Farewell, goodbye and amen to another city management employee of color

Last night, the city of Riverside held a reception for one of its departing employees, Deputy Chief Dave Dominguez, who has served the city for 14 years.



There was barely standing room in the Mayor's Ceremonial Room as dozens of police department officers past and present as well as city employees and community members gathered there to wish him well on his new job as the police chief of Palm Springs.



Dominguez first came to Riverside's police department in 1994, as a lieutenant, when Ken Fortier was police chief during a time of great turbulence both inside the department and in the communities of the city. Mary Figueroa who heads the Eastside Think Tank said she had told Fortier that when he assigned the new lieutenant to be area commander of the Casa Blanca neighborhood, he wouldn't know what he was in for and talked about meetings held there and both his professionalism and his commitment to the communities he served. He takes those experiences and gifts to his new position, where as Chief Russ Leach said, there needs to be steps taken upward in terms of how the department relates with community members. Dominguez will make those steps.



It was a great reception but it's hard to shake the feeling that the community in Riverside is one major reason why Dominguez stayed as long as he did in his position. The truth is, that this city has not been a friendly climate for several Black and Latino men and women who have held positions at the management level especially those who held those positions before the current city management team was hired.



At least Dominguez didn't have the indignity of being told by a councilman to stand up and be put on display like former interim-for-a-while-Asst. City Manager Jim Smith who is Black. Smith was put on the block to be shown off as proof that if it weren't for the current city council at the time's civil rights record, then Smith, the Black man, would never have been city manager. Many African-Americans who watched were deeply offended by this action, which was done by an elected official in an attempt to prove the city's treatement of men and women of color wasn't racist. After all, it was being done to validate an "accomplishment" by an elected official representing a body and not accomplishments by Smith.

Of course, Smith's nice coach and horses turned quickly enough back into a pumpkin and a group of mice and he was demoted while a man that he had once been over was elevated to become the city's first assistant city manager of finance. Paul Sundeen's new job came about officially because the city in its infinite wisdom had merged the city manager's office with its finance division and that helped clear the way for its Riverside Renaissance which is running along at $2 billion most of it borrowed. Sundeen wasn't the only White male employee in the city manager's office to have a position created specifically for him.





Tranda Drumwright, the former director of housing had to listen to her boss tell her she didn't see her as "management" material at all. But a White woman with much less education and experience than Drumwright had, was. Drumwright was the only one in the group to actually be fired, but it was interesting how many men and women of color decided to resign to seek better career options outside of Riverside. Then again for the talented men and women who did so, that's probably the case. There's apparently no room for their talents here which is the city's loss even if it doesn't care to recognize that. If that's indeed the case, then what's being done about it?



Fourteen years and many community meetings later, Dominguez became a deputy chief through some difficult times as the police department moved from one stage to the next spending most of its evolution on the national stage. He was assigned to help remedy situations which needed it and did the job well. But the unenviable politics of being in upper management in the police department was something spotlighted almost a year ago, when the city management office in its infinite wisdom tried to make the three highest ranking employees after the police chief, "at will" employees. At the will of whom, became a controversy which brought a crowd of police officers and community leaders to city council to address the situation.

It was interesting to see at which juncture the city flirted with going "at will" in the police department. It came at the point in its history where the three management positions involved were filled or to be filled by Latino men. All hired by Riverside before the influx of Riverside County employees began. All who brought experience and skills to their positions and different perspectives. All about to become as conditions to their positions, "at will" employees purportedly of the police chief but the fear seemed to be that they would really be "at will" of the city manager's office. Would that be true? That's a question that wasn't really ever answered. Not yet anyway. The sitution between labor and management that came to play at City Hall last March ended in a draw.



Not everyone felt or feels that "at will" was the bill of goods that the city sells as being this great thing though maybe in theory that's what it's supposed to be. In fact, there are employees in the city who don't willingly embrace it, for obvious reasons and quite a few fear it. As it turns out both police and fire management employees can't be "at will" in the same way as employees in other city departments, which probably is not a bad thing. So the whole plan was called off with great ceremony with different representatives from the involved parties speaking out on why it was a bad idea. Different people took credit for it, but it really was no one single person who did do it because if that had been true, it wouldn't have gotten as far in the process as it did. It was something that just couldn't be done and the individuals who made those decisions should have known it couldn't be done if they were qualified to fill the positions they hold. But either they didn't know or they didn't care.



After seeing what's happened to the heads of several departments in the past couple of years, it's not hard to see why some management level employees would break out into a cold sweat simply hearing the two words, "at will". It makes it easier for the city to encourage people to leave to seek out better career opportunities because many talented managers do not like being micromanaged or treated or viewed as "yes" people. It's kind of against their nature, just like most police officers don't want to answer to someone unless it's the police chief.

But the city's lost many talented people who were definitely "management material". How many more are left to be lost?


There's been losses in the Human Resources Department, the Metropolitan Museum, the Library Department and who can forget the former executive manager of the Community Police Review Commission, Pedro Payne, who suddenly got the urge to "resign" not long after signing a contract to become an "at will" employee. It's strange how that happens. Employees in management positions happily becoming "at will" then the city issuing statements that employees are suddenly leaving to seek out better career opportunities. Or you have employees, inclulding one notable example, who when faced with becoming "at will" absolutely refuse to sign that dotted line. Why? The answers should be obvious.




The city council including its newest members praised Dominguez from the dais, beginning from right to left. Ward One Councilman Mike Gardner said that Dominguez was a "credit to the department and the city". Andrew Melendrez from the second ward called him someone who empowers other members of the community and leads by example. Ward Six councilwoman, Nancy Hart said he was the kind of person that others could look up to. All of them were right. But why does it appear that the city is losing more and more people with these particular kind of talents? And do these same elected officials who parade these employees to make themselves feel better, advocate for these same employees in other ways that don't involve self-promotion? It's certainly hoped so, yet the city keeps losing them to better opportunities elsewhere. It will continue to lose them.

Praise is all well and good and it should be given. But what's more important than praising someone as they are leaving is to make sure that these employees feel valued while they are still employed by the city. And part of valuing them is to ensure that there's job security, rather than placing them in categories which put them at risk of losing their jobs or deciding that it's time to "resign" to seek better opportunities as happened with several Black and Latino management employees including Smith and the former human resources director with high performance standards, Art Alcaraz. Too high as it turned out, for Alcaraz who also resigned and is employed elsewhere.

The city lost a similarly talented individual with strong community ties in Vince Moses who directed the museum and they lost a great director of the city's public library who is very much missed. Hopefully, these employees also had nice receptions hosted for them as well before they departed. Somewhere a catering company is very happy.


A lot of people did show up in support of Dominguez who leaves one job behind and begins another.


Several of the officers from the Riverside Police Officers' Association Board who had spoken highly of Dominguez at a 2007 meeting of the Group were in attendance along with an assortment of captains, lieutenants, sergeants, officers and members of the city management team. It was a really good turnout as it should be. But there was still some sense that it's another case of "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" that's become part and parcel with the city and the men and women of color in upper management.

"Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" was the title of the final episode of the long-running television program, M*A*S*H which last aired in 1983. It addressed the end of the Korean War and how the characters of the shows who had developed deep friendships with each other were going to return to the lives they had left behind. It was about ending one phase of one's life that held great meaning and beginning anew.

It's still the highest rated television program in history though last weekend's Super Bowl did come almost close. Many of the city employees who have "resigned" have also enjoyed long tenures in the city and have created voids at City Hall and elsewhere with their departures which can't really be filled. Domingeuz is the latest one who will leave a void, taking part of the soul of the police department with him.





In local election results, Measure A is passing by about 67% of the vote while allegations that voters'party affiliations are being switched without authorization continued in Riverside County and there was shortage of Democrat ballots in parts of Los Angeles County.





Entering into the ring of the upcoming judicial elections is a Riverside County Superior Court judge who was removed from the bench.

Former Judge Robert G. Spitzer has filed papers to run for the position even while his removal is still under appeal. At least one other candidate has filed to run for the same seat.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Spitzer filed a petition Dec. 28 for the state Supreme Court to review his case. The matter is pending.

"From our point of view, we are not going to change his status as a judge until the Supreme Court rules on his petition," said Russell Weiner, deputy chief trial counsel for the State Bar of California.

"It's another issue whether or not he is able to run for his old office while this matter is on review," Weiner said.

Commission rules state its order of removal is not final until the state Supreme Court has acted on any petition for review. Judges are disqualified "without loss of salary" until the matter becomes final, the rules say.

The Riverside County Registrars' office said there is no need to review Spitzer's documents because all he has filed is his intent to run for that office.

If there is no Supreme Court decision by the March deadlines for candidates to withdraw statements, Spitzer might be able to list himself as a superior court judge on the June ballot, said Ben Davidian, an attorney specializing in election law and a former chairman of the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

"If he puts on the ballot 'superior court judge,' and the Supreme Court then rejects his petition, you have a misleading ballot," Davidian said. "That's a real tough situation."



A lot going on across the country involving civilian oversight mechanisms.





In Eugene, Oregon, one man will have his case heard by the civilian review board, according to the Register-Guard.



(excerpt)


The five-member board agreed Monday during its monthly meeting to revisit the case soon — with some reservations.

“I would like to add it” to the list of cases up for review, board member Ann-Marie Lemire said, echoing the sentiments of the other board members. “But there may be other cases that bump it down the list.”

Steskal, who submitted his request via e-mail and did not appear at Monday’s meeting, is the first person to make such a request of the board, which works with the city’s Police Auditor Cris Beamud to comment on the thoroughness, fairness and findings of the department’s investigations of misconduct allegations against police officers. Voters approved the board and auditor positions in 2005 after the convictions of two former police officers and concerns regarding racial profiling by police.





Seattle Mayor Gary Nickels is reviewing recommendations submitted by a panel and says that he'll act on them but that some of them will be subjected to collective bargaining with the police department's labor union according to the Seattle Press-Intelligencer.



(excerpt)



"I believe it's in the city's best interest, and the guild's interest, and the public's interest that we have a system that everyone has confidence in," Nickels said at a news conference.

Nickels identified 13 recommendations as subject to collective bargaining, including two within the City Council's purview. They include:


Expanding the role of the civilian auditor, who reviews ongoing internal investigations to audit department policies, procedures and training and to report findings to the public. The auditor should first focus on the department's relationship with minority communities.


Extending a 180-day deadline on internal investigations when critical information arises late or when a material witness is unavailable for an interview because of a pending criminal case.


Making the OPA director more independent of the department with broader control over OPA staff.


Adopting a policy that presumes an officer will be fired for sustained complaints involving dishonesty.


Requiring Chief Gil Kerlikowske to explain in writing his decision if he overrules the OPA director. In a small percentage of cases, the OPA director sustained complaints of misconduct, but the officer was not disciplined because the chief reversed the findings.


Increasing the OPA Review Board from three members to five or seven, and requiring it to conduct four public hearings annually.

The guild is open to meeting with the mayor's representatives away from the table and getting clarification on what some proposals mean. The guild might be agreeable to some of the recommendations without bargaining, but it plans to protect its rights, said Sgt. Rich O'Neill, the guild president.

"Maybe some in the 13 are bargainable, but we could live with. There are all kinds of things we could work out," O'Neill said. "But there is no emergency. There is no crisis that deems this needs to be dealt with right away."




Nickels' latest action is just the latest in the ongoing saga between various factions of power in Seattle to either figure out how to make its mechanism of oversight more powerful or less depending on what side of the fence you are sitting on. Or more accurately, what side of the net.




Barbara Attard, San Jose's independent auditor, forwarded an editorial from the San Jose Mercurywhich included decisions made at a city council meeting to make the police complaint process in San Jose more user-friendly.

The only problem is, when all was said and done, voted upon and the dust had settled, nobody could figure out what had just happened.



(excerpt)


And as some last-minute light reading, there was a supplement written by Independent Police Auditor Barbara Attard. It was topped off by a PowerPoint presentation of new complaint definitions by Police Chief Rob Davis with rebuttals by Attard, addenda by the city attorney and a few lawyerly verbal wheelies by council folk.

Councilwoman Judy Chirco could stand it no longer.

"I think my ability to think is quite good, but this so, so confusing," she said. "I am extremely lost. I need help understanding what all of this means. I look at myself as a Jane Q. Citizen, and when you say 'Non-Misconduct Concern' it sounds like a double negative to me."

Then it dawned on the council that they were not sure what, if anything, they were voting on. This was an administrative proposal, they were told. The city attorney explained that the council could merely vote to accept the report - or not.

After three-plus hours, the council voted to accept the user-friendly changes - whatever they were - 8-3.

As Attard glumly walked away from the hearing, she was asked if things were now clear to her.

"As clear as mud," she said.



It's interesting because Attard has been an advocate for her office's accountability and transparency since she was hired. Her predecessor, Theresa Guerrero-Daley once came to Riverside in 1999 to do a presentation on the auditor model of civilian oversight in general, using San Jose as an example. Of course, Riverside didn't adopt the auditor model, opting instead for a process similar to that used in Long Beach, but Guerrero-Daley impressed many of the members on the city's research committee.

Guerrero-Daley, who currently serves as a superior court judge, is also mentioned in the book, Fallen Blue Knights which was published in 2005 and written by Sanja Kutnjak Ikovic. In this book, Ikovic addresses the serious problem of corruption inside law enforcement agencies and how it needs to be controlled by both internal and external mechanisms. The problem is, according to Ikovic, is that both of these mechanisms too often fail in this endeavor.

The Office of the Independent Police Auditor arose from community protests against among other things, excessive force allegations and racial profiling made by city residents. It was created by an ordinance passed by the city council in 1993 and voted into the city's charter in 1996 as a permanent agency. This was done to protect the office from fluctuations in the city's political climate. For those living in Riverside, this should sound very familiar. That's not surprising considering this scenario around the establishment of civilian oversight and review has played out from coast to coast.





Ivkovic states in her book that auditor models of civilian oversight can play a larger role in addressing police corruption than their distant cousins, civilian review boards, which focus more on individual complaints. It's important for auditor systems to keep doing so. Still, even a model like that utilized by San Jose can only examine one part of a police department's operation, mainly the way it investigates allegations of misconduct involving police officers.

Her book is proving to be very informative and a fascinating read.






Here's a very interesting and fairly old account of civilian review in New York City and how race played a role in the debate over this issue back in the 1960s and 1970s.





They say things happen in threes and that's been the case with police officers shooting each other during the past couple of weeks. Another such shooting happened in Georgia.

It's interesting how when regular folks shoot each other, it's called just that or having a shootout between two sides, one of which might be law enforcement officers. However, when police officers shoot each other, it's called "exchanging gunfire". As if instead of firing guns at each other, these officers were playing a tennis match against each other but it's much more serious than that.

Tuesday's child is full of grace

The economic picture for local city and county governments in the Inland Empire continues to worsen with each passing week. Due to anticipated decreased growth or increases in both property taxes as well as sales taxes, many local governments are planning to make cuts in their upcoming annual budget.


So how will that impact Riverside? Just ask Asst. City Manager of Finance Paul Sundeen.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



In Riverside, the largest Inland city, property tax revenue is expected to grow by 8 percent in the current fiscal year, down from the 11 percent the city first estimated, Finance Director Paul Sundeen said.

For next year, the city had estimated in October a 5 percent to 7 percent increase for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Now, those estimates are down by half. Sundeen said the city is confident it can get a 2 percent increase in property tax revenue but hopes for 4 percent growth.

Sales tax revenues in Riverside are dropping by 5 percent, or about $3 million, Sundeen said.

"Car sales are not doing as well. That is a big piece of our sales taxes," he said. "Secondly, the construction industry is down. The combination of those two are the principle reasons the sales taxes are dropping.

"As we sit here, we still plan to have a balanced budget," he said.

Sundeen said there are no talks of layoffs, but vacancies likely won't be filled.

So how will the city cope?

"The obvious way is to look at all of our programs, and to the extent the council sets priorities, our programs will be drawn back a bit," he said.




The first harbinger of depressed sales tax revenue was actually apparent last year when City Manager Brad Hudson warned that the revenue from sales tax for the 2007-2008 fiscal year would be less than seen in previous years, including a lower cash flow from auto sales.


Mayor Ron Loveridge did not elaborate much in his State of the City address last week on the budget cuts, but there was some hint in his words of the decisions that Hudson will face in the months ahead. Departments in some cases have been asked to produce two separate budgets, one for 5% cuts and one for 10% cuts. However, at least one city department anticipates a 15% budget cut. There will be likely be some sort of hiring freeze, meaning that vacancies won't be filled. One of the most notable being a deputy chief position being vacated by David Dominguez who will become the next chief of Palm Springs Police Department next month. The fate of other promotions within the police department that were vacated or to be vacated through retirements is unclear.

Riverside Renaissance is all paid for, either through other sources of funding and likely, borrowing as well. No worries there, says the city government including its mayor. And that is what truly matters. If some city services get decreased or eliminated, well that's just life or you need to get one.



More discussion whether it's a difficult fiscal year or not, on the planned renovations of the downtown main library and the museum. Whether to do each project separately or as part of a combined effort. Over 300 people showed up at a public meeting that was scheduled in the middle of the day, filling up the city council chambers as the Board of Library Trustees and the Metropolitan Museum Board jointly received input on the process. The fact that in this venue, the views expressed by individuals overwhelmingly supported separate renovation plans for each facility, it didn't seem to really move the city council members present at the meeting in that direction. While it's important to get more insight and views of different city residents, it's also important to not keep searching for those who will espouse your specific viewpoint either.



If you're interested in the plans for the renovation of the public library, the Board of Library Trustees will be meeting on the fourth Monday of each month at 4:30 p.m.


For more information call (951) 826-5213.




And indeed this board has already met on this issue, according to the Press Enterprise.



(excerpt)


After analyzing staff reports, studies and demographic data, the Riverside library board determined that it needs 123,000 square feet of total library space.

In a surprise move at Monday's monthly meeting, the board voted to inform the City Council about the library's space needs to serve a projected 84,320 users to 2025.

"I fully expect them not to give us that much, because I don't see how we can afford it," said Trustee John Schreck, who compiled all the information.

He calculated that the proposal would involve an additional 20,000 square feet of space and $2.5 million more than an architect's original $25 million expansion plan.

Polled by the board before the vote, all six library staff members present approved of taking the recommendation to City Hall.





There is a vacancy on the Board of Library Trustees for the fourth ward and the city council members and mayor who currently serve on the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee have apparently discovered that this board exists given their additional interest in filling this vacancy with just the *right* person. It's nice to know that the Board of Library Trustees is finally topping the "what's in style" list in terms of fads but the timing of this interest is well, most interesting.



The Metropolitan Museum Board will be discussing and taking public comments on the expansion of the downtown museum on the second Tuesday at 4 p.m.



For further information to leave messages for Board members call Toni Kinsman at 826-5273.



As soon as this board joins its sibling on the "what's in style" list, there will be a note of it made here.


Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein has his own ideas for balancing the budget in a manner of speaking. O-kay. Maybe you need to go back to the drawing board there. And sometimes a flute is just a flute as Sigmund Freud probably wouldn't say.




On Feb. 5, the city will be hosting a reception for Deputy Chief Dave Dominguez who will be off to Palm Springs to serve as its new chief. It will be in the Mayor's Ceremonial Room at City Hall at 5:30p.m. and he'll be honored by the city council at its 6:30 p.m. meeting. More than one person described his departure as "bittersweet" meaning that they wish the best for him in the greener pastures of his new job but will miss him here. It's nice to see the city honoring him while he is departing but it would have been nice for the city to have treated him better while he was still working here particularly in the past year or so.

So Dominguez is the latest recipient of the "you don't know what you had until it's gone" award for the City of Riverside and he was included on a list of Black and Latino city employees which included Art Alcaraz, Jim Smith, Pedro Payne and Tranda Drumwright as employees that let's just say, weren't very much appreciated by those in power at City Hall. The employees listed here and who are current and were prior recipients of this unofficial award were some of the best and brightest on the city's roster and in Drumwright's case for example, she was told by another employee that she wasn't seen as "management material" despite her tremendous educational and work credentials. She wasn't seen as "management material" whereas a less experienced White woman was, because she was a Black woman. Smith also watched a White man he had once supervised elevated above him in a permanent assistant city manager position.

Like Dominguez, employees like Smith and Alcaraz were hired in very good positions elsewhere. So other cities and entities have gained what we as a city have lost because of attitudes which frankly, shouldn't have followed us from one century to the next.

Now, they are all pretty much gone despite their hard work and talent that they put into their jobs and it's the city's loss and the loss of the city's residents as well. But for men and women of color in management positions, this hasn't been the kindest or warmest city for quite a while now especially since the new city management team has come aboard. Some of the others have had receptions too, which though nice offer a tone of irony to the situation and unfortunately a dose of hypocrisy as well.

But what's especially nice about the situation is that Dominguez was singled out for his new job based on his wealth of experience working with and alongside community members and organizations. Not exactly something he received as much credit as he should have in some circles here but it was obviously highly valued elsewhere. Which puts Palm Springs above Riverside in valuing community involvement in its employees.

But if you have good employees who are working in a political or labor environment which doesn't favor them, then there should be people doing what no one should have to do and that's defending their right to be there. Some fellow police department employees of Dominguez did that for him almost a year ago at a community meeting at the Coffee Depot. More people need to do that for city employees like him as well.

One lesson learned, is to find a city employee or two whose work you value and tell him or her that you do today. So while we wish Dominguez the best in his new venture, there's a lesson that should have been learned before this to remember as well.






This post has been repeated at Inland Craigslist. "Get a life and some makeup," it states. Apparently not an Avon lady making a sales pitch, but someone trying to get a rise out of someone else by castigating their looks. It's interesting how anonymous people never make these kind of comments regarding physical appearance about men, almost as interesting as the fact that they seldom if ever make these kind of comments under their real names. If someone is engaging in making cruel comments such as these, then telling this individual to get a life would be a wasted endeavor. Personally, I'd rather read 100 posts about the Longest Walk which is actually quite interesting, than one post of this ilk which says more about the person who writes this kind of thing than the person it's about.

Not that I don't know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of this cruel behavior, as usual by someone who can't even put their name to it. I've been treated the same way, many times. About my clothes. My looks. My hair. My underwear. And not once, with anyone's name attached to it or at least not a real one. Why? Because it's called being a coward. Nothing more, nothing less. That's pretty much it. It's all about trying to get a person to silence him or herself, but the thing to do when you're treated this way is to take a look at what you're talking, or writing about as something that needs more scrutiny. And often with men, it's their ideas that get criticized, but with women, they criticize our ideas and speech through castigating our looks as if the women they harass care about what someone like that thinks or even less likely, whether someone like that considers them attractive or not.

It's ironic the excuses people give for writing anonymous notes that castigate people on things other than their opinions on issues, including attacking physical appearance. Some of them go even further and say that they have the right to define what a real woman is. They say they do it for the city, the police department, perhaps even God and country. They never say they do it because they're just mean individuals who are lashing out to feel better about themselves. But is it really any of those things or just an excuse or an opportunity to be cruel? It's not easy to figure that out given that none of them do leave their real names.

Not that it's just members of the public that are impacted. During the long, hot summer of 2006 when the labor unions were undergoing the worst year of contract negotiations in recent memory, some of them complained of being penalized for speaking at public meetings on their own time. Others allegedly faced retaliation of one form or another including recipients of a threatening flyer that was apparently sent to try to intimidate them before they were going to be interviewed for an investigation in one of the city's departments. One union's members were bashed in a letter sent out by one of the councilmen running for office last year.

This isn't an easy city or an easy political climate to express opinions on issues that differ from what the city council wants, the city government wants or the status quo, pretty much whoever you are. You do so and you'll be treated accordingly.

Whether it's city council members saying you are a liar, have no ethics or no integrity either from the dais at city council meetings or inside subcommittee meetings as happened recently at the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee when Councilman Steve Adams bashed two former candidates who ran against him during elections who had also applied to be interviewed for the Planning Commission. Some city officials are apparently so insecure about being criticized on an issue they support that rather than simply thanking an individual for their comments, they have to give a speech afterward defending that issue as if that's necessary for people watching to decide whether or not to support an issue. If they were truly confident that the issues that they defend would pass the muster of the vote of either the city council or the public, then they wouldn't find it necessary to do so over and over.

With an environment like that among elected officials towards those who criticize their actions, it's small wonder that you have people crawling out from assorted rocks to write online comments purportedly giving people hair and makeup advice or taking some photograph of you and attaching it to a rant. No wonder at all and the scary thing is that these individuals have deluded themselves to really believe they are defending the city's honor or something of that nature. Of course, it doesn't help when a creepy and harassing email taken out in an account in your name traces back to the city's ISP service as its point of origin.


And if you have a city council member who says something like the following.


"You need to have integrity to apply for this commission and two of the people here don't have any."


Which is exactly what Adams did several weeks ago. If you want to hear his comments, they are on the recording for the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee meeting that took place on Jan. 15. Most elected officials in this position of deciding would simply say they are concerned about a candidate's lack of community involvement or say they should have been living in the city longer. Adams obviously couldn't go that route so he just said they had no integrity, but at the same time he was showing exactly how he viewed himself in that area. Showing rather than telling.

At any rate, what to do if an elected official makes the above statement?

You can respond like this.


"I really appreciate that Councilman [insert name] but I'm still going to apply for this commission."


If an elected official calls you a liar or says that you're lying at a public meeting, here's a possible response.


"I got that [insert name], but I'm still going to speak out on this issue."





Of course, this can be most difficult because most often, elected officials make these comments when the subject of them is unable to respond even to defend his or herself. If this is the case, then wait for another city council meeting and just briefly and courteously say the above comment and then move on with your other planned comments. Don't let them discourage you into silence, by these remarks. Keep participating in your elected government.

And if you do address them by name and are not complimenting them, then Loveridge will probably tell you that you have to address the entire body. That is, if another elected official doesn't helpfully bark out, "point of order" to do so. This however, applies only to criticisms and not compliments.


For example, which comment below will elicit this type of action?


A) "[Insert Name] is withholding information from the body."

B) "[Insert Name] looked amazing in his brand new suit at the reception the other week. Did you note the exquisite pattern on his tie?"

Take your guess.


Also, from time to time, elected officials will compliment your manners and style of commenting and then say, "you're really a cut above [insert name or names]" or "you're not at the level of [insert name(s)]. However, before you are pleased at what the elected official has just told you this or you fail to see it for the strategic move that it is, remember this. The next week, they could be saying that you've got no ethics, which may cause your head to spin around faster than Linda Blair's did in The Exorcist not to mention the confusion which often comes with doublespeak which is an unfortunate side effect of politics in Riverside and other places as well.


So you have to take even compliments from politicians with a grain of salt. They may or may not mean them or they may actually believe them then but not later, and that's the nature of the game. It doesn't matter how nicely you behave or how politely or how well they have already said you conduct yourself. If you disagree with them on an issue particularly one they feel passionately about, you will be treated this way at some point. Even well-respected community leaders who have always been polite to elected officials have been called or labeled as liars by one elected official or another. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is, as musician, Bruce Hornsby might say.


It has everything to do with them especially during an election year, not with you, so keep focused on the issues involving the city that you feel passionate about, whether it's the library, parks, public participation or others. Keep speaking on these issues. And if you get insulted for it, just thank them courteously for their comments and keep on being active.

The interesting and sad thing is that other elected officials who don't directly participate will sit and watch because this is how business is conducted and I suppose they really know no other way to do it. In a sense, that's their operational culture. If anyone runs for office in the future, they will have to make the decision at some point if this is behavior that they will either engage in themselves or will support tacitly or otherwise. It's on a list of a lot of considerations when running for a political position but once you get there, it's hard to sway that climate.

And until we have a generation of politicians in office who will reject this attitude, it's likely here to stay for a while.





Opening arguments are beginning in this police officer's trial on charges of molesting two teenaged girls.




The latest issue of Urban Politics by Nick Licata addresses the future of civilian oversight in Seattle. Licata is the strongest proponent of civilian review and the Office of Professional Accountability and supports appealing the recent court decision in favor of the Seattle Police Department's police union.


(excerpt)


I believe that the City should appeal the decision. It may also be necessary for the City to appeal a final PERC decision to the Superior Court if PERC proves to be incapable of weighing public concerns that go beyond those of the police guild's membership.

The struggle that goes on in Seattle between the Police Guild and the City in defining a workable and fair citizen oversight mechanism is one that is taking place in city after city across the U.S. At a recent conference of the National Association of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE), a speaker noted that European police unions were the easiest to work with on establishing police accountability functions; while Canadian police unions were more difficult; and that those in the U.S. were the hardest. If true, that would mean where unions have the most political influence and the best compensation packages, the acceptance of civilian oversight is easiest. Perhaps it is so difficult in the U.S. because police unions feel that they have so little of each.

In any case SPOG has filed more ULPs than any other union with the City of Seattle, and their willingness to file them does not seem to be slowing down. SPOG President Rich O'Neill told the Seattle Times that the police guild expects to file another complaint with PERC on another ordinance (122513) that I sponsored and that was passed unanimously by the Council. It requires that the Chief of Police and the OPA Director provide written explanations when they disagree on the final disposition of a complaint investigation, and to require that the OPA Director provide a written explanation when his or her recommendation to sustain a misconduct complaint results in no discipline because the complaint investigation was not completed within the time period specified in the applicable union contract.

SPOG's attitude has been consistent. They insist on bargaining almost any oversight of police officers. But they have also consistently opposed such measures - although a recent quote in the Seattle P.I. from O'Neill suggests that if their union receives a high enough payment then civilians can have an oversight function to promote greater police accountability:

"I'm not saying it's impossible to get it. All I'm saying is let's see how serious they are about wanting it."

Which brings this discussion back to the bargaining table or the courts to determine: "What is a mandatory subject of bargaining?" That is what this fight is about in legal terms. In practical terms it's about protecting civilians from police abuse and promoting fair and accountable policing in a manner that is respects employee rights.

I will continue this pursuit and I hope the Council, the Mayor and the public does as well.





The Seattle Police Department Police Officers' Guild issued a press release in response.



January 25, 2008

TO: All Media Outlets

FM: Richard F. O'Neill, President
Seattle Police Officers' Guild

RE: PERC Rules that Seattle Ordinance Violated the Law

In May 2006 the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance, spearheaded
by Nick Licata, that allowed the OPA Review Board access to unredacted
files from OPA investigations. The council also changed certain
confidentiality requirements for the OPA-RB members in an attempt to
hold the members harmless in the event that unredacted file
information was improperly revealed to the public or the media.

The Seattle Police Officers' Guild filed an Unfair Labor Practice with
the state and argued that the ordinance violated state law. A hearing
was heard before the PERC examiner in April 2007. On January 23, 2008,
the Washington State Public Employee Relations Commission released
its' ruling in favor of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild. The
commission stated that the city "unlawfully violated the obligation to
bargain in good faith when it unilaterally adopted a change in the
confidentiality and redacted files rule utilized by OPARB and OPA."
The commission voided the Licata ordinance and further ordered the
city to purge all findings of the OPARB based on unredacted files and
to return all unredacted files back to the OPA.

SPOG President Rich O'Neill said that he was elated by the decision
and that this is a major victory for SPOG. "Hopefully, this sends a
clear message to the city council that the way to seek changes in the
police contract is at the bargaining table and not by passing an
ordinance."

The official notice is attached to the press release. For more
information contact SPOG at 206-767-1150.





A blue ribbon panel had both good news and bad for the Kings County Sheriff Department.



(excerpt, Seattle Press-Intelligencer)


The Blue Ribbon panel was formed in 2006 after the Seattle P-I's "Conduct Unbecoming" series exposed a system of poor oversight in the Sheriff's Office for deputies accused of misconduct. It urged sweeping reforms in oversight of the Sheriff's Office and had been holding public hearings last year on adopting those reforms.

In its report, the panel urges the county to amend its charter to grant Rahr more authority in negotiating with the deputies' union over working conditions. In past contract talks, the sheriff offers recommendations to the county executive, who negotiates wages, benefits and working conditions. But the sheriff does not sign the contract.

"This arrangement creates a structural impediment to an effective and accountable outcome that best serves the interest of the public and the employees of the Sheriff's Office," according to the report.

"Without this authority, it is difficult and unfair for citizens to hold the Sheriff accountable for leadership and oversight of the office."

This is interesting, given that for many law enforcement agencies, the head of them is not necessarily involved and in some cases encouraged not to be stuck in the middle of negotiations between law enforcement labor unions and the city or county management. Yet, the chief or sheriff of those agencies should and is held accountable in terms of leadership responsibilities by the public.

During an interview, former Bolingbrook sergeant, Drew Peterson cut it short when questioned about the investigation into the disappearance of his wife, Stacy including questions about the blue barrel that he and a relative allegedly carried to his SUV about the time his wife disappeared.

Peterson was more interested in participating in a dating game put together by a radio show. Perhaps he knows something that everyone else does not.


(excerpt, Chicago Sun-Times)



Peterson tried to halt the line of questioning, saying he'd agreed only to talk about the ''Win a Date with Drew'' contest that he had wanted to have.

When Smith said he'd never agree to limit what he could ask about, Peterson became perturbed.

''OK, I guess I got to walk away. Have a good day, Mr. Shepard,'' he said before pulling the microphone off and walking back into his house.

Riverside: Click your heels three times and racism's gone.

It was only a matter of time before Press Enterprise columnist, Dan Bernstein addressed the conversion of classrooms into courtrooms in order to clear the backlog of civil trials in Riverside County. Naturally there's some unannounced new rules.


(excerpt)


This is a huge breakthrough. Judges finally found a place unsuitable for criminal trials. Maybe that will keep the DA at bay. But I hear there are strings to this rental arrangement with the Riverside school district.

In addition to saying, "All rise!" bailiffs will now instruct lawyers, "Listen quietly while others are speaking and keep your hands to yourself."

Time-consuming recesses will be replaced by 15-minute "snack times".

The lunch menu will consist of mini corn dogs (Monday), cheese pizza and corn niblets (Tuesday), waffle sticks and wild berry juice (Wednesday), beef ravioli and orange smiles (Thursday) and Lunchables (Friday).

Judges and lawyers must take monthly proficiency tests as required by No Courtroom Left Behind. (The DA could seize a failing courtroom.)

In accordance with school district policy, law books will be replaced by colorful anthologies highlighting important legal precedents ("An eye for an eye," "The early bird gets the worm," etc.) in an move backlogged cases along.

If RivCo justice proves to be this portable, the next courtroom move is obvious: portables.





Bernstein is good at finding humor in even dire circumstances. Sometimes you have to laugh to avoid crying. He takes on the broken down Riverside County Superior Court again, here telling the tale about a man serving life in prison is being prosecuted for misdemeanor indecent exposure.


(excerpt)



Convicting Collier of misdemeanor indecent exposure would be a tiny building block. If he did it again, he'd be charged with a felony. A conviction, coupled with his attempted murder rap, could stretch his life sentence another six years. Talk about a deterrent. (Or not.)

Assistant DA Sue Steding called Collier's behavior "obnoxious," a "huge nuisance" and "abusive to staff." The People were bent on sending a message to Collier (stop it) and to prison staff (you don't have to put up with this). The judge said The People could proceed.

The People called at least 16 witnesses, some of whom drove from Chuckawalla and back, racking up as much as $64 per hour in overtime. Fill-ins at the prison received overtime, too. Staffing the courtroom (lawyers not included) cost $2,700 a day.

Deborah Clark-Crews, whose son-in-law is a cop, got picked as a juror and was "blown away that they were asking us to give up seven workdays for this case." Some jurors thought Collier "should get slammed and that we should rally around this DA." But Clark-Crews called the trial "a phenomenal waste of taxpayers' time, and I'm not the only person who felt that way." Collier was never portrayed as aggressive or threatening.

Verdict: One count was dismissed "in the interest of justice." Collier, who served as his own lawyer, won a not-guilty verdict on another charge, eliciting chuckles from defense attorneys. But the jury convicted him of one count even though, said Clark-Crews, witnesses observed his bunk-bed behavior from about 60 feet away. Turns out there's no such thing as "personal space" in prison.



One shocking note is that despite the work of the judicial "strike force", which consists of judges from Los Angeles and Orange Counties, the felony trial backlog has actually increased to over 2,000 cases. But since the "strike team" by itself isn't a systemic fix of a broken down system, it shouldn't be any more surprising that the backlog of felony trials is growing along side that of those in civil court.








The Santa Ana River trail from the mountains to the sea is moving closer to being reality according to the Press Enterprise.


(excerpt)



On Thursday, the California Coastal Conservancy board of directors awarded The Santa Ana River Trail and Parkway Partnership $2.75 million in state funds for the project.

The money comes from the passage in November 2006 of Prop. 84, which set aside $45 million for the trail.

"This is huge," said Patricia Lock-Dawson, the project's chief strategist and a consultant to Riverside and Riverside County. "It means you will be able to get on your bike in Redlands and ride to the coast."

The money will support planning, environmental and engineering work for about 29 miles of trail -- 22 miles in Riverside County, four miles in San Bernardino County and three miles in Orange County. That money will also be used for signs and to create a more accurate map of the trail, Lock-Dawson said.

The entire trail, a $100 million project, is expected to be finished in 2012. Forty-three miles have been paved; some portions will remain dirt.





There was a wonderful Christmas party hosted by the Community Action Group in Casa Blanca, which as you know is located inside the boundaries of Ward Four. Attending were neighborhood residents who brought a lot of food and desserts to eat, after they conducted their monthly meeting. In attendance, were representatives from the police department, several other city departments and one councilman, Andrew Melendrez who said he was born and raised in the neighborhood. Where was Councilman Frank Schiavone? You'll have to ask him. He did donate $500 to Casa Blanca's school supplies funds which is generous but he also missed some great company and great food.




I received questions and comments there and elsewhere about his comments and even the postings on Craigslist that featured my photograph and titled me, "Riverside's most prolific racist". Some interesting conversations resulted, about racism, past and present in Riverside including among the ranks of its employees. Many of then said the attitude expressed by the anonymous poster is not an uncommon made by individuals who do not want to even admit that racism exists, let alone confront it in this "All-American City" became "The Most Livable City" turned "City of the Arts".





What was interesting about the latter is when it came down to the city council meeting spent crowning Riverside, the "City of the Arts" how little representation there was in the list of speakers and in the audience as to this issue. There's a wealth of art, in all its different forms and genres, in this city as there is in many cities in this country. Yet, there were few Black artists. Few Latino artists. Few women of any ethnicity and race. Few younger people.





At this point in this writing, my latest anonymous poster would jump in and yell, "she's dividing the races again" but one of the sponsors in attendance at the night Riverside became the "City of the Arts" was the Greater Chambers of Commerce, to which many businesses in this city belong.




What's interesting is that before I had even come along with this blog and attended city council meetings to be a "racist" or "divide the races", there were already several different similar chambers which included business people as their members. A Black Chambers of Commerce. A Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, for example. This anonymous individual might then say, that's divisive and that's racism. Why can't we just have the Greater Chambers of Commerce? The response to that, is that was once the case, but what often causes different racial groups to create their own chambers is racial discrimination or even outright exclusion from those organizations. They might create their own chambers to provide networking opportunities that may not be available to them in the one-size-fits-all chamber of businesses.



Considering Riverside's history, it's probably a combination of these two reasons and others as well. After all, Riverside was a city where Birth of a Nation, one of the most racist films ever made was premiered at a theater here. There were rallies involving the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s and a mayor backed by the Klan was on the ballot.

African-American residents spoke of being chased or having their family members some times in fields by mobs of White men, fearing for their lives. Latinos were beaten by Riverside Police Department officers, as former State Attorney General Bill Lockyer said once during a speech in San Diego.



Racist housing laws and racist laws mandating segregation of schools and other public facilities including swimming pools existed until the late 1960s. The Riverside Unified School District became the first to voluntarily desegregate in the country in the late 1960s and two schools were burned down to the ground.



One Latina in her sixties shared her experiences with me some time ago, about attending a public school where any time Spanish was spoken, the student had their mouth washed out with soap and how she and her siblings were banned from using public facilities including swimming pools because they were not White. What many people don't know is that racial segregation by law didn't just happen in the Deep South. It happened in the south-western region of the country including Riverside, city and county.

A former White minister in Riverside told me he had marched with others against the war in Vietnam and how city council members long ago used to gather and tell racist and sexist jokes in local bars and restaurants.

Some might read this and say it's all in the past. That was yesterday or a million years ago, let's focus on today. Everything's better now, right?

The problem with that is that even the past history has been glossed over and some say, white-washed by people to the point where it's told that Riverside was founded by abolitionists, there were great orange trees, and we all lived happily ever after. Now it's time to release the doves and sing. But this city including its leadership has only owned up to the part of its history which is nice, pleasant and most of all doesn't require much close examination not just of what's past but of the roles played by people involved.

No doubt, this city has a really rich history, that's unique to it while sharing common elements of other places. But when you talk to long-time residents about the history of this city, often it's the Whites who get nostalgic about the "good old days" of growing up. For men and women of color, it's a mixed bag. There's a lot of good there, if you read the histories left behind by members of some of the earliest Black and Latino families to come to Riverside. But then there are the stories of running for your life across a field in the 1950s while being chased by a mob of angry White men. Of being called racial slurs while at school or walking home. Of being members of the races which were the butt of jokes told by politicans and those they cracked deals with including later on, developers because they existed before the latest Renaissance, jokes meant to solidify the bonds between those who would laugh together and keep out those who couldn't.


Remember, history is often defined by the person who holds the pen and writes it though other stories about what happens are out there, if not as easy to find and even more difficult than that to hear. That's part of the problem here, because if you can't face what you've relegated to the past, how can you learn from it?

And this city really hasn't.

The one positive thing that came out of the Schiavone incident was that I heard more stories about what life is like in this city for many of its residents than I would have, if it hadn't happened. I have heard many stories already through the years, but this week, it's like a different river that threads its way through this city than the namesake which is almost dried up, flowed a lot faster. All because of the few words uttered by one councilman that elicited some laughter from some women standing in the back of the room.

But it's like someone once said, you have to look at the glass, half-full rather than half-empty and this is the good of what happened, were through learning even more about what was going on in my city and talking about it with other people, including some I've never met.

More stories of racial and/or gender discrimination in housing, education, police, local businesses, disparate treatment at Riverside Plaza and University Village by young people, employment, racial profiling and others. Both past and present, what about the future? It hasn't been written yet, but it doesn't look promising.

The Riverside's work force has struggled with issues of racism in much more recent years and it's important to note this as if Riverside has racial issues with its own employees, then the communities of Riverside won't fare any better. In 1991, Black and Latino employees representing different departments including public works, streets and maintenance and public utilities met with city officials including representatives from the city manager's office.

In 1997, with little accomplished by the city, about 17 of these employees filed a racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation law suit in U.S. District Court. The city's response wasn't to remedy the problems in what is called, the Corporate Yard, including racist graffiti, feces smeared on equipment used by Black employees and effigies of Black dolls, but to hit them with as much paper including motions to dismiss that its legal department could throw at them. The plaintiffs even received letters from their own lawyers, who worked for a firm in Los Angeles, to dismiss their cases lest they be hit with the city's attorney fees if they lost at trial. This wasn't the only time that city employees filing discrimination law suits faced these actions.


It wasn't even the only discrimination claim or law suit faced by the city at that time. In the police department, Sgt. Christine Keers filed her sexual discrimination, harassment and retaliation law suit in Riverside County Superior Court. Three men of color who were sergeants, filed a complaint with the EEO alleging racial discrimination in the promotion process. One was Black, one was Latino and one was American Indian.

Oh wait, someone might say just by mentioning these historic events in the city's labor forces that doing so is racist, dividing the races, promoting a racist agenda and so forth. But these events were already taking place. The allegations of racism and sexism were being made by those compelled to make them by what they faced in the workplace in this city. It was the city's behavior that was fostering the "division" by setting up different standards on how to treat its employees based on race.

This was about three years before Officer Roger Sutton who is Black filed his own racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation in the county courts. He was awarded first, $200,000 in arbitration. Then his case went to trial even though both sides had to waive dismissal because the case had hit the five-year point since it was filed for different reasons including at least two shutdowns of the civil courts in order to reduce the backlog of criminal trials.

Sutton received $1.64 million from his jury. Keers received a six-figure settlement and retirement. And about five of the original 17 plaintiffs on the 1997 law suit settled their cases out. Former officer, Rene Rodriguez settled out his claim as well and received a retirement.

Still, at about that time, candle light vigils were being hold by city residents who watched as Black and Latino management level employees in this city were demoted, fired or "resigned" from City Hall. All of them serving under the management of Brad Hudson.

One of them, Jim Smith, who is Black, was told to stand up during a city council meeting by an elected official as "proof" that he couldn't have made it up to the interim assistant city manager level if not for the city council. Many African-Americans find that behavior very racist and offensive to be put on display as proof that an individual or entity is not racist. Some have said it doesn't get much worse than that.

Anyway, for Smith, this kindness shown to him by the city council as it was called and his honeymoon wouldn't last long. He was unceremoniously demoted to his old job and the White man he once supervised was promoted to the permanent assistant city manager where he would join two other White men. Smith was good wherever the city put him so it didn't take him long to get a job in a bigger city.

Only several men of color at the management level remained that had held their positions before the changing of the guard. And one of them, Deputy Chief Dave Dominguez, is leaving in February to serve as the chief of Palm Springs Police Department.

Hired by the police department in the early 1990s under then Chief Ken Fortier, Dominguez came to the department as a lieutenant. He leaves the agency having built strong relationships with community members and being involved in community organizations, as well as having good relationships with police officers.


Last March, several representatives from the Riverside Police Officers' Association came to a community meeting to defend Dominguez' use of another action besides arrest for four people including a 90-year-old woman from a city council meeting in late February. They spoke highly of Dominguez and spoke of how hard the city tried to find police officers and even prosecutors at the Riverside County District Attorney's office to take action against these individuals. What Dominguez showed during that episode is a reflection of the officer and the person who he is and any agency will be lucky to have him lead it with those skills. The city residents who knew about the chain of events recognized it as did these officers, but the city didn't. This episode happened shortly before the whole "at will" situation brought a bunch of people down to City Hall.

And as for Riverside, it's this city's loss and it's notable if ironic that Dominguez placed the highest in the pool of applicants for that job because of his community involvement. The community supported him right back amidst a city climate that didn't appreciate Dominguez as it should have. Even though he's leaving for a really good job, it's too bad that politics and other things worked the way that they did, because the losers are the communities in this city even those which wish him well in his new endeavor.





The department is seeking a new deputy chief and at least one captain or two. Testing for the captain's position vacated by Jim Cannon earlier this autumn, has begun. It's hoped that it will be the police chief that is picking these positions, because it's his responsibility. And as stated before, the deputy chief position must remain classified as a captain's position and not become an "at will" position in the sense of termination rather than demotion if there's a new chief who picks someone else to fill the deputy chief position.

Part of what was really disturbing about the whole "at will" positions episode was its timing. Why was it done when there were two Latino deputy chiefs with a third one about to join them and one of the original ones moving up?



News about overtime being slashed without new positions being added in several departments kind of makes you wonder why money spent on several housing projects while housing nation-wide is heading into a slump that may last until 2012 is being spent so much more readily.



In New Orleans, there's an ongoing attempt to redevelop and gentrify New Orleans in the wake of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. Community residents have been protesting this even trying to block the demolition of public housing which will be replaced by mixed-income housing.



(excerpt, NOLA.com)


Opponents, though, say HUD's $600 million redevelopment plan is worse, and would reduce availability of public housing by 80 percent and freeze people out of the city. They also argue the plan is ill-conceived because New Orleans is gripped by a post-hurricane shortage of cheap housing.

Social workers say the number of homeless has doubled to about 12,000 and will grow in coming months as disaster housing assistance vouchers run out.

"It makes absolutely no sense to have those vouchers run out and bulldoze 4,500 useable units," said Jeff Connor, a United Methodist pastor, as he participated in a rain-dampened protest Wednesday night that temporarily blocked demolition at the B.W. Cooper development. "Open the housing now and let people stay in their homes."








Using a natural disaster which cost over 1,000 lives to gentrify New Orleans is deplorable. But for other areas across the country which didn't experience disasters so traumatic on a human scale, these same principles of displacing poor communities, the majority of whom predominantly count African-Americans and Latinos as their residents.







Seattle's police department is moving its internal affairs division out of the station according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.


(excerpt)


The department's Office of Professional Accountability, which fields complaints against officers and investigates allegations of misconduct, plans to move into a new office in July in the Seattle Municipal Tower, across the street from police headquarters.

Internal affairs investigators have worked from a small, ground-floor office in the administration building at 610 Fifth Ave. for the past few years.

Some community groups asked for the relocation, arguing that people with complaints -- especially if they are from a minority community -- are often intimidated by the police station.

"The community concern is that there is a chilling effect of having to come into a police department to file a complaint," said John Fowler, the OPA's associate director.




Several years ago, the Riverside Police Department moved its internal affairs division out of its administration headquarters on Orange Street in downtown Riverside to an office building adjacent to the Riverside Plaza on Central Avenue.




In Bolingbrook, former sergeant Drew Peterson has shut down his legal defence fund Web site not long after he started it, according to ABC-News.



(excerpt)


The site was shut down Wednesday, and his lawyer, Joel Brodsky, told ABC Chicago affiliate WLS that they had already achieved their short-term goals from the site.

He wouldn't say, however, how much money they might have raised in the time the site was in operation.

The site, which had contained an emotional plea for financial support from a man who said he felt victimized by police pressure, and a media witch hunt, now simply says, "This Domain (defenddrew.com) Has Been Disabled."

Peterson has repeatedly denied involvement in his wife's disappearance. He has said that he believes that Stacy left him for another man. Legal experts called the online defense fund highly unusual, if not unprecedented, because the former police officer has not been charged with a crime.

Brodsky told ABC News' Law & Justice Unit the cyberplea for support was needed.

"Drew is not a rich man, and this case will be expensive," he said.



Peterson who appears to have a lot to say, told the Chicago Tribune that his wife, Stacey, who's missing accidently fired a gun he gave her.



(excerpt)




Drew Peterson on Wednesday said a gunshot in his home in the summer resulted from his wife, Stacy, accidentally firing the handgun he gave her as a present. "It was an accidental discharge -- in my home by Stacy," Peterson said in an interview at their Bolingbrook home. "She had a fascination with guns. I bought her a Glock for Valentine's [Day] -- because nothing says I love you like a Glock. That was our joke."

Peterson, 53, has been named a suspect in the Oct. 28 disappearance of his wife, Stacy, 23. He has not been charged with any crime.

On Tuesday, Stacy's younger sister, Cassandra Cales, told the Tribune Stacy had said she went to get a soda from a refrigerator in the garage at Drew's request. While there, a shot allegedly rang out from their bedroom over the garage, piercing the ceiling and striking the floor near her.

But Peterson said he and his wife were together in the bedroom at the time. He speculated his wife may have told her sister that he fired the gun because "she was embarrassed about it."

Standing in the garage, Peterson pointed to a hole in the ceiling several yards from the refrigerator that he said was caused by the bullet.

"Once that bullet goes through all of that, it loses its velocity," he said, adding the bullet probably just fell harmlessly to the floor.





Peterson told the Chicago Sun-Times that Stacey "dolled up" before visiting the minister who came forward and said she had told him that Peterson had killed his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

He also disputed an account by another ex-girlfriend that he had stalked her.


(excerpt)


Drew Peterson also took issue with a former fiancee's account of how their relationship ended. Kyle Piry of Joliet has accused him of following her, stalking her and harassing her with bogus tickets -- charges he denied.

He said Piry is bitter over being spurned. After their engagement, Peterson said, he found out Piry not only was seeing an old boyfriend but was also dancing at bachelor parties.

"She became somebody I really didn't want to be married to," Drew Peterson said.

Piry called Peterson's version "all lies."

"He's an idiot," she said.




The Oakland Police Department is being sued again. This time by ten men who allege that illegal strip searches were conducted on them. This law suit joins similar ones filed recently.


(excerpt, Associated Press)



In their complaint against the city of Oakland, the plaintiffs claim that officers pulled down their pants on city streets during incidents from 2003 to 2007.

The $10 million federal civil rights lawsuit was filed Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco.

Riverside City Hall: The Dirty Dozen?

Major John Reisman: Which one of you guys wants to be a general?
[to Pinkley]

Major John Reisman: Pinkley?

Pinkley: What kind of general, sir?

Major John Reisman: Just a plain, ordinary, every day, home-lovin' American general.

Pinkley: I'd rather be a civilian, sir.


----The Dirty Dozen





Juror #5: Boy oh boy, it's really hot, huh? Pardon me, but don't you ever sweat?

Juror #4: No, I don't.


---12 Angry Men





"No, sir, I will not yield! And this same man, Mr. James Taylor, came down here and offered me a seat in this Senate for the next 20 years if I voted for a dam that he knew, and I knew, was a fraud. But if I dared to open my mouth against that dam, he promised to break me in two."


---Mr. Smith Goes to Washington





"I had the fire in the belly just like you, Kevin, and the odd thing is I still have it. Never left me! I had the dream... and I had the weight. Like one of those guys before me said, "If a sparrow falls in Central Park, I feel responsible."


----City Hall




"They say I can sell anything; I'd like to try to sell something to you."

---Network

"Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings."

---David Niven

Officer Ryan: You think you know who you are?

[Officer Hanson nods]

Officer Ryan: You have no idea.



---Crash




Julie: He basically called me white trash! He said I was from Riverside!

Jimmy Cooper: Honey, you are from Riverside.

Julie: It was his tone!


---O.C.




"No that's fame. Fame has a fifteen minute half-life, infamy lasts a little longer. "

---The Insider

"It's time for us to restore that trust."


---Councilman Chris MacArthur, Ward Five




"Like the north wind whistlin' down the sky
I've got a song, I've got a song
Like the whippoorwill and the baby's cry
I've got a song, I've got a song
And I carry it with me and I sing it loud
If it gets me nowhere, I'll go there proud"


---Jim Croce





They say for everything there's a pair and bad things always happen in threes, but the really good things come by the dozen. And last night, one of the all-time classic films was invoked when a city resident talked about what he called, the "dirty dozen". I heard that and thought of the film and thought, what another remake? Is there any film where the original can stand on its own that's left?

But the man explained further that the "dirty dozen" was something or some people who were so repugnant that when they came up to the dais at meetings, the city council members or the mayor should turn off the microphone, thus silencing them to the viewers of City Council meetings at home. That's assuming that all the viewers are "hearing" which they're not. The meetings are also watched by members of Riverside's large Deaf community. Apparently they weren't included in what this man believed is the audience who watches the meetings from home.



But shutting off the microphone is indeed one possible action that can be taken to shut out viewpoints that the city council disagrees with or find offensive to a portion of the meetings' audiences. The other option this gentleman had at his disposal was to turn down the volume on his television set or turn the channel. That way, he could allow everyone watching the televised meetings to decide for themselves whether to listen to a speaker's words or not, whether to turn the channel or not, rather than having Mayor Ron Loveridge or Mayor Pro Tem Frank Schiavone make that decision for everyone by flipping a switch.



Loveridge is too smart to even look comfortable when a city resident makes that kind of suggestion. His political science education and experience on the dais has taught him what a land mine comments like those can be and that navigating through them is necessary no matter how tempting it is to do otherwise. That's one reason why every time a police officer or two has been ordered by an elected official leading a meeting to expel elderly women, it's never been Loveridge at the helm. It's always been a mayor pro tem that has issued those orders. The police officers don't have much of a choice in the matter if an elected official wants to use them to be a "bouncer".

Schiavone, the current mayor pro tem? Before last night's oratory exercise, he looked like he was up to it. However, it's becoming clear that the months of having to listen to people who don't agree with the direction that the city council's going, that he's had enough and his impulses are overriding his smarts. I've never met an elected official who can compliment you on your "aura" one week and castigate your lack of ethics the next so I'm learning to take what he says with a grain of salt. It's all politics after all, or so many people say.

But as far as the "dirty dozen", perhaps it's the list of people who got threatening letters from city council members through the conduit of the city attorney's office or maybe it's those who haven't jumped on the Riverside Renaissance express train, but are kind of more concerned about the city's bond rating and the fact that city employees are being told there's no money available and police and possibly other staffing has been cut back due to cuts in overtime expenditures.

Maybe it's just a flashy remake of an old movie, Riverside style, after all.




More was said on the issues of the trains using Riverside's streets as parking lots, a situation which has been going on for years.

But all the saber rattling from City Hall at Union Pacific hasn't led to that company being any more responsive to the city on the ongoing train issues, including the malfunctioning crossing guard at the Brockton intersection that was first reported to the city council over a month ago. But even as the Transportation Committee and Governmental Affairs Committee armwrestle over who gets to take on the train companies next, the fact is that not a single person at City Hall has succeeded in really getting Union Pacific or its sibling, Burlington North Santa Fe to even take them seriously.


Discussion of the ethics code and complaint process if you can call it that took place in several different venues in recent days. Last night, it took place at City Hall where the city council passed a measure to dilute the process even further. In some ways, it seems like what's happened to the Community Police Review Commission in the past 18 months, only slightly more public.


One of the reasons that's so is because while the CPRC is under the jurisdiction of the city manager's office, the ethics code and complaint process is under the purvue of the city council which is governed by the Brown Act which states that the vast majority of its business and nearly all of its discussions and votes as a full city council must be conducted in public. The similarities between the two will be analyzed and discussed in future postings, but not for the first time last night, I was reminded that about the relationship that does exist.

I might be in the minority compared to what many people think on this issue who speak on it at City Hall but I actually disagree that it's the public that needs to be educated on the ethics code and the ethics complaint process. I've had enough discussions with different people following that particular process to know that they're not the ones who appear to be confused or who particularly need what can be an expensive "outreach" program.



To me, it appears that it's the elected body that is confused on this issue and last night's discussion showed that. What ethics are and what an accountable review mechanism for ethics complains is all about.

Fortunately, there are other agencies which provide mechanisms to file ethics complaints involving elected officials. There's the Riverside County Grand Jury and the Fair Political Practices office for the State of California. They might not be as proactive as many watchdogs would like, but at least they don't flagellate you during a public hearing simply for daring to use the process that they set up for use. If you file a complaint that actually makes it to the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee, what you'll hear is very little deliberation about the actions of the elected official and negative attacks against the complainant.

You have an ethics complaint? You're probably better off avoiding the current ethics complaint process.


If you need an example of how such a hearing was and may in the future be conducted, feel free to purchase a CD copy of the Feb. 13 meeting held by the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee held earlier this year to hear the only ethics complaint that made it past the city attorney's office. It's yours to own for a nominal fee if you visit the Seventh Floor's city clerk's office.


Then there are other ways that people try to shut people down from public participation and that's through other means like what happened to me yesterday.


If you want to see what this type of tactics looks like, here's one that appeared with a posting at Craigslist calling me, "Riverside's Most Prolific Racist". At the bottom of the incoherent diatribe is a small head shot photograph of me that did not appear to have been taken of me recently. I don't recognize where it might have come from. The writing is however, very familiar as is some of the word choice.


The link doesn't work because the posting was apparently flagged some time after it was posted at 4:30 p.m. by an anonymous poster who was apparently upset with some comments I made at a city council meeting last night and a blog entry I posted today about that meeting.


If you missed it, here it is in its entirety as it appeared at Craigslist.


(excerpt)


I just read Mary's blog and was amused by her rendition of what took place last
night. She's clearly in denial.



But the camera captured the truth. Be sure to tune into the rebroadcasts, or the
webcast, of last night's Riverside City Council meeting.


The highlight was the public exposure of Mary Shelton's racist agenda. Her bigotry
was laid bare for all to see as her racist blog postings were raised in public.



Shame on Mary for going to meetings and reducing people to numbers of whites, blacks
and latinos. We're all humans, Mary, and sorting and counting us by color is simply
degrading. Besides it only perpetuates divisions among us. But deep down that's what
you really want so that you can continue to have a reason for your racist crusade.



Mary is the only one who doesn't see this fact.


Maybe she should review the broadcast.

To everyone else, sit back and relax and enjoy watching Riverside's Most Prolific Racist get her due which is long overdue.




Oh, if I had a dollar for every time I've been called a "racist" by someone failing to use his or her name for even bringing up the issues of race and racism, I'd have enough for an island in the tropics. And being labeled the "most prolific racist" of what, the world? Ooooh. Does it come with a tiara and a bunch of posies? A decoder ring and a petunia?

After all, I was called a "liberal racist puke" or was it a "racist liberal puke" a while back as well. I've been called a "bitch", a "whore" a "skank" a "tramp", all noticably gender-specific terms.

Prose like this is right up there with the circle jerk that took place on my blog in the spring of 2006 where I was simply called "granny pants girl" and who could forget the anonymous visitor who called me Queen Mary, the wigger? There's been no shortage of pathetic characters who have ejaculated or crapped on this blog, drawn by the chance to have a spotlight but it's doubtful they received much of one, because a recent poll stated that only about 5% of blog visitors even read comment threads.

Based on the writings they've left here, in their own minds, that is exactly how they see their actions. Not surprisingly, their choice of language reflected that.

It's a bit strange that a person would bother posting a photograph of me but it's also desperate. However, if you speak out on issues in this city, you'd better be ready for it. The rest of it, is simply the usual reactionary prose of someone who's convinced him or herself that people of color and Whites would just get along fine if people of color didn't confront Whites on racism and Whites didn't have to examine their racial privilege. It's silly and it speaks volumes about the individual who authored it.

Unfortunately, if you're female and you blog, this is usually behavior that you have to put up with. The rewards that come with blogging matter so much more than the hateful, resentful, hostile and sometimes threatening stuff that is posted if people don't like or are upset with what you write. Just ask many female bloggers including Kathy Sierra who blogged about what she probably thought was the innocuous topic of information technology and was stalked online to the point of not going to conferences and refusing to leave her house.

I do agree with this anonymous poster on one thing. I do agree that individuals who are interested should watch the broadcast for themselves and decide what they think of it. Fortunately, I encountered many people who did and they supported me on what I said. They couldn't believe that a sitting city council member would have made the statements that he did. They thought the posting, which made the rounds at several places, was childish, silly and vindictive. Maybe. It's more a definition of its author than it is of me including the fact that he or she lacked the courage to even sign their name to it.

The next airing of the Dec. 11 city council meeting is on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 9 a.m. on 3 for those who are interested.

It did foster some interesting discussions last night when I circulated it around yesterday and they told me their stories of racism and White Supremacism in Riverside past and present. Whites often speak loudest that calling out racism is being "divisive" because they can't or don't see the divisions that already exist between people of different races due to racism that people of color often do. Whites were shocked when I showed them this post. Black and Latino individuals were not. Unfortunately, it seems like this "division" already exists when it comes not to race, but with racism. Posters like this one look at division caused and manifested by racism and confuse it for actually being a "division" of different races. But then they don't have to think about race at all, except to flagellate their critics or those who criticize their favorite elected officials on the dais.

And I do have to say, I'm damn proud to be philosophically so different than any individual who would post things like this incoherent diatribe online. This is definitely someone I don't want to be on the same page with in any way what so ever.

Never fear, the still-anonymous individual posted it (as they usually do) and you can read a truncated version of the post here at 10:32 p.m.





The Eastside Think Tank's attempts to get a meeting with any representative with the Riverside County District Attorney's office continues without bearing fruit, even in light of the revelation of the terms mandated by that office just to conduct a meeting with it on the Eastside Riva preliminary gang injunction.

Chair Mary Figueroa said that the District Attorney's office would meet with the Think Tank only on the condition that she provide it with a list of people from the organization who would attend so that it could be given to its investigators to look into. The Think Tank refused those terms in a written response, stating that at that point, the agency was taking it too far. Some of them said they felt like they were being treated like criminals. And if a community's leaders are even viewed in any light as being criminals, then what does that say about an agency's opinions of the residents of that communtity?

One major reason why the Think Tank was correct to take the stance that it did. It also bothered me and I addressed this issue at the meeting because frankly, it's more important than telling a councilman I don't take ethics lessons from him.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)


The questions have gone unanswered, residents say, and the district attorney's office has not agreed to a meeting with residents or community leaders, according to the board of the East Side Think Tank.

"(Pacheco is) an elected official and he has a responsibility to the community," Mary Figueroa said at a Think Tank meeting Monday night. The Think Tank was formed by community members in 2002 to combat violence by bringing the community together.

District attorney's office spokeswoman Ingrid Wyatt would not comment other than to say that the person who would arrange any such meeting was in Sacramento and could not respond.



Actually, Wyatt is correct. There is an individual in Sacramento who could arrange a meeting and that's State Attorney General Jerry Brown, whose the state's top prosecutor.




The Tyler Galleria's new movie theater is hosting a benefit for Habitat for Humanity.



(excerpt)



"Doubles" is an informal theme for the evening: Celebrity look-a-likes of actors such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp will arrive for a red carpet walk at 6:30 p.m.

Guests will be allowed to have complimentary pictures taken with the look-a-likes, and walk the red carpet in their wake to a party.

The premiere will include popcorn and soda during the movie, which is being kept under wraps, and a free souvenir key ring.

The event costs $10 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets may be purchased at the customer service department at the mall, which is on the second level near the food court, or from any Habitat for Humanity representative.






When I read this article, I first thought it was a joke, but it appears that civil trials in Riverside County Superior Court will be tried in classrooms at a local school,according to the Press Enterprise.


(excerpt)


Looking to lighten a backlog in civil cases, the Superior Court in Riverside will transform eight classrooms at the Indiana Avenue campus into three temporary courtrooms. Hawthorne Elementary's occupants will move to a new campus on Irving Street, a little more than a mile away.

The Riverside Unified School District trustees on Monday voted 5-0 to give the Superior Court of California a six-month license to occupy those classrooms for deliberating civil cases only, starting Jan. 2. District officials said three civil judges, support staff, bailiffs and sheriff's deputies will be assigned there.



A jam in countywide civil cases numbering in the thousands has sprung from a heavy backlog of criminal cases. Those take precedence over civil trials because the Constitution guarantees speedy trials for criminal defendants. As a result, civil judges throughout the county often have had to preside over criminal cases.

Justice Richard Huffman said state Chief Justice Ronald George has been seeking a way to jump-start civil cases in the county.

Huffman, of the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego, heads the strike force of judges brought in to relieve the criminal backlog. He said Tuesday that he didn't know when the Hawthorne site would be ready for court use.

"The facility is not suitable for criminal trials," Huffman said in a phone interview. "They cannot be conducted there, so there is no choice but to conduct civil trials there."/em>




Fontana's city council voted themselves a a huge pay raise beginning next year.



Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona must be paid while being prosecuted on federal indictments of corruption of his office, according to the Los Angeles Times.



(excerpt)


The legal report was prompted in part because board Chairman Chris Norby wanted to know if the county was required to continue paying Carona during his leave of absence.

"There is no provision in the law for depriving an elected officer of his or her salary during the officer's temporary absence from his or her duties on account of personal reasons," the report said. The sheriff draws an annual salary of $199,680.





Atlanta's civilian review board is off to a slow start, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.


(excerpt)


The board's chairwoman, attorney Sharese Shields, stood before the City Council's Public Safety Committee to explain why Tuesday.


Shields said the board, composed of volunteers, plans to hire a full-time executive director, two investigators and an administrative assistant with the goal of fielding complaints from the public by spring 2008.

Council member C.T. Martin, one of three city lawmakers who lobbied to create the board, expressed frustration that it's still in the developmental stages.

"I want it up and running," he told Shields. "It's been too long."