Brad in a Haze while Hospital Lays off 26

I’ve got a few people on the Fifth Floor upset with me these days.  I’ve been told that I should not expect help when I keep taking jabs.

County administrators have brought the pit bull out in a few people of late.  I would say the two most prominent are Jim Erwin and me.  Let’s put my situation aside for a moment and look at Jim’s.

We are told regularly  that the Fifth Floor doesn’t like our blogs.  But which came first—the blogs or the torment?  The answer is the torment.

I am not even going to argue the criminal case against Jim again except to say he is not charged with any crime involving the Assessor’s Office.  Yet he is named in the civil lawsuit regarding the situation at the Assessor’s Office with the Postmus’ executive staff.

Everyone knows Jim was given a severance package—a severance package where both parties agreed neither side would sue. But, the county turns around and sued him anyway, claiming that criminal activity voided the agreement.  The problem with that is that a) he has been convicted of no crime and, again, b) he has not been charged with any crime related to corruption in the Assessor’s Office.  So why was he being sued.  It is direct violation of the written agreement.

He was charged due to personal vendetta by Paul Biane, Mark Uffer and Ruth Stringer.  Ms. Legal Beagle knows she can’t do what was recommended but did it anyway as a way to torment Erwin.  This is just one of many examples were the Fifth Floor has committed acts against people because they know they have unlimited funds to defend lawsuits and outlast plaintiffs.

But on occasion they run into people like Jim and me who will not give up no matter what.  Not only that, we will fight back using whatever means we have.

Blogging is relatively new.  I wonder if the powers that be in the county knew beforehand the number of readers we would gain, they would have undertaken the same vindictive path.  I know some of them would, because it’s not their money being used to defend suits or pay out settlements.

As I explained to someone on the Fifth Floor today, I have lost almost everything I own.  I have no air conditioning or heat, no hot water, no bed to sleep in, no medical insurance, no television, no high-speed internet connection,  and no income.  I also have no reason to be nice.  I have nothing in the world to lose by taking jabs every chance I can.  After all, I have been jabbed time and again for no other reason than to be mean.  My tormentors have taught me well.

]]> http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/02/iepolitics-a-pit-bull-isnt-born-vicious/feed/ 1 http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/02/iepolitics-sharks-aside/ http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/02/iepolitics-sharks-aside/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:27:53 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=5196 We have spent a lot of time lately writing about the misdeeds of law enforcement officers. We also spend a lot of time writing about hostile work environment, bigotry, and racism.  So, I’m sure it comes as a surprise to some of you that when I read the article on the Barstow police officer being arrested for a “hate crime” because he used racial slurs during a fight, I really have a problem with it.

If appropriate, I have no issue with the officer being arrested for battery or other similar crime.  I do have a problem with  him being arrested for a hate crime because racial slurs were used.  Cops should not being saying such things and the department would be well within their rights to discipline him for it.  But arrest?

If I use the “N” word on the blog to describe someone, and my readers boycott my blog because they are offended by that, I have no problem with that whatsoever.  It’s one of the reasons why I have been resistant to advertising. I’m not going to have someone use financial means to control what I write.

Please understand I find racial slurs offensive.  But when one can be arrested for a “hate crime” because of this type of speech, as a nation we are in trouble.  These are the kind of rules our forefathers fought a revolution over and the kind of laws our forefathers thought they covered in the Constitution of the United States.  Our politically correct society is getting ridiculous and scary.

]]> http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/02/iepolitics-sharks-aside/feed/ 1 http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/02/iepolitics-brady-issues-in-the-district-attorneys-office/ http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/02/iepolitics-brady-issues-in-the-district-attorneys-office/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:57:16 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=5190 We have been saying all along that there are some “issues” with the District Attorney’s investigation in the corruption scandal.  Now we have proof.

For those not familiar with Brady, here is an excerpt from a previous post:

There is a case entitled Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).  The Wikipedia entry reads (emphasis added):

. . . in which the prosecution had withheld from the criminal defendant certain evidence. The defendant challenged his conviction, arguing it had been contrary to the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Maryland prosecuted Brady and a companion, Boblit, for murder. Brady admitted being involved in the murder, but claimed Boblit had done the actual killing. The prosecution had withheld a written statement by Boblit confessing that he had performed the act of killing by himself. The Maryland Court of Appeal had affirmed the conviction and remanded the case for a retrial only of the question of punishment.

The court held that withholding exculpatory evidence violates due process “where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment”; and the court determined that under Maryland state law the withheld evidence could not have exculpated the defendant but was material to the level of punishment he would be given. Hence the Maryland Court of Appeals’ ruling was affirmed.

Brady refers to the holding of the Brady case, and the numerous state and federal cases that interpret its requirement that the prosecution disclose material exculpatory evidence to the defense. Exculpatory evidence is “material” if “there is a reasonable probability that his conviction or sentence would have been different had these materials been disclosed.” Brady evidence includes statements of witnesses or physical evidence that conflicts with the prosecution’s witnesses, and evidence that could allow the defense to impeach the credibility of a prosecution witness.

Police officers who have been dishonest are sometimes referred to as “Brady cops” as because of the Brady ruling, prosecutors are required to notify defendants and their attorneys whenever a law enforcement officials involved in their case has a sustained record for knowingly lying in an official capacity. Brady evidence also includes evidence material to credibility of a civilian witness, such as evidence of false statements by the witness or evidence that a witness was paid to act as an informant.

The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit is headed by Bob Schreiber, a former San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy.  The senior investigator in the corruption scandal is Bud Randles, a former Los Angeles Police Department detective.

Evidence has been turned over to the defense counsel proving there is a Brady issue with one or more of those overseeing the investigation. With the Attorney General’s office calling the shots and the Federal Bureau of Investigation nosing around for this kind of malfeasance, this turn of events is going to prove interesting.  We shall see what comes of it.

We are hearing there are a lot more Brady issues, including turning off the tape recorder and suggesting that if a person being interviewed will say what they want, their problems will go away.  And they are using other means of intimidating witnesses.  If anyone has additional information, please contact us at sharon@iepolitics.com or (760) 954-0280.  Or any one of the defense counsel or the private investigators in these cases would be interested in speaking with you.  If you don’t know how to contact them, call me and I will put you in touch with them.

We can only hope that is our First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt is high on painkillers from his injured arm, because if he isn’t, then his comments in today’s Daily Press are all the more disturbing.  The title of the story is “Mitzelfelt sees bright future beyond hazy economy.”

“Hazy”?  You are kidding right?

Brad, between your county salary with benefits and your wife’s county salary with benefits, your are earning about $375,000 a year. Your chief of staff has a package worth about $225,000 a year. Your lowest paid regular, full-time employee, your secretary, has a package worth over $100,000 a year.  You do not live in the real world.

When you go out to dinner, a luxury many Victor Valley residents can no longer afford, do you go anywhere other than the Blue Ridge Inn?  The average person doesn’t get to dine on steak and rum with an unlimited bar tab. Most Victor Valley residents are lucky to get the $6 spaghetti special at Denny’s but are more likely to dine on the two for .99 cents tacos at Jack-in-the-Box.

If you lowered yourself enough to frequent the typical Victorville eatery on a weeknight, you’d find it virtually empty.  Have you not noticed that the Victor Valley no longer has a single upscale boutique?   Most of the middle class shops are gone as well.  The .99 Cents only stores rule the region.  They are packed!  Never been in one?  I’m not surprised.

So the WIB board has trained hundreds of displaced workers and helped over a 1,000 businesses.  Really?  Approximately 995 of those are referrals to Murphy’s Garage?  (See story yesterday about Employment Development run amuck.)  By the way, if you don’t believe our story, ask Zook as he was a job developer.  He was one of the few honest ones.   He knows the truth.  He and I had that conversation some time back.  And nothing has changed.

Have you not read the stories about how the welfare office is filled to capacity with food stamp applicants?  Or about double digit unemployment?  Maybe you should ride down any residential street in the Victor Valley.  Those red signs on the doors are evictions signs.  They are everywhere!

Now, I know you did a lot to get more nurses into training at Victor Valley College and mechanics into training at Southern California Logistics Airport and that’s a really good thing.  But it is minuscule in comparison to what needs to be done in the First District.

I’m all forgiving hope.  But you need a dose of reality.  It’s scare to think you and four others with the same thought process are making decisions about how to spend $4 billion of our tax dollars each year.  Or is it higher than that now?  No wonder the county’s budget is such a mess.

I have a lot of stories collected about the Sharks but I never finished that series, which I need to do one of these days.  But one of the funnier yet disappointing stories I heard was that a couple of them went to a home to make an arrest.  The family was at Burger King picking up dinner.  When they arrived home, the arrest was made but the family was made to watch these deputies eat their dinner before hauling off the perp.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it was one of the Sharks who shot up the golf course or a golf cart or something like that at the Green Tree Inn, correct?

Anyway, has anyone found this whole incident with the Barstow police officer a bit off the wall.  People use racial slurs all the time but don’t go to jail for them.  Something is stinky here.

If anyone has additional information, you know my email address.

]]> http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/01/iepolitics-racism-and-the-sharks/feed/ 20 http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/01/iepolitics-the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend/ http://iepolitics.com/2010/09/01/iepolitics-the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend/#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 20:41:44 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=5178 San Bernardino County never ceases to amaze me.  As I wrote about a couple of days ago, I received notice from my attorney that Uffer’s attorney wants to depo me.  The county REALLY wants my cooperation in this matter whether they know it or not.  So, what do they do?

Yesterday, I received a letter from Human Resources regarding my off-work order. With it is always the threat of termination for “job abandonment” because that is not appealable to the Civil Service Commission.  I have told the county I do not want to deal with Lamberto or any of his thugs as I become suicidal every time.  I have directed them to deal with my attorneys.  But as I have mentioned before, I absolutely believe they are trying to push me over the edge.  So the letter was emailed to me, which sent me into total meltdown.

Fortunately, my attorneys talked this morning and will tell the county the way it’s gonna be and that has calmed me down.  I got my fight back in me.

I seriously don’t get what part of eight doctors’ reports/notes, including a full psych eval from their own doctor, that say I cannot work with Gustavo Cisneros and I cannot work for TAD they don’t get.  Like with Hartford, we’ve got county analysts who think they can overrule doctors’ orders and opinions.

I have always said that I am willing to take a polygraph regarding my accusations against TAD and what Linda Haugan has done to me with the condition that whichever one of us is caught lying must resign and forfeit our county retirement. Add Lamberto to the list.  I still challenge the county to that.  Bring it on!

Hey Sandy, would you like a list of questions you might want to ask me?

iePolitics has been very good to The Sentinel in the past, accounting for hundreds if not thousands of new readers.  However, a few months ago Mark Gutglueck stopped sending us copies to post and stopped returning phone calls.  This is likely the reason why (read caption under photo):

Barb, of course, is the narcissistic skank who can’t stand on her own two feet with her show so she has to use lies, deceit and thievery to get listeners.  She will say or do anything, including federal crimes as she committed in the Desert Community Bank story, which got her fired from a local radio station.  During the Vogler campaign when she was publicly stating she was Rita’s campaign manager, ET Snell had to convince Barb that it wasn’t wise to discuss on the air  her (Barb’s) current treatment at the time for syphilis as it could damage Rita’s image.

Barb will do anything for ratings and it looks like The Sentinel is right there with her.  This latest lack of integrity certainly calls into question the validity of any of their stories.  I have heard The Sentinel‘s site is run by ET Snell.

If someone has a case number for the lawsuit, please send it my way so that we can write letters opposing adjudication of The Sentinel.  Obviously, the paper cannot be trusted with adjudication as that requires integrity.

Not long ago the positions were all reclassified, with some employees being given large raises.  That has done little to promote productivity or integrity.  Very high-placed sources tell us that, if anything, things have gotten worse.

After the county attempted to force me to go to work in the Business Resource Center in Rancho Cucamonga at the first of the year, I wrote a column or two about a certain individual who had a propensity for goofing off, having sexual relations on the job, and other issues.  That, of course, was Gustavo Cisneros, the former Employment Services Manager at the Victorville Transitional Assistance Department (TAD).  Cisneros was demoted and transferred out of that office after it was discovered he was creating a hostile work environment for female and African American employees among other charges. Numerous victims came forward.

Cisneros was later demoted and transferred again for similar behavior.  Accusations included that he could never be found, which was an issue since he was a supervisor.  The second time he was demoted back to Employment Services Specialist and transferred to the Rancho Cucamonga TAD office.

Cisneros had been fast-tracked to his position as Employment Services Manager because he was a favorite of both Linda Haugan and Sandy Harmsen.  Haugan, as well as TAD Director Nancy Swanson, are known for their Cougar-like affinity for young, Hispanic males, and both have a propensity for promoting unqualified young men to keep by their side. Cisneros was one such example who backfired as he had issues keeping it zipped up with any female in the office that took his fancy.

‎

When Cisneros finally realized his career at TAD was finished, he called upon his former ally Sandy Harmsen to come to his rescue, and rescue him she did.  Despite his issues with female and African American employees and his piss-poor case management skills, as well his extracurricular activities on the job, Harmsen gave him a position as a Workforce Specialist at the Business Resource Center in Rancho Cucamonga.  As we reported back in January, it took no time whatsoever for Cisneros to resort to his philandering ways with female employees.

Now we learn that Cisneros is not the only employee who is not exactly performing up to speed under Harmsen’s tutelage.  It seems there is no oversight on contract or permanent employees.   Management does not verify any employee’s actual workday, or what they are actually doing during their workday.  There is an overall lack of accountability.  These days employees are moved from one office to another to cover up indiscretions or bad work performance,.

One such case involves a contract employee who has been been moved three times to offices in Chino Hills, Rancho Cucamonga and now Fontana.  What little secrets are in his person’s close that would warrant one’s supervisor to tke such a special interest?  Who does he know or what does he know that would allow one’s superiors to overlook multiple indiscretions?

Employees have left to go to the gym during the workday, have met up with co-workers and outside members of the public at motels for sexual encounters, and have frequented movie theatres for early matinees on county time.  Lengthy lunches and group outings where more than one employee is going out to the same employer under the guise of training just to hang out are common.   Employees coming in late and leaving early but collecting a full day’s pay is also acceptable.  Porn, YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook are routinely accessed using county computers during the work day.  Employees are misusing county cell phones for personal use.

We have reported extensively at iePolitics about the falsification of statistics  for the purpose of obtaining federal funding being not only condoned, but required, under Harmsen, Gene Eisenbiesz, Nick D (?) and others.  It was common for TAD Employment Services Specialists to contact job leads developed by WDD Job Developers only to find out the employer had never been contacted by the county and had no idea their information had been entered into the system.  Sometimes job leads were for jobs that had been filled months earlier or never existed to begin with.

One common scam was for the job developers to drive around the community and look for “help wanted” signs and then enter the information into the database without actually ever contacting the employer.  Yet, on their falsified stats they would indicate that they had actually made contact and developed the job.  Another scam was to go through the newspapers and enter jobs, again without ever contacting the employer and again falsifying their stats.  They would also falsify mileage reports to make a little extra money on the side.

One of my favorite examples of the above was Murphy’s Garage in Victorville.  Murphy’s was the old Sheriff’s tow yard and had the contract for years.  However, they fell on tough times.  The business was sold and the new owners were arrested in high profile fashion for selling drugs out of the establishment.  Six months after it had been closed down, with no new business started at the site, the job developers were still claiming they contacted the employer each and every month and listed new jobs for the site.  Of course, it was all falsified.  Everyone knew it but no one would do anything about it.

The money for the contract employees is from stimulus funds and the contracts have been extended until June 2011.  It might behoove the county to determine how many actual businesses have been assisted or helped by the creation of these positions but we know that will never happen.  As with TAD, our CAO and Board of Supervisors prefer to look the other way because it is free money.

Of greater concern, by allowing the padded job creation statistics, BOS members such as Mitzelfelt, Biane and Ovitt, can brag to their constituency about all they are doing for the local economy, knowing full well these new jobs are nothing but a scam.  That fits into the overall practice of using smoke and mirrors to cover up the real budget scenario, a scam practiced by former County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer and continued by Devereaux.

But then again, what’s a little fraud by county employees and elected officials?  After all this is San Bernardino County.

Now, the real kicker in all of this is that the county has hired the exact same attorney to fight Uffer’s lawsuit as they have hired to fight one of my suits against the county.  Yet, the county has to provide me with legal representation in the Uffer suit.  This attorney actually had the gall to tell my attorney that he didn’t see a conflict if on one hand he is trying to pound me into the ground and on the other hand he is trying to get my cooperation in protecting the county from Uffer.

I guess this attorney doesn’t read the blog.  If he did, he would know that I made several suicide attempts directly related to what Uffer did to me and a couple directly related to what Lamberto did to me.   I hate them both equally.  He would also know that I have not had a paycheck in nine months.  He would know that I have no heat or hot water.  I have no air conditioning, television, or internet connection.  I have virtually no furniture.  He would know that I have no bed so I sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag.  He would know that I collect food stamps to be able to eat.  He would know I lost almost everything I own including all legal documents, family heirlooms, most of my clothing, shoes, jewelry, camera and computer equipment, etc.  So, he really thinks I am going to go collect cans to get the gas to drive to San Bernardino to be depo’ed.  Like hell I am.

I cannot for the life of me think what Uffer thinks I can say to help his cause.  As angry as I am at Mark Kirk, I will never lie for Uffer.  The whole thing is just plain funny.

I can’t wait to see what attorney the county comes up with to represent me.  Hey, maybe Ruthie will do it before she heads out.   Or better yet Ramos or Boxer.  Now that would be the perfect ending to this whole mess!

]]> http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/31/iepolitics-a-depo-notice-from-uffer/feed/ 5 http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/31/iepolitics-observer-a-response/ http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/31/iepolitics-observer-a-response/#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:29:49 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=5141 Observer,

Once again, rather than trying to respond in a comment, I thought I would address all the issues you raised at once in a separate post.  Or at least I will try.

You take issue with me over my attacks against Third District Supervisor Neil Derry.  I realize I did not make myself clear in my last response.

Many things happen behind the scenes that never make it to the blog.  Although to the readers, the attack may have seemed sudden, it was not.  It was the culmination of months of emails and discussions, mostly with Neil’s chief of staff with some emails directly to Neil.

I am not frustrated by the fact that Neil has not been able to keep campaign promises.  I am frustrated by the fact that Neil, who campaigned on a platform of ethics, has become one of the unethical.  For example, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that his Ethics Commission has been sabotaged by Human Resources director Andrew Lamberto and Chairman Gary Ovitt.  There is really only so much Neil can do about the commission and the sabotage.

On the other hand, the Ethics Commission is hardly the only area where Lamberto has sabotaged Derry.  Lamberto, along with cracked legal Beagle Ruthie Stringer, sabotaged the investigation into the Cheryl Ristow complaint, has sabotaged investigations into Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and the Public Defender, among others.  Lamberto and Stringer are enemies of Derry.  Derry could do something about it, especially Stringer, but chooses to shirk his responsibility.

The votes are there to get rid of Stringer and have been for over a year but no one on the board has backbone enough to make it happen.  Remember, Stringer reports to the BOS, not the CAO.  Yet, the BOS has abdicated its responsibliity and instead chooses to allow Devereaux to take care of the matter in his own sweet time and to the detriment of taxpayers.  For an elected official, the latter is a problem.

But my real issue with Derry is the fact that he knows line staff are being harmed and will not do something about it.  So what if a hundred or so employees are fired without cause.  It’s not his wife, who is a county employee.  It’s not his income.  It’s not his insurance.  It’s not his home.  It’s not his livelihood.  I really take issue with that attitude.  Who cares how many lives are destroyed by Uffer clones as long as he and other board members are not affected.

Yes, I believe he has an obligation to stand up for what is right and do right by employees and the fact that he won’t pisses me off to no end.  The damage cannot be undone.  Irreparable harm is being done to real people that he could prevent.  Yes, he could do it all by himself without another vote.

Now, you think I should use honey instead of vinegar.  We used honey for a very long time.  What did it get us?  It got us a lot of criticism for not holding Neil’s feet to the flame.  Sure, he came onto the blog and we all enjoyed that.   But as soon as we held his feet to that flame, he ran away.  That says a lot about him.

Whether I’m right or wrong really doesn’t matter as the argument is moot.  Neil is gone from the blog and I don’t believe he will ever return even if I were to offer an olive branch.  That’s just how it is.  George and I were friends when he was a newspaper reporter and we remain friends today.  Has this put a strain on things?  Yes.  But I believe our friendship will survive.

You will not see Erwin dis Neil on his blog for one big reason and that is Erwin will be instrumental in getting Neil re-elected.  He can’t dis him on one hand and promote him on another.  The two remain good friends.  Will it affect my friendship with Erwin?  Time will tell, especially as we get closer to Neil’s re-election campaign.

When this situation started to escalate, Erwin suggested to Neil that he call me to calm the waters. Neil had not responded to my emails, which were not combative or rude, nor would he make the effort.  That said a lot to me.  So, when I say I don’t care that he is gone, I don’t.  It would not do me any good to care.

As far as the blog goes, Erwin and I cross post some of our original material depending on time constraints. I’ve been sick for almost two months and getting any entry up in a given day has been a chore.  It’s hit and miss for me.

You mention advertising, which is something we only added two days ago.  Jim’s blog has always had advertising, although it is less noticeable.

You seem to forget that I have not had a county paycheck since last November. I literally have zero regular income.  I’m trying to do some freelance writing, which has kept the lights on but that is about it.  The blog is on the verge of being shut down.  I was asked by a third party if I would allow them to add advertising to see if we can raise enough to keep the blog going and I reluctantly consented.  I have never wanted ads on the blog, but right now its an economic necessity. I am hoping we can switch over to local ads and away from the national stuff soon.  I think they would be less obtrusive and more useful to our readers.

I don’t like the new format, but I had to change to make room for the ads. I have found some other themes I hope to use soon, but I needed to do something quickly, so what you see is what you get.  When I’m feeling better, I will try to install a more professional theme.

Was there anything else?  I don’t remember.

]]> http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/31/iepolitics-observer-a-response/feed/ 11 http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/31/iepolitics-did-matt-brown-receive-a-bribe-today-to-keep-quiet-before-the-election/ http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/31/iepolitics-did-matt-brown-receive-a-bribe-today-to-keep-quiet-before-the-election/#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:52:24 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=5139 I know that I am not the only one that thinks the county of San Bernardino sunk to a new low today.  The decision to pay off former Second District Chief of Staff Matt Brown is a slap in the face to all county employees who must face a real hostile work environment each and every day because they do not have the money for an attorney and the county refuses to conduct a legitimate investigation.  County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux and our Board of Supervisors should be ashamed of themselves.

Of course, this payoff begs the question of Why?  Well, the answer is easy. A mistake by the District Attorney’s office has alerted corruption defendants to the fact that Brown was involved in attempting to get his boss, Second District Supervisor Paul Biane, on tape in an undercover operation.  It would be highly detrimental to Supervisor Paul Biane’s re-election chances to have his former Chief of Staff tell what he knows before November 2.

Some would say the effort by Brown to implicate his boss is a noble one.  Normally, that is true, but not in the world of politics.  Had Brown first resigned, he would have our sympathy.  Instead he is nothing more than a jailhouse narc in a fancy suit.  He is slime.

And then to add insult to injury, Brown makes hostile work environment accusations that he created for himself.  There are certain things you simply don’t do as an employee of an elected and this is one of them. He should have taken the high road, resigned from his cushy job, and then cooperated with the District Attorney.  Instead, he used the situation to blackmail the county into giving him an equivalent position that he is not even qualified to have.  And the CAO/BOS went along with it.

I have little doubt that today’s result is due to more stellar legal advice from our resident cracked legal Beagle Ruthie Stringer.  We keep being told her departure is near.  Why don’t we just pay her to leave?  It would be cheaper than dealing with the results of her crap legal advice.

Devereaux and Board, you all should once again be ashamed of yourselves for wasting taxpayer money.  But we know you are not.

My personal feeling is that the Sheriff’s Department should be ridding itself of these less-than-stellar employees because law enforcement officers should not be committing crimes and still be allowed to carry a gun and badge.  They think I’m wrong.

I am wondering what the average, Joe Blow citizen thinks of law enforcement officers committing crimes, especially while on duty.  Should they be allowed to continue to carry a gun and badge?  Should they be held to a higher standard?  Or should they be given the special treatment many seem to get and have their crimes swept under the rug or given a minimal sentence, much lighter than the rest of us because they are serving the public?

• Written by Senor Blogger
• Posted August 30, 2010 at 9:09 am

Ramos with Attorney General Jerry Brown

www.inlandpolitics.com

Sunday, August 29, 2010 – 11:50 pm

San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, the architect of a corruption probe against various current and former San Bernardino County officials, has now become the recipient of criticism from senior republicans.

One elected official is even is asserting that prosecutions brought by Ramos may in fact be politically motivated.

U.S. Representative Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) and incoming minority leader, State Senator Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga), in recent interviews published in Monday’s Press-Enterprise “Political Notebook” render some ominous criticism of Ramos.

The following is an excerpt from the column related to Ramos.

Inland Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, said last week that the ongoing corruption scandals in San Bernardino County have not affected his work in Washington.

“At the same time, we have to put the highest priority on ending that” culture of corruption in San Bernardino County, Lewis said during a meeting with reporters and editors at The Press-Enterprise.

When asked about who he thought were local leaders with a bright future in elected politics, Lewis said he was concerned about an inflow of quality people.

He cited San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, whose office is prosecuting former county assessor Bill Postmus and others, as someone who has done a good job and has a high-profile platform as district attorney.

But without providing specifics, Lewis said Ramos, who has publicly expressed interest in running for Congress, has “stubbed his toe” a bit in recent months.

Another top county Republican also has weighed in on the ongoing corruption probe. Senate Republican leader-elect Bob Dutton said recently he thought there were some “political motivations” in the inquiry, without mentioning Ramos.

“I think there are some people using the process for political gain,” Dutton said.

Ramos has consistently denied that he has political motivations in prosecuting Postmus and other former county officials.

It’s becoming common knowledge that Ramos has rough waters ahead.

Ramos has hoodwinked Attorney General Jerry Brown into backing his politically motivated prosecutions of Former Assessor Bill Postmus and Jim Erwin, former Assistant Assessor and Chief of Staff to Third District Supervisor Neil Derry, on concocted charges alleging crimes related to a $102 million settlement between the County of San Bernardino and Colonies Partners.

A prosecution, which county insiders are now indicating is in trouble.

In addition, Ramos faces a civil action from a former mistress, Cheryl Ristow, a former Ramos employee, who alleges she was retaliated against for refusing to lie at Ramos’ request, in an effort to conceal an 18-month long affair between 2003 and 2005.

Reliable sources say that five additional District Attorney employees, of which at least two are prosecutors, have came forward under sworn declaration to Ristow’s attorney admitting affairs with Ramos.

Some of the women allegedly support Ristow’s claim that an affair did in fact occur.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

So, I found 50 or so voicemails that have been there for weeks.  I went through them all and there were two that I could not make out enough except to know someone was trying to pass along information to me regarding the Public Defender’s office.  If you would try again, I would appreciate it.

Also, I have received two tip on the assistant sheriff’s son who I believe is a deputy in Apple Valley.  I’m told he has multiple excessive force issues as well as having been caught lying about it.  As expected, it’s being covered up.  If anyone has any additional information, please email me.

• Written by The Insider
• Posted August 29, 2010 at 2:46 pm

www.inlandpolitics.com

Sunday, August 29, 2010 – 2:40 pm

It’s finally crunch time in the multi-year corruption probe launched by San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos.

And one has to wonder what Ramos told Attorney General Jerry Brown in regards to his evidence?

There’s a bigger question starting to be asked by some close to the investigation.

Was Brown lied to?

The recent acquisition of attorney-client and mediation privileged materials related to the $102 million settlement between the County of San Bernardino and Colonies Partners is said by sources to be the final investigative puzzle piece. District Attorney insiders say now that Ramos’ investigators have the material, a so-called “filing decision” related to five alleged un-named co-conspirators is approaching.

A decision that sources say is now totally in Brown’s hands.

Currently, two out of seven alleged co-conspirators stand charged by Brown and Ramos. The two charged, former Assessor and County Supervisor Bill Postmus and former Assistant Assessor Jim Erwin are currently fighting charges in court. Charges leveled against Postmus and Erwin related to the settlement include bribery and extortion.

Five others, previously reported by The Sun newspaper to be Colonies co-managing partners, Jeff Burum and Dan Richards, public relations consultant Patrick O’Reilly, county supervisor Paul Biane, and Mark Kirk, former chief of staff to supervisor Gary Ovitt, remain uncharged.

It should be noted that Burum, was an early backer of republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, and was slated to be her state finance chair before Brown leveled allegations against him. Whitman faces Brown in a showdown for Governor in November.

At a February 10, 2010 televised press conference, Brown labeled the settlement as possibly the worst case of fraud in state history. He further said the settlement was a result of a scheme to defraud taxpayers and was without any legal basis. Brown further said the settlement was approved against the recommendation of any attorney and no appraisal had been obtained related to the land at the heart of the matter.

Insiders tell InlandPolitics.com that Brown’s publicly inflammatory statements don’t quite correlate with what investigators received the past several weeks.

First, a licensed attorney did recommend the settlement to county supervisors. The attorney, Edward Panelli, a retired associate justice of the California Supreme Court, who presided over formal discussions leading up to the settlement, reviewed supporting documentation including court rulings before issuing his recommendation.

Second, not one appraisal, but two, were actually completed to determine the value of the property taken from Colonies Partners for flood conrol purposes and involved at the center of the dispute.

Third, without the spin of Adam Aleman, a prosecution witness with dubious credibility, alleged bribes that consisted of $400,000 in contributions to five political action committees appear to be nothing more than just that, contributions to actual committees that in reality functioned as political committees and nothing more. Investigators apparently continued pursuing their targets, even after serious false statements and truthfulness issues with Aleman became known.

Insiders also say investigators have been methodically careful to avoid soliciting any information damaging to Aleman’s character and conduct that could be deemed exculpatory to defense attorneys.

Aleman has pled guilty to four felony charges related to destruction of government property and providing false information to a grand jury. Other charges against Aleman are awaiting dismissal.

He is awaiting sentencing.

One attorney source involved in the settlement talks, who was recently interviewed by Ramos’ investigators described their experience as a joke. The attorney said “You would think you are suppose to let a person you are interviewing talk”, when describing the approach taken by the investigators.

Apparently investigators were seeking certain answers to their questions, without explanation from the witness. A sign investigators are trying to steer the investigations outcome ,with little regard for the truth.

Sources say Ramos’ investigators have placed themselves in the unfortunate position of seeking the means to an end. Something that has raised anxiety within Ramos’ Bureau of Investigation and administration.

Brown is reportedly pressuring Ramos to come up with the goods on the remaining five targets. However, all materials recently turned over do nothing to help the prosecution, but instead bolster the defense.

Some well-placed sources believe a failure to charge the additional targets effectively unwinds the case against Postmus and Erwin, while at the same time creating political damage and questions for Ramos, who was recently reelected to a new four-year term.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

Fed-up Chicago cop blogs about ‘hacks’ running PD
The officer posted a 3,000-word critique of the Police Department to his blog

By Neil Steinberg
The Chicago Sun-Times

CHICAGO — To be a police officer is to make hard decisions. Stop this guy or that guy? Go through the front door or around the back? Shoot or don’t shoot?

Later, those decisions get second-guessed, by the brass, by the media, by the officers themselves. Sometimes an action that some view as heroic others find deplorable.

On July 19, Lt. John R. Andrews made a hard decision. He’d had enough. He’d been silent long enough. After careful thought, he pressed a button on his home computer, posting online a 3,000-word critique of the Police Department with the academic-sounding title, “A City at War with Itself: Chicago — Fast Tracking to Anarchy (Understanding the Organizational Paralysis of the CPD and the Mission to Recovery).”

He described a department “twisted into paralysis by organizational decimation, incompetent leadership, self-serving politics and corruption” singling out for particular scorn Supt. Jodi Weis’ appointment last month of Anthony Carothers, brother of disgraced former Ald. Isaac Carothers, as commander of the Englewood District.

“The incompetent political hacks that have been positioned to lead us have only poisoned us as a department,” Andrews writes.

“They are an embarrassment to be associated with the many honorable men and women of the Chicago Police Department who serve its citizens daily with dignity and distinction.”

Online criticism by police is nothing new; the web is spattered with blogs written by indignant cops. But Andrews included something that most do not — he signed his name.

“I felt it was important to put my name on it because it’s easy to dismiss the ranting of an anonymous blogger as a discontented employee,” he told me. “But when you’re dealing with an officer, a lieutenant of the Chicago Police Department, willing to put his name on it, I believed it would offer credibility to the argument I presented.”
Many defend him

“Any lieutenant you talk to would agree with him,” said Bob Weisskopf, president of the 213-member Chicago Police Lieutenants Association.

Others don’t. Last week, CPD Internal Affairs filed a disciplinary action against Andrews, claiming he “brought discredit to the Chicago police department by posting on an Internet blog.”

Asked for elaboration, the CPD would say only “the comments are under review.”

Andrews certainly minces no words, calling Weis’ tenure “an unrecoverable failure,” and describing a department that is exhausted, understaffed, and reluctant to do its job.

“With the apparent lack of support from the city or their own leadership, many police officers have reduced their proactive performance and now only contribute at minimum levels,” he writes.

Andrews could be fired

“I don’t believe it’s right or just or even lawful,” said Andrews, 51, who lives in Clearing on the Southwest Side. “I’m an exemplary employee with zero disciplinary problems. I’ve been a cop for almost 26 year now. They just want to intimidate me, to muzzle me, so I don’t continue embarrassing them.”

I occasionally hear from dis-satisfied officers; they usually turn out to be chronic complainers with laundry lists of gripes. Andrews doesn’t fit that mold.

“John is anything but a loose cannon,” said Bill Kushner, now retired, but with the department for 29 years before becoming the chief of police in Berwyn. “John is a very intelligent individual, very much in control of himself, his emotions. He loves the Chicago Police Department; he loves the city of Chicago. I think his writing was born out of frustration with the way thing are going. The department is a shell of itself — they’re 3,000 people short. He seems to have hit the nail on the head and has to be commended for his courage.”

“It’s a constitutional rights issue,” said Weisskopf. “He has a right to free speech. Are they now going to be monitoring everything we do and say anywhere? I think it’s a big mistake for the department [to go after him], but it’s very indicative of the way they’ve been over the past few years.”

Perhaps. But in what other business could a mid-level executive — that’s what a lieutenant basically is — post a screed denouncing his company’s leaders as corrupt incompetents and still keep his job?

You look at Andrews’ resume — a master’s degree in “organizational leadership” from Lewis University — and he obviously is a guy who thought he’d be going places. It is not the resume of someone who didn’t want to rise through the ranks.

“If I were a command member of the Chicago Police Department, a gold star, and was to say something critical of the department like this, obviously I would lose my command,” he said. “I would be demoted, would be held in utter disdain. That would be a career breaker. Myself, yes, I had aspirations of rising higher than the rank of lieutenant. I don’t think it’ll happen now that I’ve done what I’ve done. But not everybody has to be a chief. Maybe there are too many chiefs already. Maybe we need some stronger Indians. I’ve never seen it like this in 25 years at the Chicago Police Department, never seen it descend to such a level. We need change.”

Andrews said this isn’t about him

“The alarm needed to be sounded,” he said. “Too many people on this job are afraid to say anything. I’m not on a soapbox, trying to rant. I want to sound a warning. We really need to change. I’m not doing this for myself, absolutely. I’m not naive. I knew there would be personal risks and consequences.

“I don’t believe I’ve brought discredit to the Police Department. I believe they have.”

I am sure that you are funnelling these issues to Supv Derry since he has frequented this blog in the past. However, the way you have treated him during these past few months is not condusive to him wanting to return. I would be surprised if he bothers to take the time.

As to the specifics of this issue, why do you believe Supv. Derry is the responsible party when the BOS has placed that duty squarely on the CAO? It would seem prudent to direct these departmental issues to the CAO, and if one or more Supv. still follows this blog and is interested in the case, then they or the new unit in the CAO’s office can follow-up.

Let me respond.  I do not expect Neil to return to the blog ever nor do I care.  As far as I am concerned, Neil has become one of the problems, just like the other four; not the solution.  However, I know anything addressed to anyone on the Fifth Floor will be read by staff up there, so I will continue to address him this way.  He doesn’t respond to emails so there is no point in trying that means.

I do not care how much the five board members decide to shirk responsibility, ultimately, they are the ones responsible for what goes on in this county.  Devereaux can grab all the power he wants with their permission, it is those five who answer to constituents.

As to contacting the CAO directly, actually I did exactly that and my email was ignored.  Addtionally, I have at one time or another spoken directly to almost every one of the individuals that have been transferred to the CAO about the issues at TAD and all each one of them did was blow it off.

And finally, those new units are a joke.  When I worked up there, that was my job.  I worked for the TWO analysts that handled all special projects for the Board of Supervisors, handled ALL of the county’s legislation, handled ALL of the 258 boards, commissions and committees that included members from more than one district, handled the agendas for SCAQMD, CARB, Omnitrans, MDAQMD, etc.  Note:  I said TWO ANALYSTS as in two Administrative Analyst IIIs, not the ridiculous classifications and salaries these jokers have.

Also note that back then there were far less cities and much more unincorporated area in the county so the board members had a lot more to do.  A lot of what the THREE of us did back then is now handled by cities.  I think the Fourth District, for example, has a grand total of eight square miles of unincorporated area.

In case you didn’t notice, you hit a nerve when it comes to this so-called reorganization to “save money.”  That is the biggest bunch of bs.  And Neil has bought it hook, line and sinker.  He’s happy to spend his time getting pothole filled and singing Sinatra while Devereaux runs the county.  So why do we need a board of supervisors.  I say we do away with them and let Devereaux run the whole show.

]]> http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/26/iepolitics-a-comment-about-supervisor-derry/feed/ 14 http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/26/iepolitics-wheres-lucy/ http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/26/iepolitics-wheres-lucy/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:12:55 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=5098 We hear that San Bernardino County Transitional Assistance Department (TAD) Deputy Director (?) Lucy Gigena has resigned.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t her appointment from ESP district manager to TAD deputy director recent?

I remember we previously discussed her affinity for sharing her sex life with her staff.  It pales in comparison to the other district manager we have featured several times who is known by her staff as the “C—” because she likes to tell her staff which orifice her boyfriend/husband inserted himself into during any given interlude the night before.

Either conversation and both individuals are inappropriate in the workplace.  It would be nice to know that Lamberto is finally doing something about sexual harassment in the workplace, but we know that is too much to ask.  So we shall ask again, Where’s Lucy?

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, longtime protector of taxpayers’ rights, has announced their support for businessman Mike Morrell for 63rd State Assembly District.

“We believe Mike will be an excellent representative for taxpayers,” the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association said in a statement regarding their endorsement.

“I am proud to have received their support, given their strong record of protecting property taxes and California’s taxpayers. What they are doing in California today is essential to maintaining limited government and protecting our rights as citizens.”

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is the research, education and legal department of the Jarvis organization, providing legal representation in order to advance the interests of taxpayers in court. The Foundation also funds studies on tax and economic issues and works to provide alternatives to our state’s tax-and-spend proposals.

]]> http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/26/mike-morrell-howard-jarvis-taxpayers-association-endorses-mike-morrell/feed/ 0 http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/26/senor-blogger-deputy-misbehaving-no-2/ http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/26/senor-blogger-deputy-misbehaving-no-2/#comments Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:58:20 +0000 Senor Blogger http://iepolitics.com/?p=5092 This second story is about a deputy that had a problem with sticky fingers.  Things kept coming up missing at the station and it this certain deputy was always there.

A sting operation was set up and he was sent to a call where there was some money that no one claimed. Well that money was placed there by the Sheriff’s department to see what he would do with it.  I guess he did not know how to handle this situation so he took the money home with him and never tagged it as evidence.

The interesting part of this is the Sheriff’s Department did the right thing.  They assigned two sergeants who were assigned to the jail to conduct the criminal investigation and internal affairs to conduct the administration investigation.  The administrative investigation was completed and he was terminated. The criminal investigation was completed and he was arrested

They would not back off of a felony conviction. The subject was convicted of a felony and was given 90 days jail time, 36 months probation and was ordered to pay back $108.00 to the Sheriff’s Department.  Yes that is right $108.00.

Now how much money did the Gray’s take from the county?  One is now retired and the other is still working for the county. What a deal!

The funny part of this story is that the guy just went back to court where his attorney filed for a PC 1203 motion and it was granted. After serving his jail time and completing his probation the judge allowed him to with draw his guilty plead and enter a not guilty plea.   The case was dismissed.  That’s right no more conviction.

But remember how the two cases, the POST issue and this one, were handled so differently. And it did not take them 11 months to do the investigation.
Case number on this incident is FVI700170.

Incumbent Al Wozniak is one of the people responsible for taking away the Flex Plan from employees with less than 15 years. The cutoff was set at 15 years because that is how many years Al had in and didn’t want to lose it. Everyone with fewer years than he had got screwed.  I strongly suggest you vote for  a TAD employee who is not currently on the Board of Directors.  He is also among those responsible for single employees losing full coverage and having to pay for other employees’ family members’ health insurance.

There is only one incumbent I would recommend vote for.  All other incumbents should be voted out.  If you want to know my recommendations, please call me.

Here is a list of claims she has made about you.  You should have plenty of time to practice your answers.

1. Brad Mitzelfelt and Bill Postmus were homosexual lovers (“giggle in the night like little bad men”).
2. Brad Mitzelfelt lied when he said he did not know about Bill’s drug issues. Not sure if she knows about the other drug issue by a county employee close to Brad.
3. Brad Mitzelfelt is bought and paid for by Jeff Burum.
4. Brad Mitzelfelt and Anthony Adams were also lovers.
5. Brad Mitzelfelt and Adam Aleman were also lovers.
6. Brad Mitzelfelt, Anthony Adams and Mark Kirk are all in sham marriages.  Their wives are lesbians and ugly.
7. Brad Mitzelfelt has financial problems and cannot even buy a house.
8. Brad Mitzelfelt supports Terry Caldwell and all the crooks in the city of Victorville. He is probably getting kickbacks from Buck Johns.
9. Brad Mitzelfelt stole millions from the children of the high desert as part of the charter school scandal.
10. Brad Mitzelfelt ran Bill’s campaign on county time and committed time card fraud just like Rex Gutierrez.
11. Brad Mitzelfelt is as slimy as the rest of the “MOB” or Mafia as she refers to Burum, Ovitt, Biane, etc.
12. Brad Mitzelfelt is a liar and a cheat.
13. Brad Mitzelfelt supports Anthony Adams and raising taxes.
14. Brad Mitzelfelt gets kickbacks from developers.
15. Brad Mitzelfelt was part of the scheme with Bill and Dino DeFazio where $100,000 cash in a brown paper bag was delivered to Postmus in order to get projects expedited.
16. Brad Mitzelfelt may have been a Marine, but he was a writer. He was not in combat, because well you know.  So he didn’t really sacrifice for his country.
17. Brad Mitzelfelt should be recalled (remember she had the recall petitions on her website).
18. Brad Mitzelfelt is an evil, evil man (not sure how you can respond to that one).
19. Brad Mitzelfelt should have been named as a Doe in the Colonies case and charged.
20. Brad Mitzelfelt doesn’t care about the average Joe; he only cares about those who make campaign contributions.
21. Brad Mitzelfelt says he is pro family but supports all the gays because . . .

Is that enough or do you want some more Brad?  You know, you really should listen to the other half of her show.  That’s where the juicy stuff is.

So are you going to give her your endorsement for her run at town council?  I hope you do.  I really, really hope you do.

Linda Haugan

We received confirmation from a fifth TAD office today that the original email that was sent out banning fans and radios stated that it was because they had exceeded their electricity allotment.  There was nothing about fire hazards or electrical strips.  Supervisors have been told that fans and radios will be allowed but not to spread the word.  So, let your employees get sick from the heat and smell and don’t say anything unless they beg.

From what I have learned, some or all of these buildings have an “electricity allotment” deal with their management company.  Now the big question is, Which brainiac in the county negotiated these contracts with an “electricity allotment” and then ordered personal scanners and other computer equipment that must be left on 24-7?

It never occurred to these bozos that computer equipment uses a lot of electricity and if the number of machines that will be plugged in and powered on would double, perhaps they should considering negotiating an extra kilowatt or so into the contract?

I am going to say it again.  This is what you get when you hire uneducated welfare clients and then promote them up through the ranks without requiring them to get an education and practical experience.  MLA is not the same as a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree no matter how you try to sell it. And to put someone with no real education in charge of millions of dollars in taxpayers money is dereliction of duty.

Do you hear that Devereaux since you are ultimately the one responsible for allowing Lamberto and Haugan to remain employed by the county and have done nothing to require that managers have a college education?  Where else but San Bernardino County can you be promoted to a $120,000-a-year job and not even have to have a high school diploma?

]]> http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/25/iepolitics-more-about-stupid-tad-supervisors/feed/ 0 http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/25/iepolitics-speaking-of-stupid-supervisors/ http://iepolitics.com/2010/08/25/iepolitics-speaking-of-stupid-supervisors/#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:06:21 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=5075 Supervisor Derry,

No, that title is not in reference to you. I was asked to pass this along in reference to your question a few weeks ago regarding SBPEA and the County of San Bernardino.

It seems Andrew Lamberto/Linda Haugan/Bob Blough are at it again. Remember that email I sent  to you and George that you both ignored regarding PID Chief Virginia Lugo, et al., using C-IV to run all employees to see if they have ever been on a welfare case of any kind?  Well sometimes illegal activities backfire.

And this is one such case.  You see there is a TAD supervisor who just happens to be very, very, very close to a TAD client, if you know what I mean.  That TAD supervisor instructed a subordinate to go into that TAD client’s case and make changes.  That’s right. They did not just look at the case; they had changes made to the case on behalf of their very, very, very close “friend.”  Well, darnitall if they didn’t get caught.  What is poor Linda/Andrew to do when one of their favs gets caught committing a crime?

Well, we know what happens to PID Chief Virginia Lugo when she gets caught committing a crime.  Nothing . . . absolutely nothing.  But the crime victims get fired.

We cannot have double standards, now can we?  So that means since this is a TAD supervisor, we should pretend nothing happened.  And that is almost what happened.  You see, unlike any subordinate that would have been FIRED!!!, the TAD supervisor was allowed to instead transfer to another office.

But the most interesting part of this whole deal is that this TAD supervisor just also happens to be a member of the Board of Directors of the San Bernardino Public Employees Association.  That $50,000 sure did go a long way. If I were you, I’d demand your share since you seem to want to turn a blind eye to Blough’s wrongdoing. You should get paid for it too just like the other four supervisors. I’m sure Bob and Scott will be happy to cut you a check for say . . . $50,000.  Or have they already?

Linda Haugan

We had one of the Marie wannabees, oops I mean TAD supervisors or above—you know the ones with the brown noses and really high foreheads—get on here and claim that the fan and radio ban was due to Risk Management and power strips being overloaded.   They think they are scoring brownie points with Linda Haugan by calling us stupid and uninformed.  The problem is, to get points, one must identify oneself, but like most uneducated TAD supervisors, they are too stupid to figure that out.   And they are too stupid to realize their explanation is . . . stupid.

So we called them on their lies. I have since received calls from Eligibility Workers in two different offices stating they have now received emails telling them they can use their fans but to try to conserve energy.  This is coming from the same management team that purchased scanners for every desk that must be left running 24-7 as are many of the computers, printers, and copy machines.  Logic would dictate . . . oh yeah, we are talking about TAD managers.  Lost cause.

So, the fans are back on in at least some TAD offices.  I wonder how Linda explained this bit of stupidity and arrogance away?  At least line staff got to have their cake and eat it too.

It seems that Uffer has applied for the position.  There is a county employee in Needles who is pushing very hard to hire Mark and he is the only candidate to apply so far.  A background check is being completed.  In the process, someone finds a copy of the lawsuit Uffer has filed against the county and prints it out.  They read the very last page, which was an email from me and my parting shot to him where I called him a liar.

That email had been sent from a county computer at ARMC on my last day.  They called my number there and found out I’m no longer working.  They go through some more of the exhibits and come across an email I had sent to Mark from home where I told him he was fanning the flames.  That email had my cell phone number on it.  So they called that number and found me.

I told them that I would prefer to allow his former employees to give input.  So, if anyone would like to do so, Needles would like to hear from you.  Emails can be sent to janispaget@aol.com.

She talked for a good twenty minutes and would not go away.  She was crying, talking about the men she approached for change and what they wanted in exchange.  I never give panhandlers anything, but I think I gave her a dollar or so to get rid of her.  To be honest she was very convincing yet I thought she was just good at what she did.

Months later, the Daily Press ran this story:

Panhandler uses elaborate story to scam victims

Comments 100

September 10, 2009 9:43 AM

FROM STAFF REPORTS

VICTORVILLE • Authorities are warning shoppers to beware of a female panhandler who hangs out in front of the Victorville Target store, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Victorville station officials said.

The woman — described as white, 5-feet, 10-inches tall with a stocky build in her 30s — approaches shoppers and gives a detailed story of why she needs about $10 to be able to stay at a local motel, according to Karen Hunt, spokeswoman for the Victorville station.

The woman is dressed neatly and is clean, which may lead victims to believe her story.

One of the latest versions of her story claims she was involved in a traffic collision and her friends will not be able to pick her up until the following day, authorities stated. She then tells shoppers she has already paid for a room for herself and her two children, but the motel owner asked for an additional $9 fee or she and her brood must leave.

Authorities learned the woman has been using this story for at least the past year.

Anyone who comes across the woman is asked to contact the Victorville station at 241-2911.

A few days ago, I was in the Jess Ranch Target parking lot in Apple Valley.  For those who don’t know, Jess Ranch is a large, upper middle class retirement community.  In other words, the parking lot is full of perfect targets.  Guess who approached me?

Yes, this same woman comes over to my truck and asks me to roll down my window.  Here we are almost two years later and she is telling the same story.  Actually, it had become more elaborate.  She claimed the Sheriff’s Department had been contacted and was going to kick her out of the motel room.  She also claimed to have gone to a local church and they prayed with her but would not give her anything because she is not a member.

I remembered that the story in the paper had said to call the Sheriff’s Department if she iwasseen, so I did.  I didn’t have access to the story, so I just called Victorville dispatch as I know that number from the days I worked there.

I felt like the dispatcher could have not cared less.  I tried to explain that there was an old newspaper article that said to call and that this woman had been doing this for a long time.  She said she would send a deputy, but I don’t think that ever happened.

I know the cops have more important things to do, which is why I didn’t call the first time around.  I also have to wonder what they would do to her even if they had responded.  At the same time, something about this seems wrong.

I know I wasted my time calling and won’t call again. I guess my real question here is for our SBSD readers.  Would a deputy have done anything to her?  I know what the story says, but does the SBSD really want to know about these kinds of things with all the serious crime going on?  Just wondering.

Watching the video reminded me of a story I have been going to write for a while.  Here is an average, almost geeky, regional cover band, and in two months this video has topped six million hits.  It’s entertaining, no doubt—awesome and funny at the same time.  But that is not the point.  The point is that 20 years ago, this would still be a regional cover band—one that no one had ever heard about, much less seen.   But the internet has changed the way information is delivered to us.

Two of our frequent commenters from the Sheriff’s Department seem to have taken their marbles and run.  They are not happy with iePolitics for posting some of the ugly truth about their department.  They challenge us to report our stories in basically the same manner as mainstream media.

What they don’t get, and newspapers have not embraced, is that the public is tired of watered-down, politically correct news.  There is a reason blogs have become so popular and that is we print items newspapers are afraid to print.  We don’t have to play by the same rules as printed newspapers.

No one comes to iePolitics to read the same thing they can read in the Sun about the corruption scandal.  They come here to get the scoop or the other side.  It doesn’t matter if they love us or hate us, they want to hear what we have to say.  They can take it with a grain of salt or they can embrace it.  In the end they will find out we are a heck of a lot more accurate than the Sun or Press Enterprise.

We witnessed that throughout the Rex Gutierrez trial.  The Sun tried their damnedest to convict Rex before the trial ever took place.  Even their reporting of what occurred in the courtroom was extremely slanted.  We hear that Joe Nelson will say off the record there is no way Rex will ever be convicted.  But you would never know that reading his stories.  You would think Rex is going to prison for sure.

Some argue that by not printing names and sources, we do not have credibility.  Credibility for us does not come from naming sources; it comes from being proven correct time and again.  Our detractors want to believe we are wrong about the corruption scandal. When Mike Ramos goes down, they will call it a fluke. When Jim Erwin is found not guilty or all charges are dropped, it will be blamed on the “stupid” jurors or “crooked” judges.  When Jeff Burum is ultimately absolved of wrongdoing, it will be claimed he bought someone off.  We know what to expect for outcomes because we try to look at all the information available, not just what can be printed or is politically correct.  Our readers will not be shocked when Rex Gutierrez is not convicted after a second trial.

Our followers know we have been right in the past and are looking forward to finding out how accurate we are in the future.  For them, we are a credible source.  For others, it will take more time and that’s okay.  For some, green will always be blue and purple, orange.  We can’t do anything about the dense or the hateful so we just tolerate them.

These rumors can almost always be traced back to our favorite yellow singing Canary, Confidential Informant No. 1, Mr. Max Factor himself, Adam Aleman.  It seems that every time Mikey has to face bad news he deflects with disinformation through Adam.

We have heard rumors that these two are going to be arrested so many times, we rarely print them any more.  What sets things apart this time is that we have another factor in this.  Jerry Brown needs an arrest made in this county.  He wants Jeff Burum but that is not likely and could get pretty ugly.

We hear from excellent sources that the Attorney General’s office is putting a lot of pressure on Mikey for an arrest or other headline news.  No one says the arrest has to be based on factual information.  We know Judge Duke Rouse will sign anything for Mikey.

So, time will tell whether this rumor proves to be true or more disinformation and threats from Adam.

Yes, this is a teazer.  I can’t write much more yet.  I have an excellent source on this one, but if anyone at the Public Defender’s office knows what I’m talking about and would like to send the document to me, I can be reached at PO Box 2722, Apple Valley, California 92307.  I believe the actual document was authored by Lauri Ferguson.

I will post more just as soon as I’m allowed to.

The first is on the deputy, out of Victorville I believe, who beat the crap out of a relative of a CHP officer.  There is more to the story but I can’t remember it. I believe it happened in the Cajon Pass and I believe this deputy was allowed to stay on patrol.

The second is the deputy who was caught with sticky fingers.  Unlike Captain Gray, he was charged with a felony.  Only difference is this deputy stole only hundreds of dollars, not thousands.  I believe he was fired but I’m not sure.

We all know some Sergeant’s were never meant to be a sergeant; however those will probably never promote either. How does one like Gina Perez get to a job like this? 4 years as a “street cop” deputy working Victorville, then sent to the academy teaching “boots” how to “do their job” then thrust into Homicide where she told me it was, “all about my paper,” and now a screwball of a Sergeant conducting “Admins” without knowing what she is doing…least we mention all the policy, POBR, law enforcement code of ethics- violations she has done over the past 14 months.

Gina Perez you are incompetent, you have no integrity, no honor, and I have seen better leadership at a Boy Scout meeting. The county is losing money keeping her in this position.

The following two stories are about the violations of POBAR against other Deputies at Victorville Station who should have a wakeup call. (The names of the deputies have been changed to protect their identity and yes these incidents have been confirmed).

Story #1

Deputy 1 and Deputy 2 get a call about a 211 strong arm where a kid got his bike stolen from a nearby park. The victim told them he did not know the exact name of the suspect, but there was another kid with the suspect and the victim knew where that kid lived. Kind of like an “I don’t know the suspect’s name, but Johnny was there and he knows the suspect. I know where Johnny lives so you can ask him about the suspect.”

So, Deputy 1 and Deputy 2 go to Johnny’s house. They knock on the front door. A juvie answers the door. Deputy 1 and Deputy 2 ask if Johnny is there. The kid who answers the door said yes and walked back inside the house. The kid left the door open and never told Deputy 1 and Deputy 2 they could not come in. They entered the house based on implied consent since the door was left open and they were never told not to come in. plus, the kid walked away and no part of the kid’s body was blocking their entry inside the house. Also mind you, they are conducting a felony investigation where the crime just recently occurred.

Deputy 1 and Deputy 2 walk about five feet inside the house and stop. They see a juvie sitting in the living room. They ask “are you Johnny?” the kid answers yes. They ask the kid to talk to them. He said okay but first he has to let his mom know. The kid yells up the stairs to the second floor “hey mom the cops are here.” Deputy 1 and Deputy 2 hear the mom yell back something to the effect as “I don’t have anything to say to them, I’m busy.” Johnny walks outside with them and they continue their investigation of trying to identify the suspect who took the victim’s bike.

This is where it gets good. The mom calls the WC to complain that Deputy 1 and Deputy 2 entered her house illegally. Sgt Perez answers the telephonic complaint. She then conducts her own investigation regarding the alleged illegal entry and based on the information she does not read either of the Deputies their RIGHTS… (POBR) violation. She asked Deputy 1 if they searched the house. He said,”no they did not search the house.” She then asked him “then why is the mom saying you two searched the house looking for Johnny?” Deputy 1 tells her, “they entered the house and stopped about five feet just inside the front door, but they never searched the house.”

Perez came unglued. She accused Deputy 1 of lying to her. She told him that since he never told her they entered the house when she asked if they searched it that was considered lying, omitting, and deviating from the truth. Deputy 1 told her no, searching a house and entering a house are two different things, and she never asked if they entered the house, only if they searched it looking for Johnny, which they did not.

Perez told Deputy 1 and Deputy 2 if they went back over to the house to apologize to the mom and explain to her why they were there, then Perez would let it go. They went over to the house and apologized for doing their job.

Story #2

Deputy 1 pulls over a car. The driver is possibly dui. Deputy 1 asked if there was a unit nearby with a pas. Deputy 2 had one and was nearby so he stopped by to give Deputy 1 the pas. Deputy 1 got the pas and tested the driver. The driver was dui. Deputy 2 towed the car for Deputy 1 so Deputy 1 could get blood from the suspect instead of having to wait 30 min himself for a tow and then transport to the jail because we all know alcohol starts to drop about 0.02% BAC an hour.

About three months later, the driver files a formal complaint against Deputy 1 and Deputy 2, alleging that they made fun of him, called him racial slurs, and was unprofessional. Deputy 1 and Deputy 2had their tape recorders the whole time. Sgt Perez was the investigating sergeant.

Perez asked Deputy 2 if he said anything rude to the suspect, if he cussed at the suspect, if he called the suspect any racist names, if he heard Deputy 1 use foul language towards the suspect, and if any other deputies were there besides them. He answered no since that was the basis of the complaint.

This is where it gets interesting. Perez then asked Deputy 2 what else happened. Deputy 2 told her after he handed the pas to Deputy 1. Deputy 1 tested the driver. After the driver was confirmed dui, Dep. 1 arrested the driver and left to the jail. Perez asked Dep. 2 what else he did. Dep. 2 said he could not remember since nothing else stood out besides him handing the pas to Dep1. and Dep.1 arresting the driver. Remember, the basis of the complaint was Dep. 1 and Dep. 2 was rude and cussed at him.

Perez then asked “so the answer you want to stick with is that’s all you remember doing?” Dep. 2 confused by the line and tone of her questioning, pauses for a moment and said, “well, I towed the car for Dep. 1 so he could take the suspect to jail instead of him having to do it, but I don’t see what that has to do anything.” Perez immediately picks up a chp 180 tow form and said “yes you’re right, you did tow the car. Here’s the 180 right here. Is that your signature?” as she hands him the form. He said yes it was and the AUDIO RECORDED TAPED interview was over.

Dep. 2 was obviously quite upset at the fact it seemed as if Perez was going to get him in trouble if he did not say he remembered towing the car. He did not know what towing a car had to do with anything about the p-form, only that she was going to use that against him as lying if he answered he did not remember.

When a person becomes a Peace Officer they take an oath which is known as the “Law Enforcement Code of Ethics”. In that code is a line that states “Honest in thought and deed in both my personnel and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my Department”.

It seems that most police officers adhere to this oath but some do not. And for some reason or another the department seems to always pick and choose what officers are going to suffer for not following this oath and which officers are not.

Take for instance the issue involving the POST scandal. Last September the news broke within the department that there were several, the rumor was 26, people involved in falsifying classes that they did not take so that they could receive credit towards different levels of POST certificates. Each level earned would mean a 2 to 5 percent increase in pay over officers that do not have higher POST level certificates. Now we all know rumors are rumors but in this department when you hear a number you can just about bet a paycheck that the number is very close to being true.

Over a period of time officers received pay that they were not entitled to. When one of the Deputies were caught an investigation was started and it was learned that a Captains wife who worked at the academy was responsible for signing these people into classes that they were not taking, including her husband. It was learned that this Captain earned approximately $17,000.00 in pay that he was not entitled to. He was allowed to pay the money back and retire. Now that is a decision that was made by the powers to be and they have that right to make those type of decisions.

The problem here is that everyone is not treated fairly. The wife who profited due to the increase in her husband’s salary kept her job and was demoted and sent back to the jail. The deputy was demoted and sent back to the jail. And the others, well they just do not exist. The department for months deny that anyone else is involved in this issue which everyone knows is crap. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the department allowed the two people to keep their jobs because they did not want them to talk about the other high ranking officials involved in this scandal. Some of them have even been promoted to higher ranks because they are in the “Good Ole Boys Club”. Why else would you keep employed people that you know are dishonest and steal from you. A regular employer would not keep anyone they knew stole from them so why does the Sheriff’s Department.  And the members of the Board of Supervisors know this to be true and are doing nothing about this issue. Well why should they it’s your tax dollars that was taken and they are making a good wage in their positions so do they really care. I guess not.

When it came to election time Deputy Averbeck raised a big stink about why charges were not filed against these individuals. The Sheriff’s Office claimed in March that the report was sent to the District Attorney’s office for review. Now, 5 months later we are still waiting for that review. And what’s Deputy Averbeck now doing about this issue being that he lost the election, nothing. I guess that maybe it is not that important to him anymore even though he also pays tax’s and the money that was taken was the taxpayers money. He has just licked his wounds and mounted his horse and rode off into the sunset. Another example of I will say whatever sounds good at the time but when push comes to shove I’ll just do what I want.

It seems that a detective was arrested for abusing his girlfriend at the end of July. Well the District Attorney’s Office has already reviewed that case and has rejected charges and claimed that it was “Mutual Combat”.  Didn’t take them 10 months to figure that one out now did it. And so what if it was Mutual Combat, file on both of them and let the chips fall where they fall.

Now that detective is back working his job in narcotics with his county take home car and benefits. I guess the department does not see a problem with allowing this detective to continue to work in this position being around women that take and do drugs after he has already dated one that does and found drugs on her and that is what started the fight. And I wonder if charges were filed on her for possession of narcotics or under the influence. No sorry never happened.

Approximately two years ago a deputy assigned to the Victorville Station was arrested for theft of personnel property and money. The total amount involved was under $500.00. Yet they arrested him, filed charges on him and would not back down from a felony conviction. Yes the guy was fired and was convicted of a felony.

Can anyone explain why the difference in treatment between this individual and the people involved in the POST issue.

Take a look at the number of officers arrested for Driving Under the Influence recently. Well as sad as it is that is going to happen. They are no different than the average man on the streets who has problems and decide that drinking may be a way around those problems. But when stopped for those charges why don’t they act like they expect the general public to act when they arrest them? And when they don’t act according why is it that the department does not take the necessary action. These are not people that you want working in the streets. They definitely are not people you want working patrol or in special assignments.

Sometimes you can say, as many have, that these problems were not created by the current Sheriff. That is an easy way to get around the problem. But when you are made aware of the problem and you do nothing to correct it then you are no better than the prior person who did nothing to correct the issue.

Internal Affairs is a division that nobody likes. If you do like it your bubble may be a little off the center line. Most people are handpicked to go there and almost all of them will get promoted to the next rank when they leave. It is a division where truthfulness is everything. They have always told you never lie it only means that you will not have a job at the end of the problem. Yet there is a Sgt in the division that was caught lying, was written up for lying and is still conducting internal investigations. Now what happens to the officer under investigation that lies to him and gets fired? Is that right or should the current Sheriff take the necessary action and send this individual to another position on the department? Yes we know he is really busy right now after the election and does not have time to make the call and sign the transfer forms.

The Sgt that allows deputies to work even after they produce an off work order and are placed on 4850 time. Come on get serious she does not know that this cannot happen. And the officers and Sgt involved in this issue are in charge of the Explorer Scout program. Yes future police officers of this County. One of the officers is the officer arrested for DUI and fled from the Highway Patrol. I wonder if she gives the ethics classes to the Explorer Scouts. All of the officers involved in this issue should at least be removed from this program and also should be sent back to the jail until such a time as they can display responsibility. If one of those officers had to use deadly force on someone while they were working and should not have been the taxpayers would be faced with a high settlement. But I guess the Sgt did not know that as it is not common sense.

And the Board of Supervisors don’t really care. As long as they are making their 6 figure salaries why should they.

Sorry but the last laugh is on the public. Why because things are not going to change. Every election is handed to someone within the department that is handpicked by another. Things are going to continue as they always have for years until an officer done wrong takes them on and wins, or a DUI officer hurts someone, or an officer with a temper gets out of control and does something stupid or a officer makes a dumb decision like allows someone to work when they are not suppose to and they injury themselves or someone else and it costs the taxpayers tons of money for a settlement.

Meanwhile all of you officers read your SEBA magazine and take heed. Remember do not lie to Sgt Onadero when internal affairs is doing an investigation on you because they cannot help you at that point. A real union that is behind there people would demand that he is not allowed to conduct investigations on their members.

Maybe later we will be able to show several cases where people have been treated different because they were never excepted in the “Good Ole Boys Club”.

Pure Peruvian Cocaine

Hypocrite is defined by Webster as:

1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings

In case anyone hasn’t noticed, we have a hypocrite or two or three on the fifth floor of the County Government Center.  We have been reminded of that several times during the past couple of years.

The first time web saw their hypocrisy was when our Board of Supervisors expressed their self-righteous indignation over the discovery that then-Assessor Bill Postmus has a drug problem.  That self-righteous indignation would have been more than acceptable if there were not similar issues among their own.  But there are and that makes them hypocrites.

As a matter of fact, at least three of the supervisorial districts have connections with illegal drug usage.  At least one supervisor has serious issues with drugs and alcohol himself.

I find the other example of their double standard even more egregious however.  There is a considerable amount of marijuana usage by employees on both sides of the Fifth Floor.  We are talking about recreational marijuana usage, not medical Cannabis, and other drugs.  Yet, meeting after meeting these same supervisors listen to the testimony of constituents, some of whom are suffering, beg for the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to enact a reasonable policy so that they can receive the medical Cannabis they have been prescribed to relieve their suffering.

We can argue all day long on whether or not Marijuana should be legal.  The bottom line is that medical Cannabis is legal; we have BOS members who use Marijuana for recreational purposes; and those same board members deny suffering constituents the ability to purchase it legally in this county.  So a board member can buy and use it illegally and that’s okay?  But a patient who has been prescribed it by a doctor, cannot purchase it legally.  Hypocrite is a term that fits and then some.

And where is Mikey in all of this?  Once again, while real crimes are being committed by members of the Board of Supervisors, he is off chasing windmills, hoping to find a smoking gun that doesn’t exist.  Mikey, here is one more “real” crime we have told you about.  How about using your crack surveillance team to unravel this matter and make arrests?

Hey, Bud Randles.  Wrightwood is nice this time of year.

We discussed the windmills in Sam’s Club parking lots, which are so darn cute and such an unobtrusive way to generate electricity, not too long ago.  Our local Kohl’s get much of its power from solar panels installed at the store.  More and more yard lighting can now be accomplished also through solar energy.

Then there are larger scale projects such as the composting site proposed by Nursery Products, LLC.  These projects save us money, help to green the environment, and provide a service and product we need.

The compost produced at sites, such as the one proposed by Nursery Products, is safe.  Over a thousand studies have been completed to prove it.   The Barstow Steve’s and Norm Diaz’s of the world have tried and tried again to disprove the studies with made-up facts.  They have not been able to provide a single legitimate scientific study to support their arguments. Why?  Green.  As in the color of money.

But not all sanity related to biosolids composting has been lost to the almighty dollar.   As we reported last month, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved the Nursery Products, LLC site.  Taxpayers from throughout Southern California will benefit from their decision.

And there has been more good news of late.  Our green neighbors in the bay, San Francisco, have had a composting program in place since 2007.  The environmental wackos challenged it so the city’s utilities commission approved a study.  From the July 28, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle is this report:

Compost made from the effluent that San Franciscans flush down their toilets does not contain any more toxins than the soil treatments and animal excrement available in garden stores, according to a San Francisco Public Utilities Commission study released Tuesday.

The $25,000 study found that the biosolid compost that until recently had been given out free to San Francisco residents once a year is not, as critics contend, a stew of toxic excrement. On the contrary, the treated and dried sludge is at least as safe as seven other potting soils, manures and treatments, according to the report.

San Francisco is hardly alone in providing biosolid compost to its citizens.  There are similar programs all around the country.   As a matter of fact, many government jurisdictions own their own composting sites.

And that’s one of the most humorous aspects of this whole debate.  This exact same compost that Barstow Steve and Norm Diaz  claim is so dangerous to us all can be purchased at Walmart in downtown Barstow and every other American city.  But who wants facts to get in the way of hysteria?   It’s not profitable.

I.T. department at ACR says lets do some training.

Enrolls one person in a virtual class for Windows training.  Sounds good so far, save money on traveling, etc…

Then tells 4 other people to go to the training and act like the one person enrolled.

So now we have 4 people going to training and only paying for 1 person.  I guess that is great if you are ACR.  Saved money.  Not so great if you are the training company.  Lost money.  Lost several thousand dollars of money.

I don’t know why management would think this is OK to steal from the training company.

This is going on right now…till Friday….

The reason you know about the situation is because of me and my incident on Thanksgiving Day. The issue is, of course, Hartford Insurance.

Hartford took over the county’s short-term disability program last year with the intended outcome of reducing the number of county employees.  Don’t tell me otherwise.  I’ve been dealing with them for ten months now. But this is not about my situation, although I am going to describe it first just as a reminder. It is about many county employees who are being abused by Hartford and that abuse could very well cause a death.

In my case, Hartford has ruled that the four doctors who have provided them with information regarding my claim are wrong and their analyst who has never met me knows more about what is better for my health than my doctors.  The result is that I have been with no paycheck whatsoever since February 15. I have lost almost everything I own. I sleep on the floor as I have no furniture that can be used for sleeping.  I have no heat or hot water and haven’t since November.  As a matter of fact I have not had a hot shower since November.  No, I don’t have television, a real stereo, or  high speed internet.  Don’t even have a PC.   I do have a printer/scanner/fax machine, which okay except I can’t fax from a cell phone.   I do get food stamps, which is the only way I eat, so I’m thankful for them.  All cooking is done in an electric skillet or microwave, so I am lucky in that way too, but I can’t help but want to bake or roast something once in a while.  In the winter the inside of my house stayed right around 41 degrees.  These days it rarely falls below 90.

I sound like I’m whining and really I’m not.  I’m long past the point of suicide, although there were a total of four attempts as a result of this particular part of the situation.  I can’t get medication, and haven’t had any whatsoever since February 25, which has actually been a good thing.  I feel a lot better without it although I’m sure if I could see a doctor they wouldn’t be happy that I haven’t had blood pressure, stomach, allergy  or thyroid medicine in six months.  Don’t bother telling me to go to Arrowhead, because a) I’d rather be dead and b) can’t afford the gas to get there anyway.  But honestly, I’ve come to accept it.  Having some really great attorneys and knowing what complete idiots the county hires makes this easier because I know one day there will be a payout and I can start over with new furniture, heat, a/c, a stove to cook on, and all the rest.  I know things will work out in the end.

The actual trigger to this post is an employee who was ordered off work by her doctor in her third trimester of pregnancy.  Apparently, Hartford analysts know more about high-risk pregnancies than her doctor.  Guess what?  They are refusing to pay her as well.  Now, she was lucky in that she has a spouse and there was other income coming into the family.

But she is far from the only one in that situation.  Actually, it has become quite common for Hartford to refuse to pay in high risk pregnancy cases.  Instead they are telling the women they have to go back to work or they delay the claims so long and then deny them after the fact.  It is also happening with employees going through chemotherapy, heart procedures, liver and kidney situations, etc. Hartford knows better than any doctor whether employees can work or not.  Heck even the county doctor refused to release from work, but Hartford says I have to go anyway.  Tell me how you work around that situation.

So, will you or any of the BOS feel any remorse whatsoever for allowing this situation to go on for almost a year if one of these women loses her baby because she has no choice but to return to work? I didn’t think so.  Thinning the ranks is far more important than the well being of county employees.  So what if there is a dead or deformed baby or a dead employee along the way.  You’ve done your job.  You’ve reduced the workforce.

We aren’t allowed to prosecute welfare cheats but by God we are going to make damn sure no county employee gets disability that doesn’t deserve it even if we kill a few along the way

BTW, we all know none of you have any empathy or even understanding because you all get your entire medical premiums paid for your entire family at taxpayer expense. And if that should fail somehow, just go see Dr. GnanaDev.  He will make sure you are taken care of without having to pay for it.

I will ask a question I have asked more than once on this blog.  If a man (or woman) is willing to break the most important covenant given to him by God, then why should we expect any higher degree of integrity or morality on lesser issues?  The covenant of which I write is, of course, that of marriage.

Let me put this is more direct terms. If a man is willing to lie to his wife whom he is supposed to love, honor and cherish, then why should we expect him to be truthful on the witness stand?   If a man has an anger control issue severe enough that he physically harms his wife, whom once again he is supposed to love, honor and cherish, then is it really inconceivable that he might beat the crap out of a prisoner?

If an officer of the law is willing to break the law that he is sworn to uphold, then what makes him any different than the crook he arrests?  Is a law enforcement officer driving under the influence of alcohol somehow better capable of making wise decisions than the average citizen driving under the influence?  Didn’t they both just make equally unsound decisions?  Should one be treated any differently than the other?

Integrity, morality, and ethics are not situational.  One cannot lack integrity in one area and be considered to have integrity in another.  That is a contradiction that cannot be overcome.  A person has integrity in all aspects of his life, or he has none at all.  The fact that he does the right thing some of the time is not a sign of integrity; it is a sign that he is not without any redeaming qualities whatsoever.

Since we first started running the stories of infidelity in the Sheriff’s Department, there has been lots of criticism and finger pointing.  And there have been those that somehow feel being a cop justifies bad behavior.

I would argue exactly the opposite.  Only the most moral and just should ever be allowed to carry a badge and gun.  If law enforcement officers cannot do their jobs or live their lives without breaking the law then there is really no hope for our society.

But we cannot expect deputies in the field to be held to standards higher than those at the top hold themselves too.  Some argue that Floyd Tidwell’s, Gary Penrod’s, or Rod Hoops’ affairs and indiscretions are not worth noting.  I would differ.

I have heard from a number of old-timers who tell me that one of the biggest taboos in law enforcement was to have an affair with another cop’s spouse.  Officers who did that were run out of the department, and rightfully so.

I can already hear the complaints.  Private lives are private lives.  Not when you are a cop and the public is at risk.

What do they teach you in the scademy about the most dangerous type of call to respond to?  Which courtroom in the courthouse is the most dangerous?

When you add to that, broken promises, guns, badges, egos, you have a recipe for disaster.  Perhaps we have not had one cop kill another cop in a jealous rage . . . yet.  But what is going on in the Sheriff’s Department is a time bomb waiting to happen.

And nothing will get done about it. Why?  Remember those “indiscretions” that are not worth noting?  That’s why.  A superior cannot discipline a subordinate for behavior he, himself, participates in.  Remember the Randy Beavers case?  The defense may very well be “because the Sheriff was sleeping with my wife.”

Call me old-fashioned, self-righteous, or whatever you want to call me, but we write about the most perfect example of what I’m describing here on the blog on an almost daily basis.  That person is District Attorney Mike Ramos.

Ramos has cheated on his wife Gretchen with more women than we can count.  And that lack of integrity carries right on over to his professional life.  As the District Attorney of San Bernardino County Ramos is expected to uphold the Constitution of the United States.  Ramos instead chooses to violate its most basic elements.

As I said, a person either has integrity or he does not.  Ramos does not.  Neither does Hoops or many in his executive staff.  Until they are all replaced the department will continue to go down hill until a private citizen is killed by a drunk deputy, takes the bullet meant for his wife’s lover, or finds themselves on the wrong end of a cop with a anger control problem or a cop committing suicide.  It’s only a matter of time.

Some have told us that it does not matter how San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos goes about getting convictions against the corruption figures, as long as they are convicted.  For some reason there are those who do not have an issue with the district attorney breaking the law to gain a conviction.

As more investigation is being done and discovery trickling in at a snail’s pace, we are learning just how far Ramos will go.  No law is safe from Mikey.

Several weeks ago after Lewis Group of Companies Executive Vice President David Lewis committed suicide, we suggested Ramos may have had something to do with the death.  We are learning that we were not far off.  No, Ramos did not pull the trigger.  But Lewis, who already had an issue with drugs and a number of skeletons in his closet, was pressured in a significant way to produce results. We know he tried.  Next thing we know, he was dead.  Yes, there is mounting evidence to support our claims that we cannot share at this time.

Now, we have a similar set of circumstances with former Assessor Bill Postmus. Postmus also has a serious issue with drugs.  And he has an issue he has attempted to keep to himself. Although he was outed a few years ago, anyone who knows Postmus knows that he tries to keep his private life private.  It is that knowledge that the District Attorney’s office is now using as leverage against Postmus.  They are all but extorting him to commit perjury to get their desired results.

Ramos’ most recent stunt was to release a synopsis of an interview with Postmus’ former confidant Adam Aleman where Aleman describes Postmus’ love life.  There is a big problem with that.

Postmus’ love life has nothing to do with the charges against him.  Ramos has attempted to publicize it in order to embarrass Postmus.  Some would say that’s okay.  And they would be wrong.  What Mikey is doing is a violation of federal civil rights law.

Many around Postmus are worried he will meet the same end as Lewis.  That is how severe the pressure is being put on Postmus by the District Attorney’s office.

Ramos does not care how many laws he must break or how many people are harmed so long as he gets the results that he thinks will save his political career.  I got news Mikey!  The FBI has your number.  There may very well be more casualties, maybe even more deaths, before you are done. But the feds will make sure you go down the hardest.