To seal or unseal an arrest warrant

***UPDATE***

A candidate for next year's city council races in Riverside steps forward. More information to come in the next posting.




"We had nothing to do with this order. I just wanted to get that on the record."

---Riverside County District Attorney's office prosecutor Zekster, about the motion to seal the arrest warrant in the People of the State of California vs Robert Forman which was granted on Oct. 14.




"I personally believe it denies my right to a fair trial."

---Riverside Police Department Officer Robert Forman







At 8:30 a.m., the Riverside County Superior Court's Hall of Justice was supposed to be hearing a motion filed by the Press Enterprise to unseal the arrest warrant of Riverside Police Department Officer Robert Forman but due to the incredibly broken assembly line that the courts have become, the hearing didn't take place until nearly three hours later.

Presiding Judge Thomas H. Cahraman was left to hear the case for an absent Jean Leonard while balancing criminal caseloads in two separate courtrooms, another sign of how broken down the Riverside County Superior Court system remains mere months after the strike force of judges departed the building. Cahraman would sit and hear cases in Dept. 42 for several minutes then walk next door to Dept. 41 and hear the majority of the case calendar there. Not bad for a judge who some say is next on the list behind Gary Tranbarger to be papered by the District Attorney's office.

Forman was present with his supporter early in the morning but no attorney. People waited on the benches outside or were walking back and forth as Dept. 42 remained quiet with about 15 or so incustody inmates dressed in bright orange suits who were also waiting to have their cases called. Public defenders would periodically come out in the hallway and call people's names for brief conferences but given that there was no judge on the bench, nothing could move forward.

Some individuals recognized Forman whose mug shot taken after his arrest at the Robert Presley Detention Center was in the newspaper or "on the news" and said that they figured being a police officer, he would likely get away with it. One guy said he recognized him as an officer in the La Sierra area of the city. But most people didn't seem aware that he was there even as he was one of the few White individuals not wearing a juror's badge.

At one point, the prosecutor who in the court's records was identified as Zekster came out to try to move the hearing to Dept. 41 to be heard before Cahraman left that bench to return to Dept. 42 to begin that case calendar. Several officers in suits had come by to give support to Forman while he waited.

At any rate, the hearing finally did start in a fairly empty Dept. 41 as Forman sat in the front row and listened as an attorney for the Press Enterprise presented his argument to Cahraman, who didn't seem that prepared to hear the case. After Cahraman quickly reviewed some unspecified documents, the hearing moved forward.

The PE attorney said that he had filed the motion on Oct. 31 and included a copy of the court order sealing the arrest warrant that was signed by Leonard the day that the arrest warrant was issued.

At that time, Zekster spoke for the District Attorney's office and said that there was no objection from that office on the motion. He felt that it was important to mention this because after reading the court order and the rationale for sealing the record, it made it seem that his office had participated in the action of requesting that the arrest warrant be sealed by a judge. He added that somehow this was filed on behalf of "The People" when that office had nothing to do with it.



"If this was ever done, it was completely a mistake," Zekster said.



He said that all defendants should be treated equally and none should be given special treatment which implied that the sealing of this arrest warrant wasn't something that was seen every day by this office either.

Below was the rationale used to ask for the sealing of the arrest warrant in the order that was signed by Leonard.



"Because this is an ongoing investigation and disclosure of the information on the affidavit could hinder the investigation and [illegible] outstanding suspects to the investigation, your affidavit is requesting that this affidavit be sealed pending further order of this court."




So if the District Attorney's office didn't ask for it to be sealed, who or what agency did? Was it the Riverside Police Department? That would be the only other possibility. The attorney for the Press Enterprise said afterward that he was mystified by the decision to seal the entire warrant rather than just redact the names of the listed victims. That would be like what happened with the complaint issued by the District Attorney's office which referred to them as "Jane Does". But he hoped the mystery would be solved on Wednesday and that the records would be unsealed.

Forman who wasn't represented by an attorney said that he wanted to make some comments. Cahmaran admonished him to be careful, because anything he said could be used against him in his prosecution given that a court reporter was in the room putting everything on the record.



"I'm not entirely comfortable quizzing you," Cahraman said, "I'm not comfortable letting you speak."



But Forman did speak and he said that he only found out the evening before that his attorney had chosen not to appear until another retainer was put down to the law firm to hire him. He asked for a continuance for at least two days until he could bring in his attorney.

Cahraman said that on the surface, he couldn't find any reason to deny the motion by the PE to unseal the arrest warrant but he said that he saw no harm in granting the continuance to Forman so that his attorney could appear on his behalf. The PE attorney first argued that the delay would put a financial burden on his clients who had to pay for the motion to be filed and his current appearance to get a record sealed that shouldn't have ever sealed.

The PE's attorney then said that he was leaving the country on Wednesday afternoon so there will be a telephonic appearance by him Wednesday morning when the motion will be heard. Forman is due to be arraigned later in the day on three felony counts including oral copulation under the color of authority and sexual battery in connection with alleged incidents involving three different women in February and April, according to the complaint filed by the District Attorney's office.

The prosecutor chimed in again to say that sealing the arrest warrant wasn't his or his office's idea in case anyone hadn't heard him the first time. After the hearing, he did shake hands with Forman and wish him good luck. Something prosecutors don't usually do with criminal defendants. At least not in Riverside County.






The news broke today that DHL will be closing down its hubs including that at March Air Reserve Base. This comes in the face of over $1 billion in losses suffered by the air freight company and about two years after many Riversiders protested its relocation to March Air Reserve Base and the zoning changes which allowed it to schedule flight departures during the early morning hours.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

The company will close its 262,000-square-foot hub at the March Air Reserve Base by the end of January, said Lori Stone, executive director of the March Joint Powers Authority which oversees redevelopment of the former air force base.

The sole international flight into and out of March Air Reserve Base was moved to LAX last month. The remaining four daily flights connected cities inside the United States.

About 300 employees work in the shipper's rented facility off Interstate 215 in Riverside where packages are sorted and loaded onto trucks and planes from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. nightly.

DHL had been paying rent to March Global Port, the group of private investors charged with developing 350 acres around the base's airfield which subleases the space from the March Joint Powers Authority. Global Port will still pay rent to the authority even after DHL leaves, Stone said.

"At this point we'll get together with Global Port within the next day or two and start strategizing," Stone said by phone.

So it looks like those who have been wearing ear plugs for the past few years can finally cast them aside beginning Jan. 30, 2009. Residents of Mission Grove, Orangecrest, Canyon Crest and later, Alessandro Heights fought to eliminate the night flights and were subjected to being labeled as crazy gadflies getting hysterical about nothing until serious problems emerged regarding the dealings of Globalport which manages the reserve base and the March Joint Powers Commission.

The city of Riverside belatedly threatened to sue DHL and passed a resolution to do so although in reality, the city didn't have much grounds because the air freight company had honored its contract. In fact, DHL could have sued the city for trying to get it to breach its contract. Hundreds of people crowded the city council chambers watching this chapter in the long saga play out but many realized it would accomplish very little and they noted the timing of the vote which was only a week or so before the District 1 Riverside County supervisor race pitting two members of the MJPC incumbent supervisor Bob Buster and Ward Four City Councilman Frank Schiavone. The two former allies turned adversaries had taken opposite positions on the DHL night and early morning flights during one critical vote. Schiavone supported them and Buster cast the sole vote against them.

Not that the last minute push to sue DHL did any good in that regard. Buster beat Schiavone soundly including carrying every precinct in Ward Four.




Here's some comments on the latest development in the DHL story.


(excerpts, Belo Blog)



paul skoog on November 10, 2008 9:34 AM said:

Sorry for those who will lose their job in a difficult economic time. But good ridance to a terrible Riverside business. Not only did local goverments get an economic shafting, because of incentives offered to attract this irresponsible foreign company. Local residents were awakened every night their planes flew over neighborhoods. Hope our leaders have learned something from this failed experiment and will not repeat it.
Chris Bardeen on November 10, 2008 10:18 AM said:

As someone who has suffered through years of loud DHL planes flying over my house and waking up my kids at 3 am, I am glad to hear that this chapter is finally closing. I am sorry for the loss of jobs, however, and I sympathize with workers who thought DHL had made a stronger committment to its US operations.

But this just makes it even more important to figure out a way to have sustainable economic development at March. A large amount of taxpayer money was spent to improve runways, etc. to make March attractive to DHL. Now it appears that that money might have been wasted. It also appears that no one ever did a thorough study to determine whether an air cargo port could be economically competitive, given the presence of Ontario, San Bernandino, and now Victorville airports within the same vicinity. The fact that March is now surrounded by thousands of new residents whose health and property values would be adversely affected by airport development makes it even more problematic. Now there is an opportunity to reassess development at March, taking the viewpoints of all concerned (developers like March Globalport, local residents, the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley and Perris, and experts like UCR economists) into account. I hope the members of the March Joint Powers Authority will take advantage of this opportunity.
Homeowner on November 10, 2008 10:37 AM said:

I have lived in Mission Grove/Orangecrest area for a few years and have heard all the complaints from the new homeowners about the noises at all hours of the night from the planes leaving/arriving from March Air Reserve Base . Perhaps before you moved to this area, you should have done better research to what was around here. I am so tired of hearing of all your complaints when March's air strip has been here way before all of you. I really feel for the people who will be losing their jobs at this time, right before the holidays and with the economy the way it is. It's a shame!






And also here.




Also scheduled to depart at the end of January is the Greyhound Bus Lines which historically was stationed in the heart of downtown Riverside but will be evicted by a city that doesn't want to be reminded that 85,000 people, the majority of which are seniors, poorer families, military veterans and/or disabled individuals actually pass through downtown. It doesn't fit with the city's vision of the downtown as being a playground for the wealthier populations, intermixed with court systems and city offices. So the city government painted all these riders as criminals and thugs and then cracked jokes about personally driving them to the Greyhound bus terminal in San Bernardino.

Some council members are working with Omnitrans to provide bus transportation from Riverside's downtown to San Bernardino's Greyhound station. So unfortunately for the city, that means that there will be thousands of individuals who are seniors, military veterans, families and/or disabled congregating downtown anyway. Only probably from a different corner.




One city resident speaks out on the departure of Greyhound. He did some research that the city apparently hasn't done on how long it would take to get to San Bernardino's Greyhound Station from Tyler Mall and calculated a 2 1/2 hour trip compared to an hour trip downtown.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




Why don't we require that our city leaders take the Greyhound to and from out-of-town functions? Let them spend that extra time wondering why we don't have a Greyhound station in Riverside.

To those who are in support of keeping the Riverside Greyhound station, thank you. For those of you who are sitting on the fence on this issue, please help our efforts.

For those of you who are not in support of keeping the bus station in Riverside because of its tendency to attract a "bad element," then maybe it is time to ask the City Council to close the downtown public library because it attracts a bad element, too.

Let's ask the City Council to close down the Galleria mall. It attracts a bad element, too.

Let's ask the City Council to close down Fairmount Park. It, too, attracts a bad element.

Let's ask the City Council to close down UC Riverside and Riverside Community College, for they must attract bad elements.

Let's ask the City Council to place an income-level restriction on who can enter the Fox Performing Arts Center because that would stop the bad element from hanging out there and asking for handouts.

Why stop there? Let's ask the City Council to institute a curfew. Get everyone in Riverside off the streets by 6 p.m. That would solve the problem, wouldn't it? Greyhound should not to be blamed for whatever element it attracts because this is a citywide problem.



The gasp of shock that you heard will likely be from Mayor Ron Loveridge (and political science professor) when he sees the mention of UCR in such a light while reading this opinion piece.




The corruption trial of a Murrieta Councilman has begun.






Building permits being filed in the Inland Empire have greatly decreased in the wake of difficult economic times and a collapsed housing market.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Riverside County already has let workers go, and has reassigned staff to reduce the effect from the economic slump, according to a first-quarter county budget report before supervisors last week.

San Bernardino County's building and planning departments simply aren't hiring, officials said.

"We are being very conservative about hiring. We have a lot of vacant positions that I am not looking to fill," said Julie Rynerson Rock, the county's land use services director. "We are in the process of doing a workload analysis. We are just mostly being very conservative."

San Bernardino County so far this year has issued 509 residential permits. In 2005, the county issued more than 2,300 and last year just 1,301, Rynerson Rock said.

George Johnson, director of the Riverside County Transportation and Land Management Department, said the department already has seen significant cutbacks.

In February, the county laid off more than three dozen engineers, building inspectors and supervisors because of a lack of work. Layoffs also hit the county's planning staff in July, Johnson said.





Builders want to change the process during the economic hard times.



The relationship between labor union strategy and the composition of school boards is being discussed here.




Votes are still being counted in several local elections.





More fallout from a plea bargain given by the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office.



One opinion expressed here.



(excerpt, San Bernardino Sun)



The county's top prosecutor wants to dispel any public perception that more than $12,000 in contributions to his campaign in the last two years from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and an attorney had anything to do with a plea bargain that allowed two wealthy tribal members to receive probation and electronic monitoring for plotting to kill a man in 2006.

"This office will not, and cannot, and never will be bought. It doesn't matter who you are," Ramos said. "And that's the most important part of the DA's office - our integrity."




Others here.


(excerpt)



Epps' attorney, Frank Peterson, said he cannot fathom how the Barajases averted prison time.

"To me, it goes beyond reason," Peterson said.

But he doesn't believe campaign contributions had anything to do with it.

"I don't think that Mike has any corruption problems," Peterson said.

Still, the plea agreements left some questioning the disposition of the case and how it was reached.

California Secretary of State records show that Ramos received a $7,000 contribution from the tribe exactly one week after the plea bargains were struck in April. But that date isn't consistent with Ramos' campaign statements filed with the county, which show he received the contribution on May 27, the same day Ramos received a $600 contribution from Nunez-Barajas' attorney, Albert Perez Jr.

Perez couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

In July 2007, Ramos received a $5,000 contribution from the tribe.

Despite the coincidences, Ramos said the donations from the tribe were for his annual golf tournament fundraiser held every June.

"The tribe has supported me since 2001, when I first ran in office against my former boss," Ramos said.






A Florida sheriff on his way out fired two deputies within hours of losing his election.




(excerpt, Florida Times-Union)



Darien Police Chief Donnie Howard said Jones called him Wednesday morning.

"At 9 a.m., my phone rang," Howard said. "The sheriff asked me if I had any prisoners at the detention center and I said, 'one.' "

" 'Come and get him and don't bring any back ever, and tell your mayor she's not welcome out here either,' " Howard said Jones told him.

The city pays the Sheriff's Department to house inmates arrested on misdemeanor violations of city ordinances such as traffic stops and DUIs, Howard said. The Sheriff's Department is required to house inmates arrested on state felony charges and magistrate's warrants.

The city prisoner was being held on charges of DUI and driving with a suspended license. He had been released Tuesday night, but Howard said he wasn't aware of that when Jones called.

Howard said he would "shop around" to other county jails to house city prisoners until Jan. 1, when Jessup takes office.

Howard did not speculate on Jones' motives, and Jones did not respond to messages left at his office seeking comment.

"I don't know what he's up to," Howard said. "I worked for him for 12 1/2 years and he's never acted like this toward me."

Will Riverside say goodbye to Chinatown...again?

"My first feeling was, it wasn't real. Like a dream I'd been caught up in."


---Former Riverside City Councilman Chuck Beaty on the City Hall shootings ten years ago.




"He is a very intelligent man. You could carry on a lengthy conversation on a variety of things. Joe knew about history. He was articulate. He had no criminal record."


---Assistant District Attorney William Mitchell who prosecuted the case in 2000.






The Press Enterprise offered a look back at the City Council shootings in Riverside which took place 10 years ago.

On the morning of Oct. 6, 1998, city council members, city employees and Mayor Ron Loveridge gathered in the city council chambers for the weekly meetings of the council and the Redevelopment Agency. Several of them were eating food in the adjacent conference room before the meeting was scheduled to begin at 8 a.m.

But they weren't alone in the building.


Also there was former city employee, Joseph Neale who had attended many city council meetings, never speaking at the podium but sitting in the back of the room. If people arriving saw him there, they might not have given it much thought because he had been a fixture at the weekly meetings. While they were preparing for the meeting, Neale came in with a gun in the conference room and started shooting.



Councilman Chuck Beaty was shot in the face and neck three times by Neale while struggling with him for the gun. He has had many surgeries to repair the damage. Councilwoman Laura Pearson was seen on a surveillance video struggling with Neale for the gun and being pistol whipped until she fell on the floor when the case went to trial three years later. She was shot several times by police officers who were engaged in a shootout with Neale, which led to one of them, former Sgt. Wally Rice being shot in the abdomen and Neale with bullet wounds in his groin and both legs. A photograph in the Press Enterprise showed her being hauled out on a stretcher.

The police officers who came to City Hall and broke through the door weren't members of the SWAT team but showing how hastily the situation transpired and how quickly the police had to act, its members consisted of several employees from the nearest police facility which was the administration headquarters just blocks away. They included the Internal Affairs lieutenant and the department's public information officer who were both based there.

Mayor Ron Loveridge was shot by Neale, the bullet narrowly missing his spinal cord.

On that morning, I was actually on my way downtown to attend what would have been one of my first city council meetings. There was an item on the agenda dealing with a homeless shelter and programs for the homeless and at the time, I was the Social Action Committee co-chair of my church and that was one of the issues we focused on in Riverside and other nearby cities.

By the time I got there, there were crowds of people already congregating, whispering among themselves about what they were seeing and what they thought had happened. There were so many different stories going on through the crowd. Ambulances and lots of police officers crowded the area as news spread of what did take place.

The Press Enterprise did come out with a special afternoon edition that day, an action it repeated on 9-11.






The articles include this interactive which provides a chronology of the events based on the accounts provided by Loveridge and then Sgt. Chris Manning, an officer on the rescue team with SWAT experience.






On Oct. 7, 2008, the Riverside City Council will be holding its long anticipated public hearing on the controversial development of medical office buildings by developer and campaign contributor, Doug Jacobs on what was once one of the city's Chinatowns. However, it's likely the hearing is just a formality. The proposed project passed the muster of the Land Use Committee which includes Chair Rusty Bailey and council members Frank Schiavone and Chris MacArthur sided with Jacobs and it's likely that the rest of the city council and Loveridge will as well. Hopefully, there will be some discussion of the agenda item by the council members before they cast their votes. But you just never really know. What is known is that the meeting chambers is expected to be packed with supporters of the Chinatown effort.


Community leaders and members got together, attended meetings and held public forums on the issue of what will be the future of this historical landmark. When asked if they were considering filing a lawsuit, they seemed to say not at the moment, as they are involved in what they called "constructive engagement".




(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The citizens group held a "Save Chinatown" forum last month that attracted about 45 people.

Group member Judy Lee said she feared that any excavation will become a rushed "salvage" operation.

The city has agreed to hire a third-party to peer review the excavation plan.

Forum attendee Luz Negron, chairwoman of the Multicultural Council of the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, said she was concerned.

The city touts itself as the "City of Arts and Culture," she said. "We have to walk our talk."

Someone asked whether legal action was being considered. The citizens group has not reached a consensus.

Two of the group's leaders, Lu and Moses, said later that they recognize that some members want to take a more aggressive posture.

But they said they worry that if the group becomes too antagonistic, they risk losing the gains they've made. Their whole approach has been constructive engagement, Lu said.

"We've negotiated in good faith," he said, noting that late last week, the group got a commitment from the city that the building's name will recognize the site's history.


These folks have done an amazing job dealing with what is at best an uphill battle and the public hearing is but another chapter in that. Hopefully, they will also stay active in the city including its political makeup as there's another round of elections coming up next year.





Speaking of the city council, it appears that three plus two doesn't just equal five. That's how many names from the dais have apparently signed on to written statements endorsing City Manager Brad Hudson's directive to essentially shut down the commission's ability to timely investigate officer-involved deaths. Three city council members authored an opinion piece and two city officials apparently authored another written statement with very similar language to explain the rationale of its support to what one other city council member is quoted as saying here.

What this means that if you take all these alleged statements and their authors and add them up together, you have a majority of the current elected officials sitting on the dais discussing the issue of the Hudson directive amongst themselves to the point where they can co-author position statements on it. However, there's yet to be one single public meeting on the issue conducted by these elected officials.

In fact, one of them, Schiavone, said in the Press Enterprise that this wasn't necessary to do. If all of this intrigue is indeed taking place, then what these elected officials need to do is go back and reread this law.

And while they're on this site, they might as well check out this law too.





The turmoil with the San Bernardino Police Department continues with outgoing Chief Mike Billdt's decision to name a new captain under fire.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



City Council members approved the restructuring, which consolidates patrol areas and creates a fourth captain's position, in July. But on Sept. 2, council members tabled action on Billdt's nominee for the position, Lt. Brian Boom, after Councilwoman Wendy McCammack voiced concerns about Boom's leadership in his current assignment.

Boom supervises Sgt. Brad Lawrence, a narcotics squad supervisor accused by another sergeant in July of arresting suspects without probable cause. Lawrence was placed on administrative leave six weeks later, after unrelated allegations that he also supervised an improper narcotics search.

"I have some more information to gather before I make my decision," McCammack said. "I'm going to be sure, with all of the accusations that have been flying, to review high-level promotions much more carefully than I have in the past."

Boom could not be reached for comment.

Councilman Rikke Van Johnson said he's not prepared to endorse any new top-level managers.

"Since we've got all this upheaval in the Police Department, I wouldn't want to promote anyone until we get a new chief in there," Johnson said.



Perhaps the city can find itself a new police chief but can they get him or her to stay? That's the challenge.




Elections are coming back to Colton with three incumbents on the city council favored by the Press Enterprise Editorial Board. Given the election antics in Colton during the past year or so including a recall election for the mayor, there shouldn't be a dull moment in this autumn's round.





Pomona Police Chief Joe Romero is upset at a campaign mailer that implied he endorsed a particular candidate for city council.



(excerpt, San Bernardino Sun)




"As chief of police, I endorse no political candidate," Romero said Friday.

"My position is that would give the appearance I am beholden to a political candidate," when his commitment is to the public trust, he said.

"The truth is that I endorse no one -- particularly that I don't endorse Elliott Rothman."


Rothman said he doesn't know who put out the mailer, but he did receive a copy of it. As he saw it, Romero's inclusion in the mailer isn't an endorsement.

"I didn't see it that way," Rothman said, adding that if Romero had any concern about the mailer he would have heard about it. "He didn't have anything to say about it."






Not surprisingly after the Metrolink disaster, attorneys are starting to swarm looking for potential plaintiffs. Lawyers in that field hang out where they believe the cases are, especially in cases of potentially wrongdoing. The state's bar association has already issued a warning.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)




In the weeks since Metrolink Train 111 crashed head-on with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth, killing 25 and injuring at least 130 others, litigators have pursued clients so aggressively that the State Bar of California reminded lawyers of the professional sanctions they could face for initiating contact with accident victims.

"Any unsolicited contact with a potential client either in person or by telephone (and perhaps even by mail) by an attorney or someone acting on his or her behalf is both illegal and unethical," the bar's chief trial counsel, Scott J. Drexel, warned in a letter sent to area hospitals. "It is especially serious when the contact or solicitation takes place at the scene of the accident or at the hospital where the injured person has been taken for care and treatment."

The warning came as attorneys took out newspaper and TV advertisements, solicited on the Internet and even tracked down the injured at hospitals, all seeking a piece of what is likely to be hundreds of millions of dollars in damage awards for the victims and their loved ones.









An Atlanta Police Department officer was reindicted for sexual assault and violation of an oath. Similar charges that had been filed against him were dropped earlier this week.

Canary in the Mine: the city government's response to both

"We get up early to beat the crowds. 2008 DNC"



---so states this cute tee-shirt created, distributed and now sold by the Denver Police Department's police union. To think how close Denver came to a federal consent decree. No need to wonder why anymore.






"Nothing is inevitable. The future is not written in stone!"


---Heroes




"When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened."


---John M. Richardson, jr.




"But I was thinking of a way To multiply by ten, And always, in the answer, get The question back again. "


---Lewis Carroll





"The city manager cannot allow city employees or activities to impede any criminal investigation."


---Riverside Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis to Press Enterprise about presumably the CPRC, and probably one of the most unintentionally funny comments ever.





Don't pave over history.



That's the message sent in an opinion piece written in the Press Enterprise about the decision of the city to wipe out what's less of Chinatown and allow developer and local campaign contributor Doug Jacobs to erect a medical building on top of it. The Chinese-American community in Riverside and other supporters have been working hard against the erasure of their history in the city, attending lots of meetings, speaking out and holding public forums.



(excerpt)




Someday, I hope to see on the site a historically accurate building housing a Chinese-American museum. The original brick and wooden buildings would be ideal as models for museum buildings.

The geographic features are symbolic of the racism of the time, when the Chinese were relegated to unwanted land (they were burned out of the downtown area) and "hidden" from view.

The site is not just a vacant dirt lot but an important connection to Riverside's cultural and social past.

Many in Riverside worked with and socialized with the Chinese community, building important relationships. One of the most significant friendships that Chinese-Americans had was with former Riverside Mayor Bill Evans.

I believe it is these relationships that helped pave the way for Riverside to become one of the first communities in California and the nation to integrate its schools.

So I hope the Riverside community keeps the site as is until something can be built that reminds and educates us about our past -- when two cultures met and joined to build a better Riverside.




Still, the Land Use Committee chaired by Ward Three Councilman Rusty Bailey voted to deny the appeal filed by those involved in the effort to preserve the history of Chinatown and opted to support Jacobs' medical building. Let's hope at least that especially in the light of some of the committee's members' comments at this meeting that Jacobs' medical complex includes a very much needed fixture in Riverside: Ever elusive Urgent Care clinics that operates outside of the Monday through Friday, 9-5 schedule and doctors who are general practitioners who can treat patients who might ordinarily fill emergency rooms at hospitals. But given that Jacobs' expertise is in developing office space, that's not a given by any means. What is a given is that Jacobs' money will show up on campaign disclosure lists for political candidates next year as it usually does.




If you thought it was bad enough that the bank wanted to foreclose on your house, your city government might want to do so too.






In 18 years, only two incumbent politicians have lost reelection bids in Temecula. Still there are newcomers willing to take them on. But history may be about to change. That's what some new upstarts to the political applecart are hoping.




(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Nonetheless, challengers Al Abbott, Rita Hernandez and James "Stew" Stewart are optimistic about winning a seat as they take on Mayor Mike Naggar and Councilman Chuck Washington on Nov. 4.

"I feel once I get my message across, I should have a chance," said Hernandez, who is making her first run for public office.

Stewart, a former candidate for U.S. Senate and governor who ran for council in 2006, said scores of people have asked him to run again.

Naggar and Washington, who have been on the council since 1999 and 2003, respectively, feel confident voters will give them four more years.

"I'd like to think we run this city in a very professional manner," said Washington, a former Murrieta councilman.





What may also work is if any aspiring governmental leaders would just pick up stakes and come on down to Riverside where voters have thrown out two incumbent politicians just in the last election held in 2007. Despite attempts made by several incumbents to change the election process making it more difficult for grass-roots newcomers, if you want to be a politician then this might be your market. And it's not like carpet baggers as they're called haven't run in Riverside before and even won elections. One of them, even sampled the populace in two wards before getting enough signatures (which is no more than 30 needed) to run in one of them. All he did when failing miserably in his first choice, was to pick up stakes and move into another ward where he was successful.

In fact, some of the power brokers who try to build majorities in the dais through the election process are perfectly fine with people moving into other wards just to run for election. They'll shop city-wide (and even outside of it) for prospective talking heads to run for political office if they can't find anyone to their liking inside the prospective ward. What adds to the interest are attempts by city officials to make runoffs for city council seats "at large", attempts which haven't proceeded past the discussion stage.

And based on the recent behavior of several of the incumbents who are up next year, this upcoming election cycle is looking very good for new prospects although there might already be some local competition here. In Ward Four for example, the fact that incumbent Frank Schiavone averaged about 38% of the vote in precincts in this ward during his ill-fated bid to be Riverside County's newest supervisor has some potential challengers salivating already with the filing deadline some five months away. Among those considering to run for the Ward Four spot are several former city employees from the public safety branch.

People have said that Schiavone's telling people he's not running. Don't believe it without looking at similar situations in the past elections and remember, his position on the recent vote to increase the sewer rates. This is often used a strategy by incumbents to flush out any potentially strong opposition candidates and Schiavone's astute enough to avoid the pitfall faced by his former colleagues Dom Betro and Art Gage over the electric rates controversy.

Ward Six residents are reacting to Councilwoman Nancy Hart's decision to say "me too" to this opinion piece published in the Press Enterprise. An old fishing buddy of the incumbent who shopped for Hart to run against incumbent Terry Thompson almost eight years ago is considering whether or not to run against her.

By far the most popular of the three city council incumbents is actually Ward Two councilman Andrew Melendrez who could face opposition as well in the next election. He'll be difficult to beat but then again, the same thing was said about former Ward One Councilman Dom Betro in Election 2007. Will Ruben Rasso reemerge again? It's possible given that another strong candidate had to decide against running for the seat in Ward Two due to health issues.




But as for Temecula, this comes as it's proposing changes to "Old Temecula" and that's caused quite a stir which could mean that all bets are off when it comes to using old precedents to predict the outcome of these elections.





People have asked me what they can do to help with the situation with the Community Police Review Commission in the face of massive manipulation by several political forces in this city including what appears to be the entire seventh floor of City Hall. Due to the daily traffic to this site from IP addresses 192.248.248.66/7, that discussion unfortunately can't take place here. What you will find here is up to date information on what is happening with this evolving situation which actually has been in the works for several years now. You will learn who the players are, why they are involved and what the future likely will hold as Riverside moves into another pivotal election cycle in early 2009.

You'll learn why this isn't the first time in Riverside's recent history that political forces in City Hall have clamped down on even the weakest form of civilian oversight. And unfortunately, you'll learn some reasons why the city and police department have had difficulty past and present when it comes to addressing misconduct in its own ranks which makes the presence of an active form of independent civilian oversight very important. And why on the city's side, this has to do with civil litigation and risk management concerns, historically as well as in the present.

You will also learn about some of the very real burgeoning crises which serve as the foundation of why this is taking place, now as we approach October 2008. And you will learn why and how now, past is most certainly prologue.


All you need to keep in mind is this. When a canary's ailing, somewhere so is a mine. In the world of civilian review, that's usually how it works. In the cities where civilian oversight mechanisms have faced the most challenges, it's often the law enforcement agencies which merit another look.



Speaking of the "mine", here's an update on the current supervisory vacancies in the police department which have been impacting the department for at least nine months now. Not that you've been hearing much in public about them. Not from city government. Not from the city manager's office and not from the police department's management or labor union leadership. Especially compared to what's been said about restricting civilian oversight over incustody deaths by many of these same parties through words and/or actions.






Frozen:


Deputy chief position, after the retirement of David Dominguez

Lieutenant position, after the retirement of Paul Villaneuva

sergeant position after the retirement of Randy Eggleston

sergeant position after the promotion of Leon Phillips

Sergeant position after the retirement of Kevin Stanton

Sergeant position after the reassignment of Lisa Williams to a newly created position

An unknown number of law enforcement officer positions which may be as high as 19 (but could be fewer), mostly involving a quantity of the 45 positions created through vote by the city council.



Thawed:

Lieutenant position after the retirement of Ken Carpenter, filled by Phillips

Sergeant position after the sudden retirement of Terry Meyer filled by Det. Dan Warren

Eight police officer positions, vacated due to terminations, failure to pass probation, resignations and retirements.



Tabled:

Sergeant position after Don Tauli postponed his planned retirement by at least six months



Unknown:


A detective position that may have been recently vacated through retirement. According to a long-standing MOU involving detectives, these positions are usually readily refilled unlike the situation with the Riverside Police Officers' Association's Supervisory Unit, which are the sergeants.



Partially restored overtime


Sexual Assault and Child Abuse detective




As noted in earlier postings, it seems like the city manager's office's directive to place restrictions on the Community Police Review Commission's ability to adhere to its charter-mandated responsibility to investigate incustody deaths has attracted more public comments from the city council and mayor through comments at meetings or comments and articles in the Press Enterprise than has the situation involving the staffing levels inside the police department including at the supervisory level.

Here's some comparison between the two topics involving the city government.

Public comments on the vacancies so far consist of the following.



Mayor Ron Loveridge: Although a proponent for increasing the number of officers several years ago, has not commented in a public meeting nor did he respond to email on this issue.


Councilman Mike Gardner: None in public meetings, though he did express some concern in conversation.

Councilman Andrew Melendrez: Expressed concern through conversation and made a comment at a public meeting.

Councilman Rusty Bailey: Hasn't said anything in a public meeting and did not respond to email on this issue.


Councilman Frank Schiavone: Hasn't said anything in a public meeting, but did respond to email by stating that a lieutenant position was filled on July 1 through promotion.


Councilman Chris MacArthur: Hasn't said anything in a public meeting but expressed some concern in conversation. Did not respond to email on this issue.


Councilwoman Nancy Hart: Hasn't said anything in a public meeting. Grimaces and shakes her head when it's brought up and did not respond to an email on this issue.


Councilman Steve Adams: For all his reminiscing about being a Riverside Police Department officer as if it were yesterday, hasn't said anything in a public meeting and did not respond to email on this issue.



Then there's the history or lack thereof concerning comments on restricting the CPRC's ability to investigate incustody deaths by elected officials.



Mayor Ron Loveridge: Hasn't said anything publicly yet on the issue.

Councilman Mike Gardner: Issued public comments to examine issue but seemed to defer to city manager as long as its openly stated by the city council.

Councilman Andrew Melendrez: Wanted to take the issue to public safety committee at earlier meeting

Councilman Rusty Bailey: Hasn't commented publicly on issue

Councilman Frank Schiavone: Numerous comments supporting restrictions and an opinion piece, not to mention exhibiting his ahem, letter writing skills.

Councilman Chris MacArthur: Wants to discuss issue. Body language of legislative aide at CPRC meeting showed that individual might back restrictions.

Councilwoman Nancy Hart: Signed "me too" on opinion piece supporting restrictions

Councilman Steve Adams: Cosigned opinion piece supporting restrictions



Quotes:



Councilman Mike Gardner:


"I think we started on a somewhat negative path again and we need to pull it back."


---Press Enterprise article, early September




"It makes sense to me for council to say publicly whether the city manager's directive is council policy or if council would like them to do something different."

---Press Enterprise, Sept. 25



Councilman Frank Schiavone:


"The recent behavior has dictated a little more intervention"


---Press Enterprise, Sept. 25, a fitting comment considering many of his voters have said the same thing only with "intervention" meaning going to the polls next year in Ward Four.



Councilman Chris MacArthur:


"I like going through and hearing arguments."



---Press Enterprise, Sept. 25. It's too bad that thanks to Schiavone, he might never get the chance to engage in this democratic process that comes with an accountable and transparent government. "Letting the people decide" only pertains to certain hand-picked situations after all.




The police labor union has stated in the Press Enterprise that it agrees with City Manager Brad Hudson's directive but hasn't publicly commented on the staffing issues in the police department including the freezes. Hopefully, the rumors about it being shut out of talks with City Hall and the police department's management recently aren't true.

Hudson has instituted the directive through throwing out memos but not responding directly to the CPRC's concerns and questions. His assistant, Tom DeSantis said in June that the police department was "fully staffed".

The police department's management hasn't commented on either issue except to say that the department's staffing levels are greater than ever before due to its "restructuring".



Quotes about the department's staffing levels:

Alas, there aren't any, not at the moment anyway!


Anyway, this is only the beginning of the latest saga impacting the CPRC. Much, much more to come in the future, most assuredly. After all, does the sun rise and set?





Presidential candidate Ralph Nader came to Riverside's Fairmount Park. Unlike Republican candidate Sen. John McCain, you didn't have to pay hundreds of dollars per plate at some exclusive event to hear him. Several dozen turned out to listen to him and his platform if he's elected president which admittedly is a long shot.





It turns out that the invasion of Rialto by fire ants was worse than previously reported. Apparently, it's an all-out battle over turf in Southern California.



The exodus from the Press Enterprise continues. As rumored last week, one of Riverside's city government writers, Amanda Strindberg is gone. If the heavily rumored sale of the newspaper to Singleton Syndicate actually takes place, who will be left to be pared down by the king of buyouts and layoffs in print journalism?











Controversy arises over a tee-shirt being distributed by the Denver Police Protective Association. There are several things in life that are fairly consistent. Death, taxes, sun rises, sun sets and bone-headed decisions about tee-shirts, tattoos and hair cuts made by some police labor unions. Not all of them because many of them are smarter than this, but clearly some of them.


The police association's response to the Wall St. Journal.


(excerpt, Wall Street Journal)



“Nothing really happened,” Martin Vigil, president of the Denver Police Protective Association, told Washington Wire. “It wasn’t the event that the anti-government groups anticipated, and the T-shirts are a satirical comment on that, given to officers after the event as a ‘thank you’ for a perfect convention.”



Is this "free speech"? Yes, and it's definitely better that if you have police officers who believe that caricatures of themselves welding batons and "beating crowds" is a joke, that they're up front about it. And it's probably for very useful for civil rights attorneys to know that the officers in Denver's police department think beating people is a joke especially when the latest round of litigation filed in relation to the most recent DNC goes to trial. That's if the city's risk management division in the wake of the flood of these tee-shirts being distributed and worn doesn't just decide to cut its losses and settle them.

Coming attractions:

"If you don't do what they want, they'll take a lie about you and make it true."


Hiding in Plain Sight: Sex, Lies and Audiotape

Are two of the city council's direct employees at odds?

This is one of the funniest blog postings I've read in a long time but it's hard to fully appreciate it unless you too, have had a Tamias carnivorus hanging off of your finger by its teeth.

That's a chipmunk.

Not the Chip 'n Dale Disney duo and not Alvin and his bodies either, though if you're sitting in the emergency room waiting to get treated, every chipmunk in the cinema Hall of Fame will have his or her name invoked at least once. Not to worry, it's nothing about half a dozen shots won't fix.






Riverside will be increasing the maintenance of the lakes at Fairmount Park which it spent millions drudging last year. It had begun the process by hosting a luncheon for city officials and dignitaries as the hoses sucked up and spewed a medley of mud, silt and assorted debris not too far away. Some said this scene also had a metaphoric overtone, but at any rate after some months, the dirt, silt and assorted debris were but a memory.




(excerpt, Press Enterprise)





"It's like a fish bowl," said Randy McDaniel, a project manager with the city's parks and recreation department. "If the water is stagnant it gets moldy, but if you have an aeration device, it will stay cleaner and healthier for the fish."

Lamiell said it's evident the fish are thriving in their newly cleaned home by their frequent leaps out of the water. For years, Lamiell stayed away from the park.

"There was no point in coming down," he said. "The water was filthy and the park was filthy. It's wasn't a place to come with family."

But now Lamiell, 25, frequently enjoys his day off fishing with his dad at the park. Not only is the water cleaner, but so is the rest of the park, he said.







One of the most interesting topics that has come up lately is what's up with the rumors of dissent between City Manager Brad Hudson and City Attorney Gregory Priamos. Its hard to believe that it could really be true that the two male direct employees of the city council might be at odds with each other because on the dais, they look like they get along. Except that Priamos hasn't been seen on the dais or several other meetings he attends as often in recent weeks.

The reason provided for this alleged collision between the two men? Priamos is allegedly upset at having to serve as the public figure to sell an agenda set by Hudson while Hudson sits in the background and hits his department heads and commission members with memos, in lieu of conversation and definitely lieu of having to issue any public statements about his recent activities. While it's definitely true that Hudson has been busy enough commenting on the recent departures of two out of three of his assistant managers, that does leave him with several minutes here and there to comment on the recent slew of memos leaving his office including one aimed at the Community Police Review Commission.


One potential difficulty that could arise is that the more memos that Hudson tosses out in lieu of speaking out and up on his own actions, the more he needs someone else to do that work. And more and more, it does appear that it's fallen on Priamos' lap. You'd think that if Hudson couldn't speak up for himself and his minion, Tom DeSantis couldn't speak for Hudson, then what about public information officer, Austin Carter?

Instead, it looks more and more like Priamos has been selected to fill that bill, which has the unfortunate consequence of making him a convenient target for criticism as well while those pulling his strings are conveniently spared from the public even knowing what they are up to, let alone issuing public statements.

How does that fit in with the city's organizational pecking order? Not as much between the city government and both Hudson and Priamos, but between Hudson and Priamos?


This recent trend with assigning Priamos to write letters for Hudson was very noticeable when I submitted two separate California Public Records Act requests to Hudson's office, one asking about the operational budget of the Community Police Review Commission, the other about the factual evidence to back DeSantis' claim that the department was "fully staffed" with an average officer to supervisor staffing ratio of about 4.2 to 1 (which conflicted with the department's own ratio of about 6.1 to 1). DeSantis, sitting in the big chair, had offered this as a defense of criticism by a consultant hired by his office to do audits on the city's police department.

As stated, the interesting thing was that Hudson didn't respond to the public records request in writing or otherwise, but Priamos did. It seemed interesting but what else to chalk it up to except that it is possible Hudson had added another public information officer to his department in Priamos. The appropriate response for a request for information within the city manager's office would have been from the city manager's office with perhaps Priamos reviewing the letter to make sure it was within the boundaries of the CPRA. But instead Priamos actually did the letter writing for the city manager.

The information provided by Priamos in both requests was actually incorrect. To the request about the CPRC budget, Priamos provided instructions to check out the city budget's link on its Web site. However, there was no actual information about the CPRC's budget on that link until just recently when it was added by Administrative Analyst Mario Lara who allegedly advised the CPRC (which at one point was completely unsure how to distribute to the public copies of its own budget or whether it even could) in August that it wouldn't be available to the public until the middle of September and only it would be provided online. No explanation provided as to why information that could have easily been included with the budget report in July had to be added in September but if there had been one, then would it have been left to Priamos?


To the second request, Priamos provided the same direction yet the information cited by DeSantis was not included either. But then a responsive letter written by Chief Russ Leach about the department's work product used to determine its cited figure for the staffing figures pointed me to a power point presentation which didn't even include this information. The responses to all three CPRA requests did make me wonder if any of these people read the documents or have read the documents at all to ensure that the requested information is even included in their content.

That took place during the contentious second round of the Governmental Affairs Committee's attempt to actually perform an annual review of the city's ethics code and complaint system that complied with the written resolution defining the application of the ethics code. But even though the committee chair was supposed to invite Mayor Ron Loveridge and the chairs of the city's boards and commissions to participate, apparently no one received their personal invite. Mayor Ron Loveridge found out about it after round one ended and said that he had not received any notice to attend the meeting. Initially, Loveridge said this oversight would be remedied the next year, but given that the committee met again a week later, it's probably a given that Loveridge changed his mind about that.

There was one moment during the second rendition of Governmental Affairs which stood out and that was when Priamos was pushed to admit publicly that he had drafted the letters rejecting at least one ethics complaint that had been filed and it hadn't gone to the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee which by ordinance is where it should have gone. While the council members were talking, Priamos sat there with this look on this face that almost looked like he was wondering if he was about to be the fall guy in this situation. But did he make the decision to bypass the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee on his own or was he acting on the instructions of his employers on the dais?

It's been Priamos that has been hit in the Press Enterprise for the recent controversy surrounding the barely there Community Police Review Commission including whether it should or should not have its own attorney, with the Press Enterprise Editorial Board stating yes and three city council members saying no. What was kind of funny about the latter argument is how the article's authors said that the Press Enterprise writers were uninformed when it was the triplets who were unable to distinguish between the charter-mandated CPRC and the non-charter-mandated Law Enforcement Police Advisory Committee.

But at any rate, while Priamos does deserve some criticism for his actions, the bulk of it belongs to the City Council which is directing both employees to place restrictions on the CPRC in a manner that seems somewhat less than open? The city council directs the city employees to do its agenda and then when that agenda gets criticized, it lets its employees take the heat for the city council's own decisions. This is not a example of what good leadership is all about, but then are there any good leaders on the dais? I guess we'll find out during next year's election cycle.

Unfortunately for Priamos, Hudson apparently utilizes the same strategy. Although occasionally he places DeSantis in that role as well as Hudson's allegedly assured people that when DeSantis goes too far, he pulls him back.

So is there really conflict and is it at the point where both men should be handed boxing gloves so they can settle it? And if so, would it be a violation of the Brown Act if it didn't take place in a public forum?

It's really not clear enough whether any such feud exists but the idea of it has attracted a lot of interest in recent weeks and people are waiting to see what happens next to either refute the rumors or strengthen them.

Granted, Priamos hasn't been as visible at the city council meetings or the meetings of the Community Police Review Commission meeting in the last couple of weeks but there could be a multitude of reasons for that. And if Priamos felt a bit piqued at having to bear the brunt of the criticism most of which should really be aimed elsewhere, you couldn't really blame him for that.





The Riverside Transit Authority is planning to cut back on the hours of the downtown green line trolley. If you are concerned about this, public hearings will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 22 between 12:30-5:30 p.m. on the seventh floor at City Hall. Each public hearing will be one hour long.






Lake Elsinore has laid off nine employees due to budget cuts.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Layoffs officially begin Wednesday, though some of the employees may opt to take paid administrative leave effective immediately, city officials said.

Layoffs officially begin Wednesday at Lake Elsinore City Hall, though some employees may opt to take paid administrative leave.

"It is a dark day," said city code enforcement officer Scott Burns, who was not laid off. "No matter if you are staying or leaving."

The nine employees represent the human toll of the city's budget crisis, which the Lake Elsinore City Council temporarily stayed Tuesday by approving a $2.1 million budget cut and revising its five-year economic forecast. The city's economic decline was the primary culprit of the budget shortfall.

The other cause was a $759,000 budget miscalculation of the city's contract with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department reassigned five people, including a deputy and a school resource officer, to correct the error. The reassignment will not affect the number of officers patrolling the streets, said Riverside County sheriff's Capt. Joe Cleary, who serves as Lake Elsinore's police chief.

In addition to layoffs, remaining city employees will take one furlough day a month until June 30, 2009.






A candidate for a spot on the Hemet Unified School District board has been placed on administrative leave.





Coming back soon to the Inland Empire, the Santa Anas. How long will they stay this year?





But here's a bright spot, the Inland Empire has a place in line for assistance funds for the housing crisis. Then again, this region wouldn't be vying for them if it weren't so high on the foreclosure list.





What's left of the Press Enterprise staff won some journalism awards. If you want to learn more about what's been going on at this newspaper and all the buyouts of employees there by Belo Enterprises, read this site.




Four years ago, a medical miracle.




Mr. Cool Dude died yesterday. (Jan. 26, 1925-Sept. 26, 2008)

Election 2008: Reaching for a bad guy

Today, something miraculous happened or so it just seemed that way because of the technological advances, during the hotly contested Riverside County Board of Supervisor contest. I received the latest campaign brochure and then 10 minutes later, a phone message refuting the claims in that brochure!

Now that's quick!



The latest brochure sat in the mail box, waiting to be read. It was from the camp of incumbent supervisor, Bob Buster and it addressed whether or not Ward Four Councilman Frank Schiavone attacked him regarding his stance on illegal immigration. I still haven't received the illustrious campaign brochure where Schiavone did a complete 180 degree turn from his position on undocumented immigrants receiving services including health care and education (hence his decision to vote against Proposition 187 which he once told me he did) and decided that it was going to be a top priority of his campaign to prevent undocumented immigrants from obtaining the same services that would have been banned under Proposition 187 if it hadn't been determined to be in violation of the 10th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution. Both men are pushing for something that the state's highest court and beyond have prohibited them from doing.

This is a complex issue for many people and everyone has an opinion and politicians running for office should be very forthcoming about their opinions. It's not even the opinions so much as how they're defining a political campaign and allowing a federal issue to supersede county issues, because too often in the campaign process, it comes to inflaming public opinion for votes rather than addressing the nuts and bolts issues that impact the lives of many city or county residents.

One city resident at city council meetings talks about "smoke and mirrors". Well, this is a great example of exactly what that means.


Buster's response on his brochure included the following, although actually the words were provided by former Riverside County Sheriff Cois Byrd:


"I can tell you that Supervisor Buster has consistently voted to protect taxpayers and to make public safety our county's top priority [bold, theirs]."



So despite the fact that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants don't commit violent crimes and in fact, try to keep a low-profile most likely not even feeling comfortable enough to call the police if they are victims of or witnesses to a violent crime, there's this tie between this population and public safety. It's comments like these and those made by individuals in law enforcement that make it less likely that this is going to change despite provisions in the Violence Against Women Act passed by Congress and other special visa programs that contained provisions to provide resources to undocumented immigrants reporting crimes including domestic violence and child abuse. And it's also likely that as has happened in other cities, there will be chiefs and sheriffs who will raise up their hands and ask communities why these individuals do not come forward before saying that they want to find solutions to improve that, despite the fact that the very loud message that they send is exactly the opposite.

I talk to people including voters in this election every day and many are mystified at the focus from both camps on undocumented immigrants out of the blue. It's reminiscent of the Ward Five city council election last year when then-candidate and now Councilman Chris MacArthur and his campaign volunteers tried to drum up xenophobic fears about people from south the border through accusations made against candidate and Altura Credit Union vice-president Donna Doty-Michalka and other implications about Iranian-American candidate Harry Karuni and vague references to patriotism. But despite this or because of it, MacArthur sits on the dais now.

In response to MacArthur's attacks, several of those who endorsed Michalka including the Riverside Police Officers' Association president Ken Tutwiler said that immigration was a federal issue and they criticized those attacks against their candidate. That incident was written about here.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



MacArthur came out swinging in the primary with a mailing that said Michalka backed requiring Riverside police to accept Mexican consular cards as valid identification. A footnote to the accusation said that in her work, she coordinated outreach to encourage migrant workers to open accounts with her credit union, which accepts the consular cards as valid identification.

Michalka said she is not a policymaker at her credit union and her personal views do not reflect her employer's practices.

"I'm not in favor of illegal immigration," she said.

The Riverside Police Officers Association, which has endorsed Michalka, called MacArthur's accusation about Michalka and the ID-card proposal "vicious lies" in a mailer. Both Michalka and union officials said illegal immigration is a federal issue, not a City Council issue.





And then some discussion went back to the issues impacting Riverside's city residents after these individuals said what needed to be said. It's too bad there's no such voices being raised in the supervisor contest, except perhaps by some of the voters amongst themselves.

So what have county residents told me that they want to hear about from the candidates?

What people want to hear about instead or read about in these nearly daily communicados they receive from the respective candidates is about how the county will handle land acquisitions, how it will handle the housing crisis and the fact that Riverside County's one of the fastest growing counties in the state, how the gridlocked highways and underdeveloped roads will be addressed, how March Air Base will be developed and the impact it will have on the economy, employment and quality of living, how much green space there will be for parks and other recreational opportunities, the relationships in law enforcement between services (including officers with any or a variety of less lethal options) to more affluent contract cities like Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells, in comparison to poorer contract cities and unincorporated areas of the county. That's just for starters. There was some dialogue on these issues earlier in the campaign, which was good and definitely needed to continue including in campaign brochures.

Not to mention, concern about air quality in the county (which boasts some of the nation's dirtiest and unhealthiest air) and the role of development and the relationship between development firms and interests with governmental officials. Issues that to varying degrees have played out in Riverside County's cities including Riverside and Temecula and in San Bernardino County including San Bernardino, Rialto and Colton. There's concern about the loss of rural areas as development continues to match pace with population growth. So when is there going to be time to put more information out there to the same audiences that are receiving the brochures and auto dialed computerized phone messages?

How about tomorrow?


And when it comes to "public safety", there's been more concern expressed about parolees and registered sex offenders than undocumented immigrants. But not much about these issues lately from two candidates claiming to be all about "public safety" whether they are backed by the "Riverside law enforcement community" or not.


But these issues haven't been included in any brochures put out lately. What you've seen instead as of late is something that's done constantly in economically difficult times and that's scapegoating a population of people and it's catching on which is what often happens. All this accomplishes nothing and it doesn't inform the voters on the other issues which many have listed as high priority issues. Because if there's to be discussion of the county's resources used by undocumented immigrants, then there should also be discussion of the "welfare" that's given to the development firms which congregate within Riverside city and county to do business.

In Riverside, even as basic services have faced cuts because of the impact of the state's budget crisis, the housing crisis and resultant spending habits on the city's general fund (which relies on sales tax revenue and property taxes), Riverside Renaissance's capital projects are moving forward even as the city's borrowing more and more money and having accumulated debt reorganized by its lenders as one financial employee was explaining to a city council member in front of City Hall about a month ago.



One guy who used to attend city council meetings regularly and to his later regret, backed the political campaigns of some of the city council members elected in recent years, used to talk about Riverside's reliance on corporate welfare and the relationship between that and the city's massive redevelopment areas. This guy no longer attends meetings but it's his comments about these issues which really strike the heart of many city and county residents, yet who is ready to dialogue with voters on these things?

Look what's happening around us. Money being piled whether begged for or borrowed against future generations to prop up politicians as city employees are getting laid off (part-time or not, these folks are city employees and a disproportionate number of part-time employees are female and men of color) and other positions are frozen, programs are shut down and new training programs including the police department's mental health crisis intervention training is endangered by county budget cuts involving mental health outreach and treatment.

But while there's seemingly endless money real or imagined to pay for these projects, not so for the city's services. Explain how the city's really doing so well to someone who asks you if that were true, why has the police department canceled its citizen and neighborhood watch academies until further notice and with one notable exception (which if this is the case it highlights the inappropriateness of political ties between individuals in law enforcement agencies with decision making power and responsibilities and politicians), a hiring freeze. The latter would have been a complete surprise if concerned law enforcement officers who had taken the training hadn't expressed those concerns about the necessity of it continuing despite difficult times.




This issue which all of a sudden has taken a front and central place in the board of supervisors race in a way that it dominated an election closer to Riverside, that involving the Ward Five city council election last year. The image of undocumented immigrants, preferably those with what Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein called, "brown-skinned" relying only on county services for sustenance.

And then almost on cue, came the phone call, another from the Schiavone camp probably from the same auto dialer based just outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Another example of "shopping Riverside"?

Anyway, the phone call was clouded with static but it appeared to be someone from the Riverside Police Department who said something about the police department not being ordered by Schiavone to accept ID cards given by the Mexican government to "illegal aliens". At first, it appeared that perhaps this was the police department's official response on this issue which if a factual claim has been raised in error, it needed to be addressed by that agency. However, then after that, there was a statement that the law enforcement community of Riverside backed Schiavone so it was after all, a paid political announcement from that community. I wonder when they took that vote as only one labor union so far has publicly endorsed any candidate, in this case Schiavone. And it's the role of PACs created by labor unions to endorse candidates, but it gets a bit more dicey when you get closer and closer to the top level of the management team with endorsements let alone when there's blanket endorsements given involving entire law enforcement agencies in a context that applies to exactly why that endorsement's being given outside the "illegal alien" issue.

It would have been useful to voters if this phone message could have elaborated further on why the Riverside Police Department in toto (and not just through its labor unions) has endorsed Schiavone rather than just associating this blanket endorsement with the undocumented immigrant issue.


When it comes to who's the better candidate, Buster is clearly the more qualified candidate over Schiavone and I'm not convinced it's not like the Press Enterprise Editorial Board stated, that Schiavone is more interested in his political career than in the county. That's because he doesn't seem all that interested in Riverside anymore let alone finishing out the term which voters gave him with the expectation that he would fully honor that commitment. Jumping ship to run for election elsewhere doesn't exactly speak to that. It doesn't speak to anything but essentially saying that yeah, I served on the council as long as it fit my interests but what I really wanted is a seat on the county board.

But Buster's got a month left to campaign for office and it would be really nice to see him jump off this current campaign train and start educating prospective voters including this one again on the issues, his positions and why he is the best person for the job. Going tit for tat with Schiavone on the federal issue of immigration will cost him more voters than it will bring him (whereas it might not help Schiavone's campaign but probably won't hurt it much) and it will risk alienating some of his voting base including Latinos who themselves have conflicting opinions about undocumented immigration but know opportunistic campaigning when they see it. And I think if it's similar to other past campaigns for office, this is one thing that the Schiavone camp is counting on to help it win the election. The strategy is to draw the other candidate into an ad hominen discussion which is intended to whittle at his voting base. It's hard watching someone who is otherwise a strong candidate with a strong record playing along but it's the choice of the campaign strategists including the candidates which direction they go even if it's one that is going to cost them more votes than they would gain.

And even though law enforcement unions are backing Schiavone no doubt because the Riverside Sheriffs' will never forgive Buster for his support and votes for former Sheriff Bob Doyle and the other unions under the CLEAR ties are showing their support for the RSA, Buster should also tackle the concerns in the county dealing with the release and placement of the state's registered sex offenders, which has been an issue that's galvanized residents of both county cities and unincorporated areas. Also, insuring that the equipping of law enforcement officers with among other things, a variety of less lethal options isn't entirely dependent on whether the city involved has a large tax base.

Buster's best chance at remaining supervisor is to stick to the core issues where he's put a lot of hard work over time and emphasizing his commitment to those issues. But the strategy adopted here by his opponant is actually one similar to that used by George W. Bush when he ran for reelection in 2004.

Bush was vulnerable in every issue from the economy to the Iraq War (especially running against a war veteran) so what did he do? He focused a lot of his campaigning in stirring up fear and anger about immigration and same-sex marriages to avoid the issues where he was most vulnerable to be challenged about. It worked and it keeps working which is why we currently have a presidential with the lowest approval rating in modern times who most likely will be replaced by someone whose platform isn't that much different. But it works because it pushes the other candidate away from discussing the issues that really impact voters and into his or her challenger's court.

McCain likely will use a similar strategy and remember in a county race, which candidate was shown in a photograph with McCain? That was Schiavone.

Although it might be interesting to hear why the county is paying the federal law enforcement agencies to train its own deputies when usually through grant money it's the other way around, the focus should focus on issues that are under the county's jurisdiction.

Still, this voter is undecided and will remain undecided while the current campaign strategy plays itself out because frankly, I'm at the point where I'm going to start mailing them back to the espective senders with reasons why I'm doing so, something I haven't done since the Ken Calvert/Mark Takano mud-slinging election for Congress in the 1990s.




Women who live in transitional housing are receiving haircuts from RCC cosmetology students.




You would think that the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors have learned that transparency is important after all its corruption scandals not too long ago. But now it hasn't.




Lake Elsinore is tackling the development issue.



A study in San Bernardino supports the expansion of the dispatch center and in related news, the Riverside Police Department dispatchers will be honored at an upcoming city council meeting.



Goodbye Tupperware, hello tasers. These devices are the latest hot ticket item at parties. The people look at them, pass them around, hold them and yes, even shoot each other with them. And then they watch the replay on their cell phones.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Some don't fear the Taser.

At a recent party in the desert, Christian Mesey, 29, stepped right up.

Two men grasped the waiting air traffic controller under the arms.

A red laser beam took aim on Mesey's back.

"One last chance to back out," joked David S. Chandler, president of Coachella Valley Security Academy.

The company put on the seminar at the home of employee Kevin Sullivan.

With a loud pop, a pair of metal probes connected to insulated wires zoomed out about 160 feet per second before digging into Mesey's back, delivering 50,000 volts. He grimaced and slumped into a heap, his muscles momentarily useless after a five-second jolt.

Seconds later, Mesey stood up, grinning again. He examined darts that can pierce 2 inches of clothing.

"My muscles completely tightened up," he said. "If they weren't holding me, I definitely would have doubled over."





Some people have a really sense of what's a good time. But is the public really safer with individuals being equipped with hot pink or even leopard patterned taser devices? The jury is definitely still out on that. It could after all bring a whole new meeting to the term, "road rage".




The saga involving the Flesh Club continues in San Bernardino.




Nichole Paultre-Bell has some words for people about her involvement in protests stemming from the acquittal of three New York City Police Department officers who shot her fiancee Sean Bell to death in 2006.


"I'll keep fighting."




Note: If accessing this blog gives you a 403 error, it's a blogger bug and apparently they're trying to fix it.