Something GT Can Learn.... from Others..?

Workshops on county ethics commission to start
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/22/2009 07:06:24 AM PDT

The first of two planned workshops on a proposed county ethics commission is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday in Covington Chambers, on the first floor of the San Bernardino County Government Center.

It comes in the wake of Third District Supervisor Neil Derry's call to establish the commission following the release of the 2008-2009 Grand Jury report, which included a special section on governmental reform suggesting an ethics commission "untainted by political influences and biases."

Derry has also recommended a sunshine ordinance to facilitate public records act requests by the general public and the news media, requests that are often hindered by an escape clause cited often by the county known as "deliberative process," which allows the county to limit the release of certain information.

Derry's staff has been researching reputed ethics commissions in the Bay Area - San Francisco and Oakland - and gleaning information that could be helpful in the establishing of San Bernardino County's ethics commission, said George Watson, Derry's chief of staff.

Derry is proposing the county allot an annual budget of $500,000 for the commission, and that the Board of Supervisors, for the first year, pony up half of that by using discretionary funds from their districts, Watson said.

The remaining $250,000 will have to come from county coffers.

Derry has also recommended the commission be composed of five volunteer members who are not county employees and are not conducting any kind of business with the county. One option for selecting members could be a lottery process similar to the one used to select members of the grand Jury, Watson said. "That's the real challenge," Watson said.

A time for the second workshop has yet to be announced, but Watson stressed the goal is to get the commission off the ground as soon as possible.

"It's important to get this done, but it's even more important to get it done right," Watson said. "We certainly don't want to create another layer of government that creates less transparency, we want more. It's important that county leaders have a good understanding and have time to digest everything they hear."

Last year, a scandal erupted in the Assessor's Office, where allegations of cronyism, misuse of time and widespread timecard fraud led to criminal charges being filed against former Assessor Bill Postmus and four of his former top staffers. The county has also filed a civil lawsuit against Postmus and some of the criminal defendants, one of which has already been convicted.

Under a plea bargain with county prosecutors, former Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman pleaded no contest in June to four felony counts, which will be bumped down to misdemeanors if he cooperates with law enforcement and testifies against his former colleagues, as was stipulated in the plea agreement.

The San Bernardino County Government Center is located at 385 N. Arrowhead Ave., in San Bernardino.