Pour some more!

Yet more on the developing story of Irma Anderson's financial foibles, this time from Will Harper's "Bottom Feeder" column in the East Bay Express.

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The No-Spin Zone?

Why did Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson alert local media earlier this week that she received approximately $1,800 in improper payments from the city a few years ago? Insiders speculate that Anderson, who is the midst of a tough re-election campaign, was trying to minimize any damage inflicted by her political opponents on the issue. After all, how often do politicians snitch on themselves to reporters unless they're launching a pre-emptive strike?

On Saturday evening Anderson's chief of staff, Jay Leonhardy, sent out a press release bragging that the mayor had uncovered an "accounting error" that resulted in her receiving monthly car-allowance payments between July 2002 and February 2003. Anderson wasn't supposed to get a car allowance because she wasn't driving her own car at the time, but rather a city-owned Chevy Impala. The mayor claimed she didn't notice the error back then because she got a raise around the same time and her city checks are automatically deposited into her bank account. She has since repaid the amount.

While revealing, the press release still begged the question: Why was Anderson combing through three-year-old expense reports? Some sources suspect the mayor was trying to head off a story in the West County Times, which made calls to City Hall about the issue in recent weeks. Anderson tells Feeder she hadn't received any press calls, but she didn't deny she wanted to pre-empt an attack by her old foe, Richmond political fixer Darrell Reese, a consultant to the powerful firefighters' union. (Reese didn't return a call from Feeder.)

Anderson says that "a while back" — she wouldn't get more specific — a Reese associate had raised questions about her city car, so she figured she'd better see what she was dealing with. Within the last month, Anderson asked for records from the finance department, which had coincidentally been conducting a payroll audit. Only then, she says, did she discover that the city had been paying her improperly. Anderson notes that such accounting errors plagued Richmond before its financial meltdown two years ago. The audit has found other city employees who improperly received payments, finance director James Goins says.

Anderson, who is running for re-election against Councilwoman Gayle McLaughlin and mortgage broker Gary Bell, says she notified the press to make it clear to taxpayers she wasn't trying to cheat them. "I just felt that the better thing was to just state it ... so no one else does a spin on me," she reasons.

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No spin necessary here at the Tazer, Mayor Anderson. You seem to be doing plenty on your own.

Oh, what a tangled web...

It's a damp Thursday, Tazer Faithful. The rain has stopped, but not for Mayor Irma Anderson. And in Tazerville, when it rains, it pours...

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WEST COUNTY TIMES
Wed., Oct. 4, 2006

MAYOR ADMITS SHE WAS OVERPAID
RICHMOND: Anderson pays back $1,800 in stipends she received over eight months starting in 2002 RICHMOND: Anderson gives back $1,800 in payments she received over eight months starting in 2002

By John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson was overpaid about $1,800 for a 2002 automobile stipend, she said this week after reviewing her personal finances for that year.

Anderson said she discovered the error about three weeks ago and, after confirming it with city Finance Director Jim Goins, reimbursed the city last week.

Anderson was given a city car in July 2002, which made her ineligible for the automobile stipend that reimburses city officials who use their own cars for city business. But Anderson continued to collect the $225-a-month stipend for eight months ending in February 2003, according to a news release she issued Saturday evening.

"I had no idea, mainly because I have automatic deposit," she said. "I have other monies going into my account, and I received a council-approved raise around the same time. They put the slips on my desk, but how would I notice a $150 deposit?"

An $1,800 overpayment spread out over eight months would actually be $225 a month.

Anderson blamed the accounting error on former City Manager Isiah Turner, whose overoptimistic revenue projections resulted in a crippling, $35 million budget crisis that cost more than 300 city jobs and bone-deep cuts in city services, according to a 2004 state audit.

Anderson said she informed Turner that she was going to take the city-owned car and that he was responsible for notifying the Finance Department that she no longer required the stipend.

Goins, who was not working for the city in 2002-03, said the Finance Department has no knowledge that Anderson was aware of the mistake prior to three weeks ago.

"To my knowledge there is no information that the mayor previously knew about the overpayment," he said. "I can tell you we had to do a lot of digging to find the records."

City Manager Bill Lindsay, who also was not with the city at the time, did not immediately return calls requesting copies of communications prior to three weeks ago among the city manager's office, finance department and mayor's office related to the overpayments.

Anderson said that if this were not an election season, she would not have made the overpayments public.

"I know how the truth can get distorted in these political hit pieces," she said. "I want people to know that I found the mistake, I paid it and that it was a mistake by city staff, period.

"If I didn't put out the press release, I doubt that would come out."

Contact John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or at jgeluardi@cctimes.com.

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WEST COUNTY TIMES
Thu., Oct. 5, 2006

EX-WORKER WON'T TAKE BLAME FOR CAR STIPEND
RICHMOND: Former city manager says he did not handle mayor's finances, including an overpayment

By John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Former Richmond City Manager Isiah Turner on Wednesday disputed Mayor Irma Anderson's claim that he is responsible for the $1,800 automobile stipend she wrongly received in 2002 after she began using a city-owned car.

Anderson told the Times this week that the overpayment was a blunder that should have been caught by Turner, who was city manager at the time. In a Wednesday morning telephone call from Atlanta, where he now lives, Turner said he had no knowledge of the overpayment and that he was not responsible for managing the mayor's checkbook.

"As city manager I never had time to deal with automobile stipends," Turner said. "This would have been handled by the Finance Department and more importantly by the mayor, an elected official, who should be more responsible. I'm not taking the hit for this."

Turner abruptly left the city for health reasons in 2003, weeks before the discovery of a $35 million budget deficit.

Anderson agreed Wednesday that the stipend payment was the responsibility of the Finance Department, but she pointed out that Turner had oversight of that department.

"I understand Isiah is upset, that's how it is," Anderson said. "Three years ago there was an accounting error made by the Finance Department, and the ultimate responsibility is the city manager's."

In July 2002, Anderson began using a city-owned Chevrolet Impala, making her ineligible for the automobile stipend, according to a news release Anderson issued Saturday. The stipend is meant to reimburse city officials for wear and tear on their personal automobiles. Anderson said she did not notice the stipend payments, which continued to be deposited directly into her account for eight months after she began using the Impala.

Anderson said the stipend deposits were lost among other money going into her account, including a council-approved pay raise she received around the same time.

Turner said all the council members were briefed about the stipend and that Anderson should have known about it.

"She knows she was not supposed to be getting that money," he said. "And if she didn't, the Finance Department should have handled it."

Anderson said it was the city's mistake, and that it is time to move on.

"I found the overpayment, the city didn't, and it's been paid back," she said. "I made this all public because I wanted the taxpayers to know the truth."

Reach John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or jgeluardi@cctimes.com

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TIMES EDITORIAL
Thu., Oct. 5, 2006

THE ANDERSON SPIN

JUST WHEN WE think Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson can't get more ridiculous, she finds a way to prove us wrong. This time is was a preposterous press release attempting to spin revelations that she improperly took city funds for an auto allowance.

Monthly auto stipends are given to select city employees to cover wear and tear on their personal vehicles. Anderson, who drives a city-owned car, was not entitled to the allowance, but received $1,800 from July 2002 to February 2003.

The news came to light after Times staff writer John Geluardi began questioning city officials.

Anderson blamed the city -- specifically former City Manager Isiah Turner -- for "erroneously" giving her the stipend. She says she told Turner she was going to take a city-owned car. And as city manager, it was his job to oversee the finance department and see to it that it pulled the plug on her allowance.

It gets better. Anderson claims she did not realize that she was getting extra money because it coincided with a pay increase. When she discovered the error this week, Anderson says, she immediately reimbursed the city.

"They put the slips on my desk," she said in Tuesday's Times. "How would I notice a $150 deposit?"

We're not sure what's worse. That the mayor knowingly helped herself to taxpayer money that she wasn't entitled to. Or that someone charged with running the county's second largest city has so little clue about her own personal finances.

Turner, whose tenure resulted in a $35 million budget crisis that crippled the city, insists that Anderson had to have known that she was getting the auto stipend.

We do find it odd, that the mayor would suddenly begin reviewing four year-old financial reports just as her re-election campaign is heating up.

What is absolutely laughable, however, is the mayor's crude attempt to transform a political blunder into a monumental achievement.

"I am very pleased to have recruited and hired a new city manager and finance manager specifically to put a stop to these types of mistakes," her press release crowed. " ... Richmond has now received one of Moody's highest ratings for sound, responsible, fiscal management."

There is no doubt that some of Anderson's political foes leaked the old information to discredit her during the mayoral elections. We find the dirty pool unsavory.

But the sad fact is, it is Anderson, and Anderson alone, who gave them the ammunition, be it through bad judgement or sheer negligence.

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Sorry, Times editors, but discredit is as discredit does. Get it right, and repeat after us: The truth is NOT dirty pool.

Tragedy near Tent City

Driver fatally shot near peace camp
RICHMOND: Police lack suspects and motive despite information offered by area residents

By Karl Fischer
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

A 24-year-old man died Monday during a drive-by shooting in Richmond's Iron Triangle neighborhood, three blocks from where activists have been camping to protest street violence.

The shooting started a few minutes after 10 a.m., when a white Buick heading north on First Street pulled up to a stop sign at Macdonald Avenue, police said.

A black, late-model Honda with tinted windows drove up behind the Buick, and someone in the back seat leaned out the window and fired dozens of rounds at the other car, Detective Sgt. Mitch Peixoto said.

The driver of the Buick, Jesse Lee Woodson, drove a half-block more before crashing into a fence on the 300 block of First Street. A passenger in the car was not injured, police said.

While evidence at the scene and several community tips aided the investigation Monday, detectives still lacked a clear suspect or motive in the case, Peixoto said.

Down the street from the fatal shooting, anti-violence activists who have been camping near the corner of Fourth Street and Macdonald Avenue for a week expressed outrage but said the community response to Richmond's 33rd homicide of the year was encouraging.

Several men from North Richmond appeared quickly to profess their lack of knowledge about the shooting and offer condolences to those among the central Richmond crowd that gathered beside the crime scene tape.

"This is incredible progress," said the Rev. Andre Shumake, one of the anti-violence activists camping on Fourth Street. "They joined together to show that all the neighborhoods are staying the course and fighting the good fight to protect our children."

Last month, police say, a pattern of retaliatory shootings between street factions in north and central Richmond left two teenagers dead within 90 minutes -- one of the teens slain in each neighborhood.

North Richmond's gangs are particularly notorious and are often blamed for shootings elsewhere in the city. The efforts of North Richmond activists to defuse hostilities shows that the citywide dialogue about street violence in the community is helping, Shumake said.

Staff writer John Geluardi contributed to this article. Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@cctimes.com.

HOW TO HELP:
Police ask anyone with information about the killing of Jesse Lee Woodson to call Detective Aaron Mandell at 510-620-6622.

Eastern Perspective

Some insomniac Tazer researchers turned up this article from NBC4 (DC/MD/VA) regarding the District of Columbia PD camera system...

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POLICE: CAMERAS NOT HELPING FIGHT CRIME MUCH
Residents Split On Crime Cameras

WASHINGTON -- Many D.C. police said they had hoped that installing dozens of new surveillance cameras across the city would assist them in cracking down on crime, but the system does not appear to be working as planned.

It was a very violent weekend across the D.C. area, with 11 people shot, four of them fatally.

One of the shootings in the District was caught on one of the new cameras, but police said so far, the cameras have not been much help in any other case.

The shooting that was caught on camera happened just after 4:45 p.m. on Sunday in the 1300 block of Kenilworth Avenue in Northeast. One was found in the 1600 block of Kenilworth Avenue.

Police said that two people had been shot in the incident.

Both victims were taken to local hospitals. One has since died. The other remains in critical condition.

The incident remains under investigation.

Community members said the shooting happened within yards of the cameras, which were of little deterrent.

"Children getting shot. Every night it's something around here. But, they only have two cameras, and it's a whole community," said one resident.

"You know, I think people are really ignoring the cameras. They just act like they don't care. They just don't care," said another resident.

In some places trees limit what cameras see. The surveillance program has been in effect for about a month, but police said there has yet to be prosecution involving evidence used from the cameras.

Some residents have mixed feelings on the cameras.

"Yes and no. Yes, because it's safeguarding the community. No, because it's like an invasion of privacy to look out your window and see a camera there," said a community member.

Some people said they have seen a definite improvement in quality of life since the cameras have been installed in their neighborhoods.

However, they said the cameras should not be a substitution for police patrols.

The cameras, which focus on public space only, are "passively monitored" by the Metropolitan Police Department, meaning that officers generally do not watch the camera feeds in real time.

The 48 surveillance cameras have been installed in communities that are considered high-crime areas throughout the city.

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This is something that the Richmond City Council should consider carefully. DCPD is screwing up so that RPD doesn't have to. If Richmond does go ahead with cameras it should learn from DC's mistakes. Don't block a thousand dollar camera with a tree that can be solved with $5 shears and don't think of a camera system as a tradeoff for real police presence.

Notes from Tent CIty

From Tazer Friend Mike Ali...

This past weekend, Tent CIty bustled with activity. The residents of the nearby community sensed that this was the opportunity for a "buy-in" to have true peace on the streets. All residents noted that the murder machine had come to a halt, and the drug and prostitution trades in the 4th St. area were down dramatically. Residents also felt the political power of the vote. Because of these facts, the people can no longer be ignored by the Mayor's administration or the government of the City of Richmond.

During the daytime, from around 10 am to 5 pm, there are about 200 mostly new faces daily, and a core of 40 tent residents there 24/7, day and night. The support from the community has been overwhelming. One individual contributed a $500 check and over 500 lbs of wood. Even Tazer personnel came through with supplies, such as water that is critical for drinking and cooking. RPD acknowledges that tent city residents are doing an incredible job of halting area crime.

Tent City on 4th is considered by many in the community to be holy and sacred ground. Many of the men and women there view themselves as spirit warriors. Even the newsprint media has been camping out at the site to learn more about why the community is doing this. WHen I think about the spirit of Tent City, I truly believe that the community has a strong sense that this might just work.

On behalf of the Real Richmond Violence Prevention Movement, we encourage Tazer readers to continue to pray and contribute any supplies to the 4th St. site. They will be shared with the North Richmond camp. Thank you, Tazer and Tazer readers for your support to the cause!

From the frontlines of human and civil rights in Richmond,
Michael Ali