Election 2008: Reaching for a bad guy
Today, something miraculous happened or so it just seemed that way because of the technological advances, during the hotly contested Riverside County Board of Supervisor contest. I received the latest campaign brochure and then 10 minutes later, a phone message refuting the claims in that brochure!
Now that's quick!
The latest brochure sat in the mail box, waiting to be read. It was from the camp of incumbent supervisor, Bob Buster and it addressed whether or not Ward Four Councilman Frank Schiavone attacked him regarding his stance on illegal immigration. I still haven't received the illustrious campaign brochure where Schiavone did a complete 180 degree turn from his position on undocumented immigrants receiving services including health care and education (hence his decision to vote against Proposition 187 which he once told me he did) and decided that it was going to be a top priority of his campaign to prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining the same services that would have been banned under Proposition 187 if it hadn't been determined to be in violation of the 10th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution. Both men are pushing for something that the state's highest court and beyond have prohibited them from doing.
This is a complex issue for many people and everyone has an opinion and politicians running for office should be very forthcoming about their opinions. It's not even the opinions so much as how they're defining a political campaign and allowing a federal issue to supersede county issues, because too often in the campaign process, it comes to inflaming public opinion for votes rather than addressing the nuts and bolts issues that impact the lives of many city or county residents.
One city resident at city council meetings talks about "smoke and mirrors". Well, this is a great example of exactly what that means.
Buster's response on his brochure included the following, although actually the words were provided by former Riverside County Sheriff Cois Byrd:
"I can tell you that Supervisor Buster has consistently voted to protect taxpayers and to make public safety our county's top priority [bold, theirs]."
So despite the fact that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants don't commit violent crimes and in fact, try to keep a low-profile most likely not even feeling comfortable enough to call the police if they are victims of or witnesses to a violent crime, there's this tie between this population and public safety. It's comments like these and those made by individuals in law enforcement that make it less likely that this is going to change despite provisions in the Violence Against Women Act passed by Congress and other special visa programs that contained provisions to provide resources to undocumented immigrants reporting crimes including domestic violence and child abuse. And it's also likely that as has happened in other cities, there will be chiefs and sheriffs who will raise up their hands and ask communities why these individuals do not come forward before saying that they want to find solutions to improve that, despite the fact that the very loud message that they send is exactly the opposite.
I talk to people including voters in this election every day and many are mystified at the focus from both camps on undocumented immigrants out of the blue. It's reminiscent of the Ward Five city council election last year when then-candidate and now Councilman Chris MacArthur and his campaign volunteers tried to drum up xenophobic fears about people from south the border through accusations made against candidate and Altura Credit Union vice-president Donna Doty-Michalka and other implications about Iranian-American candidate Harry Karuni and vague references to patriotism. But despite this or because of it, MacArthur sits on the dais now.
In response to MacArthur's attacks, several of those who endorsed Michalka including the Riverside Police Officers' Association president Ken Tutwiler said that immigration was a federal issue and they criticized those attacks against their candidate. That incident was written about here.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
MacArthur came out swinging in the primary with a mailing that said Michalka backed requiring Riverside police to accept Mexican consular cards as valid identification. A footnote to the accusation said that in her work, she coordinated outreach to encourage migrant workers to open accounts with her credit union, which accepts the consular cards as valid identification.
Michalka said she is not a policymaker at her credit union and her personal views do not reflect her employer's practices.
"I'm not in favor of illegal immigration," she said.
The Riverside Police Officers Association, which has endorsed Michalka, called MacArthur's accusation about Michalka and the ID-card proposal "vicious lies" in a mailer. Both Michalka and union officials said illegal immigration is a federal issue, not a City Council issue.
And then some discussion went back to the issues impacting Riverside's city residents after these individuals said what needed to be said. It's too bad there's no such voices being raised in the supervisor contest, except perhaps by some of the voters amongst themselves.
So what have county residents told me that they want to hear about from the candidates?
What people want to hear about instead or read about in these nearly daily communicados they receive from the respective candidates is about how the county will handle land acquisitions, how it will handle the housing crisis and the fact that Riverside County's one of the fastest growing counties in the state, how the gridlocked highways and underdeveloped roads will be addressed, how March Air Base will be developed and the impact it will have on the economy, employment and quality of living, how much green space there will be for parks and other recreational opportunities, the relationships in law enforcement between services (including officers with any or a variety of less lethal options) to more affluent contract cities like Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells, in comparison to poorer contract cities and unincorporated areas of the county. That's just for starters. There was some dialogue on these issues earlier in the campaign, which was good and definitely needed to continue including in campaign brochures.
Not to mention, concern about air quality in the county (which boasts some of the nation's dirtiest and unhealthiest air) and the role of development and the relationship between development firms and interests with governmental officials. Issues that to varying degrees have played out in Riverside County's cities including Riverside and Temecula and in San Bernardino County including San Bernardino, Rialto and Colton. There's concern about the loss of rural areas as development continues to match pace with population growth. So when is there going to be time to put more information out there to the same audiences that are receiving the brochures and auto dialed computerized phone messages?
How about tomorrow?
And when it comes to "public safety", there's been more concern expressed about parolees and registered sex offenders than undocumented immigrants. But not much about these issues lately from two candidates claiming to be all about "public safety" whether they are backed by the "Riverside law enforcement community" or not.
But these issues haven't been included in any brochures put out lately. What you've seen instead as of late is something that's done constantly in economically difficult times and that's scapegoating a population of people and it's catching on which is what often happens. All this accomplishes nothing and it doesn't inform the voters on the other issues which many have listed as high priority issues. Because if there's to be discussion of the county's resources used by undocumented immigrants, then there should also be discussion of the "welfare" that's given to the development firms which congregate within Riverside city and county to do business.
In Riverside, even as basic services have faced cuts because of the impact of the state's budget crisis, the housing crisis and resultant spending habits on the city's general fund (which relies on sales tax revenue and property taxes), Riverside Renaissance's capital projects are moving forward even as the city's borrowing more and more money and having accumulated debt reorganized by its lenders as one financial employee was explaining to a city council member in front of City Hall about a month ago.
One guy who used to attend city council meetings regularly and to his later regret, backed the political campaigns of some of the city council members elected in recent years, used to talk about Riverside's reliance on corporate welfare and the relationship between that and the city's massive redevelopment areas. This guy no longer attends meetings but it's his comments about these issues which really strike the heart of many city and county residents, yet who is ready to dialogue with voters on these things?
Look what's happening around us. Money being piled whether begged for or borrowed against future generations to prop up politicians as city employees are getting laid off (part-time or not, these folks are city employees and a disproportionate number of part-time employees are female and men of color) and other positions are frozen, programs are shut down and new training programs including the police department's mental health crisis intervention training is endangered by county budget cuts involving mental health outreach and treatment.
But while there's seemingly endless money real or imagined to pay for these projects, not so for the city's services. Explain how the city's really doing so well to someone who asks you if that were true, why has the police department canceled its citizen and neighborhood watch academies until further notice and with one notable exception (which if this is the case it highlights the inappropriateness of political ties between individuals in law enforcement agencies with decision making power and responsibilities and politicians), a hiring freeze. The latter would have been a complete surprise if concerned law enforcement officers who had taken the training hadn't expressed those concerns about the necessity of it continuing despite difficult times.
This issue which all of a sudden has taken a front and central place in the board of supervisors race in a way that it dominated an election closer to Riverside, that involving the Ward Five city council election last year. The image of undocumented immigrants, preferably those with what Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein called, "brown-skinned" relying only on county services for sustenance.
And then almost on cue, came the phone call, another from the Schiavone camp probably from the same auto dialer based just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Another example of "shopping Riverside"?
Anyway, the phone call was clouded with static but it appeared to be someone from the Riverside Police Department who said something about the police department not being ordered by Schiavone to accept ID cards given by the Mexican government to "illegal aliens". At first, it appeared that perhaps this was the police department's official response on this issue which if a factual claim has been raised in error, it needed to be addressed by that agency. However, then after that, there was a statement that the law enforcement community of Riverside backed Schiavone so it was after all, a paid political announcement from that community. I wonder when they took that vote as only one labor union so far has publicly endorsed any candidate, in this case Schiavone. And it's the role of PACs created by labor unions to endorse candidates, but it gets a bit more dicey when you get closer and closer to the top level of the management team with endorsements let alone when there's blanket endorsements given involving entire law enforcement agencies in a context that applies to exactly why that endorsement's being given outside the "illegal alien" issue.
It would have been useful to voters if this phone message could have elaborated further on why the Riverside Police Department in toto (and not just through its labor unions) has endorsed Schiavone rather than just associating this blanket endorsement with the undocumented immigrant issue.
When it comes to who's the better candidate, Buster is clearly the more qualified candidate over Schiavone and I'm not convinced it's not like the Press Enterprise Editorial Board stated, that Schiavone is more interested in his political career than in the county. That's because he doesn't seem all that interested in Riverside anymore let alone finishing out the term which voters gave him with the expectation that he would fully honor that commitment. Jumping ship to run for election elsewhere doesn't exactly speak to that. It doesn't speak to anything but essentially saying that yeah, I served on the council as long as it fit my interests but what I really wanted is a seat on the county board.
But Buster's got a month left to campaign for office and it would be really nice to see him jump off this current campaign train and start educating prospective voters including this one again on the issues, his positions and why he is the best person for the job. Going tit for tat with Schiavone on the federal issue of immigration will cost him more voters than it will bring him (whereas it might not help Schiavone's campaign but probably won't hurt it much) and it will risk alienating some of his voting base including Latinos who themselves have conflicting opinions about undocumented immigration but know opportunistic campaigning when they see it. And I think if it's similar to other past campaigns for office, this is one thing that the Schiavone camp is counting on to help it win the election. The strategy is to draw the other candidate into an ad hominen discussion which is intended to whittle at his voting base. It's hard watching someone who is otherwise a strong candidate with a strong record playing along but it's the choice of the campaign strategists including the candidates which direction they go even if it's one that is going to cost them more votes than they would gain.
And even though law enforcement unions are backing Schiavone no doubt because the Riverside Sheriffs' will never forgive Buster for his support and votes for former Sheriff Bob Doyle and the other unions under the CLEAR ties are showing their support for the RSA, Buster should also tackle the concerns in the county dealing with the release and placement of the state's registered sex offenders, which has been an issue that's galvanized residents of both county cities and unincorporated areas. Also, insuring that the equipping of law enforcement officers with among other things, a variety of less lethal options isn't entirely dependent on whether the city involved has a large tax base.
Buster's best chance at remaining supervisor is to stick to the core issues where he's put a lot of hard work over time and emphasizing his commitment to those issues. But the strategy adopted here by his opponant is actually one similar to that used by George W. Bush when he ran for reelection in 2004.
Bush was vulnerable in every issue from the economy to the Iraq War (especially running against a war veteran) so what did he do? He focused a lot of his campaigning in stirring up fear and anger about immigration and same-sex marriages to avoid the issues where he was most vulnerable to be challenged about. It worked and it keeps working which is why we currently have a presidential with the lowest approval rating in modern times who most likely will be replaced by someone whose platform isn't that much different. But it works because it pushes the other candidate away from discussing the issues that really impact voters and into his or her challenger's court.
McCain likely will use a similar strategy and remember in a county race, which candidate was shown in a photograph with McCain? That was Schiavone.
Although it might be interesting to hear why the county is paying the federal law enforcement agencies to train its own deputies when usually through grant money it's the other way around, the focus should focus on issues that are under the county's jurisdiction.
Still, this voter is undecided and will remain undecided while the current campaign strategy plays itself out because frankly, I'm at the point where I'm going to start mailing them back to the espective senders with reasons why I'm doing so, something I haven't done since the Ken Calvert/Mark Takano mud-slinging election for Congress in the 1990s.
Women who live in transitional housing are receiving haircuts from RCC cosmetology students.
You would think that the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors have learned that transparency is important after all its corruption scandals not too long ago. But now it hasn't.
Lake Elsinore is tackling the development issue.
A study in San Bernardino supports the expansion of the dispatch center and in related news, the Riverside Police Department dispatchers will be honored at an upcoming city council meeting.
Goodbye Tupperware, hello tasers. These devices are the latest hot ticket item at parties. The people look at them, pass them around, hold them and yes, even shoot each other with them. And then they watch the replay on their cell phones.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Some don't fear the Taser.
At a recent party in the desert, Christian Mesey, 29, stepped right up.
Two men grasped the waiting air traffic controller under the arms.
A red laser beam took aim on Mesey's back.
"One last chance to back out," joked David S. Chandler, president of Coachella Valley Security Academy.
The company put on the seminar at the home of employee Kevin Sullivan.
With a loud pop, a pair of metal probes connected to insulated wires zoomed out about 160 feet per second before digging into Mesey's back, delivering 50,000 volts. He grimaced and slumped into a heap, his muscles momentarily useless after a five-second jolt.
Seconds later, Mesey stood up, grinning again. He examined darts that can pierce 2 inches of clothing.
"My muscles completely tightened up," he said. "If they weren't holding me, I definitely would have doubled over."
Some people have a really sense of what's a good time. But is the public really safer with individuals being equipped with hot pink or even leopard patterned taser devices? The jury is definitely still out on that. It could after all bring a whole new meeting to the term, "road rage".
The saga involving the Flesh Club continues in San Bernardino.
Nichole Paultre-Bell has some words for people about her involvement in protests stemming from the acquittal of three New York City Police Department officers who shot her fiancee Sean Bell to death in 2006.
"I'll keep fighting."
Note: If accessing this blog gives you a 403 error, it's a blogger bug and apparently they're trying to fix it.
Now that's quick!
The latest brochure sat in the mail box, waiting to be read. It was from the camp of incumbent supervisor, Bob Buster and it addressed whether or not Ward Four Councilman Frank Schiavone attacked him regarding his stance on illegal immigration. I still haven't received the illustrious campaign brochure where Schiavone did a complete 180 degree turn from his position on undocumented immigrants receiving services including health care and education (hence his decision to vote against Proposition 187 which he once told me he did) and decided that it was going to be a top priority of his campaign to prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining the same services that would have been banned under Proposition 187 if it hadn't been determined to be in violation of the 10th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution. Both men are pushing for something that the state's highest court and beyond have prohibited them from doing.
This is a complex issue for many people and everyone has an opinion and politicians running for office should be very forthcoming about their opinions. It's not even the opinions so much as how they're defining a political campaign and allowing a federal issue to supersede county issues, because too often in the campaign process, it comes to inflaming public opinion for votes rather than addressing the nuts and bolts issues that impact the lives of many city or county residents.
One city resident at city council meetings talks about "smoke and mirrors". Well, this is a great example of exactly what that means.
Buster's response on his brochure included the following, although actually the words were provided by former Riverside County Sheriff Cois Byrd:
"I can tell you that Supervisor Buster has consistently voted to protect taxpayers and to make public safety our county's top priority [bold, theirs]."
So despite the fact that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants don't commit violent crimes and in fact, try to keep a low-profile most likely not even feeling comfortable enough to call the police if they are victims of or witnesses to a violent crime, there's this tie between this population and public safety. It's comments like these and those made by individuals in law enforcement that make it less likely that this is going to change despite provisions in the Violence Against Women Act passed by Congress and other special visa programs that contained provisions to provide resources to undocumented immigrants reporting crimes including domestic violence and child abuse. And it's also likely that as has happened in other cities, there will be chiefs and sheriffs who will raise up their hands and ask communities why these individuals do not come forward before saying that they want to find solutions to improve that, despite the fact that the very loud message that they send is exactly the opposite.
I talk to people including voters in this election every day and many are mystified at the focus from both camps on undocumented immigrants out of the blue. It's reminiscent of the Ward Five city council election last year when then-candidate and now Councilman Chris MacArthur and his campaign volunteers tried to drum up xenophobic fears about people from south the border through accusations made against candidate and Altura Credit Union vice-president Donna Doty-Michalka and other implications about Iranian-American candidate Harry Karuni and vague references to patriotism. But despite this or because of it, MacArthur sits on the dais now.
In response to MacArthur's attacks, several of those who endorsed Michalka including the Riverside Police Officers' Association president Ken Tutwiler said that immigration was a federal issue and they criticized those attacks against their candidate. That incident was written about here.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
MacArthur came out swinging in the primary with a mailing that said Michalka backed requiring Riverside police to accept Mexican consular cards as valid identification. A footnote to the accusation said that in her work, she coordinated outreach to encourage migrant workers to open accounts with her credit union, which accepts the consular cards as valid identification.
Michalka said she is not a policymaker at her credit union and her personal views do not reflect her employer's practices.
"I'm not in favor of illegal immigration," she said.
The Riverside Police Officers Association, which has endorsed Michalka, called MacArthur's accusation about Michalka and the ID-card proposal "vicious lies" in a mailer. Both Michalka and union officials said illegal immigration is a federal issue, not a City Council issue.
And then some discussion went back to the issues impacting Riverside's city residents after these individuals said what needed to be said. It's too bad there's no such voices being raised in the supervisor contest, except perhaps by some of the voters amongst themselves.
So what have county residents told me that they want to hear about from the candidates?
What people want to hear about instead or read about in these nearly daily communicados they receive from the respective candidates is about how the county will handle land acquisitions, how it will handle the housing crisis and the fact that Riverside County's one of the fastest growing counties in the state, how the gridlocked highways and underdeveloped roads will be addressed, how March Air Base will be developed and the impact it will have on the economy, employment and quality of living, how much green space there will be for parks and other recreational opportunities, the relationships in law enforcement between services (including officers with any or a variety of less lethal options) to more affluent contract cities like Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells, in comparison to poorer contract cities and unincorporated areas of the county. That's just for starters. There was some dialogue on these issues earlier in the campaign, which was good and definitely needed to continue including in campaign brochures.
Not to mention, concern about air quality in the county (which boasts some of the nation's dirtiest and unhealthiest air) and the role of development and the relationship between development firms and interests with governmental officials. Issues that to varying degrees have played out in Riverside County's cities including Riverside and Temecula and in San Bernardino County including San Bernardino, Rialto and Colton. There's concern about the loss of rural areas as development continues to match pace with population growth. So when is there going to be time to put more information out there to the same audiences that are receiving the brochures and auto dialed computerized phone messages?
How about tomorrow?
And when it comes to "public safety", there's been more concern expressed about parolees and registered sex offenders than undocumented immigrants. But not much about these issues lately from two candidates claiming to be all about "public safety" whether they are backed by the "Riverside law enforcement community" or not.
But these issues haven't been included in any brochures put out lately. What you've seen instead as of late is something that's done constantly in economically difficult times and that's scapegoating a population of people and it's catching on which is what often happens. All this accomplishes nothing and it doesn't inform the voters on the other issues which many have listed as high priority issues. Because if there's to be discussion of the county's resources used by undocumented immigrants, then there should also be discussion of the "welfare" that's given to the development firms which congregate within Riverside city and county to do business.
In Riverside, even as basic services have faced cuts because of the impact of the state's budget crisis, the housing crisis and resultant spending habits on the city's general fund (which relies on sales tax revenue and property taxes), Riverside Renaissance's capital projects are moving forward even as the city's borrowing more and more money and having accumulated debt reorganized by its lenders as one financial employee was explaining to a city council member in front of City Hall about a month ago.
One guy who used to attend city council meetings regularly and to his later regret, backed the political campaigns of some of the city council members elected in recent years, used to talk about Riverside's reliance on corporate welfare and the relationship between that and the city's massive redevelopment areas. This guy no longer attends meetings but it's his comments about these issues which really strike the heart of many city and county residents, yet who is ready to dialogue with voters on these things?
Look what's happening around us. Money being piled whether begged for or borrowed against future generations to prop up politicians as city employees are getting laid off (part-time or not, these folks are city employees and a disproportionate number of part-time employees are female and men of color) and other positions are frozen, programs are shut down and new training programs including the police department's mental health crisis intervention training is endangered by county budget cuts involving mental health outreach and treatment.
But while there's seemingly endless money real or imagined to pay for these projects, not so for the city's services. Explain how the city's really doing so well to someone who asks you if that were true, why has the police department canceled its citizen and neighborhood watch academies until further notice and with one notable exception (which if this is the case it highlights the inappropriateness of political ties between individuals in law enforcement agencies with decision making power and responsibilities and politicians), a hiring freeze. The latter would have been a complete surprise if concerned law enforcement officers who had taken the training hadn't expressed those concerns about the necessity of it continuing despite difficult times.
This issue which all of a sudden has taken a front and central place in the board of supervisors race in a way that it dominated an election closer to Riverside, that involving the Ward Five city council election last year. The image of undocumented immigrants, preferably those with what Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein called, "brown-skinned" relying only on county services for sustenance.
And then almost on cue, came the phone call, another from the Schiavone camp probably from the same auto dialer based just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Another example of "shopping Riverside"?
Anyway, the phone call was clouded with static but it appeared to be someone from the Riverside Police Department who said something about the police department not being ordered by Schiavone to accept ID cards given by the Mexican government to "illegal aliens". At first, it appeared that perhaps this was the police department's official response on this issue which if a factual claim has been raised in error, it needed to be addressed by that agency. However, then after that, there was a statement that the law enforcement community of Riverside backed Schiavone so it was after all, a paid political announcement from that community. I wonder when they took that vote as only one labor union so far has publicly endorsed any candidate, in this case Schiavone. And it's the role of PACs created by labor unions to endorse candidates, but it gets a bit more dicey when you get closer and closer to the top level of the management team with endorsements let alone when there's blanket endorsements given involving entire law enforcement agencies in a context that applies to exactly why that endorsement's being given outside the "illegal alien" issue.
It would have been useful to voters if this phone message could have elaborated further on why the Riverside Police Department in toto (and not just through its labor unions) has endorsed Schiavone rather than just associating this blanket endorsement with the undocumented immigrant issue.
When it comes to who's the better candidate, Buster is clearly the more qualified candidate over Schiavone and I'm not convinced it's not like the Press Enterprise Editorial Board stated, that Schiavone is more interested in his political career than in the county. That's because he doesn't seem all that interested in Riverside anymore let alone finishing out the term which voters gave him with the expectation that he would fully honor that commitment. Jumping ship to run for election elsewhere doesn't exactly speak to that. It doesn't speak to anything but essentially saying that yeah, I served on the council as long as it fit my interests but what I really wanted is a seat on the county board.
But Buster's got a month left to campaign for office and it would be really nice to see him jump off this current campaign train and start educating prospective voters including this one again on the issues, his positions and why he is the best person for the job. Going tit for tat with Schiavone on the federal issue of immigration will cost him more voters than it will bring him (whereas it might not help Schiavone's campaign but probably won't hurt it much) and it will risk alienating some of his voting base including Latinos who themselves have conflicting opinions about undocumented immigration but know opportunistic campaigning when they see it. And I think if it's similar to other past campaigns for office, this is one thing that the Schiavone camp is counting on to help it win the election. The strategy is to draw the other candidate into an ad hominen discussion which is intended to whittle at his voting base. It's hard watching someone who is otherwise a strong candidate with a strong record playing along but it's the choice of the campaign strategists including the candidates which direction they go even if it's one that is going to cost them more votes than they would gain.
And even though law enforcement unions are backing Schiavone no doubt because the Riverside Sheriffs' will never forgive Buster for his support and votes for former Sheriff Bob Doyle and the other unions under the CLEAR ties are showing their support for the RSA, Buster should also tackle the concerns in the county dealing with the release and placement of the state's registered sex offenders, which has been an issue that's galvanized residents of both county cities and unincorporated areas. Also, insuring that the equipping of law enforcement officers with among other things, a variety of less lethal options isn't entirely dependent on whether the city involved has a large tax base.
Buster's best chance at remaining supervisor is to stick to the core issues where he's put a lot of hard work over time and emphasizing his commitment to those issues. But the strategy adopted here by his opponant is actually one similar to that used by George W. Bush when he ran for reelection in 2004.
Bush was vulnerable in every issue from the economy to the Iraq War (especially running against a war veteran) so what did he do? He focused a lot of his campaigning in stirring up fear and anger about immigration and same-sex marriages to avoid the issues where he was most vulnerable to be challenged about. It worked and it keeps working which is why we currently have a presidential with the lowest approval rating in modern times who most likely will be replaced by someone whose platform isn't that much different. But it works because it pushes the other candidate away from discussing the issues that really impact voters and into his or her challenger's court.
McCain likely will use a similar strategy and remember in a county race, which candidate was shown in a photograph with McCain? That was Schiavone.
Although it might be interesting to hear why the county is paying the federal law enforcement agencies to train its own deputies when usually through grant money it's the other way around, the focus should focus on issues that are under the county's jurisdiction.
Still, this voter is undecided and will remain undecided while the current campaign strategy plays itself out because frankly, I'm at the point where I'm going to start mailing them back to the espective senders with reasons why I'm doing so, something I haven't done since the Ken Calvert/Mark Takano mud-slinging election for Congress in the 1990s.
Women who live in transitional housing are receiving haircuts from RCC cosmetology students.
You would think that the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors have learned that transparency is important after all its corruption scandals not too long ago. But now it hasn't.
Lake Elsinore is tackling the development issue.
A study in San Bernardino supports the expansion of the dispatch center and in related news, the Riverside Police Department dispatchers will be honored at an upcoming city council meeting.
Goodbye Tupperware, hello tasers. These devices are the latest hot ticket item at parties. The people look at them, pass them around, hold them and yes, even shoot each other with them. And then they watch the replay on their cell phones.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Some don't fear the Taser.
At a recent party in the desert, Christian Mesey, 29, stepped right up.
Two men grasped the waiting air traffic controller under the arms.
A red laser beam took aim on Mesey's back.
"One last chance to back out," joked David S. Chandler, president of Coachella Valley Security Academy.
The company put on the seminar at the home of employee Kevin Sullivan.
With a loud pop, a pair of metal probes connected to insulated wires zoomed out about 160 feet per second before digging into Mesey's back, delivering 50,000 volts. He grimaced and slumped into a heap, his muscles momentarily useless after a five-second jolt.
Seconds later, Mesey stood up, grinning again. He examined darts that can pierce 2 inches of clothing.
"My muscles completely tightened up," he said. "If they weren't holding me, I definitely would have doubled over."
Some people have a really sense of what's a good time. But is the public really safer with individuals being equipped with hot pink or even leopard patterned taser devices? The jury is definitely still out on that. It could after all bring a whole new meeting to the term, "road rage".
The saga involving the Flesh Club continues in San Bernardino.
Nichole Paultre-Bell has some words for people about her involvement in protests stemming from the acquittal of three New York City Police Department officers who shot her fiancee Sean Bell to death in 2006.
"I'll keep fighting."
Note: If accessing this blog gives you a 403 error, it's a blogger bug and apparently they're trying to fix it.
Labels: elections 2008, officer-involved shootings, public forums in all places
posted by Five Before Midnight | 3:49 PM
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