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4/5th of San Jacinto City Council To Be Prosecuted

Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco is prosecuting nine people on various corruption charges, including four of the five member San Jacinto City Council.

The San Jacinto City Councilmembers being prosecuted are Jim Ayres, Dale Stubblefield, John Mansperger and James Potts.  

Jim Ayres wife Nancy, who is also a school board member in San Jacinto, was indicted with her husband. Also indicted were businessmen Stephen Holgate, Byron Jerry Ellison, Robert Osborne, and Scott Shaull.

A criminal grand jury handed down the 155 count indictment after a year and a half investigation into corruption allegations.  56 of the charges are felonies.  The other 99 are misdemeanors. Convictions could carry prison sentence of 20 years or longer.

Most of the charges stem from Jim Ayres failed State Assembly campaign in 2006.  Ayers and the developer Steve Holgate seem to have hatched a scheme that allowed Holgate to circumvent California's campaign finance laws and give more money to Ayres campaign than was legally allowed.  Holgate seems to have reimbursed many donors for their contributions to the Ayres campaign. 

Robert Osborne is charged with being deep into this scheme as well, but all indications are that Steve Holgate was Jim Ayres' sugar daddy, with Ayres in return being Holgate's political puppet.

The irony dear readers is that despite all of the money Steve Holgate may have been able to illegally funnel to Jim Ayres, Ayres got his butt kicked in that 2006 Republican primary for the 65th Assembly District.

Ayres loss in that election was in part due to his stating he had received a medal during his military service that did not even exist.  That should tell us all what kind of a creep we're dealing with here.

District Attorney Rod Pacheco told the press conference yesterday that the investigation in this is on going. Who else is the DA's office looking at?  Did Steve Holgate's reach extend outside of the San Jacinto Valley?  That definitely merits some looking into.

Now while some might say that these indictments mark a bad day for Riverside County, but we here at Inside Riverside disagree.  It is a glorious day!  

Riverside County finally has a District Attorney who is not willing to turn a blind eye to public corruption. As Pacheco said at the press conference yesterday, "These illegal activities threaten the integrity of our democracy. These elected officials were entrusted with power and misused that power to advance their own political ambition and to satisfy their greed."

We agree wholeheartedly with District Attorney Pacheco in this matter. Those how violate the public trust must be held accountable for their deeds. 

If any of these nine have any self-respect or remorse for their transgressions, they would do wise to admit their crimes. Grand Jury's don't hand down indictments on whims or on the wishes of prosecutors. They do so based on evidence.  And for a Grand Jury to indict five elected officials and their benefactors, there must have been clear and convincing evidence that those 155 crimes did occur.

As always, we'll keep you posted as things develop dear readers.

Riverside County House Delegation Votes Against Healthcare Bill

All four of Riverside County's members of the House of Representatives voted against healthcare reform legislation supported by President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack, Congressman Ken Calvert, Congressman Darrell Issa, and Congressman Jerry Lewis all voted against HR 3962 titled the "Affordable Healthcare for America Act."  

Their votes should come as no surprise as all are pretty rigid Republicans.  Only one Republican, Congressman Cao who represents a Democratic district in New Orleans, split with his party and supported the Obama-Pelosi healthcare and insurance overhaul.

Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack released a statement saying “Americans deserve better than this 1,900-page flawed legislation that puts government squarely between patients and their doctors."

Congressman Ken Calvert said he voted against the healthcare bill that he described as "The Pelosi Government Takeover of the U.S. Health Care System" because "This bill creates over $1trillion in new government spending, funded with the ‘hope’ that our children will figure out how to pay the bill tomorrow and ’change’ in Medicare that takes $500 billion from a program that covers over 40 million senior citizens."

Congressman Darrell Issa expressed sentiments similar to those of Mary Bono Mack and Ken Calvert in a brief statement where he said, "This 2,000 page, 1.3 trillion dollar bill will cost Americans more jobs, add to an exploding Federal deficit, make it more lucrative for trial lawyers to sue doctors, and take away health care choice.  At the same time, it won't control the growing cost of health care."

Congressman Jerry "The Cardinal" Lewis rationalized his vote against the legislation by complaining that it was put together behind closed doors, would increase costs, and reduce care.  It is somewhat comical to hear the Grand Appropriator and Master of the Earmarks lament that a deal was made outside of public scrutiny.

Will these four Republicans pay for their votes against the overhaul of the American health care system?  

Probably not.  

There is a great deal of anxiety about the changes being proposed by Congress. With the federal deficit growing and unemployment continuing to climb, a vote for any bill that could increase government spending and cost jobs is a dangerous vote.  

Doing nothing by voting against HR 3962 was probably the politically smart vote for Bono Mack, Calvert, Issa, and Lewis going into the 2010 elections. But expect their prospective challengers to attempt to use the vote against them anyway.  

Only next year's election will show which position the voters prefer.

John Benoit Appointed to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors

Republican State Senator John Benoit has been appointed to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, as we reported would happen over a month ago.

Benoit will fill the seat of the late County Supervisor Roy Wilson who served the County's 4th District honorably until his sudden resignation in August.  Wilson died mere days after his resignation.  

In his alleged resignation letter, Wilson requested that the Governor appoint Benoit to serve the remainder of his term in office.  The authenticity of that letter has been drawn into question and it appears to many that Roy Wilson's resignation letter may have been forged.  

We even wonder dear readers, if John Benoit was aware of that Wilson's resignation letter was a fraud.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has once again shown his disregard and utter contempt for the people of Riverside County by appointing a member of the do-nothing State Legislature to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.  If you thought the budget was bad before, just wait for John Benoit to put his years of experience on the State Budget to work on the County's Budget.

Fortunately Benoit will have to face election to the seat next June.  He will likely face former Republican State Senator Jim Battin.  That will likely be one of the costliest and nastiest races in the history of Riverside County.    

John Benoit's appointment does occur under a cloud of controversy.  Benoit who is a critic of the Public Employee Retirement System was recently outed by the Los Angeles Times for gaming the system for taking his nearly $100,000 a year pension while making over $100,000 as a State Senator.  Benoit refused to comment on his hypocrisy.

This week we also reported on a reader's tip that Benoit may have lied about in disability claims he made to the State in attempts to receive his retirement payments tax free.

None of this should come as any surprise.  This is the same John Benoit who before he  had even received the appointment, and before Wilson's funeral, scheduled a fundraiser for Wilson's job! How classeless.

After we broke the story, Benoit was shamed into moving the fundraiser back a week in an attempt to discredit the accuracy of our reporting.

But as our exclusive on his appointment proves, our sources are good and our information is spot on. That's why they hate us dear readers, and that's why you've got to keep reading Inside Riverside.

Did John Benoit Lie About His Disability?

One of our readers has posted a comment that raises a very serious questions about the legitimacy of State Senator John Benoit's disability retirement.

As we reported last week, John Benoit makes $98,600 in retirement each year from his time with the CHP, but a large portion of that money is tax free because Benoit contracted skin cancer on the job.  Senator Benoit is also a critic of public employees pensions, but when the LA Times wanted to talk to him about his retirement package, Benoit refused to comment.

A reader going by the name "Stop Benoit" states that we didn't quite get the story right. 

"You're missing the point about John Benoit's disability retirement. He did get it for skin cancer but he also filed suits against the state for hearing loss and knee damage he claims he got on the job.

The claims were bogus. Benoit dropped them once he got his disability claim for skin cancer granted. The attached video proves they were fraudulent claims since he was playing softball in Sacramento on the knees he said were "permanently damaged!""

We're not sure about this, but since "Stop Benoit" included a pretty humorous You Tube video used against Benoit in the 2008 Senate race we felt inclined to include it for you.  

Although this commercial is quite funny and appears to be well documented it obviously did little to stop Benoit from trouncing his hapless rival Russ Bogh in the Republican Primary last year.  And the website stated at the end of the commercial, no longer seems to be in existence. 

But it does raise a very serious ethical and legal question.

Did John Benoit try and game the system he profits from as a retiree but attacks as a legislator by submitting three disability claims, as "Stop Benoit" alleges? 

The documentation does seem to indicate Benoit at least filed a claim for injuries to his knees.  How that happened we're not quite sure, but can probably come up with some good jokes about him being close to Neil and Bob (Lingle and Doyle that is!  Get your mind out of the gutters, dear readers!).

But did Benoit also continue to play softball on these injured knees?  The photo with the Republican softball team would make one draw this conclusion.

Does Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger know about this video? If so, does that explain another complication in the appointment of John Benoit to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors?

If anyone has additional information about John Benoit's disability claims, we'd appreciate the information.  Since we are now moderating comments to prevent SPAM, you can post your tips in the comments section with a note saying "NOT FOR PUBLICATION."  We will honor your wishes if you have such tips for us and then follow up on them.

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John Benoit Abuses California's Retirement System

Riverside County State Senator John Benoit has been a loud and aggressive critic of the California Public Employees Retirement System, commonly known as Cal-PERS.

John Benoit has made it clear that he believes the pension payments to California's retired state employees are too big and are pushing the state to the brink of bankruptcy. Therefore, Benoit wants to cut the payments to the state's future retirees, including prison guards, firefighters, and highway patrolmen.

But if California's retirement system is already ruining the state as Benoit claims, why doesn't Senator Benoit support retroactively reducing the pension payments of public employees already in retirement?

The answer is simple:  John Benoit does not want to cut his own retirement benefits.

On October 9, 2009 the Los Angeles Times reported that eight State Legislators are being paid both a state salary and a state pension.  

According to the Los Angeles Times:

"John Benoit, a Republican state senator from Palm Desert and a former California Highway Patrol captain, is one. He draws a $98,600 annual state pension while also collecting a six-figure salary as a lawmaker."

This practice, known as "double dipping," has been condemned by Senator John Benoit.

The LA Times also reported:

"Benoit, who retired at age 50 seven years ago, is a member of the state Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee. He said he had no comment."

Very interesting that a man who has made pension reform part of his political identity refuses to comment when it comes to his own retirement.

It is more disturbing to us dear readers that State Senator John Benoit would criticize the retirements of peace officers and other public employees, while receiving almost $100,000 a year.

But to add insult to injury, it is important to remember that Senator Benoit receives a disability retirement for having contracted skin cancer on the job.  Because of this, a large portion of Benoit's retirement pay is not subject to income tax.

Now if the Governor appoints John Benoit to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, Benoit will continue to receive his retirement payments.  But he will also start earning additional retirement credits in the Cal-PERS system as a member of the Board of Supervisors.

While 1990's Proposition 140 prohibits State Legislators from receiving a state pension, this prohibition does not apply to the County Board of Supervisors.  John Benoit stands to profit extensively at taxpayer expense if he is appointed to serve the remainder of Supervisor Roy Wilson's term.

Even if John Benoit were to be appointed to the Board today, get beat in a tough election by former Senator Jim Battin next June, and leave the Board next December, that one year of additional retirement credits would bump Benoit's annual pension payments over $100,000.

Not bad for a so-called conservative Republican who thinks the California Public Employees Retirement System is the root of all of our state's evil.

 

Doth The End of the Press-Enterprise Draw Nigh?

Once upon a time, the Press-Enterprise was the premier source for news in Riverside County.

Those days appear to be over dear readers.  And we here at Inside Riverside have only have one thought on that.  Good.

According to a story by Gary Scott about the most recent Audit Bureau and Circulations report, in just the last six months,

 "The Belo-owned Riverside Press-Enterprise experienced the biggest decline in the Inland Empire, with circulation falling 24.3 percent on weekdays for an average of 113,182 copies sold. Sunday circulation was down 23.3 percent. Contributing to the losses were several rounds of staff cuts in the last year and the paper's decision to end delivery services in parts of San Bernardino County."

This morning, the opening stock value of the Press-Enterprise's parent company Belo Corp.(BLC on NYSE) was $4.94 per share.   That's about 75% less than the stock was trading at five years ago.  

On December 31, 2004 Belo's stock was worth $20.97. Since then it has never been that high again.

We must note though that Belo's stock value today is nine times it's $0.55 price of March 20, 2009.  But $5 per share is nothing to cheer about.  Many serious investors will not touch a stock that is valued less than $12 per share.

Besides, the improved stock price probably has little to do with how many people are buying Belo's papers.  Rather, the stock likely rose as another round of layoffs took place this month at The Press-Enterprise.  This means money is being "made" not by selling newspapers, but by cutting payroll.

Now to be fair, The Press-Enterprise's drop in circulation, which translates to a drop in readership, which also translates to a drop in influence in the area it serves is part of a nationwide decline of newpapers.

Reflections of a Newsosaur reported this Monday that less Americans are reading newspapers today than at any time since World War II.  

"Following an average drop of 10.6% in the last six months, daily newspaper circulation has fallen to a pre-World War II low of an estimated 39.1 million, according to an analysis of industry data released today.

The first double-digit circulation decline in history means only 12.9% of the U.S. population buys a daily newspaper."

Certainly the Internet is the main culprit behind the demise of the newspaper industry, but the newspapers also have themselves to blame for their agonizing deaths.  

Let's look at The Press-Enterprise.

The Press-Enterprise made itself irrelevant by failing to be a truly serious institution of journalism.  Instead of allocating time to investigative stories that benefit the people, the paper required content not quality from its reporters.  And it shows.

One of the most egregious oversights of The Press-Enterprise was former Sheriff Bob Doyle's "badges for support" scheme.  The Los Angeles Times broke the story and reported on sleazy donors who had Riverside County Sheriffs badges.  

The Press-Enterprise didn't even try to play catch up on the story.  Instead it became an apologist for Doyle's unethical and illegal behavior.  That helped it earn the name "The Press Enquirer" from us.

Likewise, the Press-Enterprise/Press Enquirer destroyed its credibility by failing to conntain its opinions to the Editorial Page.  When reporting on political matters, articles that could injury politicians the paper supported did not receive the proper coverage or were ignored entirely, as were articles that would be positive for elected officials The Press-Enterprise did not like.  

But there is a silver lining in all of this.  

The Press-Enterprise's failure to report certain news items and the Editorial Board's out-of-touch views of the world led to the birth of Inside Riverside.  

Without the shortcomings of the Press Enquirer this blog never would have been born of necessity.  

So we thank the leaders of the Press Enquirer for creating the opportunity to build this blog which has had an explosion of readership at the same time your once great newspaper is going the way of the Dodo.  

Why Has John Benoit's Appointment Been Delayed?

California State Senator John Benoit's appointment to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors has been delayed.

As you know dear readers, we previously reported that  "Sources in the Schwarzenegger Administration have confirmed that the appointment of John Benoit as the replacement of Roy Wilson to the Board of Supervisors is imminent."

That report is now one month old and John Benoit has not been been appointed to the Board of Supervisors.

Some of you are saying that we were duped into breaking this story.  Others allege that we wrote a story that the facts didn't support.  Sorry Charlie, but that's not the case. 

There are three major reasons why Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has not yet made the appointment.

1.  John Benoit's appointment was delayed because of Inside Riverside's reporting to his pending appointment.  Governor Schwarzenegger hates having his decisions leaked early.  Rumor has it that he became angry with Benoit for allowing word to get out that he was getting Roy Wilson's old job.  

Back in 2007 Schwarzenegger almost reneged on his appointment of Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle to the Parole Board after Doyle told the media he had the appointment.  Lobbying of the Governor by those who wanted the Royal Doyle out of Riverside County helped keep the appointment on track.  

The funny part about all this though is that we did not receive our information on the appointment from John Benoit.  Our information came directly out of the Governor's office.  Our sources got the intel from Susan Kennedy (Governor Schwarzenegger's Chief of Staff) and John Cruz (Governor Schwarzenegger's Appointment's Secretary).  

If the Governor wants to be angry with anyone for loose lips, he should be directing his indignation at members of his own staff.

2.  John Benoit needs to cast a vote for Schwarzenegger supported legislation in the Legislature's current Special Session.  Benoit was unable to come home for his fundraiser two weeks back because the Governor called the State's do-nothing Legislature back into session to deal with California's water crisis.  

John Benoit's vote will likely be required for some legislation.  There is the possibility that Benoit will be asked for a water bill that is not good for Riverside County.  It's also possible that he'll be asked to break with his the out-of-touch Republican Party and back a Democratic bill.  We will keep a close eye on this and let you know how it all unfolds of course.

3.  The controversy over the validity of Roy Wilson's signature on the resignation letter has delayed John Benoit's appointment.  While our story about the distinct possibility that Roy Wilson's resignation letter may have been forged has been ignored by the mainstream media like the Desert Sun and the Press-Enterprise, some people are taking it seriously.  

A source has told us that a criminal complaint has been filed in this matter.  Neither the Riverside County District Attorney's office nor the State Attorney General's office will confirm if there is an investigation or not.  

However, since we understand that a complaint has been filed, it is reasonable to assume that the Governor has received word of this and is waiting to see the outcome of any investigation that may be happening.

So there you have it dear readers, three very strong reasons why John Benoit's appointment to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors has been delayed.  Now that we're explaining the delay the Governor will probably make the appointment just to show he wasn't dallying.  

That's fine Governor.  We know you like John Benoit don't stand for anything but your own ego and career.

Can Frank Robles Beat Sheriff Stan Sniff?

With the June 2010 election rapidly approaching, its time for us to start taking a closer look at some of the political campaigns that should be very hot and competitive races.

One of those race will likely be the one for the office of Riverside County County Sheriff/Coroner/Public Administrator.

Stan Sniff, who was appointed to finish the term of Sheriff Bob Doyle in October 2007, will face one of his former Chief Deputies, Frank Robles.  Robles quit after Sniff was sworn in as Sheriff.

Former Sheriff Doyle resigned his office in disgrace less than a year into his second term amidst the controversy that surrounded his office in the "badges to supporters" scandal.

This race should be a hot one, but the advantage clearly goes to Stan Sniff.

On paper, Frank Robles may look good, but he brings a lot of baggage to the race.  Before joining the Riverside Sheriff's Department, Frank Robles was the Chief of Police for Desert Hot Springs.  Crime was so bad in Desert Hot Springs during Robles' time as Chief, that the City disbanded its Police Department and decided to contract with the County Sheriff for law enforcement.

Frank Robles has the support of Bob Doyle for his campaign against Sniff.  This should raise a lot of questions as to why Frank Robles is really running for Sheriff.  Is it to do the job or to have revenge? We'd put our money on revenge.

Robles seemingly has the backing of a group of rich donors calling themselves "The Rangers" that rumor has it wants their badges back.  That combined with Robles having the support of Doyle is very disoncerting.  It also shows an incredible lack of judgment on Robles' part for his campaign to use Bob Doyle as a prominent supporter.  

And we here at Inside Riverside question the ethics and integrity of anyone that would solicit or accept the support of the Royal Doyle in any political campaign.  

When Robles says "our Sheriff's Department demands independent leadership, rock-solid integrity and a leader who knows how to get the most out of limited taxpayer dollars," it sounds more like he's endorsing Sheriff Sniff than criticizing him.

Stan Sniff on the other hand has a long and distinguished career in both the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the United States Army.  Sniff as you may recall from our earlier reporting, retired from the Army at the rank of Colonel.  The man is no slouch.  The only mark against him was his firing by Bob Doyle.  

But when Sniff became Sheriff he opened his confidential personnel file to the public and the media.  A review of Sniff's service record did not uncover a single blemish, proving that Doyle's firing of Sniff was purely a political move meant to prevent Sniff from running for Sheriff.

Sniff has the support of the rank and file members of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.   The coveted endorsement of the powerful Riverside Sheriffs' Association brings with it a vast amount of money that Robles' Rangers will not be able to match, at least not legally.  At last report, the Riverside Sheriffs' Association had close to $1 million in it's political action accounts.

Robles is obviously aware of this and has helped to recruit Deputy Mike Murray to run for President of the Riverside Sheriffs' Association.  Murray, who blindly supported Bob Doyle despite the way Doyle mistreated his fellow deputies, is clearly seeking the office of RSA President in order to pull the organization's endorsement away from Sheriff Sniff.  If that coup is successful, look for Murray to attempt to then get the deputies to endorse Robles so he can funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to him.

Murray and Robles' endeavor to take control of the Riverside Sheriffs' Association has the quiet support of the County Executive Office, which wants a weaker and more complacent union leadership in the next round of contract negotiations.  That should prevent most of the unions members from supporting Murray's campaign and subsequently stop Robles from getting his hands on their union dues for his campaign account.

As always dear readers, we'll keep you posted as things develop in this race.

Riverside County's Furlough Program Is A Flop

Riverside County's employee furlough program implemented by County CEO Bill Luna to save the County money may actually be costing more money than it is saving.

Sources in Riverside County have revealed that the County is having nurses on overtime pay working the shifts of the nurses off on a furlough day.  

A furlough day for those of us in the real world is better known as a day off without pay.

The reason why County nurses on furloughs are being replaced by nurses on overtime pay is simple.  It's the law.

California law mandates the minimum staffing of registered nurses in hospitals.   These are known as staffing ratios.  Some of California's nursing staffing ratios are as follows:

1 Registered Nurse for every 2 patients in Intensive Care

1 Registered Nurse for every patient in the Operating Room

1 Registered Nurse for every 4 patients in the Pediatrics

1 Registered Nurse for every 4 patients in the Emergency Room

Because of this law, even with Bill Luna's nifty little furlough program, the Riverside County Regional Medical Center can not just give a nurse an unpaid day off without replacing that nurse with another nurse.  

The logical thing to do would be to cover that shift with a nurse who would not wind up working overtime hours, but Riverside County does not have enough Registered Nurses on its payroll to do that. So to comply with both Luna's foolish furlough program and California's nursing staffing ratio law, a nurse who would not be paid overtime is told to stay home while a nurse who will be on time and a half pay is called into work.

Let's illustrate Luna's folly with an example, shall we?

A Registered Nurse III (there are five levels by the way, RN I being the lowest and RN V the highest) can make a maximum salary of $74,114.14. 

The hourly waged for a RN III is $35.63, making daily pay $285.04.

Now the time and a half hourly rate of pay for a RN III at the maximum level is $53.45.  

A full eight hour shift at time and a half and a RN III makes $427.56.

One day having a RN III on a furlough day replaced by a RN III on overtime costs the County of Riverside $142.52 more than if the nurse was not forced to take the day off without pay.

Riverside County's nurses are required to take 2 furlough days a month, which adds up to 24 such days each year.  Using our little example above, the County would be spending $3,420.48 more each year on a top step Registered Nurse III than it would if it did not have the furloughs.

So dear readers, Bill Luna's furlough program that was supposed to reduce this pay by 10% is in reality a 4.6% pay increase!

Absolutely, brilliant isn't it?  Well, no one every claimed that Bill Luna was a genius.  Well, maybe Luna did but after about five seconds talking to that bozo you'd know that's not the case.

We must also mention the numbskull that recommended this furlough program to County CEO Bill Luna. That would be Loony Luna's Assistant CEO Ron Komers who heads up the County's Human Resources. 

Several people in the County wanted Luna to replace Ron Komers when Luna took the CEO's spot.  Luna failed to do so, probably because he didn't want to look petty because he let go an Assistant CEO who was making more than him.  

But that failure to act is now coming back to bite Luna in the butt.  So will he act now?  That remains to be seen, but as the furlough fiasco gains public attention and media scrutiny Luna may have to fire Komers or lose his job himself because the last thing the Board of Supervisors wants to do is take heat for wasting tax dollars during these economically difficult times.  Especially after they told the people that the furloughs would save the County money and prevent layoffs.