06 Oct Judge Donald R. Alvarez rules against Measure K
In November 2020, more than two-thirds of San Bernardino County voters approved Measure K. This initiative set compensation for elected county supervisors, who had already changed their duties to require just one meeting every two weeks, to $5,000 per month and limited supervisors to one, four-year term.
The intent of this grass-roots effort was to change the incentives to serve as an elected official within San Bernardino County. Proponents wanted to stop the re-election money that runs through the county, and to make politics about service, not the paycheck. Measure K was endorsed by more than two-thirds of the voter in the 2020 election. This was the largest vote ever for a charter amendment in San Bernardino County.
In a rush to protect their own self-interests, and against the clear wishes of the people, the Board of Supervisors sued to overturn Measure K. Before the results of the election were even certified, the Board requested an injunction to halt Measure K. Superior Court Judge Donald R. Alvarez granted a temporary restraining order and then plodded for ten months to finally release a decision in this highly controversial election matter.
In his final ruling, Judge Alvarez sided with big government. While acknowledging Measure K’s proponents had the core legal argument correct, Judge Alvarez opted to settle for an outlandish legal argument to justify handing a loss to San Bernardino County voters.
Tom Murphy, a representative for The Red Brennan Group and party to a related case provided a short statement. “Time and again California courts ignore clearly written law. The number of cases where the judicial system uses tortured logic and opaque reasoning to twist the clear meaning of the text of the law is appalling. We will appeal this decision and expect to win on appeal. While the local economy falters and prices increase, county government continues to waste citizens’ tax dollars on self-interested legal maneuvering. The people have clearly spoken. Fortunately, we believe there is another way to achieve this end. We encourage voters is turn out any supervisor running for reelection while this case winds through the courts. In turn, local citizens who demonstrate through their actions they have the public interest at heart should be voted into office. We will back multiple citizen candidates from all political viewpoints in an effort to rid the county of the self-serving corruption that continues in our county.”
Additional articles of interest (updated 10/12/21):
Supervisors Pay Reduction And Term Limiting Measure K Ruled Unenforceable