Clash of the Titans: The Ethics Review Committee Heads to Governmental Affairs

UPDATE: Jockeys Brawl highlights beginning of Breeder's Cup two-days of racing. Jockeys exchanges fists in winner's circle after first race and jockey room later cleared...




UPDATE: Community Police Review Commission finally posts the investigative report on the Fernando Luis Sanchez Officer Involved Death case after attempts made by Interim Manager Mario Luna to block it as being "outside the scope". View the formerly blocked report completed by Martinelli and Associates. Martinelli has a list of concerns and questions raised about the investigation conducted by the Riverside Police Department including the handling and forensic evidence collection from the handgun and issues with the audio and video recordings obtained, not to mention the two year delay in investigation.




UPDATE: Panel set to interview finalists for CPRC manager position all day today, Thursday, Nov. 4.






"Bell took the lead but we followed."


---Human Resource Board member, Jackie Rawlings during the discussion on the ethics review committee meetings





[The "Three Amigos" as they're called who serve as the management team in the Riverside Police Department have been showing up at public forums to solicit input for the upcoming Strategic Plan bringing some very different styles of conducting meetings.]






The Riverside Police Department has been conducting its public forums on the upcoming strategic plan, two per neighborhood policing center, and have hit eight different venues. Two more forums will be added this month as the police department will also present and receive input at events to be scheduled at Nichols Park and the California School for the Deaf. It's been interesting to watch the very different meetings having attended four of them especially when different individuals from the management team lead them.

Asst. Chief Chris Vicino from the Pasadena Police Department has a more forceful style and appears to try to control the direction of the meetings including while receiving input much more so than Chief Sergio Diaz who actually says very little but does listen carefully to what people are saying which is an important quality in a police chief. Vicino might watch and learn from that considering that of all the management team members, he's viewed the most as a "short timer" meaning he's here to glean experience as a management team member in hopes of parlaying it into a chief's job in his future. He's got a vibrant personality which can be important as well and clearly has a background in strategic planning but with two interim chief stints in his background the guy clearly wants to be chief. Still, he's got some learning to do and this job will provide him with that ample opportunity in spades as well the residents of this city as well as the employees inside his agency.

Because Vicino apparently didn't win many points when he appeared at roll call after being hired and telling police officers there it was time for them to return to work. As if they had ever left work during the tumultuous months that led to and preceded Vicino's arrival. No actually, the police department was still running that entire time and the majority of employees were still doing their jobs in a professional and very effective manner even though there are fewer of them than there should be. It could have been different than that as Vicino probably knows but most of the upheaval at the department in terms of job performance during the first half of 2010 was at its top and at City Hall. Vicino's got talent and he's smart and actually a quick learner on some fronts but he still has to do quite a bit of learning coming into an agency much different than his last haunt. Deputy Chief Jeffrey Greer's softer in his approach, sometimes engaging in the "well at the [insert name of department] we did it this way" but actually he's the one to watch especially if Vicino does take another job within a year or two. He's doing the most of what's important at these forums and that's listening to the input which is critical in his role of overseeing field operations and investigations. It's always the quiet ones you've got to watch.

Deputy Chief Mike Blakely's been sitting and listening at the forums as well and he's clearly enjoying the interplay between city residents and the management team. He's watching it all very carefully, always the consummate chess player that he's proven to be.

Diaz hasn't been an interim chief but he can direct the solicitation of input at a public forum without running it. And that's what works for many different people which is why the flow of information at the forum he directed in Casa Blanca had a different feel and yet gleaned out quite a bit of information than some of the earlier ones.

Sgt. Jaybee Brennan did really well at imparting what's essentially her work product in front of the different groups in the different venues. She had worked for months on the Plan while holding three different positions in the Chief's office and was in her second round of being involved in the information solicitation process after what took place earlier this year. She had been shipped to patrol by former Acting Chief John DeLaRosa in the heels of Sgt. Lisa Williams who went back to patrol after her assignment in Communications was transferred from the Chief's office to the Personnel Division. Her successor, Sgt. Dan Hoxmeier was taken off the #2 spot on the lieutenant's list and promoted to lieutenant by Diaz before being assigned to be area commander of NPC Central. Hoxmeier has played an active role at outreaching to residents in his NPC to attend meetings and had attended the first public forum in the Eastside to get a feel for the process before holding meetings in his own area.

Originally it appears that Brennan wasn't even supposed to be at the public forums because she's now a patrol sergeant but she has appeared at the meetings to present on her work product. She went from being omitted from introductions at the first meeting to being mentioned by Vicino as his "partner" in the process. It's very unlikely that Vicino, the new architect of the plan will be redrafting it without her assistance due to her greater familiarity with the history and the process itself. A draft of the latest Strategic Plan had already been written last spring and it will be interesting to see how that version factors into that issued by Vicino and Diaz. But it will be clear when examining the final product, who wrote what so hopefully everyone's contributions will be properly attributed.

It's like a page out of corporate America and it will be interesting to see if it plays out that way as time goes by.

But Brennan's had to be a good sport with being the only officer not introduced at the beginning of the forum at the Caesar Chavez Community Center and then at the forum held at the NPC North at the Marriott Hotel, being referred to by her first name while the male officers were referred to by their rank and surnames. Two women walked out of that forum in protest because both of the behaviors that Brennan experienced are what many women refer to as "dog whistles". A term which is used because the user of such a whistle doesn't hear the sound he or she's making nor do most people, only the dogs that the whistle is designed to alert can hear it. Hence "dog whistles" are more subtle signs of sexist behavior (which the above is, intentional or not) are often missed by anyone except the women in the room.

Something for the department's male management team to keep in mind when engaging in discourse including in public venues.

But with two additional forums being added, the second round of soliciting public input is still continuing but it's been an interesting process to participate in and witness so far. What's going to be done with the ideas presented (which actually closely mirror those in the original court-mandate Strategic Plan) remains to be seen of course as the process is still in its earlier stages once again.

Human Resources Board Grapples with Identity Again

[The Human Resources Board now chaired by Ellie Bennett wrestles with some identity issues at its most recent meeting.]



In the wake of a contentious process hearing its first employee grievance in hears, the Human Resources Board was left feeling that this process needed to be changed which might take place after the Board undergoes its debriefing on it at next month's meeting ir even later after as one board member put it, key players in the process have some time to cool off after another board member said that personal attacks were made during the open deliberation process on the grievance.

Many of its five members who showed up at the Nov. 1 meeting barely making quorum were also discussing what their role would be, whether they would continue with the status quo or make changes to their operations. This arose after a showdown between the Board and City Manager Brad Hudson took place after members of the panel were concerned about the spree of retirements and resignations in the city's Development Department especially of older employees including those who were female. The rate had apparently increased after current director, Deanna Lorson took over the reins. The members decided they wanted a face to face meeting with Lorson and Hudson initially sent a directive towards conduit, Human Resources Director Rhonda Strout but when pressed, did appear at a meeting earlier this year. In a roundabout way, he nixed their request and then rerouted quite skillfully into reexamining the Human Resources Board's mission while making it appear as if it were the Board's idea.

The panelists did that for a little while and the discussion died for a while with summer holidays and grievance hearings but at the last meeting, it once again appeared on the forefront of discussion. But what they need to realize if they don't already is that their panel is just one of several being manipulated by the Seventh Floor of City Hall, along with the Human Relations Commission (which can't even agendize its own meetings without being muzzled by the city attorney's office) and of course, the Community Police Review Committee which has been manipulated by a cast of characters, most lately by interim manager, Mario Lara who's clearly getting his marching orders from someone outside of it.

Commissioner Bob Gordon expressed his frustration with the process of dealing with elements in the city, talking about the lack of transparency.


"We get some transparency," he said, "The door shuts again."




The Human Resources Board had written several unanswered letters to the city council and mayor after being blocked in various areas of doing its job by Hudson and City Attorney Gregory Priamos. Gordon also commented on how it took over a year after they requested the statistics on the retention of female officers in the police department before former Chief Russ Leach showed up in the autumn of 2009 to present on this issue. One commissioner said that the Board needed to have a meet and greet with Chief Sergio Diaz although another said that December might be too early for the new chief to be prepared to present on the police department

Chair Ellie Bennett said that she was concerned about the dynamics of City Hall involving their board as well.



"I don't think we're being heard," she said.




Commissioner Art Butler said he was offended by the control of the grievance processes by some high ranking city employees. while Erin House said he wanted to move toward restoring the investigative powers by the Board which were revoked by the city council about five years ago but wasn't sure how they should do this. It's a good guess if the Board tries to do that, then elements in City Hall will try to stonewall it. Because it often appears that those at the top of the food chain simply want boards and commissions which are window dressing and don't actually do very much. Even as quite a few labor grievances and lawsuits have been filed against the city including by employees in the police department but then the more serious an issue is including those which impact the self-insured city's risk of civil liability, the more watered down the relevant mechanisms of civilian oversight become.

Expect the same with the Human Resources Board which had a pretty active and even proactive year in 2009 but City Hall has reacted and is in the process of pushing it back in its little corner again. It remains to be seen whether the board will allow itself to be subjected to that so easily. There are a mixture of personalities on the panel which should make for an interesting few months watching the board struggle to redefine itself, a mission assigned it mostly to keep it caught up in that so that it can't be spending time doing what it needs to do.

Councilman Steve Adams Ethic Complaint Hearing Rescheduled

[Riverside City Councilman Steve Adams gets a brief reprieve as his ethics complaint hearing was rescheduled away from Election Day to Nov. 10.]




[The Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee won't be hearing the complaint against Councilman Steve Adams (center) an elected official most of its members have already endorsed for reelection, until next week.]





The ethics complaint filed by the La Sierra/Arlanza Neighborhood Alliance was originally to have been heard on Election Day but some of the people wanted to changed to another date and at first Mayor Ron Loveridge apparently was a bit stubborn and didn't want to do that but on the day before, an email was circulated to select people by City Hall that the complaint's appearance in front of the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee would be canceled and rescheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m. in the Mayor's Ceremonial Room.


It should be quite the happening event to listen to some elected officials pretend to be unbiased about an ethics complaint involving a councilman most of them already endorsed for reelection. Interesting indeed. But what this sham of an ethics complaint hearing process will most amply show is how ineffective the "fox guarding the hen house" process (as called by one ethics review committee member) has been and hit home the message that a more independent and outside hearing process is sorely needed.

But one of the happening events of all will be the Government Affairs Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 3 when the committee will be meeting to hear and discuss recommendations from the Ethics Code Committee which was created by the city council to examine the process further.

Will City Hall Shut Down Committee's Recommendation for an Independent Hearing Panel on Ethics Complaints?

[The Ethics Code Review Committee met three times to try to discuss and whip out some recommendations to improve the Ethics Code and Complaint system which will be heard by the Governmental Affairs Committee. ]



The Ethics Committee which had been meeting decided that the ethics complaints should be heard by an independent panel and will include this in their recommendations to the Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Nov. 3. This should be the most happening meeting held at City Hall all week and it will be interesting to see what the reaction to the committee's work product will be by the initial committee of city officials who will receive the recommendations and of course comment on them. But will they endorse them to the full city council or will they reject them? Particularly the already publicized recommendation that an independent and outside panel hear and decide on ethics complaints filed against elected officials. This has already been recommended time and time again by city residents including members of the Group and other organizations and it's been rejected by city government in what's turned into an annual exercise of doing so including when the ethics code and complaint process came up for its annual review in September by both the Governmental Affairs Committee and the city council and mayor. The city government flipped its vote the previous years and voted to strike the so-called "24/7" language and for some officials, that vote was clearly more painful than for others.

The members had ultimately decided at the third meeting that the assignment given to it by the city council was just too hefty to be done in three weeks which is precisely why they were given that window of time in hopes that they would spend most of the time (of what was originally only two meetings) engaging in preamble and explanations rather than in discussing the focal issues involving the Ethics Code and Complaint process which is probably one of the most derailed charter amendments passed by city voters in recent history. So it's going to apparently recommend to the Governmental Affairs Committee that another panel be created to flesh out the issues in greater detail.

The Code is weak and the process of hearing complaints was pretty much a joke back when the city council and the mayor decided to have themselves hear and deliberate and ultimately decide on ethics complaints involving its own members. The Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee was assigned this role and then if that weren't enough of a conflict of interest, City Hall figured out how to derail the majority of ethics complaints involving elected officials from even reaching its own committee. It did this by funneling complaints not to the appropriate venue (according to the Code's resolution) but to the City Attorney's office for final arbitration by a city employee outside the transparent process required by the resolution. But then it's amazing how commissions get caught violating their own bylaws, city governments violate municipal ordinances as clearly happened in this case with written documentation and sometimes one wonders if the city charter itself is even worth the paper it's written on.


The Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee shouldn't be hearing these complaints for two reasons, one that every single complaint filed against one of its members has involved a councilman serving on this Committee at the time and two, most of the members of the Committee including those substituted in to address the first reason have already endorsed the elected official subjected to the complaint for reelection. So everyone but the city council and mayor apparently know this is a joke. But will the legislative body still treat it as an unacceptable option even as many city residents are more interested in farming the complaint process outside the city government. Will these voices be heard and will the response be to take action to accept this recommendation voiced over and over again in different venues? If not, hopefully the city officials won't recycle the same tired old excuses that they've been tossing out at earlier review meetings.




[Councilman Paul Davis circulated a survey to his constituents on the ethics code and process and everyone of the over 100 people who responded believed that the city government officials shouldn't be deciding complaints filed against them.]



Every person of the over 100 constituents that responded to a survey for information circulated by Councilman Paul Davis said that the complaints involving elected officials should go to an independent and outside panel consisting of people not holding elected office at City Hall. The committee appointed by the city council to examine the process came to the same conclusion but again, so have most reasonable people even as that recommendation goes ignored by the city government on an annual basis.

But the election cycle is coming up for four councilmen with the first (and possibly final) round of voting to take place by mail in early June and the upcoming election is on the mind of many of the incumbents especially considering the past year of scandals that have rocked City Hall as behavior that had been going on for years by those at the top of the police department and City Hall finally brought the house of cards that it had built crashing down and the city's still feeling the aftershocks. That and the fact that Santa Scandal still has some left to pull out of his bag of gifts.

The influx of people leaving city employment have included Leach, several members of the police department's management team and Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis (who allegedly left for reasons not directly related to any known scandal) and it's been noticed by most everyone which has brought forth an increased concern and interest in all things dealing with ethics including the tepid ethics code and complaint process. The voters' intent when they passed the charter initiative to create an ethics code and complaint process was clearly watered down by City Hall and what's transpired this year goes a long way towards explaining why. And a lot of these voters will be heading into an election cycle where the fates of four council seats and those who currently occupy them will be decided sometime in 2011. And of the four individuals running for reelection, three of them haven't been particularly progressive on this issue since they landed on the dais.

That and the complete lack of any meaningful response to the scandals that broke involving their direct employees last year except by Adams to dismiss several scandals involving unethical and illegal behavior as "old news" will leave its mark on what will unfold next year at that ultimate ethics complaint hearing process, the polls.

The Other 2011 Election

Already showing some activity is the election that will take place in late 2011 involving the selection of the next Riverside Police Officers' Association president, which serves a two-year term. While it's not known if current president, Cliff Mason plans to run for reelection, a handful of prospective candidates has already surfaced though most of those are still in the soul searching process of considering whether or not to throw their hats in the ring including some blasts from the past both here and in outside law enforcement agencies. If people who are thinking about it, say I'm going to do it, it could be an exciting competition down to the wire.

Although it's customary for people to declare and then withdraw to reduce it to a two-horse race as Det. Gary Toussaint did during the 2009 election cycle to support another candidate, that led to Mason seizing the office by a small margin, it would be interesting if three or more candidates did enter the race. Discussions among prospective candidates thinking about it have already allegedly led to some folks thinking about the vice-presidency race instead of the top spot but there's still plenty of time, over a year left until the election takes place.

At the moment, both the president and vice-president Brian Smith are undergoing their sergeants' nine month probational stints, the first such case in recent history, and the association's operations have been more quiet, in the wake of the stalling of contracts among bargaining units because of the lower fiscal spending budget but there's been focus on the 2010 election with the RPOA endorsing Brian Nestande for assemblyman in the 64th district. Also an issue has been increased filing of labor grievances and lawsuits by different members including former president, Chris Lanzillo who filed two retaliation claims and a lawsuit in U.S. District Court which was just recently settled apparently against the wishes of Diaz. He made some comments in a newspaper article about Lanzillo doing "very bad things" without elaborating and criticizing the city's practice of being "soft" on lawsuits filed by employees by settling them behind closed doors. Allegedly Hudson wasn't too happy about that and Diaz was asked by the one of the union board members for an elaboration on his comments.

But Mason parlayed his win into different directions, earning a spot on the panel to interview and recommend which candidate to hire as the police chief and just recently was promoted back to sergeant only 18 months after his demotion. A phoenix rising from the ashes as some have said showing that always in motion is the future.

Plenty of excitement coming up with the election over a year away and all the candidates, aspiring and otherwise sort themselves out with the finalists racing to the finish line.




The testing processes for sergeant and lieutenants with written and orals is finished with 12 candidates being interviewed making a very long day for panelists who at least were fed. New contenders in the lieutenant's process were sergeants, Gary Toussaint, Christian Dinco and Brian Dailey. The lists for whatever they're worth will be completed in a couple weeks. The last promotion off of an expiring list was Sgt. Hal Webb which took place during an impromtu ceremony in roll call last week.



A proposed land swap could hand Chinatown off to developer and popular election campaign donor Doug Jacobs.



Speaking of land, Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein is asking the city what's up with its planned hotel, the Hyatt?

Public Meetings

Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 3 p.m. only, city council chambers, the city council will hold an abbreviated meeting due to elections to discuss this agenda.



Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. in the Mayor's Ceremonial Room, the Governmental Affairs Committee will discuss this agenda in relation to recommendations submitted by the Ethics Code Review Committee which among other things has recommended having an outside panel hear complaints involving elected officials.

Public Service Announcement

Riverside, CA – The Riverside Police Department has made several arrests involving the theft of mail from residential and United States Postal Service (USPS) collection mail boxes in the City of Riverside. Following these tips will help in reducing the opportunities for these thefts to occur.



Citizens are urged to follow these steps to protect your mail:



· Use the interior mail depositories at your local post office or give your mail to a USPS letter carrier.

· If you must use an exterior USPS box, review the collection times listed on the box and drop your mail as close to the pickup time as possible.

· Empty your personal mail box daily.

· Notify your local USPS office when you will be out of town and have your mail held until you return.

· Promptly notify the USPS when you change your address.



If you are a victim of mail theft, call your local police and notify the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Happy Labor Day to Riverside's city employees

The mayoral election got off with a bang as the first political debate of the season pitted incumbent Ron Loveridge against challenger and former councilman, Art Gage. Of course, since it was sponsored by the Greater Chambers of Commerce in Riverside, you had to pay to watch it. If there's any similar debates that can be accessed by prospective voters for free, hopefully they'll be sponsored by organizations like the League of Women's Voters and Latino Network. in the next couple of months before the votes are tallied the first Tuesday in November.

Until then, most of Riverside had to read about it.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Loveridge and Gage squared off Wednesday for the first time at a mayoral candidates' forum at the Riverside Convention Center. About 80 people attended the event hosted by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.

Gage started talking about the city's economy right away, using his opening comments to suggest that the city revive an incentive program that discounted utility bills for new businesses.

He also said the city needs to recruit big companies, and he criticized how long it took to get two recent restaurant projects approved.

"We have to become the business-friendly city," Gage said. "We are not that -- not when it takes two years to put in a restaurant."

Loveridge said city officials are bringing "a laser-like focus" to improving the economy, noting that a report due out by December will offer short- and long-term strategies to boost business in Riverside.

He said he's working with other city officials on new approaches to encourage residents to shop locally, and they're pushing the city as the place for a stop on a planned high-speed rail line.

"The next several years, economic development must be the most important goal," he said.

Not surprising, the anonymous commenters at the PE site had plenty to say about this debate and the election season is still very young!


(excerpts)




I'm all for improving the cities economy and workforce..but if the city keeps relying on the good ol' construction/warehousing & manufacturing....we won't get very far. To keep this City moving they need to find ways to recruit money generating big business with a vision of diversity in the outlook. We can't progress with the basics (warehousing, manufacturing and construction)..they are not reliable when things take a downward turn..as we've seen.

Bring in a mixture of banking...law firms..software companies..medical/research...those provide a diversity and plethora of jobs for the city..and pay well. with those..come money, a highly skilled work force and a wall to hold the region up during a 'recession'. Breaking away from the current job base and relying on home building (which fell hard as we just seen) is the first step.

If leaders would work together instead of as numero uno and put into place the plans they say are so grand and needed and not putting off for another 30 years..things will start to work as visioned. But to reach that vision..uh...it takes more that just blah blah blah talk used to get elected. Worry about the city, it's citizens and stick to your words is what part of it comes down to. Don't use 'economy' just for election purposes..actually do something besides talking about it..get the city moving.





CS, There is a lot more to it. Bottom line, Riverside is NOT business friendly and are very unethical.

I have read some of your other post and agree with you :-)





I HAVE LIVED IN RIVERSIDE SINCE 1950 AND RIVERSIDES "FATHERS" HAVE ALWAYS SHUT DOWN NEW AND/OR BIG BUSINESS. IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED THAT THEY WANTED A "SMALL TOWN" FOREVER. NOW THEY WANT TO OPEN RIVERSIDE UP, BUT TO WHO'S ADVANTAGE? DOWNTOWN IS A JOKE, BUT SOMEONE IS MAKING A LOT OF MONEY FROM IT. WHEN WE NEEDED INDUSTRY ON THE OUTSKIRTS, THEY WERE TOLD NO. I REALLY DO NOT GIVE A DAMN WHO IS MAYOR, THEY ALL LIE, WHICH IS EASY TO TELL.............THIER LIPS ARE MOVING. BUT, I SURE WOULD LIKE TO SEE RIVERSIDE AND IT'S PEOPLE'S ECONOMIC'S TO BE TAKEN UP A STEP OR TWO.



What a surprise. Loveridge has another report due out in December. I guess that one will be just as helpful as the mountains of reports that have accumulated in his offices for thirty years. For heaven's sake, Ron, do something for a change!



Gage - I really want to support you. Recuiting big companies that are NOT looking for minumum wage workers is paramount. It will solve most of our problems. Loosen the credit log jam, are you crazy? There is NO log jam. There are multiple offers on every decent home in the city. Just stay very focused on bringing lots and lots of medium and high paying jobs to the area and you will be a true hero of Riverside and the surrounding areas.




Some are especially critical.


(excerpts)



Loveridge is a crook. I am a Riverside businessman and Loveridge must be getting money put in his back pocket to allow companies that win bids not to comply to the specs on the bid sheet. I brought it to his attention by email and his response was 5 words and his initials ROL.

So loveridge. I hope you rot in hell with all your other crooked buddies in your clan.






Both are too old and no new ideas. Gage might be senile if he thinks that Riverside could become like the OC Performing Arts Center.



Both are an embarassment. One slightly more than the other.

Flip a coin.


Ouch, ouch and...ouch.

A Victory for Chinatown

A ruling by a Riverside County Superior Court judge might have put an end to developer Doug Jacobs' construction of a project on that historical site. Both sides, the Save Our Chinatown Committee and developer (and campaign donor) Doug Jacobs said on the record that they "won" the decision. It remains to be seen exactly what will happen but it was a great outcome for the SOCC, even if Jacobs, the Riverside County Board of Education which sorely needs the cash (with the city fulfilling its designated role as the land dealing middleman) come up with some kind of financial understanding behind closed doors. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that's happened.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




The Save Our Chinatown Committee on Friday claimed victory in the decision, which said a pending deal to sell the Chinatown site can't be completed because the seller didn't follow the law.

Committee members said in a written statement they believe the ruling "opens the way to a possible settlement that will preserve the site."

The Tuesday ruling from Judge Sharon Waters did not stray from a tentative ruling she issued in July. It could slow or potentially derail developer Doug Jacobs' plans to put a medical building on the site.

Jacobs made a deal in 2007 to buy the 2.3-acre site from the Riverside County office of education. The city of Riverside later approved Jacob's development plans.

The committee challenged the land sale and the city's approval of the medical building. Waters' final ruling maintains the city's actions followed state environmental law, but the education office did not follow procedures for selling surplus land.

Riverside County board of education officials are disappointed with the ruling and "believe the court misapplied the relevant law to the circumstances of this case," a written statement from board President Adolfo Mediano Jr. said.

The board will review its legal options, Mediano said in the statement.

Why has the CPRC shrunk?

The Inland Empire Weekly comments briefly on the Community Police Review Commission's decision to ban minority reports and one of its main points is how the vote to attempt to eliminate dissent registered at 4-2 on a commission with nine members. It concluded that not everyone showed up and it's right concerning two out of three of the commissioners missing in action as of late.



(excerpt)


Speaking of marginalizing itself, the commission’s 4-2 vote means that three members of the nine-member commission didn’t even show up at the meeting.



Actually, one of the missing commissioners doesn't exist at all, at least not until the latest one appointed passes his Live Scan and is sworn in to his position. But the other two, John Brandriff and Brian Pearcy have either not shown up lately for night sessions (Pearcy) or have a history of missing key votes (Brandriff). In fact, if both of them miss the same meeting, then you know something's up or something's coming up and that's a shame because they both bring a lot to the table. Both of them are more than capable at throwing questions out that the rubber stamping contingent can't answer without trying to punish them through another blanket vote stripping away some vestige of independence the commission enjoys.

It's just that one wonders if it's a question of whether or not they want to sit at the table anymore.

Rumor is, that they're tired of attending the meetings which have deteriorated under the appointment of a series of essentially commissioners with ties to City Hall (including the chair and vice-chair) who use their majority to whittle away at the CPRC's powers. Still, if you're sworn onto a commission, then you have to show up even if it's turning into an exercise in masochism. The residents of the city which they are purportedly representing deserve no less especially in these difficult times during severe micromanagement by City Hall and its puppet show. After all, judging by exit interviews performed on city residents who leave the commission's meetings in total disgust, it's not easy for them to sit through these spectacles. The least the commissioners can do is to do their part and sit there as well.

The CPRC's Newest Commissioner, Aspiring Politician?

The latest commissioner to be appointed to the CPRC, Rogelio V. Morales once ran as a candidate in the 2008 Democratic Primary for the 44th District hoping to be chosen by voters to face off against incumbent, Ken Calvert. Of course that didn't happen but here is more information about his background and his political stances on different issues. This part of his career didn't come up in his interview. As you can recall, this primary was particularly contentious with allegations of smearing all around. Of course, the candidate who made it out of that process didn't beat Calvert but came closer to unseating him than any other Democratic candidate since Calvert's been in office representing his campaign donors more than his voting constituents.

The blog, Liberal OC includes comments by visitors about the Democratic Primary candidates including Morales here.

The Other Election

Some time this year, there might be elections conducted by the Riverside Police Officers' Association to fill positions on the board, including that of the presidency currently held by Det. Chris Lanzillo who defeated the prior incumbent Det. Ken Tutwiler who had defeated the previous incumbent, Sgt. Pat McCarthy. It's difficult to remain at the helm of this contentious and somewhat splintered union these days (not surprising considering the rapid growth in the department particularly this union's membership in the past 10 years) and it's clearly very difficult to serve in this role so anyone who tries to do it deserves some credit for taking the leap and giving it a shot. And as the composition of the police department changes especially with a flood of newer and younger officers, it's become an even more difficult job to navigate through. You may not always agree with them or their views some or all of the time, but it's not an easy road, something for the new president-elect (if there's one) to keep in mind. And Labor Day in part is to salute the efforts of union leaders and their members, past and present.

Of course, it's the city officials and their department heads who probably have the day off. Many of the city's employees are out there working anyway including public safety employees and others providing the city's essential services.


But you learn by doing and just like elected officials elsewhere, sometimes what you've gotten yourself into, isn't clear until you're sitting in the hot seat. After all, just look at the Riverside City Council for a clear cut example.

An officer or two belonging to the union have dangled the possibilities that they might run for the top spot (and it's not clear at this point whether they'll face off against Lanzillo) including one who would be a blast from the past. But as for being serious about tossing their hats in the ring, it's a watch and wait proposition at the moment as is the case in many election proceedings.

Rumors of another serious issue which might come up for the vote of the union's membership are also floating around. If this rumor is true, it could change the infrastructure of the union in ways that other similar associations and protective leagues have seen but so far, not in Riverside.

Happy Labor Day Riverside

These are difficult times for the city's labor unions as another union, the SEIU General Unit which is the city's largest has discovered this year.

The union said recently that what has been written in the Press Enterprise about its operations including the controversial vote among the membership involving the 2% raise was promoted by Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis who ran to the publication not long after being placed in charge of labor negotiations by his boss, City Manager Brad Hudson even after the botched job he allegedly did (according to at least four of the city's bargaining units) during the long hot summer of 2006.

That summer, if you recall, saw strike votes by the SEIU, lawsuits filed by the SEIU, the RPOA and the RPAA and rallies packing City Hall by all these bargaining units plus the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Representatives of these unions said that once DeSantis left the bargaining table, contracts were more quickly signed and they also said that prior to that, the negotiations had been more arduous than during any other time in the city's recent history. Their major upset with DeSantis was his alleged tendency to put promises on the table and then when people agreed to them, he'd withdraw them. Sounds like that game that Lucy of Peanuts used to play with Charlie Brown involving a football. Was that the case? At any rate, the contract negotiation season was quickly wrapped up when he was removed from the equation.

But DeSantis is back in the process and once again naturally, there's turmoil. The SEIU allegedly told the city that it would only vote for the 2% if the city would assure them there were no layoffs. The city at the time wouldn't say yes or no. The SEIU also noticed that the despite the worsening budget picture, some of the city's department heads were getting pretty good-sized raises including one of the department heads who ironically or not is blaming the layoffs of city employees on the SEIU's increase.

Not to mention that if the SEIU voted to rescind the 2% raise, it might involve reopening its current MOU with the city which it would be understandable if there's reluctance to do that because then the city could declare open season on any other term involved in the MOU, as it's shown a history of either ignoring or going against MOU terms in the past, according to the SEIU.

One of the most recent layoffs involved a librarian who also worked as a union steward for the SEIU. More layoffs are probably coming and the SEIU will be blamed by Human Resources Director Rhonda Strout and presumably her employers in the city manager's office who she's speaking for, but when will the city including the city council begin to take serious looks at the raises allegedly given to at least several department heads including Strout last year?

For example, is it true that Public Works Director Siobhan Foster got a 15% raise even as at least two of her employees were fired as alleged by one individual? Did Police Chief Russ Leach get a raise when he signed his latest five-year contract even as officers and civilian workers in his own department face salary freezes, loss of merit raises (which is city-wide) and problems with staffing and providing city services (especially in the civilian division including timely report writing) to the public? Why aren't the issues of these raises getting any attention or eliciting any comments to the media? When DeSantis went to the Press Enterprise about the actions of the SEIU (and that's not to say it's wrong to have concerns and issues with what happened), did he mention these raises? And when they're laying off employees and blaming the 2% raise on the layoffs, do the individuals doing the blaming including apparently Strout mention about the raises that any upper level employees received including their own if that is the case?

That part's doubtful.

Some say, that the management level at City Hall has gotten a bit top-heavy since Hudson was hired by the city with some management employees allegedly left with no employees to well...manage. Any salary increases given during a time when the city management should have known the city was going to have to do more with less needs an explanation before anyone else can be blamed for getting raises.

And speaking of Leach's raise if he received one, look what's been done to his department. Although if Leach had received his maximum authorized raise, he could have been making a larger salary than his boss, Hudson. Yes, it's true, according to that list. Quite a few people who saw it were scratching their heads at that one.

The police department will be down two captains, four lieutenants and around eight sergeants by the end of the calendar year which incidently is the time that the five-year Strategic Plan instituted by the state attorney general's office will expire. And the civilian division of the department faces even more shortages as overall, the department's vacancy rate is around 10%. And that's according to figures given by Strout who may be painting a rosier picture of the city's current state of address than really exists.

According to Leach, the department was to institute a new five-year blue print to pick up where the current one leaves off but if you are at least proposing to have command staff members man watch commands to replace vacationing lieutenants and no upward movement in the department even as people at the middle level are retiring in part because of the lack of potential advancement, it's difficult to be able to exercise the vision of future and long-term planning of departmental growth and operations.



Last December, the city published a list on its site regarding the lifting of the maximum raises for about 40 key positions in the city, which ranged from a small increment to several over 15-20% from prior ceilings listed for January 2008. The document which was far from private, was apparently published due to problems with the city not doing so which led to issues arising from the retirement or rather planned retirement of a city employee last year. This employee allegedly had difficulty getting Calpers to pay him compensation for his salary because it hadn't been posted by the city. Whether that was a pattern with the city management's office or just a simple oversight isn't clear but at any rate the list got posted. It created a stir after being referred to on this blog several months ago among several city officials but it's too bad that any raises given out to any employees on that master list didn't create as much of a visible concern by the city.

And then of course in the somewhat smaller Riverside Police Administrators' Association, there's been allegations including those filed in lawsuit in U.S. District Court of retaliation against past presidents and members of its short-lived Political Action Committee.





A state bill to help keep Citrus Park in Riverside from closing stalled in Sacramento.





The Riverside Golf Club has closed its doors. It filed for bankruptcy, while owing the city over $300,000 and causing a couple who paid thousands to get married there to lose all their money.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Howsmith filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Aug. 14, according to the bankruptcy document. A Web site lists Jacklyn Smith as the president of the Riverside company founded in 1979. No one answered at the phone number listed at the same address as the Riverside Golf Club.

Wednesday, John Lee Brown and Dimitra Kelly stood outside the locked gates of the parking lot of the shuttered clubhouse and banquet hall at 1011 N. Orange St.

They'd invited 100 guests to their wedding Saturday.

"This is a tragedy," said Kelly, 40, who said they'd sunk $8,000 into the kaput celebration. "We had our rehearsal dinner there last Friday. They just faxed me the seating arrangement yesterday."

Christopher R. Barclay, a trustee for Howsmith Corporation, was on the premises Wednesday. He refused to comment and ordered a reporter to leave. Rancho Cucamonga-based Dennis Baranowski, the corporation's attorney, could not be reached.

"It's a shame it's closing," said Jerry Seinturier, 56, who remembers the golf course from the 1950s. He plays in the golf league at Bourns Inc. where he works, but learned Wednesday morning that their evening round and banquet had been canceled. The greens had withered to browns over the past two years, he said, but the price was right: $10 for walkers, $15 for riders. "I have no idea where we'll play now," Seinturier said.

For starters, they need to refund the couple the money they paid for their wedding. As it turned out, the couple will get their wedding because of people and businesses willing to help them but the city is still out hundreds of thousands of more dollars it threw at a business to entice it to either move or stay in Riverside.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Dimitra Kelly and John Lee Brown, who had planned to marry at the golf club Saturday, also are unlikely to recover the $3,000 they spent for the hall and appetizers.

But Kelly said Thursday their wedding actually may turn out better than expected, with offers of a replacement site and other kinds of help pouring in.

A local church, another golf course, even an American Legion unit were willing to host Kelly and Brown's nuptials. People have called volunteering to clean up after the wedding or call the 100 guests to tell them the new location.

The city pitched White Park as a location for the ceremony, and the couple met Gardner there Thursday afternoon to check it out.

Standing amid the flowering trees in the park, Kelly said she was surprised but grateful for the help.

"Whatever the tragedy was, it's being turned around instantly, not even 24 hours later," she said.

Later Thursday, Kelly said by phone she decided to go with Indian Hills Golf Club, which gave her a deal with some freebies and promised to be most like the venue she lost.

Moreno Valley's city manager has announced that he will resign soon but any relationship that his departure has with the filing of seven misdemeanor charges against him in San Bernardino is mere coincidence.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

"Absolutely not," Gutierrez said in a phone interview Thursday. "It's a completely personal decision so I can pursue my hobbies and interests."

He added that he wanted to avail himself of a "golden handshake" offer that would allow him to retire with credit for two extra years beyond his 32-year career.

The charges filed against Gutierrez stemmed from accusations that he harassed and spied on an ex-girlfriend who lives in Upland. Prosecutors charged Gutierrez, the city's top administrator for four years, with three counts of making harassing phone calls, two counts of unlawful computer access and fraud and two counts of identity theft related to accessing phone records.

The investigation began May 5 after Upland resident Ruby Carrillo told police that she had been receiving constant harassing phone calls over a two-month period, according to an affidavit. Prosecutors allege that Gutierrez used the woman's personal information to access her computer and obtain phone records of incoming and outgoing calls made on her home phone and cell phone, said San Bernardino County Supervising District Attorney David Hidalgo.

Gutierrez is scheduled to be arraigned at 8 a.m. Tuesday in Rancho Cucamonga.

The state takes a closer look at the scandal-ridden San Bernardino County's Assessor's office.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



State Board of Equalization spokeswoman Anita Gore declined to say if workers have found any signs of improper changes to the county assessment roll. A full report will be released no later than February, she said.

Postmus, once one of the county's most powerful political leaders, was San Bernardino County assessor from November 2006 until he resigned in February following his arrest on drug charges.

Experts from the state Board of Equalization visited the county last spring and summer and sampled part of the 2007-08 assessment roll. They also interviewed Postmus and his staff and reviewed other records, officials said.

The state Board of Equalization survey was regularly scheduled. But the agency's upcoming report will mark the first in-depth outside scrutiny of any of the thousands of property reassessments granted during Postmus' rocky 27 months as assessor.

In May, a county-commissioned investigation included unproven allegations that Postmus tried to help friends on assessment matters, such as by reducing properties' assessed values to lower their taxes. A Press-Enterprise review of county data found no notable reassessments involving some two-dozen known Postmus allies and political associates.




Come clean is what Press Enterprise Columnist Cassie MacDuff is asking but that's easier said than done for a county government embarrassed by scandal after scandal.


(excerpt)



But unlike Aleman and Hlawek, more county officials accused of wrongdoing have blamed others for their errors or claimed to be the victims of unfair prosecutions and political vendettas.

Former Supervisor Jerry Eaves blamed clerical errors when he failed to report trips taken at the expense of county contractors. Former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin claims he is being unfairly prosecuted for failing to report a gift and trip. Former Assessor Bill Postmus, charged with nine felonies including misuse of public resources, claims he is the target of a political vendetta.

Where's the remorse?

Another tactic is silence. That's the road being taken by the two county fire chiefs caught using a department trailer to move one's household furnishings from Running Springs to Yucaipa in July.

Fire Chief Pat Dennen could have publicly admitted to an error in judgment when he was caught helping Deputy Chief Dan Wurl use a department trailer to move his family's belongings in July.

He could have stepped forward and apologized to the public for misusing taxpayer resources. But Dennen and Wurl have zipped their lips, at least publicly.




Meanwhile, the newspaper's editorial board takes on the shenanigans in Canyon Lake.



(excerpt)



Elections can change council majorities and city policies. That is how democracy works, and elected officials need to be comfortable with that fact. And while local issues can often induce strong passions, elected officials let such disagreements obstruct working relationships at their -- and their cities' -- peril.

The trick to politics is disagreeing without being disagreeable -- a skill the Canyon Lake council has yet to learn. A council that lets infighting distract from other public priorities poorly serves city residents. Canyon Lake's council needs to focus on the future, and not on refighting past battles.



The city council in Erie wants its new civilian review board put on ice.


(excerpt, Erie Times-News)



A majority of Erie City Council members said Wednesday that they support the idea, but the group stopped short of asking city lawyers to write a law creating a citizen police review board.

Council tabled a resolution asking the City Solicitor's Office to draft a law establishing the board after several council members asked for community input before passing the resolution.

Others said questions remain about the makeup and powers of the board and said the Solicitor's Office needs direction in crafting the law.

Councilwoman Rubye Jenkins-Husband, who sponsored the resolution calling for the board, called the move a delay tactic.

"We need to find a way to do this," Jenkins-Husband said. "We know there are problems out there. The citizens are asking for change."









The lady is a champ! Super filly Rachel Alexandra might have sealed up Horse of the Year honors in this race.

Labor unrest at City Hall and what's the fate of Chinatown?

This notice states an invitation to the Riverside City Council meeting on July 14, at 6:30p.m. to speak out against what it says is the threats of supervisors in their departments to not accept raises or they get laid off. Their complaints won't likely be heard by certain elected officials on the dais (probably the ones beholden to City Manager Brad Hudson that are still left) unless they pack the chambers filled with people spilling out the doors but hopefully, if this is what is going on, someone will pay attention.

Members of the SEIU General Unit, the city's largest union, for example are up for the final 2% salary increase of their most recent MOU they had negotiated and entered into with the city and then there are the 80 or so police officers who haven't yet received their bonus or step up pay. If it's true that threats are being made, does it involve these employees or others? Isn't it interesting how this happens in our city all the time and yet, the city officials and their direct employees say in public certainly during election times how much they value and support their city employees? But you have to watch what happens behind the increasingly closed doors of City Hall often times to know the real story.

This comes in the wake of a recently circulated list of employees who had their maximum salary range that they can receive raised by up to 16% (for the police chief) in December 2008. The city claims that no one has received any of those raises but it's interesting that when the emphasis is on budget cuts and salary and employee freezes that anyone in the city actually had the inkling to want to raise these maximum salary levels of mostly management employees and department heads. The creation of these higher levels does mean that the door has been open for these raises to be given out and it would be easy enough to do that without many people even knowing it was being done. Ironic indeed if it does turn out that when no one is looking, department heads and management employees in the city manager's office do get raises and everyone else is told to take a salary cut or else.

Let's see. How many employees are being offered to have their maximum salary raises raised to being 15% higher so when they get raises in the future, that's what they might receive? And when the police chief received another five-year contract last December and the new fire chief got a contract recently, did their salaries stay the same as in being frozen, were they cut in light of the budget constraints or were they increased? What do you think?

And that's interesting considering that some say, the police department has many chiefs at its helm, not just one. One of them Hudson, put himself at the 9% increase level.

And speaking of such, has a single department head, management employee, the city manager, the city attorney or elected official for that matter even offered to take salary cuts that they appear to be imposing on other employees?

So far, that hasn't happened. After all, this is the same city that claims it's only laying off a minuscule number of city employees and some city departments have lost up or over 1/3 of their staff. But then again, if you're part-time, non-benefited and non-union, you're not a city employee unless you work in Corona and get laid off there.

But you never know, perhaps this Tuesday will be the day that Hudson and his subordinate employees and a department head or two stand up and offer to take the same pay cuts they want their employees to take just to keep their jobs. Miracles happen every once in a while, even in River City.






Speaking of money spent, the city has declared that 70% of Riverside Renaissance has been completed. But at least one city official and probably only one has concerns about the expenditures. The others should but in the past three or four years, they've pretty much turned the keys to most or all mechanisms of financial accountability from merging the finance department with the city manager's office to pretty much mothballing the finance committee, to City Manager Brad Hudson.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



As of May, finished work represented $216.7 million of the plan, projects under construction were projected at $271.9 million, and work either in design or out for bid was expected to cost $603 million, according to the most recent city figures available.

Hudson said bids have been coming in between 20 and 40 percent lower than expected on some projects. The city is using a combination of county, state, federal and private money, and its own dollars from bonds, electric, water and sewer funds, development fees and the proceeds from the sale of land and bonds.

"There's very little general fund debt associated with this program," Hudson said. "This program will not threaten the provision of public safety of other services in the future."

The costs of the Riverside Renaissance remain a concern to Councilman Paul Davis, who said right after his election last month that he wanted to take a closer look at city spending.

Davis said Thursday that he supports the city upgrade overall, but that the city needs to do more to anticipate costs and plan projects on the front end.

On some projects, he said, officials have decided part way through to alter the plans, which results in expensive change orders.

"Unfortunately the cost of those can be very devastating," Davis said.

He said he would rather see the savings from unexpectedly low bids spent on new projects rather than added costs for existing ones.





Both sides of the Chinatown debate were left scratching their heads over a judge's tentative ruling on a lawsuit filed involving the historical land site.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




In a move that encouraged preservationists, Judge Sharon Waters said she intended to rule that the Riverside County Office of Education did not follow state law governing sales of surplus public land when it agreed two years ago to sell the 2.3 acres to developer Doug Jacobs.

But on another issue, the tentative finding apparently favored the developer. Waters said it appears the city of Riverside did not violate state environmental laws when it approved the office building last year.
Story continues below

Waters did not say when she would issue final, written rulings. She kept in place a preliminary injunction that prevents construction of the medical building from moving forward.

A group called Save Our Chinatown Committee sued the city of Riverside and the Riverside County Office of Education to protect remnants of the historic Chinese settlement. Among other points, the group challenged the Office of Education's sale of the property and contended the city had not adequately considered alternatives that would better preserve artifacts buried on the land.

After the arguments in Riverside County Superior Court, some observers were unsure what will happen.

"It is disappointing that protecting an important historical place has to hang on the technicalities of surplus land laws," said Margie Akin, a member of the Chinatown committee.



San Bernardino County's Board of Supervisors are calling for the formation of an ethics board.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Derry provided more details about the proposed ethics commission and the new proposal for a "sunshine ordinance" in a meeting with The Press-Enterprise editorial board Thursday. He also said he may take the latter idea to voters in a ballot measure if his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors reject it.

Last week's county grand jury report, which included a section on governmental reform that backed the establishment of an ethics commission, has provided fresh momentum to the proposal, Derry said.

He said he hopes the supervisors can begin discussions of the ethics commission within the next few months.

"We want to push it back to the front seat and get it moving," said Derry, who made forming an ethics commission part of his election platform last year.

The commission would be an independent panel of five members empowered to review the conduct of elected county officials and their staff and fine them for any campaign finance violations. Members would be randomly selected from applicants who meet a list of criteria and serve two- to four-year terms, Derry said.

He said the commission would have an annual budget of $500,000 and three staff members.




It almost appears as if Derry and the county are almost serious about tackling ethics issues in San Bernardino County government rather than playing at doing so like Riverside's city government has been by taking the will of the city's voters for an ethics code and complaint process and tailoring it to actually protect city officials from city residents filing complaints rather than having an accountable process for doing so.





The human resources director in Redlands has a lot to say about labor negotiations and concessions in that city.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The offer by the Redlands Professional Firefighters Association to defer -- not give up -- previously negotiated pay raises due this year comes with an expectation that the current contract will be extended beyond its current expiration date, including the extension of a number of expensive benefits the council believes should be subject to negotiation.

The firefighters association offer as it currently stands provides minimal real savings to the city over the course of the contract extension. In addition, the deferral of pay raises in one fiscal year does not address the city's ability to fund those negotiated raises as they come due in subsequent years, especially if the current national economic crisis continues, as expected, for several more years.

Revealing or openly discussing negotiating strategies in public, as MacDuff apparently wants the council to do, can put one side or another at a disadvantage.

It is the reason labor negotiations are one of the areas (along with litigation, personnel matters and real estate negotiations) that the state's Ralph M. Brown Open Meeting Act specifies may be conducted by city councils in closed session, outside of the public eye.

While MacDuff forms erroneous conclusions based on necessarily limited information, residents should be assured that the City Council is actively engaged with the process of employee contract negotiations and is well aware of the offers on the table, their full current and future implications and their impact on the city's budget this year and in years to follow.



More clamping down by Western Municipal Water District on its customer's use of water during the latest drought.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



No watering is allowed on Fridays for the district's 24,200 retail customers in Murrieta, western Riverside County and the communities of Orangecrest, Woodcrest, Lake Mathews, El Sobrante and Eagle Valley. Violators will get two written warnings; the third violation brings a fine of $100 per day; the fourth violation is $400 per day; and a fifth violation means service shut-off.

"We're just now getting more aggressive," said Tom Evans, president of Western's board of directors. "We believe this will get us the reductions we're looking for, which is 10 to 15 percent. If it doesn't happen, we'll have to be more restrictive."

Riverside resident Shari Barnes worries that her landscaping will suffer with three days of watering in summer's heat. Though she and her husband have grass only in the front, the backyard has trees, bushes and groundcover planted four years ago when their Orangecrest area house was new.

"There are a lot of houses that have brown yards already because of foreclosures. This could make it worse," said Barnes, adding that she makes an effort to conserve water.

"I know it is something we're going to have to deal with in the future. Everyone."




Temecula giving a little more love to its developer friends.

CPRC votes to exonerate Riverside Police Department officer in 2006 shooting of Joseph Darnell Hill

The Community Police Review Commission voted 5-1 that the shooting of Joseph Darnell Hill by Riverside Police Department officer Jeffrey Adcox was within policy at its May 13 meeting.

The sole dissenting vote was cast by Chani Beeman. Voting in favor of Adcox were Chair Sheri Corral, a current Riverside Community College District Police Department officer, Vice-Chair Peter Hubbard, the director of American Medical Response which has a public safety contract with City Manager Brad Hudson's office, Ken Rotker, who believes he's there to do what his city council member tells him, Peter Santore, wh0 c0mplains about community members dragging down meetings and Robert Slawsby, who endorsed the councilman, Frank Schiavone, who appointed him not long after being appointed and is said to be tight with Schiavone's political consultant of choice, Brian Floyd.

Missing were Commissioners Brian Pearcy and John Brandriff, who were absent for unknown reasons. It's an almost certainty that they would have voted alongside the majority. The commissioners still have to review the administrative review of the Hill case submitted by the Interal Affairs Division and then vote in closed session on whether it's in policy but since Internal Affairs is even more inclined to rubberstamp what its officers do, this will be a much faster vote than the one at the public meeting.

Beeman's vote was surprising but there's a sense that she regrets her quick decision to exonerate the officers who shot and killed Douglas Steven Cloud in a vote which came up with little warning to the seven people in attendance at a meeting that was never actually caught on audio tape at all due to "technical problems". She never actually said she would have changed her vote on Cloud given a second chance but she, Brandriff and former Commissioner Jim Ward did try to bring the Cloud case back for a second look at the decision making stage.

Whether they exonerate officers or sustain against them, any finding coming out of the CPRC is essentially meaningless due to the violation of statuatory limitations set by Governmental Code 3304(d). Hill took place on Oct. 19, 2006 and this recommended finding was issued by the CPRC on May 13, 2009 and no exceptions were waived from the state code language in the Hill case. And this is just the way the factions at City Hall like it. This is what they call an effectively running commission including in their campaign literature. And from their point of view, they're not lying because there's no doubt that there are elected officials in City Hall who want the diluted and disembodied commission that they have recreated to provide for their city residents during the past several years. The violations of governmental code are just one of many examples of the "good" work being done by elected officials who label themnselves during election years as staunch advocates and guardians for the CPRC.


(excerpt, Governmental Code)




3304. (a) No public safety officer shall be subjected to punitive
action, or denied promotion, or be threatened with any such
treatment, because of the lawful exercise of the rights granted under
this chapter, or the exercise of any rights under any existing
administrative grievance procedure.
Nothing in this section shall preclude a head of an agency from
ordering a public safety officer to cooperate with other agencies
involved in criminal investigations. If an officer fails to comply
with such an order, the agency may officially charge him or her with
insubordination.
(b) No punitive action, nor denial of promotion on grounds other
than merit, shall be undertaken by any public agency against any
public safety officer who has successfully completed the probationary
period that may be required by his or her employing agency without
providing the public safety officer with an opportunity for
administrative appeal.
(c) No chief of police may be removed by a public agency, or
appointing authority, without providing the chief of police with
written notice and the reason or reasons therefor and an opportunity
for administrative appeal.
For purposes of this subdivision, the removal of a chief of police
by a public agency or appointing authority, for the purpose of
implementing the goals or policies, or both, of the public agency or
appointing authority, for reasons including, but not limited to,
incompatibility of management styles or as a result of a change in
administration, shall be sufficient to constitute "reason or reasons."

Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to create a
property interest, where one does not exist by rule or law, in the
job of Chief of Police.
(d) Except as provided in this subdivision and subdivision (g), no
punitive action, nor denial of promotion on grounds other than
merit, shall be undertaken for any act, omission, or other allegation
of misconduct if the investigation of the allegation is not
completed within one year of the public agency's discovery by a
person authorized to initiate an investigation of the allegation of
an act, omission, or other misconduct. This one-year limitation
period shall apply only if the act, omission, or other misconduct
occurred on or after January 1, 1998. In the event that the public
agency determines that discipline may be taken, it shall complete its
investigation and notify the public safety officer of its proposed
disciplinary action within that year, except in any of the following
circumstances:
(1) If the act, omission, or other allegation of misconduct is
also the subject of a criminal investigation or criminal prosecution,
the time during which the criminal investigation or criminal
prosecution is pending shall toll the one-year time period.
(2) If the public safety officer waives the one-year time period
in writing, the time period shall be tolled for the period of time
specified in the written waiver.
(3) If the investigation is a multijurisdictional investigation
that requires a reasonable extension for coordination of the involved
agencies.
(4) If the investigation involves more than one employee and
requires a reasonable extension.
(5) If the investigation involves an employee who is incapacitated
or otherwise unavailable.
(6) If the investigation involves a matter in civil litigation
where the public safety officer is named as a party defendant, the
one-year time period shall be tolled while that civil action is
pending.
(7) If the investigation involves a matter in criminal litigation
where the complainant is a criminal defendant, the one-year time
period shall be tolled during the period of that defendant's criminal
investigation and prosecution.
(8) If the investigation involves an allegation of workers'
compensation fraud on the part of the public safety officer.
(e) Where a predisciplinary response or grievance procedure is
required or utilized, the time for this response or procedure shall
not be governed or limited by this chapter.
(f) If, after investigation and any predisciplinary response or
procedure, the public agency decides to impose discipline, the public
agency shall notify the public safety officer in writing of its
decision to impose discipline, including the date that the discipline
will be imposed, within 30 days of its decision, except if the
public safety officer is unavailable for discipline.
(g) Notwithstanding the one-year time period specified in
subdivision (d), an investigation may be reopened against a public
safety officer if both of the following circumstances exist:
(1) Significant new evidence has been discovered that is likely to
affect the outcome of the investigation.
(2) One of the following conditions exist:
(A) The evidence could not reasonably have been discovered in the
normal course of investigation without resorting to extraordinary
measures by the agency.
(B) The evidence resulted from the public safety officer's
predisciplinary response or procedure.
(h) For those members listed in subdivision (a) of Section 830.2
of the Penal Code, the 30-day time period provided for in subdivision
(f) shall not commence with the service of a preliminary notice of
adverse action, should the public agency elect to provide the public
safety officer with such a notice.


Vertigo kept me away from the meeting so I missed most of the discussion but if you've attended meetings recently, that doesn't mean that you're missing all that much.

No Ward Two eligible commissioner has been appointed yet by city council. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the city were waiting until after all the votes in the Jan 2 mailin election were counted so it could appoint retired Riverside County Sheriff's Department Deputy Ruben Rasso who actually has an application still on file. The other odds-on favorite for appointment is Dell Roberts who served on the top-secret ad-hoc committee that Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis put together on direction of the Governmental Affairs Committee to put together a very stacked "report" for the investigative protocol involving the CPRC.




Work on the Chinatown site will not be resumed according to the Riverside County Superior Court.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



An appeals court on Wednesday denied a request to overturn a judge's order that halted work at the site of a former Chinatown near downtown Riverside.

The Riverside County office of education filed the request. The office owns 2.3 acres of the 4.2 acres on which developer Doug Jacobs plans to construct a medical office building.

The sale of the 2.3 acres to Jacobs is in escrow, and the March 20 order by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Sharon Waters is preventing escrow from closing, the education office said in legal papers.

The education office said it wants the sale to close because it urgently needs the proceeds to buy property for an educational facility it plans to build in Indio.

The 4th District Court of Appeal, Division 2, did not explain its decision.


This comes one day after another demonstration at City Hall and during the city council meeting by representatives of Save Our Chinatown Committee and community residents.




Ballots are still being collected in the Riverside City Council mailin elections for Wards Two, Four and Six so hopefully voters in these wards have gotten their ballots already and are filling them out, signing them and sending them in or dropping it off at designated spots on certain days.




Support of the so-called Perris Metrolink line is coming from some corners of the Riverside County Transporation Commission but more study is definitely needed.




Who will succeed ousted San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus? No one knows. Did his staff use county money to pay for a political blog?



(excerpt, San Bernardino Sun)




The purpose of the Web site, according to...(witnesses), was to raise the public profiles of certain individuals and to harm those of others," the report states.

Aleman could not be reached for comment for this article. In a statement, he said "I never knowingly authorized payment for political work and if known, insisted that vacation time be taken."

The allegations related to Red County, if sustained, would mean that Aleman and others misused county resources in a highly public manner.

Jessica Levinson, political reform director for the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, said she was familiar with controversies surrounding Postmus' time as assessor, but was not immediately aware of a government employee getting in trouble for improper blogging.

Levinson said it appears county officials are taking corruption allegations seriously, but the paid blogging issue could be the subject for future ethical research.

"At the very least, I need to get an intern on it," she said.

San Bernardino County filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Postmus, Aleman and former staffers Gregory Eyler, Rex Gutierrez, and James Erwin as well as political consultant Mike Richman. The county alleges that Postmus and former staffers claimed county paychecks for "time spent performing impermissible political tasks."

"At Aleman's direction, employees spent at least 15 or 20 hours per week on activities related to RedCounty.com," the lawsuit says echoing the Hueston Report. Aleman is the only defendant named in connection with RedCounty.com in the lawsuit.

Erwin said Tuesday the Web site was Aleman's "life's blood" and that other Assessor's Office workers had a cavalier attitude toward political activity while on the public's dime.

"It wasn't like, `We're going to do this, but we've got to be hush-hush.' (It was) `we do this all the time,"' Erwin said.

Erwin, as well as Postmus, Gutierrez and Richman were listed as members of Red County's "blogpen." Erwin said he never blogged on county time.

But Ted Lehrer, former assessor spokesman, was not sued. He disputed the Hueston Report, which stated he worked up to 20 hours per week on the Web site.

The report stated Lehrer did most of his blogging on county time, but he said he used vacation hours to work on the Web site.

"I never claimed hours that I did not work, and I completed all work for which I was paid," he said.

Red County was launched in Orange County and has Web pages dedicated to regions in California and other states.

Aleman made his debut in April 2007, but was dropped from the blogpen after being arrested in July 2008, about two months after another editor was named for San Bernardino County postings.

"He just wasn't posting much," executive editor Matt Cunningham said. "We needed somebody who was doing it on a daily basis."

Asked if he was then aware of any suspicions that Aleman may have been using county resources to blog, Cunningham said, "I assumed he had enough sense not to do that."



At any rate, the District Attorney's office has widened its probe/


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)


A nearly two-year criminal probe into former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus has expanded in scope beyond the assessor's office, the district attorney's office said Wednesday.

"As with any criminal investigation, especially one as complex as this one, we have to follow the facts and evidence wherever and to whomever they lead," said Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Mike Ramos.

"In this case, what began as an investigation into the assessor's office has led to several other areas. I won't go into any further detail at this time, but this investigation has become broader in scope than at the outset," Mickey said by e-mail. "Therefore, it is impossible to say when it will all conclude."

On Tuesday, county supervisors released a report by attorney John C. Hueston that detailed widespread time-card fraud in the assessor's office and a conspiracy by Postmus to use his post to further his political goals.










An El Monte Police Department officer kicked a man in the head after he had surrendered to police. And Fox of all people captured the controversial incident on videotape.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)


Video from Fox 11 News showed the incident at the end of a car chase that wound through the San Gabriel Valley earlier this afternoon, ending in a collision in Pico Rivera. The suspect jumped out of his car and ran. He eventually stopped and dropped to the ground on his stomach, with his hands flat to the ground and above his head. The officer ran up to him and kicked him on the side of the head.

Lt. Chuck Carlson of the El Monte Police Department said his officers made the arrest, and the internal affairs department is investigating the incident.

Carlson said internal affairs will review video of the incident and also take statements from officers.

The suspect is a 20-year-old man who was on parole. He was taken to Greater El Monte Hospital. But it's unclear whether his injuries were sustained by an earlier car crash or from the blow to the head.

The officer appears to high-five another officer after the suspect is cuffed.





The Los Angeles Police Department might have to take a different look at its ongoing expansion in the face of a budget crisis.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)




To close the city’s estimated $529-million budget shortfall, the City Council today will consider imposing a hiring freeze on the police and fire departments. The recommendation comes from the council’s chief analyst, Gerry Miller, and will be considered by the budget and finance committee this afternoon.

Miller also recommended laying off 800 civilian city workers, and mandating that all civilian employees take 26 unpaid furlough days during the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Those numbers would be greatly reduced if the city employee unions agree to salary and benefit concessions, he said. The mayor’s office is pushing the unions to consider salary freezes, buyouts and increased employee contributions for health care and pension benefits.

“We recognize that these recommendations are drastic and will have major impacts on city services and on city employees," Miller said in his budget recommendations to the council. “However, given the significant risk to the city’s financial solvency ... we believe that the actions contained in this report are essential."






Residents of Erie, Pennsylvania are writing letters about the necessity for civilian review in their town.