Hello voters of San Bernardino County who reside in the 4th Supervisorial District. You have an opportunity to select six people who reside in the area to represent our party on its regional governing board. I have been an active participant in the activities of our county party since 2014 and would like the opportunity to be elected by the party voters of our community.
I have run two major campaigns to offer voters a Republican choice, not a watered down not as toxic Democrat for State Senate in 2014 and 2018. I have helped pass some transparency in the California Republican Party in 2021.
I am here to be a regular attendee of the meetings of the organization, make sure that we recruit and encourage our candidates who run for office as proud registered Republicans.
I would like to request those we endorse to answer a simple questionnaire that we used to do in the past and ask basic questions about their campaign, political philosophy and whether they are willing to be team players for our ticket.
Our bylaws should mean something, bylaws should not just be only suggestions. If we have policies, we should enforce those policies. If people are supposed to pay dues, they need to be paying those dues or be current on a payment plan.
Incentive for County Parties to Run Candidates in ALL Districts
By: Matthew Munson, San Bernardino County
2.01.01
Section B
Under number 9)
H) 1 delegate is awarded to county parties that contain at least five electoral districts, have all their state legislative and congressional districts run with candidates in all the elective districts that are in their county during the Top 2 primary election as a ballot qualified candidate not as a write-in.
It used to be four in my other version, but the state party leadership is squeamish about adding an increased number of delegates. The main factor is to make sure counties such as Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange have candidates running in all their districts.
#2
Section 2.01.01 Delegates
(C) Amending of delegate eligibility rules (1) Any changes to delegate membership eligibility in the bylaws shall be for the following even year election where retroactive changes shall be prohibited. Policy changes to eligibility must be made during the convention before or after the even year election to be in effect.
#3
An amendment to fix the oversight due to the proposal to strip write-in candidates from getting delegate appointments if they lose the Top 2 primary.
By Matthew Munson, San Bernardino County.
If the county party refuses to find a candidate or encourages someone to run, they do not deserve the spoils.
2.01.05.C
(2)
For a vacancy in the office of a nominee for the Member of the State Senate,
Member of the State Assembly or Member of the United States House of
Representatives, the vacancy shall be filled by the election of the
Republican County Central Committee that has the largest number of
registered Republicans within the respective Senate, Assembly or
Congressional District of any county that contains a portion of the district.
An election to fill the vacancy shall be held not later than 60 days after
notice of the vacancy is sent by the Committee to the appropriate
Republican County Central Committee or Committees. A vacancy in such
office shall be filled only by a person who is a registered Republican voter
within the Senate, Assembly or Congressional district to be represented.
Any district that did not have a ballot qualified Republican as Top Republican nominee after the general election, which leads to a vacancy for the appointment. This appointment is declared null for the rest of the term unless there is a special election.
Our San Bernardino County Party leader Phil Cothran Sr. said he raised 900,000 for candidates, but we were crying poverty as a county party with lingering debts from a failed fundraiser in 2022. They spent more energy protecting the status quo after the 2022 General Election where GOTV was aborted two weeks before the election. The problem is our chairman has a conflict of loyalty where he kept his two major political action committees and left the organization in the lurch until late Summer 2024. Campaign finance information for the county party is elusive because they keep the banking information a state secret even to committee members. The chairman unfortunately says its “none of our business”, but the health of the organization is our business as committee members, registered Republicans and political candidates alike. The other question I would like known is the 23,000 we owe the chairman finally wiped off the books since they found all this last minute money.
When we look at the tenure of the organization for the chairman’s first term, we will look at both the FEDERAL and STATE committees.
Federal 2021-2022
$56,204
Federal 2023-2024
$108,474
State ‘21
169,911
State ‘22
218,671
State ‘23
63,374
State ’24
$~275,115
Campaign finance information from FEC/FPPC
$891,000
The problem is how the money was directed. Yes, they paid for nice mailings for Josie Gonzales, but what about candidates like Nick Wilson and Carlos Garcia for example? The other problem is that candidates needed the money in October and not during the first week of November. We also need to change our leaders in Sacramento just as much as protecting any fiefdoms we may have locally.
January 2025 begins a new four-year term for the San Bernardino County Republican Party and the previous administration did not do much to help grow the party in Sacramento or Washington DC compared to Riverside County. The Phil Cothran Sr. administration led to a death of the grassroots and a sharp rise of the corporatist faction looking to sell the brand name of the party and use the preferential fundraising treatment that political parties have. The County Party did raise money, but the money was only earmarked for their preferential candidates and did not help the grassroots of the organization.
Our party still has a lingering debt with Phil Cothran Sr. largely due to a failed fundraising event in 2022. The party abandoned GOTV where there was no organized precinct walking effort to promote the party ticket unlike previous years. Voters were angry that the headquarters in Ontario was not staffed, phones were never answered, and the majority faction could care less. Candidates from both factions in the party were left to neglect such as Nick Wilson and Upland Councilman Carlos Garcia for their races for State Assembly and State Senate.
Treasurer Robert Rego and Chairman Phil Cothran are two peas in a pod where they were more worried about keeping the status quo instead of growing the San Bernardino County Republicans. They wanted to tar and feather the people who challenge their orthodoxy instead of using the money they helped to fundraise from their donors to help make Sacramento less toxic. Over 110 thousand dollars was spent to challenge another Republican Mark Gibboney in the Cucamonga Water District board race that covered both Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga because they wanted more of their allies such as the daughter of the mayor of Fontana to replace the people who challenge them. Good money wasted that could have been used in State Senate District 29 or Assembly District 53 to have a party mailer or more canvassers to reach out to the communities.
The county party is now literally a smoke-filled room of people tied to other politicians, and they do not want the little people in. When Riverside County is likely to gain two Republican state legislators in Assembly District 36 and 58, San Bernardino County is not making any progress. The next administration needs to start rebuilding the organization from deep neglect where it’s only an organization in paper only. We need to start paying Phil Cothran Sr back, we need to start raising money for a permanent staff member and raise money for a serious 2026 GOTV campaign since the governor race is going to be an open seat election. No longer is the time for us to abdicate ground to the Democratic Party like how Phil Cothran Sr. gave away Assembly District 50 to the Democrats with his DINO buddy Adam Perez in Fontana.
If you are part of the grassroots of the Republican Party, you are invited to participate in organizations such as the San Bernardino County Patriots and the California Republican Assembly. You are wanted in those organizations, and it is time to bring the fight so we can be unified. Without money and the grassroots together, our success will be a hurdle.
Welcome to my 2024 General Election voter guide for Ontario, California.
We will do local races from state legislature on down.
Assembly District 53
Nick Wilson
Nick is a decent man who deserves a chance at this state legislative seat. With a heavy Democratic Party majority, we can afford to take a chance on him so we can have new perspectives on law-and-order issues and issues such as the price of gasoline.
Congressional District 35
Mike Cargile
Mike may be a different type of political candidate than most are used to, but he wants to make our district better. He is fed up with his opponent’s horrible policies on foreign affairs where his opponent wants to use the federal government to overthrow politicians in Central America. He is also not happy with the immigration issues which our current presidential administration has failed to vet many of our migrants. His opponent does not want people who are here illegally who commit crimes against police, fire and first responders to be deported in H.R 7343. Norma has been an apologist for open borders since she became a politician, and we need someone who can U-turn this ship around.
City CouncilDistricts 1 and 4.
Personally, I am not pleased by either faction of the city council, but 2026 has time for us to choose better. I do not want progressives to be in our city council because they will be the next state legislators and congressional members that will represent our community.
I am not happy with the current faction either. We need a fiscal audit and work with the County Auditor and also private sector auditing firms to make sure our tax money is used effectively. If our tax money is not being used effectively, I would support a reduction of the sales tax increase.
I am not for Raquel due to the fact that I was not a big fan of her father. I am not supporting Luis because he basically threw poop at the Republican leaning electorate telling them that it’s a bad idea to vote for him. Joseph is an unknown quantity where I am led to support the status quo of Ontario for this election.
Debra Porada is my choice. For those who live in District 1.
Then we go to District 4, Norberto Corona has a law enforcement background, Andrea Galvan is going to be as left as Connie Leyva, Celina Lopez seems decent as a community activist, but I can see her being as progressive as Andrea. Daisy Macias seems to be more like a Baca Family type candidate that will not rock the boat. Jose M Nikyar may have signs, but he does not have a web presence or visibility to show the voters what is his agenda.
If I lived in District 4, I would either go with Norberto or Daisy Macias.
School Board Races
Some races were uncontested so they are not on the ballot, but I will list all the school board races that voters in Ontario, California will vote in.
Chino Valley Unified School District area
Trustee Area 1:
John Andrew Cervantes
Mountain View School District Bond
Measure H: NO
San Bernardino County Board of Education Seat C (Ontario portions of Chino Unified and Mountain View school district)
Maria Arias
Cucamonga School District Trustee Area 2 (area bordering Rancho Cucamonga eg: 4th and Turner)
Los Angeles is not London and their dreams of getting Southern Californians into public transportation will be a big problem. The goal is safety. If the system is not safe people are not going to patronize the service. We have three years to make an impression for the Olympics, and it will be evident that our politicians will be falling behind. As someone who wants to minimize gasoline consumption and save on parking when traveling to Los Angeles for cultural events, it makes me question the safety for other passengers and the agency operators who drive the buses when you meet some of the clientele that will make choice riders reconsider using public transit.
It is unfortunate that people who utilize public transit must develop awareness when dealing with people who might end up having severe mental disabilities such as schizophrenia where you risk the possibility of being assaulted or deal with uncomfortable voices in the heads of those individuals. Yes, those individuals do deserve access to public transportation, but unchecked mental illness is a liability to the public and the individuals themselves. I want those individuals to be self-sufficient as possible where they will not be on the street such as a communal assisted living facility depending on their condition. I agree that we need to link these people who may be homeless and or have chronic medical conditions to services, but transit should not be an unofficial homeless shelter either.
Gating the rail facilities is a good idea, but it also requires more staffing. If people have the money or access to use the services, they are not as likely to harass other customers and vandalism is reduced. I did see staffing when I went to Union Station at 5pm to take the B line to Hollywood where a service clerk and a security officer were talking to the customer who did not have a TAP card that they are not going to be given access. Staffing ratios need to be looked over in other agencies such as Washington DC and New York City to make sure there is coverage as needed to help reinforce the new policies.
For the night owl routes for Metro and Foothill Transit, I think having security at least on 50% of the trips from 11p-6am would be ideal. And places such as the upstairs bus bay at the transit plaza in Union Station should be patrolled at least once every 30 minutes for 2–3-minute stop over late at night. A call box is helpful, but it’s only one part of the solution.
I used public transportation regularly in my teenage years until my mid thirties until I attained my first car, but if we want to keep up regular ridership and encourage choice riders to give it a chance, we need to push the safety issue big time.
We are heading off to the General Election and I am here to talk about county party endorsements for the San Bernardino County Republican Party in the Rancho Cucamonga/Fontana area. The party is not exactly looking for the best person to represent the common people who live in those cities, but those who would be subservient to the power games involved. It is about preservation of the dynamics that brought in the leadership of the failing organization which is stagnant in donations only for their chosen candidates in Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga running for school board, water board and city council and to preserve the re-election of the status quo San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors members.
Do not blindly vote simply because the county party endorses the candidate. Ask deeper questions to the candidate and or their campaign. See what other individuals and organizations endorse a particular candidate. It feels like the movie Mean Girls than what a political party should be. We should not be opposing candidates because of grudges; it should be about how he or she may be delivering solutions to the people of our communities. Look into the endorsement list of the Rancho Cucamonga Republican Assembly as well before you make your vote starting in October in California.
Our county party decided to choose a water board candidate who does not have any deep life experience except for the public policy knowledge of her mother. Our county party chose to endorse a school board candidate that believes the low-test scores of his district are acceptable. Our county party chose a city council candidate that can be controlled by developers instead of the people.
I am not anti-development, but development should be based on the quality of how the plans are made for a particular project and not approved by default.
By now many people in our county in particular District 2 of San Bernardino County are getting mailers saying that the Chairman’s faction is doing a respectable job, and we should vote for him and his six compatriots.
However, it can be shown that San Bernardino County Republican Party is poorly managed.
We are in debt for over 24 thousand dollars and no active plan as of writing of how to repay our chairman back.
Questionable endorsements of local officials who have endorsed Democrats for state legislature when we have a Republican in Assembly District 53 running in the March 2024 election.
Chairman actively supports Democrats in his personal PAC against Republicans running for these offices.
County Party uses its own money to attack fellow Republicans in Republican v Republican general election races.
After paying for these attack ads, we ran out of money to get out the vote programs for the rest of our ticket.
Fired key staff weeks before General Election 2022 ended.
To conclude, Special Interests are buying out the party to get their way while the party suffers.They buy their way with attack mailers while our treasury runs dry. Imagine what the almost 40 thousand dollars used to defend the chairman’s fifedom could have done for our party with voter registration, get out the vote and other operations.
If you are fed up of this dog and pony show, please vote for these candidates for District 2:
Mary Heil, Robert Fekay, Agnes Gibboney, Mark Gibboney, Luis Cetina, Catherine Lara, Malene Lee
District 4: Please vote for Carol Houghton, Jeff Holle, Toni Holle, Matthew Munson and Robert Tormey.
We are the organizational body that raises money to get out the vote, educate voters about legislation and candidates, recruit candidates to run for office when we do not have potential candidates running for office on their own, we endorse candidates and ballot measures.
We have favorable campaign finance treatment which makes this organization a vital group for fundraising and that is why developers are looking to buy off the committee so our seal of approval can rubber stamp their choices.
What have we failed to do in the last two years?
We failed to meet regularly in 2023 when in the summertime we took two months off. We had a very divisive county supervisor race which divided the party where the grassroots are not going to open their wallets. We went broke in the November 2022 election where we had to lay off two staffers before the election ended because we sold the store just to get the chairman’s pick for county supervisor.
The chairman says he can raise the money, but where is the money? He has a nexus of political action committees even several where he is not a direct principal officer of. It is even embarrassing when Los Angeles County Republican Party which has been more dysfunctional than the San Bernardino County Party ending up hosting fundraisers now to pay for the costly election related activities. When I saw that Los Angeles County had a fundraiser with James O’Keefe, it enraged me to write a long article in the San Bernardino Sentinel about the disappointing state of our county party.
We need to grow the party by asking NPP voters who used to be Republican to come back home as what Orange County is doing right now. We need to return to having social mixers bi-monthly in various parts of the county. We need to have an action segment at each major county party meeting where each supervisorial district would work towards its own programming and other efforts to accomplish as what the previous chair did during our meetings.
We gave the incumbent chairman an opportunity to change from the issues that are making our party fall behind on such as the money we owe him. It is our concern and our business that we owe you this money. We want you to be paid off as soon as possible so we do not have to worry about that fiscal obligation. If you want to carry 20k loans in your personal political action committee, you be you.
People right now are being subletted as staffers by the chairman where they work part time on party activities, but we need party staffers that work full time on party business. We will get numerous phone calls in the general election from confused voters who need guidance as what happened in 2020 and 2022.
I desire for the next generation of leadership to be more responsive to the electorate and the activists of our county. We must work together as a team no matter what happens after March 5th of 2024. After this election we should not be focusing on purges or grudges and try to have some sort of unity. We should be fighting the ideas of people like Eloise Reyes instead.
County parties have two committees, one for state and local races and one for federal political advocacy. I previously mentioned the state campaign committee results for the San Bernardino County Republican Party and now we are looking at the federal committee filings.
Here are the comparisons: County to the Cash on Hand at the end of 2023.
San Bernardino
-$186.66
Riverside
$15,347
Ventura
$8,212.28
San Diego
$21,440
Federal Report at the end of 2023 year end numbers.
