S.B. County assistant assessor quits

09:39 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 8, 2008
By DUANE W. GANG and ZEKE MINAYA
The Press-Enterprise

An embattled top aide to the San Bernardino County assessor, whose recent arrest touched off scrutiny of the county's ethics training and hiring practices, resigned Tuesday just hours after the chairman of the county Board of Supervisors called for his dismissal.

Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman, 25, who was arrested on six felony charges of suspicion of falsifying documents and destroying public records, announced his decision in a two-sentence letter faxed to county Assessor Bill Postmus.

"It is with deep regret and a heavy heart that I announce my intent to resign my position with the office of the County Assessor for San Bernardino County," Aleman wrote.

In a brief telephone interview, Aleman reiterated his unhappiness about leaving and referred questions about his legal case to his attorney.

"I really enjoyed working for the people of San Bernardino County," he said.

Aleman, who earned about $120,000 annually, had been on paid administrative leave since April, when investigators served a search warrant on the assessor's office and seized documents and computers.

He was arrested June 30 in Rancho Cucamonga and is accused of presenting false evidence to the county grand jury and destroying the hard drive of a government laptop computer.

The arrest came the same day that the county's grand jury released a report blasting the assessor's office for possible cronyism and misuse of public resources to support various political campaigns.

Aleman's arraignment is set for July 30.

In a statement, Postmus said he had accepted the resignation, effective Friday, with "tremendous sadness."

He said Aleman had been a staff member more than three years, back to Postmus' term as a county supervisor.

Aleman ran Postmus' campaign for assessor and served as executive director of the county's Republican Party while Postmus was chairman. Postmus took office as assessor in January 2007.

He and Aleman also are close friends, with Postmus set to be a groomsman in Aleman's wedding in December.

Postmus urged the public to withhold judgment of Aleman.

"Adam Aleman will be missed by many in the assessor's office," Postmus said in his statement. "I wish him all the best for the future."

The resignation came after the Board of Supervisors' first meeting since the arrest. In a strongly worded statement, Chairman Paul Biane called on Postmus to fire Aleman.

"I have been very troubled by the unethical actions that have taken place inside the assessor's office, and I want it known that this behavior will not be tolerated in San Bernardino County," Biane said. "I also call on the assessor to fully implement the grand jury's recommendations."

Biane later released a terse response to the resignation: "Mr. Aleman's decision was appropriate given the circumstances."

During Tuesday's meeting, Biane repeated the role he played in the investigation that led to Aleman's arrest.

"Last year, when I suspected a staff member in the assessor's office was using county resources for political purposes, I gave the DA's public integrity unit information that appeared to confirm my concerns," he said.

He instructed county staff to begin gathering information on disciplinary measures the board could take against countywide elected officials, including removal from office.

The board began discussing a possible charter amendment that would require supervisors' staff hiring to be a matter of public record and subject to approval by a board majority.

The measure would allow the board to fire each other's staff on a four-fifths vote and would require elected officials and top staff to receive the same ethics training as the supervisors.

If approved by the board, the measure would be placed before voters in the fall.

Former grand jury forewoman Gwenn Perez said the proposal falls short of instituting safeguards needed to prevent future lapses and recommended the county adopt an independent ethics commission. Board members said they would consider a commission among other safeguards.