The Boards and Commissions: Do you know this person?

"Integrity applies to people who apply for the board and two of these people don't have any."


---Councilman Steve Adams, Ward Seven about two applicants from his own ward for the Planning Commission at the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee meeting on Jan. 15. See below for more on this development.





The Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee would like to formally invite you
to its annual social gathering, to be held at the first hour at 30 past in the afternoon up on the glorious date of the 15th day in the month of January, 2007
at the Mayor's Office on the Seventh Floor of City Hall proper.


RSVP not necessary.

Attendance gratis.

Semi-formal attire.

Bring your own drink.

Entertainment provided






The Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee meeting produced few surprises as most of the proposed reappointments were passed. In attendance, was Mayor Ron Loveridge who hosted the gathering in his own office. Also in attendance were the three city council members of the committee which were Rusty Bailey, Steve Adams and Frank Schiavone. Rounding out the party list was City Attorney Gregory Priamos, City Clerk Colleen Nichols and another representative from her office.

Missing on the guest list was any representative from the city manager's office which usually sends a full contingent to these semi-social gatherings. Dress code was semi-formal. Refreshments? Breath mints perhaps. Sire's restaurant after all, would have to wait.


During the process to select commissioners for the Community Police Review Commission, both Ward Seven commissioner John Brandriff and Ward Three commissioner Sheri Corral were reappointed. Both were supported by the councilman in their respective wards.

For Ward Five, three out of the five applicants were selected for interviews. They are listed below.




Howard Fuller, who's worked as a deputy sheriff.

James Mott, a former Corona Police Department officer

William Warrick, a co-owner of a construction firm involved with housing





Of the three, Warrick is the most likely to be appointed to the commission given that he was recommended for interview by Ward Five Councilman Chris MacArthur according to Schiavone who submitted the recommendation on his behalf. No huge surprises in this selection process which has become more politicized in the past year or so.


But the discussion process on applicants for the CPRC and several other board and commissions began the way it always does with the following oft-repeated discourse.



Politican A: Anyone know [insert applicant's name]?

Politican B: Does anyone know [insert applicant's name]?

What was most interesting about the screening process is that there's a new trendy board on the block and that's the Board of Library Trustees. Not surprising, given the turmoil that's arising over the combined plans to renovate both the library and the museum which has led to this commission being front and center in what's currently stylish on the City Hall front during this year, this hour and this moment.

You heard it here, first. If ever there's a collection of keepsake mugs or special commemoration coins from Franklin's Mint, both will bear the city emblem and the words, "Board of Library Trustees".

Borrowing from Paris Hilton and the anonymous poster here known as "Starsky" among other things, that would be like totally, "hot".

The Board of Library Trustees received hardly any notice or words, kind or otherwise, during the past several screening and interviewing processes of years past. But at this meeting, there was an unusual amount of enthusiasm surrounding it right away. In fact, the section process was conducted out of turn and at least three of the committee's members couldn't say enough about the once obscure board.



"It's a really autonomous board," Adams said.

"It really needs a good person at this time," Loveridge said.

"It's much more active at this time," chimed in Schiavone.



Bailey who provided some interesting contributions to the discussion at this meeting was mercifully less enthusiastic in his expression about this particular board. It's not that you don't want to see elected officials wax poetically about a certain board or commission, but the timing on this particular homage was a bit suspect.

It's very unlikely that the Board of Library Trustees is attracting so much attention because it's gone trendy. It's attracting so much attention because the current board will be holding a joint session with its twin in semi-obscurity, the Metropolitan Museum Board on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. at City Hall in order to address the proposed joint plans to renovate both facilities downtown.

Renew the Library is an organization of dedicated people who tried to put some input in the planned renovation and expansion of the downtown public library. However, City Manager Brad Hudson pretty much decided to roll it and the museum expansion onto the increasing list of projects umbrellaed under Riverside Renaissance. A "public" meeting held two hours after high noon will give any city residents who can take the time to show up to provide input on this process a chance to do so.

People who advocate for the library feel that they are being left out of the process and that the city is trying to steamroll a plan which doesn't do the library justice right on over them. Others question why so many projects that weren't originally part of Riverside Renaissance are being added to a growing lists. That's one reason among others why the original price tag of the renaissance one year ago was around $750,000.

Today, in January 2007 it stands at $1.9 million.

So in effect, it seems that there's sentiment of a power struggle between city residents who advocate for the library and the city manager's office, which has this "my way or the highway" motto about many projects, many things and perhaps even different city departments if what's been said inside and outside of city council meetings is any indication by city employees concerned about the relationship between the department heads and the city manager's office and how this relationship impacts the work force in general and inside the city's departments.

The library system in Riverside including the building downtown are very important resources for many people. For many people including children, books are a lifeline that's often difficult to measure. They are pathways, opportunities, lessons, nourishment and inspiration and many people come to the libraries for other services as well including guidance on completing income tax forms for example and literacy programs. And libraries play an important role in education, public safety (by providing alternative activities for children and teenagers if fully utilized) and support.

The library system is very fortunate to have dedicated city residents who care this much about its present and future, but City Hall including the city manager's office should be more respectful of the efforts of these folks. But the sentiment seems to be that if the city council chambers isn't filled, then Hudson will do his own thing with the city council's full backing. Sometimes it's interesting to contemplate whether they work for him or the other way around as the different players in city politics are so interwoven.

What does this all have to do with what happened at the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee today? Well, it's interesting that a board that's gotten scant attention in recent years suddenly was the focus of the screening process and the focus was on how important it was to get a "good" person at this time. Hasn't the focus on any selection process involving any of the city's boards and commission been about getting good people to serve? What is so important about today and tomorrow, but not yesterday?

If the focus on having a *good* person is now, then perhaps that means a certain type of "good" person who will follow a laid out agenda at City Hall or will be more receptive to one? Are these just political appointments rather than opportunities for people to contribute to their city while remaining independent thinkers?


What would be better is to invest in a screening, interviewing and selection process that was inclusive of all the city's boards and commissions. Maintaining an interview process allows city council members and the mayor to learn more about people and what they intend to bring to the position especially those individuals who don't hang out at the same venues as the city's elected officials or those that are not well known by city officials.


If people are going to go through the process of applying and believe they have an honest chance to be considered which is what the city sells through its brochures and on its Web site. If they don't have an honest process that's free of being politicized, then filling out an applicatoin to serve on one is a waste of these good people's time. The information on vacancies on the site is outdated but the mission statement remains the same.


(excerpt)


City Boards and Commissions are the underpinnings of our community - they are how the community navigates the daily and weekly decisions that make Riverside run smoothly to become the kind of community we all want.





Most of the boards and commissions also have separate Web sites addressing them. Just click the link on each page to access them and read what they are about and what they do.


They never did figure out who the Ward Four representative on the Board of Library Trustees would be during the meeting but Loveridge had a final comment.


"We need to work on this," he implored.





And the Trashtalking Award of the Day goes to...


--->Councilman Steve Adams, Ward Seven who ranted a bit about two residents of his ward who had applied for the city's planning commission.

This incident happened when the committee was discussing candidates to interview to fill a Ward Seven spot on the Planning Commission. As stated above, Adams said the following:


"Integrity applies to people who apply for the board and two of these people don't have any."

Only one of the "two" referred to by Adams by name and that was Mary Lou Morales who has in the past run for city council in Ward Seven.

In this election in 2003, Morales finished a scant eight votes behind Adams in the first round of that election. Adams would later face off against Terry Frizzel in the finals of Election 2003.

The other individual he referred to wasn't named but was it applicant Art Garcia who faced off against Adams in the preliminary round of Election 2007? Does running against Adams for the council seat equate with not having any integrity?

If so, is there a pattern here? No, not the larger pattern which involves elected officials calling people "liars" or strongly implying that they are from the dais as Adams already has done or talking about their ethics or in this case, "integrity". But a different one?

Adams spent most of this past year in fine form, referring to women who attended one city council members as lying or liars and also circulating a letter that members of the Riverside Police Officers' Association found very insulting. He won reelection by about 16 votes.


The perfect response to that kind of behavior was one I learned during a new training course I sat in on last week offered by the Riverside Police Department. Det. Dan Warren taught an excellent bloc on tactical communication, which is part of the department's training on mental health crisis intervention that is being provided to the department's police officers and many of its civilian employees. The training program which was created last year is already becoming nationally renowned.

Just listen to them try to get you to stop speaking out, being active, blogging about city events, working to improve your city by telling them, "I really appreciate that, but I've got to or I'm going to...." and keep saying or doing what it is that you're doing.

Face it, there are serious issues with Riverside Renaissance running full steam and then some while city departments face hiring freezes, equipment shortages and serious budget cuts. The pedestrian mall is getting a $10 million redo while city programs are endangered. I was talking to some Ward Four folks and they were talking about the pedestrian mall, which they felt was foolish because the timing was not good for such an expensive project. It's interesting and not surprising to most of us that people in the city get really sensitive and upset when facing cuts or delays due to cuts in accessing, enjoying or utilizing city resources. And these people vote.

For the police department, it means avoiding the pitfalls of the past when the department traveled down its road after budget cuts including those in the late 1990s which were some of the most difficult years up to now. Those cuts impacted staffing, equipment and most likely training.

We all know how that turned out and what had to be done to address that situation. A department that focuses on a community policing philosophy needs to be properly staffed and equipped. Training is especially crucial as the department, which is a very young one, opts for different strategies to face ongoing issues. And the problem is, there is neither a city council nor a city manager's office in place that appears to have much of a collective memory of those times.

I asked the people I spoke with if they contacted the councilman for the ward and they said, no. Why bother? There's this belief that all the decisions are already made, not to benefit city residents but out of town developers and that belief is hard to shake or escape.

And Mary Lou and Art, keep doing what it is you are doing, because you must be doing something right.

A new courthouse has made its debut in Riverside and this time, it's an old schoolhouse.

The old Hawthorne Elementary School campus has surrendered several classrooms to be used by the Riverside County Superior Courts to hear civil cases including some over five years old. It's being done at a school because the civil courts downtown are being used for hearing criminal trials in hopes of reducing a serious backlog that's nearing 2,000 cases.

Each civil courtroom in Riverside County is looking upon average at a caseload around 1,300 whether it's in Riverside or Indio.

So what's just another day in the courts like in Riverside?




(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The courts were fully dressed out by Monday, with judges' benches, jury boxes, sound systems, overhead projectors and counsel tables.

Black façades behind the benches are embellished with the seal of California and conceal such classroom furnishings as knee-high cupboards.

Counsel tables had black cloth trimming, hiding, somewhat, that they were plastic cafeteria-style tables. Case files were pulled from cardboard storage boxes.

There is still some work to be done. The phone system wasn't in place Monday morning, and lawyers were given a clerk's cell phone number to call.

Court officials have said a lack of security makes holding criminal trials at the court not possible.

In addition to the former school's parking lot, the concrete portion of the playground is being used for visitors' vehicles.

Retired Riverside County Judge E. Michael Kaiser, assigned as master calendar judge, took the bench shortly after 9 a.m. in Department HA1 and began to call a 12-case calendar in his courtroom, which was filled with attorneys, clients, self-represented litigants and court personnel.

"You start trial today, in 45 minutes," Kaiser told attorneys in LePiere's case, one of the county's oldest. His lawsuit, filed Sept. 25, 2002, in Indio, involves a dispute between LaPiere and a mobile home park's homeowner association.



So come by the school house that once was and don't forget to bring an apple for the judge. Just kidding.





A motorcyclist was struck and killed by a vehicle driven by a Riverside County Sheriff's Department deputy.


(excerpt)


The motorcyclist was driving east off a dirt road onto Castellano Road as the deputy was driving south up the hill, said California Highway Patrol Officer George Foard.

The deputy, whose identity was not released, left about 60 feet of skid marks behind him that started on the west side of the street and curved to the center.

The relatively steep hill is lined with houses to the west and a slope to the east.

David Ditolla has lived in one of the houses near the San Bernardino County line for about 17 years. When he heard tires screeching and a crash at about 2:50 p.m., he assumed the crash happened on nearby Rubidoux Boulevard where many crashes have occurred.

"When I came out, I saw the deputy outside the car calling 911 and the (motorcyclist) was lying there, not moving," Ditolla said. The deputy, "was shook up, but he was trying to keep calm. He was doing what he was supposed to."

Ditolla said he didn't see a helmet on the motorcyclist's head.





March GlobalPort settled its criminal case and will pay a mere $100,000 in fines. That's a drop in the bucket compared to the $10 million it could have paid for a multitude of misdemeanor charges.


(excerpt)


In January 2007, District Attorney Rod Pacheco filed a complaint detailing 11 misdemeanor violations. At the time, prosecutors said the companies improperly handled hazardous fuel and waste, putting the public at risk. There was a real risk of fire and explosion, prosecutors said.

The charges included the handling, disposal and storage of hazardous waste with reckless disregard for the risk of fire or explosion, disposal of hazardous waste at an unauthorized location, lack of explosion venting and emergency shut-off devices and failing to report fuel leaks.

In March 2006, Riverside County's fire chief shut down the fuel station and called it "absolutely dangerous."

Global Port officials said Monday they conducted an internal investigation and have taken steps to make sure violations do not occur again.

"We have straightened it out and are moving on," spokeswoman Barbara Lohman said.



GlobalPort is no stranger to criticism especially in how it handled the whole DHL mess in the last several years. Every time you hear loud aircraft in the week hours of the morning, think of GlobalPort.




City Attorney Gregory Priamos and the police department take on the local bars and clubs in the wake of violence which has ranged from drunken brawls to shootings.



I remember sitting in court listening to Commissioner Jeffrey Provost hear a motion in relation to a case involving a public intoxication charge. After listening to a Riverside Police Department officer testify, the judge said he was troubled by the charge.



"If you can't get drunk in a bar, where can you get drunk," Provost said, seemingly perplexed.





But the problem is, when people get in fights whether it's gang members who shoot people, men who face off against other drunk men to prove who's the better or "real" man and even a former Riverside Police Department officer in the summer of 1997 who flashed his police identification at a bouncer so he could get into a local bar even though he was already drunk and then promptly beat up a bouncer or two, allegedly breaking someone's wrist.



At the time of the rampage, the police officer was under investigation along with two other officers by the department's internal affairs division for assaulting a Latino man and tossing him into Lake Evans. It would take the public a while before they knew what the hell was going on.



In this case, Philip Graham eventually plead guilty to two felonies, which were both dismissed in 2001. An analysis and instructional seminar of how the complaint filed by Jose Martinez in what was called the "lake incident" was handled or not handled, would be included as a mandate in the stipulated judgment between the city and former State Attorney General Bill Lockyer.




The plea bargains of several members of the so-called "Fight Club", a Murrieta gang, continued yesterday and today. It's surprising to hear the words "plea bargain" and "gang members" at the same time, given the Riverside County District Attorney's office's new rules against plea bargains which it has applied against other gangs.

But then look at the photographs of them. Look where they came from and lived. It is indeed true that a picture paints a thousand words.

Even the media reporter uses words like "boys", describes the courtroom as an "upscale coffee house" and writes about how the lights in the courtroom form a halo over one of the defendent's head.


More information on the Murrieta "Fight Club" here, here and here.





The resignation of Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona has led to tremendous fallout on the agency, according to the Los Angeles Times.



(excerpt)



As he departed, Carona took steps to leave his political imprint on the department, firing one of his assistant sheriffs, Dan Martini, without explanation, and appointing as interim sheriff one of his biggest loyalists.

His choice of Assistant Sheriff Jack Anderson to run the department immediately raised concerns in some quarters, because in addition to being a strong Carona ally, Anderson is an official of the Orange County Republican Party.

Supervisor John Moorlach questioned whether the appointment was even valid. The Board of Supervisors intends to appoint a successor to fill out the remaining three years of Carona's term, and already the names of candidates -- some from the Carona faithful, others sharp critics of the sheriff -- are being discussed. The board meets today.

Carona said he resigned so he could concentrate on defending himself against corruption charges and continue receiving free legal advice from one of the nation's top law firms.

The decision, which marked a significant reversal of Carona's vow to stay in office while he worked to clear his name, brought an end to a once-promising political career.

Carona, who called the resignation "one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made," stepped down a little more than two months after federal prosecutors accused him of selling the power of his office for tens of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts.

"The downside is once I go to trial and get found not guilty, I can't get this job back," Carona said. "I need to have a top-notch legal defense team, and these are some of the best of the best in America. It's an incredible opportunity for me."



Who could succeed Carona as sheriff? Here are some possible replacements.


From Michael Carona's blog via this Los Angeles Times article.


(excerpt)



Over the past few weeks it has become clear to me that the interests of the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the residents of Orange County would be best served if I am not distracted from my duties while defending the charges recently brought against me by the federal government. As a consequence, I have worked closely with my staff to assure that my departure from the Orange County Sheriff Department will not materially disrupt its operations or the very capable leadership structure that I have been privileged to work with over the years. Undersheriff Galisky, the Assistant Sheriffs and the more than 4000 members of the Orange County Sheriff's Department have responded to this challenge with the level of deep commitment and excellent service which the residents of this county have come to expect and enjoy.

With a heavy heart, I therefore announce my retirement as Sheriff, effective today. Although this is one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made, my family, my staff and my lawyers all believe that this is the right time to take my retirement. This action will permit me to focus on vindicating my name and refuting the false charges which have been made against me and my wife.










Trying to sell his story in Bolingbrook, is former sergeant, Drew Peterson, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Peterson is suspected of playing a role in the Oct. 28, 2007 disappearance of his wife, Stacey and has told reporters that he can't tell them anything when there's others out there willing to pay money for the information.





The television season is essentially over.