I think the problem with the hyper-politicization of San Bernardino politics is that partisans on both sides were acting as if the City Clerk was the key to the whole balance of political power in the City of San Bernardino.  I can understand why each side would not want a City Clerk that was hostile to their perceived interests.  However, the City Clerk is far from the most important elected official in the City.  The job is largely ministerial; the law requires the City Clerk to do certain things without discretion.

I was a file clerk/runner for Milligan and Beswick in San Bernardino over twenty years ago.  Part of my job was to file pleadings with the court.  I became fairly intimate with the building at 351 North Arrowhead Avenue.  In the early 1990s, there were no metal detectors at the court.  You could easily run into the court and then back out.

I would sometimes get lunch for people in the office from the courthouse cafeteria.   It was run by a blind operator.   I would also sometimes buy snacks from the other blind operator (his sight was only somewhat impaired).  I remember buying popcorn, peanut M&Ms and six ounce Pepsi Colas in bottles (which by the early 1990s were not easy to come by) from the operator located next to the main stairway in the old courthouse.  I recall that he also sold hot dogs of the sort you could find in a movie theater.

Flash forward to 2012.  I first heard the story you will find bellow a few months ago, but here it is featured in the first Pete Aguilar for Congress mailer (that I have seen, anyway).

On the front is a picture of Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar standing with his hands in his pockets in front of the San Bernardino County Courthouse at 351 North Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino.  The caption says “Pete Aguilar Learned Valuable Lessons in This Building” the bottom says “Learn more about Pete at www.peteaguilar.com”

On the second page of the four page flier it says: “PETE AGUILAR. Mayor. Democrat.  Business Owner.”

The second and third page has a picture of Pete Aguilar talking to three people in what appears to be a cafeteria.  The third page has the following pull quotes from Mayor Pete Aguilar:

“My FIRST JOB, as a teenager, was bussing tables and washing dishes at the San Bernardino County Courthouse Cafeteria.

“My grandfather, who was legally blind, managed the facility and manned the cash register.  He taught me the values of hard work, playing by the rules and helping others.

“Washington has lost those values.  Today, our politicians would rather pick fights than solve problems.

“I’m running for Congress to help small businesses, create jobs and protect Medicare for our seniors.  That’s the change that middle-class families need in Washington.”

- Pete Aguilar

I first met Pete Aguilar after he was appointed to the Redlands City Council after the departure of  Susan Peppler, when he went to meet staff.  I was at the Council Meeting at which he was appointed, and I believe I sat either behind him and his wife Alisha and his very young (at the time) son Palmer, or in front of them.  That particular meeting was one of the most interesting I had ever attended, but that’s a post for a different time.  However, it appears we may have had a brush with each other decades earlier in the basement of the San Bernardino County Courthouse.

The final page is a picture of Pete Aguilar and his family, Palmer, Evan and Alisha.  The text says “Pete Aguilar, Leadership on Your Side” and “Pete Aguilar is a small business owner, Mayor of Redlands and a fourth generation resident of the Inland Empire.  He and his wife Alisha live in Redlands with their sons Evan and Palmer.”

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein Endorses Pete Aguilar for Congress

Calls Aguilar ‘Dynamic Leader Who Will Protect Medicare’

03 May 2012

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the first woman elected Senator of California, has endorsed Pete Aguilar for Congress in California’s 31st Congressional District, the Aguilar campaign announced today.

“Pete Aguilar is the dynamic leader that San Bernardino County needs in Washington, someone who will defend working families, our seniors and the small businesses that are so crucial to California’s future,” Sen. Feinstein said.

“Pete will protect Medicare and resist efforts to reverse important new health provisions, ensuring that millions of Californians who were dropped from health coverage when they got sick can now stay protected. Pete has shown that he can get things done and will be a valuable addition to the U.S. Congress,” she added.

Commenting on Feinstein’s endorsement, Pete Aguilar said, “I am very grateful to have the support and encouragement of Senator Feinstein, whose work to reenergize our economy, advocate for infrastructure investments in the Inland Empire, and protect Medicare and Social Security has benefitted citizens in San Bernardino County and throughout our state.”

Earlier this month, Aguilar pledged to protect Medicare as a member of Congress, noting that the Congressional budget plan drafted by Cong. Paul Ryan could significantly lower Medicare enrollment and raise costs for thousands of future retirees in San Bernardino County.

Aguilar (D) is a small business owner and Mayor of Redlands. He is a fourth generation resident of the Inland Empire. As Redlands Mayor, Aguilar has led efforts to reduce the city’s budget deficit, establish a reserve fund, equip police with more tools to fight crime and make critical investments in local roads and infrastructure.

The PE, on the other hand, still allows anonymous trolls, and their discourse is much lower.  Of course, some of the partisans battling on the Sun don’t let the lack of anonymity get in the way of their views. As discourse has been lessened amongst public officials, so too has the discourse of their hyperpartisan followers.  So, say what you want about the Sun’s level of journalism; at least they have cut down on anonymous trolls.  The PE would be well served, just this one time, in copying LANG on this issue.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San Bernardino will conduct public hearings on Monday, May 7, 2012 and Monday, June 4, 2012 at 4:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 North “D” Street, San Bernardino, California. The purpose of the hearings is to review and discuss the potential reapportionment of the City’s wards based on the 2010 U.S. Census.

 

The Report and the proposed changes are at the City of San Bernardino’s website here.

Dueling Bob Dutton and Gary Miller Signs in Redlands

This is located at approximately 710 East Redlands Boulevard, roughly in front of the Albertsons in Redlands.  As we can see, the sign says “Re-Elect Gary Miller Congressman,” even though Jerry Lewis represents this area in Congress. Above the neon Gary Miller sign is a Bob Dutton for U.S. Congress sign.  Both are Republicans; Gary Miller says he is moving to Rancho Cucamonga if he is elected; Bob Dutton is a California State Senator, and he was a Rancho Cucamonga council member.

The primary election for the new California 31st Congressional District (not to be confused with the current 31st Congressional District, which is in Los Angeles County)  is on June 5, 2012.  This is an open primary, meaning that two top preferences will move to the general election in November 2012.

According to the San Bernardino Registrar of Voters, the open primary works like this:

The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act requires that all candidates for a voter-nominated office be listed on the same ballot. Previously known as partisan offices, voter-nominated offices are state legislative offices, U.S. congressional offices, and state constitutional offices.
In this new open primary system, this means you can vote for any candidate, regardless of what party preference you indicated on your voter registration form. Only the two candidates receiving the most votes—regardless of party preference—move on to the general election regardless of vote totals. If a candidate receives a majority of the vote (50 percent +1), a general election still must be held. Even if there are only two candidates in the open primary, a general election is still required.
Write-in candidates for voter-nominated offices can still run in the primary election. However, a write-in candidate can only move on to the general election if the candidate is one of the top two vote-getters in the primary election. Additionally, there is no independent nomination process for a general election.

This system was created by the voters of the State of California in passing Proposition 14 on June 8, 2010.  The idea is that it will attract moderate candidates, because the candidates will no longer have to appeal to partisan voters in the primary.  At least in theory, we will find out what happens in the general election.
Right now in the 31st Congressional District of California race, the following candidates are running in alphabetical order:
Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar, whose ballot designation is Business Owner/Councilmember, a Democrat.  I worked with Mayor Aguilar when I was Assistant City Attorney for Redlands. He was born in Fontana, lived in San Bernardino, went to Yucaipa High School and the University of Redlands, and now lives in Redlands, of course.

Dr. Rita Ramierz-Dean, who is listed as “Retired Educator” on the ballot, a Democrat.

California Senator Bob Dutton, who lists himself as an “Independent Small Businessmen,” a Republican, which I guess to the low-information voter sounds better than, say, California Senator.

Justin Kim, who is listed as “Congressional Oversight Counsel,” a Democrat.  He lives in Loma Linda.

Gary Miller, who is listed on the ballot as “Member of Congress,” no doubt for low-information voters, a Republican from Brea or Diamond Bar, depending on the account.  When you search “Gary Miller” Congress

Renea Wickman, who is listed on the ballot as a Nonprofit Executive Director, lives in Redlands, and is a Democrat.

The most recent data from the San Bernardino Registrar of Voters says that the new California 31st Congressional District has the following character: there are 291,087 voters. 38 percent, or 113,054 are permanent vote by mail voters.  It is a plurality Democratic district, with 118,960 registered Democrats (40.8 percent), 103,472 (35.5 percent) Republican voters, and 56,068 (19.3 percent) Decline To State (nonpartisan) voters.  The most voters after the big three (Democrats, Republicans and Decline To State) are American Independent at 9,065, 1,393 Libertarians, 1,064 Greens, 1,048 Peace and Freedomers, and 17 Americans Elect partisans.  That data is based on a 4/22/2012 run date.

A variety of factors are in play here.  There should be light turn out for the Presidential primary as it is either over, or will be, for both parties by June 5, 2012.  Gary Miller is running as an incumbent, even though he isn’t from here, and doesn’t live here.  Bob Dutton must have some name recognition as a sitting elected official for this area, but as you can see both by the picture above and his website front page, he is neither running as a Republican, nor as a California Senator.  For the Democrats, Pete Aguilar has name recognition in Redlands, where he is the current Mayor.  As far as West End versus East Valley, it appears the district is about evenly divided between the two.  There are four Democrats running, and Pete Aguilar has raised the most money in the last reports.  I have seen some grass roots support for Justin Kim driving around Redlands (yard signs), but that anecdotal information is not of much value.  Justin Kim raised about half of what Pete Aguilar raised.  I see signs from someone running in the 8th District, and that doesn’t mean anything either.

I won’t try to handicap the race, because there are too many variables.

I have vague memories of 1980 election, and none of the 1980 Olympics.  I have great memories of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, and I remember the primaries.  The Seoul Olympics were somewhat of a let down after the Los Angeles experience, but I followed the 1988 Presidential primaries, convention, debates and election very carefully.  I remember reading Newsweek’s Conventional Wisdom watch and CNN’s Inside Politics, of attending a Los Angeles campaign event, of working a phone bank in downtown San Bernardino on Arrowhead Avenue for the June Primary (which I remember mostly for a disturbing phone call to Fontana, of convincing a friend to phone bank, and of the volunteer/paid staffer running the office who spent the time playing whiffle ball in the hallway).

I remember 1992 well, with a classmate picking “his boy Clinton” back before the New Hampshire Primary, who I remembered mostly for giving the nominating speech in 1988 and being cheered when his overly-long speech was over.  Barcelona, on the other hand doesn’t stick in my mind, except for the Dream Team’s romps, and that the torch being lit by arrow.

I had the good fortune to attend a small portion of the Atlanta Games, flying on Delta a week after the bombing, with the bloated Dream Team II, with Shaq (coming to the Lakers) beating Vlade (leaving in exchange for Kobe), seeing Michael Johnson break the 200 record, and seeing baseball and soccer in Athens, at UGA.  By 1996, the primaries weren’t as interesting, with an air of inevitability that we see repeated in 2012.

I still remember the shock of election night in 2000, watching the television award Florida to Gore, and then take it back.  The Olympics, like with Seoul, are sort of a blur, other than remembering the festive atmosphere of Bondi Beach for volleyball.

Athens (Greece, this time), was my sentimental favorite for the Centennial Games, and if it weren’t for Atlanta, we’d have the Third Los Angeles Olympiad by now.  Off hand, without looking at Wikipedia, I remember only the U.S., including my “classmate” (and I use that term very loosely) Jason Kidd and the rest of team U.S.A. bombing in basketball.  And some Greek runner doping out of the games before the Opening Ceremonies.  Other than the invention of Swiftboating, the rise of the gay marriage wedge, and the Dean Scream, and forgetting Poland, I don’t remember much of the election campaign.

I followed both the Olympics and the Election pretty closely in 2008.  I don’t think I will ever forget the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing ever.  It was the kind of even that I used to see reading general history texts in schools, something not assigned to an info box, but inserted in the main text: that the Opening Ceremonies represented a show of China’s military, economic and political force in the world, circa 2008.  The 2008 election was interesting because it showed a generational shift away from the baby boom, from tradition to modernity, from old conventional wisdom to new technology.

I am following 2012 pretty closely, more in the electoral politics than the Olympic sports.  Which turns me to today’s theme: On carpetbagging and Gary Miller.

I couldn’t pick Gary Miller out of a line up, even a highly suggestive six pack.  I hadn’t really heard of his politics, except for the nominal party and place name that we largely see for congressmen who are not our own.  Such as R-Brea.  Or R-Diamond Bar.  Or the new one.  Because the Sun is owned by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, occasionally a story from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune or the IVDB would pop-up as filler.  By filler, I mean news no one in San Bernardino east of Chino cares about, but is added because there is a certain amount of space even the Sun has to fill so as not to be confused with the Pennysaver.
Like this one I found in the archives of Google News from the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, dated September 21, 2009, that has a quote: “If you google Gary Miller’s Scandals, you notice a lot of controversial situations Miller’s gotten himself into.”

Around the time of Jerry Lewis’ retirement decision, is when I first started to pay attention to the name Gary Miller.  So, in searching the name, I learned, that he was a potential carpetbagger:

Google brought me these results at that time: From the Orange Juice Blog, by Greg Diamond, on January 12, 2012:

Orange County won’t have Gary Miller to kick around in Congress anymore.  Neither, for that matter, will his home of Diamond Bar.  Neither, most importantly from his perspective, will Congressman Ed Royce, with whom he was locked in a death match in the new CA-39. [Citation Omitted].

Miller is hopping on the train past Anaheim and Azuza all the way to Cu-ca-mong-a — that fulfills my Jack Benny Show joke quota for the first quarter of 2012 – and points east, all the way to San Berdoo.

The dreaded c-bag word comes later in the same post:

Miller will be pulling his train into a nominally Democratic district.  According to the redoubtable (but rarely doubtable) Around the Capital website, Miller’s main competition in the Cuca-to-Berdoo district on the Democratic side will likely be long-time anti-Dreier opponent Russ Warner and Redlands Councilmember Pete Aguilar, though a Baca may also be in the mix.  On the Republican side, this was a district where Dreier himself was rumored to be likely to land, and State Senator (and outgoing Minority Leader) Bob Dutton has also been mentioned, but Miller has beaten both of them to the punch.

This has the makings of a fine race.  As a big developer, Miller is no stranger to the area — although it will take more research to see what parts of the district, if any, he has personally despoiled.  On the negative side, if you’re Gary Miller — and if you are, fix my street’s potholes before you go – the district has a 4-point Democratic advantage in registration.  Obama won it by 15; Brown won it by 7.  Then again, Miller is going to have a pot of money that will be dwarfed only by … that of Ed Royce!  Plus, he’ll be a carpetbagger, and we all know that carpetbaggers never win, except for when the do, which is not uncommonly.  (See entry for “McClintock, Tom.”)

So, do carpetbaggers never win, except for when they do, here in San Bernardino County, in California 31?

Well, George Brown did, when he was redistricted out, and moved east (technically, I believe to Riverside, though I’m pretty sure he really lived in Washington D.C).  But the 1970s were another time, another place.  Jerry Lewis was born and raised in San Bernardino, moved east to Highland (geographically, at least), and then slightly south to Redlands, but he never left the district, and participated in a geographic shift that to this day is common, and in no way could he be considered a carpetbagger.

But moving from Los Angeles County, or Orange County to the Inland Empire, and more particularly San Bernardino County is carpetbagging.  And you can see what the people out there think of this area by the blog post by Mr. Diamond.  Anyone who is from here, or lives here, knows the contempt they have for the area.  Whether born of reality, or arrogance, or both, it can already be seen in the carpetbagging campaign of Gary Miller.

You have no doubt seen the Gary Miller signs carpeting our parkways, utility poles, light poles, weed-strewn vacant lots (anywhere, really but in people’s yards).  They say that we, the people of District 31, should reelect Gary Miller.

Tell me, though, when did we elect him in the first place?

Gigi Hanna won by a slimmer margin than 50.01 percent, the number was just rounded up from 50.000824402308326 percent of the vote.  By contrast, Amelia Sanchez Lopez received .499917559761674 percent of the vote. In comparison, there were 12,108 votes in the final certified results of the Primary Municipal Election, which means that there were 22 more voters in this election than in the General Municipal Election.

There was a tie vote in the March 1979 vote for 7th Ward Council in San Bernardino between Robert McBay and the eventual winner, Jack  Strickler.  The vote was tied 1284 to 1284 before the Council broke the tie with a coin flip.

here was an election contest to the results of the General Election in May 1, 1979 between Ralph Hernandez, Luther Fair and one other candidate for the 3rd Ward seat.  The initial election results were that Fair won, then the official canvass said t that Hernandez won by four votes, then the recount was 793 votes for Hernandez and 790 votes for Fair.  Fair filed an election contest.  Judge Patrick Morris decided that Hernandez received 796 votes, and Fair received 794 votes.  The decision was reversed and remanded by the Fourth District Court of Appeal on March 12, 1981.  After remand, Judge Morris found 791 votes for Hernandez and 783 votes for Fair.  It went to the Fourth District Court of Appeal and the judgement confirming Hernandez’s election was upheld on December 23, 1982.  As far as I can tell, though, Hernandez was sworn in before the first Common Council meeting in June in 1979.