San Bernardino County assessor is arrested on drug charges

San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus, who said publicly that he had battled but overcome drug addiction, was arrested Thursday on charges that include felony possession of methamphetamine.

About 50 agents from the county district attorney’s office, armed with 10 search warrants, raided locations in San Bernardino, Highland, Apple Valley, Victorville and Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County. When they entered Postmus’ Rancho Cucamonga home, they found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, officials said. Postmus was arrested and released on $11,450 bail.

Agents also searched the office of James Erwin, chief of staff for newly elected county Supervisor Neil Derry.

A longtime associate of Postmus, Erwin is a former assistant assessor and once headed the San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies union. Susan Mickey, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, declined to provide details but said the investigation was ongoing.

The arrest comes after Postmus, 37, made a surprise appearance before the county Board of Supervisors on Jan. 6 to tell them he had successfully beaten addiction to unspecified illegal drugs.Board Chairman Gary Ovitt said Thursday was a “sad and embarrassing day for the county.” He said Postmus’ comments were now “suspect” and the board would decide at its Jan. 27 meeting whether to try to force him from office.

“If in fact what he said was a lie, then I am outraged that he would use the board as a venue to lie to the people and try to convince them of something that is not true,” Supervisor Josie Gonzalez said. “I think he should resign.”

During his appearance last week, Postmus, who once headed the Board of Supervisors and the county Republican Party, also apologized for past “mistakes” at the assessor’s office.

Last April, authorities raided the office, seizing documents and laptop computers as evidence. Soon after, Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman was arrested and charged with six felonies, including falsifying documents and destroying public records. A month later, a grand jury report criticized the assessor’s office for hiring inexperienced employees, doing campaign work during office hours and misusing a college tuition reimbursement program.

Rumors swirled that Postmus was abusing drugs. He refused demands to appear before supervisors to address the charges but took a nearly 12-week medical leave of absence.

The board censured him and is now considering whether to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate him. That effort could cost as much as $1 million, officials said.

San Bernardino is the only county in California that allows supervisors to oust elected officials.

“I think this arrest would make it easier for them to remove Postmus,” said Jessica Levinson, director of political reform for the Center for Governmental Studies, a nonpartisan think tank in Los Angeles. “He told them he had overcome his drug problem, which apparently isn’t the case. Do they want someone using hard-core drugs making decisions that directly affect the public at large?”

For now, though, he still has his job.

“Bill Postmus is still the assessor. He is the boss and there are no changes,” said Ted Lehrer, spokesman for the assessor’s office. “We know he is battling some personal demons, and our hearts and prayers go out to him.”

Derry said agents searched Erwin’s office early Thursday, but added, “I don’t think Jim has anything to do with it. He is not being accused of doing anything untoward or of any crime,” he said of his chief of staff. “To my knowledge, he is not a target.”

Erwin, a former sheriff’s deputy, resigned as assistant assessor in 2007.

“He quit the job because of operations at the office that he found improper,” Derry said. “I trust his judgment and his loyalty.”

Erwin was unavailable for comment.

Postmus promised supervisors last week not to seek reelection when his term ends in January 2011.

Gonzalez said with the recession hitting the county hard, there isn’t time to get bogged down in scandal.

“We don’t need this kind of distraction.”

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david.kelly@latimes.com