iePolitics.com

The Sun has printed this story several times and I’m not sure why. I decided to put it back up on the blog. I wrote my comments over on the Sun’s site if you want to see them. I do think this is the right thing to do.

Lauren McSherry, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/04/2009 12:16:08 AM PST

With the outlook of a bleak budget looming, Supervisor Neil Derry is calling for San Bernardino County to reconsider and possibly put a stop to the benefits it gives to Superior Court judges.

“This has been a concern - just nothing has been done about it,” Derry said. “Now, we’ve got legal reasons for looking at it as well.”
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It’s about time!

By Lauren McSherry on December 30, 2008 4:33 PM

With the outlook of a bleak budget looming, Supervisor Neil Derry is calling for San Bernardino County to reconsider and possibly put a stop to the benefits it gives to Superior Court judges.

“This has been a concern, just nothing has been done about it,” Derry said. “Now, we’ve got legal reasons for looking at it as well.”
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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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This is my third try at this post and I haven’t liked the way any of them have turned out. I decided to keep it short and simple and let all of you debate why or why he should not be Neil Derry’s Chief of Staff.
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It was nice to see that Mark sent us all holiday greetings along with some assurances about our budgetary situation. Seriously, it is always good when he communicates with us. And to Mark’s daughter, tell your dad we wish him and your whole family a happy holiday season too.
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I finally asked someone who would know and the vote will take place on January 6, 2009. One source tells me it’s a done deal that Mitzelfelt will kick Josie to the curb and get himself elected as vice chairman; another source tells me the fight is still going on with a third supervisor possibly taking the position.
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Jessica wrote an article about rebuilding the Republican Party. Things have been a bit funky over there for a while and the site no longer works like it used to. I put a comment on this article over there, but at least I cannot read comments on my Blackberry because of the new format. So I reprinted my comment below:

It is more than just getting back to principles; it’s finding local leaders with ethics, which I’m not sure is possible. How many of the current elected leaders are not accepting questionable campaign contributions, not using illegal drugs, not abusing alcohol, not cheating on their significant others, not lying to constituents and taxpayers, not cutting unethical backroom deals for their own benefit, and/or not using taxpayer money for their own interests? It’s hard to name more than a handful that are not participating in at least one of those activities, if you can name any. Even Neil Derry, who ran on a platform of ethics reform, has a huge lie on his county website if my sources are correct. This is no honor in this party.
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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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For those that are wondering, I did get a response back from him. In reference to TAD, he indicated that Jim will be looking at the organizational structure of the county. Considering Neil has little or no experience with social services, I don’t think we can ask for more than that for now. I do believe that TAD needs to be a priority for the new Ethics Commission.
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Lauren McSherry and Andrew Edwards, Staff Writers
Posted: 12/01/2008 10:06:01 PM PST

Neil Derry was not often in the county’s political spotlight during his seven years on the San Bernardino City Council, but he stepped into a larger role by ousting longtime Supervisor Dennis Hansberger in the June 3 election.
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Tomorrow’s the big day. Neil Derry will be sworn in. Gary Ovitt will become chairman. None of my best sources will tell me if Vice Chairman is going to Brad or Josie. We’ll see if the wealthy white boys win out or not.
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I received an email from Mark Kirk this morning and he is more than willing to meet with us. I’m booked solid for the next two weeks so I’m thinking we’ll try to do something right after the first of the year.
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Things will be changing on Monday in San Bernardino County. Supervisor-elect Neil Derry will be sworn in as Third District Supervisor. Gary Ovitt will become Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. I’ve heard various rumors about who will be Vice Chairman and I don’t know what has been decided, although I’m sure by now the backroom deal has been made.
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I sent a letter to the editor on this one. Since I no longer subscribe, one of you will have to tell me if it gets printed. I don’t think Steve Williams has been allowed to print my letters every since I got into it with Don Holland. But if he does, since I mentioned Uffer and the BOS in the letter, it may make it to Countyline. If not, I’ll post it here in a few days.

November 21, 2008 - 4:44 PM
RYAN ORR Staff Writer

At a time when stores like Mervyns and Circuit City are closing hundreds of locations, and thousands of private sector jobs are being cut, government jobs and salaries are remaining safe.

San Bernardino County registered an 9 percent unemployment rate in October, the highest rate in 15 years, according to the California Employment Development Department.
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The first time I met with Mark Uffer we talked about county news coverage for just a moment. He complained that the only thing that gets press is the negative news. There are no two ways about it: scandal sells. And the county of San Bernardino has provided the press with a prolific amount of scandal consistently over a period of many years.

I’ll be the first to admit that we see very little in the media about all the good the county does. It’s usually complaints about what we don’t do, how much money we make, how big our retirements will be and how many holidays we have off. But then again we have county administrators that refer to us “turds” and worse, so I’m not sure how we can expect much respect from the public.
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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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I must have looked at the name 10 times and couldn’t figure out why I recognized it. Thanks again Lauren! This will be interesting especially if Mark Kirk wins his election.

By Lauren McSherry on November 3, 2008 2:28 PM

As my co-worker Andrew Edwards is reporting on his SBNOW blog:

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote Tuesday to approve incoming supervisor Neil Derry’s hiring of current City Council colleague Chas Kelley.

Derry, who represents San Bernardino’s 4th Ward (northeast neighborhoods) until December, is set to be sworn in as the county’s 3rd District supervisor in December.
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Both the swearing in ceremony (Item 9) and approval of Supervisor-elect Derry’s staff (Item 5) are on calendar for this Tuesday. His new staff includes:

1. Fonda Petronzio - Board of Supervisors Executive Secretary
2. Nicholas Calero - Field Representative
3. Steven Hauer - Field Representative
4. Chas Kelley - Field Representative
5. Jerry Lemke - Field Representative
6. David Prusch - Field Representative
7. Alan Rasmussen - Field Representative
8. Talli Simmons - Field Representative
9. Adolphus Okeke - Special Projects Analyst
10. Jamie Garland - Special Projects Coordinator

You can find the agenda here: Board Agenda