Ethics complaints and the confusion around them at City Hall

With Halloween coming, here's the annual coverage of haunted haunts in Riverside. The most haunted locale is of course the Mission Inn Hotel in downtown. It's got hosts of ghosts and it's hard to find someone who's worked there over a period of time who doesn't have a tale or two to tell. Partial and full apparitions. Strange smells. Strange music. Even a spirit which allegedly pushes newlywed couples down flights of stairs. Stories not included in the Mission Inn Hotel's official guide.

Stories also abound from owners of local businesses about strange occurrences. Books falling out of shelves in the bookstore by themselves and strange noises in one of the antique stores nearby.

In the midst of the Halloween season, Riverside's very own City Hall is gearing up for yet another city council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 28 beginning with the session of the Redevelopment Agency (aka as the city council) starting at 2 p.m. This agenda is filled with items for both the afternoon and evening sessions but alas, there won't be discussions for most of them although the consent calendar is robust.


Up for discussion in the 6:30 p.m. session is this report from the Governmental Affairs Committee on its annual review of the ethics code and complaint process which was actually scheduled for an earlier meeting but was postponed. Actually, it's two attempts at the annual review by the committee that took place and were recorded because it forgot to follow its own written guidelines under the resolution passed by the city council which included inviting the mayor and the officers from the city's boards and commissions. The mayor and chairs were no-shows at the first meeting held on Sept. 3 although Mayor Ron Loveridge dropped on by at its end and that was the first he heard about the annual review having not received an invite. Not surprisingly, there was an attempt to review the code and complaint process again on Sept. 12, this time with Loveridge and some of the chairs of boards and commissions in attendance. What was discussed will now be discussed by the full city government.

This of course includes a recommendation that the complaints against elected officials will actually be handled the way they're supposed to be under the policy and procedures outlined in the resolution passed by the city regarding the Ethics code. That language states that the complaints against elected officials are to go to the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee to be processed and decided upon. Yet, on the majority of complaints involving elected officials, instead the complaints completely bypassed this committee and being sent to City Attorney Gregory Priamos who sent out rejection letters to the complainants. Instead of serving as a "resource" as stated in the resolution, he was the designated arbiter.

But this category of complaints isn't the only one where elected officials either have problems understanding the process or implementing it properly. In these letters, Councilman Frank Schiavone appears to have some difficulty outlining the appropriate process for ethics complaints filed against members of boards and commissions.

In his letter to Police Review Commissioners Chani Beeman and John Brandriff, Schiavone writes the following.


(excerpt)


"While in my judgment the letter might not rise to the level of a formal complaint to be reviewed by the Mayor's Nomination and Screening committee for any ethics violation, others may differ."



However, this is not the correct process for this category of complaints.

Here and here it states that complaints involving boards and commission members are supposed to be sent to the city clerk's office which passes them along to the chair of the relevant board and commission for resolution. If the complaint isn't resolved at this level, it goes back to the city clerk's office which then forwards it to the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee. In his letter, Schiavone who chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee and serves as a member of the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee omits the first couple of steps. A situation of error which might be resolved by providing a refresher course in the process to the current city council because if a committee of elected officials or the entire city government for that matter are going to review, discuss and make decisions on the ethics code and complaint process, then they should be fully cognizant in its rules and regulations. And it doesn't seem as if at least some of them are judging by these recent examples.

At any rate, Tuesday night should be an interesting discussion of this process which doesn't seem to be very well understood at City Hall, given all the fumbles that have taken place implementing the provisions of the resolution for the code since its inception. And remember attendance for this debate is free to the public.


Speaking of the PRC, one of the reports that was given to the commissioners last week was one about the letter written by Loveridge and Mayor Pro Tem Rusty Bailey in support of City Manager Brad Hudson's directive to essentially halt timely independent investigations by the PRC of officer-involved deaths. What the city government has essentially done is to convert investigations of these deaths into "reviews" because no one is going to come out and say that an effective investigation of an incident can be conducted six months, a year or longer after it took place unless they've got a horse in this contest. Because the city government has essentially converted these investigations into "reviews"(and in this opinion piece, three city council members essentially reduced the PRC's role even further to that of its predecessor LEPAC which is to engage only in a policy review and recommendation process) which doesn't seem even close to really abiding by the language that was included in what about 60% of this city's voters intended to put in the city's charter.


But Riverside's been busy doing more than just impacting the role of civilian oversight in this city. There's been more movement on the labor front when it comes to filing lawsuits against the city alleging unfair employment practices.With labor contract negotiations colliding with an election cycle beginning in early 2009, who knows what will happen. The city's negotiators, City Manager Brad Hudson and his assistant, Tom DeSantis come into the process with a record of negotiations from the long, hot summer of 2006 which resulted in two strike votes, three lawsuits filed against the city and several employee rallies at City Hall. Hopefully, their record is more successful than it was two years ago in terms of avoiding all this strife and in having better relations with those they negotiate with, but then again, quite a few people seemed to think that the contract negotiations improved last time out when DeSantis was absent from the room.

But allegations of union busting have been made since that summer, including in civil litigation. The Riverside Police Administrators' Association appeared to wrestle with that issue given that some of its members were assigned to positions which were at the management level and that is the union which was allegedly targeted for union busting. And many employees at the management level in Riverside including department heads are "at will". Hudson once said that his employees jump at the opportunity to be "at will" and take the offer. But others say that they fear "at will" because they think if they take it, their careers will be shorter than they would otherwise like. Others are afraid those who are "at will" will become "yes men" for the city manager's office.


Here are some of the lawsuits which have been filed against the city in the last several years by current or formal employees. These come in the wake of a $1.64 million trial verdict in the case of Officer Roger Sutton and the quick settlement behind closed doors of another lawsuit filed by a former female police officer in 2005.

The first two lawsuits come from the code enforcement division of the city.


Mary Furfaro, Todd Solomon, Steve Livings v the City of Riverside



Kathie White, Theresa Steffen v the City of Riverside



This one below involves two lieutenants who are suing two city councilmen, the police department and the city for retaliation for their involvement in the Political Action Committee of the Riverside Police Administrators' Association during Election 2007. Hurt was president of that labor bargaining unit at the time and while the unsuccessful attempts by Hudson to make three upper management positions in the police department "at will" was taking place. Some people wondered why the lawsuit filing received very little press including the lack of mention of the plaintiffs' identities. Did City Hall play a role in that?


Lt. Darryl Hurt, Lt. Tim Bacon v the City of Riverside



Another female police officer filed this one before going to trial on criminal charges associated with workman's compensation fraud.


Laura Digiorgio v the City of Riverside






Riverside's got to wait until next year before it will hit another one of its election cycles with the mayor's position and four city council seats being up for grabs, but it's a busy election year just about everywhere else.



Here is some blogging on the Murrieta local elections.



The Norco political candidates are selling their qualifications to the voters.


Who's winning the campaign fund raising race in Temecula? The incumbents, that's who!


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



As of Oct. 18, Mayor Mike Naggar has $29,606 and Councilman Chuck Washington has $26,408.97 left in the bank. Between the two, they raised nearly $11,000 from Oct. 1 to Oct. 18 and have spent more than $65,000 this calendar year, according to state-required campaign disclosure forms submitted Thursday.


By comparison, challengers Al Abbott, Rita Hernandez and James "Stew" Stewart have raised a combined $17,900 since Jan. 1. They spent just under $12,000 since then.

The five are running for two four-year seats on the five-member council, which serves staggered terms.

Despite the fund raising gap, Stewart, a barber making his second City Council run, said he's satisfied with how his campaign is going. He said his campaign Web site has gotten more than 17,000 hits.

"I ran it the way I wanted to this time," he said. "Win or lose, I'll be happy either way."





All this election intrigue in a county which might set records in voters' turnout at the polls this year.




The Press Enterprise Editorial Board has made its decision and it's that San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus must go.



(excerpt)



Postmus is not the victim of a political witch hunt, but of his own actions. The grand jury's revelations are only the latest entry in Postmus' long record of ethical lapses.

A county government with a history of corruption does not need officials who shrug off questions of integrity. Postmus' attitude toward the accusations against him is unacceptable. He needs to go.





A San Bernardino Police Department sergeant spoke out against a plea arrangement for defendants in a murder conspiracy case.


The federal corruption trial of former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona continues with testimony expected to begin this week. Over 100 witnesses are expected to testify for the prosecution alone.




An interesting series in the Los Angeles Times about the history of the Los Angeles Police Department vs organized crime.






What aren't nearly half of all law enforcement officers wearing when they are on duty?




Former Bolingbrook Police Department sergeant, Drew Peterson's lawyer met with a judge to discuss his upcoming trial on weapons charges.



What are bloggers saying about the Inland Empire in the wake of the "Obama Bucks" mailer scandal?

The ethics code and complaint process finally makes it to city council

The Riverside City Council will finally be discussing the annual review of the ethics code and complaint process sent to it by the Governmental Affairs Committee. This meeting will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the city council chambers at City Hall. This is the agenda and this is the report. It was originally scheduled for an earlier meeting but was postponed.

One of the recommendations being forwarded from the Governmental Affairs Committee meeting on Sept. 12 is that all complaints involving elected officials will be submitted to the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee. This is in accordance with the process stated in the resolution and in this document about the process of filing complaints on the city's Web site. However, only one ethics complaint that's been filed against an elected official had actually followed this process that's been so clearly outlined by the city so there shouldn't be any confusion. At least two other complaints against elected officials were forwarded instead to City Attorney Gregory Priamos who sent out letters to the complainants essentially tossing their complaints out without the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee ever laying eyes on them. The resolution for the code of ethics allows Priamos to serve as a "resource" but what the Mayor's Nomination and Screening Committee did instead was turn him into an arbiter.

The committee also recommended that it conduct its annual reviews every September instead of its previous practice of scheduling them haphazardly throughout the year.

The ethics code and complaint process as watered down as it's become has attracted a lot of attention and brought people to the Governmental Affairs meeting to speak on its implementation by the city council at two meetings in September. This year, there had to be two meetings on the issue because the Governmental Affairs Committee neglected to follow policy and procedure again outlined in the resolution and invite the mayor and the chairs of all the boards and commissions to offer input on the process. After the first meeting, Mayor Ron Loveridge told several attendees that he had never been notified let alone received an invite to the meeting to review the process. Initially he said that the situation would be remedied next year but apparently he changed his mind because the do-over was scheduled fairly quickly after he became aware of what had happened.





In closed session at the same meeting, the city council will be reviewing another workman's compensation case involving a police officer, this time Det. Darren Woolley.


The Old Riverside Foundation is also suing the city in Riverside County Superior Court so the city council will be discussing or hearing about legal options in closed session.




A new award named after the renowned former police chief, Bill Howe.





The elected officials in Riverside are suffering pangs of remorse for letting the Regency Tower get away to Riverside County. Towergate resulted after the redevelopment agency helped get the developer his land to build office space and provide parking, hopefully for downtown employees and visitors and to bring in new customers. Of course, this never happened, not in an economy where it really couldn't come to fruition in the midst of a recession. The developer wanted to make money on his investment so he sold his building to Riverside County who will use it to house District Attorney Rod Pacheco's new headquarters. This purchase by the county was approved 4-0 by the board of supervisors earlier this week. Supervisor John Tavaglione explained that the office space most likely wouldn't be leased out for the next couple of years for private use given the current economic crisis.


Still several elected officials mused about the fate of the tower which they believed to be part of the adage, if you build it, they will come. In better economic times, maybe but now?


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



"In hindsight, it probably should have said in the ... (development agreement) that it shouldn't be sold to a public agency," City Councilman Frank Schiavone said this week.

Former council member Dom Betro said he had hoped that 10 stories of prime "Class A" office space would have given downtown a big economic boost by attracting a flock of new professionals supporting restaurants, stores and other city initiatives, such as a renovated Fox Theatre.

But now the 10-story building will shift government employees already downtown and put on the market lower-quality office spaces that the district attorney will vacate, Betro said.

Schiavone and Councilman Mike Gardner said they will never let it happen again.




Campaign signs are the source of conflict between a councilwoman in Hemet and a former supporter of hers while the mayor in Perris is getting the most support.

Corona's candidates are spending much less money than usual.





The San Bernardino City Council had voted to approve a plan to have two police practices experts review the beleaguered police department but will it work?



(excerpt, San Bernardino Sun)




Estrada made her views public at Monday's City Council meeting. In an interview the following day, she repeated her concerns that Gaines and Scialdone may not be given enough scope to completely assess how the Police Department may need to be improved.

"The whole point of having Frank Scialdone go in there was to do an unbiased review and look into everything without being filtered," Estrada said Tuesday.

The proposed contract would use $24,500 in city money, Estrada said. That amount is $500 below the threshold that would require the council to vote on the contract.

Estrada said that as presently conceived, the possible contract that would let Gaines and Scialdone have an insider's view of the Police Department would assign a police liaison and also focus the probe on three issues.

Those issues are the department's use-of-force reporting policy, the length of time it takes to complete internal-affairs investigations and what factors are used to determine whether officers accused of wrongdoing are investigated by the Police Department or outside agencies.

The police union has cited those issues as major points of concern. Monday, Morris said that zeroing in on those matters could allow Gaines and Scialdone to get to the bottom of labor-management problems in the department.

The deal "is one that addresses the three central issues that were raised by the (police union)," Morris said.




A Fort Worth Police Department officer was fired for breaking his girlfriend's nose.


(excerpt, Star-Telegram)



According to the letter detailing the reasons for Flores’ termination, Flores and his girlfriend, a sergeant with the Police Department, began arguing while drinking at the Horseman Nightclub on the night of Aug. 3.

Flores drove himself and his girlfriend to her complex, where he parked the car and grabbed her by the face, telling her to look at him.

She pulled away. The two got out of the car and a physical altercation ensued after Flores took her keys, license and cellphone and refused to give them back. When she tried to take the items, Flores pushed her back. She then hit him in the chest in an attempt to get her items back and he pushed her to the ground, injuring her knees and elbows.

The letter states that during the altercation, Flores punched his girlfriend in the nose and head area and threw her into a brick wall and metal railing. He then shoved her into her apartment and bedroom before retrieving his children and going to his own apartment.





Not surprisingly, this officer had served a lengthy suspension just five years ago for similar misconduct and that was only the second example of prior discipline he received while working as a police officer.

TGIF: Bits and pieces, here, there and everywhere

Here's an interesting article about how city residents in Pittsburgh have gone to the city council to address the issue of continued oversight over the police department several years after its consent decree with the Department of Justice was dissolved.



(excerpt, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

The speakers suggested that council codify portions of a 1997 consent decree, an agreement between the police department and the federal government. For eight years it required the department to release information such as the races or ages of people officers come in contact with and which officers receive the most complaints.

"Nobody is watching over the police department now, and nobody is monitoring their performance," said Elizabeth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizens Police Review Board, an independent agency that investigates misconduct complaints. "This may lead to problems down the road."

Police Chief Nathan Harper said most regulations and procedures begun under the decree remain in effect. A requirement to rotate officers' locations after five years was eliminated, though, when manpower decreased and Act 111 arbitration adopted a few years ago eliminated an "integrity squad" that tested officers, he said.

"We continuously look at our policies and procedures, our guidelines, and we try to improve the inner workings of the department," Harper said. He said he plans to meet with council members privately in November, to explain the department's operating procedures.

If you remember, the Vera Institute did this position paper on the views of both city residents and police officers after the consent decree was dissolved. The reaction from city residents was concern that the loss of outside oversight over the police department meant that the lasting impact of the mandated reforms would lessen over time and at worst, it would be business as usual for the city and department. Police officers interviewed were just so relieved the consent decree was over and the yoke as it was called by some was off of their necks at last. It took Pittsburgh seven years to successfully complete its decree.

At the beginning of the consent decree, the view of it by city residents was positive, while the department's officers' reactions were mixed. It was actually the first of its kind to be issued utilizing legislation passed by Congress authorizing such investigations to be conducted of a police department's pattern and practices by the Justice Department.

At the five year mark, it was bifurcated by a federal judge who released the department save the office which handled citizen complaints which was under the city. Because there was still a serious backlog of citizen complaints lasting up to two years, more work needed to be done in improving its operations and services before it could be fully released from the consent decree.

Riverside's been out of its own version of a consent decree (referred to as a stipulated judgment allegedly to appease Mayor Ron Loveridge who allegedly believed the words, "consent decree" carried a social stigma on the city) for 2 1/2 years. Initially it stumbled especially at the management level according to an audit given in early 2007 not to mention that it took City Manager Brad Hudson over six months to actually hire the consultant who was supposed to perform the audits. But that situation apparently improved within the next several months in terms of the uniformity of its management level moving forward with the continuation of the reforms and the implementation of the Strategic Plan.

The department made some important infrastructure changes and created much-needed new training for its officers.

Later on, concerns began to arise that proposed freezing of police positions might impact the forward movement of the police department although Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis sitting in the big chair at the last audit of the police department last June assured everyone that the police department was "fully staffed". Even as the staffing levels in the department's patrol shifts shrunk even as the city's population is moving the other way.

This was before the department disbanded its Community Services Division, allegedly reduced its patrol shift staffing to the minimum level of just below 20 officers a shift and froze sergeant and lieutenant positions. The police department including Chief Russ Leach has held several community forums (as required by the Strategic Plan) reassuring those who attend that community policing philosophy is growing and not regressing or stagnating. The next proposed forum to take place will be that involving the East Neighborhood Policing Center and that will be held on some date in November at some location in Orangecrest.

But there's also been litigation filed by officers in the department against the city and more is likely in the future, addressing a variety of issues including allegations of political retaliation by city employees and several elected officials. Not to mention lawsuits settled by the city pertaining to the department's use of lethal force in several officer-involved shootings.

In the midst of all this, it's been two years since the dissolution of the stipulated judgment and nearly 10 since the fatal shooting of Tyisha Miller that started it all in terms of the progression towards implementing recommendations submitted by the Mayor's Use of Force Panel and later mandated by former State Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

What would be interesting is that if the city and department hired an organization like the Vera Institute or another one to conduct a report on the Riverside Police Department five years after the dissolution of the stipulated judgment and about 18 months or so after the completion of the five-year Strategic Plan. Of course, that's not going to happen and given that the department's handed off all its access to public information off to City Attorney Gregory Priamos to vet, it's not going to be easy for the public to do so either. Which is how it was when we all got into this situation to start with more than a decade ago.

At any rate, there will be future postings on the Riverside Police Department, 10 years later.






This posting talks about the departure of Greyhound from Riverside on Nov. 1 and how it might impact a program that offers military personnel bus tickets to go home and be reunited with or visit their families. Of course, since the Riverside City Council believes that only felons, criminals and parolees constitute the 85,000 people that take Greyhound each year, it probably hasn't occurred to it that military personnel and their families may be impacted along with seniors, families and/or the disabled who rely on this bus service.


Meanwhile, city officials believe that more parking is needed downtown in the wake of the debacle involving the sale of the new office tower being constructed to Riverside County. City residents were aware of this but Towergate seems to have brought a heightened sense of awareness on the shortage of downtown parking to elected officials.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Councilman Mike Gardner, whose ward includes downtown, said the city doesn't have a replacement plan yet because the deal between Silagi and the county just won approval this week.

The county plans to use Regency Tower to house the district attorney's office.

Gardner and Councilman Frank Schiavone both said they expect the county to buy all of Garage 6 so that it can put in security measures to protect prosecutors and investigators who will park there.

If that happens, "I think we need to replace it," Gardner said.

He isn't sure where to build a replacement garage, he said.



One of the locations being evaluated for the "replacement" parking garage is a corner on 10th and Market and eminent domain may be used as a "last resort". And given that another election year is just around the corner is it possible that the parking situation downtown in general and Towergate in particular might be tossed in the midst as a major issue to be discussed along with others during Election 2009?






San Bernardino County Assessor William Postmus has vowed to finish out his term even as the turmoil surrounding him grows.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Postmus maintained that allegations raised against him and his office are part of a political witchhunt and appearing before the Board of Supervisors would amount to a political circus.

He said he is committed to his job as assessor and to reducing property taxes during tough economic times.

"I am back!" he emphatically said at the conclusion of a nearly hourlong interview at his downtown San Bernardino office.




He may be back but he declined an invitation by the county board of supervisors to appear before it and answer some questions.


(excerpt, San Bernardino Sun)




Postmus issued a three-page letter to board Chairman Paul Biane late Thursday afternoon. The letter served as a response to Biane's request earlier this week for Postmus to appear before the supervisors as soon as possible.

"I am declining your request due to several factors that have developed over the past several weeks since you first made your request," Postmus wrote in the letter faxed to The Sun on Thursday. "You personally launched a politically-motivated criminal investigation into my elected office. Furthermore, you attempted to inaugurate said investigation under a cloak of secrecy."

Postmus' office was raided in April by district attorney's investigators.

The assessor's top aide and longtime friend, Assistant Assessor Adam Aleman, was later arrested on felony charges of doctoring or destroying evidence. Several sources have also said Postmus is addicted to pain killers and methamphetamine.

"Assessor Postmus still doesn't get it," Biane said in a news release. "Despite his best efforts to frame and characterize this issue as something between the two of us, he totally fails to realize this is about the public's trust and confidence in him as the elected Assessor."






Another candidate for city council enters the debate in San Bernardino.


(excerpt, San Bernardino Sun)

The second candidate to consider joining the race is Dena Peters, an administrative secretary at San Bernardino Valley College. She follows Fred Shorett, a self-employed salesman who has also filed the paperwork at City Hall in order to begin a campaign.

Whoever wins - Peters, Shorett, or an as-yet unknown candidate - will represent the city's northeastern neighborhoods until Derry's term expires in March 2010. Derry is set to leave the council in December to take a seat on the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

In an interview at her home in San Bernardino's Northpark area, Peters said that if elected, one of her top priorities would be improving city aesthetics.

"It's an old town. It could use some redecoration, if that's what you want to call it. A little paint never hurts," she said.

Controversy has hit Murrieta in its election after letters written by the police and fire fighters union to endorse a candidate were written on the city's letterhead.


The police chief of Murrieta's department took action.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Chief of Police Mark Wright already had written to the police union Monday pointing out the error and ordering union officials to correct it.


"Use of city letterhead for political purposes is strictly forbidden," he wrote. "The City of Murrieta and its police department neither endorses nor opposes anyone running for any elected office."

John Therien, police union vice president, said he mistakenly printed six letters to the candidates on the wrong letterhead. When the error was brought to his attention this week, Therien said, he quickly corrected it and wrote letters of apology to all of the candidates.

"It was an honest mistake," Therien said. "I feel bad that all this happened."




The comments here included expressions of skepticism that include expressions of skeptism that the unions didn't know that they'd used the wrong letterhead.


(excerpts)



How could you not notice that it was on city letterhead? PLEASE! Spare me the lies! It could have been printed by mistake, but there is no way it was not noticed until AFTER they were sent out.
TRY AGAIN!!



Don't be fooled people...this was no mistake. The unions have been promised something by these two....contract negotiations are coming up.







But more problems quickly emerged when one political candidate said he was endorsed by the police and fire departments and didn't clarify that it was actually their respective labor unions which endorsed him.







The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department will be probing its own impound process.





More allegations of racist fliers being put out by a police union in Richmond, California. In fact, the ACLU called it the most racist flyer it's seen in at least 10 years.



(excerpt, Berkeley Daily Planet)



Coalition spokesperson Andres Soto said the flyer “is blatantly racist against the Latino community,” and “designed to distract people from the issues” in the upcoming election.

Phillip Mehas, a member of the board of the regional ACLU chapter, said that in his 10 years in the area he had seen derogatory mailings before, “but nothing as racist as this.”

“Public safety held hostage,” declared the flyer. “Stop crime before it happens” and “Arrogant disrespect for public safety.”

The stark headlines were placed over photos of activist Juan Reardon, who served as campaign manager to Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, holding up a sign in Spanish warning of a police driver’s license checkpoint ahead.

Inside, headlines declared “Mexican drug dealers,” “Honduran drug dealers,” “El Salvadoran drug dealers” and “Drugs come to Richmond from across the Mexican border,” with “Richmond” and “Mexican border” underlined, and the accompanying text referring to “Mexican drug wars,” “headless bodies” and “ongoing orgies of violence!”

Latinos were the only drug dealers mentioned in the flyer.







National trends show cuts in police budgets. Personnel positions and training budgets are taking the largest cuts.





In Columbia, Missouri the majority of the city council voted in support of civilian review.



(excerpt, Columbia Tribune)



Jeffrey Williams and Rex Campbell, co-chairmen of the Citizen Oversight Committee that was formed in June 2007 to evaluate complaint procedures and the need for a citizen review board, last night at a council work session presented the group’s final report and its recommendation to form a civilian board. They fielded questions from council members, including many who support the concept of a board but have questions: What would trigger a citizen review? What staff support would be needed? How will a citizen review process co-exist with the police internal review process?

Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala said the review board could improve the department’s public relations.

There is a perception that "complaints were never resolved or addressed," he said. "That doesn’t serve the public or the police well, a reputation of nonresponse. This is an attempt to be much more responsive and transparent."

Williams echoed that thought in his presentation.

"We found out that many complaints did not see light of day," he told the council. "There was a fear of reprisal or feeling of ‘What would be the point? What will come of it?’ "




Five New York City Police Department officers are being investigated for chasing after a man in a subway station and then sodomizing him.



(excerpt, New York Daily News)



Michael Mineo says he was standing outside the Prospect Park subway station in Flatbush at 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 when a group of uniformed cops approached him and accused him of smoking marijuana.

The confrontation somehow escalated and Mineo says he fled into the station.


There, he says, he was jumped by the five cops. While one cop held down his legs and another held down his shoulders, he says one of the cops pulled down his pants.

At that point, one of the cops inserted some type of police equipment - either a baton or the antennae of a police radio - into his rectum, Mineo says.

When the assault ended, he was given a desk appearance ticket charging him with disorderly conduct.


Statements from police department representatives differed.


(excerpt)



Police downplayed the incident, saying Internal Affairs found "no evidence of criminality." None of the cops was put on desk duty.

"Police officers grappled with an individual who they observed smoking marijuana after he had fled and resisted being handcuffed," Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said. "His assertion that he was sodomized is not supported by independent civilian witnesses on the scene."

"This is a bad one," a police source said. "It looks like one of the cops inserted his radio antenna in the victim's rectum."




In other articles, the NYPD denied the allegations even as it stated it was investigating them. The hospital where Mineo went after the incident said that he was there for four days.




Local artist, Charles Bibbs had his work featured in a current film in theaters near you.

Canary in the Mine: Majority and minority reports

The City Council meeting has adjourned for the week after hearing this agenda but this item on the destruction of city documents was hidden away on the longer consent calendar. The same part of the agenda which the public has been barred from pulling items from since July 12, 2005.


The documents impacted were the following.



City Manager Administration and Community Police Review divisions

City Council

Community Development Building Safety, Code Enforcement and Planning Divisions

Development Housing and Community Development Division

General Services Administration, Property Division and Publishing Services

Library Accounting and Administration Divisions

Mayor's Administration and Human Relations Commission Divisions

Metropolitan Museum




The report states succinctly that history has shown that the retention schedules for city documents have changed as "particular need arose" and in response, the divisions stated above have decided to alter their retention schedules to do the following, simplify record titles, eliminate redundancies and incorporate changes. Officially, the request for the rescheduling comes from City Clerk Colleen Nichols but it's signed off by City Manager Brad Hudson, Asst. City Manager Tom DeSantis and City Attorney Gregory Priamos.

The categories provided under the latest retention schedule change aren't very specific. For example, the "C" category states that documents might be retained for between 2-15 years. So which is it? Closer to two years or 15?

It's not like documents haven't been removed from the public record already without any warning that this would happen. In fact in at least one case, a record was removed from the Web site of a city division very quietly.

Some time in the last year or so someone quietly removed recorded findings issued by the PRC for at least one officer-involved shooting case. Naturally of course, it was the sustained finding of a violation of policy in the Summer Marie Lane case. When it was first issued, it was placed online for the public to see in lieu of any oral response from the commission upon advise of Priamos, according to then executive manager Pedro Payne. And there it remained for a period of time until just recently. But this link is no longer active. In fact, it's no longer even listed on the "Findings" page for 2005 and the citation for the date of that finding has disappeared completely. Were the commissioners or public ever notified that these records were being deleted? The answer is most likely doubtful for the commissioners and of course not for the public.


This minute order for the Nov. 9, 2005 meeting shows that the Lane shooting (also known as P3-04-341-246) was deliberated by the commission minus two of its members. But that's the only record on the shooting case that caused so much consternation at the police department and City Hall and was the beginning of the end in terms of the freedom that the RPC had from micromanagement. It's the only record that the meeting to discuss that case actually took place. And it did, but it also resulted in the issuance of a finding on the Lane case which was posted online for several years before vanishing.



Several years ago, a city council subcommittee deliberated over the retention schedules for the police department's audio and video recordings, trying to reduce them from several years to about six months which was argued for because that's the statute of limitations on filing complaints with the PRC. However, there's no recognized statute of limitations for filing complaints through the police department's internal affairs division especially since Priamos' legal analysis and reading of Governmental Code 3304(d) seems to change with the weather. It's not clear whether any recommendation was issued to the city council on these types of records by the subcommittee which discussed altering the retention schedules.

The proposed destruction of those records is troubling because the majority of audio and video recordings haven't ever been reviewed by anyone in the police department after being downloaded from the recording devices and stashed away in storage. They essentially are only reviewed if complaints get filed. These guidelines were provided to the PRC by police department representatives who briefed the commission on the department's use of digital audio recorders and video recording devices several years ago.

But you still never know what the other recordings might contain until you listen to them. Maybe they should think about doing that before purging them.


Speaking of audio recordings, there isn't one for the meeting of the PRC from its meeting on Oct. 8 when the commission voted 7-0 (with two commissioners absent) to exonerate the officers who shot and killed Douglas Steven Cloud in 2006. Technical difficulties from trying to use an unfamiliar setup in the Utilities Board Room was attributed as causing the problem. At any rate, the commissioners were pushed to remember exactly what it was they had said only two weeks earlier.



The PRC met again in another one of its marathon meetings to discuss several shooting investigations and other housekeeping issues. One of the issues that came up was the Mystery of the Missing Case Books for the two fatal shooting cases being discussed now. These case files submitted by the department's officer-involved death investigation team were taken from the vaults of the PRC and removed from online for some redacting which needed to be done and should have been done. However, the time period stretched until three months had passed and there's no definite date when either the case books for the shootings of Douglas Steven Cloud and Joseph Darnell Hill will be released either to the commission or to the public record. While previewing the case books for what needed to be redacted, Roz Vincent, the custodian of records and representatives from the department's internal affairs division determined that more records might have to be removed. Not really a surprising development in the least. In fact, it was kind of expected.

Explanations for the delay including the fact that the Riverside Police Department apparently has only one person fully trained and certified to handle the redaction in these files were provided by both Executive Manager Kevin Rogan and Asst. Chief John DeLaRosa. There was some discussion about producing different records for the commission than those accessed by the public. Until then, the commissioners could make appointments with the Internal Affairs Division to borrow its case book to review it in that office and perhaps an additional copy could be made if negotiations to do so were successful with the department. Perhaps the department would also take the time to train more employees to be able to handle and process these documents if it hasn't done so already. It's certainly something they can take up with the city manager's office.

Ken Rotker, a commissioner who's clearly ready to take his vote on the Hill case, said that he's prepared, having read the case book. Which is definitely commendable, but if other people including John Brandriff (who had expressed concern about the lack of access to it) need to review it or revisit the information inside it then they should be allowed to have that opportunity to be prepared to the same degree of comfort and confidence as that expressed by Rotker. They should be fully prepared in terms of reviewing all the case product on the Hill shooting investigation before engaging in any of the stages of their new process.

Commissioner Chani Beeman who expressed frustration at the lengthy delay said at one point that the delay was another way the commission was being punished for trying to make it accessible and that it was nothing less than obstructive conduct. At one point she tried to get a motion passed to ask the department to expedite the process which was seconded by Commissioner Jim Ward but it was withdrawn after howls of protest from other commissioners who said that the department had explained that there was only one individual who could do the job, even working on weekends to get it done.

But Leslie Braden, sister of Hill, hasn't even seen the case book that contains the investigative material into her brother's death even though she's requested access to it every week. She was told that there's no set date when she or her family members will be able to access that information.



Earlier, Teresa Cloud, mother of Douglas Steven Cloud, delivered a speech to the commission which raised some critical issues and questions involving the process of investigation, fact gathering, deliberations and decision making involving her son's case. She started it off with a simple sentence, "We need a civilian review board".

And she's right. That's what this city needs but that's not what it has, especially in the light of recent events surrounding the micromanagement of this eight-year-old form of civilian oversight primarily by individuals who weren't in positions of power or even in the city at all when the events transpired surrounding its gestation and birth. The city has the board it's always wanted and ironically, it achieved it within four years after the majority of the voters in Riverside passed Measure II which was done in response to political manipulation of the commission by members of the elected government who opposed it.

What the city does have, Cloud said, is a panel filled with people primarily in law enforcement, connected to law enforcement and even one member who manages a company which has an ongoing public safety contract with the city. As usual, they disregarded the statements by the civilian witnesses, latched onto the versions provided by the officers and there wasn't much in the way of physical evidence to factor into the case. But this shooting which was the second of three in 2006 to involve unarmed men, was disturbing and troublesome, so much so that the city paid out the second highest financial settlement in recent history to make it go away. But if it's exposed serious problems in the supervision, staffing and training of officers, then it's not going to go away.

If there are problems, they'll just reemerge through other critical incidents as they have in the past until the city and department are ready and willing to learn from them. And the department's proven it's capable of doing this through the development of mental health crisis intervention training in response to the Brown shooting. But it's also shown its resistance to doing this and in recent years, it seems that City Hall has joined in this chorus including some of the same individuals who chastised prior elected officials for their lack of inability to see what was coming.


At least one commissioner said that the Cloud case disturbed him. But he apparently was alone in deciding not to go with the crowd if indeed he is concerned about the shooting.

Ward had hoped to revisit the discussion on the Cloud case saying that he had been caught by surprise that the commission had reached a finding in his absence. Beeman tried to reopen the case for discussion if only to hear the viewpoints of Ward and Commissioner John Brandriff (much quieter since the Schiavone letter) who were absent at the last meeting where the finding had been reached. But others wanted to just move on to the next stage. Still, a motion was initiated by Beeman and seconded by Ward to receive input from the missing commissioners.

Ward did say that he would be submitting a minority report on the Cloud shooting case and said he would submit it to the commission at the same time it submitted its majority report. Chair Brian Pearcy tried to use that to cast negative comments on Ward's intentions but actually that's how majority and minority reports are done by other administrative agencies. After several years and two minority reports released in connection with officer-involved death investigations, the commission still seems to have difficulty understanding what a minority report actually represents.

That led to more excruciating discussion about how important it is for the majority of commissioners to be able to see Ward's minority report before it's submitted so they can refute his points in the majority report. No, this is not how they are done. If the majority report is well thought out, well drafted and its argument presented clearly, then it will already address and even counter points raised in the minority report. If those who constitute the majority report are so insecure about the arguments they plan to use to back their own finding, then they really do need to reopen the discussion of that finding again.

There was more of the usual infighting between members of the commission including barbs traded by one person who said another person had insulted them and that's what is most noticeable about the dynamics of communication on the CPRC is how more and more it's getting personal rather than professional. It's getting to be so predicable who says what about who that perhaps it's time to develop the PRC drinking game in a future posting.






It's amazing how much discussion the PRC gets from all these entities at City Hall and beyond yet the fact that the police department's staffing levels may be at their lowest since the 1980s doesn't get nearly as much in the way of attention let alone any sort of public dialogue. If the department is staffing its shift with about 18-19 officers for a city of 300,000, then those making these decisions should be included on the list of involved parties cited in the next consent decree that gets imposed on the police department. It's really too bad that those in power in both the department and City Hall apparently haven't learned much about what critically low staffing levels at the officer and/or supervisor level did to the police department in the 1990s.

In 1998 for example, there were four fatal shootings by a department with fewer officers overall than exist today. The final shooting that year was of Tyisha Miller which took place almost 10 years ago.

It's really unfortunate that elected officials including those who've bagged or are hoping to bag huge financial campaign contributions from the department's three labor unions are not doing more to address this situation rather than backing the city manager's office's assertion that the department is "fully staffed".

But it's not, not if the officers assigned to staff each shift were in greater numbers than they are now. With almost 30 positions either permanently or temporarily vacant, it's very doubtful that the police department's as populated as it needs to be. And if staffing levels are falling below what they should be and the supervisory levels of this very young department are not as they should be, does that point to other deficiencies in the department? And if so, what would they be?




Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein discusses the episode involving the downtown office tower purchased by Riverside County.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




But was there really a subsidy? City bureaucrats, including City Manager Brad Hudson, hint that Schiavone doesn't know what he's talking about. They say those all-day spaces are only worth $4 million.

At this writing, the city cannot decide whether it is or is not subsidizing a developer with$4 million. (This is not reassuring to Joe the Taxpayer.)

After speaking to City Manager Hudson, who works for Councilman Schiavone, Tavaglione concluded Schiavone "was off on his own." Having laughed off the councilman, the county voted to buy the building. Tavaglione claimed the county was doing the city a favor.

"I can tell you that in this economy, if that building were left to a speculative market you would not see a tenant for at least four years."

Which contradicts real estate experts who have repeatedly said demand for office space in downtown Riverside remains high.






The Moreno Valley city council candidates talked finances and other issues on the campaign trail. The once harmonious city government has experienced a greater degree of infighting in recent months. Still the Press Enterprise Editorial Board endorsed these two.



Beaumont's political candidates address growth.





Rescue Temecula, a community activist group, has filed a complaint against another elected official.



Eight candidates compete for two trustee positions on the Riverside Community College District Board.







The Inglewood Police Department will be getting new tactical training in the wake of a recent series of officer-involved shootings.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)




Seabrooks told reporters that the training would help officers better assess situations that could escalate to the use of deadly force.

"At the end of the day, we are talking about a program that is to professionalize and enhance a skill set," Seabrooks said.

The first three-week training session will begin Nov. 5 and eventually will include all of the department's 193 officers.

Seabrooks said the program was in the works before the four deadly shootings that occurred from May to September. In three of those cases, the suspects were unarmed. The incidents generated widespread criticism of the department's use-of-force policies, tactics and leadership.

"One of the consistent themes I've heard from members of this organization . . . is that we need to do more training here," Seabrooks said, adding she had ordered an extensive analysis of "critical incidents" involving Inglewood officers dating back nearly a decade.





Check out Ghost Walk.


A welcome home to Alysheba!

The Riverside Supes: Just say no.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to approve the purchase of the Regency Tower for its new District Attorney's office, despite attempts by Riverside City Councilman Frank Schiavone to delay that vote in its eleventh hour. Four of the five supervisors approved the sale, with Roy Wilson being absent from the proceedings. Riverside city in a sense got left holding the bag in the county's wake having "provided" land to a developer who turned around and sold his project to the county, in part because there was no language in the agreement between him and the Redevelopment Agency to stipulate that the office space be sold or provided to private companies.

Schiavone was in the Press Enterprise insisting that he was looking out for the Redevelopment Agency's interests but what would have accomplished that is better negotiation strategy by its assigned negotiating team. Once the damage was done by not having a protective clause written in the contract in light of the serious problems afflicting the construction business which might tempt a developer to take a good offer from Riverside County, complaining about it is kind of like spitting in the wind.

And Schiavone was apparently alone in the wind, with even Interim Asst. City Manager Belinda Graham (and presumably her boss, city manager and former county employee, Brad Hudson) in disagreement with his contention that there was a parking space subsidy not to mention other unnamed colleagues on the dais who also apparently differed in their readings of this issue.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

City Councilman Frank Schiavone said Monday he would ask county supervisors to delay their vote. The city had provided developer Moshe Silagi with land to build Regency Tower as a redevelopment project aimed at drawing private offices, additional jobs and business patrons to downtown.

Schiavone said the city subsidized parking facilities for Regency Tower by about $4 million, and should have the chance to recoup that money if the developer is going to sell to a public agency.

Supervisor John Tavaglione said before voting that he had spoken with the city manager and other Riverside officials and they did not share Schiavone's concern. No city officials or representatives spoke at today's county meeting.



It's interesting that no representatives from Riverside, elected or otherwise, took to the podium at the meeting to speak out on this issue. After all, it's likely they would receive more than three minutes to do so. But none of them did.

So one of Riverside's pet projects downtown is now officially in the hands of the county. The saga of downtown Riverside continues onward.






A new computer simulation program may help with the hiring process and retention levels for Riverside Police Department dispatchers.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



Sgt. Lisa Williams, who oversees the dispatchers, said overtime helps bridge the gap in service but takes a toll on dispatchers.

"The dispatchers we have are highly trained professionals; we just need more of them to apply," Williams said.

She believes a new computerized system will help find people who can juggle multiple tasks at once -- something a paper test could never do.

Williams is also developing classroom curriculum she hopes will offer better training. Previously the trainees only received on-the-job training.

She hopes this combination of testing and training will help her find and keep dispatchers who make good decisions quickly.



They're hoping at the department that testing people's ability to multi-task under pressure might help screen out the best applicants.




The Police Review Commission in Riverside will be meeting again and among other things, will discuss the joint letter sent by Mayor Ron Loveridge and Mayor Pro Tem Rusty Bailey to the commission defending City Manager Brad Hudson's directive to essentially prohibit the commission from doing any timely investigations of officer-involved deaths. Not on the agenda to be discussed are the letters two commissioners received from Councilman Frank Schiavone. Between the three city council members who wrote the opinion piece backing Hudson's directive and the two different individuals who wrote the letter to the commission, five elected officials including four city council members have expressed or engaged in releasing joint letters or written statements on the same issue.







The Riverside Transit Authority has cut back its routes of travel even in the face of increased ridership. The good news is that it's only planning to cut six routes instead of the original 11.





Pleading guilty for stalking a fellow deputy is Riverside County Sheriff's Department Deputy Eric Lance Hamilton.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



The defendant was arrested in May on allegations he stalked Investigator Christian Dekker. Hamilton and Dekker were members of a special enforcement team based in the sheriff's French Valley station.

Hamilton became fixated on Dekker after Dekker witnessed and reported "acts of misconduct" against team members, according to an affidavit in support of the arrest warrant.

After one team member was placed on leave and another was about to be disciplined, Dekker began receiving anonymous annoying phone calls traced to a team cell phone in Hamilton's possession, the affidavit alleged.

Dekker was also told by Hamilton that he had "just signed his own death warrant" by reporting the team, according to the affidavit.

On two occasions, Hamilton stared at Dekker for minutes before speeding away, the affidavit stated.





It doesn't get much more competitive than this in politics. Fourteen candidates, one open seat in Norco. Also heated is the Rialto city clerk contest.






Press Enterprise Columnist Cassie MacDuff wrote about the impact of racist mailers used in elections and discussed her feelings about the Obama Bucks mailer put out by the Chaffey Community Republican Women which has put the Inland Empire back on the map albeit not in the best of ways.

But she also wrote about this mailer too.


(excerpt)


Meanwhile, the Rialto Police Benefit Association and Rialto Professional Firefighters drew fire for a political mailer featuring a photo illustration of a Hispanic gangbanger with a hairnet and chest tattoo pointing a gun at the camera. Below the photo is the caption, "You can expect to see a whole lot more of us if Deborah Robertson gets elected to Mayor."

Robertson, who is African-American, denounced the negative stereotyping of Latinos and called on Mayor Grace Vargas, "the highest-ranking Latina in the city," to denounce it.

"I find these images disturbing and insulting not only to my family and me but to you and your family as well," Robertson said in a written statement.

Police union President Robert Smith said, "This isn't racial. This is about public safety."

The public safety unions haven't forgiven Robertson for voting in 2005 to replace the Police Department with the Sheriff's Department. They also say she won't meet with them.

Roberston said the city manager asked council members not to meet with union officials during labor negotiations.




The controversial fliers by the police and fire fighter unions even upset the candidate whose face appeared on them.



(excerpt, San Bernardino Sun)

Randy Ammons, president of firefighters' union, said a political consultant created the fliers, but the unions approved them.

"We're responsible for it," he said.

Ammons said the fliers were "probably a little bit more than what they should've done" but the public needs to know the unions support Vargas because she supports cops and firefighters.

Ammons said Robertson doesn't approve of the unions' contracts and will outsource public safety to San Bernardino County agencies. Robertson denied this assertion.

Ammons also said Robertson doesn't communicate with the unions and refused to partake in candidate forums sponsored by them.

"It says, `I don't care about your support. I don't care about you,"' he said.

Cpl. Robert Smith, president of the police union, said the fliers aren't any tougher than Robertson's threats to replace the Police Department with the Sheriff's Department, which the City Council - with the help of Robertson's vote - approved in 2005.

Vargas voted against the decision, which the council later overturned.

Smith said the lone thug on one of the fliers is Latino, not black.

"We are not suggesting that black gangsters are going to infiltrate the city if Robertson gets elected," Smith said.

No, they're just suggesting that Latino "thugs" will be infiltrating the city if Robertson gets elected which is of course a whole lot less racist. There's many better ways to get their point across in a political campaign and if their high-priced political consultant (because it's hard to find an inexpensive one) doesn't know this, maybe they should shop around for another one. Unless they did like the San Bernardino Police Officers' Association did and hired the founder of Save Our State who's been photographed with people holding Confederate and Nazi flags to do their "outreach" for them.



San Bernardino County and its sheriff's department have also settled a lawsuit filed by a Muslim woman who was forced to take off her hijab while being strip searched.





San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus has been asked to respond to the county grand jury report but will he?






Two Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies are accused of beating up a fire fighter.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)




Joshua Titel and Brian Richards, both 31, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles County Superior Court and were released without bail. According to prosecutors, the two deputies beat and kicked the victim on June 24, 2007. The firefighter, Stephen Paige, underwent several weeks of medical treatment before he returned to work, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the L.A. County district attorney's office.

The fight took place outside a private residence in Pomona after an altercation between the two off-duty deputies and the victim, authorities said. It's unclear what caused the dispute.





A former high-ranking officer was indicted for lying about the torture of individuals by police officers in the Chicago Police Department.


(excerpt, Associated Press)



A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday accused former police Lt. Jon Burge of perjury and obstruction of justice for statements he made in 2003 when answering questions for a civil-rights lawsuit.

The arrest capped a long-running controversy over allegations that beatings, electric shocks and death threats were used against suspects at Burge's Area 2 violent crimes headquarters.

Burge, 60, who has long denied wrongdoing, was arrested before dawn at his home in Apollo Beach, Fla., the U.S. attorney's office said. He had moved to Florida after he was fired in 1993.

"He has shamed his uniform and shamed his badge," U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in announcing the indictment.

Burge appeared Tuesday afternoon before a federal magistrate judge in Tampa and was later released on $250,000 bond. Outside the courthouse, he told reporters he will plead not guilty.



Asked if the indictment came as a surprise, Burge said, "I'm not at liberty to say anything, but yes it did." He left in a pickup truck.




More racial slurs, this time by a sheriff in North Carolina.



(excerpt, Associated Press)



So he helped make North Carolina the first state where every county can team with federal authorities to train local officers to identify and track jailed illegal immigrants, speeding up the deportation process.

But in a newspaper interview last month, Bizzel complained that "Mexicans are trashy" and pointed to several children playing and said "All they do is work and make love." Though he quickly apologized, his contrition wasn't enough to ward off critics who call his comments evidence that the nation's increasingly popular efforts to enforce immigration statutes locally have nothing to do with law and order.

"The chief law enforcement officer is demonstrating his racism in public, and he's allowing his officers to do the same," said Tony Asion, the executive director of nonprofit advocacy group El Pueblo and a retired Delaware state trooper. "It gives them the green light to treat Latinos any way."

Bizzell declined to comment to The Associated Press about the remarks to the News & Observer that caused the uproar, and the Johnston County commission has rebuffed calls for his resignation.





Former Bolingbrook Police Department Sgt. Drew Peterson tries to explain the questionable results of his polygraph test which apparently interpreted his responses to questions about his wife's disappearance nearly one year ago as being "deceptive". Imagine that.

"As the Girders Rise", package it up and sell it.

Riverside City Councilman Frank Schiavone is trying to get the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to halt its approval of the purchase of the Regency Tower building still under construction until one small detail is worked out for the city's Redevelopment Agency of which Schiavone is a member. The direction taken by this commercial development project is still twisting and turning even as the construction continues on the ten-story building at a quick pace. It's been a soap opera from its beginning to where it stands now. Just call it, As the Girders Rise and shop it around to a local network.

At a recent Development Committee meeting, at least one councilman lamented on the fate of the Regency Tower even gazing out through the haze lingering in the skies outside the seventh floor of City Hall at the majesty of steel and glass which would soon become part of the view. But it would be a bittersweet reminder of lost opportunities, not of renaissance. At the time the wistfulness hit hardest, the committee was going to recommend the sales of more property to developers who would build similar buildings, in one case leaving the chair of the Metropolitan Museum Board in tears to suddenly learn that the dream spot for the new museum expansion was alas, not to be.

Museum supporters still advocated for that plot of land at the public workshop the city council and mayor held on the proposed expansion and renovation of the downtown library and museum. At one point in that discussion, one city councilman discovered two words in his vocabulary after two years of spending up to $2 billion on capital projects in the face of a formidable recession: financial meltdown. The city was never nearing its financial limits when it was handing off properties, at least once at a reduced price from what it had just purchased it for to developers. But say the words, "library", "museum" suddenly, uh-oh, there's a money crunch. Honeymoon's over.

But if it's news to the city council, it's not news to people in a city where directives may have been issued to paint detectives' cars more like police cars to give the illusion that there are more officers on the streets than there were in the 1980s. Because the only reason to do that would be to create illusion and with the tower, what was being sold was apparently also an illusion.

The saga of the Regency Tower has some selling points which are crucial to any serial drama. Angst, power struggles, meetings, money, more money, developers, competing interests and yes, more money.

At first, it seemed that this building would be the darling of the downtown, in terms of bringing in jobs and revenue through its use for and by the private sector which may or may not even want it. People sell to public entities when they don't think they can make more money selling space to the private sector. Still, the plan was to sell office space to private companies perhaps law firms.

But that's not how things turned out this time given that there was another public entity downtown hungry for space to expand its own operations. In fact, the building is currently scheduled to switch hands from a development firm to a public agency, with that action being possibly finalized through a vote taken this Tuesday at the Riverside County Administrative headquarters. With the economic picture looking bleak, maybe this developer saw this as his best option for a return on his investment.

The keys to the building are now projected to be handed off eventually to Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco who's getting new digs at half the price he had wanted.

Schiavone wants the $4 million that he said was to be given to the Redevelopment Agency of Riverside (also known as the city council) but interim Asst. City Manager Belinda Graham essentially said, subsidy, what subsidy?


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)



"This stinks," he said of the situation.

Graham said the spaces would be used more as downtown becomes more vibrant.

The city Redevelopment Agency encouraged construction of Regency Tower to bring new people and businesses to Riverside and boost the city's tax revenues.

If Silagi sells the building to Riverside County, there is no benefit to the city because new businesses and hundreds of new workers will not be coming to Riverside, Schiavone said, and what he considers the $4 million subsidy would be wasted.

The agreement between the city Redevelopment Agency and Silagi for construction of the building does not have a clause that calls for Silagi to return the money in the event he sells the building to a public agency rather than keeping it in the private sector.

"I don't care whether it's in writing or not," Schiavone said. "Make us whole. Give us back that incentive that wasn't meant to be used like this."


But how do the county supervisors feel about the proposed delay in the vote? The opinions of two of them were mixed.



(excerpt)

The two supervisors who represent portions of Riverside city, John Tavaglione and Bob Buster, split on whether to delay the board's vote.

Buster said he opposed postponing the vote, especially over a mistake he said the city made in its dealings with Silagi.

Tavaglione said he would be fine with a 30-day postponement as long as it didn't jeopardize the county's deal with Silagi, delay the project or affect the building's price. He will bring up Schiavone's request at today's board meeting, he said.

Silagi, the developer, said early Monday afternoon that he had not spoken to anyone from the city.

"If somebody's ready to talk to me, they can always reach me," he said.

Buster raises a good point, as to whether or not the county should potentially jeopardize its purchase of the tower at a price it negotiated to bail the Riverside Redevelopment Agency out of a mistake its negotiator likely made when it came to these parking structures. What's interesting about this affair is that even a city employee is contradicting what one elected official has said about the subsidy. And why is that? Why does what Schiavone say differ from what Graham says? And how will that work out for Graham, whose direct boss is City Manager Brad Hudson. It's doubtful that her opinion is contradictory to his own. He doesn't appear to run his department that way, being much more organized and streamlined in his approach to civic matters especially those pertaining to development and redevelopment.

Uh-oh.


And what's this about not caring what's actually in writing? Admittedly, in recent weeks that's sounds more than a bit familiar through actions taken if not exactly words spoken.


It's funny because the same mentality towards what's in writing seems to be the philosophy of choice by the city including Schiavone as it pertains to the Police Review Commission. What's in writing and what's been approved by 60% of the voters didn't matter in that instance, so it's not surprising that whether or not the Redevelopment Agency actually possesses as part of its contract a clause involving these parking place fees doesn't matter either.

Because the charter of the PRC was certainly not meant to be used the way it's been used by the city council and its direct employees. What's good for the city council (minus one member)'s view of the PRC might be just as good for the developer who created this building and his buyer, Riverside County. You know, goose, gander that sort of thing.

But this saga including its latest chapter are far from over. More thrilling developments (pun, intended) to come!



The San Jacinto Police Department chief is taking off and giving his job to a replacement from Temecula.





Fontana's having a city council election this year and it's heating up.


There's a lot of tough issues they will be facing.



(excerpt, Press Enterprise)




One of the top issues raised by candidates is the wave of housing foreclosures that has hit Fontana particularly hard. Residents complain about empty houses where the lawns go untended in once-thriving subdivisions.

Jason Paul Kilian, 40, a pastor at First Lutheran Church in Fontana, said the housing crisis should be the city's No. 1 priority. The council should do all it can to help people stay in their homes, attract buyers to empty houses and maintain housing values.

"We're in a bit of a crisis here and so everything else will pale in comparison," Kilian said.

Santiago and Purther also say the council has not taken enough leadership on the foreclosure crisis.

But Rutherford said that's not the case. The city has been working with banks to make sure foreclosed homes are properly maintained and has programs encouraging first-time homebuyers, she said.



Even more contentious is the once harmonious city council of Moreno Valley, as fireworks have erupted during its election season.


(excerpt, Press Enterprise)

What is the relationship between Iddo Benzeevi and the council?" West said at a recent council meeting. "The citizens have a right to know."

Batey, who was sitting right next to West when the councilman made his allegation, said West showed so little respect that he didn't have the courtesy to call to find out the facts.

Also, he said, he didn't even give Flickinger, who was absent from the meeting, a chance to defend herself. West's remarks were "completely and totally out of line," the mayor said.

"If you pay for the trip, it doesn't have to be reported," Batey said.

The heated exchange, which continued in private after the meeting ended, was a sharp contrast to the way the council has operated for most of the past 12 years. The council members have generally agreed with each other on most major issues and kept any policy disagreements from becoming personal.

Prior to the 1996 election, council members publicly clashed during meetings and at one point even considered censuring one of its own members. The council went through a change when three incumbents decided not to run for re-election that year, paving the way for the election of Batey, West and White.

After a rocky start, the newly formed council began to work cooperatively, Flickinger recalled.

"I think we've done a pretty good job until the last year," she said by phone.

Not exactly surprising news, but a study of the Los Angeles Police Department determined that Black and Latino motorists were pulled over at higher rates than White motorists. This is even though White motorists are found with contraband at higher rates than motorists of other races.


(excerpt, Associated Press)



"The results of this study raise grave concerns that African-Americans and Hispanics are over-stopped, over-frisked, over-searched, and over-arrested," wrote report author Ian Ayres, a Yale Law School economist and professor.

Ayres' report, published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, analyzed the Los Angeles Police Department's own numbers for pedestrian and motor vehicle stops in the year July 2003 to June 2004.

Even after researchers controlled for demographics and neighborhood crime rates, they found significantly higher stop rates for black and Latino residents. For every 10,000 residents, blacks were nearly three times more likely to be stopped than white and other "non-minority" residents, facing 3,400 more stops. Hispanics were stopped on 350 more occasions.

"These stark statistics ... give a numeric lens for the lived experience of 'driving while black' or 'driving while Hispanic,'" Ayres wrote.



The Riverside Police Department set aside money in its budget as of autumn 2005 to the tune of about $25,000 from the city's general fund but the department has yet to release its latest traffic stop study report to the public three years later. The last mention of it was the announcement at a community forum at California Baptist University that a professor at that institution would be providing the analysis over the two year period that would be covered by the study.




The Los Angeles Police Department also missed its chance to test over 200 rape kits.



(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)



The 200 cases were part of an overall backlog of 7,000 sexual assault test kits that have not been examined by the LAPD. Each kit contains a potential genetic road map to the perpetrator of a crime.


"Sometimes I find problems as city controller that simply defy explanation," said City Controller Laura Chick at a news conference at which she unveiled her findings. "It is beyond disturbing that the thousands of victims who have undergone the invasive ordeal of [submitting to] these tests do not even know that their evidence is still untested."

The LAPD has been repeatedly criticized for its huge backlog of untested DNA evidence, but officials have said that they lacked the money to move faster on the cases.

Chick's report, however, found that the logjam existed even though the department had received nearly $4 million in grants in recent years to address the problem.





Chief William Bratton also said the department needs help with its fingerprint audit.





A county sheriff in Texas has been indicted for drug smuggling. One of several who have faced similar charges in the southern part of the state during the past decade.


(excerpt, USA Today)



Starr County Sheriff Reymundo Guerra was named in a 19-count indictment along with more than a dozen other people. The south Texas sheriff is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana; accessory after the fact, for an alleged suggestion he made to a co-defendant to use false documents to avoid apprehension; and facilitating the drug trafficking conspiracy through use of a telephone.

The first count alone carries a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life as well as a $4 million fine.

Guerra was added to the indictment after the FBI searched his Rio Grande City offices in early September.



The sheriff who preceded Guerra had also been prosecuted for a crime. In that case, for bribery and plead guilty.




In Boston, officers who are taking promotional exams there will be searched at the door.



(excerpt, Boston Herald)



About 700 Boston police officers will be screened with a security wand for electronic devices and told to empty their pockets and bags when they take a promotion exam today at Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

The new security measures are being taken nine months after cheating allegations arose about the Boston firefighter promotion exam, leading state civil service officials to scrap the results. An inquiry revealed that numerous firefighters talked during the test, brought cellphones into the testing room, and took unusually frequent trips to the men's room.

The investigation was prompted by an anonymous tipster who alleged that a group of firefighters went into the bathroom during the November 2007 exam and used their cellphones to text answers to colleagues taking the exam.

"In the past year, we have reviewed all of our security procedures and updated them," said Paul Dietl, head of the state's Human Resources Division, which administers civil service exams for police and fire departments across the state.





In Chicago, the morale of officers has deteriorated due to friction between the officers and their current police chief.



(excerpt, Associated Press)




"People are doing just what they need to get through" their shifts, said Lt. Robert Weisskopf, president of the Chicago police lieutenants union, "and not any extra."

In addition to making fewer arrests, police are seizing fewer guns and frisking gang members less often than they did before Superintendent Jody Weis was brought in to clean up a department embarrassed by a string of brutality cases, according to interviews, statistics provided by police and an internal document obtained by The Associated Press.

Department spokeswoman Monique Bond disputed the notion of any deliberate slowdown by police, saying, "There is nothing that we have to prove or support a theory like that."




The world's largest jumbo jet landed at Los Angeles International Airport from Melbourne, Australia.



Litigation Corner:




There's been a flurry of recent litigation activity against the city, including lawsuits filed by current and former employees who worked for code enforcement and current employees of the Riverside Police Department. Here's the citation for a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last February that wasn't against the city that was filed earlier this year.

Plaintiff:	Riverside Police Officers' Association
Defendant:	California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and Does
Intervenor:	Los Angeles Times Communications LLC
Case Number:	2:2008cv01346
Filed:	February 27, 2008
Court:	California Central District Court
Office:	Western Division - Los Angeles Office [ Court Info ]
County:	Riverside
Presiding Judge:	Margaret M. Morrow
Referring Judge:	Frederick F. Mumm
Nature of Suit:	Civil Rights - Employment
Cause:	42:1983 Civil Rights Act
Jurisdiction:	Federal Question
Jury Demanded By:	None

Is it related to this case and this one? The RPOA also has some other lawsuits it's preparing for filing soon.