Election 2009: The future of Chinatown

"The corruption just continues at this police department."


---San Bernardino Police Department Sgt. Mike Desrochers about his own agency.






The Riverside City Council held its public hearing involving the fate of the land where once stood Chinatown. Developer and campaign contributor Doug Jacobs wants to build medical office space on top of what's a historical landmark and where a collection of artifacts still rest beneath some dirt which sits within the boundaries of the self-titled "City of the Arts".

Members of the city's Chinese-American community wanted to preserve its heritage through keeping those artifacts safe for future generations and they had a lot of supporters overflowing the city council chambers. But just as the development of Chinatown was both fostered and halted by the racist legislation Congress passed against Chinese nationals trying to immigrate into this country's "melting pot", so in a more symbolic way has that community faced having its history potentially destroyed. Chinatown wasn't the first neighborhood in Riverside to be created as a result of racist housing laws within the city's boundaries but it's the only one to have had its buildings leveled and its artifacts treated more like a nuisance than important reminders of a huge part of Riverside's past when much of the wealth it developed (as one of the country's most prosperous cities) came about on the backs of the Chinese-American and Latino citrus crop laborers who picked the fruit.

What came about the discussion what little of it took place might be a monument, a consolation prize given to communities of color for some other action.

This journey to the city council vote was a long one. During parts of it, there were victories and there were setbacks, the kind that comes when dealing with a city where developers are king and everyone else including the city's basic infrastructure services are scrambling and scrapping over what's left.


The Land Use Committee had overturned a decision by the Planning Commission on appeal which had favored doing more to weave the history of Riverside's Chinese-American community into the architecture of the buildings. Of course, the Planning Commission is a group of city residents who volunteer their time whereas the Land Use Committee consists of three city council members. One of them, Chair Rusty Bailey had been endorsed by Jacobs during his successful 2007 bid for office, according to his own Web site. Next year, being an election year, perhaps some other prospective candidates might go shopping as well for campaign donations from developers including Jacobs even though the construction crisis has begin to dry up even those previously deep pockets.

And as stated here, the "hearing" itself was just a formality. Over 100 people who supported the preservation of artifacts from Chinatown organized brilliantly, forming a coalition of organizations and individuals which spanned the country. They were 100 times the force that the other side could be. In the other corner, you had a handful of representatives and heads of the city's various chambers of commerce including in downtown and what's called the Greater Chamber who weren't organized, weren't prepared but then when you're in the select group of power brokers in Riverside, you don't have to be. People walked into this meeting believing that they had a serious chance to sway the city council to preserve the archaeological site and walked out learning the truth which is they had no chance at all.

The city council spent much of its time chastising the Chinese-American community which was fighting for its heritage the way Whites often chastise people of color about their own histories and what portions of them should be valued. Councilwoman Nancy Hart scolded a North High School freshman and then started talking about a tea-cup not bringing back someone's grandma which confused a lot of people in the audience. But then given that she's up for reelection again and potentially facing some serious competition, maybe she's planning ahead. Councilman Steve Adams who seconded Ward One Councilman Mike Gardner's motion to go with Jacobs' plan said very little, with nary even an insult crossing his lips.


The strangest event of the night was when Mayor Ron Loveridge who runs the meetings admonished people for "uncivil" behavior which consisted of clapping loudly in response to several speakers including a professor from UCR who said that he knew that unless Jacobs and the city respected the artifacts on the site, that UCR's new medical center would have nothing to do with the new office building.

Does this mean that the Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a meeting to discuss the criteria under which clapping can be considered a behavioral violation? Just think how interesting it will be if you receive a letter from City Attorney Gregory Priamos admonishing you for clapping at a meeting.

But what was also very interesting was the scolding done by Councilman Frank Schiavone and a developer about why the Chinese-American community didn't just raise the money to buy the land themselves or to do their own excavation of the artifacts. What neither of these two men mentioned is that the Riverside Board of Education which owned the property made a promise to develop or sell it only for educational purposes according to a 1990 meeting minute order and now is turning around and wanting to sell it to a developer for usage which has little or nothing to do with education. And what if the community tried to buy it from a developer? Would the developer triple the cost of sale for the property?

But one famous French royal (though not Maria Antoinette) said it better. "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche"


Interestingly enough, it was only earlier that day during the Redevelopment Agency meeting when the city showed how it buys property and then slices the price to sell to private developers. This time, it was a piece of land purchased for $4.4 million that it turned around and sold to a developer for $2.2 million. What kind of deal has someone buy property with tax payer money and then turn around and flip it for such a loss? Can't developers themselves pay the original asking prices without the city serving as their brokers? Does the city really have money to toss around like that? Apparently it does. But it sounds a lot like the decision making in the financial markets of this country. Will the city residents of Riverside end up bailing their government out?


Here were some of the responses given during the three-hour public hearing which ended with the same 7-0 vote that the city council probably walked into the chambers holding.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




Council members Nancy Hart and Frank Schiavone praised Jacobs for going "above and beyond" what most developers would do and for agreeing to "unprecedented" mitigation measures.

City Councilman Rusty Bailey said he believed the project offered an opportunity to celebrate the site's history and open a window into the city's heritage.

"How do we tell the story (of Chinese-American pioneers) if we don't have the ability to experience what is there?" Bailey asked.

A majority of the roughly 40 people who spoke before the City Council and the standing-room only crowd supported preserving the site's "treasure trove" of archaeological resources.

Preserving the site is not just a Chinese-American issue but a community issue, Riverside resident Judy Lee said.

"Will money always trump heritage?" she asked.

Scott Fedick, a UC Riverside anthropology professor, said "excavation is not preservation."



On the eve of an election year, the city council once again went with the developer Doug Jacobs and not with city residents, arguing that medical office space was in desperate need which is pretty similar to what the city officials said several years ago about condos. The reality is, the city has empty office space it can't fill, including medical office space and some medical and dental offices that were already in existence were subjected to threats of eminent domain in the past. And what kind of doctors will fill these offices if they are indeed filled? Probably mostly specialists, including those who will be outside the price (or insurance range) of many city residents. Yes, Riverside will be getting a new medical school for its state university some day in the future, but what provisions have been made so that it will graduate doctors which are sorely needed in fields including ob/gyn, gerontology, internal medicine and family practice?

Still, it was interesting to attend and hear all the information provided on the fields of archaeology which is meant to preserve and respect and the same field being used to excavate in a way that can be destructive and permanent. The organization and coalition building was amazing. Was it wasted? No, of course not. After all, next year is another election year in this city.



No further retirements to announce involving supervisory police officers at the Riverside Police Department at this time. The department is currently filling eight vacancies created through attrition meaning that employees retired, resigned, failed to make probation or were fired from employment. There's still many of the original police positions that were passed and promised by the city council during the past several years that have either disappeared or have been frozen depending on your word choice. This is one of the more serious problems in the city's infrastructure that not much is being heard about except for reassurances from the city manager's office that the department is "fully staffed" and from the police department that there are more officers than ever.

That's like saying the stock market is better than ever when in actuality, it's at the lowest level since 2003. The police department has more personnel than ever when in actuality, it's at its lowest level since way before 2003.


But get this, the police department is what two years out of the stipulated judgment, about three-fourths the way through its Strategic Plan and $22 million and counting paid in reforms and its current patrol staffing levels rival those of about 20 years ago. You know, during the 1980s where big hair and flashy clothes ruled and Riverside had about half the population that it has now. If the officer to sergeant ratios are looking a little bit better than several months ago, is it because the number of sergeants has stopped decreasing or because the number of officers on each assigned shift has been reduced?

The vacant supervisory positions haven't been filled except for one lieutenant and one sergeant position. So as many officers for a city of 300,000 as the city had for a population half of that size and most of them are young and inexperienced and so they have more supervisors right? And community policing is expanding not shrinking due to lack of personnel to staff it, right?

Well, maybe. And the answer depends on who you ask.

What the city government and some of its direct employees should do is find a chalkboard and some chalk and then write this 100 times.

"If you don't learn from your past, you are doomed to repeat it."


It's most unfortunate that such a thing would even have to be suggested mere months before the 10th anniversary of the fatal shooting of Tyisha Miller. But there you and we, are.




Not much lately on the barely there Community Police Review Commission except that there's now five elected officials who have signed on with at least one other on a written statement to some audience backing City Manager Brad Hudson's directive. There hasn't been a public forum on the issue through a meeting and if some of them have their way, there won't be. And the reason why goes back to what happened with Chinatown at the City Council meeting. The elected officials are more cognizant of their constituents with check books than those who merely vote (or may not vote).

There's murmerings in City Hall as a substitution for good old fashion directspeak that there's efforts to try to get it to the Public Safety Committee which is chaired by Councilman Andrew Melendrez and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Councilman Frank Schiavone.

Complaints are officially down but in the communities? Not so. In fact, the ACLU of Southern California has received enough complaints about the police department that one of the organization's national coordinators came to Riverside several months ago on a fact-finding trip. He's expected to possibly return for another visit in several months.




The Riverside City Council for the use of eminent domain on a strip mall that houses many businesses to prepare for the railroad grade separation project. About 11 businesses still have not been relocated including Elliot's Pets. Riverside's lost some key pet supplies stores in recent years and it looks like it might lose yet another one.



Who's raising the most campaign money in the Lake Elsinore City Council races? But no talk about campaign fundraising this year is complete without talking about Corona.




Menifee is addressing the accountability of its elected officials but still hasn't tackled the credit card issue which has plagued other local governments in recent years.




The San Bernardino City Council approved the police chief's promotion. Albeit, narrowly.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Council members voted 4-3, with Esther Estrada, Rikke Van Johnson and Wendy McCammack dissenting, to approve Chief Mike Billdt's recommendation and promote Lt. Brian Boom to captain.

The decision follows a police union vote of no confidence against the chief. Union officials accuse him of misusing department discipline to harass critics and reward supporters. Billdt announced recently that he will retire when his contract expires in March.

Before the vote, McCammack said she had been troubled by testimony at a closed personnel meeting to discuss the promotion.

"There are a lot of allegations out there related to police management," McCammack said.

But Councilman Dennis Baxter said he didn't hear anything Monday to change his belief that Boom deserves the job.

"I felt like he was being railroaded by the very people he paid his union dues to for many, many years," Baxter said.





Police officers in a city in Massachusetts have taken to the streets to protest a law that prohibits security detail at construction sites.




The Spokane City Council has approved its police ombudsman for police oversight.



(excerpt, Spokesman Review)



The Spokane City Council voted 6-0 to back the proposal. Councilman Al French was absent.

Some City Council members said the agreement isn’t perfect, but that it’s “a good first step,” as Councilman Steve Corker labeled it.

“I’ve come to appreciate the fact that we either have an ombudsman or we don’t have an ombudsman,” said Councilman Richard Rush, who said last week that he was skeptical about the plan.

Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said she is confident that the ombudsman system will be impartial and fair.

“This is what the community wanted,” said Kirkpatrick, who praised the guild for negotiating on oversight. “I’m confident we’re going to have what this community thought it was going to get.”


But is she sure about that? Many Spokane residents advocated for investigative power which this new form of oversight won't have.




In New Mexico, the state police department is starting to track its officers and the complaints filed against them.



(excerpt, KOB)



The Chief says the database has instilled a sense of accountability.

"There are certain parameters set in this system that send a flag, letting us know that there may be a potential issue with an employee," said Chief Faron Segotta.

Officers who build up a large amount of hits in the database get flagged. Commanders can then review their cases.

The database also tracks awards and merit increases for individual officers.





Also tracking its officers is the Colorado Springs Police Department.



(excerpt, KKTV)



Out of the 400 complaints, 319 were considered a “level one.” "Level one is less serious. For example, an officer backed into something and caused damage," said Colorado Springs Police Lt. Dave Whitlock.

The other 54 compaints were “level two,” the more serious kind of grievance. "That’s a possible violation of a law or a crime. Occassionally, we have employees who engage in those activities."

Lt. Whitlock said about half of “level two” complaints were valid and disciplinary action was taken against the officer involved.

"That's why this report is important to the public. It takes away the ambiguity and the mystery of how we take care of our problems," Whitlock said.




The Springfield, Massachusetts civilian review board must follow open meeting laws. And in an interesting twist, the city council is actually moving against its own legal counsel which had issued a legal opinion that the board wasn't held to the open meeting laws even though it was created through ordinance.



(excerpt, The Republican)



The council sent to its Public Health and Safety Committee a proposal to re-establish in ordinance form the Community Complaint Review Board. Boards established by ordinance are subject to the state Open Meeting Law.

Councilors were moved to act after opinions by the Hampden District attorney and the city solicitor. Those officials said the review board currently is not bound by the Open Meeting Law because it was established by executive order of the mayor and exists only as an advisory board.

At a minimum, Williams said, the public should know when the review board is meeting, and that would be accomplished by requiring the posting of meeting notices.

Boards can vote to close the meeting room doors and hold an executive session for certain reasons, and the confidential nature of an individual's complaint against a police officer would apply, he said. But, he said, the public at least needs to know there's a meeting.






The police officers in Bryson City hit a mentally ill man over 30 times with their batons and maced him, according to witnesses. However, two weeks later the police department served an arrest warrant on the man.


(excerpt, Smoky Mountain News)


Ten written witness statements obtained by the Smoky Mountain News have a common theme — each say that Jacob Grant gave Allen no reason to use force.

Allen stopped Grant on foot in front of local hangout Anthony’s Restaurante Pizzeria the night of Sept. 15 to try and serve him an involuntary commitment order, which would force Grant into the care of mental health officials. Grant demanded to see the order, then refused to come with Allen when the officer said he didn’t have the paperwork with him.

Witnesses say an argument ensued between the two men as Allen followed Grant onto the porch of Anthony’s. Then, it escalated.

“Officer Allen without being provoked pepper sprayed and repeatedly struck Jacob Grant across the head and face with his night stick,” wrote witness Paul Robinson.

“He got his baton and started hitting Jacob uncontrollably for no reason,” according to Bryson City resident Tiffany Campbell, who was there with friends.

“All the time Jacob was standing there with his hands up asking why the officer was hitting him...this attack by Officer Allen was unprovoked,” recalled Michael Marsden.

Others said Jacob Grant asked the officer to stop, and that Allen continued to beat him even when he didn’t fight back.

The alleged attack stopped when a backup patrol car arrived at the scene.



Now even police chief's blog including the one who heads Lincoln, Nebraska's police department on this site.

Is it "boys will be boys" at Riverside City Hall?

And now there are five.

That being the number of code compliance officers who are suing their employer, the city of Riverside for unfair treatment in the workplace. The allegations in the litigation filed have included sexism, sexual harassment and age discrimination against the plaintiffs.

Former employees Kathie White and Theresa Steffen have filed a lawsuit, joining earlier plaintiffs, Todd Solomon, Steve Livings and Mary Furfaro who filed on similar allegations including a failure to accommodate a disability in the workplace. Most of the complaints including discrimination and harassment have been aimed at former code compliance manager Mark Salazar, who has since left the city. It's not clear whether rumors that he was actually shown the door of City Hall are true but the code compliance division has clearly been in a state of turmoil for quite a while, finally spilling out in a series of lawsuits which will ultimately leave the city's residents with the bills. Still, it's difficult to believe that Salazar and the city parted on harsh terms given his extended contract unless it was merely one that was similar to others given to past management employees in exchange for their absolute silence on their departure. A gag order, is what contracts like these are often called in labor terms.

Here's some information about the latest round of complaints.

(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Steffen started in Riverside in January 2007 as a probationary employee after 17 years as a code enforcement officer for the city of San Diego. White was her immediate supervisor.

The suit says after a seminar in fall 2005, Salazar lifted White's blouse and made an inappropriate remark about her body, which embarrassed her. The suit says that when Steffen first began working in Riverside, Salazar called her "cute" and said when she wore her hair down it was "pretty," remarks that embarrassed her.

In September 2007, Steffen received a warning in a meeting with Salazar and Gary Merk, who was then assistant division chief and is now the division's interim manager. She was criticized for taking too much time off, though she said the time off was all earned and preapproved by supervisors. She was fired on Oct. 15 though she never received any evaluations criticizing her work, the suit says.

White had advocated on Steffen's behalf with Salazar and Merk, and after that Salazar and Merk were critical of her work and told her she wasn't meeting standards, which she interpreted as retaliation, the suit says.

In November, her physician took White off work for job-related stress and in December the working conditions were so hostile she felt forced to resign, the suit says.

Both women are older than 40 years of age and the suit maintains they were treated differently than men and younger employees.

"This case is more evidence of a pattern and practice of discrimination in the code enforcement division," said Riverside attorney Janice Cleveland, who represents all five people suing the city.

City Attorney Gregory Priamos of course gave the customary party line in lawsuits filed against the city. No doubt, he's gotten used to it.


(excerpt)

City Attorney Greg Priamos said the city would defend against the latest allegations.

"The city does not believe the complaint has merit," he said.

He might sound confident now, but Priamos gave similar responses to lawsuits filed against the city including the racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by Officer Roger Sutton several years ago. The city paid out a $1.64 million jury's verdict on that case. He also gave similar responses to every lawsuit filed alleging wrongful death by the police department and so far, the city has settled several cases for about $1.5 million in total. The longer a lawsuit plays itself out, the less confident Priamos appears and his sentiments are merely a barometer of those expressed by his employers, the city council who so far has pretty much ignored the turmoil going on in the city's workplace, at least publicly.


What's interesting is that the Human Resources Board met the first Monday in October as it usually does for each month and when its members have been asked about whether there are any problems with hostile environments including sexual harassment, they don't seem to think it exists unless the employees come to their meetings and talk about it. As if these individuals could do so without it threatening their jobs, something which it doesn't sound like the HR Board even thinks could happen. After all, one of the female code compliance employees stated in her lawsuit that when she complained about Salazar sexually harassing her, she was the one who received the warning and not only was Salazar not fired by the city (which boasts of its zero tolerance of a hostile working environment for its employees), he got a six month bonus contract to serve as a consultant.



If you ever needed any inkling that City Hall is a "boys will be boys" world, it doesn't get any better than that and if that's not what City Hall is really about, then those in positions to make decisions should work on sending different messages to the public through their actions. And the city council should of course look into the allegations involving misconduct in the code compliance division and any other city department with problems as well. It should go without saying that sexual harassment should be taken seriously and addressed with in a fashion that isn't retaliatory against the complainant and doesn't reward the employee involved in the behavior.

Did that happen here? Perhaps only a trial in a court can assert what did and didn't happen but it doesn't look promising so far.

To have an employer in a management position who suddenly has to "stop working" in the face of complaints by women and men who worked under him but gets paid an extra six months? But then it's common knowledge that when it comes to racial and/or sexual harassment in the workplace across the country, it seems too many times that the complainants face the negative response, despite posters placed in work facilities (or they should be under federal and/or state law) encouraging those who are being harassed to report it to their supervisors.

Riverside has those posters too hanging on its walls, along with an earnest one about whistle blower protection laws, but does it fall in the same pattern as what's going on in other places? Some of the lawsuits that it paid out on through settlements or juries' verdicts included retaliation claims. In fact, jurors in the case of the police officer who won the huge verdict in 2005 said that the retaliation claims were the strongest part of the case.

Several years, a female probational police officer who had filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment in the training academy lasted about two weeks in the police department before being led into a room and fired while reporting to her first day of work in the department's field training program. She filed a lawsuit which the city and her attorney settled within two months of the date the city was officially served, according to court records. It was settled long before anyone could ever ask Priamos what the city's position on the litigation would be and certainly long before he could issue his stock answer.

But these cases in code compliance and other places create questions that likely won't be answered unless these lawsuits shed some light on what's going on in Riverside's workplaces. But here's one question to start with.

Is it that the best way in the city of Riverside to address sexual harassment is just to keep your mouth shut?





Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein writes about Riverside city employee morale including that in its libraries.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

But employee morale seems dismal. I get calls from a lot of distressed and fearful people. Nothing tops the frequency of calls I've received from Riverside library employees/boosters since Brad Hudson became city manager and appointed his sidekick, Tom DeSantis, shadow librarian-in-chief.

Most callers are terrified of having their names in the paper (see gag order). Some won't even give their names. Complaints often fall under "personnel matters" (see: punitive, vindictive) and are nearly impossible to check out. Maybe they wouldn't check out. But the drumbeat of calls stands out.

Hard to see how library morale improves any time soon. Corona just announced layoffs. Hemet has had two. Riverside touts itself as largely immune, but the library recently canned 30 part-time pages and has since been scrambling for volunteer replacements. Though the library has the equivalent of 104 full-time positions on the books, City Hall says actual number of warm bodies right now is 77. (Actually, 76.96.)

This deserves its own posting or two and will get them in the near future. Stay tuned.


LA Observed, a blog which has been covering the downturn in journalism addressed the most recent layoffs at the Los Angeles Times. As you know, the Times once had declared it was going to make its stake in the Inland Empire even establishing a bureau office in downtown Riverside and creating special Metro sections tailored with news for this region. However, it appeared that in most "Inland Empire" editions, there was more coverage of Orange County (which is where many of the Inland Empire reporters were focusing then and now) and even Los Angeles County.

Now if you look in downtown Riverside where the office of the Times used to be, you'll find nothing except for a "For Lease" sign in the window.

Anyway, many of the layoffs were "voluntary" meaning that they were what's called "buyouts".



(excerpt, LA Observed)



This is a breaking situation this afternoon. Editors met over the weekend to get the word and to refine their lists. Newsroom staffers are being told today individually and in department meetings that as many as 75 editorial positions are being cut through voluntary departures and layoffs. Some staffers were approached last week about volunteering, "enticed" with the threat that this will be the absolute final time that editorial employees will receive two weeks severance pay for each year of service when they leave.



The Press Enterprise has done its own major downsizing with the latest rounds of buyouts taking place last month which still left 30 positions for the folks at Texas-based Belo Enterprises to eliminate.



State Budget cuts are being felt in the Inland Empire counties and as usual, those feeling it the most will be children, seniors, the mentally ill and/or poor people.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



"When the state makes cuts or the state doesn't reimburse us, they are leaving it to us to clean it up," said Riverside County Executive Officer Bill Luna. "Anything they don't do is left on our doorstep."

Luna said county agencies are still determining how they will absorb the governor's cuts, which come in a budget passed later than any other in California history.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors will consider options and could move funding and staff and make other adjustments when they review the first-quarter budget report at the end of this month, Luna said. San Bernardino County supervisors will review their financial situation and the effect of the governor's cuts in November, said county spokesman David Wert. San Bernardino County officials said they have ruled out layoffs but are seeking to cut staff by attrition.

"The reductions were unanticipated, so counties haven't had time to plan," said Jean Ross, executive director of the nonpartisan California Budget Project, which gauges the state budget's effects on low- and middle-income Californians. "They are going to affect the core health and human services programs at precisely the time when the economic downturn is increasing the demand on those programs."



The Orange County Sheriff's Department: The first 100 days of Sheriff Sandra Hutchens




(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)





Hutchens did not mention Michael S. Carona by name in a meeting with reporters Monday, but a department spokesman said she had the former sheriff in mind when she said accountability starts at the top. She blamed him for a culture that allowed top-ranking managers to sidestep accountability.


"There was a lack of leadership from what I saw," Hutchens said. "There was turmoil at the top of the organization and a lack of focus. There were individuals not doing their jobs and who felt they could not be held accountable."

The department was in disarray, policies and procedures ignored, she said. Employees "felt beat up" by the unceasing news coverage of Carona's legal troubles, grand jury investigations of the department-run jails and probes by other law enforcement agencies, Hutchens said.







A New York City Police Department sergeant has been charged after he shot at an ATM machine while drunk.




(excerpt, New York Daily News)



Hynes stopped at two taverns before showing up at Brady's on Second Ave., staggering around the bar, clearly aware a gun stuffed in his waistband was visible to everyone, witnesses told cops.

"He just walked around to the tables but didn't say anything to anyone," bartender Peter Carew, 31, said Friday night. "Then he went to the men's room, came out, staggered around some more, then left."

"I was freaking out. I wasn't going to serve the guy, but I didn't want to have to say no to a drunk with a gun," Carew said. "Thank God nobody tried to take the gun from him and nobody got hurt."

Carew said he called 911 when he heard a gunshot about a minute after Hynes left.

Police sources it was sometime after 2a.m., when Hynes walked up Second Ave. to 83rd St., drew his weapon and fired at a building, hitting an ATM chained to a storefront, sources.

He was nabbed half a block away. Cops found him sitting on a stoop and seized his 9-mm., which held 13 live rounds. They found a spent 9-mm. shell casing on the ground near the ATM.

"It's scary," said Eric Sais, 38, manager of Copyland Center, the store next to the freestanding ATM, which has a bullet hole in front.

"It still works," Sais marveled.








Hundreds watched as NYPD Lt. Michael Pigott was laid to rest after he committed suicide in the wake of his involvement in the controversial fatal tasing of a mentally ill man.

Will Riverside say goodbye to Chinatown...again?

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


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




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


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






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

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

But they weren't alone in the building.


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



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

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

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

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

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

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






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






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


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




(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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





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

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

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

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





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


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



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

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

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

Boom could not be reached for comment.

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

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



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




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





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



(excerpt, San Bernardino Sun)




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

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

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


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

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






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



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)




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

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

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









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

Will there be rain in the forecast?

“They tell you counseling is available, so that way the department can say, ‘we told them to go,’ but usually nobody goes. They don’t want to be seen as if they have mental problems. Management may not treat you the same.”


---NYPD officer of nine years to the New York Times





"Officers will be encouraged to use a term other than 'use of force' in their reports. They can refer to it as 'an incident' or another innocuous phrase."


--- The minutes from the July 2 Patrol Command Staff meeting for the San Bernardino Police Department.





It looks cloudy today and there's rain in the forecast, but you never know in the Inland Empire whether or not it will actually happen or whether the clouds will wither and dry up bringing the ever present sunshine out. Hopefully, the sun will shine over the people participating in the annual walk to fight AIDS taking place in Riverside today.


Riverside's public library director Barbara Custen has resigned to take hopefully what will be a better job in Los Angeles County.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

"It was easy for me to hit the ground running because she left the library system whole," Custen said.

The Arlington branch re-opened in June after a major renovation and expansion nearly tripled its space.

The library at Orange Terrace Community Park is set to open later this month.

The city is moving the Marcy branch into a larger building and is preparing to build a "cybrary" -- a library branch with numerous computers -- in Arlanza.

Councilman Mike Gardner said Custen oversaw the system expansion and managed to find staff for it without hiring new workers.

"I appreciate her dedication," he said.

Ah, but did everybody? Custen worked very hard but the most contentious issue of her tenure wasn't the issue of the library expansion downtown or citywide, it was this one. The one when Custen circulated a memo that forbade other library employees from discussing the policies and procedures with members of the media and even members of the public using the library. She took some heat on it when the news broke but was it even her decision? Does any department heads in this city actually make their own decisions on what goes on in their own departments?

People's views on the independence of the city's department heads differ greatly. Some people view them as strong, independent leaders directing the operations of their respective divisions. Others see them as figureheads being manipulated by the city manager's office. And there's not much middle ground in between the two perspectives. After all, one particular tenacious rumor a while back had Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis running around and telling librarians where to shelve books. Then when asked about the temporary vanishing act involving the Inland Empire Weekly in the summer of 2007, the directive was traced back to a little man in a blue shirt. After complaints, the publication was restored.

Then earlier this week, someone set a book on fire inside the library, causing damage to the book and the facility. This took place purposely or not during National Banned Books Week, an event the library usually commemorates with a rather impressive display of banned books inside a cage placed in the first floor lobby. The display was minimized last year to one small table tucked away on the second floor. This was of course, after the city manager's office claimed the exhibit was going to be "bigger than ever" and in fact would be the centerpiece of the theme surrounding the city's annual United Way Chili Cookoff. Of course, it was missing in action there as well.

And this year? The entire exhibit was missing in action! Meaning no display at all on banned books. Why was that? One would think that most people in a democratic society would want to speak out against book banning and would be proud to have such a display.


All this and more sounds silly until you've been in Riverside longer than a few hours.




Then there was all this confusion by city officials regarding the downtown library's future and how it would make them all look. The city manager's office refused to comment even for clarification purposes of its own policies and procedures and that left several city councilmen wondering out loud about it sounding more confused about the library than usual.


Quite a few management level employees in Riverside are either retiring or taking better jobs at this juncture. Custen probably won't be the last one to do so.




The city has released eight police officer positions to be filled. These do not include any positions which were frozen earlier this year but are those vacated by firings, failure to make probation, resignations and retirements. It's possible that as many as 10 more might be opened up this year.

The Ben Clark Training Academy has increased the number of future law enforcement officers going through its classes but most of those are headed off to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

No word on whether or not former police officer, Jose Nazario will be among those hired. Nazario is trying to get his job back after being acquitted of manslaughter charges in federal court stemming from the killings of Iraqi detainees in Fallujah. Since he's been back in the United States, he was taped making comments about his brief tenure in the police department about regularly "beating the shit" out of people and then coming up with a reason to take them to jail later. Police Chief Russ Leach's only comment is that he fired Nazario while he was a probational officer and wasn't able to comment further on Nazario's past or future employment with the police department.

No word on whether a member of a prominent local political family who is employed by another law enforcement agency has been hired either.





The city council will be reconvening next Tuesday for another one of its meetings. Some times it seems that they're mainly for show because it's pretty clear that the decision making doesn't take place in a public venue. At any rate, they're kind of interesting to watch and this week's agenda boasts a public hearing on whether or not developer and campaign contributor Doug Jacobs will be able to build his medical office buildings on what was once Chinatown.

Given the outcome of the vote by the Land Use Committee, the answer's clearly yes but supporters of Chinatown plan to crowd the chambers anyway to let their voices be heard as they have during this entire process.

Here is the city council report and it's over 750 pages long.





Also on the agenda in the closed session is Steve Sdringola v the City of Riverside which is a workman's compensation case. Sdringola is one of the city's police officers.




The Press Enterprise has endorsed two candidates in the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees election.






The management at the San Bernardino Police Department apparently decided they didn't like the words, "use of force" so they're planning to substitute other more pleasant words in their police reports instead. More intrigue from the agency that just expelled its latest police chief.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

Department policy requires officers to report every contact with the public in which they use force, from striking a blow to firing a weapon. Supervisors must document what happened in writing.

The minutes of the July 2 meeting attribute the directive to avoid the term "use of force" to Lt. Richard Taack, acting patrol captain at the time.

In an interview Wednesday, Assistant Police Chief Walt Goggin said Taack never meant to obscure the reporting process. He said support staff prepared the minutes.

Taack would not be available for comment, Goggin said.

"Lt. Taack's sole purpose in that entry was to pass on to the subordinate officers that when they do crime reports (and) a use of force is part of that report, that they should describe in detail what happened and not refer to it only as a use of force," Goggin said.

Meanwhile, the police union has spent its time advising its members to take their time responding to calls for service, a measure which some have labeled what is otherwise known in the industry as a work slowdown. The union says that's not so.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

"We're not doing any kind of job action," union President Rich Lawhead said. "It's not slowing (officers) down. It's just telling them, 'Hey, you have to watch out for your family and yourself, because nobody else is.' "

Mayor Pat Morris, who appointed the chief and has publicly defended him against union criticism, said late Friday afternoon that he hadn't seen the letter.

It was distributed late Thursday evening.

Morris said he expects officers to do their duty.

"The members of our Police Department have always met high standards of accountability and professionalism, and I'm sure they will continue to do so," he said.

Billdt could not be reached for comment.

The union contract forbids strikes and slowdowns, said attorney Dieter Dammeier, who signed the letter.

But it advises union members to make sure they work in pairs, stay together until assignments are complete, and never respond to calls without backup.

Burglary investigations should be "very thorough," and detectives need to ensure the public receives "the thorough and complete and necessary follow-up attention that they deserve," the letter notes.

"We are not asking you to not do your job or curtail or restrict your activities," the letter states. "We are concerned that given current management's recent actions toward our members that you limit your exposure."

And just when you think things in that police department can't get any more exciting, yet another sergeant has filed a retaliation claim against outgoing Chief Mike Billdt.





The decision of Corona's government to lay off over 100 of its employees is not that unusual and similar trends have been noted in other cities as a result of the huge budget crisis in Sacramento.



Jury selection began in the federal corruption trial of former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)



More than 300 prospective jurors -- some in the courtroom and some watching a live video feed -- were introduced to Carona and attorneys for the defense and prosecution in the Santa Ana courtroom of U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford. Then, Assistant U.S. Atty. Brett Sagel spent 50 minutes reading the indictment to the potential jurors.

Despite speculation in Orange County law enforcement circles that the case would end in a plea bargain before trial, all indications this week are that the trial will begin Oct. 28 as scheduled.

Before the potential jurors were dismissed, they were asked to fill out a 14-page questionnaire that asked, among other things, whether they had followed the case in the media or had any opinions about the charges.

Attorneys will use the questionnaires to narrow the field before Guilford questions potential jurors in person Oct. 22.






An investigation of a Boston Police Department officer's involvement in an onduty crash determined that he was at fault.


(excerpt, Boston Globe)



Officer Jesse Stots, a 13-year veteran, violated department rules of emergency response when he drove through an intersection at 51 miles per hour nearly a year ago as he rushed to help an officer who was being attacked by a man with a knife, police said yesterday.

Stots struck the side of Ann-Marie McNally's Saab at the intersection of D Street and West Broadway. She was three blocks from home, according to her family.

"I truly believe that if the officer followed policy this wouldn't have happened," Commissioner Edward F. Davis said yesterday. But he also said the department has to improve training at the Police Academy so officers understand what can go wrong when they are driving during emergencies.

"We have to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen again," Davis said.

McNally's family has agreed to help the department develop more training and might participate in a video that would be shown to officers, he said.





In the wake of the suicide of one of its lieutenants, discussion in New York City's police department has turned towards the issue of whether or not counseling services are available to police officers and whether or not they are being used.



(excerpt, New York Times)



Lt. Michael W. Pigott, who killed himself on Thursday morning after having ordered the fatal Taser shooting of a man on a ledge Sept. 24, was required to receive counseling within the Police Department, said Philip E. Karasyk, a lawyer for the Lieutenants Benevolent Association. He did so, and took some time off work last week, returning to one single shift at Fleet Services, where the department’s vehicles are serviced, he said.

“He had been transferred out of his unit. That’s always very disconcerting to these guys,” Mr. Karasyk said, especially in a case compounded by heavy media coverage. “No one takes into consideration the human being behind the cop.”

Other officers who were deemed to have made mistakes in the past dealt with their pain — be it anger or humiliation or fear of repercussions — in different ways.

Lt. Gary Napoli, 50, was the commanding officer of the team of officers who shot and killed Sean Bell in a hail of 50 bullets in Queens in 2006. While he was not among the three officers charged, and later acquitted, in the shooting, he was removed from his regular duty and suspended. In an interview on Thursday, he said he did not visit police counselors, although he credited the department for offering their services.

“I’ve developed many friendships on the job in 25 years. I received hundreds of phone calls in support,” he said. “The department was there for myself and my family and my kids. My superiors, my peers and my subordinates, they all were supportive of me.”





The New Haven Police Department is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by some residents of that city.

TGIF: When dreams and profits collide

It's been about a year since current Riverside County Sheriff's Department Sheriff Stan Sniff was appointed to this position by the divided Board of Supervisors after the departure of Bob Doyle. An eventful year, according to many people as a look is taken backwards.



It was an eventful meeting at Riverside City Hall where the Development Committee met to discuss several new projects proposed by private out-of-county developers including frequent election campaign contributor, Mark Rubin. Remember him? He's the one who wanted to put in a slew of mixed used condos before the housing market tanked and now has decided not to sell them (because he can't) but to rent them out "short-term". Does that mean, "short-term" as in six months, a year? Or short-term meaning until the housing market recovers in about five years?

It's funny though because Mayor Ron Loveridge and other members on the dais have said a lot about encouraging and preserving home ownership for families and especially Loveridge has lamented time and time again about the fact that Riverside's housing is about 44% rental housing, so much so that the city pushed for home ownership for at least the first year of residency for one of its new housing projects that was built between downtown and the 60 freeway. In fact, when city officials got wind that rental notices were being distributed in connection with one housing project, it took immediate action to penalize those parties who violated that portion of the purchase agreement.

Now, one huge housing crisis later, the situation has apparently changed and downtown will be going rental again to fill those empty units which were to sell for about $500,000 in more carefree times when people were playing the housing market like the stock market. Many fans of former councilman, Dom Betro touted Rubin's projects as a remedy against the continued proliferation of rental housing downtown but what's happened is that instead, the number has grown because it's difficult to sell housing especially newly built housing, especially condos anywhere. But now there's more rentals and considering that the city government often treats renters like the pox, it's a bit ironic but it's not like anyone shouldn't have seen the housing bust coming a mile away. Those folks who went to the huge party at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium to express concerns about the multi-billion dollar five-year growth plan and were pretty much labeled party-poopers saw it coming. For seeing that the economy goes up for a while and then it comes back down, sometimes with a crash particularly when it's stripped of any accountability regulations.

The same glut applies to office space which the city currently carries about a 40% occupancy rate for filling and yet more office space is in demand. That's the figure I received when I asked less than a year ago about the status of such office space in this city. With some reelection bids no doubt being launched next year, it's not a bad way to do some fund raising given that some developers have been regular contributors to campaigns and these developers have hinted that hardened economic times may dry up some of these campaign funds if they don't have anyway to pay for them.



When the Museum Metropolitan Board and the City Council committee collide.




It was one of those projects inside a Redevelopment Agency zone downtown which created the most consternation from people who packed the Mayor's Ceremonial room to try to express their concerns and ask their questions (only a few of which were answered) before the motion, second and passage of the project was made although the council members' speech was inaudible, the women sitting near me asked "what did they just mumble" and I had to answer, "I think that was their decision and it's probably the same one they had made before walking into the room." "Oh yeah, we know that" the woman responded back with a sigh. That's a sentiment that many people have about the city government these days. That the decisions that used to be made in committee before the issue got to the full city council were being made before the issues even got to committee. That provides the perception that many people feel that open meetings have become backroom meetings when it comes to decision making on many issues at the 'Hall. Watching council members or committee members sit there and make hardly a sound before in toto passing motions does little to challenge that belief system.

The writing was on the wall when the city council voted to forgo reviewing agenda items involving interdepartmental money transfers and borrowing a while back that this city council doesn't seem to want to involve itself in very much, stripping the financial process in the city of regulations similar to the situation which took place on a much larger national scale when doing so with Wall Street began to severely impact Main Street. Even when ethics experts argued against any good reason for doing this, the city government voted to do so anyway.

Chairman Mike Gardner who won a tight runoff election in Ward One which includes the downtown area said that one of the platforms that he used to run for election was a more accessible government that was more open to hearing opinions from you know, its constituents? In other words, its employers? Which is kind of funny because even as Gardner clearly allows much more public comment at meetings he chairs than does any other city council member or mayor, he shares this committee assignment with two councilmen who love to sit on the dais and make personal attacks at people who come up to the podium to criticize them. One of them is apparently even careless enough to brag that the two of them have an arrangement to handle their critics this way. Maybe the advice to this elected official should be this, loose lips sink ships but then on the other hand, better they stay loose.

The women including the minister from the First Congregational Church seriously kicked some butt at the meeting with their comments and their probing questions, never backing down towards the condescension that came from some of the elected officials and the prized developer. It's funny watching women actually engage some of the male city council members. You can quickly tell which ones take offense at it and which ones don't just through their body language. But these women seriously rocked and they're to be commended for standing up for what is right and standing together for at least their right to be notified by the city about a development project you know, before the jackhammers start tearing up the pavement practically outside their doors.

But part of me worried since some of these rather uppity women were elderly which reminded me of the whole "gadflying while elderly" expulsions at city council last year and the previous year including that of the poor woman who violated the three-minute speaking rule for talking about her house being flooded with sewage because a city-owned pipe burst.



What it came down to is that the city is apparently planning to give exclusive negotiation rights to a developer to build offices (which is hard to fill) and some parking downtown (which is necessary) but failed to tell institutions in the immediate area of the proposed property that anything was going on. The First Congregational Church which is practically adjacent to the property found out via a leak some place and the Metropolitan Museum Board chair found out from the church. The meeting was a reminder that it's not just businesses (or more accurately, "the Chamber" and the "Riverside Downtown Partnership") that rule downtown, there's quite a few religious institutions as well including some housed in historic landmarks. Not to mention what one woman referred to fondly as tomorrow's "museum row". Sounds like a dream worth having and worth realizing for the city's future.


And why is it important for the Metropolitan Museum Board to get wind of what's going on if only indirectly? Because the land that the board had believed was going to be used for museum expansion (which was a huge issue just a short while ago) may instead be
handed off to a developer. I have to say, it took a little less time than I thought before the promising path of late involving the contentious expansion and renovation of two of downtown's most venerable institutions would go back into a rather unsettling direction.

The woman who chaired the Metropolitan Museum Board had tears in her eyes as she heard the news from the committee members about the proposed project. Her question to the panel of Gardner and Councilmen Frank Schiavone and Steve Adams went unanswered. Gardner did speak with her afterward and said that there might be another location for the museum expansion but he couldn't say anything more about it at that time. But the latest development which casually slipped out during a city council subcommittee about one of the city's most popular issues just served as a reminder that it's not enough to get an issue addressed by the city council, it's also necessary to remain vigilant and keep on and up on the issues.


The Metropolitian Museum Board meets on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 4 p.m. in the museum's conference room and there will probably be an agenda item on this. The chair did a really great job at the meeting trying to find out the truth on this issue and why the city appears to already be straying from its commitment to follow through on the recommendations that it voted to approve from the city's task force to address the renovation and expansion of the downtown library and museum. Hopefully, she won't receive a letter from a city councilman rebuking her for opening her mouth.



The barely there Community Police Review Commission executive manager, Kevin Rogan tried to sell the latest changes in protocol in the investigation of officer-involved deaths to the Group and at least one attendee, Riverside Police Department Captain John Carpenter agreed with him. As for most everyone else? They saw a former police officer and a current police officer agree with each other about the weakening of civilian oversight in Riverside and seemed doubtful that there really was, as Rogan tried to say, nothing to worry about. I didn't attend the eventful meeting but I heard about it throughout the day and well into the evening.

Much is being made about the much ballyhooed provision in the CPRC's policies and procedures Section VIII(b) that states that the CPRC is to begin investigating after the completion of the police department's own investigations. A position that was utilized by one councilman publicly and two other elected officials behind closed doors or to a limited audience. But what Section VIII actually refers to and what these elected officials of course won't tell you is that this pertains to citizen complaint investigation and review not that involving officer-involved deaths of which there is no mention of in the entire text here.

Chair Brian Pearcy convened an ad hoc committee to address this issue in a manner that was independent and transparent to the public but before this committee could complete its work, City Manager Brad Hudson had issued its directive. Percy, allegedly in transit on a European holiday, expressed his wishes for the committee to continue its work regardless but one member Ken Rotker not long after allegedly meeting with his councilman, Chris MacArthur purportedly to discuss the role of legal counsel (as some council members had met on similar issues with commissioners from their ward at around the same time), pushed a motion to disband the committee which narrowly passed. Even Pearcy at that point voted against the same committee he had convened at one meeting and championed at its next.

These are the facts of what happened, facts that the elected officials are omitting from their arguments to support Hudson's directive. Unfortunately, there is what they tell you and then there's the truth. Did any of these elected officials even mention the rest of the story behind the creation of the policies and procedures? Or how Chief Russ Leach said he thought it was best for the commission to decide how to handle its own investigation, according to minutes from a meeting held in August 2002? Or how quiet it was for eight years while the CPRC investigated incustody deaths early on during that time period the three authors of the recent opinion office referred to as the time things were moving smoothly (as opposed to right now in the wake of the directive)?

I didn't think so.










Corona's city government has cut over 100 jobs from its roster to save millions of dollars.




Riverside County's tax collector will soon become the county's chief finance officer





Did conflict of interest impact a Temecula city council member's vote? Rescue Temecula thinks so.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Under penalty of perjury, Rescue Temecula member Volker Lutz filed the complaint against Jeff Comerchero with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces conflict of interest laws.

The Sept. 18 complaint cites articles in The Press-Enterprise, public records requests and other materials in alleging that Comerchero broke state law when he voted in December 2003 on a series of land purchases for Temecula's $66.1 million civic center complex in Old Town.


Comerchero on Wednesday denied any wrongdoing. He said in a phone interview that the complaint's timing appeared to be politically motivated, because two of his fellow council members, Mike Naggar and Chuck Washington, are running for re-election in November.

"Any attempt to discredit me, they'd attempt to latch onto (Naggar and Washington to say) 'See, we told you they were all crooks,' " Comerchero said. "I have always been an open book. Let anybody come and ask any question they want and I'll provide an honest answer."

Comerchero, whose term expires in 2010, said he plans to hire an attorney to represent him in the matter.






Jury selection may begin soon in the federal corruption trial of former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona.





One NYPD officer shot another in the leg at the shooting range.



(excerpt, New York Daily News)




Officer Vincent Krill was trying to unjam Detective Charles Enright's 9-mm. service weapon when the gun accidentally fired, sources said.

Enright, a 23-year veteran assigned to Gov. Paterson's New York City security detail, was shot once in the right thigh. The slug hit the detective's hipbone and shattered, with bullet fragments exiting through his groin, sources said.

Enright was in stable condition Tuesday in Jacobi Medical Center's intensive care unit, sources said.

Krill, also a department veteran, was "devastated" by the accident, which is now under investigation by the NYPD, a source said.





A New York City Police Department lieutenant who committed suicide after being placed on desk duty for his role in a controversial fatal tasing of a mentally ill man didn't want to shame his children.








(excerpt, New York Daily News)



n a gut-wrenching suicide note, Emergency Service Unit Lt. Michael Pigott wrote that he put a bullet into his head Thursday to spare his three children from seeing him in handcuffs or behind bars, police sources said.


The standup lieutenant also took full blame for the botched death of Iman Morales, absolving the officer who fired the Taser of any responsibility.

"His note was heartbreaking," one police source said. "He said he didn't want his kids to see him cuffed up and jailed. He also said not to blame the other officer. ... He said it was his fault."

The shocking suicide, on Pigott's 46th birthday, came only hours before family members mourned Taser victim Morales at a Greenwich Village funeral.




"It's my fault," the lieutenant wrote before his death.



More on the life of Lt. Michael W. Pigott.



(excerpt, New York Times)




He was levelheaded, calm, mild mannered, an ideal cop in many ways. In 21 years on the force, Michael W. Pigott made scores of arrests working in some of the city’s toughest precincts, won 20 medals for bravery and meritorious duty, and became a lieutenant in the elite Emergency Services Unit.

“Not your typical police officer,” said Jon O’Shaughnessy, a New York City fire marshal and an old friend. “That’s why he was a lieutenant. He was a very positive, upbeat guy. He could have retired last year.” The friend could say no more: His voice broke, and he began to cry.




Also in the NYPD, four officers exposed to HIV while on the job received disability retirements after a court ruling.




A shakeup in the command structure might also be coming to the NYPD. To those at the highest level of command, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said, "don't get too comfy".




Another day, another family member deployed to Iraq.

Mid-week here, there and everywhere

Being a blogger in the Inland Empire for several years, I occasionally get asked how to start a blog from individuals like this reader from the Orangecrest/Mission Grove area did here. For some reason, this guy thinks that if it's not profitable, then starting a blog must be about ego when of course there are plenty of other reasons to blog about Riverside, the Inland Empire not to mention other topics. His attitude doesn't appear to be much different from that of a politician so maybe that's where his talents lie. But there's many reasons to blog, as many reasons as there are blogs, and blogs number in the hundreds of millions on the internet.

It's fascinating for one thing to engage in a technology that didn't exist a decade ago. In fact, a decade or so ago it was not even easy to write a comment like this on the internet. Things including communication have changed a lot in just several decades. In some ways, good and in other ways, not so good especially if you look at the news gathering industry which has incorporated blogging into it even when discussing its own problems.


(excerpt)




When I grow up I wanna be just like, let me think . . . . . not Bush....... not Clinton....... I know! I'll just be a blogger - like that person who blogs on Five Before Midnight. Do you think it pays well? Doubt it. Then again, if it doesn't pay and doesn't have "benefits" why in the hell would one do such a thing?

I suppose it's kinda sorta a thing about ego. I mean, if you are talking about something and then you later "hear in the streets" that you are so admired, it must be quite a high don't you think?

Imagine this, I could even blog about things that are, well, of interest but no real drama and twist it around and portray it as something it's not! Imagine the joy in that! Not only do I keep the readers begging for more, I stroke my ego at the same time! Yeah, a blog is where it's at!

That's it. I'm going to start a blog! Now I have to think of a topic. . . . it's got to be negative of course, cuz that apparently is what the people on the streets love.

I think I'll blog about restaurants who don't recycle their used vegetable oil for use in vehicles that burn the same as fuel! Jimminy Crickets! I bet the people on the streets have a comment or two about that one!



It's always interesting to watch people think out loud especially when how they write about how they're thinking is how they write the way they talk. Of course, then there are those who you don't know about until way after that fact like the not-so-nice gentleman who stated several times, "I'll pray for you" over and over then said I needed to shower because he could smell my funk coming or something like that. An individual I had never actually met in person and my reaction was like, huh?! And if I did, would he behave like he did online? Would there be a difference between the two or are they one?

Does the good he purportedly does and very well may do justify his behavior to defend that worth? Is that the trade or payment for services rendered? Maybe so, to many people it would work out that way but maybe that's the origin of many of the questions people raise. Is allowing misconduct or looking the other way a price to pay for ensuring public safety? Is it allowable to do so to justify public safety? How far back in the history are these questions answered and what are those answers, both today and in historic context? And how does this play into reassurances that agencies can police themselves, thus there's no real need for civilian oversight.

It's entirely possible that some individuals clearly thought so on all these things and gave him a pass. All you can do is just shrug and chalk it up to it being a stacked deck, a brotherhood, and just keep on blogging, albeit with one eye always looking behind you.

Blogs attract all kinds, positive and negative and there's not much you can do about the latter. That's especially true for women bloggers, that's true about just about any topic which can be blogged about as one female blogger discovered when she was harassed on her own knitting blog.

This individual came up with some really good ideas for blogging, restaurants and alternative fuel research. There's much potential there.

A restaurant blog is a brilliant idea and would probably prove to be quite popular especially in light of legislation in California to ban trans-fats from restaurant menus. Also that's an awesome idea to blog about the failure to fully explore and utilize alternative fuels so that when petroleum runs out in about 2060, all society's machinery won't suddenly come to a grinding halt. Both topics would provide rewards for him.

So why do I blog? In part because of both the positive and negative feedback that I've received and learning a lot about different issues. However, if you're looking for an ego kick, then blogging may not be the path for you. Not unless you like being called a bitch, cunt, skank, whore and other nice terms for example. You have to get used to that and it's very difficult to do so. You can't ever feel safe in your own city and you have to realize that there's no one that can change that.


If this unidentified individual takes on alternative fuels and the restaurant industry let alone both of them, he should be prepare for both forms of responses and if it's ego that's driving him to blog, he'll probably quit after a couple of months and take up another hobby. The first time, you're called a whore, a bitch, a cunt, a skank or have your clothing that you wear described in detail and where you wore it, is a bit of a shock. The other times, it sinks in that there's people out there who may even hate you and your blog maybe enough to really scare you or even harm you. Or pray that harm comes to you.


And as far as "people on the streets", there's another term for them and it's "registered voter". Something for people who look down on those individuals including this person to keep in mind. Some elected officials in Riverside also made that mistake of looking down on the voters and those voters turned around and collectively handed them their pink slips.




As stated, a lot of things happen when you blog, like happened in a blog started by Sharon Gilbert who works for San Bernardino County.

What's interesting is that even though she criticized the county's CEO, Mark Uffer, she began getting really positive comments on Uffer in recent weeks. But guess what? All three visitors shared an IP address in Highland, California where Uffer lives. Is it Uffer? Hard to say given how big Highland is and that this city also includes one of the individuals who cyberharassed me a couple years ago and made derogatory comments about my mother's uterus. Highland must be a happening place.




A book burning of sorts came to one of Riverside's very own libraries.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Flames were licking the top of the Cesar Chavez autobiography "La Causa," Cramer said Wednesday as she motioned to a triangle of burned carpet on the floor near shelves of books in the neatly appointed library.

"It was not pleasant to see that, but at that moment we needed to take care of the situation," Cramer said.

Arson investigators do not know why someone burned the book Monday afternoon in the library on Mission Inn Avenue, said city fire Capt. Dirk Jensen. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday.




This arson took place during Banned Books Week, an annual event held by the American Library Association which performs educational outreach on this issue of censorship.



The U.S. Marine sergeants who refused to testify against former Marine sergeant and Riverside Police Department Jose Luis Nazario, jr. have now refused to testify against each other during their respective court martial hearings.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)




Now Nelson is refusing to testify against Weemer, and Weemer's attorney said today that his client would refuse to testify against Nelson. The two are being tried separately here on charges of murder and dereliction of duty, which could lead to life sentences.

Nelson refused to testify Tuesday despite an assurance from the military judge that a grant of immunity would prevent his testimony from being used against him.

"Nelson is totally, absolutely critical to the Weemer case," said Capt. Nick Gannon, one of the prosecutors.

The federal prosecutor in Nazario's case made a similar complaint in late August when Weemer and Nelson refused to testify against Nazario -- refusing to repeat statements they made to investigators early in the case, in which they said Nazario had ordered them to kill the prisoners.

Today, at the request of Marine prosecutors, the military judge, Lt. Col. Thomas Sanzi, delayed Weemer's court-martial until Jan. 12 in hopes that Nelson's court-martial would be finished by then and that he would testify against Weemer.

But Paul Hackett, one of Weemer's attorneys, told Sanzi that it is unlikely that Weemer or Nelson would ever testify because they fear such testimony could lead federal prosecutors to charge them in federal court once they leave the Marine Corps.

"We certainly know now that the federal government would like to do that because they did that to Sgt. Nazario," Hackett said. He said any attorney who would allow a client to testify in such a situation "would be out of their minds."




Riverside will stop charging residents for half of the cost of installing speed bumps if the city agrees that they are needed. This could save the residents about $2,000 in costs.





Guess who's coming back from exile? San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus returns from his 10-week medical leave back into his job. But will he answer questions?


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Assessor's office spokesman Ted Lehrer said Postmus would address the supervisors' demand that he appear before the board when he returns.

"It's his decision whether he's willing to address rumors," Lehrer said, referring to the allegations of drug abuse.

During the leave, Postmus himself seldom has been available for comment.

His 10-week medical leave was announced July 23, which means Postmus should be back to work this week. Lehrer said last week that Postmus would return in early October, possibly on the first.

But on Monday, he said Postmus intends to return to work sometime between Oct. 10 and 20.

Lehrer said the extra time off is because Postmus is being cautious with his health.

"Assessor Postmus would like to confer with his physician to ensure the conditions are appropriate," Lehrer said.


But alas for Postmus, those questions will still be coming. The line starts there.






Norco Councilman Hal Clark has died at the age of 66. The number of commuters using the service has gone down as unemployment increases as does gasoline prices causing some drivers to switch to carpooling or public transit.




The Press Enterprise Editorial Boards says Yes on O for Hemet to be able to pay for its public safety services.



(excerpt)




Yes, the city could cut other services instead, but that would mean essentially wiping out all city services but public safety. Without the utility tax, Hemet would need to cut its general fund budget by 15 percent -- and all but 19 percent of that budget now goes to police and fire protection. There is no credible way to make substantial budget cuts without touching the city's largest expenditures.

Granted, many residents are skeptical of the City Council's spending decisions. The city has spent $47,000 since 2005 on retirement gifts for Hemet workers. The council this year paid a third of a million dollars to change city managers. And during the summer, the city spent $1,400 to furnish a temporary home for the new city manager.

But those expenses represent at most hundreds of thousands of dollars, while the city's shortfall ranges in the millions of dollars. Even without those costs, Hemet would be in a fiscal bind.

Still, such spending has created public distrust, so the city needs to ensure strong accountability. The initiative requires annual audits to monitor the use of the tax money. But the council should also approve a plan for an independent, seven-member citizens committee to evaluate and report on Measure O spending. The council is slated to decide on that issue on Oct. 14.

No one likes paying more taxes, but gutting police and fire protection is not acceptable, either. So Hemet voters should say yes to Measure O.





Express toll service on the 91 freeway will be dropping $0.50 in price.




The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy who was charged with the attempted murder of his wife and another man appeared in court. He was charged with multiple felonies for among other things, ordering his wife at knife point to castrate the man that she was with.


(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)



According to prosecutors, the bloody attack occurred about 10 p.m. Sunday when McClain's wife told him she was leaving him for the younger man, whom she met while working at a leasing office in an Irvine apartment complex. After learning this, the deputy had his 31-year-old wife take him to meet the man at his apartment, prosecutors said.

After arriving, the deputy led the victims to a back kitchenette area in the leasing office, where he started to argue with them and physically attack them, authorities said.

"McClain is accused of taking out a knife and forcing both victims to undress," according to the district attorney's statement. McClain also disrobed, authorities said.

"While at knife point, McClain is accused of unsuccessfully ordering [his wife] to orally copulate both him and [the other man]," the statement read. McClain then ordered his wife to castrate the younger man, which she feigned doing, authorities said. The young man did, however, sustain puncture wounds to his groin area, Irvine police said.

After slashing the man's face, prosecutors said, McClain fled the scene, forcing his wife to go with him.

McClain then forcibly sodomized his wife, chopped off her hair with the knife, and ultimately drove her back to their Irvine home, prosecutors allege.

About 5 a.m. Monday, the wife was able to leave the house with her and her husband's four children and drive to a nearby hospital to get treatment, authorities said.







The Dallas Police Department released a dash camera video of its latest officer-involved shooting.





The fallout from the controversial fatal tasing of a mentally ill man in New York City has begun. The lieutenant involved in the case who was placed on desk duty has killed himself..


NYPD Lt. Michael Piggott who ordered the use of the taser died of a single gunshot wound to the head.



(excerpt, New York Daily News)





Pigott, who left behind a suicide note, apparently broke into another officer's locker and used a 9mm handgun stored there, sources said. Pigott was alone in the locker room, and his body was discovered by another cop, police said.

"He was very distraught and upset about what had happened," a police source said. "He had gone to the department's medical services and been told to take a few days off to rest up. But no one saw this coming. It is very tragic."

Pigott turned 46 today. He was stripped of his gun and badge and placed on desk duty after the fatal confrontation in Bedford-Stuyvesant.



Here are some free workshops that you can attend if you are concerned about saving your home from foreclosure. They are sponsored by Riverside, the Fair Housing Counsel of Riverside County and various county agencies.



Ward One: Oct. 1, 6-8:30 p.m. at University Heights Middle School 1155 Massachusetts Ave.

Ward Two: Oct. 8, 6 to 8:30 p.m. at UCR Extension, Room "e" 1200 University

Ward Three: Oct. 6, 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Janet Goeske Senior Center 5257 Sierra St.



The meetings for the other four wards take place later later in October, November and December.





Also coming in the next several months are community meetings to provide information on how the Community Development Block Grant funding will be spent for each ward.




Riverside Against Drugs is on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 6-9p.m. at Fritz Ford.