As part of my effort to expand open government in San Bernardino County, the County Board of Supervisors has introduced a new online access to Statements of Economic Interests (California Form 700). This allows the public to review statements of economic interest from Board of Supervisors Members and their key staff as well as managers of various County departments. We now have online access to Board agendas and fair statements that allow the public to find information specific to any agenda item voted on by the Board. As a complement, we have also developed a hosted e-mail subscription service that allows visitors to the County Website to receive automatic e-mail updates.

Along with Board agendas and fair statements, a searchable database of information will be added to expand the amount of information available. We will soon include Financial Contribution Forms (Form 460) as well as access to County contractor and vendor information.

We are working with both County Purchasing and Auditor Larry Walker to expedite the access to County contractor and vendor information.. Currently, purchasing posts all Board-approved requests for proposal (RFPs) on their website for review by vendors and other interested parties. However, the RFP results such as the name of proposers and final award recipients, while a matter of public record after the award is made, is not readily available to the public.

I am committed to ensuring that San Bernardino County is the most open and transparent county in the United States.
 

One exciting initiative, that I am involved with in our County, is the Alliance for Education. The Alliance is an effort to join business, labor, community and education together in a joint effort to enhance workforce development, education partnerships and literacy in a common goal to produce an educated and skilled community. The Alliance is eager to collaborate with business, labor and community partners on innovative ways to connect students and teachers with the organization. We have to do more to produce a highly skilled and educated workforce to fill the jobs and opportunities that exist now and in the future. To learn more about the Alliance for Education, or become a member, visit their website at www.sballiance.org.
 

Public Safety

In my years of public service, I have learned to include as many decision makers and stakeholders at the table, as possible, so each can claim ownership of the issue at hand thereby enhancing the chances for success.

I attend a number of meetings each week and serve on various committees. Besides working with officials in the County of San Bernardino and the Southern California region, I met recently with elected representatives and government officials in both Washington, D.C. and Sacramento to discuss local and regional problems.

In Washington, we discussed a number of issues but the major focus was on goods movement in the I-10 Corridor, traffic flow and security. Southern California is the loading dock for the United States, 43% of all U.S. imports pass through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In the year 2000, $200 billion in trade passed through those ports supporting a national total of two million jobs and paid over $61 billion in income. Yet, 70% of Southern California’s transportation revenue comes from local taxes. California residents are paying a disproportionate share of the environmental and financial costs of goods movement. The challenge is to address the infrastructure demands of an overburdened goods movement while maintaining a healthy environment and livable communities.

In Sacramento, we met with elected representatives and key government officials on a variety of issues but the major focus was on the prison overcrowding crisis, specifically at the Chino Institution for Men (CIM). This is a critical safety problem for the communities of Chino and Chino Hills and inmates in the institution itself. Just last week, the Governor and legislature reached a deal on a plan to provide funding for more prison construction. That is welcome news for the future but doesn’t solve the current problem. We are working on alleviating the current overcrowding situation and holding the state’s feet to the fire to do something now!

 

We live in a world of government acronyms which we use every day, some you may be familiar with but others you may not.  I serve on many organizations and committees in a variety of capacities. The following are some of the most important along with their acronyms: