Supervisor Janice Rutherford leaves job amid accolades
After 12 years, Janice Rutherford has served her last day as San Bernardino County supervisor.
“I have so enjoyed the opportunity to be an elected official,” Rutherford said Tuesday at her final Board of Supervisors meeting.
She was grateful to step away “having accomplished so much that was on my to-do list when I got elected to this office,” she said. “To look back and realize how many things are left undone is a message that each of us are only here for a brief period of time. We do the best we can while we're in the seat, and we turn it over to the next (supervisor).”
First elected to represent the Second District in 2010, Rutherford is term-limited out of office in early January. Prior to her election, she spent 10 years on the Fontana City Council.
On Tuesday, Rutherford thanked her constituents, “whether they voted for me or not.”
They “allowed me to serve them, gave me information, taught me about their neighborhoods and their needs, and allowed me to grow in the capacity of their representative,” she said.
On Tuesday, her fellow board members saluted her.
“When I came on, eight years ago now, she was my mentor,” board Chairman Curt Hagman said. “She helped me through those months to get up to speed.”
He called her an “inspiration” for her work with the students in the Second District Youth Council, charter reform and efforts to make county government more open and transparent.
“I wish I had more time with you,” Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe said.
“You truly know what it means to be a public servant,” Fifth District Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. said. “She really takes the time to go out there and listen to what (constituents) have to say and really tries to address concerns.”
First District Supervisor Paul Cook was not in attendance at Tuesday's meeting.
While it was Rutherford's last meeting, it was only the end of Hagman's second term. On Tuesday, he was ceremonially sworn back in for his third term, representing the Fourth District, which includes Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Ontario and parts of Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. Hagman handily won the June 8 pri
mary election, defeating state Sen. Connie Leyva and Larry Wu.
Jesse Armendarez, who won the Nov. 8 election to replace Rutherford in the Second District, will have a ceremonial swearing-in on Dec. 29, according to county spokesperson David Wert.
Both Hagman’s and Armendarez’s terms formally begin at noon on Jan. 2.
“That peaceful transition of power, it’s what
makes us unique in the world,” Rutherford said of American politics. “Let’s embrace that, and support that, and encourage that.”
In February, Rutherford left the GOP after the party censured Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, and Adam Kinzinger, RIllinois, for criticizing former President Donald Trump and for participating in the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.
The next scheduled Board of Supervisors meeting is Jan. 10.