Rex Gutierrez

This year Rex will spend his Thanksgiving Day in prison, taking the fall for those who would not do the right thing and because of those who are not afraid to commit perjury and other crimes.   By this time next year, he will have been out for a while.  I wonder how many of you may be in his place by that time.  Some of you at this time last year called me crazy for suggesting that you too could be where he was headed.   Now you are just a bit worried, aren’t you?  And worried you should be.

This post is the third in the series about those things that occurred behind the scenes that made Bill’s guilty plea came about.  It’s about those who fight for justice, not for justice sake, but for selfish reasons; for self-preservation.

I started to see a change in Bill’s attitude after Rex’s first trial ended in a mistrial.  It was hard not to have a change in attitude because we knew the facts of the case, facts that never saw the light of day in the courtroom during either trial.  The mistrial should have been a “not guilty” verdict.

Rex has his supporters and his haters.   I’ve spoken with both.  But whether one is a supporter or a hater, he cannot say he is truly about justice if he believes someone, even someone he hates, should go to jail for a crime he did not commit.  Rex is an innocent man sitting in a prison cell tonight.

The haters will point to the fact that Rex may not have worked a 40-hour work week or that he was not productive.  We can argue all day and all night as to whether Rex was a good employee or a bad employee.   We can argue all day whether he was a good Rancho Cucamonga city councilman or not. It does not matter.  Being a bad employee, simply, is not a crime.  It is a reason to be fired.  But beyond that, he was a salaried employee that was only required to work the hours necessary to get his assignments done and nothing more.  And he was not on trial for anything he did in Rancho Cucamonga.

I will be the first to say that not only do I believe all of the county’s exempt employees should have to work 40 hours a week, I actually believe they should have to work far more because of how much more income and benefits they receive than other county employees.  I can feel that way all I want but the fact remains the law and the memorandum of understanding do not agree.  Rex was not required to work a certain number of hours but was allowed to be paid for the hourly equivalent of 40.  That is the law and that is how the county’s payroll system is set up and has been set up for decades.  Otherwise, there should be hundreds of county employees sitting in a jail cell next to Rex.

I have been a payroll clerk and I have been exempt.  Both Jim and Bill are also familiar with the way it is supposed to work.  The District Attorney’s “conspiracy theory” in regards to this is unadulterated BULLSHIT.   There was no conspiracy between Jeff Burum, Bill Postmus, and Rex Gutierrez.

It was clear during Rex’s first trial his attorney was going for nothing more than a hung jury.  More evidence was left out than was presented.  For the second trial, Jim Reiss was given assistance by one of the private investigators working for another defense team.  However, Reiss dismissed much of the evidence and again many pieces of evidence that could have proven Rex’s innocence were not presented.  By this time the Bell scandal had occurred and the District Attorney had no trouble getting a conviction.

On the day of the verdict, information was received of improper juror conduct and we were told the private investigator was on it.  Over a period of weeks we got one excuse after another.  What became most apparent was that those who were supposedly helping Rex were not—Jeff Burum, et al.

One thing readers need to understand is that I do not know Jeff and Bill was not allowed access to Jeff.  Everything was filtered through Jim Erwin.  Bill and I kept being told what we now know were “pie in the sky” stories about what was happening with Rex’s defense and appeal.  Everything was a lie.  To this day we don’t really know if the lies were of Jim’s creation or if they were something Jeff wanted Jim to tell us.

One day when talking with Jim, I was a bit exasperated over the fact that no one was helping Rex.  During this time I had also realized that Jim was lying to me on another matter that was very, very important to me.  In the conversation Jim said something about how the private investigator couldn’t talk to all of the jurors because of something that was written in the newspaper and that “Rex lied.”  Basically, he was saying that Rex claimed to have worked what he was supposed to work and since he lied about it, Burum, et al., had washed their hands of Rex and he would receive no help.  Again, this was coming from someone who was lying to me about just about everything.

Both Bill and I came to realize that almost everything Jim had told us about the whole corruption scandal investigation was a lie.  Not a single thing that Jim told us turned out to be true.  Again, we still don’t know if that was Jim’s doing or Jeff’s.

Jim also continued on his Jihad to convince Jeff, Dan Richards, Neil Derry, and others that Bill was still using and use that lie to limit Bill’s access to everyone.  Even now that Bill has 9.5 months of sobriety, I don’t believe that Jim has accepted the fact that Bill is clean.  Bill came to realize that his “lack of sobriety” would receive the same treatment as “Rex lied.”  In other words, it was becoming clearer each day that the partners would unfriend Bill as quickly as they did Rex.  It was not “one for all and all for one.”  It was “one is either an asset or a liability to the partners” and due to Jim’s determination to discredit Bill, Bill was quickly becoming a liability.  He knew he would be tossed aside just like Rex was.  What is interesting is that with sobriety has come clarity and I suspect Bill will make an awesome witness.

In the final installment, I will discuss the “straw that broke the camel’s back” in terms of Bill realizing he needed to look out for himself.  If you read the blog regularly, you already know what that was.  At the time I warned of the consequences without even knowing that Bill was on the verge of making the decision to cooperate with the District Attorney.  Yes dearie, you were that final straw.

²⁰Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

²¹Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Over the years, I have quoted the above passage many times.  I think a good many of our core readers find iePolitics because they have been wronged in some way.

Today, I have had one of those teary-eyed days.  I learned yesterday that it appeared the district attorney was acting fast and a criminal grand jury was being empanelled to indict most or all of the corruption figures.  Although not confirmed, I heard today that all five John Does have been served.  I am also hearing that the current charges may be dropped against Jim Erwin so to avoid a preliminary hearing and that he will be indicted as well.  We shall see.

My first question to my source was, “So that means Mark Kirk was served?”  I cannot help but think back to January 1, 2010, the last time I spoke with Mark.

It was not a pleasant conversation.  The night before I sent him an ugly text message.  I was very upset over some things that had happened.  At the time I was living in a house with no utilities whatsoever; I had not had anything to eat or drink for four days; my truck was broken down and I could not get anywhere; and I was in severe pain.  By that evening I couldn’t take it anymore, thus the text message.

Mark had promised to help by making the county let me go back to work but had not kept his promise.  (For those that don’t know the story, weeks earlier I received a call from HR telling me to go home as they had decided to exercise their right not to accommodate my disability any longer.  It was a case of Mark Uffer vindictiveness combined with pissing off Paul Biane, etc.  The county left me penniless, with no medical insurance, no food, no way to support myself and a long list of disabilities caused directly by the county.  Prior to pissing off the wrong person I had a 25-year perfect work record.)

Anyway, I have thought of that conversation all day.  And I have thought of the passage above all day as well.  I don’t want Mark to go to prison.  But I have to admit I sure as heck want him to know what it feels like to be handcuffed, humiliated, and locked up.  Knowing what a scaredy cat he is, if he really did receive the letter, I bet he is in meltdown.  I should not feel like this is justice, but I went through a year of absolute hell that he, as the most powerful politico in the county, could have and should have fixed in five minutes.  Instead he heaped on more crap on me.  I’m sure he would be really happy if I did kill myself.  And now he may very well get a chance to know what it feels like.

Then there is John Doe No. 5, Paul Biane.  Actually, there is a part of me that feels sorry for Paul.  He really needs help via a good rehabilitation center.  But again I also remember the memos that are posted somewhere on this blog where he tried (and succeeded) in getting me into trouble for touring the Fifth Floor on a Friday with Supervisor Derry and writing about the results on the blog.

I have zero feelings one way or the other about John Doe No. 3.  If Patrick O’Reilly really did cheat on his wife with a prostitute provided by John Doe No. 1, well she’s getting her revenge whether she wants it or not.  If not, I’m not sure he belongs with the others.  So I can’t say that I want to see Dan indicted.

Finally there is John Doe No. 1, Jeff Burum.  I have always had a soft spot for Jeff.  I have never met him or even spoken with him.  Jim, Mark and Bill have all told me that he is a really good person.  The long-time readers know the story about Jeff and the blog and I’m not going to repeat it.  However, since the incident with Jim I suspect I was lied to about that too.  If I ever get back on my feet financially, that $1000 is going to be repaid, but I have no clue if I owe it to Jeff or someone else.  I do know it saved my life at the time, and after believing one story for so long, I can’t help myself but still have that soft spot.

I know Jeff’s supporters do not believe we treat Jeff fairly.  But we did support him 100 percent on this blog until Rex’s convictiion.  Then it wasn’t the conviction, because that was not Jeff’s fault.  But Jeff totally turned his back on Rex and his family.  There were things Jeff could have done to help Rex that would not have cost a dime.  They were things that Jeff could have done because he is Jeff Burum.  Instead, he washed his hands of Rex.

So for the reasons above I have very mixed feelings about how I feel about Jeff being indicted, if, indeed, that does happen.  There is a part of me that feels like he, too, needs to know what it feels like to be handcuffed, humiliated, and locked up.  But at the same time I do realize that this whole thing is more politics than anything.

I wish someone would use their influence to get the FBI involved but apparently that is too much to ask.  There is a lot of wrongdoing and not all of it is by the accused.  It is really too bad it had to come to this.  Jeff, Dan, Mark and Paul all had their chance to prevent what is happening. None of them had balls enough to do so. Now they are finding out what it is like to be on the receiving end.

So, I shall close this with a poem that has appeared on the blog many times.  It is dedicated to the John Does:

First They came… – Pastor Martin Niemoller

First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Docket (Register of Actions) The People v. Rex Alexandergutierrez
Case Number E052781

Rex is pro per, because as the rich and powerful say, “Rex lied.”

By the way, I checked for all of you and the airport in Tehachapi has a runway 4031 feet long.  I’m not sure if that is long enough for your private jets  to land.  It’s a beautiful drive up to Tehachapi this time of year so I’m sure your limo drivers won’t mind.

Oh, I forgot.  “Rex lied” so he doesn’t deserve your friendship or support any longer.  Huh Jeff?  Huh Jim?  Huh Dan?  And besides the private jets are for family vacations, huh Sally?  Sorry I bothered you all with this information.  Go back to PC Blog where you only have to read what you really want to hear.  Bill and I will give Rex your best wishes when we see him . . . NOT!

From: Guerra, Lee
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 12:39 PM
Subject: Promotions/Transfers on Behalf of Sheriff Rod Hoops

Good afternoon,

Assistant Sheriff Warren Nobles will be retiring from our department effective December 31, 2010.  Warren has dedicated over 32 years of service to the citizens of San Bernardino County.  He has worked in one capacity or another for five different Sheriffs.  An outstanding career.

The following promotions and transfers will be effective January 1, 2011.  These promotions and transfers are being announced at this time to allow our Executive Staff time to work on the backfill promotions and additional transfers that will be forthcoming.  The extended time frame also allows for a smooth and successful transition period.

Promotions

Deputy Chief Bob Fonzi will be promoted to Assistant Sheriff/Support.  Bob is a 27 year veteran of our department.  He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the POST Command College and is completing his Bachelors Degree.

Captain Pete Ortiz will be promoted to Deputy Chief and will oversee our Valley Patrol Operation.  Pete is a 33 year veteran of the department and has a Bachelors Degree from San Diego State University.

Captain Lance Clark will be promoted to Deputy Chief/Corrections.  Lance has been with our department 25 years.  He has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from California State University San Bernardino and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Michigan State University.

Lieutenant Hector Guerra will be promoted to Captain and will remain at our Narcotics Division.  He is a 29 year veteran and is an applicant to attend the FBI National Academy.

Lieutenant Gerry Milani will be promoted to Captain assigned to our Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center.  Gerry is a 28 year veteran of this department.

Lieutenant Frank Gonzales will be promoted to Captain and is being assigned to our Coroner’s Division.  Frank has been with our department for over 30 years.  He has applied to attend Command College.

Lieutenant Greg Herbert will be promoted to Captain assigned to the City of Adelanto.  Greg is a 24 year veteran for the Sheriff’s Department, and is an applicant to attend the FBI National Academy.

Transfers

Assistant Sheriff Glen Pratt/Operations

Deputy Chief Dennis Casey/Bureau of Administration/ Specialized Projects

Captain Tom Neely/Specialized

Captain Bill Lenew/Chino Hills

Captain Stephen Higgins/City of Hesperia

This is an exciting time for our department.  Stay safe.

Much of what I think about the Colonies scandal is no different that what I thought a year ago after the arrests were made and the John Does were “named.”  But some has.

As to the settlement itself, I can only go by what numerous people have told me.   Otherwise waring parties all agree the $102 million was the best the county was going to get.  I have said many times on this blog that I believe District Attorney Mike Ramos’ conspiracy theory is a lot of bs.

Although not everyone involved in the settlement are what I would consider to be ethical people, I don’t believe for a moment that either  Judge Warner or the justices at the Fourth District Court of Appeal would conspire to do anything.  It would take them being willing to face criminal prosecution themselves and that is just hogwash.

In a year’s time, I have changed my mind about some things.  For example, we have every reason to believe one of the John Does has cut a deal with the District Attorney and is offering testimony against the others.  We also believe he is wearing a wire to entrap similarly to Adam Aleman and Matt Brown.  There is a LOT of circumstantial evidence pointing in that direction.

If this is the case, the person most affected will be Jim Erwin.  I honestly believe that Jim will go to prison.  I am not saying that because of our recent difficulties.  Despite those difficulties, I wish Jim no harm.  He has three beautiful children and has worked hard to make amends to them and his wife for the past couple of years.  I do believe this is a political prosecution and if the DA is going to get Jim, he should be getting a heck of a lot of other people too.

However, I have learned in recent months that Jim is his own worst enemy.  In his attempts to not back down, he crosses the line sometimes as I personally witnessed and as we have been told he did in the Colonies Settlement by Aleman.  It appears that the John Doe will corroborate that.

The question is whether Jim acted on his own or if he was acting on behalf of Jeff Burum and/or the Colonies Partners.  That is a very big question in my mind.

I don’t know Jeff Burum and I’m not sure what to think.  The story I told the other day about the RFQ and the 1200 acres is the story told to me by Mark Kirk.  I have every reason to believe I wrote nothing the PIU did not know long ago as Mark led me to believe he told them.  I may be pretty angry with Kirk but I don’t believe him to be a liar in matters such as these.

So, that story does demonstrate Burum’s willingness to do something not too ethical.  Yet, Kirk, Postmus and Erwin have all told me stories of Burum’s contributions to his community and to the less fortunate.  All three have painted a picture of a very caring human being who is a shrewd but ethical businessman.  As I said, I’m not sure what to think.

I’ve been really upset with Jeff and the partners in the months since Rex’s conviction and perhaps I should explain once and for all why.  Rex’s conviction is not their fault to my knowledge.  I base that on what Erwin tells me was offered as help to Jim Reiss, Rex’s attorney, but to be honest, Erwin lied to me about so much, I’m not sure if that help was really offered or not.

But whatever the case, the conviction is not what bothers me.  The bottom line is Reiss did a piss-poor job of defending Rex in the second trial.  There was a lot more that could have been done that wasn’t.  That is no one’s fault but Jim Reiss’.

What does bother me is that Jeff, Dan Richards, and others have tossed Rex aside.  They know Rex is not guilty and there are things they could do about it.  For example, one of the main reasons Rex was convicted was the lies that Andrew Lamberto told on the witness stand.  Andrew should have been fired before the trial was over and he should have been criminally charged.  Jeff, Dan, Kirk, Biane, Ovitt and others all have enough influence with Devereaux to make an investigation happen.  If the county did the right thing, the AG would have to take notice.   Every last one of them has instead run away with his tail between his legs in fear, letting Rex rot in jail.  I don’t think there is a set of balls between them.

I understand that not one of them, nor their attorneys, has expertise in the county’s payroll system or in exempt employees to understand the magnitude of Andrew’s lies, but they know there is an issue there.  Not one of them will do anything about it.  So, honestly, it will not bother me one bit to see any of them taken away in handcuffs.  They need to know what it feels like to be charged and go through the criminal process whether they are guilty or not.

The next few months will likely prove to be eventful.  It is my belief that Ramos is most interested in Erwin, Postmus and Burum.  Erwin and Postmus are already charged and I suspect before it is over the DA will be able to prove at least one major charge thanks to corroborating witnesses.  If the DA can figure out how to get a judge to sign an arrest warrant, I think Burum will be arrested too.  As to a conviction, from what I know it’s going to be hard to prove Erwin was doing Burum’s bidding, but we shall see.

Depending on how motivated the PIU is, I believe there are far more than just the five John Does who could be charged.  Ovitt, Matt Brown, additional county supervisors, and quite a few of the partners could also go down, or at least be charged.  There is some very serious evidence out there that has not been turned over to the defense or leaked to the media that a John Doe is said to be keeping as his ace up his sleeve.  Nothing would surprise me.

In the end, I still believe this whole thing is politically motivated.  Much of the behavior Ramos is charging others with, he has participated in himself.  But as we all have learned the past two years neither life nor the justice system is fair.

John Doe No. 1

It must be nice to have no worries and your freedom.  While Rex was serving his 37th day in custody, how did John Doe No. 1 celebrate?  Jeff Burum and his “entourage” (as described by one of our sources) were playing in a big golf tournament in Covina.  Life is tough all over.

Jeff Burum

So, I thought the idea was to fund an opponent?  Or was it to let Rex take a hit for you?  I’m beginning to wonder.

I didn’t use to feel this way, but I do now.  I hope the thug squad shows up at your office one day with the steel bracelets.  Then you will know what it feels like to be sold out by those you trust.

We hope that before the new governor is sworn in tomorrow, Arnold commutes  Rex’ sentence. After all, we have been told the rich and powerful are taking care of him.  Since Govern0r-elect Jerry Brown prosecuted him, we know that he won’t commute the sentence.  But then again, we were told that Brown would not win his election either.

Time will tell but Rex should not count on his rich and powerful friends.

Rex Gutierrez

We just want Rex and Janet to know that Rex remains in our prayers. We hope 2011 is better for the Gutierrez family and justice will be served.

I really wonder how Jeff Burum, Dan Richards, Mark Kirk, Gary Ovitt, Paul Biane, Matt Brown, and others can sleep at night.  We can only hope your day is coming.

San Bernardino County Courthouse

If ever there is a judge that the US Department of Justice needs to investigate, it is Judge Duke D. Rouse.  He has clearly become a bagman for District Attorney Mike Ramos.

Many things went on during the Rex Gutierrez trial that were never written about in the media.  One of them is the fact that Gutierrez’ attorney, Jim Reiss, became very ill during the proceedings.  Reiss asked that the trial be continued so that he could seek medical treatment.  Rouse refused.

Once the trial was concluded, Reiss did in fact seek medical attention.  It turns out he has full-blown diabetes, which explained some of what observers noticed during the proceedings.  Reiss seemed to have difficulty presenting the case and a hard time comprehending evidence.  He was sweating profusely and rushed through much of the defense, not presenting evidence in Gutierrez’ favor.  He was clearly very sick.

Rouse also made numerous rulings against Gutierrez that any other judge would not have made.  For example, after Andrew Lamberto got on the stand and lied under oath, Rouse would not allow into evidence the memo showing that Lamberto knew better than what he was testifying to.  That same memo was allowed into evidence days later in the Postmus/Eyler case by Judge Michael Smith.

Rouse also refused to allow limited testimony by Jim Erwin, Bill Postmus, and Jeff Burum, testimony that would have proven the conspiracy charge is bogus.  Rouse clearly cut backroom deals with prosecutors.

Judge Rouse showed his true colors yesterday at the Gutierrez sentencing where he gave Rex more time than he would have if Rex had beaten his wife, assaulted a cop, burglarized a home, stolen a vehicle, or assaulted his child.

An investigation into Judge Rouse and whatever quid pro quo agreement he has with Ramos and his deputies is clearly warranted.  Are you listening US Department of Justice?

]]> http://iepolitics.net/2010/12/16/iepolitics-a-rogue-judge/feed/ 9 http://iepolitics.net/2010/12/16/capitol-weekly-httpcapitolbasement-com-httpcaliforniahoteldirectory-net-salaries_czcmkoch04wdjyg-httpjobs-ca-govcaspbsupimagesdefault-aspsearchyopendate30-about_czcm/ http://iepolitics.net/2010/12/16/capitol-weekly-httpcapitolbasement-com-httpcaliforniahoteldirectory-net-salaries_czcmkoch04wdjyg-httpjobs-ca-govcaspbsupimagesdefault-aspsearchyopendate30-about_czcm/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:25:03 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=6752 Continue reading →]]> Editor’s Note:  This is John Doe No. 2

State Fish and Game Commissioner Dan Richards is also a developer with a history of clashing with environmental groups.

Now those groups are trying to play hardball to get him removed, alleging undisclosed conflicts of interests — and an intimate involvement in the saga of disgraced San Bernardino County assessor Bill Postmus. The environmentalists’ initial attack was dismissed in the courts, but they say others are coming.

Richards, meanwhile, has denied all wrongdoing.

In October, the Fair Political Practice Commission (FPCC) received and quickly dismissed a complaint against Richards by the Endangered Habitat League, an environmental group. But the group also says that documents submitted with the complaint show that Richards is “John Doe #2” named in a February indictment against Postmus and another man.

John Doe #2, the indictment alleges, signed the $100,000 check to the San Bernardino County Young Republicans, and that money was used to threaten Postmus with a smear campaign if he didn’t vote in favor of a $102 million settlement for a company in which Richards is a partner.

“I am John Doe #2, for sure,” Richards said. “But it’s got absolutely nothing to do with the Commission. I’m not charged with anything, nor shall I be.”

Richards said the donation, made in June 2007, was in good faith, like hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations the company has made in recent years. He accused environmentalists of running a “smear” campaign against him because they don’t like the way he votes. The AG’s complaint alleges that donation was filtered through the group to coerce Postmus.

Richards was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October, 2008. Since then, he has called the Marine Life Protection Act “corrupt,” railed against “radical environmentalists,” fired off angry letters to former state Resources secretary Mike Chrisman, and said that he no longer supports the governor who appointed him because he is too beholden to environmentalists and  government regulators.

The complaint contended that Richards had failed to disclose his interests in a pair of development companies, Colonies Partners LP and BGRW Lakes LLP, on his Form 700 statements of financial interest for 2007 and 2008. Richards’ financial disclosure forms dating back to his 2008 appointment don’t list either company exactly.

But he does list Colonies Crossroads LLP, an Upland-based company which counts dozens of well-known retailers among its commercial tenants. Numerous news stories list Richards as a partner with Colonies Partners, and he’s also listed as the “responsible officer” on the company’s campaign donation reports. Richards’ name appears along with that of business partner Jeff Burum on the 1998 incorporation papers for BGRW Lakes.

Overall, Richards listed interests in 15 different real estate companies. He listed six separate holdings in excess of $1 million each, including one in Colonies Crossroads.

“That’s my business,” Richards said when asked about the relationship between Colonies Partners and Colonies Crossroads. “The bottom line is I didn’t even have to disclose that. The FPPC actually said I’ve over-disclosed. I’ll have a much more amended filing next year.”

“It’s a little mystifying,” said Michael Fitts, an attorney representing the Endangered Species League, when asked about the complaint being dismissed. “They just said it was not the type of property that needs to be disclosed.”

Fitts added, “From what I understand, somebody representing the commissioner had told the FPPC the real estate holdings are not of the nature that would be under the jurisdiction of the Fish & Game Commission.”

But Fitts also said that his clients do not consider the case closed — and notes that Richards could still potentially face legal trouble due to the Postmus case.

“It is important to recognize that he hasn’t been convicted or charged with anything yet,” Fitts said. “But certainly the interests he’s been associating with are implicated in something pretty serious.”

That something “pretty serious” is allegedly the conspiracy that got Postmus in so much trouble. Postmus was elected to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in 2000 at only 28 years of age, then moved over to become county assessor in 2006. He also spent time as the chairman of the San Bernardino County Republican Party.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

Representatives of a national low income housing nonprofit stand behind a $42.5 million project approved by Rancho Cucamonga in 2007 that became a focal point in the criminal trial of Rancho Cucamonga Councilman Rex Gutierrez.

City Council members approved the project proposed by National Community Renaissance, or National CORE, on a 4-0 vote in August 2007. City Manager Jack Lam, who was the city redevelopment agency’s chairman at the time, Mayor Don Kurth, and redevelopment director Linda Daniels, who opposed the project, were all absent when the vote occurred.

The project entails the refurbishing of four apartment complexes in the city, and set affordability rates for the units at 99 years.

Prosecutors allege Gutierrez shepherded the project on behalf of Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum, who served as chairman of National CORE’s board of directors at the time. They allege former county Assessor Bill Postmus hired Gutierrez as a political favor to Burum, an allegation both Postmus and Burum deny, and that Gutierrez helped move the low-income housing project forward after he was hired at the Assessor’s Office.

During her testimony at Gutierrez’s trial, Daniels said she opposed the project because she did not agree with the methodology National CORE used in coming up with the $42.5 million figure, and that the city’s affordability covenants weren’t due to expire for another 18 and 22 years. She didn’t see the hurry to extend the covenants without first having
an outside consultant review National CORE’s proposal.

Gutierrez, however, opposed Daniels’ recommendation for an outside consultant to review the proposal, and pushed hard to get it on the agenda and approved, prosecutors allege.

Richard Whittingham, National CORE’s chief financial officer, said in a telephone interview Thursday that there was nothing different about the methodology used by National CORE to come up with the $42.5 million figure. “The methodology used to arrive at the $42.5 million was neither new nor unique. It was simply a method to apply a present value to a stream of future cash that would be given up by National CORE under the affordable extension agreement,” Whittingham said.

He said that in 2007, the difference between the yearly project market rents and the calculated affordable rents amounted to approximately $3.5 million. The difference was increased from 2007 yearly by assumed rental increases for the full 99 years. “From that stream of future cash only the portion beyond the 30-year affordable covenants then in place plus additional units that were added in 2007 were used in the calculations of the present value of that stream of cash,” he said. “A range of discount rates were applied against the stream of ‘given up’ future cash to come back to present values of $35 million to $50 million. The negotiated price of $42.5 million fell within that range of present values.”

In addition, Whittingham said the project’s per-unit cost was lower than the average marketplace rate at the time.

“It was one of the reasons the proposal made sense,” Whittingham said.

National CORE proposed a smaller scale version of the project, priced at $14 million, in January 2005, but the city rejected the proposal.

During Gutierrez’s nearly four-week retrial, prosecutors zeroed in on the timing of National CORE’s proposal, which coincided with Gutierrez’s hiring at the Assessor’s Office. During Gutierrez’s interview with Postmus in February 2007, the two discussed the project and the potential development of a 1,200-acre parcel of county owned land Burum also had an interest in. A few weeks later, the proposal went before the city for consideration. Six months later, it was approved.

Representatives of National CORE couldn’t say what reignited the negotiations with Rancho Cucamonga in 2007, but maintain Gutierrez’s hiring at the Assessor’s Office had nothing to do with the proposal.

“I honestly don’t know what happened in early 2007,” said Whittingham. “The city initiated the discussions back in 2005, and we couldn’t agree on a price. We had many projects going on with the city back in 2007 that were starting up, and I honestly don’t know who raised the issue of restarting the conversations on this.”

To read the rest of the story, click here.

It seems Assistant Attorney General Melissa Mandel fell head over heals over Rex Gutierrez today during the final stages of the trial.  The angry Ms. Mandel was pretty intense from what we hear, even attacking Rex’s wife during closing arguments.

The highlight of her argument was not what she said but  rather when she went to move the podium closer to the jury box so that the jury could fully appreciate her shrillness.  She fell head over heals . . . literally.  The bailiff had to sweep her up off of the floor.

It would be her luck, that because it was closing arguments, everyone from the District Attorney’s office and the Attorney General’s office was there to witness her performance.  Hey, at least she wasn’t boring.  They got an eyeful for sure.

Last night I printed the email I sent to the Board of Supervisors regarding the fact that San Bernardino County Human Resources Director Andrew Lamberto had perjured himself on the witness stand in the Rex Gutierrez preliminary hearing where he insisted that Exempt (Salaried) employees must work 80 hours a pay period.  He did so again at the first trial and even more forcefully and blatantly at the current trial.  We will be providing those transcripts as soon as they are made available to us.

The Board of Supervisors was made aware of Lamberto’s testimony at the time of the preliminary hearing because it contradicted what he had told them.  Because of Rex Gutierrez’ arrest, inquiries had been made regarding Exempt employee work requirements.  According to the County of San Bernardino Exempt Compensation Plan, employees classified as “exempt” have to work the number of hours necessary to carry out their duties.

When this language originally came into being, it had to do with the fact that Exempt employees often worked more hours than regular employees, thus the higher compensation package.  However, over the years, it has become more common for Exempt employees to work fewer hours, depending on where they work.  This language is also meant to take into account the fact that certain positions require a lot of after-hours and weekend meetings and events as well as the ability to work from home.

As we said, Rex’s arrest sent Exempt employees scrambling because, if he could be arrested for time card fraud for not working a traditional 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule or a full 40 hours a week, so could they.  An inquiry was made to Lamberto by the Third Supervisorial District.  Here is the exchange:

From: Hauer, Steve
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 2:10 PM
To: Lamberto, Andrew – HR
Subject: Question reference to Exempt work hours

Andrew,

There has been numerous questions arising from the Houston report, civil suites and criminal charges. According to the COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO EXEMPT COMPENSATION PLAN 2005 – 2007 the following is the opening on page 3.

Section 8: Hours of Work

Employees shall be required to work during such hours as necessary to carry out the duties of their position as designated by the appointing authority, and such hours may be varied so long as the work requirements and efficient operations of the County are assured.

Keeping this in mind, where do we stand on the following issues.

1. Our staff works numerous hours during evenings, weekends, early morning functions. They often work above and beyond a normal work week. We try and schedule adjust to compensate for those overage hours when possible. The question is, when staff works at the end of a pay period and it is near impossible to take time off within the same pay period. Where is it written that it must be taken within the pay period?

According to this “Plan”, it should be a non-issue. Where does it state that one must work 40 per week or 80 hours in a pay period. If it is a non-issue, then could one work 100 hours in a pay period or 60 in a pay period and still be salary of straight 80 hours per pay period. We do not have an issue of the person not working enough hours. The issue is when the person can take the time off. We need clarification on this issue.

These questions are for you and not County Counsel or other Districts! Thanks for your discretion.

STEVEN HAUER

DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF
OFFICE OF SUPERVISOR NEIL DERRY
909-387-4058

From: Lamberto, Andrew – HR
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 4:18 PM
To: Hauer, Steve
Subject: RE: Question reference to Exempt work hours

Steve,

Per our discussion, there are no legal obligations under FLSA to specifically track a salaried (Exempt) employees hours.   I do not have any issues beyond that as long as the Exempt employees are meeting the requirement below under Section 8 in the  COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO EXEMPT COMPENSATION PLAN (which you listed below).

I also mentioned that there is not an official county policy or procedure to track what is commonly called “compensatory time” in EMACS for timekeeping purposes. However, if you decide to independently track your Exempt employees hours to ensure public accountability for the hours worked and not worked for those employees, I don’t see an issue with that.  Hope this helps.

Andrew L. Lamberto

Director of Human Resources

County of San Bernardino

(909) 387-5570 (909) 387-6075 fax

I was aware of this email earlier this year along with the “ruling” that Exempt employees are not required to work 40 hours a pay period when Lamberto testified at the Gutierrez prelim just the opposite of what he says in his response and just the opposite of what the MOU states.  The Board was also aware of both but chose to look the other way and let him get away with lying on the witness stand.

Here is the definition of perjury taken from the California Penal Code. As you can see, it is a felony.

118. (a) Every person who, having taken an oath that he or she will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly before any competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any of the cases in which the oath may by law of the State of California be administered, willfully and contrary to the oath, states as true any material matter which he or she knows to be false, and every person who testifies, declares, deposes, or certifies under penalty of perjury in any of the cases in which the testimony, declarations, depositions, or certification is permitted by law of the State of California under penalty of perjury and willfully states as true any material matter which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of perjury.

126. Perjury is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three or four years.

As we said, all five members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, along with County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux, have been aware since March that Lamberto committed perjury on the witness stand.  Not only did Lamberto commit a crime, but he also violated county policy by committing a crime under the color of authority and by lying while acting in an official capacity.

The Board of Supervisors chose to look the other way.  Some would say that is not a big deal.  But any regular employee would be fired and criminally charged for doing the same thing.

And it is a big deal.  Rex Gutierrez is on trial for a “crime” that is not a crime under the California Labor Code or pursuant to county policy.  He faces prison time if convicted.  The Board of Supervisors does not care.

The Board’s failure to act months ago became a focal point today in the Gutierrez trial.  Defense attorney Jim Reiss attempted to introduce the above email into evidence today to show that Lamberto lied under oath and Judge Duke Rouse refused to allow it introduced.  In other words, Lamberto, as an expert witness in county labor practices, is being taken at face value with no way to refute his lies.

No matter what one may think of Rex or any of the corruption figures, the Board of Supervisors has an obligation to deal with any employee who commits a crime while on duty.  Their failure to do so could send an innocent man to prison.  If that happens, it will be each and every member of the Board who has bloodstains on their hands.

After his perjured testimony at the beginning of this year, I sent the following email to the BOS.  It should be noted that email sent to the addresses I used goes directly to their personal Blackberries/iPhones.

Subject: So when is everyone going to receive equal treatment?

From: sharon@iepolitics.com

Date: Wed, March 17, 2010 5:04 pm

To: b@sbcounty.gov
p@sbcounty.gov
n@sbcounty.gov
g@sbcounty.gov
j@sbcounty.gov

Cc: gdevereaux@cao.sbcounty.gov
cmacduff@pe.com
nlindstrom@vvdailypress.com
joe.nelson@inlandnewspapers.com
sbcsentinel@yahoo.com

Recently, we witnessed our director of Human Resources, Andrew Lamberto, commit perjury on the witness stand at Rex Gutierrez’ preliminary hearing. The County’s Code of Ethics specifically prohibits committing crime while on duty and our codes and rules detail specific punishments, up to and including termination.

What Mr. Lamberto did was commit a felony, something any other county employee would be fired for doing. Why is he being treated differently?

 This is a problem that has filtered down to Human Resource Officers who now routinely lie about administrative hearings, at the Civil Service Commission, etc. My own attorney recently caught Karen Resendez perjuring herself in connection with a hearing and I have had several HROs tell bold-face lies to me I can prove.

You all say you are about cleaning up corruption in this county yet when one of your own commits a crime, you cover for him rather than deal with it as harshly as it deserves.

 Voters are in a “throw the bums out” mood. I think all of you will pay the consequences of your inaction and support of corrupt county department heads.

Sharon Gilbert

(760) 954-0280
www.iepolitics.com

 I did not receive a response from anyone nor did I expect to.

Lamberto was back on the stand this past summer and committed perjury once again.  At that time I could not understand why Jim Reiss, Rex’s attorney, did not challenge him.  I knew that Supervisor Derry’s office had requested information from Lamberto regarding the number of hours an exempt employee must work and they were told there are no tracking requirements.  Lamberto had put that in writing, which in turn clearly shows he committed perjury, and Reiss subpoenaed the document.  But the document was not used at trial.

I spoke with Rex for quite a while after the non-verdict to try to get an idea as to why Reiss did not use some of the resources available to him.  Rex was not aware of the document.

I now have several of my own issues with Lamberto where he has bold-faced lied about me, causing me grave harm.  I am in the process of gathering the documents to submit to the Grand Jury, Greg Devereaux, etc.  One of the documents I planned to request to support my accusations that Lamberto is a liar and does so in an official capacity was the email exchange between Third District Deputy Chief of Staff Steve Hauer and Andrew Lamberto referenced above.

After Lamberto’s most recent testimony, Postmus and I got into a discussion regarding the email.  We could not understand why it wasn’t being introduced in court.  By this time I had obtained a copy of it for my Grand Jury complaint.  Bill spoke directly Reiss who said he had subpoenaed it but it had nothing to do with exempt hours worked but rather overtime.  He also mentioned it was on official stationery.

An email is never on official stationery.  As it turns out, the county, on purpose I am quite sure, responded to the subpoena with the wrong document.  So I called Erwin and told him what was going on and forwarded the correct document to him.  He in turn gave it to the private investgator who turned it over to Reiss.  A subpoena has been issued for Hauer.

This has been a lesson in frustration.  We have known for most of the year that Lamberto committed perjury, now three separate times in three seperate hearings.  Any other county employee would be fired and charged criminally.  But Lamberto has been protected by the BOS and CAO.

Lamberto lies frequently and he allows his staff to do the same, even in formal hearings.  It is bad enough when employees are terminated because of those lies.  But this time around our BOS and CAO have been content to look the other way while someone could be sentenced to state prison based on those lies.  And they were willing to charge the taxpayers for the cost of two trials that never should have happened.  Truthful testimony by Lamberto may have prevented one or both.

All six individuals have known since early this year what was going on but not one of them would step forward and do their job.  This is an egregious example of their dereliction of duty to uphold the law and their responsibility to the citizens they represent.  It is especially egregious for Supervisor Derry as he knew his office had in its possession a document in Lamberto’s own writing that proved he was lying in order to convict a man innocent of the charge.  To say otherwise is a lie as he receives regular updates on the specifics of every hearing from Erwin.  He chose to look the other way.   So much for ethics.

Where is the FBI when you need them?  This BOS, along with the DA and AG, should all be charged with conspiracy under color of authority.

Adam Aleman

www.sbgrapevine.com

Are you listening US Attorney?  San Bernardino County is in crisis.  It is a crisis that mocks our justice system; one that distorts the truth; and one where integrity is a forgotten.  Bringing about justice is no longer the highest priority of our county prosecutors; winning at any and all cost  is their goal—a goal that has little to do integrity, truth or . . . justice.

There are many lesser-known stories of justice gone awry in our county. Ours  starts with a little-known manager at the local Outback Steakhouse who went on to make headlines.  His name is familiar to all of us.  It is Adam Aleman.

Aleman caught the attention of then-Supervisor Bill Postmus many years ago.  He eventually left Outback Steakhouse to become a member of Postmus’ Board of Supervisors staff.

Adam came from a hard-working family and the values he was raised with served him well.  He proved to be a quick learner and a natural politico with a strong drive for success.  But along the way to climbing up the ladder to a position as Assistant Assessor at the age of 24, something went terribly wrong.

They say power corrupts.  They also say it goes to the head.  Aleman is an excellent argument for both statements.

The public never really heard the name “Adam Aleman” until San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos announced that search warrants were served on the San Bernardino County Assessor’s office where Bill Postmus had become Assessor a year earlier and Aleman became one of two assistant assessors.  Jim Erwin was the second.

The Assessor’s Office had been the subject of a Grand Jury probe, initiated as a result of Second District Supervisor Paul Biane filing a complaint with the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit over political work being done on county time.   The complaint alleged that Postmus was running a political operation out of the Assessor’s Office.

During the Grand Jury probe, documents from the Assessor’s Office were requested as part of the investigation.  Several Assessor’s Office employees were also asked for their testimony before the Grand Jury.  Adam Aleman was one of those employees.  He was also responsible for submitting the requested documents.

Whether it was his youth, fear, arrogance, or simply the fact that values his parents tried to instill in him did not take, Aleman started down the road of deception.  Before submitting the requested documents he altered them, and then lied about it.  He also lied to the Grand Jury and destroyed county property.

After months of investigation, on June 30, 2008, Aleman was arrested and charged with nine felonies.  One year to the day, June 30, 2009, Aleman plead guilty to four felony counts.  As part of the plea agreement, those felonies will be reduced in exchange for his truthful testimony against any and all other defendants in the Assessor’s Office corruption scandal and ancillary cases.

Long before June 2009, Aleman’s “deal” had become obvious to anyone connected in anyway with the corruption scandal.  Public officials and private citizens alike were interrogated, harassed, bullied, searched, accused, and intimidated by District Attorney investigators from the Public Integrity Unit based on “intel” provided to them from Aleman.

Aleman has described himself as a “master manipulator” on one hand but on the other has said privately that he was coerced into making statements about others by the investigators.  He claims he merely told them he was passing along rumors that he expected them to check out to determine if they had a factual basis.  He also has said that he has been intimidated by them when they have played “good cop, bad cop” with him, threatened him with a long prison sentence if he didn’t cooperate, and encouraged him to lie.

To read the rest of this story, click here.

www.sbgrapevine.com

Are you listening US Attorney?  San Bernardino County is in crisis.  The principles our nation were founded on are being undermined by the very person sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States—the person charged with enforcing the Constitution and all state and local laws at the county level.

When one reads the California District Attorneys Association Code of Ethics reprinted in Part One of this series, it is easy to see its President and our county’s District Attorney, Mike Ramos, has broken every concept put forth in that document.  He flagrantly violates those ethical standards while claiming to be in the pursuit of “justice.”

But it is worse than simple ethical lapses.  Ramos and his staff have stopped at nothing to gain convictions, including violating the law themselves.

Nine months after the first arrest in the case was made, an arrest warrant was served on Jim Erwin, Supervisor Neil Derry’s chief of staff at the time.  The arrest was for violations of Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) reporting requirements, violations that if found to be true are usually handled with a warning letter and/or fine.

Erwin had no history of FPPC violations or any other crime.  Yet he was charged with ten felonies and bail was set at $220,000.  Those ten felonies all related to a single FPPC 700 form, which had it risen to the level of a “crime” in any other jurisdiction, would have been filed as a single misdemeanor.  It was a clear case of selective prosecution, an argument that is bolstered by all the prosecutions that have NOT taken place in this county for similar “offenses.”

We know that even here in San Bernardino County FPPC violations are handled with warning letters and/or fines normally, if any action at all is taken.  Recent allegations of FPPC violations show that to be true with other elected  and appointed officials such as Mike Ramos, Gary Penrod, Bea Cortes, Paul Biane,  Jim Penman,  Greg Devereaux, Josie Gonzales, and Kelly Chastain.  Ramos refused to file on a single one yet many of their “crimes” were far worse than that of Erwin.  Penrod and Chastain, for example, had been filing false claims for years.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

District Attorney Mike Ramos

www.sbgrapevine.com

Are you listening United States Attorney?  San Bernardino County is in crisis.  Oh yes, we have financial problems like every other jurisdiction but we will get through them in due time.  Our crisis is a much more serious threat to our citizenry.  It is a crisis of ethics, of safety, and of fear.

Our crisis undermines the feeling of security and well being of law-abiding citizens.  It mocks those who gave their blood to protect the Constitution of the United States.  It is as evil a crisis as any American community can face.

Our crisis centers around the political aspirations of our district attorney who uses his powers, not just to prosecute criminals, but to persecute political enemies.  Justice no longer equates with truth but rather revenge.

California Government Code Section 26500 defines  the district attorney as the chief law enforcement officer in the county.  It is one of only four positions in any county that is required by the California Constitution to be elected.  The others are sheriff, assessor and members of the governing body.

The California District Attorneys Association defines the ethical duties of prosecutors as follows:

In administering justice, a prosecutor must abide by a strict code of ethics. A prosecutor must always strive to discover the truth while carrying out all official duties. Furthermore, a prosecutor must “keep abreast of the law and strive to improve the legal profession.” (Professionalism Manual, CDAA, 1999).  Additionally, the prosecutor must exercise the utmost professionalism as he or she is in the position of demonstrating ideal social behavior for others to follow.

At any level, the primary role of the prosecutor is to “investigate and prosecute impartially” criminal suspects on behalf of the People. Prosecutors should prosecute with “earnestness and vigor” while employing only “legitimate investigative techniques” to ensure that “guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer.” (Berger v. United States (1935) 295 U.S. 78, 88.)

In carrying out their duties, prosecutors are required to follow statutory regulations imposed on them by California’s Business and Professions Code § 6068 (a)-(d). These duties include upholding the federal and state constitutions and laws; respecting courts of justice and judicial officers; maintaining only such actions as appear to be legal or just; and employing only such means as are consistent with the truth and never seeking to mislead a judge or judicial officer.

Mike Ramos was elected as San Bernardino County District Attorney almost eight years ago.  His first term in office was unremarkable.  He was part of the county political machine, happy to maintain the status quo as long as his indiscretions were ignored by the county’s most influential politicos.  His Public Integrity Unit did not win a single conviction of note.

As Ramos began his second term of office things started to change.  Rumors increased that Congressman Jerry Lewis was considering retirement within a few terms and Ramos would likely be his chosen successor.  Rifts between the West end and East end factions began to widen.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

We discovered that the investigation of the century has so far cost the District Attorney’s Office over $4 million.  No, it costs taxpayers over $4 million.  Does anyone realize how much fraud Bill Postmus has been accused of that they are trying to collect on?

I don’t have the exact amount but it is between $1100 and $1200.  Even if convicted, does anyone think he is going to do jail time for that?  Do all of you really believe this matter is worth over $4 million?

What’s funny is that the only possible conviction outside of Adam they could get in these cases is Greg Eyler AND that is only if he somehow chickens out and takes a plea deal.  But don’t count on it.

One of his charges MUST be dropped altogether for reasons I will not explain.  And the other charge MUST be reduced to a misdemeanor.  On the latter, the law is totally on his side so he would be a fool to take a plea just to get on with life a little sooner.  As long as he can hang on, his cases will go away.

And another great use of resources?  That would be the Hueston investigation.  Adam told me the other night he has been served with a demand letter for $1,536,541 because he is the only one who defaulted on the civil suit.  Most of that amount represents the cost of the Hueston investigation to date.

You’ve got five unemployed defendants with no assets.  And, the county has taken the lid off of how much Hueston can continue to spend.

Like I said, we don’t have many good analysts in the county.  Certainly neither the District Attorney, the County Administrative Office or County Counsel have qualified analysts.  If they have any at all, they should be fired.

Personally, my vote is with Jim.  You can see his version at www.inlandpolitics.com.

After hearing about some of what went on in the courtroom today, I couldn’t help myself but send Adam a text that just said, “Life will get better when this is all over.”  We texted back and forth for a few minutes—nothing about the case of course—just other stuff going on in our lives.

Many think I hate Adam and I don’t.  I do get very angry him when I think about the damage that has been done but at the same time I feel empathy for him.  I have heard from enough of those interrogated by district attorney investigators about the intimidation and veiled threats as well as the investigators trying to get people to narc off others about things for which they have no knowledge.

Adam let his ego get in the way.  He thought he could outsmart these seasoned cops.

He was also young, scared and foolish.  In the end, they outsmarted him and he is likely the only person in this whole scandal that will do jail time.  They will get their conviction and it will be Adam.

I only wish Adam had the strength to come clean on the witness stand.  Can you imagine what would happen if Adam got up to testify and told the complete truth?  I bet Goritz would crap his pants right there.  What could the District Attorney’s office possibly do to him for telling the truth?

Unfortunately, that is nothing but a pipe dream.  Adam was shown to be a liar over and over today.  It will be the same when he testifies again.

There are a lot of things going on in Adam’s life.  Despite what he has done, I hope he is going to be okay.  And I hope he has learned a lesson about telling the truth from all of this.  But I doubt it.  What a waste of a very talented young man.

www.inlandpolitics.com

Thursday, September 30, 2010 – 09:00 p.m.

It’s showtime in the re-trial of former Assessor employee and Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Rex Gutierrez.

Gutierrez, who is charged with three felonies related to alleged time card fraud during his employment under former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus, now faces his main accuser.

That person? Former Assistant Assessor and key prosecution witness Adam Aleman.

Late Thursday afternoon Aleman took the witness stand for the prosecution.

Aleman, a convicted felon, is the central witness in all the alleged corruption cases being prosecuted by Attorney General Jerry Brown and District Attorney Mike Ramos.

Brown made his San Bernardino County prosecutions, which as of late have suffered significant evidentiary setbacks, a centerpiece of his campaign by way of a February 10, 2010 televised press conference.

Almost all the juror’s in Gutierrez’s first trial found Aleman’s and his testimony to be not credible.

Aleman has pleaded “no contest” to two felony counts of Destroying Altering Public Records, one county of felony Vandalism, and one felony count of Preparing a False Claim.

Also hanging over Aleman’s head is five additional felony counts subject to dismissal in exchange for his truthful testimony.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

This jury has significantly more and better educated jurors than the last one and that can be important.  On the last jury, the educated jurors were the holdouts.  They could understand that the district attorney did not prove his case and that the “conspiracy theory” is absurd.

I’m a woman so I can say this.  Trying to get eight women to agree on anything is next to impossible.  The prosecution has its work cut out for them this time.

The defense in this case has tons of interesting evidence and witnesses it can put on the stand.  The only new information the prosecution really has to put on is more photos of time cards and payroll records.  Goritz put everyone to sleep last time so lets hope he doesn’t do even more of the same this time around.

I won’t say Rex will be acquitted.  There is too much anti-government sentiment out there.  But I am confident it will be minimally a hung jury.  We shall know in about two weeks.

The judge held up the Sun newspaper from yesterday toeach of the jury panels and about a third of the potential members had seen the article.

Deputy Attorney General Melissa Mandel did all of the jury questioning today.

The local media has not missed a beat in the years-long corruption scandal.  There has been nary a day without a headline or two referencing some aspect of the ongoing investigation, arrests, and prosecution.

But the reporting has been a bit skewed.  Well, actually, some reporters have seemed incapable of critical thinking or even basic investigative reporting.  Almost all have taken a “if Mike Ramos said it, it must be true” approach to these stories.

We’ve been warning them for a while that when the time comes, we are going the skewer them alive for their unbalanced and unethical reporting.  They have known right along exactly what they were doing—trying to sell newspapers rather than seeking out the truth.

The truth in these cases is not nearly as sexy as the dramatic headlines.  Sorry folks but there are no prostitutes, no bribes, and no extortion except in the warped mind of a sex-addicted, out-of-control prosecutor and the young, scared confidential informant who has been more interested in saving his own skin than in telling the truth.

It is that confidential informant who is the center of all of this.  Even Joe Nelson was overheard during Rex’s trial saying that Adam Aleman was not believable.  And the Attorney General’s office thinks that they are going to somehow magically rehabilitate their key witness?

We know that although Rex Gutierrez’s attorney, Jim Reiss, chose not to do much to impeach Aleman at the first trial, “90 percent” of the jurors thought Aleman was lying.  So what happens at this trial if Reiss chooses to use the resources provided to him and Aleman is on the stand for days, not hours?  We must not forget about the long list of witnesses prepared to testify, if necessary, to contradict almost anything Aleman might say.

But the best part has not even come to light yet.  If deputy attorney general Melissa Mandel was upset at the last demurrer filed in the Erwin/Postmus case, just wait until she sees what the defense has planned for her next.  I wonder what the record is for the biggest number of amended complaints.  Isn’t there a point where they become embarrassed because they look so incompetent or so vindictive?

So, as the newspapers gradually shift their spin to prepare the blood thirsty public they have created with their sensationalized reporting for the biggest letdown in the county’s history, it will be interesting to see if readers hold them accountable for misleading them all of this time.  No, I know.  It’s all Jeff Burum’s fault.  It always is.

]]> http://iepolitics.net/2010/09/26/iepolitics-d-day-is-nearing/feed/ 5 http://iepolitics.net/2010/09/24/iepolitics-breaking-news-jury-selection-in-gutierrez-starts-monday/ http://iepolitics.net/2010/09/24/iepolitics-breaking-news-jury-selection-in-gutierrez-starts-monday/#comments Sat, 25 Sep 2010 02:07:51 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=5478 Continue reading →]]> After indicting yesterday that the trial of Rex Gutierrez may be postponed to the last day possible, Judge Duke Rouse did a turnaround in court today and set the start date for Monday, September 27, 2010.  Jury selection is expected to start on Monday.

In another turn of events, Rex Gutierrez was in court yesterday.  It seems the court isn’t quite ready to hear the case.  The problem is Rex isn’t waiving any more time.  So, either the case has to go to trial or the charges be dismissed.

It appears Judge Rouse and Deputy District Attorney Goritz are attempting to push the trial off to be as close to the election as possible in an effort to sway the election against Gutierrez.  Goritz knows he is not going to get a conviction, so getting Rex kicked off of the city council is the next best thing.  We can only hope that when all is said and done, Rex has grounds to sue the heck out of the county for allowing this travesty to continue.

Watching the video reminded me of a story I have been going to write for a while.  Here is an average, almost geeky, regional cover band, and in two months this video has topped six million hits.  It’s entertaining, no doubt—awesome and funny at the same time.  But that is not the point.  The point is that 20 years ago, this would still be a regional cover band—one that no one had ever heard about, much less seen.   But the internet has changed the way information is delivered to us.

Two of our frequent commenters from the Sheriff’s Department seem to have taken their marbles and run.  They are not happy with iePolitics for posting some of the ugly truth about their department.  They challenge us to report our stories in basically the same manner as mainstream media.

What they don’t get, and newspapers have not embraced, is that the public is tired of watered-down, politically correct news.  There is a reason blogs have become so popular and that is we print items newspapers are afraid to print.  We don’t have to play by the same rules as printed newspapers.

No one comes to iePolitics to read the same thing they can read in the Sun about the corruption scandal.  They come here to get the scoop or the other side.  It doesn’t matter if they love us or hate us, they want to hear what we have to say.  They can take it with a grain of salt or they can embrace it.  In the end they will find out we are a heck of a lot more accurate than the Sun or Press Enterprise.

We witnessed that throughout the Rex Gutierrez trial.  The Sun tried their damnedest to convict Rex before the trial ever took place.  Even their reporting of what occurred in the courtroom was extremely slanted.  We hear that Joe Nelson will say off the record there is no way Rex will ever be convicted.  But you would never know that reading his stories.  You would think Rex is going to prison for sure.

Some argue that by not printing names and sources, we do not have credibility.  Credibility for us does not come from naming sources; it comes from being proven correct time and again.  Our detractors want to believe we are wrong about the corruption scandal. When Mike Ramos goes down, they will call it a fluke. When Jim Erwin is found not guilty or all charges are dropped, it will be blamed on the “stupid” jurors or “crooked” judges.  When Jeff Burum is ultimately absolved of wrongdoing, it will be claimed he bought someone off.  We know what to expect for outcomes because we try to look at all the information available, not just what can be printed or is politically correct.  Our readers will not be shocked when Rex Gutierrez is not convicted after a second trial.

Our followers know we have been right in the past and are looking forward to finding out how accurate we are in the future.  For them, we are a credible source.  For others, it will take more time and that’s okay.  For some, green will always be blue and purple, orange.  We can’t do anything about the dense or the hateful so we just tolerate them.

• Written by The Insider
• Posted July 6, 2010 at 8:38 am

Ramos

www.inlandpolitics.com

While Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman and former San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office Inter-Governmental Affairs Officer Rex Gutierrez was allegedly doing city work on county time and county work on city time, what was our favorite San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos doing?

Well he had his own version of “inter-governmental affairs” on his mind. Yep, that’s right. He was busy with affairs for sure. You know the kind—fornication, copulation, making whoopee—not with the wife he tells these women he is divorcing, but with his subordinates.

Last year District Attorney Investigative Technician Cheryl Ristow came forward after her name was one of many linked to hanky-panky with Mikey. Ristow accused Ramos of attempting to dissuade her from telling the truth about their affair and then creating a hostile work environment for her when she refused to lie for him. She was even contacted by a District Attorney Investigator and advised she did not need to testify against Ramos in court and could ignore a subpoena if served.

When Ristow came forward with her story, Ramos did a Bill Clinton “I did not have sex with that woman” and the public mostly bought it hook, line and sinker, narrowly re-electing Ramos to his third term. Ristow, on the other hand, has been subjected to public humiliation and ridicule, being called a “gold digger” and worse.

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, under duress, initiated an investigation conducted by the Santa Monica-based law firm of Curiale, Hirschfeld & Kraemer. What was an extensive investigation produced a meager report addressing only the issue of hostile work environment while mountains of evidence and interviews with staff members, including those known to have had sexual relations with Ramos, were kept from public review. A California Public Records Act request to view the documents that taxpayers paid $140,000 for was denied by the County Administrative Office.

After convincing the Sun not to print Ristow’s side of the story, intimidating the Board of Supervisors into not releasing all the findings of the investigation, and winning re-election, Ramos was home free . . . or so he thought.

But Ramos forgot the always-misquoted, “Hell hath seen no fury like a woman scorned.” You see, in his effort to pretend it never happened, Ramos not only pressured Ristow to lie for him, but he pressured others, two of whom are deputy district attorneys. That is exactly right. He wanted two officers of the court to lie under oath and risk losing their Bar cards to save his sorry ass.

Apparently the women didn’t think the sex was that good with this philanderer and approached an attorney. In all, now six women including Ristow, have come forward, each having signed a declaration under penalty of perjury, stating they had affairs with Ramos. At least three of those affidavits have been in the hands of state and federal officials for a couple of months now. I’m sure everyone understands the problem with a district attorney dissuading a witness.

But there is more.

You see much of this fornication, copulation, and making whoopee took place on county time, in county buildings, and in county vehicles. Yes, that is right. While these ladies were supposed to be gathering evidence, preparing cases for trial, and appearing in court, they were . . . well you already know: HAVING SEX! Did they use vacation or sick leave? Nope. They claimed blow jobs as work performed. Considering the recipient, the ladies have a point. But isn’t that still time card fraud? And use of a county-issued sofa or backseat of a county vehicle for non-county work is . . . misuse of public resources? And let’s not forget all that fornicating going on up at the Sacramento Hyatt with Suzanne Hunter and other places with other women, using public and/or campaign funds to pay for the romps. That’s about ten felonies . . . I mean FPPC violations.

But Mikey said it was okay. Sounds like a conspiracy to me.

District Attorney Mike Ramos / Attorney General Jerry Brown

www.inlandpolitics.com

Thursday, July 1, 2010 – 10:00 a.m.

Once thing is for certain.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos drawing Attorney General Jerry Brown into his crusade against his political enemies was a smart move.

Even though Defendant Jim Erwin pushed him into it.

After Ramos arrested Erwin in March 2009 regarding alleged disclosure violations, Erwin pummeled Ramos in local newspapers. Erwin accused Ramos of selective prosecution in retaliation for budget actions by his former boss, Supervisor Neil Derry, and Erwin’s knowledge of Ramos’ various affairs with employees in his own office. Damaging Erwin’s credibility was paramount.

Erwin demanded the Attorney General take his case from Ramos. As a result, Ramos talked Brown into partnering with him on the case. A decision that may cost Brown.

Ramos squeaked by in the June primary and narrowly avoided a run-off in November. Brown however, faces former Ebay chief executive Meg Whitman in November. Brown doesn’t have anywhere near the resources Whitman commands.

In other words, Brown will have a tough go of it this time, and he may lose.

Whitman is already pounding on Brown, who is relying on labor unions to defend him until he can spend his own money in late September. Whitman’s outside fundraising is even keeping pace with that of Brown.

The already reelected Ramos has stuck Brown with several cases involving defendants that aren’t backing down. The mistrial yesterday in the Rex Gutierrez case is a prime example.

Gutierrez is factually the best case among four pending for Ramos and Brown, and it didn’t go well.

The key witness in three of the four pending political corruption cases, former assistant assessor Adam Aleman, was discredited. Newspapers are reporting that almost all jurors in the Gutierrez trial didn’t believe Aleman.

Sources say Guitierrez’s defense attorney Jim Reiss had around twelve hours of material on Aleman, but elected to use roughly ten percent of it against him. I doubt he’ll hold back during the re-trial.

Let’s take a look at the pending cases.

People v Postmus / Eyler

Attorneys:

For the People: Deputy District Attorney Lewis Cope, Deputy Attorney General Melissa Mandel

For the Defense: Stephen Levine (Postmus), Stanley Hodge (Eyler)

This case is also a result of alleged corruption in the assessor’s office. The charges against former Assessor employee Greg Eyler are essentially the same as against Gutierrez, absent the conspiracy angle. If prosecutors can’t convict Gutierrez of time card fraud they won’t be convicting Eyler, who was part-time salaried. The charges against former Assessor Bill Postmus involve such offenses as misuse of a computer wireless card. Yes. wireless card!

Both Postmus matters involve drug use charges that will likely be dismissed in accordance with Penal Code section 1000.

No guilty plea’s are likely in this case.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

The District Attorney pulled out all stops to keep this case from going to trial any sooner than necessary due to his re-election campaign and fear certain information might come out during the trial.   Gutierrez refused to waive time further.  The District Attorney used every procedural delay available and the trial did not commence until the last possible moment.  The District Attorney was hoping a smoking gun would materialize but it never did.  The District Attorney’s hand was forced.

Some would suggest the 7-5, 8-4, 9-3 deadlocks leaning towards convictions indicate the strength of the District Attorney’s case.  Rather, the trial  and non-verdicts highlight its weaknesses.

The District Attorney’s case was so weak that criminal defense attorney Jim Reiss only had to put forth about ten percent of the evidence in his arsenal and did not need to utilize expert witness(es) available to him.  Why is that?

The Gutierrez case, along with corruption cases against former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus, staffers Greg Eyler and Jim Erwin, and developer Dino DeFazio, are based upon evidence offered by former Postmus employee Adam Aleman.  Aleman agreed to plead  nolo contendere in exchange for a lighter sentence  in connection with his charge of providing false information to the Grand Jury.  In exchange for his truthful testimony against Gutierrez, Postmus, et al., Aleman’s claims  are the focal point of each of the corruption cases.  The search warrants and arrest warrants for each of the five defendants were based upon Aleman’s accusations.

Many of  Aleman’s claims were so blatantly false that several private investigators were hired to ascertain the truth.  Mountains of evidence was compiled against Aleman to disprove his accusations.  And it was that evidence that was expected to be used to impeach Aleman during the Gutierrez trial.

But the evidence never needed to be utilized during trial.  Aleman quickly proved himself to be a liar on the stand, being caught in one contradictory statement after another.  According to one juror, 90 percent of the jurors thought Aleman was lying.  And that is without  a single witness being presented  for the sole purpose of impeaching Aleman.

The Gutierrez case is important for two reasons.  First, of all of the corruption cases, the District Attorney has the strongest case against Gutierrez.  It’s the only case of the five where it could be construed that there is corroborating evidence.  Second, Aleman proved he is not up to the task of manipulating the jury as he claimed he would be so skillful at doing.

The latter puts all current corruption cases in harm’s way.  The lynchpin for every case is now a proven, convicted liar.  Millions of dollars spent and thousands of man hours expended and the District Attorney will likely be unable to win a single conviction.

But the story goes further than San Bernardino County.  Remember California’s Attorney General, Jerry Brown, has heavily involved himself in this case, using it as political fodder in his campaign for governor.  One must not forget that Jeff Burum was a very early supporter of Meg Whitman and slated to be her Finance Director.  By Brown naming Burum as an unnamed John Doe, he effectively stymied Burum’s participation in Whitman’s campaign.  Now we find out that Brown’s accusations were based solely on the claims of a convicted liar, claims that Aleman could not even keep straight while on the stand for a few hours.

Think of what happens through summer and early fall as more of these cases move through the courts and the public finally realizes the bill of goods Brown and Ramos have sold them.  Ramos has already won re-election.  His use of Brown as a political ally was brilliant but now Brown is facing the fight of his political life.

As we get closer to November, the fallout from Brown’s decision to join with Ramos in also using his prosecutorial powers as Attorney General to further his political career and harm his opponent may very well contribute to the end of his political career instead.  He should take the time to examine the merits and evidence in these cases personally before they become an Albatross in November.

]]> http://iepolitics.net/2010/07/01/iepolitics-the-significance-has-been-lost/feed/ 8 http://iepolitics.net/2010/06/30/iepolitics-hung-jury/ http://iepolitics.net/2010/06/30/iepolitics-hung-jury/#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:42:53 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=4127 Media has been notified to be in court at 1:30 today in the trial of Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman and former Assessor’s Office employee Rex Gutierrez. Unconfirmed reports indicate the jury has reached an impasse on at least one count.

• I do not remember Goritz greeting the jury.  Reiss greeted the jury and they responded.
• Goritz used a podium almost like a security blanket.  When it was Reiss’ turn to present, he would move the podium to his right side so when it was Goritz’ turn to speak again he had to walk across the courtroom to retrieve it, making his need for it all the more obvious.
• Goritz spoke mostly in a monotone.  Reiss exhibited a great deal of fluctuation in his voice.
• Goritz spoke to an audience.  Reiss got up close and personal with the jurors.
• Goritz stayed glued to his spot and jurors drifted off.  Reiss moved all over the courtroom forcing the jurors to follow him and stay engaged.
• Goritz treated the defendant in a very condescending and snobbish manner.  Reiss treated most of the witnesses with respect.
• Goritz mispronounced the defendant’s name throughout using a Gringo pronunciation and a contentious and condescending tone.  Reiss pronounced “Gutierrez” using all four syllables.  (There are several Hispanics on the jury.)
• During closing arguments Goritz was dull and stoic; Reiss was theatrical.
• Goritz presented himself as though this was a personal vendetta for him.  Reiss presented himself as though he was there to help an innocent man.

It’s hard to say if the jury looked at the extraneous or simply the facts.  We should have a verdict or non-verdict by the end of the day.

• Written by Administrator
• Posted June 29, 2010 at 9:31 pm

• Written by Administrator
• Posted June 29, 2010 at 4:51 pm

The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government.

~George Washington~

I intended for the final installment in this series to profile the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.  But how many times can I write about the incestuous relationships between District Attorney Mike Ramos, Conflict Panel attorneys, Public Defender Doreen Boxer and judges—relationships that often should be prohibited by conflict laws if not their own sense of integrity and morality?  Unfortunately, as we know “integrity and morality” are not important qualities to many of these individuals.

Today I was listening to closing arguments in the Rex Gutierrez case and it hit me as to why I feel so strongly about these corruption cases.  I decided to change my focus for this last article from the Sheriff’s Department to the pursuit of justice by the unjust.

Defense counsel are paid to do one thing and one thing only and that is to mitigate the circumstances in which criminal defendants finds themselves.  In a perfect world, the accused would admit guilt if they are in fact guilty and take their punishment like a man.  But then again, in a perfect world, actually crime would not exist and there would be no need for a justice system.

We do not live in a perfect world and most of us do not like being punished, especially unjustly.  Therefore  there is the need for criminal defense attorneys.  Some attorneys take their jobs very seriously, as we see in Jim Reiss, and others do not.  As distasteful as we may find letting criminals off the hook, I believe one thing that makes America what it is today is that as a society we would rather let a criminal go free than see an innocent man hang.  So although many of us could never do what criminal defense attorneys do, we recognize that without them we would not have the greatest justice system in the world despite its flaws.

As I tried to stay awake through Deputy District Attorney John Goritz’ final arguments, I found myself feeling anger towards Goritz, not for saying terrible things about Rex, but for lying about Rex.  It is Goritz’ job to present and argue the facts whether we like those facts or not.  For that matter, the purpose of the Sheriff, the District Attorney and the judges is to find the truth, not to win at any cost.  Justice is not a contest.  When truth is no longer the objective of our justice system, then we no longer live in a society where citizens are safe from government tyranny.

Instead of the pursuit of justice, the District Attorney’s Office has turned the judicial process into a chess game, where victory has become the goal and the only acceptable out come—guilt or innocence be dammed.  Deputy District Attorney John Goritz knows he is lying to the jury; he knows he is violating the oath he took to uphold the Constitution of United States and the laws of the state of California; he knows he has now committed acts similar to those of which he has accused the defendant.  So how is this man who showed so much venom for Gutierrez any different than Gutierrez, other than one is clearly guilty of abusing the office which he currently holds?

We will likely know tomorrow whether justice was found in San Bernardino County this particular time or not.  What we will never know is just how many times justice has been lost, whether to make stats look better, to payoff a political debt, or for a personal vendetta.  For that reason alone, justice in San Bernardino County is tenuous at best.  And that should be of grave concern to every one of its citizens.

This is hard to watch and even harder to listen to.  Goritz is droning.  I could be reading them wrong, I can see at least two jurors he has totally lost.  Several are getting fidgety.

Wow.  He is finally done!  The judge is now reading jury instructions.  The jury perked right up.  It’s early enough they may get some deliberation time in before lunch.  We’ll see.  It will be interesting to see if they reach a verdict today.

Well that didn’t happen.  They went to lunch.

• Written by Administrator
• Posted June 24, 2010 at 5:22 pm

www.inlandpolitics.com

Closing arguments began this afternoon in the case involving Rancho Cucamonga city councilman and former Assessor employee Rex Gutierrez.

Gutierrez is now charged with only three felonies related to his employment under former Assessor Bill Postmus, after Superior Court Judge Duke D. Rouse acquitted him of Embezzlement by a Public Officer, count number three of the complaint. The Embezzlement charge dismissal is a blow to the prosecution. The embezzlement charge is what is referred to as a “general intent” crime with a lower threshold to prove guilt.

The same charge is contained in complaints involving other defendants in the District Attorney’s highly trumpeted corruption investigation. It is likely the section was misapplied in most or all of those cases as well.

District Attorney insiders say the office is steaming over the dismissal.

This afternoons activity centered around prosecutor John Goritz. Goritz subjected the jury to approximately an hour and a half of re-presenting his case against Gutierrez via a power point slide show.

Can you say boring.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Deputy District Attorney John Goritz and Deputy Attorney General Melissa Mandel attempted to argue that all government employees are public officers despite the statutory definition.  Back to law school for these two!  They also argued hat Gutierrez was a public officer because he could approve his own time cards.  Judge Rouse reminded them of the amount of evidence to the contrary.  Perhaps hearing aids are in order too.

The outcome of this case may have serious ramifications for the remaining  corruption cases.  Reiss was able to tangle Adam Aleman up in his own lies without using a long list of witnesses to impeach him.  If there are “not guilty” verdicts on the remaining three charges, it will directly affect Greg Eyler’s case.   Prosecution witnesses have already recanted on the charges against Dino DeFazio leaving only Adam Aleman’s  tainted testimony as evidence against DeFazio.  And today’s ruling will directly affect a number of charges against Jim Erwin.

If there happens to be a full acquittal on this case, it will be interesting to see if Ramos continues prosecution of the remaining cases.  These cases will turn into an Albatross for Attorney General Jerry Brown as he attempts to defeat Meg Whitman for the governorship.

]]> http://iepolitics.net/2010/06/24/iepolitics-breaking-news-judge-rouse-acquits-guttierez-on-count-three/feed/ 1 http://iepolitics.net/2010/06/22/inlandpolitics-commentary-the-rex-gutierrez-trial-%e2%80%93-day-5/ http://iepolitics.net/2010/06/22/inlandpolitics-commentary-the-rex-gutierrez-trial-%e2%80%93-day-5/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:22:30 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=3947 Continue reading →]]>

• Written by Administrator2
• Posted June 22, 2010 at 7:14 pm

www.inlandpolitics.com

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Rancho Cucamonga city councilman Rex Gutierrez testified today in his own defense.

Attorney Jim Reiss questioned Gutierrez about his background, namely his work history. In addition to his background history Gutierrez went over the process by which the city of Rancho Cucamonga and National CORE partner up. Defense attorney Reiss questioned Gutierrez about his lengthy relationship with developer Jeff Burum, that began around 1992. Throughout this relationship Burum and himself would keep in contact on a consistent basis, Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez testified that he and Burum have communicated roughly every other day for years.

Gutierrez testified that he never specifically asked Burum for a job; just to put in a good word for him. Also, Gutierrez said that he contacted David Lewis for assistance in obtaining a job. An interview was arranged for the position of Intergovernmental Relations Officer. In addition to Gutierrez, former Assessor Bill Postmus, Former Assistant Assessors Adam Aleman and Jim Erwin were all in attendance.

Gutiereez also tesified that he had to successfully take and pass the appraisers examination.

Gutierrez testified, that after being hired he was never told that he got the job because of Jeff Burum. Adam Aleman was to be Gutierrez’s supervisor and it remained this way until Aleman’s arrest and resignation. Reiss asked if there were any specific job duties or assignments for the Intergovernmental Relations position. Gutierrez replied yes and that Adam Aleman gave him his assignments.

The assignments given to Gutierrez were to develop relationships with the different city managers within the county and to develop a streamlining project. This streamlining project would essentially update the process that cities use to send property information to the Assessor’s office.

Reiss then shifted the focus of the questions to the alleged time card fraud. When asked if he had permission to leave work, Gutierrez replied yes. Adam Aleman said that it was “fine” for Gutierrez to leave work. In addition, Gutierrez was instructed to use sick, vacation, or regular time on his time cards. He was instructed to by Aleman, his supervisor. Gutierrez testified that he was never written up for any possible time card misuse, in fact, he received a positive employment review signed off by both Aleman and Postmus.

Gutierrez also testified that he was instructed by Aleman to attend various functions to improve the visibility of the office.

Gutierrez also told the jury that he never used Burum’s name as an excuse to get out of work or prevent discipline. Gutierrez also sid Aleman requested he write articles for the Red County internet site.

Gutierrez testified that he had worked from home, at lunch, later into the evening in order to make up any time that he had missed.

Goritz began his cross-examination in the afternoon, in which he focused intently on Gutierrez’s actual job duties and his time cards. Gutierrez was challenged on his reporting of activities and mileage reimbursements. Goritz seemed to think that 30 minutes with different city managers was unrealistic.

Goritz went over Gutierrez’s activity reports. For the most part Gutierrez was able to explain his activities.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

• Written by Administrator
• Posted June 21, 2010 at 2:05 pm

www.inlandpolitics.com

This mornings events at the trial of Rancho Cucamonga City councilman and former Assessor employee Rex Gutierrez had the atmosphere of watching paint dry, until the lead District Attorney investigator on the case was questioned by defense attorney Jim Reiss.

Gutierrez is charged with four felonies related to alleged time card fraud and prosecution claims that his hiring by former Assessor Bill Postmus was a conspiracy orchestrated by Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum.

Some of the interesting highlights from this morning include;

Investigator and designated case officer Schyler Beaty testified that an examination of phone records found over 300 phone calls between Gutierrez and Burum during Gutierrez’s tenure at the Assessor’s office. A period of more than 18 months.

When Beaty was asked by Reiss if he had conducted an analysis of call activity between Gutierrez and Burum prior to Gutierrez’s employment at the Assessor’s office, Beaty said no.

Beaty also told jurors that he found 7 phone calls between Gutierrez and Burum on the same day that a presentation had been made by a consortium of developers called Rancho Alliance, who were competing in a request for qualification (RFQ) interview before the Rancho Cucamonga City Council, to master-develop 1200 acres of land located in the unincorporated area north of Los Osos High School.

Diversified Pacific, a company owned by Burum, was part of the group.

Under cross-examination by Reiss, Beaty acknowledged that several developers besides Burum were partners in Rancho Alliance including the Lewis Group of Companies of Upland. Beaty also said that David and Randall Lewis actually gave the presentation on behalf of Rancho Alliance.

Beaty also was forced to admit the 7 calls between Gutierrez and Burum had a combined duration of approximately 5 minutes in total, with one call duration being just 10 seconds.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

Hours of Work

Employees shall be required to work such hours as necesssary to carry out the duties of their position as designated by the appointing authority, and such hours may be varied so long as the work requirements and efficient operations of the County are assured.

I don’t believe there is anything in the MOU about meal periods, breaks, etc.  Overtime is only allowed in extenuating circumstances.

For argument’s sake, let’s say that Gutierrez was not a salaried employee, but an hourly employee.   So this question was raised:  Is it illegal to do work for one government agency on the time clock of another if there is no personal gain? There are a considerable number of current and past elected officials in this county who hold/held other government jobs while serving in their elected positions:

1. Rick Roelle – SB County Sheriff’s Department/Apple Valley Town Council
2. Acquanetta Warren – City of Upland/Fontana City Council
3. Chas Kelly – SB County Board of Supervisors/San Bernardino City Council
4. Jim Miller – SB County Real Estate Services/Grand Terrace City Council
5. Mark Nuami – City of Colton/Mayor of Fontana
6. Anthony Riley – SB County Board of Supervisors/Hesperia Unified School Board
7. Mark Shoup – SB County Public Defender’s Office/Apple Valley Town Council
8. Marge Mendoza-Ware – SB County WDD/Colton Joint Unified School Board
9. Karen Morgan – SB County Sheriff’s Department/Victor Elementary School District Board
10. Bob Hunter – SB County Assessor’s Office/Victorville City Council
11. Jason Anderson – SB County District Attorney/Ontario City Council
12. Debbie Dorst-Porada – LA County Public Health/Ontario City Council
13. Robert Armeta – State of California/Colton Joint Unified School Board
14. Jim Lindley – SB County Board of Supervisors/Hesperia City Council
15. Chad Mayes – SB County Board of Supervisors/Yucca Valley City Council
16. Paul Bosaki – United States Postal Service/Hesperia City Council
17. Joel Klink – United States Postal Service/Twenty-Nine Palms City Council
18. Steve Spear – SB County Sheriff’s Department/Twenty-Nine Palms City Council
19. Frank Luckino – HiDesert Water District/Yucca Valley City Council
20. Erin Kirk – Victor Valley College/CalState/San Bernardino County Fair Board
21. Peter Allen – Victor Valley College/Apple Valley City Council
22. Michael O’Rourke – SB County Sheriff’s Department/San Bernardino County Fair Board
23. Sue Ovitt – State of California/Chaffey Joint Union School Board
24. Art Bustamonte – SB County Public Defender’s Office/Chaffey Joint Union School Board
25. J. John Dutrey – City of Rialto/Montclair City Council
26. Leonard Paulitz – CalPoly/Montclair City Council
27. Kimberly Cox – Helendale CSD/Mojave Water Agency

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

MIKE RAMOS – SB COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY/REDLANDS SCHOOL BOARD

I’m sure I’m missing quite a few.

I can’t speak to any of the others, but I know for fact that Rick Roelle has been on the clock for the Sheriff’s Department while conducting city business because he called me regarding an issue I had with the Town of Apple Valley.  I had tried and tried to get the city manager to contact me regarding an animal control officer and the city manager would not return my call.  So I contacted Rick and he called me from his Internal Affairs phone at my county phone (which is why I know where he was calling from because for phones outside of the county system, his number would have been blocked.)

At the time I did not think much of it.  It’s taxpayer business no matter what.  If, instead, he had called me about a fundraiser, or campaign business, that would have been different.  This was official city business.  Granted, employees should not make a habit of such things, but is it really a crime? I mean something someone should go to prison for?  I don’t think so.

• Written by Administrator
• Posted June 18, 2010 at 11:23 am

www.inlandpolitics.com

You can usually tell a newspaper and their agenda when you contrast and compare stories by two reporters for two different newspapers, who are sitting in the same room.

This is part two in a series covering the disparity in reporting by The Sun / Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Newspaper. The papers are a part of the Los Angeles News Group, which is a subsidiary of MediaNews Group.

The subject? The corruption trial of former Assessor employee and Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Rex Gutierrez.

The reporters for the subject articles which are the focus of this story? Joe Nelson for The Sun / Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and Imran Ghori for the Press Enterprise.

The story titles? In The Sun / Inland Valley Daily Bulletin newspapers it was “Councilman’s pay records under scrutiny” and in the Press Enterprise it is “Developers influence questioned”.

Ghori as with his peer Richard De Atley, who wrote the previous story, attempted to at least present a somewhat balanced story. Nelson, once again, must have been somewhere else other than the courtroom.

Nelson starts his story like this:

“Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Rex Gutierrez was paid thousands of dollars for work never performed between May and October 2007 at the San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office, according to court testimony Thursday.”

Ghori begans his story as follows:

“Rancho Cucamonga Councilman Rex Gutierrez’s role in city decisions involving an influential developer were the subject of debate Thursday, the third day of testimony in the San Bernardino County corruption trial.”

Do you hear the Nelson tone of conviction, when compared to Ghori’s objective introduction? If up to Nelson, Gutierrez might as well go check in at Chino Institute for Men and get it over with.

For a reporter who has been repeatedly challenged for his accuracy and distorted portrayal of statements, you would think Nelson would improve.

Nelson, who for some reason is covering the trial instead of Mike Cruz , The Sun’s regular courts reporter, spent half of his article writing about how Gutierrez was doing tasks for Rancho Cucamonga while on county time, talked about Gutierrez’s salary increase, etc…..

Nelson doesn’t mention the fact key witness and confidential informant Adam Aleman testified Gutierrez had permission.

So Gutierrez while working for a governmental entity, performed work for another governmental entity, and didn’t profit from it. Interesting.

Golly, but there’s that infamous mileage claim.

Based on testimony Gutierrez wasn’t out having drinks or at the beach. He was working for government.

Nelson also writes, “Gutierrez championed Burum’s low income housing project, despite concerns the project may not be the best deal for the city. Rancho Cucamonga’s redevelopment director, Linda Daniels, had an independent review of the project conducted and it was determined the project could be done for about $13 million, prosecutor John Goritz said”

Nelson’s “phraseology” as in the using of the word “championed” has a lot to be desired given Gutierrez’s own colleagues testified they voted for the project and Gutierrez never tried to influence either of them.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

We here at iePolitics feel for the jury members who seem to have lost interest in the case, and for our spies who must sit through this mess.  We can only hope that Andrew Lamberto gets his day on the stand soon.  Once Goritz gets Lamberto to lie for him again, defense attorney Jim Reiss should liven things up in the otherwise dead courtroom as jurors get to view another real live corrupt county department head—a real criminal who should be prosecuted for perjury.  That may not make this whole ordeal worth it for this poor jury, but at least it will be more entertaining than a day filled with EMACS.

As mentioned in this morning’s post, Rancho Cucamonga Councilmembers Sam Spagnolo and L. Dennis Michael were also presented as witnesses for the People.  However, that went a bit south as they confirmed that Gutierrez DID NOT influence them in decisions regarding Jeff Burum.  Goritz tried to recover but Reiss showed who the better attorney is.

Poor, poor Goritz.  And poor, poor Mikey.  Y’all gonna have some splaining to do before this is all over.

This afternoon thing may pick up a bit.  On tap are Rancho Cucamonga Councilmen Spagnolo and Michaels are expected to testify.  We shall have an update later in the day.