The other day Register “reporter” Lou Ponsi put forth a story he read about on our blog first and presented it as his own to his handful of unsuspecting readers.
Apparently the idea that you can pilfer somebody else’s story and claim it as your own finds favor with Lou Ponsi’s “supervisor,” too. His name is Jim Radcliffe and below is his response to a complaint lodged by one of our readers.
See, according to Radcliffe if you “independently” verify someone else’s work then you’re in the clear to pretend that the story is yours. He notes that The Register stories get “picked up” all the time and that it is a compliment. No, Jim, even if true it’s swinish behavior, and just because you claim you don’t mind getting ripped off doesn’t men anybody else has to like having it happen to them.
Here is Radcliffe’s comical defense:
On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 9:56 AM, Jim Radcliffe (jradcliffe@ocregister.com) wrote:
I am Lou Ponsi’s editor. … He is a very good reporter and handled this story like a pro, under my supervision. … We did see it first on that blog. And I applaud that blog for learning about it first.
But, as is common among the better news organizations, he independently verified everything we used in our story, making numerous phone calls. We usually don’t credit the first news organization that has the story; the reader typically doesn’t care and just wants to know about the story itself.
We, at the Register, are constantly the first to break stories that other media then pick it up: TV and radio stations, the L.A. Times, The Associated Press, etc. We don’t mind at all, as it is actually a compliment. We do mind if the news organization does no original reporting to make the story “theirs” and doesn’t credit us. … If there is no original reporting, then the initial source should indeed be credited.
Lou didn’t steal anything. He confirmed the arrest was true and found out new things about the case.
I have worked for various news organizations, and this is the industry standard. If you have any additional concerns, please feel free to call me at 714-704-3761. … Again, I applaud that blog for keeping an eye on Fullerton, so long as the coverage is fair. … The more journalists keeping an eye on a community, the better for everyone. … Jim.
Jim Radcliffe Team Leader The Orange County Register 714-704-3761
Ponsi found out “new things” about the case? No, he didn’t. He just found out that the officer in question had made some DUI arrests – a fact utterly irrelevant to the story and included by the “pro” no doubt to be “fair.” And of course he claims he made an unreturned phone call to somebody.
Please note too Radcliffe’s applause for FFFF (not in print, of course) – so long as the coverage is fair. Could it be that Radcliffe really believes that if a blog doesn’t meet his subjective definition of fairness he is not obligated to recognize its work product?
Finally, I have no idea what gives Mr. Radcliffe the idea that he is employed by one of “the better news organizations” but it certainly can’t be any discernible level of ethics.
In what appears to be a rising tide of embarrassing news personnel-wise, the Fullerton Police Department has a new case of Bad Cop to explain to the public.
Fullerton police officer Todd Major plead guilty this month to fraudulent use of an access card and felony grand theft of money and property belonging to the City of Fullerton. Major is now serving out his 6 month sentence in the Theo Lacy County Jail with three years of probation to follow.
Todd Major
Major was a sworn police officer at the time of the theft, earning $90,000 a year in the Community Services Bureau. His case was prosecuted by the big boys at the State Attorney General’s office.
The plea deal included the dropping of additional charges indicating that Major also stole from the Fullerton Car Show, two Troy High School administrators, eleven Fullerton Police Explorers, and the Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons supermarkets.
At this time we don’t know what this convicted cop stole or how he stole it. Due to the union’s fierce protection of bad cops, we also aren’t entitled to know if he was fired or how much paid leave he received before he went to jail.
Anyone with more information on these crimes is invited to contact this blog.
As The Orange County Register sinks deeper in economic distress I have to wonder what is taking so long for this rotten scow to go under.
Today a Register hackling named Lou Ponsi – who used to report Pop Warner football game scores – wrote a story about the Fullerton cop iPad theft story that FFFF broke the other day. This creep actually availed himself of documents that we posted to make it look like he had done some real reporting.
The funniest part is how Ponsi reports:
“She had seen the iPad in the bin and placed her bag of check in over it and walked away with it,” the report stated.
A bag of “check in?” What the Hell is that?!
Of course FFFF got no attribution from the Ponster since “real” reporters apparently believe they can rip off a blog and peddle what they harvest therein as their own work. That’s pretty shameful, especially when most of The Register city hall press release regurgitators like Ponsi wouldn’t know a real news story if it bit them in the ass.
We had a lot of traffic yesterday from The Register and clearly Ponsi visited our website and then was off and running – pretending that our work was his. And that puts him right at the bottom of the barrel he swims around in.
Aren’t ya just sick and tired of watching our city council continue vote on things because they say it’s “mandated.” I can think of dozens of times hearing O’l Doc Hee Haw holler “we don’t have a choice cause it’s man-dated” or “it’s the law.” Now, when was the last time you ever heard of any city councilman going to jail because he voted his conscience against something really stupid?
The reality is that our allegedly conservative Republican political representatives are indulging their own high price, big-government sentiments, and hiding behind policies established by one of the most liberal legislatures in the nation – and of course continually giving away the store to public employee unions.
Friends, the next time you hear someone say “it’s mandated” or, “it’s the law” tell ’em to prove it. And proving it doesn’t mean saying it’s true because you heard it from the City Attorney who is shilling for some staff make-work project or other.
Word has it that Diamond Bar’s Gary Miller wants to run for Congress in our newly minted 40th Congressional District. Remember Gary? He’s the same guy who endorsed Harry Sidhu the Carpetbagging Crash Test Dummy last year. Here’s Gary:
It’s funny how true the old saying, “birds of a feather flock together” really is. I just received this video clip from a Friend who remembered that Harry Sidhu was recently crowing how he had received the endorsement of Congressman Gary Miller. Watch this video and decide for yourself if you believe Gary Miller is as corrupt as CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) believes he is.
Sound familiar? It should. Harry Sidhu also used to list Municipal Water District Director Brett Barbre and County Treasurer Chriss Street as his proud endorsers. We busted Barbre getting a $48,000 do-nothing payoff from Tom Daly, and then kicking back $1000 to Daly’s campaign; and Street recently got busted by a judge for misusing a bankruptcy trust fund. See a trend?
Both Barbre’s and Street’s names have mysteriously disappeared from Sidhu’s list of “honorable” supporters. How long will it take for Gary Miller’s named to be scratched? And will we soon discover that Sidhu has no ethical followers, at all?
Here’s a scoop you won’t find in a Fullerton Police Department press release: It’s a detailed account from one college student’s allegations of brutality by Fullerton cops in downtown last year, which he says resulted in an Internal Affairs investigation and one FPD officer being reprimanded for “inappropriate actions.”
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On the night of March 17th, 2010 at approximately 10:10 pm, I was smoking a cigarette outside Heroes Pub in Fullerton, CA. I was approached by some individuals who identified themselves as gang members and referred to me as “faggot” and “pussy.” Apparently, an altercation began after one of them threatened to “fuck me up” and/or “kill my ‘bitch ass’” if I did not “keep walking.”
At this point, all I remember is a half dozen or so Fullerton police officers screaming at me to put my hands behind my back and spread my legs, which I did. I was violently handcuffed, and asked what was going on. None of the officers would answer me, and instructed me to “shut the fuck up.” At this point, one of the officers threw me on the ground and told me to “stop resisting arrest”, which is odd, because I was not at all resisting, and in fact had no idea I was even being arrested (or why.)
After being beaten on the ground and searched, an unknown officer violently tugged me up by the chain that connects the cuffs (which, in my opinion, were on much too tightly – perhaps in an effort to maximize my agony.) I was repeatedly yanked back and forth by the cuffs, which caused tearing and lacerations on my wrists, which was corroborated by my doctor as consistent with someone attempting to injure the wrist and cause pain. Once the officers were done beating me (because according to them, I was “resisting arrest” and “being combative”, which is completely absurd, as I’m a non-violent college student with no rap sheet who hadn’t even had the opportunity to enjoy a beer yet. Might I add I am 5’9 and weigh 160 lbs.)
The broken finger
At this point, an officer picked me up by the cuffs and started to crack my fingers. I screamed in agony “Ouch! Stop! You’re breaking my finger!!”, at which point the officer asked which finger. I instructed the officer it was my left pinky which was in pain, and then the officer proceeded to twist the finger until it broke (again, my physician will provide x-rays and his report upon request.) I screamed that “You broke my finger!” and the officer said something along the lines of “good.”
At another point, I was asked if my right hand was ok, I replied with “Yes.” Then an officer said “not anymore” and attempted to twist my thumb until it broke, and then my right wrist until it broke. He was unsuccessful. I believe I was punched in the back of the head and body while on the ground being arrest, and the video of the incident might prove this. I was punched so many times during the experience that I am unsure when most of the punching by the officers occurred, but it did occur multiple times. I was also hit with a blunt object. It could have been my shoe, which was violently ripped from my foot (as evidenced by the broken double knot that seems to have exploded due to a large degree of force.) Since I was face down on my stomach during most of the beatings and an officer had his boot pressed painfully on my face, I was unable to see a.) Who was hitting me and b.) With what, if any, objects I was being hit with.
I should note that before I was place in the back of officer [name omitted] squad car, I was asked to “Watch my head”, at which point an officer deliberately slammed my head into the side of the car to cause me pain. While in the back of the squad car, I asked repeatedly why I was being arrested and the officer essentially told me to “Shut the fuck up.” I called him “crooked”, among other things, and vowed I would get justice for having my finger broken. The officer driving the squad car then sped up to a high speed, and then slammed on the breaks, causing me to fly forward and slam my face into the grate that separated us. He repeated two more times, and he seemed to be enjoying it, as he had a smile on his face, and appeared to be impressed with himself for further injuring me.
When we arrived at the station, I was beaten again by more officers and I overheard an officer tell one of the jail guards to “take special care of this one, he thinks he’s smart.” I’m assuming this was in reference to me screaming to be charged, mirandized or explained the situation. I want to note that I was never told why I was arrested, and I was not charged until approximately 6:00am. I was never read my Miranda Rights.
I was thrown into a cold, cement cell with no heating. The officers took my shoes, socks and tie and left me to rot without explanation. I repeatedly screamed asking for an attorney, a phone call, an explanation – and was given none of them. I screamed at one of the guards “Where are my rights!?”, to which he smiled and responded, “You have none, pussy.” Throughout the course of the night, one officer in particular routinely tormented, harassed, and abused me.
I was shivering cold and asked for a blanket and/or pillow at least 20 times. I was denied each time. Every time I asked an officer for an attorney, a phone call, or what my charges were, he said “You just earned yourself two more hours” (implying that I would get to shiver on the freezing cement floor with no blanket for two additional hours.) The entire ordeal lasted eight (8) hours. Officer [name omitted] made several visits to my cell to hurt me.
I told him I had a broken finger, and that my right wrist and thumb might be broken, at which point he smiled, laughed, and started twisting them (my fingers and wrist) until I felt them crack. The pain was so intense that I almost fainted, and I was in so much pain from the prior beatings I took while being arrested, while arriving at the station, and by Officer [name omitted], et al. in places at the station he described as “The place where we got no cameras”, that I attempted to make myself faint to escape the torment and agony that was being wrought upon me.
I should note that Officer [name omitted] genuinely seemed to enjoy hurting me and watching my agony. He laughed and smiled each time he hit me, or squeezed my broken fingers, or punched me in the ribs or skull. He told me “they’ll never catch me… I’m punching you where it doesn’t leave marks” (in reference to my skull and scalp; under my hair.) My doctor, however, corroborated the fact that I had multiple contusions on my skull that were consistent with being punched or struck with a blunt object, and suggested that I may have a concussion.
I told Officer [name omitted] that “I would have his badge” for beating me, and he responded with “I’ll just tell them you were resisting. Or you were violent, or had shank… you’re so fucking stupid kid”, and then he just laughed. The officer taunted me throughout the night by asking me “A blanket would be nice, wouldn’t it?”, then laughing and walking away. He also made remarks such as “Had enough yet” (in reference to “enough” beatings) and “Aww… poor baby is shivering” (in reference to the fact that I stayed in a cold (approximately 49 degrees Fahrenheit) cell for eight hours with no blanket, pillow or hot coffee or tea. Officer [name omitted] also referred to me not by my given name throughout the night, but rather “a faggot”, “a pussy” and “his bitch.”
I told him people like him shouldn’t be cops, and he clearly took the job because he enjoys hurting people for pleasure, and he smiled and agreed with me. It was incredibly disturbing how much fun he seemed to be having, and the joy he expressed every time I screamed in completely blood-curdling agony when he re-broke my finger, and attempted to break other fingers. He treated me sub-human, and not once was I told why I was arrested, or if I was even, in fact, under arrest. Additionally, I was denied a phone call, an attorney, and access to my personal property (the latter being reasonable I suppose – although I heard other inmates using their cell phones.)
When I was finally released at approximately 6:00AM, an officer handed me a bag containing my belongings. I was sober when taken in, and was keeping close track of my money (all in cash.) I started the night with $250 (as I don’t like credit or debit cards, and usually keep all my cash on my person), and when I was arrested I had $174.56. However, when I checked my belongings, there was only $34 in the bag, and Sgt. [name omitted] (who was the person giving me my property back) had no explanation for the missing money.
The next morning I visited the doctor and had an examination, and also took photographs of my injuries. The police officers had broken my left pinky finger “pretty badly” (according to a hand specialist I saw after my primary physician), caused lacerations and bruising to both my wrists, left over a dozen contusions (bruises, cuts, scrapes, welts) on my skull, possibly gave me a concussion, and partially dislocated my right thumb and wrist.
This was all completely unnecessary. I never once “resisted” any officers, and in fact, went limp and followed all their demands in an attempt to avoid further “punishment” (see: beatings.) These officers seemed to take pleasure in beating me, especially when I brought up my attorney, or asked for my rights. As I mentioned earlier, I am a peaceful college student with no criminal record, and what happened to me was completely boorish, disgusting and inhumane. I hope the Fullerton Police Department, Fullerton City Hall and the Internal Affairs Bureau take this very seriously.
An Orange County judge signed a permanent gang injunction against Fullerton Tokers Town yesterday, creating a “Safety Zone” that covers a wide swath of south Fullerton as shown below. Members of FTT are now forbidden from associating with each other, intimidating the public, making gang signs, wearing gang clothing, violating curfew and other shenanigans often associated with gang activity.
Twenty-eight members of FTT were named in the suit, nine of whom are apparently already in prison. Current membership is estimated at 125-150 active members.
Gang injunctions allow prosecutors to charge gang members for harassing or intimidating behavior which would not otherwise be a crime. Presumably this will make it easier for the Fullerton Police to crack down on gang members without any conventional crime occurring.
And that’s exactly what makes gang injunctions controversial in Orange County. A few weeks ago the ACLU won a case against the OC DA when a judge determined that naming gang members in the city of Orange without providing them an opportunity to defend themselves in court was a violation of their right to due process. More than 60 alleged Orange Varrio Cypress gang members had tried to appear in court to testify that they were not actually gang members. DA Tony Rackauckas dropped them from the case, but then served the injunction on them anyway.
Bummer.
Rackauckas lost that one, so presumably he was more careful about who he’s calling a gang member here in Fullerton.
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is spending $571,400 to fund their internal Ethics Office according to the approved 2011 budget.
Sometimes you've got to ask yourself "why?"
According to the District’s website, the Ethics Office “helps maintain an ethical culture at Metropolitan by enforcement of ethics-related rules and laws; education for directors, officers and employees; and enhancement by promotion of the District’s six core values.” Are MWD employees so unethical that they need this office? Maybe, but they don’t seem to be doing a very good job of educating employees and board members. I vaguely recall an attempt 2 years ago to get a 25% retroactive pension spike.
That’s $571,400 to “help maintain an ethical culture”.
The funds pay for one Ph.D. and two others identified as an educator and an administrative liaison. With failed overhead like this, it is no wonder the MWD Operations & Maintenance budget projects an 18.4% increase in salary and benefit costs as well as a 23% increase in construction related costs and a 23% increase in Water System Operations!
It’s also no wonder why Fullerton’s water rates are anticipated to nearly double.
This Monday, May 23rd, the City will be holding a public meeting with an ad-hoc water rate committee in the City Council chambers at City Hall (303 W. Commonwealth) at 6:30PM. I encourage ALL Fullerton water users to attend. You will be given an opportunity to voice your concerns and let committee members know where you stand.
If you would like a copy of the Fullerton Water Rate Study Ad Hoc Committee Briefing, please email me at GregSebourn@yahoo.com and I will email it to you.
Every government agency displays a tendency to circle its wagons, defend incompetent behavior and keep outside scrutiny….well, outside. A notable exception appears to be the County of Orange’s Performance Auditor, whose office just completed a scathing report on County executives gettting unjustified pay raises with the assent of the CEO, and just as bad, giving away the farm when it came to negotiating sweetheart deals with the other County “family,” er, union members.
And juxtaposed to this is the typical behavior County CEO Tom Mauk, who has presided over the disaster and who, rather than letting his HR director quit in disgrace, and fixing the catastrophe he helped create, has apparently talked the incompetent Carl Crown into staying on another year so he can “negotiate” another disastrous deal with Nick “Bullhorn” Berardino’s union. He’s circling the wagons, hard.
Here’s a good recap by the Register’s Kimberly Edds.
The real question is what are the County Supervisors going to do about this mess? In a Voice of OC(EA) post our Supervisor, Shawn Nelson seemed outraged. He should be. Let’s hope the Gang of Five will finally shoot straight – and get rid of their CEO, Tom Mauk.
