The morning the lights went out in Riverside

Mother Nature provided a helping hand to fire fighters today with moisture and even some rain but the fire season's not over by a long shot.



More information about the morning the lights went out in Riverside for the first time in some say, 20 years.


It all started at 6:40 a.m. somewhere in San Bernardino County miles away when depending on what you heard or read, a transformer blew, there was a structural fire(as opposed to a wildfire) or power lines came apart and closed down a major highway for hours. Whatever the exact cause, it had a profound impact on the delivery of electric power to many parts of the Inland Empire.

Somehow, a major power line which supplied all of Riverside failed, leaving the city of 300,000 in the dark from anywhere from 30 minutes to 4-5 hours or longer.

While the power was being restored, Riversiders were ask to conserve electricity to avoid more outages.



Not being conserved is money being spent on Election 2007 as the next round of campaign disclosure statements were filed, and it was disclosed that Ward One incumbent, Dom Betro has spent nearly $200,000 to try to get reelected to another four years in office. Now it's beginning to make sense why some of his ardent supporters are getting cranky on the internet, because Betro is being forced to outspend his rival, a grass-roots candidate over 5.5 to 1. It's difficult to contemplate let alone live the reality that you're forced into a runoff with an individual who's spending much less money. But it's reassuring that a competitive campaign can still be launched for an elected position without breaking the bank.

The election campaign funds have been very interesting this time around, as more and more money is spent to win a position that pays about 25% of Betro's money spent in terms of its annual salary. But then again, it's other people's money and it's that money and more which has born its influence on decisions made by the city government.

Some of the latest campaign contributions were interesting if hardly surprising.

Donating $3,000 is yet another developer who has benefited from the policies exercised by the current city council downtown. This time, it's Siavash Barmad who is the developer who hopes to reap profits off of the Fox Plaza project downtown and was greatly aided in land acquisition for his profit venture by the city of Riverside's Redevelopment Agency. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine is the oldest philosophy known in politics.

But it's interesting to see how the campaign contributions show BASS's evolution into a quartet which many hope will add Donna Doty Michalka and William "Rusty" Bailey even as it loses Councilman Ed Adkison and tosses Councilman Art Gage to the curb.

In more backscratching, one of Adkison's engineers, Chuck Cox has two groups, Friends of the Airport and Hidden Valley Properties which are donating a total of $5,000 to Adams' campaign. As you know, Cox is working on several projects impacting Ward Seven's Redevelopment Zone.





Here are Election 2007's by the latest numbers.


The Big Spenders:


Dom Betro(Ward One): $198,000

William "Rusty" Bailey(Ward Three): $180,600

Art Gage(Ward Three):$167,250

Donna Doty-Michalka(Ward Five): $145,740

Chris MacArthur(Ward Five): $139,000

Steve Adams(Ward Seven): $115,160



The Grass Roots Brigade:


Terry Frizzel(Ward Seven): $15,850

Mike Gardner(Ward One): $37,200



The most expensive wards:

Ward Three: $347,850

Ward Five: $284,740




Big Donors:



Riverside Police Officers' Association: $27,500 more spent

Betro: $10,000

Gage: $7,500

Michalka: $10,000


What's fascinating is watching the role of the RPOA's PAC in shaping the GASS quartet which was formulated through similarly high campaign donations to a series of candidates during three election cycles from 1999 to 2003, in response to the creation of the Community Police Review Commission.

The continued existence of the commission and the contentious labor negotiations in the summer of 2006 have brought many of the city's unions to the forefront of the campaign contribution race which will help shape the continued evolution of what is now the BASS quartet. One of the reasons the RPOA allegedly nixed Gardner as a viable candidate for endorsement was because of his past connections with the CPRC, the same board that Betro blamed Gardner for causing "past problems" involving its operations. But then in the past, Betro also blamed the RPOA for problems with the CPRC as well and now is taking its money. So it seems as he's simply an opportunistic finger pointer although last year wasn't an election year so it might not count. His supporters point fingers at Gage although Betro and Gage appear to be closely matched with funds from the police union so far and it's clear what both of them have brought to the CPRC since accepting these funds in recent weeks.


Still, the RPOA leads the unions in campaign contributions although the Fire Fighters Association is close behind and has broken ranks with the RPOA in the Ward Seven race choosing to toss its support to Adams while the RPOA is sitting the Ward Seven race out due to alleged past problems with former elected official and current candidate, Frizzel when she was mayor and current problems with Adams who has attacked them in his campaign brochures during the preliminary round of Election 2007.

Some elected officials are also dropping some money into campaigns.



Outgoing Ward Five Councilman Ed Adkison: $12,717

MacArthur: $10,217

Bailey: $2,500



Adkison's support of MacArthur allegedly began before he filed his papers but only became official later on. It's not surprising to see him put money into the campaign of the man he hopes will replace him but it's quite a large chunk.

His support of Bailey is less surprising, given that he has already endorsed the man that will fill in the gaps appearing in the BASS quartet. It's that whole "team player" philosophy that's been going around although Adkison is stepping down from being one of the "players".




Riverside is still the "city of trees" and more have been planted. Sponsors included DHL(which handed out hats, but alas, not earplugs) were on hand to greet attendees.



Over 2,500 people attended the funeral of Rialto Police Department SWAT officer, Sergio Carrera, jr.



Making the grade was the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Office of Independent Review, which was evaluated upon direction of the county's board of supervisors, according to the Los Angeles Times.



(excerpt)


Supervisors sought the review at the request of the union that represents sheriff's deputies. Steve Remige, president of the Assn. for Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs, had told supervisors that he thought the department was already well monitored and that the money it spends on the review team could be better used to hire additional deputies.

The county report, released this week, concluded that the oversight group provides a valuable service to the county, including reducing liability to potential civil lawsuits by recommending training for deputies and by ensuring that deputies who violate policy are appropriately disciplined.

"By having the OIR monitor the department's actions, LASD personnel are more cognizant to follow departmental policy," according to the report by county Chief Executive Officer William T. Fujioka.

Michael Gennaco, chief attorney for the Office of Independent Review, said he believed the report accurately reflected the role his office plays in the sheriff's discipline and training process.

"I'm pleased to see that the CEO's office has reported that we actually make a difference," he said. "The most important thing we do in my view is actually keep investigations and departmental decisions on discipline honest, and when they're not we have the ability to tell the public that they're not."




When Gennaco was with the United States Attorney's office, he oversaw the pattern and practices investigation over the Riverside Police Department which was initiated in July 1999.



Inadequate training and policies may be the focus of the investigation released on the controversial May Day incident at MacArthur Park, according to the Los Angeles Times. About 25 Los Angeles Police Department officers may face discipline in this case.


(excerpt)


Does the report's blanket indictment of systematic problems in the LAPD make it harder to pursue any individual officers for their actions? That is an interesting question," said Jeffrey C. Eglash, attorney and former Police Commission inspector general.

Though the report stated that leadership problems aren't an excuse for poor judgment and lack of common sense, it also cautioned that Police Chief William J. Bratton may weigh those factors in delivering individual discipline.

"Even if planning was inadequate, tactics were flawed, command had broken down, situational awareness was poor and proper training was lacking, in the end some behavior by officers on May Day 2007 appeared to be unjustified," according to the report. "How much weight is given to each factor will be a decision that Chief Bratton will make."

Just because the report mentions 26 officers doesn't mean that the force they used was improper -- that is still to be determined, Bratton said in an interview this week. He said the number of officers under investigation could rise.

Several sources familiar with the inquiry said Bratton's investigators are far more likely to bring internal charges against three to six officers -- and even then, the punishment may be far less than a firing. The department's investigation is expected to conclude in January.


The leadership of the Police Protective League which is one of the labor unions responded.


(excerpt)



But Police Protective League President Tim Sands said the union doesn't understand how LAPD officials can conclude that any individual officers are at fault when the investigation remains ongoing.

Although the report stated that department policy is clear on the use of force in crowd control situations, Sands disagreed: "It is far from clear."

Sands points to an October 1996 LAPD training bulletin on baton usage.

Said Sands: "An example is given in which individuals who are being pushed from the rear into a skirmish line, even though not intentionally threatening officers, can be classified as an aggressive combative, and the baton may be used as an impact weapon to gain compliance," he said.

Hank Hernandez, police union legal counsel, said much of the May Day force he's seen on television and video tapes can be explained. "Bratton doesn't know the history of training, and he is going to have to eat crow," he said. "The bottom line is there are inconsistent rules with regards to LAPD use-of-force policy."

For decades, attorneys for officers accused of misconduct have successfully used the wording of various department bulletins to suggest that their clients' missteps were somehow the result of poor training or inconsistent policies.

Hernandez said that in crowd-control situations, officers act together and "don't have time to sit down and discuss the approach with each other. . . . We expect them to use common sense and judgment, but you cannot in a skirmish line act alone. They have to act as a team."