Inside Riverside

A Couple Questions for Frank Robles

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.

Lackluster Challengers Take On County Elected Officials

The Riverside County Registrar of Voters released a list of candidates in the various races throughout Riverside County for the June Election.  Only one word comes to mind dear readers:  Yawn.

2nd District County Supervisor John Tavaglione is being challenged by Herb Higgins, a former Norco City Councilmember.  Higgins has not raised any money and does not have a campaign organization from what anyone can tell.  Tavaglione on other hand has locked up the key endorsements of his district and has over $400,000 in the bank.  That's hardly a contest.  Tavaglione's next four years are quite secure.

5th District Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley, despite being the target of a half-hearted recall last year, is running unopposed.

Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff is being challenged by his former Chief Deputy Frank Robles.  Robles is relying on the financial assistance of Los Angles County businessman Leo McIntrye.  Sniff, like Tavaglione, has picked up all of the major endorsements and has his deputies and their gigantic Political Action Committee in his corner.  Robles' failure to mount a takeover of the Riverside Sheriffs' Association last year pretty much doomed his campaign.

Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco is being challenged by Judge Paul Zellerbach. While this is being billed in the main stream media as the clash of the titans, in reality that's far from the truth. Pacheco too has all of the major endorsements for his race and has close to $500,000 on hand to Zellerbach's $0.00.  

Zellerbach came out swinging at Pacheco in his announcement claiming that under Pacheco, the District Attorney's office has been losing more than half of the cases it prosecutes.  Zellerbach's statistics were debunked last week by the Press Enterprise in an article that showed Pacheco's DA's office gets convictions of about 95% of the defendants it prosecutes.  It's going to be next to impossible to argue with those results, especially after the very newspaper that hates Pacheco has already outed Zellerbach for his exaggerations.

The only race really worth watching this spring is probably the one that will go down in the desert.

4th District County Supervisor John Benoit, who was appointed to the Board of Supervisors by Governor Schwarzenegger after the resignation and death of Roy Wilson, faces retired Palm Springs Police Chief Gary Jeandron.  Benoit is an experienced and hard edged campaigner with close to $300,000 in the bank and all of the endorsements one needs to get elected in eastern Riverside County, except one very important one.

The Riverside Sheriffs' Association is backing Jeandron.  This endorsement so outraged Benoit that he retaliated against them by cutting the pay of the Probation Officers the RSA represents and imposed furloughs on them.  The RSA didn't take it lying down and is now running radio advertisements in the desert informing the public of Benoit's role in cutting law enforcement since joining the Board of Supervisors.

Benoit is also being hobbled by his affiliation with developers Steve Holgate and Robert Osborne who have been indicted in the San Jacinto corruption case.  Benoit was forced to give $10,000 to charity that came from their tainted contributions.  And a few weeks ago a Sacramento political consultant had his office raided by Riverside County District Attorneys investigators.  The consultant was doing work for Holgate on behalf of Benoit in the 2008 Republican Primary Election.

While it is unknown how much money RSA will give Jeandron in his battle against Benoit, Jeandron is already running his own radio advertisements.  This is probably a good indication that he's had a major infusion of cash since announcing his candidacy.

Despite all of this, the odds are still in Benoit's favor.  He's been in office for over a decade, has a professional team with him, and never misses an opportunity to be in the media.  

We'll keep tabs on things for you as always, but leave you with one final thought:  In a county with over 2 million people, isn't there a better list of challengers out there?

Who Is Frank Robles' Sugar Daddy?

The latest round of campaign finance disclosures are out and wannabe Sheriff Frank Robles has only $12,474.03 left in his bank account.  

That's not enough to run a successful campaign for countywide office in Riverside County, so Robles' campaign is effectively already over.  Or is it?

The big news contained in Frank Robles' disclosure is the fact that he raised $110,693.00 last year. That's quite impressive for a failed police chief and political nitwit.  

But what's most intriguing about that money raised is that $100,000 of it came from a single source:  You guessed it dear readers, Southern California Braiding Company, Inc.

As we previously reported, Southern California Braiding Company is owned by Leo McIntyre.  McIntrye's contributions to Frank Robles make up more than 90% of all the money Robles has raised. 

It remains a mystery why a Los Angeles County based business and its Los Angeles County based owner have taken such a strong interest in electing Frank Robles as Riverside County Sheriff.  But the words "bought and paid for" do come to mind here.

The pervasive rumor around the County is that when Frank Robles ran the Coroners Office he met Leo McIntrye when McIntryre's wife died.  The two allegedly formed a friendship then that resulted in McIntryre making big monetary contributions to Robles' 1994 campaign for Sheriff and to Bob Doyle's campaigns as well.

If that's the case, then something is fishy.  Did Frank Robles do something inappropriate when he was at the Coroner's Office?  Is there a case there that should be re-opened and examined by the District Attorney or the Attorney General?  We honestly don't know what the real motivation for McIntyre is here.

Robles hasn't talked about the subject and no one in the dying traditional media is looking into the matter.  Which shouldn't surprise us at all.  After all, the Press-Enterprise got the nickname the Press-Enquirer from us because it spent more time sensationalizing gossip while covering over important facts in the interest of promoting its political agenda.

Hopefully someone will come forward and tell us just why Leo McIntyre is Frank Robles' sugar daddy. Until then dear readers, we will just have to keep digging into this story and the mysterious past interconnections of Frank Robles and Leo McIntyre.

Can Gary Jeandron Unseat John Benoit?

Gary Jeandron is challenging appointed County Supervisor John Benoit in the upcoming June Election.

Jeandron is the President of the Palm Springs Unified School District and the retired police chief of Palm Springs.  Jeandron spent three decades as a cop with the Palm Springs Police Department.

John Benoit was appointed by to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors by Governor Schwarzenegger after Benoit voted for the pork-filled $11 billion water bond the Governor was pushing.  Benoit filled the spot left vacant by the sudden resignation and death of County Supervisor Roy Wilson.  

Wilson's resignation letter, which appears to be a forgery, asked the Governor to appoint Benoit to the job.

As you know, dear readers, this entire process has not set well with a lot of people, including us.  Many voters were clamoring for someone like former State Senator Jim Battin to challenge Benoit and take the seat from him.  Battin appears to have no interest in the race, but Gary Jeandron is a different story.

The question dear readers is:  Can Gary Jeandron unseat John Benoit?

The answer to that question is:  Maybe.

Now before you go off and say that anyone "might" be able to win any campaign, let us clarify what we're saying, dear readers.

In any campaign, the natural advantage goes to the incumbent.  Although he is appointed, John Benoit is the incumbent.  He's been shamefully raising money for months and he's been a very visible politician for almost ten years now. 

On top of that, sitting members of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors are seldom beat in an election.  Yes, Jeff Stone did unseat County Supervisor Jim Venable in 2004, but prior to that the last time a sitting County Supervisor was defeated in Riverside County was 1972!

All that aside, Gary Jeandron has a very good shot at unseating John Benoit in June.  

This race could be a nail biter and should be considered a toss up because Gary Jeandron is the most formidable opponent John Benoit has ever faced in an election.

In 2002, Benoit handily defeated lobbyist Patrick O'Reilly's right hand man, Lou Monville in the Republican Primary.  Monville who had a resume that looked decent on paper had no real life experience that mattered much to the voters.  Benoit on the other hand had 30 years with the California Highway Patrol.  

This was the first election after the Al Qeada attacks of September 11, 2001.  George W. Bush was beating the drums of war.  Safety was first on the minds of voters.  So who should they vote for to keep them safe?  The questionably disabled CHP Commander beats the PR Executive in that match up no matter what.  This was a safe Republican seat, so the General Election was of no consequence.

Forward to 2008 and Assembyman John Benoit faced a more formidable challenger in former Assemblyman Russ Bogh for the California State Senate.  They were running to fill Jim Battin's seat, as Senator Battin fell victim of California's term limits.  Battin was backing Bogh.

Both Benoit and Bogh could be considered conservative Republicans, although Bogh was more socially conservative, as Benoit frequently provided the necessary votes for the State to approve the legislation that funded Medi-Cal.  

Medi-Cal is used to provide family planning services and health care to the poor despite their immigration status. While it is illegal to cut off this funding, conservative Republicans typically vote against these bills as they do provide taxpayer funding for abortions of for health care for undocumented immigrants, which conservative Republicans allegedly oppose. Benoit's votes outed him as a moderate on these issues important to the GOP's Republican base.

What should have been a much closer race, turned into a blow out, as Benoit capitalized on mistakes made by Bogh.  Bogh's campaign foolishly started handing out attack flyers months before the Primary Election highlighting Benoit's moderate voting record.  Benoit was able to introduce legislation to paint himself as a social conservative to provide him political cover on these issues. Not the best use of taxpayer money by Benoit, but it did turn out to be politically profitable for him.

As the campaign moved on, John Benoit attacked Russ Bogh and his family business for questionable dealings that Bogh failed to adequately respond to. On top of that, the main issue of the time was illegal immigration, which gave Benoit the same advantage that he had in 2002 against Lou Monville.

The question became who should voters trust to kick illegal immigrants out of California, the bald highway patrolman or the youthful businessman?  Businessman Bogh never had a chance in that climate. Again, the Senate seat was safely Republican. Even with the Democratic tidal wave of 2008, Benoit was going to the State Senate.

Now John Benoit is going up against Gary Jeandron. There are many similarities between Benoit and Jeandron.  Both are long time residents of the Coachella Valley.  Both have served on school boards. Both are cops, but that's also where they differ.  

While both Gary Jeandron and John Benoit spent 30 years in law enforcement, Benoit's service however pales compared to Jeandron's.  In fact when you place their service records side by side, Gary Jeandron makes John Benoit seem like little more than a meter maid.

Gary Jeandron was shot in the line of duty, kept working, and does not take his retirement pay tax free for the injuries he sustained. John Benoit on the other hand gets a portion of his retirement tax free because he got skin cancer on his ear. Questions abound about Benoit's disability, and running against Jeandron won't help him make those questions go away.  In fact Gary Jeandron makes John Benoit look like an out-and-out fraud.

But the issue on the minds of the voters today does not appear to be safety.  If something happens in the next five months it may but, but as of today it's the economy, stupid. That means the playing field is level for both Jeandron and Benoit, which is why this race is a Toss Up. 

However, given the anti-incumbent wave that is sweeping America these days, don't be too surprised if John Benoit is out of a job next January.  

Can Steve Pougnet Beat Mary Bono Mack?

Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack is facing a challenge from Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet.

Steve Pougnet is seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party this June to challenge Congresswoman Bono Mack in the 45th Congressional District come November.  The District covers the Coachella Valley and central and southern portions of the County.

If he succeeds in ousting Bono Mack from her seat, Steve Pougnet would be Riverside County's first openly gay member of Congress.

Steve Pougnet came to prominence in Palm Springs when he was elected to the City Council in 2003 along with Ginny Foat and then-Mayor Ron Oden.  Their victory significantly changed the Palm Springs City Council from one of latent conservative leanings to one with a Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender (GLBT) majority and a active GLBT agenda.

In 2007, Steve Pougnet was elected as the Mayor of Palm Springs.  The transition of mayoral power from the openly gay Oden to the openly gay Pougnet marked another milestone in Palm Springs GLBT movement.  It proved 2003 wasn't a fluke.  The GLBT movement had staying power in Palm Springs.

After Barack Obama carried the 45th Congressional District in his 2008 victory, Steve Pougnet set his sights on the Congress and challenged Bono Mack.  A real estate agent by trade, Steve Pougnet was able to campaign virtually non-stop last year since there was little action in Riverside County's home buying market in 2009.  

Politically, Steve Pougnet offers a stark contrast to Republican Mary Bono Mack as he is definitely in line with the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's liberal-progressive agenda.

Since economics will likely dominate this year's campaigns, it's important for us to look at Steve Pougnet's economic policies.

On the Palm Springs City Council Steve Pougnet has shown he is not afraid to raise taxes.  If elected to the Congress, Pougnet will support raising income taxes, which will happen in 2011 after the Congress allows the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 to expire. 

Steve Pougnet has been evasive about his position on Health Care Reform, but it is clear that he would have supported the plan that was approved by House last year which included a single-payer public option for health insurance.

Steve Pougnet also supports increased federal spending.  He has constantly criticized Mary Bono Mack for not supporting the Economic Stimulus legislation last year, even though the only "success" of the Stimulus has been to vastly increase the National Debt.  The Stimulus has not revived America's economy or resulted in any net job creation.

This should be an interesting contest dear reader.  Steve Pougnet has the money to give Bono Mack a solid challenge.  There are plenty of issues for them to debate and discuss beyond economics, but in the end the edge still goes to Congresswoman Bono Mack.

The 45th Congressional District is more of a centrist-right leaning seat.  Bono Mack's positions on most issues line up better with the voters there than Pougnet's positions do.  While Steve Pougnet's progressive, GLBT politics may gain him votes in Palm Springs, it is doubtful that his positions will help him outside of his own city.

Dennis Hollingsworth Fundraiser Guilty of Money Laundering

Republican Assemblyman Joel Anderson, a one-time fundraiser for Republican Senator Dennis Hollingsworth has been found guilty of money laundering by California's official political watchdog group, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

Assemblyman Joel Anderson reached a plea agreement with the FPPC where he will pay a $20,000 fine for the money laundering scheme he put in place to get around the California's campaign contribution limits.

According to the exhibits attached to Joel Anderson's plea bargain with the FPPC, Assemblyman Anderson steered $48,000 in contributions from five  of his San Diego County donors to the Fresno County Republican Party in May and June of this year. 

The Fresno County Republican Party then turned around, took a cut for administrative fees, and contributed $45,600 to Joel Anderson's campaign within days of receiving the contributions.

This money laundering scheme effectively allowed Anderson's five donors to give him $26,100 more than state law allowed.    

After a San Diego Union Tribute story broke that uncovered this money laundering scheme, Joel Anderson invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself in any criminal matter.  However, he did return these contributions along with an additional $31,000 he had also received from the Fresno County Republican Party.

The Placer County Republican Party and Stanislaus County Republican Party also gave Joel Anderson's campaign $31,000 each.  It turns out that all three of these County Republican Party's received $32,400 from Anderson before making the contributions back to him. 

Anderson also returned those two contributions as the FPPC began its investigation into his money laundering scheme.  Due to lack of sufficient evidence, the FPPC ended its investigation into this part of Anderson's money laundering scheme.

Like Anderson though, the Fresno County Republican Party did however make a plea bargain with the FPPC for its role in Anderson's money laundering scheme and has agreed to pay a $29,000 fine.

The District Attorneys of these three counties and the Attorney General may still look into the matter further given the seriousness of the conspiracy to violate California's campaign finance laws.

Anderson, who represents an Assembly seat in San Diego County worked as a fundraiser for Dennis Hollingsworth when Hollingsworth was running for the State Senate in 2002.

Joel Anderson is also a likely candidate for Dennis Hollingsworth's Senate Seat.  Term limits are forcing Hollingsworth out of office. Hollingsworth is allegedly supporting Anderson in the race, which shouldn't be surprising as hypocrites usually stand with hypocrites. 

If Anderson does run for the State Senate he will be facing Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone in the June Republican Primary.  Many speculate that Anderson orchestrated the money laundering scheme because he was unable to compete with Jeff Stone's fundraising lead.

Given all that's happened now however, between money he had to refund and the $20,000 FPPC fine, Joel Anderson's money laundering scheme has cost him almost $160,000 that he can not use in his next campaign.  With Anderson possessing such amazing financial abilities, is it any wonder that the state continues to be mired in a never ending budget crisis?

While the FPPC has come to a an agreement with Joel Anderson in this matter, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis appears to be in the midst of a criminal investigation into this matter.  Her public integrity unit refused to comment on whether there is or isn't a criminal investigation into Joel Anderson's admitted money laundering.  That's usually a sure indication that there is one.

We also must note dear readers, that the law that Joel Anderson has admitted breaking is the same one that San Jacinto City Councilman Jim Ayres has been indicted for violating.  

The only difference between Jim Ayres and Joel Anderson is the fact that Anderson has admitted that he conspired with others to launder larger sums of money into his campaign than state law allows by concealing the true identity of the donors.  

Whereas Anderson freely admits breaking the law in his plea bargain with the FPPC, Jim Ayres denies the charges, which makes us wonder dear readers if it's only a matter of time before Joel Anderson is brought up on similar criminal charges by the San Diego District Attorney's office.

After all, Joel Anderson's plea bargain agreement with the FPPC is public record and could be used as evidence against him in any criminal prosecution.

Who's Funding Frank Robles? And Why?

They say that money is the mother's milk of politics.  

And last week's indictments of four members of the San Jacinto Council remind us that politicians will do many things, legal and otherwise, to get their hands on that precious political milk.

Which brings us dear readers to the man who want to be Riverside County's next Sheriff, Frank Robles.

Frank Robles as we've reported is the failed former police chief of Desert Hot Springs and a political crony of disgraced Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle who left office admist the controversy surrounding his illegal practice of giving badges to supporters.  

Back in May, Frank Robles declared his intent to run for the office of Sheriff, seeking to unseat current Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff in next year's election.

Frank Robles' campaign finance filing covering the first part of the year shows that Robles raised $67,390.00 between June 1, 2009 and June 30, 2009.  

That's means Frank Robles was raking in average of roughly $2,245.00 per day in June.  That's appears quite impressive, doesn't it, dear readers?

Well, in politics as in life, all is not what it appears.

You can click here to view Robles' campaign report:  Download Frank_Robles_460_June_30_2009. 

$65,000 of the money that Frank Robles has raised from his campaign comes from a single source: Southern California Braiding Company, Inc. of Bell, California.  

Robles reported that Southern California Braiding Company, Inc. gave him $50,000 on June 1, 2009, then gave him an additional $15,000 a week later on June 8, 2009.

The $65,000 that Frank Robles reports collecting from Southern California Braiding Company, Inc. represents a whopping 96% of Robles total contributions.

The other $2,390.00 (or 4%) of Robles contributions comes from the following contributors:

    $500.00 from Mike Murray of Oak Hills on June 27

    $500.00 from Richard J. Rile of Riverside, on June 2

    $100.00 from Jim Parsons of Riverside on June 13

    $100.00 from Frances Parsons of San Bernardino on June 4

    $100.00 from Rose Perkins of Riverside on June 2

    $100.00 from Robert B. Wilkins of Riverside on June 27

    $990.00 came from unitemized sources since the contributions were amounts under $100.00

$500 donor Mike Murray as you might recall is a Riverside County Deputy Sheriff and one of the last remaining hacks loyal to the Royal Doyle.  Murray is also a currently a candidate for president of the Riverside Sheriff's Association, the union representing the Sheriff's Department rank and file officers.

Murray has denied being a puppet for Frank Robles, but his personal contribution to Robles' campaign for sheriff impeaches him.  Murray appears to be seeking the RSA presidency not to represent the union's membership, but to represent the interests of Frank Robles.

Since the Riverside Sheriff's Association has about $1 million in it's Political Action Fund, Murray as RSA president would be positioned to throw the union's support behind Frank Robles and then funnel the members dues to Robles for his campaign. 

If Mile Murray is able to raid the RSA's coffers and help Frank Robles get elected as Sheriff, Robles would probably repay  Murray by promoting him to Sergeant having both won office and effectively gutted the deputies union of its political clout, then leaving the association without a leader.  

This arrangement seems to have the support of Riverside County's Executive Office and County Supervisor Bob Buster who desire to dismantle the RSA leadership then impose pay cuts and furloughs.

Buster revealed his allegiance by pulling his endorsement of Sheriff Stan Sniff earlier this year and is now helping Robles in his campaign for Sheriff.

But even if Mike Murray and Frank Robles are unable to take over the RSA and suck its members dry of their money, Robles still has the deep pockets of the Southern California Braiding Company in his corner.

So who is behind the Southern California Braiding Company, Inc. of Bell, California?

According to the corporate filings with California's Secretary of State, Southern California Braiding Company is a California Corporation that has been active since 1974.  The agent for service of process for Southern California Braiding Company is one Leo P. McIntyre of Northridge, California.

Sources close to Robles tell us the Leo McIntryre runs Southern California Braiding Company, Inc. This company was also one of Bob Doyle's major supporters, and one of the few donors to receive its money back when Doyle resigned his office in disgrace.

Now its not unusual for campaigns in Riverside County to receive large contributions from single sources. But those large sums of campaign cash usually come from local unions and developers with business in the County.

What is unusual is that Southern California Braiding Company's about large contributions is that the firm located in Los Angeles County.  And Leo McIntyre is also a resident of Los Angeles County. Something appears to be a bit wrong here.

What's is Leo McIntyre's huge interest in Riverside County politics?

What's Leo McIntyre's relationship with Frank Robles and Bob Doyle?

Could there be a Stephen Holgate - Jim Ayres thing going on here?

As the San Jacinto indictments remind us, relationships between candidates and their major contributors need to be examined closely by the media, and preferably before they win a possibly tainted election.

There's 7 1/2 months until the election for Riverside County Sheriff.  That's more than enough time for The Press-Enterprise and the rest of the traditional media to look into this rather than miss the story for three long years the way they did with San Jacinto's corruption.

But if they continue to fail to do their job, have no fear dear readers, we here at Inside Riverside will continue to report on the news that they should be and either can't or won't report to you.

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.

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.