Bob Buster's Car Problems

The Press Enquirer had an interesting tid bit a couple days back about Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster now driving a Toyota Highlander Hybrid instead of his "trusty old Chevy Impala."

Seems that calamity has befallen Bob Buster's Imapala, literally.  According to the PE's story "(a) massive pepper tree limb fell and squashed the car two Saturdays ago."

What a shame for the taxpayers of Riverside County. Especially in light of today's struggling local economy and the diminishing tax revenues of Riverside County.

But it got us thinking dear readers, who outside of Buster's colleagues, Buster's overpaid staff, county employees that Buster comes in contact with, and Buster's Marxist spouse would know that Supervisor Buster was driving a different car and not the Impala?

Why was it so important for Bob Buster to make sure this story was reported about the pepper tree falling on his Chevy Impala and that's why he is temporarily driving a much more expensive car?Certainly the Press Enterprise would not have reason to seek this story out.  Therefore the story is most likely Bob Buster generated in some fashion.

But to what end?   There are two very interesting possibilities dear readers.

First, many of those in the know believe that Riverside County Supervisor Bob Buster or his Chief of Staff Dave Stahovich was the source of the Press Enterprise's article in February that exposed Riverside County Supervisors John Tavaglione and Marion Ashley for buying luxury cars at taxpayer expense.

Specifically the article detailed that:

Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley warned in October that no one in county government would be immune from dire budget cutbacks. One week later, he got himself a 2009 Toyota Highlander Hybrid that cost taxpayers almost $53,000, county documents show.

Supervisor John Tavaglione, who has repeatedly called for county departments to rein in spending, had the county buy him a 2008 GMC Yukon hybrid that cost nearly $54,000 with a rear-seat DVD player, Bose speakers, leather seats and other features. The purchase was last spring, just months after supervisors approved this fiscal year's 5 percent across-the-board budget cuts.

County supervisors and department heads have since called for deeper budget cuts, reductions in public services, layoffs and employee frugality. But that has not stopped several of them from ordering new, fully loaded county cars bought with taxpayer money, a survey of county purchases in 2008 and 2009 found.

Two supervisors' county cars, including Tavaglione's hybrid sport utility vehicle, do not meet the minimum fuel-efficiency guidelines supervisors recently approved.

Buster allegedly wanted this story out to weaken Tavaglione and Ashley's positions when it came to the County Budget and Buster moved forward with his scheme to decimate funding in both the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney's Office.  

The tactic seems to have worked in regards to John Tavaglione who sided with Buster calling for deeper cuts in law enforcement funding last week.  Marion Ashley however withstood the initial outcry and criticism the article generated. So far Supervisor Ashley has remained true to his convictions and campaign positions by strongly supporting a new county budget that continues to put the citizens' safety first.

So, if Bob Buster generated the unflattering story for Ashley and Tavaglione, it only makes sense for him to want to get his side of the story out about his new Toyota Highlander.  Buster would want to do that before anyone could pounce on him for hypocrisy after outing his colleagues for their extravagant vehicle purchases on the taxpayer dime.

But what if Bob Buster was not the source of the February article? That's brings us to our next possibility in this matter.

What if Bob Buster crashed his car into the pepper tree?  That would explain the extensive damage to the vehicle and the need for Buster to get the story written.  

Pepper trees are notoriously light, hence why their branches frequently fall and they are frequently uprooted when a good wind comes by.  If a whole tree fell on Buster's Chevy Impala maybe the car would be totaled, but one branch would most likely not cause that much damage.  And to top it off, on the weekend in question, Riverside wasn't experiencing high winds that would have downed a pepper tree or one of its limbs.

This makes us wonder dear readers, is there more to this story than Supervisor Bob Buster wants us to know?  If he accidentally hit the tree upon returning home, he should have reported it that way.  No big deal.  We all have accidents and make mistakes.

But if Bob Buster was under the influence of alcohol or prescription medication that impaired his ability to operate a motor vehicle, he would want a story to cover that up, wouldn't he?

Now before all of our blog's detractors go crazy and say we are making things up just to attack Bob Buster, consider some additional evidence:

• Last year Bob Buster was in a single car accident in his county car.
• Bob Buster waited several hours to report the accident, a violation of county policy. 
• This accident was not covered by the media. 
• When the County of Riverside reviewed Bob Buster's single car accident it ruled that the accident was "preventable." 

Now a year later Bob Buster has another single car accident.  Something just doesn't add up.  And even Buster seems to know it.

In the recent article when asked about permanently replacing the totaled Chevy Impala, Bob Buster said "I'll probably get a bike before I get a car."   A very odd statement for someone to make that does not have a history of riding a bike to work, unless of course the person recognizes that they are a threat to safety of motorists and pedestrians.

Supporters and detractors of Bob Buster all know that he is victims of erratic mood swings and incoherent outbursts of anger.  In recent years the frequency of Buster's mood swings and outbursts has steadily increased.  Could this be because of a larger consumption of alcohol on Buster's part?  Or is Supervisor Buster taking medications to help him manage some sort of mental illness? 

We don't know dear readers, but will be keeping a keen eye on Supervisor Bob Buster and any further developments in this story. 

Nevertheless, if Bob Buster has a history of driving under the influence, then it all makes perfect sense why he would want to stop law enforcement from running DUI check points, why he would want the DA to limit prosecutions of these "non-violent offenders,"  and why he would want to stop the expansion of the County's correctional  system that currently does not require convicted drunk drivers to serve time in jail.