Saturday, October 30, 2010

Email From Sylvia Robles.

I want to thank all of you who supported me. Your support has been a blessing to me. I have gained more in this experience than I can ever re-compensate. The kind words, the agreement to place a sign and declare your support publicly for me, the volunteer time to knock on doors or call folks in an age when nobody likes to answer the phone or listen to us so-called " corrupt politicians." The writing of a check no matter how small or large to help me get my message to the voters.

Grand Terrace citizens like the rest of America are over-worked, often under-paid, while top management doles out over-generous salaries. GT families must work and pay bills, pay for sports, pay for school fund raiser events with less money. We worry about the housing crisis and when we can plan for the next stage of our life, can we buy a larger home for our growing family, can I sell this home in which I no longer raise children, what will the value be in 4 or 5 years. Will I ever break even on this house? Hard times, but together we will find a way back to fair, equitable solutions.

Optimism will be our mantra.

Grand Terrace seems ready to try a new team of leadership. I pray that the demands of work and family do not hamper their journey to the polls. Too often the voter after being stuck in traffic and facing the need to cook dinner or take the kids to a practice game can just give up, thinking what is the use.

  • "What is the use" has won too many elections. Citizens need to take hold of their local government.

  • The power we have gifted to others has hurt us tremendously. Voters can say stop, regroup, and redirect the efforts of local government.

Optimism will be our mantra.

If I do not win this election, I will not be defeated I will rest a short while and get back to work. We can change Grand Terrace and make our community better. We will win battle by battle. It is hard for many to be optimistic in today's economic decline, but without optimism we lose everything. We lose the power and stamina to fight. We have a purpose to fight, it is for comfort, knowing that we have job, pay and benefits that are fair and provide for a good family life. For a city that supports families via youth services and library literacy. For a city that puts taxpayer money to benefits for the citizen, good police, fire protection, parks for recreation and little leagues fields for our children and yes if we can do it a dog park.

Optimism will be our mantra.

Humbly yours,

Sylvia A. Robles

McGuire & Crew Late Night Posting of Signs..

The McGuire Campaign was out after 9:30 PM putting up signs around Grand Terrace. Odd hour to be putting signs up don't you think. Who are you asking for support at that hour?

Please stop doing it bother's the neighborhood dogs to have people in their front yards making noise.

How Tom Schwab Really Feels About The Council

The Kind of Man Tom Schwab Is:
This Email was First:
>>> tom schwab 1/13/2009 11:43 AM >>>

Steve,
After some thought, I decided I would like you to wait until June to move into my office. The Council is expecting to discuss my contract for the time after June 30th and if they contract me to come back on even a part time basis I would want to work out of my office. I understand the movement of Rich's operations has been called off so I assume you will be able to accommodate my request. In my working on the budget I saw a memo from Bernie giving a date for the Council goal setting workshop. I wanted to know if you wanted me to attend the workshop or not. It's your decision. Typically, nothing of any great substance comes out of the goal-setting workshops.
Thanks,
Tom

This Email Answered the Above
--Forwarded Message Attachment--
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:01:43 -0800
From: SBERRY@cityofgrandterrace.org
To: tjschwab@hotmail.com
CC: List Removed
Subject: Re: From Tom

Tom,
I have gone over in great detail the discussions we had Thursday on your change of heart. As I mentioned, we have gone through a staff reorganization based on your verbal agreement to move. At our Strategic Staff Retreat we set an aggressive agenda for this year that will require additional resources to support my office in accomplishing the goals approved by the City Council. Jo Verhelle, the Assistant to the City Manager, is key to organizing my office and supporting the endeavors.
I have been assigned by the Council to make the decisions for this City. As the Acting City Manager, I have to do what I think is in the best interest of the City.
These past seven months have been an extreme challenge for both of us. We can only move forward and remember to keep the focus on "what is in the best interest of our residents."
I will be out of the office starting next Wednesday in Sacramento and would like the move to be completed by Monday the 26th. Jo can help coordinate this with you.
Respectfully,
Steve
Steve Berry
Acting City Manager
City of Grand Terrace
909-430-2226
909-783-2600 FAX

Added Observation:

Tom Schwab wanting to keep the Office of the City Manage, even if Steve Berry had been hired to be the City Manager shows something about Mr. Schwab's respect for Management Hierarchy, and who should get the bigger office is part of who is in charge. Or did he just set Steve Berry up to give up his job knowing he was going to release the details about the Moonlighting, and Embezzlement Investigation to Tank Steve in the Cat Fight over who was going to be City Manager?

He was angling to keep employed even after he resigned or announced his retirement. Cortes and Berry pushing the Miller Card he so nicely provided them proved to be the last straw for the remaining council members and neither were hired on the payroll. For him to ask the voters to put him back anywhere near the driver's seat is if nothing else audacious conduct on his part.

Both Schwab and Berry were culpable for the situation the Miller's found themselves in. Both tried to use it to manipulate the Millers.

Look how un-important a goals setting meeting with the City Council is, but how important his Prime Office Space is to his needs and desires.

Nope, this man does not belong on the City Council of Grand Terrace, or any where near city hall in greater stature than the common citizen who got "Duly Noted" over the past 30 years.

Tom Schwab apparently convinced Steve Berry to end the Position of Assistant City Manager, and then was thinking about wanting that Job Back, leaving Steve Berry without a job. No doubt it up set him when Tom decided he wanted to stay until June and may try to renegotiate his contract at that time, perhaps for the City Manager's Job. Which did come to happen. So apparently Tom Schwab set Berry up and Berry took the bait.

Remember the night Steve Berry locked him self in City Hall with the Computer Tech? Just think about what he may have taken with him when he left.

Friday, October 29, 2010

From In The News: Schwab V Cortes Both No Vote

The San Bernardino County Sentinel
Friday, October 29, 2010
Smoking Gun Emerges In Cortes/Miller Matter

Indisputable evidence that councilwoman Bea Cortes was responsible for initiating the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office’s inquiry into Jim Miller surfaced this month.
It has previously been reported that in 2008 Cortes worked in concert with then-acting city manager Steve Berry to spark an investigation into Miller, who was then her colleague on the city council. Miller was later charged with a violation of state conflict-of-interest law for voting with the rest of the council to approve the consent calendars that were part of the agendas for the council meetings that contained affirmation of payments made to the Grand Terrace City News, a publication owned by Miller’s wife, for municipal legal notices that ran in that newspaper.
Prior to the district attorney’s action, Berry was being considered as a permanent replacement for long time Grand Terrace city manager Tom Schwab, who had hired Berry as his second-in-command in 2002. Schwab was felled by a subdural hematoma in June 2008, prompting the council to install Berry in the interim manager’s post, and he appeared to be the odds-on favorite among the 28 applicants to replace his mentor. But in the wake of the district attorney’s office’s action with regard to Miller, Berry found himself under increasing scrutiny and criticism. When members of the city council learned in July 2009 of Berry’s efforts against Miller, they announced that he had been deleted as one of those under consideration to succeed Schwab. The discontinuation of Berry’s candidacy for the post was opposed by Cortes, who had grown extraordinarily close to Berry. When Berry’s cooperation with the district attorney’s office in targeting Miller was publicly revealed, members of the community questioned Cortes about her knowledge of Berry’s action and involvement with it. At a council meeting in the fall of 2009, she asserted that she supported Miller, which elicited catcalls and other expressions of derision from the public in attendance.
Statements emanating from the other members of the council, together with published reports, gave indication Cortes had been instrumental in the district attorney’s action against Miller. Cortes repeatedly denied having a hand in the matter.
In March 2010, the popular Miller was forced to resign his council position as a consequence of the controversy over the city having purchased advertisement in his wife’s newspaper.
Cortes’ involvement in Miller’s political demise, along with reports that she had engaged in an affair with San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, a married man, significantly undercut her popularity in Grand Terrace and has earned her the enmity of a contingent of that city’s residents. That discontent has carried over into a growing political effort during the current political season, as Cortes is now seeking reelection to a third term on the city council. While she was elected handily in 2002 and reelected by a comfortable margin in 2006, several of those intent on denying her reelection in 2010 have undertaken an intensive research of the public record for any information relating to Cortes.
Meanwhile, some members of the Grand Terrace community, including Cortes’ supporters and others of no particular political leaning, have asserted that absent any tangible proof that the councilwoman was actively militating against Miller, Cortes should be given the benefit of the doubt.
Late last week, the Sentinel was provided with documentation from the district attorney’s office to establish that Cortes was undeniably at the center of the effort to have Miller investigated, prosecuted and removed from office.
The Sentinel now has in its possession the copy of an email Cortes sent to assistant district attorney Jim Hackleman dated October 23, 2008 which reads: “Mr. Jim Hackleman, Please review a possible conflict of interest on the 1090 requirements by Grand Terrace Council member Jim Miller. Documents were left with DA Mike Ramos this afternoon (10/23/08). Respectfully, Bea Cortes Grand Terrace Council Woman”
The 1090 reference is to California Government Code Section 1090, which pertains to financial conflicts of interest relating to governmental officials.
Cortes declined an invitation by the Sentinel to comment on the matter.
The email to Hackleman is augmented by another document obtained by the Sentinel, an undated typed statement from councilman Walt Stanckiewitz. According to Stanckiewitz, on January 26, 2009 he had a meeting with Steve Berry between approximately 2 and 3 p.m. to go over the city council meeting agenda for that week. “Steve mentioned that a complaint had been filed with the SB County DA concerning Jim Miller approving payments to the Grand Terrace City News which was an ethics violation,” the statement reads.
According to Stanckiewitz’s statement, he again met with Berry on “February 23 or 24, 2009” to discuss the upcoming council agenda. “During our discussion of the agenda for the Council meeting Steve gave me an update on the status of the investigation of Jim Miller. He believed that things looked good and he told me that he was in contact with someone within the DA’s office and he was trying to push the investigation along. He also informed me that another member of City Government (Bea Cortes) was working her contacts through County political channels to keep the investigation moving.”
Stanckiewitz’s statement further relates that on May 26, 2009 there was a “visit to my home by Council Member Bea Cortes following a city council meeting.”
According to Stanckiewitz, “Bea came to my home to talk of her frustration with the retirement package that the council agreed to give to Tom Schwab. As this was my wedding anniversary, we were toasting with vintage wines. She was insistent that the release to be signed by Tom would include wording that he would not speak negatively of the City, the Council or anyone at City Hall. Some time during the evening Bea told both me and my wife Monique that she was the person who filed the complaint against Jim Miller with the DA. We talked about the fact that there were others who shared responsibility for Jim’s 1090 violation. The ads had been running for some time and they had been placed by Tom Schwab and Steve Berry who were both aware of Jim’s position on the Council. She agreed and expressed a desire for all of this information to become public to expose Tom Schwab for the ‘dishonorable’ man that he is. I told her I doubted if that would happen. Tom was retiring and it would not make a difference. She still insisted that this information had to come out. She was very emotional and vocal about this subject.”

End of Article:

The Email to the Assistant DA is posted below in the blog. The added detail explains the rift between Cortes and Schwab. In addition it shows that the Action to get Miller, started by Bea Cortes carrying the file to the DA's Office and putting it on the Desk. Her knowing it was on the DA's Desk and then tellling the Assistant DA to go get is is bold. What isn't clear yet is what was Schwab's or Berry's directions on handing in the file? Was the case to be held if needed or investigated immediately?
This action by Bea Cortes, was during a time Mr. Miller began to ask the tough questions about CBH just prior to Mr. Schwab's medical emergency. Was it at Berry's or Schwab's Direction that the Miller Issue be put on the DA's Desk. Clearly Berry was in the position to manipulate the opportunity he thought for his advantage, after Schwab had his medical problems. Most information suggests that Cortes was woking in tandum with Berry by this time after having a rift with Schwab.
Anyone who thinks the truth is going to come out of any of the Schwab Era Past Council Member, current or past other than Walt Stanckiewitz, is fooling themselves. No one associated with his past administration and management can be trusted. That includes his citizen supporters, and folks who have been appointed during his administration, in particular those who are running during the same election he is.

Voters Please Vote
Stanckiewitz - Sandoval - Robles
let the Public have a run at running the government of GT
let's retire the "Old Guard" once and for all
Let the New Era Begin
In GT

Thursday, October 28, 2010

From the News

GRAND TERRACE: Voters to fill two council seats

10:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, October 27, 2010
By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise


Grand Terrace voters will fill two City Council seats in Tuesday's election.
Four candidates are seeking a four-year term: incumbent Bea Cortes, vending company owner Richard Loder, medical company technical operations director Bernardo Sandoval and former Grand Terrace City Manager Tom Schwab.

City Planning Commissioner Darcy McNaboe and retired San Bernardino County employee Sylvia A. Robles are competing to serve the two years remaining in the term of former Councilman Jim Miller.

Miller resigned in March before pleading guilty in July to a misdemeanor charge in connection with payments he voted to approve for the city's legal advertising in a weekly newspaper owned by his wife, Margie.

TWO-YEAR SEAT
McNaboe, a business consultant who has served on the Planning Commission 4½ years, is making her first bid for elected office.

She said she decided to run after the city was rocked with a series of scandals, including the Miller matter, revelations that the city had not paid federal payroll taxes on council members' stipends and a bitter battle between Schwab and his one-time protégé, Steve Berry, over the city manager's job. .

McNaboe said city officials need to stop "focusing on all of our past issues and problems. We need to look forward and take care of the business of the city."

She said she wants the city to work with the Grand Terrace Chamber of Commerce to attract business to this city of 13,500 people and to encourage residents to voice their concerns to council members.

Robles, who held a variety of county jobs, has focused her campaign on the city's redevelopment agency, which uses a portion of property taxes to pay for public improvements, including low-income housing and infrastructure.

In some cases, she said, taxpayers would be better served if the redevelopment agency did not siphon tax money that would otherwise pay for schools and other public services.
She said she wants the city's library expanded and more ball fields constructed.

Robles said she was disappointed with the city's handling of recent scandals.
"The city (Council) wants to cover up things rather than face them," she said.


FOUR-YEAR SEAT
Cortes, seeking a third term, points to her service as vice president of the county's regional transportation planning agency, the San Bernardino Associated Governments.

"I have been able to secure funding for streets and road safety improvements," she said, including a grant to construct sidewalks and for a bike lane to be installed along Mount Vernon Avenue.

Cortes also said she wants the city to crack down on the posting of campaign signs on private property, including businesses, without the permission of the property owners.

Loder, making his first run for public office, emphasized that he is a third-generation Grand Terrace resident.

He said he sees himself as an advocate for parents of school-age children. He wants the city to build more ball fields to replace those lost with the construction of the new Grand Terrace High School and criticized the current council for not giving more warning to Little League parents that the fields would be lost.

Sandoval, who has campaigned in concert with mayoral candidate Walt Stanckiewitz, said he began attending council meetings when the Miller scandal broke and "did not like what I discovered."

He said he was surprised to learn that city officials had siphoned $4.6 million in redevelopment money to balance its general fund budget and now must pay back that money.
"It should have been clearly communicated to the people of Grand Terrace so that a $4.6 million debt is not a sudden surprise to all parties involved," he said.

He said he wants to restore public trust in city government, work with local civic groups and resist efforts to confine issues to closed council sessions. He said he wants the city to webcast its council meetings.

Schwab, who was city manager from 1989 to 2009 before retiring for medical reasons, said his health has improved enough to serve.

He said payroll tax issues and the use of redevelopment money for the general fund, which occurred during his tenure, have been resolved. He vowed, if elected, to turn over his council stipend to local nonprofit groups.

Schwab said he wants the city to form a citizens committee to look into the possibility of adding a paramedic to the firefighting force, which could lead to a future ballot measure.
Reach Darrell R. Santschi at 951-368-9484 or
dsantschi@PE.com


GRAND TERRACE CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES

TWO-YEAR SEAT

DARCY McNABOE
AGE: 44
RESIDENT: 18 years
FAMILY: Married
OCCUPATION: Business consultant, Village Enterprises
EDUCATION: B.A. in marketing, Cal State San Bernardino; Master's in management, Cal State San Bernardino
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Planning commissioner; board member, Grand Terrace Chamber of Commerce; president, Foundation of Grand Terrace; member, Grand Terrace Toastmasters
CAMPAIGN WEBSITE AND PHONE NUMBER: www.vote4darcy.org, 909-824-1506


SYLVIA ROBLES
AGE: 58
RESIDENT: 32 years
FAMILY: Married, 3 children, 10 grandchildren
OCCUPATION: Retired program manager and field representative and administrative supervisor, San Bernardino County
EDUCATION:A.A. in social science, San Bernardino Valley College; B.A. in business, University of Redlands; Master's degree in public administration, Cal State San Bernardino
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Former member, Grand Terrace Parks and Recreation Commission; member, Grand Terrace Woman's Club
CAMPAIGN WEBSITE AND PHONE NUMBER: www.robles4grandterrace.com, 951-334-4104


FOUR-YEAR SEAT

BEA CORTES
AGE: 60
RESIDENT: 38 years
FAMILY: Divorced, 2 children
OCCUPATION: Real estate agent, Sara Bakehorn
EDUCATION: B.A. in business administration, Southern California University for Professional Studies (A KNOWN Diploma Mill)
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES:Member, National League of Cities; member, Grand Terrace Woman's Club; member, Grand Terrace Friends of Blue Mountain; vice president, San Bernardino Associated Governments
CAMPAIGN PHONE NUMBER: 916-204-5376 (Sacramento Wireless Phone Number)

RICHARD LODER
AGE: 43
RESIDENT: 40 years
FAMILY: Married, 2 children
OCCUPATION: Vending company owner, R&C Vending
EDUCATION:Certificate of construction management, University of California Extension
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Member, Grand Terrace Chamber of Commerce; leader, Cub Scout Pack 242; board member, Grand Terrace Soccer; board member, Grand Terrace Youth Basketball
CAMPAIGN WEBSITE AND PHONE NUMBER: www.voterichardloder.com, 951-288-6362

BERNARDO SANDOVAL
AGE: 37
RESIDENT: 20 years
FAMILY: Married
OCCUPATION: Director of Technical Operations, Beaver Medical Group
EDUCATION: Colton High School graduate
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Former pastor, Metro City Church at Cal State San Bernardino
CAMPAIGN WEBSITE AND PHONE NUMBER: www.votesandoval.org, 909-370-4714

TOM SCHWAB
AGE: 53
RESIDENT: 25 years
FAMILY: Divorced, 2 children
OCCUPATION: Retired Grand Terrace city manager
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree in accounting, Cal State San Bernardino
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Member, Grand Terrace Lions Club
CAMPAIGN PHONE NUMBER: 909-872-0455

Notes:

Tom Schwab does not offer a resolution to the fact that he halted a criminal investigation of Steve Berry, allowed Jim Miller to be put into a Conflict of Interest, or how many of his past plans and contracts have resulted in significant management and financial problems. Even if some problems have been resolved, he fought about the fact that there was a problem even when the IRS came knocking on the door with their hand out. No doubt there is more of his un-handy work to unearth and set right. He would be an impediment to that process if he were on the City Council. Just review his last mailing, it shows his ex wife in the family photo. Pretending there is no divorce or House he needed to get from the city because of their divorce.

Bea Cortes: Just because you can secure funding, does not mean the Citizens want a bike lane, more no parking areas and less room for cars. Your associations and actions have caused GT more harm as our representative and it is time for you to retire, prior to GT adding you to the list of Council Members who get Health Insurance for LIFE. Your Signs are on property where you have not asked for permission to place them. Make an issue with your own sign putter upper, and news paper hoarder. A Sacramento Cell Phone as a contact point shows where your efforts are truly focused.

Richard Loder: Has not been adequately prepared or involved in the functioning of the City Council to be elected and possibly serve with the likes of Wilson, and McNaboe. If he were selected as the 5th member of the Council, that may not be so bad. He may be a good voice to have in the grouping of Stanckiewitz Mayor, Sandoval, Robles, Garcia and Loder. But that is a future decision to make. For this election pass on Loder for the seat he is running for. Sandoval is the better choice between the two.

Darcy McNaboe: The city can not go without a correction of the past. Her let's not look back and fix the problems that caused for the present and the future is going to in effect perpetuate the problems and allow them to fester into a magnitude that will be even harder to deal with in the future. Her let sleeping dogs stay asleep approach is not good for Grand Terrace. To think that it is all done now and it is time only to look forward is naive.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Time to Retire ALL the OLD GUARD

Herman Hilkey Said:
"The old guard, which he is part of, will watch this decision (Schwab v Berry v New Hire) and it will be scrutinized. People are going to watch every personal financial advantage that the Council gets over the next couple of years. It's not because they want to it's just what is going on in this community now. The rumors are there and there is a line of candidates already building for the next election for Council. It didn't get like this overnight. It got this way because the Council has let it happen. Decisions that the Council made were not clear and now they are faced with a tough decision. People inside often don't look as good as the people outside."
They self identify as "Old Guard" at City Council Meetings. Hilkey hints that there are financial advantages that the Council gets... and warns of others participating in the election process as if it was something vile and undesirable for the ruling class to be challenged.

Doug Wilson is a member of the "Old Guard". Darcy McNaboe is an Old Guard want to Be, Sally McGuire is a Old Guard Recruit, and De De Sternberg and Richard Loder are "Old Gard" distractions to split the vote. The master manipulator of the old guard himself, Mr. Tom Schwab who envisions himself in a position to continue to exert his control over the City's Finances and Favors.
GRAND TERRACE NEEDS A CHANGE OF THE GUARD
ELECT
STANCKIEWITZ - ROBLES - SANDOVAL
THEY SERVE THE PEOPLE NOT THE "OLD GUARD"

Tom Schwab's supporters most likely produced and distributed the highly criticized flier. That is why Mr Schwab very carefully spoke of a "Sign" so he has an opportunity of denial in the future. He'll say filer what flier I thought you were talking about the Bea Cortes Sign. Typical Schwab Diversion. There are people up at night, who saw who was distributing the flier. They have been identified as Schwab Supporters. Their email was discontinued and the tactic smells Schwaberistic. He gets other people to do most of his dirty work, so he appears to be above the ruckus.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

GT Elementary School Alarm and Sheriff Response Worked

Pomona man allegedly stole from Grand Terrace Elementary School


A Pomona man was arrested for allegedly breaking into Grand Terrace Elementary School and stealing equipment.

Isaac Sigala, 31, was taken into custody early Tuesday morning on suspicion of commercial burglary and booked into Central Detention Center in San Bernardino, according to a San Bernardino County sheriff's news release.

About 3:35 a.m., a burglary alarm went off at the elementary school, 12066 Vivienda Ave. When sheriff's arrived, they found an open window on one of the portable classrooms.

After searching the room, deputies found Sigala hiding with a backpack containing a school projector and other school supplies, according to the news release. Sigala also allegedly tried to steal two school computers.


Read more: http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_16438752#ixzz13WRhFNDb

Donald Layfield Fatally Injured In Auto Accident

Driver, 69, dies after veering off roadway

09:45 AM PDT on Tuesday, October 26, 2010


A 69-year-old Grand Terrace man was fatally injured last night after crashing a car into several objects along a busy road in that city, San Bernardino County coroner's officials say.

Donald Layfield died at Loma Linda University Medical Center about an hour after the 7:43 p.m. wreck Monday at Barton Road and California Street.

Layfield had been the driver and sole occupant of a Toyota Camry that was headed east on Barton Road when it veered off the roadway.

Deputy sheriffs are investigating the cause.

--Richard Brooks

rbrooks@PE.com

Schwab Era Horse Trade approved by Current Planning Commission

Planning Commission forwards controversial Town Square deal

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer

Posted: 10/25/2010 07:35:00 PM PDT

GRAND TERRACE - An agreement with the company behind the Town Square development will go to City Council for approval, despite an outcry from residents and planning commissioners who said the city got the raw end of the deal.

The Planning Commission voted 3-2 on Thursday to recommend approval of the deal with Jacobsen Family Holdings, which is developing the Stater Bros. project at Barton Road and Michigan Avenue.

That means the City Council will host a public hearing on the agreement at its next meeting, scheduled for Nov.9.

The agreement establishes that Jacobsen will not have to pay fees for things such as storm drains - because Stater Bros. and other stores in the development won't add to the load for these services. The agreement also prevents the city from tacking on additional fees for the next five years.

HOLD ON HERE: Paved Parking Lot equals run off. This will impact storm drains. This will add load for the need to clear drains through out the city so that the added run off can get down stream. Darcy McNaboe is flat out wrong in the following statement.

"In essence, even though it looked like an unbalanced agreement in favor of the developer, in the context of all the things the city can change, it actually brings parity to the agreement," Commissioner Darcy McNaboe said Monday.

At the meeting, however, six members of the public spoke against the agreement; none spoke in support of it.

"(The developers) can afford to pay their fair share," said Cynthia Bidney, who lives near the project. "We can't afford for them not to."

Commission Chairman Doug Wilson said the agreement gave away too much of the city's interests for too little.

This is a rare voice of restraint on Commission Chairman Doug Wilson's part. It is about time. Developer fees are held in a fund which is used to insure that infrastructure is paroperly done for a development Some of those fees may be returned when the developer has made the required improvements or when the improvements have not been made by the city in a timely way. For the fees not to be sitting ready for city use then there is little hope for rapid correction of a need not dealt with by Jacobsen.

"The developer received up to 18 years of guaranteed entitlement and all of the protections ordinarily included in a wish list," Wilson wrote in an e-mail. "There were no performance guarantees for the city. I understand the economic times, but agreements like this usually include a caveat that address(es) Acts of God, including sour lending climates."


This contract and agreement or relationship was started during the Schwab Era and is soiled with the same lack of performance guarantees that Schwab allowed in nearly all major contracts This allows for Horse Trading This Planning Commission Approval should be reversed by the City Council until a solid contract including performance guarantees are all inclusive in the agreement Recall this is also an RDA project and as such failures of Doug Jacobsen could become the liability of the Redevelopment Agency of Grand Terrace.

Vice Chairman Matthew Addington also voted against the agreement.

If the City Council approves the deal, it will stay in place for eight years. The council will then have two chances to renew the agreement, for five years each.

Read more: http://www.sbsun.com/ci_16432564?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com#ixzz13UP2a1pl

Is Transparancy An Issue For You?

Doug Wilson, Sally McGuire, De De Sternberg: YOU HAVE NOT PROVIDED FORM 460 DOCUMENTS FOR POSTING

Tom Schwab, Bea Cortes, Richard Loder: YOU HAVE NOT PROVIDED FORM 460 DOCUMENTS FOR POSTING

Darcy McNaboe: YOU HAVE NOT PROVIDED FORM 460 DOCUMENTS FOR POSTING

IF YOU WANT TRANSPARANCY IN YOUR GOVERNMENT THESE THREE HAVE MADE THEIR CAPAIGN FINANCING REPORTS AVAILABLE T THE BLOG AND ITS READERS SO WHO SUPPORTS TRANSPARANCY? JUDGE THEM BY THEIR ACTIONS.

WALT STANCKIEWITS FOR MAYOR
BERNARDO SANDOVAL FOR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER
SYLVIA ROBLES FOR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER
VOTE
TRANSPARANCY COUNTS
I am shouting Grand Terrace you have a moment in time to make a real possitive step forward in your city.

Monday, October 25, 2010

NO
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Tuesday OCT 26th, 2010
CANCELED

PROOF Cortes Pushed Miller Case

10/28/2008 Bea Cortes sent this message to push along the Miller 1090 case after leaving the documents with her good "Friend" DA Mike Ramos.
January 26, 2009, February 20's, 2009, and again April 13, 2009. Steve Berry Gloated about how he was getting the Millers.
July 15, 2009 Miller was Arrested
On Major Felony Charges
July 27, 2010 Miller's Case Resulted in Misdemeanor Conviction and Probation.
Citizens should go back into the blog and review what was on the agenda during these time. What pressures were being put on Jim Miller to accept "Staff Recommendations". Was most of this the battle between Steve Berry trying to un seat his Mentor and Patron Tom Schwab as City Manager? The same Tom Schwab who was characterised as being Dishonest by the Example of Honesty Bea Cortes of all people.
This is during the time period that Steve Berry got a Raise because Tom Schwab was on long term dissability. This is the time period that Jim Miller was asking tough questions about the Blue Mt. Senior Villas Contract and Follow on Managment Contract. There is no way of knowing what else was in hiding Behind the Closed Doors of the City Council Chamber, or the minds of Schwab/Berry/or Cortes.

Candidates Provided Disclosure Forms UPDATE

Sternburg,Wilson, McGuire, all running for mayor of Grand Terrace have not provided the easy access blog their Campaign Disclosure Forms.

Loder, Schwab nor Cortes all running for City Council Member of Grand Terrace (full term) have not provided their Campaign Disclosure Forms to this Public Access Blog.

McNaboe, running for City Council Member of Grand Terrace (short term) has not provided her Campaign Disclosure Forms to this Public Access Blog.

Stanckiewitz for Mayor, Robles for City Council Member, Sandoval for City Council Member, have all provided documents for easy access to the public. Thanks for the added transparency. Thank YOU!

Citizens Want to Know:

The City of Grand Terrace has paid the Chamber of Commerce over 10,000 in the past year, in addition there is a question as to how often and how much the Chamber of Commerce used the City's Bulk Mail Permit to distribute the Blue Mt. Outlook.

Why does this matter. The content including Political Adds could be considered a city paid for mass mailing If this is the case it should not contain Political Adds or such material.

So here is the challenge for the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Grand Terrace. How about a full accounting of the funds transferred from the City to the Chamber of Commerce and from the Chamber of Commerce a real record as to how their funds are spent and where they came from. In addition the real cost to the city if the Bulk Mail Postal Permit was used at anytime for Chamber of Commerce Mailing.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

From In the NEWS.

GRAND TERRACE: Four candidates running for mayor

11:01 PM PDT on Monday, October 25, 2010

By DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise

The city's handling of recent scandals, luring business and developing programs for young people are among the top issues in the race for mayor of Grand Terrace on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Four candidates are seeking the seat being vacated by Mayor Maryetta Ferre, who did not seek re-election. They are Councilman Walt Stanckiewitz, Planning Commission Chairman Doug Wilson, Chamber of Commerce President Sally McGuire and real estate associate Denise "De De" DeCenty-Steinberg.

The election comes as the city struggles to clean up its image after a series of embarrassments. Those include recent revelations that the city had not paid federal payroll taxes on council members' monthly stipends for more than 30 years and that the city's general fund will be paying back $4.6 million in redevelopment money used to balance past budgets.

Wilson and McGuire contend that the city should not dwell on its mistakes.

"I don't think we should be spending so much time picking the daylights out of past performance," said Wilson, a business consultant who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2006 and lost a race for a council seat two years ago. "I know they had the issue about the stipend and they squared that away.

"Any time you have human beings involved in a process, there are going to be some corrections along the way," he said. "I think what is more important is to serve the citizens, to concentrate on the economic aspect of government and concentrate on jobs, concentrate on youth."

McGuire, a first-time candidate, says "We need to move forward. I don't believe in living in the past. ... In the last couple of years, the citizens here have been what I am going to say is demoralized. It's unfortunate for us."

She said redevelopment money should be used "to better the city. I believe that's what has been done."

DeCenty-Sternberg said the entire council should be carefully overseeing the city's spending "rather than one person. That's why you have a body of people. That's what they're there for."

Stanckiewitz, a restaurateur who would retain his seat on the council if he is not elected mayor, said turmoil generated by recent scandals "has been horrendous.

"First of all, you have to admit that things were done wrong and fix it," he said. "My position is, you can't build for the future when the foundation is bad. You have to dig up the foundation, put in a new foundation and then we can build a house that will stand up."

DeCenty-Sternberg said she wants the city to make an effort to attract small businesses, but to avoid duplicating existing stores.

"The city should have things for children to go to, like bowling alleys, maybe a theater, and a YMCA and YWCA," she said. "Our children are bored out of their gourds."

McGuire said the city needs to work closer with businesses and their customers to determine what business growth Grand Terrace needs and then try to lure those businesses to the town.

Wilson said the city should make every effort to keep plans for a new, larger Stater Bros. market moving.

"I think getting sticks up is really important to the city because, let's face it, you can't depend on handouts," he said.

Stanckiewitz said he wants to be mayor so that he will have an easier time placing issues on the agenda for council meetings.

"Not being the mayor, one of my frustrations is that things I would like to get on the agenda don't get on the agenda," he said.

Reach Darrell R. Santschi at 951-368-9484 or dsantschi@PE.com

From In The News: Rally Review.

3 candidates blast mailer

Hello Ryan Hagen, It was a Flier distributed in the dark of night...


G.T. hopefuls hold event to denounce 'racial divisiveness'
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Updated: 10/24/2010 05:54:09 AM PDT

GRAND TERRACE - Hot dogs - without sauerkraut - were the main course at an event prompted by fliers that the hosts said were racist for pointing out mayoral candidate Walt Stanckiewitz was born in Germany. The event, held Friday at Stanckiewitz's La Pasta Italia restaurant, was billed as a way to denounce "racial divisiveness."

It became a show of support for the three candidates targeted by the anonymous fliers - Stanckiewitz and City Council candidates Bernardo Sandoval and Sylvia Robles - as well as Colton Joint Unified school board candidate Pilar Tabera. Another candidate for mayor, Doug Wilson, attended the event for about 15 minutes to show his opposition to the attack fliers, which were spread before dawn on Oct. 17.

"My intention was not to draw attention to myself and away from the barbecue," he said. "It was a political event that appeared to be solely attended by Stanckiewitz supporters."

Stanckiewitz said the attendance disproved claims that he was alienating the community by bringing attention to unpleasant issues.

"It shows the community that we're not alone, that the message we've been sending, people have heard," he said.

Sandoval and Robles also thanked the group for its support and said they were focusing on important questions.

"We're not doing negative campaigning," Sandoval said. "We're focusing on the issues."

Many people at the event said they supported exposure of what they said were hidden problems in Grand Terrace and thought the candidates who attended would help achieve that goal.

"I'm here because I'm pro-Grand Terrace, which is what Walt and Bernardo are," Tom Roberts said.

- ryan.hagen@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-386-3916

Gramps Adds:

It was interesting Mr. Wilson made a quick appearance. His denial of being behind the flier has been received. However, he can not dispute that some of his own words, and the words of Herman Hilkey, and Tom Schwab, and others on and running for the City Council, were used to help fabricate the flier.

His impression of who attended the rally is interesting. Of course people were there to support the candidates against the intended tactics of the flier. Many like himself did not come there starting off to be a supporter of the 3 local GT Candidates. Perhaps his polling question was misguided. Perhaps after meeting him they drew the conclusion who they would vote for.

Many people left the event better informed and reassured that there is a base of citizens who are not only not interested in fliers that twist the truth and are filled with racial undertones, but who will stand together and show a rebuke of such conduct. Some just came for the free food, and to join the event to see who showed up. The reporter's side remark of "with no sauerkraut" shows little regard for the genesis of the rally. It also shows a lack of class. If he said "With no Fried Chicken and Watermelon" at a Jessie Jackson Rally, he would be advised regarding his use of stereotypes that can connote negative messages unintended or intentional. That is the very type of polite racism that is all to often allowed to be spoken and not addressed for what it is. That is why the Rally was held.

Grand Terrace Citizens are tired of such poor press coverage, we are tired of hush lets just ignore the problems, hush protect the City Council Members and the Old City Staff from being embarrassed by the truth. Grand Terrace may be going through the most significant growth in maturity it has in 30 plus years, it is about time. Citizens need to be involved, and keep that interest level high after the campaign and election in order to make the Government work for us, rather than us working a taxpaying slaves for the government.

Where are Your Records?

Hey Wilson, McGuire, Sternberg, Schwab, Cortes, Loder, McNaboe.... You should submitt your records to public review.....

We know you read the blog... It is time to contribute to the information provided to the Citizens.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Candidates are responding: Post your 460's here...

Form 460's are coming in to post. It will take time to get them all formatted for posting... Thanks to those of you who have sent the files or committed to doing so. Sylvia Robles, Bernardo Sandoval and Walt Stanckiewitz have committed to submitting their Form 460's to this forum of public access.

This demonstrates their commitment to transparency and an informed and engaged public.

Walt Stanckiewitz document are located at:

TNT Fireworks Funds No on Z Campaign.

Most Citizens will have received a No On Z Post Card by now It claims No on Z supports Families, the slogan. "Because Family Matters". That's it. No lies about how safe playing with fireworks is and all the other blah blah... Just "Because Family Matters" and a stock photo.

Citizens for a Safe July 4th, a coalition of Grand Terrace residents, non profit and community organization with majority funding by TNT Fireworks Sent you this post card.

Note: 23196 Glendora Drive, Grand Terrace Ca 92313 is in the Fireworks Prohibited Area of the City and is the home of Herman Hilkey who has become a very busy man this election season. Remember he is a council member who resigned from office.

San Bernardino Sentinel Covers Candidates:

Sandoval Calls For Redirection In GT

Bernardo Sandoval is vying for a position on the Grand Terrace City Council this year because he says the city is in need of serious redirection.
“I believe there has been serious financial mismanagement in the past that needs to be dealt with in order to deal effectively with the challenges the city faces,” he said. “I believe I have the strength, leadership capability and the creativity to think out of the box.”
Sandoval offered his view that “The number one challenge facing our city is the debt that we have accumulated through deficit spending over the last 20 years. It is to the point that for us to pay it back would require diverting $340,000 per year for the next 14 years. Adding to that challeng
e is this is not an expected expenditure and it comes not while the economy is booming or even normal but during an economic downturn when money is very hard to come by.
“We must live within our means as a city,” Sandoval continued. “I believe the accounting practices Grand Terrace has used in the past are no better than what Enron was doing. Enron used offshore companies to make their financials look better than they were. What Grand T
errace did was it took on debt in the redevelopment agency to strengthen the general fund and operational budget and build up its reserves. Overall, it was artificial because the debt was being booked in the redevelopment agency. It is fundamentally dangerous to be operating this way.
“I’d like to see the city create an audit committee that would be made of members of the public and a subset of the city council members that would be able to meet directly with the certified public accountant that is responsible for for the city’s financial audit to go through the findings without them being colored or filtered through by the city manager,” Sandoval said. “Had we done that in the past it would have established a clear transparency with regard to the true fina
ncial position of the city. We would have known exactly where we were financially.”
Sandoval is running for the four year term on the council that is up in this year’s election. That position is now held by Bea Cortes, who is seeking reelection. Another candidate for the four year post is Tom Schwab, who was Grand Terrace’s finance director from 1984 until 1989 and its city manager from 1989 to 2008. Schwab was the architect of most of the city’s policies for nearly two decades. Sandoval is highly critical of many of those policies and is basing much of his campaign on reforming the city away from Schwab’s municipal
management formula.
In the past, Sandoval said, “The financial audits went through the city manager, who shaded and colored and then presented it to the city council. Our mayor and council were unaware this practice of borrowing from the redevelopment agency was going on.”
Schwab said that the councils were always informed of how the city was diverting money from the redevelopment agency into the city’s general fund.
“They were told about it,” Schwab insisted. “They may not have understood it, but they were told about it.”
Sandoval, however, said that was “grossly inaccurate. They [past city councils] were not aware of this debt. Tom Schwab has said that at the time the money was borrowed that he had no intention of ever paying that money back to the redevelopment agency and that when the charter for the redevelopment agency expired and before the city chartered a new one the debt would just be forgiven. We have since discovered it isn’t possible to do that. At the end of the day, the state will hold the city responsible for paying that debt off.”
The city needs to embrace the principles of greater transparency and accountability, Sandoval
said, and get away from both the reality and the perception that there is favoritism at City Hall. “I also believe we need to make sure vendors are held accountable and that we have the proper metrics put in place to hold every vendor and contractor Grand Terrace uses to the highest performance standards possible,” he said. “We can thus bring to an end the culture of no bid contracts issued on the basis of friendships without performance.”
The atmosphere of favoritism bleeds into the specter of intimidation, Sandoval said, explaining that it appeared something venal was afoot at City Hall whereby certain connected individuals were profiting by means of their association with the city’s power elite and that those who questioned such arrangements were threatened with retaliation for merely observing what was going on.
“I think there is a culture of control and intimidation whereby citizens involved in both normal everyday activities and those who participate in volunteer or service groups in the c
ommunity have become afraid of speaking on different issues for fear of retaliation,” Sandoval said. “We have seen a pattern of this. We have had individuals who desire to support me and do privately support me but they have said that if they do publicly support me there will be retaliation against them or their group. This is not right.”
Sandoval said the city has to facilitate the generosity of its residents and the growth of its businesses and tax base, and prioritize its goals.
“I believe we need to strengthen the volunteer organizations in the community,” he said. “We need to identify those services that are critical within the city. We need to make sure the the widening of the freeway takes place as quickly as possible to have the infrastructure we require to support businesses in Grand Terrace.
Sandoval said he represents the best choice among the current crop of candidates for the four-year position on the council now held by Cortes.
“I believe that my experience recommends me to the job,” he said. “My first management position was at the age of 27 with a CPA firm that was in the top five of the Western United States. I understand financial audits. I also know what it is to manage a multi-million dollar budget and how to hold people accountable to perform. On the other side, I deeply care about
our youth and I have worked in youth programs. I understand what challenges face in engaging their young people I have mentored young people and provided leadership training. I have established a youth leadership group at Cal State San Bernardino. I worked on a transitional housing program for young people. I understand the importance to non-profits of raising funds and getting volunteers to serve.”
Sandoval, 38, was born in San Bernardino and attended Colton High School. His post high school schooling took place at several technical institutes, including instruction from the Microsoft Corporation. He is a Microsoft Systems certified engineer. He is employed as director of t
echnical operations for a $200 million dollar regional healthcare provider group, in addition to owning a small business franchise.
He has lived in Grand Terrace for 20 years. He is married with two daughters.


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Robles Hits RDA Debt In GT Race

Sylvia Robles said she was prompted to run for city council in Grand Terrace because as the county’s second smallest municipality it has been dominated by a very limited group of people who have perpetuated fiscal policies that are detrimental to the interests of its citizens.
Robles, who has a master’s degree in public administration and worked for 25 years as a budget analyst and department manager in the county’s special district’s division, said the city of Grand Terrace for all of its 32 years of incorporation has suffered from leadership that lacked a comprehensive understanding of municipal governance and the principles of sound fiscal management.
“I have lived here for thirty-three years,” Robles said, “and I have noticed a pattern. There
have been a limited number of people elected to the council. Many who were elected did not serve out their full term and someone was appointed to replace them, someone who was the choice of the council and the establishment, the clique that runs this town. The council has been one of appointments and social popularity. This has engendered a culture where the entire city is in the redevelopment project area. The city leaders have an agenda where the taxpayers are spending tax money for retail establishments and grocery stores to subsidize entities that should have money to do their own capital improvements. We are spending money to enrich developers and companies when that money should be used for street improvements and lights and youth services and libraries.”
Robles said “The major issue in this campaign, at least for me, is how we are funded as a city. Right now the city is 100 percent in the redevelopment agency. As a result, we must incur debt before we see the benefit of tax revenue. The latest amendment to the redevelopment plan is to do $25 million in capital projects, but that means we will have to take on $25 million in debt where we will have 17 million in interest and almost $2 million administrative costs. That is almost a 2-to-1 ratio between what we are paying
for and what we are actually getting.
Robles said the problems facing the city are the result of policies designed by former city manager Tom Schwab which were ratified by a city council that was not sophisticated enough to understand the full implication of what it was voting on.
Redevelopment agencies are adjuncts to cities intended to assist in the eradication of blight and the propagation of urban renewal. By creating a redevelopment agency project area, the city can have its city council issue bonds that do not have to be approved by the city’s voters. The bonds are sold to investors at a given interest rate over a specified number of years. The proceeds from the bond sales are used to do infrastructure or public improvements to facilitate the urban renewal and the property tax in the redevelopment project area is then utilized to repay the bondholders.
Schwab convinced past councils to place the entire city of Grand Terrace into a redevelopment project area. He left the city last year and is now running for a position on the city council. Robles said Schwab made the city’s financial books way too complicated with no advantage and much actual disadvantage.
“When Tom Schwab was running this city he was the only one who understood the complex scheme of budgeting everything in and through the redevelopment agency for financial purposes,” she said. “It should not have gotten that complex. When citizens cannot understand how the city is taking in its money and how it is spending it, we have gotten too far off track.
There used to be transparency in the way cities were run. You had sales tax and property tax revenue coming in and expenditures going out. Anyone could understand it from that standpoint. Even the use of the redevelopment agency was straightforward. You could declare small areas blighted and use the authority to clean up the blight. Now, though, everything is declared blighted and our city wants to make use of unblighted land to get revenues from bond issuances up front. But that creates debt and the need to service the debt. And we are coming up against violations of constitutional rights to develop property. We are threatening to use eminent domain to get land to profit developers to see improvements to redirect tax revenue to satisfy that debt we are creating. It is a vicious cycle.”
The problem, Robles said, was that Schwab’s formula was to tied into future debt and did not avail the city of other options to deal with its funding necessities.
“Instead of using the redevelopment agency as an opportunistic quick fix, I would propose that we approach the state legislature and request that certain revenues due to the city be made available and be rerouted to the general fund. By doing that you reestablish transparency because if there is going to be any kind of bond issuance the citizens get to vote on it and we would save money because we are not going into debt and we do not have to pay interest on money we are borrowing.”
Robles said that unfortunately, the issue had been made too complicated by past practices of
the city for residents to comprehend what they had been gotten into by their civic leaders. “The function of the redevelopment agency gets real esoteric but the most simple thing to say is you have yourselves in a situation where you have to borrow money and pay high interest to get the service you have. An alternative is to negotiate with the legislature to get a major portion of the money now being taken up by the redevelopment agency redesignated as simple property tax revenue to be put into our general fund. By that you report what is happening, you have transparency and they cannot use backroom votes and deals to issue bonds and create debt. Those votes then must go to a vote of the people. If local government has gotten so complex the citizens can’t understand it, then it is time to change it and make it simple again.”
Robles said that Schwab had created a circumstance where no one understood the situation sufficiently to ask meaningful questions. “Expecting people who work all day who come from circles other than high levels of finance to understand and deal with this is not realistic. People who do not understand this are trying to defend Tom Schwab and the past council that ratified this as a policy. Yet, we can give money away to developers who are wealthy and we cannot afford to provide basic services for our youth in this town.”
Things will only get worse, Robles predicted, as there is no chance that the city will grow out of its current circumstance. “We are in a period of time - within the next five to ten years – where there will be no more money. No new housing is going to be built. The bubble has burst. We must retrench back to pre-1999 levels. The reality at this point is there is not enough money available to service the debt we have accumulated for ourselves and run the city.”
Robles is not running directly against Schwab in this year’s race. She is vying for a two year term necessitated by the resignation of former councilman Jim Miller. Schwab is running for a four year term represented by the position now held by councilwoman Bea Cortes. But Robles said she is vying against someone who is part of the Old Guard that supports Schwab. It will take someone who understands the problem to fix it, Robles said. She suggested that her opponent in the race, planning commissioner Darcy McNaboe, is part of the establishment that blindly supported Schwab.
“The group Tom Schwab was a part of put the city incrementally into a redevelopment project area,” she said. “They say we have now gotten into a position where we are fully in a redevelopment project area and they are afraid that without the redevelopment agency they will have to dissolve the city. That is not true. I worked for 25 years in government and 20 of those years were spent working on complex issues in government relating to the running of special districts not unlike running a city. I worked on getting services to special districts in the largest county in the nation [San Bernardino County]. I understand bonds and assessment districts and
alternate sources of getting projects done. There are methods of getting funding other than going into debt for thirty years and spending half of our tax money on interest payments. City’s have certain advantages. We provide services not for a profit. We do not have to answer to stockholders. We should not artificially create a circumstance where we are answerable to bondholders. I do not know my opponent [McNaboe] but my sentiment is this is part of the Tom Schwab slate and she represents more of the same and keeping the status quo. My feeling she is representing the status quo and special interests.”
In this vein, Robles acknowledge having lodged a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission against the Grand Terrace Area Chamber of Commerce relating to its use of its publication – The Blue Mountain Outlook – to promote certain candidates. The basis of that complaint, she said, was that the chamber receives money from the city to publish the Outlook and that such use of taxpayer money to promote political candidacies is illegal. She said she felt McNaboe, a chamber board member, was unfairly using the chamber as a promotional device in her campaign.
Robles said she believed the chamber constituted a special interest and that its forums for the candidates were slanted in favor of those candidates willing to perpetuate the city’s subsidization of the chamber, which she opposes.
Robles said she is in favor of way greater transparency at City Hall than has been the norm over the years.
“The main thing for me is that I want to get the citizens involved and have them understand the issues,” she said. “If that means we take longer to deliberate on items before us, than I think we should do that. I think we should go beyond the 72 hour requirement for dropping the agenda before the public. We should make it available as much as a week ahead of time. I want to change how the public gets its information about what action the city is going to take on its behalf.”
Robles said she is the superior choice for election to the council. “I think that at this time and with the issues facing us, my work experience and my education are a perfect fit for Grand Terrace right now. I don’t think degrees and master’s in public administration should be required, but when you get into this arcane of a way of running government, you need to have someone who knows what is being done to correct it and simplify it.”
Robles was born in San Bernardino and graduated from San Gorgonio High School. She
obtained a bachelor of arts degree in business administration from Redlands University and took her master’s from Cal State San Bernardino. She is married with three adult children.

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Court Filing Contradicts Cortes’ Form 700s

The following quote from the court documents was not included in the story. "Throughout our relationship, and even prior to the marriage, Mr. Moore promised that he would take care of me financially and make sure I was secure and that I was to able to maintain the kind of lifestyle that he and I enjoyed together and that included having spending money, certainly having a nicer home than the one I have in Grand Terrace and ability to travel and go out."

The Sentinel:

Grand Terrace City Councilwoman Bea Cortes consistently failed to disclose a significant portion of the income she received on the financial interest disclosure forms she was required to fill out throughout her tenure as an elected official, court documents Cortes herself filed in conjunction with her divorce show.
Cortes, who was elected handily in 2002 and reelected by a comfortable margin in 2006, is involved in a campaign for reelection in the upcoming November 2 election and has come under exacting scrutiny this election season.
Cortes succeeded in avoiding any major controversy during her first six years in office but courted acrimony in 2008 when she worked in concert with then-acting city manager Steve Berry to spark an investigation into her then-council colleague Jim Miller. Miller was later charged with a violation of state conflict-of-interest law for voting with the rest of the council to approve consent calendar items on the city council agendas that affirmed payments made to the Grand Terrace City News for municipal legal notices that ran in that newspaper. The City News is a publication owned by Miller’s wife.
The popular Miller was eventually forced to resign his council position as a consequence of the ensuing controversy.
Cortes’ involvement in Miller’s political demise, along with reports that she had engaged in an affair with San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, a married man, significantly undercut her popularity in Grand Terrace and has earned her the enmity of a contingent of that city’s residents. Several of those have carried out a concerted effort to prevent her reelection. That campaign has included intensive research of the public record for any potentially derogatory information relating to Cortes.
Perhaps the most damaging information unearthed relates to Cortes’ 2008 divorce from James Moore. The Moore/Cortes union lasted a single day, from February 21, 2008 to February 22, 2008. Previous reports were that the marriage had been annulled. But documents filed with the San Bernardino County Superior Court show that the marriage ended in a divorce, initiated by Cortes. One of the documents filed in conjunction with the matter reveals that Cortes was receiving money from Moore from shortly after their relationship initiated in 1999 continuing up until the time of their marriage – including the first six years that Cortes was serving on the city council.
Moore has been described as a wealthy Newport Beach entrepreneur.
In a declaration Cortes signed under penalty of perjury on August 21, 2008 and filed with the court on August 22, 2008, Cortes stated, “Mr. Moore and I have been in a relationship since 1999. He insisted throughout our relationship that I limit my professional and business activities so that I would be available to him. He consistently gave me between $1,000 and $3,000 per month prior to our marriage. He also bought me a Mercedes automobile.”
The declaration continues, “Prior to our marriage, he made it very clear to me that if we married, that he would provide for all of my needs, including a home, automobiles, travel, food, etc., and that I would have in addition to all of that, I would minimally have every week $500 in spending money (sic). He would also pay all expenses connected with my daughter who had graduated from college, in working on her Masters Degree and he would provide her with a Toyota automobile. He specifically indicated it would be up to approximately a $30,000 automobile.
“He also promised me,” the declaration continues, “that I would have an interest in an apartment partnership he has in Texas and that I would receive $1,000,000 as an irrevocable heir to his estate.”
Cortes made the declaration as part of a motion to convince the court to increase the amount of alimony to be paid to her.
In California, elected and other government officials are required to annually fill out statements of economic interest, known as California Form 700s. In her Form 700s filed with the Grand Terrace city clerk’s office for the years 2002 until 2008, Cortes makes no mention whatsoever of any money she received from Moore. Those documents require the signature of the office holder and contain an affirmation, under the penalty of perjury, that the information contained therein is accurate.
District attorney Mike Ramos in 2009 filed felony charges against former assistant assessor Jim Erwin for failing to disclose on his Form 700 filed in 2008 to cover the year of 2007 that he had received $14,265 worth of travel, accommodations and gifts from a real estate developer. Those gifts included airline tickets to New York and Washington D.C., hotel accommodations there and a Rolex watch. Ramos filed ten felony counts against Erwin for his failure to disclose those gifts.
No such charges have been lodged against Cortes, who was widely reported to have had a physical relationship with Ramos. Ramos has acknowledged knowing Cortes and being associated with her politically but has declined to respond to questions about the exact nature of his personal involvement with her. Previously, Cortes said her relationship with Ramos was “friendly” and “political.” She declined at that time, December 2009, to enlarge upon the exact nature of her relationship with the district attorney.
Cortes did not return phone calls seeking comment on the apparent discrepancy between her declaration filed in conjunction with her divorce and her Form 700s.

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See the Documents that support this story below in the blog.



From the Email Inbox:

Dear Grand Pa Terrace

Who do you think you are and do you really think people read your stupid blog? Who do you think you are anyway?............................

It went on but this is a family friendly blog...

Gramps Answered:
Well the chart speaks better than I can about how many people read the blog and read the documents on the blog. As for who I think I am, that does not matter. This blog brings me no personal advantage as an individual. In addition the contributions to the blog come from many Grand Terrace Citizens, now including you. Thanks for visiting the blog and hope the chart and table are the answers you want There is no way of telling if some of those visits recorded are repeat visits in the same month or not. Oh and the month of October is not finished.