TMC: Thirty Miles of Corruption

 

MATCH THESE FAMOUS SLOGANS:

“I love __________.”                                                                                          Texas

“Don’t mess with _________!”                                                                             Riverside

“What happens in _______ stays in _______.”                                                       New York

“________: There’s simply no conflict-of-interest we can’t ignore.”                           Vegas

 

Ok, well maybe the last one isn’t quite famous yet, but our City leaders sure are trying their best. Whether it be the Chamber/Riverside Public Utilities insider dealing, the systemic rigging of quasi-judicial hearings, or the longstanding practice of City execs hiring investigators to clear themselves of allegations with your money, the City is the paragon of duplicity when it comes to conflicts-of-interests.  In fact, we hear the City recently received the Platinum Prime Select Ace A-1 Lifetime Achievement Award for Bestest, Transcendent, and Outstanding Illusion of Transparency and Fairness demonstrated by local government.

This award, chosen by the preeminent body judging such matters that no one has ever heard of – Twenty Kilometers of Crraption (not affiliated with this site…nudge, wink) – was in fact, bought and paid for, by the City itself.  It’s that dedication to underhandedness, which demonstrates the City’s deservedness (a word we just created) of this distinction.  Cities of Bell, Vernon, City of Industry?  Morons!  They’ve got nothing on our dear River City; and secondly, they all got caught!

As it’s election season, we figured we’d offer another interesting (or not) anecdote about how the endorsement game works in our dear municipal corporation (aka, city).  The players: Ward 1 Councilman Mike Gardner, SEIU Political Coordinator Becky Whatley, the SEIU (Service Employee International Union), and a cameo by Ward 1 Challenger, Tom Podgorski.

CLICK ABOVE IMAGE TO VIAGRA-IZE

 

Both Ward 1 candidates were invited to a SEIU “endorsement” Town Hall meeting on February 26, 2015 by SEIU Political Coordinator, Becky Whatley.  The SEIU routinely holds these events before elections and gives not just their atta-boy endorsement, but also a fair amount of cold hard cash to the person it sees as most sympathetic to its cause.  Seems innocent enough.  We’ve learned the hard way though that nothing is ever what it seems here in Riverside, and so we decided to start digging.

Turns out, Ms. Whatley wears several hats in town: one of them happens to be Councilman Gardner’s former campaign manager.  We hear that she’s been telling folks, including publicly at a recent Latino Network event, that she’s Gardner’s CURRENT campaign manager!

THE NOT-SO-SECRET LIFE OF BECKY WHATLEY

 

Another hat Ms. Whatley adorns is that of small business owner, running a local printing company: Quality Printing. [Sarcasm alert] Surprise, surprise, Whatley has been getting paid by Councilman Gardner to do his mailings, invitations, and response envelopes!  She was also instrumental on setting up Gardner’s fundraiser on February 11, 2015, being reimbursed for drinks and desserts.

 

       

A CONFLICT OF INTEREST, BUSINESS AS USUAL, OR BOTH? 

 

So….Ms. Whatley was Councilman Gardner’s campaign manager during his last election.  She was cavorting about town telling folks she is currently his campaign manager.  She is organizing his fundraisers and getting paid thousands to print his campaign materials.  Meanwhile, she was presenting herself to newbie challenger Tom Podgorski as the non-biased, Political Coordinator of the local SEIU, hoping he would never catch on….well, at least until it was too late.

Rumor has it Mr. Podgorski was given the run-around in the days leading up to this Town Hall meeting.  Dates were changed, questionnaires required at the last second, etc., etc., eventually leading him to cancel his participation in the event all-together and forgo the SEIU’s endorsement.  Too bad, because we bet the SEIU’s membership would’ve liked his message…but that’s exactly what the other side didn’t want.  So, Podgorski was given a Hobson’s choice: waste his time participating in a rigged scheme, or drop out.  To his credit, he chose the latter.

We hope Mr. Podgorski is familiar with Aesop’s Fables.  This lesson is entitled The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.

   

DID THE SEIU GET USED?  OR WAS IT “IN” ON THE GAME FROM THE ONSET?

As you can also see from the above image, Mike Gardner is supported by Ward 7 Candidate, John Burnard, and vice versa.  It’s just how the game works: you scratch my back with donations and endorsements, I’ll scratch yours with votes and appointments (Ms. Whatley serves as Gardner’s choice for the Parks & Recreation Commission).  It’s the dirty pool that’s been played in Riverside for quite a long time now…we’re just shining a light on it in all it’s despicable glory.  If you want change, vote for Tom Podgorski in Ward 1 and Alysia Webb in Ward 7.  Unless you’ve been dealt “in” on the fixed game, we don’t see how you can afford not to.

It almost goes without saying whom the SEIU eventually ended up endorsing, but we figured we’d show you anyway, on the slick mailer Ms. Whatley most likely put together for him:

RIVERSIDE’S MOST WANTED, GARDNER ENDORSERS, OR BOTH?

TMC, RATED RIVERSIDE’S MOST, “DISAPPOINTING,” “BELOW THE BELT,” “A NEW LOW,” “SHOCKING,” “OFFENSIVE,” “INAPPROPRIATE,” “HURTFUL,” “MEAN SPIRITED,” “DISTASTEFUL,” “EMBARRASSING,” HORIFFIC,” “SLANDEROUS” AND MEZZSPELLED, “MISSPELLED” AND “OPINIONATED” BLOG SITE!  TEMPORARILY BLOCKED BY THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE AT PUBLIC ACCESS SITES WITHIN THE CITY, THEN UNBLOCKED.  I GUESS YOU CANNOT DO THAT ACCORDING TO THE ACLU.  RATED ONE TWO ONE STAR OUT OF FIVE IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY APPROVAL RATINGS..  TMC IS NOW EXCLUSIVLY EXCLUSIVELY ON FILE WITH THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE’S DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE (WE BELIEVE THIS WILL END SOON, SINCE THE FOCUS IS NOW ON THE IMPROPRIETIES OF MR. “Z”.  WE TRIED TO TELL YOU, BUT NOBODY LISTENED), AND DON’T FORGET WE ARE PROSSIBLY POSSIBLY ON FILE WITH THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE’S POTENTIAL SLAPP SUIT LIST… A STRATEGIC LEGAL MANEUVER THAT CAN BE DONE ONLY IN RIVERSIDE WITHOUT A CONTRACT… AGAIN, THANK YOU COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE EMPLOYEE’S FOR YOUR SUPPORT!   COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOMED, ESPECIALLY SPELL CHECKERS!  WE JUST CAN’T SPELL!  EMAIL ANONYMOUSLY WITH YOUR DIRT BY CONTACTING US AT:  THIRTYMILESCORRUPTION@HOTMAIL.COM