-The answer could very well be yes!!!!! Former Councilmen Glenn Bozar explains in his letter to the editor that, “The property owners of San Antonio Heights and Upland have won a major victory with Judge Cohn’s Statement of Decision regarding the County’s illegal annexation scheme. The Judge stated, “Thus, the geographic expansion of the service zones within the District by San Bernardino LAFCO was simply beyond its statutory authority. By doing so, San Bernardino committed a prejudicial abuse of its discretion. He further states, “That aspect of the annexation is therefore void, and the tax was improperly imposed on taxpayers within the newly annexed territory….the tax must be enjoined.” Read how the City of Upland and SB County violated property owners their State Constitutional RIGHT TO VOTE ON TAXES, in this special edition Letter To Editor, smoking hot Upland Report.
Quick recap for our readers to explain the back story, for Former Councilmen Glenn Bozar’s Letter to the Editor, below. For those that don’t know, Glenn Bozar & Debbie Stone were Upland’s mayoral candidates in 2016, most unfortunately, Debbie Stone won.
And if you didn’t know this juicy tidbit, buckle up, as this will explain a lot and enlighten everyone as to how Upland got in this bad of shape! In 2017, the City of Upland surrendered its Fire Department and all of out fire stations FOR FREE, plus a very large portion of its annual property tax revenue to SB County, who took over operations and ownership of Upland’s 111 year old Fire Department.
It was our former city council and their former Interim City Manager, Martin Thouvenell, who are responsible for that decision. All of this was done without one vote being cast by any Upland resident. This situation got even crazier, when the residents of San Antonio Heights got looped into this mess, without one vote being cast by any residents living there, either. Residents like the John and Martha Goss’ and Bob Cable (Owner of Cable Airport), plus, most of the residents of Upland were rightly outraged and a massive protest ensued. Residents signed over 5,000 protest letters against this action yet the City of Upland, as well as, SB County completely ignored them.
I love the residents of the Heights so much. They are so independent and they still believe that the little bit of freedom we still have left, is worth fighting for. Those folks aren’t afraid of a fight and they put their money where their mouth is and a lawsuit was filed on behalf of all of us. Every property owner in Upland (which is about 19,000 of us), were forced to pay an illegal annual tax, which has been added to our property tax bills. That tax started in 2018 and it was $153, plus, it was set to increase every year by an additional 3%. In the United States taxation without representation, is unconstitutional and illegal.
That lawsuit has been working its way through the courts throughout 2018. Last month, a judge made his verdict and guess what? The judge agreed with John and Martha Goss and the other residents, who had signed on as plaintiffs. Former Upland City Councilmen Glenn Bozar, explained the ramifications of this important court ruling when he spoke during the February 25th, 2019, city council meeting. That video is below and it is shocking. Former Interim City Manager Martin Thouvenell, signed an indemnification statement on behalf of the City of Upland, in the event the city lost a legal challenge regarding this issue. Glenn Bozar put Thouvenell’s statement under the overhead projector so that our new city council and all of the residents could read it.
Plus the Sentinel’s coverage regarding the judge’s opinion was masterful, as usual, here!
So without further ado, I’ll turn this report over to Upland’s Financial Watchdog, Glenn Bozar.
Glenn Bozar’s Letter To The Editor
Subject: Fire Zone Decision Favors Residents
The property owners of San Antonio Heights and Upland have won a major victory with Judge Cohn’s Statement of Decision regarding the County’s illegal annexation scheme.
The Judge stated, “Thus, the geographic expansion of the service zones within the District by San Bernardino LAFCO was simply beyond its statutory authority. By doing so, San Bernardino committed a prejudicial abuse of its discretion.” He further states, “That aspect of the annexation is therefore void, and the tax was improperly imposed on taxpayers within the newly annexed territory….the tax must be enjoined.”
The County and City of Upland violated property owners their State Constitutional right to vote on taxes.
Unfortunately for Upland residents, Upland Interim City Manager, Marty Thouvenell put residents on the hook for paying the attorney costs of the County that could approach nearly a million dollars.
Thouvenell signed a letter on December 5, 2016, agreeing to defend, indemnify, hold harmless, promptly reimburse San Bernardino LAFCO for the cost of all reasonable expenses and attorney fees. It states, “I acknowledge that the annexation to the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District may result in the imposition of taxes, fees, and assessments existing within the (city or district) on the effective date of the change of organization. I hereby waive any rights I may have under Articles XIIIC and XIIID of the State Constitution (Proposition 218) to a hearing, assessment ballot processing or election on those existing taxes, fees and assessments”.
The taxes referred to never existed in Upland or San Antonio Heights. They were special property taxes paid by residents of Helendale up in the high desert.
The Upland City Attorney likely would have reviewed and approved this letter. Upland’s New City Manager was the Deputy City Manager when she wrote the Staff reports to Upland City Council recommending the approval of this annexation scheme. They along with Mayor Debbie Stone need to be held accountable.
The newly elected City Council members need to take decisive actions to stop the further mismanagement of Upland. They need to consider if there is an opportunity to do a Request for Proposal for fire services as was done in October 2012. Unfortunately, it essentially was buried by the City Manager at that time. Council should also do an unbiased financial analysis of the feasibility and cost effectiveness of re-establishing the City Fire Department since the $2.7 million in fire stations and equipment were merely transferred to County Fire for free.
During a special City Council meeting on January 16, 2019, newly elected Councilmember Ricky Felix stated that Upland doesn’t need a financial watchdog. Lets hope Ricky and the other Council members become watchdogs on behalf of Upland residents and hold accountable the Upland officials responsible for supporting this illegal annexation scheme. Glenn Bozar ~ Upland
The Upland Report would like to thank Glenn Bozar very much for his smokin hot letter about The Upland Fire Department!
And Folks, the next Upland City Council Meeting will be on Monday night, March 11th and promises to be all kids of spicy. The Upland Report will provide a link where residents may live stream the meeting, on the top of our homepage on Mon 3/11. Then, check back on Tues 3/12 for our report on everything that happened there. Plus, if you’ve missed a minute of what the hell has gone down in the last 2 weeks, where our city employees have launched a mutiny of such an epic size and portion, it is unlike anything ever seen in the City of CorrUpland before, please read that report, HERE. That true story is so shocking, the whole town is looking to our new council to fix this immediately and as always, thank you all so very much for reading the Upland Report.
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