Staffing Change in Place for Third District Supervisor Neil Derry’s Office, Pending Tuesday Vote of County Board of Supervisors

There are a couple staffing changes being made at the offices of Third District County Supervisor Neil Derry—this, in addition to the Friday arrest of Chief of Staff Jim Erwin, who has since posted the $220,000 bail and has been placed on administrative leave from the County office. The other staffing shift, pending approval by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors in their 10am Tuesday meeting, is that Jamie Garland will replace Jerry Lemke as Supervisor Derry’s full-time mountain-area field representative, covering the territories from Lake Arrowhead to Forest Falls and including the Big Bear Valley. Garland has worked for the County since 1995, and joined Derry as Special Projects Coordinator when he assumed office on December 1, 2008. Garland moved to Big Bear last year, when husband Gary was appointed captain of the Big Bear Sheriff’s Station. Lemke had submitted his resignation from the field representative post prior to Erwin’s arrest on 10 felony counts; other commitments, Lemke says, are what prompted his pending exit. “I have resigned,“ Lemke tells KBHR. “The supervisor is an awesome man. I resigned based on my workload. I really enjoyed the position, but I missed three meetings last week just because there is literally so much to do and I ran out of time.” Prior commitments for Lemke include vice-president posts on both the Sugarloaf Roads Commission and the Sugarloaf Property Owners Association, as well as serving as live-in caregiver to friend Marge McDonald, since she began losing her eyesight a few years ago. McDonald, who also serves on the Board of Directors of the Big Bear City Community Services District, says of Lemke, “Jerry is a good man, and is like another son to me.”