Committee Meets to Discuss Riverside's Ethics Code

[Committee Chair Brian Pearcy (center) takes comment on the ethics code and complaint process]





[Riverside City Clerk Colleen Nicol and City Attorney Gregory Priamos represented City Hall in the discussion and research process on the city's ethics code and complaint process. Priamos tries futily to control the meeting. ]






[Members of the public and the media sit and watch the discussion taking place by the Ethics Code Review Panel]






[Jennifer Vaughn-Blakely, the Ward Four representative and Vice Chair Nancy Melendrez from the Board of Library Trustees participate in the discussion






The first meeting held by the Ethics Code Review Committee took place at the Public Utilities Board Room and the members of the panel elected Brian Pearcy from the Community Police Review Commission and Nancy Melendez from the Board of Library Trustees to be their chair and vice-chair during their discussion and review process.

But from the very beginning of the meeting, it was clear who was in charge of the process and that appeared to be City Attorney Gregory Priamos who seemed most intent on preventing the panel members from really discussing applying the ethics code to city employees including the three directly employed by the city council and department heads.

Priamos also said that 10 out of 11 complaints filed through the ethics code process involved elected officials but that wasn’t accurate as two complaints were filed against two separate members of the CPRC. Priamos also said the first complaint ever filed was withdrawn by the complainant yet that complaint filed against Councilman Steve Adams several years ago was actually rejected by the City Attorney’s office which said that third party complaints weren’t allowed under the ethics code even though nothing in the Code's language prohibited that complaint. It's interesting how the history of a process can change when it's filtered through City Hall.

Most of the board and commission chairs who attended the first meeting seemed more preoccupied by whether or not they should be covered under the code and when they should be covered, which was natural fallout from having representatives from the city’s boards and commissions serving on the panel.

Jennifer Vaughn-Blakely who chairs the Group tried to push for the inclusion of direct employees including the city manager and city attorney under the ethics code but Priamos said that the state law and the city’s charter wouldn’t allow for the code to be applied against city employees. She and Priamos went back and forth for some time on the issue.

One thing the committee did agree on was to have a separate independent panel of people review complaints involving elected officials. Otherwise to have city council do it was like the "fox guarding the henhouse" as member Bonnie Poulson said from the Park and Recreation Commission. It's doubtful that the Governmental Affairs Committee or city council will like that recommendation very much.

The Committee also added a third meeting date as it became difficult for them to get all their work done in just two work sessions.

City Hall Micromanages Another Commission

Speaking of Priamos, he's been involved in a battle of memos with the Human Relations Commission which recently tried to agendize a discussion on the controversial Arizonan immigration law for discussion. However, Priamos submitted a memo forbidding it from doing so, claiming that it was outside its purview not being a "local" issue. The commission contested that ruling and received yet another memo from Priamos this time with the support of Councilman and mayoral candidate, Andrew Melendrez who sided with the city's legal eagle.

The executive committee of the HRC was to discuss its next moves at a meeting held on Oct. 6 but what remains clear is that the HRC has joined other commissions like the CPRC and the Human Resources Board as running into micromanagement by City Hall. What was most interesting was how Priamos alleged that if the HRC discussed this issue, it would be violating its bylaws yet Priamos allowed and even encouraged the CPRC to violate its own bylaws on meeting times and locations so that certain commissioners could push their monthly meetings earlier in the day when few city residents could attend them.

Police Department to Receive Community Input on Strategic Plan
---Take Two

[Asst. Chief Chris Vicino is ready to meet with community members from all over the city in take two, of the department's attempt to solicit input on the Strategic Plan.]




The Riverside Police Department is getting ready to present future meetings on the strategic plan. Yes, the same Strategic Plan that the remnants of the Audit and Compliance Bureau solicited input for at meetings earlier this year which resulted in a completed draft of the Strategic Plan 2010-2015 even though some individuals had said that the draft had never been completed. This article stated that in fact it had been done by the Audit and Compliance Bureau, the committee that Chief Sergio Diaz said had done "meaningless" work. An odd way of categorizing the creation of the original strategic plan which had been done by members of that bureau but at any rate, that panel has essentially been disbanded and its responsibilities assigned to the Chief's office under Vicino and Deputy Chief Mike Blakely.

In that original plan had been elements ranging from increasing diversity within the department to the training of management, to traffic enforcement and education to decentralizing the police department's operations and personnel.

The community forums are being held again to gather more input to combine hopefully from that collected by the past forums. Dispatchers and police officers are to be surveyed as well. Vincino who came to the department with a history of involving himself in strategic planning will apparently be in charge of the community forums being held in eight different locations in the four neighborhood policing centers.

The information he collects will apparently be built into the next draft of the Strategic Plan.





The public meetings will be at Neighborhood Policing Centers:



7 p.m. Oct. 14 in the Cesar Chavez Community Center at Bobby Bonds Park, 2060 University Ave.

10 a.m. Oct. 16 in Reid Park Community Center, 800 N. Main St.

1 p.m. Oct. 16 in Orange Terrace Community Center, 20010 Orange Terrace Parkway

7 p.m. Oct. 18 in the grand ballroom of the Marriott Hotel, 3400 Market St.

7 p.m. Oct. 21 at Bryan Park Community Center, 7950 Philbin Ave.

7 p.m. Oct. 25, Villegas Park Community Center, 3091 Esperanza St.

7 p.m. Oct. 27, La Sierra Senior Center, 5215 La Sierra Ave.

p.m. Oct. 28 at Cal Baptist University's Cobenbarger Room, 8432 Magnolia Ave.

Driving While Female

Police Officer Stopping Women Simply for Phone Numbers?




"We need to hear about the RPD heroes who are out their on the front lines who do good also, not the small percentage who are stopping young women on Magnolia Avenue asking for their phone numbers..."

This comment was a bit interesting considering that there was a reported incident, not on Magnolia but on Market (which is the same street on the north section of town) several months ago where a young woman alleged she had been stopped by a squad car which she had just seen in passing. The officer told her when she asked why she was stopped that she hadn't done anything wrong. He was simply interested in getting her phone number. She didn't give it to him and he allowed her to go but she didn't file a complaint against him because she's became concerned about him because he had written information off of her driver's license on a notepad including her address.

Was this comment in relation to that alleged incident or have there been others that have taken place in the same corridor? It's worrisome if it happens even to one women, let alone any more than that. But it's happened in many police agencies in the country and it's called "driving while female" where female motorists are stopped on the basis of gender and treated in nonprofessional ways, ranging from being asked for their phone numbers to sexual harassment to sexual assault under the color of the authority. This alleged behavior is at the lower end of that scale and there's a perfect opportunity to address it before it worsens.

Still as it is, it's worrisome because it's not legal behavior by an officer who has to have probable cause to do a traffic stop rather than just wanting their phone numbers for personal reasons. In other states, it's even an offense punishable under the state's penal code. But regardless it's very disturbing behavior, called "driving while female" that is definitely both a violation of departmental policy and policing and a violation under any type of "ethics based policing" which was lauded by both Chief Sergio Diaz and Asst. Chief Chris Vicino. It also had shades of what had been going on in the earlier days of former Officer Robert Forman who allegedly engaged in this behavior before he took his actions further during two separate periods, the latest being 2008. The department knew about Forman's earlier misconduct yet kept him employed, a decision which had serious repercussions for the department several years later.

So it's a red flag going up if it's going on as alleged and it needs to be investigated. But the parties who allege need to do their part and file complaints if this is what's they've experienced so that if this behavior is indeed taking place, it can stop before getting any worse. That's the responsibility of the complainant. It would then be the responsibility of the department to fully investigate these allegations.

How serious is this type of conduct? Well, similar incidents were reported in Walkill New York before 2001 and that launched an investigation into that police department by the State Attorney General's office which led to Walkill being the second city in the nation (after Riverside) to be placed under a state consent decree when other substantive problems were discovered during that investigation. It just doesn't belong in the Riverside Police Department if it's going on but if it's happening here, it needs to be addressed and stopped. Because it harms everyone, the motorists affected, the public and the majority of the officers who don't engage in that misconduct.

Incidents like these if they take place can be heavily damaging to a police department, but they are harmful to the majority of police officers who behave professionally and responsibly doing their jobs. Do they report them to their supervisors or management, at least the management that still remains after the collapse of more than a few dominoes at the top?Because these officers' behavior does impact them and their department. Does the department provide an environment where this type of reporting on misconduct is able to be done without negative repercussions on the officer reporting it?

This alleged incident took place during the interim between permanent police chiefs.


This all comes in the wake of the experience which shook the department up in relation to the arrest and prosecution of Forman with him being convicted on two out of four criminal counts at a trial in late 2008. Testimony addressed what happened at the residence of one of the victims when police had responded to the scene and several of them had allegedly joked about and played with a woman's underwear including hanging it on each other's gun belts and a dart board on the wall of the living room. They acted as individuals in a group but because they wore badges and uniforms from the police department, they brought every man and women who worked in the department into that living room with them. Even though the majority of officers wouldn't engage in that conduct, on that night they were all brought there because they share the same identification as those officers wore by the actions of a relative few. And it's incidents like that that often shape people's views of all officers by witnessing the behavior of a relatively small number of them.

Every officer has the power to represent the best or the worst of their profession and through individual actions both good and bad can determine how every other one will be viewed by the public. When five officers were arrested and prosecuted during a 14 month period, it did impact how many people viewed the department even though percentage wise, those five constituted a fairly small portion of the sworn officer population. But those five projected a powerful enough image to cause many people to question the police department even before Leach's DUI incident. And each of them added to the impact of that incident.

But professional behavior makes its own mark too and the majority of the time when professional behavior is being conducted by officers needs to be remembered as well. Still, hopefully if this behavior is being done by one officer, it can be addressed before it goes any further because this kind of misconduct can have a huge rippling effect on a law enforcement agency.

Still any behavior like this if it's happening needs to be addressed and dealt with because the police department is much better than this as is the direction it hopes to be heading in for the future after one of its most turbulent years in recent history.




The Inland Empire is one of the national leaders in terms of "real estate stress".



A former planning commissioner from Murrieta lands a hefty fine.



[Congressional candidate, Bill Hendrick appears near the Mission Inn in Riverside to give a press conference before facing off against incumbent Ken Calvert in November. ]

IE Weekly Lists its Best in the IE Selections

Inland Empire Weekly had its annual "Best in the Inland Empire" issue and had a list of their best including Riverside Style Watch as the best blog. Congratulations to the winner and well done. Though I've enjoyed being working on my blog very much even as it's been an incredibly turbulent and complicated year with its ups and downs as Riverside's had to face its own crisis of conscience. It's been quite a year for 2010 so far.

The Press Enterprise Says Goodbye to Another Reporter

Speaking of the media, Paul LaRocco is leaving the Press Enterprise this week for a job back east in New York. Thank you Paul for your diligent work and willingness to cover the Riverside beat (as well as other beats) and the best of wishes for your new job venture!

Public Meetings

Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The Riverside City Council meets again to discuss this agenda. One of the items addresses a planned Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee meeting to hear the ethics code complaint filed against Councilman Steve Adams by the La Sierra/Arlanza Neighborhood Alliance for administrative interference. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. on the Seventh Floor and the city council will decide whether or not to approve the substitution of Councilwoman Nancy Hart for Adams who will have to recuse himself. Hardly surprising as Hart has been asked to substitute for a member of that committee during an ethics complaint hearing in the past. To date, all known complaints filed against elected officials have involved councilmen serving on the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee.

Riverside Chief Sergio Diaz and His First High-Profile Internal Investigation

[Riverside Chief Sergio Diaz investigating officers for allegedly trashing homeless encampment]






Last week, Chief Sergio Diaz launched his first high-profile internal investigation since he became police chief on July 1 after a group of homeless people made allegations that police officers trashed their homeless encampment in the Santa Ana river bottom last week.

Diaz said to the newspaper that the investigation was in its "early fact-gathering" stage. He said that the department's investigators were still looking for witnesses. And that was the right thing to say that the department was investigating and needed witnesses rather than saying that the behavior was justified from the start as has happened in the past. That just sends the message that the department's not really interested in conducting an in depth investigation (which takes a considerable period of time to go through that process) whether it intends to do that or not.

One witness gave her view of the alleged incident.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

In an interview Thursday, river-bottom resident Colleen Sykes said she was hiding in nearby bamboo brush when the officers arrived. She said at least one of the officers was lining up breakable items and swatting at them with his baton in mock baseball stances.

"They were laughing," Sykes said.

Record said she was most offended by officers who, she said, slashed bicycle tires and tents, and by one who disposed of a man's toolbox in the river. She said she donated much of the food that was crushed and smashed.

"These people have been here for years," she said. "They have nowhere to go -- the shelters are full and they're afraid to stay on the streets."

The homeless have been camping in the dried river bed between Riverside and the neighboring towns and cities for years and a film maker once made a documentary about it. But there's been police actions to clear the river bed which is also a flood plain the past decade. Not to mention other areas of the downtown at different period of time in the past decade or so. Most of the homeless who are cleared out of the downtown area wind up being pushed in the Eastside, especially the area which borders the Northside. The city's shelters for the homeless are in either the Eastside or the Northside, neighborhoods which are viewed as considerably less important than the downtown or the Wood Streets (which successfully nixed having a homeless shelter built within one mile of it).

Diaz pointed out that while the enforcement of the no trespassing laws was allowable (and several homeless people in the article agreed) the property damage itself if it happened wouldn't have been legal conduct by any officers who committed those actions. What an investigation needs to determine is did the officers engage in the destruction of personal property, did they ridicule the homeless while doing it, and were there supervisors present when this took place and did they direct any inappropriate or illegal behavior if it took place. What would be greatly helpful would be the recordings from the digital audio recorders issued to officers in Field Operations which would have been required to be activated if the officers initiated the contact with the homeless individuals. Hopefully they will shed some light on what took place.

Any investigation from a policy standpoint also should look at City Hall because often the policing of the homeless particularly in downtown Riverside (especially as opposed to other areas of the city where they congregate) is directed by the Seventh Floor of City Hall. One former city council member of the ward that includes downtown was allegedly notorious for trying to get political points for himself by trying to heavily police the homeless. A lot of policing in the downtown area including the homeless historically has been directed by City Hall, rather than the police department. Such policing practices are often referred to during election cycles as "political deployments" of officers and were practiced by two current city council members and two former ones so that they would appear "tough on crime" by pushing for the move of police resources into their areas.

Whether that's true now remains to be seen but again, another election cycle is upon this city so it will provide a good opportunity to find out.

But there's been alleged incidents that show that the relationship between police and the homeless is complex and it's also dependent on both the practices of police officers as well as the department's mission on policing.

On one occasion, three officers searched a homeless man carrying a pair of shoes among other things, piled him in a car and detained him for several hours until his mother was able to collect him. The same day that other homeless people were cleared out by City Hall due to some visiting dignitaries from Asia. This same homeless man alleged that five officers approached him several years ago when he picked up cans for recycling near the railroad tracks that snake through downtown and beat and kicked him after telling him he was on private property and he had placed his bag of cans on public property. Another homeless man was detained while sitting on a city bench downtown and told to start walking and keep at it "until you reach Corona".

But on the other hand, there are also many stories of officers who treat the homeless with compassion and help them find resources including those for mental health. There was a mentally ill homeless man who scared a lot of people downtown including when he allegedly threatened one man with a chair near Simple Simons. The police had to routinely 51/50 him for mental evaluation because there's not really much that could be done to help him and they were gentle with him when detaining him to take for 51/50. Others know that the homeless while often victimized themselves by violent crimes can be useful witness themselves due to their tendency to not be noticed and cultivate good relationships with them.

It really depends on the individual who's policing the city which way that relationship goes though it's hoped that the department views homeless in ways less specifically categorized than Diaz mentioned. It's a very difficult issue and the police are left to handle a lot of it. But effective partnerships with public agencies including those in Riverside County, private organizations, non-profits and churches and other religious institutions could go a long way towards making it more of a collaborative process.

But this incident is disturbing and needs a thorough investigation.


Some obvious questions to ask in this case, are about supervision. Where the supervisors present and how did they direct any actions, legal or illegal, inside policy or outside, that took place? And did the officers activate their digital recording devices as required if they initiated the professional contact and what was captured. If the devices weren't activated by one or more officers, why not?

Another internal investigation that took place that seemed to be particularly notorious involved a pair of police officers who allegedly ran over a dog in an intersection on purpose and then they drove by where people went to look at its body before driving off without stopping. When asked by supervisors why they did these actions which were captured on their digital video camera installed in the squad car, they said they were responding to a call when their CAD sheets showed no such call for service or response. Did they hit a dog, leave the scene and then not be honest about it in their interviews?

If this incident took place, it reflects problems worse within those involved than hitting a dog. Perhaps this speaks to what Diaz and Asst. Chief Chris Vicino refer to as "ethics based" policing. But if incidents like the above take place, even if they're not close to the majority of all police and public encounters, they do damage to community/police relations that's more difficult to repair than it is for the damage to be done in the first place. And when faced by incidents that are troubling, what's the response to both address those issues and how they impact these relationships between the police and communities?

Just after the incident a homeless man was attacked near the airport section. Diaz said that he was investigating his officers for the alleged incident but also said that homeless in the river bottom were "shelter resistant" because they couldn't sell "dope" or commit violent crimes. That might explain a few people but there's many others who don't use shelters because they have dogs that they don't want to be separated from or they themselves fear violence or theft in shelters including the armory or theft of their property if they're forced to leave it to go into a shelter. Other homeless choose to leave their property in the river bottom while they're away from it. Many seem to be apprehensive of being around homeless people they don't know. After all, many individuals who aren't in that situation couldn't imagine themselves going into shelters with a 100 or so people. That's part of the challenges is the diversity of the population as one-size-fits-all solutions don't work.

The homeless are a very diverse population (and this economic crisis has both added more homeless people and further diversified the population) and so are the reasons for them not going to shelters. Including ironically, themselves being fearful of each other in many circumstances. Homeless people might commit some violent crimes but they're also victims of violent crime including those who are non-homeless including those assaults and worse similar to hate crimes. And they're witnesses to other criminal activity because they're not always noticeable and fade into the background or they know victims of crimes. After all, a homeless gentleman related to me incidents involving former Officer Robert Forman and women several years before he was arrested and charged with sexual abuse under the color of authority and sexual battery.

Diaz' experience with homeless comes out of a long career spent in the Los Angeles Police Department and as the commander of downtown L.A., he would have spent much time dealing with homeless issues including the controversies surrounding the handling and policing of homeless in Skid Row. An area of many homeless not to mention the site of what's been called "patient dumping" by several hospitals who drop off discharged patients including those still on their stretchers.

But in order to better enforce and solve crimes involving homeless as perpetrators and victims, again, it's most helpful and productive to foster good relationships with them so that they'll trust the police. Because often times, that can make the difference in solving crimes including violent crimes.

Diaz has said that they're investigating both the encampment incident and the violent crime incident but incidents like the former if it took place will make investigation of the latter more difficult than it would be already. Because a lot of the issues of trust and willingness to work with police even in more distrustful populations hedges a lot on how police officers interface with them and if it's negatively, then it makes investigations of crimes in a vulnerable group of people more difficult and unfortunately, it doesn't take negative behavior by too many officers to make it difficult for all of them. Police officers are among the most readily identified not as much individually as who or what they work for in terms of their city and law enforcement agency. The badge and uniform are very strong identifiers for most people that police officers encounter both positively and negatively.

That was shown during testimony in the Forman criminal trial when Officer Justin Mann testified about how distrustful one of the victims was in terms of even allowing police officers in the house on a domestic disturbance called. When he asked her through her closed door why that was, she related the incident when Forman forced her to have oral sex in lieu of arrest, a charge he was later convicted on by a jury. Mann had nothing to do with what Forman did but he had the same badge, the same uniform and drove a squad car marked in the same way so he was indirectly associated with the aftermath of the actions of Forman even though he wasn't responsible himself. So what Forman did had a definite impact on Mann's ability to carry out his duties in policing.

Unfortunately, that's often what happens when one or a few misbehave and commit serious misconduct, it has a rippling effect on everyone else who works alongside with them.

Riverside Renaissance Over?

Paying the Piper

"The government in this city is out of control....to borrow 60% of 1.5 billion...is totally irresponsible.....I pay taxes in the city of riverside..and have owned property in the city since 1976......borrowing and rushing to spend a billion....dollars on city governments pet projects is totally irresponsible.....they are already talking about a sales tax increase....if they just improved infrastructure ....roads....sewers...power delivery facilities...that would at least partially make sense...they are spending money on refurbishing the old Fox Theater....built in 1929...hardly a benefit to all of the citizens in the City...just an example of a government boondoogle......"

---Commenter, PE.com





Riverside Renaissance might have run out of steam but don't worry, the enormous debt is just waiting to be stamped "past due" on city residents which have led people to fear that there will be huge utility rate increases. It's already been alleged that department leaders said in a meeting that the utility rates will see considerable hikes in the area of electricity use after the so-called rate freeze expires. But when it comes to a huge chunk of Riverside Renaissance, the city residents haven't really started paying for it yet, but be patient, those days will be coming because soon enough, that debt will have to be paid.

It's good to take care of infrastructure but as Renaissance winds down, at least one neighborhood just had three power outages in about a week as ancient transformers melt down or blow out to the point where you cross your fingers any day it gets warm. But there's those nice empty condos or apartments in the downtown area to look at. Some of the properties purchased under threat of Eminent Domain on Market Street were actually paid for initially by money "borrowed" from the city's sewer fund. Some of the changes in infrastructure were needed. Some were not, and seemed to be sweetheart deals to developers who contributed to several elected officials' campaigns. Others were projects that were done and then had to be done over because aesthetics trumped infrastructure when the latter is needed to be done before the former. And often accessibility by pedestrians and the disabled were greatly hindered or even blocked by scheduling projects to be done at the same time leading to simultaneous closures on both sides of a street. It's kind of funny to read a sign telling you a sidewalk is closed and go to the other side and then cross the street, only to see the same sign on the other side telling you to cross to the other side and so forth.

But it's not funny for those who are disabled or people with young children to have to practically walk in the street or in the center divider when this happens. Because even people on foot have to get places.

But Riverside Renaissance is still hailed as this great success. It's so successful that three politicians who touted it highly in their political campaigns were booted out of office as was nearly a fourth. So clearly the "success" of the Renaissance hasn't helped these elected officials overcome their deficiencies nor is it viewed as a strength either even though the involvement of city council members is advertised in marquee sign fashion all over the city.

And Renaissance is part of the reason why primarily because of its use to fund private developers' projects and the fear that when it's time to pay the piper, it will mean major collection of those monies from the city's residents at some point. The people who are saying well, we're going to have to raise sales tax, or pass a bond to raise property taxes are really out of touch because people do believe in paying for things but during these difficult times of recession (which doesn't appear to be quite over yet in the Inland Empire), not so much.

And will city residents be paying for these debts during difficult economic times when people are fighting to keep their homes and their livelihoods?

Human Resource Board Hears First Grievance in Years

[The Human Resources Board including Chair Ellie Bennett (r.) heard the grievance involving a non-union employee from the Human Resources Department]





[SEIU leader, Gregory Hagans represented the city employee in her grievance with the Human Resources Board]


The Human Resources Board heard its first grievance in several years, this time a non-union employee from the Human Resources Department which is interesting considering that the Board is highly dependent on that department for receiving information and performing its own duties under the charter amendment and municipal ordinance. The Board which has struggled in recent months with resistance from both the Fifth and Seventh Floor in terms of doing its job, was recently diverted in deft fashion by City Manager Brad Hudson into redefining itself rather than continuing to push for a sit down meeting with Development Director Deanna Lorson about the departure of a number of employees from her department lost to retirement and resignation including older female employees.

At its prior meeting, City Attorney Gregory Priamos had told the Board that the grievance would be held in an open session but on Sept. 30, a notice was posted on the board outside City Hall ordering it to be conducted in closed session.


[Riverside City Attorney Gregory Priamos issued this order on Sept. 30 to convert the open hearing into a closed session, a decision ultimately reversed.]


The grievant and her representative nixed that order and waived the confidentiality to have it heard in an open session. When asked about it, Priamos said that he had been approached after the last Board meeting by the chair and vice chair of the Board who had concerns about the "sensitive" nature of the proceedings and so the decision was then made to have it conducted behind closed doors.

But even though the Human Resources Board is utilizing one of its powers as it did when it was called the Personnel Board, in this case it was a bit problematic simply because the employee who was contesting a suspension without pay was an employee of Human Resources. The director of the department she worked for, Rhonda Strout, sat on the dais next to board members and Priamos. The Asst. Director, Jeremy Hammond also works extensively with the Human Resources Board as does a young female employee who actually was the employee's daughter and sat with her during the proceeding. With the Human Resources Board so heavily dependent on the Human Resources Department for information and its services, would it really risk burning it by issuing an advisorial finding against the discipline issued by the Human Resources Department.

The Department described by the employees advocating for the discipline sounded so different than the one that used to exist. Back then, the department employed a customer service employee who sat near the window at the old digs on Market and University rather than had an employee sit 5-6 feet away and be assigned to other jobs besides customer service. The department insisted the employee had too little work to do, which didn't seem logical in a department which has seen huge employee cuts as a result of over 30% budgetory cuts in the last few fiscal years.

When getting public documents on statistical information on city employees from Human Resources for the past 10 years, I had interacted with different department employees mostly female including the grievant and had always had excellent customer service even though employees were clearly quite busy. But clearly the department's cuts have had an effect on the allotment of its employees to probably multiple assignments to make up for the vacancies in that department that remained unfilled.

The other worrisome part that stood out is that this employee had 32 years with the city and consequently was close to retirement age at 55. And unfortunately, there's been cases where city department heads have allegedly made it difficult for employees nearing retirement age to stay on and collect their pensions, particularly those that were female. After all, the Human Resources Board had wanted to discuss the attrition rate for older employees including women in the Development Department with Lorson but were blocked by Hudson (and themselves) from doing so. So when it's an older employee that suddenly incurs disciplinary action after years of stellar investigations and commendations especially when there's a change in supervision, there's all kinds of things to look at (whether employee burnout or supervisory harassment to attrition them out) that might be going on, particularly in Riverside's work force.

City Quietly Recruits for Community Police Review Commission Manager

This job description was discovered posted on the city's site with the closing date for applications on Oct. 12. The vacancy was created when former manager, Kevin Rogan left for a job with the Los Angeles Police Commission last month.


The position was described by the following language:

(excerpt)



Under general direction of the City Manager/Assistant City Manager, to administer the activities of the Community Police Review Commission Office; to exercise authority and responsibility for the monitoring, review, and assessment of police misconduct investigations; to administer broad oversight powers that include the evaluation of the overall quality of police conduct and the authority to recommend systematic change in training and other preventive measures which will improve the quality of police services; to educate the public on the role of the position and the Commission; and to assist the community with the process and procedures for investigation of complaints against police officers; and to perform related work as required.

This classification is exempt from the classified service. The incumbent shall be appointed "at-will" and serve at the pleasure of the City Manager.





Administrative Analyst Mario Lara is currently filling the interim position as he did before Rogan's hiring in the summer of 2007 but when CPRC Chair Brian Pearcy gives the annual report on the commission's activities to the city council tonight, Oct. 5, it's expected to include a plea for the position to be filled by a permanent employee as soon as possible given how far behind on complaint review and other duties the commission fell the last time it had an interim manager. It's not clear whether or not the new manager will be reporting directly to Hudson because the previous ones reported to former Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis who is on his way out of city employment.

The commission has not thrived during the past several years to infighting and problems of micromanagement by individuals in City Hall including Hudson and Desantis.

Three Inland Police Agencies Receive COPS Grant Money

Riverside, Fontana and Banning Police Departments all received COPS grant money to fund new or vacant police positions.

In Riverside, Asst. Chief Chris Vicino was ecstatic about the department receiving just over $5 million in funding, enough to fund 15 entry level officer positions.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

"This is Christmas in September for us," said Riverside Assistant Chief Christopher Vicino. "We were very excited."

But it will take months for the new officers to start patrolling Riverside, Vicino said. At least four officers with other police departments have expressed interest in joining Riverside police, he said. Other positions could be filled with new applicants, who would have to complete a six-month academy with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

When the new hires arrive, they will be welcome, Vicino said. Councilman Andy Melendrez agreed.

"It allows more flexibility for our current officers," Melendrez said. "And it allows for our chief to spread the resources of the police around to better serve the communities."

A budget surplus discovered by City Hall had freed up funding for 12 police officer positions and 15 had been promised under the 2010-2011 fiscal budget which were either to come from the funding or from any recieved from the COPS grants. The positions will go towards filling the high number of vacancies in the police department which have resulted from attrition (retirements, resignations and terminations) and promotions at the higher levels to fill vacancies in management and supervision in the past eight months.

It will take time for the positions to undergo recruitment and hiring process and about a year or so until they're ready to be deployed solo. The grant pays their salaries and benefits for three years and the city has to promise a minimum of a 12 month commitment for these salary packages after the grant expires.

Riverside City Manager's Annual Salary Second Only To Bell's

UPDATE: Another Power Outage Hits Riverside? More details ahead...






[Riverside City Manager Brad Hudson is the second highest salaried in the state among employees in his position.]





It's time for us to stand up and tell city residents about what their police department has had to do because of the Hudson family. Leach's 23152 wasn't the only coverup ordered by RPD higher ups.


---Commenter, PE.com



"I don't know (Hudson) from Adam. But I think to be over $400,000, and to be the highest paid (city) administrator in the state of California, that takes some doing."



---California State Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, who chaired a committee that did the salary survey on 12o charter cities.




City managers as a whole are a well-compensated group of individuals, and I really don't believe that Riverside's compensation for its city manager is out of line for the size of the city."


---Riverside Councilman Mike Gardner



"You're already getting paid more than most. And then on top you need a couple sweeteners?"


---De La Torre



"Obviously I'm proud of the work we've done here. We're one of the only cities that hasn't tapped into their reserve, we have a balanced budget, we aren't laying people off, and we're making a $1.5 billion investment in the economy. "Am I worth what I'm paid? I think so."




----Riverside City Manager Brad Hudson who allegedly received a phone call not long ago to pay his public utility bill within 48 hours instead of a written notification posted on his door.





If ANYONE ever had any doubt about the level of incompetence and corruption present in city governement in Riverside, this story nails it!

The idea a single individual is taking down this level of compensation for the level of responsibility he has and the level of performance he has displayed to date borders on criminal. The idea the City Council believes the level of compensation paid to him is justified is beyond all comprehension and leaves one with incompetence as to the only justification they would believe that .


---Commenter, PE.com




Hudson makes that much when the lower level employees voted to take a pay cut for a year to help the city budget...somethings not right here.


----PE.com




"sigh"
I am glad he thinks he is worth it.

I don't agree though. But since the city council is wholly owned by him, I doubt we will get many changes any time soon.



---PE.com






"My son was making 8.25 an hour working for the City of Riverside when he was laid off. If the cities budget is so good, why couldn't they afford a part time minimum wage employee? Something just isn't right here. And to say he works 60 hours a week is a crock and unbelievable."



---PE.com






The information in this story really offended me. When these councilmen defend Hudson's stratospheric pay, what they're really saying is that they are not capable of running this City without him. Can this be true?


----PE.com


"The salary was provided in the context of the range of salaries city managers were receiving across the state. That's my answer."


---Mayor Ron Loveridge, who refused to answer the direct question.







The Press Enterprise did an article about Riverside's city manager, Brad Hudson being the second highest salaried in the state. That had been reported from a study that had been done by League of California Cities and another done by the California State Assembly and it came to light in the blog posted at the Los Angeles Times.

State Attorney General and governor candidate, Jerry Brown had pledged to investigate any city where the city manager was salaried and compensated for more than $300,000 annually but no word has been released on whether Riverside falls on any such list of inquiry. Even with all the antics that have come to light as taking place on Hudson's watch since he arrived in June 2005. But then if there are issues with the city's management whether in Bell, Indian Wells (a small but very wealthy city) or Riverside, a closer look needs to be looked at those elected officials oversee the management employee. Because the buck really does stop there and every four years the voting public has the ability to make that known loud and clear to their elected representatives.

Riverside's never had a problem of doing just that. Three city council members were voted out of office in the last two election cycles and another one was just a dozen votes away from being sent packing. This election cycle is expected to be more interesting in terms of the issues raised from all that's transpired (that's known about) in the past year. There's a lot of discussion and debate, some quite heated, out in the city about these issues and some of us certainly have heard it and it's hard to be dismissive in telling quite a large number of people that their concerns are invalid or they really shouldn't be worrying about what's been going on. This blog will leave it to other informative sources to do that. What's of major concern to many people is the lack of response from the elected leadership on these issues and what's clear is that many people who vote know who should be responding to their concerns, including on the eve of an election cycle that could reshape Riverside's political canvas even more so than has happened in previous years and in the past months.

But elected officials defended Hudson at around the time he reached his fifth anniversary working for Riverside, only days before the debate began over the guns, badges and cold plates scandals. About the use and later destruction of post it notes as the accountability method on record of documenting the assignment and use of city-issued vehicles to elected officials and management employees. The sudden announcement of the resignation of his right hand man, Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis didn't really seem to impact his approval rating among his bosses.

Hudson's total salary package was reported as being around $420,000 yet is that really the correct total or is that still really only a conservative estimate? What about his total vacation pay, used or unused?

Still unanswered questions and more people asking them. Just not the elected officials or at least not most of them, the ones who should be taking the lead to ask these and other questions. The more scandals come to light, the more some of them appear to circle the wagons around themselves and their city manager. But people notice and many of those people vote.






[Hudson's right hand man, former Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis cleans out his office after abruptly resigning after being thrown under the bus in the cold plates scandal by Hudson and being involved in working side deals with several former and current police employees.]








[Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge refused to answer the question about whether or not Hudson's salary package was still appropriate showing off his leadership skills in the process.]






[Riverside Councilman Mike Gardner believes that the compensation package that Hudson's receives is adequate for a city of Riverside's size.]






[Councilman Paul Davis has clashed with Hudson but said that Hudson appears to run a "tight ship".]




Hudson recently was allegedly notified by the Riverside Public Utilities Division that's under his umbrella that he had 48 hours to pay his utility bill or he would be turned off. It's nice that he received that perk whereas most people would have it posted on their property and some people would have their power turned off without even receiving a 48 hour notification. That perk is difficult to attach a monetary value to do in order to include it with his salary package but how many perks have there been including involving other city departments?

But then this is a guy who was able to get badges for himself and other management employees in his office, cold plates for his cars (which he blamed on others when it came out) and guns from the police department for himself and DeSantis. He's been given the power to dismiss ethics complaints filed against elected officials as shown in the case of a recent complaint filed against Councilman Steve Adams even though that violates a municipal ordinance. And without any response from those that employ him.

Riverside Renaissance itself begs many questions and further investigation in the areas of any change orders, bidding processes, funding sources, any double or triple billing taking place and duplication of the work on several projects including the lighting of one of the parks which was contracted out to a company which did it improperly so the work had to be done again by city employees. Riverside Renaissance was sold as being extremely popular yet three elected officials who ran on the platform of being heavily involved in its creation and implementation failed to be reelected during election cycles in 2007 and 2009. More questions are being asked about this program's actual costs for future generations of residents in this city.

Employees in Riverside have been laid off. Perhaps not to the degree of other places, but did Riverside rehire any of these people who lost jobs when they dug up those surplus millions from behind the proverbial couch? Hudson's salary has grown quite a bit in the past few years while other employees faced freezes in increases and some lost jobs including quite a few part-time employees among them, dozens of library pages. It's been interesting if somewhat troubling to watch the disconnect that exists between the elected officials who after all, are in charge of Hudson and what the residents of this city have witnessed unfolding in the past seven months. It will make for a very active political process next year including during the debates and discussions to take place while candidates, incumbents and otherwise, try to sell their platforms to the voters and wage arguments about why people should pull the lever for them.
But 2011 is shaping up to be a very interesting election year with candidates in at least two wards signing up to face off against incumbents Mike Gardner and Steve Adams and rumors of candidates in the ward currently represented by Councilman Rusty Bailey. And the much anticipated mayoral election in 2012 has attracted two candidates, Councilman Andrew Melendrez who just officially launched his campaign and former Councilman Ed Adkison so far with that election still two years away.

Riverside's not Bell but Bell's not Riverside. Each city has its own unique problems but they stem from whether or not the public is engaged in what their government is doing and the government is engaged in what its employees are doing. And how much accountability and transparency are involved in either case.

The politicians in this city might wish that their voters didn't pay so much attention to what was taking place behind the curtain but at this point, it's a little too late to unring the Bell.

Leon Phillips Remains a Lieutenant

The Starbucks in Canyon Crest Town Center was the scene of a robbery of a computer and what was interesting about the account is the person providing it was Lt. Leon Phillips. If you remember, not too long ago, there was news that Phillips was given a notice of intent to terminate for his role as a watch commander during the Feb. 8 DUI incident involving Former Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach. Then later it was revealed that he would receive two weeks without pay and a demotion to sergeant, the only involved employee who was subject to action that would likely reduce the annual salary which would factor into his retirement benefits. Whereas Leach and former Asst. Chief John DeLaRosa would not be impacted in the same way even though their actions were more problematic than those of Phillips, it appeared that the lieutenant would be taking the fall for the incident. And that Hudson had no problem with that outcome. The buck not making it up into the management level but stopping somewhere at mid-line supervision as far as Hudson's probe was concerned.

Asst. Chief Chris Vicino apparently told police union leaders at a meeting that he didn't agree with putting the blame all on the lieutenant and he wouldn't be the only one if that were the case. But Phillips remains undemoted because allegedly he and his attorney met with DeSantis and successfully got the discipline overturned after showing that there was dishonesty exercised by several who outranked him in the investigation against him, that "sweeping probe" conducted by Hudson that was anything but, and he received only a written reprimand. Meaning that why Hudson made disparaging comments in his investigative findings against Phillips while upholding the actions and veracity of his superiors, that what he said might not have been the full story. And since Hudson made those comments, he needs to come forward and set the record straight if it's true that Phillips was able to prove that others involved in the probe and not he had issues of veracity in their words or the way they conducted themselves. Allegedly he also received in writing an agreement never to be assigned to work with a certain police management employee for the duration of his career.

But as stated in the article, Phillips remains a lieutenant assigned to watch command as of the most recent shift change in August. And as of now, Hudson has yet to issue a statement about this development which is actually allowable under a sub-clause of the penal code pertaining to peace officer investigations. There are provisions within that state law to allow him to put a more accurate accounting of what transpired in the public record than what's been said or stated so far. But the situation with Phillips highlights problems with the city manager's decision to essentially investigate only select individuals in the police department (rather than other management or legal personnel outside the department) as well as to opt out of investigating itself in the mess surrounding Feb. 8.




News is coming out that former Riverside Police Department Det. Scott Impola who was arrested on assault charges last December has had his termination by Leach overturned and has medically retired. He was charged with forced entry into a noncommercial building, assault with ability to commit great bodily injury and unauthorized use of a confidential database, being in this case CLETS.



Eastwave celebrates cityhood.

Public Meeting

Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 3p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at Riverside City Council Chambers, the city council will be holding one of its meetings to discuss this agenda and also receive this report from Community Police Review Commission Chair Brian Pearcy earlier at 6:15 p.m.

Public Forums

Riverside Asst. Police Chief Chris Vicino

Riverside Police Asst. Chief Chris Vicino has scheduled two community forums on the following dates or locations:


Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. at Caesar Chavez Center, Eastside

Saturday, Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. at Orange Terrace Center, Orangecrest

Ethics Review Committee Meeting Schedule

At last evening’s meeting, the City Council unanimously appointed the Chairs of City Boards and Commissions and Jennifer Vaughn-Blakely (representing Ward 4) as a committee to conduct a comprehensive and thorough review of the City’s Code of Ethics and Conduct. The Committee’s recommendations must be forwarded to the City Council Governmental Affairs Committee within 45 days for their recommendation to the full City Council within two weeks thereafter.



A tentative meeting schedule has been set to meet the timeline set forth by the City Council:



Code of Ethics Review Committee: Thursday, October 7, 2010, 5 p.m.

Code of Ethics Review Committee: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 5 p.m.

Governmental Affairs Committee: Wednesday, November 3, 2010, 4 p.m.

City Council: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 6:30 p.m.



The City Attorney and City Clerk will provide administrative support to the Code of Ethics Review Committee and all meetings will be open to the public. An agenda and informational materials will be provided to the Committee members on or before Friday, October 1, 2010. The meetings will occur in or near City Hall and you will be notified in advance. If you need additional information, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at 951-826-5557.



Thank you,

Colleen J. Nicol, MMC

City Clerk

Some Time Away

I traveled to the huge city of L.A. and it's interesting how layered that city is compared to one like Riverside. Always so much to see, do or check out, whereas Riverside's nuked most of its events that aren't for its wealthier local or Orange County clientele.

L.A. has places like the Farmer's Market in its Fairfax District and its newer neighbor, the Grove which is an outdoor shopping mall that's very interesting in its design and implementation. Tourism is clearly down due to the worldwide recession but there were still many buses including those with visitors from countries like China, Germany and Japan. Unlike other shopping districts like some in downtown or Melrose Avenue, there's not a lot of unoccupied shop spaces in the Grove.






[A lot of empty buildings in Melrose Avenue's shopping district, fallout from the latest recession.]









[Now here's a shopping center. The Grove in West L.A. just adjacent to the Farmer's Market]






[Some dude named Mario Lopez, is he like some actor?]





[Some of the people being paid a couple of hundfed dollars a day to clap and cheer a lot.]

Building Cabinets and Selling Spock in a Recession

UPDATE: Riverside City Council rejects claim for damages filed by former RPOA President and detective Chris Lanzillo in a decision which may have reverberated through the city manager's office up to Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis.


More shuffling as Lt. Bruce Loftus goes to the Personnel and Training office and newly promoted lieutenant, Daniel Hoxmeier to head an NPC?







The Press Enterprise Editorial Board weighs in on the city council and its vehicle perks which have been enjoyed by members of the city council, both past and present. This is in reaction to an article by the publication about the city officials' use of city-owned cars, cold plated or not, and the access to unlimited gasoline paid for by city residents. The editorial board says that program has got to go. Will it be in place or gone by the upcoming election cycle?

If the entitlement remains strong at the 'Hall, then this controversial welfare program for governmental officials will remain in place even though no one can seem to explain how it all got started. But if elected officials remember that voters will be seeking representatives who work for them and not the other way around, then it will go the way of most of the city's orange groves and annual festivals. And it might be done in a grandiose fashion when the timing's right, but regardless it should be done.

People are too busy struggling to pay for their own gasoline to subsidize that of politicians who frankly can pay their own gas or get an allowance that really is less than what they're getting now no matter how some in City Hall have insisted that giving elected officials carte blanche to spend money on gasoline and get cars (which after all have to be maintained and in some cases, repaired) actually saves the tax payers money.

Which as the coverage in the newspaper has shown, just isn't true. And what might help city residents not get upset about these embarrassing scandals and keep focusing (but not too closely) on developments like Riverside Renaissance is if City Hall stops marketing these scandals including their subsidized gasoline during a recession as good for the city residents rather than as the truth which is enhancing political and social status by acquiring perks and in some cases, toys to foster that at the expense of city residents including many struggling now.

And what might also help is if people like Councilwoman Nancy Hart stop channeling historical figures like Marie Antoinette in being dismissive of the concerns of city residents regarding the scandals slipping out from underneath the rugs where they were buried at City Hall.

If that doesn't happen, then don't be surprised if those rugs and the rest of City Hall gets a thorough cleaning out beginning next year.

But per usual, the editorial board had some very strong words to the city and it's correct in that this practice should be stopped especially because there's next to no accountability and transparency attached and the car allowance system should be what's in practice.


(excerpt)

So what are residents to make of the fact that Councilman William "Rusty" Bailey has spent an average of $77.10 a month on gas, while Councilman Steve Adams spent an average of $284.44? Adams says only 20 percent of his driving is for personal reasons, yet he accounts for a third of the total council spending on gasoline in the past three years. Is Adams that much more involved in city business than the rest of the council?

Riverside taxpayers have no way of knowing, as the city does not keep detailed records of council vehicles. The city does not track personal use, but relies on the honor system.

That approach is less than reassuring for a City Hall that has used illegal license plates and does not know how the council car perk started in 2007. City Manager Brad Hudson says one council member asked about car benefits at some point, but he does not recall who that was. Former council members say the council never discussed the matter.

Apparently 2007 was a time before modern memory, and innovation in Riverside does not extend to taking notes. Does City Hall really think such a nonsensical account does anything but make city government look ridiculous?

The appearance of unaccountable privilege is dangerous for any city government, and especially for one that has struggled with civic transparency. Junking the council's car policy would signal a commitment to changing that perception -- and represent a more responsible use of public property.

[Riverside Councilman Steve Adams spent the most money on gasoline and said that only 20% of his vehicle use is to conduct personal business. He had a city-issued and cold plated vehicle towed from where it had been impounded in Newport Beach and allegedly put on Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis' card.]





[Riverside Councilman Rusty Bailey was on the lower end in terms of enjoying free gasoline, does this mean he doesn't get out much or he's more fiscally mindful? It's tough to know the answer based on the limited information provided by City Hall on the allocation of city owned vehicles and gas cards to city officials. At some point, he inherited a cold plated Toyota Highlander driven by at least two other denizens at City Hall before the plates were removed.]

Building a Kitchen Cabinet

[Riverside Chief Sergio Diaz spent a busy first 30 days building his management "cabinet" and promoting 13 officers to fill vacancies in the department resulting from attrition, sudden retirements and a long-time promotional freeze.]




This is the latest unfortunate news coming out of the beleaguered City Hall in Riverside that has people upset and talking about it and the upcoming election. People ask what's coming up next on the horizon involving either City Hall or the police department which lost its chief and several key management personnel earlier this year to rather abrupt retirements in the wake of the Feb. 8 DUI incident involving former chief, Russ Leach. The city hired a new chief, Sergio Diaz who had recently retired from the Los Angeles Police Department as a deputy chief. He took the helm on July 1 and his first 30 days saw the appointment of Capt. Mike Blakely as deputy chief, picking from a roster of captains who outside of Blakely had risen up to that position through very questionable promotional practices including one who was promoted after he "cleared the air" with a councilman at a restaurant all the way in Corona and another who was promoted not long after he allegedly drove to Victorville to pick up an inebriated Leach and take him home. That didn't exactly create a management staff that created much faith in it among those it managed. If you can't trust the process including if what's done isn't actually adhering to the process, then how can you trust its outcome?

That's what appears to have happened in the police department involving its management staff and everyone else. And the impact of City Hall engaging in the promotional process from at least 2005 not to mention promotions allegedly given out for other reasons like who drank with who or who vacationed with which influential person did their damage and likely contributed greatly to a climate that facilitated some of the scandals that took place involving the dynamic between the department and elements from the top floor of City Hall.

Leach had been picked up, this time by a lieutenant watch commander at the site where two of his own patrol officers had stopped him suspecting him of DUI after he had driven his city-issued Chrysler 300 on rims for several miles after an unspecified collision with a stationary object shredded his tires, seriously damaging his vehicle. That lieutenant, Leon Phillips, had several phone chats with then Asst. Chief John DeLaRosa about what to do with the chief who he, then Sgt. Frank Orta and at least one of the two patrol officers had insisted that they told DeLaRosa had been intoxicated or a DUI. DeLaRosa denied ever being told anything about Leach being intoxicated and his contention of events was backed by City Manager Brad Hudson even in the face of three other officers who said differently.

Orta phoned up his sister about the traffic stop and his sister told her husband, who just happened to be Councilman Andrew Melendrez who appeared to have not responded in any official capacity involving the growing scandal. Mayor Ron Loveridge allegedly had his office tipped off (as he was out of town at the time) by a mysterious woman and at some point, the city management was told about it which must have been an amazing feat for Hudson because his city-issued phone that he took with him to Pasadena on business had been shut off most of the day and hadn't made or received any phone calls until in the evening allegedly one hour after he had already somehow reported the incident to his underlings.

City Attorney Gregory Priamos preferred to keep a veil of secrecy around the actions involving his own city-issued phone citing a broad sweeping attorney/client privilege. But of course he had been too busy advising the community police review commission to not violate its bylaws by changing the times of its meetings, diligently locating public documents in his own office and turning them over and keeping the city government advised about how to avoid problems with civil liability by having a chief who had been publicly intoxicated on various occasions and also telling city council members not to violate the city's charter by involving themselves in personnel decisions including the promotional process involving the police department. Of course, he wasn't doing any of the above and the city government which employs him of course never examined the issues. Even his statements early on in the Leach incident to his bosses that alcohol played no role in that incident, no absolutely not.

Concerns have arisen among city residents about what had happened with Leach even before the badges, cold plates and illegally purchased glocks scandals arose even as City Hall said that "mistakes were made" and it had adequately addressed them and others close to City Hall ridiculed city residents for being concerned about corruption in the midst of a building that is owned by city residents and rented out to elected officials on four-year leases. Can't we all just sit around, release some doves and sing Kumbaya? Even as many city residents wondered what Koolaid they had been drinking. Next year, it will be pretty clear what everyone's been drinking when four incumbents contest for extensions on their leases against a growing roster of candidates including some who have announced their intentions already. The city had been riding an anti-incumbent sentiment for at least two election cycles which saw former councilmen Dom Betro, Art Gage and Frank Schiavone all issued eviction notices after elections where at least two of the candidates had been favored to repeat as winners but were unseated by newcomers engaging in very aggressive grass-roots campaigns.

Public safety is always a stalwart issue for candidates, old and new, to run on and promise as a priority when running for election. Yet, the police department which began this year now six months later is in very different straits. Its three highest ranking members including Leach have retired. Three officers filed grievance claims for damages with the city, alleging retaliation by the department and in some cases, city joining two lawsuits which were filed several years ago and settled in April involving two former police lieutenants who had reported the guns, badges and cold plates scandals to an investigator in the State Attorney General's office.

Other officers had sued the department and city in the past for retaliatory practices (mostly after filing grievances on other issues) and in several cases, judges and/or civil juries have said that the allegations of retaliations have been the strongest in the lawsuit or the trial which certainly was the case of the trial proceedings involving Officer Roger Sutton which resulted in a $1.64 million verdict. Yet the department and city often continue to openly engage in questionable practices involving its employees who file grievances or lawsuits as is being shown in various city departments right now. The exact price of this litigation is difficult to even calculate but probably runs in the tens of millions of dollars which is no joke during the most difficult economic period in the city's recent history.

The lack of experienced upper management in the police department due to the agency's highly destructive promotional practices involving upper management personnel in the past several years led Diaz to shop outside for both the assistant chief position and that of one of the deputy chiefs. He opted for a two-time interim chief in Pasadena's police department in Chris Vicino, an officer who was investigated by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office within his first couple of years as a patrol officer for a highly controversial incident where a man lost his sight in one eye after being struck by a flashlight. The DA closed the case in 1989 and he rose up through the ranks of a troubled agency having to temporarily lead it twice in more recent years.

The second time he became an interim, he had been hired by current city manager Michael Beck who as it turns out had last worked as an assistant city manager in Riverside under Hudson. Beck as you've read also was implicated in the badge scandal along with Hudson and DeSantis. The Crown Victoria assigned to him also allegedly had been cold plated at some point. But Beck was also seen as an employee who chafed a bit under the tight control of Hudson, not always wanting to play along. Still people shook their head at the wonder of hiring an "outside" assistant chief with two degrees separation away from Hudson's office. The world can be a truly small place at times.

While Blakely is earning 5% more salary while sitting at his familiar haunt, the administrative and personnel side of the department, Diaz has been shopping around for another deputy chief so that he or Blakely can be assigned to oversee the investigations and field operations divisions. Two candidates allegedly emerged from Diaz' old home, the LAPD and both of them are African-American so if either were hired, they would become the highest level of that racial demographic in the department's history. Last week, Blakely allegedly accompanied LAPD Commander Jeffrey Greer on a tour of police facilities which raised a few eyebrows because why show off the police stations to someone from out of town unless they're a serious candidate for a position? The other candidate that had emerged was Mike Williams who also hailed from the LAPD.




[Commander Jeffrey Greer who hails from Diaz' old haunt, the LAPD was recently seen getting a tour of Magnolia Police Station by Blakely.]





Some people thought it made sense for at least one upper management employee to come from the same agency that Diaz did, much as former Chief Ken Fortier had brought Blakely with him over from San Diego's police department when he was hired in the early 1990s. This time, unlike with Blakely, they will be serving at will, purportedly to Diaz and wouldn't be relegated to the captain rank when their stints ended in Riverside.

It remains of course to be seen who will win the spot of deputy chief but an announcement should be coming soon if candidates are touring the facilities where one of them might be reporting to work soon. And whoever it will be, it will be interesting to see how the dynamic forms between the three members of upper management and their relationship with their boss, Diaz.

Not to mention the captains below them.



[Asst. Commander Mike Williams also from the LAPD is also allegedly being considered for the remaining deputy chief position.]




The shift change began last week and much of the department had already been reorganized with the department's patrol officers at Magnolia Police Center picking up their stakes and moving to Lincoln Field Operations Station where they will all be working, due to concerns raised about a lack of uniformity in terms of information and even training received by officers working at two different facilities. The Eastern Neighborhood Policing Center led by its commander, Lt. Vic Williams will be heading to downtown Riverside to be housed in space next to that held for over a year by its northern counterpart which had moved down there when Williams had been assigned to it. But before Williams and the NPC can set up shop there, the current tenant of that space, which is the Internal Affairs Division has to move elsewhere.

The decision which appeared to have been rashly made and implemented to move the administrative investigative division to the bus terminal had been controversial and made the first few months it spent in those digs (which were much different than the rental space it enjoyed near the Riverside Plaza) very rocky indeed with people banging on its doors confusing it with the Greyhound Bus Station and with equipment problems including with its computers for several months. Concerns were raised by its close proximity to a field division which were countered by the belief that the field officers were essentially serving as "bodyguards" for the Internal Affairs Division. The General Services Division had been given the unenviable task of handling the relocation of the Internal Affairs Division with about a two week turnaround before its office lease expired. It's not clear yet where this division will be housed but it could be at its old location in Orange Street Station, the Magnolia Police Station or elsewhere.

Special Operations had been staffed by Capt. John Wallace who had been promoted to that position while still in his thirties and had been assigned by Leach to oversee both that division and Investigations in the wake of Capt. Mark Boyer's abrupt retirement after there had been tension between him and Leach who allegedly never got over the veto by City Hall of his promotion of Meredyth Meredith in late 2005 which was given to Boyer instead. Wallace focused the vast majority of his time and writing skills on Special Operations which watched two of its three assigned lieutenants retire in late 2009 leaving Lt. Larry Gonzalez as the only one a mere six months after he had been assigned there after working as the NPC East commander for several years.

That left Lt. Mike Perea, who worked in Investigations the task of essentially running it. Perea had just come out of a stint in Personnel and Training where he had worked under DeLaRosa and Blakely. Personnel and Training would turn out to be lucrative for those who worked in the past few years when it came to being promoted to the ranks of sergeant and lieutenant whether those candidates succeeded in that assignment or not.

With the reorganization, Carpenter who had worked as a field operations captain with Meredith was reassigned to Special Operations while Wallace was assigned to oversee the entire field operations division ...except one. Soon enough after Carpenter began reporting to Blakely, he received an increasing workload and quite a bit of pencil whipping assignments, including not only all the divisions in Special Operations which ranges from SWAT/Aviation to Traffic but he received all four of the city's NPCs as well.

Which meant that Carpenter was going to be rather tired at the end of the day.


[Capt. John Carpenter who heads Special Operations is getting even more assignments piled on his increasingly busy plate by taskmaster Blakely. ]




And Carpenter's promotion to captain had encountered a degree of controversy when it came to light in sworn testimony including his own that some interesting events had taken place during that process. His name had been put out by Leach as the one he wanted promoted to captain and that had run afoul with a member of the city council, former officer Steve Adams who had allegedly asked Hudson to remove Carpenter from consideration for presenting an anti-gang initiative to the city's Public Safety Committee which instead was done by a higher ranking officer in the department. Adams' beef with Carpenter had allegedly been that he had hung out with former Riverside Police Administrators' Association President Darryl Hurt and PAC member Tim Bacon when that union's political arm decided to back another candidate besides Adams for city council in 2007.

Carpenter's name had been caught up in that hailstorm and that had put him on Adams' not-so-favorite-police-officer list. Carpenter's promotion spent some time in a holding pattern until not long after Leach had former Deputy Chief Pete Esquivel who's close friends with Adams, broker a dinner at a Corona restaurant to "clear the air" between both parties. And that apparently is what happened between the two former friends. Not long after that, less than 24 hours allegedly, Carpenter was promoted to captain.


The captains besides Blakely had put in haphazard work time until the news came that a new chief would be on the horizon so heads went to the grindstone and the others began to try to catch up with Blakely who clocked in and worked diligently from the time he arrived to when he clocked out. While the captains had been fretting and sweating during the months following the Leach incident, Blakely came to life and flourished in his role of essentially running the agency after DeLaRosa got knocked out except in rank only by his cell phone records and often deferred decision making to his mentor.

DeLaRosa and Blakely kept the Internal Affairs Division very busy with investigations opening up and being prioritized seemingly based on which police employee had run afoul of the new interim management whether it was former Det. Chris Lanzillo who talked back to DeLaRosa during one of his roll call bull sessions or Esquivel who flirted with putting his name in for the permanent chief's position during a time that Hudson had been touting DeLaRosa. Officers with long histories of no internal investigations and/or no discipline found multiple cases opened on them and some like Officer Neely Nakamura had to sit and be probed by "graphic" questions about sexual relationships with other employees. Even after she had admitted to a relationship with the higher ranking Esquivel, she sat there and had been compelled by that division to answer questions essentially meant to embarrass her by division head, Lt. Mike Cook who incidentally served on Hemet's Unified School District board with DeSantis. It apparently didn't take long for the contents of the interview to make the rounds of the rest of the police department which might have been the point behind it.

But apparently when it comes to relationships like these within the ranks, it's the female and often subordinate officers who get these types of interviews so Nakamura's experience isn't exactly without precedent. But then to be a female officer in any agency including the Riverside Police Department often means being better than the men and unable to make mistakes. Take Kim Crutchfield and Cliff Mason for example, both former sergeants who were demoted, she for failing probation and he for an on-duty incident where he failed to properly supervise. Mason was promoted back to sergeant 18 months after his demotion while Crutchfield was promoted too, as a detective with some wondering if the former was done a bit too soon after the demotion.

Only time will tell and hopefully that hasn't been the case but given the department's checkered history with addressing the issue of sexual misconduct on duty, it's quite interesting. Last week, I received a complaint from an individual livid about having heard from a friend about an alleged sex on duty incident he witnessed that had been done recently in the western area of the city at the same time that he had learned about Mason's own history the last time he had been in patrol supervision. Not exactly something the public wants to see from an officer but it did bring up some questions in the wake of what standards are held for particular types of misconduct and how they're applied.

It's very difficult to know what to say about the former alleged incident in the reality of the latter being dealt with only by an 18 month demotion because what the standards are set for supervision and management ultimately define the department's stance on the behavior it expects from everyone. Not just in terms of addressing whether it's right or wrong to make the decision to promote an individual who engaged in that conduct rather quickly but just to know what to say to individuals in the city population when it comes up as an issue or a question, period.

Does the department take this type of misconduct seriously or not and does it apply a standard of conduct that's consistent up the ranks of its officers? How it treats its officers but especially those who are encharged to lead, manage and supervise (especially in terms of imposing double standards) speaks greater than any words or pledges made to promote accountability and professionalism through the ranks.

Why file a complaint about that type of misconduct if the department treats it like that? Even as a woman closer to City Hall had allegedly been stopped by an officer allegedly to only obtain personal information about her. That's been treated as serious misconduct in other cities including Wallkill, New York which wound up being just behind Riverside in terms of obtaining a state consent decree against it after an investigation was launched into allegations of "driving while female" were made. It was interesting if disturbing to hear accounts of both alleged incidents involving officers and members of the public fairly recently in the wake of a promotional process where at least two of those promoted had been disciplined to varying degrees in relation to sexual misconduct.

But what the public's been picking up because it's not particularly stupid is that when it comes to misconduct in the police department, the expectations of responsibility and accountability seem to actually lessen the higher up in rank held by that employee and that definitely extends outside the department itself into City Hall. That's one of the most disturbing revelations coming out of the Leach incident where the watch commander received discipline that possibly rolled his retirement salary downward while the higher ranking employees in the incident retired with their salaries intact as if it had never happened at all. That lesson that management accountability is apparently lesser than at least supervisory was one that many people picked up on and that's one of the main patterns of behavior that has to be changed if the police department is to regain the public trust lost through the Leach incident and its aftermath.

When accounts of incidents like these come in, it's difficult to know whether it's worth addressing them as the misconduct that they are if they are true allegations when a wink and a nod is given to those in the higher ranks. And that's unfortunate because even though a very tiny number of officers in an agency might be engaging in this form of misconduct, its impact and often the fallout affects everyone working around them. That proved to certainly be the case in the handling of the infamous Leach incident where the actions of very few impacted how city residents looked at the department as a whole and those who work there. One of the reasons why it's critical to address any misconduct issues in an accountable fashion before they became major incidents.

Also compare and contrast the experience of Carpenter and Meredith when it came to having their promotions objected to by Adams according to sworn testimony and which one of the two was able to meet with Adams to "clear the air" and which one had that door slammed in her face and was referred to as a "fat bitch" allegedly by a sitting city council member? But ironically Carpenter had been part of a quickly settled reverse discrimination lawsuit in 2000 and one of the promotions being objected to by the litigants? The July 1999 promotion of Meredith to lieutenant. So their paths had crossed before.

But if Adams' issues with both candidates for promotion did sway Leach and Hudson in their decision making then Adams' actions were in violation of the city's charter against administrative interference. At any rate, it would have put both candidates in positions they never should have been in.







[The police department's highest ranking female is Capt. Meredyth Meredith whose proposed promotion by Leach in late 2005 led one councilman to allegedly say there was no way that "fat bitch" would get promoted. But Meredyth was elevated to captain six months later after telling Leach she had grounds for a "discrimination" lawsuit.]



While women dominated the latest lieutenant's list, they haven't fared well in the promotional process with only one of them, Melissa Bartholomew, ranked at fifth, being promoted before Diaz arrived. And even though the histories of other candidates on the promotional lists were a major criterion for eligibility for promotion, several officers on different lists hadn't even received performance evaluations 18 months or longer by Blakely or anyone else encharged with that responsibility before this latest round of promotions. So if an officer up for promotion is being evaluated on their histories, wouldn't you think that a recent evaluation might be a little bit helpful in that process? And the problem is that if recent histories aren't there to be reviewed because the performance evaluations that are supposed to be done are left undone, then that leaves their "histories" to be reported by those who failed to perform timely evaluations of these employees without providing any written record documenting these recent histories.

Then again, the thrust of Sutton's major payday at his trial had believe it or not, been more than 10 years of written evaluations placed one by one for over an hour on an Elmo for the jury to read for itself that yes, he had exceeded or met standards on almost every single one. That made the city's attorney's promises to expose Sutton as the worst rogue officer in the department's history fall somewhat short because written records are that powerful in people's minds when compared to recollections provided by witnesses on the stand of someone's performance. In the face of the written history of positive evaluations, what's the city to do to counter that? Because if an officer's so bad in the field, why would his supervisors be giving him positive or passing evaluations? There's no answer to that question that just doesn't make that process and essentially those encharged with performing evaluations look just awful.

But the city put itself in that unenviable position by its own actions.

If performance evaluations were taking 18 months or longer to be done, that would truly be disappointing to former State Attorney General Bill Lockyer who cited the failure of regular evaluations being conducted on officers as an allegation of misconduct in his lawsuit against the city of Riverside which resulted in the stipulated judgment in place between 2001-06. Under the judgment, evaluations on officers were to be performed on an annual basis. Apparently not the case with some of the officers up for promotional spots.

And there needs to be an accounting for that if that's what is taking place from the departmental management if that's a process that needs to get back on track.

Beam Me Out Scotty?

Riverside's Star Trek exhibit isn't attracting the numbers that were hoped. But at $15 a head in the middle of a recession, is that really that surprising? After all, the Fox Theater's numbers are down for similar reasons. People just aren't spending major bucks for entertainment right now. After all, it's not like the public's getting free tickets, they're just paying for them. Maybe if they used that instead to lower ticket prices for some events and exhibits at least on special days, hey might see larger crowds. That's the only way the exhibit will make money is if it dropped its admission price to something a bit more affordable for prospective visitors. After all, all the arts, culture and innovation in the world isn't worth much if people can't afford to enjoy it. And it doesn't look like the anticipated crowds from Los Angeles or Orange Counties are flocking the exhibit either.

But if people are barely holding onto their homes and losing jobs in a region with a 15% official unemployment rate, that usually results in less money spent for entertainment including overpriced museum exhibits. Besides hundreds of prospective arts and innovation fans were applying to compete for 30 positions at a seasonal store so they couldn't make it to the Star Trek exhibit.

But here's a suggestion, maybe have a job fair and promise everyone an interview who pays $5 to attend the exhibit and the city just might see the crowd that it covets.





Residents of Perris struggle with sewer fees.



More furloughing in San Bernardino?

Transfer of Power

[In about 18 days, the city will assume control of its Wi Fi network from AT&T, hopefully without too many problems. A semi-transfer of the network that took place in July 2009 led to two weeks of outages. The city has applied for a grant which if won, will allow it to expand its network.]




Hemet's the best place in the state to cool off if the power fails.



Candidates lining up for San Jacinto's recall election.