Wednesday, January 5, 2011 – 08:00 a.m.
Talking about someone hanging on.
A review of San Bernardino County retirement rolls for December and January seem to be missing a name.
Ruth Stringer, the now former county counsel, is missing from the list.
Meaning Stringer is still on active payroll.
Today’s departure of San Bernardino County Public Defender Doreen Boxer ends ten months of obstruction and interference by County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux. Devereaux was made very aware of the issues with both County Counsel Ruth Stringer and Boxer just after he was hired. Both individuals were at-will employees who could have easily been terminated for their malfeasance in office. Both received Devereaux’s protection despite BOS disapproval.
The recent power grab by Devereaux is expected to make it even more difficult for the Board of Supervisors to eliminate department heads who violate county policy and/or state law, harm constituents, or underperform. Supervisors will have to have a super majority in order to deal with such situations and that is not likely.
Sunday, December 5, 2010 – 09:15 a.m.
The actions of San Bernardino County’s outgoing county counsel, who’s last official day was this past Friday, seems to be conveying feelings about her departure that are somewhat different than her public statements.
It seems Ruth Stringer threw a little bash at the Time in a Bottle wine bar in Redlands last Thursday night.
A “by invitation only” drink-fest, where the food and drink was really flowing, late into the evening. All on Stringer’s dime.
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:
Monday, November 15, 2010 – 11:25 p.m.
Tuesday the San Bernadino County Board of Supervisors will honor outgoing county counsel Ruth Stringer with a resolution commending her for 32 years of service to the county.
Even though the board really showed Stringer to the door.
Stringer’s motivation for not wanting to leave now has all to do with one thing. Her pension.
A pension which has become crystal clear over the past few months.
If Stringer could have served four more years, her retirement percentage would have climbed from an estimated 83.80% t0 100.00% of her pensionable (earnable) compensation.
Nevertheless, Stringer more than likely walks away assuming the most prestigious honor as San Bernardino County’s highest paid retiree.
Yes, it’s true.
Stringer’s updated retirement calculation is as follows:
Base Annual Salary $ 230,110.40
Benefit Plan $ 6,000.00
Supplemental Retirement Allowance $ 11,391.90
Automobile Allowance $ 14,400.00
Vacation Leave Cash-out (Eligible for pension calculation) $ 17,700.80
Administrative Leave (Eligible for pension calculation) $ 8,850.40
Holiday Leave (Eligible for pension calculation) $ 11,391.90
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Earnable Compensation $ 303,244.06
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7% County-paid Retirement Contribution received as cash back $ 21,227.08
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Total Earnable Compensation for retirement purposes $ 324,451.14
Estimated retirement percentage based on age 60 w/ 32 years of service 83.80%
Estimated Annual Pension $ 271,890.05
Talk about a windfall.
Reading the spin from county personnel on the issues at San Bernardino County-run Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) has been interesting. Or perhaps disgusting is a better word.
Some of you may remember the Fair Political Practices Commission complaint I filed back in March against Mark Uffer and Supervisors Paul Biane and Josie Gonzales. I received notice from the FPPC that there was no violation despite the fact that all three of them along with countless others had been given free medical care at ARMC and did not report this gift of public funds on their FPPC Form 700s.
Supervisor-elect Janice Rutherford
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is playing fast and loose with the rules once again. And this time around it seems they may very well be in such a hurry so to prevent newcomer Supervisor-elect Janice Rutherford, who ran on a platform of ethics reform, from providing her input into a law that will affect her ability to serve her constituents for her entire term of office and keeping her promises to voters.
Four out of the five current supervisors supported Rutherford’s opponent and now they are pushing through a new county ordinance to transfer authority from the Board of Supervisors to their hand-selected County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux. Devereaux appears to have little concern for ethics reform as evidenced by his handling of the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center scandal, which was highlighted this past week with his misstatements to the press and his covering for supervisors who are accused of wrongdoing. Inside sources say that those supervisors were targeted in the search warrants and criminal charges against them are possible.
Sunday, November 7, 2010 – 1:45 p.m.
San Bernardino County appears to be judge shopping in a lawsuit filed against it and District Attorney Mike Ramos by former employee Cheryl Ristow.
Ristow has sued the county and Ramos, claiming she was retaliated against by Ramos for refusing to keep secret and affair between her and the two-term DA, when knowledge of their relationship went public in May 2009.
Every time we think there may be some hope for transparency and reform with the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, we find out they are flat out hopeless. On Tuesday they proved once again they are happy with the status quo and are terrified of real reform.
The Board of Supervisors did two good things on Tuesday, albeit, a year or so after they should have been done. First, they forced Ruth Stringer into retirement. Don’t believe anything else you hear. She was forced!
Second, they reluctantly (except for Derry and Mitzelfelt) approved the Sunshine Ordinance. However, the real proof will be when we ask for public records and they are not denied for bullshit reasons like they are now.
We know we don’t have many qualified analysts in county government. Nothing could be more obvious with two facts that came out this week.
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.
Third District Supervisor Neil Derry
We here at iePolitics have been pretty hard on Supervisor Derry for a while now but we also recognize that he is the only supervisor to have any sense of ethics. Neil deserves a big “thank you” for making the Ruth Stringer termination finally happen. No, he couldn’t do it alone, but none of the other supervisors had backbone enough to make it happen.
The average citizen has no clue how significant getting Ruthie out as top legal Beagle really is. This woman caused more unnecessary grief for more people, but, more importantly, she cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars with her second-rate legal advice that was usually based on politics and vengeance rather than sound legal principles.
She says she is retiring of her own accord, which is a lie, but we will take it any way we an get it. Ruthie is toast. No more bad legal advice from her. Good riddance.
There are two perplexing matters before the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, the first on Tuesday and the second on Wednesday, that have us wondering if crack(ed) legal Beagle Ruthie Stringer has been given the axe . . . finally. Our very bestest and mostest dependable sources are being quite obstructive and obstinate about giving iePolitics the scoop on this one.
And that’s not fair. This is like being four years old again on Christmas Eve and unable to sleep in anticipation of the big day. Except in this case, we have to wait three and a half days to find out what is going on. Where are our sleeping pills when we need them?
Back in early June, iePolitics was tipped off that Dr. Dev Gnanadev, medical director for Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC), had real property in San Bernardino County and the beach area that he was not reporting on his FPPC Form 700. We were also advised that he employed his wife in his medical billing business and required some of the doctors that contract with ARMC to use his medical billing service. His wife’s income was also not reported on his FPPC Form 700.
We obtained copies of his last four 700s and determined there were discrepancies. We also had the Assessor’s Office check his name for real property and found several possible properties he did not claim in this county. Because the information he put on his Form 700 was done very sloppily, it was hard to tell exactly how much he under-reported but it was clear he had not reported everything he was required to report.
Emasculated. Impotent. Ineffectual. Powerless. Debilitated. Cowardly. Weak.
Anyone of these adjectives is an appropriate descriptor of the current five members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors individually and as a not-so-well functioning governing board. Never was it so obvious as it was on Tuesday.
More than a year and a half ago many astute observers began to realize the Board of Supervisors had a problem. Several high-ranking staffers, including County Counsel Ruth Stringer, had become disloyal. In reality, the situation worsened to far beyond disloyal.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 – 11:00 a.m.
Last Updated: September 28, 2010 – 12:50 p.m.
Today, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors received a message from their chief legal counsel.
The finger.
Sunday, September 26, 2010 – 6:00 p.m.
Will San Bernardino County’s lead attorney retire as scheduled?
Sources say County Counsel Ruth Stringer, who is expected to announce her retirement this week, is actively trying to delay her forced departure.
However, the question inquiring minds want to know is who is Stringer trying to stay around and screw over?
Stringer, one of the culprits responsible for feeding the investigation into San Bernardino County government and her bosses the Board of Supervisors, is said to be lobbying a certain county supervisor to allow her to hang around and cost county taxpayers more money from her incompetent decision-making.
I have never been in favor of contracting out services in lieu of hiring county employees until now. But County Counsel is out of control.
Already, County Counsel contracts almost all trial work as they do not have a single experienced trial attorney on staff. They also contract out all complicated cases as they do not have a single experienced litigator on staff either. And that is saying a lot as I believe they have around 50 attorneys in their office.
San Bernardino County’s million dollar attorney may very well cost the county even more. Tomorrow, as part of closed session, the lawsuit against the Assessor’s folks is on the agenda. Closed session is a very good place for it.
Of course we do not know the county’s reason for putting the case on the agenda. We do know what happened last week with the case and wonder if Legal Beagles Ruthie Stringer and John Hueston have fessed up to the board about how they screwed up. You mean the Million Dollar Man screwed up? He most certainly did Ollie.
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.
San Bernardino County’s County Counsel and chief legal beagle of many years got to make a court appearance this morning. Finally. I’m paraphrasing here a bit, but I believe her involvement this morning was limited to, “Ruth Stringer on behalf of San Bernardino County, your Honor.” Wow, she should be proud. She’s moving up to the level of big-time attorneys. Way to go Ruthie!
This was going to be a much meaner post—I mean comparing anyone to Josie is pretty mean, isn’t it? But, then I remembered one of Brad’s field representatives, Jessie Flores, did a big favor for me week before last, and I decided I should be a little nicer. So, here goes the “nice” version of this post.
Brad, what the heck were you thinking? We expect these kind of stupid decisions out of Josie because she is stupid ,and out of Paul because he is usually drunk, but we expect a tempered, well-reasoned decision out of you. Today we did not get it.
I wasn’t going to blog about this because there really is no point right now in arguing the merits of the case. Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time know where I stand on the issue. No one is going to believe the outcome I predicted months ago until depositions start being taken and evidence that hasn’t been made available yet becomes public. Some of you are on Cheryl’s side and some of you are on Mike’s side and I’m not going to change anyone’s opinion.
To the Honorable Members of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors,
Haven’t you had enough yet? Honestly, why wasn’t County Counsel Ruth Stringer fired today? She does not work for County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux. She works for you. And she should have been fired TODAY!
I only wish I could share with the readers of iePolitics the details of her latest fiasco—a fiasco that has already been expensive and one that almost cost you, the taxpayers, an additional very large sum of money.
San Bernardino County’s three top lawyers may be “former” employees by year’s end. San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, Public Defender Doreen Boxer, and County Counsel Ruth Stringer all are in precarious positions at best.
Although mainstream media has refused to cover the antics of District Attorney Mike Ramos, iePolitics and InlandPolitics have covered them extensively. We have been accused of libeling poor Mikey. But the seeds he has sown are about to come back to haunt him and prove that we are the ones with truth on our side.
San Bernardino County’s law firm, Boxer, Ramos & Stringer (remember Mikey likes to be in the middle), is at it again. We learned of their speciality months ago when chief legal Beagle Ruth Stringer determined that fornication is part of the “deliberative process” and taxpayer monies spent for said fornication is not the business of the taxpayers. We are supposed to take it in the shorts, literally.
Well our favorite ménage à trois has defied logic and sound legal reasoning yet once more. Until recently the county reluctantly released information regarding the costs of civil litigation against former Assessor Bill Postmus, et al. The investigation was originally capped at $250,000 but former Enron prosecutor and special investigator John Hueston went through that amount quickly.
From all appearances, the cost of the investigation/persecution has already exceeded $1 million or is quickly approaching that mark with nothing to show for it and likely no hope of ever showing anything for it except for a conviction and judgment against Adam Aleman. Aleman is the only one to plead guilty and not file an answer.
I’m really trying to be patient. Honestly I am. I know former County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer left behind a mess, proportions of which county brass is still trying to determine.
But . . . this county is in dire straits, ethically speaking that is. I really want to believe what my friends who know current County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux say about him. I really do. I really, really do. Because if it isn’t true, this county is going bankrupt. Continue reading
Sometimes I really wonder who is the worst lawyer, District Attorney Mike Ramos or County Counsel Ruth Stringer. From Ramos we have learned that the Constitution of the United States is not applicable in San Bernardino County, at least not in connection with political enemies. And County Counsel Ruth Stringer has taught us that copulation involving public resources is covered by the “deliberative process” and therefore not subject to review, not that we wanted to review the copulation, only the expenditures attached thereto.
Now we find our two legal beagles are at it again. Well, not with each other we hope, but in consort of sorts, with those at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) who wish to cover for the misdeeds of members of the Board of Supervisors, the county’s Medical Director Dr. Dev GnanaDev, ARMC Chief Executive Officer Patrick Petre, and a handful of doctors and other ARMC employees. Continue reading
I feel sometimes like we are beating a dead horse. Unfortunately, that dead horse keeps coming back to life and rearing its ugly head. There are several San Bernardino County department heads that have to go. The county simply cannot afford to keep them on in these economic times. Federal court and federal juries do not care how broke San Bernardino County may be when it awards judgments. And Mr. Devereaux, you have some complete idiots (note HROs: be sure to print this out to add it to “the list”) running the show who are going to ultimately cost taxpayers dearly.
At the top of the list is County Counsel Ruth Stringer. How much longer are you going to tolerate her half-ass legal advice? When you take an attitude of “we have 138 attorneys, so bring it on,” as did our former County Administrative Officer and our current County Counsel has, you’re assuming you can outlast us all. Not all of us go away easily or cheaply. Continue reading
I really need to stop reading former San Bernardino County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer’s Claim Against the County. Every time I do, I find something new. Like tonight I came across the email from Postmus to Biane calling Biane a POS. That was too funny.
Something else was pointed out to me today that got me reading the thing again. That was some more of the questions Mark Uffer suggested the Grand Jury ask Mark Kirk. Continue reading
On Tuesday’s agenda is this:
County Counsel
20)
Talk about a group of individuals that just won’t learn. You’re not going to win these cases so why keep feeding Ruth’s flame? If you dumped Ruth and Hueston, you might be able to hire a seasoned litigator who could mete sage legal advice instead of telling you what you want to hear. Continue reading
As previously reported, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors (BOS) is only meeting this year 27 out of 52 weeks, which proves we could do just fine with a part-time Board of Supervisors. Besides for the usual 12 “dark” weeks due to regular holidays, the BOS has found an additional 13 holidays to celebrate to justify their additional “darkness.”
Next Tuesday is “Do a Grouch a Favor Day,” which is an appropriate reason to be dark. Unfortunately, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos has gotten in the way with his corruption scandal implicating two of five sitting board members. Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales has called for an emergency closed session meeting on Tuesday in an email that read:
Due to the shocking new allegations of a far-reaching criminal conspiracy contained in the Postmus-Erwin complaint released today, I ask that an emergency closed session meeting of the Board of Supervisors be scheduled. The members of the board must be apprised of our legal options and give direction expeditiously.
Ya know, next time Moonbeam is in town, Josie needs to join him and Ramos on the podium. They would make a great three-some.
Of course, the Board of Supervisors didn’t listen to iePolitics and get rid of County Counsel Ruth Stringer when they had the chance. Now they have to get their legal advice from her. They might all just as well attend dressed in orange jumpsuits.
With the pending arrival of newly hired San Bernardino County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux, we are pondering some points:
“Cautiously optimistic” and “nervous” are two of the phrases I have heard repeatedly about San Bernardino County’s new head honcho, County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux. Even before assuming office, Devereaux has ended a decades-long policy of 9-80s for county management, a move that makes line staff very nervous as many depend on “flex time” to survive in these hard economic times. But it is also a sign that Devereaux is not going to be afraid to lead.
After six years of despot leadership by former County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer and his band of thugs, it is easy to understand why line staff are wary of our new leader. I’ve been asked my opinion repeatedly by everyone from the lowest level employee to managers to newspaper reporters. Here is my standard response:
Seeing Devereaux’s close, personal relationship with the Fourth District makes me nervous on a personal level, especially when considering what the Fourth District recently did to me. That being said, I have two friends who are long-term city of Ontario employees who have nothing but respect for Devereaux. They are rank-and-file and are allowed to work 9-80s. Ontario employees, most of whom are represented by San Bernardino County Public Employees Association, have the best contracts of any governmental agency in San Bernardino County.
From what I hear from those that know Devereaux, he is tough but also fair. I also hear he will not take the crap from county managers that Uffer not only tolerated, but encouraged. He will not play the games Uffer played and will not tolerate bad managers. Unlike Uffer, he is consistently described as a ‘professional.’ Continue reading
Maybe when San Bernardino County’s Chief Legal Eagle Ruth Stringer is booted in a few weeks, President Obama will appoint her to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. From our experience she would be a perfect fit with the aberrant justices already sitting on that bench.
Under Stringer’s matronly tutelage we have all been blessed to learn new legal concepts not taught in any law school but practiced with fervor here in San Bernardino County. For example, “fornicating” is apparently synonymous with “deliberating” as in the “deliberative process.” We are not sure what an elected official and his inamorata would deliberate about at 2 a.m. that the public isn’t entitled to know since the “deliberating” is taking place on our dime. We also haven’t figured out why salmon and wine can be made public but the raw oysters and asparagus cannot. Perhaps it is the “Stringer Rule of Libidinous Measure.”
The long-awaited investigation into sexual-related misconduct and work place activity of District Attorney Mike Ramos and his department management staff was released yesterday afternoon. The investigation was triggered by allegations made against Ramos and his managers by Cheryl Ristow, an employee in the District Attorney’s office.
True-to-form, San Bernardino County fails to disappoint by creating a bigger mess.
Local newspapers jumped on the “Ramos is cleared” band-wagon immediately. One even attacked the claimant Cheryl Ristow in the headline.
Ramos immediately claimed vindication on all fronts and denied everything once again.
For almost a year the question has been asked repeatedly, “Why would San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos take on the likes of Jim Erwin?” It’s especially puzzling for several reasons.
First, Mike is a poltroon. He utilizes his paltry supply of testosterone to satisfy his overactive libido. None is left to be a man in any other way. He is emasculated. He is not capable of going to battle because he believes in the righteousness of an issue. To suggest he is attempting to “clean up corruption” is ludicrous, especially coming from one of the most corrupt district attorneys in the entire country.
Second, Mike and Jim were at least casual friends at one point and certainly political allies. As president of the Safety Employees Benefit Association (SEBA), Jim helped Mike and his political friends in their campaigns for elected office. A SEBA endorsement is substantial in this county and to potentially alienate such a powerful force could be political suicide. Continue reading
Well, justice administered disparately apparently is the theme de jure, or in this case, the theme de soir, and it remains alive and well in San Bernardino County. Former San Bernardino County Assessor’s Office employee and Rancho Cucamonga councilman Rex Gutierrez appeared in court today for his preliminary hearing. This desperado required the combined lawyering skills of six deputy district attorneys and two deputy attorneys general.
What crimes could have garnered such a showing of prosecutorial might? Certainly Gutierrez must have executed a cross-country rampage leaving death and destruction at every turn. “Right?” you ask. Continue reading
In what has been an ongoing discussion on this blog about the incompetence and unethical practices of San Bernardino County Human Resources Director Andrew Lamberto and County Counsel Ruth Stringer, we now find out just how unscrupulous both are. Added into the mix this time is the reported collusion with said scoundrels by Board of Supervisors Chairman Gary Ovitt and his Chief of Staff, Mark Kirk, Supervisor Paul Biane and others, and we can only conclude that the level of corruption in the upper echelons of county government has reached a new high.
Last August, at the insistence of Third District Supervisor Neil Derry, Lamberto initiated an investigation into allegations of hostile work environment by District Attorney Michael Ramos aimed at investigative technician Cheryl Ristow. Ristow admitted a previous 17-month sexual affair with Ramos, who had told her during the affair how he had fallen in love with her and claimed he was divorcing his wife, Gretchen. However, once Ristow realized that Ramos was lying about his feelings for her and his status with his wife, Ristow ended the relationship.
Ramos continued to pursue Ristow, even to the point that when Ristow was facing possible breast cancer surgery, Ramos asked to have one more encounter with her before her breast might be damaged or removed during the surgery. Ramos continued to pursue Ristow as will be shown in an updated article tomorrow. Ristow has said from the beginning all she ever wanted out of this is for Ramos to admit the affair and apologize for lying to and about her. It seems Ramos cannot tell the truth. Despite that fact and although the investigators seem to have ignored the evidence, tomorrow we will provide evidence in Ramos’ own handwriting to show what he has done. Continue reading