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El Chicano 02/05/26

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EL CHICANo Weekly

Vol 63, NO. 18

February 05, 2026

San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran Vetoes Council Vote to End Mayoral Primaries, Create Council-Selected Mayor

IECN.com

San Bernardino Receives $1.031 Million in Federal Funds to Expand the Use of Tech in the Police Department Pg. 3

PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL San Bernardino City Councilmembers, from left, Sandra Ibarra, Kim Knaus, Theodore Sanchez, Treasure Ortiz, Mayor Helen Tran, Juan Figueroa, Mario Flores and Fred Shorett, listening to public comment during a Feb. 2 special meeting.

By Manny Sandoval

A

sweeping proposal to restructure San Bernardino’s city government was halted Monday night, Feb. 2nd, after Mayor Helen Tran vetoed a 4–3 City Council vote that would have moved a charter amendment toward the June 2, 2026 ballot. The last-minute special meeting, held at Feldheym Central Library, drew more than 200 residents who overwhelmingly

People’s State of the City Highlights Gaps in Riverside’s “Leveling Up” Vision

opposed the proposal, which would have ended the city’s directly elected mayor’s office and replaced it with a mayor chosen from the council. The measure also proposed City Council term limits of three consecutive terms beginning with officials elected in 2026. Despite hours of public testimony warning against what speakers described as a rushed and anti-democratic process, Mayor Pro Tem Kim Knaus and Councilmembers Theodore Sanchez, Fred Shorett and Juan

Figueroa voted to move the measure forward. Immediately after the vote, Tran vetoed the action. “And as the at large mayor per the charter, I can veto 4-3, I am vetoing this action. And this is the power of the people. I am exercising the right that you all have called us to do,” Tran said. SB Special Meeting, Cont. on next pg.

Aguilar Calls for Noem’s Removal After Ruiz Says Adelanto ICE Facility Barred Oversight Visit

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Happy Black History Month! Pg. 8

PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL Rep. Dr. Raul Ruiz speaks at a Jan. 28 news conference in downtown San Bernardino, describing how Adelanto ICE officials denied him entry for an oversight visit despite his office sending advance notice emails and receiving no confirmation.

By Manny Sandoval

Inland Empire Community Newspapers Office: (909) 381-9898 Editorial: iecn1@mac.com Advertising: iecn1@mac.com Legals : iecnlegals@gmail.com

R

ep. Pete Aguilar opened an emergency press conference in downtown San Bernardino on Jan. 28 with four demands for the Trump administration: remove Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, halt federal immigration operations in Minnesota and Maine, bar the Department of Homeland Security from interfering in investigations

PHOTO MANNY SANDOVAL Rep. Pete Aguilar speaks during a Jan. 28 press conference across from the ICE field office in downtown San Bernardino, calling for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s removal and sweeping ICE reforms.

into the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and pass reforms aimed at stricter accountability for immigration enforcement. “DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must be fired or we will remove her through impeachment,” Aguilar said. Aguilar, joined by Rep. Mark Takano and Rep. Dr. Raul Ruiz, delivered the message from across the street from the ICE field

office, alongside immigrant-rights advocates including the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. Aguilar framed the press conference around what he described as a rapidly escalating pattern of violence by federal ICE, cont. next pg.


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