Violent Crime & Funding Roulette

Folks in the City of Richmond's budget machine must be going nuts...

"We have to build a new Civic Center to make the city look updated and attractive to business...but that means we can't fix the potholes. And fixing potholes shows that the city cares about upkeep and smooth transportation for people and business. But we can't borrow any more money, especially if there's some kind of crisis...wait a minute. Violent crime IS a crisis! So, about funding stuff like public safety and this youth corps thingy..."

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Mayor asks for residents' help
RICHMOND: McLaughlin says everyone must work together to stop violence, solve city's other pressing problems

By John Geluardi
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Newly sworn in as Richmond's mayor, Gayle McLaughlin asked residents this week to make a greater commitment to solving the city's most critical problem: chronic violence.

"It is clear our single-most important issue in Richmond is our crime," she told the 300-plus people packed into the council chamber Tuesday night to see her take the oath of office. Another 200 people watched the ceremony on closed-circuit televisions in a large tent set up in the City Hall parking lot.

"While we strengthen law enforcement, giving it what it needs to enforce the law, we must not deceive ourselves; We must be realistic in our understanding that law enforcement alone will never eradicate violence," she said.

After taking the oath, McLaughlin called for a moment of silence for shooting victim Victor Ramirez, a 25-year-old immigrant who was shot in the head last week in an apparent act of random violence. He remains on life support at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek.

There were 42 homicides in Richmond last year, seven more than in 2004, when Morgan Quitno Press named Richmond the most violent city in California and the 11th most violent in the country.

The violence, which was the central focus of last year's mayoral campaign, has its roots in systemic problems of poverty, unemployment and a lack of education opportunities, McLaughlin said.

"Our challenge in Richmond is to become a role model for solving these systemic problems," she said. "But in order to do this, an investment is required at a level greater than which currently exists. It will take a more cooperative City Council, increased revenue and a further commitment of free time from us all to begin to turn around our endemic violence."

Addressing the city's need to grow the economy, she described Richmond as a city of "great untapped potential" and called on residents and businesses to be more innovative in creating smart-growth policies and responsible environmental programs.

"We will flourish and become a healthy and sustainable city only if we believe in ourselves," she said. "The future of Richmond demands a robust local economy, one that keeps money circulating in our city."

McLaughlin takes over as mayor in a city that faces serious challenges. Richmond is still recovering from a devastating, $35 million budget crisis in 2004. Under the guidance of Finance Director Jim Goins, the city has been able to build up reserve funds of about $10 million.

But the Chevron refinery has cut its annual utility tax payment by an estimated $4 million a year, a reduction that has jeopardized the budget's fragile recovery.

Playing a kind of financial brinkmanship, Richmond broke ground last week on the $110 million Civic Center renovation, the largest public works project in the city's history. To fund the project, Richmond has exhausted its bond capacity, which means the city cannot borrow more money in case of a new financial or infrastructure crisis.

The hidden cost of the renovation can be found in the city's potholes. Richmond's roads are in the worst condition of any city in the Bay Area, and taxpayers are sitting on a road repair bill of $94 million. Unless the city finds funding for repairs soon, the cost will skyrocket to $200 million in 2010, about the time McLaughlin's first term is up.

In keeping with the nonpartisan election, McLaughlin, a Green Party member, put an emphasis on shared principles and values. She promised to work collaboratively with her eight council colleagues.

She also promised to be more than a ceremonial mayor.

"I will be a problem solver and not a ribbon cutter," she said to a loud applause from those watching the ceremony in the tent. "Over the next four years, it will be our turn to show results."

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

You are cordially invited...

While the Tazer was taking in the post-crowning afterglow at the Civic Center last evening, we got to chat with our old pal John Geluardi...

Seriously, John, we'd like to know what you really think about journalistic impartiality...without having to call us "political scumbags." We much prefer to think of ourselves as the new muckrakers of the day, except that we're probably a little more optimistic about outcomes. Richmond has the potential for greatness IF it can overcome its problems.

Having a whole newspaper in which to play is what some would call "old school." It's 20th century technology: molecular, palpable, and slow. We at the Tazer find it quaint, and yet we're all still old enough to appreciate spreading a paper around the dining room table over coffee and toast. Even now, our copy of the Times is in the breakroom, ruffled from repeated viewings.

The Tazer, on the other hand, is 21st century technology: electronic, ethereal, and rapid. Even the Times has an online edition, which can supply breaking news and updates...that the next print edition has to wait for, if the information is still relevant.

Contempt for blogs is nothing new, and I suppose we can diagnose the source. Journalists are supposed to graduate from journalism school, pay their dues in the ink mines, and then maybe claw their way up to doing illuminated manuscripts with the other scribes. That's molecular, palpable, and slow.

But bloggers, shucks, they have it easy! Sign up for the thing, type whatever they want, then click the button that says "Publish." No need for degrees, experience, or even intelligence. That's electronic, ethereal, and rapid.

"Well, harumph harumph, that's NOT publishing!" says the journalist. "It happens TOO fast! Where are their credentials and did they graduate from Columbia!? Who checks their facts!? I will not STOOP to the level of these nameless nobodies!"

REALITY CHECK: Back here in the 21st century, information moves faster than the paperboy can throw it.

Yup, that includes the City of Richmond, too.

So, John, it's not that we don't like you. You've written lots of great stuff and we appreciate your contributions to Tent City, but when you can't seem to contain some of the biases you may have, we can't help but point it out. Like you said, we're nobodies, so if an AP Stylebook and journalism creds aren't hiding things well enough, what does that mean, it's OUR fault? Of course not. The byline on "Green era begins for troubled city" says "John Geluardi" on it.

Again, to clarify, and paraphrasing Tazerville regular "Roscoe P. Coltrane": You felt the need to point out NOT that Gayle McLauglin is white, but that her opponents were black. "Does he and the Times do that for everyone he writes about, or just black people, or just opponents of his candidate?"

We'll let you elaborate on whatever you'd like. Go ahead and leave it in the comments, then we'll publish it.

And no need to call it "stooping" or otherwise reducing yourself. You HAVE to sign your name to what you write in the Times because it's a publication of record. We are but a blog and we like it that way. No bylines, no deadlines, and all we have to do is read the news and comment. Still, we're not afraid to publish opposing viewpoints or clarifications, so here's your big chance to tell your side of things.

The Tazer doesn't pretend to be journalists, yet we're still interested in the truth. We're opinion driven, first and foremost, unabashedly. But in the end our ultimate product must be accurate and unflinching.

Which is also why we remain anonymous. We're everywhere, including positions of responsibility in the City of Richmond. Inside and outside City Hall, the Tazer is both hailed and cursed, but we keep our identities secret all the same. It's for our own good, as well as for our loved ones. The Tazer is our outlet, our torch for shining light on the truth, and some people REALLY don't like the truth.

Seriously, John, you met us and didn't even know it, but we said it was good to make your acquaintance and we meant it.

Top o' the Tuesday

If we didn't know any better (and some of you have told us as much), the Tazer would believe that John Geluardi was one of the 590 registered Greens in Richmond. He certainly knows how to recycle since his article repeats an accusation from the Richmond Globe:

"McLaughlin beat the well-funded Anderson in the three-way election by 242 votes. She got some help from former councilman Gary Bell, who despite losing his council seat in 2004 ran for mayor this year. Bell, who is black, received more than 5,000 votes Nov. 7. Had he not run, those votes most likely would have gone to Anderson, who is also black."

When the Globe babbled this nonsense we zapped them for it, and Geluardi will be no different.

To say that Irma Anderson didn't lose that election all on her own is multiple pokes in one. If her foibles as mayor were forgotten or overlooked is to say that the Richmond electorate was not only ignorant but racist, or "race loyal." If Gary Bell was the "OTHER African-American choice" is to say that he shouldn't have run because of Anderson's "divine right" to the mayorship. And if Anderson and Bell running at the same time was the only "perfect storm" that would've gotten Gayle McLaughlin into power, then that quite possibly says the mayorship actually fell to the most pathetic candidate possible.

Race dividing and poverty pimping, anyone?

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Man fatally shoots himself after crash

By John Geluardi and Scott Marshall
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

RICHMOND - A Benicia man in deteriorating health who had told family and friends he felt hopeless fatally shot himself after a minor traffic accident in Richmond Monday afternoon, police said.

Douglas Francis Scott, 64, was taken by ambulance to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Richmond after the 2:30 p.m. incident and later was pronounced dead, according to police.

"He basically had deteriorating (physical) health and began to show signs of being at risk for suicide," such as giving away possessions, said Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan. "He had made some statements about being hopeless about life."

The accident occurred at Harbour Way and Cutting Boulevard, police said.

Scott was driving west on Cutting Boulevard when he rear-ended a black Pontiac, which in turn struck another car. None of the three vehicles was seriously damaged. A woman driving the Pontiac received minor injuries and was also taken to Kaiser.

After the accident, Scott exited the truck to check on the other drivers, Gagan said. Scott did not appear to be injured.

"The accident was not part of a suicide attempt, but he realized he would be contacted by police," Gagan said.

Scott then walked away from the accident scene across a gas station parking lot. When police arrived they found him critically wounded underneath a stand of bottle brush bushes along the fence line of Martin Luther King Memorial Park. Police recovered a handgun, Gagan said.

The Richmond Fire Department's Hazardous Materials Response Truck responded to the scene when officers noticed a strong chemical odor from containers in the open trailer hooked to Scott's truck.

The trailer was covered with a blue tarpaulin, and so they could not clearly see what was in the truck bed.

Firefighters shut down Cutting Boulevard in both directions and deployed sensor devices around the truck to monitor air toxicity.

Five hazardous materials technicians suited up in bulky, lime green protective suits with respirators and took samples from the containers before the truck was removed from the intersection. Firefighters had to move cautiously until they knew what the trailer contained, said Richmond fire Battalion Chief Merlin Turner.

Scott operated a fuel-polishing business in which he cleaned diesel tanks. The trailer contained 20, 55-gallon drums of waste oil products, Turner said.

The truck did not display required hazardous materials placards describing the content in the trailer, Turner said. He called the business number, which connected him to the cell phone in Scott's pocket. His business address was a post office box.

Turner consulted state records and Chevron experts before declaring the scene safe.

Reach John Geluardi at 510-262-2787 or jgeluardi@cctimes.com. Reach Scott Marshall at 925-945-4780 or smarshall2@cctimes.com.

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A very sad and unfortunate series of events, it seems. Our condolences to the Scott family, and we wish the crash victims a speedy recovery.

Lastly, an update on what were probably the late moments of Raijon Daniels' young life. No surprises, really...

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Boy died of abuse, report says

By John Simerman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

MARTINEZ - It wasn't ingesting Pine-Sol that killed 8-year-old Raijon Daniels, but years of abuse that left his slender body thatched from head to toe and front to back with burn marks, scars, swelling and purple bruises with "train track" patterns, according to an autopsy report released Monday.

The Richmond boy also suffered ketoacidosis -- dangerously high levels of acids that build up in the blood and can lead to diabetic coma or death. Although diabetes is a possible cause, the report suggests that for Raijon, starvation was a more likely culprit.

The report from the Contra Costa County coroner's office lists the cause of death as trauma "due to Battered Child Syndrome," a medical definition for physical child abuse.

That conclusion may cast the criminal case against Raijon's mother, 23-year-old Teresa Moses, in a different light. Moses faces charges of felony child abuse and torture in Raijon's Oct. 27 death. Prosecutors were waiting for toxicology tests before deciding whether to add a murder charge.

Moses told police she thought her son may have drunk Pine-Sol before he died in the emergency room of Kaiser Medical Center in Richmond. There were several bottles of the cleaner in the house, and police found a blender top and a glass with what appeared to be a mixture of Pine-Sol and bleach, according to the report.

But the autopsy report says toxicology tests came back "negative for Pine-Sol constituents." Gregory Reiber, a forensic pathologist for the county, classified Raijon's death as a homicide.

Deputy district attorney Jerry Chang said he read the report Monday but wanted to discuss it with Reiber and other medical experts before making any decisions about whether to charge Moses with homicide. The torture charge alone carries a possible life sentence, he said.

"I don't think any rational person could read this and not be disturbed," he said of the report.

Moses, who has not yet entered a plea, is scheduled to return to court Friday. She remains in County Jail, her bail set at $1.15 million. The Times could not reach her attorney, Demetrius Costy, late Monday. At a November court hearing, he was adamant that Moses did not murder her son, calling her "a beautiful, articulate single mother of two ..."

Moses told police that Raijon would urinate, and she used the Pine-Sol to clean it up. Police suspect she locked Raijon away and poured chemicals on his penis so he would quit urinating on himself. Raijon's damaged body included ulcerations on his penis, the report says.

Among the symptoms of ketoacidosis is frequent urination.

In an eight-page report, Reiber details myriad injuries at various stages of healing. Among them: contusions and scars "consistent with cord or strap injuries"; hemorrhaging on his buttocks, thighs and left arm; scarring of his wrists and ankles, consistent with old marks from being bound.

More than 15 scratches and scars covered his abdomen. Eleven separate "train track" bruises, from dark pink to maroon, crossed his back. Others ran across his forehead, down the back of his thighs and calves, and over his shoulders and arms. In some cases, new marks replaced old ones.

The brown and pale-red scratch marks over both of his thighs and his right shin were "numerous, too numerous to count," the report said. According to a Kaiser emergency room doctor, Raijon's physician twice in 2005 noted symptoms of past sexual abuse.

The death, the autopsy report concluded, occurred from "Years of physical trauma to the body."

Just how many years was not stated in the report.

It is unclear whether Contra Costa County child welfare workers checked Raijon's body for signs of abuse. Six times from 2002 until last January, county Children and Family Services fielded allegations of abuse or neglect involving Raijon or his little sister. Most of the reports alleged that Moses neglected or failed to protect Raijon. One targeted a stepfather, another a boyfriend.

In three of the cases, county officials say, social workers investigated, visited the family and found Moses was doing what she could to protect her son and cooperate with police.

Nothing rose to the level of placing Raijon in foster care, so the county agency referred Moses to nonprofit agencies for help, said Joe Valentine, director of the county's Employment and Human Services Department, in an interview with the Times in November.

The agency is reviewing its actions in the case and is expected to deliver a "lessons learned" report to the Board of Supervisors in the coming weeks.

Nearly 1,500 U.S. children died from abuse or neglect in 2004, federal estimates show. Most -- 81 percent -- were under age 4. In nearly 80 percent of the cases, the perpetrator was a parent.

Carol Carrillo, executive director of the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Contra Costa County, said "battered child syndrome" is a term used in training sessions to help people who work with children to recognize and report abuse.

"It's unexplained injuries, unexplained kind of bruises, broken bones," Carrillo said.

Coined by a doctor in 1962, the term is now a commonly known medical diagnosis. Carrillo, however, could not recall a recent instance where it was listed as a child's cause of death.

She said Raijon's death has touched everyone who works in child abuse prevention.

"It's so difficult to even fathom what this little boy went through for such a long time," she said.

The council will be working improve outreach and education in West County, she said.

Staff writer Sara Steffens contributed to this story. Reach John Simerman at 925-943-8072 or e-mail jsimerman@cctimes.com.

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If a silver lining can be found to this case, we at the Tazer hope that it's a reformed system for monitoring child neglect and abuse.

Manifold Monday

Happy new week, Tazerville! We start with an op-ed from the Times...

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Green era begins

A new era begins on Tuesday in Richmond when Green Party member Gayle McLaughlin officially becomes the city's mayor.

McLaughlin's surprising victory in Richmond over Democratic incumbent Irma Anderson is a major coup for the Green Party. Anderson had strong financial backing from Chevron and the corporate establishment.

That she still lost was a strong message from voters that they were unhappy with an inept city leadership that has failed to put forward a blueprint for dealing with runaway street crime.

Now it's up to McLaughlin and the Green Party to prove that they can succeed where the Democrats failed.

The Times did not endorse any of the mayoral candidates, because we thought, and still do, that Richmond could have produced a better slate of candidates.

None of the candidates offered a single sensible proposal for tackling crime, which, given the terrifying escalation of the violence in Richmond in the last year, is simply unacceptable.

The Green Party has traditionally focused on environmental issues. But McLaughlin must understand that the ability to walk outside of one's home without getting shot is just as much of an environmental concern as living near a Chevron smokestack.

She and the council must come up with at least the beginnings of a plan to stop this violence.

That's not to say that other environmental issues don't deserve attention.

Richmond residents have long complained about the negative effects of various industries on their quality of life. They have expressed concern about air pollution from the Chevron plant, diesel fumes from trucks and excessive noise from the Santa Fe trains. Health studies have found that children living in certain areas are more prone to asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

Richmond would become a ghost town without industry. Yet there is a fine balance between providing a welcoming environment for companies to operate in and jeopardizing the health of residents.

To her credit, McLaughlin realizes that. And she will be an advocate for those in poor communities dealing with these concerns who have long been ignored.

The key for McLaughlin will be to remain true to her principles without alienating the corporations and businesses so vital to the city's financial well-being.

She has pledged to make Chevron pay its fair share, which it should. But antagonizing the city's biggest corporate citizen would not be in Richmond's best interest.

McLaughlin's seat on the council remains to be filled. McLaughlin and her fellow council members should name Corky Booze, who lost by 482 votes to Ludmyrna Lopez. He was clearly the voters' next choice.

Rather than ignoring the public's wishes and deferring to powerful interests as they have in the past, the council should honor what voters clearly wanted.

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And that should pretty much speak for itself, but there was an opposing view on the council vacancy among today's reader letters...

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Progressive choice

When the Richmond City Council fills the vacancy created by Gayle McLaughlin's ascension to mayor, it has the opportunity to appoint a true progressive, Harpreet Sandhu.

Sandhu has positively served this community for many years in the education, cultural and political arenas. He has always conducted himself with a respectful and deliberative manner. Sandhu is currently a Human Relations Commissioner for Richmond.

It would be a foolish and naive mistake for the new mayor to support Corky Boozé, who stands for everything McLaughlin professes to oppose.

Worse for McLaughlin, Boozé's backing from Nat Bates will ensure that he will make her term as mayor even more miserable for her than he did for Irma Anderson and Rosemary Corbin, from the other side of the podium.

Boozé's appointment will guarantee her progressive agenda will be DOA.

Our democracy in Richmond is broken: McLaughlin needs allies, not enemies, to fix it.

Andres Soto
Richmond

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We at the Tazer aren't sure if you noticed, but there's been a flood of letters to support Corky Booze. Many, like the previous Times op-ed, say that he's the people's choice based on votes. If that were to be carried out to its fullest extent, Booze should be mayor since he got more votes than MacLaughlin...which is an outcome we wouldn't object to...

But that's not how it works in Richmond, because the city charter says that, unlike the election, appointments to fill council seats aren't an ordinary popularity contest. In other words, appointees don't have to impress you or us; they have to impress the rest of the council instead, and Harpreet Sandhu is 1) NOT Corky Booze, which the council probably likes, and 2) already within the City of Richmond machinery, so he'd (hopefully) know what he's doing.

The Tazer isn't sure if Mr. Soto saw what we've seen, but Corky Booze seemed awfully cozy with Jim Jenkins and Gayle McLaughlin during the candidate forums. Thus, we don't figure Booze's presence on the council is as much a liability to McLaughlin as perhaps the rest of the council.

And it shouldn't be a matter of if McLaughlin (or any political leader) has allies or enemies on the council. It only matters to the Tazer if the councilperson in question is an ally to the PEOPLE OF RICHMOND!

To finish our thoughts for this morning, a peek at RPD from the inside, courtesy of another Times letter...

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Police race bias claim is nonsense

I was a member of the Richmond Police Department for 30 years (1963-1993) and I have inside knowledge about what I'm going to say.

When I began my career, there were four black officers: Doug Ellison, Lonnie Washington, Clements Kelly and Marvin Smith. These guys were terrific and were well liked by everyone.

By the time I retired in 1993, there were many black officers in the department, and I got along with all of them. Some were fantastic on the job, some were just so-so. But the same thing could be said about the white officers.

However, this current claim of discrimination by six black officers just makes me sick. How can they claim discrimination when there are seven black officers in the department who are either captains or lieutenants?

The two deputy chief spots are assigned to minorities -- a Latino male and a white female. The next position above that is the police chief, and he was selected by Richmond's city manager.

These claims of discrimination are false. These six officers are lying; they are simply attempting to control all the top command positions. With actions such as this continually occurring, racism will never cease.

Walt Burgess
Rodeo

Burgess is a retired Richmond Police Department officer.

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Sounds about like what we've been thinking. If Chief Magnus's accusers had any sort of case, one would think that there would be a pattern of behavior and droves of anecdotes. Nope, haven't read or seen anything like that...