42 yr North Mtb resident

Montebello, CA

Montebello police chief placed on leave

Do you mean services to our community like a $40,000 plaque for a non-existant building? Or a $130,000 settlement which balooned from $25,000? You must mean the $21 million that the city will have to repay for the Taylor Ranch Castle's $9 million in bonds? There are probably janitors who have worked in the police department for 20 years, too. Can we let them be chief, too? Obviously, from Chief Weast's performance, time working in the department is not a suitable substitute for education.  (13 hrs ago | post #56)

Montebello, CA

Montebello police chief placed on leave

He said that he learned engineering in the Army, too.  (13 hrs ago | post #55)

Montebello, CA

Montebello police chief placed on leave

Gil Espino is a Public Information Officer who has stated publicly that his job is NOT to inform the public about anything. What has he done to justify his exorbitant salary, anyway? After the notorious Grant Rea Incident with Athens' employees harassing and threatening Montebello residents, it was John Edwards who showed up in response to the blockers' frantic cell phone calls to give them direction. However, he is no longer a city employee, and free to live wherever he wants, so I don't know how we can get rid of him. Irma (whoever she is) and Haydee will probably be disposed of pursuant to accurate performance reviews and a result of a lawsuit settlement.  (13 hrs ago | post #54)

Montebello, CA

Montebello police chief placed on leave

Neither Pacheco, who's contract was illegal, nor Wiest, who objectively has failed to perform his job, have any chance of costing the city more in court than they have already.  (13 hrs ago | post #53)

Montebello, CA

Montebello police chief placed on leave

Did Urteaga, Salazar and Vasquez remove a supervisor that 90%+ of his own department have no confidence in? Did they remove a chief with allegations of racism, improper promotions, sexism, whistleblowing retaliation? No. The gang of three removed anyone who would not rubber stamp their illegal and improper activities. The Clean Three are removing corrupt officials and employees who would not protect the residents of Montebello. Bravo for their efforts on behalf of the People of Montebello, without regard to cost to them personally.  (13 hrs ago | post #52)

Montebello, CA

Montebello police chief placed on leave

You are absolutely right. That is why Wiest's apparent racially motivated promotion practices over better qualified officers could not be tolerated any more. The time for racially based hiring and promotions is almost passed, like the man who apparently practiced them: Chief Wiest.  (13 hrs ago | post #51)

Montebello, CA

Political tensions simmer in Montebello City Council race

Actually, anyone in these blogs could be sued for libel.  (Monday | post #641)

Montebello, CA

Political tensions simmer in Montebello City Council race

Neither you or MH could be sued for slander in these cases. I implied that Robert could be if he SAID that ridiculous charge publicly. Both MH and Socrates could theoretically be sued for libel, as both use a written meduim.  (Monday | post #640)

Montebello, CA

Political tensions simmer in Montebello City Council race

Libel is a : a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression b (1) : a statement or representation published without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt (2) : defamation of a person by written or representational means (3) : the publication of blasphemous, treasonable, seditious, or obscene writings or pictures (4) : the act, tort, or crime of publishing such a libel. Slander is 1 : the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation 2 : a false and defamatory oral statement about a person Malicious mischief is willful, wanton, or reckless damage to or destruction of another's property. Probably, she could only sue for libel, as the others would probably be dismissed on a prima facie basis.  (Monday | post #639)

Montebello, CA

Montebello moves quickly to oust, replace top official

The whole park was NOT redone a couple of years ago. As a result of the city joining the Emerald Necklace at our urging, the city was offered a grant from the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy to upgrade the lighting at the park and improve the bike trails. That was all that was redone. NO OTHER IMPROVEMENTS WERE DONE. The park had to be closed because the trenches dug for the new power lines for the new lights posed an unacceptable risk of injury to the public.  (Saturday Dec 12 | post #21)

Montebello, CA

Molinari, two newcomers take early in Montebello

I realize that truth is an alien concept to you, but I will state it again, I haven't used an alternate name in 12 months, and my alternate names were ALL variants on 42 yr Mtb Resident, Citizen, North Mtb, etc, because when I started blogging, I didn't fully understand the sign in process.  (Tuesday Dec 8 | post #231)

Montebello, CA

Molinari, two newcomers take early in Montebello

I know who came up with Robert's past and who released the information, and it was NOT Bill. In order to find the info, it was necessary to visit all the Federal and Municipal Courts individually. Hardly something Bill would do. Also, you'll notice that Robert has NEVER made the blackmail allegation publicly, because HE knows what constitutes slander. MH obviously doesn't.  (Tuesday Dec 8 | post #230)

Montebello, CA

Molinari, two newcomers take early in Montebello

I think he is ascribing all the money spent in the Recall campaign, over which Bill had virtually no control, to Bill's reelection campaign.  (Tuesday Dec 8 | post #229)

Montebello, CA

Montebello mayor calls special meeting for Friday

Last time I checked, the election of Nov. 3 showed that Bill, Frank and Art ARE our leaders, and Grace apparently met with them. Where is the crookedness in that? I notice that you don't allege that calling Robert a crook is inappropriate. Is there some reason for that? Perhaps you forgot about that letter that Kathy waved at the city council meeting where she and Rosie called Bill a liar. In that letter from the DA, I believe he says that there were violations, but that he wasn't going to do anything about them. Sounds to me like the DA is saying that Kathy is crooked, and he just didn't want to be bothered prosecuting her. As for Rosie, I notice that you haven't been able to refute all the Brown Act violations alleged by other bloggers, and the cure and correct letter filed against her actions by a local citizen's group. Sounds crooked to me.  (Tuesday Dec 8 | post #212)

Montebello, CA

Montebello mayor calls special meeting for Friday

ytw, don't expect him to admit his statements are self-contradictory as he would have to be able to tell the truth to do so. At the time that the city council was discussing whether to renovate or demolish the Taylor Ranch House, it was agreed that the figure for refurbishing was about $1 million. As Rosie found out, the easiest source of such funds was bond indebtedness, but the cost of about $2.6 million was deemed to be too much, and it was decided at that time to demolish the Taylor Ranch House "sometime next year." The upkeep for this site was minimal, and included mowing and watering the lawn and utilities. The upkeep for the new Taylor Ranch Palace will be much, much more. Where will that funding come from? Now, we are saddled with an indebtedness of $9 million instead of $2.6 million. If "the city had no money to restore and upkeep the site" of the original Taylor Ranch House, then how does the city now have MORE THAN TRIPLE that amount? Contrary to your statements, the city only did a cursory search for non-bond funding, and the demolition was supposed to end the use of the Taylor Ranch House site. That was the fiscal arguement at the time. The new majority are probably doing the site development process leagally, after the apparently illegal demolition. As ytw has pointed out, there needs to be public hearings on the building process, not the secret meetings Rosie oversaw. An EIR also needs to be done, something that Rosie showed no sign of considering when she issued the bonds that have to be used soon.  (Monday Dec 7 | post #195)