Inland Empire Progressive

Grand Terrace is the smallest community in the 31st Congressional District. I canvassed the apartment complex there once during the former 63rd State Assembly race and know one of the recently council members. As with most other areas, their was a steep Conservative spike in voter registration followed by steep declines until the online wave pick it registration again.     

Loma Linda is small city defined by the VA Hospital, Loma Linda University, its healthy eating habits, and a large proportion of 7th Day Adventist Community. I don't know much about its partisan politics except that it usually votes Republican.  However, a Democratic candidate for Congress, Justin Kim, came from the city so maybe the winds of change are beginning to pick up.

The city of  Rancho Cucamonga is seeking to continue making itself a player at the local, state, and national levels. It is the 3rd largest Democratic city following San Bernardino and Fontana respectively. Many political leaders from the Republican side of the isle, from soon to be GOPer party chairman  Jim Brulte to former Senate Leader Bob Dutton have come from this city.  I would also imagine that Rancho Cucagmonga would be the place where San Bernardino County GOP Chairman Asm. Curt Hagman would begin the so-called comeback for the Republicans in San Bernardino County.  The Democrats have an establish political club, the Inland Valley Democrats whose President Erick Jimenez is working to make Dems a political force there.  By looking at the registration, it seems possible that he can. 

Redlands, I think, is the most activist city in the whole county. I think this not just because of their high median income, but also because many highly educated people live there. However, this city can sometimes come off as elitist and snobbish, which is a downside to the overall friendly atmosphere. The North-Side is heavily working class and make up the majority of Democratic votes. I'm real surprised the Conservative wave of '10 didn't make as much of a dent as I thought it would. 

Rialto is a small heavily Democratic city and home to the former Congressman Joe Baca. As you can see from the charts registration is 2:1 Democratic, and Reps still have not crossed the 10K mark. There was a slight Conservative wave, but nothing substantial. Looking at it from trough to peek Dems gained 2,000 voters while Reps gained 200. That lets you know the magnitude of how Democratic this city is. 

The thing that surprised me the most about my hometown voter registration stats is that the Reps did not seem substantial gain in the online wave like other cities did. You can clearly see it helped the Dems out. Rep voter registration peaked during the 2010 Conservative wave, but then sloped off gradually to June '10 levels. That established a new baseline for them, but we will see what happens in the future. The Bankruptcy will play a part in registration going forward. 

I like Upland. It's a small town like Redlands, but with more trees. I think the tree should be the seal of Upland because of all the greenery. I've been to the Bulldog Pub out their for meetings with Drinking Liberally and it was pretty awesome. The city is not a Democratic one, is more moderate because it sits on the border of Ontario and Montclair, so its southern half is more Dem than normal. The online tide helped negate the slide that Democrats were facing in the city. 

Ranking Structure Reform is one of the most direct ways to cut cost in the defense department. The current ranking structure is too bureaucratic in both the enlisted and officer ranks. Getting rid of the rank of Private and 2nd Lieutenant will save several million dollars in personnel costs because they are duplicate ranks. I would try to reform the current ranks from the current 9 grades down to 6. I would also reform the General Ranks from the current 4 down to 2. I remember a little ditty that I was taught in the Marine Corps to remember the General Ranks: Be My Little General. Which is acronym for Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, and General.

Another Blog Post, another bash on Public Safety Unions. Why you may ask, do I hold such animosity toward these folks? Is it because I hate Unions. No, being a Progressive I believe in economic equality and Public Safety does hard work. However, public safety has been quite Conservative and even votes against their own economic interest which is odd to me. I hold such animosity for one reason: Political Power. Political Power It is no secret that the Public Safety Unions hold considerable sway over San Bernardino. We are a poor community with our median income at approximately $36K. Some of the members of the Public Safety Union make roughly 2-3 times that much, with the Union taking a bi-weekly or monthly cut of that. That is a considerable amount of cash at the end of the year. Combine that with the fact that they are the most organized force and we hold off year elections (non-gubernatorial or presidential), their power has just been multiplied exponentially. You can tell t...

My embrace of localism was a process that developed over time. When I first became engaged in political activity I didn't pay attention to what was happening locally. I was too focused on what was happening nationally. But as I became more active and participated in local activist activity, I heard a constant refrain about the city that I lived in. San Bernardino was ghetto, and it was violent, and it was impoverished, etc. Then I heard it again in Op-Eds and reporting in both of our local newspapers. It was a constant badgering of negativity and no one was stepping up to defend or protect San Bernardino. Most of its residents either didn't care, were oblivious, or were part of the defamation and degradation process. I said to myself enough is enough, someone has to defend San Bernardino's honor and that was my beginning of the embrace of localism. At first, I defended San Bernardino in the online arena trying to lance every negative boil that appeared. As I learned mor...