Observer,
Once again, rather than trying to respond in a comment, I thought I would address all the issues you raised at once in a separate post. Or at least I will try.
You take issue with me over my attacks against Third District Supervisor Neil Derry. I realize I did not make myself clear in my last response.
Many things happen behind the scenes that never make it to the blog. Although to the readers, the attack may have seemed sudden, it was not. It was the culmination of months of emails and discussions, mostly with Neil’s chief of staff with some emails directly to Neil.
I am not frustrated by the fact that Neil has not been able to keep campaign promises. I am frustrated by the fact that Neil, who campaigned on a platform of ethics, has become one of the unethical. For example, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that his Ethics Commission has been sabotaged by Human Resources director Andrew Lamberto and Chairman Gary Ovitt. There is really only so much Neil can do about the commission and the sabotage.
On the other hand, the Ethics Commission is hardly the only area where Lamberto has sabotaged Derry. Lamberto, along with cracked legal Beagle Ruthie Stringer, sabotaged the investigation into the Cheryl Ristow complaint, has sabotaged investigations into Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and the Public Defender, among others. Lamberto and Stringer are enemies of Derry. Derry could do something about it, especially Stringer, but chooses to shirk his responsibility.
The votes are there to get rid of Stringer and have been for over a year but no one on the board has backbone enough to make it happen. Remember, Stringer reports to the BOS, not the CAO. Yet, the BOS has abdicated its responsibliity and instead chooses to allow Devereaux to take care of the matter in his own sweet time and to the detriment of taxpayers. For an elected official, the latter is a problem.
But my real issue with Derry is the fact that he knows line staff are being harmed and will not do something about it. So what if a hundred or so employees are fired without cause. It’s not his wife, who is a county employee. It’s not his income. It’s not his insurance. It’s not his home. It’s not his livelihood. I really take issue with that attitude. Who cares how many lives are destroyed by Uffer clones as long as he and other board members are not affected.
Yes, I believe he has an obligation to stand up for what is right and do right by employees and the fact that he won’t pisses me off to no end. The damage cannot be undone. Irreparable harm is being done to real people that he could prevent. Yes, he could do it all by himself without another vote.
Now, you think I should use honey instead of vinegar. We used honey for a very long time. What did it get us? It got us a lot of criticism for not holding Neil’s feet to the flame. Sure, he came onto the blog and we all enjoyed that. But as soon as we held his feet to that flame, he ran away. That says a lot about him.
Whether I’m right or wrong really doesn’t matter as the argument is moot. Neil is gone from the blog and I don’t believe he will ever return even if I were to offer an olive branch. That’s just how it is. George and I were friends when he was a newspaper reporter and we remain friends today. Has this put a strain on things? Yes. But I believe our friendship will survive.
You will not see Erwin dis Neil on his blog for one big reason and that is Erwin will be instrumental in getting Neil re-elected. He can’t dis him on one hand and promote him on another. The two remain good friends. Will it affect my friendship with Erwin? Time will tell, especially as we get closer to Neil’s re-election campaign.
When this situation started to escalate, Erwin suggested to Neil that he call me to calm the waters. Neil had not responded to my emails, which were not combative or rude, nor would he make the effort. That said a lot to me. So, when I say I don’t care that he is gone, I don’t. It would not do me any good to care.
As far as the blog goes, Erwin and I cross post some of our original material depending on time constraints. I’ve been sick for almost two months and getting any entry up in a given day has been a chore. It’s hit and miss for me.
You mention advertising, which is something we only added two days ago. Jim’s blog has always had advertising, although it is less noticeable.
You seem to forget that I have not had a county paycheck since last November. I literally have zero regular income. I’m trying to do some freelance writing, which has kept the lights on but that is about it. The blog is on the verge of being shut down. I was asked by a third party if I would allow them to add advertising to see if we can raise enough to keep the blog going and I reluctantly consented. I have never wanted ads on the blog, but right now its an economic necessity. I am hoping we can switch over to local ads and away from the national stuff soon. I think they would be less obtrusive and more useful to our readers.
I don’t like the new format, but I had to change to make room for the ads. I have found some other themes I hope to use soon, but I needed to do something quickly, so what you see is what you get. When I’m feeling better, I will try to install a more professional theme.
Was there anything else? I don’t remember.
Sharon,
At the risk of pissing you off more, I will reply. You have made yourself abundantly clear. For the topics where I am still unclear, I have indicated below. I once had a roommate and a coworker who each used the same type of circular logic as you are using to describe your points. I got your point about Derry (and mostly via his chief of staff) betraying you when he did not take action against those you hold at fault.
I will paraphrase to make sure that I do not leave out your points. Stringer (CC) provides advice to Lamberto (HR) and sabotaged investigations on: Ristow (DA), ARMC and the PD. (perhaps also the SD as ACU states) You hold Derry to blame for not acting to fire Stringer. You also hold Derry responsible for not acting to fire Lamberto, when Ovitt and Lamberto derailed his attempts to create the Ethics Commission. Fair enough on the first point, he is one of five votes for replacing the CC. If at least two others are not in alignment with either Stringer or Lamberto, then that action may be plausible. (You stated that he has the votes, which votes?) Not sure I understand how you could fault Derry on the second point, when he clearly did not have the Chair’s support. Perhaps this issue with Lamberto centers more around your individual situation.
I understand that Stringer (CC) reports to the Board, which is apparent by the Org chart. Why did you also state that Boxer (PD) also reports to the Board on your prior posting? “Also, it is not Devereaux’s responsibility to fire Ruth Stringer or Doreen Boxer. Both of them answer directly to the BOS.” That is not as apparent to me.
You state that you hold Derry responsible for the firing of several hundred line staff because he knows something about that. This was “your real issue with Derry” as you stated. You also stated that he (Derry), single handedly, could stop this “without another vote”. I may have missed something, but most of the cuts I have heard about were either department heads, their deputy/assistant positions or line staff. The first two were from incompetence as judged by the CAO during his interviews with department heads and their assistants. (Personally, I think there are several more “exempt level personnel” that need to go.) The third group (line staff) was largely due to budgetary cuts, and partially in response to all the Right Wing advocates for smaller government. Yes, they could have covered their losses using funding from other sources. Yes, the media is pressuring government to live within its means and pair down in size. Personally, I was hoping that this pairing-down would be done through attrition so the effect is not what you described. Perhaps you could elaborate on how Derry is responsible and how he could prevent these cuts, single handedly.
You stated on more than one posting that you do not care if Supv Derry returns to the blog. You further state that “you used honey for a long time”, which appears to have lured Derry to be a regular participant of this blog. Then you held his feet to the fire (a potential ally with his feet being held to the fire) and then he retreated. No Duh, Who Would Not?
The Board decides that they want Devereaux to handle operations which placed the BOS in more of a policy making position. Devereaux does a reorg to better accomplish these BOS directives. He moves personnel from the BOS to the CAO to create his two new units and displaces staff into departments to balance the budget (on the backs of the receiving departments). Agency reorgs occur with every change of CAO, but this one is special as it was crafted out of a collaboration between the CAO and BOS. Time will tell if they are effective or just high paid staffers. Some have said that the grunt work that these districts were handling could better be deal with by departments directly. Sounds like this new team will take on the responsibility to make that happen.
I see no point in responding about Jim’s blog site as that comment was directed to ACU. If you are interested in my opinion about your site, I will offer it, but only if asked.
I will state the following. I admire what you have been able to do and frequently wonder how you are able to make ends meet. I had hoped that you picked up a job somewhere along the lines, or that your writing skills landed you gainful employment. As I stated to ACU, the County is a Peyton Place, and someone with your inside knowledge could make serious money if you could publish the Real Stories of SBC on hardcover, paperback or for a serial TV show.
Observer, You haven’t pissed me off at all. I enjoy debate when I’m debating someone intelligent. When we get the ET Snell’s of the world on here, well that’s a different story.
I will say I must not be making myself clear because what you think I’m saying and what I’m trying to say are two different things altogether. I have a lot of articles I need to get done tonight, so I will respond when I have some time.
The Heuston/Ristow report does bother me. The BOS promised the public that they would get to the bottom of things and report. Then they withheld the information of what Ramos was really up to.
From my point of view, Sharon has one foot in public survice geekdom and one foot in the real world. Maybe being halfway between the two worlds is what is making it so hard for her to survive.
You have both feet, your head, and everything in between in public service geekdom. It scares me. At age 18 I was covering Sacramento for the UC Davis student newspaper and had every intention of committing my life to reporting politics. If I had devoted all of my intelligence and the past 30 years of my life, I could have been just like you. Fortunately I had escaped by age 21.
You know all of the ins and outs of politics and government and how it works. But you just don’t get it. It is like you are expertly describing the process of the rotting of an apple from the inside and have no knowledge of the existance of the universe outside of the apple.
Yes, yes, yes. We know Derry’s position. We know he is one vote out of five. We know about the structuring of government and the relative authorities and powers of the various officials. We know about restructuring and can follow an organizational chart.
But we also know about the personalities of leadership. We know when we have the one vote out of five that can not be stopped by the other four because he is so clear and persuasive in his morality that the other four can not stand in defiance.
We also know that others who stand up first as individuals will stand down when they do not see their colleagues behind them nor authority over them. It is not that Derry does not have the votes behind him, it is that he is standing waiting for the other votes instead of being vociferous about the wrongfullness of the board majority.
I have great respect for Marines. They have a physical strength that I have never achieved and a dedication to each other and to following the orders of authority that I can not even comprehend. A few hundred of them acting together under Presidential orders can accomplish world changing things.
I also know that when a CIA agent wants to accomplish a given task, he will forgo the Marines and take along one helicopter pilot and a team of four members of the Army Special Forces.
Semper Fi. The corruption continues.
What employee’s group represents Neil’s wife and would therefore be somewhat at odds with the decision maker himself?
Ok, it’s 4 am and I can’t sleep so I will try a partial answer at least.
Let’s remove Neil from the equation and use a different sup. I worked for the BOS on the day Jerry Eaves was sworn in and remember it well. Eaves made it clear he was taking no crap from anyone, not Mays and not any other board member.
Eaves did not care if he could count to three or not. He did what he wanted to do and that was that from his very first day. At the time Mykels was chair, Walker was in the fourth district and Turoci and Riordan rounded out the group. He put himself in a position of power from day one.
I’m not a Jerry Eaves fan, but corruption aside, he did more for this county in a positive way than any supervisor in the past 30 years. Eaves took care of himself for sure, but he also always took care of the little guy whether it was a county employee being abused or a little old lady wanting her potholes fixed. How do you think he got 70 percent of the vote while under indictment?
Eaves used the powers vested in his position to help people. He didn’t say “that’s someone else’s problem” or “I can’t.” He took responsibility. That is what I see lacking in all the board members today. They all want to pass the buck.
I think part of our disagreement is over what Neil can legally do and what he is willing to do. There is a gaping valley between those two concepts.
There is a heck of a lot Neil could do ethically and legally that he choosing not to do and that is where my problem with him is at.
George and Jim are both good friends and I’m not going to dis either. But they have very different styles. Jim is much more of a big picture kind of person. I doubt we would be having this conversation if Jim were still chief of staff.
I think the biggest thing going against both George and Neil is their lack of county experience and their gullibility. Lamberto and others would never get away with this crap if Jim were COS.
If Lamberto, Stringer, Hall and others had done to Mitzelfelt, Biane or Ovitt what they have done to Neil, they would have been out on their ass a long time ago.
So I guess if Neil is not willing to stand up for himself, then I guess we can’t expect him to stand up for anyone else. That is where my issue is at. I don’t like people who lack backbone.
I have a lot more to say, but it’s hard typing laying down.
Sharon,
That clears it up nicely. Thank you. What is the issue with Hall? I must have missed that one. I recall a short reference to him some time back but nothing more since then.
Steve with furrowed Brow,
Your pain runs deep. Share your pain and gain strength from the sharing.
Gee, I thought I was.
ll seriousness, our dearest observer, life is filled with pain. Most people will encourage one to share their pain. A few honestly don’t want to be bothered.
Of those who will hear, a few will actually listen and then offer intelligent commentary in how to alieviate one’s pain. Examples might include my brothers, Dr. Brow, MD, and Dr. Brow, PHD. The greatest group of people will encourage you to share your pain, but in the end, will have nothing to offer you. Then there is the small group of evil people who will encourage you to share your pain and then use the information to destroy you at a later time.
I have heard no one suggest that Supervisor Derry is in the latter group. I think that Sharon is stating that she believed that Derry was in the group of the highest honor, but is falling back somewhere into the middle.
Steve,
Keep sharing. You are making progress.
Where is Steve Hall? I have an inter-office envelope that belongs to him.