Supervisor Candidate Asks What's Important to You?

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Tribal Chairman James Ramos last week sent out a mailer asking residents in San Bernardino County’s Third District what issues are important to them.

Ramos is running for the district seat. The questionnaire may help position him as an “issues candidate.” Currently, Ramos is fending off accusations by current Supervisor Neil Derry, who claims Ramos and the tribal leaders are lax on crime.

The survey lists five questions that you can read by . The mailer includes a letter and promotional brochure.

“As a small business owner, and a member of the San Bernardino Community College Board of Trustees, I have found that the best leaders, in both business and government, are the ones who listen,” Ramos writes in the letter.

He also asks for support.

Derry, took his concerns about Ramos to The Sun newspaper. He submitted a response to an editorial that criticized the supervisor for a flier distributed by his campaign that, according to several news reports, accuses Ramos of ties to gangs and drugs.

The Supervisor's letter to the editor reads in part:

“And as a longtime resident who grew up in the neighborhood surrounding the casino and who has represented it for 12 years, I can personally attest to the damage that it has created.

“I stand strongly behind the facts presented in my campaign flier.

“James Ramos was part of the tribal leadership during the "killer for hire" scandal where two tribal members received a slap on the wrist for their serious crimes;

“Investigators from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency have expressed written concerns about Mexican Mafia influence at the San Manuel reservation and their extortion of tribal members who receive $100,000 per month in casino income without even having to work.”