CITY CHARTER

Support measures to secure an orderly and simplified San Bernardino City Charter, with

provisions that enable the Mayor and the Common Council to deal with city problems efficiently, flexibly, and with responsibilities and authority clearly defined. The City Charter should:

A. Provide a framework that allows details to be placed in ordinances passed by the Mayor

and Common Council.

B. Provide a government that is responsible, representative, accountable, and responsive to

the citizens.

C. Address ethics in government.

D. Provide for succession of elected officials.

E. Contain fair, understandable election procedures.

F. Be written in lay language. G. Be accessible to all.

LIBRARIES

A. Support of local library services that are accessible and that meet the needs of all people

in the service area with basic services provided free.

B. Acquisition and convenient access to a balanced, up-to-date collection with resources in

all formats and provision of current technology available to the public.

C. Support of library funding which is stable and broad-based , including funds from local,

state, and national sources, in order to adequately finance services, staff, and facilities of public libraries and libraries in public schools and institutions of higher learning.

D. Support of cooperation among libraries.

E. Support of the American Library Association's Freedom to Read/and Freedom to View

Principles.

EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN

Support equality of opportunity for women and girls through support of:

A. An ongoing local education program to inform women of their right to nondiscriminatory

treatment in employment, credit and insurance, including freedom from sexual harassment, of the advantage of entering nontraditional field of work, and of the opportunities and need for women in legal, judicial, and other professions.

B. The availability of a wide variety of types of conveniently located affordable high quality

child-care facilities for the working parent, with all costs being tax deductible, and through encouragement of employers to provide such facilities.

C. A positive presentation in the schools, with no sex bias, of a broad spectrum of career possibilities and roles to all students at all levels.

D. Availability of equal rehabilitation and training opportunities for women offenders, with funding proportionally equal to men’s.

EDUCATION

A. Support integration of students at all levels in taxpayer-supported schools.

B. Support of measures to achieve equality of educational opportunity for all, and continual review of the measures’ effectiveness.

C. Support of efforts to employ and retain well-qualified multi-ethnic faculties and staff.

D. Support of sufficient budget allocations designed to meet the needs of each child in local

public schools, with particular attention to health, nutrition, and psychological services, literacy, visual and performing arts, multilingual and multicultural programs, technology/vocational courses at the secondary level, and to achieve a reduction in class size.

E. Support of optimum utilization of school facilities and resources in a cost-effective manner throughout the entire year.

F. Support of efforts to involve parents in the education of their children.

G. Support of strong oversight of charter schools by the appropriate school district and the

San Bernardino County Office of Education.

HEALTH CARE

A. Support of the principle that health care is not a privilege but a right of each individual

and requires planning at the federal, state and local levels.

B. Support of health education directed to all elements of the population and encompassing

a full range of preventive, therapeutic and rehabilitative practices, services and resources, with emphasis given to educating people to take responsibility for their own health.

C. Support of cooperative community planning to develop services and facilities that are lacking or in need of

D. substantial improvement

E. Support of efforts for immunization of all children.

MENTAL HEALTH

Support for the provision of adequate community mental health services, specifically:

A. Decentralized public services supplementing private services throughout the county, financed by various levels of government and available to all.

B. Nondiscriminatory health insurance which includes treatment of neurobiologically based brain disorders equal to benefits for treatment of all other physical disorders.

C. Fully qualified staff meeting high professional standards of training and competence, plus adequately trained and supervised paraprofessionals, with competitive salaries

commensurate with required levels of responsibility and qualifications.

D. Adequate licensing and monitoring standards set by the State for community care

facilities with the responsibility for implementation given to a single agency with locally based staff.

E. Inclusion in the Medi-Cal formulary of all FDA-approved new medications used for the treatment of serious mental disorders as soon as FDA approval is granted.

HOMELESSNESS

Support of the principle that a “roof over one’s head” is not a privilege but a right of each individual; therefore, we:

A. Support the establishment by local government of emergency shelter.

B. Support planning and cooperation between local government and private services

providers in order to develop a coordinated, comprehensive, long-range program of services and low-cost housing for the homeless.

C. Support a program for the homeless, including the mentally ill. This program should provide basic life-support services, such as health care, food, clothing, shelter,

rehabilitation, training and retraining, assistance in using available resources, and educational services for families.

URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING

Support for planning that addresses the social, economic, and environmental needs of San

Bernardino and its environs, with emphasis on the following governmental actions:

A. Enforcement of zoning ordinances to implement the General Plan for San Bernardino. B. Regular review and updating of the General Plan at least every five years.

C. Prevention and cure of deteriorated neighborhoods and commercial areas

D. .Evaluation and review of redevelopment plans

E. E .Dissemination of public information via all media including public access and community television.

F. Participation in regional planning as a means to solve inter-community problems.

TRANSPORTATION

Support of a balanced public transportation system which provides:

A. Multi-modal transit funded primarily by appropriate levels of government.

B. Services that are flexible and responsive to technological developments with the constraints of available resources.

C. Services that support, rather than determine, land use, that coordinate with other transportation systems, that use vigorous marketing procedures, and that meet

environmental standards.

D. Services for all residents of the metropolitan area, with particular attention to the needs of

the transit-dependent and the physically challenged.

E. E Effective means for public participation in the planning, evaluation and improvement

of the system.

WATER

Support of water management measures that are aimed at maintaining a reliable supply of safe water to meet the needs of the San Bernardino area and the environment and to maintain high water quality in the Upper Santa Ana River Watershed.