Postmus continues games of deception with the people

The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors have asked prosecutors to investigate possible illegal political activity in San Bernardino County Asessor Bill Postmus office. This request following the scathing report issued by the grand jury regarding the activities within the confines of the assessor's domain.

It has become clear that Postmus wanted to remain a political player within the Republican party. It reveals how documents were modified, which has come to light by the recently released search warrant. And ultimately how the county grand jury's report led to the arrest of Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman.

The district attorneys office raided the assessors office on April 10th investigators seized documents and computers during the raid.

Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman, 25, was arrested on six felony charges, including presenting false evidence to the grand jury and destroying public records. The district attorney states that the investigation is ongoing.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane said that County employees began receiving political e-mails from full-time members of the assessor's staff during regular work hours. He asked the staff to inspect e-mails sent and received by Mike Richman, a consultant whom Postmus hired in 2007.

Chairman Biane has indicated numerous times that he is surprised and concerned by the alleged political activities in the assessors office. He has also stated that Bill Postmus has been a longtime friend. To have his office investigated by the district attorney was a very serious decision made here by myself and county counsel, Biane explained to local media representatives.

Many insiders have stated that Biane's staff is also guilty of politicking on the time clock.

Postmus has made statements alleging 'shock' about the activities within his kingdom. Which I find laughable...who does Postmus think he is really kidding?

In my past relationship with Bill Postmus and staffers, when he was Supervisor, it was considered within the bounds of a normal work day to spend time on republican issues. His top staffers in his office talked about and maneuvered in the political arena - it was all politics...interaction I had with staffers was about the GOP and the republican movement.

When will Aleman be terminated or quit? How long will public money pay his $58 per hour?

The following is a partial news report by Mr. Gang for the Press Enterprise.

Postmus spokesman Ted Lehrer said there is no evidence in a separate grand jury report released Monday or in the charges against Aleman to suggest the assessor was aware of any improper political activity.

"It's becoming clear to the public and to the assessor that this is and has been a politically motivated witch hunt conducted by those with politically motivated agendas," Lehrer said.

The grand jury criticized the assessor's office for using county e-mail systems for political activity. The grand jury reviewed thousands of e-mails as part of its investigation.

The content of the e-mails included "arranging political meetings, solicitations for campaign contributions, instructions to move campaign monies from one campaign fund to another, solicitation of political proxies" and political discussions on a Republican blog, the grand jury found.

According to copies of the e-mails, Richman asked longtime Postmus campaign treasurer Betty Presley in May 2007 to forward contributions to Assembly and state Senate candidates.

Richman sent the e-mails at Postmus' request, according to copies of the e-mails.

Biane in a statement said he raised the issue with Postmus.

"This was most concerning because then-Supervisor Postmus and I had both had County Counsel train our offices on ethical standards, specifically on the prohibition against the use of county resources for political activities," Biane said.

"After Mr. Postmus became assessor, County Counsel and I both admonished him on what we believed was happening in his office," Biane said. "Despite this, the activity continued."

Lehrer said Postmus never received any admonishment and demanded Biane's office produce copies.

In an interview earlier this week, Richman said his Blackberry was inappropriately set up with a county e-mail address.

According to the affidavit, Jim Erwin, a former assistant assessor for operations, told the grand jury that Richman was a political ally of Postmus.

"Erwin said that Postmus still wants to be a 'political player' but that he no longer has the political power he had as a member of the Board of Supervisors," according to the affidavit.

"Mike Richman ... retains a reputation in the 'political arena,' which caused Postmus to want Richman to be 'on his team,' and enhance Postmus' political standing."

According to the affidavit, Erwin told the grand jury that Richman walked around the office talking about political campaigns, raising concerns from other employees that little work for the county was being done.

In an interview, Erwin said he stands by his testimony. He said the political activity is why he quit the assessor's office last year.

Richman called Erwin's accusations false.

Richman's Role

To date, no arrests have been made over illegal political activity in the assessor's office or the misuse of county e-mail.

The move from a complaint filed about e-mails to an arrest on charges of falsifying documents appears to stem from attempts to make it look like Richman did more work than he might have actually done, according to the affidavit.

Richman and his MPR Strategies firm received a $49,200 no-bid contract to create community outreach events, to promote a monthly newsletter and to forge ties with the state Board of Equalization.

Aleman ordered a secretary to change minutes of executive staff meetings, according to the affidavit.

For instance, meeting minutes from June 18, 2007, show that Rex Gutierrez, the assessor's director of intergovernmental affairs, had been "unable to get a response from Matt Cunningham regarding progress on the Annual Report. Adam (Aleman) will contact Matt and request an update."

The altered minutes, according to the affidavit, put Richman's name in place of Aleman's.

Aleman told the grand jury he was simply correcting errors, the court records show. But he made the changes between the time when the grand jury asked for the documents and the deadline for turning them over, the affidavit contends.

Richman told investigators that he did not know exactly why Aleman might have changed the documents, other than to "attempt to bolster my involvement in something that wasn't even contractually mine to deal with anyway," the affidavit shows.

In an interview, Richman said he stands by what he told investigators.

Appeal Denied

Superior Court Judge David Cohn signed the search warrant in April and initially had it sealed at the request of the district attorney's office. Prosecutors argued that releasing the document could jeopardize their investigation.

The Press-Enterprise successfully challenged an original order to have the warrant sealed, and the state Court of Appeal sided with the newspaper on Tuesday.

Cohn ordered the documents released on Wednesday after denying a last-minute appeal by prosecutors to redact some names and other references to the grand jury investigation.

Baine said the release of the documents prompted him to acknowledge his role in filing the complaint with prosecutors.

He said he has traded e-mails and phone messages with Postmus since Monday but has not had an opportunity for an extensive discussion on the affidavit and the grand jury report.

Past county leaders have made ethical missteps before, most notably in the 1990s, when former top officials were prosecuted for taking bribes.

Biane said people will look back at the 1990s and see efforts by supervisors to cover up misdeeds.

"Here, it was brought to my attention and immediately turned over to the district attorney," Biane said by telephone. "There is definitely a different culture here."