The Daily California Malfeasance Report

[bearishgurl]

[quote=no_such_reality]CD, it’s not really about the stupid employees. It’s about the handing of the employee’s stupidity and the reality of them being just like the scums in the private sector contrary to the meme of the dedicated sacrificing government worker.

It’s about the handling of the situations, lack of accountability, inability to discipline, a level of evidence needed to take disciplinary action and the failure of the government to pursue that evidence even though they have a high level of proof.

It’s about the perception that it has become so rampant that I feel like I’m reading about it on a daily basis.

Most public employees are good people, doing a good job, there is a subset that isn’t. There is a bizarre nothing to see here attitude, circle the wagons, code of silence that they protect the bad apples with the full clot of their unions.

It’s coming to an election season, we’re going to be bombarded with ads from the Teachers unon saying basically ‘protect the children’, sadly, I feel like I read an article every week with a teacher preying on children.[/quote]NSR, there are absolutely NO “Rules of Evidence” in Kangaroo Court. The hearing officer (5 cmsrs, each appointed by a County Supervisor) decides the disciplinary and selection cases upon their “gut feeling,” the exhibits entered by the parties and their perceived “credibility” of the testimony of the witnesses who were brought in to testify. This “witness” in the public administrator case did not “see” anything and therefore was not a “percipient witness,” so was subject to likely impeachment and being made a fool of by the accused’s union rep or attorney while on the stand. These types of witnesses are likely to waffle and go south on their departments on the stand and only serve to embarrass them and show the cmsr just how low the dept will stoop to try to remove someone that one of their stupidvisors “has a bone to pick with” or feels “threatened by.”

If the department decided to spend big bucks on gathering “evidence” from the paper towels, it would have done them no good. The “subject” is not required to give samples of any bodily fluids and in any case, he wouldn’t. He was not being accused of a crime and even if his employer was a law enforcement agency, this is not a criminal action.

[Anonymous]

[quote=no_such_reality]It’s coming to an election season, we’re going to be bombarded with ads from the Teachers unon saying basically ‘protect the children’, sadly, I feel like I read an article every week with a teacher preying on children.[/quote]

And that gets to the crux of it.

I understand the point that an arbitrary list of “malfeasance reports” is probably not very meaningful and could be intended just to stir the pot.

The question is whether this information can be used toward any specific policy decision; at the end of the day is this collection of stories useful for voters who want to make an informed decision on a policy change?

Or is this stuff just mud-slinging?

The answer depends upon whether these stories are examples of problems than be corrected with actual policy changes, or whether they are just “stuff that happens everywhere at work.”

For me, I think stories that emphasize the sheer magnitude of these incidents is illustrative and useful information. Particularly:

– The widespread practice of unions using their power to prevent necessary corrective actions in the public-sector workplace

– The lack of criminal investigation and prosecution of crimes committed by law enforcement and public officials

These are real issues, and there are real policy changes that can be made to correct them. But first the public needs to be made aware of the extent of the problem. If this thread can contribute in small way to that purpose, then I say it’s a good thing.

(But I’d rather not hear about some dude with his pants down.)

[bearishgurl]

[quote=harvey][quote=no_such_reality]It’s coming to an election season, we’re going to be bombarded with ads from the Teachers unon saying basically ‘protect the children’, sadly, I feel like I read an article every week with a teacher preying on children.[/quote]

And that gets to the crux of it.

I understand the point that an arbitrary list of “malfeasance reports” is probably not very meaningful and could be intended just to stir the pot.

The question is whether this information can be used toward any specific policy decision; at the end of the day is this collection of stories useful for voters who want to make an informed decision on a policy change?

Or is this stuff just mud-slinging?

The answer depends upon whether these stories are examples of problems than be corrected with actual policy changes, or whether they are just “stuff that happens everywhere at work.”

For me, I think stories that emphasize the sheer magnitude of these incidents is illustrative and useful information. Particularly:

– The widespread practice of unions using their power to prevent necessary corrective actions in the public-sector workplace

– The lack of criminal investigation and prosecution of crimes committed by law enforcement and public officials

These are real issues, and there are real policy changes that can be made to correct them. But first the public needs to be made aware of the extent of the problem. If this thread can contribute in small way to that purpose, then I say it’s a good thing.

(But I’d rather not hear about some dude with his pants down.)[/quote]

Yes, most of it is “mud slinging.” Public employees seem to be the current target for the MSM’s drivel. In the private sector where there are no unions, an employee who they “suspected” of doing this will just be walked out, given severance in exchange for a release and not even be given a reason for their discharge. That will never come out because 99% of the time, the employee desperately needs the severance and the employer’s perfunctory telephone or letter “recommendation” and so can’t take the matter any further.

The difference is, in the private sector, the employer would believe their “stupidvisor” who is beholden to them and even has possibly been with the firm since it was created. But the “real” reason for discharge will just be the stupidvisor’s envy of the employee or feeling “threatened” by his/her superior knowledge and skills or remembering that that employee made cheerleader over them in HS or the church choir soprano over them last year. ROTHALYAO, all of this has happened!

Those private sector employees who were coerced by their employers NOT to sign union cards when they had the opportunity sold themselves down the river, IMO. They may as well be working in a “right to work” state.

The unions are there, in part, to prevent unfair, malicious and discriminatory treatment in the workplace of its members. If departments and agencies actually have the documentation and witnesses to prove their charges against the employee, they WIN! But if they’re just trying to get rid of someone currently on the bad side of one or more of their lackeys and/or “coddled old-timers,” they LOSE.

Regarding criminal “investigations” and subsequent charges against local public officials and employees, the VAST MAJORITY of them have never been prosecuted (wisely, by the DA) or the defendants have been acquitted by a jury. IMO, these “witch hunts” are the absolute biggest waste of taxpayer money on the planet and the defendants end up having the “last laugh” when they sue the prosecuting agencies and win an award for their attorney’s fees (paid by taxpayers). More often than not, the “trumped-up charges” were originally “instigated” by a “political rival” of the defendant with a chip on their shoulder as heavy as a boulder :=[

[bearishgurl]

The county PA employee mentioned in the UT story was represented at his CSC Rule VII hearing by Bradley K. Moores, Esq.

http://www.gordonrees.com/lawyers/lawyerBiography.cfm?attyID=bmoores

http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/193995

Mr Moores seems to have “employment law” experience with some state tribunals and the EEOC but I have no idea why he put his client on the stand to admit to taking a call from his spouse while on duty and then becoming “aroused” and turning on his cell phone to video to view porn on the job. The department’s “star witness” obviously didn’t know any of this and wasn’t very credible to the commissioner. She stated in her report (vis a vis) that she wouldn’t have even upheld the 90-day suspension had it not been for the employee’s own admissions in his testimony that he was viewing porn on the clock!

I’ve read that this particular classification is NOT unionized and I don’t really know if it is or isn’t. However, I can’t imagine a union rep putting their own “client” on the stand to make those admissions in there!

Without listening to the testimony, we have no idea why Moores decided to do this. It is possible he did it in rebuttal because he believed the department’s witness’ testimony might be considered to be too damaging to his client and didn’t want to let it go.

Interesting case, NSR. Thanks for sharing. Don’t really care about the sex – just the principle.

[Coronita]

Got porn?

Students watched porn in 7th grade class
Classmates say they reported goings-on, and teacher did nothing

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jun/14/students-watched-porn-7th-grade-class/

The irony to this is the district was really hush hush about this up until a few days ago.. A previous article mentioned the school suspended 9 students but school officials declined to state why.. Now we know why they didn’t want to talk about it… I don’t know, a bunch of kids wacking off in a classroom, you think maybe just maybe there might be a problem???

You know there seems to be rampant case of what I call “porn stupidity” that seems to be making news. I mean, people getting caught with porn at work.. I don’t get it. In every company that I’ve worked at, it was very very clear… No porn at work, no porn even on work computer even if you are working at home… If you get caught, bye bye, immediate termination…. Why on earth would anyone in their right mind think it would be porn would be OK at work? Are people really that dumb?

[spdrun]

7th grade students have one thing on their minds … news at 11.

[Coronita]

[quote=spdrun]7th grade students have one thing on their minds … news at 11.[/quote]

No, but having a union protect a teacher that obviously didn’t do his job sitting at his desk while 7th graders wacked off in public in plain site, yeah no problem there… And he probably gets to keep his job…and his pension for that matter.
Gotta love unions!

Guess you think it’s ok just just jerk off in public.

[svelte]

Not sure what the point of this thread is as any place that has employees, private or public, will have some of them do improper things from time to time. That’s just a given.

But while we are on the topic, here’s an interesting one:

http://www.10news.com/news/31194216/detail.html

OAKLAND, Calif. — An Alameda County judge has been charged with elder theft for allegedly stealing at least $1.6 million from his 97-year-old neighbor.

Paul Seeman was arrested and charged Thursday with one count of elder theft and 11 counts of perjury. He was being held on $525,000 bail.

Authorities said Seeman began stealing from Anne Nutting, his neighbor, in 1999 after her husband died.
Seeman is accused of slowly bleeding her assets until April 2010 when she died at the age of 97.
Nutting didn’t have any family when she died.

Police said the 57-year-old Seeman became Nutting’s durable power of attorney and claimed he found $1 million worth of stock certificates and dividend checks in her house.

Seeman was appointed to the bench in 2009 by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[CDMA ENG]

[quote=harvey][quote=CDMA ENG]There are just as many scumbags in the private sector as there are in the public[/quote]

You are missing the point.

It’s about accountability.

Are there scumbags that work at IBM? Probably. Like you said, there are scumbags everywhere.

What should be done about scumbags at IBM? That’s up to IBM. It’s a private business, how it is run is a private matter between managers, employees, and shareholders. Unless there are actual criminal laws broken, it’s not a matter of public policy.

Public workers are “the government.” They work for the public: you, me, everyone. The taxpayers are the “shareholders” – we have a right, and civic obligation – to demand accountability. We have a right to question whether the managers are meeting their fiduciary obligations and are efficiently and effectively providing services we pay for.

That’s the very definition of the distinction between “public” and “private.”

I understand that this thread is probably not the most meaningful way to seek accountability from the public-sector (it’s even a bit petty.) But it’s informative in a fun way.[/quote]

Please… Plenty of laws have been broken in the private sector as well…

Best way to commit a crime in this country is to be white… white collared… and the bigger the fraud the less likely you will be convicted.

Makes no difference private or public.

As the Human Torch says… Flame on! And the smarter in the group will ignore this thread as it deserves to be…

CE

[svelte]

[quote=harvey]
You are missing the point.

It’s about accountability.

Are there scumbags that work at IBM? Probably. Like you said, there are scumbags everywhere.

What should be done about scumbags at IBM? That’s up to IBM. It’s a private business, how it is run is a private matter between managers, employees, and shareholders. Unless there are actual criminal laws broken, it’s not a matter of public policy.

Public workers are “the government.” They work for the public: you, me, everyone. The taxpayers are the “shareholders” – we have a right, and civic obligation – to demand accountability. [/quote]

I get it now.

Okay, anyone on here who owns shares in a private company – please feel free to post misdeeds done by employees of that company in this thread too!

Let’s hold those companies accountable also!

[spdrun]

No, but having a union protect a teacher that obviously didn’t do his job sitting at his desk while 7th graders wacked off in public in plain site, yeah no problem there… And he probably gets to keep his job…and his pension for that matter.
Gotta love unions!

Guess you think it’s ok just just jerk off in public.

Hell no, I don’t condone it. But I also recognize that 7th graders are both randy and adept at hiding contraband from adults. Having been one myself not so long ago 🙂

[svelte]

One of my mutual funds holds Sears stock.

An article I ran across today…damn you Sears!!

http://news.yahoo.com/more-women-were-likely-videotaped-sears-dressing-room-202424383–abc-news-money.html

Female customers who shopped at a Sears store in North Hollywood, Calif., over the past three years may have been videotaped in the dressing rooms and restrooms, according to an attorney representing 25 women suing the retail chain.

The group is suing Sears and a former maintenance worker who allegedly videotaped them from 2009 to April 2012.

Michael Alder, the attorney for the plaintiffs, said an unknown number of female customers were also likely videotaped in the store during that period….

[scaredyclassic]

Did people used to get terminated for possessing pornographic magazines at work prior to the Internet.

Can’t people just call up a few mental images if they cannot make it 8 hours without sexual imagery. Jeez Louise. A paucity of imagination.

[CA renter]

[quote=CDMA ENG][quote=harvey][quote=CDMA ENG]There are just as many scumbags in the private sector as there are in the public[/quote]

You are missing the point.

It’s about accountability.

Are there scumbags that work at IBM? Probably. Like you said, there are scumbags everywhere.

What should be done about scumbags at IBM? That’s up to IBM. It’s a private business, how it is run is a private matter between managers, employees, and shareholders. Unless there are actual criminal laws broken, it’s not a matter of public policy.

Public workers are “the government.” They work for the public: you, me, everyone. The taxpayers are the “shareholders” – we have a right, and civic obligation – to demand accountability. We have a right to question whether the managers are meeting their fiduciary obligations and are efficiently and effectively providing services we pay for.

That’s the very definition of the distinction between “public” and “private.”

I understand that this thread is probably not the most meaningful way to seek accountability from the public-sector (it’s even a bit petty.) But it’s informative in a fun way.[/quote]

Please… Plenty of laws have been broken in the private sector as well…

Best way to commit a crime in this country is to be white… white collared… and the bigger the fraud the less likely you will be convicted.

Makes no difference private or public.

As the Human Torch says… Flame on! And the smarter in the group will ignore this thread as it deserves to be…

CE[/quote]

Totally agree with you, CE.
—————–

Pri,

You really don’t seem to understand the relationship between taxpayers and govt employees. Taxpayers are *consumers,* not shareholders or employers. Government employees are accountable to their employers — the agencies they work for — and the bosses/politicians who oversee them.

Businesses are only accountable to their customers(in the sense that you intend) to the extent that their customers have the right to buy or not buy their products. In the U.S., with the exception of federal taxes, you get to choose which taxes you prefer to pay. Some states have no income tax, some have no sales tax, some have very low property taxes, etc. You can choose to “buy” residency in a state/county/city — and pay the price quoted — or you can choose to move to another state/county/city that has tax laws you find more favorable. It is more of a “free market” than you’d like to admit.

The politicians ARE accountable to the public/voters, but unelected public employees are no more accountable to taxpayers than an employee in a private company is accountable to that company’s customers. Yes, you can get into trouble if you piss off a customer, but the customer is not the employee’s boss/employer.

[no_such_reality]

Thank you CAR for being clear for everyone.

The government workers do not think they are accountable to the taxpayer.

If the taxpayer doesnt like it, get out of the State is their position.

[Author]

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