Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Aide to former 1st District supervisor Postmus arrested

Authorities yesterday arrested a top deputy of County Assessor Bill Postmus, formerly Supervisor of the desert's 1st District including the eastern end of the Morongo Basin.

Adam Aleman, 25, was charged with six felonies, including presenting false evidence to a county grand jury and destroying public records.

Less than three hours later, that same county grand jury issued a scathing report on the operations of the assessor's office, concluding that many of the hires, including Aleman, "lacked experience or training directly associated with assessor work."

The grand jury found that employees in Postmus' executive staff engaged in political activities during normal working hours and found e-mails on the county computers arranging political meetings and soliciting campaign contributions. - Press-Enterprise

John Goritz, an assistant district attorney with the Public Integrity Unit, said the destruction of public records and vandalism charges stem from Aleman's work for Postmus when he was a county supervisor, according to the San Bernardino Sun.

Read the account in the Sun here and in the Press-Enterprise here.