Tuesday was a good day locally for San Bernardino County GOP and Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Postmus. First, he personally managed to unseat three-term incumbent County Assessor Don Williamson by a five-point margin in their runoff election contest. The Assessor’s is the second consecutive office Postmus has won by defeating an incumbent (he ousted Supervisor Kathy Davis in the year 2000).
The second reason Postmus is smiling today is because his Republican Central Committee’s endorsed local candidates and causes enjoyed a 73% win rate Tuesday night.
While the County only turned out 37 percent of its voters, which even though that number will rise somewhat is pretty dismal, it is similar to the turnout in neighboring Riverside County.
All of the state bonds were approved by the County’s voters, while Tom McClintock, Bruce McPherson, Tony Strickland and Steve Poizner all carried the County, along with Michelle Steele for Board of Equalization. Gov. Schwarzenegger carried the County with 61 percent.
Countywide in San Bernardino, parental notification was favored by 56% of the electorate, while Prop. 90 was supported by 53% of County voters. The cigarette tax and oil tax both lost in the County, while the Prop. 88 education bond received 80% “no” votes, and the campaign “reform” Prop. 89 got 82% “no” votes.
Locally, in one of the more hotly contested races in the affluent City of Rancho Cucamonga, former appointed Councilman and medical doctor Donald Kurth defeated longtime Mayor Bill Alexander, while Councilmembers Rex Gutierrez and Diane Williams were re-elected. The race pitted the victorious SEBA, the Sheriff’s deputies union (Rancho Cucamonga is a Sheriff’s law-enforcement contract city), against the city’s firefighters union in a high-stakes, high-dollar brouhaha. Congratulations to SEBA President Bill Abernathie and Executive Jim Erwin, both County GOP Central Committee Members, for their big win there.
In Colton, County GOP-backed Councilwoman Kelly Chastain narrowly defeated fellow Republican Mayor Deirdre Bennett. Bennett and Chastain had been feuding as of late, and Chastain skillfully avoided being tainted by some recent city scandals involving her Council allies.
In the County seat of San Bernardino’s Third Ward, Republican Tobin Brinker was elected, possibly tipping the balance of power on the Council in favor of Republican Councilmembers Neil Derry and Chas Kelley. This arrangement may provide an additional check on the power and influence of the City’s popular new Dem Mayor, former Judge Patrick Morris, whose law-enforcement sales tax measures, YY and Z, were approved by the city’s voters Tuesday.
Countywide, in addition to Postmus’ win, one of his Party’s pet projects, helping elect Deputy District Attorney Steve Malone to the Superior Court, was also successful. Malone bested his opponent, fellow DA Larry Roberts, by an impressive 65% to 34% margin.
In the City of Ontario, retired Fire Chief and former Councilman Jim Bowman will rejoin the Council, having outpaced a field including Gabe Chavez, who had the considerable support of popular County Supervisor Gary Ovitt. Bowman will join re-elected Mayor Paul Leon and re-elected Councilman Alan Wapner on the five-member Council.
Finally, two countywide measures placed on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors were approved. Measure “O”, authored by Supervisor Postmus to prohibit County Government from taking private property and giving it to another private owner, was overwhelmingly approved with 68% of the vote. This is especially good news considering the state’s failure to pass Prop. 90. And Measure “P”, by Supervisor Paul Biane, which will impose term limits and revise the pay structure for County Supervisors, was approved with 56% of the vote.
For more San Bernardino County results, visit the Registrar of Voters site at www.sbcrov.com.