Hays Gets Nod in GT
The San Bernardino County Sentinel Jan 14, 2011
GrandTerrace-The city council this week turned to a compromise candidate, immigration attorney Gene Hays, to fill the month-long gap on the city council necessitated by Walt Stanckiewitz’s elevation to the mayor’s slot.
Stanckiewitz, who was first elected to the council in 2008, had two years remaining on his council term when he defeated planning commissioner Doug Wilson and chamber of commerce president Sally Mcguire and Denice Decenty-Sternberg in November. He had run as a reformist candidate, along with council newcomer Bernardo Sandoval, campaigning on undoing many of the long-established policies of former city manager Tom Schwab, who was also a candidate for council in November. The other successful candidate in November was Darcy McNaboe, who campaigned on a platform that celebrated the status quo in the Blue Mountain City. She joins councilwoman Lee Ann Garcia, who has been on the city council since 1994 and who had consistently endorsed Schwab’s policies until he left the city manager’s post in 2008, to form the other faction on the council.
Because of the 2-2 split on the panel, the prospect of the council agreeing on a replacement appeared dim, as neither side wanted to endorse a suggestion put up by the rival side that would solidify its hold on the city.
There were thirteen applicants for the open position, including Schwab, Wilson and Sylvia Robles, a reformist candidate who had placed a close second behind McNaboe. After interviews of the candidates, the council members made eight successive nominations, including one of Hays, all of which failed for lack of a second or a 2-2 deadlock. Significantly, neither Wilson, who is considered to be a status quo ally of McNaboe and Garcia, nor Schwab was nominated. After no solution appeared likely, the council seemed on the brink of remaining as four-member panel or committing toward an election to fill the position, which would have cost the city upwards of $50,000 to hold, according to the county registrar of voters office.
McNaboe asked if a motion to nominate an individual that had already been rejected could be revisited. Garcia, sensing that McNaboe was about to part company with her and nominate Robles, against whom they had both voted, asserted that could not be done.
Stanckiewitz then inquired of the city attorney and city manager for a legal and procedural opinion on that point. Garcia stated that she would not change her vote in any event. At that juncture, Sandoval indicated to McNaboe that he would support her earlier nomination of Hays if she were to make it again. The city attorney advised the council that by a vote it could restructure the rules and entertain a renomination. The council did so and Hays was again nominated and confirmed on a 3-1 vote, with Garcia dissenting.
Despite his selection, Hays remains as something of an enigmatic figure, which was underscored in Garcia’s statement to him after the vote: “I was unable to support you as I really do not know you.”
What is known about Hays is that he graduated from law school in 1999 and three times attempted to pass the California bar exam, failing in each attempt. He then took the bar exam in Washington state, failing at least once before passing. He is not eligible to practice law in any state court in California. His area of practice is immigration law. He maintains a law office in Grand Terrace, where he resides. The majority of his work is done with respect to federal courts.
Hays is listed as the president of Blue Mountain Beer Company. In September 2010, he sought a city permit to locate a microbrewery in Grand Terrace proximate to the Azure Hills Seventh Day Adventist Church.
