James F. Penman, who served 26 years as San Bernardino’s city attorney before being recalled in 2013, plans to run for mayor.
The 73-year-old will pull candidate papers next week, he said in a Thursday, Aug. 12, interview.
“San Bernardino has the promise,” Penman said. “The people of San Bernardino are ready for a leader who will be the kind of leader they want. And they’re deserving of that kind of leader, the kind of leader who first is going to stop the bleeding and start the recovery.”
Penman joins Helen Tran, Treasure Ortiz, Gabriel Jaramillo and Mohammad Khan in the race for the city’s top elected post.
Mayor John Valdivia and Councilman Fred Shorett have campaign committees dedicated to mayoral runs.
The primary election is scheduled for June 7, 2022.
A candidate will win the seat outright if he or she receives 50% of the vote, plus one vote, in the primary. If that threshold is not met, the top two vote-getters would square off Nov. 8, 2022, in the midterm election.
In addition to their choice for mayor, San Bernardino voters are expected to decide in the primary whether to eliminate the position at the end of Valdivia’s term in December 2022. Should a majority of voters agree to do away with the post, the seven City Council members would choose one amongst themselves to assume the role, as other cities across the region do.
San Bernardino presently operates under a council-manager form of government in which council members elected by the geographical ward in which they live serve as the legislative body and work collaboratively with a mayor elected by all residents.
An appointed city manager, meanwhile, acts as the CEO and runs City Hall.
Penman, whose campaign will be run by former Mayor Judith Valles, said this week a mayor can be strong and successful no matter the form of government.
Valles, who often butted heads with Penman during their shared time in office, concurred.
“Look at what’s happened to our town,” she said Thursday. “It’s been a disaster and it’s an embarrassment, and it’s the county seat and it should be the shining star of the Inland Empire, which it was at one time and it needs to be again. But you need somebody as mayor that’s interested and has the purpose of the city at mind and not a future political career.
“The commitment has to be there,” Valles said, “and (Penman has) the commitment. He knows what has to be done and he knows how to do it and he knows which buttons to push and he knows some people are going to get ticked off, but ultimately the city will get better.”
Penman won election as city attorney seven times and worked under five mayors during his 26 years in office.
Twice he ran for mayor and lost.
He positioned himself as an outspoken and unconventional watchdog, rooting out corruption, and while in past interviews he said he did not let politics interfere with legal work, he made plenty of enemies at City Hall.
Nearly 60% of voters recalled Penman in 2013, about a year after San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy protection.
More than seven years removed from office, the former city attorney touted his successes and laid out his plan for San Bernardino’s future.
“The vision I have will not happen in my lifetime,” he said. “But I do have a vision. … It needs to be a safe city. You don’t attract businesses when you have streets that are trashed, people begging for money on every corner and have crime the way it is.
“That’s got to stop and there are ways to do that.”
