San Bernardino County supervisors say Trump ideas could boost county – San Bernardino Sun https://www.sbsun.com/2018/11/09/san-bernardino-county-supervisors-say-trump-ideas-could-boost-county/[11/13/2018 8:10:04 AM] By SANDRA EMERSON | [email protected] | Inland Valley Daily Bulletin PUBLISHED: November 9, 2018 at 6:04 pm | UPDATED: November 9, 2018 at 6:05 pm Three supervisors from San Bernardino County say a recent trip to Washington D.C. led them to believe that the region could benefit if a number of Trump administration policies are carried out. Robert Lovingood, Josie Gonzales and Janice Rutherford attended a federally-sponsored, one- day conference last month for city and county officials from California, Alaska and Hawaii. While there, they heard from administration officials who offered their views on issues ranging from land SUBSCRIBE Get the latest news delivered daily! Follow Us LOCAL NEWS San Bernardino County supervisors say Trump ideas could boost county
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San Bernardino County supervisors say Trump ideas could boost county – San Bernardino Sun
Inland Valley Daily BulletinPUBLISHED: November 9, 2018 at 6:04 pm | UPDATED:November 9, 2018 at 6:05 pm
Three supervisors from San Bernardino Countysay a recent trip to Washington D.C. led them tobelieve that the region could benefit if a number ofTrump administration policies are carried out.
Robert Lovingood, Josie Gonzales and JaniceRutherford attended a federally-sponsored, one-day conference last month for city and countyofficials from California, Alaska and Hawaii. Whilethere, they heard from administration officials whooffered their views on issues ranging from land
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San Bernardino County supervisors say Trumpideas could boost county
and water use, veterans services and the opioidepidemic.
All three said they heard ideas they liked.
The conference, held Oct. 23, included a speechfrom President Donald Trump and presentationsby Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, actingadministrator of the Environmental ProtectionAgency Andrew Wheeler, Transportation SecretaryElaine Chao and Kellyanne Conway, counselor tothe president, among others.
“At the end of the day, if you’re listening (directly)to the Interior, you’re listening to the EPA, you’relistening to Transportation and, in particular, you’relistening to the President,” said San BernardinoCounty Board Chairman Lovingood, whorepresents the 4th District. “Things are not beingreported fairly or accurately as to what theyaccomplished.”
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chair RobertLovingood (pictured) and Supervisors Josie Gonzales andJanice Rutherford participated in the White House StateLeadership Conference with Alaska, California and Hawaiilocal officials Oct. 23, 2018 in Washington D.C. (Courtesy ofLovingood’s office)
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Trump, in a speech, touted the country’s improvedeconomy and the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. He also criticizedwater delivery constraints facing agricultural landsin Central California — something Lovingwoodsaid he agreed with.
Lovingood also agreed with Interior SecretaryZinke who talked about the need to bringmanufacturing back to the United States.
“As a nation, we’re the world leader and Californiashould be capitalizing” on current economicopportunities, Lovingood said.
Gonzales, who represents the county’s 5th District,said she learned a lot from discussions aboutclean technology and its potential uses at the railyards in San Bernardino and Colton.
Gonzales, an advocate for homeless services inthe county, said she spoke with EPA SecretaryWheeler’s staff about how homeless people affectenvironmentally protected, government-ownedlands. In the Inland Empire, that includes state-owned properties along freeways as well as parks
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and flood control channels.
The challenge, she said, is to balance theprotection of such lands and habitats while alsoaddressing waste and debris left behind by thehomeless.
“What I stressed was the contradiction in themandates to preserve and protect the integrity ofthe land and at the same time,” Gonzales said.“We’re not getting the funding in order for us to beable to do exactly what we’re mandated to do.”
Rutherford, who represents the 2nd District, saidshe was impressed with what she described ascommon sense reforms on everything fromstreamlining federal environmental clearance forprojects to improving veterans’ access tohealthcare.
“Hearing (Veterans Affairs Secretary RobertWilkie’s) passion for providing better service forour veterans was really uplifting,” Rutherford said.“And a couple of his (ideas) just make so muchsense.”
Rutherford said the VA’s push on a variety offronts, including one that could be of particularinterest to veterans in the nation’s geographicallybiggest county, San Bernardino.The VA isreaching out to qualified healthcare professionalscloser to where veterans actually live in the county.
Overall, Rutherford said the conference was apositive experience.
“The president was certainly entertaining, as I thinkwe’ve come to expect,” Rutherford said.
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Inland Valley Daily BulletinPUBLISHED: November 9, 2018 at 6:01 pm | UPDATED:November 9, 2018 at 6:01 pm
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisorswill meet Tuesday, Nov. 13 to discuss the processfor filling the impending vacancy following JamesRamos’ likely win in the 40th Assembly District.
The county’s charter requires the board to appointa successor to finish Ramos’ term as 3rd Districtsupervisor, which ends in 2020, within 30 days ofthe vacancy. The charter, however, does notspecify a process for the board to follow in makingan appointment, according to a county news
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San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors todiscuss process to fill James Ramos vacancy
Ramos, who was first elected to the board in 2012,was ahead by Republican and San BernardinoCouncilman Henry Nickel, by nearly 15 percentagepoints, according to the latest unofficial electionresults posted Friday, Nov. 9 by the Registrar’soffice.
On Tuesday, the board will consider setting theapplication filing period for Nov. 14 through Dec. 3.They will also consider scheduling a specialmeeting Dec. 11 to conduct public interviews ofapplicants.
Potential successors must be registered to votewithin 30 days of the application period and mustlive within the 3rd District, which includes all orportions of San Bernardino, Grand Terrace,Colton, Loma Linda, Highland, Redlands, Yucaipa,Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Twentynine Palms, thetown of Yucca Valley, and surroundingunincorporated communities.
For more information on Tuesday’s meeting andthe 3rd District visit the county’s website.
The board will meet for public session at 10 a.m. inthe Covington Chambers on the first floor of theCounty Government Center, 385 N. ArrowheadAve., in San Bernardino.
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A room was set aside to accommodate the boxes of ballotsalready counted at the San Bernardino County Registrar office inSan Bernardino on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. (Photo by StanLim, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
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Latest mail-in, provisional and damaged ballotcount offers no surprises in San BernardinoCounty election results
PUBLISHED: November 9, 2018 at 6:09 pm | UPDATED:November 9, 2018 at 6:11 pm
Little has changed in San Bernardino County racessince Election Day, according to the unofficialelection results released Friday, Nov. 9 by theRegistrar’s office.
The latest numbers, which took into account about11,000 mail-in, provisional and damaged ballots,show Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino, stillahead of Republican challenger Sean Flynn, in the31st Congressional District.
Aguilar ended the week with 71,549 votes, or56.89 percent of the vote, up a little fromWednesday’s posting. Flynn had 54,219 votes, or43.11 percent.
In the 40th Assembly District, County Supervisorand Democrat James Ramos continues to leadRepublican and San Bernardino CouncilmanHenry Nickel, with 50,901 votes, or 57.87 percentof the vote. Nickel had 37,058 votes, or 42.13percent.
Ramos fills the seat left open in March whenAssemblyman Marc Steinorth, R-RanchoCucamonga, decided not to seek re-election.
There are at least 192,400 ballots left to count,according to the Registrar’s website.
The next posting is scheduled for 4 p.m. Nov. 14.
For more information visitwww.sbcountyelections.com.
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San Bernardino Councilman John Valdivia stillleads incumbent Mayor Carey Davis in the race forthe city’s top elected position, unofficial ElectionDay results updated Friday, Nov. 9, show.
The latest figures have Valdivia ahead of Davis by601 votes; earlier this week, the two-termcouncilman representing the 3rd Ward led by 508votes.
The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voterswill release updated vote totals at 4 p.m.Wednesday, Nov. 14.
Following Election Day, the registrar reported thatthere were about 200,000 ballots to be countedcountywide. Given his narrow deficit and thevolume of votes unaccounted for, Davis onThursday, Nov. 8, refused to concede the mayor’srace.
“There’s still enough uncertainty that the race hasnot been determined yet,” he said.
The
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registrar’s latest update added more than 3,000votes to the San Bernardino mayor’s race, bringingthe number of people who voted for the position toabout 25,000. It is unclear how many ballots areleft to be counted.
As of Friday, Valdivia had 12,681 votes, or 51percent. Davis had 12,080, or 49 percent.
Theodore Sanchez, Sandra Ibarra and incumbentFred Shorett, meanwhile, remained ahead in theirrespective 1st, 2nd and 4th ward council races, thelatest results show.
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The Press-EnterprisePUBLISHED: November 9, 2018 at 3:46 pm | UPDATED:
Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox, center, stumps forProposition 6 at the State Capitol in Sacramento in this August filephoto. While losing statewide, Cox and Prop. 6 both fared well inearly election returns in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.(File photo courtesy of CALmatters). SUBSCRIBE
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Election 2018: Inland Empire pumps red intoCalifornia’s blue wave
The blue wave that crested in California onelection night had a reddish tint to it in the InlandEmpire.
While Democrats and liberal ballot propositionswon the vast majority elections up and down thestate, returns counted so far show that voters inRiverside and San Bernardino counties were in adifferent mood.
Consider:
-Inland Empire voters preferred Republican JohnCox over Democrat Gavin Newsom for governorby a margin of 53.14 percent to 46.86 percent.Statewide, Newsom won by nearly 20 points.
-Inland Empire voters also approved Prop 6, theballot measure which called for repeal of thestate’s 2017 gas tax known as SB 1, 57.82 percentto about 42.18 percent. Statewide, Prop 6 lost bymore than 10 points.
-And while the race for the 60th Assembly Districtremained too close to call as of Friday, RepublicanBill Essayli does lead Democrat Sabrina Cervantesby 176 votes.
It’s all part of a pattern in which Inland Empirevoters, collectively, made choices that run counterto California’s increasingly liberal electorate.
Republican congressional representatives from theregion — Paul Cook, Ken Calvert, and DuncanHunter — all won re-election fairly easily. Hunter
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even managed to win while under indictment forallegations that he used campaign money for hispersonal life.
The region’s most conservative staterepresentatives politicians, AssemblywomanMelissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, and stateSen. Jeff Stone, R-La Quinta, are returning toSacramento. So is Temecula’s assemblywoman,Republican Marie Waldron of Escondido, who waschosen to be the Assembly GOP caucus’ leader.
The GOP also maintained its majority on thenonpartisan San Bernardino County Board ofSupervisors, and the party is poised to keep itsmajority on the nonpartisan Riverside CountyBoard of Supervisors, assuming Russ Bogh hangsonto his lead in District 5.
As with the June primary, the results defy localtrends in voter registration.
Not only is the Republican Party now vastlyoutnumbered statewide, trailing Democrats and“no party preference” in voter registration, but theGOP also is No. 2 in both San Bernardino and
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Riverside counties, where Democrats make up aplurality of all registered voters.
“We weren’t celebrating at a bunch of parties,” saidRiverside County Republican Party ChairmanJonathan Ingram, who was re-elected to theMurrieta City Council. “We worked hard from thebeginning to the end of the election cycle.”
Inland Democrats did see some local bright spots.
The open 40th Assembly District in SanBernardino County went red to blue with JamesRamos’ win. Democratic congressionalrepresentatives from the area — Pete Aguilar,Mark Takano, and Raul Ruiz — all coasted to re-election. All three districts were consideredbattlegrounds as recently as four years ago.
Also, Democrat-endorsed Corona City Councilcandidate Jacque Casillas, a Planned Parenthoodemployee, won a council seat, beating out a trio ofChristian pastors, two of whom said they’d try tostop an abortion clinic from entering the city.
Still, Riverside County Democratic Party ChairmanSteve Ruth sees a lot of local red, politicallyspeaking.
“The Republicans still have more influence withtheir voters than Democrats do.”
Turnout isn’t official at this point, so it’s not clear ifmore Inland Republicans or more Democrats castballots on Nov. 6. But with hundreds of thousandsof Inland ballots still uncounted as of Friday, it’sbelieved that 2018 could set a record for midtermturnout.
Not too long ago, Riverside and San Bernardinocounties were viewed as reliably Republican. Thatstarted changing in 2012, when Democrats sweptseveral highly competitive legislative andcongressional races in the region.
In 2016, Democrats, who already outnumberedGOP voters in San Bernardino County, overtookRepublicans in Riverside County’s voterregistration. And while both counties have favoredRepublican gubernatorial candidates in recentelection cycles, Barack Obama won the InlandEmpire in 2008 and 2012 and Hillary Clinton tookthe region in 2016.
California’s current political divide is not north vs.south, but coastal vs. inland, said Jack Pitney, aprofessor of politics at Claremont McKennaCollege.
“If you smell salt water, you are probably in aDemocratic district. If you smell dust, you areprobably in a Republican district,” he said.
“As the more populous coastal areas continue totrend Democratic, inland areas will make up agreater and greater share of the Republican vote.”
Turnout — specifically, the trend of GOP votersbeing more likely than Democrats to show up inmidterm elections — also might play a role.
“Orange County is now lookingmore and more like the InlandEmpire in terms ofpartisanship, but even in other
From left, RepublicanAssembly candidateBill Essayli and
Election 2018: Inland Empire pumps red into California’s blue wave – Press Enterprise
election years (it) has higherturnout,” said MarciaGodwin, professor of publicadministration at the Universityof La Verne.
“So the Inland Empire counties may appear to bemore Democratic than Orange County, but somedistricts have a chance of swinging back toRepublicans in midterm years.”
That phenomenon might be playing out in the 60thAssembly, where two Democrat Cervantes wonnarrowly two years ago, while appearing on aballot with presidential candidates, but this year istrailing (narrowly) to Republican Essayli.
If Cervantes loses, she may rue her swing vote infavor of a transportation funding bill that raisedCalifornia’s gas tax. Essayli hitched his wagon toProp. 6 in a district heavy with commuters whowork outside Riverside County.
Trending blue?
Of Riverside County’s 28 cities, 14 lean blue and14 lean red, Ruth said. He’s hopeful that in thenext few years Hemet, Corona, and RanchoMirage all will turn blue. And he noted a strongDemocratic cluster in the county’s northwestcorner, with Riverside, Moreno Valley, JurupaValley, and Eastvale all blue.
“Things are changing. But the Temecula-Murrietaarea (where the GOP enjoys a solid voter-registration edge), that’s a hard nut to crack,” Ruthsaid. “And I’m not sure when that nut will becracked. I think we might be coming closer.”
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Local Democratic elected officials need to be moreinvolved with the county party, Ruth said.
“They kind of go off and do their own things andaren’t involved.”
Democrats “need to devote resources to the areain off-year elections and hold some rallies,” saidUniversity of La Verne’s Godwin.
“Republican groups have continued to host aconvention in the region, and tea party groupshave been very active.”
If the Inland Latino population grows in the nextdecade, as expected, “Democratic prospects willimprove, provided that Democrats can getHispanic voters to the polls,” Pitney said.
Democrats hold the voter registration edge inRiverside and San Bernardino counties. But theInland Empire is friendly territory for conservativecandidates and causes, according to the latestmidterm results.
Riverside County
Democratic-registered voters: 387,000
Republican-registered voters: 342,521
Prop. 6 (as of Friday afternoon): 58 percent yes,42 percent no
Governor’s race (as of Friday afternoon):Republican John Cox 53 percent, Democrat GavinNewsom 47 percent
San Bernardino County
Democratic-registered voters: 366,815
Republican-registered voters: 276,634
Prop. 6 (as of Friday afternoon): 58 percent yes,42 percent no
Governor’s race (as of Friday afternoon):Republican John Cox 51 percent, Democrat GavinNewsom 49 percent
It's going to take a while to count all of California's votes and to decide the winners in several close congressional contests. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)
An eager nation waits breathlessly as California counts its election ballots.
Well, not an entire nation. Just a bunch of political obsessives and some candidates in limbo, anxious tofind out whether they’re headed to Washington as lawmakers or have a little extra time on their hands todraw up that perfect Thanksgiving menu.
Nearly 5 million ballots remain to be counted statewide, leaving four congressional contests, in the Central
California's not goofy, it's really big. That's why counting the vote takes so long - Los Angeles Times
Democrats have already picked up two seats in California, in the high desert outside Los Angeles and incoastal Orange and San Diego counties, and they could gain as many as four more once the final resultsare known.
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Elections are sacred, part of the majesty of our democratic process, renewing and replenishing ourrepublic, like fresh water to a spring. Thus, the prolonged tabulations are wreathed in a swelling chorusheard throughout the land: What the heck is taking so long?!
So what the heck is taking so long?
The short answer is there are just a whole lot of votes to be counted, a result of policies enacted toencourage the greatest voter participation possible and, once votes are cast, to make every effort to ensurethose ballots are properly counted.
But the election was Tuesday!
And votes have been pouring in ever since. Any mail-in ballot that was postmarked by midnight, Nov. 6 —election day — will be counted, so long as it was received by Friday’s close of business.
So it’s not as though election officials are out surfing or lingering over their macrobiotic tofu-and-bean-sprout sandwiches while ballots stack up uncounted. The overwhelming majority of ballots cast were sentby mail, and many arrived on or after election day.
Hmmm...
And don’t forget California is big. Really big. The state has nearly 20 million registered voters. Two
counties alone — Los Angeles and Orange — have more voters than 30 states.
And it takes work to make sure every ballot that’s cast is legitimate.
That may mean looking up an individual’s address or verifying his or her signature. Or routing a mailballot, dropped off at the wrong polling location, to its appropriate county for processing.
Uh-huh.
There are also a ton of provisional ballots that need to be processed.
If people show up and are not on the voter roll, due to, say, a clerical error or because they’re in the wrongplace, they are nevertheless allowed to cast their vote. Those need to be checked out afterward.
California also has same-day registration, which means further work verifying a whole lot of ballots afterthey’re cast.
All that takes time, said Sam Mahood, a spokesman for Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who overseesCalifornia’s election process.
A lot more time than it takes in a state such as Wyoming, with 275,000 voters — which is about as many asSonoma County, in Northern California’s wine country.
Couldn’t it all be done on touch screens, by computer?
The use of touch screens is highly controversial, because of concerns about security and possibletampering. And so, as a matter of law, every ballot in California is a paper ballot. There are exceptions;some machines are used to accommodate voters with disabilities, but even those votes require a verifiablepaper record.
So who’s left hanging at this point?
The congressional race in California’s 10th District, in the San Joaquin Valley, remains too close to call.Three-term GOP incumbent Jeff Denham was slightly ahead of Democratic challenger Josh Harder.
In Orange County, there are three more races up in the air.
Republican Young Kim holds a narrow lead over Democrat Gil Cisneros in the race to fill the seat vacatedby retiring GOP Rep. Ed Royce in a district that also includes parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardinocounties.
Two-term Republican incumbent Mimi Walters was ahead of Democratic challenger Katie Porter in inlandOrange County.
Along the coast, Democratic challenger Harley Rouda enjoys a healthy lead over Republican DanaRohrabacher in his bid to oust the 15-term incumbent.
There are tens of thousands of ballots still to be counted in those four contests.
California's not goofy, it's really big. That's why counting the vote takes so long - Los Angeles Times
Just having terrible flashbacks to “what does the early vote mean?”
Aw, c’mon.
With rare exceptions, close races in California tend to move in Democrats’ direction — typically by 2percentage points, according to Political Data, a firm that tracks voter trends. So several of those seatscould end up tipping away from the GOP.
The reason is that early voters, typically older white Californians who begin mailing their ballots weeksbefore election day, lean Republican. Democratic voters, many of them young and minority, prefer to votein person or mail their ballots in later.
Recent history bears this out. To cite just two examples from 2014, Republican Carl DeMaio led by a fewhundred votes the day after the Nov. 4 election, but mail and provisional ballots counted in succeedingdays boosted San Diego Democrat Scott Peters into the lead and a return to Congress.
In the same election, Democratic Rep. Ami Bera trailed for more than a week before pulling ahead andwinning reelection against Republican challenger Doug Ose in the Sacramento suburbs.
So will this go on forever?
No, the secretary of state will officially certify the final results in mid-December.
Mid-December?
Yep. On Dec. 14. So chill. Go surf. Or fix yourself a macrobiotic sandwich.
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Analysis and breaking news from our award-winning journalists in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
Katherine Hohmann, 44, who is living in a homeless encampmentalong the Santa Ana River in San Bernardino, thanks GaryMcBride, Chief Executive Officer for the County of SanBernardino, left, Greg Devereaux, retired Chief Executive Officerfor the County of San Bernardino, and Maria Razo, ExecutiveDirector for the Housing Authority of the County of SanBernardino, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. Volunteers, countyofficials and community-based organizations went out looking forhomeless people during the annual Point-In-Time Homeless Countthroughout San Bernardino County. (Stan Lim, San Bernardino
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San Bernardino declares shelter crisis, but willcontinue enforcing homeless regulations
San Bernardino SunPUBLISHED: November 9, 2018 at 2:40 pm | UPDATED:November 9, 2018 at 2:56 pm
San Bernardino this week followed San BernardinoCounty and Redlands in declaring a shelter crisis,allowing city officials to sign letters of support forlocal organizations seeking millions of dollars instate homeless funding.
Announced in August, the $500 million HomelessEmergency Aid Program, or HEAP, is designed tohelp cities and counties fund services, rentalassistance programs and capital improvements.San Bernardino County’s Continuum of Care iseligible to allocate about $9.4 million of this moneyto regional projects.
To be a direct recipient of HEAP funding, a countyor city must declare that a significant number ofpersons there are without housing, threateningtheir health and safety. Declaring a shelter crisisalso allows organizations within those jurisdictionsto apply for financial assistance.
Over the past month, San Bernardino County andRedlands have declared shelter crises, and whileSan Bernardino followed suit this week, a caveatwas included that allows the city to keep enforcingits homeless regulations since it is not applying forHEAP funds directly.
“This allows us to continue to enforce ourregulations and to look at applications and make
Sun/SCNG)
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8 Crews tackle small fires on Mt. Baldy and inRiverside and San Bernardino counties
9 Rialto considers contractor for $15 million FrisbiePark expansion project
10 Woolsey fire destroys hundreds of homes, 83percent of National Parks Service land in SantaMonica
11 Crestline bicyclist dies days after Long Beachcollision
Redlands could declare shelter crisis inbid for $1 million grant to fighthomelessness
San Bernardino County declareshomeless crisis to get emergency aidmoney
Formerly homeless veteran couplereceives home makeover courtesy ofFontana nonprofit, others
Grand Terrace responds to an uptick in itshomeless population with pilot program
How Inland Empire resources helped alongtime homeless veteran reunite withfamily in South Carolina
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some determination whether we support anonprofit’s overall objectives,” City ManagerAndrea Miller told the City Council at its meetingWednesday, Nov. 7. “Since we’re not requesting tobe a direct recipient, our declaration would help”organizations that are.
At least 14 organizations within San Bernardinohave requested the city pen letters of support, withmore expected to apply before the Dec. 7deadline, city officials said. These serviceproviders are asking for a cumulative $11 million infunding.
According to the 2018 Point-In-Time Count, theannual survey of homeless people, 2,118 peoplewere without a permanent home in San BernardinoCounty – up 13.5 percent from the 2017 count.
WhileSan
12 Park, one of California’s most popularcampgrounds
Bernardino relies on the county for homelessprograms and services, city officials have identifiedthree areas that could use additional funding:navigation assistance, increased mental healthsupport and employment programs.
According to a report prepared for the Wednesdaycouncil meeting, the county’s Office of HomelessServices Department has applied for more than$11 million in HEAP funding, bringing the totalamount of funding requested by localorganizations and the county to north of $22million.
The county’s Interagency Council onHomelessness, a body on which San Bernardinohas a seat, will soon review applications anddecide which organizations are to receive HEAPgrants.
The council “will have some tough decisions tomake,” Miller said. “But by being on the group andnot requesting funds directly, (San Bernardino) hasinfluence on how the funds are deployed.”
Rialto considers contractor for $15 million Frisbie Park expansion project – San Bernardino Sun
Frisbie Park in northern Rialto is receiving $15 million inimprovements, upgrades and additions. A grand opening istentatively scheduled for 2019. (File photo)
LOCAL NEWS
Rialto considers contractor for $15 million FrisbiePark expansion project
San Bernardino SunPUBLISHED: November 12, 2018 at 1:14 pm | UPDATED:November 12, 2018 at 2:12 pm
City leaders on Tuesday, Nov. 13, could award a$15 million construction contract to San Diego-based Silverstrand Construction for the expansionof Frisbie Park in northern Rialto.
The highly-anticipated project calls for thedevelopment of approximately 8.5 acres of landwithin the existing 27.4-acre site at 598 E. EastonSt., just south of the 210 Freeway. The cityexpects construction to begin this year, with agrand opening tentatively scheduled for late 2019.
In addition to the construction contract, Rialto cityleaders on Tuesday could approve a $630,000contract with Griffin Structures for constructionmanagement.
A modernized and upgraded Frisbie Park, Rialtoofficials have said, will better serve locals, visitorsand organized baseball and softball leagues.
Work south of Easton Street is to include theinstallation of a large turf open space play area; anew softball field; a new T-ball softball field;prefabricated restroom and concessions, officeand storage buildings; two fenced tennis courts;concrete walking paths; parking accommodations;and roadway, sidewalk and parking improvements.
Expansion and redevelopment work also isplanned north of Easton Street.
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1 IE Varsity Photos: Fun moments, great playsfrom second-round high school football games
2 Man convicted in 2003 murder of Redlandsstudent Kelly Bullwinkle up for parole
3 Man fatally shot in San Bernardino, found inHighland
4 Malibu-area residents come up for air, withstories of survival, after ‘the biggest and craziestfire we’ve ever had’
5 Smoke from Woolsey fire, Hill fire prompts airquality warnings in LA County
6 Rancho Cucamonga rocks out to Founders Dayparade
7 Damage from Hill fire closes Leo Carrillo StatePark, one of California’s most popularcampgrounds
8 Relatives, Pacific High students and staff honorJade Maldonado during San Bernardino vigil
Rialto considers contractor for $15 million Frisbie
At project’s end, Frisbie Park will have a skatepark, two full basketball courts that can beconverted to tennis courts, space that can serve asan amphitheater for city and private events, shadestructures and child playgrounds. Furthermore, theneighborhood park – one of nine in the city – willbe wired for security cameras should city leadersapprove their installation.
The City Council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov.13, inside Council Chambers, 150 S. Palm Ave. inRialto.
For more information, visit yourrialto.com.
9 Park expansion project
10 Crews halt forward progress of fire near CalState San Bernardino in Badger Canyon
11 Woolsey fire destroys hundreds of homes, 83percent of National Parks Service land in SantaMonica
12 Summer McStay may have been raped beforeshe was killed, buried in desert, court documentsays
Staff reports COLTON >>Pablo Rodriguez wasplaying with his pit bull mix puppy in the front yardwhen his peaceful morning was interrupted byscreams.
“I looked over and I see him on top of her,” saidRodriguez, 22, of the attack on a woman nearby.
“I just grabbed him from underneath the armpits,trying to yank him off. My dad was working on hishands, trying to get it off her hair. That’s when helet her go and that’s when she got in her truck anddrove down the street. She looked really terrified.”
Henry Guarneros, an occupant of the residence inthe 1200 block of Holly Avenue, was visited by acode enforcement officer during a houseinspection at about 12:41 p.m. The officer,described by police as a “petite woman,” wentalone to the location.
A police news release said Guarneros, in anunprovoked attack, started to assault the officer.She was able to put out an emergency broadcastfor assistance while trying to defend herself. It wasthen that Rodriguez and his 50-year-old father,who was working on his car, stepped in.
“It was a female officer, and you should neverattack a woman,” said Rodriguez who lives acrossthe street. “I was like, ‘That can’t happen. That’smessed up.’ It was kind of just common sense. Mydad is older and he has a leg problem and I’myounger so I move faster, so I just hopped thefence and (my dad) followed me. She was layingdown, so we got him off of her and laid him on hisback.”
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1 Camp Fire death toll climbs to 42 with many stillmissing
2 Damage from Hill fire closes Leo Carrillo StatePark, one of California’s most popularcampgrounds
3 Man convicted in 2003 murder of Redlandsstudent Kelly Bullwinkle up for parole
4 Stan Lee’s life in pictures: A look back at thecomic book creator’s career
5 Man fatally shot in San Bernardino, found inHighland
6 Rialto considers contractor for $15 million FrisbiePark expansion project
7 Malibu-area residents come up for air, withstories of survival, after ‘the biggest and craziestfire we’ve ever had’
8 Summer McStay may have been raped beforeshe was killed, buried in desert, court document
When the code enforcement officer was freed fromGuarneros’ grip, she immediately went to her car,which was near the driveway, Rodriguez said.
“(Guarneros) started coming at us and that’s whenI told my dad, ‘Let’s get out of here,’ ” Rodriguezsaid. “I didn’t want to be any more involved in thisthan I needed to be.”
Guarneros was arrested on suspicion of attemptedmurder
and was found in the street next to his residence,according to police.
“He laid down in the middle of the street with hisarms stretched out saying that he was going to jailanyway because he beat up that woman,” saidRosie Cordero, who saw some of the events fromher front porch. “I feel bad for the codeenforcement girl because she was small! She wasa small, young girl.”
Jolliff said Guarneros is about 6-feet-2- and 250pounds. Officials said he continued to be resistiveand struggled with officers until he was handcuffed
says
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11 Crestline bicyclist dies days after Long Beachcollision
12 Crews halt forward progress of fire near CalState San Bernardino in Badger Canyon
Guarneros was booked at West Valley DetentionCenter in Rancho Cucamonga with bail set at $1million.
Paramedics took the officer to Arrowhead RegionalMedical Center in Colton. “She’s being treated,and she’s alert,” Jolliff said.
Residents in the vicinity of the attack said that thisis not the first time code enforcement has visitedthe home.
“The lady used to live there by herself and she waskind of a packrat,” Cordero said. “It caught on firelast year and they told her to keep the yard cleanand it was clean for a while but then codeenforcement came back.”
Anyone with information regarding thisinvestigation is encouraged to contact Detective J.Morenberg at 909-370-5000.
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By ERIC LICAS | [email protected] | Orange County RegisterPUBLISHED: November 11, 2018 at 8:37 pm | UPDATED: November 12, 2018at 1:23 am
Crews tackled a two alarm fire north of Cal State San Bernardinoon the evening of Sunday, Nov. 11.
Firefighters were dispatched sometime before 7:30 p.m. to BadgerCanyon, where a fire was spreading to the east, said EricSherwin, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County FireDepartment. He said it was driven by Santa Ana winds and hadgrown to about 30 acres in size by 9 p.m.
“We expect that number to change,” said Sherwin.
Crews managed to halt the forward progress of the fire at about9:30 p.m., according to social media updates from firefighters. He
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NEWSCRIME + PUBLIC SAFETY
Crews halt forward progress of fire near Cal StateSan Bernardino in Badger Canyon
Orange County RegisterPUBLISHED: November 11, 2018 at 6:59 pm | UPDATED: November 11, 2018 at 7:00
Smoke from a small brush fire at the peak of Mt. Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountainsrolls over the San Antonio ridge line on Sunday, November 11. (Image courtesy of theAngeles National Forest)
NEWSCRIME + PUBLIC SAFETY
Crews tackle small fires on Mt. Baldy and inRiverside and San Bernardino counties
Aircraft dropping fire retardant held the burn zone of a remotebrush fire in the San Gabriel Mountains to within half an acre onSunday, November 11.
A helicopter and air tanker were dispatched to the west face of Mt.Baldy along the San Antonio ridgeline after flames were spotted atabout 2:15 p.m., said Nathan Judy, a spokesman for the AngelesNational Forest. He said the fire showed little signs of spreadingfurther, and no structures were at risk.
High winds prevented firefighters from parachuting in to combatthe blaze directly, Judy said. He said a team of about 30firefighters was hiking 8,500 feet up Mt. Baldy so they can monitorthe burn zone overnight.
Elsewhere in Southern California, crews dealt with two small firesin San Bernardino County and two brush fires in Riverside County.
In Riverside County, a brush fire broke out beside the eastboundPomona (60) Freeway Sunday in Jurupa Valley, prompting a laneclosure and a SigAlert.
The blaze was reported at 1 p.m. near the eastbound side of thefreeway at Country Village Road, according to the CaliforniaHighway Patrol.
The slow lane was close temporarily while Riverside Countyfirefighters worked to douse the flames.
The SigAlert was cleared about 30 minutes later and all laneswere reopened.
Also, firefightersmanaged to stop the
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1 Malibu-area residents come up forair, with stories of survival, after ‘thebiggest and craziest fire we’ve everhad’
Malibu-area residents come up for air,with stories of survival, after ‘the biggestand craziest fire we’ve ever had’
Morrison Ranch in Agoura destroyed byWoolsey fire, adding to list of localmountain landmarks gone
As Woolsey fire burned his home,firefighters rescued his most valuedpossession: images of his unborn son
Camp Fire death toll soars to 42 withmany still missing
Containment of Woolsey fire increases,but what is containment anyway?
forward progress of atwo-acre vegetation firethat broke out Sundayin a hilly area aboutthree miles north ofMoreno Valley.
The fire was reported at11:27 a.m. near the7000 block of RecheCanyon Road, andclose to the northerncounty line, accordingto the Riverside CountyFire Department.
Air tankers were initiallycalled out to help
suppress the fire, but their deployment was canceled afterfirefighters were able to gain the upper hand, the department said.
No structures were threatened
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2 Man convicted in 2003 murder ofRedlands student Kelly Bullwinkleup for parole
3 Man fatally shot in San Bernardino,found in Highland
4 Facebook doesn’t want you to worryabout Cambridge Analytica: PoliticalCartoons
5 Crews halt forward progress of firenear Cal State San Bernardino inBadger Canyon
6 Relatives, Pacific High students andstaff honor Jade Maldonado duringSan Bernardino vigil
7 Rialto considers contractor for $15million Frisbie Park expansionproject
8 Summer McStay may have beenraped before she was killed, buriedin desert, court document says
9 Crews tackle small fires on Mt.Baldy and in Riverside and SanBernardino counties
10 Damage from Hill fire closes LeoCarrillo State Park, one ofCalifornia’s most popularcampgrounds
11 Colton code enforcement officerhospitalized after attack by resident
12 TV Academy marks 70thanniversary with star-studdedcelebration
Tags: Angeles National Forest, fire, Top Stories IVDB, Top Stories LADN, Top Stories PE,Top Stories PSN, Top Stories RDF, Top Stories SGVT, Top Stories Sun, wildfires
County RegisterPUBLISHED: November 11, 2018 at 3:10 pm | UPDATED:November 11, 2018 at 4:23 pm
A photo of Joshua Ray Camarena, 35, of Highland, who wasfound on Central Avenue in his city of residence, fatally shot onSaturday, Nov. 10. Investigators believe he was wounded in thearea of 3449 E. Rainbow Ln. in San Bernardino. (Photo Courtesyof the San Bernardino Police Department)
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Man fatally shot in San Bernardino, found inHighland
Police believe a man whose body was left in thestreet in Highland was shot to death in SanBernardino on Saturday, November 10.
Officers responding to a report of gunfire atabout 2:30 p.m. discovered the apparent scene ofa shooting at 3449 E. Rainbow Lane, according toa news release from the San Bernardino PoliceDepartment. However, it said no victim, suspect orwitnesses were present.
Authorities believe Joshua Ray Camarena, 35, ofHighland, to be the victim in the shooting,according to the department’s release. It said SanBernardino County Sheriff’s deputies found hisbody in the street on Central Avenue in the city ofHighland. Paramedics were requested, but he waspronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators have not determined a motive for theshooting. San Bernardino Police are askinganyone who might have any information about thekilling to call homicide detectives at either (909)388-5762 or (909) 288-4955.
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1 Malibu-area residents come up for air, withstories of survival, after ‘the biggest and craziestfire we’ve ever had’
2 Man convicted in 2003 murder of Redlandsstudent Kelly Bullwinkle up for parole
3 Man fatally shot in San Bernardino, found inHighland
4 Facebook doesn’t want you to worry aboutCambridge Analytica: Political Cartoons
5 Crews halt forward progress of fire near CalState San Bernardino in Badger Canyon
6 Relatives, Pacific High students and staff honorJade Maldonado during San Bernardino vigil
7 Rialto considers contractor for $15 million FrisbiePark expansion project
8 Summer McStay may have been raped beforeshe was killed, buried in desert, court documentsays
9 Crews tackle small fires on Mt. Baldy and inRiverside and San Bernardino counties
10 Damage from Hill fire closes Leo Carrillo StatePark, one of California’s most popularcampgrounds
11 Colton code enforcement officer hospitalizedafter attack by resident
12 TV Academy marks 70th anniversary with star-studded celebration
Work in August on the Fresno Trench for the state high speed rail line, which will run parallel to Union Pacific freight tracks near downtown Fresno. (California High-SpeedRail Authority)
The cost of constructing the Southern California section of the state bullet train could jump by as much as$11 billion over estimates released earlier this year, though rail authority officials caution that their newnumbers assume a more expansive design than is likely to be built.
The new estimates are contained in environmental reports prepared for Thursday’s meeting of theauthority board, which will review planned routes throughout the Southland.
Cost of building Southland section of bullet train could jump by $11 billion, documents show - Los Angeles Times
The reports acknowledge that the new cost estimates could affect the $77-billion price tag of the LosAngeles-to-San Francisco system, though they also use a different methodology than previous figures andare therefore not directly comparable.
The new numbers cover the cost of building three segments from Palmdale to Anaheim, which include thedifficult passages through the San Gabriel Mountains, urban Los Angeles and the crowded rail corridor toAnaheim.
The Palmdale-to-Burbank section could hit $20.33 billion, up from $14.87 billion in the estimatesprepared for the 2018 business plan. The construction of rail from Burbank to Los Angeles could rise to$3.55 billion from $1.25 billion. And the Los Angeles-to-Anaheim section might go as high as $4.8 billion,up from $3 billion.
Those costs do not include inflation, which would further boost them by 15% to 20% by the time theconstruction is completed, based on the rail authority’s past assumptions about rates of inflation.
Over the three sections, the potential costs amount to a 50% surge from the business plan estimatesreleased in February.
The new estimates were created for environmental planning that attempts to identify the “maximumpossible footprint” for the project, said rail authority spokeswoman Lisa Marie Alley. That is notnecessarily what will be built, though the entire design and route of the system has not been selected.
Alley also noted that the costs of building train stations in Burbank and Los Angeles are duplicated inadjacent project sections, so that whichever one is formally approved first can move forward withconstructing a station. That would account for at least hundreds of millions of dollars in the costdifferences, based on the rail authority’s prior documents.
“We would not consider them cost increases, but two different estimates based on different factors andneeds,” she said.
The project has undergone a series of cost increases over the last decade from an original estimate of $33billion to the current $77 billion.
Civil engineering experts said they were astounded by the differences in the estimates, which they saidthey had never seen in other projects.
“I can’t understand why they have cost estimates that are so different,” said William Ibbs, a UC Berkeleycivil engineering professor who has consulted on high speed rail projects around the world. “There is morebeneath the surface than an expanded footprint. I would have thought that the earlier estimate would havealready included some environmental risks.”
The 38.6-mile route from Palmdale to Burbank would include 25.2 miles of tunnels, leaving just 13.4 milesabove ground. Those tunnels would have little variation in their potential environmental effects, Ibbs said,making the cost ranges “even more perplexing.”
James Moore, director of USC's transportation engineering program, was similarly skeptical about therationale for the differences.
“We are talking about the same project,” Moore said. “The differences should not be that large. It is anattempt to normalize the numbers and get them into the public discourse.”
The environmental documents describe a wide range of effects throughout the region, which are coveredin a seven-page list of meetings with various agencies, officials, politicians and stakeholders.
The rail line, for example, would require rerouting part of the Pacific Crest Trail, including theconstruction of an underpass so that hikers could cross the tracks. The document said that its design met“objectives” after consultation with the Pacific Crest Trail Assn. and the U.S Forest Service for noise andvisual effects to trail users.
If the estimates in the environmental documents are closer to the actual costs than those in the businessplan, it would again exacerbate the funding problems facing the project. Even at the current cost estimate,the project is about $50 billion short of what it needs for completion.
Funding for construction of 119 miles of rail through the Central Valley comes from a $9-billion bondmeasure approved by voters in 2008, $3.5 billion in grants from the Obama administration and a 25%share of the state’s cap-and-trade greenhouse gas auction program, which generates an estimated $750million a year.
Elizabeth Alexis, a co-founder of a Bay Area watchdog group, noted that the authority’s cost estimates foreither the business plan or the environmental plan are both predicated on unrealistically low inflationprojections.
“If you had real inflation numbers, you would be over $90 billion with a narrower scope for the project,”she said. “The worst thing they can do is drip drip these cost numbers out. They have to convince peoplethey are in control.”
High court to hear Brown pension reform Dec. 5 | PublicCEO
Amazon has picked the neighborhood of Long Island City in Queens, N.Y., as one of two locations for its next headquarters. (Justin Lane / EPA-EFE/REX)
When Amazon launched its HQ2 contest last fall, dangling a prize of 50,000 high-paid jobs and a $5-billion investment, some 238 North American cities and regions embarked on a mad scramble, serving upgobs of proprietary data, along with hefty tax breaks, to host the tech titan’s satellite headquarters.
Among the gaggle of California supplicants from San Diego to Irvine to San Francisco, Los Angeles alonemade the cut of 20 finalists, the lone survivor west of the Rockies.
L.A. loses bid for Amazon HQ2 and thousands of possible jobs. Here’s why some experts are relieved - Los Angeles Times
But now, with Amazon’s decision to expand across the continent from its Seattle home, splitting its newcorporate footprint between New York City and northern Virginia — plus some jobs in Nashville — the Cityof Angels is not so much indulging in a pity party as offering up a collective shrug.
Even the project’s biggest local boosters don’t seem to view the decision as a fatal snub.
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“I wouldn’t say we were disappointed, because the process was positive,” said Bill Allen, CEO of the LosAngeles Economic Development Corporation, the public-private entity that drafted the county’s 350-pagebid and squired Amazon representatives around more than a half dozen campus sites on multiple visits.Amazon “already has thousands of employees here,” Allen said. “I’m confident it will invest more.”
In fact, the headquarters contest was arguably a small part of a vast dispersal strategy as the $178-billioncompany grows at breakneck speed across the globe, gobbles up other companies, launches new endeavorsand engages in a fierce completion for tech talent with Google, Facebook, Microsoft and others.
Just 45,000 Amazon employees, in a worldwide workforce of about 613,000, are based in Seattle.California is a close second with 39,000 Amazon staffers — not counting the thousands who work forWhole Foods and other subsidiaries. The company says it has invested more than $19 billion in the GoldenState since 2011.
Three of the company’s 18 North American tech hubs are in California — in the Bay Area, Los Angeles andSan Diego with nearly 10,000 workers at Amazon Devices, Amazon Web Services, Amazon Studios, PrimeVideo, Amazon Game Studios, the Alexa voice-activated service and IMDb, the movie and televisiondatabase. Irvine offices also staff Alexa, cloud computing and game operations.
In February, Amazon added more than 400 California employees with its purchase of Ring, a SantaMonica maker of high-tech, video-enabled doorbells.
Jamie Siminoff, founder and chief inventor of Ring, a Santa Monica-based maker of high-tech doorbells that was acquired by Amazon in April. (Amazon / TNS)
But the tech behemoth’s well-paid engineers and software developers in California are far outnumbered bylow-wage retail and warehouse employees at its 85 Whole Food stores, 23 giant shipping centers and ninefast-delivery Prime Now hubs.
As it sorts and ships imported goods flowing through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Amazonhas become the Inland Empire’s largest employer, building 13 huge facilities over the past six years, with18,000 full-time workers.
L.A. loses bid for Amazon HQ2 and thousands of possible jobs. Here’s why some experts are relieved - Los Angeles Times
To some local observers, an Amazon headquarters in the Los Angeles region, despite its “Silicon Beach”ambitions, would have created more negative than positive impacts.
When the company’s likely East Coast locations leaked to news outlets this month, Christopher Thornberg,founding partner of Los Angeles’ Beacon Economics, a go-to consultancy for California officials, anddirector of UC Riverside’s Center for Economic Forecasting, had an immediate reaction: “Thank God.”
“We have record low unemployment, skyrocketing housing costs, horrendous traffic and somehow wewanted to drop 50,000 overpaid techies into the middle of this?” he added. “What the hell. I don’t get thelogic.”
Economic development is “best done by helping existing businesses grow, and by building more housingand infrastructure,” Thornberg said. “Not by spending millions of dollars in subsidies and countless man-hours chasing a monster like Amazon. Why do it? So politicians can have bragging rights.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who commissioned the LAEDC bid, wished NewYork and Virginia well, but added: “There are enough jobs in innovative growth industries to go around.Los Angeles is doing quite nicely — thank you very much — and we’re poised to do better.”
No information was released as to promised tax breaks in Los Angeles’ bid, although Amazon made clearin its request for proposals that incentives would be a major factor. LAEDC signed a non-disclosure pactwith the company. And because the bid was handled by a public-private corporation, it is not subject toPublic Record Act requests, according to Allen.
The housing and traffic impact would not be as much as feared, Allen suggested, because Amazon’sheadquarters, while it would have brought new jobs, would not necessarily have attracted a large influx ofpeople. Many of the jobs could have gone to current residents, he said.
Daniel Flaming, president of the Economic Roundtable, a Los Angeles nonprofit research group, said thatan HQ2 workforce could have created “problematic secondary effects of housing displacement as thesehigh-paid workers settled in Mar Vista, Santa Monica and Venice — places that had been affordable.”
But he added, “It is good for the region to have a stronger income base and more consumer buying power— and that outweighs the displacement effects.”
Nonetheless, 16 California groups were among the 125 community organizations that signed an open letterto Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos last year, somewhat hostile in tone, demanding that the company allow labororganizing and contribute financially to affordable housing. Amazon has traditionally fought off attemptsto unionize.
“It goes without saying that you can’t have great public services without paying taxes,” the letter added.“We know you’ve had a little problem grasping that, sometimes. Here’s the deal…You must pay all of yourproperty taxes [and] sales taxes.”
Cynthia Strathmann, executive director of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, a Los Angeles nonprofitand one of the letter’s signers, said she is “very happy” HQ2 is going elsewhere.
“Amazon is not known as a good employer,” she said. “We need employers where workers have some
In Seattle, she added, “We’ve seen the upward pressure Amazon put on housing costs. We’ve seen it withother tech companies in the Bay Area. City officials are dazzled by the prospect of business expansionwithout looking at the costs.”
A worker pushes a cart through the rows and rows of merchandise to get items for customers at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in San Bernardino. (Gina Ferazzi / Los AngelesTimes)
Economist Amihai Glazer, director of UC Irvine’s Program in Corporate Welfare, sees political oppositionto Amazon growing since the HQ2 announcement.
L.A. loses bid for Amazon HQ2 and thousands of possible jobs. Here’s why some experts are relieved - Los Angeles Times
“Firms are facing pressure when they grow too large,” he said. “They’re blamed for political ills. Seattle’scity council tried to tax Amazon to pay for homelessness. In Anaheim, a successful ballot initiative to raisewages was aimed at Disney.”
This month, San Francisco voters approved a ballot measure raising taxes on companies with more than$50 million in annual revenue to pay for housing and services related to homelessness. In Mountain View,an initiative hiked business license fees on large companies to pay for transit infrastructure. Google willnow owe as much as $3 million a year.
Glazer was skeptical of HQ2 benefits.
“Amazon played cities against each other,“ he said. “But incentives often lead to winner’s remorse. Lastyear, for instance, Boston offered $145 million to General Electric [for its new headquarters] but thepromised employment has not materialized.”
HQ2 jobs “would not have made much difference in a big place like L.A. with a population of 13 million,”Glazer suggested. “Would we have become a second Silicon Valley? That is what people dream of. But Idon’t have the sense that Amazon has spawned many start-ups, although we know they have spun off fromMicrosoft and others.”
At LAEDC, Allen disputes the idea that Amazon’s new jobs would not have made a difference.
“Economies are cyclical,” he said. “It is true we have low unemployment now, but look back eight years agoto the economic crisis. By the time Amazon built out over three to 10 years, we could be in recession andthrilled to have those jobs.”
Margot Roosevelt
CONTACT
Margot Roosevelt covers California economic, labor and workplace issues for the Los Angeles Times. A former environmental reporter for The Times, she
previously wrote for TIME Magazine as a foreign and national correspondent, for the Washington Post on the Congressional beat, and for the Orange County
Register focusing on business and the Southern California economy.
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