Inland Empire Progressive

I was ambivalent about this at first, but after looking at  this  website, I became convinced that we as residents, occupants, and citizens of San Bernardino need to do something to reform to alter this situation. When a Fire Chief makes almost as much as the President of the United States (salary $400,000) then something needs to be done to alter the way we do business in San Bernardino.  These unelected  folks make more than any elected official currently in office including the mayor and city attorney. These highly paid folks say they got our back, but I ask you this: Are you better off than you were a year ago? 3 years ago? 5 years ago? It seems that no matter how many highly paid public safety officials we have, we still have a bad reputation of high crime, poverty, and low educational mobility. Our elected officials seem to not give a damn about the concerns of the people of San Bernardino, public safety owns them, while our streets lie in ruins an...

When I heard that the San Bernardino Fire Dept. wanted to become an elected position, I was very angry. So angry in fact that I went to the website of the SBFD and emailed whomever was at the other end. The SBFD budget makes up around 24% of General Fund revenues and only 8% live in the city. While not as much as the Police Dept., it’s still pretty substantial. Our reputation in San Bernardino is not the greatest in the county or in the nation for that matter. Maintaining local control of our city finances is of utmost concern to me to ensure that everyone at City Hall has a stake in ensuring that our city thrives. Some employee in City Hall make more than $100,000 a year. That is more than the median income of the city. When outsiders are the ones that are in those income positions, not only do City of Bell type incidents occur, the incentives to improve the conditions of the city are not there.   Here is my blurb: Subject: Elected Fire Chief Email Comments: I am con...