Two new commissioners on the CPRC? Not really

The interviews of the Community Police Review Commission to0k place at City Hall today and by the end, there were two commissioners picked. Those were current Human Relations Commission chair Chani Beeman and former Public Utilities Board member, Peter Hubbard.

Five city council members picked the new commissioners with Art Gage, Frank Schiavone and Mayor Ron Loveridge sitting this round out.

Beeman was picked because of her knowledge of the CPRC and the hard work she had put into the CPRC, said Mayor Pro-Tem Ed Adkison. Councilman Andrew Melendrez praised her "openness" and Councilwomen Nancy Hart said she had shown a "total commitment to the community".

Even though Beeman has a son who is employed by the city as a police officer, that was not an issue with her selection process. In fact, Beeman said that having a son in the police department was more of a reason for them to appoint her to the CPRC because she had sh0wn her commitment to the process through the community and within her family. One wonders if the community who access the CPRC to file complaints will share that sentiment, given that Beeman is the first commissioner ever selected to have any ties to the Riverside Police Department.

Complaint filing has been virtually at a standstill since the resignation of former executive director, Pedro Payne in January. People cite the current crisis of the CPRC as a reason not to file because they are uncertain of its future.

The city council was suitably impressed enough with Beeman to forget that she had not been submitted as a candidate until after the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee had already picked seven other people to be interviewed last month. The public was not even notified of her interview until just before the interviews began but then when it comes to what happens at City Hall, the public is usually the last to know. And unlike with the other applicants, no copies of her application and/or resume were made available to the public.

Not exactly transparent, though you couldn't really question the fact that she did have good qualifications. But if you publicly espouse the importance of transparency and maintaining transparent processes as much as she has, then you should be including yourself among those who practice it.

The Riverside Coalition for Police Accountability members who attended were very happy with her selection as they should be. One of their own was finally selected after seven years.

Given Beeman's track record, which she mentioned, of dealing with police issues in a "responsible and balanced" manner, it's clear that the police department and its officers should and probably will applaud her selection to the CPRC. Why not, as Beeman has worked closely with them through the chief's advisory board and in other capacities.

Beeman's selection may finally be the one thing that both the RCPA and its often times adversary, the Riverside Police Officers' Association support in a process both entities have disparate feelings about. That may be a good thing and it remains to be seen where it will go not to mention interesting. However, despite that, a process of equity, fairness and openness was compromised by the actions taken today and whether or not it's for the *right* reasons doesn't change that. Despite what were probably good intentions by Beeman and likely Betro who submitted her name at the 11th hour, this latest development adds insult to injury to a community body that's seen more than its share lately.

No other CPRC commissioner who was selected in the city's annual open process ever went through the process that put Beeman on the commission. All of them submitted applications, all of them had the information on those applications provided to the public, all of them were included on a list provided to the public ahead of time and all of them were evaluated and selected at the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee just prior to the interview date. Betro served on that committee and had plenty of opportunity to bring up Beeman as a possible applicant but he never did.


Hubbard and Beeman, both White, will replace two departing Latinos, Frank Arreola and Bonavita Quinto-MacCullem. Many who are Black and Latino who have applied haven't been interviewed so there's not much interest in the process by members of those communities. Why apply to serve on a board or commission when the selection process favors those the city council is already familiar with? It's become even more clear that to have a shot at sitting on several boards and commissions you have to pay your dues through City Hall. If those are the rules, however unwritten, then those are the rules, but if so then they should be listed on the applications that are filled out by most of the people who apply for these positions, who are doing so because they really want to make a difference even if they have never actually stepped foot inside City Hall before.

After all, my own councilman offered to place me on the Human Relations Commisson at that Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee if I would say I was interested. I turned him down because there is a process in place for all city residents to go through to apply to serve on boards and commissions and it is important to honor that process. I then told him to go out into his ward and recruit a field of applicants because there are a lot of people out there who are interested in serving on boards and commissions. People who respect what boards and commissions do and want to be part of it.

Hubbard didn't say much in his interview, except he repeated the words, "fair and equitable process" a lot. He used to work for American Medical Response which has donated money into the campaign of practically every city council candidate who has ever run for office.


Hubbard was lauded as being "informed" and "committed" by Councilman Steve Adams. Another candidate, escrow officer Sharon Tyrrell received several votes but not many comments from council members except from Hart who said she liked her upbeat attitude.

The interviews took up several hours as each candidate came in the room to be interviewed, perhaps believing that they had a shot at being selected to serve on the CPRC. If only that was how the process really worked in this city. An unwritten rule appeared to be that to serve on the CPRC, you had to first serve on a prior board or commission. It wasn't a requirement that had ever been invoked during the interview and selection process of CPRC commissioners before this day.

Betro, who appeared pleased to see one of his campaign workers be selected to serve on the CPRC said that it was important to pick people with prior board and commission experience so that "they could hit the ground running" in light of the current situation with the CPRC. It's just too bad they couldn't have shared that with the several dozen people who had applied for the two available positions thinking they had a chance to serve in this city in a voluntary capacity. It's also too bad that none of the city council members including Betro have accepted responsibility for their roles in the "situation" currently involving the CPRC and one of their direct employees.

The Human Relations Commission has lost its second member to the CPRC in recent months. Commissioner John Braniff was pulled off of the HRC by Adams to fill the vacancy in the CPRC after Frank Arroela resigned. Adkison said that although he was apprehensive about pulling people off of boards and commissions and placing them on others, he believed it was suddenly necessary, because he believed that the CPRC was one of the most important boards and commissions in the city. But so is the HRC, and it's unfortunate that our boards and commissions process has come down to commissioners moving from one body to the next in mid-term. That shows that being inside the process at City Hall seems to be the most important requirement of serving on the CPRC.

Art Arredondo, the only applicant to be interviewed who wasn't White, had some good ideas for the CPRC. He should bring them back in 5-10 years when the city government is ready for them. One of them was to have youth representatives on the CPRC to speak on issues pertaining to the interactions of law enforcement officers and young people.

He didn't appear to be that knowledgeable about the CPRC, but then many of the applicants weren't.

Steve Simpson, a former reserve sheriff deputy with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department toted reference letters from former sheriff, Cois Byrd, current Sheriff, Bob Doyle and a former FBI director. He said he had seen good police practices and bad police practices.


"I feel very strongly about eliminating bad police and protecting good police," Simpson said.


He did respond to a question asked by one council member about how the community perceived the CPRC. He said that any answer would be based on a "political judgement".


"I have no agenda," Simpson said, "My agenda is fairness."

Beeman gave an excellent interview, saying that she had been one of a "handful of people who addressed these issues in a responsible and balanced way". She added that her experience on the chief's advisory board was one of many ways community members could engage their police department.

Hubbard didn't know much about the CPRC either, which means he won't be hitting the ground running exactly. But like Beeman, City Hall is very familiar with him and he's got prior service on a board or commission.

Tyrrell said, that in her opinion the police department had come a "very long way". She said that once she had worked near a coffee shop where officers hung out near the Magnolia Plaza. After listening to a group of them badmouth the department, she had contacted the department to tell them and it had been taken care of, she said. Now, there were still officers at the coffee shop but they were more professional.

"Just a totally different atmosphere," she said.

She had no clue about what the CPRC did, and no prior board or commission experience though she had spoken at city council meetings in the past. She was in third place by only one vote after they were cast.

Advice to Tyrrell, besides the obvious which is to educate yourself on a board or commission and its operations before applying to serve on it, would be to try out for another commission first, leave during the term when you've had enough and apply again for the CPRC. You might actually have a chance then.