Proposed S.B. County charter amendment on ethics being modified

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 7, 2008
By ZEKE MINAYA
The Press-Enterprise

A proposed amendment to the San Bernardino County charter granting supervisors control of hiring and firing in each other's personal staff was undergoing changes Monday before it was slated for official consideration.

In its initial drafts, the move would have called for the approval of four out of five members of the Board of Supervisors before allowing a supervisor a new hire.

That provision, one of several addressing ethical and professional standards of county officials, was met with resistance from board members as well as a newly elected, incoming supervisor.

It likely will be revised during the board's meeting today. Board Chairman Paul Biane, who authored the proposal, said supervisors would still weigh in on hires, but the threshold for approval would be lowered to a three-fifths vote.

A vast majority of supervisors' staff are hired by contract, which automatically goes before the board and requires three votes. Biane said the revised amendment would reflect the practice.

Neil Derry, the incoming Third District supervisor who will be putting together a staff during the next few months, complained loudly about the original proposal.

"I don't think that two supervisors should be able to block the hiring of another district, so that part was highly objectionable," Derry said.

He has since withdrawn his objections after speaking to Biane and hearing of the probable changes.

"We have been communicating. I made my objections real clear and I know other supervisors have as well," Derry said. "I appreciate that compromise. I don't have any serious concerns to the rest of it."

Biane developed the proposal amid the recent scrutiny of the county's hiring practices and safeguards against ethical lapses after the recent arrest of a high-ranking aide to Assessor Bill Postmus.

Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman, 25, faces six felony charges, including presenting false evidence to the grand jury and destroying public records.

A recent grand jury report, which devoted a chapter to the assessor's office, found that Postmus' support staff lacked the needed experience and cited the hiring of Aleman and Jim Erwin, a former assistant assessor who received a $63,000 settlement when he left the office last year after a falling-out with Postmus.

The proposal calls for the three elected county department heads -- assessor, treasurer-tax collector and auditor/controller-recorder -- to establish minimum qualifications for their staffs, which would be forwarded to the board for approval. The standards will help with annual assessments of the department's performance and help supervisors determine, for example, questions of budgeting, Biane said.

The board will open discussions Tuesday but not vote, Biane said, after a request by Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt to delay passage until he returns from vacation.

If approved by the board, the measure would go before county voters in the fall.