San Bernardino
On Thursday, January 23, 2020 the California Supreme Court ruled that San Bernardino County Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe can hold on to her controversial appointment to the board—at least, for now. Rowe was initially appointed to fill the position on the Board of Supervisors (BOS) in December 2018 after former Third District Supervisor James Ramos was elected to the State Assembly. Her appointment was quickly challenged in court by a local political advocacy group who claimed the BOS violated the Ralph M. Brown Act (opening meeting law) during the process of selecting Rowe to fill the position. On September 18, 2019, the Superior Court of San Bernardino ruled that the 2018 appointment of Supervisor Dawn Rowe was a violation of the Brown Act and “null and void.” Earlier this month an appellate court judge had ruled Rowe must step down from her seat and the BOS was expected to rescind her controversial appointment during its regularly scheduled meeting on January 28. As a result, there was an expectation Governor Gavin Newsom would appoint someone to the Third District seat until the March primary when the voters will have an opportunity to select a new supervisor from a slate of candidates competing for the position—including Rowe. Because the county is appealing the lower court ruling, it asked that Rowe be allowed to retain her seat while the appeal moves forward. Now that the Supreme Court has granted its request, the BOS will not consider rescinding Rowe’s appointment at its January 28 meeting as originally planned.
