Esther Jimenez | Michael Reiter, Municipal Attorney with Milligan, Attorney, Beswick, Levine & Knox LLP Blog

There have been just seven San Bernardino City Clerks since 1903, when Harry Allison became City Clerk for the pre-Charter City of San Bernardino. The original 1905 Charter of the City of San Bernardino kept the existing City Clerk until the 1907 election. Harry Allison won that first City Clerk’s election, and served until 1911, when S.G. Batchelor became City Clerk. John H. Osborne became City Clerk in the next election in 1915, and served as City Clerk until at least 1950. In 1951, Jack Felton was elected City Clerk. He served at least until 1970. In 1971, Deputy City Clerk Lucille Goforth was elected as City Clerk. She served until the late 1970s. In 1979, Shauna Clark was elected City Clerk. Rachel Mendoza Clark was elected City Clerk in 1991, and again in 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. She is now retiring, and one of the following will be elected City Clerk, only the eighth City Clerk since 1903: William Valle, Amelia Sanchez-Lopez, Gigi Hanna, Esther Jimenez, or Peggi Hazlett. I would expect any of the candidates, if they win, to be in office for four or five terms, so it is important that voters examine the candidates and their positions. Should the next City Clerk serve four terms, the time period between 1903 and 2028 (125 years), there will have been only eight City Clerks, an average of only one City Clerk for every 15.625 years.

Voters decided by an overwhelming percentage that they wanted to vote for City Clerk. Make sure to make an informed decision on the candidate, as voters have only changed City Clerks six times since 1903.

The information you obtain at this blog is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by reading or commenting on this blog. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation.

Address : 3o0 E. State St.#517

Redlands, CA 92373

Telephone: (909) 296-6708

Filed under Charter, City Attorney, City Clerk, City of San Bernardino, Elections, San Bernardino City Clerk Tagged with Amelia Sanchez-Lopez, Esther Jimenez, Gigi Hanna, James F. "Jim" Penman, Peggi Hazlett, San Bernardino City Attorney, San Bernardino City Clerk, William Valle

Esther Jimenez for San Bernardino City Clerk Mailer

October 18, 2011 Leave a comment

City Clerk Candidate Esther Jimenez has published a mailer on her Facebook page. Here is the front of the mailer, here is the back of the mailer.

The front (or what I call the front, the side without an address), has a series of three photographs under the title “Life of Service . . .” in script letters.

The first photograph is Esther Jimenez with 5th District County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, titled “National Night Out Promoting Safety with Supervisor Josie Gonzales.” The second photograph says “Salute to the Route Commemorating our Veterans.” The third photograph says “San Bernardino Beautification Day Pitching in on community clean up.”

In the middle of the front is a text box with the title “Esther’s supporters include:”

Senator Gloria Negrete-McLeod

32nd Senate District

Assembly Member Wilmer Amina Carter

62nd Assembly District

Chairman James Ramos

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and San Bernardino Valley Community College Board Member

Dr. Hardy Brown

Owner of the Black Voice News

Dr. Tom Rivera

Retired CSUSB Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies

Eloise Reyes

Attorney

Gloria Macias Harrison

President of Crafton Hills Community College

Tim Prince

Attorney

Dr. George Small

Private Practice

Frank Schnetz

Business Owner

Dr. Barbara Stanfield

Private Practice

Frances Grice

Life-long San Bernardino Resident and Community Leader

On the right side of the mailer is another text box with a picture of Esther Jimenez. The bullet points say:

Born and raised in San Bernardino
Graduate of San Bernardino Valley College and University of California, Riverside
Senior Legislative Assistant for the State of California Assembly
Experience with local, county, state and federal legislation, codes and statutes
A person of integrity: Selected by Supervisor Josie Gonzales and received the “Herstory Award” from the SB County Commission on the Status of Women; “Citizen Achievement Award” from the League of Women Voters of San Bernardino, and other acknowledgements throughout her decades of community service.
Truly INDEPENDENT and NOT beholden to any other elected City Official

The text box continues:

Vote for . . .

Integrity

Transparency

Independence

Vote Esther Jimenez for City Clerk!

The back of the mailer has the following text:

IMPORTANT VOTER MESSAGE!

Esther Jimenez will bring . . .

Indepenence

Integrity

Honesty

Transparency

to the office of City Clerk

Vote November 8th Jimenez San Bernardino City Clerk

Address : 300 E. State St. Suite 517

Redlands CA 92373-5235

Telephone: (909) 708-6055

Filed under City Clerk, City of San Bernardino, Elections, Municipal Law, San Bernardino City Charter, San Bernardino City Clerk Tagged with Election 2011, Esther Jimenez, San Bernardino City Clerk

PSA: San Bernardino City Election Forum For City Attorney and City Clerk Candidates September 27, 2011 7:00 p.m. 300 North D Street, San Bernardino

September 26, 2011 Leave a comment

There will be another candidate forum on September 27, 2011, sponsored by the San Bernardino Area Chamber of Commerce, for the candidates for San Bernardino City Attorney, incumbent City Attorney James F. “Jim” Penman and former Public Defender and County Supervisor David L. McKenna at 7 p.m., in the Council Chambers, 300 North D Street, San Bernardino, CA 92418. At 8 p.m., there will be a forum for the City Clerk candidates, Gigi Hanna, Peggi Hazlett, William Valle, Amelia Sanchez-Lopez and Esther Jimenez.

Address: 300 E. State St. Suite 517

Redlands CA 92373-5235

Telephone: (909) 708-6055

Filed under California Public Records Act, Charter, City Attorney, City Clerk, City of San Bernardino, County of San Bernardino, Elections, Municipal Law, San Bernardino, San Bernardino City Attorney's Office, San Bernardino City Clerk Tagged with Amelia Sanchez-Lopez, David L. McKenna, Election 2011, Esther Jimenez, Gigi Hanna, James F. "Jim" Penman, Michael Reiter Attorney at Law, Peggi Hazlett, San Bernardino City Clerk, sign code, William A. Valle

The Number One Issue in the San Bernardino City Clerk’s Election in November 2011

September 19, 2011 2 Comments

The City of San Bernardino City Clerk’s Office is currently responsible for maintaining and updating the Municipal Code. While, as I discussed before, the online municipal code is not authoritative, and should not be relied on, good government dictates that cities maintain a fairly up-to-date online municipal code. Yet, as of the date of this post, the online City of San Bernardino Municipal Code was last revised on November 2, 2009. This may not be the number one issue in the San Bernardino City Clerk’s Election in November 2011 for the candidates, but it should be.

My recent dealings with the San Bernardino City Clerk’s Office, and indeed my dealings in almost five years as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of San Bernardino, have been good. When I asked for a copy of the garage sale ordinance, it was emailed to me right away. They also very promptly presented me with a copy of David L. McKenna’s campaign filings in person. I recently filed a batch of Government Claims with the City Clerk’s Office, and the staff was professional and courteous. This is contrast to other dealings with local public entities, such as found in my post, How Not To Handle Government Claims. The retiring City Clerk, Rachel Clark, was always very nice to me during the duration of my time with the City and after.

However, in this day and age, the online San Bernardino Municipal Code should be online because it takes time away from staff to have to provide updated information not available online. If the City Clerk’s Office is not open, the public should be able to find out about the current code. Lastly, even though no one should rely on an online municipal code, nor can they rely on an out-of-date municipal code. If you cannot easily find the current law, how can a resident obey the law?

If the City Clerk’s Office does not have the resources to update the code online, then it should be sent out to a private company. I am not sure when the codification came in-house, but the City Clerk’s Office handled codification during my entire tenure at the City Attorney’s Office. Looking at the online code, this was not always the case:

San Bernardino Municipal Code section 1.01.010 Adoption.
Pursuant to the provisions of Sections 50022.1 through 50022.8 and 50022.10 of the Government Code, there is adopted the “San Bernardino Municipal Code” as published by Book Publishing Company, Seattle, Washington, together with those secondary codes adopted by reference as authorized by the California State Legislature, save and except those portions of the secondary codes as are deleted or modified by the provisions of the “San Bernardino Municipal Code.” (Ord. 3981 §1, 1980.)

As far as I can tell, Book Publishing Company or BPC was acquired in 2001, so it no longer exists. Yet, the Municipal Code still lists it as the Code’s publisher, and as I discussed, it was not the Code’s publisher in 2001, and possibly even before.

In 2011, there is no excuse not to have an accurate online code with timely updates. Hopefully, the next City Clerk will immediately rectify the situation

Address : 300 E. State St. Suite 517

Redlands CA 92373-5235

Telephone: (909) 708-6055