Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Open Board of Directors
San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Carole Beswick, Ann Bryan, Ken Coate, Richard Hart, Mark Kaenel, Bill Lemann, John Magness, John Mirau, Charlie Ng, Mike Page, Bev Powell, Kristine Scott, Larry Sharp, Paul Shimoff, Steve von Rajcs, and Phil Waller.
Guests: Robbie Broedow, Paul Granillo, Ray Gonzalez, John Hofer, Paul Hofer, Joe Macias, Linda Macias, Vicky Ostermann and Steve Wall.
Announcements: 1) A free Water Conference sponsored by Congressman Joe Baca will be held on Thursday, October 20, 2011 from 9:00-11:00 a.m. at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. For more information please go to the Events area on our web site home page. 2) A majority of the members present voted to extend an invitation of membership to Pacific Gas & Electric. 3) Best Best & Krieger has been recommended for membership. Peter Barmack will serve as their representative.
M/S/P: Minutes of the October 11, 2011 meeting
Paul Shimoff introduced Congressman Joe Baca.
The Inland Empire is still the hub of the future. The area continues to grow and will rebound when we get beyond our economic difficulties.
Congressman Baca emphasized that all legislators need to work together. Good ideas will die without the 60 votes needed. The Tea Party has been detrimental to both sides and has acted as destructionists. Legislators have always voted on the debt ceiling and have never defaulted. The Tea Party however has held the congress hostage over this and will likely do so in the future. He believes in compromise. Regardless of party affiliation it takes many years to be effective in Washington as seniority and relationships are key. Washington is based on seniority and newly elected have very little influence. The Congressman continues to build relationships which in turn build communication and openness to message.
Being business orientated, he supports the President’s Job Bill which will help growth and development in our region. Now is the time to invest and improve our infrastructure and transportation by building needed roads and bridges.
In the next election Congressman Baca will likely run in the 35th district. He is supportive of the lawsuit filed against the new lines drawn by the California Redistricting Commissioners. In his current district (the 43rd), the new lines will dilute the Latino population that once was a majority to a fraction of what it was and in turn violates the Voter Rights Act.
The Congressman still believes in earmarks. He has been a part of earmarks in the past and has seen how they have directly benefited our entire region. California receives only .75 cents for every tax dollar we contribute. Most other states have a much larger return with some receiving more than what they pay. He will continue to fight for earmarks.
He has sponsored the DELIST Act that creates flexibility in determining whether or not a species should remain listed as endangered, while also ensuring that no currently listed species are arbitrarily delisted or placed in harm’s way. Despite having not been seen in the past decade, the Delhi Sands Flower-Loving Fly is still listed as endangered. The harmful regulations caused by this listing continue to limit economic development in many communities in the inland area, which has proven to be especially detrimental given San Bernardino County’s high unemployment rate, increased homelessness and extreme home foreclosure numbers for the past several years. The legislation, which has bipartisan support, changes the definition of extinction to give the US Fish and Wildlife Service the ability to consider a protected species to be extinct if the 15 year review shows no evidence of the continued existence of the species. If not able to DELIST then he would like to see the associated costs of protection and development fall on the responsible agency.
Our country’s involvement in both Afghanistan and Iraq are very costly. Fraud in these wars is an expensive problem. Further analysis and review is necessary to curtail this waste.
Although not a federal issue, he supports restoring control over the Ontario Airport to Ontario. Local control will better promote the facility and keep costs reasonable. He supports the legislation introduced by Senator Dutton.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:25 a.m.