The general election is only eight days away, and as it approaches, I have been watching with some degree of fascination the implosion of the candidacy of incumbent San Bernardino County Supervisor Paul Biane (pictured).  Before shocking revelations that have taken place over the last few days concerning Biane, the Supervisor was already having a really rough go of it.  Last June, well over half of the voters in his district cast their ballot for someone else to replace Biane.  His opponent on the ballot, Fontana Councilwoman Janice Rutherford, came in only 3 points behind him.  There is a rule in politics that if you are an incumbent and you are held below 50% — you are likely going to lose your re-election.  Biane got a pathetic 34% of the vote.

Desperation time having arrived by August, Biane’s campaign releases a “strategy memo” to Democrats (the authenticity of which I personally confirmed with Biane Consultant Chris Jones, the memo’s author) in which Biane is referred to as a “moderate” – and it is pointed out that Rutherford’s “strongly conservative views will…limit her appeal…”  The memo goes on to talk about Biane’s support from prominent Democrats, and a huge County public employee union.

The memo is linked below (you should read it).  At the very end it talks about Biane having a fundraising advantage.  For the record, not anymore, as Rutherford’s fundraising has eclipsed Biane’s.

Then comes the “October Surprise” for Biane – Rutherford’s campaign consultant, Tab Berg, releases documentation (see it below this paragraph) showing that Biane was arrested in Chicago in October 2005 on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was convicted of misdemeanor reckless driving, paid a $750 fine, completed 12 hours of alcohol treatment and a year of supervised probation.  His license to drive was suspended for a lengthy period of time.  (See one of the numerous MSM stories on this incident here.)

Well, this stuff happens, right?  And this is incident/arrest is over five years old, right?  Well, guess who never informed the County of San Bernardino about his suspended license?  Guess who kept on driving his taxpayer funded county vehicle the entire time?  Still – we are still talking about half a decade ago, right?

Wrong.  Biane, upon having this “secret” in his past revealed, announces that he is turning back in his County car – thus creating a contemporary angle to the story. 

I can’t speak for Supervisor Biane’s constituents, but I would be much more concerned and offended at the cover-up than the original charge.  The problem that Biane has is that San Bernardino County government has been rocked to its foundations with allegations, criminal trials, and scandal.  Voters can only go on Biane’s word that he is not a part of all of that.  But then, how good is his word?

Oh, and here’s some icing for the cake.  Apparently Biane was (and presumably still has been) driving his taxpayer-funded SUV to a family vacation home near Ensenada, in Mexico!  You can read about that here.

Watching a politician implode can be an interesting spectator sport, as it is in this case.  The Board of Supervisors there in San Bernardino County will be better off with Biane being shown the exit door – especially since his replacement, Janice Rutherford (whom I have endorsed) is awesome and will bring such character, skill and commitment to the job.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 25th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.