Residents to protest mayor’s veto of $2M plan to clear Oxbow site
John Valdivia says crushing the concrete will be a money saver
A group of San Bernardino residents plans to gather at City Hall today to protest Mayor John Valdivia’s recent veto of a City Council decision to pull $2 million from reserves to remove a massive pile of broken concrete from the Oxbow site in the northern part of town.
The rally is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
Four council members favored the nuisance-abatement plan two weeks ago, but Valdivia overruled the decision, as he can any item approved by fewer than five elected officials.
Policymakers will consider their options Wednesday.
“Residents have learned that the Mayor took thousands of dollars in political contributions from the developer and demolition company that dumped the concrete” and was involved in the creation of the temporaryuse permit, City Hall watchdog and mayoral candidate Treasure Ortiz said in an email.
According to campaign finance documents, on July 14, about six weeks after flames destroyed a 600,000-squarefoot warehouse in Redlands, Eric Cernich, principal at Oxbow Partners and the previous owner of the Palm Avenue site in northern San Bernardino, donated $750 to Valdivia’s legal defense fund, established to defend the mayor “in any governmental or legal proceeding or inquiry related to or arising out of recent complaints” filed by former employees.
On July 15, city records show, the Community and Economic Development Department issued Oxbow Partners a temporary-use permit to stockpile material at the Oxbow property. The Public Works Department subsequently issued a hauling permit to allow heavy trucks to bring material to the site.
Over the summer, semitrucks hauling concrete chunks from the Redlands warehouse repeatedly dumped the debris atop Palm Avenue, concerning Verdemont residents for any number of reasons.
Campaign finance documents show Cernich donated another $750 to Valdivia’s legal defense fund on Sept. 8. Two weeks later, Cernich donated $1,000 to Valdivia’s 2022 mayoral campaign.
On Sept. 28, this news organization published a story about the concrete being stockpiled at the Oxbow property.
A day later, county records show, Irvine-based developer Pacific Coast International Group acquired the land from Oxbow Partners. The company has not contributed to Valdivia’s defense fund or mayoral campaign.
In response to the mayor’s veto on April 8, Councilman Ben Reynoso, whose 5th Ward includes the Oxbow site, wrote on his Facebook page that Valdivia “has taken thousands from developers associated with this project.”
In a statement last week, Valdivia said Reynoso “falsely accused me of being influenced by campaign contributions from the developer” and added that he vetoed the council’s decision because “the developer — not city residents — should pay the cleanup costs.”
“My solution will save city taxpayers an immediate $2 million and require the developer to pay the costs for on-site grinding and grading,” Valdivia added. “It holds the developer accountable to safe building standards which are included in the original intent of the local development plan.”
Reynoso also has said the city should not have to pay anything to clear the property. But, he argued in an April 5 tweet, the concrete would stay there for years if city leaders waited for the developer “to do the right thing.”
In lieu of removing the concrete, Valdivia has proposed allowing the developer to crush the material on-site before processing it into the soil as landfill for a planned housing complex. Councilman Theodore Sanchez originally pitched such a solution two weeks ago, but did not receive enough support to move that plan forward.
City leaders on Wednesday will consider rekindling that discussion at a later date.
The City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday via web conference.