american medical response | TMC: Thirty Miles of Corruption

Posts Tagged ‘american medical response’

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE HIRES UNDERWORLD LAW FIRM? WILL THEY PERFORM MAGIC?? AGAIN???

Posted: December 28, 2013 in Uncategorized
Tags: american medical response, belinda graham, bruce barton, chief russ leach, Cihigoyenetche, city manager brad hudson, city of riverside, commission on accredition of ambulance services, councilman steve adams, county of riverside, dairy queen, doj, fire chief steve earley, general patton, george c. scott, greg priamos, Grossberg & Clouse!, measure a, peter hubbard, police asset forfeiture, press enterprise, raychele sterling, sacramento california, sarah mcentee, supervisor john tavaglione, tom hunt, tom mcentee

ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, BELINDA GRAHAM TAKING CONTROL.. yes it appears she searching Las Vegas on her City screen..

According to a Press Enterprise story on December 24, 2013, Assistant City Manager Belinda Graham again signed on the Rancho Cucamonga law firm Cihigoyenetche, Grossberg & Clouse to again investigate another alleged wrongdoing case for the City of Riverside. This time they were again hired to investigate themselves, this time RPD’s asset forfeiture expenditures.

According to Vivian Moreno, her account and comment on this situation are as follows:

Does the misuse of assett forfeiture funds turn cops into robbers? Equitable Shared Funds (Asset Forfeiture Funds) shall be used by law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes. Here are some of the “ALMOST NOTHING” things that were spent. Baker to Vegas Run-tennis shoes,gear & hotel stay. Police Chief Leach paid $35K to his wife Connie. Birthday cake and candles. Police Chief Leach & Gonzales spent almost $500 a night each at the Ritz Carlton, Vicino goes golfing. Police Chief Leach took Grover Trask to lunch with these funds, then the City of Riverside hired Grover to defend Leach. I bet Grover didn’t know leach was using Asset Forfeiture Funds to pay for his lunch. Or the $15,000 on Fitness Equipment, $2,084.40 on Small Kitchen Appliances or the $35,000 to former Police Chief Russ Leach’s wife Connie Leach’s Multi Cultural Youth Festival? Assistant Finance Director for the City of Riverside tried to explain it to Dvonne Pitruzzello, but again the DOJ has precise criteria for the use of asset forfeiture funds. One thing is certain, you cannot transfer Federal Police Asset Forfeiture monies to the General Fund.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

According to a recent Press-Enterprise review of asset forfeiture spending, they turned up almost nothing that appeared to be questionable. Are you kidding? Do you even know what Equitable Sharing is? Here is a link of equitable sharing guideline by the DOJ. Read this first, then do you review. My second question is how much time did you spend on your review to find almost nothing?

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW COMPLETE EQUITABLE SHARING GUIDELINES

Asset Forfeiture Guide: Seeks to assist state and local law enforcement agencies participating in the program by clarifying the directives they must follow to obtain and use equitably shared funds. The goal is to make the process as clear as possible so that local communities and the nation can thrive from reduced crime and from quality law enforcement. Were suppose to use bad guy’s monies against bad guy’s. Who’s the bad guys in Riverside?

Equitably Shared Funds shall be used by law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes only. What does Tennis Shoes, Lunches, Connie Leach and Golf have to do with Law enforcement? I trust Aquino’s account of the situation than the City’s. She understands the program even better than the Press Enterprise.

If the Press Enterprise turned up “almost nothing,” that means they turned up something. So what was it? What may seem slight to the PE, may be huge to the Attorney General. Communities have lost Asset Forfeiture Funds for almost nothing. Here is a link with 14 ridiculous things police bought with Assett Forfeiture Funds. Which includes law enforcement agencies who have spent $10,000 for gatorade to $25,000 for Disney training. The following is former Chief Russ Leach uniform bill and lunch with former DA Rod Pacheco paid by police asset forfeiture.

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW RECEIPT CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW RECEIPT OF LUNCH WITH ROD

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW TRANSFER TO CONNIE LEACH MULTI CULTURAL FESTIVAL

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW CHARGES FOR FITNESS EQUIPMENT & KITCHEN APPLIANCES

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW 83K IN FURNITURE $495 TO MOVE SUPERVISOR’S FURNITURE

CLICK TO VIEW FORMER CHIEF RUSS LEACH’S RITZ-CARLTON BILL

Then you have to ask the question, “Did the Chief Diaz cancel the current December “Chief’s advisory Board Meeting” because they could no longer use Police Asset Forfeiture funds to pay for the dinner provided to the Board Members?” What fund will they use now and will there be a January meeting with no food? I just have one thing to say to the CHIEF… POT LUCK!

If you remember back in March 2011, TMC did a story regarding forming Deputy City Attorney Raychele Sterling’s allegation of that former City Manager Brad Hudson was allegedley steering contracts to his friends.

Former City Manager Brad Hudson

Sterling learned this from emails sent from employees in the Public Works Department. Ms. Sterling reported these allegations of favoritism to the City Council Members and Superiors, and was then fired by her boss, City Attorney Greg Priamos. City officials then said the allegations of contract steering were baseless, the City Attorney never responded and City Manger Hudson hired the above firm to investigate himself and put to put to rest these allegations against him. We’ve yet to hear a response from her current boss, City Manager Scott Barber on this issue.

~~City Manager Scott Barber~~ Ooops, Sorry, City Manager Scott Barber

The law firm will charge the taxpayer a measley $300.00 plus incidentals. After $150,000.00, the law firm miraculously concluded the allegations were baseless! What a miracle. Belinda Graham was also assistant city manager under Hudson. We as taxpayers must begin to ask the City why it has costed us so much liability, not this one case, but other, especially the ones you don’t hear about. The new investigation is all about Police Asset Forfeiture expenditures. The way these funds are spent are in question. The criteria for spending is set by the Department of Justice. According to the Press Enterprise, the PE themselves did their own investigation and found in a review of asset forfeiture spending by RPD, they concluded they turned up almost nothing that appeared questionable. Really now PE? Running shoes, Las Vegas to Baker Run, Connie Leach salary not questionable? What the PE doesn’t understand is that items which appear as nothing can consequentionally be a basis for losing the whole assett forfeiture program in Riverside.

NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON’T! IS THIS WHAT THE TAXPAYER SHOULD EXPECT FROM THE NEW INVESTIGATION?

Partner Scott Grossberg of the law firm Cihigoyenetche Grossberg Clouse

The story gets stranger, because TMC found out later that one of the partners of the law firm, Scott Grossberg, also a motivational speaker who specializes in magic, and is the author of three critically acclaimed and bestselling books, available on Amazon, “The Vitruvian Square: A Handbook of Divination Discoveries,” “The Masks of Tarot,” and “Bauta: Betraying the Face of Illusion,” in addition to his oracle/divination cards, “The Deck of Shadows.”

This partner specializes in magic, thought-reading, and divination (Tarot, oracle cards, palmistry, astrology, and numerology). How much will this investigation cost the taxpayer this time, I guess my question to the City of Riverside is, does this get paid through the taxpayer or the other side. But it may be as it is in Belinda’s world, Cihigoyenetche Grossberg Clouse may be just the thing to take this investigation that one step beyond.

HERE’S THE ORIGINAL TMC STORY ABOUT THE WHOLE INCIDENT OF ALLEGED CONTRACT STEERING AND FIRING OF FORMER DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY RAYCHELE STERLING.

ROUND THREE APPEAL FOR FORMER AND FIRED CITY EMPLOYEE JASON HUNTER

In a letter, appellant Jason Hunter, former City of Riverside employee, questioned the decision of the Code of Ethics Adjudicating Body made on his behalf. TMC recently wrote about this in this December 2013 article. Jason Hunter was the City of Riverside’s Principal Resource Analyst, in other words his was head of Wholesale Energy Marketing and Trading. Hunter’s recent letter is as follows:

Appeal by Jason E. Hunter of Code of Ethics Adjudicating Body Decision of Code of Ethics and Conduct Complaint against the Human Resources Board

In accordance with the City of Riverside Resolution No. 22461-Code of Ethics and Conduct -the following shall serve as a formal appeal of the Adjudicating Body’s decision regarding the above-referenced ethics complaint, filed September 9,2013, and heard on November 15, 2013, and December13, 2013. It is appellant’s contention that the findings and conclusion of the Adjudicating Body weremade in clear error and abuse of discretion.

As to the first cause, Creating Trust of Local Government:

The Adjudicating Body (“AB”) ignored the fact that the members of the Human Resources Board (“HRB”), serving as a quasi-judicial panel, had a serious obligation to appellant to understand the basic tenets of local, State, and U.S. law regarding due process and disciplinary proceeding procedures. The AB found that the HRB was unprepared for this hearing, and delegated its responsibilities to an all-too-ready-to-take-charge City Attorney, but instead placed this blame on city staff. While appellant agrees there is significant fault on behalf of staff, he believes the HRB also had a fiduciary duty to him to make sure he was afforded a fair hearing by an impartial tribune. It is clear from the videotape of the disciplinary hearing that the appellant believed there were clear violations of his rights taking place, and yet these are never even minutely addressed by the HRB.

The Adjudicating Body did not consider the fact that all post-hearing attempts to cure the defects presented to the HRB after the May 13, 2013, hearing, including his Motion for Reconsideration of June3, 2013; letter to HRB Chairman Powell of May 16, 2013; and additional pleadings at subsequent HRB open hearings were simply ignored. The AB also chose to ignore Section 804 of the City Charter stating that Boards must meet monthly, so that the public has an adequate opportunity to voice its concerns regarding city operations.

As to the second cause, Making Unbiased, Fair, and Honest Decisions:

The Adjudicating Body admits the City Attorney took over the meeting at times. The Adjudicating Body recognizes the HRB was not prepared for the disciplinary hearing. Given these two admissions, how can the HRB have made fair, unbiased decisions?

As to the third cause, Treating Everyone with Respect and in a Just and Fair Manner:

The AB admits the HRB and city were remiss in providing transparent and easily comprehended protocols, rules, and outline in a timely fashion to the appellant. The AB seemed to ignore that the advocating Deputy City Attorney seemed well prepared for his disciplinary hearing in terms of time limits the appellant was ignorant to. Hence, the City Attorney’s office seemed to receive preferential treatment in preparation for the disciplinary hearing.

The AB admits procedural defects most likely happened during the course of the disciplinary hearing, but does believe the HRB had a responsible to at least slow down the proceedings to investigate the appellant’s claims of such. Appellant finds this logic flawed.

As to the fourth cause, Ensuring that all Public Decisions are Well Informed, Independent, and in the Best Interests of the City of Riverside:

The Deputy City Attorney misled the AB at the December hearing by stating the HRB does not have the power to compel testimony nor evidence. This statement is a half-truth, nor was this assertion what appellant stated for the record at his disciplinary hearing. City Charter section 804 grants the HRB the option of requesting such power from the City Council, as would have been appropriate in an adversarial proceeding of substantial concern such as appellant’s demotion and termination under circumstances of alleged retaliation and harassment.

As far as protecting the best interests ofthe City of Riverside, the appellant leaves to the City Council to decide whether allowing a contested disciplinary hearing to spiral into Superior Court and the District Attorney’s office was good judgment.

As to the fifth cause, Ensuring that All Officials are Prepared for the Exercise of Their Duties:

The AB acknowledges the HRB was unprepared for the disciplinary hearing, and delegated decision making to the City Attorney’s office in light of their willful ignorance. However, the AB seems to find city staff at blame. Appellant argues once again that the HRB was cognizant of the significance of this disciplinary hearing and chose to willfully come unprepared to conduct this quasi-judicial session.

Appellant in fact believes the rules, protocols, and outline for his disciplinary hearing were not even written by the HRB, which should have been their responsibility to deliberate publicly. Hence, the HRB allowed themselves to be beholden to a biased City Attorney’s office in how it was to conduct his disciplinary hearing.

Relief Sought:

In light of the misrepresentations and omissions made by the city staff, as well as the Adjudicating Body’s refusal to discuss or vote upon appellant’s timely objections made prior to the November 15, 2013, hearing, and intransigence in accepting additional evidence at the December 13, 2013, some of which was requesting by the Adjudicating Body itself on November 15, 2013, the Adjudicating Body was unable to make an educated decision based upon complete information, including newly discovered evidence.

Appellant now respectfully requests that the City Council reverse the decision of the Adjudicating Body, and find that Human Resources Board members Norman Powell, Arthur Butler, Holly Evans, Jamie Wrage, Sonya Dew, and Patricia Eibs did violate the Code of Ethics and Conduct in failing to:

1. Create Trust of Local Government

2. Make Unbiased, Fair, and Honest Decisions

3. Treat Everyone with Respect and in a Just and Fair Manner

4. Ensure that all Public Decisions are Well Informed, Independent, and in the Best Interests of the City of Riverside

5. Ensure that All Officials are Prepared for the Exercise of their Duties.

Also, the appellant wishes the City Council to deliberate as to whether ignoring the complainants pre-hearing objections and motions, as well as requested evidence and new evidence, was an exercise in sound judgment on behalf of the Adjudicating Body. Additionally, the Appellant calls for the City Council to set for public review the protocols, rules, and outline established by the City Attorney’s Office for conducting Code of Ethics and Conduct hearings as per the spirit of Resolution No. 22461.

Sincerely,

Jason Hunter

THE COMPLETE LETTER WITH THE ALLEGATIONS OF DERILECTION OF DUTIES BY THE HUMAN RESOURCES BOARD IS AS FOLLOWS BY CLICKING THIS LINK.

SHOULD THIS BE THE NEW RULE ON THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE’S EMPLOYEE BULLETIN BOARD?

“WHISTLE BLOWER’S WILL BE FIRED” .. “DO NOT REPORT FRAUD, MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS or any ILLEGAL ACTIVITY by MANAGEMENT OF THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE, or YOU WILL BE FIRED!”

Your next City of Riverside employee position posting should read:

WANTED: ANYONE WILLING TO LIE, CHEAT AND STEAL FROM THE CITIZENS OF RIVERSIDE. ALL OTHERS NEED NOT APPLY…

The high cost of liability litigation is costing the taxpayer a mint, his transparency is no transparency when it comes to the taxpayer as in this TMC article, especially when it comes to contracts. Let’s find a way to curtail this.. Fire the City Attorney…

City Attorney Gregory Priamos

FIRE CHIEF STEVE EARLEY RETIRING? OR JUST REINVENTING HIMSELF IN ORDER TO DOUBLE DIP?

According to a Press Enterprise article, Fire Chief Steve Earley is retiring. But we noticed he accepted a new position as the City of Riverside’s Fire Administer. So is Chief Earley really reinventing himself and double dipping into the coffers of the taxpayer again. Governor Brown has passed a “Double Dipping Bill,” making it illegal. Is this what is happening? Is Earley retiring Early to cash in on a good thing, simply because the system is set up to benefit government employees instead for the best interest of the taxpayer. Now he will mentor three Fire Chief to act as acting chief in a musical chair format. Are they kidding? No they are not! How much is this going to cost the taxpayer, to carry on Earley as a temporary employee and to sustain 3 Fire Chiefs? No one knows, not even Assistant City Manager Belinda Graham when posed the question by the Press Enterprise. But what is really the PE describes Earley’s new position as fire administrator, they state he will advise the city on fire department issues. What? Isn’t that the job of a Fire Chief? So, why do we need a Fire Administer? Is that another word for a paid lobbyist for the city? Well regardless, we definitely don’t need three Fire Chiefs, there should have been one person already qualified to make the move up. But again, this is Riverside… Politically, Earley made local history at the Goeske Center when he had to admit that Measure A, in a TMC store we reported that Chief Earley admitted it was not a City Charter amendment as the City contended, but a “General Tax.”

Is this new position for Earley been designed in colusion with the City Attorney to insure that American Medical Response (AMR) continues it’s monopoly in the City of Riverside? Earley also proposed that ambulance services should hold accreditation by a private industry association known as the Commission on Accredition of Ambulance Services (CAAS), this despite state and county mandated regulatory standards. The Press Enterprise called it “arrogant.” Many in Riverside are calling it a “scam.” Does Fire Chief Earley have the best interest of the taxpayers at heart? We think not. Further, the Commission was found to have other past ex AMR employees on board. Sarah McEntee, the executive director of CAAS and presenter of the proposal to the Council, is married to current AMR executive Tom McEntee. Conflict of interest?

Sarah McEntee, Executive Director of CAAS

The whole scheme or artiface behind this commission appears to ensure the monopolization of the market place by AMR, and those ambulance services who can pay CAAS’s high fees for accredition. This would leave out smaller ambulance services by design. Thanks, but no thanks Chief Earley, the PE may call this “arrogant”, we call it plain “despicable.”

But it doesn’t end there folks we did several stories on this regarding the close ties between AMR executives and the City Council and Mayor. Back in October 2011, 6-1, City Council votes to deny Mission Ambulance a franchise, except for Councilman Paul Davis. That means American Medical Response, or AMR, will remain the sole medical transportation provider in Riverside. Councilman William “Rusty” Bailey suggested that a council subcommittee review the ambulance policy, but it’s not yet clear if that will happen. It will never happen, because actions speak louder than words.. Mayor Bailey who was Councilman at the time voted on this denial, and we can see why. At the time Councilman Rusty Bailey was seen with having ice cream at a local Dairy Queen with non other than Peter Hubbard of American Medical Response (AMR).

On a side note and on good authority, we found out that now Mayor William “ Rusty” Bailey bought the cone of ice cream for Peter Hubbard. Could this be a bribe? You decide.. the point folks in this bit of levity but on good authority, is that we intend to expose the relationships of old family connections which have created a culture of corruption in the City of Riverside. We are just sorry our source could not attain the ice cream flavor…

~~City of Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey~~ Sorry, Mayor William Rusty Bailey

Back in 2009, Conflict of interest charges were filed agailst AMR’s Peter Hubbard, who was also Chairman of the Riverside Police Review Commission.

Peter Hubbard, AMR

Back in August of 2012, TMC stated that Fire Chief Earley is also a friend of AMR’s Peter Hubbard. There has been some talk around town that Peter Hubbard (AMR) hosted Tim Stack (President of the Riverside City Firefighter Union) and Wendy Stack’s wedding reception at Peter Hubbard’s home. We shouldn’t be surprised, after all, this is River City and screwing is king… Back in October 11, 2011, sources tell us Councilman Steve Adams, with intentions to run for Congress, was seen with AMR’s Peter Hubbard having drinks at a local water hole known as the Salted Pig.

What else can we tell you of the incestuous relationship with the City of Riverside and even Riverside County. Well, TMC has found that back in February 13, 2012 the State Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) states that City of Riverside and County of Riverside overstepped it’s authority in limiting ambulance services. TMC therefore ask the question if the $1.4 Million that AMR provides the City of Riverside each year for paramedic training and equipment contribute to how the City votes on issues that impact AMR? TMC thinks so, we also think it can be construed as a “bribe.” Oopps, I said it, and I’ll say it again, a “bribe.” Others have mentioned that the $1.4 million allows AMR to buy two more minutes from an agreed response time. This allows AMR to be late by 2 minutes, therefore how does this help the injured? We say it is just like having a bad burrito, it just doesn’t sit well in the stomach’s of the Riverside community residents. This of course shouldn’t be the case.

Here’s another exposé of a gem, Bruce Barton, Director of the Riverside County Emergency Medical Services Agency, according to the following document, was previously in the employment of American Medical Response (AMR) back in 2004. Any surprise to anyone? Could this contribute to a conflict of interest?

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Bruce Barton, Director of Riverside County’s Emergency Medical Agency

Bruce Barton, director of the county’s Emergency Medical Services Agency, and Tom McEntee, AMR’s general manager, said Thursday there was no intent to mislead anyone at the Oct. 17 workshop. Information about the rate increase was widely available online, Barton said. Let’s not forget the accreditation company CAAS, Sarah McEntee, the executive director of CAAS is the wife of AMR’s general manager, Tom McEntee. Incestuous?

According to public speaker Rebecca Ludwig, could “Golden Boy”, Riverside County Supervisor, John Taviglione have a part with AMR?

So what is next for General Earley, oopps, retired at work again Fire Chief Steve Earley? You decide… You are always right, citizens of Riverside, make your opinions be known at City Council and not be afraid of retribution by the City as some residents have indicated. One we are none, more than one we are many….

Will the real Steve Earley please come forward..

As one local Riverside critics stated, “Would that mean its OK to embezzle as long as you don’t go over the budget?”

Of course, you know, there is more to come… stayed tuned for another episode of “As Riverside Turns Your Stomach”.

UPDATE: 01.07.2014: CITY OF RIVERSIDE BACKS OFF WITH THE HIRING OF THE FIRE CHIEF DUE TO PUBLIC PRESSURE ACCORDING TO THE PE.

With this, questions still linger regarding the process that went down. Why is the Fire Union making decisions regarding the taxpayer? Why is it that the City, through City Manager Scott Barber, must look elsewhere, outside the City for a new Chief? Don’t we have capable people who can move up the rank, such as Deputy Chief Mike Esparza. Incidently, Mike Esparza was chose to be the interim Fire Chief until a new one is found. I just say we keep the new Fire Chief Mike Esparza.

Esparza will take charge until March 2014; the next in roatation are Division Chief Bill Schellhous from April through June; and Division Chief LaWayne Hearn from July through September. Again if we are touted as having the best of the best due to are training, why must we look outside for another candidate? Time and time again we see the same scenario, we’ve seen it with Police Chief Sergio Diaz, another double dipper. But remember this was also the legacy of the prior City Manager who skipped town when he seen the writing on the wall.. Brad Hudson. Hudson was responsible for the hiring of Police Chief Sergio Diaz as well as Fire Chief Steve Earley, from the County of Riverside whereby Hudson previously worked, not to mention our current City Manager Scott Barber, former Public Works Director Siobhan Foster, who was said by insiders didn’t know what a “pot hole” was, and current Human Resource Director, Rhonda Strout, known in some circles and “Luxury Girl”, who had her own set of problems with the cost of liability to the tax payer with current employees.

According to this PE posting, Chief Earley in his new position of Fire Administrator, would have offer his expertise on the city’s ambulance policy and the county emergency medical services system. Again we need to ask the questiion of what is the Fire Unions role in the decision making process in the City of Riverside. Secondly, are there ulterior motives involved between the City and the Unions to insure the continuation of the infamous ambulance monoply known as American Medical Response.

UPDATE: SCORES OF RETIRED, AND EX-FIREFIGHTERS AND EX-POLICE OFFICERS INVOLVED IN DISABILITY SCAM. According to the L.A. Times many of them were coached before going to physician’s to be evaluated by their attorneys and supported by their unions. This is the kind of behavior that concerns people in Riverside. Many of them were found going fishing, riding motorcycles, running, going on cruise and working other jobs. The let down was the taxpayer, who placed these individuals on a heroes pedestal. These indivduals didn’t care, only for their own self interest at the expense of the hardworking taxpayer. More arrest eminent, the fraud has been predicted to extend beyond $400 million.

Boys just want to have fun, even on a disability retirement..

In Riverside we had the case of retired and ex RPD officer Chris Lanzillo, who was given a medical retirement/pension and went on to start his own investigation firm in Orange County. Another medical/disability retirement fraud case? Lanzillo was a former Union President for RPD and somehow connected to doing work for the law firm of Lackie, Dammeier & McGill, which their offices were raided by order of the Orange County D.A. office. Since then two Costa Mesa Councilman sue the law firm and it eventually closed.

Let me see if I’ve got this straight…A Riverside detective named Chris Lanzillo gets fired…then is called back so that he can be retired early on a medical disability…which qualifies him to recieve his pay in large part tax free for the rest of his life. BUT…he’s not so disabled that he can’t work as a private investigator for a law firm that represents cops and cop unions…and shall we say…suuplement his retirement pay……Is that absurd or what! He’s a bad cop who’s now a crook…and we got to pay his freight for the rest of his life! – John Bosch, Commenter on the Orange County Register

UPDATE: DWP UNION CHIEF, BRIAN D’ARCY, OF THE INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS REFUSES TO TURN OVER FINANCIAL RECORDS OF HOW PUBLIC MONIES HAVE BEEN SPENT TO AUDITORS.

Brian D’Arcy, Union Chief IBEW

Ron Nichols confided at a private meeting with the DWP Board of Commissioners that IBEW Union Boss Brian D’Arcy had made the threat, and Nichols said he was worried the City of L.A. would not defend him in a lawsuit, according to two officials who attended the meeting. Is this another example of how the Goodfellas continue to infiltrate public sector monies by strong arming and threatening public officials for their own self greedy gratifications? It is apparently appearing to be so. Alleged corruption of this magnitude should not be tolerated by the public at large.

Ron Nichols, former DWP General Manager

“D’Arcy told him that if he were to ever share any information, D’Arcy would sue him personally as a breach of fiduciary duty,” DWP Commission president Mel Levine told KFI NEWS Friday. What also appears eminent, besides unions being in control of many public service aspects, many of them have infiltrated are political system with façade of representing the taxpayer. Remember folks, we are dealing with rate payers money. Money which is in the realm of Public Utilities, owned by the taxpayer. Some commenters were stating that that the unions were no better that the mob. I do believe that not only the taxpayer are hurt by union action and behavior, but the union workers, which the union’s use for their benefit. Read more: http://www.kfiam640.com/articles/local-news-465708/outgoing-dwp-boss-threatened-over-secret-11964091/#ixzz2qAgvmZrm

UPDATE: FULLERTON POLICE NOT GUILTY IN MURDER OF KELLY THOMAS Sobs fill courtroom.. Many are asking the question, why aren’t police cleaning house of the bad apples? If not, is the beginning of a police state mentality? Where by the judge and the jury accepted the actions of the police. Will it be acceptable that the police act as the judge, jury and executioner, and the court system only a formality? Should we as residents and citizens be concerned and afraid?

UPDATE: TORRANCE POLICE DENY ANY WRONGDOING IN ATTEMPTED KILLING OF CIVILIAN DAVID PURDUE.

UPDATE: RETIRED POLICE CAPTAIN KILLS TEXTING FATHER AFTER BEING ANNOYED BY TEXTING DURING PREVIEWS.

TMC, RATED RIVERSIDE’S MOST “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 ACLU. NOW TAGGED LOCAL BLOGGERS OR LOCAL MEDIA? RATED ~~ONE~~ ~~TWO~~ ONE STAR OUT OF FIVE IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY APPROVAL RATINGS.. TMC IS NOW EXCLUSIVELY ON FILE WITH THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE’S DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, AND ~~PROSSIBLY~~ POSSIBLY ON FILE WITH THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE’S POTENTIAL SLAPP SUIT LIST… WE WILL HAVE TO ASK GREGORY ABOUT THAT ONE ( OUR PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO CONTACT HIS PEOPLE)… AGAIN, THANK-YOU COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE EMPLOYEE’S FOR YOUR SUPPORT! COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOMED, ESPECIALLY SPELL CHECKERS! EMAIL ANONYMOUSLY WITH YOUR DIRT OR FOR CONTACT! THIRTYMILESCORRUPTION@HOTMAIL.COM

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY: ‘WE DON’T NEED NO STINK’N CONTRACTS!’

Posted: May 21, 2012 in Uncategorized
Tags: american medical response, best, best & krieger, Brad Hudson, bret mason, brian walter, cactus thorns, charity schiller, cheetos, chief sergio diaz, city attorney greg priamos, city of riverside, connie leach, councilman steve adams, craig justice, deputy city attorney kristi smith, Dvonne Pitruzzello, edward lee, emilio ramirez, fire chief steve early, grover trask, jack clark, jerry brown, ken calvert, market broiler, michelle quellette, paul sundeen, paul zellerbach, peter hubbard, pot dispenseries, provider foods, raychele sterling, rodney couch, russ leach, siobhan foster, sonia carvalho, tim strack, tina english, tom boyd, underwear, warren huang

It has been apparent to the community of the close working relationship between the law firm Best, Best & Krieger and the City of Riverside. What’s quite evident in fact is that the working relationship between the two entities involves oral contracts.

According to City Attorney Gregory Priamos no hard contracts exist not even a retainer agreement, when a public request act is initiated. When it comes to a public accounting of the expenditures of the City Attorney, as requested by Mayoral Candidate Dvonne Pitruzzello, a rejection letter below, for the request was sent. According to the letter Gregory sent, there is no such accounting that has been prepared, and according to law, the law does not impose any duty to create such a record. Therefore, non is required. Since when has the taxpayer not be allowed to know what their money is being spent on? This should be disturbing to many people, because it states that they treading waters they should not be treading. And according to the law, the City Attorney’s office is not required to disclose the spending of taxpayer monies. You have to know there is something very wrong with this picture. Common sense would tell you there is something to hide behind the dark glasses of City Attorney Gregory Priamos. But there was nothing to hide after allowing $159 million in illegal RDA loans to be approved by City Council, then rejected by the Finance Office for the State of California. What would then be the result of his performance evaluation, which was being discussed in closed sessions Tuesday April 4, 2012, at City Council? I’m sure, just as it went well for our former City Manager, this will go well..

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW DENIAL LETTER

Above is a letter sent to Mayoral Candidate Dvonne Pitruzzello regarding her request for an accounting of the City Attorney’s from Gregory Priamos. The law does state that if no documents are responsive to ones request, they, the city has to help you identify the request.

On 05/15/2012 at City Council, Mayoral Candidate Dvonne Pitruzzello stated to City Attorney Gregory Priamos, ‘how many denials of public records act does it take to get disbarred”? What’s a real contradiction is that the City of Riverside has ‘retainer agreements’ for services with every other law firm they do business with. Though an excess in millions of dollars have been paid out to BB&K, there has been no pertinent or rational explanation to the taxpayer. We were even denied BB&K’s billing hours under the public records act. As taxpayers, should we believe that we should expect anything less than a written contract? I would say not. When individuals ask for a rational explanation regarding no contracts, the city’s implication to the community is that “we don’t need no stink’n contracts”? Is this an act of arrogance or defiance by a public servant toward their employer, the taxpayer? If anyone has dealt with lawyers there is always a contract, but it appears that the City is the only entity that is allowed to perform this “verbally”, or as we understand it, not even with a “memorandum of understanding.” One of the biggest law firms in the nation, Best, Best & Krieger is hands down an exception with the City of Riverside? What is it between the two? As community residents, are we also to accept the fact that Best, Best & Krieger is allowed to dictate carte blanche their legal fees to the taxpayer via their own credit card? It seems so, according to the following documents, but what else is the public to otherwise believe?

CLICK LINK TO VIEW FULL DOCUMENT

And we’re not talking nickels and dimes, but six figures and more. So the question is, who’s in charge and watching taxpayer’s coffers? It appears the city council is not, not even the mayor, it definitely appears that the city attorney’s office isn’t according to the excessive litigation cost. So who’s minding the store? Inquiring taxpayers would like to know. But just maybe, the store has an open door policy, right to the cash register. Why? Quite possibly in their incestuous relationship that has grown over the years.

Such as the cozy arrangement between certain ex city of riverside employees or just BB&K employees who are strategically now on city committees. Conflict of interest? The cast of BB&K characters interlaced with City of Riverside are numerous. Former Grover Trask (former Riverside County District Attorney), Michelle Quellette (City of Riverside’s Charter Review Committee), Jack Clark (Committee to name City Hall after Mayor Ron Loveridge) or Charity Schiller (Vice Chair of Riverside Downtown Partnership). BB&K has also been in the media with the City of Bell, whereby the city is now suing BB&K attorney Edward Lee for faulty legal advice. Even Governor Jerry Brown subpoenaed BB&K records regarding pay packages in Bell, California. In any case, we don’t know how this one fell through the roof, but we did manage to receive one arrangement between BB&K and the City of Riverside to represent Former Chief of Police Russ Leach. What a surprise, it’s signed by City Attorney Greg Priamos and Grover Trask, former Riverside County District Attorney now in the employment of BB&K. Oh lets’ just call it a “contract”, or correctly a “retainer agreement”. Tomato, tomahto, oh let’s just call the whole thing off… Wish we could, but it gets better.

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW WHOLE DOCUMENT

Then there is developer Mark Rubin’s connected liaison with the City of Riverside and the City’s alter ego, the Redevelopment Agency. There is no doubt the brazen display of a conflict of interest displayed and perpetrated by the City of Riverside in approving the Citrus Tower’s lease deal between Best, Best & Krieger, Developer Mark Rubin and the City of Riverside. “Three peas in a pod?” Is it at all possible that the BB&K deal was orchestrated and designed to provide a lease revenue stream for the bonds held on the Citrus Tower project? Was BB&K involved in bond advice for the city? Councilman Paul Davis first told colleagues he’d heard concerns about “the general perception of the gift of public funds and creating a monopoly” to benefit a private developer, but he ended by saying it was a moot point because the city already has signed a lease. How long will the City of Riverside continue to terrorize the taxpayer with shear incompetence and their breach of fiduciary duty to protect the coffers of hard earned taxpayer monies by the City Attorney’s Office? Good questions for City Attorney Greg Priamos, who coicidently has attended two of my alma maters, Loyola Marymount University and the University of Southern California. A sad day for both university’s Gregory. The question in the community are the ruthless expenditures within the City Attorney’s Office. How much taxpayer money has been litigated out, or settled out as if it was your own, without any rational cognitive reasoning? Or was it just for sport? Or is the threat of litigation just a city tool used against the opposition for what is known in the business as “client control”? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. TMC believes the later is mostly true at our expense. Therefore why would the city litigate to the tune of 9 million, then lose, and then have to award out 250K in one documented case? Of course, that wouldn’t happened because after all as taxpayers we should all believe what the city does is rational and in our best interest. Well the truth of the fact is, that it did, and nothing was in our best interest. Though he serves at the pleasure of the council, should the City Attorney answer rightfully to the employer, which would be “we the people”? This I say because the council and mayor has failed to supervise the activities of the city attorney. The failure is such that we must ask the question of what makes one believe the city attorney needs to incorporate police lights with all the bells and whistles in their pimped out city vehicle? Where did one lose the sight of whose money it really is? TMC can’t answer that, but I’m sure there is a rational answer from our city attorney, as in the case with the ‘no contracts allowed with our best customer.’ It may not be right but it is an answer. Ultimately, the council and mayor is responsible for the activities, failures and actions of the city attorney. In an article in Cactus Thorns, the 29 Palms City Council questions the spending to their City Attorney, and when they looked at public records, that was even a total shock. In this continuing painful saga, one can hire BB&K to run a city attorney’s office. Carte Blanche in Riverside. For a price, instant city attorney, as in this article in The Orange County Register? In the City of Yorba Linda, for example, BB&K attorney Sonia Carvalho represented the city in the capacity of the City Attorney for over a decade. Conflict of interest?

What is the responsibility of the city attorney? What is the responsibility of the Federal Government? Gregory Priamos is now after marijuana dispenseries as Hoover was after so called Communist. But now that Gregory is going after business owners such as the Johnson’s for leasing their property to a marijuana dispensery. How allegedly connected is Gregory to pot smoking friends? The contradiction is even Gregory allegedly has pot smoking friends, so why is he doing this? Why does City Attorney Gregory Priamos think, as Vivian Moreno Self Appointed Citizen Auditor states, ” go and want to beat everybody up” in our fare city?

Gregory, even our forefathers smoked pot….. Gregory do you have pot smoking friends? Do you need time to think about this one?

CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Well the contradiction is our first President was known to smoke hemp as it was called from time to time… or do we have to help remind you? So why is Gregory not after the most addictive drug of all time? Tobacco? or even Alcohol?

Questions have also arised in the controversial ambulance monopoly in the City of Riverside between AMR’s Peter Hubbard and City Officials. The community is asking what are the alleged ties between City Attorney Greg Priamos and Peter Hubbard? What are the alleged ties between Councilman Steve Adams and Mr. Hubbard? What are the alleged ties between Fire Chief Steve Early and Mr. Hubbard?

What are the alleged ties between President of the City of Riverside’s Firefighter Union Tim Strack and Mr. Hubbard? Why is AMR now a primary advertising entity at Regal Cinemas at the Riverside Plaza? Does the following have any weight in the decision making process of the Council and Mayor’s influence in allegedly favoring AMR (American Medical Response)? Bruce Barton, Director of the Riverside County Emergency Medical Services Agency, according to the corresponding document, appears was previously in the employment of AMR in 2004.

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW DOCUMENT

Could this contribute to a conflict of interest outcome? Will we find it is too close for comfort in the back of an AMR ambulance? For a price maybe. But AMR and the City of Riverside is not an isolated incident. Alameda County has been a battleground for AMR’s ambulance wars.

UPDATE: FORMER DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY RAYCHELE STERLING SERVES CITY OF RIVERSIDE COMPLAINT SUIT!

Last week former Deputy City Attorney, Raychele Sterling served the following complaint to the City of Riverside. The suit incidently, names City Attorney Gregory Priamos, Former City Manager Brad Hudson, Supervising Deputy City Attorney Kristi Smith and of course, the City of Riverside. This complaint was filed in United States District Court-Central District of California-Western District. Besides the demand for jury trial, the complaint is for damages relating to violation of individual Civil Rights and Federal Law. Already, the attorney defending the City, Brian Walter of Los Angeles based Liebert, Cassidy and Whitmore, is using Priamos’s famous words, “We believe there is absolutely no merit at all to any of her (Sterling) claims”. In addition, wrongful retaliation in exercising free expression under the auspices of the whistleblower act.

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW THE FULL COMPLAINT

EXCERPTS FROM THE COMPLAINT

Priamos threatened plantiff not to have any contact with the City Council…

Priamos stated that Hudson “never wanted to see her (Plaintiff’s) face again”..

Misuse of the 550 Sewer Fund has been a pervasive pattern in the City since Brad Hudson was appointed City Manager. Public Works Director, Siobhan Foster, and Deputy Public Works Director, Tom Boyd, routinely advised Public Works staff to use the 550 Sewer Fund for non-sewer related work.

During lunch SB ( Superintendent of Parks Division) stated to Plaintiff that she had been instructed by the Park and Recreation Director to set aside money from her budget to subsidize the City Hall café, as Provider (Company contracted with Rodney Couch to operate the Raincross Café) , was not making enough money and Hudson wanted to assist Provider.

The bond issuance documents were prepared by Best, Best & Krieger LLP (BBK) in Riverside, California, and had advised potental investors that the issuance of the bonds was to remimburse certain previously incurred improvement cost ($14,377,083.00) and to finance certain capital projects ($186,382,300.00) of the City’s Sewer System.

through its CFO, Paul Sundeen, did submit fraudulent and false documentation to the IRS to secure Treasury Credits it knew it was not eligible for…

LETTER WRITTEN BY STERLING TO THE SECURTIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

The city, through Hudson, hired an outside law firm to investigate the claims, and it found no wrongdoing. Walter, attorney defending the City, pointed to this internal city probe and an apparent investigation by the Riverside County’s District Attorney, Paul Zellerbach’s office, none of which resulted in any censure or charges. But should we be surprised? Considering the close quarters they all live in? We experienced a similar result when citizen concerns were brought to his attention regarding Connie Leach, former wife of former Chief of Police Russ Leach and the City’s use of Asset Forefeiture monies in the amount of $35,000.00 to fund the Multi Cultural Youth Organization or was it really used to fund Connie Leach?

CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW

I believe the internal probe they are referring to was former City Manager Brad Hudson’s hiring of the law firm Chigoyenetche, Grossberg & Clouse to investigate the allegations of himself. This was whereby city employees told Sterling that Public Works bids were being fixed in order to favor one company. Any monies left over from this department were diverted to subsidize Hudson’s friend, Rodney Couch, who ran the City Hall Raincross Café, or is know better in the community for running the Market Broiler Restaurants. Of course after $150,000.00 legal bill to the taxpayer for this investigation, nothing pertinent was found. Maybe if this crack law firm was to actually interview those involved, such as City Engineer Warren Huang, Sewer Treatment Plant Manager Craig Justice an former Deputy City Attorney Raychele Sterling, we may have come up with a different story. But for $150,000.00 it allegedly appears that the conclusion derived was well orchestrated and designed to achieve an intended end result. According to Sterling, Priamos was told about these incidents, and she was fired for doing the right thing and trying to protect the council.

In addition, where did Hudson’s paranoia lead? It led, according to Sterling, to hacking into both Sterling and Priamos’s emails. It led to Hudson ordering the Human Resource department to hire a private detective to tail Ms. Sterling and her children. This at a cost to the taxpayer in excess of $80,000.00. A similar incident of tailing took place with former Public Works Contractor Sean Gill, with a similar cost. But according to Councilman and Mayoral Candidate William “Rusty” Bailey, Hudson was a ‘moral compass’. Further, at public comment Raychelle Sterling talked about Priamos’s secretary decorating his house during a party, a former employee Kathy Gonzalez and alleged insurance fraud and Priamos playing golf with the former police chief while being paid for working. If this is all true, should we as constituents of the City of Riverside allow this to happen? While the council continues to be oblivious to these alleged activities, shouldn’t all involved be accountable if at all true?

The City should have fired Priamos years ago. His marginal legal advice has cost the City so much money during his tenure. I hope Ms. Sterling takes the City to the cleaners. I hate to say that as a Riverside resident, but when the City starts acting like organized crime, they deserve to be punished. I hope that Priamos’ days as City Attorney are numbered. Hudson is gone; Sundeen is on hiatus; it’s time for Priamos to leave. Maybe with a clean state in the leadership positions, and an new mayor, the City can start to make amends to the populace. With Priamos still in place, that can never happen. – Kaptalizm, Commenter on the PE

City Attorney Greg Priamos should be tried under the RICO act. – C’mon…Really?, Commenter on the PE

Again, in the name of transparency, good will and trust … TMC request the positions of the City Attorney, City Manager and the Chief of Police be elected positions, due to their failure to lead and their failure to protect the taxpayer. Elected positions which would answer to the ‘people’ as opposed to a ‘do nothing or should we say do anything they want’ delegated source. Now that the state auditor was in, will certain documents disappear? Will the City again ‘verbally’ employ BB&K for advice or even a possible defense? We know you heard the rings of Bell and even the clangs of Montebello, but are you hearing the Raincross Bells in the City of Riverside? Or is it just dumb bells I’m hearing?

Related Links to Stories in this TMC Blog:

Public Works Foster’s & Boyd’s the Bid Process

Fuzzy Math and the Bid Process in the Sewer, Bubbles Up the Usual Suspects

Fired Employee Alleges City Officials Awarded Millions in Contracts Without Bid

UPDATE: 05/22/2012: Former Deputy City Attorney Raychele Sterling drops another bombshell, another employee lawsuit against the City of Riverside. Human Resources Department named in the suit. Mayoral Candidate Dvonne Pitruzzello, spoke of the denial of public records regarding the City Attorney Gregory Priamos’s expenditures. She state she will resubmit her request, and where is Priamos? Is he making his exit strategy? Mary Shelton told the council that her public records were 3 week tardy. The question to Mr. Barber, who was also not in attendance, was if the city gave it’s request to vacate from their current location. Usually a two year notice is given, and so far no response. Self Appointed Citizen Auditor Vivian Moreno, asked for a refund of $250.00 for documents requested. When these particular documents were requested, the documents that were delivered were not what was requested. They were different, altered and bogus documents.

Currently, no response from Congressman Ken Calvert when asked by Mayoral Candidate Dvonne Pitruzzello to investigate sewer bond fraud in the City of Riverside. Interesting enough, from old research, we were surprised to see why he may not be of help, but helping himself in other self gratifying endeavors..

There are other interest Congressman Calvert has that may not concern the constituents he represents. Getting ‘caught with your pants down’ means, of course, what it is intended to mean.

“I noticed the male subject was placing his penis into his unzipped dress slacks, and was trying to hide it with his untucked dress shirt.”

It also appears according to a campaign he is not sensitive to the issues of the gay community, and quite possibly gay people in general, according to this 1994 campaign mailer against an openly gay opponent Mark Takano, running for the Congressional office.

Further, Congressman Ken Calvert allegedly benefited from earmarked projects he earmarked for Perris, California in 2005 with tax payer money, where he incidently owned seven properties.

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW THE YOUTUBE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

But in all fairness, it appear that the House of Representatives came to the rescue on this one. They concluded that the earmarked project would not provide any other direct or unique benefits to the properties.

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW THE FULL DOCUMENT

They concluded that any increase in the value of the properties resulting from the earmark would be incremental and indirect. I realize the House usually has a way with words, but is this about semantics? or degrees? Really now, how closely tied are all these individual in Washington D.C.? Any guesses? Interesting enough, I am told that many of his constituents are now seeing him much more differently than before..

Right you are, that’s an unexpected thumbs up by the Chief with respect to this unexpected bit of information regarding our local Congressman.

But in another aspect, there still has been no apology from Chief Sergio Diaz to public commenter Karen Wright, whereby she was confrontationally acosted and verbally berated at a March 16th City Council Meeting, on her opinion regarding the naming of Tequesquite Park after fallen officer Ryan Bonamino. It appears that there are more instances of information coming into TMC whereby the Chief’s behavior was not up to professional standards, and many others who need apologizies that we can name, and others who recognize his abhorrent behavior within his own working environment that find it unprofessional. And oops, does he have a hell of problem with bloggers? Yes he does, and he doesn’t hold back, as apparent in many of his community and work related forums. Many who appeared at his breakfast at the Mission Inn were vehemently aware of his focus, which again speaks of his professionalism. One individual present, called the display of behavior “unfortunate”.

Chief Diaz is not one for freedom of speech as the majority sees it, this is suppose to be America. There is no place for a strong repressive government ideals as he may be familiar with from his roots, this in essence can have counterproductive repercussions on our Democracy. In a quote from the PE, Before the evolution in technology, Diaz said, “We didn’t have the benefit of ignorant, inexperienced and hateful and cowardly and anonymous people give us their unsolicited opinions on the internet.” But let’s not forget that’s what blogs and comment sections of many news agencies were intended to be. It’s to get a true, raw and real opinion of how many feel, without the fear of retaliation, no matter how extreme one may percieve an opinion to be. These comments should be put into good use, rather than censor them as some type of Batista/ Castro government would. They are one person’s opinion, just as Diaz has an opinion, and this is all good in the central mix of opinions, whereby people can listen to all opinions and deduct their own. The problem is whereby, censorship becomes acceptable, and one’s opinion becomes the only opinion.

There are many times when, even though there is freedom of the press and freedom of speech, it is hard to get a hearing for certain noble causes. I often think that we, all of us, should think very much more carefully than we do about what we mean by freedom of speech, by freedom of the press, by freedom of assembly. I sometimes am much worried by the tendency that exists among certain groups in our country today to consider that these are rights are only for people who think as they do, that they are not rights for the people who disagree with them. I believe that you must apply to all groups the same rights, to all forms of thought, to all forms of expression, the same liberties. Otherwise, you practically deny the fact that you trust the people to choose for themselves, in a majority, what is wise and what is right. And when you do that, you deny the possibility of having a democracy. –Eleanor Roosevelt

What Chief Diaz needs to remember is that if he strived to make his department more transparent, questions of police tactics wouldn’t arise, or at least there would be a dialogue. This was the very reason he was brought in and hired, to change the public’s perception after many years of allegations of favoritism, double standards and special treatment within the ranks of RPD. In addition, just because community leaders have an opinion, you should’t castigate them, as a leader, he should embrace those concerns and work to bring the community closer together, rather than plant the seeds of divisiveness. And if Chief Diaz feels that local bloggers are the problem, as he appears to be evidently consumed with, we have bigger problems. Because bloggers are not the problem, leadership is, and I believe are community is seeking this in our Chief.

Mary Shelton from Five Before Midnight Blog, has much to say regarding Emperor’s with no clothes in this new blog posting..(click this link).

Or before you hit the above link to get to the really good stuff, and find free speech offensive, you may want to click this link instead..

Diaz told The Press-Enterprise at that time those posters were “sitting at home eating Cheetos in their underwear” and making anonymous comments online.

“Respect for the community, respect for other officers, respect for ourselves is going to be the byword by which I will attempt to lead the city of Riverside over the next few years” – Chief Sergio Diaz

A contradiction in terms?

“I want to live in a society that people can voice unpopular opinions because I know as result of that a society grows and matures,” – Hugh Hefner

Double dipping must be a public sector phenomenon, but again we see a retirement at age 55, something unheard of in the private sector…and again, the gain of secondary benefits at taxpayer’s expense. Possibly for their second life? And another double dipping story as the one regarding former City Manager Brad Hudson below..

UPDATE: 05/24/2012: THE SACRAMENTO BEE STATES THAT BRAD HUDSON IS FLUNKING A KEY TEST- TRANSPARENCY..

According to the Sac Bee, Hudson, Sacramento County Executive plans to release his first budget proposal late. Hudson planned to release his budget as late as June 7, whereby the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the budget June 14 or 15. Even Hudson’s predecessor, Steve Szalay, released his budget last year in mid-May. Well, as Councilman Mike Gardner said when Hudson was City Manager, ” you’ve got to pay for talent”. Well alright, we did, now Sacramento is paying for it now.

People from Riverside could tell you a lot about Brad Hudson. His few admirers (mostly wealthy, and involved in dealings with the city) said he was effective, but most people were distressed by his manipulations, his secretiveness, and his obvious collaboration with a few corrupt developers. I am sure that the Sacramento County Supervisors were aware of this reputation before they

hired him, and in fact that is probably why they hired him. The supervisors’ feet should be held to the fire by voters until they fire him, as this will be the only way any transparency or honesty can come to Sacramento county government. – Kevinakin1950, Commenter on the Sacramento Bee

The question that Sacramento should be asking…Is Hudson competant or even qualified for the position? These were the same questions Riverside constituents were asking, but were turned a blind eye by the Council and the Mayor on this issue. So far according to the Bee, the way he’s runnig the budget only adds to questions about his judgement, skills and qualifications. Sac is on to him, for River City, he just might have bamboozled them…

A Little Sac Humor..

UPDATE: 05/31/2012: RIVERSIDE’S VERY OWN “MORAL COMPASS”, CONTINUES TO MAKE NEWS. SACRAMENTO GET’S IT! HOW BOUT THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE? SACRAMENTO COUNTY SUPERVISORS NOT HAPPY ABOUT HOW COUNTY EXECUTIVE BRAD HUDSON IS HANDLING THE FISCAL YEAR BUDGET PROPOSAL! AND NEW EDITORIAL ON HUDSON FROM SAC BEE: COUNTY EXEC HUDSON COMES TO HIS SENSES ON BUDGET SCHEDULE, SORT OF.. HUDSON EVEN RECEIVED THE ATTENTION OF PRESS ENTERPRISE’S ALICIA ROBINSON WITH HER BLOG POSTING: FORMER CITY MANAGER HUDSON UNDER FIRE AGAIN. ALSO, TAKE A LOOK AT THE UNCENSORED COMMENT SECTION ON THE SAC BEE, COMPARED TO OUR PRESS ENTERPRISE WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH ZIP. POSSIBLY DUE TO THE IRON FIST OF CHIEF SERGIO DIAZ?

UPDATE: Alicia Robinson blogs regarding the Status quo on the menu at Riverside City Hall cafe. The taxpayer has paid in excess of $3 million dollars to construct this cafe, which is open to the public. The question TMC asks as Ms. Robinson ask, is the question is it the role of the public sector to pass that gray line and began to run their own businesses at taxpayer expense, in direct competition with the private sector? TMC brought this to the attention with a posting regarding Rodney Couch, Provider Foods/ Market Broiler, and the thin line that exist between associations, friendships and favoritism: You Provide the Food and the Couch, I’ll Provide the Millions!

UPDATE: 05/25/2012: Standing outside our home, I watched elderly female individual taking a photo of the no parking sign during street sweeping. When I asked if she received a ticket, she said yes. She lives down the block, her husband just had a stroke, and her son left the car out on that Wednesday, and they cannot afford the $42 ticket. What we have been telling council is that there are families who are on tight budgets, and can’t afford a $42 dollar parking ticket. Forty dollars can very well be food on the table. Many who receive tickets around the wood streets are students. The irony is that the City champions education, and would like students to eventually think of Riverside as a city to reside in. Well, not this way… and the city doesn’t have to spend $25,000.00 on an outside consultant to find that answer. I just gave it to you for free. Remember, just because the street sweeper and the parking nazi have left the vicinity, they can still ticket between the hours indicated on the sign. As a result, the residents know this isn’t an issue about cleaning streets, it’s about raising revenue at our expense.. Who makes a profit on your blue can recyclables while you pay a service fee for pick up. A month ago we brought to our readers attention that tickets were even being issued to business vehicles as in the following TMC posting.

In these tough economic times, will the city’s next endeavor be to ticket vehicles during trash pick up? Will they consider billing Riverside residents for weekly garbage pick-up by the pound? Especially now that they are doing a bang up job on creating ~~a profit~~ debt with the Fox Theatre and City Hall’s Raincross Cafe.

UPDATE:05/26/2012: REDDER THAN A FOX’S COAT? HAS THE FOX LOST IT’S PANTS? NEW ARTICLE IN THE PE REGARDING OPERATING COST WERE GREATER THAN EXPECTED LEAVING THE FOX IN THE RED, OR SHOULD I SAY, “THE TAXPAYER”.

Councilman Paul Davis stated that, “the council should look at options such as offering a long-term lease or selling the theater”. Now, selling the Fox Theatre is not a bad thing, it should be up for sale to be runned by private enterprise. This is what Self Appointed Citizen Auditor, Vivian Moreno stated a year ago. The Fox would have financial problems and it’s likelyhood that it would be closed or sold by summer 2012. Why would the city feel that they can run a business when they fall short at running city government. If these same numbers were corresponding to a private business enterprise, the Fox would be in foreclosure or up for sale. That’s the real world, you just can’t continue to subsidize a deficit at taxpayer expense and believe that it is alright. This is just a skewed way of thinking.

City Finance Director Brent Mason said he doesn’t think city officials consider the theater a failure. If anyone can consider any business not to be a failure when it loses close to a million dollars a year it would be someone that is spending other peoples’ money. – Welrdelr, Commenter on the PE.

The Council and the Mayor has given a smoke screen to the problems and lost of revenue in the Fox Center. The topic came up at the Mayoral debate and each Council candidate praised it but one honest candidate Dvonne Pitruzzello spoke out about how much this was costing the taxpayers and we didn’t make money we were losing money each year. Dvonne suggested the City sell the Fox Center to stop losing money. Adkison, Bailey, Gardner and Melendrez felt the city should keep Fox Center and hope for a profit in the future. But Dvonne shocked the candidates and the crowd with the yearly lost can be doing nothing the loss would increase. She suggested we sell it and recoup our loses. Now that the public knows we see the same councilmen changing their view. Dvonne has the facts of most of the debt and future debt we will learn about but the council just hope voters will elect them to stay Mayor Loveridge course and keep the deals secret and the large debt secret. God does things for a reason and we ar learning things that have been kept secret. Dvonne has a plan to clean up the debt and keep the council on track to do the work for the citizens not business friends. We can expect more shockers to come as Dvonne said. We need her to lead up to recovery and the council should be glad she took the time to get the facts to correct the mess. – Airjackie, Commente on the PE.

According to Chief Financial Officer Bret Mason the expected deficit will be $900,000.00 for fiscal year 2012-2013. While some of the council disturbingly feel the deficit is acceptable, no one in their right mind within the private sector would consider this acceptable. Since when is losing money acceptable? Not in the private sector, this must be a public sector phenomenom, because when the money you are dealing with is not your own, you don’t feel the pain.. As I see it, that $900,000.00 loss could have been used for police and fire. The city would rather have a loss then to utilize the wasted funds to pay for a police or fire salary.

UPDATE: 05/28/2012: Reported by 24/7 Wall Street, Riverside number one in home foreclosure’s. In Riverside metro home prices fell by 56.6%, the foreclosure rate is 1 in 213 homes.

Current home values Riverside real estate and homes for sale as indicated by this link.

UPDATE: 05/29/2012: Lucky Greek owner sues the City of Riverside for $750,000.00

Imagine what the old Marcy Library would like now if it was handed over to Lucky Greek? What were the Council thinking? According to the Press Enterprise the suit claims the restaurant suffered first from restricted traffic during construction of the nearby Magnolia Avenue railroad underpass as well as street configurations. Many on the Main Street suffered from the construction, but were told they could not sue for loss of business, the city was protected against this. Other businesses suffered from eminent domain and construction on Market Street. Do these current businesses, some evicted and others who have gone, have someone to speak for them? Or do they have any recourse against the City after the Redevelopment debacle?

UPDATE: 05/29/2012: RIEMER REAMING THE TAXPAYER NEVER HURT SO BAD?…According to the Press Enterprise, “Judge Riemer declared a mistrial after a week of trial testimony so he could take his vacation — costing the taxpayers (by his own estimate) up to $25,000 — on the day of closing arguments.”

WILL THE REAL JUDGE RIEMER PLEASE STAND UP?

WAS THE RIEMER FAMILY TRUCKSTER PACKED AND READY TO GO?

Riemer affirmed he said “something to that effect” regarding his comment to Cook. He agreed that it was regrettable. “It would be better to keep thoughts like that to oneself.”.. According to some, Rogue Judge Riemer making rogue judgments? Not surprised, this is Riverside…

UPDATE: 06/01/2012: STATE FINANCE DEPARTMENT SENDS LETTER OF APPROVAL TO CITY OF RIVERSIDE ALLOWING COVERAGE OF $26 MILLION OF THE ORIGINAL $159 MILLION ORIGINALLY REJECTED. THEREFORE, CURRENTLY, APPROXIMATELY $133 MILLION IS UNACCEPTABLE TO THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND REMAINS A DEBT OF THE CITY, OR SHOULD I SAY THE TAX PAYER.

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW MAY 26TH APPROVAL LETTER IN PDF FORMAT

ACCORDING TO CITY MANAGER SCOTT BARBER’ S BLOG, THIS LETTER RECEIVED FROM THE STATE, GIVES “CONFIRMATION THAT THE ACTIONS OF OUR FORMER REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY DID MEET THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF THE LAW”. BUT ACCORDING TO THE PRESS ENTERPRISE ALICIA ROBINSON’S BLOG, THE AMOUNT OF THE REMAINING DEBT IS ACTUALLY $21 MILLION. WHICH DIFFERS FROM OUR AMOUNT OF $133 MILLION. THEREFORE, IT APPEARS FROM THE CITY’S VIEW TO IMPLY THAT $138 MILLION HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE STATE FINANCE DEPARTMENT AS LEGITIMATE ENFORCEABLE OBLIGATIONS.

ACCORDING TO THE PE, DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR EMILIO RAMIREZ STATED THAT NOT ONLY IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT STILL UNRESOLVED DOWN TO $21 MILLION, BUT “(JUST) BECAUSE THE LETTER DOESN’T INCLUDE EVERYTHING IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT THE OTHER (ITEMS) ARE DENIED”. WE ARE THEREFORE ASSUMING THAT ALTHOUGH THE LETTER LIST $26 MILLION, THAT THE UNLISTED AMOUNTS ADDING UP TO $112 MILLION HAS BEEN BILATERALLY VERBALLY RESOLVED (Of course, no documents currently exist to corroborate Mr. Ramirez’s figure). THEREFORE WE ASSUME THE FOLLOWING: $26 MILLION + $112 MILLION = $138 MILLION (STATE ACCEPTED EO’S). THEN, $159 MILLION – $138 MILLION = $21 MILLION REMAINING DEBT IN QUESTION. SO WAS THE THE $138 MILLION JUST WRITTEN OFF OR REMOVED IN WHAT IS KNOWN AS A STAFF OVERSIGHT? OR WERE THEY, THE CITY, JUST TRYING TO PAD THE ROP’S TO SEE WHAT THEY COULD GET AWAY WITH? OH WHAT THE HELL, I GIVE UP..I ADMIT IT, THEY’VE WORN US DOWN..

UPDATE: 06/02/2012: NOW, FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, JACK OF ALL TRADES, ASSISTANT DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR TINA ENGLISH IS NOW ASSISTANT PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR?

YES, IT’S TRUE.. BUT WILL SHE ASK THE QUESTION, FORMER PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR ALLEGEDLY ASKED? “WHAT’S A POT HOLE”? ACCORDING TO FIVE BEFORE MIDNIGHT BLOG, “MS. ENGLISH BRINGS A WEALTH OF PUBLIC WORKS EXPERIENCE TO THE JOB TO FIT IN WITH THAT PROUD TRADITION”.. AGAIN, WHAT DOES SHE HAVE A DEGREE IN?

UPDATE 06/04/2012: IS RODNEY STILL PROVIDING THE FOOD AND THE COUCH, WHILE THE TAXPAYER PROVIDES THE MILLIONS?

WILL COUNCIL CONSIDER APPROPRIATING RODNEY COUCH, OWNER OF MARKET BROILER RESTAURANTS, WITH $48,000.00 FOR OPERATING COST ($35,000.00) AND ADVERTISING ($13,000.00), FOR THE NOW TAX PAYER SUPPORTED CITY HALL RESTAURANT KNOWN AS THE ‘RAINCROSS CAFE’? ACCORDING TO THE BELOW DOCUMENT, RODNEY IS ALSO CLAIMING LOSSES OF $123,800.00 THAT NEEDS TO BE REIMBURSED TO HIM BEFORE THE CITY CAN MAKE A PROFIT. CLAUSE 4.2.1 STATES THAT ANY PROFIT RECOGIZED UP TO $100,000.00 SHALL BE PAID TO THE CITY. IF PROFITS EXCEED $100,000.00, THEY WILL BE SHARED EQUALLY BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE OPERATOR. BUT IN CASE THERE IS A LOSS, AS THERE IS, THE LOSS SHALL BE CARRIED FORWARD TO OFFSET THE PROFIT IN THE SUBSEQUENT YEARS.

CLICK THIS LINK TO VIEW THE FULL DOCUMENT

WHAT DOES THE TAX PAYER GET? WHAT DOES RODNEY GET?

1. Advertising on the electronic billboard overlooking the 91 freeway. (so the City/ Taxpayer is paying for advertising of the billboard. All other restaurant owners in the City get this)?

2. Rodney is the preferred provider for catering of all City Hall events. (Since when does the taxpayer pay for event food for city hall elite)?

3. The City provides all the furniture, fixtures and equipment.

4. The City provides all janitorial services.

5. The City will pay all utilities.

THIS APPEARS TO HAVE COUNCILMAN AND MAYORAL CANDIDATE MIKE GARDNER’S WRITING ALL OVER THIS…BY GOLLY IT DOES! IF THIS PASSES THEY CERTAINLY HAVE TO PAY FOR IT IN SOME SORT OF FEE, PSEUDO TAX OR SERVICE FEE…

UPDATE: 06/05/2012: OPP’S! WE DID IT AGAIN! PASSED 7-0 ON THE CONSENT CALENDER. EVEN OUR INDEPENDENT VOICE, WHO STANDS FOR PEOPLE VOTED FOR IT..

UPDATE: 06/05/2012: DOES THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR TOM BOYD’S NEW RED CORVETTE?

RECYCLING THE MAYOR? ACCORDING TO PUBLIC COMMENT SPEAKER REBECCA LUDWIG, IF JOHN TAVAGLIONE IS ELECTED TO CONGRESS, WILL HE RECYCLE THE MAYOR (RON LOVERIDGE) TO REPLACE HIS VACANT POSITION?

UPDATE: 06/13/2012: City Manager presents budget, rebuttles community concerns. I just could not help myself but add this tid bit of information regarding a response by City Chief Finance Officer Bret Mason to Blogger Mary Shelton regarding the use of Firestations as colateral for a loan the City took out. Mason said those assets (firestations) make good collateral because lenders assume the city would be more motivated to avoid defaulting on the debt. This financial relationship I’ve never heard of in the current market place. If you take a second on your home, you will as the owner be motivated to avoid default, when you home is used for colateral? Mason went on to say, even if the city defaulted, the lender may only use the facilities until the debt is resolved but may not foreclose and take them from the city. The key to that statement is “may”, and these are the if’s and but’s which envelop citizen concerns. So if one defaulted as a home owner, the bank will only take your home over and never foreclose. They will hold it and give it back to when you catch up and resolve your debt? He goes to finish that his statement by saying basically that scenario would never happen.. “It’s beyond comprehension that the city would allow itself to get in a position where it could not make debt service payments,” Mason said.

UPDATE: 06/16/2012: ~~Pravda~~ Press Enterprise continues it’s art of molding popular public opinion? Does our Chief Sergio Diaz have a starring role? PE leading the way to absolutely no comments?

WHAT’S WRONG PE? CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH ABOUT OBAMA & ILLEGALS STEALING AMERICAN JOBS? WHY YOU SENSORING ALL THE COMMENTS THAT ARE TRUE. WE ARE IN AMERICA ( OR I THOUGHT ) WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH SO LET OUR OPINIONS BE KNOWN!! – obama hater, commenter on the Press Enterprise possibly prior to being censored..

JUST FOR LAUGHS! EVEN THOUGH I KNOW YOU’RE REALLY MAD BY NOW..

TMC, RATED RIVERSIDE’S MOST “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 ACLU. RATED ONE STAR OUT OF FIVE IN TERMS OF COMMUNITY APPROVAL RATINGS.. TMC IS NOW EXCLUSIVELY ON FILE WITH THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE’S DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, AND ~~PROSSIBLY~~ POSSIBLY ON FILE WITH THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE’S POTENTIAL SLAPP SUIT LIST… WE WILL HAVE TO ASK GREGORY ABOUT THAT ONE ( OUR PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO CONTACT HIS PEOPLE)… AGAIN, THANK-YOU COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE AND THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE EMPLOYEE’S FOR YOUR SUPPORT! COMMENTS ALWAYS WELCOMED, ESPECIALLY SPELL CHECKERS! EMAIL ANONYMOUSLY WITH YOUR DIRT OR FOR CONTACT! THIRTYMILESCORRUPTION@HOTMAIL.COM

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: TMC CONTINUES TO REQUEST A FORENSIC AUDIT OF THE CURRENT CITY HALL BOOKS! COOKING THE BOOKS OR BURNING THE BOOKS?

Posted: October 11, 2011 in Uncategorized
Tags: american medical response, chris mac arthur, city of riverside, fire chief steve early, john chiang, mary shelton, mayor ron loveridge, mike gardner, mission ambulance, nancy hart, paul davis, public safety commission, siobhan foster, steve adams

Again is this another display of our culture favoritism and selective treatment within the gates of emerald city? (Item #9). The ambulance debacle, government again interfering with the free market system to the point of allowing a monopoly? City councilman Paul Davis was right to ask the question if it’s the cities policy to allow one ambulance company, American Medical Response, in the city. Does this violate antitrust laws? What’s quite interesting is that the city issues franchise agreement to control who runs non-emergency ambulance services. Any ambulance company is allowed to apply, but the clincher is AMR is the only company to be issued one. The city firefighters union opposes Mission Ambulance’s bid to serve Riverside. Why would a firefighters union get involved in the business of rendering an opinion? Questions are continually raised in regards to union influence in the city, and to the extent of special interest request. But you have your answer as to why no other franchise agreements were ever issued over the last 50 years. But again, the city can save money by placing more services up for bid. (Item #9) Again, is the city and the firefighters union involved in a monopoly? And are the firefighters unions really looking toward the health and safety of the public? In City Council session, The Public Safety Commission will be recommending that the Council deny Mission ambulance from attaining a franchise agreement. Get this, the Public Safety Commision is made up of the City Council, Chris Mac Arthur, Nancy Hart and Andy Melendez. Further, Fire Chief Steve Early will actually be conducting the assessment of Mission ambulance’s application, and rendering an opinion to the Public Safety Commision. Yes, I’m not making this up, it’s incestuous. Can you guess what is going to be their decision? In addition, the City pays AMR for certain training services to the Firefighters etc., in addition, AMR has had their own set of problems. But it appears that according to the references in favor of Mission Ambulance, that the city would turn a blind eye to the health and safety of Riversidian’s in favor of alleged special interest.

UPDATE: COUNCIL VOTES TO DENY MISSION AMBULANCE A FRANCHISE, EXCEPT FOR COUNCILMAN PAUL DAVIS. AMR HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE CAMPAIGN’S OF CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, INCLUDING DAVIS. MISSION AMBULANCE CONTRIBUTED TO DAVIS ONLY. BACK IN 2009, CONFLICT OF INTEREST CHARGES WERE FILED AGAINST AMR’S PETER HUBBARD, WHO WAS ALSO CHAIRMAN OF THE RIVERSIDE POLICE REVIEW COMMISSION. MISSION AMBULANCE WAS CORRECT IN SAYING THAT MISINFORMATION HAS BEEN FED. MISINFORMATION SUCH AS CHIEF STEVE EARLY STATEMENT THAT MISSION AMBULANCE MAY NOT RESPOND, IF THEY WERE CALLED, BECAUSE OF A COST FACTOR. COUNCILMAN STEVE ADAMS ALSO STATED MISSION AMBULANCE REFUSES TO RESPOND TO PEOPLE WHO CANNOT PAY. AMERICAN MEDICAL RESPONSE IS CONTRACTED FOR 911 SERVICES WITH THE CITY, AND YOU ARE ONLY CALLED IF CONTRACTED FOR 911 SERVICES. MISSION AMBULANCE WOULD LIKE TO SERVE THE RETAIL END, AND CONTRACTS INDIVIDUALLY WITH PROVIDERS, AND SHOULD AND COULD HAVE THE OPTION TO CONTRACT FOR 911 SERVICES AT THE STANDARD CONTRACTS RATES IF ALLOWED. MISINFORMATION ON THE DAIS? CHIEF EARLEY RECOMMENDED THE APPLICATION BE DENIED, BUT WAS AT A LOSS OF WORDS TO RATIONALLY EXPLAIN IT. WHEN ASKED BY PAUL DAVIS AS TO THE DETAILS OF THE DENIAL, CITY ATTORNEY GREG PRIAMOS WAS THEIR TO RESCUE AND SPIN, AND REMINDING EVERYONE OF THE ISSUE AT HAND. THIS WAS REMARKABLY DONE MORE THAN ONCE AS TO CEASE COUNCILMAN PAUL DAVIS’S QUESTIONING. IN RELATION TO THIS PROTECTIVE BEHAVIOR, A CLOSE OUTSIDE FRIENDSHIP IS ALLEGED BETWEEN CITY ATTORNEY GREG PRIAMOS AND PETER HUBBARD WHO HAVE BEEN SEEN AT FAMILY GATHERINGS, NOW RAISING QUESTIONS AGAIN OF CONFLICT INTEREST. FURTHER, COUNCILMAN STEVE ADAMS WAS ALLEGED SEEN HAVING DRINKS WITH PETER HUBBARD AT RIVERSIDE’S SALTED PIG RESTAURANT ON 10/11/2011. WOULD THIS HAVE ANY EFFECT ON HIS DECISION MAKING ON THIS ITEM AS A COUNCILMAN? HOW ABOUT THE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COUNCILMAN AND MAYOR PRO-TEMP CHRIS MAC ARTHUR, EVEN THE MAYOR HIMSELF, RON LOVERIDGE? AND LET’S NOT FORGET THE INFAMOUS BAD BOY’S THEMSELVES, BRAD HUDSON AND TOM DESANTIS. WHAT ABOUT THE MILLIONAIRE’S CLUB? WOULD MISSION AMBULANCE HAVE A LEGAL CASE AGAINST THE CITY UNDER THESE GROWING CIRCUMSTANCES? DOES THIS NOW MEAN ONE FOR THE FIRE CHIEF, AND ONE FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE INTEREST OF THE UNION BROTHERHOOD? WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE CITY’S INCESTUOUS RELATIONSHIPS EFFECTING THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF THE THE COMMUNITY OF RIVERSIDE, WITH POSSIBLE GRAND VIOLATIONS OF ANTITRUST LAWS?

Talking about firefighters their still negotiating their salaries and fringe benefits in closed sessions again under (Item #5), with you guessed it , the firefighters union etc. Hopefully they’ll be negotiating low, because the city can’t afford to pay them more. After all, the city will be at a standstill by next year 2012 when bonds come due. Maybe we should do as Norco did, dissolve their City Fire Department and bid out. In their case they went with Cal Fire/ Riverside County Fire Department, or another alternative for saving money is go back to the Volunteer Fire Department. Another idea would be to dissolve RPD, and bring in the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in order to save money. Excessive pensions is placing a large dent in the Cities budget. It’s no secret that 70% to 80% of a cities budget goes to payroll. (Item #5, Closed sessions of course). This is a good reason that the City Charter needs to be modified, and whereby items as this should be in open session to be scrutinized by the public, and these closed door sessions leave an open door to abuse, at taxpayer expense. And that my friends is how the city rolls..

Parking Citations Amnesty. Parking always a problem in Riverside and excessive violation fees at $41.00 a pop is another. Won’t work, people have no money, honest! (Item #16) The idea proposed by Public Works Director Siobhan Foster is that the end result of the amnesty program, the city will bring in $33,925.00 in revenue. The actual total revenue expected from the amnesty program is $125,025.00. But this figure will be offset by the initial expense of the taxpayer have in the amount of $91,000.00 to implement the plan. THE BOTTOM LINE, IT ORDER TO BRING IN 27% BACK IN REVENUE, IT WILL COST THE TAXPAYER BY THE OFFSET COST, 73%. I WOULD ALSO ASSUME THAT THE PERCENTAGE IS HIGHER DUE TO THE COST AND ATTEMPT TO RECOVER PRIOR COST TO THIS PROPOSAL, THEREFORE THE REVENUE BROUGHT IN FROM THE AMNESTY PROGRAM WOULD ACTUALLY BE LESS THAN 27% AS INDICATED. NOW WE KNOW WHY SIOBHAN FOSTER IS MOVING PLACES, AND PASADENA PICKED HER UP LIKE A BAG OF CLEAN SOCKS!

One more week to go on naming city hall! But after the item #9 debacle, we all know how that is going to turn out as well… Bad news for Rin Tin Tin…

UPDATE:10/18/2011: A VERY SENSITIVE AMR CANCELS LEASE AGREEMENT WITH MURRIETA OVER A COUNCILMAN’S STATEMENT. MURRIETA URGES COMPETITIVE BIDDING ON AMBULANCE CONTRACTS. DID THEY ALSO HAVE A PROBLEM TAKING $1.4 MILLION IN “BLOOD MONEY” TO LOWER RESPONSE TIMES AS ALLEGEDLY THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE TOOK?

UPDATE:10/29/2011: WHILE COUNCILMAN STEVE ADAMS BELIEVE OUTSIDE AMBULANCE COMPANIES WOULD NOT PICK THOSE WHO CANNOT PAY WITHIN THE CTY, IT APPEARS THE COUNTY HANDS OUT A STIPEND, AN ENCENTIVE ETC. TO COVER THAT COST.

UPDATE:12/08/2011: ACCORDING TO THE STATE AGENCY THAT OVERSEES COUNTY MEDICAL SERVICE PLANS, RIVERSIDE OFFICIALS DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT TO STOP QUALIFIED AMBULANCE COMPANIES FROM FROM PICKING UP PATIENTS IN THE CITY. THE QUESTION MANY CITY RESIDENTS ARE ASKING, IS THE CITY VIOLATING ANTITRUST LAWS?

UPDATE:02/13/2012: THE STATE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AUTHORITY (EMSA) STATES THAT THE CITY AND COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE OVERSTEPPED IT’S AUTHORITY IN LIMITING AMBULANCE SERVICES. COULD THE $1.4 MILLION AMR PROVIDES RIVERSIDE EACH YEAR FOR PARAMEDIC TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT CONTRIBUTE TO HOW THE CITY VOTES ON ISSUES THAT IMPACT AMR? OTHERS HAVE MENTIONED THAT THE $1.4 MILLION ALLOWS AMR TWO MORE MINUTES TO THEIR MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE RESPONSE TIME. JUST LIKE HAVING A BAD BURRITO, IT JUST DOES’T SIT WELL IN THE STOMACH’S OF COMMUNITY RESIDENTS. BRUCE BARTON, DIRECTOR OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES AGENCY, ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING DOCUMENT PREVIOUSLY WAS IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF AMR AS OF 2004. COULD THIS CONTRIBUTE TO A CONFLICT OF INTEREST OUTCOME?

UPDATE: 05/11/2012: COMMMENTER ON THE PRESS ENTERPRISE REGARDING THE AMBULANCE MONOPOLY IN THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE..

No, what’s going on, you’ve got three mayoral candidates who already know from debates and feedback this is a major campaign issue and they don’t want to have to make any decisions about it before the June election. Gardner must think that most of us just got off the turnip truck yesterday based on his comments. But you know what? People in this city are capable of independent thought without being patronized. This whole ordinance was written back in the late 1980s to protect Goodhew Ambulance which was tied in heavily through the people connected to the city council and mayor at the time. It’s a shame that nothing’s changed since even though the city’s grown both in size through annexations and through its population. The ambulance companies should call the Office of the Inspector General and ask him or her to initiate an investigation of the Federal Anti-Kickback statute. At best, there’s potential for a huge conflict of interest including financially in this case, but looking at the lettering of the statute, it might be more than that. Exceptions or “safe reservoirs” for this law pertain to trying to avoid monopolies in high-need areas not create one. I’m sure if the inspector general has to start an inquiry into what’s going on, the City Council will be in a rush to reschedule its workshop. – Mary Shelton, University of California, Riverside

WHO WILL BE HIDING BEHIND THE COMPUTER NEXT WHEN THE AUDITOR COMES ASKING QUESTIONS? CHECK BACK WEEKLY…THAT IS, EVERY CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY! WE’LL EVEN PROVIDE THE DIRECT LINK SO YOU CAN CHECK THE CURRENT CITY COUNCIL AGENDA. CALL YOUR LOCAL ELECTED COUNCIL PERSON AND THE MAYOR AND REQUEST THAT A FORENSIC AUDIT BE DONE BY STATE CONTROLLER JOHN CHIANG OF THE CITY HALL BOOKS. WITH A NEW INTERIM CITY MANAGER, SCOTT BARBER, THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE NEEDS BASELINE NUMBER AS DONE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN ORDER TO ASSURE BALANCED NUMBERS AND TO CLEAR POSSIBLE DISCREPANCIES OF THE GENERAL LEDGER BOOKS. IF THERE IS NOTHING TO HIDE, THE NUMBERS WILL ALWAYS COME UP RIGHT!

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT, NOW EXCLUSIVELY ON FILE WITH THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, AND THAT’S ALL TMC HAS TO SAY ABOUT THAT ONE FOR NOW… THE CITY OF RIVERSIDE’S MOST “OPINIONATED” BLOG SITE.

	Gail Hays on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: MORE CASH F…
	Mihaela Hristodor on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: MEASURE C W…
	No More Corrupt Repr… on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: MEASURE C W…
	Norma on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: MEASURE C W…
	CITY OF RIVERSIDE: M… on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: OFFICE OF T…
	Javier Moreno on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: FIRE DEPUTY…
	Raychele Sterling on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: FIRE DEPUTY…
	CITY OF RIVERSIDE: F… on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: OFFICE OF T…
	CITY OF RIVERSIDE: W… on CITY OF LAGUNA WOODS: FORMER R…
	CITY OF RIVERSIDE: W… on CITY OF RIVERSIDE: CITY MANAGE…

TMC: Thirty Miles of Corruption

Thanks For Visiting!

TMC Free Subscription

TMC Search

Recent Posts

Archives

Recent Comments

Twitter

Blogroll

TMC CLOUD ROLL

SCAN TMC QR CODE (VIEW MOBILE)

TMC

WHO’S VISITING?

Posts Tagged ‘american medical response’

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE HIRES UNDERWORLD LAW FIRM? WILL THEY PERFORM MAGIC?? AGAIN???

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY: ‘WE DON’T NEED NO STINK’N CONTRACTS!’

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: TMC CONTINUES TO REQUEST A FORENSIC AUDIT OF THE CURRENT CITY HALL BOOKS! COOKING THE BOOKS OR BURNING THE BOOKS?

TMC SITEMETER

VOTER LOOKUP

Thanks For Visiting!

TMC Free Subscription

TMC Search

Recent Posts

Archives

Recent Comments

Twitter

Blogroll

TMC CLOUD ROLL

SCAN TMC QR CODE (VIEW MOBILE)

TMC

WHO’S VISITING?

Posts Tagged ‘american medical response’

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE HIRES UNDERWORLD LAW FIRM? WILL THEY PERFORM MAGIC?? AGAIN???

Rate this:

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY: ‘WE DON’T NEED NO STINK’N CONTRACTS!’

Rate this:

CITY OF RIVERSIDE: TMC CONTINUES TO REQUEST A FORENSIC AUDIT OF THE CURRENT CITY HALL BOOKS! COOKING THE BOOKS OR BURNING THE BOOKS?

Rate this: