Hansberger, who leaves the 3rd District seat at the end of November, has not been afraid of a fight, even on occasions when he has found himself without allies.

“I don’t think of myself as much as being a fighter as being maybe stubborn about my principles,” Hansberger said. “Right or wrong.”

Hansberger lost a bitterly contested election this past spring to San Bernardino Councilman Neil Derry. With uncertain plans on what to do next, the thrice married supervisor regrets the toll the job took on his family but is proud of the way he went about his duties: true to his beliefs, he said.

He laments what he described as the increasing partisanship of local government, where the priority for elected officials has shifted from sound public policy to personal gain and ambition.
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Greg Vojtko / The Press-Enterprise
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Lauren McSherry, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 11/10/2008 10:04:28 PM PST

Incoming Supervisor Neil Derry has boosted his district’s staffing, nearly tripling the number of field representatives assigned to work with communities in the San Bernardino Valley, mountains and High Desert.

“The 3rd District has been underserved and underrepresented,” Derry said. “I plan on changing that.”

Derry, who was elected in June and is now on the San Bernardino City Council, will take office Dec. 1, as will his staff.

He replaces Dennis Hansberger, who spent 20 years on the Board of Supervisors.
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