2/7/2020 Health officials declare hepatitis A outbreak in San Bernardino County - Los Angeles Times
CALIFORNIA
Health officials declare hepatitis A outbreak in San Bernardino County
By JOEL RUBIN STAFF WRITER
FEB. 6, 2020 10 PM
San Bernardino County health officials Thursday declared an outbreak of hepatits A, saying dozens of people have contracted the viral disease.
Since the start of 2019, there have been 42 confirmed hepatitis A cases in the county, according to information released by the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health. By comparison, only three cases were reported in all of 2018, the health department said.
An outbreak occurs when people in an area contract a particular disease at a rate that is “in excess of normal expectancy,” according to the World Health Organization.
Officials said clusters of the recent hepatitis cases were confirmed in the cities of Redlands and San Bernardino. People contracting the disease were predominantly in high-risk populations, such as https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-06/health-officials-declare-hepatitis-a-outbreak-in-san-bernardino-county 1/7 2/7/2020 Health officials declare hepatitis A outbreak in San Bernardino County - Los Angeles Times drug users and people who are homeless, the county statement said.
The outbreak in San Bernardino is the latest to hit the state and comes amid a national rise in the disease. In 2017, hundreds of people in San Diego County were diagnosed, including 17 who died. From there, the disease spread to Santa Cruz and Los Angeles counties, which both declared outbreaks. At the time, health officials warned it could take months or years before the spread of the disease stopped.
Nationally, the number of cases reported each year is down significantly from 2001, when about 11,000 people contracted the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After years of steady declines, however, the disease began a comeback beginning in 2014, statistics show.
Hepatitis A is commonly transmitted through contaminated food. California’s outbreaks, however, have spread from person to person, mostly among the homeless community.
The virus is transmitted from feces to mouth, so unsanitary conditions make it more likely to spread. The city of San Diego installed dozens of handwashing stations and begun cleaning streets with bleach-spiked water in recent weeks.
“The most effective way to prevent hepatitis A is to receive the vaccine,” said Dr. Erin Gustafson, San Bernardino County Assistant Health Officer. “It is also very important to wash your hands with soap and water regularly to protect yourself from this virus.”
The disease affects patients’ livers and typically causes fatigue, poor appetite, fever and nausea.
Times staff writer Soumya Karlamangla contributed to this report.
CALIFORNIA
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-06/health-officials-declare-hepatitis-a-outbreak-in-san-bernardino-county 2/7 2/7/2020 Hepatitis A outbreak declared in San Bernardino County – San Bernardino Sun
LOCAL NEWS Hepatitis A outbreak declared in San Bernardino County
By DEEPA BHARATH || [email protected] || OrangeOrange CountyCounty Register PUBLISHED: February 6, 2020 at 5:38 pm || UPDATED:UPDATED: February 7, 2020 at 8:33 am
San Bernardino County has seen a rash of hepatitis A cases justjust overover thethe pastpast year, county health officials said Thursday, Feb. 6.
There have been 42 confirmed cases just between Jan. 1, 2019 and Feb. 6, 2020 countywide, a statement released by the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health said. By comparison, there were only three hepatitis A cases reported in the county in all of 2018, officials said, adding that clusters of cases have been specifically identified in the cities of Redlands and San Bernardino.
The disease has largely affected at-risk populations such as the homeless and drug users. Hepatitis A outbreaks began in San Diego County in 2017-2018 and were associated with the same at-risk population, officials said. While the outbreak in San Diego County subsided, clusters have continued to occur nationwide.
Health officials in San Bernardino County are urging the public to take the necessary precautions. The most effective way to prevent hepatitis A is to receive the vaccine, said Dr. Erin Gustafson, the county’s assistant health officer.
“It is also very important to wash your hands with soap and water regularly to protect yourself from this virus,” she said.
https://www.sbsun.com/2020/02/06/san-bernardino-county-is-experiencing-a-hepatitis-a-outbreak-health-officials-say/ 1/3 2/7/2020 Hepatitis A outbreak declared in San Bernardino County – San Bernardino Sun Hepatitis A is a viral infection that affects the liver. According to the Centers forfor DiseaseDisease ControlControl andand Prevention,Prevention, itit isis usuallyusually transmittedtransmitted fromfrom personperson toto person through the consumption of food or water or through the fecal-oral route. The infection can also be transmitted through contaminated needles, sexual contact or poor sanitary conditions.
Symptoms of hepatitis A include fatigue, low appetite, stomach pain, nausea and jaundice, which can resolve within two months of the infection. Most children under 6 tend not to have symptoms.
Here are some steps that can be taken to prevent hepatitis A infection:
Get vaccinated. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water after using the bathroom, changing diapers and before preparing or eating food. Practice safe sex by always using condoms and by avoiding sex with thosethose infectedinfected withwith thethe virus.virus. Avoid sharing towels, toothbrushes or utensils with others. Avoid sharing food,food, drinksdrinks oror cigarettescigarettes withwith others.others.
Information: 909-520-5166, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. 2/7/2020 Hepatitis A outbreak confirmed in San Bernardino County
Hepatitis A outbreak reported in San Bernardino County; 42 cases confirmed
Nicole Hayden, Palm Springs Desert Sun Published 4:22 p.m. PT Feb. 6, 2020 | Updated 4:26 p.m. PT Feb. 6, 2020
A hepatitis A outbreak was announced by the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health Thursday afternoon, with 42 cases confirmed since Jan. 1.
Hepatitis A is an acute viral infection that impacts the liver. An infection can result from contaminated needles, sexual contact, poor sanitary conditions, and contaminated food and water. It often spreads through the fecal-oral route.
Symptoms include fatigues, poor appetite, fever and nausea. The infection can be serious, so people with similar conditions are encouraged to go to a doctor.
In 2018, there were just three reported hepatitis A cases.
Clusters of cases were identified in the cities of Redlands and San Bernardino, according to a press release from the health department. Cases are predominantly being seen among high-risk populations, such as drug users and individuals experiencing homelessness.
A similar situation occurred in San Diego County between 2017 and 2018, which was associated with individuals experiencing homelessness and drug users. That cluster has since subsided.
“The most effective way to prevent hepatitis A is to receive the vaccine,” said Erin Gustafson, San Bernardino County Assistant Health Officer in a statement. “It is also very important to wash your hands with soap and water regularly to protect yourself from this virus.”
The health department recommends the following to prevent a hepatitis A infection: Receive the hepatitis A vaccine from your healthcare provider, if not previously vaccinated. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water after using the bathroom, changing diapers and before preparing and/or eating food. Practice safer sex. Always use condoms and try to know your partner’s hepatitis A status and avoid sex with individuals infected with the 2/7/2020 Hepatitis A outbreak confirmed in San Bernardino County Do not share food, drinks or cigarettes with others.
Desert Sun reporter Nicole Hayden covers health and healthcare in the Coachella Valley. She can be reached at [email protected] or (760) 778-4623. Follow her on Twitter @Nicole_A_Hayden.
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666923 69'2 6 ' @AB"CD3DCE3BB 3F 'B3"%DAGD"G"%9&2H2" I 2/7/2020 Aberdeen Standard targets €300M for co-investments | PitchBook
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Aberdeen Standard targets €300M for co-investments
February 7, 2020
Scotland's Aberdeen Standard Investments is looking to raise €300 million to co-invest in European PE deals, according to Private Equity News. California pension fund San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association is said to be considering a $50 million commitment. The vehicle would reportedly be used to conduct up to 20 co- investments in companies with EBITDA of between €10 million and €50 million. 2/7/2020 Citrus quarantine affects four Redlands groves | News | redlandscommunitynews.com
https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/citrus-quarantine-a ects-four-redlands- groves/article_a5bb99a4-4921-11ea-8fec-4b668fbd5238.html
EDITOR'S PICK Citrus quarantine affects four Redlands groves
By ALEJANDRO CANO Reporter Redlands Community News Feb 7, 2020
A plant disease that is fatal to citrus was detected a few days ago in Colton, prompting a 5-mile radius quarantine that affects at least four Redlands groves.
If untreated it could devastate citrus growers, said the California Department of Food and Agriculture during a public meeting held on Monday, Feb. 3, at the Redlands Council Chambers.
Representatives from the San Bernardino County Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures were also present to discuss processes for growing, harvesting and moving citrus inside the quarantine boundary.
Nawal Sharma, manager for the quarantine response program at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said that Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as the Citrus Greening Disease, has no cure and until scientists nd the best way to treat it, homeowners with citrus trees and commercial growers should work together to minimize the effects.
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It is hosted by a tiny insect, the Asian citrus psyllid, which can transfer the disease from tree to tree as the insect feeds on citrus leaves.
The psyllid has been found in groves all over Southern California, including commercial groves. Just having the psyllid in the tree does not mean the tree is diseased, however. There is hope if the psyllid can be eradicated from backyards.
https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/citrus-quarantine-affects-four-redlands-groves/article_a5bb99a4-4921-11ea-8fec-4b668fbd5238.html 1/4 2/7/2020 Citrus quarantine affects four Redlands groves | News | redlandscommunitynews.com “If we don’t take care of it there is a risk of a wide area being impacted,” Sharma said. Everybody has to participate in the effort to stop the spreading. Florida has lost nearly 50 percent of its citrus production due to HLB — that’s how serious this is.”
The Redlands groves affected are Palmetto Grove, Mountain View, Interstate 10 and the Gateway Grove, said representatives of Redlands’ Facilities and Community Services.
A commercial citrus grove is de ned as any parcel with 25 or more citrus trees.
Fruit harvested from city groves within the quarantine area can still be packed and sold but must undergo additional treatment.
The staff is in the process of assessing the scal impact to these groves, said the staff. Growers and haulers transport would have to le compliance agreements with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
If growers are shipping fruit within the same contiguous HLB quarantine area they would have to spray and harvest, transport completely tarped or in a fully enclosed vehicle and complete a HLB pest risk mitigation form.
If they ship outside the HLB quarantine area or to a different quarantine area, they would have to follow the same rules in addition to wet wash or eld clean by machine.
If growers are shipping to a packer or processor inside the quarantine area, they would have to transport completely tarped and complete a ACP-Free Declaration Form.
Under the guidelines, all fruit moved outside the HLB quarantine area may only be moved to a packing house or processor under compliance to receive HLB quarantine area fruit, said Sharma.
Manuel Martinez, general manager at Redlands Foothill Groves, one of the oldest and last operational packinghouse in San Bernardino County, said that HLB has been found in residential trees in the area and not in commercial groves.
However, for that to happen is just a matter of time since many commercial growers don’t spray as required, said Martinez.
https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/citrus-quarantine-affects-four-redlands-groves/article_a5bb99a4-4921-11ea-8fec-4b668fbd5238.html 2/4 2/7/2020 Citrus quarantine affects four Redlands groves | News | redlandscommunitynews.com “The product could be transported but there is an intense process. The quarantine means that all groves inside the area would have to follow the rules, would have to spray and wash the fruit on the eld, which is dif cult to do, it needs machinery, it costs money,” said Martinez.
“If a grower does not have the valid reports, we can’t take the product.”
Martinez said that people should be free of worries because the disease does not affect humans and because the product will be thoroughly processed before it reaches the stores. “It’s 100 percent safe,” he said.
Each year the packinghouse sells between 800,000 and 1 million 40-pound cartons of citrus throughout the United States, Canada and Asia. However, a rampant HLB could impact production.
According to the Citrus Research Board, established in 1968 under the California Marketing Act, as the mechanism enabling the state’s citrus producers to sponsor and support needed research, California produces approximately 80 percent of the nation’s fresh citrus and is the county’s main source of free-market oranges. California also supplies 87 percent of the nation’s lemons.
According to the city, for almost 75 years Redlands was at the heart of the largest navel orange producing region in the world, attracting people from all over the world from the late 1800s to the late 1950s.
In 1890, 1,000 railroad cars of navels were marketed. By 1904, over one million boxes were sent in more than 9,000 railroads cars from more than 30 packing houses.
Today in San Bernardino County, only one packinghouse remains to serve the needs of approximately 2,500 acres of citrus that remains in production in the area, including 16 citrus groves totaling 164 acres owned by the city.
HLB, in theory, is not only the most devastating disease of citrus in the world, but it also represents a threat to the few citrus groves that persist in the area.Sharma said scientists all over the world are working to nd a cure.
Citrus threat
https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/citrus-quarantine-affects-four-redlands-groves/article_a5bb99a4-4921-11ea-8fec-4b668fbd5238.html 3/4 2/7/2020 Citrus quarantine affects four Redlands groves | News | redlandscommunitynews.com Jan. 6: 122 square miles were under quarantine in Riverside County and 139 square miles in San Bernardino County.
Jan. 24: The number increased to 134 square miles in Riverside County and to 178 square miles in San Bernardino County.
Monday, Feb. 3: Orange County was the most impacted by HLB with 1,303 trees infected, 452 in Los Angeles County, 26 in Riverside County and seven in San Bernardino County.
James Folmer editor
https://www.redlandscommunitynews.com/news/citrus-quarantine-affects-four-redlands-groves/article_a5bb99a4-4921-11ea-8fec-4b668fbd5238.html 4/4 2/7/2020 Human Trafficking Task Force makes 20 rescues, 106 arrests | Public Safety | highlandnews.net
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_safety/human-tra cking-task-force-makes-rescues- arrests/article_97f21ac8-493a-11ea-9684-77f8ed4f5c2c.html
FEATURED Human Tra cking Task Force makes 20 rescues, 106 arrests
Feb 6, 2020
The San Bernardino County Human Tra cking Task Force rescued 20 human tra cking victims and arrested 106 suspects during the recent four-day Operation Reclaim and Rebuild. Courtesy photo
In conjunction with National Human Tra cking Awareness Month, the San Bernardino County Human Tra cking Task Force participated in the sixth annual ‘Operation Reclaim and Rebuild’ enforcement operation, organized by the Los Angeles Regional Human Tra cking Task Force. More than 70 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies along with 10 task forces from across California participated with 20 victims rescued from human tra cking and 106 suspects arrested.
The seven-day, statewide e ort aimed at combating human tra cking, took place between Sunday, Jan. 26, and Saturday, Feb. 1.
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_safety/human-trafficking-task-force-makes-rescues-arrests/article_97f21ac8-493a-11ea-9684-77f8ed4f5c2… 1/3 2/7/2020 Human Trafficking Task Force makes 20 rescues, 106 arrests | Public Safety | highlandnews.net Over a four-day period, the San Bernardino County Human Tra cking Task Force conducted enforcement. Operations were conducted throughout the county and speci cally within the cities of San Bernardino, Loma Linda, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Hesperia and Victorville. Speci c areas were selected for enforcement by investigators, due to the high volume of activity and advertisements directly related to the commercial sex tra cking industry. The operations consisted of street level enforcement, online advertisement enforcement and o ender enforcement by state parole and county probation o cers. Over the course of the operation, 106 suspects were arrested for violations associated with prostitution and other crimes. During the operation, investigators also identi ed and successfully rescued 20 victims of commercial sex tra cking. Of those victims, there were 18 female adults, one male adult and one female juvenile (16 years old).
Human Tra cking suspects often engage in other criminal acts. Investigators recovered three rearms and during one investigation, three suspects were arrested for violations related to commercialized sex industry. They were also found with stolen property and items related to identity theft. The San Bernardino County Human Tra cking Task Force is made up of investigators from the San Bernardino County Sheri 's Department, San Bernardino County District Attorney's O ce, Ontario Police Department, Redlands Police Department, California State Parole, Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Task Force e orts during the operation were also supported by participating o cers from the Ontario Police Department, Redlands Police Department, San Bernardino Police Department, San Bernardino Sheri 's Gangs/Narcotics Division, Sheri 's Central Station, city of Rancho Cucamonga, city of Victorville, San Bernardino District Attorney's O ce, San Bernardino County Probation, California State Parole and U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Victim support and services were provided by the Open-Door Program of San Bernardino. Open Door – Family Assistance Program is a non-pro t organization, which supports victims of human tra cking within the county of San Bernardino. The Open-Door Program empowers families, victims and survivors who have been a ected by human tra cking and/or sexual exploitation by providing the opportunity to heal and transform their lives, more info. can be found at familyassist.org.
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_safety/human-trafficking-task-force-makes-rescues-arrests/article_97f21ac8-493a-11ea-9684-77f8ed4f5c2… 2/3 2/7/2020 Human Trafficking Task Force makes 20 rescues, 106 arrests | Public Safety | highlandnews.net Anyone wishing to report activities or concerns related to Human Tra cking to the San Bernardino County Human Tra cking Task Force, can do so directly by calling (909) 387-8400 or by email at humantra [email protected]. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may contact We-Tip at 1 (888) 78-CRIME or you may leave information on the WE-Tip Hotline at wetip.com.
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_safety/human-trafficking-task-force-makes-rescues-arrests/article_97f21ac8-493a-11ea-9684-77f8ed4f5c2… 3/3 2/7/2020 Voting process has begun for primary election in San Bernardino County | News | fontanaheraldnews.com
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/voting-process-has-begun-for-primary-election-in-san- bernardino/article_4731ec5c-4909-11ea-ab82-2ba6a86f2490.html Voting process has begun for primary election in San Bernardino County
Feb 6, 2020
The primary election will take place on Tuesday, March 3, but voters do not have to wait until then in order to cast their ballots.
Voting in the March 3 presidential primary election began Feb. 3 at the County of San Bernardino Registrar of Voters o ce for any of the county's one million registered voters.
Voters do not have to wait for Election Day, or even wait to receive a ballot in the mail, to vote. They can now obtain and cast a ballot at the Registrar of Voters o ce, 777 E. Rialto Avenue in San Bernardino. Early voting hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/voting-process-has-begun-for-primary-election-in-san-bernardino/article_4731ec5c-4909-11ea-ab82-2ba6a… 1/3 2/7/2020 Voting process has begun for primary election in San Bernardino County | News | fontanaheraldnews.com Saturday, Feb. 29, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Voters may also cast their ballots at the Registrar of Voters o ce on Election Day, Tuesday, March 3 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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Mail ballots for voters on the permanent mail ballot list have been delivered to the U.S. Postal Service. Deliveries will continue as additional mail ballot requests are received up until Tuesday, Feb. 25.
To assist S.B. County voters, County Voter Information Guides began mailing on Jan. 23 and will continue to be mailed to all voters registered as of Feb. 18. The guides include a sample ballot, candidate statements, local measure information, and voting instructions.
Voters can also access the guide by visiting the Registrar of Voters website, www.SBCountyElections.com, and clicking on the Elections menu tab.
The county's purchase of a new voting system has caused one small change to the voting instructions; voters will ll in an oval to the left of the name of the candidate of their choice. In prior elections with the old voting system, votes were cast by drawing a line between two ends of an arrow located to the right of the candidate's name.
For voters who prefer to cast a ballot in person on Election Day, the polling place check-in process will be more e cient, o cials said. Poll workers will nd voter names using the new Poll Pads instead of searching through a paper roster.
Voters can nd their assigned polling place on the back cover of their Voter Information Guide. by using the My Elections Gateway application on the Registrar of Voters website, or by calling (909) 387-8300.
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/voting-process-has-begun-for-primary-election-in-san-bernardino/article_4731ec5c-4909-11ea-ab82-2ba6a… 2/3 2/7/2020 Voting process has begun for primary election in San Bernardino County | News | fontanaheraldnews.com ----- THE MOST signi cant race for many Fontana residents in the election will be the San Bernardino County 5th District supervisor contest.
Josie Gonzales, who has held that seat since 2004, will be termed out, and four candidates are seeking to replace her:
• Jesse Armendarez, a member of the Fontana City Council and a local businessman;
• Joe Baca Jr., a member of the Rialto City Council and a teacher;
• Dan Flores, a member of the Colton Joint Uni ed School District Board of Education (and the chief of sta for Gonzales);
• Nadia Renner, a business owner.
----- ALSO during the election, voters will cast ballots for representatives from the Cha ey Community College District.
In Area 3, which covers most of Fontana, Lee C. McDougal is the incumbent and is seeking reelection.
Lorena Corona, a former member of the Fontana Uni ed School District Board of Education, will be challenging him for the seat.
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/voting-process-has-begun-for-primary-election-in-san-bernardino/article_4731ec5c-4909-11ea-ab82-2ba6a… 3/3 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid
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Shown above are San Diego city attorney candidates Cory Briggs and Mara Elliott. Elliott is the incumbent. Both are on the March 3 primary ballot. (Zoë Meyers/inewsource) Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid
by Jennifer Bowman | February 6, 2020
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Cory Briggs brands himself as a taxpayer advocate, a reputation built on years of ling lawsuits against public agencies over taxes and environmental laws.
But now the regular San Diego City Hall foe wants to work for it.
Briggs has launched a run against City Attorney Mara Elliott, accusing the rst- term incumbent of consistently providing elected of cials with bad legal advice and leading an of ce “obsessed with secrecy.” He says he’ll change that if elected, promising not to operate as a politician but as a lawyer dedicated to transparency.
https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 1/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid
But Briggs brings his own set of Why This Matters problems. His private practice has San Diego has an elected city been criticized for forming dozens of attorney who earns nearly nonpro ts and then suing on their $200,000 a year and serves as the city’s chief legal adviser. Leading behalf, stalling major projects and an office of 160 attorneys and collecting attorney fees through 200 support staff, the city largely anonymous groups that a 2015 attorney counsels the mayor and inewsource investigation found City Council on their most significant decisions, playing a repeatedly violate state and federal prominent role in how taxpayer laws. money is spent. Nearly ve years later, most remain out of compliance. A few have racked up a thousand dollars or more in outstanding balances with the state Franchise Tax Board, others were ordered by the California Attorney General’s Of ce to cease and desist operations, and many have failed for years to le required documents with the secretary of state.
And while he’s won big cases, Briggs has lost, too. When the city tries to collect nancial judgments from Briggs’ nonpro t clients, he claims they have no money.
Briggs now seeks to hold elected of ce, pitting his track record against that of Elliott, who’s counseled public agencies for nearly two decades and worked in the City Attorney’s Of ce before getting elected in 2016. With two political challengers — former Deputy City Attorney Peter Mesich also is running — she is being forced to answer for her tenure’s controversies.
Elliott’s effort to alter the state’s Public Records Act, for example, was largely derided and seen as an attempt to weaken public access. That proposal died, but the criticism lives on through Briggs’ campaign.
Because San Diego’s city attorney is an elected position, the race brings the possibility of a “bald political contest,” said Robert Shannon, who was Long Beach’s elected city attorney for 15 years before retiring in 2013.
A city attorney, he said, should focus on providing legal advice to city departments and politicians and not policy-making.
“If the outsider says, ‘I just think the city is all wrong on X, and I’m running because I want to change things,’ well, I’d be very careful with that type of person,” Shannon said. “Because that sounds to me like a person who wants to take policy positions, which is not the function of a city attorney. It’s the function of the city council and the mayor.
“Now, is that the situation in San Diego? Obviously, I can’t speak to that. I don’t know that.”
https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 2/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid State issues suspensions, cease and desist orders
Briggs, who did not respond to multiple requests for an interview, is known for regularly battling public agencies and private developers. His law rm, Briggs Law Corp., has two of ces — one in San Diego, where he lives, and another in Upland, in his native San Bernardino County.
Briggs is mentioned in some of San Diego’s most prominent civil disputes, including waterfront projects, records ghts and public nancing, among others. He brie y campaigned for mayor last year but ultimately bowed out of the race before ever ling candidate paperwork.
His list of current clients includes former San Diego City Councilwoman Donna Frye and Art Castañares, a former political consultant who owns the bilingual publication La Prensa San Diego. But for the most part, Briggs represents nonpro ts that formed to ght major neighborhood projects and commercial development.
Briggs incorporated many of the groups himself, o en with the same people serving as of cers for multiple nonpro ts. A 2015 inewsource story found that of more than 30 charitable nonpro ts represented by Briggs’ rm, more than half had been suspended for failing to le legally required documents showing nances, mission statements and board structures.
Nonpro t experts said at the time that the network of charities suffered “a serious case of noncompliance,” and a forensic accountant called several of the nancial lings “egregiously wrong.”
Many nonpro ts formed by Briggs list public education as their primary mission, yet most have no presence outside of court. Some appear to be defunct organizations that stopped ling required documents with the secretary of state years ago.
Nonprofits linked to Cory Since the 2015 story, eight of the Briggs nonpro ts have formally dissolved. Seven nonpro ts, including two new To see a spreadsheet of the nonprofits, including their status and entities registered by Briggs’ of ce, any outstanding balances, click here. are in good standing.
But most remain out of compliance as of Feb. 4. Twenty-one groups linked to Briggs are suspended by either the Franchise Tax Board or the secretary of state. Four are suspended by both.
Eleven nonpro ts registered by Briggs’ of ce received cease and desist orders in March 2019 a er failing for years to register as charities, despite receiving multiple notices as early as 2013. The most recently available lings show that for two of those nonpro ts, Briggs served as an of cer.
https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 3/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid
A week a er the orders were sent, Briggs and his of ce led paperwork with the secretary of state resigning as the groups’ agent for service – an individual in California who’s designated to accept tax and legal documents on behalf of a business entity.
A spokesperson with the Attorney General’s Of ce said such orders are only issued a er the state Department of Justice identi es registration and reporting violations. Cease and desist orders are nal, and the groups will be administratively dissolved.
Nonpro ts are required to regularly le certain documents with the state, including tax returns and information on their of cers. If they plan to receive donations, they must register with the attorney general and submit annual nancial reports to be transparent with the public and with donors who receive tax deductions for their contributions.
Attorney Cory Briggs leaves San Diego Superior Court on July 31, 2015. (Megan Wood/inewsource)
The Attorney General’s Of ce says online that it regulates charities “to protect charitable assets for their intended use and ensure that the charitable donations contributed by Californians are not misapplied and squandered through fraud or other means.”
Ingrid Mittermaier, a principal at San Francisco-based law rm Adler & Colvin and an expert on nonpro t law, said the requirements are more than a legal obligation.
“There is a commitment to transparency and a sense that, in addition to the regulators receiving the lings, the public has a right to know the details of
https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 4/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid entities that have the bene t of tax exemption,” she said. “I think, really, that’s a key goal served by the lings.”
Seven organizations linked to Briggs also owe a total of more than $7,000 to the state tax board.
Friends of San Antonio Heights, registered by Briggs in 2007 with an address matching his Upland law of ce, owes more than $2,200. Though the Attorney General’s Of ce issued a dissolution waiver in 2011, the group remains suspended by the Franchise Tax Board and hasn’t led a statement of information with the secretary of state in nine years.
Citizens for Responsible Equitable Environmental Development, also located at Briggs’ Upland of ce and incorporated by him in 2003, owes nearly $1,400. The group has been suspended by the tax board since 2015 and last led records with the secretary of state in 2012.
Sensible Citizens of Manhattan Beach, which Briggs represented in a suit against a developer over a mall expansion, owes nearly $3,700. A 2017 ling, the most recently available, lists Briggs’ Upland of ce as its address. Briggs, whose rm incorporated the nonpro t in 2014, resigned as its agent for service in 2018.
Four others each owe $50.
Outstanding balances must be cleared before a group can formally dissolve.
Franchise Tax Board spokesman Daniel Tahara said the agency is unable to provide further details on the outstanding balances. Its website says a suspended business is subject to a $2,000 annual penalty for failure to le missing tax returns a er receiving written demands.
The board tries several times to collect outstanding balances before suspending a business, Tahara said.
“FTB’s collection program continually looks for income sources to satisfy outstanding debts owed,” he said. “For example, FTB can levy bank accounts or place liens on property to satisfy outstanding debt.”
When Briggs loses, city can’t collect money
Briggs has scored — and cashed in on — notable victories. He reported in a December ling required as part of his candidacy that the city, San Diego Uni ed School District and the county Of ce of Education each provided his law rm at least $10,000 in income in the past year.
Last year, a judge ordered the state to pay Briggs more than $1 million in attorney fees a er his client, Spotlight on Coastal Corruption, prevailed in its
https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 5/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid suit against the California Coastal Commission and some of its members over disclosure of private meetings with lobbyists and others.
A commission spokeswoman said the defendants are appealing the judgment.
Briggs’ supporters see him as a ghter for the environment and housing. A 2014 Voice of San Diego article pointed to his involvement in a climate change plan developed by the city of Chino — it was a requirement under a settlement a er Briggs had led an environmental lawsuit.
He has said he’s advocating for clients who can’t take on wealthy private developers and large government agencies on their own. An open letter in 2014 from San Diegans for Open Government said Briggs does not get reimbursed for expenses when the group loses a case.
“He is willing to risk substantial loss to ght the well-funded groups he takes on for us,” the letter said.
But when the city of San Diego has beat Briggs, it’s been unable to collect judgments from his clients. He tells the courts his nonpro ts have no assets and can’t pay attorney fees and court costs.
Leslie Wolf Branscomb, a City Attorney’s Of ce spokeswoman, said multiple judgments have been made against Briggs’ clients to pay the city when they’ve lost.
“As far as we know, there have not been any successful collections on those judgments,” she said.
Branscomb cited several unpaid judgments, including a $21,000 decision against the San Diego Navy Broadway Complex Coalition. Other nancial judgments against Citizens for Responsible Equitable Environmental Development were made years ago in favor of the city, she said.
One of the more recent decisions in favor of the city occurred in August, when a judge ordered a nearly $200,000 judgment against San Diegans for Open Government stemming from a 2012 case that challenged an assessment levied
https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 6/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid on hotel owners. Most of that payment would go to the San Diego Tourism Marketing District, which Briggs also sued.
That judgment remains unpaid, of cials for the city and the marketing district con rmed. Court records show the district on Jan. 22 led lien notices in other cases brought by San Diegans for Open Government, staking claim to any money or property the group subsequently wins.
San Diegans for Open Government, like other groups represented by Briggs, reports it has zero assets, so it avoids paying when it loses in court.
Briggs’ practice of suing under nonpro ts has been challenged. In 2017, attorneys for Walmart said in court documents that CREED-21, Briggs’ client in an environmental lawsuit in Riverside County, was a shell corporation he used to recover attorney fees.
In 2015, the San Diego City Attorney’s Of ce under Jan Goldsmith called out Briggs, saying in court documents that San Diegans for Open Government was “a mere alter ego of its counsel.” The group was kept “penniless to avoid sanctions and court costs” despite winning hundreds of thousands of dollars in judgments and settlements all paid directly to Briggs’ law rm, city lawyers argued.
Elliott, who worked as chief deputy city attorney under Goldsmith, told inewsource she questions Briggs’ practice of using nonpro ts to sue.
“There is no deterrent for him to not sue the city,” she said. “So if he sues, then he will recover. He expects to do that, and he will follow through on a judgment if he is successful. If the city is successful, and we o en are, then (San Diegans for Open Government) turns around and says, ‘Well, we’re insolvent.’”
San Diegans for Open Government is involved in about a dozen pending lawsuits against the city, according to information provided by Elliott’s of ce. Briggs has been its attorney for nearly every suit the group has led.
Related: Past inewsource coverage of attorney Cory Briggs
He has repeatedly said he’s not involved in a lawsuit that San Diegans for Open Government led more than four years ago against inewsource and San Diego State University. The suit, which challenged the news organization’s agreement for space in the KPBS newsroom, was dismissed by the California Supreme Court in September. KPBS is a service of SDSU.
At the time the suit was led, inewsource was reporting about the nonpro ts tied to Briggs, and on the attorney’s real estate transactions and potential con icts of interests involving his wife in environmental lawsuits.
Lorie Hearn, executive director and editor of inewsource, has said San Diegans for Open Government sued over the lease in response to “exercising our https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 7/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid responsibilities as investigative journalists.”
Briggs has denied inewsource’s previous ndings, saying in a Jan. 23 KPBS story that they were “completely false.” He provided the outlet with information that showed two State Bar investigations found no further action was warranted against him. The complaints, one of which referenced inewsource’s reporting, alleged that Briggs led lawsuits on behalf of San Diegans for Open Government while it was suspended by the state.
The documents provided by Briggs do not show who led the complaints. Such investigations are con dential unless disciplinary charges are led against an attorney in State Bar Court.
Briggs attacks Elliott on transparency
“I believe that public of cials should be fully transparent, always act lawfully, and consistently strive to reinforce (rather than undermine) the public’s trust in government,” Briggs says on his campaign website. “Incumbent City Attorney Mara Elliott does not share those values.”
In 2019, Elliott sought revisions to the California Public Records Act that would have weakened the consequences for government agencies violating the law. The proposal required those seeking records to “meet and confer” with government of cials before suing for access and raised the standard for collecting attorney fees from non-compliant agencies.
State Sen. Ben Hueso, a San Diego Democrat running in the March primary to represent South County on the Board of Supervisors, introduced the bill at Elliott’s request. Hueso withdrew it less than a month later a er it was battered by widespread criticism from news media and elected of cials.
Elliott had argued the changes were needed to address the city’s rising volume of records requests. She told inewsource she no longer plans to pursue any changes through legislation, though she still thinks the records law could be improved. The city has since formed an internal working group of those who handle records requests to x aws in its own system, Elliott said.
She said her intent was not to allow the city to sidestep accountability, but instead create a step similar to civil mediation that would have allowed agencies and records requesters to hold discussions and potentially avoid litigation.
Elliott said it’s her job to protect city taxpayers from costly and sometimes frivolous lawsuits. Briggs, who has sued the city over access to records, is “de nitely part of the problem,” she said.
https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 8/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid
City Attorney Mara Elliott is shown in the San Diego City Council chambers on Dec. 12, 2016. (Milan Kovacevic/KPBS)
“It’s unfortunate because the argument that someone like him will make is, ‘I am doing this for the taxpayers,’” Elliott said. “I don’t believe that for a moment because when he wins a payout — and they’re not substantial but they certainly do add up — that money’s coming from the taxpayers.
“And it’s not going to be used for something that may be important to your everyday person, which might be lling potholes, or having expanded library hours or more activities over at park and rec. Those are the things that people really care about.”
Briggs also has criticized Elliott for her involvement in the city’s $30 million smart streetlights program while owning General Electric stock. The company had owned Current, the startup that has been installing the sensors, though GE has since sold the subsidiary.
Elliott said she owns $18,000 worth of GE stock, part of which will be used to help pay for her children’s college education. She also owns stock in 11 other companies, according to a December economic interest ling required for candidates and government of cials.
She said the con ict-of-interest allegations are untrue because she owns far less than what the law considers a substantial holding.
She said her own attorney has sent a letter to Briggs demanding he retract statements alleging she broke the law.
“When my competency or my ethics is attacked, I take it very seriously because as a lawyer, that is the most important thing we have,” Elliott said. “And of all
https://inewsource.org/2020/02/06/cory-briggs-san-diego-city-attorney/ 9/11 2/7/2020 Cory Briggs’ track record overshadows his San Diego city attorney bid the people making an accusation like that, Cory Briggs, it is absolutely disgusting.”
Briggs and others also have raised concerns about data collection from the streetlight program, but Elliott has defended the effort and its privacy standards.
Briggs, on behalf of San Diegans for Open Government, is suing to obtain records related to Hueso’s bill and the smart streetlights program.
Elliott is frontrunner
The top two vote-getters in the March 3 primary for city attorney will advance to the general election in November, and it appears that will be a contest between Elliott and Briggs.
A San Diego Union-Tribune/10News poll released in January shows she’s leading her challengers with 28% support. Briggs came in second at 18%, while Mesich polled at 6%. Forty-eight percent were undecided.
If elected, Briggs would be subject to local ethics laws that prohibit of cials from having involvement in a city decision that could impact their personal nancial interests. He’s currently representing clients in more than 20 lawsuits against the city, some of which he led a er launching his campaign.
“Any individual who becomes an elected of cial would certainly be encouraged to seek advice from the Ethics Commission about potential con icts of interest related to their personal nancial concern,” said Stacey Fulhorst, the commission’s executive director.
Briggs has raised nearly $164,000 for his campaign, including $100,000 in loans and a $35,000 contribution he made to himself. He had nearly $21,000 in the bank, according to his January nance report.
Elliott’s lings show she’s raised about $300,000. She had nearly $170,000 on hand in mid-January, records show.
Mesich led statements that his campaign plans to receive and spend less than $2,000 in a calendar year. 2/7/2020 ‘Forever chemicals’ trigger widespread closures of water wells – Orange County Register
NEWSENVIRONMENT ‘Forever chemicals’ trigger widespread closures of water wells State lowers threshold for toxic PFAS chemicals.
Ricardo Medina, an Orange County Water District research associate, loads ion exchange resins into a treatment system to filter out PFAS toxins. The district is testingtesting 1414 differentdifferent productsproducts toto determinedetermine thethe bestbest toto removeremove thethe carcinogeniccarcinogenic chemicals from dozens of Orange County groundwater wells. (File photo courtesy of the Orange County Water District)
By MARTIN WISCKOL || [email protected] || OrangeOrange CountyCounty RegisterRegister PUBLISHED: February 6, 2020 at 3:23 pm || UPDATED:UPDATED: February 7, 2020 at 8:22 am
The state lowered the acceptable levels for two PFAS toxins in drinking water on Thursday, triggering the closure of wells throughout the California — includingincluding 3333 inin OrangeOrange County,County, whichwhich hashas beenbeen particularlyparticularly plaguedplagued byby thethe so-so- called “forever chemical.” https://www.ocregister.com/2020/02/06/forever-chemicals-trigger-widespread-closures-of-water-wells/ 1/6 2/7/2020 ‘Forever chemicals’ trigger widespread closures of water wells – Orange County Register The new closures are in addition to nine contaminated wells that were closed lastlast yearyear inin OrangeOrange County,County, andand fourfour closedclosed inin LosLos AngelesAngeles County,County, wherewhere itit was not immediately known how many more will be taken offline.
As many as 29 more could be shut down this year in Orange County as the state expands its testing. If those are taken offline, that would total 71 closed wells of the 200 in Orange County Water District’s service area of 2.5 million residents.
As research on the PFAS family of chemicals grows, regulators have been loweringlowering acceptableacceptable levelslevels toto everever moremore minisculeminiscule levels.levels. TheThe chemicalschemicals havehave been linked to cancer, liver and kidney damage, low birth weight and other health problems, although the tiny amounts identified in area wells could taketake aa decadesdecades —— oror eveneven aa lifetimelifetime —— beforebefore accumulatingaccumulating toto dangerousdangerous levelslevels inin thethe body.body.
“It’s an emerging topic and we’re learning more about the toxicity by the month,” said Jason Dadakis, Orange County Water District’s executive director of water quality. “These (new state) standards are based on long-term effects of drinking two liters a day for 70 years.”
Exposure to the chemicals goes beyond drinking water. They have been widely used to stain-proof rugs and furniture, to make pans stick-proof, and toto water-proofwater-proof clothes,clothes, amongamong otherother uses.uses.
The state’s new “response level” standard requires water districts with wells exceeding the benchmarks to either shut those wells, treat the water to remove the chemicals, or notify customers in writing of the levels in their drinking water. Water officials contacted by the Southern California News Group anticipate that most wells with excessive levels will be shuttered at leastleast untiluntil treatmenttreatment plantsplants cancan bebe developed.developed.
“The vast majority may not be comfortable with serving water over the response level and would shut down immediately,” Dadakis said.
InIn OrangeOrange County,County, thethe lostlost waterwater isis beingbeing replacedreplaced temporarilytemporarily withwith moremore costly imported water. A $1.4 million pilot treatment project has been underway since December and officials anticipate plants to remove PFAS fromfrom allall OrangeOrange CountyCounty waterwater willwill bebe inin placeplace withinwithin twotwo years.years.
Orange County’s Yorba Linda Water District, among the hardest hit, has begun thethe processprocess toto closeclose allall 1111 ofof itsits wellswells andand officialsofficials saysay thatthat waterwater willwill bebe processed out of the district’s distribution system by Feb. 12.
https://www.ocregister.com/2020/02/06/forever-chemicals-trigger-widespread-closures-of-water-wells/ 2/6 2/7/2020 ‘Forever chemicals’ trigger widespread closures of water wells – Orange County Register “It is not as simple as flipping a switch,” said district General Manager Marc Marcantonio. “I would describe it as a systematic process in which we gradually throttle down individual wells in such a manner that allows import water to merge with existing groundwater already in the distribution system and reservoirs.”
Marcantonio’s district is one of 19 that use the groundwater basin managed by the Orange County Water District. Nine of those have wells that have testedtested positivepositive forfor thethe twotwo PFASPFAS chemicalschemicals forfor whichwhich thethe statestate hashas issuedissued standards.
InIn anan initialinitial roundround ofof testingtesting year,year, Los Angeles County had 39 wells withwith reportable levels of the chemicals, Riverside County had 13 andand San Bernardino County had none.. AtAt thethe time,time, thethe responseresponse levellevel recommendedrecommended forfor shuttingshutting downdown wellswells —— higherhigher thanthan reportablereportable levelslevels —— resultedresulted inin fourfour wells being shut down in Los Angeles County and none in Riverside.
ItIt waswas notnot immediatelyimmediately knownknown howhow manymany wellswells inin thosethose countiescounties wouldwould bebe closed because of the new, stricter standards.
Growing scrutiny
Of the nearly 5000 chemicals in the PFAS family, the two singled out by the state so far are Pefluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluoroctane Sulfonate (PFOS).(PFOS). ThoseThose areare alsoalso thethe twotwo thatthat havehave attractedattracted thethe mostmost attentionattention nationwide and are no longer manufactured in the United States.
The chemicals are known as “forever chemicals” because they take so long to break down in nature.
“To provide Americans with a margin of protection from a lifetime of exposure to PFOA and PFOS from drinking water, EPA has established the health advisory levels at 70 parts per trillion” for a combination of the two, according to the U.S. EPA website. The same combined 70 parts per trillion was used as the state response level until Thursday.
The new state response level has been set at 10 parts per trillion for PFOA and 40 parts per trillion for PFOS. One part per trillion is equivalent to four grains of sugar in an Olympic sized swimming pool.
The new levels are based on updated health recommendations from the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, according to the state announcement of the revised standards
https://www.ocregister.com/2020/02/06/forever-chemicals-trigger-widespread-closures-of-water-wells/ 3/6 2/7/2020 ‘Forever chemicals’ trigger widespread closures of water wells – Orange County Register The announcement also noted that the state Water Resources Control Board has identified seven other PFAS chemicals in wells and has requested recommendations for standards to apply to those toxins as well.
Testing was ordered by the water board last year for wells most likely to be contaminated. That included wells near landfills and airports. Some PFAS chemicals are ingredients in flame retardants used to put out aircraft fires — and during airport firefighting drills.
ItIt isis suspectedsuspected thatthat OrangeOrange County’sCounty’s unusuallyunusually highhigh numbernumber ofof contaminatedcontaminated wells is a result of treated wastewater from the Inland Empire containing PFAS and being released in the Santa Ana River. Some of that water settles intointo thethe locallocal groundwatergroundwater aquiferaquifer thatthat servesserves portionsportions ofof northnorth andand centralcentral Orange County, and some continues into the Pacific Ocean.
The Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority is studying the location and extent of PFAS contaminants in the river watershed.
Costs to customers
The Orange County Water District, which is operating a pilot treatment project inin AnaheimAnaheim toto determinedetermine thethe bestbest productsproducts toto filterfilter PFASPFAS chemicalschemicals outout ofof drinking water, is working with its nine member agencies affected by the chemical to identify locations for plants and arrangements for funding them.
Construction costs, estimated at $180 million to $200 million, initially will be covered by the Orange County Water District, with construction-related increasesincreases inin waterwater costscosts likelylikely toto bebe sharedshared byby customerscustomers inin allall 1919 membermember agencies — including the eight that aren’t expecting to find any PFAS in their wells.
Operation and maintenance costs will be split between Orange County Water District and each agency with a treatment facility. Orange County Water District General Manager Michael Markus estimated the average home in a district with PFAS treatment will pay $3 more a month for water, while the average home in a non-PFAS district will pay $1 more a month.
But a bigger — and shorter — financial hit will come in the two years or so until those treatment facilities are up and running, as PFAS contaminated water is replaced by costlier imported water.
https://www.ocregister.com/2020/02/06/forever-chemicals-trigger-widespread-closures-of-water-wells/ 4/6 2/7/2020 ‘Forever chemicals’ trigger widespread closures of water wells – Orange County Register For water districts that have shut down or will shut down all of their wells, the increaseincrease couldcould hithit $20$20 moremore aa monthmonth forfor thethe averageaverage residence,residence, accordingaccording toto thethe OrangeOrange CountyCounty WaterWater District.District. ItIt wouldwould bebe lessless forfor districtsdistricts thatthat closeclose onlyonly some of their wells.
However, consumers may not be hit with all of that cost. Some districts are deferring other projects and dipping into rainy day funds.
“It is likely that we will utilize reserves to absorb initial impacts of importing water,” Yorba Linda Water District’s Marcantonio said. “This allows us time to narrow down the cost impact and allow customers to not realize a sudden jumpjump inin theirtheir waterwater rates.”rates.”
Marcantonio said smaller rate increases could occur in coming months for unrelated costs. “The first PFAS cost impact would likely come in January 2021,” he said. He also noted that in addition to working with the Orange County Water District’s pilot project, his district is operating its own pilot.
The state has posted a list of the most recent round of PFAS testing at wells at www.waterboards.ca.gov/pfas/.. GoGo thethe thethe section,section, “PFAS“PFAS InformationInformation andand Resources,” click on the “Drinking Water” tab and then go to “Public Water System Testing Results.” 2/7/2020 Groundbreaking set for SR210/Base Line lane addition projects | Public Works | highlandnews.net
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/groundbreaking-set-for-sr-base-line-lane-addition- projects/article_716fa9be-4936-11ea-8924-4fc55141ad9c.html
BREAKING Groundbreaking set for SR210/Base Line lane addition projects
Hector Hernandez Jr. Feb 6, 2020
By JAMES FOLMER Editor Highland Community News
San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) and the cities of Highland, Redlands and San Bernardino have scheduled the ground breaking for State Route 210 lane addition and Base Line interchange project for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 27727 Base Line, Highland.
The event will be held in the empty lot next to the ARCO gas station. Parking will be available on Pluto Street.
The $31.6 million project is expected to take three years of construction.
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/groundbreaking-set-for-sr-base-line-lane-addition-projects/article_716fa9be-4936-11ea-8924-4fc551… 1/2 2/7/2020 Groundbreaking set for SR210/Base Line lane addition projects | Public Works | highlandnews.net The long-awaited project will add lanes to State Route 210 in both directions, add an auxiliary lane in each direction between Base Line and Fifth Street/Greenspot Road, build new sound walls, add an acceleration lane heading south o Fifth Street, a deceleration lane at Sterling Avenue to a new two-lane exit at Highland Avenue.
To improve the interchange at Base Line, on-ramps will be widened from one to three lanes and o -ramps will be widened from one lane to two.
The Base Line bridge will also receive widening and improvements including bike lanes, improved pedestrian walkway and decorative streetlights.
MORE INFORMATION
Construction contract awarded for SR 210 lane addition
Base Line interchange funding approved A look into Highland’s developing roadways
Hector Hernandez Jr.
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/public_works/groundbreaking-set-for-sr-base-line-lane-addition-projects/article_716fa9be-4936-11ea-8924-4fc551… 2/2 ÿÿ ÿ!ÿ"#$ %!ÿ##! ÿ&ÿ'(! (ÿ) ÿ0ÿ) BCDEFGHÿPQÿRSTUVWXÿYTÿ`abGcYÿRTaaVYX defghÿphÿqrsÿtuvwrxyruÿrfgergÿÿ ferÿvghÿrpgvghÿÿÿÿw ÿdefghijkgeÿlmejnoknÿihÿjekpmijnengikÿqdefnjekpr ekkisktuÿeÿhsffvgwxeyÿtfipsjÿihÿzgwxeyÿ{|ÿ}nxk zgwxeyÿ{~|ÿekuÿeÿjwijyÿljgÿÿefpiÿkixkÿepÿ ejjixp ÿ ÿtfipsjÿxgffÿ}wgkÿikÿspueyÿ} ÿ{{ÿekuÿtiktfsuÿik jgueyÿ} ÿ{ ÿetÿueyÿettppÿxgffÿ}ÿmjig}gnuÿnjisw ÿejjixpÿhjioÿÿe o ÿniÿÿm o ÿÿ ÿ ¡ÿ ¢££ÿ¤ÿ¥£¡¦ÿ§¨ ttijugkwÿniÿdefnjekpÿs}fgtÿkhijoengikÿhhgtjÿogfy ©ÿª¨ªÿ«ÿ¬ÿª¨ª gkkÿsm}iskuÿekuÿuixk}iskuÿnjehhgtÿxgffÿ}ÿjjisnu njiswÿdjpnfgkÿ}yÿxeyÿihÿeÿdefnjekpvgomfoknuÿhfewwgkw imjengik ÿdefnjekpÿtjxpÿxgffÿ}ÿmipgngikuÿenÿnÿgknjptngikpÿihÿeÿjwijyÿljgÿekuÿzgwxeyÿ{|ÿep xffÿepÿzgwxeyÿ{~|ÿekuÿzgwxeyÿ{| ÿ gkkÿnjguÿniÿepÿtiktjkÿe}isnÿnÿmippg}gfgnyÿihÿnjehhgtÿ}etgkwÿsmÿgkÿimÿixkÿdjpnfgk ÿ inijgpnpÿtekÿgnjÿxegnÿgkÿeÿssÿniÿ}ÿptijnuÿnjiswÿijÿnyÿtekÿspÿekÿefnjkengÿjisnÿpstÿep eÿjwijyÿljgÿniÿeÿljgÿniÿzgwxeyÿ{~|ÿgkkÿpnenu ÿ uugngikeffyÿpÿtesngikuÿnenÿssÿngopÿoeyÿ}ÿsmÿniÿ~ÿogksnpÿgkÿfkwnÿekuÿnenÿtioosnjpÿpisfu mfekÿettijugkwfy ÿ defnjekpÿtjxpÿxgffÿ}ÿmjhijogkwÿjitÿptefgkwÿekuÿpmfgnngkwÿxijÿgkÿÿejjixpÿniÿeuujppÿxenÿgkk teffuÿpgwkghgteknÿjitpfgupÿxgtÿjpsfnuÿhjioÿjtknÿpnijop djxpÿtfgo}ÿnÿoisknegkÿekuÿmspÿjitpÿuixk ÿpÿjitpÿejÿnkÿjoiuÿhjioÿnÿejeÿ}yÿspgkwÿe mfixÿijÿ}sffuijÿgkkÿpnenuÿe}isnÿnÿmjitpp
1#(! (&( 1%#( !% 2345 %&678& & 957&8%894 1!#@#3 A$(! 2/7/2020 In Hesperia, recall effort against Holland fails - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA
In Hesperia, recall e ort against Holland fails By Rene Ray De La Cruz Staff Writer Posted Feb 6, 2020 at 11:49 AM Updated Feb 6, 2020 at 11:49 AM City Councilman vows legal action against petitioners for what he claims was said about him while signatures were gathered.
HESPERIA — A recall petition to remove Council member Bill Holland has failed due to a shortage of valid signatures from registered voters who reside in the city’s second district.
During Tuesday’s Hesperia City Council meeting, Holland requested a recall update from City Attorney Eric Dunn and City Clerk Melinda Sayre, who said the recall effort “died” due to a lack of signatures.
City spokesperson Rachel Molina told the Daily Press on Wednesday that the recall failed by 618 signatures. A total of 1,786 valid signatures were required for it to gain placement on the November ballot.
Molina said the proponent of the recall submitted 1,830 signatures for review.
During the meeting, Dunn described the recall petition as “horribly done” and “blatantly wrong,” with numerous invalid signatures. He said the city will ask the District Attorney’s office to review the recall petition for “voter fraud” and inconsistencies.
Mayor Larry Bird called the allegations against Holland a “political hack job.” He said Holland was duly elected and that Hesperians “should be angry” about the recall effort.
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Last year, former San Bernardino County Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin told the Daily Press he was a principal signer on the initial recall committee against Holland.
Erwin did not return messages left by the Daily Press on Wednesday.
Last year, though, Erwin said his motive behind the recall was based on Holland’s alleged misconduct while a police officer with the Hesperia Unified School District and his investigation of sexual assault that allegedly occurred at Oak Hills High School.
As a district police officer, Holland faced scrutiny from his superiors in 2016 for allegedly destroying evidence while leading the investigation into claims that an Oak Hills freshman football player had been the subject of sexual hazing, the Daily Press reported.
Erwin also said Holland was not elected by a majority of voters. In 2018, Holland earned 35% of the total vote in District 2, compared to 65% percent who voted for other candidates.
After the recall update, Holland alleged that an unidentified source informed him that on Dec. 19, petition signature gatherers outside the Walmart Supercenter in Hesperia told people they were attempting to remove a “sexual predator” while showing a photo of Holland.
Holland told the Council that the alleged actions by the signature gatherers in front of the Walmart was the “absolute definition of slander and libel,” adding that he’d pursue legal action against the creators of the recall.
Holland said he’s never been accused of a crime in his 31 years in law enforcement.
Holland said an anonymous source told him that during the upcoming 2020 election, those behind his recall would also launch an attack on Mayor Larry Bird’s character by referring to him as a “pedophile, homophobe and racist.”
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Holland said opponents would also attack District 4 Council member Brigit Bennington, who was appointed to the Council in October after former Council member Jeremiah Brosowske was voted off the dais in September.
Bird, who represents District 5, was elected to the Council in November 2016. Both Bird and Bennington have not announced reelection bids.
“I was told that they would attack Larry and Brigit and that they didn’t care if what they said was true or not. They were going to say it anyhow,” Holland told the Daily Press.
Former Council candidate Larry Nava, who served Holland with the recall notice in April 2019, told the Daily Press the recall petition process was “mismanaged” by signature gatherers that were hired from “down the hill.”
“The recall petition was going well until they hired these people who just wanted to get their $6 for each signature,” said Nava, who stepped away from the recall effort last year to help with another political venture. “I think these people were desperate to get paid and said anything to get a signature.”
Nava, who ran against Holland and three others in the 2018 November election, said he questions why the signature gatherers were at Walmart, which is located in District 1.
“I think Holland should finish out his last term and then step aside,” Nava said. “If I’m going to run again, I’m going to win on my own merits.”
Reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, [email protected], Instagram@renegadereporter, Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.
https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20200206/in-hesperia-recall-effort-against-holland-fails 3/3 2/7/2020 New campus approved for San Bernardino charter school – San Bernardino Sun
LOCAL NEWS New campus approved for San Bernardino charter school Norton Science and Language Academy serves about 830 students from across Southern California
The new Norton Science and Language Academy campus at Waterman Avenue and Valley Street will replace an empty lot jointly owned by San Bernardino and the county. (Rendering courtesy of the city of San Bernardino.)
By BRIAN WHITEHEAD || [email protected] || SanSan BernardinoBernardino Sun PUBLISHED: February 6, 2020 at 12:51 pm || UPDATED:UPDATED: February 6, 2020 at 12:52
https://www.sbsun.com/2020/02/06/new-campus-approved-for-san-bernardino-charter-school/ 1/4 Norton Science and Language Academy is getting a new campus on Waterman Avenue in San Bernardino.
The Spanish-English dual immersion charter school serves more than 800 students from 20 school districts across Southern California.
City leaders on Wednesday, Feb. 6, unanimously approved plans toto buildbuild aa 90,000-square-foot campus on a vacant lot at Waterman and Valley Street about a mile from the facility Norton Science and Language Academy has used for more than a decade.
Norton Science and Language Academy in San Bernardino could have a new campus built Waterman Avenue and Valley Street about a mile from its current Central Avenue facility. (P Whitehead, The Sun/SCNG)
The school expects to serve 1,450 students, kindergarten to 12th grade, within threethree toto fivefive years,years, makingmaking itit thethe firstfirst chartercharter schoolschool ofof itsits kindkind inin thethe region.region.
“As educators, we’re dedicated to serving our scholars,” Principal Fausto Barragan said ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “We’re not just dedicated, but passionate about serving our scholars.”
In addition to rezoning 16 parcels intended for single-family residences and industrialindustrial buildings,buildings, SanSan BernardinoBernardino leadersleaders grantedgranted otherother approvalsapprovals toto pavepave thethe wayway forfor thethe newnew schoolschool site.site.
https://www.sbsun.com/2020/02/06/new-campus-approved-for-san-bernardino-charter-school/ 2/4 2/7/2020 New campus approved for San Bernardino charter school – San Bernardino Sun The 18-acre lot at Waterman and Valley is jointly owned by the city and county and pegged forfor aa countycounty preschoolpreschool facilityfacility andand chartercharter school.school.
The new campus will have seven single-story buildings and a two-story building clustered around three quads. There also will be an indoor gym, outdoor basketball courts and playgrounds. An athletic field is planned for the west side of the property, across from houses on Allen Street.
A traffic light is expected to be installed at Waterman and Valley. A bus stop is planned along Waterman. 2/7/2020 San Bernardino County’s taxpayers deserve respect | Opinion | fontanaheraldnews.com
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/opinion/san-bernardino-county-s-taxpayers-deserve- respect/article_8c853356-4902-11ea-bd15-7 26fea8c4f.html San Bernardino County’s taxpayers deserve respect
By DARCIE McNABOE Feb 6, 2020
In December of last year, a few members of the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) Board were contacted by Assemblymember Chris Holden (who represents the northern San Gabriel Valley) to receive initial reactions to his concept of a new construction authority that would expand the Gold Line to Ontario International Airport. As discussions continued, Mr. Holden delayed introduction of his legislation to further engage our Board.
Through these subsequent conversations, I along with a few select members of our Board, shared our opinion that the creation of a new construction authority is unnecessary to successfully plan and construct the desired passenger rail connection to ONT. From our perspective, this new entity would make the desired transit project more costly and serve to increase the time for project delivery.
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We a rmed that SBCTA is the authority for transportation in San Bernardino County and that we were willing to partner with other existing agencies -- including LA Metro and Metrolink -- to create a regional transportation solution. We shared with Mr. Holden our Board’s commitment to see that plans for future rail and transit access to Ontario International Airport are
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/opinion/san-bernardino-county-s-taxpayers-deserve-respect/article_8c853356-4902-11ea-bd15-7ff26fea8c4f.html 1/2 2/7/2020 San Bernardino County’s taxpayers deserve respect | Opinion | fontanaheraldnews.com consistent with the needs of San Bernardino County taxpayers, who would bear the nancial responsibility for the project, and provide connectivity to our neighbors in Riverside, Orange, and Los Angeles County.
Despite our requests to work within the framework of SBCTA, I was disappointed to learn that Mr. Holden introduced legislation that would allow the state to dictate that San Bernardino County taxpayers fund an expanded bureaucracy to build a multi-billion transportation project that has not been approved by the SBCTA Board or by the voters of San Bernardino County through Measure I.
As one of the nation’s fastest-growing counties, we have signi cant transportation challenges that need to be addressed and limited funding to address them. This requires a sense of priority. Instead of creating a new government entity focused on constructing a project that primarily bene ts Los Angeles County at the expense of San Bernardino County, we encourage the Assemblymember to collaborate with SBCTA to address the issue of airport connectivity in a more meaningful and realistic way.
(Darcie McNaboe is president of the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority.)
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/opinion/san-bernardino-county-s-taxpayers-deserve-respect/article_8c853356-4902-11ea-bd15-7ff26fea8c4f.html 2/2 2/7/2020 SB County Superior Court names Scott Seeley new commissioner | News | highlandnews.net
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/sb-county-superior-court-names-scott-seeley-new- commissioner/article_9b7a5e6c-48fe-11ea-821c-1b1c9b397952.html SB County Superior Court names Scott Seeley new commissioner
Feb 6, 2020
The Superior Court of San Bernardino County recently announce the selection of Scott E. Seeley as the court’s newest commissioner, lling the vacancy created by the retirement of Commissioner Wm. Charles Bradley.
Seeley was o cially sworn in on Monday, Feb. 3, and will begin his new assignment at the Barstow Courthouse later in February.
Seeley brings over 30 years of legal experience and joins the court from the Law O ces of the Public Defender for San Bernardino County, where he has served since 1991.
Seeley graduated from California State University at Long Beach in December 1982 and received a Juris Doctorate Degree from Glendale College of Law in June 1990.
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Superior Court commissioners hear matters including, but not limited to, family law, small claims, unlawful detainers (eviction), child support, domestic violence, civil harassment, tra c and criminal matters. Commissioners must be active members in good standing with the State Bar of California, and be admitted to practice law in California for at least 10 years.
https://www.highlandnews.net/news/sb-county-superior-court-names-charles-bradley-new-commissioner/article_9b7a5e6c-48fe-11ea-821c-1b1c9b397… 1/2 2/7/2020 Sewer rates to rise in Victorville starting July 1 - News - vvdailypress.com - Victorville, CA
Sewer rates to rise in Victorville starting July 1 By Martin Estacio Staff Writer Posted Feb 6, 2020 at 8:29 PM Updated Feb 6, 2020 at 8:29 PM A new increase, approved Tuesday by the City Council, will bump single-family residential customers’ monthly bills from $37.98 to $42.20, an amount that’s $1.37 higher than the $40.83 approved when the Council raised sewer and solid- waste rates in 2018.
VICTORVILLE — Residents here will soon see an increase in their sewer bills that will be more than what was initially approved following the City Council’s vote Tuesday to amend a fee schedule in response to the Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority raising its rates for treatment.
The increase will take effect July 1, the start of Fiscal Year 2020-21. It will bump single-family residential customers’ monthly bills from $37.98 to $42.20, an amount that’s $1.37 higher than the $40.83 approved when the Council raised sewer and solid-waste rates in 2018.
Per the Council’s vote on Tuesday, rates will continue to rise through FY 2022-23 at a level higher than what was approved in 2018, city documents show.
In July 2021, single-family residential customers will pay $46.80, and $51.89 the next year, according to city documents, a more than 36% increase over 2019 rates. The hikes will also affect multi-family
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residential and industrial customers.
Before Tuesday’s vote, City Manager Keith Metzler said it was possible to implement the increases without Proposition 218 rules, which typically require a protest process, due to a provision that allows VVWRA’s cost increases to be passed directly to ratepayers.
VVWRA, which also treats wastewater for Apple Valley, Hesperia and unincorporated areas in San Bernardino County, provided service for over 126,000 in Victorville in 2017, according to a financial report.
On Tuesday, Council member Blanca Gomez suggested the rate increases were tied to a lawsuit and settlements between the city and VVWRA.
“It’s not fair for us to say this has nothing to do with that because they are correlated,” Gomez told the Council from the public speakers’ podium.
Although City Attorney Andre de Bortnowsky said there was no lawsuit pending, the city remains in mediation with VVWRA over a yearslong dispute that the latter has said could threaten its ability to fund future operations and pay off debts.
A claim filed by VVWRA in 2017 alleged the city violated an agreement when it began diverting domestic wastewater flows into its own wastewater plant located at the north end of the Southern California Logistics Airport starting around 2013.
According to the claim, the agreement, renewed in 2006, “provides that VVWRA will be responsible for receiving, treating and disposing of ALL flows from the communities it serves.”
At the time, VVWRA officials said the city owed them about $8 million: $7.3 million for the diverted flows and an additional $752,000 in non-delivered connection fees.
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The city rejected the claim. City spokesperson Sue Jones told the Daily Press in an email that mediation has been occurring since January 2018.
A year before, the city gave notice that it would end its service agreement with VVWRA; however, the heads-up required for termination is 30 years.
Jones emphasized that the rate increases approved Tuesday “have nothing to do with the dispute.”
VVWRA spokesperson David Wylie declined to say whether Victorville’s flow diversion played a role in the increases.
But a VVWRA financial report released Jan. 28 listed the diversion as one of “several issues that could, if unmitigated, negatively impact the Authority’s revenue and necessary cash flows to fund ongoing operations and to service the debt obligations authorized by the governing Members of the Authority.”
“Management believes that the dispute arising out of the flow diversion has a negative impact on cash flow and operations that may or may not be addressed by a rate increase,” the report said.
In 2019, VVWRA reported that its “net position,” an indicator of financial health, decreased almost 6% due to a loss of $10.7 million from ongoing operations.
Revenues also decreased 0.3%, while expenses increased 7.7% from the previous year.
According to the report, a retired judge issued an “advisory, non- binding opinion” related to the flow-diversion dispute and that negotiations had started regarding a settlement.
Wylie did not elaborate on the mediation. “VVWRA is optimistic that there will be a resolution very soon,” he said in an email.
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Also listed as issues affecting its financial well-being, VVWRA noted the non-payment of connection fees by the city of Hesperia, and a potential clawback of about $33 million in federal grant awards.
In 2017, the Daily Press reported Hesperia had failed to turn over about $1.5 million in collected connection fees to VVWRA in response to the flow-diversion dispute.
As of June 30, 2019, VVWRA reported that the issue with Hesperia remained outstanding.
In the financial report released last week, VVWRA officials said they also awaited a decision from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after a report from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General recommended the taking back of millions used to fund a construction project.
Federal auditors said VVWRA mismanaged funds and offered misleading information to FEMA when it performed a pipeline replacement in 2016.
VVWRA officials have refuted the findings, according to previous Daily Press reports. They said they anticipate a positive determination by FEMA following a review of close-out documents, the financial report reads.
A request for comment from FEMA was not immediately returned Thursday.
Meanwhile, Victorville is not the only city to see sewer rates go up as a result of VVWRA’s treatment-cost increases.
Hesperia city spokesperson Rachel Molina said in an email that sewer rates rose there by 8% for about 5,700 accounts.
Town spokesperson Orlando Acevedo, however, told the Daily Press officials there are not proposing any additional rate increases based on VVWRA’s changes.
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“Future years will be evaluated if VVWRA rates continue to increase,” Acevedo said.
Martin Estacio may be reached at [email protected] or at 760-955- 5358. Follow him on Twitter @DP_mestacio.
https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20200206/sewer-rates-to-rise-in-victorville-starting-july-1 5/5 Upland warehouse project criticized by California air regulators, Montclair and Claremont – Daily Bulletin
LOCAL NEWS • News Upland warehouse project criticized by California air regulators, Montclair and Claremont Planning Commission hearing, vote scheduled for Feb. 12
By STEVE SCAUZILLO | [email protected] | San Gabriel Valley Tribune PUBLISHED: February 6, 2020 at 10:41 am | UPDATED: February 6, 2020 at 10:47 am
The conclusions that a 201,000-square-foot logistics warehouse proposed for northwest Upland won’t add to air pollution, global warming or cause traffic tie-ups is being questioned by state environmental agencies and two adjacent cities.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District says the Bridge Development Partners project’s analysis contained in a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) underestimated the number of truck trips and the resulting air pollution impacts to the community. At issue is the health effects caused by tailpipe emissions from trucks, vans and automobiles entering and leaving the distribution center. Upland warehouse project criticized by California air regulators, Montclair and Claremont – Daily Bulletin
A schematic of a warehouse/logistics/retail building and landscaping plan as shown in this diagram. The proposed project, for Foothill Boulevard and Central Avenue in Upland has been analyzed in an environmental study released on Dec. 16, 2019. The project design, environmental study and development agreement will go before the Upland Planning Commission on Feb. 12. (Courtesy of Bridge Development Partners).
“The Lead Agency did not perform a mobile source health risk assessment analysis,” concluded the M SCAQMD’s Lijin Sun, program supervisor for the California Environmental Quality Act and planning, rule development and area sources.
Bridge, through its consultant Kimley-Horn, responded to the anti-smog agency, saying it has performed a health risk study, which specifically examines possible occurrences of cancer, and found that the warehouse planned for the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Central Avenue will produce 1.92 cases of cancer per 1 million residents, well below the acceptable level of 10 cancer cases in 1 million set by the SCAQMD. Upland warehouse project criticized by California air regulators, Montclair and Claremont – Daily Bulletin
“This project is 1.92 incidences of cancer. That is well below the 10 incidences per million. It is a minuscule percent,” said Heather Crossner, vice president of Bridge Development Partners during an interview on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
In addition, the SCAQMD criticized Bridge for talking about green measures instead of promising alternatives that would reduce diesel particulate pollution, the main pollutant that causes lung disease and premature death, studies show. Sun of the SCAQMD wrote that Bridge should “go beyond providing information by requiring the use of zero-emission or near-zero-emission heavy-duty trucks during operation.”
Bridge has pledged to provide 30 electric vehicle charging stations on-site. It will build 0.75 megawatts of rooftop solar, use only electric-powered forklifts and all-electric and battery-operated landscaping tools. As a result, the project will have “net-zero” electricity consumption, further reducing the release
https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_source=twitter.com[2/6/2020 10:54:54 AM] Upland warehouse project criticized by California air regulators, Montclair and Claremont – Daily Bulletin
of greenhouse gases from power plants, Crossner said.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said it disagrees with the conclusions that building a warehouse on the 50-acre site will not destroy natural vegetation and in particular, the habitat needed for the burrowing owl, a species of special concern. The agency said burrowing owls were spotted immediately next to the site and the developer failed to perform a habitat assessment.
The city needs to determine the potential effects of the development on the burrowing owls, wrote Scott Wilson, CDFW environmental program manager. Bridge said in the document that it will conduct a search for any owls before allowing the start of any construction activity. If owls are found, they may be moved from the site according to state rules.
“If they comply with the requirement of the CDFW I’m not going to make an issue out of it. But it pains me to see this habitat being lost,” said Councilwoman Janice Elliott during an interview Feb. 5.
The developer said the project will be one building, approximately 191,096 square feet for warehouse/parcel delivery uses and 10,000 square feet would be office/retail uses. Also, it would “add less than 1% to the existing traffic on Baseline Road, approximately 2% to the existing traffic on Benson Avenue and less than 5% to Foothill Boulevard.” The developer added that about 98% of the vehicle trips generated would be automobiles or vans and not heavy-duty diesel trucks.
The project goes before the Planning Commission for a possible vote on Feb. 12. It would consist of a 201,096-square-foot warehouse/delivery/retail office center with 16 dock-high doors for trucks and 16 van-loading doors; 224 parking spaces; 12 stalls of truck trailer parking and 1,104 van parking stalls.
The city of Montclair wrote it “remains concerned” about RELATED LINKS additional trucks using Central Avenue, saying they also
would go through Montclair to get to the 10 Freeway. Upland warehouse project passes
https://www.dailybulletin.com/...tm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-ivdailybulletin&utm_source=twitter.com[2/6/2020 10:54:54 AM] Upland warehouse project criticized by California air regulators, Montclair and Claremont – Daily Bulletin
Instead, it wants Upland to require the developer to use environmental test, study says Mountain Avenue as a truck route. Developers sharing environmental Claremont wrote a lengthy response, saying the findings for warehouse proposal in Upland warehouse/logistics distribution center “could have a Is Amazon interested in Upland, and will detrimental effect on future traffic flows on nearby Upland deliver? Claremont streets and intersections.” Upland residents, City Council debate Claremont said the MND underestimates the number of proposed logistics warehouse and its truck trips generated once the warehouse is operational. impact on the environment Though Bridge has not signed a tenant, it has said it is Warehouses proposed for Upland, working with a Fortune 10 company. Many residents and panned at workshop others assume the company is Amazon, but that has not been confirmed.
By not naming the tenant, the exact use and the details of how the warehouse will operate remains unclear, wrote Brad Johnson, Claremont’s community development director. Claremont requested that driveway counts be conducted at three different Amazon facilities within the region as a comparison. Bridge responded, saying its consultants did a review of nearby Amazon facilities. 2/7/2020 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper
2nd child at Riverside air base is in hospital
First one returns to quarantine after test is negative for virus. BY COLLEEN SHALBY A second child was taken to Riverside University Health System Medical Center after developing a fever Wednesday while under quarantine at March Air Reserve Base, authorities said. The child was tested for the new coronavirus and is awaiting results, Riverside County Department of Public Health spokesman Jose Arballo Jr. said. On Monday, a child was taken to the medical center after developing a fever. The child — a 10-month-old boy, according to documents obtained by Newsweek — was returned to the base Wednesday by government vehicle after testing negative for the virus, Riverside public health officials said. The children are among a group of 195 Americans who are under a mandatory 14-day federal quarantine at the base that began Jan. 29. The travelers — among them, U.S. diplomats and their families — fled Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. Additionally, a traveler who landed at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday and was transferred to the base has been released after a short quarantine. Arballo said the individual was isolated from the larger group and was screened for the virus Wednesday afternoon before receiving clearance to leave. To date, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health officials have confirmed 12 cases of the coronavirus in the United States, with a new case verified in Wisconsin. Six cases are in California.
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?edid=32f89bdc-9c84-4795-94cb-aeaaf44f442f 1/2 2/7/2020 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper
5 on quarantine flight hospitalized
Plane with 167 people possibly exposed to coronavirus lands at San Diego air station.
A CHARTER PLANE from China lands at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on Wednesday to begin 14 days of quarantine after possible coronavirus exposure. (John Gibbins San Diego Union-Tribune) BY PAUL SISSON SAN DIEGO — Shortly after touching down in San Diego, four of 167 passengers on a quarantine flight that landed Wednesday morning at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar were taken to hospitals after showing symptoms of coronavirus infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement Wednesday night.
By Thursday evening, a fifth person had been hospitalized.
None of the U.S. citizens or their family members aboard the airliner, who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, and surrounding provinces, showed any symptoms when they boarded the flight.
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However, screenings performed after their arrival at Miramar on Wednesday morning found that four adults and one child had fever or a cough, possible symptoms of infection with the novel virus that has now sickened more than 31,000 people worldwide and killed more than 630 in China. There is no proof yet that any of the five has coronavirus. Many illnesses, including the common cold, can cause the symptoms the repatriated travelers showed. Additional DNA- based testing at the CDC will be necessary to determine what is causing those symptoms. In the meantime, all five were taken to medical facilities: Three adults to a UC San Diego Health hospital, and an adult and a child to Rady Children’s Hospital, the CDC said. Dr. Francesca Torriani, medical director of infection prevention and clinical epidemiology at UC San Diego, said Wednesday afternoon, just hours before she was notified that two patients were headed her way, that care would be handled under special protocols specified by the CDC. They include isolation in “negative pressure” rooms with special equipment that keeps the air inside from entering the rest of the hospital. Because the virus can travel up to six feet inside large water droplets airborne when an infected person coughs or sneezes, all medical personnel will wear gowns, gloves, face masks or goggles and custom-fitted N95 masks to cover their mouths and noses when they enter patients’ rooms. Overall, she said, caring for a patient with coronavirus is similar to caring for a patient with the flu, which spreads in the same way. These kinds of precautions, she said, are common, especially with patients who have conditions such as tuberculosis, and their use requires no additional training. “This is what we do normally,” Torriani said. “We have patients in contact precautions for other reasons very often and so hospital personnel [are] very familiar with those rules.” She said potential coronavirus cases are not a severe enough threat to require the use of a special isolation ward created at UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest during the Ebola outbreak of 2014. Regular negative-pressure isolation rooms available at the hospital, or Jacobs Medical Center, its sister facility in La Jolla, would be adequate for the task, and the university is not planning to say which of the two hospitals the three adults are being sent to. The location is more clear in the case of the child and adult, because Rady Children’s operates the only pediatric medical center in the region. Dr. Nick Holmes, chief operating officer at Rady, said Wednesday afternoon that handling such cases should be well within the capabilities of all hospital personnel. Like UC San Diego, Rady increased its infectious disease control and isolation capabilities in 2014 during the Ebola scare. “For these cases, we’re using the regular personal protective equipment that we would use for any other airborne pathogen because its transmission is similar to influenza,” Holmes said. “We use this equipment each and every day at the hospital. It’s our normal course of business, and our staff and nurses have standard competencies in being able to do this.” https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?edid=32f89bdc-9c84-4795-94cb-aeaaf44f442f 2/4 2/7/2020 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper
Earlier in the day, Dr. Christopher Braden, a deputy director with the CDC deployed to handle repatriation flights from China to California, said during a news conference that the strategy is to isolate anyone with symptoms because doing so is the best way to prevent such a virus from starting the kind of person-to-person path that can eventually result in a pandemic. Braden said Wednesday that some were concerned about having potential coronavirus cases in their midst, including whether it might put their children at risk. The physician noted that no base personnel are allowed to visit the two buildings under quarantine, so there should be no worries about contamination. “We know this situation may be concerning to people in the Miramar base [and] in the surrounding community; however, based on our experience with other coronaviruses, we don’t believe these individuals pose a risk to the community because we’re doing all we can to take measures to minimize any potential exposures,” Braden said. The CDC has directed those inside the cordon for 14 days to stay six feet away from one another if they’re concerned about infection, though that precaution is not considered essential because it generally takes prolonged exposure for viral transmission and anyone with preliminary symptoms would be removed to a hospital immediately. Pains are being taken, Braden added, to make this quarantine, the first that the CDC has undertaken in 50 years, comfortable. All are to be provided with three meals a day plus snacks and on-site medical care if they need it. One of the two locations has a playground that quarantined children can use, and a second is to be installed soon. “We hope to provide for children that they would have somewhere where they could play and grow while they’re here,” Braden said. The number of people who arrived at Miramar on Wednesday, Braden said, was smaller than he first expected. When the flight was first envisioned, he said, it looked like it would have about 290 people on board. Chatting with some of the newly arrived travelers Wednesday, Braden said, it appeared that some who originally intended to evacuate changed their minds at the last minute. “They thought that actually, for some people, they may have signed up to come and be evacuated but it was a very hard decision because they are leaving family behind and maybe they changed their mind,” Braden said. CDC and military officials said Wednesday they expected Miramar to receive another flight from China this week. But Braden warned that everything about the current evacuation plan is fluid.
“This mission changes, if not by the day, then by the hour,” he said. Miramar is one of three California military bases being used as quarantine sites — the others are Travis Air Force Base and March Air Reserve Base. Travis received another aircraft with quarantined Americans on Wednesday and March is housing nearly 200 people who arrived Jan. 29.
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Three bases outside California are also designated quarantine sites. Those are: Ft. Carson, Colo.; Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio; and, as the Pentagon announced Wednesday, Camp Ashland, Neb. Sisson writes for the the San Diego Union-Tribune. Union-Tribune staff writer Andrew Dyer contributed to this report.
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Anti-Asian panic is spreading like a virus
The medical scapegoating of Asians has a long, ugly history in California. BY TAMARA VENIT-SHELTON The images out of Wuhan are chilling. In the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, health officials in white hazmat suits hover over the body of a victim. Crowds of ordinary people, their faces obscured by surgical masks, try to carry on as normal. As the United States, Australia, Russia, Japan and many other countries announce travel restrictions to and from China, it was only a matter of time before paranoia about coronavirus and Asians would spread as well. On Jan. 30, Los Angeles officials warned that a fake letter circulating on Facebook and email falsely claimed that five people in Carson, a city south of downtown Los Angeles, had contracted coronavirus and named five local businesses in an Asian neighborhood as being connected to the outbreak. The hoax letter is just one instance of fear-mongering directed at Asian communities that is playing out on social media. An Instagram post by UC Berkeley’s health services offered reassurance that anti-Asian xenophobia was a “common” and “normal” reaction to concerns about contracting coronavirus (it was deleted after alumni and students voiced outrage). Meanwhile, students across California have reported feeling that fear of the virus made them targets for anti-Asian comments and open hostility. Racial profiling for coronavirus isn’t confined to California or the United States. Asians in Europe — including Chinese but also Vietnamese and Cambodians — have reported coronavirus-inspired acts of harassment in schools and playgrounds as well as on public transportation. Chinese shop owners in Italy and France have noted a decline in their business as fearful customers keep their distance.
The Italian coast guard quarantined 7,000 passengers and crew aboard a cruise ship off the coast near Rome when a traveler from Hong Kong developed flu-like symptoms. It was, indeed, nothing but the flu, but locals at the port staged a protest demanding the testing of all 750 Chinese on the ship. Rising incidents of anti-Asian abuse have been reported in Australia and Canada as well.
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In the United States, racially charged panic over the virus echoes a long history of anti- Asian racism that identified Asian Americans and their businesses and neighborhoods as vectors for epidemic disease. Beginning in the 1870s, as immigration from China to the United States surged, public health officials often wrongly linked American Chinatowns to outbreaks of leprosy, smallpox, bubonic plague and tuberculosis. In San Francisco, the Department of Public Health had a practice of conducting medical investigations that quarantined Chinatown and restricted its inhabitants’ freedoms. Yet, the Chinese had no higher rates of mortality than any other working-class community in San Francisco. Motivated by fear and racism, authorities sometimes simultaneously quarantined Asian American neighborhoods and denied them essential medical services. For example, the Chinese were shut out of San Francisco’s public hospitals during a citywide outbreak of bubonic plague in 1900. In response, they organized their own private hospital, staffed by a combination of Western-trained medical scientists and traditional Chinese herbalists. In 1918, as the global influenza pandemic crested, Japanese immigrants were similarly excluded from mainstream medical care in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Medical scapegoating and discriminatory policing of Asian-owned businesses and homes were routine in the 19th century. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for these attitudes to be reawakened, particularly during health crises. In the 1980s, for instance, Los Angeles County health inspectors targeted Chinese restaurants displaying roasted Peking ducks in their windows. The inspectors claimed, without evidence, that the ducks harbored salmonella and other bacteria. As epidemiologists look to the future, they anticipate that many global epidemics will emanate from less developed parts of the world, including Asia. Successful containment will depend on broad, public support for scientists and health officials, working to disseminate accurate information about how viruses spread. Effectively fighting contagions will also require fighting fears driven by racist impulses. The quarantines of Chinatowns in the 19th century didn’t suppress disease or improve public health but did legitimize discrimination against entire populations. Today, as state agencies and school authorities issue warnings and reassurances, they should be sensitive to this historical pattern. What’s needed is evidenced-based, easily understood information that defuses public anxieties without provoking race-based panic and deepening inequalities.
Tamara Venit-Shelton is an associate professor of history at Claremont McKenna College and author of “Herbs and Roots: A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace.”
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?edid=32f89bdc-9c84-4795-94cb-aeaaf44f442f 2/2 Riverside County’s homeless youth situation called ‘shocking’ – Press Enterprise
LOCAL NEWS Riverside County’s homeless youth situation called ‘shocking’
Riverside County’s homeless youth situation called ‘shocking’ – Press Enterprise
Robin Gilliland, Temecula’s homeless outreach administrator, speaks to volunteers before the start of Riverside County’s 2020 Point In Time Count in Temecula on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. Teams of volunteers also spent three days last week counting homeless youths. (File photo by Andrew Foulk, Contributing Photographer)
By DAVID DOWNEY | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: February 6, 2020 at 10:56 am | UPDATED: February 6, 2020 at 10:58 am
Volunteers conducting this winter’s Riverside County homeless count found a pregnant 22-year-old woman on the street in Moreno Valley and many unaccompanied homeless children under 18 in Riverside.
“It was an eye opener,” said Luis Lopez, youth point-in-time count coordinator for the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services.
What survey takers encountered, he said, “was just shocking.”
https://www.pe.com/...shocking/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_source=twitter.com[2/6/2020 1:44:58 PM] Riverside County’s homeless youth situation called ‘shocking’ – Press Enterprise
In all, teams composed of about 1,000 volunteers fanned out across the county last week, in many cities, to look for people of all ages spending the night under bridges, camping in ravines along creeks and living in tents.
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In a separate wave, more than 200 volunteers looked specifically for homeless youths ages 24 and younger, Lopez said.
The general homeless count that focused on adults took place early Wednesday, Jan. 29. The youth count was done on three afternoons and evenings, Wednesday, Jan. 29 through Friday, Jan. 31. Results from the youth survey are compiled as part of the overall snapshot of the homeless population, which is called the 2020 Point in Time Count.
Teams of volunteers do the counts every year about this time across Southern California. The surveys are used to allocate millions in federal and state dollars for shelters and services for the homeless.
Natalie Profant Komuro, deputy Riverside County executive officer for homelessness solutions, said the youth component is crucial.
“It’s very important to understand where homeless youth are residing and how best we might reach them,” Komuro said.
https://www.pe.com/...shocking/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_source=twitter.com[2/6/2020 1:44:58 PM] Riverside County’s homeless youth situation called ‘shocking’ – Press Enterprise
Results won’t be available for several weeks.
However, statistics are expected to be compiled faster than in 2019. Komuro said she anticipates releasing this year’s report in March, instead of April, as has been the case in recent years.
In 2019, the Riverside County survey counted a total of 2,811 homeless people, including 2,045 living on the street and 766 staying in shelters — for an overall increase of more than 20% from the previous year.
At the same time, teams reported 264 youths countywide between ages 18 and 24, including 181 on the street and 83 in shelters, the report shows.
Another 214 — 199 in shelters and 15 on the street — were under age 18.
Last year, teams found 57 youths in the 18-24 range in Riverside, 16 in Corona, 12 in Lake Elsinore, nine each in Hemet and Perris, seven each in Jurupa Valley and Moreno Valley, and five in Temecula.
Those on the street younger than 18 were mostly in the city of Riverside.
Surveying populations of people on the street is, at best, difficult and prone to under counts, officials said. And it’s significantly harder to accurately count youths.
“You might not find any on your shift at all,” said Sara Tellez, street outreach lead for Operation Safehouse, which provides emergency shelter and services for runaway, homeless and other youths in crisis. Tellez led teams that surveyed for homeless youths in downtown Riverside last week.
On one such afternoon shift, a team walked many blocks, stopping at at a market, recycling center, coffee houses, fast-food restaurants, White Park, the city library and a church, before finding four youths on the street, Tellez said. She said significantly more teens were sighted during the evenings.
It’s hard to count homeless teens in part because they tend to look cleaner than homeless adults and often aren’t distinguishable from other youths, Tellez said.
https://www.pe.com/...shocking/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_source=twitter.com[2/6/2020 1:44:58 PM] Riverside County’s homeless youth situation called ‘shocking’ – Press Enterprise
“They haven’t burned all their bridges,” she said. “So they’re still able to connect with some of their friends, some of their family.
“And they’re able to spend the night somewhere and take a shower.”
Other nights, they sleep on the street.
“They fall in out and of homelessness,” Lopez said. “They are couch surfing.”
Valeria Pacheco, a 16-year-old Riverside resident, said she RELATED LINKS knows kids who left home because of conflicts with their
families and who have bounced from couch to couch. Volunteers hit streets to count Riverside County’s homeless Their friends’ parents often tell them, “Look, you can crash here for a night, but then you have to go somewhere else,” Why Riverside’s mayor is sleeping in an Pacheco said. “So they have to jump from place to place.” 8-by-8 metal shed to help the homeless
Some nights they sleep in parks, where it is unsafe and Homeless camp dismantled at Hole Lake after 7 weeks of warnings uncomfortable, she said.
Which Riverside County cities have the “They won’t have a pillow. They won’t have a mattress,” most homeless people? Pacheco said. “They will have the concrete, which is cold, or the grass, where there are bugs.” More homeless counted on Riverside County’s streets for second year in a row LOCAL NEWS Riverside panel rejects 50-unit complex for homeless and low-income people
By RYAN HAGEN | [email protected] | The Press-Enterprise PUBLISHED: February 6, 2020 at 2:59 pm | UPDATED: February 6, 2020 at 3:43 pm
A two-story apartment complex with 50 units for homeless or low-income people on the campus of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church doesn’t fit the character of the neighborhood, Riverside’s Planning Commission said Thursday, Feb. 6, as it denied the project.
The decision, which can be appealed to the Riverside City Council within 10 calendar days, comes after two years of advocates calling the project an important piece of efforts to solve Riverside’s homeless crisis — and two years of residents saying their concerns about the project are being ignored.
https://www.pe.com/...e-people/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_source=twitter.com[2/6/2020 3:50:40 PM] Riverside panel rejects 50-unit complex for homeless and low-income people – Press Enterprise
The proposal is not a homeless shelter.
Residents would live in their own apartment, with 24 of the units set aside for homeless people who would receive support for mental health and other issues, 25 for low-income residents and one unit for a manager, said Kyle Paine, president of Community Development Partners, which would build the project.
Services would only be given to residents of the complex, proposed for the corner of Jackson Street and Hawthorne Avenue, across from Hunt Park.
But neighbors said they were afraid of what previously homeless people might do if they lived in the area, bringing up the possibility of sex offenders attacking them or their children.
“All of us have seen the homeless in the city that pick through dumpsters and trash cans,” said Scott Hilton, whose house borders the church. “Before you vote, please think of me and my wife having to move because we fear for our safety.”
Supporters of the project said there was no reason to think a person who had been homeless or low income would be more likely to be violent.
“I am very distressed by the way in which people who are low-income have been vilified here today,” said Rabbi Suzanne Singer of Congregation Temple Beth El. “Why are we assuming that people who are possibly homeless are sex criminals or are going to assault your children?” M
Residents would have to pass a background check to live in the project.
Many of those who spoke in favor of the project were affiliated with a religious organization, while most those who spoke against it lived in the neighborhood.
https://www.pe.com/...e-people/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=tw-pressenterprise&utm_source=twitter.com[2/6/2020 3:50:40 PM] Riverside panel rejects 50-unit complex for homeless and low-income people – Press Enterprise
The city received two petitions about the project — one with 153 opponents; the other with 131 supporters.
The project would be run by Mercy House, which also runs Home Front at Camp Anza in Riverside for homeless and disabled veterans and their families, as well as projects in other cities.
The St. Michael’s project would be similar in size to Camp Anza, which is also in a residential area near a park, said Larry Haynes, executive director of Mercy House.
“In 30 years time — and we operate in business districts, in RELATED LINKS residential neighborhoods — we have never had a single
adverse impact on any neighborhood,” Haynes said. Riverside County’s homeless youth “There’s no evidence we’re reducing anybody’s property situation called ‘shocking’ values and there is no evidence of one of our clients being New group, Riverside Strong, wants disruptive to one of our neighbors in 30 years.” crackdown on homeless Planning commissioners focused their remarks on the size Riverside to allow one or two homeless of the project and parking, which they said would disrupt people to live in 64-square-foot shelters the neighborhood. Riverside approves 10 cottages for The project would include 100 parking spaces, more than homeless people on Mulberry Street traffic engineer Nathan Mustafa said were required by Riverside councilwoman drops attempt to code. Code requirements include 0.5 spaces per unit, plus oust election foe from panel one space per seat in the church’s assembly area, Mustafa said.
Of the nine members of the Planning Commission, three voted in favor of the project: Omar Zaki, Richard Kirby and Maartin Rossouw. 2/7/2020 Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office stops paying officials to commute | The Sacramento Bee
DW
CAPITOL ALERT
Capitol Alert After Bee investigation, Gavin Newsom ends long- distance commuting deals for state executives
BY SOPHIA BOLLAG AND WES VENTEICHER
FEBRUARY 07, 2020 05:00 AM
BY
California government stopped paying for officials to commute across the state last year after The Sacramento Bee reported on a department director’s regular travel between Sacramento and San Diego, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told The Bee this week.
The change affects a handful of officials who had long-distance commuting agreements under former Gov. Jerry Brown, according to Newsom’s office.
The Bee reported in June that taxpayers paid more than $21,000 for former Caltrans director Laurie Berman to commute to Sacramento from San Diego for a year. The state paid for Berman’s flights and most of the rent for a Sacramento apartment, along with thousands of dollars more in Lyft rides, rental cars and meals. Berman retired in June.
The Newsom administration looked into similar arrangements for other state officials and canceled those they found, said Newsom spokesman Jesse Melgar.
Newsom’s office informed state secretaries, undersecretaries and other officials that they must pay for their own travel if they choose to live somewhere other than where they work, according to the governor’s office.
The Sacramento Bee submitted a California Public Records Act request seeking the agreements and the administration’s new policy, but the governor’s office said it did not have any records responsive to the request.
“In early 2019, we discovered that some personnel had arrangements with the previous administration to pay for commuting,” Melgar said in a statement. “The Newsom administration put in place policy that forbids these arrangements and worked with impacted individuals to come in line with this policy. Today, no agency officials are being compensated for commuting.”
Some senior-ranking officials in the Newsom administration live far from Sacramento, such as Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly, who lives in South Pasadena. They commute at their own expense, according to the governor’s office.
The state had been reimbursing fewer than a dozen officials for spending on travel between their homes and offices under the old agreements, according to Newsom’s office.
Brown appointed Berman as Caltrans director in February 2018. Before that, she was the department’s chief deputy director and was based in San Diego.
Her successor in the San Diego office, Ryan Chamberlain, also billed the state for regular Sacramento travel. Chamberlain received about $20,000 for flights to and from the capital from March 2018 through March 2019 and was reimbursed about $3,000 in car rentals.
State policy generally forbids departments from paying for employee travel that is not directly work-related, with some exceptions.
A May 2019 state auditor’s report detailed about $90,000 in state spending on commutes for two midlevel administrators, one from Caltrans and one from the Department of State Hospitals. The report called the spending “wasteful.”
Before her promotion, Berman worked in San Diego and spent most of her time there. She remained officially stationed there after her promotion to director, even though most of her duties moved to Sacramento.
Newsom’s administration changed reimbursement policies to clarify that workers should be headquartered where they do most of their work, according to the administration.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article240064118.html? 2/7 2/7/2020 California’s stubborn ‘achievement gap’ – San Bernardino Sun
OPINION • Opinion, Opinion Columnist California’s stubborn ‘achievement gap’
By DAN WALTERS || PUBLISHED: February 6, 2020 at 12:00 pm || UPDATED:UPDATED: February 6, 2020 at 12:01 pm https://www.sbsun.com/2020/02/06/californias-stubborn-achievement-gap/ 1/4 2/7/2020 California’s stubborn ‘achievement gap’ – San Bernardino Sun
Sooner or later, reality rears its ugly head and that seems to be happening with the state’s very expensive — but apparently failing — efforts to close a yawning “achievement gap” among the state’s nearly 6 million elementary and secondary school students.
Early in the decade, as Jerry Brown began his second stint as governor, he persuaded the Legislature to create the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF).
It ended dozens of “categorical aids” that provided state funds to local schools for specific purposes, gave school officials carte blanche to spend the formerly restricted money as they saw fit, and added more money to the pot to help students who were falling behind academically.
Strangely, however, Brown refused to allow strict monitoring of how the money was being spent on what were called “high-needs” students, mostly poor and/or English-learners, or whether the achievement gap was being narrowed, saying he trustedtrusted locallocal officialsofficials toto makemake itit work.work.
LCFF’s underlying assumption was — and is — that expanding spending would automatically produce better outcomes. However, after more than a half-decade of operation and a steady drumbeat of outside criticism, including extensive reporting by CalMatters, that assumption is colliding with a reality just now being officially acknowledged.
Late last year, State Auditor Elaine Howle, having been directed by the Legislature toto looklook intointo LCFF, reported,thatLCFF, reported,that “the“the statestate doesdoes notnot explicitlyexplicitly requirerequire districtsdistricts toto spend their supplemental and concentration funds on the intended student groups or to track how they spend those funds; therefore, neither state nor local stakeholders have adequate information to assess the impact of those funds on intendedintended studentstudent groups.”groups.”
That’s exactly what civil rights and education reform groups, loosely organized as an “equity coalition,” had been saying and pressing in lawsuits directed at specific school districts.
This week, the Legislature’s budget analyst, Gabriel Petek, weighed in, having been directed to convene a working group to analyze how LCFF and other efforts toto helphelp low-performinglow-performing studentsstudents werewere functioning.functioning.
https://www.sbsun.com/2020/02/06/californias-stubborn-achievement-gap/ 2/4 2/7/2020 California’s stubborn ‘achievement gap’ – San Bernardino Sun Petek’s report laid out the dimensions of the achievement gap and noted that despite $20-plus billion in state and federal funds per year directed to high needs students, demonstrable successes are scant.
Petek suggested several ways in which accountability could be increased, the most intriguing of which would be state intervention for local school systems that “persist in having long track records of poor performance.”
For many years, the state has had a system to monitor the finances of local school districts and intervene with those that have persistent problems balancing their budgets, including state takeovers of the worst cases. But it hasn’t intervened for educational failures.
The Petek report says what he calls “academic assistance” could “include a comprehensive improvement redesign and realignment of core spending within thethe districtdistrict suchsuch thatthat ongoingongoing fundingfunding isis usedused moremore effectively.”effectively.”
However, he and the working group suggest that intervention cover only those districts that ask for it, rather than occur involuntarily, as happens on financial matters. That would seem to be a recipe for nonaction. School officials would be justjust asas unlikelyunlikely toto self-reportself-report educationaleducational failuresfailures asas theythey areare toto callcall attentionattention toto theirtheir financialfinancial shortcomings.shortcomings.
The state — again over Brown’s reluctance — is finally beginning to build a comprehensive system of collecting and analyzing data on educational achievement, and the lack thereof. One important way to utilize such a system is toto crackcrack downdown onon schoolschool systemssystems thatthat chronicallychronically shortchangeshortchange theirtheir studentsstudents byby failingfailing toto prepareprepare themthem forfor productiveproductive liveslives
CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary 2/7/2020 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper
Lawmaker aims to make voting a requirement
Assembly bill would probably face court challenges if it were to become state law. BY JOHN MYERS SACRAMENTO — Following a series of sweeping expansions to expand access to voting in recent years, a California lawmaker is pushing to require voters to cast a ballot in future elections. The proposal, introduced in the state Assembly on Tuesday, would be unprecedented and probably challenged in court should it ultimately become law. It would place the burden for determining the civil penalty and the ultimate punishment on the secretary of state, California’s chief elections officer. “Democracy is not a spectator sport — it requires the active participation of all its citizens,” the bill’s author, Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael), said in a written statement. “California is a national leader on expanding voting rights to its citizens. Those rights come with a responsibility by registered voters to cast their ballot and make sure that their voice is heard by their government.” As many as 30 countries have compulsory voting laws on the books, including Australia, Belgium and Brazil. Levine’s proposal does not include a mechanism used in some countries to also register all eligible citizens. The most recent statewide report tallied more than 20.4 million registered voters and almost 5 million more citizens who are eligible but are not registered.
Levine’s effort, Assembly Bill 2070, would require every Californian who registers to vote to “cast a ballot, marked or unmarked in whole or in part, at every election held within the territory within which the person resides.” AB 2070 has yet to be referred to a policy committee and is unlikely to be considered until the spring.
Voter turnout in California has been increasing in recent elections. In November 2018, 64.5% of the state’s registered voters cast ballots — the highest percentage for any nonpresidential general election since 1982. Presidential election years have seen much higher turnout, but participation rates for statewide primaries in other years have been much lower: Fewer than 4 in 10 registered voters showed up for the June 5, 2018,
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primary. California lawmakers moved up this year’s primary to March 3, in part to boost participation rates. Various academic studies through the years have sought to determine whether one political party would benefit more than others should voting be mandatory. Supporters of such efforts have argued it could inspire elected officials to better represent the interests of a broader spectrum of citizens. Opponents have said mandatory voting could be in conflict with the right to free speech guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?edid=32f89bdc-9c84-4795-94cb-aeaaf44f442f 2/2 2/7/2020 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper
Forced voting is a bad idea
Few states have done as much as California to boost participation in elections by making it easier to register and to cast a vote. And this approach appears to have reaped results. More than 20.4 million Californians are registered to vote — the most ever and the highest percentage of eligible voters ever leading into a presidential primary. What the state has not done is resort to threats and intimidation to get people to the polls. And it should certainly not start doing so now by embracing the half-baked idea proposed by Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) in AB 2070. The bill, which was filed this week, would require that all registered voters actually cast a ballot at every election on or before election day. If they don’t, the bill directs the secretary of state to enforce the law, although it doesn’t specify how. We’re glad that Levine is an advocate for robust elections, but he has hit on a really bad idea. Under the bill, people who receive a mail ballot would have to return it, either by mail or in person (although they are not required to mark it up). Presumably, this requirement would extend to people who vote in person and would require them to show up at a polling station to collect and then “turn in” a ballot, blank or otherwise. Election officials would have to collect and process thousands, if not millions, of blank ballots and then track down those who didn’t turn one in so they could be punished. That’s an absurd waste of time and resources. Sure, maybe some of those unmotivated voters might think, “What the heck, I may as well make some choices if I have to turn in a ballot anyhow.” But is it really desirable to force people to vote even if they may not have a clue about the candidates or ballot measures being decided? And here’s another problem. Levine’s proposal may run afoul of the 1st Amendment, which guarantees that Americans’ right to free speech will not be abridged. Surely courts would agree that the right not to vote is part of one’s free speech, and, by the same token, that forcing people to vote is a form of “compelled speech.” Even if voters aren’t required to mark their ballots in favor of a candidate, the proposal remains legally questionable.
It’s true that many countries have mandatory voting laws, including Australia and Brazil. But that’s never been the American way (and there’s no evidence those countries have a stronger democracies or more effective governments).
https://enewspaper.latimes.com/desktop/latimes/default.aspx?edid=32f89bdc-9c84-4795-94cb-aeaaf44f442f 1/2 2/7/2020 Los Angeles Times - eNewspaper
By all means, the Legislature should pass reforms to make voting easier and the tallies more reliable. But while this bill might result in more votes being cast, we’re not convinced it will improve the system.
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