$102 million settlement draws unwanted scrutiny

Ty Sat Jul 25, 2009 3:03 pm

San Bernardino DA says county investigation includes $102 million Colonies settlement

Posted: 07/24/2009 03:54:08 PM PDT

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos' office on Friday issued an expanded response to a county supervisor's demand for an investigation into Ramos' conduct with female colleagues and subordinates.
Ramos' statement contends that such an inquiry would interfere with his own office's investigation into political corruption within the county.

"If the Board Supervisors chooses to initiate an investigation, the District Attorney and this Office will fully cooperate. However, the timing of this request for an investigation concerns us," reads the statement.

"The public should be aware that the focus of our ongoing investigation includes the $102 million Colonies settlement approved by the Board in 2006, and the effort to transfer 1200 acres of County land to developers in the Rancho Cucamonga area in 2009. Members of the Board and their staffs, and other County employees have already been interviewed, and the Board is fully aware of our inquiry," the statement continues.

Third District Supervisor Neil Derry requested an investigation of Ramos on Thursday.

I'll bet Joe Baca and Gary Miller are sweating bullets right about now. Probably not but we shall see how much chutzpah Mr. Ramos has.