Democrat Jerry Brown refuses to help San Bernardino

Jerry Brown: "Screw You."

• The city of San Bernandino voted Democrat and was rewarded with a big FU by Jerry Brown.

(San Bernardino Sun)  -  Gov. Jerry Brown has given his response to the optimistic request for help on six different fronts that Mayor Carey Davis and his allies made in a trip to Sacramento.

The answer is no.

That’s according to a news release sent by Davis’ chief of staff, Christopher Lopez, who said the city will continue to implement its bankruptcy exit plan.

Governor Jerry Brown
(AP File Photo)

A “cornerstone” of that plan, Lopez said, is contracting out for some services, including fire protection, something the city has repeatedly sought to pressure Cal Fire to provide.

“Governor Brown’s office has recently made San Bernardino aware that Cal Fire will not provide a proposal and that our additional requests will not be considered,” Lopez wrote Monday evening.

The county fire department and a private firm called Centerra did submit proposals to run the city’s Fire Department, which the city thinks could save it $7 million or more per year.

The city asked Brown to force Cal Fire to submit a bid, despite explicit refusals from the state fire agency’s chief, and for help with several other issues, in a five-page letter signed by Davis, the city manager, the city attorney and all of the City Council members except John Valdivia.

Davis and Councilwoman Virginia Marquez then lobbied the governor’s chief deputy legislative affairs director and local government adviser, with the help of bipartisan state legislators representing the area: Assemblyman Marc Steinorth, R-Rancho Cucamonga in person, and other support from Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, state Sen. Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga and state Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino.

Their requests involved a California Public Employees’ Retirement System penalty, the threatened decertification of the San Bernardino Employment and Training Agency, a loan, a bill that would facilitate contracting with county fire, help with the dissolution of the redevelopment agency, and clarification on its tax agreement with Amazon.

Brown’s office could not be reached Tuesday, while San Bernardino reportedly moved forward with its plans.

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