"Just say no" and other sound-bytes
"All events are linked together in the best of possible worlds."
---Candide by Voltaire
Two developers offered an aide to one of the San Bernardino County supervisors $15,000 as a bribe. But Robert Page just said no, an action which was commended by the Press Enterprise Editorial Board as it should be. It was a big day for San Bernardino County, considering its history in the area of governmental corruption.
(excerpt)
Page is chief of staff for Fifth District County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who this week called him "a living example that corruption will not be tolerated." Gonzales also said she would donate $35,500 in campaign contributions from the defendants to charity.
In announcing the felony charges against Arshak Kouladjian, 53, of Glendale, and his brother, Vartan Kouladjian, 45, of Pasadena, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos said, "We've come a long way ... We don't want to go backward." His comments allude to the county's history, which is what makes this case especially notable.
Does this mean that San Bernardino County can put its tarnished past behind it? It's a start but is it the equivalent of a sound-byte or is it the real thing? That remains to be seen. But it kind of tells you something that something like an aide turning down a bribe is so significant to merit all this attention. It should just be business as usual to be an ethical politician in San Bernardino County and the Inland Empire. But alas, it hasn't been so that's why Page deserves some serious accolades.
Riverside's Mayor Ron Loveridge reassured the masses that despite the gloomy forecast for the finances up in Sacramento, Riverside is fairly flush in comparison. So flush that the decision to freeze employee positions is necessary? Of course, the positions that won't face cuts or freezes will be those high-priced legislative aides that the city council voted to give themselves last year so they could be just like the people they do dearly want to be, the county supervisors. Not to knock the aides because I'm sure they work hard, but hopefully, the city council division of the city will do its part and also cut its budget some place.
This is the same city that used to have only one assistant city manager back in the day. Now there are three of them, all making probably generous six-figured salaries and receiving even more generous benefit packages each year they stay here until they get retire, other jobs or City Manager Brad Hudson leaves for the county, whatever comes first.
You might argue that the city's grown much since "the day" and that's indeed very true. Whether or not the increase in city management positions is necessary to meet the demands of that growth is up for debate. However in contrast, the increases that are needed for employees in the departments which provide the city's basic services aren't keeping up with the rapid growth of this city, both in surface area due to imminent and planned annexations and population due to immigration, reproduction and annexations.
Loveridge himself raised the point several times that the city can only erect so many new buildings before it's going to be shorthanded with providing staffing and equipment to both maintain those buildings and to provide the services from that building to city residents.
But the freezes show that not only can't the city meet the growth in surface area (with one annexation adding 80 square miles to the city alone), populations and projects, it's actually falling behind.
The fire and police department's get new vehicles out of the equation. Several trucks for the fire department and 20 for the police department's fleet. Yes, the vote promised 40 but 20 of them were to be put on the budget for the next fiscal year and if you remember the long, drawn out story involving the department's promised fleet of video recorders to put in its squad cars, you are right to be cautious.
Hiring and promotion freezes in most of the city's departments. No more fire fighters or police officers for the rest of this year. The number of police officers impacted varies between about a dozen and 19 officers, though apparently 10 more positions were recently filled and the official mantra is always that they are hiring, hiring and hiring. Freezes of civilian positions is expected which is what happened for a period of time in the police department last year during supposedly rosier times. It would be interesting to know where the money which would have been spent recruiting, screening, hiring and paying people to fill the vacant positions was spent instead.
Fire fighter positions were promised as well, but it's not clear how many have been filled (beyond those to equip new fire stations) and how many won't be.
Those two critical departments which cover the libraries and museums will also be impacted even if the projects to renovate them ever go forward. Some more intrigue going on in the library department but then that just means it's Tuesday. Hopefully the employees in the city's libraries are still allowed to shelve the books by themselves.
Code compliance, the one division people love to hate or hate to love, has apparently had some personnel reshuffling lately but it's not clear whether this extends to frozen positions or is a separate episode of Riverside's very own hit program, City Hall Island. The Park and Recreation Department and the Department of Public Utilities have budget cuts and along with Code Compliance, they all share one unfortunate trait that could have budget implications which I'm sure the city's very unhappy about at the moment.
The only sure thing about the budget situation both in Sacramento and in Riverside is that there's more to come. There always is from this long-running civic soap opera.
The issue of how the planned renovations and expansions of both the libary and the museum in the downtown continues to be in discussions.
In the eagerness to renovate the downtown library, some urge the city not to lose track of the museum's own expansion. Kathie Dillion from Mt. San Jacinto College is one of them.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
In the debate over the expansion of the Riverside Main Library and the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, it seems the mentality of armed camps has emerged.
Some believe that the library is the beacon of all cultural endeavors while the museum is the repository of all things ancient and obsolete. In reality, the museum is a highly relevant institution that can give insight into the challenges faced by current and future generations.
In recent exhibits, the exploration of the diverse world we live in was very evident. Exhibits on India and Japan have introduced visitors to places and people halfway around the world. Visitors were able to see artifacts up close and hear the music of faraway places.
The knowledge gleaned was through an interactive rather than an inactive experience. There is a great deal to be said for reading about a subject in a book or online. But some of us learn even more when we can involve the other senses as well.
But as stated in an earlier article, it's apparent that a key member of the Metropolitan Museum Board supports the plan submitted by Hudson's office. It's likely that the Board of Library Trustees will find itself a key person soon if it doesn't have one already. After all, remember this. The Board of Library Trustees has been taken off the shelf where it's resided, dusted off by the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee and called "important" and "special". Because of that, it needed a really "special" person appointed to it especially now. According to a report issued to the city council last week, Loveridge and Councilman Frank Schiavone are still working on that.
Over 10,000 people attended the funeral of Los Angeles Police Department SWAT officer Randal Simmons who was laid to rest today.
Simmons spent many hours of his day working with youth in the South Central area and that's where I first heard of him through other people. I wasn't aware that he was a police officer until his death.
(excerpt)
In one of the most emotional moments of the service, Basil Kimbrew walked off the stage at the center of the sanctuary-in-the-round to give an old framed photograph of Simmons to James Veenstra, whose face was still swollen from the bullet he took to the jaw in the attack that killed his longtime partner.
"That's how Randy was," said Kimbrew, who was Simmons' college roommate at Washington State University, where both men played football. "Randy always gave, he would always give before he gave to himself."
As the song "Because You Loved Me" played throughout the FaithDome, a video montage highlighted the many aspects of Simmons' life, from his childhood through fatherhood, to his work on the streets of inner-city neighborhoods ministering to children.
"He is now patrolling the streets of heaven," said one of his sisters-in-law, who gave her name as Cookie.
More on Simmon's funeral services here and at the LAPD blog.
Donations for the Glory Kids Bus Program, which was Simmon's ministry can be sent to:
Randal Simmons, GCFI Kids Ministry
225 W. Torrence Blvd. Ste B
Carson, CA 90745
(310) 538-9186
In Eugene, Oregon, the police auditor has been accused of misconduct.
(excerpt, KVAL-13)
The allegations are against Cris Beamud who was hired as the City of Eugene police auditor in 2006. Her job is to oversee complaints with Eugene police but now the complaint is against her.
Most of the details are being kept confidential but here's what we know.
A memorandum was submitted February 4th against Beamud for quote criminal allegations against a police sergeant. The memo was then directed to the City Council which supervises Beamud. It was also sent to the Chief of Police and is now being investigated by the D.A.
Beamud along with Mayor Kitty Piercy and other city workers held a news conference this morning to address these claims. "I deeply believe that public officials must account for their actions," says Beamud. "And I am confident that the process and the investigation will reveal no wrongdoing."
More information about this situation here.
Atlanta's looking for an executive director for its civilian review board. As you know, Atlanta's police department has been the center of a lot of scrutiny since the fatal officer-involved shooting of Kathryn Johnston, 92 which led to the indictments of at least three of the department's narcotics officers.
Job Title: Citizen Review Board, Executive Director
Closing Date/Time: Sat. 02/23/08 5:00 PM Eastern Time
Salary: $76,873.00 - $117,945.00 annually
Job Type: Full-time
Location: Atlanta, GA, Georgia
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _
Print Job Information Apply
Description Benefits Supplemental Questions
This classification is a single-class professional position under the
direction of the Atlanta Citizen Review Board ("CRB"). The Executive
Director will be responsible for the development, implementation and
management of a comprehensive oversight of law enforcement strategy
aimed at successfully supporting the CRB. The Executive Director will
work closely with members of the CRB and supervise investigative and
administrative staff responsible for the intake, dissemination and
administration of citizen complaints and investigations of law
enforcement officers. The director will facilitate all aspects of
public hearings, make findings and recommendations to the CRB
regarding disposition of the complaints and assist the board in
developing policy recommendations to law enforcement agencies. The
director will be responsible for developing and managing a budget for
the CRB and will serve as the CRB's liaison to the City of Atlanta
Administration.
Typical Qualifications:
The competencies for this classification must be gained through a
Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and least four (4)
years of progressively responsible managerial/supervis ory experience
in the field of public administration, criminal justice or in the
practice of law; or any equivalent combination of education,
training, and experience which provides the requisite knowledge,
skills, and abilities for this job.
Candidate must be able to obtain a valid Georgia driver's license
upon employment.
A Master's degree in Criminal Justice, Public Administration, Public
Policy or a related field, or Juris Doctorate degree is highly
desirable.
ATLANTA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Apply
The Ville in Riverside is open again but maybe not for long.
Who is watching whom? An interesting article on video cameras and the different directions they are pointing in these days.
It does mention the placement of video cameras into squad cars, which was what Riverside's own police department was required to do under the terms of its stipulated judgment. Riverside was required to purchase 10 such cameras and install them by 2003 and then between 2003 and 2006, it was supposed to make a good-faith effort to secure funding to buy more cameras, at least 25 more.
However, by late 2005 only three more video cameras had been purchased by the city and installed in the squad cars. As of today, Feb. 16, 2008 there are still only 13 squad cars driving around with digital video cameras installed.
It's not like the city didn't try. In fact, it secured enough funding, $500,000, to equip its entire fleet of squad cars but it did so on the eve of the dissolution of the judgment. Since then, it's been winning the all-time filibuster award for talking the talk of how it plans to install these cameras but to date, is the entire fleet of cars installed with cameras? No. Maybe it'll be exciting if they just get to the number 14, or 20 or the 25 they were supposed to try to get.
Hopefully, this week at the police/community forum which addresses the progress of the department's strategic plan, there will be some encouraging and even exciting news about these camera purchases and installations. Yes, there are budget cuts coming but the money to pay to equip the entire fleet was actually allocated through a city council vote over two years ago.
And given the glowing assessment that Councilman Frank Schiavone has given about the city's massive reserve fund, it makes the justification to cut the budget on these cameras weaker than it already would be not to equip these vehicles anyway.
He's also running for the District One position on the county board of supervisors and the fund raising for him and incumbent Bob Buster has been going on. As one anonymous person stated here, Schiavone is shopping around for financial contributions from the labor unions including the SEIU which is the city's largest labor union.
But the process isn't quite occurring as it is described by this individual. In fact, it's very interesting. One that is definitely worth following and different accounts of who approached who.
Due to the state's budget crisis, the school districts will be left to borrow money.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
State payments that school districts normally would receive in July now won't be sent until September.
"The state is having a cash-flow problem, and they're essentially passing their cash-flow problem down to school districts," said Kenn Young, Riverside County superintendent of schools.
Deputy Charlotte Marshall-Jones turned herself in to the county jail to be booked for potential criminal charges in connection to an incident where she was videotaped pushing a quadraplegic man out of his wheelchair. Her boss has apologized publicly for the incident.
Visitors include the following.
City of Riverside
County of Riverside
State of California Treasurer's Office
University of California, Riverside
Austin Community College
University of California, Office of the President
University of Virginia
S Hutchings (London)
Siemens Energy & Automation
Press Enterprise
United States Centers for Disease Control
Maricopa County (Arizona)
Washington City Paper
Cozy Newsletter
Michigan Technological University
---Candide by Voltaire
Two developers offered an aide to one of the San Bernardino County supervisors $15,000 as a bribe. But Robert Page just said no, an action which was commended by the Press Enterprise Editorial Board as it should be. It was a big day for San Bernardino County, considering its history in the area of governmental corruption.
(excerpt)
Page is chief of staff for Fifth District County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, who this week called him "a living example that corruption will not be tolerated." Gonzales also said she would donate $35,500 in campaign contributions from the defendants to charity.
In announcing the felony charges against Arshak Kouladjian, 53, of Glendale, and his brother, Vartan Kouladjian, 45, of Pasadena, San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos said, "We've come a long way ... We don't want to go backward." His comments allude to the county's history, which is what makes this case especially notable.
Does this mean that San Bernardino County can put its tarnished past behind it? It's a start but is it the equivalent of a sound-byte or is it the real thing? That remains to be seen. But it kind of tells you something that something like an aide turning down a bribe is so significant to merit all this attention. It should just be business as usual to be an ethical politician in San Bernardino County and the Inland Empire. But alas, it hasn't been so that's why Page deserves some serious accolades.
Riverside's Mayor Ron Loveridge reassured the masses that despite the gloomy forecast for the finances up in Sacramento, Riverside is fairly flush in comparison. So flush that the decision to freeze employee positions is necessary? Of course, the positions that won't face cuts or freezes will be those high-priced legislative aides that the city council voted to give themselves last year so they could be just like the people they do dearly want to be, the county supervisors. Not to knock the aides because I'm sure they work hard, but hopefully, the city council division of the city will do its part and also cut its budget some place.
This is the same city that used to have only one assistant city manager back in the day. Now there are three of them, all making probably generous six-figured salaries and receiving even more generous benefit packages each year they stay here until they get retire, other jobs or City Manager Brad Hudson leaves for the county, whatever comes first.
You might argue that the city's grown much since "the day" and that's indeed very true. Whether or not the increase in city management positions is necessary to meet the demands of that growth is up for debate. However in contrast, the increases that are needed for employees in the departments which provide the city's basic services aren't keeping up with the rapid growth of this city, both in surface area due to imminent and planned annexations and population due to immigration, reproduction and annexations.
Loveridge himself raised the point several times that the city can only erect so many new buildings before it's going to be shorthanded with providing staffing and equipment to both maintain those buildings and to provide the services from that building to city residents.
But the freezes show that not only can't the city meet the growth in surface area (with one annexation adding 80 square miles to the city alone), populations and projects, it's actually falling behind.
The fire and police department's get new vehicles out of the equation. Several trucks for the fire department and 20 for the police department's fleet. Yes, the vote promised 40 but 20 of them were to be put on the budget for the next fiscal year and if you remember the long, drawn out story involving the department's promised fleet of video recorders to put in its squad cars, you are right to be cautious.
Hiring and promotion freezes in most of the city's departments. No more fire fighters or police officers for the rest of this year. The number of police officers impacted varies between about a dozen and 19 officers, though apparently 10 more positions were recently filled and the official mantra is always that they are hiring, hiring and hiring. Freezes of civilian positions is expected which is what happened for a period of time in the police department last year during supposedly rosier times. It would be interesting to know where the money which would have been spent recruiting, screening, hiring and paying people to fill the vacant positions was spent instead.
Fire fighter positions were promised as well, but it's not clear how many have been filled (beyond those to equip new fire stations) and how many won't be.
Those two critical departments which cover the libraries and museums will also be impacted even if the projects to renovate them ever go forward. Some more intrigue going on in the library department but then that just means it's Tuesday. Hopefully the employees in the city's libraries are still allowed to shelve the books by themselves.
Code compliance, the one division people love to hate or hate to love, has apparently had some personnel reshuffling lately but it's not clear whether this extends to frozen positions or is a separate episode of Riverside's very own hit program, City Hall Island. The Park and Recreation Department and the Department of Public Utilities have budget cuts and along with Code Compliance, they all share one unfortunate trait that could have budget implications which I'm sure the city's very unhappy about at the moment.
The only sure thing about the budget situation both in Sacramento and in Riverside is that there's more to come. There always is from this long-running civic soap opera.
The issue of how the planned renovations and expansions of both the libary and the museum in the downtown continues to be in discussions.
In the eagerness to renovate the downtown library, some urge the city not to lose track of the museum's own expansion. Kathie Dillion from Mt. San Jacinto College is one of them.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
In the debate over the expansion of the Riverside Main Library and the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, it seems the mentality of armed camps has emerged.
Some believe that the library is the beacon of all cultural endeavors while the museum is the repository of all things ancient and obsolete. In reality, the museum is a highly relevant institution that can give insight into the challenges faced by current and future generations.
In recent exhibits, the exploration of the diverse world we live in was very evident. Exhibits on India and Japan have introduced visitors to places and people halfway around the world. Visitors were able to see artifacts up close and hear the music of faraway places.
The knowledge gleaned was through an interactive rather than an inactive experience. There is a great deal to be said for reading about a subject in a book or online. But some of us learn even more when we can involve the other senses as well.
But as stated in an earlier article, it's apparent that a key member of the Metropolitan Museum Board supports the plan submitted by Hudson's office. It's likely that the Board of Library Trustees will find itself a key person soon if it doesn't have one already. After all, remember this. The Board of Library Trustees has been taken off the shelf where it's resided, dusted off by the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee and called "important" and "special". Because of that, it needed a really "special" person appointed to it especially now. According to a report issued to the city council last week, Loveridge and Councilman Frank Schiavone are still working on that.
Over 10,000 people attended the funeral of Los Angeles Police Department SWAT officer Randal Simmons who was laid to rest today.
Simmons spent many hours of his day working with youth in the South Central area and that's where I first heard of him through other people. I wasn't aware that he was a police officer until his death.
(excerpt)
In one of the most emotional moments of the service, Basil Kimbrew walked off the stage at the center of the sanctuary-in-the-round to give an old framed photograph of Simmons to James Veenstra, whose face was still swollen from the bullet he took to the jaw in the attack that killed his longtime partner.
"That's how Randy was," said Kimbrew, who was Simmons' college roommate at Washington State University, where both men played football. "Randy always gave, he would always give before he gave to himself."
As the song "Because You Loved Me" played throughout the FaithDome, a video montage highlighted the many aspects of Simmons' life, from his childhood through fatherhood, to his work on the streets of inner-city neighborhoods ministering to children.
"He is now patrolling the streets of heaven," said one of his sisters-in-law, who gave her name as Cookie.
More on Simmon's funeral services here and at the LAPD blog.
Donations for the Glory Kids Bus Program, which was Simmon's ministry can be sent to:
Randal Simmons, GCFI Kids Ministry
225 W. Torrence Blvd. Ste B
Carson, CA 90745
(310) 538-9186
In Eugene, Oregon, the police auditor has been accused of misconduct.
(excerpt, KVAL-13)
The allegations are against Cris Beamud who was hired as the City of Eugene police auditor in 2006. Her job is to oversee complaints with Eugene police but now the complaint is against her.
Most of the details are being kept confidential but here's what we know.
A memorandum was submitted February 4th against Beamud for quote criminal allegations against a police sergeant. The memo was then directed to the City Council which supervises Beamud. It was also sent to the Chief of Police and is now being investigated by the D.A.
Beamud along with Mayor Kitty Piercy and other city workers held a news conference this morning to address these claims. "I deeply believe that public officials must account for their actions," says Beamud. "And I am confident that the process and the investigation will reveal no wrongdoing."
More information about this situation here.
Atlanta's looking for an executive director for its civilian review board. As you know, Atlanta's police department has been the center of a lot of scrutiny since the fatal officer-involved shooting of Kathryn Johnston, 92 which led to the indictments of at least three of the department's narcotics officers.
Job Title: Citizen Review Board, Executive Director
Closing Date/Time: Sat. 02/23/08 5:00 PM Eastern Time
Salary: $76,873.00 - $117,945.00 annually
Job Type: Full-time
Location: Atlanta, GA, Georgia
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _
Print Job Information Apply
Description Benefits Supplemental Questions
This classification is a single-class professional position under the
direction of the Atlanta Citizen Review Board ("CRB"). The Executive
Director will be responsible for the development, implementation and
management of a comprehensive oversight of law enforcement strategy
aimed at successfully supporting the CRB. The Executive Director will
work closely with members of the CRB and supervise investigative and
administrative staff responsible for the intake, dissemination and
administration of citizen complaints and investigations of law
enforcement officers. The director will facilitate all aspects of
public hearings, make findings and recommendations to the CRB
regarding disposition of the complaints and assist the board in
developing policy recommendations to law enforcement agencies. The
director will be responsible for developing and managing a budget for
the CRB and will serve as the CRB's liaison to the City of Atlanta
Administration.
Typical Qualifications:
The competencies for this classification must be gained through a
Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and least four (4)
years of progressively responsible managerial/supervis ory experience
in the field of public administration, criminal justice or in the
practice of law; or any equivalent combination of education,
training, and experience which provides the requisite knowledge,
skills, and abilities for this job.
Candidate must be able to obtain a valid Georgia driver's license
upon employment.
A Master's degree in Criminal Justice, Public Administration, Public
Policy or a related field, or Juris Doctorate degree is highly
desirable.
ATLANTA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Apply
The Ville in Riverside is open again but maybe not for long.
Who is watching whom? An interesting article on video cameras and the different directions they are pointing in these days.
It does mention the placement of video cameras into squad cars, which was what Riverside's own police department was required to do under the terms of its stipulated judgment. Riverside was required to purchase 10 such cameras and install them by 2003 and then between 2003 and 2006, it was supposed to make a good-faith effort to secure funding to buy more cameras, at least 25 more.
However, by late 2005 only three more video cameras had been purchased by the city and installed in the squad cars. As of today, Feb. 16, 2008 there are still only 13 squad cars driving around with digital video cameras installed.
It's not like the city didn't try. In fact, it secured enough funding, $500,000, to equip its entire fleet of squad cars but it did so on the eve of the dissolution of the judgment. Since then, it's been winning the all-time filibuster award for talking the talk of how it plans to install these cameras but to date, is the entire fleet of cars installed with cameras? No. Maybe it'll be exciting if they just get to the number 14, or 20 or the 25 they were supposed to try to get.
Hopefully, this week at the police/community forum which addresses the progress of the department's strategic plan, there will be some encouraging and even exciting news about these camera purchases and installations. Yes, there are budget cuts coming but the money to pay to equip the entire fleet was actually allocated through a city council vote over two years ago.
And given the glowing assessment that Councilman Frank Schiavone has given about the city's massive reserve fund, it makes the justification to cut the budget on these cameras weaker than it already would be not to equip these vehicles anyway.
He's also running for the District One position on the county board of supervisors and the fund raising for him and incumbent Bob Buster has been going on. As one anonymous person stated here, Schiavone is shopping around for financial contributions from the labor unions including the SEIU which is the city's largest labor union.
But the process isn't quite occurring as it is described by this individual. In fact, it's very interesting. One that is definitely worth following and different accounts of who approached who.
Due to the state's budget crisis, the school districts will be left to borrow money.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
State payments that school districts normally would receive in July now won't be sent until September.
"The state is having a cash-flow problem, and they're essentially passing their cash-flow problem down to school districts," said Kenn Young, Riverside County superintendent of schools.
Deputy Charlotte Marshall-Jones turned herself in to the county jail to be booked for potential criminal charges in connection to an incident where she was videotaped pushing a quadraplegic man out of his wheelchair. Her boss has apologized publicly for the incident.
Visitors include the following.
City of Riverside
County of Riverside
State of California Treasurer's Office
University of California, Riverside
Austin Community College
University of California, Office of the President
University of Virginia
S Hutchings (London)
Siemens Energy & Automation
Press Enterprise
United States Centers for Disease Control
Maricopa County (Arizona)
Washington City Paper
Cozy Newsletter
Michigan Technological University
Labels: Backlash against civilian oversight, public forums in all places, Video police review
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