That is a question that is starting to be asked by both the media and the public. A year and a half after then-Supervisor Bill Postmus entered a countywide office, he has all but abandoned his duties as county assessor. Originally elected by the public to remove "the last of the corrupt county officials" (referring to incumbent Don Williamson), Bill Postmus has embarrassed San Bernardino County not so much by action as by inaction.

The story of Bill Postmus' assessorship is not centered on personal abuses of power, but rather on allowing others to abuse their power. Postmus comes off as, above all, impotent, with a notable lack of leadership. Postmus' problem is not a problem of bad decisions. More often than not, it is a problem of no decision. This has been certainly been seen in the political aspects of his political elected office. One need only consider Postmus' refusal to fire Adam Aleman, instead allowing him to resign, his refusal to appear before the Board of Supervisors, as requested by that body, his refusal to either refute the charges of drug abuse or to immediately resign, and his refusal to return to work following a publicized ten week "medical" leave of absence.

Not only that, Bill Postmus has shown a lack of leadership when it comes to the professional duties of his office. How active a roll has Bill Postmus played in setting the policy of the assessor's office? Sure, he has taken credit for Proposition 8, but Revenue and Taxation Code basically requires it be implemented regardless of the assessor's wishes. What else has Postmus done? Having no property taxation background, Postmus is simply not qualified to serve as county assessor.

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True, it may be important for an outsider to hold the office, to serve as an elected "check" on the bureaucracy. But Postmus has not embraced this roll. In fact, he has more often than not simply chosen to let the office run as it will. The County of San Bernardino should be thankful that the permanent appraisal and assessment staff is as qualified and responsible as it is, considering that Bill Postmus clearly lacks the necessary skills to affect any meaningful change in his office, if such change were necessary.

Bill Postmus, at least since taking office as assessor, can best be described as just plain apathetic.

Shortly after the release of the San Bernardino Grand Jury's annual report, the Board of Supervisors requested that Postmus appear before them, to address the charges in that report. The Board requested that Postmus appear not the following week, but the following month--they seemed eager to not give Postmus any excuses for "scheduling" reasons.

Still, to avoid having to go, Postmus opted to take a medical leave of absence, which gave him cover not to appear.

His medical leave of absence was publicized to be ten weeks in length. It began on July 24, and therefore should have ended on October 2. Postmus has still not returned to work.

I started this post with a question: "Where is Bill Postmus?" While I do mean it specifically--Why isn't he at work; his 10 weeks are up--I also mean it generally. What we have seen in the past few years has not been the Bill Postmus that was elected County Supervisor in 2000, full of energy, youth, and excitement. This is not the Bill Postmus who racked up accomplishments during his time on the Board, who made the County GOP a powerful entity, who fought a campaign to remove corruption and protect taxpayers. This is not the Bill Postmus we voted for.

If that Bill Postmus is gone, the one we have should go as well. As taxpayers, as voters, as citizens, we're not getting our money's worth with this assessor. If Bill Postmus cannot regain the energy and enthusiasm to execute his office in a way that makes the taxpayers proud, he should simply resign.

Write SB Pietas at sbpietas@yahoo.com.