Americanism: When I was growing up, I totally embraced the concepts of what it meant to be an American. I still believe the ideas we were taught in childhood are close to sacred, and I think other Americans feel the same. American values are almost religious values, and they are matched by a sacred symbol (the Flag), a sacred oath (Pledge of Allegience) and sacred scrolls (the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
These are Articles of Faith for Americans. We believe that the people are king and elected officials are servants. But these ideas just aren’t honored in Pacific. I’d like to know why.
Here are some examples:
Defiance: In 2003, voters resoundedly cast city councilman Clint Steiger out of office. Shortly afterward, Members of that council thumbed their noses at the voters by immediately filling a vacancy with Mr. Steiger.
Church Raid: In 2005, the entire Pacific Police Department and Mayor Hildreth raided New Hope Lutheran Church to arrest a skateboarder. A police officer had detained the youth, then drove off to chase his companion. The youth crossed Third Avenue and joined a prayer dinner in the church’s parking lot. Skateboarding in the park is not an offense listed on the sign stating the park’s rules. Raiding a church event to detain someone for an activity not clearly prohibited by the park’s posted rules is an inexcusable display of bullying. The mayor has never apologized for the overkill.
Racial profiling: September, 2007: The Pacific Police Department had taken it upon themselves to enforce the 21st Century’s version of the Fugitive Slave Act. They would look at Latinos, determine they were suspicious because of their race and illegally detain and jail them. Even the governor protested the outrageous behavior. When people planned a protest march which is allowed under the Constitution, Mr. Calkins took on the demeanor of a southern red neck sheriff and talked about “outside agitators”. He and Mayor Richard Hildreth threatened to arrest anyone who marched, an action which seems to be a violation of federal criminal law intended to protect the rights of people to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances. (18 USC 241. Conspiracy against rights) The right of free speech is sacred to Americans. Our forebearers risked their lives and their fortunes to obtain these rights. Mr. Calkins brought in police from other jurisdictions. He and the mayor only backed down after an American Civil Liberties Union attorney contacted the Pacific City Attorney.
Demeaning the public: When people address the city council, they have to run a one-man gauntlet—Mayor Hidreth, who makes a point of getting in the last word by either cutting speakers off or making dismissive comments when they are done. This is very disrespectful of the public and discourages people from speaking to the council. It is dominating behavior. The council has allowed the mayor to do this, and thus to filter the information that reaches them.
Police brutality: Fall 2008: At the time public safety director Calkins was arrested and charged with drunk driving, he was wearing a T-shirt that celebrated the night in 1968 when Chicago police rioted and committed crimes of violence against the public during the Democratic National Convention. The T-shirt carried the slogan, “We kicked your father’s ass, now it’s your turn.” Mr. Calkins was accused of trying to intimidate the officer who detained him for drunk driving. In a classic case of double standard, Mr. Hildreth went onto the World Wide Web to defend the chief, but the next day prohibited any discussion of the arrest at a city council meeting.
Defiance: I printed a T-shirt that bore the photo of Mr. Calkins wearing his “kick your ass” message, and displayed it to the Pacific City Council to shame them into realizing what they tolerated. The response of Council Member Clint Steiger—the man voters had booted out of office—was to defiantly compliment Mr. Calkins for the fine likeness. This is similar to the attitude of the southern sheriff who was depicted in Life magazine as making jokes during an inquiry about the disappearance and brutal slaying of civil rights workers. My father was a Spokane policeman and learned from a Spokane attorney who traveled to the south that it appeared one of the dead men had been forced to leap from a crane. Mr. Steiger’s comment is different from that sheriff’s attitude only in degree.
Tolerating unprofessional behavior: Spring 2010: Councilman James McMahon castigates me in an e-mail for producing the T-shirt. But he is silent about the appalling attitude reflected in Mr. Calkin’s garment—that a police riot against citizens is something to display and celebrate. The message from Mr. McMahon: It’s OK for Pacific’s public safety director, on the night he is arrested for driving drunk, to attend a public sporting event while boldly displaying on his chest a message that police violence is OK. But it’s not OK for a member of the public to denounce that sort of attitude. What is really astonishing is that Mr. McMahon delivered this rebuke in a public document barely two months after he took office. His rebuke came at the same time an independent police agency was determining that Mr. Calkins most likely had been abusing his authority by, among other things, threatening an individual by brandishing a handgun.
Denial of union rights: At the time of my interchange with Mr. McMahon, a former policeman was testifying under oath that he was targeted by police management for termination after he was struck by a drunk driver, sustained serious injuries, and was unable to work. He testified that his department investigated him for his inability to work, and that his desire to speak to his union representative about that was treated as insubordination.Message: Don’t exercise your rights.
No appeal about porn: The same policeman testified that Mr. Calkins called him into his office to view pornography, including images of a women smoking a cigar with her vagina. When the city’s attorney asked him whether he reported this to anyone, he said he would have to complain to the individual showing the porn, Mr. Calkins, who worked for the mayor. In other words, there was no-one he could appeal to.
Humiliating the victim: When a woman of some standing in the community (for her service on a city commission) complained to police about a domestic assault against her, she felt the police had provided less than satisfactory help and said the same to the city council. In response Mr. Hildreth distributed to the council the police report, along with photos showing the woman’s bruised condition, further humiliating her. Police Department investigations can be somewhat controversial. In response to a City Council request that Mayor Hildreth’s misuse of a credit card be investigated, the Pacific Police Department investigated the wrong violation, resulting in the prosecutor declining to prosecute. Under these circumstances, Mayor Hildreth’s use of Pacific police department records to discredit a complaint against the department lacks credibility and smacks of ethical violations.
Extorting drivers: in response to the city’s budget crisis, Mr. Calkins had a solution: Raise money by ticketing more drivers. The memo proposing this gave no indication that this would improve public safety. After the document's release, all copies in the city's possession were destroyed. Mr. Calkins is paid more than $100,000 a year. Although some city staff have had their hours curtailed, Mr. Calkins's salary has not been affected.
More Police State Tactics: This year, when Pacific resident Cy Sun became a write-in candidate for Mayor and distributed fliers accusing the city of corruption, Mayor Richard Hildreth treated Mr. Sun as an enemy of the state by sending police to investigate and intimidate him.
The lame "You don’t like us excuse:" At the time Councilman McMahon was rebuking me, it was for speaking up about a public employees’ working conditions and protesting the public safety director’s haughty celebration of police violence. He suggested I was a trouble maker and an enemy of the mayor. (This is a familiar theme: “We’re not wrong, the public is. You just don’t like us.” Mr. Calkins used this excuse when he failed a polygraph examination on whether he threatened someone with a hand gun – he told the city council the examiner just didn’t like him.)
More defiance: Mr. McMahon had three suggestions:
· Run for Mayor. Rich is up for re-election November of next year. File for office. Put yourself out there and let people know what decisions you would make differently and how you would act as Mayor.
· Sue him. You make plenty of accusations of illegal activity on Rich's part. Back it up. Sue him.
· Recall him. If you can't wait until November to vote against Rich, file a petition to recall him, prove to a court his malfeasance or misfeasance and let the people of Pacific decide the issue.
I think we both know why you won't do any of these.
Translation: I’m not here to represent you. You don’t like it, use your own resources to fight city hall. Now go away.
Insolence: 500 years ago, Shakespeare had a name for this: The insolence of office.
These people define insolence: They display contemptuously rude or impertinent behavior and speech.
And so my question: How did we get to this point? How long are we going to stay here? And why?
Next in Speed Trap City: More about the Jowers lawsuit.
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