City Hall changes their underwear for the second time today, and possibly three times yesterday, maybe more, after hearing the news that Mike Soubirous beat the cities golden girl Valerie Hill in last Tuesdays Ward 3 City Council race. The beating was 54.49% (2,415) Soubirous to 45.51% (2,017) Hill. Regardless of the astronomical amounts of monies donated by the Unions for Valerie Hill. What did the Union expect from Ms. Hill? Was she then obligated to the unions after these donations were set aside for her campaign? One hot situation..right folks!
TMC has been notified that Parks and Recreation Director Ralph Nunez has resigned, who retires at 54 years of age? Evidently the city has been appropriating monies to other departments and not funding the Parks and Recreation Department, making it difficult to maintain our 52 parks, thus making his job unbearable at best. One past example was the proposed cuts for about seven of the Riverside public pools. This after Measure A passed, which was to prevent these cuts. Many of the residents began to see through the light of what the City tried to sell them, and many of them felt bamboozeled. You decide.
Opps did we clip the truck?
Restriping Brockton Avenue will impede traffic flow in Riverside. The speed is 35 mph on Brockton, while on Magnolia it is 40 mph. Arguments to create a bike lane thus taking away a lane on Brockton will be catastrophic since this is considered a main artery for commuter travel in the City. Justin Scott Coe, co-founder of the Woodstreet Green Team, states it’s all about the children and their safety. Arguments such as cars speed anywhere from 45 to 50 mph have been indicated. Well that’s breaking the law, and we should have no problem having RPD moniter Brockton when the law is broken, especially after Measure A was passed. Measure A was passed to insure no break in policing, and Coe was a supporter of this, therefore this should not be a problem. But logically, how will this all pan out? I was driving Brockton on Monday about 5 pm, and it was loaded with traffic, no bikes of course, but there is no bikes on the restriped Palm Avenue next to El Tequesquite Park! But is it truly about children safety and greener pasture which includes bike, or is it about not losing Federal Transportation Funds? Shouldn’t there be a hundred cyclist at any given moment to support this action? The bike lanes on Palm Avenue are rarely used, and the single lane for vehicles is back to back. Brockton Avenue is running rapid with vehicles at any given time of the day and we want to restripe it for cyclist, so what gives with elective officials? Now a possibility of placing a street car on Magnolia Avenue. Elective officials surely know how to kill business and slow down the economic growth of their cities. The cost to the taxpayer just to do the study on the feasibility of this rail line is $300,000.00! According to the Press Enterprise, the construciton cost in Portland, Oregon came out to $45 million a mile. Should Mayor Bailey wake up from his long siesta and stick to riding his bike? How much was the feasibility study for the Brockton Avenue regarding illusionary bikes?
Such excesses as a new trolley system have been brought to the forefront, but is this streetcar fantasy or streetcar desire really a “Street Car Named Debacle?”
What happened with city council under closed sessions were certain people asked to leave but refused? is there a rift involved with certain city officials?
LETICIA PEPPER CITIZEN ARREST VS. MAYOR RUSTY BAILEY CITIZEN ARREST: A TAIL OF TWO SETS OF RULES.
CLICK LINK TO VIEW MAYOR BAILEY’S SIGNED CITIZEN ARREST FORM
CLICK LINK TO VIEW ATTORNEY LETITIA PEPPER’S SIGNED CITIZEN ARREST FORM
Attorney Letitia Pepper’s citizen arrest form was of course refused by the attending Riverside Police Officer based on his assertion that there was no real evidence to sustain an arrest against the Mayor William ‘Rusty’ Bailey. Evidently by Sgt. Patrick McCarthy stated Leticia had no evidence to sustain an arrest against Mayor Bailey. But in true accord with the first citizen arrest against Letitia Pepper, the RPD officer failed to realize that there was evidence to sustain an arrest against the Mayor.
Sgt. Patrick McCarthy, Riverside Police Department
Why did the attending officer refuse? Was it because of the presence in the city of Riverside that Mayor Bailey’s father hold? Mayor Bailey’s father is non other than Judge Bailey. Judge William R. Bailey II is connected to a close associate, friend and founding father of the infamous Riverside Best, Best & Krieger law firm, Judge John Gabbert. Does anybody see the light on this one? Are we actually coming to answers of why the City of Riverside is the way that it is politically?
In this pic we see Bailey’s father, Judge William R. Bailey II, with now Mayor William “Rusty” Bailey (middle) , and Judge John Gabbert. Judge Gabbert has a history going back to the 40’s which answers the question of why the City of Riverside uses Best, Best and Krieger so much..
Judge John Gabbert, in younger days, a Quandrangle of Influence within the City of Riverside?
First, there was a Citizen’s arrest form signed by Bailey himself, accusing Pepper of violating PC 403, and the City’s own video tape was evidence to the reveal that Ms. Pepperdid not disrupt the public meeting and therefore did not violate PC 403. We often said, as many have said who live in this great city we call Riverside, we have a culture and practice of status quo. To many, it’s simply known as corruption. Many in the community are afraid to state this publicly. Why is it? Is it not public servants work in the employment and service of the taxpaying constituents?
I had the citizen’s arrest form signed by Bailey accusing me of violating PC 403, and the City’s own video tape that showed I did not disrupt the public meeting and therefore did not violate PC 403, Ms. Pepper stated.
STREET CLEANING IN THE WOOD STREETS…
Submitted by a an anonymous Wood Street resident who does not wish to be disclosed. What is it with the City of Riverside and their ability to terrorize the taxpayer. They’re ability to intimidate and make them feel they should not complain about the services without retribution?
Five minutes after the street cleaner came by this Wednesday the 6th, this was what was left. Though, the parking citation representative was positioned right after this cleaning machine spewing out ticket after ticket to the Wood Street residents and Riverside Community College Students. Residents have stated that they have given up in “Liking Mike.” If you know what I mean.. The true purpose of ticketing Wood Street residents and to incidentally punish them is as a result of the City unable to live within their means and addiction to continue to tax and fee the citizens of Riverside. So the City of Riverside cannot efficiently keep the streets the clean and therefore must create a ruse to continue to tax and fee the residents of the Citizen of Riverside without their impute. So the question becomes to many Wood Street residents is this truly about keeping the storm drains clean of clogging debris of has the taxpayer been duped? One resident took notice of the tree trimmers, how quickly they came through the neighborhood simply cutting a few young branches and off they went while trampling residential landscapes. One resident even asked one of the tree trimmers how could they possibly think they were finished. His answer was that the City told them to trim off old branches, but that was not what they were doing. I could only imagine how they will trim the palm trees. As many residents in the Wood Streets know since the City has took their time in not trimming City trees, a walk in the neighborhood has not only become a crap shoot but a liability from falling branches. Here is one street that hasn’t been done for years, but the City complains how we must keep our storm drains clear. Since the trees haven’t been done for years, a build up has occurred, and some professional thinning is in order. Where does our tree trimming money go City of Riverside? To fund other side projects?
IG
Javier Moreno
TMC: Thirty Miles of Corruption 
[…] Read More By TMC Staff […]
It was good to see Riverside finally get it right and vote in some new faces. lets hope these new comers prove to be the voice of the people and stand strong against the status quo! The giant machine that is running politics throughout this city and the country is on the verge and imploding! People are tired of seeing their hard earned money being eaten up in taxes and used for selfish and personal enjoyment.
In Ward 3 the best person won !
Funny graphics TMC… I would like to see City Attorney Priamos knock out RPD Chief Diaz. I would also like to see Councilman Davis knock out City Manager Barber. Then I’d like to see Councilman Davis knock out City Attorney Priamos. And finally I’d like to see Councilman Davis knock himself out for publicly supporting the assault and arrest of resident Karen Wright perpetrated by the Riverside Police Department last November 2012. Ofcr. Sahagun and Ofcr. Dodson are just robotic-muscle-bullies at the whim of the City… paid to do whatever they are told to do… including lying on a police report for the Mayor to save their jobs.
Yeah I definitely think Det. Dodson and Officer Sahagun should sacrifice their jobs and pensions risking discipline for insubordination and failure to perform their duties and thus get thrown under the bus even more because the problems in those situations aren’t them, they’re higher up on the food chain including outside the PD. I don’t know if anyone noticed but the shift where Sahagun arrested Karen was the last shift he’s ever done. An officer who worked two meetings a month disappears off the roster. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
That tells you how much he liked what he did and the blow back and fallout and who can blame him? The people who were supposed to back his police powers including those who had them enforce them (I’m talking about you Chief Priamos) did the cowardly thing and couldn’t even man up to do that.
They showed the same failure in leadership and follow through that they do in nearly every other area of government. What happened in both cases is symptomatic of a much larger problem. A city government that’s barricaded itself from being accountable or even accessible to the public unless it’s members of the public who 1) kiss their ass with praise…the type of praise without foundation and 2) those who can be used or use the city council…the give and take of money and power. It’s gotten arrogant enough to use police powers…and I’m sorry but when it comes to arresting people for clapping, that according to recordings wasn’t even obstructive at all, that is proof positive that the above is true. Otherwise they’d be having their cheerleaders cuffed and escorted outside to be cited as well, because though their clapping can be considered obstructive if it extends into the next item of business or speaker.
I’m familiar with Det. Dodson enough to know that doing Bailey’s arrest was most likely not something he liked doing either. I haven’t read Dodson’s police report on the arrest of Letitia Pepper which would be part of the evidentiary package sent to the DA to determine whether charges will be filed. I think since four months have passed more than likely just like with Karen, charges won’t be filed. And I think in this case, the DA and perhaps the PD (because a department can in many cases recommend or not whether charges should be filed), served as a checks and balances…one that became necessarily mostly due to the mayor or mayor pro tem of the meetings and the city attorney. Priamos couldn’t even be honest about what had happened with Karen until public pressure and RPOA pressure pushed the CC and Mayor Loveridge into the position of checking their own direct employee. Why was he allowed so much time to cover his ass? Well I think we all know the answer to that one. It comes from above him.
I haven’t read Dodson’s police report to determine whether PC 148.5 (false information on a police report) was committed but I certainly haven’t seen anything where it’s proven that he has committed that so far. Shanagun? He wrote a report that was called a lie pretty much by Greg Priamos by him refuting the version of events and guess what? His version of events was accurate and true. He clearly knew he had to do his job and wrote his report to include all the information including the Priamos part of it.
The motivations I’d be taking a serious look at are the ones sitting on the dais who’ve been present during these arrests of people expressing viewpoints that the city council clearly doesn’t like. After all, Karen was arrested for exceeding the speaking limit. How often are people who say things that the city and mayor like allowed to go over in their time? Many, many examples yet none of them are handcuffed and cited.
I’ve got no illusions about the weaknesses of our city government. Living through 2010 taught me that. I remember taking a harsh position on the Leach DUI and having members of the public going up on the dais and throwing out blanket accusations of everything from how I and the press were giving the PD a bad name and a member of the public accused I and the press of being responsible of all things for Officer Bonanineo’s death. Sometime’s I imagine it’s hard to listen to that kind of criticism which is totally baseless and ignorant at best. But I think city officials have to just develop thick skins at times and be mindful of the freedoms of expression without curtailing them in cherry picking fashion based on what one or more of them don’t like on a particular day.
What helped me was being cognizant of the facts of the Leach DUI (which I was notified about anonymously not long after it happened) and keeping my focus on what needed to be done and just doing it. The fact that the city government is so sensitive to it is troubling and it perhaps indicates that on some level they understand fully that perhaps they are doing things in government that are perhaps not wise or even wrong. But blaming officers like Sahagun and Det. Dodson is the equivalent of blaming the patrol officers who didn’t arrest Leach. Not that what they did or didn’t do was the same thing because it’s not but because in both cases, the serious problems that led to those actions were from much higher up and in both cases took longer to address seriously than they should have taken. Searching for why things are…and why Karen and Letitia and Leach type things happen, well you’re always going to wind up in the same point of origin each time.
As far as boxing matches, I’d like to see Barber and Priamos go at it and then hug each other afterward. Seems like a bit of a love/hate relationship to me there.
Very well said and all your questions concerning the whys and why not’s are very justified. I think when we look at what is happening today in our city, we have to really question why so much time and energy were put forth on Karen wright, who was legally expressing her rights as a citizen, and Letitia Pepper (who is a lawyer herself) was banished for her expression of free speech (by clapping in agreement), This is the extreme control of power that has gone un-noticed up until now. It is a true injustice of the constitution and the American way of life, and so much disrespect to those who have fought and are still fighting for our safety and our rights!
Bottom line the problem it starts with leadership and works it’s way down. Either you with the Dictator or your out. Loveridge knew how to play the game and stay above water. Rookie Bailey thinks this is High School and citizens have no Constitutional rights. But we’re learning a lot about other elected officials who came to office with one face and changed after getting elected. Bailey was true to who he is as he cheated/lied to get elected and even used his Dad to help with the older voters. But a leopard never charges it’s strips as Bailey did not like what Karen said so the new 3 min. order was formed and the City Attorney fixed the law to fit the crime Bailey did. Then clapping for the Mayor is ok but capping for a person who complains can get you arrested. It is interesting around the same time President Obama was interrupted but allowed the woman to speak her mine as a right to the US Constitution. But Mayor Bailey gives no such rights and even those who work for the City are on notice. We continue the same problems as a corrupt City Manager, former Police Chief drug and false reports and even a corrupt DA. When will enough be enough for the citizens of Riverside?