More:
And:
Spaccia was the acting city manager in Maywood. Remember Maywood?
Archive for the ‘California Über Alles’ Category
That’s how they got Al Capone, you know.
Saturday, November 9th, 2013Hair Club for Mayors.
Friday, November 8th, 2013Perhaps one of the worst things about committing a crime, or even being charged with one, is all the background stuff that tends to leak out about you. Your tastes in porn, booze, interior decoration…all of those things come out at trial.
You may beat the rap, but you can’t beat the embarrassment of everyone knowing that you scammed money to pay for cheap vodka or lap dances from low-end strippers or Michael Jackson memorablia.
Or, in today’s example…
Here’s a photo of former Mayor Hernandez from earlier this year, if you want to judge the value Bell got for their money. Former Mayor Hernandez, by the way, was making “just under” $100,000 a year for what was a part-time job. WebMD says that hair transplants run between $4,000 and $15,000. Or you could buy lasers for $549.
And as for George Cole…
Cole’s top annual salary was $67,000, his attorney said. At the time, he was earning nearly $95,000 a year as chief executive of the Steelworkers Old Timers Foundation.
In 2004, the city paid the state pension system $36,648 to buy Cole an additional five years of service time. Cole was one of 11 Bell administrators for whom the city bought service time.
The Biggest Loser Resort in Malibu charges about $3,000 a week (though the longer you stay, the more of a break you get on the weekly rate).
Surely you would think that these folks could afford to pay for their own weight loss and baldness treatments. But they didn’t, and now everyone knows.
(And to be clear, I don’t throw stones at people who get hair plugs or go to weight loss resorts. I throw stones at people who scam money from the taxpayers to do those things. “Tax-fattened hyena”, indeed.)
The Adams Testimony.
Thursday, November 7th, 2013Were you wondering what Angela Spaccia, former assistant city manager of Bell, looks like wearing a bathrobe and smoking a cigar?
What does this have to do with corruption in Bell? Well, Spaccia texted that photo to Randy Adams, the former police chief, and it was introduced as evidence during Adams’ testimony yesterday. I think the prosecution’s intent is to establish that the Adams/Spaccia relationship went beyond the bounds of “professional”: not necessarily romantic, but perhaps a closer friendship than either one is letting on. (In turn, I guess this is intended to make the jury question Adams’ testimony for Spaccia.)
In other news, Adams was shocked, shocked! that the city of Bell was willing to pay him $457,000 a year to be Bell’s police chief. But Randy Adams appears to be much like the great Clay Davis: he’ll take any motherf—-r’s money if he givin’ it away!
It is perhaps worth pointing out that Mister Shocked, Shocked I Am:
…who had recently retired as Glendale’s police chief, wanted a salary in excess of $400,000.
It is also worth reminding folks that before he moved over to Bell, Adams was paid half as much in Glendale and ran a much larger department. And let’s not forget that little disability pension thing, but I suspect that will come out in the cross-examination.
I hate to jump to conclusions here, but I’m not sure calling Adams as a defense witness was the brightest thing Spaccia’s council could have done.
In the meantime, since you’ve got it stuck in your head anyway….
Banana republicans watch: November 6, 2013.
Wednesday, November 6th, 2013Politics depress me. In general and in specific. (I’m not sure how I feel about the Astrodome being declared dead.)
But there is at least one bright spot. Voters in the bankrupt municipality of San Bernardino threw out several elected officials in a recall election.
Those given the axe:
- “Longtime councilwoman” Wendy McCammack. This is interesting because Ms. McCammack was also the top vote-getter in the San Bernardino mayor’s race. However, there were a total of 10 candidates, and she got “just under” 25% of the vote. I wonder how many of the eight other candidates are going to throw their support to her, and how many will support “Carey Davis, an accountant and political newcomer”.
- City attorney James Penman. City attorney is an elected rather than appointed position? Interesting.
- Robert Jenkins, “charged with more than 30 felony and misdemeanor counts related to allegedly posting ads on Craigslist for sex partners and directing them to a former partner and another man”.
I haven’t been giving much attention to the Angela Spaccia/Bell trial. Most of what I’ve seen in the LAT has been the usual back and forth we’ve seen in the other trials: “City council approved!” “Did not!” “Did too!” “Rizzo’s a big poopy head and it was all his fault!”
(There have been a few amusing bits I missed covering. Among them:
The contracts in question being those for Spaccia and Robert “Ratso” Rizzo. This is interesting: while I can’t find the story now, I do recall reading that former Bell finance director Lourdes Garcia slipped contracts for Spaccia and Rizzo into stacks of other documents that were signed blindly by city officials.)
Things are getting a little more interesting. Randy Adams, the former police chief of Bell, is testifying for the defense today. You may remember former chief Adams from such hits as “I’m looking forward to see you and taking all of Bell’s money?!”, “Hire me and give me my disability pension“, and “I don’t know why he is not a defendant in this case”.
Note to self: stop off at grocery store on way home, stock up on popcorn.
You can’t touch this.
Saturday, November 2nd, 2013So Robert “Ratso” Rizzo, former city manager of Bell, is going to prison. He’s expected to be sentenced to somewhere between 10 to 12 years (the actual sentencing is scheduled for March), and he’ll probably do about half that time.
Ratso also has to pay compensation to the city of Bell. As far as I can tell, there hasn’t been a final decision on the amount (I’m guessing that will be part of his sentencing) but it could be up to $3.2 million.
Where will that money come from? Rizzo sold his house at a loss, and it looks like the same thing is happening with his ranch.
Two places the money won’t come from: Rizzo’s retirement account, and his pension of $116,628 a year.
More:
That ’70s post.
Wednesday, October 30th, 2013Ah, the 1970’s. What a time.
Remember Alexander Calder, the noted sculptor? Died in 1976? Well, he had a dealer, Klaus Perls, that he worked with exclusively. It was, by all accounts, a close and very friendly relationship.
Was.
It looks like the Perls family stipulates at least part of these claims, specifically the parts about the Swiss bank accounts. But they also claim that part of the reason Perls had a Swiss bank account is so he could transfer profits to Calder’s Swiss bank account.
I knew there was a reason I liked Alexander Calder’s work.
The 1970’s were also a time when it was much easier to get your hands on explosives. Especially if you were 17 years old. And if you were peeved at the California Department of Water and Power.
The blast ripped apart a 4-foot-wide steel gate that regulates the flow of water to the aqueduct. Windows were blown out of the gatehouse atop the spill gates and its concrete floor buckled.
About 100 million gallons of water meant for Los Angeles were instead flushed into Owens Lake, which had been dry since the Department of Water and Power opened the aqueduct in 1913.
Nobody was injured. Mark Berry, one of the two men responsible, spent 30 days in juvenile detention. And he now works for the DWP.
(I love this telling detail: “The air was filled with the banana-like smell of nitroglycerin.”)
(And this one: “Berry said his father, as yet unaware that his son was one of the culprits, boasted to a neighbor, ‘If I ever find out who bombed the gates I’ll buy him a steak dinner.'” Gardner Dozois and Edward Abbey, please call your offices.)
(Since I made a “That ’70s Show” reference, I believe I have to link to this Penny Arcade. Especially since I am all about fish out of water prison dramas.)
Notes from the legal beat.
Thursday, October 24th, 2013The courts are busy. Here’s a couple of quick things:
- Fred Yazdi has been convicted of murder. I touched on this story briefly back when it was fresh, but mostly ignored the trial: a drunk guy crashed his car, walked away from the wreck, and wound up in Yazdi’s front yard. Yazdi confronted him, and ended up shooting him – according to Yazdi, in self-defense. I have a feeling this is not over yet. In any case, it gives me an opportunity to repeat the point I made at the time (and which has been made better by other people): “Use your gun defensively, and even if it is a good shoot, your life is going to change; probably not for the better.”
- Michael Skakel is getting a new trial in the Martha Moxley murder. Oh, I do love me a circus. More seriously, it seemed to me like there were enough questionable aspects to the original trial that a new one is justified, though I’m not sure I would have ruled that way based on “ineffective assistance of council”. If Michael Sherman was good enough for Skakel at the time (and I don’t recall hearing Skakel, or anyone else, suggest he wasn’t), how was he not good enough in hindsight? (I also have qualms about this because it puts me in the position of agreeing with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: if RFKJ said the sun was going to rise in the morning, I’d start gathering firewood and sweaters.)
- The trial of Angela Spaccia, former assistant city manager of Bell, who served under Robert “Ratso” Rizzo, and who Rizzo is blaming for much of Bell’s corruption, started yesterday. So far, we’re just in the opening arguments stage. But I did want to make note of this:
That would be Randy Adams, the former police chief of Bell, who was making $470,000 a year. I thought I’d quoted those emails before, but I can’t find them now. Here’s the LAT‘s quotes:
In an email to Spaccia, Adams wrote: “I am looking forward to seeing you and taking all of Bell’s money?! Okay … just a share of it!!”
She responded: “LOL … well you can take your share of the pie … just like us!!! We will all get fat together … [Robert Rizzo] has an expression he likes to use on occasion. Pigs get Fat … Hogs get slaughtered!!!! So as long as we’re not Hogs … All is well!”Yes, those are out of context, but I find it hard to see any context in which those quotes are not damming, or indicate that Spaccia was trying to get Adams to lower his demands.
- Sigh. Remember “Baby Hope”? Guess what the NYPD taped: yes, the confession. Guess what they didn’t tape? Yes: the twelve-hour long interrogation. Guess who now says their confession was coerced?
Guys, taping interrogations from start to finish doesn’t just protect the suspect: it also protects you. Or would you rather spend your retirement answering questions from NYT reporters?
Banana republicans watch: more Rizzo.
Friday, October 4th, 2013The LAT‘s second day story on Robert “Ratso” Rizzo’s plea answers a few questions from yesterday.
We already knew that Rizzo was rolling on his former assistant, Angela Spaccia. You may remember that the former Bell city council members who went on trial adopted the “throw Rizzo under the bus” strategy. Now that Rizzo is taking a plea and cooperating, his plan is to throw Spaccia under the bus:
I don’t think Spaccia has anyone left to roll on. Possibly the council members, but if Rizzo’s already rolling on them as part of his deal, why does the prosecution need Spaccia?
And how do the people of Bell feel, now that Ratso’s pled guilty? Relieved and disappointed, according to the paper.
Banana Republicans watch: October 3, 2013.
Thursday, October 3rd, 2013This is a great day.
Somebody (I believe it was Harlan Ellison) once wrote that the most eloquent speech of Spiro Agnew‘s career in politics was “Nolo contendere“.
Robert “Ratso” Rizzo, former city manager of Bell, gave that same speech today.
Longtime Bell city administrator Robert Rizzo, who became a national symbol for public corruption for alleged graft in the small city, pleaded no contest to 69 charges, prosecutors said Thursday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement that Rizzo had agreed to serve 10 to 12 years in state prison, which she described as the largest sentence ever in an L.A. County public corruption case.
10 to 12 years in state prison. I have only one thing to say about this:
You’re going down in flames, you tax-fattened hyena!
(The comments at the LAT do raise some interesting questions: is this part of a deal where Rizzo is going to roll on the other council members? Remember, all but one of the indicted council members still have retrials pending. Also, Angela Spaccia, Rizzo’s former assistant, is still facing trial; will he roll on her? And there’s no mention in the LAT that Rizzo will have to pay any restitution.)
Edited to add: The LAT is still updating coverage:
TMQ Watch: September 24, 2013.
Tuesday, September 24th, 2013Random notes: September 6, 2013.
Friday, September 6th, 2013How long is forever?
If you bought a memorial stone at the former Crystal Cathedral, forever ends soon:
By the way, Robert Schuller has been diagnosed with cancer.
There’s a new update in the case of Bruce Malkenhorst, former city administrator of the notoriously corrupt city of Vernon: the California legislature is considering a new bill…
Under the bill, to be introduced Friday, executives convicted of felonies could appeal the reduction of retirement benefits only to the public retirement system that cuts the checks. They could sue that agency but not their former employer.
Cities would be responsible only for benefits approved by officials of the appropriate retirement system. In the case of Malkenhorst, that is CalPERS.
My first thought on this: aren’t we talking about an ex post facto law?
A better argument comes later in the article:
I’ve written previously about Louis Scarcella, the former NYPD detective whose cases are being re-investigated. The NYT asks a fair question: where were the prosecutors when all this was going on?
Answer: la la la la I can’t hear you…
But even some of those who were suspicious of Mr. Scarcella acknowledged that they mostly kept their concerns to themselves, saying that his ability to clear cases had made him popular with the bosses.
“Some prosecutors were leery; they didn’t trust it,” said one former investigator, who did not want to be identified publicly while criticizing his former supervisors. “He was one of the best detectives in the city. He’s turning over all these cases, and the bosses loved him. You’re going to go to the boss and say, ‘This doesn’t look right’?’”
More:
Jeffrey I. Ginsberg, a former assistant district attorney who also prosecuted two of the convictions under review, said the cases might look bad in retrospect, but they needed to be considered in the context of the 1980s and ’90s, when the crack epidemic was helping fuel a crime wave.
“The witnesses often came in orange jumpsuits,” said Mr. Ginsberg, referring to the outfit worn by inmates. “I was not afraid to go to trial on a weak case. I was not afraid to lose. I was not lying and cheating to get a conviction.”
Banana republicans watch: August 30, 2013.
Friday, August 30th, 2013About a month ago, I noted the case of Bruce Malkenhorst, former city administrator of the notoriously corrupt city of Vernon (later convicted of misappropriation of public funds) who was suing Vernon for the difference between the pension Vernon said they’d give him and the actual pension that he was given by the state.
Vernon has taken the gloves off. You see, back in 2002 or thereabouts, people were starting to become suspicious of Malkenhorst. The LAT was tailing him:
And the city attorney at the time, Eduardo Olivo, started investigating Malkenhorst as well.
There’s more. The full report ran to 85 pages. And of course the city responded by firing Malkenhorst.
Wait, did I say Malkenhorst? I meant Olivo, the city attorney that prepared the report. They also sued Olivo for “breach of contract”. And Vernon has gone to great efforts to keep the report and supporting data secret:
Greg Tsujiuchi, a former assistant to the city administrator, told a district attorney’s investigator about a particularly bizarre instance in which Fresch insisted that he burn magnetic tapes that were an important backup for original hard copies of city records.
Tsujiuchi said he took the tapes to one of Vernon’s fire stations and had baffled firefighters set them ablaze. He regretted doing so and told Olivo, who told Tsujiuchi about the report. Not long afterward, Tsujiuchi resigned.
“Fresch” is Eric T. Fresch, who replaced Olivo as city attorney, and later replaced Malkenhorst as city administrator. By the way, Fresch died last year.
Anyway, the gist of the story is: now that Malkenhorst is suing, all of the sudden, the notoriously corrupt city of Vernon is being very open about Olivo’s report, even providing copies of it to the LAT. I wish the paper would post the whole report as a PDF, but you can’t have everything. Otherwise, where would you put it?
(Side note: no change of venue for Robert “Ratso” Rizzo.)
Random notes: August 27, 2013.
Tuesday, August 27th, 2013Back in July, I noted the rhythmic gymnastics scandal. There’s a new development:
More updates, this time on “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”. It took in $966,952 last week. This is not good, as the cost of running the show is over $1 million a week.
Only the police should have guns department:
There were no deaths or injuries, as both sides “did not fire at each other, he said, but into the air”. Of course, what goes up must come down, somewhere…
It turns out that the rival gun-toting campers were both Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.
Random notes: July 30, 2013.
Tuesday, July 30th, 2013Latest update on the “Rebecca” case (previously):
Memo from the Department of “Here’s a Shocker”:
More:
Some bars in West Hollywood and other cities are boycotting Stolichnaya vodka over Putin’s “anti-gay” regulations, “banning ‘propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,’ including gay pride events and providing children with information about homosexuality.” Fair enough; a boycott seems like a reasonable response, though I don’t know how much good it will do. (I’m not convinced boycotts work against the batshit crazy.) But:
Wouldn’t this be a more effective protest if they actually dumped the vodka? If they are worried about the environmental impact of dumping vodka into the gutter, couldn’t they pour it down the sink instead, like they do with unfinished drinks? Is the environmental impact of dumping vodka that great, especially since I suspect much of the alcohol will evaporate in the storm sewers?
And what are they going to do with the vodka that was in the bottles? Or have they been saving empties for this protest?
A couple of random bits for July 27, 2013.
Saturday, July 27th, 2013This one goes out to Lawrence and a couple of other friends.
I have written previously about NASA’s “System Failure Case Studies” site, where the organizations posts brief analysis of significant failures and the lessons learned from them.
NASA recently redesigned the site: I find it slightly more aesthetically pleasing than I did previously. And one of the things they’ve covered recently is the Piper Alpha disaster.
Some other recent SFCS articles of note:
- the crash of a F-22A Raptor, apparently due to a combination of pilot hypoxia and bad ergonomics (especially when pilots were wearing night vision and cold weather gear).
- The Halifax explosion. It seems to me that this event is mostly forgotten today, but I vividly remember reading a first hand account from one of the survivors in a really old Reader’s Digest at my grandmother’s house:
The Mont-Blanc drifted toward the Halifax shore and then blew apart, with a shockwave equivalent to 2,989 tons of TNT expanding across Halifax at more than 4,900 feet per second and reached across 325 acres. The pressure and temperature (in excess of 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the origin) pushed a fireball of hot gas and debris into the sky that rained shrapnel on people in the streets below. The water around the Mont-Blanc was immediately vaporized and a 52-foot tidal wave swept three city blocks deep into Halifax’s Richmond neighborhood. Windows were reportedly shattered over 50 miles away from the epicenter.
- And the Xcel Energy fire, which comes across as just total all-around incompetence:
Although Xcel and RPI recognized the penstock as a permit required confined space, neither treated it as such during the recoating work…Entry procedures were not developed and the required daily permits were incomplete and lacking detail pertaining to the hazards of the day‘s work activities. Air monitoring was performed almost exclusively at the entrance, about 1,450 feet away from the actual work area within the penstock. Neither RPI nor Xcel provided the CSB with a documented basis for declassifying the penstock space as non-permit required…Xcel and RPI managers did not plan or coordinate the immediate availability of qualified confined space technical rescuers and equipment outside the penstock, although the use of flammable solvent in the open atmosphere of the permit space created the need for immediate rescue because of the potential for Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) conditions
Xcel and RPI killed five workers because of these failures.
On another note, I greatly enjoy the Priceonomics blog, which has covered topics like how does SkyMall work (and their questionable ties to Xhibit Corp), what charities do with those donated cars, and the economics of starting a bike shop.
The latest article has some ties to something I wrote about previously – the pot growers of the Emerald Triangle. Or, as Priceonomics puts it:
Legal Weed is Hurting San Francisco’s Hippies
Some quotes: