Page A6 • March 8, 2012 • Inland Empire Community Newspapers

Opportunities gained and lost at Redlands Tea Party forumBy Harvey M. Kahn

Jim Bagley knows he's upagainst two heavyweightswithin the local political

structure. The former mayor ofTwentynine Palms is running forSan Bernardino County Third Dis-trict Supervisor against incumbentNeil Derry and challenger JamesRamos. In a year that has includedmiraculous comebacks like thosefrom Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin,Bagley will need some of that typeluck plus a few pages out of Rockyand Rudy. On paper, Bagley haslittle chance against the fine tunedmachines of Derry and Ramos."I'm an alternative to Neil Derrywho has serious legal and ethicalproblems, and I am an alternativeto James Ramos who is aspokesman for Indian gaming,"said Bagley. "I think SanBernardino County has sufferedserious ethical breeches. I want tobe a positive force for change."Bagley says that much of thecounty's corruption comes underthe cloak of closed sessions. "Im-portant county business is oftenconducted out of public view, ap-proved by county executives, thenapproved by county supervisors.The culture of corruption wouldn'toccur if there was proper over-sight."Bagley was speaking after a pub-lic forum held on March 1 by theRedlands Tea Party at the MillCreek Cattle Company in Men-tone. About 175 political observersattended the discussion, whereBagley did not win any endorse-ments yet caught the ears of thesavvy audience. Bagley needed the

timing and spark that he gained atthe Tea Party event - one in whichJames Ramos did not bother to at-tend, and one that Derry showedblatant disregard for Bagley'schances. "This is actually a two-person race between James Ramosand myself," said Derry.At least Derry showed up for theMarch 1 event, a date that Derryand Ramos might have to lookback to. Ramos had confirmed toattend the Tea Party forum but in-stead opted to attend a fundraiser

in Ontario for San Bernardino Dis-trict Attorney Mike Ramos, at-tended by Governor Brown. WhileRamos chose the more prestigiousevent, he therefore forfeited hischance to answer some seriousquestions. In attendance at the TeaParty were a number of local cityofficials, many who are Republi-can supporters of Ramos who ex-pected to at least greet theircandidate.Ramos' bad timing was com-pounded because he missed a

chance to win over a contingent ofOccupy Redlands members whowere coincidentally at the event toreview topics of joint interest withthe Tea Party. If by chance the TeaParty and Occupy Redlands unitein their support of Bagley, bothDerry and Ramos could be facinga formative foe. However, theRedlands Tea Party forum moder-ator Phil Naman did show a bias infavor of Derry.In addition, Ramos left himselfdefenseless against allegations byNaman and fellow Tea Party mem-ber John Berry that Ramos wouldbe faced with possible conflicts ofinterests as a member of the boardof supervisors due to his affiliationwith the San Manuel Casino. Atquestion is Ramos' membership ina sovereign nation whose govern-ing body is said to differ fromthose of the United States. Ramosis serving as the San Manuel Bandof Mission Indian Tribal Chair-man.Berry, a former reporter at the

Press Enterprise, said that the SanManuel Band of Mission Indianshas financed unethical legal andpolitical influence. Derry andBagley agreed that Ramos has theability to circumvent political cam-paign fundraising laws. "The SanManuel Casino has been a detri-ment to the local community," saidDerry."We can't rely on Indian gamingfor our future economic develop-ment," said Bagley. "The Countyhas no control over Indian gamingfor economic development; anyoff casino investments most cer-tainly would bring tax revenue."He said casinos are exempt from

normal tax provisions. Bagley said he'd like to see thecounty recover the $102 millionthat was wrongfully paid in theColonies Development settlement."There are still certain develop-ments that need investigating,"said Bagley, who pointed out thatDerry has a large and costly ad-ministrative staff. He calledDerry's $240,00 total annual com-pensation as a county supervisor"shocking."Bagley said he welcomes supportfrom all political persuasions. As aconservative, he says that operat-ing government within its meanswith integrity is his message. Hesaid the conservative vote will bethe deciding factor in the race forthird district supervisor. "I am thenew kid on the block and am nothigh profiled, therefore I cannotafford to alienate anyone, and wel-come support from all politicalpersuasions." Derry and Bagleyalso agreed that illegal immigrantsshould not have the right to drive."We need to e-verify restaurantworkers," said Derry.Bagley pointed out that to run foroffice he had to pay a $1,501 fil-ing fee and another $7,222 to havehis statement included in the voterpamphlet. "That leaves a lot ofpeople out." His campaign is fi-nanced through friends and col-leagues, who donate from $25 up."My candidacy provides a positivealternative for voters looking forethical reform and transparency. IfI can force a runoff, I believe Ihave a shot at this. I'm in this towin it." For Jim Bagley biographicalinfo: Jim Bagleyrealtor.com.

IECN COURTESY PHOTO

Jim Bagley, former mayor of Twentynine Palms, is running forSan Bernardino County Third District Supervisor against incum-bent Neil Derry and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chair-man James Ramos.

The Board of Directors ofCommunity Action Part-nership of San Bernardino

County (CAPSBC), one of thecounty’s largest non-profits serv-ing over 800,000 needy familiesand individuals every year, isproud to announce its 3rd GalaFundraiser on May 17, at the Or-ange Show in San Bernardino, Ca.

This year’s theme for the Gala is“Empowering People, CultivatingChange” and features the presen-tation of the Community ActionLegacy Awards. CAPSBClaunched the awards in 2009 torecognize and celebrate membersof our community and institutionswhose commitment to assist theirneighbors is noteworthy because ithas produced tangible results overtime.

The public is invited to submitnominations for the CommunityAction Legacy Award for theVenny H. Newman HumanitarianAward. It is given as a tribute toMs. Newman who has dedicatedher life to advocating for the poor.She was a pioneer in the establish-ment of the Dependency Preven-tion Commission in 1965, nowknown as Community Action Part-nership of San Bernardino County.She served as the manager of theNeighborhood Services Programwhere she supervised twelve com-munity centers. In 1975 Vennybecame a volunteer member of theagency’s Community ActionBoard, and served faithfully untilher retirement in December 2000.

Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino Countyseeks nominations for Community Action Legacy Award

Venny was also a volunteer coor-dinator for the Department of Pub-lic Social Services, andvolunteered for the Girl Scouts,various PTA boards and seniorprograms. In addition, Vennyraised seven children, all of whomhave excelled academically andprofessionally. Community ActionPartnership of San BernardinoCounty is proud to pay tribute toMs. Newman by presenting anaward in her honor. The 2009award recipient was Kim Carter,Executive Director, Time ForChange Foundation. The 2011 re-cipient was Willie C. Ulibarri, Jr.,Founder/CEO – Project Life Im-pact.

Community Action agenciesacross America designate themonth of May as National Com-munity Action Month (NCAM), a

time to highlight the accomplish-ments and successes of the com-munity action network in theirlocal communities. CAPSBC iscelebrating NCAM with a series ofactivities designed to benefit thecommunity and encourage citizensto learn more about CAPSBC pro-grams and services. The culmi-nating activity for CommunityAction month will be the 2012Gala.

If you would like to nominate aperson or organization for theVenny H. Newman Humanitarianaward, a nomination packet can bedownloaded at www.capsbc.orgor call 909-723-1512 for more in-formation. The deadline for sub-mission is Friday, March 16, 2012.All members of the community arewelcome to submit an applicationfor consideration.

IECN PHOTO COURTESY COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF SAN

BERNARDINO COUNTY

The Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County willbe presenting its 3rd Gala Fundraiser on May 17 at the NationalOrange Show in San Bernardino. The organization is currentlyseeking nominations for the Community Action Legacy Award forthe Venny H. Newman Humanitarian Award, a tribute to Ms. New-man, pictured above, who has dedicated her life advocating forthe poor and establishing the Dependency Prevention Commis-sion in 1965, now known as CAPSBC.

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