Election 2007: The money train comes to Riverside
The Press Enterprise began the holiday weekend by providing an update on the financial status of the candidates running for what has been called Election 2007 in Riverside.
And it's not pretty.
At least three candidates running have spent nearly $100,000 to be elected to a public office that pays a salary less than half of that each year. Quite a few of these contributors aren't even based in the city of Riverside but are trying to place a wager on an individual that they clearly hope will bring out the welcoming wagon when they do decide to do or continue doing business here.
And who are these three? Drum roll, please.
Councilmen Dom Betro and Art Gage, along with political neophyte William "Rusty" Bailey.
Betro added $26,7o0 to the coffer including three sizable donations from two development firms and Mission Inn owner Duane Roberts who donated $5,000. That shouldn't be surprising given the fact that as even Betro would admit and has, it's the developers who come knocking down his door at City Hall. And Roberts usually plops down the money in different candidate races during a typical election cycle.
But the "Show me the money" awards go to two candidates in the Ward Three race, Gage and Bailey who both added significantly to their campaign chests in recent weeks as that race gets down and gritty. And after all, political consultants cost money as well.
Gage has raised money from the fire fighters, the Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee and several development firms while Bailey has raised a monster fund of $118,000 and received funding also from development firms, one labor union and outgoing Councilman Ed Adkison who threw down $2,500 to a man he clearly hopes to see on the dais. For someone new to the process, Bailey's brought in the bucks, not to mention the fact that he wrapped up endorsements from most of the elected officials on the dais and that was before he filed his papers. Someone's clearly trying to build and maintain a regime and prove that the conservatives' elite division in the city of Riverside which successfully engineered the short-lived GASS quartet isn't the only game in town.
But unlike the other wards, the developers aren't taking any chances in Ward Three, throwing their money on the two candidates likely to take in the most votes. Their consolation being that at least this council race will probably end in June.
In Ward Five, the money raised by the big three candidates was much more modest. The Riverside Police Officers' Association contributed $2,500 to Donna Doty Michalka while the SEIU Local 721 backed Harry Kurani.
In the seventh ward, incumbent Steve Adams received thousands from developers including the firm working on the controversial Rancho La Sierra housing project as well as funding from Roberts to the tune of $2,500.
The city's labor unions donated funds to both Art Garcia and Roy Saldanha. Garcia received nearly $10,000 from unions including $7,500 from the SEIU Local 721. Saldanha received another $2,500 from the RPOA.
This money update comes less than one week before the deadline for mail in ballots in this election. There's more letters in the Readers' Forum supporting various candidates as people get their last-minute pitches in before the votes are collected and counted.
Mercifully, it's not an election year in Los Angeles, just a selection year for the man or woman who will head the Los Angeles Police Department for the next five years. And the current chief and candidate for the job has been on the hot seat the past month for the incident on May Day when over 60 of his officers stormed a park and hit people assembled there with batons and shot them with 168 less lethal bullets.
The Los Angeles Times in an article today is not evaluating Bratton's fitness to continue as chief, what it's examining instead are the physical fitness and fluctuating waistlines of the department's officers. And it appears that nurses who have examined some recent hires are very displeased with the lack of fitness of these men and women.
The blame has been cast on the city relaxing its standards to meet the demands of hiring at least 1,000 more officers in the LAPD. So they lowered some of the ranges mandated for the percentage that male and female candidates are allowed to have that is comprised of body fat. Which apparently is how the department measures fitness.
(excerpt)
After addressing one recent academy class, the mayor was overheard commenting on the expanded girth of some graduates. Through a spokesman, the mayor declined to elaborate Friday.
"My concern is we are getting police officers through the system who are grossly overweight," said City Councilman Dennis Zine, a former LAPD sergeant who himself carries a few extra pounds nowadays. "I believe it is part of this mad rush for new police officers, but they were replacing quality with quantity."
On Friday, Deanna Stover, the medical administrator for the Personnel Department, resigned after nurses signed a letter protesting the clearing of recruits who were out of shape.
"When the medical services administration decided internally to make this change, it was purely to 'boost' the number of candidates that would pass the exam and address a short-term problem of low pass rates," says the letter signed by six nurses who conduct the tests.
"Such an increase would make our department and therefore our 'administrator' appear more effective. This decision was purely self-serving and without consideration of our medical expertise or regard to the long-term fallout to the Police Department in the way of candidates' failures, injuries or potential lawsuits."
The nurses said Stover told them that it was up to the Police Academy to get the recruits into good physical shape during the grueling eight months of training. Department administrators said Friday that they would return to the old, tougher body-fat standards.
"At the request of the Police Academy, we've made the change back," said Gloria Sosa, assistant general manager for the Personnel Department, which conducts the health screenings for police recruits.
Those standards are 22% for men and 30% for women. Apparently, the police academy will do its part to get future LAPD officers in top physical condition and that entails cardiovascular fitness, muscle endurance, stamina, body strength and flexibility among other parameters that need to be included along with body fat measurement. Unfortunately, the most fit officer is a recent graduate from an academy. Often as they spend more time in police work, officers lose their fitness levels and their waistlines expand. Age, eating habits, stress, sedentary desk jobs, varying body types and working graveyard shifts(which wreak havoc on the body's cortisol production) contribute to this development.
And even police officers who appear fit can still experience serious medical problems. University of California Police Department Officer Steve Smith probably fell within the ranges of excellent physical fitness in the different areas including body fat levels but that didn't prevent him from experiencing a fatal heart attack several years ago while working on a bike patrol in Irvine.
Different police departments have adopted different strategies including mandating that officers use part of their work shifts to participate in an exercise program and a state legislator tried to make a law promoting that.
The opening statements in the trial of former San Bernardino County Department deputy, Ivory J. Webb are expected to begin on Tuesday after being delayed for a week. Webb is on trial for attempted manslaughter and use of a firearm in the 2006 shooting of Elio Carrion after a pursuit ended in a crash. According to a video taken of the incident which was aired around the world, Webb shot Carrion three times while Carrion was complying with Webb's order to get up.
Another case involving a New York City Police Department officer who shot and killed a Black unarmed teenager resulted in a State Court of Appeals overturned his conviction on criminal negligence charges, according to an article in the New York Daily News.
The 3-1 vote to exonerate Officer Mark Conway did lead to a minority report by one judge who wrote that the decision to overturn the conviction proved that police officers were above the law when it came to being held accountable.
(excerpt)
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson also objected to the 3-1 ruling, saying there are no grounds for appeal.
"I find it extremely disheartening that three appellate judges cannot perceive the risk in this situation," Johnson said in a statement.
Conway shot Dantae Johnson seven years ago today. He retired from the NYPD in 2005, paid a $1,000 fine and performed 150 hours of community service after his 2001 sentencing.
But he also appealed his conviction, and the Appellate Division sided with him in 2005.
The panel ruled that Conway was not criminally negligent when his weapon discharged as he tried to grab Johnson while driving after him in an unmarked police car.
The state's highest court disagreed but kicked the matter back to the Appellate Division for a factual review of the case.
In its latest ruling, the panel found there wasn't enough evidence to support the conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.
And it's not pretty.
At least three candidates running have spent nearly $100,000 to be elected to a public office that pays a salary less than half of that each year. Quite a few of these contributors aren't even based in the city of Riverside but are trying to place a wager on an individual that they clearly hope will bring out the welcoming wagon when they do decide to do or continue doing business here.
And who are these three? Drum roll, please.
Councilmen Dom Betro and Art Gage, along with political neophyte William "Rusty" Bailey.
Betro added $26,7o0 to the coffer including three sizable donations from two development firms and Mission Inn owner Duane Roberts who donated $5,000. That shouldn't be surprising given the fact that as even Betro would admit and has, it's the developers who come knocking down his door at City Hall. And Roberts usually plops down the money in different candidate races during a typical election cycle.
But the "Show me the money" awards go to two candidates in the Ward Three race, Gage and Bailey who both added significantly to their campaign chests in recent weeks as that race gets down and gritty. And after all, political consultants cost money as well.
Gage has raised money from the fire fighters, the Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee and several development firms while Bailey has raised a monster fund of $118,000 and received funding also from development firms, one labor union and outgoing Councilman Ed Adkison who threw down $2,500 to a man he clearly hopes to see on the dais. For someone new to the process, Bailey's brought in the bucks, not to mention the fact that he wrapped up endorsements from most of the elected officials on the dais and that was before he filed his papers. Someone's clearly trying to build and maintain a regime and prove that the conservatives' elite division in the city of Riverside which successfully engineered the short-lived GASS quartet isn't the only game in town.
But unlike the other wards, the developers aren't taking any chances in Ward Three, throwing their money on the two candidates likely to take in the most votes. Their consolation being that at least this council race will probably end in June.
In Ward Five, the money raised by the big three candidates was much more modest. The Riverside Police Officers' Association contributed $2,500 to Donna Doty Michalka while the SEIU Local 721 backed Harry Kurani.
In the seventh ward, incumbent Steve Adams received thousands from developers including the firm working on the controversial Rancho La Sierra housing project as well as funding from Roberts to the tune of $2,500.
The city's labor unions donated funds to both Art Garcia and Roy Saldanha. Garcia received nearly $10,000 from unions including $7,500 from the SEIU Local 721. Saldanha received another $2,500 from the RPOA.
This money update comes less than one week before the deadline for mail in ballots in this election. There's more letters in the Readers' Forum supporting various candidates as people get their last-minute pitches in before the votes are collected and counted.
Mercifully, it's not an election year in Los Angeles, just a selection year for the man or woman who will head the Los Angeles Police Department for the next five years. And the current chief and candidate for the job has been on the hot seat the past month for the incident on May Day when over 60 of his officers stormed a park and hit people assembled there with batons and shot them with 168 less lethal bullets.
The Los Angeles Times in an article today is not evaluating Bratton's fitness to continue as chief, what it's examining instead are the physical fitness and fluctuating waistlines of the department's officers. And it appears that nurses who have examined some recent hires are very displeased with the lack of fitness of these men and women.
The blame has been cast on the city relaxing its standards to meet the demands of hiring at least 1,000 more officers in the LAPD. So they lowered some of the ranges mandated for the percentage that male and female candidates are allowed to have that is comprised of body fat. Which apparently is how the department measures fitness.
(excerpt)
After addressing one recent academy class, the mayor was overheard commenting on the expanded girth of some graduates. Through a spokesman, the mayor declined to elaborate Friday.
"My concern is we are getting police officers through the system who are grossly overweight," said City Councilman Dennis Zine, a former LAPD sergeant who himself carries a few extra pounds nowadays. "I believe it is part of this mad rush for new police officers, but they were replacing quality with quantity."
On Friday, Deanna Stover, the medical administrator for the Personnel Department, resigned after nurses signed a letter protesting the clearing of recruits who were out of shape.
"When the medical services administration decided internally to make this change, it was purely to 'boost' the number of candidates that would pass the exam and address a short-term problem of low pass rates," says the letter signed by six nurses who conduct the tests.
"Such an increase would make our department and therefore our 'administrator' appear more effective. This decision was purely self-serving and without consideration of our medical expertise or regard to the long-term fallout to the Police Department in the way of candidates' failures, injuries or potential lawsuits."
The nurses said Stover told them that it was up to the Police Academy to get the recruits into good physical shape during the grueling eight months of training. Department administrators said Friday that they would return to the old, tougher body-fat standards.
"At the request of the Police Academy, we've made the change back," said Gloria Sosa, assistant general manager for the Personnel Department, which conducts the health screenings for police recruits.
Those standards are 22% for men and 30% for women. Apparently, the police academy will do its part to get future LAPD officers in top physical condition and that entails cardiovascular fitness, muscle endurance, stamina, body strength and flexibility among other parameters that need to be included along with body fat measurement. Unfortunately, the most fit officer is a recent graduate from an academy. Often as they spend more time in police work, officers lose their fitness levels and their waistlines expand. Age, eating habits, stress, sedentary desk jobs, varying body types and working graveyard shifts(which wreak havoc on the body's cortisol production) contribute to this development.
And even police officers who appear fit can still experience serious medical problems. University of California Police Department Officer Steve Smith probably fell within the ranges of excellent physical fitness in the different areas including body fat levels but that didn't prevent him from experiencing a fatal heart attack several years ago while working on a bike patrol in Irvine.
Different police departments have adopted different strategies including mandating that officers use part of their work shifts to participate in an exercise program and a state legislator tried to make a law promoting that.
The opening statements in the trial of former San Bernardino County Department deputy, Ivory J. Webb are expected to begin on Tuesday after being delayed for a week. Webb is on trial for attempted manslaughter and use of a firearm in the 2006 shooting of Elio Carrion after a pursuit ended in a crash. According to a video taken of the incident which was aired around the world, Webb shot Carrion three times while Carrion was complying with Webb's order to get up.
Another case involving a New York City Police Department officer who shot and killed a Black unarmed teenager resulted in a State Court of Appeals overturned his conviction on criminal negligence charges, according to an article in the New York Daily News.
The 3-1 vote to exonerate Officer Mark Conway did lead to a minority report by one judge who wrote that the decision to overturn the conviction proved that police officers were above the law when it came to being held accountable.
(excerpt)
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson also objected to the 3-1 ruling, saying there are no grounds for appeal.
"I find it extremely disheartening that three appellate judges cannot perceive the risk in this situation," Johnson said in a statement.
Conway shot Dantae Johnson seven years ago today. He retired from the NYPD in 2005, paid a $1,000 fine and performed 150 hours of community service after his 2001 sentencing.
But he also appealed his conviction, and the Appellate Division sided with him in 2005.
The panel ruled that Conway was not criminally negligent when his weapon discharged as he tried to grab Johnson while driving after him in an unmarked police car.
The state's highest court disagreed but kicked the matter back to the Appellate Division for a factual review of the case.
In its latest ruling, the panel found there wasn't enough evidence to support the conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.
Labels: business as usual, City elections
posted by Five Before Midnight | 9:37 AM
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