McEachron hire on ambitious transportation project met with caution

Sept. 29--The conditional hire of a former Victorville City Councilman to serve as a part-time special projects coordinator on an ambitious transportation project has stirred a range of reactions, from endorsement to caution to outright protest.

"I'm averse to anything that would bring controversy," said Josie Gonzales, San Bernardino County 5th District supervisor, before declaring she would ultimately back the hire of Ryan McEachron.

"But I will also be the first to say that if things go awry, if things go sideways, if I see that there is any cronyism or self-interests or tit-for-tat, you know, some back-slapping going on," she qualified, "I will be the first to call him out and say he's got to go, because it is important that we continue to be transparent and also that we be progressive in that direction."

McEachron, who served on the Victorville City Council from 2008 to 2016, was appointed Tuesday to an inter-governmental relations advocacy role for the High Desert Corridor, a proposed multi-modal link connecting the Victor and Antelope valleys.

The hire is contingent on the majority approval of the eight-member joint powers authority.

He will be paid a nearly $100,000 annual salary for, on average, 20.5 hours of work per week -- terms that officials said were earmarked for the role in the 2008 joint powers budget.

Because the gig will end when the fiscal year does, in about eight months, he'll actually see a little more than $68,000, according to county documents. The county's share of his compensation is roughly $23,875, while the corridor JPA will pick up the remaining cost.

"He has a breadth of knowledge that I think will complement this position," said Josh Candelaria, the county's director of Governmental and Legislative Affairs, in describing the choice to pick McEachron.

The insurance business owner and former Congressional hopeful served as Victorville's representative to the corridor JPA throughout both his council terms.

He was also a delegate to Southern California Association of Governments and had been president of the then-called San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG), currently known as the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority.

Candelaria acknowledged only three candidates were internally vetted for the position, noting how the contract length, combined with the required skill set, had narrowed their options.

"So you can imagine, I think with that as the particular framework," he explained, "it's a little bit difficult to find a candidate with the expertise."

But the conditional hire has set off at least a mild controversy, drawing sharp criticism from opponents over the county's failure to formally recruit for the unclassified position, which opened up three months ago following a retirement, and for the close connection between McEachron and county Supervisors Chairman Robert Lovingood.

Lovingood abstained from Tuesday's unanimous vote, citing "an abundance of cautiousness," and declined to comment for this story, deferring instead to Candelaria's comments.

The ties between Lovingood and McEachron, a focal point for critics, are well known.

McEachron donated $4,650 to Lovingood's re-election campaign last year. His insurance company, ISU Insurance Services -- ARMAC Agency, counts as a client the staffing agency owned by Lovingood and his wife.

And the two were also top administrators together on SANBAG.

"I know Robert Lovingood has a special friendship with Mr. McEachron," said Victorville Councilwoman Blanca Gomez, a surprise show-up to board chambers, "and the vote of politicians here would make it seem they were favoring Mr. McEachron."

Gomez was the highest-profiled of several public commenters during the board meeting to lambast the conditional hire.

Candelaria, when prompted, insisted any potential conflicts of interest had already been addressed.

"We had a long conversation," he said. "Those are issues that we specifically spoke at lengths to."

In a phone conversation with the Daily Press on Thursday, McEachron expressed a similar sentiment, dismissing the resistance to his appointment, the level of which had caught him somewhat off-guard, as "clearly politically driven."

In addition to stepping down as an alternate member to the Local Agency Formation Commission, he said he would also quit the consulting firm he had begun with former Hesperia Mayor Eric Schmidt.

The firm mostly dealt with shepherding clients through development and entitlement processes.

As for his initial interest to be the special projects coordinator, a role which will include coordinating with other agencies and identifying funding opportunities for the corridor, McEachron said it was two-fold.

He had been aware of his predecessor's pending retirement during his time on the JPA and he later met with Candelaria on a couple of occasions.

"Obviously, there are some folks that don't want to see me continue to be involved, which is sad," he said, suggesting his track record has proven he can adeptly juggle running a business while working with a government agency. "I believe I bring value to this process, which is one of the reasons I was chosen."

Days before his conditional appointment, however, the blogosphere and social media were publicizing it, which likely contributed to the board meeting's cautious tenor.

Joseph Turner, executive director of anti-illegal immigration nonprofit, American Children First, chastised McEachron in a news release sent to regional reporters Sunday as a "wannabe career politician addicted to eating out of the government trough."

Turner also drew parallels between McEachron's conditional hire and Fred Aguiar who, while serving as Lovingood's chief policy advisor, was contractually stipulated to work 18.5 hours per week for an annual salary of $122,700.

Lovingood staunchly defended the hire at the time, pointing to Aguiar's value as documented and worth it.

Shea Johnson can be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.

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