Fear Mongering, Part 2

I never thought my previous post on the title subject would lead to a second post on the issue but I think perhaps now would be a good time to do so.

If you recall, I mentioned that fear is used as a means of control.

As an elected council member my fear is limited to making a poor decision that has unforeseen and negative consequences.  I fear that I will wake up on a Wednesday morning to find out that the previous night's decision would have a drastic negative impact.  But decide, I must; that is what your elected officials must do.

So with each decision, with each blog post, with each public appearance, I run the risk of saying or doing something that will have a negative impact and that, to some degree, makes me fearful.

However, I must keep a level head and remind myself and those around me that I am human and inclined to act as such.  "Be humble" I say to myself.

And if I should say too much, stumble or miss a step, the press is there to remind me of who I represent.  While we can certainly argue the role of the press and the various biases that each media outlet may have, it is of the utmost importance that all of us remember the role of the press.  In my opinion and that of many, the press serves the people equally as much as government itself.  The modern press is able to tell the public that which government would rather not share.

Sometimes the government (an all encompassing term which could include public employees, elected and appointed officials, etc.) makes an embarrassing mistake, like when Fullerton police officers mistakenly raided the wrong house.  Sometimes government withholds information because of ongoing investigations, like when the Fullerton Police Department refused to release the video of police confronting Kelly Thomas on July 5th.  In these two examples the public by and large knew of the incidents' occurrence and even some details.  However, it takes a complete disclosure of the evidence to paint an accurate picture of the events.  Since former Fullerton Police officers have certain rights of appeal with respect to their employment, I will not comment further on that case.

In both cases, though, the press had a specific role to play in sharing information with the public.  While the press can request information all day every day, it takes the government (again a broad term) to provide the press with the information.  We have the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that guarantees that the press can operate without interference from government.

But what about when a government has information which the public would take great interest in if the press knew of its existence and were to report it.  What if the government chose not to release it or even make its existence known?  This is where the importance of an elected representative can make all of the difference.  Having officials willing to open their doors to the press and the media and allow for complete, and sometimes even embarrassing, transparency is in my opinion the only way to ensure an honest government that places the citizens first.  Fear of the truth is power to some and terror to others.

"The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them." --Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787.

Fullerton's Employee Unions Rearrange the Deck Chairs

Fullerton’s employee unions have come to the bargaining table and rearranged the chairs for new employees. 

The result is an immediate revenue drain due to the end of the 5% pay-back salary reduction that employees have been subject to since 2009.

There are some long-term savings in the MOU but the end results are not nearly enough to dodge the pension tsunami which has been propelling us towards municipal bankruptcy. 

Don’t forget that the City Council approved the FY2011-2013 budget with a $8-million dollar deficit, citing that negotiations with the bargaining units would cover the shortfall. 

Time and again, the City Council has refused to heed the advice of countless experts, even ignoring commonsense.

How do you spell Failure?  F-U-L-L-E-R-T-O-N! 

Who gets what...

The Fullerton Municipal Employees Federation (300± members):

• No across-the-board raises.
• 5% salary pay-back is ended.  This will be like a 5% raise and is a salary reinstatement for the 300 or so members.
• $1,000 increase from $1,500 to $2,500 for tuition reimbursement.
• Second tier for retirement for new employees that averages a retiree’s highest 3 years instead of using the single highest year for calculating retirement.
• Eliminated the cap on sick-leave payout.
• 7% employee cost sharing for CalPERS benefits.
• Medical benefits have no change for first year.  Second and third year share 50/50 increases in premiums.
• Capping of retiree benefits for new hires.

The Fullerton Police Officer’s Association - Safety Unit (135± members):

• No across-the-board raises.
• End 5% salary pay-back.  This will be like a 5% raise and is a salary reinstatement for members.
• Second tier retirement for new employees replacing 3%@50 with 3%@55 and the average of a retiree’s highest 3 years instead of using the single highest year for calculating retirement.
• Increase retirement cost sharing from 2.252% for CalPERS to 9.252% for current employees and 9% for those hired under the 3%@55 formula.
• Medical benefits have no change for first year.  Second and third year share 50/50 increases in premiums.

The Fullerton Police Officer’s Association - Dispatchers Unit (15± members):

• No across-the-board raises.
• 5% salary pay-back is ended.  This will be like a 5% raise and is a salary reinstatement for members.
• $1,000 increase from $1,500 to $2,500 for tuition reimbursement.
• Second tier for retirement for new employees that averages a retiree’s highest 3 years instead of using the single highest year for calculating retirement.
• Eliminated the cap on sick-leave payout.
• 7% employee cost sharing for CalPERS benefits.
• Medical benefits have no change for first year.  Second and third year share 50/50 increases in premiums.

The Fullerton Firefighters’ Association (80± members):

• No across-the-board raises.
• End 5% salary pay-back.  This will be like a 5% raise and is a salary reinstatement for members
• Second tier retirement for new employees replacing 3%@50 with 3%@55 and the average of a retiree’s highest 3 years instead of using the single highest year for calculating retirement.
• Increase retirement cost sharing from 2.557% for CalPERS to 9.557% for current employees and 9% for those hired under the 3%@55 formula.
• Medical benefits have no change for first year.  Second and third year share 50/50 increases in premiums.
• 7% cost sharing for all miscellaneous employees represented by unit.
• May later meet and discuss staffing configuration changes.
• “Provision to allow compliance with new DMV requirements for physical examinations.”

Pension Reform Receives Court Backing

Those interested in Orange County government accountability and pension reform won a legal battle Wednesday.

In a ruling over a petition filed in December 2009 by the California Foundation For Fiscal Responsibility vs. the Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS), the Superior Court of Orange County ordered the OCERS to disclose “…gross amount paid to the payee member, the name of the payee, and the identification of the prior public employer of the named payee and no other information contained in the records OCRES.”

The presiding judge, Hon. Luis Rodriguez, says in his ruling, “Individuals must have access to government files to hold governments accountable for their actions. Personal embarrassment is outweighed by the strong public policy supporting transparency in government and the strong public interest in knowing how it spends its money ‘to expose corruption, incompetence, inefficiency, prejudice and favoritism.’”

This ruling is consistent with the premise that government can only be held accountable when there is transparency. Without transparency, corruption, incompetence, inefficiency, prejudice and favoritism cannot be identified, much less routed out. When I read those pervasive flaws outlined by the court, I immediately thought of Tom Daly, Annie Mezzacappa (covering for Sidhu), Linda Andal (covering for Sidhu), Bryn Morley (covering for Sidhu), the OC Children and Families Commission (Cunningham, et al), the OC DA Chief of Staff Susan Schroeder, appointed OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, SAPD Chief Paul Walters, and the public employee unions just to name a few. All of those people seem to fall under one of those categories (corruption, incompetence, inefficiency, prejudice, favoritism) that the court has recognized in the ruling. It is up to the public to police our government and Judge Luis Rodriguez seems to agree.

Case Number: 30-2009-00330855-CU-WM-CJC

Fox L.A. and Rep. Gary Miller, (R) 42nd Congressional District

Special thanks to Allen Wilson for bring this to my attention...

Mike Carona Seeks Workers' Comp

As if his years of corruption and cover up weren't bad enough, Carona wants to receive workers' comp for what the OC Register reports as “pain radiating to other body parts.”

Did George Jaramillo nibble too hard on Carona's ear (see picture above) or was he injured while be allegedly groped (also see picture above)? I can only imagine his pain of being a convicted felon and the 9 long years in a federal prison.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas Looses Battle

I first learned of the story from whoiscraighunter.org.  The L.A. Times is reporting that the DA wrongfully fired an investigator who was investigating one of Rackauckas's pals.

Here is the L.A. Times story:

O.C. detective wins back job after being fired for investigating political donor

April 8, 2010 4:11 pm
 A veteran Orange County district attorney’s investigator who was fired after he refused to drop his probe into one of the district attorney’s close friends and political contributors has, for a second time, won back his job and will probably get more than $1 million in back pay.

Lyle Wilson was fired in 2002 for his handling of an investigation into the business dealings of Patrick Di Carlo, a wealthy Newport Beach businessman and supporter of Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas.


The firing brought criticism of Rackauckas early in his career as district attorney and led to an Orange County Grand Jury report that accused the district attorney of interfering in criminal investigations involving political contributors.


In an opinion filed Wednesday, appellate court Justice Eileen C. Moore wrote that the case “arises against a backdrop of political intrigue and purported cover-ups.”

The controversy started in 2000 after Wilson was assigned to investigate allegations that Di Carlo was the victim of extortion. Wilson and his supervisor subsequently shifted the investigation to Di Carlo for purported violations of federal and state securities laws.


Rackauckas later suspended Wilson and his supervisor and accused them of stealing evidence. He also accused Wilson of investigating Di Carlo, even after he was ordered off the case, and of talking about the case with the media.


Following about two years’ paid suspension, Wilson was fired for insubordination, untruthfulness and violating the district attorney’s media policy.


In 2008, a Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that the district attorney erred when Wilson was fired for insubordination and ordered the firing vacated.


But rather than reinstate Wilson, county officials told Wilson the reason for his firing had been changed.


The move was an attempt to “game the system by backdating an amended discharge order and hoping it would fly,” Moore wrote in the opinion.


“It was a no-brainer,” said Corey Glave, Wilson’s attorney. “The county tried to play a game to do an end run around the court’s judgment without appealing it and it backfired.”

The district attorney’s office received the opinion on Thursday and was “exploring all legal options to decide what our next step is,” spokeswoman Susan Kang Schroeder said.


-- Paloma Esquivel

Email: newstips@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimescitydesk @lanow
Facebook: latimescitydesk

Hutchens Consultant Under Investigation for Corruption

Riverside County DA sends investigators to Northern California political consultant's office

12:02 PM PST on Thursday, March 4, 2010

By JIM MILLER

Sacramento Bureau

Special Section: San Jacinto Corruption Probe

SACRAMENTO - Riverside County district attorney investigators showed up last week at the Northern California offices of a prominent Republican consulting firm and a bookkeeping business linked to a defendant in the campaign-finance prosecution of several Inland political and civic leaders.

Gilliard Blanning and Associates of Rocklin and the KAL Group of Willows have advised dozens of candidates and campaign groups in the Inland area and around the state over the years.

During the 2008 election cycle, the companies worked for a committee involved in the hard-fought Republican primary for Riverside County's 37th Senate District between then-Assemblyman John Benoit and former Assemblyman Russ Bogh.

District attorney investigators spent part of last Thursday at Gilliard Blanning's office.

The same day, members of the district attorney's political corruption unit served a search warrant at the KAL Group, according to government records.

A spokesman for Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco would neither confirm nor deny last week's activities. David Gilliard, a GOP campaign veteran, has not returned several phone calls in recent days. KAL Group owner Kelly Lawler also has not returned requests for comment.

In November, Pacheco's office announced a 155-count indictment alleging that nine people, including four of the five San Jacinto City Council members, conspired to skirt campaign contribution limits and funnel money into the 2006 Assembly candidacy of San Jacinto Councilman Jim Ayres.

Neither Gilliard Blanning nor the KAL Group was part of the indictment. State records show that neither business was involved in the 2006 Assembly primary race at the heart of the November case.

Speculation in political circles has centered on ties between the two firms and Stephen R. Holgate, one of the defendants in the Riverside County case.

In spring 2008, Holgate, an Inland developer and former CHP officer, largely bankrolled a pro-Benoit campaign committee called Conservative Leaders of America, giving it $100,000.

Almost all of the advertising money went through Gilliard Blanning. The KAL Group, the committee's treasurer, was paid about $2,000.

The committee paid for a barrage of TV ads and mailers promoting Benoit or opposing Bogh.

Bogh is a close political ally of Pacheco.

Benoit's consultant in 2008, Jim Nygren, said Wednesday that he has not had any communication with Pacheco's office.

Rocklin police Lt. Lon Milka said officers assisted the Riverside County investigators at a Rocklin address that matches that of Gilliard Blanning and Associates.

A report from the Glenn County Sheriff's Department said two sheriff's officials accompanied the investigators to Lawler's home office in unincorporated Willows.

Staff writers Dug Begley, Duane W. Gang and Rich De Atley contributed to this report.

Gilliard is a partner in campaign consulting firm Gilliard Blanning Wysocki & Associates (GBWA) http://www.gbwasacramento.com/team/

July 2008: Gilliard hired on as manager of Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens' 2010 campaign.


2007-08: GBWA managed the following campaigns in the June 3, 2008 primary:
Duncan D. Hunter, 52nd congressional district
Mimi Walters, 33rd Senate District
Brian Nestande, 64th Assembly District
Jeff Miller, 71st Assembly district


October, 2007: Gilliard is directing the effort to gather signatures toward qualifiying for the ballot the Presidential Election Reform Act initiative. Source: http://www.totalcapitol.com/?news_id=795318&redirect=http://www.sacbee.com/capolitics/story/448235.html

Gillard is an adviser to Rep. Darrell Issa