Frank Robles wants to be Riverside County's Sheriff - but he doesn't want answer any tough questions during the campaign.
Riverside County's mainstream media (The Press-Enterprise, the Desert Sun, and the Californian) are content on giving Frank Robles a pass on tough questions since Robles is incessantly spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on full page advertisements in their papers, even though print is dead.
So once again dear readers, it is up to Inside Riverside to ask the questions that the dying print media won't.
1. Why Is Los Angeles County Businessman Leo McIntryre Bankrolling Frank Robles' Campaign?
Frank Robles has received $200,000 from the Southern California Braiding Company located in Bell, California . While its not unheard of for large contributions to come into these types of campaigns, seldom do such large infusions of cash come from sources outside of the County, as we have reported on twice.
The most logical reason for Leo McIntrye to be giving Frank Robles all of this money is that he expects something in return. But what is that something? Is it a no-bid county contract that Robles could dole out were he the Sheriff? What exactly does McIntrye's Southern California Braiding Company do?
Was Leo McIntrye a member of Bob Doyle's old Executive Council that had badges and/or concealed weapons permits that they were not capable? If so, is McIntyre backing Robles to bring back the Executive Council so that he and other contributors can get badges or gun permits again?
Is Frank Robles blackmailing Leo McIntyre? There is a rumor in Sheriff's Department that Frank Robles (and possibly Bob Doyle) did a huge favor of some kind for Leo McIntryre when McIntyre's wife passed away. We have no information that can confirm or deny this, but if there is any truth to it, is is possible that McIntrye is supportig Robles (and supported Doyle) to buy their silence? Hopefully, that's not the case, but still it's a question that truly needs to be examined, if only to be dismissed as untrue.
2. Will Frank Robles Open His Personnel Files for the Public?
When Stan Sniff became the Sheriff of Riverside County after Bob Doyle resigned in disgrace, Sniff did a bold thing: He opened his Personnel File for public inspection. The same dying newspapers that have been bought off by Robles' advertising binge, jumped at the opportunity to review Sniff's confidential file.
What did they find when looking at Stan Sniff's Personnel File? Nada. Zip. Zero.
Stan Sniff had an exemplary service record and had been terminated by Doyle for no cause whatsoever. Doyle had again lied to the public saying he had reason to let Sniff go. The truth turned out that Doyle had felt threatened by Sniff as Sniff had become overly concerned about the corruption of the Doyle regime. To rectify the problem, Sniff was considering running for Sheriff so Doyle got rid of him.
Frank Robles now needs to do that same and demonstrate that he has the character and qualifications it takes to be Sheriff. Robles needs open up his Personnel File not only at the Riverside Sheriff's Department, but also from when he was the Police Chief of Desert Hot Springs.
Since Robles wants to be Sheriff, the public has the right to know what kind of a cop Robles was. We need to know what history of discipline exists or does not exist when Robles was with the Sheriff's Department. After all, Robles suddenly retired when Sniff became Sheriff, just like all of Bob Doyle's other egomaniacal cronies. Why was that?
And what happened at Desert Hot Springs? We know Robles mismanaged the DHS' Police Department to the point of implosion, and the Sheriff's Department had to come take over the Department. But Robles was also fired during his time there and mysteriously rehired. There are also old newspaper reports that Frank Robles threatened city officials when he did not get his budget requests.
Specifically, Robles was accused of threatening former Desert Hot Springs City Manager Duane Gassaway and former City Councilmember Daniel Been. These are very serious allegations and need to be investigated and reported. The first step is having Frank Robles waive his confidentiality rights that he once enjoyed as a peace officer and allow the public to review his Personnel Files.
These are very serious questions that Frank Robles as a candidate for Sheriff should have no problem answering. Unfortunately, both he and the main stream media are silent on these topics.
While law enforcement operations often must be handled in secrecy to protect the lives of cops and the integrity of the investigation, the Office of Sheriff is an elected position. There needs to be a large degree of transparency from the person who wants that job.
From the current Sheriff, Stan Sniff, the people have that. From Frank Robles there has yet to be a hint of openness or transparency. That's a shame dear readers, because the voters should be allowed to examine the records of both Sniff and Robles and make an informed decision.
The only reason Frank Robles has to hide from answering these questions is that he would lose some political capital or credibility as a candidate if he were to honestly answer them. Hopefully he will.
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