SAN BERNARDINO – (INT) – Politics in this financially-strapped city is nearing a boiling point and Mayor John Valdivia is at the center.

City Councilmember Kimberly Calvin is attempting to remove Valdivia as mayor over his alleged conflicts of interest in the Carousel Mall redevelopment.

Valdivia retorted late Thursday by removing Calvin from all mayor-appointed positions and said he was considering legal action. In a written statement, Valdivia said he was filing a formal request for a District Attorney’s investigation “about Calvin’s illegal use of the city’s logo and stationery in her 64-page political manifesto, as well as her misrepresentation and manipulation of the City Manager’s office in falsely branding her political manifesto as a city-sponsored ‘staff report’,” stated Valdivia.

Valdivia is up for re-election next year. Calvin was elected to the City Council last year.

A decision on the redevelopment of the Carousel Mall site may come March 3rd.

Story Date: March 1, 2021