Yellow Rat Snake
There is a post over at www.inlandpolitics.com regarding Supervisor Paul Biane’s former Chief of Staff Matt Brown’s Young Republican PAC. Here is the link: Young Republican PAC.
Brown is one of the sleaziest county politicos in the whole county corruption scandal. He attempted to record his former boss while collecting a $200,000-plus salary from him. It is also thought he is behind many of the recent leaks.
Not long after Thanksgiving I was at a friend’s house and we were discussing my situation at the time. This friend is a very strong Christian and he and his wife have helped me in many ways with their only request being that I not identify them. We were talking about the fact that most of those who have helped me out were non-Christians and how the so-called “Christians” had really let me down. The conversation naturally gravitated to Jim Erwin and Mark Kirk, two of my most high-profile friends. I commented about how Jim, someone who I don’t believe has ever had a personal relationship with Christ, has been a Godsend to me and helped me over and over when I’ve needed it most. Mark, who I know to be a strong Christian, has let me down every time, never keeping his word to me.
Last Friday when I heard the news of the findings in the Hostile Work Environment investigation against District Attorney Mike Ramos, my heart sank. I immediately called Cheryl Ristow and the pain in her voice was heartbreaking. I could relate because, I too, had been let down by our leaders who have in their power the ability to do the right thing with integrity and instead choose to make decisions in their own best interests and not care about how many others they hurt. We are all nothing but collateral damage to them, unimportant and unworthy of their concern or help. Continue reading
A message to Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, Mark Kirk, and Matt Brown. Remember the number 400.
Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth?
Some defendants in the civil corruption cases have started receiving depo notices. Bill Postmus, Jim Erwin, Greg Eyler, Rex Gutierrez, and Adam Aleman are all named in the lawsuit.
In response, the defense is sending similar notices to specific members of the Board of Supervisors, their current/former chiefs of staff and other current and past staffers who are familiar with time card fraud and campaign work on county time. Let the fireworks begin as the county’s hypocrisy is made public for all to see, that is if those depo’d tell the truth. We shall see.
First off, it’s a little late in the day, but HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. Let’s start with the easy predictions first.
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
If the Federal Bureau of Investigation has control of the investigation and is conducting it thoroughly, we have every reason to believe that Mark Uffer, Josie Gonzales, Paul Biane, Dr. Dev GnanaDev, and Jessica Brown will be indicted. There could be numerous other elected and appointed officials involved as well but those are the names we hear were on the search warrants.
This prediction is based on my own observations while I worked at ARMC as well as talking with those that were required to provide officials with service. My former desk partner had worked in the emergency room and was responsible for processing in many “VIPs.”
While some of the John Does are glad Rex Gutierrez took his punishment without narc’ing them off and other corruption defendants believe he “deserved” it, we here at iePolitics refuse to forget him the way his former associates have. Rex is currently incarcerated at West Valley Detention Center awaiting for room at state prison.
I heard last week that the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office was claiming that the investigation into the Colonies Partners and the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors could go on for another two years and that more arrests are expected. My first response was that the statute of limitations has expired and didn’t think much more of it.
Today I had lunch with a top-notch criminal defense attorney who is well known to this blog. I got a lesson in statute of limitations.
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.
Editor’s Note: For a blog that “no one reads,” stories that are printed on it sure do have the tendency to create havoc. We knew there would be several additional names to this list, but then presents drop from the sky. And those presents were read by the defense.
iePolitics has obtained a partial list of witnesses expected to be called as a part of the upcoming corruption trial in People v. Postmus, et al. Attorneys for the defendants have given the judge an expected length of seven to eight weeks for the trial. Here are the names we have been given so far:
Congressman Jerry Lewis
Today the High Desert moved closer to being a big city. All of the San Bernardino County’s dignitaries were here to dedicate the new County Government Center. First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt initiated the naming of the Jerry Lewis High Desert Government Center after minority maker Congressman Jerry Lewis and it was so named.
The center will house a dozen or more departments including the Assessor’s Office, County Clerk and Recorder, Code Enforcement, Environmental Health, and Veterans Affairs. It is located in the center of Hesperia along with the library, police department and City Hall.
Among those seen at the event were Congressman Jerry Lewis, First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, Second District Supervisor Paul Biane, Third District Supervisor Josie Gonzales, Sheriff Rod Hoops, Auditor-Controller-Recorder-Tax Collector Larry Walker and his new assistant, Matt Brown. We hear Matt was all smiles as he worked the crowd.
Perhaps this should be called “All in the Family – Part Three,” but as more and more comes out about Matt and Jessica Brown and Jessica’s mother Sandy Harmsen, somehow this title seemed more appropriate. Matt, of course, is the former chief of staff for Second District Supervisor Paul Biane. Jessica is an analyst in the County Administrative Office. Harmsen is the director of the Workforce Development Department.
Sandy’s brother-in-laws, Adam, also works for the county as a social worker. I’m not sure if any other family members are in county employ or not.
Recent weeks have seen all three of the family members in the spotlight. First up was Sandy Harmsen, who as director of a department that is responsible fori spending large sums of federal stimulus money, was discovered to be falsifying records once again. That is only a small part of what she is doing, but so far County Administrative Officer, Greg Devereaux, who Harmsen answers to, is covering for her.
Fireworks could be found once again today at the San Bernardino County Courthouse where District Attorney investigator Bud Randle was forced to admit that the District Attorneys office used former Chief of Staff Matt Brown to illegally tape record Bill Postmus. Once Postmus obtained legal counsel such an act violates his Constitutional right against self-incrimination. This revelation as well as the one last Friday where they had to admit they used Adam Aleman in a similar manner has the potential to cause all charges to be dismissed.
Larry Walker
Sunday, October 24, 2010 – 01:00 p.m.
What a tangled web.
Last week we published a story here at InlandPolitics.com on San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller-Recorder-Tax Collector Larry Walker’s hiring and subsequent promotion of Matt Brown to be his second-in-command.
A position for which Brown possesses no apparent qualification to hold.
Brown
Thursday, October 21, 2010 – 09:45 a.m.
I never thought I would be saying Larry Walker and hard ball politics in the same sentence.
But it seems Walker has decided to play.
The long-anticipated move of Matt Brown, former chief of staff to second district supervisor Paul Biane, from the position of Assistant Recorder to Assistant Auditor-Controller, would appear to signal Walker is now started playing the political game.
Even though Walker denied it. The ouster of former Assistant Auditor-Controller Betsy Starbuck was indeed to make way for Brown.
It looks like the anticipated story should hit tonight. Multiple sources tell iePolitics that former Chief of Staff and current Assistant Auditor-Controller Matt Brown was the original source for this story. Brown narc’d off his former boss months ago but due to the incident occurring out of state, it has taken a while to verify the information. Stay tuned as the hypocrisy continues . . .
Bob Smith
As discovery is released to the defendants in the county’s corruption scandal, we are able to get a glimpse of people’s true motives. We knew Adam wasn’t the only liar. We learned about Matt Brown months ago. And we assumed there were others.
Another name has come to the forefront in the snitch department, but like Brown, his efforts were for naught. Former San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy, former San Bernardino County Welfare Fraud Investigator, and former San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office employee Bob Smith decided on his own to wear a wire.
And what did the treasonous Mr. Smith get for his efforts? A big fat zero. But that should not surprise us.
Sorry folks about the headline only earlier but that is the best I can do from my Blackberry. I knew I would not have an internet connection for many hours and wanted to get the news out timely.
iepolitics has been told by a confidential informant relatively close to the source that a Board of Supervisors agenda item is being prepared to move Assistant Recorder Matt Brown into the position formerly held by Betsy Starbuck. Starbuck was Auditor-Controller Larry Walker’s decades-long chief of staff/assistant before he terminated her a couple months ago and hired Matt Brown.
For those who are interested, here is the Matt Brown settlement agreement: MattBrown1
Former Chief of Staff to Second District Supervisor Paul Biane filed a hostile work environment claim against the county some months ago. Why?
I know that I am not the only one that thinks the county of San Bernardino sunk to a new low today. The decision to pay off former Second District Chief of Staff Matt Brown is a slap in the face to all county employees who must face a real hostile work environment each and every day because they do not have the money for an attorney and the county refuses to conduct a legitimate investigation. County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux and our Board of Supervisors should be ashamed of themselves.
Of course, this payoff begs the question of Why? Well, the answer is easy. A mistake by the District Attorney’s office has alerted corruption defendants to the fact that Brown was involved in attempting to get his boss, Second District Supervisor Paul Biane, on tape in an undercover operation. It would be highly detrimental to Supervisor Paul Biane’s re-election chances to have his former Chief of Staff tell what he knows before November 2.
Every time we here at iePolitics have declared that San Bernardino County officials have reached the pinnacle of stupidity and arrogance, we are proven wrong. Although the events of the past 24 hours are not surprising, they are appalling.
For weeks now there has been behind-the-scenes chatter about what exactly was going to be done to pull off the transfer of San Bernardino County Second District Chief of Staff Matt Brown to the Auditor-Controller/Recorder/Tax Collector office. Many of us figured there would be wrangling to send Brown to the Assessor’s Office next year when the Recorder’s function is transferred to that department. The question was how.
From San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller/Recorder/Tax Collector Larry Walker: Matt Brown Appointment
Matt Brown previously worked as Second District Supervisor Paul Biane’s chief of staff but has been out on administrative leave for a couple of months while a hostile work environment investigation was conducted. Brown alleged he started being harassed once it was discovered he cooperated with the corruption investigation by San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos against Biane. Brown is said to have attempted to get Biane on tape through secret recordings. It is not known if those recordings produced evidence against Biane.
We are hearing that San Bernardino County Auditor-Controller/Recorder terminated his assistant Betsy Starbuck today. Betsy has been with Larry since at least 1991 when she served as Chief of Staff while he was Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. Rumors have been surfacing for months about discord between Walker and Starbuck over deputy recorder and mistress Deanna Thompson.
The ongoing saga involving San Bernardino County supervisor Paul Biane and his apparently former chief of staff Matt Brown just keeps getting better and better.
During our last update we informed you that Brown was reportedly balking at taking a position in the Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office.
Sources at the time were telling InlandPolitics.com Brown wanted his legal bills paid for by the county.
We hear that staff members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors are being cut. But unlike with general county employees whose positions are being cut, these folks are being found special positions with an emphasis on not losing pay. Rumor has it that Matt Brown is being sent to the Auditor/Controller’s office, which means he would be working for another elected official and be untouchable by Supervisor Biane once Biane finds out the extent to which Matt narc’d or attempted to narc him off. We hear Mark Kirk is going to the County Administrative Office and John Richardson to County Counsel. Josie did what Josie is so good at doing. She simply fired someone on her staff. Neil offered a transfer to one of his staff members but she left the county instead. We will see if these rumors pan out or not. We know the rumors about the Third and Fifth Districts have already come true. Continue reading
‘They said they’re putting me on leave to protect me from any possible retaliation, to take me out of the situation until they complete their investigation and to protect the county from any liability,’ Brown said Wednesday in a conference call from the office of his attorney, Sanford A. Kassel.
San Bernardino Sun, May 5, 2010
Two important things struck me about this quote. First, “protect me from any possible retaliation.” What a crock of bull! Employee after employee in this county makes hostile work environment claims and is forced to work day after day with the perpetrator(s), sometimes even on those rare occasions when Andrew Lamberto can’t cover it up and the claim has been found to be true. Why is Matt receiving paid Administrative Leave and special treatment? This is disgusting!
This county not only does NOTHING to discourage hostile work environments for line staff, they encourage it. One has to look no further than Service First to see that. Every employee in this county was subjected to foul language, threats, and absolutely obnoxious behavior from an administrator. Continue reading
As if anyone with an ounce of intelligence couldn’t see it coming, the obvious was revealed this evening.
Matt Brown, Chief of Staff to Second District Supervisor Paul Biane has a civil attorney. The attorney being none other than Sanford Kassel. Continue reading
Just when we think the corruption scandal involving the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors can’t possibly get better, it always does. The most recent revelation is fromof Second District Chief of Staff, Matt Brown. He confessed on Monday to being one of the informants against his boss, Supervisor Paul Biane. And he claims he is being retaliated against for the same.
The fact that Matt is an informant is hardly breaking news. Anyone with their handy-dandy Cracker Jack super-sleuth ring could have figured that one out. San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos and California Attorney General Jerry Brown might have just as well dimed him out back on February 10, 2010, for diming out his boss. The complaint, that pretended to be anything but transparent, was one of the most transparent documents we have witnessed in recent San Bernardino County history. Continue reading
So now San Bernardino County Second District Chief of Staff Matt Brown has outed himself as a witness for the prosecution in connection with the current Colonies scandal. Surprise . . . surprise . . . surprise.
We could have told you that! Well, actually we already did tell you so . . . a very long time ago.
Brown’s close relationship with Mark Uffer was reported last year where Uffer promised Brown a job if anything happened to Second District Supervisor Paul Biane. And between FPPC filings, a politically-motivated Colonies investigation by the district attorney and attorney general, false accusations by Uffer, and a long list of other improprieties alleged against Biane, it looked like Brown just may need Uffer’s help. Continue reading
There is quite a potential for bombshells dropping this week in a number of ongoing corruption-related issues.
On Monday, we have the arraignment of former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus and former Chief of Staff Jim Erwin. It is expected that the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office will turn over discovery for the case. This may very well prove to be interesting. First, the rumor that the District Attorney may ask for a gag order would be funny if it didn’t keep popping its ugly head up. If true, it begs the question, “What is the District Attorney trying to hide?” Well, that has birthed a few more rumors, the most prevalent of which is that among the discovery will be information showing that Second Supervisorial District Chief of Staff Matt Brown dropped a dime on his boss, Supervisor Paul Biane. Rumors of Matt’s pending termination have been running rampant for a couple of weeks now. Continue reading
I’m not sure who to thank but THANK YOU!!!! I received the package. Boy is Lamberto and a few others going to have egg on their faces! Also, now I realize I owe Kirk and Zook apologies. It seems my recent impression of Matt Brown and Paul Biane are the correct impressions. Nice to know Matt has been burning me for so long. I hope to publish the documents on the blog but need to talk to my attorney first. Continue reading
Today’s subject is an all-too-frequent name discussed on the blog for reasons of nepotism. That subject, of course, is San Bernardino County Second District Supervisor Paul Biane.
We have written about Paul appointing both his uncle and his father-in-law to county posts. In Item No. 2 of today’s board agenda shows that he is reappointing his significant other to a County Service Area:
| j. | Approve the reappointment of Gil Rodriguez, Jr., to CSA 70 OS-1 (No. Etiwanda), Second District. |
Yep, nepotism is alive and well in the Second District.
A source familiar with last years Grand Jury proceedings focusing on the investigation into the Colonies Settlement is alluding that two more names were in play during the proceedings.
Apparently, on the wall of the Grand Jury room where testimony was being taken were enlarged Department of Motor Vehicles photographs of seven individuals.
There was a time when I would have texted or called Second District Chief of Staff Matt Brown to ask him about the accusations being made before printing them, but since Jessica Austin has shared with me what Matt has said behind my back, I am no longer going to give him the benefit of the doubt as I did his wife during the Land Use debacle. So Matt, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors. I actually hope they are not true, but it’s time for an answer. Continue reading
Jessica,
Do you remember a few months ago when you issued your executive order that I never write about you on the blog or discuss you with anyone in private? Not that I had any obligation to do so, but I have left your name off of the blog out of respect for our past friendship. When you recently asked for an account on the blog for Don I accommodated you as I would any candidate.
However, as of 2 a.m. this morning, I have had it with your shenanighans. You should know by now that I know your IP address and your modus operandi. I’m really disappointed in you. Continue reading
In an extraordinarily surprising move, it appears that the four remaining members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors were not affected by the emotional, pious pleadings of Josie “I wish I had a brain” Gonzales and rejected her ideas about investigating and suing themselves. They claim it is “Premature.”
Hmm . . . they didn’t think that a year ago when they sued those involved in the corruption scandal before there was one ounce of proof of wrongdoing. Here we are a year later and there is still no proof—not a single conviction. So what’s the difference? Continue reading
This post could have just as easily been entitled, “I told you so again” but honestly I am very saddened by today’s news regarding John Does 1 through 5 as described in the Jim Erwin/Bill Postmus arrest affidavit. I was writing a message to Mark Kirk when I remembered a comment I made in my first “Blood Stains” post which read (emphasis added):
The elected leaders in this county have blood stains on their hands, not from touching the hand of the crucified Christ, but from playing with the Devil and destroying the innocent, the poor and the weak. They have not used their power and authority with wisdom, grace, or benevolence, but rather with selfishness, abusiveness, intolerance, indifference and mean-spiritedness.
Doing what is right can sometimes be painful, but will never be as painful as being brought to one’s knees by an angry God who gave in abundance only to see it unappreciated and abused. Everyone on the Fifth Floor has been given an abundance; some would say an overabundance. One day many of them may wake up to find it gone and their power gone too. Then it will be they who ask for grace and mercy. Maybe if they are lucky we will have replaced them with leaders with integrity who show them more grace and mercy than the current leadership has shown us. Continue reading
Former San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office Intergovernmental Affairs Director Rex Gutierrez appeared in court today for preliminary hearing on charges of embezzlement and grand theft relating to time card fraud. His case was bound over for trial starting in about 60 days.
Among the witnesses was San Bernardino County Human Resources Director Andrew Lamberto, who testified that Gutierrez’s work hours were determined by his immediate supervisor, former Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman. Aleman has already plead guilty to four felonies in connection with the scandal, including presenting a false claim, in exchange for his testimony against the remaining defendants.
Lamberto’s assertion appears to be in direct conflict with state law, which does not restrict a salaried employee’s work schedule except for sick leave and vacation time. The county’s position has been that Exempt employees, such as Gutierrez, defendant Greg Eyler, and all the staff members for the Board of Supervisors (BOS), County Counsel, and the County Administrative Office are in fact salaried employees who are not required to work a set number of hours. This sudden switch in policy described at today’s hearing by Lamberto will likely result in not only a much more intensive grilling of Lamberto at trial, but also subpoenas being issued to the five Chiefs of Staff to the Board of Supervisors as well as those in the County Administrative Office and County Counsel to explain the disparate treatment of employees covered under the same Memorandum of Understanding and the same California Labor Codes. Continue reading
iePolitics has learned that as a part of the ongoing corruption investigation additional, previously-unreported search warrants were issued at the homes of high-ranking county officials including that of at least one current chief of staff. When serving the search warrants, District Attorney investigators photographed the interior of the homes and those photos are now available to defendants as part of the discovery process.
As new information is obtained, it will be reported here.