A Goverment In Desert Exile : Backers of a proposed ‘Mojave County,’ defeated in their attempt to break away from giant San Bernardino County, are planning to form their own regime in the high desert

VICTORVILLE —  Driving north or east from San Bernardino, you are soon in territory claimed by the “government in exile” of “Mojave County.”

Defeated at the polls last June in an attempt to break away from San Bernardino County and form a new political unit in these vast desert and mountain lands, Mojave County backers have announced plans to form a “government in exile” that will raise money, deal with federal and state agencies, perhaps even field its own police force.

“We’ll be just like DeGaulle’s ‘Free French’ government in London during the Second World War,” one supporter said.

Continuing enthusiasm for the idea of a new county has surprised even some of the movement’s leaders.

‘Can’t Let This Die’

Said Tom Pinard, publisher of the Wrightwood Mountaineer: “Usually a losing campaign finds a nice dark corner and is never heard from again, but not this one. We’re hearing from new people all the time--they’re coming out of the woodwork and saying, ‘we can’t let this die.’ ”

One reason is that the proposal for a new county won almost 61% of the vote in the desert and mountains, although it lost by 3 to 1 in the more heavily populated flatland regions of San Bernardino County and was defeated overall by about 2 to 1.

Had the effort succeeded, San Bernardino County, now the nation’s largest outside Alaska, would have been reduced to about 2,000 square miles (with a population of about 900,000), while the new Mojave County would have had 18,000 square miles (and about 250,000 people).

“There is a great deal of disappointment throughout the desert,” about the defeat, said Gerda Feldmann of Apple Valley, another leader in the campaign. “People can’t understand how we could get a majority vote but the other area makes the decision.”

The reason is that state law requires that a new county must be approved not only by residents within its proposed borders, but also by a majority of voters in the existing county.

This is one reason why no new county has been created in California since Imperial County was formed in 1907. In the last 15 years, seven new-county efforts have failed, most recently two years ago in the Saugus-Newhall area.

But Mojave County advocates are determined to escape the same fate.

They hope to change the law so that only 15% of the voters in an existing county, as well as a majority in a proposed new county, would have to approve formation of a new county.

They are also considering a lawsuit against the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors for using taxpayers’ money to defeat the Mojave proposal last June.

But their most intriguing idea is to establish a “government in exile” that would represent desert and mountain interests in battles with San Bernardino County and with federal and state agencies.

Some think of the “government in exile” as a public relations gimmick, to hold public attention until a new political campaign can be organized. And some consider it primarily as an educational tool.

“The underlying idea is to prepare the people for self-government,” Feldmann said.

But others are more militant.

“We feel the moral authority to govern has passed from the San Bernardino (County) Board of Supervisors to the new Mojave County government,” said Michael A. Markham, who owns mining claims near Barstow. “We believe this because of the vote and because San Bernardino County is not providing for the safety and the domestic tranquility” of the people in the desert.

$1-Million Goal

Markham wants the “government in exile” to raise at least $1 million a year. With this money the “county” would enforce toxic waste laws that he says San Bernardino County officials are ignoring, purchase land for future Mojave County parks and open space and perhaps even hire its own police force.

Markham, 44, who moved to Barstow from Palm Beach, Fla., about a year ago and said his father once was Gene Autry’s agent, conceded that his ideas do not have unanimous support among Mojave County supporters.

“Some of them are afraid the sheriff will throw them in jail,” he said.

Many who know Sheriff Floyd Tidwell, one of the most influential and colorful figures in San Bernardino County politics, agree that he would be unlikely to stand by while a competing police force took to the desert and mountain roads.

“That can’t be done,” said Jim Cox, Victorville city manager, who is sympathetic to the new-county movement. “State law is very clear. There is no way a private organization can go out and do the things that some members of this group want to do.”

Many desert dwellers are angry because they think they are being shortchanged by San Bernardino County government.

“We seem to be the last ones on the totem pole,” said Marsha Turochi, newly elected to represent the desert and mountain region on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

“We’re paying more in tax revenues than we’re getting back in services,” said Bill Pope, who runs a private lie detector business in Barstow and is that city’s mayor. “Our roads are poorly maintained and we get lousy service from the sheriff.”

Got 20,000 Signatures

Persistent complaints along these lines led a group called Mojave County Advocates to gather more than 20,000 signatures in support of a new county in 1986.

After a five-member commission appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian found that the new county would be fiscally viable, the measure was placed on the June, 1988, ballot and a bitter contest began.

Opponents of the Mojave County proposal argued that the region was suffering the ill effects of rapid growth and development (mountain and desert population has jumped by 39% since 1980) but that the problems could be solved better by incorporating new cities than by forming a new county.

New cities are blooming on the high desert--Apple Valley has just voted to incorporate, joining Adelanto, Hesperia and Victorville--but that has not blunted the drive for a new county.

Mojave County opponents also contend that a newly formed sheriff’s department would be unable to cope with the growing drug traffic in the wide-open desert spaces.

Entry Point for Drugs

“Whether we like it or not, the size of the county makes it a major drug entry point,” said San Bernardino economic consultant John Husing, a leader in the opposition. “We would not want a brand new, under-funded sheriff’s office to be the first line of defense in that battle.”

“That’s a great argument but it is absolutely unfounded,” replied Pinard, the Wrightwood publisher. “There is no reason to think the sheriff would be ‘under-funded’ or that he couldn’t handle the so-called drug problem as well as (San Bernardino Sheriff) Tidwell.”

But the law enforcement argument proved to be effective, as was the claim spread by opponents that formation of a new county would cost many San Bernardino County employees their jobs.

Opponents of the ballot measure raised almost $28,000--twice as much as supporters--with most of it coming from the San Bernardino Public Employees Assn. and the Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Assn., as well as individual county employees and sheriff’s deputies, campaign spending reports show.

Tidwell claimed to be neutral but Cox, the Victorville city manager, said the sheriff actively opposed the ballot measure.

“There were several instances where he said, ‘I’m neutral but I want you to vote against it,’ ” Cox said.

Defeated in Urban Areas

When the votes were counted last June 8, the new-county initiative had won almost 61% of the vote in the desert but had lost 75% of the vote in San Bernardino, Ontario, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga and other heavily populated areas “down the hill.”

The proposal did not even carry all desert and mountain communities, losing in Barstow, Needles and Wrightwood, among others. This does not bode well for a second effort.

“The vote essentially told the story,” said San Bernardino County Supervisor Jon Mikels. “It showed that desert residents outside the Victor Valley don’t feel comfortable with the idea of a new county.”

Since the election, San Bernardino County officials have treated desert and mountain regions even worse than before, according to Mojave County backers.

“In the last four months they’ve really cut us to pieces,” Feldmann of Apple Valley said.

Subdivision Regulations

New regulations that make it more expensive for small desert property owners to subdivide their land were approved.

A growth-management plan favorable to large developers and opposed by small desert and mountain developers is moving toward adoption by the supervisors.

A round of county budget cuts has hit the high desert disproportionately hard, Victorville City Manager Cox said.

In addition, veteran Victorville City Councilwoman Peggy Sartor said residents are angry because San Bernardino County has deposited a stack of old tires a city block long and 10 feet high in the Victorville city dump, creating a fire danger and a health hazard.

“The county seems to have given up on us,” Sartor said.