Bob Buster Moves To Gut Public Safety

Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster agrees with President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. You can never let a good crisis go to waste.

For years Bob Buster, a member of the 1960's counter culture, has had to bide his time and do his best to hide his anti-cop beliefs that can best be summed up by lyrics in the Rolling Stones song, Sympathy for the Devil: "Every cop is a criminal, and all the sinners saints."

But now with the current budget crisis that has been manufactured by County CEO Bill Luna, the time has arrived for Bob Buster to strike at the cops he so hates, gutting the the budgets of Riverside County's public safety agencies, and leaving them weak and ineffective for years to come.

Yes, you read that right dear readers, Riverside County's budget crisis has been manufactured by its power hungry CEO Bill Luna, with the consent of at least three county supervisors.  One of them is obviously County Supervisor Bob Buster.   The other two anti-cop votes have yet to reveal themselves. 

The fiscal predictions put forward by CEO Bill Luna at first were intentionally too optimistic, luring county department heads into a false sense of security that the economy was in bad shape, but by making a few cuts here and there, things would be alright. 

The budget shortfall was predicted to be $90 million this upcoming fiscal year.  With the 10% across the board cuts that Bill Luna wanted from each department, the Sheriff would be required to cut $72 million.  The District Attorney would have to cut $12 million, for a combined total of $84 million.

This raised some eyebrows.

Why was Bill Luna demanding such deep cuts in all departments, if the cuts he was insisting on from Sheriff Stan Sniff and District Attorney Rod Pacheco almost covered the entire shortfall before any other departments had submitted their budgets?

Because Bill Luna by his own account is treacherous.  Only after he had lured the county's department heads into a false sense of budget security could he spring the trap and take control of each department, even those run by elected officials, like the Sheriff Department and the DA's Office.

When Luna revised his budget projections, the sky had fallen.  The county's budget shortfall was now predicted to be $130 million.  Drastic actions would need to be taken.  Luna would need broad power from the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to make deep cuts and keep the County solvent.  On a 4-1 vote, Supervisor Jeff Stone dissenting, the Board gave him the power earlier this month.

But Sheriff Stan Sniff and DA Rod Pacheco were still questioning Luna's numbers and his motives.  But far be it for Bill Luna to let elected officials get in his way.  He needs more power and is willing to do anything to get it, like manipulate Riverside County's budget process for his own purposes.

And it doesn't hurt when three County Supervisors support your duplicity and thirst for power.

As the Press-Enterprise reported on Saturday Bill Luna is proposing a County Budget for the upcoming fiscal year that expands his power and makes drastic cuts to public safety by:

• Giving CEO Bill Luna power over both the Sheriff's and the District Attorney's operations.
• 575 employees of the Sheriff's Department are to be laid off. 
• 110 employees of the District Attorney's Office are toe be laid off. 
• 7 county fire stations are to be closed. 
• The Larry Smith Correctional Facility in Banning is to be closed. 

As you can see in the article, Luna has the support of Bob Buster to take these steps.  And why wouldn't Buster support this?   After all these years, Bob Buster finally has the opportunity to put some restraints on law enforcement, to reverse the County's long held pro-cop stance, and to leave a permanent stamp on Riverside County long after Buster is gone from the Board.

Since both the office of Sheriff and District Attorney are constitutionally mandated, it is questionable as to what power and authority a non-elected County Administrator like Bill Luna could legitimately take from either elected official.  One could easily imagine Bill Luna being arrested and charged with obstruction of justice if he tried to interfere or run operations in either department without a clear legal precedent on his side.  

But it would be fun to watch and report on!

Now, should the full Board of Supervisors grant Luna the power to make the cuts he and Buster are supporting they would be devastating to Riverside's public safety operations.

The cuts to the Sheriffs Department will end almost all sheriffs patrols in the unincorporated areas of Riverside County.  Supervisor John Tavaglione who represents the largest populated unincorporated area of Riverside County would have to be out of his mind to vote for this.

Closing seven fire stations will put thousands of Riverside County residents at greater risk to losing their homes to wildfires and threatens lives by greatly increasing emergency medical response times.  Supervisors Marion Ashley and Jeff Stone had portions of their districts devastated by the Esperanza Fire.  Would they really risk greater fire dangers by shutting fire stations so Bob Buster can punish the firefighters that did not support his re-election efforts?

The closure of the Banning Jail will increase the number of criminals that get out out jail early each year to over 10,000. If memory serves, both Jeff Stone and Marion Ashely campaigned against ending the early release of criminals.  Stone even supports setting up tent city jails like those that exist in Maricopa County, Arizona.  Maybe its time to revisit that proposal.

The proposed layoffs and cuts to the DA's office are the most intriguing.  By imposing these cuts and giving Luna a voice in the DA's operation, it appears that Buster and Luna intend to force District Attorney Rod Pacheco to maintain his unyielding focus on prosecuting violent crime by cutting back on what they consider to be "less essential prosecutions", like those involving public corruption.  

Does this mean that the scandal involving Bob Buster's political consultant and county lobbyist Patrick O'Reilly goes deeper than we currently know, dear readers?  If so,does such a scandal implicate O'Reilly's other past clients like Marion Ashley, Roy Wilson, and the County of Riverisde?  

We promise keep you posted on that one as we keep digging.

The question now dear readers is will Supervisors John Tavaglione and Marion Ashley break their silence and speak out against the dangerous cuts Bob Buster and Bill Luna are proposing?  Or will they remain silent and let Buster have his way and continue to allow Luna to usurp the power the voters entrusted to the Board of Supervisors?

County Supervisor Roy Wilson is unlikely to participate in the budget deliberations since he broke his hip and is recovering from surgery.  Supervisor Jeff Stone has indicated that he has serious reservations about the cuts Luna is bringing before the Board of Supervisors. 

So the fate of public safety in Riverside County lays squarely at the feet of John Tavaglione and Marion Ashley.  They both have campaigned as strong public safety supporters.  Now is their chance to prove their credentials.  If they don't, at least the voters will have a chance to show their displeasure in any lack of leadership Tavaglione or Ashley show come the election next June.

Comments

[Fire John Tavaglione]

Doesn't surprise me at all that Buster would try this. Tavaglione is no better he just comes off more sane. I hear that one of the police officers thats on the Corona council is looking at challenging him. There's also a woman in Eastvale that has tons of storys about the police taking forever to get to calls and the gangs pretty much doing as they please. She could really unpants him as the do nothing that he is. Tavaglione does not deserve a free ride this time.

[Xn8d]

The Sheriff's department and the DA are one of the most corrupt in the nation. It's good to prune the bad branches. Do you need me to dig dirt on them?

[PseudoUnionRep]

To Xn8d: I have been a longtime loyal fan and reader of this Blog. However, you should know that you are wasting your time offering to "dig dirt" for them. Several times, I myself asked the authors at Inside Riverside to contact me or look into certain issues. I received no response every time. There is still no way to contact them directly or leave them a private email either. Now that the Royal Doyle and SOME of his minions are gone (there are still a few in hiding), IR has no interest in pursuing the crime fighting Duo of Brat Man and the Boy Blunder as corrupt. They just keep covering for each other and the public is paying for it in the long run. It's time for a real investigation, not just lip service.

[Stop Your Whining]

Interesting that both of the people above make claims of corruption and complain that no one will listen to them but then refuse to list any of their allegations.

What are they afraid of? That their little lies and rumors they pretend to be the truth will get turned on its head and they won't be able to use it to slander their political enemies any further?

It's time for these whiners to put up or shut up.

[Educated1]

This is a good, positive move for the county, and will win Buster even more support.

I think you're a bit tone deaf if you believe the people think that cops make us safer - in fact, most people believe the opposite to be true.

cops = danger

cops = stay away

trimming the fat here is long overdue