East Valley Leaders discuss area issues
Robert Rogers, SB Sun Staff Writer 092806
San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris and the East Valley's top elected officials gathered at an Italian eatery Wednesday afternoon for an intimate, informal round-table discussion about the future of regional affairs, no media allowed.
The meeting of area mayors in San Bernardino was less like a scene from a Francis Ford Coppola film than it was a chance to plant the seeds of an alliance to better represent regional interests on everything from public safety to transportation routes to commercial development.
As the host of the meeting, Morris said he focused on regional environmental issues, specifically the need to maintain open spaces and develop a trail system that links East Valley cities to the Santa Ana River Trail.
"These mayors are all very environmentally conscious, and they were delighted to discuss the interconnected nature of our open-space projects," Morris said after the meeting.
The meeting marked the first gathering of East Valley mayors in years and could launch what Morris hopes is a schedule of quarterly meetings rotated in the various cities, from Colton to Yucaipa.
The next meeting will be in Loma Linda, probably in January, and Mayor Bob Christman has put transportation issues on the agenda.
Some mayors said Wednesday afternoon that such a meeting was long overdue, as issues relating to crime, economic growth and the environment, all of which know no boundaries, demand coordination and cooperation.
Law-enforcement and social- service agencies are ahead of the curve on this type of integration, with coordinated multi- jurisdictional operations and lines of communication that are now the norm.
Among those invited to the meeting Wednesday were the mayors of Yucaipa, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, Rialto, Redlands and Highland.
"We don't know yet exactly what will come out of this meeting," said Morris' son and chief of staff, Jim Morris. "But the mayor has a very regional way of thinking, and this sort of regular meeting with the leaders of surrounding cities is something he has wanted to do since taking office as a way of identifying common problems and formulating collective solutions."
The idea came into focus at an Earth Day event in May, when Morris and Redlands Mayor Jon Harrison discussed environmental issues affecting the upper Santa Ana River basin.
Before heading to San Bernardino, other mayors said they were eager to discuss other regional issues as well.
Highland Mayor Ross Jones said before the meeting he would put transportation and crime at the top of the group's agenda. He also is interested in altering the oddly shaped Highland-San Bernardino boundary and discussing matters related to San Bernardino International Airport.
"This is new, and I think it's a very good thing," Jones said. "We certainly need to communicate."
Although the meeting is a new concept in the East Valley, mayors of cities on the county's West End already convene regularly to discuss regional issues.
Fontana Mayor Mark Nuaimi said he meets bimonthly with the mayors of Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Chino and other cities to discuss issues of mutual importance in informal, freewheeling sessions. Nuaimi said the hope is that by aligning behind issues of regional significance the city leaders will wield more clout in garnering resources from Washington and Sacramento.
"Out of this dialogue we can strengthen our advocacy at the state and federal levels," Nuaimi said.
On the east end of the county, such a coalition is, at best, in its nascent stage, but Harrison said Wednesday's meeting could be an important step in getting local governments to think regionally.
Christman said public officials should heed the unspoken advice of Inland Empire residents, who glide across city boundaries in vehicles or public transportation without giving the different name on the road signs a second thought.
"Our cities don't stand alone or sit on an island, so neither should we," Christman said.
Christman said he looks forward to future discussions on transportation. As a pilot and member of the board that governs SBIA, Christman said he and his contemporaries need to work together to ensure the airport develops into an economic catalyst.
"It's immediate future is cargo, and eventually it can grow as a passenger airport," Christman said. "But this can really be an economic engine for the entire Inland Empire."
Mayor Morris said he also looks forward to the next meeting.
"Our cities have so much in common, and so many regional issues to discuss," he said.
Contact writer Robert Rogers at (909) 386-3855 or via e-mail at robert.rogers@sbsun.com.
BS Ranch Perspective:
I was happy to see that Rialto was invited, and Grace was so Talkative that she got so many quotes in! LOL.. Actually it is better that she didn't with all that is going on in Rialto lately! You can be well sure that if Ed Scott was there that there would be some kind of remark in the paper about what Ed Scott thinks about the meeting or about the Perchlorate or some issue that really should be better brought up elsewhere. As you can see our Mayor was very smart and didn't give any verbal indication as to what she felt that she should say! That is the sign's of an Intelligent Mayor.
I got the Mailer from Joe Baca Jr. and I liked what he had to say. The writing as always were general blurbs but they were good ones, and there was one general blurb on that Quote that statement that Mayor Vargas was quoted as saying about Jr. on this mailer. This was great, I felt, Grace said, that Joe Baca Jr. has guaranteed that he would stand behind the Police and Fire departments 120%, and to me that is a 120% endorsement that should not be over looked!!
If you liked Grace and felt that she stuck to her campaign Promises, which I know that she did, and well that she stuck by her word. Based upon the Political decisions that Joe Sampson as made here most recently. I feel that Joe Baca Jr. is a smarter man then Joe Sampson, and again this is based solely, on his political decision making of the past 1.5 years by Joe has made me feel that his political decision making is not as sharp as they could be!! Therefore, Joe Baca Jr. is the man behind the words..
I would have normally supported Joe Sampson, but lately Joe has changed his politics really drastically to the point that I am not sure who that guy is any more. this might suffer in the race this year.
BSRanch
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