September Storm Watch: Rain or no rain?

Will it rain or won't it? The rarely seen September storm is currently sitting off of the coast of Santa Barbara trying to decide exactly what to do, which path to take.

In the meantime, the Inland Empire has been busy even if people are keeping their slickers and umbrellas close at hand. If you like rain, enjoy it. The La Nina is building in the East Pacific, chilling the ocean waters so that means dry winter conditions for Southern California next year, although anything will look better than the 15% of a season's worth of rain that fell or more accurately, didn't fall last year.

If you dislike rain, don't despair. This too, shall pass.


One property owner forced by the city's redevelopment agency to sell his property near the Riverside Plaza told the Press Enterprise here that it turned out to be a good thing.


(excerpt)


A few years ago, when he first heard talk of redeveloping Merrill, he thought it would be beneficial for him.

"I just figured my building would get a face-lift," Hickman, 49, said. "I didn't really think I was going to be exited off the property."

With the Plaza's successful renovation, the city Redevelopment Agency began pushing in earnest in 2006 to buy property on the north side of Merrill for a proposed restaurant row.

Hickman fretted about where he would move the shop, even attending City Council meetings to make his plight clear to city leaders.

With his shop's reputation, he thought he might persuade officials to build him a new shop on Merrill next to America's Tires, he said.

"We're like the hot dogs in the entire country" when it comes to high-end car electronics, Hickman said. "I figured I could pull it off and stay."

The owners of the property he leased, Joseph and Mary Yoder, didn't want to force Hickman out by selling, even with the threat of eminent domain hanging over them.

The new site of Alan Hickman's Audio Shoppe is 9,000 square feet, compared with the previous 4,000 across from Riverside Plaza. The installation area is four times larger than the previous facility, and is set up to accommodate television shows.

But in June 2006, the Yoders finally sold the property to the agency for $1 million.




Experts say that at least 60% of businesses which relocate, fail, which is a rate comparable to the 80% failure rate assigned to newly started businesses. Fortunately Hickman's business won't be added to those statistics but what about the others?

Unfortunately, the same success stories aren't true for many businesses that face eminent domain, threat of eminent domain and "friendly condemnation". Unless you've been there and faced any of these three, it's hard to really understand what it's all about especially those who defend its use or roll their eyes when its opponents talk about that topic again.


And if you don't think it can happen to you in Riverside, it can. You may be closer to it than you think. What would happen is that the same people who champion what have been called by some, "courageous" decisions by elected officials to impose eminent domain as in the case of the Fox Theater or threaten to do so, would probably be its loudest critics. Often that is what does happen when the political becomes personal.

Then perhaps individuals won't be calling the action of using eminent domain against the Fox Theater, an act of courage. Was it necessary?

You'll hear different responses from that depending on whom you talk to about the issue.

However, it's difficult to see any action by a legislative body which leads to young children bawling their eyes outside the chambers as happened that day, as an act of true courage.

Then perhaps they would join in Ken Stansbury's continued efforts to get the issue of eminent domain on the city's ballot so that the voters can decide what they want. But the ball is in the city government's court regarding the SLAPP suit they filed against him and the Riversiders for Property Rights including an order for them to pay the now six-figured attorneys' fees generated by the city's litigation. Oral arguments were presented by both sides on Sept. 5 at the State Court of Appeals in Riverside. Stansbury described to the city council the chilling effect the SLAPP suit had on members of the organization, which of course is exactly what the city had intended when it filed the litigation, even though its official word was that it was doing so to "help" this organization in the process it had initiated.

Okay, "helping" a person, organization or a political process is assisted by slapping those involved with at least $150,000 in litigation expenses so far?

Maybe in Wonderland or its neighbor down the rabbit's hole, River City.

If crowing roosters and choo-choo trains are going on the ballots for the voters to decide in the interest as some from the dais in Riverside's City Hall have loudly proclaimed, then this issue should join those two as well, in the same interest of democracy and due process.

That is, if those who beat their chests in public venues about it are really serious about either.








The Readers' Forum at the Press Enterprise includes this letter by an individual discussing its coverage of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors' appointment of new sheriff Stanley Sniff.

Several grand jury reports have been mentioned at various sites in connection with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. They are here. This link contains links to grand jury reports going back to at least 1999. Most or all are on pdf files so you need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access them.

By the way, if you are having problem with Adobe Acrobat and pdf documents, several governmental agencies including the city of Riverside have upgraded so that their documents are best read using Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 so if you don't have that and are having problems, you might consider upgrading. In fact, you may be prompted to do so while trying to open these documents.

Most online governmental documents are in pdf format because it's convenient and if you want to print out city council agendas in Riverside for example, the pdf versions are much more convenient than the laserfische counterpart.


Speaking of the appointment of Sniff, Inside Riverside has written this posting about asking retired Lt. Mark Lohman formerly of the Sheriff's Department to write a guest column. That would be very interesting. Having talked to Lohman in the past when he worked as public information officer, he was always professional and helpful.



Another letter here involving the indictment by a federal grand jury of Joseph Luis Nazario, jr. on two counts of voluntary manslaughter stemming from two killings of detained Iraqis in the Fallujah region in 2004. He is being tried in federal court as a civilian because he had left the military since that date, becoming a police officer in Riverside until he was fired last month while on probation.



The Human Relations Commission met yesterday, on the precipice of a quorum due to four excused absences and three resignations at City Hall. The planned speaker, Community Police Review Commission Executive Manager Kevin Rogan had to cancel until next month.

Commissioner Gilberto Esquivel did express concerns about the recent preliminary injunction currently being enforced by the Riverside Police Department and the Riverside County District Attorney's office against the Eastside Riva gang. The permanent injunction may go to trial early next year or be granted sooner than that depending on the course it takes through the civil courts.

Esquivel questioned why of all the gangs, Black, White, and Latino in Riverside, only one Latino gang and Latino neighborhood was being targeted through an injunction.

Commissioner A.J. Wilson proposed sending a letter to Kelley Keenan, who works in the District Attorney's office and served on the HRC for a period of time and requesting his assistance in getting someone from his office to appear at the HRC meeting on Oct. 18 to address concerns about the injunction.

Although it's doubtful the District Attorney's office will break its pattern of refusing invitations to address concerns about its injunction, hopefully, the HRC will prevail in holding some form of public forum for that office to attend.

The HRC will also discuss turning into a quarterly event, a discussion on public reports released from the Riverside Police Department regarding its pretext traffic stop studies. In 2005, the HRC held a public forum on what was the last study released by the police department while it was under its stipulated judgment with the State Attorney General's office.

It conducted a similar study in 2006 but declined to release it to the public because a representative from the department said that all the statistics were the same as previous years so there was no reason to release a public report.

It's not clear who will do the data analysis and report writing for the next study, but Chief Russ Leach said he would like to find some other expert besides Dr. Larry Gaines from the California State University, San Bernardino. One name mentioned by him was Dr. Robert Nash Parker, the director of the Robert Presley Center for Crime and Justice at the University of California, Riverside. He performed a similar study budgeted by the Press Enterprise in 2000 that created quite a stir. Apparently, he has been forgiven, but would be an excellent choice to perform the analysis for the police department.


The commission will also follow up on the information and additional information involving the employment situation of Black and Latino employees in the city of Riverside that it had attempted to address while it was still working out of City Manager Brad Hudson's office. Hopefully, any responses to these requests for information will not be met or will not face shortly afterwards, additional staffing cuts as a "response".

One thing that stands out at an HRC meeting despite the fact that just over half of the commission attended is that there are very few city employees in the room. Even though it's under Loveridge's office, you do not see him at meetings let alone attending them and directing their operations. And even though last night's meeting was a few feet away from the City Attorney's Department, there were no representatives from that office telling the HRC what the law did not allow it to do.

But then again, previous city managers did not attend meetings of the CPRC as they have while this commission has been under the control of the current city manager nor did they pull the interim or permanent CPRC directors or managers to impromptu side conferences of the meetings as they had several times last year when Administrative analyst and interim executive manager Mario Lara was in his position.

As for the city attorney, he had refused to attend a special workshop with the CPRC in 2004 and rarely if ever attended any meetings. So when both the city manager's office and city attorney's office begin to send representatives from their respective offices to the CPRC meetings at the same time, an elected official or more of them are pulling their strings. That is most likely the case with the city attorney's office, but with the city manager's office, the situation is more complex as is the dynamic between that office and elected officials on the dais.

The HRC is also short three commissioners from its latest wave of resignations. All three are city-wide positions and the lengths of each term varies based on how much time had been completed by the commissioners who vacated them.

This commission is currently under Mayor Ron Loveridge's office and is directed by Yvette Pierre.

More on the HRC here.


Big story out of Murrieta's City Hall from the Press Enterprise here.

Former Mayor Jack van Haaster plead guilty to conflict of interest and falsifying a document which might send him to jail for a year.

It started out much bigger.


(excerpt)


Van Haaster, 50, was charged last year with 15 counts, including 10 felonies alleging perjury and filing false documents, stemming from the nearly 13 years he served as a city councilman. If convicted of all the charges, he faced eight years in prison.

"I think the likelihood of a prison sentence out of this case was small," said Deputy District Attorney Michael Cabral, based on van Haaster's record, his contribution to the community and the fact that he was recalled in a special election in May 2005.

Cabral said van Haaster was also ordered to serve 500 hours of community service and pay $9,000 in restitution.

Van Haaster was accused of not reporting his financial link to his daughter's daycare center and not reporting a half-million dollars in loans on government disclosure forms.

He also faced five misdemeanor counts alleging that he pressured planning commissioners to allow expansion of his daughter's business and voted on nearby road improvements without disclosing his link to the project.



Voters already kicked him out during a recall effort and election in 2005.


And in Redlands, a city which elects a city clerk, Lorrie Poyzer who has held the position for 12 years is feeling some heat in the form of an election challenge, according to the Press Enterprise.


Poyzer learned she had a challenger several months ago, when a man called asking for information about running for city clerk, she said. He wanted the information for "a friend," Poyzer said.

"I thought, 'Uh oh, I think I might have to have a campaign going this year," Poyzer said.

She met Ackerman at the counter when Ackerman came to take out and file her papers, Poyzer said. She questioned Ackerman's motives for seeking the clerk's post, characterizing her as "a little pushy."

"If she's mostly looking for a high-paid position, she isn't going to make it," Poyzer said.

Poyzer said she earned $96,800 last year, but the salary is unique to her and might be subject to change if someone new is in the position.

Ackerman said that while she respects Poyzer, the incumbent clerk has a certain sense of entitlement.

"I believe that Lorrie expects Redlands citizens to vote for her, and I am asking Redlands citizens to vote for me," Ackerman said. "I want it, but I don't expect it. You should always have that feeling of competition in government."


What's interesting and what is the subject of this survey is the merging of political candidates running for different offices into a single campaign. Should this be allowed or practiced?


Speaking of Riverside's city clerk, Colleen Nichols, she will be yodeling at a charity fundraiser on Sunday afternoon being held at the Benedict Castle in Riverside.




A woman in Warren, Ohio was tased multiple times by a police officer and it was caught on video, according to many news sources including WABC out of Chicago.

The video depicts the woman inside the squad car kicking at the windows, getting tased and then she's pulled out of the car, she's ordered to walk to the other car or she'll get tased. So she does just that and while passing the officers, she's tased again and then several more times while on the ground surrounded by officers before trying to rise, then falling and striking her head on the front fender of a squad car.

According to CNN, the officer's explanation is that his taser discharged accidentally several of those times.


Two questions to end this week, which were brought to me.


Why are city councilmen bringing up constituents' private business with them in public meetings, to try and embarrass them? Is that a violation of the city's ethic code or is it part of the latest quartet's code of conduct?

Is there a purge going on inside the local Democratic Party of members that aren't in line with its views in a nonpartisian election?

Here's a third to put into the mix.


Will the All-Blacks beat Scotland?


About 44% of readers at the Scotsman.com site believe the Scotland team will make it all the way to the quarterfinals which means there's some pessimism from the home team regarding this weekend's match with New Zealand.