I found some information on Ex Public Defender Boxer that is somewhat interesting. California State Bar shows her at

http://members.calbar.ca.gov/search/member_detail.aspx?x=165556, 4695 MacArthur Court Newport Beach. Her new website is www.boxerlawfirm.com. If you search www.networksolutions.com and then check who is boxerlawfirm, you will see that the domain name is registered to Doreen Boxer 1314 Westwood Blvd., Suite 101 Los Angeles, California 9002 United States Phone 1.9098415150. I was told that the “841s” are cell numbers assigned to and paid for by the San Bernardino County Public Defender. Since I am a taxpayer of this county, I am pissed. Who does she think she is using a county cell phone for her personal use and a contact number for her website. Help us out on this one Ms. Gilbert.

I’m told that County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux witnessed something this past week that caught even him off guard.  As we reported earlier, Public Defender employees were called into a 5 p.m. meeting on December 14 where Devereaux announced the termination of Public Defender Doreen Boxer and the demise of her lieutenants, Lauri Ferguson and Martin Dante.  He also announced the appointment of Phyllis Morris  as interim Public Defender.  Employees stood and jubilantly clapped and cheered at the news.

Obviously, Boxer, Ferguson and Dante, were despotic managers who ran amok.  To effect such emotion out of most of a department’s staff, however, takes more than bad managers.  In a system where there are checks and balances, four years of illegal personnel actions and a hostile work environment simply should have never happened.  But it did.

As despicable as Boxer, Ferguson and Dante are as human beings, the Public Defenders situation highlights the much greater problem that was created under former County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer and allowed to continued without scrutiny by current County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux.  In private enterprise it could be argued that a company has the right to determine what is best for its bottom line and adjust its policy accordingly, taking into account potential lawsuits and insurance claims.  But in the public sector, the costs of litigation, higher insurance premiums, excessive claims, turnover, and absenteeism affects every member of the community, state and country.

For decades now, many of San Bernardino County’s administrative officers and members of the Board of Supervisors have had little concern for the county’s bottom line.  If lawsuits must be paid, then it is a matter of finding funding sources through taxes, fees, insurances policies, and bonds.  What does it matter as it is not coming out of their pockets?

In the past five years, however, the problems in human resources have increased exponentially.  Human Resources was once charged with mitigating exposure to the county.  Now, instead, its goal is to use whatever means, legal or not, to harass, terrorize, and destroy the enemies of the county’s most powerful officials.

Human Resources, through its director Andrew Lamberto, had an obligation to stop Boxer; instead it facilitated her actions, costing the county untold millions of dollars, much of yet has likely not been realized as former employees file wrongful termination and hostile work environment suits.  Many current employees also have potential suits against the county if they choose to exercise that option.

But the Public Defender’s office is hardly an anomaly.  What we have witnessed there has become the norm in San Bernardino County Government.  Human resource officers are now allowed to routinely lie and create false evidence, an offense that once would have ended their county careers.  In tandem with County Counsel, covering up the truth has become the name of the game in expectation that most employees are so intimidated they will either quit or accept the punishment without complaint.

Although I have been told that the Fifth Floor is now going after the next department head in line, I have little faith that anything more will be accomplished.  Deputy public defenders are not only attorneys, but also among the most highly paid of county staffers.  They were willing to take a chance.  The average office full of clerks both don’t know their rights nor do they have the economic security to stand up to the likes of Lamberto and his band of lying, theiving thugs.

I would really like to believe that Boxer is just the first in a long list of managers to be terminated.  In reality I know how hard of a battle it was to get rid of her because Devereaux and most of the Board of Supervisors prefer to have employees who live in fear.  Lamberto will never do the right thing and Devereaux is happy to have him as his hatchet man—hatchet man for the little people.

I would not expect more change.

Thursday, December 16, 2010 – 03:45 p.m.

The dust from San Bernardino County Public Defender Doreen Boxer’s ouster hasn’t even settled yet and already information on what actually transpired in her department is starting to float to the surface.

Sources say San Bernadino County will now review personnel actions Boxer took against members of her staff, which resulted in employee discipline.

Terminated employees may be offered their employment back, including lost wages.

However, some serious questions need to be answered here.

The big $10,000 question hanging out there? Where was county human resources during this management meltdown?

Now, since Boxer was not an elected official, her personnel actions should have been reviewed and administered by county human resources. This begs the question as to how such shenanigans could take place without the county knowing about it?

Was there a Human Resources Officer assigned to the Public Defender’s Office?

Did someone in county management look the other way on Boxer’s indiscretions?

Did Boxer have any relationships which compromised county oversight of her operation?

How was Boxer allowed to use personnel from her Bureau of Investigation to dig up dirt on her own attorneys?

Did operational mismanagement lead to ineffective representation of clients?

To read the rest of the story, click here.

Today Phyllis Morris was appointed by the Board of Supervisors as interim Public Defender.  iePolitics sources say she is highly respected in the department.

Today’s departure of San Bernardino County Public Defender Doreen Boxer ends ten months of obstruction and interference by County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux.  Devereaux was made very aware of the issues with both County Counsel Ruth Stringer and Boxer just after he was hired.  Both individuals were at-will employees who could have easily been terminated for their malfeasance in office.  Both received Devereaux’s protection despite BOS disapproval.

The recent power grab by Devereaux is expected to make it even more difficult for the Board of Supervisors to eliminate department heads who violate county policy and/or state law, harm constituents, or underperform.  Supervisors will have to have a super majority in order to deal with such situations and that is not likely.

A good case in point is Andrew Lamberto, director of Human Resources.  Lamberto has lied three times under oath in criminal proceedings.  However, Lamberto continues to receive the protection of Devereaux because Lamberto is willing to break the law to accomplish Devereaux’s goals.

But Devereaux himself is a master of cover-up as we witnessed in his comments and those by his staff members in the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center FBI probe.   Fortunately, the FBI did not care what Devereaux hid from reporters and has continued to conduct its investigation despite Devereaux’s obvious lies to the media.  It is unclear if he also lied to federal authorities.  We can only hope he did.

There are numerous other mini-Devereaux’s that deserve the ax, but the new ordinance giving Devereaux all the power is about to take effect.  It is not likely with this board composition that we shall see many more departures.  Devereaux has clearly shown he protects corruption and this Board of Supervisors is happy to allow him to do so.

It is encouraging to see how many candidates are lining up to oppose the three supervisors up for election in less than 18 months.  It is quite conceivable that Supervisors Mitzelfelt, Derry and Gonzales could all be defeated in June 2012, although Gonzales is expected to be indicted before that time.

Also, due to the perjury committed by Lamberto, it is equally conceivable we could see criminal charges filed against employees in several supervisorial districts.  Time card fraud, based on the standards Lamberto espoused at the hearings, runs rampant on the Fifth Floor.  We can only hope we do in fact see additional Fifth Floor employees arrested.  Perhaps then we will see some justice in this county.

We can only hope . . ..

The rumors started last night and are rampant today.  It appears the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has finally had their wishes carried out by County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux.  Public Defender Doreen Boxer appears to be enjoying her last few days of employment with San Bernardino County.

Boxer has been an embarrassment to San Bernardino County from the beginning when she got drunk enough to accompany District Attorney Mike Ramos to his room at a City/County Conference.  The two returned later disheveled and sweaty with Ramos’ belt outside some of the loops and Boxer’s hair mused.  The entire Board of Supervisors along with mayors and city council members from around the county witnessed their escapades.

Since then Boxer has driven her department into the ground, alienating many of its best attorneys, many of whom have resigned to get away from her despot leadership.  Employees tells iePolitics that Boxer has purposely worked to reduce the level of defense given to the county’s poorest residents.  Her sexual relationship with the District Attorney appears to have altered her attitude towards defending the indigent.

Sources say second in command, Lauri Ferguson, will NOT be put in charge but rather a subordinate will take the top spot as interim with the intent of also terminating Ferguson.

Check back for further details.

Editor’s Note:  For a blog that “no one reads,” stories that are printed on it sure do have the tendency to create havoc.  We knew there would be several additional names to this list, but then presents drop from the sky.  And those presents were read by the defense.

iePolitics has obtained a partial list of witnesses expected to be called as a part of the upcoming corruption trial in People v. Postmus, et al.  Attorneys for the defendants have given the judge an expected length of seven to eight weeks for the trial.  Here are the names we have been given so far:

• Mike Ramos
• Female DA Employee No. 1
• Female DA Employee No. 2
• Female DA Employee No. 3
• Female DA Employee No. 4
• Female DA Employee No. 5
• Matt Brown
• Adam Aleman
• Brad Mitzelfelt
• Mark Kirk
• Gary Ovitt
• Mark Uffer
• Sheila Raines
• Harlow Cameron
• Dennis Draeger
• Bud Randles
• Bob Schreiber
• Ruth Stringer
• Michael Smith
• Maury Weiss
• Tim Johnson
• Josh Candaleria
• Bob Smith
• Josh White
• Naseem Farooqi
• Robert Eland
• Steve Hauer
• Bob Windle
• Andrew Lamberto
• Cheryl Ristow

Additions:

• Brenda Solis
• Burt Southard
• Brian Johns
• Bobby Cox
• SB Cty Fire Crew Member No. 2
• SB Cty Fire Crew Member No. 3
• Amy Sheldon
• Mike Richman
• Roman Nava
• Doreen Boxer
• Lauri Ferguson

Looks like the BOS was going to fire Doreen Boxer. Steve Levine was asked to take the job. In the interim, Doreen’s latest boyfriend, a state senator, intervened. Guess what the result was????? Others are about to come forward, but you will be the first to know if you don’t already

Our condolences to the family.

Yes, this is a teazer.  I can’t write much more yet.  I have an excellent source on this one, but if anyone at the Public Defender’s office knows what I’m talking about and would like to send the document to me, I can be reached at PO Box 2722, Apple Valley, California 92307.  I believe the actual document was authored by Lauri Ferguson.

I will post more just as soon as I’m allowed to.

DDA Grover Merritt was elected president of SBCPAA in November 2006.  DA Sharon Caldwell was then the senior labor representative.  (Neither one is a shrinking violet, and Mr. Merritt, as you know, has a special appreciation of the County civil service process.)

Merritt tried to set up a system of authorized labor representatives from the Public Defender’s Office.  Doreen Boxer tried to rid her office of various people she deemed unacceptable to her way of things.  She put various DPDs on administrative leave after they were escorted out of the building under armed guard.  Some were processed through the administrative system; some simply twisted in the wind on leave while Boxer and her henchman investigator Martin Dante tried to create a case against them, and then were brought back as though nothing had happened.

During one of these investigations, Sharon Caldwell was appointed as the DPD’s labor rep.  Boxer and Ferguson objected and summoned an unprepared Suzy Isreal, also a DPD and then an authorized labor rep, and demanded that she represent the subject of the investigation.  The subject upset Boxer somehow and Boxer screamed at him at various points.  Isreal, feeling unprepared, quit as a labor rep on the spot.  The other PDO labor rep, DPD Randy Isaeff, was then summoned.  He too quit on the spot.

That particular investigation went away without the employee being disciplined.

Another DPD was caught misusing their credentials to talk to their felon friend at the County Jail.  Caldwell attempted to rep that person because no DPD volunteered to be a labor rep after the Boxer-Ferguson-Israel story circulated through the office.  Ferguson snottily invited her to leave an interview session, claiming that sensitive PD matters would necessarily be discussed.

A pattern emerged.  Merritt would appoint Caldwell to rep DPDs, Ferguson and/or Boxer would throw a fit over it, and the union would pay a lawyer to rep the DPD.

The SBCPAA filed suit in the Public Employees Relations Board over this issue.  Testimony was taken.  APD Lauri Ferguson’s testimony that no DDA could possibly represent a DPD because sensitive PD materials would always be involved was rejected as “uncredible.”

On the eve of additional PERB testimony in February 2009, and while a month long multiple count robbery trial was taking place, Boxer and Ferguson felt the need to summon the DPD trying the case to interrogate him over sloppy file keeping.  (Caldwell was prosecuting the robbery case.)  Merritt initially told Boxer that Caldwell would rep the DPD, knowing full well that Boxer and Ferguson would not allow it.  Instead, the lawyer for SBCPAA was sent in for the interview.  Ferguson decided that the lawyer for SBCPAA could not rep the DPD because the union was paying her despite the lawyer’s presence at previous DPD admin interviews.  This DPD was interrogated for four hours on a Friday night without any labor representation.

Public Defender upper management then filed motions to remove Caldwell from the robbery case, to remove their own DPD, for a mistrial, and other things.  Superior Court Judge Michael Smith rejected all their motions, saying the PDO upper management had filed the motions merely to get additional evidence for the labor action that was was taking testimony the following week.

In the meantime, in about April 2009, Boxer talked County Counsel into filing an injunction action against SBCPAA to preclude SBCPAA from sending in DDAs to represent DPDs and into hiring a Beverly Hills lawyer, to assist the deputy county counsel already assigned to the matter.  They filed a 40 pound civil complaint.

Judge Warner summarily dismissed the County’s injunction complaint in December 2009.

In June 2010, the SBCPAA filed a motion in superior court seeking approximately $80,000 in attorney’s fees.  That motion will be heard in late July 2010.

A decision in  the PERB action has been pending since last October.

As we now know, on July 27, 2010, Judge Michael S. Mink awarded SBCPAA more than $51,000 in attorneys fees and costs.  Today the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted to appeal that decision to the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

Also sent to me separately is the transcript the hearing in People v. Anthony Esparza Garcia, FSB704382 on April 15, 2010, that includes Judge Michael A. Smith’s ruling on Doreen Boxer’s motion for a new trial, etc., referenced above.  Here is a quote from the transcript:

So, from all of the evidence presented, I’m satisfied that there is no conflict; that Mr. Drew acted in a manner expected of a competent and zealous and diligent advocate for the defendant.

I do agree with Ms. Caldwell’s analysis that the circumstances that created the argument for a conflict were created by the Public Defender’s Office Administration.  And that it was done so for the specific purpose of creating the appearance of a conflict, for the purpose of having additional evidence for their labor hearing.

Nevertheless, having done that, if having done that adversely affected the representation of Mr. Garcia, I would still have no hesitation in granting the motion for a new trial at this point.

Because, regardless of how it would have come about, if the representation of Mr. Garcia, was adversely affected in that he did not have a competent and a zealous and a diligent advocate, regardless of how that occurred, he would be entitled to a new trial with a new lawyer and I would have no hesitation in granting the motion, if that were the case.  But, as explained, I’m satisfied that that is not the case.

So, for all of those reasons, the motion for new trial is denied.

Brad, what the heck were you thinking?  We expect these kind of stupid decisions out of Josie because she is stupid ,and out of Paul because he is usually drunk, but we expect a tempered, well-reasoned decision out of you.  Today we did not get it.

In a 3-1 vote, with Supervisor Neil Derry dissenting and Chairman Gary Ovitt absent, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors voted to appeal the decision by Superior Court Judge Michael Mink to award attorney’s fees to the San Bernardino County Public Attorneys Association.  The county of San Bernardino, i.e., two of our county’s three great legal minds, Ruthie and Doreen, sued our own attorneys and the case got thrown out by Judge Christopher Warner.    The defendants, having prevailed, came back and requested attorneys fees.

Now, had the Association lost on at least one cause of action, today’s decision by the Board of Supervisors could be justified.  But it never got that far!  It was thrown out!  Period!

Brad, think of it this way.  Let’s say someone sues you in a case that has no merit.  You would have to hire an attorney to defend yourself.  Wouldn’t having to waste that money really bug you?  When the case was thrown out, wouldn’t you want your attorney’s fees paid?  And don’t you think you righteously should have them paid by the party who filed the frivolous suit?  You know you would think that.  Well, this is the same situation.

The county didn’t just lose, it lost big.  It should have to pay fees of the opposing party.  That’s how it works.  I read that whole pleading.  There is a ton of case law to back up the Association’s contention.

If you don’t like the ruling, perhaps next time you should think twice before authorizing County Counsel to file a frivolous lawsuit.  Then we would not have this problem.

Even if the Court of Appeal were to reduce the amount owed, and I’m not sure that is within the scope of what they can do, this appeal is going to cost the county more than just paying the bill.  Why would the county appeal it?

This appeal is a perfect example of why Ruth Stringer needs to go and a professional attorney who has the county’s best interests should replace her.  As it stands, the county doesn’t care how much taxpayer money it loses just so long as it can be vindictive to those who oppose it.  As unethical as it may be, that tactic may work often, but it is foolhardy when the defendants in the case are a large group of attorneys, attorneys who actually practice law every day and have even appeared in court on occasion.

When the Fourth District Court of Appeal rules in the Association’s favor, expect a giant “I told you so” on the blog and expect a California Public Records Act request be filed to find out just how much this one frivolous lawsuit cost the county.

Brad, you should be ashamed of your actions today.

Although mainstream media has refused to cover the antics of District Attorney Mike Ramos, iePolitics and InlandPolitics have covered them extensively.  We have been accused of libeling poor Mikey.  But the seeds he has sown are about to come back to haunt him and prove that we are the ones with truth on our side.

We expect the declarations of six of the women that Ramos had affairs with to be made public within the next two weeks.  Those affairs occurred on county time and in county buildings and vehicles while the women were on the clock.  We expect that there will be enough information that Mikey could be charged criminally.

However, if that is not the case, and honestly we don’t expect his partner, Jerry Brown, to charge him, we do have confirmation that the FBI is here in full force, conducting interviews and investigating a wide range of corruption allegations.  We know that information has been given to them sufficient to charge Mikey minimally with one solid felony.  It is just a matter of time.  The only real question is whether it will happen before or after he is sworn in to his next term.  I’m betting before.

Next up is Doreen Boxer.  We hear things are about to explode at the Public Defender’s Office in more ways than one.  It seems Boxer is far more political than we have given her credit for.  She has tried to sell out defendants to further (or keep) her career.

Boxer might have gotten away with it had she not tried to also take down some of the office’s top attorneys in the process.  I have found over the years that the most successful deputy public defenders are those who truly believe in their mission.  If they happen to be a top notch attorney also, they are not going to sacrifice a client for their boss’ career.  I expect her to be gone by the end of October, probably much sooner.

Finally, there is iePolitics’ favorite legal Beagle, Ruthie Stringer.  Okay, so I really cannot stand this woman.   I’ve had two of my attorneys tell me that she is going to fight me on my cases no matter what.  The attorneys repesenting the county have said so.  I cannot even imagine how much the county has spent fighting me, hoping they discourage me and I kill myself.  But we are going to win.  And I am one of at least a dozen employees who have righteous claims and have decided to fight back.  Expect a high-profile suit to be filed next week.

We hear the Board of Supervisors might have actually grown a backbone and is forcing Stringer to retire earlier than she had planned.  Her leave payout is expected to exceed $500,000 and her annual retirement income should be around $200,000.  She will be among the county’s highest paid retirees.

Ruthie’s retirement costs pale in comparison to what her legal advice has cost taxpayers.  But it is not even her legal advice as much as it is her disloyalty to the Board of Supervisors.

A significant chunk of the current corruption investigation was caused by Stringer in her attempt to keep Mark Uffer and Mike Ramos in her pocket.  Her lack of litigation experience along with an extremely vindictive personality fit right in with the Uffer/Ramos scheme.

Ramos’ deficiencies in legal expertise is  similar to Stringer’s.  They are equally incompetent and willing to use their respective offices for political assassination.

We have heard that it was Stringer who encouraged Uffer to file suit against the county, telling him that the county will settle with him.  I suspect that revelation has aided in her early retirement.

We expect the Stringer retirement announcement very soon, but soon is a year too late.   She has cost taxpayers multi-millions  of dollars in litigation costs due to piss-poor legal advice based on hatred rather than facts.  We can only hope she is on the list of those the FBI is investigating.

We can only hope that as these three attorneys depart, our Board of Supervisors conducts a legitimate nationwide search to fill the vacancies.  These three epitomize what is wrong in this county.  It would be a shame for them to be replaced with more political cronies.  But we expect more shame, not less.  That is the county way.

Since Doreen Boxer and Lauri Ferguson have come to power, we as deputy public defenders have been told that everything that their administration has done has been for the benefit of our clients.  However, upon a closer look of the actions of Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson, their actions have had the sole purpose of benefiting one entity: their own administration.  Their statements about the sole concern being the public defender client is a mere distraction to a much more serious conspiracy:  the breaking of our union and the destruction of our office as we have known it.

You may be asking yourselves how this may be so, but the evidence is there.  When Ms. Boxer made a statement to the California State Bar during a public hearing regarding Proposed New and Amended Changes To Rules Of Professional Conduct on October 7, 2006, she stated that she had “…walked into an office equally decimated…”  (Reporter’s Transcript, Page 37, lines 22-23).  Let’s be perfectly honest, Interim Public Defender Jerry Farber left our office in MUCH BETTER shape than we find it now, more than 4 years after Doreen Boxer took it over.  Under Mr. Farber, morale was in good shape, camaraderie was high, and people were generally happy.  Now in 2010, morale is in the toilet, units are broken up for too much camaraderie and people are extremely unhappy.

Boxer and Ferguson have intentionally started a reign of terror by instituting cruel and illogical office policies, vindictive terminations and transfers, promoting incompetent individuals to supervisorial levels and maintained a level of employee disregard that remains unmatched by any previous public defender administration with the goals of busting our unions and creating a hostile work environment where turnover is high and camaraderie and pride in the job are low?  Why?  It’s simple:  money and power.  To explain this, a story about Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson’s friend, Gary Windom must be told.

Many of you might remember that when Doreen first came on board and promoted Ms. Ferguson to be her assistant, she had Riverside Public Defender Gary Windom come by administration and provide some training.  Why Gary Windom?  Who knows?  Maybe it’s because Mr. Windom is fond of not giving his staff pay raises and promotions and then going to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, tooting his own horn about how much money he just saved them.  In fact, he was so popular with his staff that they QUIT HIS OFFICE IN DROVES (which was highly publicized, by the way).  Some of his former attorneys work in our office today!!!  Does this sort of action sound familiar?  I hope so, because it was Lauri Ferguson who told the leadership of our attorneys union that she felt Deputy Public Defender II can do what a Deputy Public Defender IV could do!  See the pattern here?

Clearly, the current PD administration has it out for IV’s.  In March, we were told by Doreen that we were in a serious bind moneywise and we would lose (LOSE) 5 (five) attorney positions if we didn’t do something about it.  We as a union decided to act and we gave up our negotiated 6% pay increase to save our colleagues positions.  What happened?  Doreen Boxer fired people anyway and now we went from losing 5 attorney positions to gaining three Deputy Public Defender I positions?  If you aren’t mad, you should be.  And don’t blame the union, either.  Blame Boxer and Ferguson.  They intentionally mislead us.  Why?  Employing Deputy Public Defender I’s is much cheaper than employing II’s, III’s, and IV’s.  Wow, she’s saved the board money (MAYBE) but she’s done the client HARM.  How so?  Read on.

Now, assuming those three Deputy Public I’s are hired and pass the two week training program, are they going to be ready to hit the ground running and start going to trial?  Yeah, right.  Not only are the overworked II, III, and remaining IV’s going to have to worry about their caseload, they are going to have to train the new attorneys in the field.  What a great thing for the client, eh?  Counsel made ineffective by increased work obligations training counsel that basically don’t know anything will make for what?  INCREDIBLY INEFFECTIVE COUNSEL FOR THE CLIENTS.

Another problem is the issue of who these overworked and new counsel are going to look for regarding assistance:  their supervisors?  Good luck there!  Thanks to Ms. Ferguson’s cronyism, we have a felony trial supervisor in the Central Public Defender’s Office with NO TRIAL experience.   Back in the day when many were a Deputy Public Defender I’s, it was made very clear to us that we MUST DO FELONY TRIALS TO PASS PROBATION.  What did we do?  We did both misdemeanor and felony trials before we were worthy just to pass probation.  Who would have thought way back then that the road to supervisor would lead from the Juvenile Division (Ms. Ferguson’s favorite unit)?  Again, it’s not WHAT one actually knows, but WHOM one knows.

Are these supervisors designed to assist young or experienced with trial issues?  Well, probably not, seeing how one of them has never actually done one.  These “new breed of supervisors” are akin to the Zampolit of the Stalinist Era in the Soviet Union, mere political officers whose true duty is not to guide, but to make sure that everyone is acting according to the expectations of the administration and weed out those suspected of non-compliance for re-education on Administrative Leave or worse, a transfer to Needles.  Think of this, my fellow colleagues, is this where you want to spend the next 20 years of your life trying to make it to retirement (between stress leaves and medical leaves for shingles, of course)?  If you’re going to try, Boxer and Ferguson are still trying to prevent this from happening.

As you all know, Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson have enacted numerous stupid and cruel office policies to frustrate our unions and destroy morale.  I used to think that this came from an inability to see us attorneys, investigators and staff separate from the union that represent us.  This is where the “disturbing conspiracy” part comes in:  They know exactly what they are doing and they are doing it on purpose.  They are making us all terrified and afraid to act because most figure that they’ll get picked off if they even suggest something negative is going on in our office.  Further actions are hoped to create a high turnover rate.

Why?  Businesses like McDonald’s rely on a high turnover rate to keep costs LOW.  If any of you have ever worked in these types of jobs (I admit, I have) you’ll probably remember the piss poor wages, non-existence of benefits and egos of those nice shift leaders who threaten you on the spot with termination if you complained about the work environment.  Furthermore, see a lot of camaraderie between workers in those jobs?  NO.  Why take pride in a job with slave wages and be friends with an individual who may not be there next week for some reason or another.  Lower cost means more love from the Board of Supervisors for Doreen.  I wonder if Mr. Windom taught her this?

Sadly, this is what Doreen is trying to do with our union.  She has made a work environment where people are terrified and thus the theory is that people are unwilling to act against injustices by PD administration against them.  Furthermore, high turnover rate will mean that New Deputy Public Defender I’s will be less invested in the union and thus, will not risk their jobs for union goals that have everyone’s best interest at stake.  It’s a one-two punch that results in a death blow for our unions!  In the end, our union WILL be a paper tiger and all the goals that we have fought for will slip through our fingers (that is if Ms. Boxer hasn’t fired us by then).

In short, Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson wish to impose a “McDefense” sort of law office upon the indigent clients of San Bernardino.  It will the closest thing an attorney or investigator or a clerk will have to a “McJob.”  Will undertrained or overworked experienced attorneys be of benefit to our clients?  No.  Will the supervisors whom Lauri Ferguson picks from her stocks of friends and end up being incompetent help our clients? Definitely not.  Will a union with no power help our clients?  Again, sadly no.

There is an upside to this.  We have a strong union.  I know there are Deputy Public Defenders who are “…Mad as Hell and they’re not going to take it anymore.”  I sure am, and I’m ready to fight.  WE NEED TO SHOW THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS THAT BOXER AND FERGUSON MUST BE GIVEN THE BOOT, BUT GOOD!  We must fight for our rights as employees and for our client’s rights to have an effective office representing them!  Our failure to act will have serious implications not only to ourselves, but to all of San Bernardino County who rely on us.  It’s time for Boxer and Ferguson to go!



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Tic . . . tic . . . tic . . . Mikey, Doreen, Paul, Josie, get yourselves ready!

Well our favorite ménage à trois has defied logic and sound legal reasoning yet once more.  Until recently the county reluctantly released information regarding the costs of civil litigation against former Assessor Bill Postmus, et al.  The investigation was originally capped at $250,000 but former Enron prosecutor and special investigator John Hueston went through that amount quickly.

From all appearances, the cost of the investigation/persecution has already exceeded $1 million or is quickly approaching that mark with nothing to show for it and likely no hope of ever showing anything for it except for a conviction and judgment against Adam Aleman.  Aleman is the only one to plead guilty and not file an answer.

Now we find out our crack (or is that cracked) legal wizards put to use their years of experience and legal knowledge to make the determination that the public no longer has the right to know how much is being spent on these cases.  I guess that is what happens when most of your fornicating . . . I mean legal research . . . is done at The Tartan.  Perhaps guys, you should read up on case law BEFORE you issue legal opinions.  Reading the disclaimer on wine bottle labels doesn’t count as legal research.  Cal.App., Cal.Rptr. sound familiar?  Maybe?  Maybe not.

We sure do wish they had spent more time in class and less time out behind the barn.  Guys, if you look really, really hard, I bet you might find a few of those mustard-colored books on your shelf.  They have black and red on the outside of their binding.  Some of the words inside are kind of hard to understand but I bet if you look up “deliberative process,” you will find no mention of fornication . . . unless you come across the edition written specifically for San Bernardino County.

So that leads us back to our original question:  Who is fornicating with whom now?  We don’t know. That is the $1 million (and climbing) question.  But we do know who is getting screwed.  The $1 million answer:  the taxpayers.

One must ask oneself; do Doreen and Lauri really care how attorneys, investigators and staff feel about their work environment?  They apparently didn’t seem to care until statements about vindictive actions and transfers, office policies designed to damage our morale or frustrate our unions and just the general lack of regard for us as employees started hitting the Internet for all to see.  Maybe they do want to improve morale (doubtful).  Maybe they want to scare you into inaction?  Why?  Because they are terrified of a vote of no confidence through our unions.  They know that if such a vote is successful, the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors will have to take notice, and more importantly, take action!

For some reason, Doreen and Lauri feel that happy attorneys, investigators and staff are a threat to their administration.  They have shown us in the past that they cannot identify the difference between us and the unions that represents us, so they have been consolidating their power through fear and indiscriminate and illogical action.  I and many others have said that we will not accept their type of leadership any longer.  What they failed to realize is that unhappy employees are a much bigger threat to their rule.

Their morale boosting attempts are an insult as they are the ones responsible for morale and pride in this office going down the toilet.  I ask you all just to stay the course and vote your conscience when our unions request a vote for no confidence.  Doreen and Lauri know that the ball is in our court and the power is in our hands.  Let’s use that power to better the office for our clients, our attorneys, our investigators and last, but not least, our support staff.

Urges state legislature to ban dangerous events at state owned venues

SAN BERNARDINO, CA – At the behest of San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry, County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux has issued a directive that would prohibit all county owned facilities from hosting rave parties.

“Parents have a reasonable expectation to believe that their children will be safe while attending events held at county owned venues,” Supervisor Derry said.  “And it has become crystal clear that there is a reasonable expectation that our youth are at significant risk for exposure to drugs and sexual assault at these events.”

A recent rave at the Los Angeles Coliseum that spanned two days claimed the life of a 15-year old girl and resulted in approximately 100 youth being taken to area hospitals for various reasons.  Raves in San Bernardino County have resulted in rioting, sexual assaults and the loss of life.

Supervisor Derry has brought this matter to the attention of each state senator and assembly member via letter.

“It is my hope that they will take immediate action to protect our children by prohibiting these dangerous parties from occurring at state-owned venues,” Supervisor Derry said.

Supervisor Derry took action on this matter in response to concerns and suggestions raised by a coalition of concerned parents.

“The consequences of these poor decisions may impact these children for the rest of their lives,” said Judy Sbardellati, member of the combined Rim Youth Prevention Leadership and Breakthrough Task Force coalitions.  “It is really empowering to know that we have an elected official that truly listens and works with the community to resolve problems.”

Would someone from the Public Defender’s office please send me a rundown of what happened to cause Doreen Boxer and Ruth Stringer to sue the Public Attorneys’ Association and explain how it got to the point of the Public Attorneys’ Association now asking Judge Christopher Warner for approximately $80,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs?

There are two issues with what this informant claims.

First is the issue of being a county employee with a criminal record.  I have seen the county try to fire employees for less than drunk driving.  I have also seen them hire convicted felons.  In one case the employee went to state prison not once, but twice, on felony drug charges and was hired back both times while on parole.  So if you are a favorite, it doesn’t matter what you do.  And if you are not, you better not get a jaywalking ticket.

The second issue is hostile work environment.  I don’t care if Lauri dates males, females, blacks, whites, Christians, Jews, Americans, or Mexicans.  I do care about an assistant department head creating a hostile work environment for employees who can the sue and cost the taxpayers millions.  We are see just that right now in the District Attorney’s office with the six women who have come forward.  Those lawsuits are going to cost taxpayers millions of dollars all because Mikey felt the need to have relationships with subordinate employees.

Hostile work environment/sexual harassment is not taken seriously in this county.  How can it be when our very own Human Resources Director can’t keep it zipped up on the job.  Today it is the Public Defender and Solid Waste Management but we hear about instances in almost every department.  Nothing gets done . . . ever.

I personally told Andrew Lamberto and Bob Windel what was going on in the PMQ Department ARMC.  I told them about Fred telling an employee that the reason she had carpel tunnel was because she was giving her boyfriend too many hand jobs and then he proceeded to demonstrate.  I told them about the photos of body parts on ARMC computers and all the sexual innuendo from Fred.  Did anything get done?  Of course not.

But I bet a witch hunt pursues to find out who sent me this information.  That is the county way—kill the messenger and encourage the perpetrator to continue.

]]> http://iepolitics.net/2010/07/15/iepolitics-public-defender-issues/feed/ 1 http://iepolitics.net/2010/07/14/iepolitics-the-boxers/ http://iepolitics.net/2010/07/14/iepolitics-the-boxers/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:53:32 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=4449 Continue reading →]]> Are these three related? Notice the nose, the lips and the teeth!

Before anyone yells at me, the first two and text came from the Public Defender’s office.  I doubt the two are related, but maybe someone knows for sure.  Of course, I think Naomi is the cutest “Boxer” of all, especially when she shows off her underbite!

It would help though if someone would email me a synopsis of the litigation so readers can understand all that transpired.

As you all know, much has been said over the last week regarding Doreen Boxer and Lauri Ferguson.  These statements, however, have just been reiterations of what most, if not all of us have felt about the public defender administration.  My letter that iepolitics.com had graciously printed is just an amalgamation of fears and concerns that have been stated in hushed tones in every break room, office, and lunch table in every corner of our county.  These statements have to do with the injustice, the deceit and fear that have been doled out on a daily basis by both Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson and their so called “administration.”

We have seen it all:  the termination of phenomenal attorneys, investigators, and staff; the vindictive reassignments or transfers of our colleagues; false statements by Ms. Boxer to give up our negotiated pay increases to save our colleague’s jobs, only to see them fired and watch as new Deputy Public Defender I positions open up; ridiculous office polices designed to damage our morale or frustrate our unions; and the most disturbing of all, a general lack of regard for the employees of an administration who claims its mission is to defend the rights of others!

Many of you who have given your support have decided to remain anonymous.  I do not fault you for this one bit, especially given the vindictive natures of Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson.  But given the administration’s most recent actions, I felt that I could no longer stand by and watch individuals being punished for doing their jobs too well.  Nobody asked me to do this, and I am not asking anyone to follow me “into the breach,” so to speak and to publicly act out against the administration.

What I do ask you to do is to exercise your rights.  We have unions for a reason.  Those who feel that they no longer have confidence in Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson as leaders, please attend the union meetings where a vote of no confidence is to be cast and vote your conscience.  We, as employees, have the opportunity to show Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson that we are professionals and deserve to be treated as such.  Show them that we will no longer stand for their vindictiveness, abuse, and fear mongering any longer.  Ms. Boxer must be told that we will not allow her “vision” for the office to built on the backs of public defender employees.

In the end, the future of this office is in your hands.  You can choose to allow Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson to continue their cycle of abuse, or help to end it.  You can return this office to what it once was: an office filled with camaraderie and pride in the mission to help those who cannot help themselves defend their rights, or allow it to remain as it currently is: a dungeon.  As the title of this statement says, we can either rise together or fall apart.  The choice is yours.

Hello,

Here’s some info on the “Retired” Supervising Investigator from the Public Defender Randy Bliss that is now employed back at the Public defender as a contract employee with the same duties. He is also a “retired” employee from San Bernardino Police Dept. Here is information provided by San Bernardino defense attorney Don Jordan about what Randy Bliss did at San Bernardino Police. Hope this helps in your efforts against the current administration at the PD. Bliss and Ferguson are very close friends. Bliss works directly for Chief Investigator Martin Dante: http://www.silvercloud.net/freejimmy/

Here’s a link to a State Bar transcript where Ms. Boxer was urging the committee to adopt new rules making it easier to fire attorneys. She was very concerned about the difficulty of firing attorneys that were hired prior to her being appointed to the position by the Board of Supervisors. I think this will show Ms. Boxer’s true colors.

http://bog.calbar.org/docs/agendaItem/Public/agendaitem1000005441.pdf

June 2, 2010
Editor
San Bernardino Sun

Dear Editor:

I have been a Deputy Public Defender with the County of San Bernardino for approximately nine years.  In 2006, while disappointed that Interim Public Defender Gerald Farber was not awarded the position, I viewed the hiring of Doreen Boxer with a mix of excited anticipation and the belief that our office and therefore, our clients, would be in good hands under Ms. Boxer’s administration.  At first, Ms. Boxer exceeded expectations.

When she began, she implemented a training program for new attorneys, made sure that we had proper resource materials for competent representation of our clients and instilled pride and a sincere belief that we were truly fighting for the rights of our indigent clients.  Morale was at an all time high.

Now that we are in mid 2010, I cannot honestly say that I feel the same way of our Public Defender Administration.  Morale of our attorney and investigations units have bottomed out under the leadership of Ms. Boxer and her assistant, Lauri Ferguson.  Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson would like to have us believe that our morale problem stems from a bad economy and thus, a much stricter county budget.  Nothing could be farther than the truth.

The honest reason for such a detrimental effect on employee morale is that our administration has lost touch with the very individuals that have been charged with the day to day fight to protect the rights of indigent clients: attorneys and Public Defender investigators.  A main example of this is a threat of a layoff of Deputy Public Defenders while Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson maintain a top-heavy and bloated administrative staff.  Other examples include the highly-profiled and equally unsuccessful civil suit with the intent to destroy our attorney’s union; inane office policies instituted by Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson with the intent to frustrate our union or to intentionally damage morale, and the most disturbing of all, are the all too common vindictive and often retaliatory actions against my fellow attorneys and investigators by Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson.  They have made an office with the mission to defend rights into little more than a jail.

In short, both Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson have created a hostile work environment for the rank and file attorney and investigator, where fear of losing one’s job is used to maintain compliance with office policy, performance in court and the “proper attitude for the defense of indigent clients.”  Such actions have also created a culture where incompetence is actually rewarded in the promotion of individuals to supervisors as in one instance, a felony trial supervisor in the Central San Bernardino office actually has little or no felony trial experience!

While I hate to finish this letter with a very worn cliché, I would ask my fellow employees to gather and cast a vote of no confidence for Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson as the jobs you save today may be your very own.  Those who claim to be champions for the rights of indigent defendants that have little or no concern for their own employees are hollow champions at best.  It’s time for Ms. Boxer and Ms. Ferguson to go.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bruce McMahon

The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government.

~George Washington~

I intended for the final installment in this series to profile the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.  But how many times can I write about the incestuous relationships between District Attorney Mike Ramos, Conflict Panel attorneys, Public Defender Doreen Boxer and judges—relationships that often should be prohibited by conflict laws if not their own sense of integrity and morality?  Unfortunately, as we know “integrity and morality” are not important qualities to many of these individuals.

Today I was listening to closing arguments in the Rex Gutierrez case and it hit me as to why I feel so strongly about these corruption cases.  I decided to change my focus for this last article from the Sheriff’s Department to the pursuit of justice by the unjust.

Defense counsel are paid to do one thing and one thing only and that is to mitigate the circumstances in which criminal defendants finds themselves.  In a perfect world, the accused would admit guilt if they are in fact guilty and take their punishment like a man.  But then again, in a perfect world, actually crime would not exist and there would be no need for a justice system.

We do not live in a perfect world and most of us do not like being punished, especially unjustly.  Therefore  there is the need for criminal defense attorneys.  Some attorneys take their jobs very seriously, as we see in Jim Reiss, and others do not.  As distasteful as we may find letting criminals off the hook, I believe one thing that makes America what it is today is that as a society we would rather let a criminal go free than see an innocent man hang.  So although many of us could never do what criminal defense attorneys do, we recognize that without them we would not have the greatest justice system in the world despite its flaws.

As I tried to stay awake through Deputy District Attorney John Goritz’ final arguments, I found myself feeling anger towards Goritz, not for saying terrible things about Rex, but for lying about Rex.  It is Goritz’ job to present and argue the facts whether we like those facts or not.  For that matter, the purpose of the Sheriff, the District Attorney and the judges is to find the truth, not to win at any cost.  Justice is not a contest.  When truth is no longer the objective of our justice system, then we no longer live in a society where citizens are safe from government tyranny.

Instead of the pursuit of justice, the District Attorney’s Office has turned the judicial process into a chess game, where victory has become the goal and the only acceptable out come—guilt or innocence be dammed.  Deputy District Attorney John Goritz knows he is lying to the jury; he knows he is violating the oath he took to uphold the Constitution of United States and the laws of the state of California; he knows he has now committed acts similar to those of which he has accused the defendant.  So how is this man who showed so much venom for Gutierrez any different than Gutierrez, other than one is clearly guilty of abusing the office which he currently holds?

We will likely know tomorrow whether justice was found in San Bernardino County this particular time or not.  What we will never know is just how many times justice has been lost, whether to make stats look better, to payoff a political debt, or for a personal vendetta.  For that reason alone, justice in San Bernardino County is tenuous at best.  And that should be of grave concern to every one of its citizens.

So far in this series we have discussed the District Attorney’s office and the Conflict Panel.  There are three other components to justice, or the lack thereof, in San Bernardino County:  the Public Defender, the Sheriff’s Department, and the Superior Court bench.  Today, we will discuss the office of the Public Defender.

The Mission Statement on the wall of the Public Defender reads:

The Public Defender protects the constitutional rights of indigent defendants by providing skilled legal counsel and passionate advocacy at all critical phases of state level criminal and civil commitment litigation.

It is hard to believe that Public Defender Doreen Boxer would have the audacity to post such a blatant lie once one knows what really goes on at the Public Defender’s office.  iePolitics has been contacted by numerous Public Defender employees with stories of retaliation for helping clients and tales of conspiracy with the district attorney’s office to the detriment of justice.   And both actions seem to be allowed and rewarded.

But is it really that bad?  I mean, crooks going to jail, and deservedly so, is a good thing, right?.  The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

So, yes.  It really is that bad.  Anything that violates the Constitutional rights of any citizen of the United States is bad, very bad.  Perhaps today it is a serial murderer but tomorrow it could just as easily be you or I.  Once we lose our freedoms granted to us by the Constitution of the United States, America no longer exists.  And that why what is happening in San Bernardino County’s justice system is so troubling.  Literally, we are watching those who have committed no crime be prosecuted with malice.  And those who are trying to defend any who have been charged, punished for doing their jobs.

How did the condition of our justice system in San Bernardino County become so dire?  There is no one complete answer, but most of the answer revolves around one man:  a man of no moral character; a man with great political ambition; a man without conscious; a man with no respect for the profession in which he practices or the system of which he is a part.  That man, of course, is District Attorney Mike Ramos.

Through intimidation, illegal use of the powers granted to him under the law, and through placing his opponents in compromising situations, he has gained the upper hand in all matters of justice or injustice in San Bernardino County.  And that includes his relationship with the Public Defender’s office.

As pointed out in Part One, only in San Bernardino County would one find the District Attorney banging the Public Defender with no repercussions.  Our Board of Supervisors and our County Administrative Officer have chosen to look the other way.  As with every other wrongdoing in our county, “cover up” has been the name of the game.

So why would our own Board of Supervisors and County Administrative Office not take action?  The answer is simple.  All five members of the Board of Supervisors and the current County Administrative Officer have been threatened, publicly or privately, with prosecution of one type or another.  Once Ramos’ patsy, former County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer, was removed from office and his successor was named, Ramos wasted no time making it known he was investigating County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux for a Fair Political Practices Commission violation.

Although the investigation may have started months before Devereaux’s appointment was officially announced, his appointment to the office was also known months before it occurred.  Anyone who thinks Ramos did this without an agenda clearly has their head stuck deeply in the sand.

But the issue with the Public Defender’s office goes deeper than simply the Board and CAO not providing adequate oversight to a department head who can’t keep herself out of compromising situations.  Staff members talk about a department head out of control; a manager who has little or no adult felony trial experience who attempts to micro-manager an experienced and highly successful criminal defense and that can only be construed as an attempt to assure defendants are found guilty, or preferably, plead out.

And as with the Conflict Panel, “plead out” is likely the most important term.  Defendants who plead rather than take their cases to trial cost the county a lot less money, at least up front.  Incarceration versus a “not guilty” verdict costs far more in the long run but our county has never been about long-range planning.  So getting a defendant to take a plea is the ultimate goal of both the District Attorney and the Public Defender.  It keeps costs under control and keeps members of the Board of Supervisors happy.  But in the end justice is not served.  But that does not matter to those who benefit from it, does it?

It does matter to those who care deeply about their jobs.  Attorneys in the Public Defender’s office could just as easily have become deputy district attorneys.  But they chose a profession where they felt called.  It is too bad our leaders don’t see the importance of justice in our county.  I wonder if they will feel any differently if they are indicted.  We can only hope the FBI is making a serious attempt to clean this mess up.  They seem to be our only hope now.  Time shall tell.

But . . . this county is in dire straits, ethically speaking that is.  I really want to believe what my friends who know current County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux say about him.  I really do.  I really, really do.  Because if it isn’t true, this county is going bankrupt.

We need some action.  There are so many unethical administrators, managers, and supervisors in this county that even with few getting the ax, nothing has changed.  And right now, it is feeling hopeless.  There are several department heads who should receive the ax that seem like a no-brainer:  Ruth Stringer, Doreen Boxer, Andrew Lamberto to name just a few.

Greg, how embarrassing is it going to be for the county in a few short weeks when Andrew Lamberto is placed under oath and has to explain to a judge and jury ad the media why he lied at Rex Gutierrez’ preliminary hearing?  How can you or the members of the Board of Supervisors support him?  I don’t get this.  You don’t have to wait until the hearing to figure this out.

And Doreen Boxer’s romps with Mike Ramos are going to become newsworthy once again soon.  Ruth Stringer is the village idiot.  How much longer are you and the board members going to put up with her less-than-stellar legal advice?  Exactly how much does it have to cost taxpayer before you cut the losses?

Seriously, we are all starting to wonder . . .

]]> http://iepolitics.net/2010/05/24/iepolitics-where-is-the-leadership-in-this-county/feed/ 2 http://iepolitics.net/2010/05/03/iepolitics-can-justice-be-found-in-san-bernardino-county-part-1/ http://iepolitics.net/2010/05/03/iepolitics-can-justice-be-found-in-san-bernardino-county-part-1/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 13:34:59 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=2404 Continue reading →]]>

Good lawyers know the law; great lawyers know the judge.  — Author Unknown

Justice is defined as “the upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards or law.”   In other words, in a county run by scoundrels, justice is hard to find.

In part one of this series we are going to examine the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, District Attorney Michael Ramos, and the relationships the office and its elected leader enjoys with the county’s criminal justice system.

Let’s start by defining the role of a district attorney in California.  California Government Code section 26500 states:

The district attorney is the public prosecutor, except as otherwise provided by law.

The public prosecutor shall attend the courts, and within his or her discretion shall initiate and conduct on behalf of the people all prosecutions for public offenses.

As you can see, the definition is simple, yet broad.  The ability to “initiate and conduct on behalf of the people all prosecutions for public offenses” makes a county’s district attorney one of the most powerful positions at the local level.  And when that ability is mixed with politics, it becomes one of the most dangerous.

So, in San Bernardino County, have we allowed our district attorney to entwine justice and politics?  To answer that question, let’s first look at our current district attorney’s, Mike Ramos, Form 460.  A Form 460 is a document that must be filed semi-annually, more often during the election cycle, by any candidate for office that accepts donations or makes expenditures to assist in his or her election to public office:  Ramos 460

Among the most notable contributions for the period of January 1, 2010 through March 31, 2010, are $10,000 each from the Carter, Spring, Schank and O’Conner and San Bernardino County Safety Employees Benefit Association (SEBA).  Carter, et al., are the attorneys for the county’s Conflict Panel.

Conflict Panel attorneys are used when there is a conflict of interest for the Public Defender, such as two or more indigent co-defendants, or more recently in the instance of former Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Bill Postmus who was involved in disciplining Public Defender Doreen Boxer due to her indiscretions with Mike Ramos.  In other words, Conflict Panel attorneys are attorneys who represent defendants in criminal matters against the District Attorney.

However, since Mike Ramos began his first run for District Attorney eight years ago, these same attorneys have donated over $100,000 to Ramos’ campaigns.  One has to wonder why.  It doesn’t seem to be for the best interest of defendants as the plea bargain rate in this county is over 90 percent.  So what is Carter, Spring, Schank and O’Conner getting in return?  Lucrative contracts?  Easy caseloads?  Both seem likely.

And the same question can be asked of SEBA.  Of course law enforcement has an interest in seeing crooks punished.  But their job ends with investigating and presenting the facts.  They are not responsible for determining guilt or meting out punishment.  With a district attorney beholden to law enforcement, can an innocent man find justice or will a district attorney err on behalf of law enforcement to pay back a debt?  The current scenario certainly blurs the boundaries of right and wrong.

But one of the most egregious aspects of San Bernardino County’s system of justice, the significance of which has been totally lost on the county administrative officer and Board of Supervisors, is the personal relationship between District Attorney Mike Ramos and Public Defender Doreen Boxer.  I mean, seriously, in any of the other 57 counties is the district attorney banging the public defender?  Any other county administration would see the conflict and recognize the potential for ten of millions of dollars in payouts in lawsuits by defendants who can claim, and rightfully so, that they did not receive adequate legal counsel because the county’s Board of Supervisors helped to cover up the relationship between the two supposedly opposing counsel.

Finally, we are also witness to personal relationships between Ramos and members of the San Bernardino County Superior Court Bench.  Last week a golf tournament was co-sponsored by Presiding Judge Doug Elwell, Sheriff Rod Hoops, and District Attorney Mike Ramos: Stull Fundraiser ACC.   The purpose was to raise money for Victor Stull in his bid to become a superior court judge in this county.  Stull is currently a deputy district attorney serving under Ramos.  If Stull is elected, where will his loyalties be?  To the citizens waiting to be judged in his courtroom?  Or to those who got him elected?

It is said that no new judge is appointed without Ramos’ blessing.  In our county we see a plethora of deputy district attorneys appointed who have no civil, family law, probate, or juvenile law experience whatsoever.  This is a grave disservice to the citizens of our county and to the legal community which is forced to practice before unskilled judges who lack the legal knowledge to make well reasoned decisions on complex legal matters.  But they are experts at putting someone away for 25 years for stealing a pizza, or setting a half million dollar bail for a white collar crime, while violent predators are given much lower bails.

And that, of course, leads us to the county’s current corruption scandal.  We have watched as our district attorney, in concert with several members of the Superior Court bench, have thrown the Constitution of the United States to the wind.  Yes, there has been a conspiracy in San Bernardino County.  Maybe even bribery.  The problem is it has been committed by those whose duty it is to prosecute and judge criminals.  And those who use those powers prescribed by California law in this manner are far more dangerous than any criminal in this county.  Fortunately, an investigation is in progress and members of Ramos’ staff have come forward and talked with outside investigators.  We will not have to wait much longer for the truth to emerge but in the meantime a mockery has been made of our justice system in this county by those sworn to uphold the law.

Justice in San Bernardino County has become as elusive as a Sasquatch or the Lockness Monster.  Perhaps not as evident to the public but obvious to many of those close to the system who witness the backroom deals, the personal relationships between oppositing parties, and the actions taken for political gain.  Only in San Bernardino County do we have the Public Defender sleeping with the District Attorney literally; the Conflict Panel, which is supposed to represent indigent defendants, donating heavily to the District Attorney and Sheriff; and judges with financial arrangements connected to officers of the court.

“Innocent until proven guilty” is simply a slogan of a bygone era that has given way to a system of justice mired in politics and apathy.  The Constitution of the United States be damned if it doesn’t fit the political plans of a chosen few who are not afraid to use the power granted to them by that same constitution to  use the justice system for political and financial gain.

iePolitics is starting a five-part series where we examine closely these relationships, showing the connections between the District Attorney, Public Defender, judges, Conflict Panel, and law enforcement.  Defendants, guilty or not, do not stand a chance at justice in our county unless they have the means to pay for an out-of-county attorney not affiliated with the “good ol’ boy” network of San Bernardino County justice.  We remain the wild, wild west of justice.

Let’s see what Judge Michael Dest does.  If the matter was before Judge Duke Rouse, Postmus would be in deep do-do as Judge Rouse is showing himself to be the friend of District Attorney Mike Ramos we never knew about until revelations of his personal and financial relationship with the firm handling the Ramos’ sexual harassment claim came to light.  I have to think Judge Dest is being a bit more careful and will determine there is a conflict.

I feel sometimes like we are beating a dead horse.  Unfortunately, that dead horse keeps coming back to life and rearing its ugly head.  There are several San Bernardino County department heads that have to go.  The county simply cannot afford to keep them on in these economic times.  Federal court and federal juries do not care how broke San Bernardino County may be when it awards judgments.  And Mr. Devereaux, you have some complete idiots (note HROs:  be sure to print this out to add it to “the list”) running the show who are going to ultimately cost taxpayers dearly.

At the top of the list is County Counsel Ruth Stringer.  How much longer are you going to tolerate her half-ass legal advice?  When you take an attitude of “we have 138 attorneys, so bring it on,” as did our former County Administrative Officer and our current County Counsel has, you’re assuming you can outlast us all.  Not all of us go away easily or cheaply.

Then there is Andrew Lamberto.  Greg, at some point this county needs to abide by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  I know we have some slow learners and it has only been 46 years since it was enacted, but we really need to get on board.  Human Resources should be a mechanism to attract the best and brightest to San Bernardino County.  However, the ability to give a good blow job should not be among the criteria to determine who is the best and brightest.  And when we have work places where the words “nigger” and “cunt” are used with regularity by supervisors, there is a problem no matter how many EEO complaints Andrew helps cover up.  And don’t tell me he doesn’t cover them up.  I know what happened at ARMC, TAD, WDD, PH, and a few others departments.  One day the county WILL face a class action suit.  Any reasonable person is going to be offended by what San Bernardino County officials allow to occur in the workplace.

The next on my wish list is the De la Rosa/Swanson/Haugen combination.  First of all, males are not the only ones who sexually harass subordinate employees.  And second, theft is theft is theft.  Need I say more?  These three aid and abet theft as a daily routine.  They also willingly circumvent the law.   I know you don’t know much about social services coming from a municipal background and Linda Haugen (or her protegé Arabatzis) is not the person to teach you if you want to learn the right way of doing things.  Ask any employee not too intimidated to tell you the truth and you will find this county has violated the law for years.  And our attitude about welfare fraud is atrocious. If the public only knew!

Doreen Boxer . . . well that one should go without saying.  Greg, I bet you were at the City/County Conference and witnessed her behavior yourself, but if not, there were dozens of other witnesses.  But more important is the lack of service being given to the clients they are supposed to defend.  Morale is dismal in the Public Defender’s office with attorneys being disciplined for doing their jobs too well.  They are ridiculed for caring about their clients and they are punished for defending them.  Justice in this county is shameful.

Kari Verjil must be one of the most obnoxious department heads we have.  She seems to always be on the defensive.  She can’t take criticism.  She seems to have a good staff, which is fortunate, but she, herself, needs to go.  Mark my words.  One day what she does BEHIND the scenes will be made public for all the world to know and San Bernardino County will have yet another corruption scandal, a corruption scandal that neither the state’s attorney general or the FBI will be able to ignore.  Replace her before she embarrasses us more.

Dr. Dev is an amazing figure.  Anyone ever read the story about Prem Reddy in the Los Angeles Times?  Click here to read it.  Here is a quote from that story:

Reddy said his company’s approach allowed it to be more efficient than its rivals, and he remained unapologetic to those who said the company was too focused on the bottom line. Patients, he said, may simply deserve only the amount of care they can afford.

Well, from the stories we are hearing about Dr. Dev, it seems he is mirroring Dr. Reddy’s philosophy on patient health care and hospital practices.

Let us not forget about Deanna Thompson.  At last count at least nine employees have been terrorized by her.  Several have already initiated lawsuits against the county.  Exactly how many must sue the county before something gets done?

And finally, there is Dean “Oh Mr. Greg can I lick your feet to save my job” Arabatzis.  This clown was one of Uffer’s hatchet men.  He knew exactly what was going on, and like Mark Uffer, committed as many sins against the people of San Bernardino as did Mark.  He may have had Mark convinced he was a budget whiz, but I assure you there are real budget whizzes out there who would be happy to work for his salary.  The cocky little man needs to go.

Since Lindley’s appointment to Public Health, department employees have been in an uproar over his lack of qualifications.  He, along with former County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer, revamped the department and what employees claim was to be a merger with Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC).  Employees are breathing a sigh of relief that he is gone.  I know they hope to get back to the business of public health and away from empire building.

Peter Wulfman, division manager for Solid Waste Management, has also been terminated.  It has been suggested he undermined many projects.

After the lies Jim told regarding my dogs, I cannot say it happened to a more deserving individual.  Now if we can just get rid of Brian Cronin and the lieutenant, Public Health will be a better place.

There is still a long list coutywide of useless department heads and managers.  Shall I name them again?  Of course I should.

1. Skirt-chasing Andrew Lamberto
2. Dumbshit Linda Haugen
3. Embezzler Michael De la Rosa
4. Idiot Nancy Swanson
5. Legal Beagle Ruth Stringer
6. Adulterer Doreen Boxer
7. Stupid Kari Verjil
8. Can’t get to work Dean Arabatzis (hope I spelled his name wrong.
9. Coverup King Dr. Dev

Okay, I’m going to allow comments on this post so that everyone can add their favorites.

Written by Blogger

04/12/2004      Earl Carter                        $  2,500.00

04/12/2004      Jim Spring                         $  2,500.00

08/11/2004      Jim Spring                         $  5,000.00

05/06/2005      Earl Carter                        $  5,000.00

05/06/2005      Jim Spring                         $  5,000.00

05/23/2005      Earl Carter                        $  5,000.00

05/23/2005      Jim Spring                         $  5,000.00

07/21/2006      Earl Carter                        $  5,000.00

07/21/2005      Jim Spring                         $  5,000.00

07/13/2007      Earl Carter                        $  7,000.00

07/13/2007      Jim Spring                         $  7,000.00

05/27/2008      Jim Spring                         $ 14,000.00

06/09/2009      Earl Carter                        $  5,000.00

06/09/2009      Jim Spring                         $  5,000.00

08/01/2009      Carter, Spring, Schank & O'Connor  $ 10,000.00

Total                                              $ 83,000.00 

“We can’t do that,” you say.  Why not?  Conflicts of interest do not seem to be of concern to anyone.  Take for example, one of the most recent campaign contributions to Ramos of $10,000.  That contribution brings the total to $83000 that the law affiliation of conflict panel attorneys James Spring and Earl Carter have given to Ramos since 2004 to support his re-election.  This equates to 15 to 20 percent of all campaign contributions received in that same period.  The conflict panel attorneys are Ramos’ single largest contributor.

San Bernardino County has one of the highest plea bargain rates in the state of California, which is a plus for conflict panel attorneys as they are paid a flat rate and plea bargains represent the least amount of work for the contract amount.  The District Attorney gets his high conviction rate and the county saves on indigent defense.  The only losers in all of this are their clients who may have been falsely accused, not that a district attorney of such high integrity as Mike Ramos would ever do such a thing.

And really, here in San Bernardino County we have one-stop shopping for our entire judicial branch of the government as Ramos takes care of the judges as well.  He has continued lobbying for $20,000 a year benefit package on their behalf.  But there is no conflict of interest in that.

District Attorney Mike Ramos’ concern for the pursuit of justice for all knows no bounds.  Hail Mike Ramos.

It looks like The Sun newspaper is feeling a little self-conscious these days.

Editor Frank Pine, the subject of much criticism on this blog over the past several months for his rose-colored glasses when it comes to his newspapers non-reporting of stories for which they have facts in hand is trying to defend his actions.

Are Pine’s rose-colored glasses the problem? Or is there an agenda?

It sure hurts when questions like this become focused on a local newspaper.

Pine has just now penned a couple op-eds on how their editorial board functions, and how confidential sources are “red” flags……… How they take extra strides in reporting accurate fact-based news stories.

Oh please, spare us the diatribe.

Most newspapers have some degree of self-serving interests in the way they write their news stories. Heck, who doesn’t.

The Sun along with other Inland Empire print media live in a dream world of believing they shape public opinion by how they spin the news. A clearly dishonest foundation to embark from.

The Sun and it’s affiliated newspapers, and even the Riverside Press Enterprise, have the unsavory habit of locking themselves into positions to the point of when proven wrong they just stick with it regardless, and in the end come out looking bad.

To read the rest of the story, click here.

We expected the report to be out some time in November, but suddenly there was one delay after another.  And, Ramos started flexing his muscles once again, sending his investigators out to harass members of the Board of Supervisors and their staffers with frivolous questioning and intimidation.  Then we heard of the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) referrals just days before the report was to go before the Board of Supervisors and guessed a deal had been cut.  It was upsetting, but not surprising, to see the final report.  No one can objectively look at that final report and not come to the conclusion that something smells, stinks actually.

The report reeks so badly of deal-cutting between certain members of the Board of Supervisors and Ramos that  formal calls have been made for federal investigators to intervene to determine if crimes have been committed.   Several current and former Government Center employees have already interviewed with federal investigators regarding Ramos’ actions.

When one compares the aggravated circumstances of Second District Supervisor Paul Biane’s FPPC filings (or lack thereof) and newly-hired County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux’s “mistake” to the approach taken with Jim Erwin, it is obvious one or more persons have been given special treatment.  The question is, “In exchange for what?”  And that exchange, if proven, carries far harsher criminal penalties than an FPPC fine.

Despite inaccurate headlines by local newspapers, the already-completed report did NOT clear Ramos of lying to the public nor did it clear him of the allegations that he had a sexual relationship with one or more subordinate employees or of having a sexual relationship with Public Defender Doreen Boxer, which could be the most problematic of all of the allegations against Ramos.  The report also did not clear his executive staff and some attorneys of sexual rendezvous with subordinates in the stairwells, misuse of county vehicles, time card fraud, political activity on county time, illegal wiretaps, and a host of other allegations that appear to have enough footing to warrant further investigation.

Scuttlebutt suggests the Board of Supervisors is tired of all the games Ramos is playing.  He has put the county in harm’s way and we are hearing suggestions of another investigation into the actual mismanagement of the District Attorney’s office.

Ramos has apparently heard these rumors as well because he is back up to his old tricks.  Yesterday, District Attorney investigators attempted contact with one of Board of Supervisors Chairman Gary Ovitt’s former staffers to discuss the “Erwin/Postmus” investigation.  But the questioning quickly turned to the political action committee run by Chief of Staff Mark Kirk, Alliance for Ethical Government.  Kirk’s PAC has been investigated, re-investigated, and investigated some more by Ramos and no wrongdoing can be found.  But Ramos knows how to get to the Board and that is by attacking the person who holds the single most powerful position in county government.

At least the position of Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors should be the most powerful position in county government.  And it would be if we had an ethical district attorney.  But instead we have a district attorney who will use his power to prosecute to harass and threaten anyone who threatens his power base.  Mark and Gary learned that the hard way last year.  And now they have had a refresher course.

It is time this Board of Supervisors puts a stop to our out-of-control district attorney’s perverted sense of justice instead of running with their tales between their legs.  We, the voters, will end Ramos’ career in a few months.  But county government cannot wait that long to become functional again.  Neuter this pervert now!

]]> http://iepolitics.net/2010/02/04/iepolitics-ramos-at-it-again/feed/ 5 http://iepolitics.net/2010/02/04/iepolitics-devereaux-showing-whos-boss-or-exhibiting-strong-leadership-capabilities/ http://iepolitics.net/2010/02/04/iepolitics-devereaux-showing-whos-boss-or-exhibiting-strong-leadership-capabilities/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:21:53 +0000 Administrator http://iepolitics.com/?p=533 Continue reading →]]>

“Cautiously optimistic” and “nervous” are two of the phrases I have heard repeatedly about San Bernardino County’s new head honcho, County Administrative Officer Greg Devereaux.  Even before assuming office, Devereaux has ended a decades-long policy of 9-80s for county management, a move that makes line staff very nervous as many depend on “flex time” to survive in these hard economic times.  But it is also a sign that Devereaux is not going to be afraid to lead.

After six years of despot leadership by former County Administrative Officer Mark Uffer and his band of thugs, it is easy to understand why line staff are wary of our new leader.  I’ve been asked my opinion repeatedly by everyone from the lowest level employee to managers to newspaper reporters.  Here is my standard response:

Seeing Devereaux’s close, personal relationship with the Fourth District makes me nervous on a personal level, especially when considering what the Fourth District recently did to me.  That being said, I have two friends who are long-term city of Ontario employees who have nothing but respect for Devereaux.  They are rank-and-file and are allowed to work 9-80s.  Ontario employees, most of whom are represented by San Bernardino County Public Employees Association, have the best contracts of any governmental agency in San Bernardino County.

From what I hear from those that know Devereaux, he is tough but also fair.  I also hear he will not take the crap from county managers that Uffer not only tolerated, but encouraged.   He will not play the games Uffer played and will not tolerate bad managers.  Unlike Uffer, he is consistently described as a ‘professional.’

Line staff will figure out Devereaux in his first 60 days.  We have been tormented by some of the worse possible managers for the past six years.  This is the time of the year when they can all be forced into retirement.  His actions will tell us if he is another Uffer or if he is a real County Administrative Officer.  Those that he leaves in management positions will say everything we need to know about him.  We can all only hope that the change that has been made is a change for the best that will finally turn this county around.

Here’s our list of those that need to go:

1. Ruth Stringer
2. Dean Arabatzis
3. Steve Hall
4. Kari Verjil
5. Doreen Boxer
6. Virginia Lugo
7. Nancy Swanson
8. Michael de la Rosa
9. Jim Lindley
10. Dr. Dev
11. Andrew Lamberto
12. Deanna Thompson
13. Keith Lee
14. Sandy Harmsen
15. LINDA HAUGEN

Who do you pick as “Managers that need to be booted”?

My question, of course, is:  Were you in a county-owned vehicle or do you take the car allowance?  It’s interesting that you felt the need to have legal counsel.  I wonder if any of us would have gotten off with a $300 fine.  But then, you were a deputy public defender in that court in your previous gig.  Hmm.

Defendant: Boxer, Doreen Beth Demographics… Eyes: Green Hair: Brown Height (ft/in): 5’6″ Weight (lbs): 130

Names…

One name found.1

Details…

Case Stage: Filed with court	Release Status: Released on Bail		DMV Hold: N
Charging Document: Citation	Mandatory Appearance: N	Amendment #: 0

Case Number: 79034KH

Printable Version

Demographics…

Eyes: Green

Hair: Brown

Height (ft/in): 5’6″

Weight (lbs): 130

Names…

One name found.1

Last Name	First Name	Middle Name	Type
Boxer	Doreen	Beth	Real Name

Details…

Case Stage: Filed with court	Release Status: Released on Bail		DMV Hold: N
Charging Document: Citation	Mandatory Appearance: Y	Amendment #: 0

Counts
One count found.1

Co Defendants
No co-defendants found for this case

Participants
2 professionals found, displaying all professionals.1