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NEWS
From the County of
San Bernardino
www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2001
For more information, contact
County Public Information Officer
David Wert
(909) 387-4082
dwert@cao.co.san-bernardino.ca.us
Supervisors
address ethics, health care and the needy
The following are highlights from
today’s meeting of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors:
Supervisors ratify letter to district attorney and propose ordinance
The San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors today signed on to a letter sent by Board Chairman Fred Aguiar to
District Attorney Dennis Stout asking the district attorney to publicly address
his department’s activities as described in transcripts recently released by
the courts.
The Board also directed County
Counsel to draft an ordinance outlining the responsibilities of county elected
officials in their roles as department heads and managers.
The transcripts of conversations
between a candidate in last year’s elections, the district attorney and two of
the department’s officials suggest that the district attorney’s office assisted
the candidate in his efforts to win an election. Supervisor Jerry Eaves was out
of town today representing the county’s interests in Washington, D.C., and was
not present for the vote ratifying Chairman Aguiar’s letter.
The letter sent by Chairman Aguiar
last week and ratified by the Board today reads as follows:
“As you are well aware, the San Bernardino
Superior Court earlier this month released transcripts relative to the conduct
of your office, particularly the obvious attempts to assist a candidate in last
year’s election.
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San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors
March 6, 2001
Page 2
“I appreciate the District
Attorney’s role in criminal investigations and do not wish to influence or
interfere with your decisions as the county’s chief prosecutor. At the same
time, in your role as District Attorney, you have an ethical obligation to
demonstrate to the public that your office’s activities are conducted in the
interests of justice alone. It is apparent that District Attorney employees
have engaged in activities that have led the Board and the public to question
the integrity and professionalism of your office. Whether you directly
participated in these activities or merely directed or authorized your staff to
engage in them may not be entirely clear. However, the fact remains that the
actions of your department have damaged the public’s trust in both your office
and the County in general.
“The transcripts indicate that
your employees believed they had your permission to assist in political
campaign efforts as long as their efforts were not exposed. The mere indication
that these high-ranking managers verbally acknowledged that what they intended
to do would damage the public’s trust makes their activities an outrage.
“The public is gravely concerned
that you may have ordered or at the very least condoned the unethical actions
of your employees. We as elected public officials should be working to restore
the public’s confidence in County government. You must take immediate action to
repair the damage to the public trust.
“Over the past few years the Board
has put in place numerous checks and balances to guide governmental
decision-making. The County’s codes of ethics set forth expectations of
professional conduct so that we may continually earn the public’s respect and
confidence. The actions by your department undermine this effort.
“On the public’s behalf, I request
that you, as the elected District Attorney, explain to the Board and to the
public what you will do to address this violation of the public’s trust and
ensure that something like this will never happen again. I will ask the Board
during our March 6 meeting to ratify the sentiments expressed in this letter.
Further, I ask that you respond to this request by March 13.”
Board approves system to guarantee quality patient care
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors today authorized
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center to purchase, install and maintain a new
computer system vital to patient care.
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San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors
March 6, 2001
Page 3
The agreement with Medical Information Technology Inc. is $4.5 million
less over three years than the second-lowest proposer. It calls for $5.4
million to MEDITECH for software configuration, installation, and maintenance,
$588,368 for hardware configuration, installation and maintenance, and $665,752
for hardware.
Many of the systems currently in place at the Medical Center are either
antiquated or have been discontinued. One of these discontinued systems is the
Laboratory System, which is vital to patient care.
Sixteen
vendors responded to a call for proposals. A multidisciplinary task force made
up of Medical Center employees and physicians from a variety of hospital
departments evaluated each vendor's response. In addition, MDBuyline and WSCA
were consulted to determine if competitive pricing structures were being
presented with each bid. The top four candidates were notified and scheduled
for demonstrations of the modules they bid upon as part of the call for
proposals. All hospital employees, including physicians, were invited to attend
and help evaluate the vendors based on their demonstrations. Completed RFP
demonstration surveys were collected and categorized. All raw data was entered
and categorically summarized. Initial rankings were based upon the total number
of modules offered.
The final rankings were derived from the demonstration scores as well as
the cost of each system. As a result of the review of the demonstrations,
number of modules offered, and cost associated with each vendor's system,
MEDITECH was chosen as the vendor for the new system.
Board funds medical care for the needy
The San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors today directed $30,000 in federal funding to the non-profit
Al-Shifa Clinic in Muscoy to provide free health clinic services to low-and
moderate-income residents through Oct. 31, 2001.
Each year the county receives an
entitlement grant under the Community Development Block Grant program to allow
the funding of activities that benefit low-and moderate-income people. During
the preparation of the county’s annual CDBG program application, interested
groups, including community-based organizations, submit applications to receive
funding for specific projects.
After an initial evaluation by
county staff on CDBG program eligibility, project proposals are submitted to
the Board of Supervisors for funding consideration. The list of approved
project proposals is submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development in the form of an annual CDBG Action Plan.
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San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors
March 6, 2001
Page 4
Supervisors advance work on Santa Ana River
trail project
The San Bernardino County Board of
Supervisors today approved a $651,867 contract with Tetra Tech, Inc. to act as
an engineering consultant to the development of the Santa Ana River Trail from
the Riverside/San Bernardino county line to Waterman Avenue in the Colton and
San Bernardino area.
On May 9, 2000, the Board of
Supervisors approved an agreement with San Bernardino Associated Governments to
accept a $3.5 million grant to construct a 3.5-mile section of the Santa Ana
River from La Cadena Drive to Waterman Avenue in the Colton/San Bernardino
area. Construction will consist of developing a bikeway, equestrian and hiking
trail, five under-crossings and one bridge.
Also, on Sept. 26, 2000, the board
agreed to submit a $200,000 grant application to the California Department of
Parks and Recreation. These funds, which the county expects the state will
approve, would be applied toward the completion of a 3.3-mile segment of the
trail between the Riverside/San Bernardino county line and La Cadena Drive.
This segment would consist of a 10-foot wide asphalt bike trail, an adjoining
equestrian trail, and one bridge ramp at Riverside Avenue.
Upon their completion, these two sections
of the Santa Ana River Trail will provide opportunities for hiking, bicycling,
horse back riding and nature studies.
The development of the Santa Ana
River Trail requires a qualified engineering consultant to perform
design-related services, such as conducting a thorough investigation and
reconnaissance of the project site, evaluating all existing site conditions,
preparing construction documents necessary for development, performing aerial
topographic mapping, providing a comprehensive estimate of probable costs, and
submitting a report and recommendations regarding the trail to the county
Regional Parks Division.
On Dec. 5, 2000, the Board of
Supervisors authorized staff to solicit proposals for the engineering work. The
county received proposals from five firms. The top three firms were invited to
make oral presentations to a review panel from Regional Parks, the Flood
Control District, the Transportation Division and a senior transportation
planner from the Riverside County Transportation Department. The panel selected
Tetra Tech as the top firm based on its written and oral presentation, work on
similar projects and experience working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
and CalTrans.
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