9-21-18 Sec 1 pg 1-9_Edition 9/19/18 3:56 PM Page 4
4 Friday, Sept. 21, 2018
GOP candidates decry the state of the state
By JAMES FOLMER
E DITOR
H IGHLAND C OMMUNITY N EWS
Meeting with the San
Bernardino Republican Women
Federated on Saturday, five
GOP candidates bemoaned the
state of a state where Democ-
rats dominate every statewide
office and frequently hold su-
permajorities in both houses.
San Bernardino City Council-
man Henry Gomez Nickel, who
is running against county Su-
pervisor James Ramos for the
40th Assembly District, said lo-
“Who expected our Clinical Excellence Award
would rank us alongside America’s most
legendary medical centers?”
Recipient of the
Healthgrades
Distinguished
Hospital Award for
Clinical Excellence™
in 2013
350 Terracina Boulevard, Redlands, California 92373 ~ 909-335-5500 ~ www.redlandshospital.org
Redlands Community Hospital is an independent, not-for-profit, stand-alone community hospital.
cal officials need to have a
close relationship with state
and federal officials.
“The more I’ve been doing
this job, the more I realize
Sacramento is broken,” said
Nickel. “For us to do the job
that we have to do at the local
level we need to ensure that we
have a functional and coopera-
tive and collaborative state gov-
ernment. Right now, folks,
that’s not happening.”
Nickel — who was elected in
2014 to represent the 5th Ward,
which is east of Interstate 215
– Samir Hage, D.O.
“Redlands has come a long way in
elevating the quality and scope of care in
the Inland Empire,” states Dr. Samir Hage,
a leader in advanced robotic surgery.
“When people hear ‘Community Hospital’
with Redlands, they should think ‘World
Class Hospital.’ ”
Dr. Hage notes all the awards Redlands
receives underscores how it provides
the same level of advancements as many
historic medical centers. “Two daVinci
robotic surgical suites are more than many
area hospitals can offer.”
Learn why Redlands is rated one of the
best hospitals in the nation. Visit
www.redlandshospital.org/outcomes
Doing
C i ourf best
G to be the
ti best.
POLITICS
and includes California State
University, San Bernardino —
said he meets with his con-
stituents at least twice a month
before every council meeting.
“My constituents are my
boss,” he said. “I work for
them. So I want to make sure
that when I’m casting my vote I
make sure it reflects what they
want. Consistently what I hear
from constituents is that things
are broken. Things are not
working.”
Nickel says he’s often asked,
“Why are all these bad laws get-
Follow us
Highland Community News n highlandnews.net
ting passed in Sacramento?
What do we do about that?”
The reason is “we’re electing
the wrong people,” he said, ex-
pressing deep concern about
the state of California. Essen-
tially, California is a one-party
state.
“There’s only one economy
bigger than ours that is a one-
party state,” Nickel said, “and
that is the People’s Republic of
China.”
Nickel said he’s hearing con-
cerns from moderate Democ-
rats that the domination by one
party is creating a dysfunction-
al system of government.
Fortunately, California’s ini-
tiative process allows citizens
to challenge the Legislature’s
decisions, such as Senate Bill 1
that increased California gas
taxes by 12 cents per gallon last
November “without a vote of
the people,” Nickel said, draw-
ing applause.
Proposition 6 on the Nov. 6
ballot would not only repeal the
gas tax increase and the in-
crease in vehicle registration
fees, it would require a vote by
the electorate if the Legislature
tries to raise gas taxes again.
“They’re imposing a tax on us
without our consent,” Nickel
said. “I don’t know about you,
but that really worries me.”
He said the people need to
demand a system of true
checks and balances.
Nickel was elected to the
council with a 37.57 percent
plurality among four candi-
dates. In the June 5 primary,
Nickel outpolled Ramos with
46.58 percent of the vote to
40.23, despite the fact that
Ramos outspent him 10-to-1 in
the campaign. Another Democ-
rat, Lilburn Gwen Cook of Red-
lands, got 13.2 percent of the
vote.
Nickel said that only about 20
percent of campaign contribu-
tions supporting local Democ-
rats come from the district.
“The vast of the money that
is going into these campaigns is
coming from Sacramento,”
Nickel said.
Other candidates who ad-
dressed the group at the Moun-
tain Shadows Mobile Home
Community in Highland were:
• Secretary of State candi-
date Mark Meuser, who said he
wants to guide the office out of
“the antiquated 19th century
and into the 21st century.” He
hopes to unseat incumbent Alex
Padilla.
• Theodore Sanchez, a 30-
year-old candidate for San
Bernardino’s 1st Ward. He is
running against Gil J. Botello, a
workforce development advo-
cate, to fill the seat vacated by
Virginia Marquez, who did not
seek re-election.
• San Bernardino Mayor
Carey Davis, who is being chal-
lenged by John Valdivia.
• And Sean Flynn, who is
H igHland C ommunity n ews
pHoto by J ames F olmer
san bernardino mayor pro
tem Henry gomez nickel,
a candidate for the Califor-
nia assembly, speaks to
the san bernardino re-
publican women Federat-
ed on saturday, sept. 15,
at the mountain shadows
mobile Home Community
in Highland.
challenging incumbent Rep.
Pete Aguilar for the 31st Con-
gressional District. (This race
won’t be on the ballot in High-
land, which is represented by
Rep. Paul Cook in the 8th dis-
trict. Cook is being challenged
by fellow Republican Tim
Donelly.)
Flynn, chairman of the Eco-
nomics Department at Scripps
College in Claremont, is author
of “Economics for Dummies.”
“One of my highest goals in
this district is helping the city
of San Bernardino,” he said.
Flynn said it pains him when
he drives up Little Mountain to
the Castaway Restaurant and
sees an old mural that says San
Bernardino was voted as one of
America’s best cities.
“Let’s talk about San
Bernardino,” he said. “Let’s talk
about places that have been left
behind economically.”
He said San Bernardino was
“as good as it got” in the 1970s.
“You can see situations
where, in our case, we lost an
Air Force base, we lost the
rolling stock of BNSF, we lost
Kaiser Steel, we lost the de-
fense contractors that used to
be around the Air Force base,”
he said.
That was followed by corrup-
tion charges and bankruptcy
that made matters even worse.
“What’s lacking is a tidal
wave of money,” Flynn said.
He would fight for an organi-
zation similar to the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency with a mission to lift
cities like San Bernardino out
of poverty.
“This is something we can ac-
tually do, and I will fight for
that in Washington,” Flynn said.
Mayor Davis looked back at
the August 2012 bankruptcy
that cost the city 100 police offi-
cers. He marshaled local re-
sources and convinced voters to
approve a new charter. The city
went from a $45 million deficit
to a $30 million surplus.
Last year, the city exited
bankruptcy.