Over the last week there has been a concerted effort by some in the local blogosphere to smear Santa Ana Chief of Police Paul Walters. Chief Walters, currently one of those being considered to replace Mike Carona by the Board of Supervisors, has been maliciously attacked by one local blog operator and by numerous posts on several blogs. Their weapon of choice has been Chief Walters divorce settlement.
The local blogger and the posts only focused their attention on smearing Chief Walters and offered no support for any of the others trying to get the Sheriff’s position. However after some investigation I believe that I have found a link between the attacks on Chief Walters and one of those seeking the appointment from the board. That link is Ralph Martin.
Martin is the candidate of choice for the local blogger that initially divulged the Walters divorce settlement and I have seen evidence that ties some of the anonymous posts to the political consulting firm with ties to folks working for Martin. In fact my sources have shown me documentation that directly ties many of these nasty personal attacks on Walters to Beiber Communications, a Santa Ana based firm with close ties to the local Republican Party. My source also tells me that a consultant named Dave Ellis is working for Ralph Martin and Ellis has ties to Beiber. Not suprisingly the attacks on Walters diminished yesterday since according to my source Martin tooks his friends like Ellis on a tour of the L.A. jails yesterday.
Martin, a commander with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, is a resident of Coto De Caza. My sources tell me that Martin is the favorite of the Lincoln Club and Supervisor John Moorlach. They tell me that Moorlach has been lobbying his fellow board members hard on behalf of Martin.
While Martin’s credentials may look impressive on paper the truth is that he has no policy-level command experience, no experience in running a jail and he has several ranks over him that he still has to report to and to take orders from. In short has really has no experience in running a major law enforcement agency like the OCSD and his main qualification is that he is willing to be John Moorlach’s puppet.Â
Perhaps it is for this reason that Martin has decided to go negative on Chief Paul Walters. When you compare both of their resume’s Martin finishes a distant second. In order to compensate for this perhaps Martin decided to turn to the blogosphere and start a stealth smear campaign against Walters. All the evidence I have seen points to this being the case.
Sean—Did you want to apologize to Hunt for implying that this campaign carny was connected to the Hunt campaign?.
NCS,
I do apologize for suggesting that this campaign was being carried out by Hunt and company.
However I do know that Hunt and his operative Tim Whitacre have been working behind the scenes to smear Walters. Those folks have gone to Walters ex-wife and to the ex of Walters current wife in an effort to get dirt to smear the Chief with.
Whitacre has even met with the Chief on Hunt’s behalf trying to get Walters to drop out. Whitacre even called the Chief after meeting with him asking for Walters to drop out and support Hunt. All the while they are working behind the scenes to smear him.
Sean,
Martin was not my source. To be honest, the source used a name that is likely made up. So I have no idea who the source was.
The real question is why do you continue to shill for Walters while crime in Santa Ana, the city HE polices, is skyrocketing? He is an awful Police Chief, and an overpaid one at that.
From what I hear, most likely our next Sheriff won’t be from around here. But if it was Martin I think that would be a great choice.
BTW, is it true that Walters has quit your party and gone back to the GOP? How can you shill for a guy who has hired Carona’s goons to handle his campaign? Disgusting!
Art – an anonymous source with an axe to grind? What, no secondary source to speak on the record? Yea, that’s credible. So much for “investigative journalism.”
I looked into these charges Art brought up. It’s a crock.
Jubal,
Art’s invisible pajaritos strike again? 🙂
Chris,
Give me a break. Walters hired Matt’s friends to run his campaign. You seriously trust his judgment in this case?
Don’t forget that Matt and his Red-faced cohorts all pimped Carona and ended up rather embarrassed when he had to resign. Now they want to replace him with Walters. Haven’t you stopped to wonder why?
If Walters replaces Carona, the corruption will continue unabated.
Well Matt, I guess that settles it. Art has spoken (written).
So it shall be written, so it shall be true.
While Martin’s credentials ARE impressive on paper the truth is that he has policy-level command experience, HAS experience in running a jail and he has FOUR PEOLPLE over him that he still has to report to and to take orders from. (We all have bosses, SO WHAT) In short he really has THE MOST experience in running a major law enforcement agency like the OCSD and his main qualification is 33 years in law enforcement and that he is willing to WORK with the board of supervisors.
All the evidence I have seen points to Mills being a puppet for Walters..
RALPH MARTIN FOR SHERIFF
Matt — thanks for having your people look into this for us
“he really has THE MOST experience in running a major law enforcement agency”
Troy what law enforcement agency has he been “running”? Last time I checked the LASD was RUN by Lee Baca, Sherman Block before him and Peter Pitchess before him.
I have never seen Ralph Martin’s name as the man in charge responsible for making the policy decisions for the LASD. I do know that in one instance folks under Ralph Martin’s command cost taxpayers $1,326,468.60 because of excessive force.
You can read the whole story here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hayes8mar08,1,2716846.story
“All the evidence I have seen points to Mills being a puppet for Walters.. ”
Troy,
Now that’s funny. If you actually knew anything about me you’d know that I am anything but a puppet for Chief Walters. On several occasions I have written letters to the LA Times and the OC Register criticizing the Chief and his actions.
That being said, I am appalled that folks would drag his divorce settlement into this battle. It is despicable and below the belt. I stick by my assertion that Ralph Martin and his handlers are behind this. Shame on them.
I don’t want a Sheriff that would stoop as low as to dig into the personal life of an opponent and try to use family related issues against him.
Oh and Troy, it’s Mill not Mills.
Give me a break. Walters hired Matt’s friends to run his campaign. You seriously trust his judgment in this case?
Art, would it hurt to have an actual grasp of the facts, once in a while.
Walters hasn’t “hired” John Lewis and Matt Holder. They are unpaid advisers to Walter’s effort to be appointed Sheriff.
If Walters were appointed, they would (presumably) be hired to run his election campaign.
And at the risk of seeming immodest, I’d match my judgment — and that of John and Matt — against your any day of the week, Art.
Now they want to replace him with Walters.
I haven’t decided to support any particular candidate yet. I think we have some very qualified candidates for the job.
Haven’t you stopped to wonder why? If Walters replaces Carona, the corruption will continue unabated.
What I wonder is when we’ll ever see an end to your unsubstantiated, loony-tune conspiracy theories, Art?
Someone who’s real name you don’t even know, gives you some information from Walters divorce settlement, and you don’t even question the accuracy of it or the explanation of it from your “source”, because it serves your biases.
I bothered to check it out.
Regarding your claim that Walters has $170,000 in debt on 14 credit cards: as their marriage deteriorated, Walter’s then-wife ran up that enormous debt on those cards. As part of their divorce settlement, they split the debt in half. Walters has paid off his portion of the debt.
Regarding your claim that he has to pay his wife $11,800 a month in spousal support: that number includes the $10,000 a month Walters’ ex-wife is receiving from the half of his retirement she got in the divorce settlement. So Walters is actually only paying $1,800 a month in spousal support.
You bring up the loss of his home to his ex-wife and the $700,000 mortgage as if that is a financial burden on Paul Walters. Did it occur to you that it is the ex-Mrs. Walters’ headache, instead? As part of their divorce settlement, Walters quit-claimed the house to her.
This is typical Art Pedroza. The bleak financial picture would strike a reasonable person as so unlikely that further investigation is warranted. To Art, it just looks like a club with which to beat someone who doesn’t like, so Art doesn’t ask any questions.
Now let’s see which device Art uses to change the subject away from some anonymous source manipulating Art’s biases in order to dupe him.
Jubal,
I have posted much of the same info previously that you did here. I got my info from a very credible source and I know what you have written here is the absolute truth.
The truth does not fit into the smear campaign that is the trademark of the “bully of the blogosphere”. Trying to use facts and logic are futile when dealing with the “bully”.
Geez Bob, any responses to Matt’s post?
Matt — thanks for using the actual first rule of journalism; “your mother says she loves you: check it out!”
Matt/Jubal,
“Walters hasn’t “hired†John Lewis and Matt Holder. They are unpaid advisers to Walter’s effort to be appointed Sheriff.” Is that because he CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY THEM?
BTW, Walters had 165 cops at the protest yesterday, though some of them were “on call.” There were only 200 protesters. Do you think this was a good use of sparse city resources? And what is the deal with the horses? Can’t these guys do their job on their feet, or on motorcycles? How much did it cost the city to clean up all their crap?
It is this lack of judgment that makes Walters a terrible prospect to replace Carona.
Sean-
I read your post – Sherlock. I do have “ties.†I hope you visited my Company’s web page that you linked and read a bit about my background.
I have been a Republican Activist/ State Legislative Staffer and political professional in Orange County for over 20 years. I have LONG ties to the Republican Party – I have personally registered over a 1,000 new Republicans, been involved in heading several State and local Republican clubs and a member of several more. If you go to the county party’s HQ you can sit in the “Jim Bieber Chair†for my generous financial support of our county party.
In my professional capacity of providing direct mail services I have worked in some capacity with almost every member of the Republican Delegation and a good chunk of local candidates. I am widely recognized as Orange County’s best and well known direct mail consultant – with a slew of national awards for creating mail for every level of government. I doubt if you can find a Republican in OC that I don’t have some interaction or ties with.
With such a long history in Republican politics – some people like me some don’t. I have never conducted a “smear campaign†I have never had to create lies nor felt the need to knowingly spread something false.
My PERSONAL objection to Paul Walters comes from his first campaign for Sheriff, that ended with a televised bizarre non concession speech that looked like a rally put on by Al Sharpton – Walters screaming and looking wild eyed, the mob of county public employee union members not applauding but stomping their feet with fists in the air. As a Republican, Walter’s isn’t my cup of tea, he was a delegate for Clinton and I am ‘underwhelmed’ by his policies as the Chief of Santa Ana. I understand why you as a hardcore Democrat activist may be attracted to him campaign.
I don’t know any of the candidates for Sheriff. I guess we could debate the partisan positions ( liberal or conservative) of Walters and what we disagree about. You can continue to make the case that he is the best candidate for Liberals to support.
I weighed into this debate because you and other folks on this blog got on a rather high and silly horse to ban Art for reporting of the findings of Walter’s divorce papers. Everything that I read about Walters’ divorce that Art posted dealt with his personal finances.
I SPECIFICALLY stated that I agreed that repeating any “kiss and tell†or anything dealing with personal animosity of the Walters within this public document (that I have not read) would be considered to be mud throwing. My “personal attack†that you seemed so offended by consisted of this and similar statements:
“He cannot seem to manage his personal finances, over $170,000 in debt on 14 cards is just bizarre. With all things being equal among the applicants someone’s personal flaws relating to finance could and should be considered. Again this is the highest and scariest office in the county I don’t want someone with ANY lingering questions about their personal judgment.â€Â
Wow that was vicious brutal personal attack???? By no stretch could it be considered out of bounds by any political professional. The only ‘smearing’ comes from you distorting what I said.
I guess we disagree on what public records the public should look at when examining the character and or personal judgment of someone seeking to be the head of the most important law enforcement agency in the county. We’re not supposed to ask questions and examine something that could be considered “if all the candidates are equal.â€Â
“Jim why are you wasting time on that blog? Nobody reads it, they don’t seem very bright, get off the computer†my wife complains. I enjoy debating and exchanging ideas with people I disagree. I stopped posting under my real name when someone made a smarmy comment about my business . Rather than the topic the subject turned to me. Okay I thought I’ll post anonymously and keep the subject on track. I have enjoyed spirited debates on the Rev Wright, Bill Ayres with other Lib OC posters. I didn’t bother to hid my ip information because really who cares, I don’t write anything anonymously that I don’t profess publically. I also assumed that no one here would be so petty as to ‘out me’ as some big discovery and then make leaps of logic trying to connect what I personally said to my clients or their clients.
I sometimes forget that basically liberals are unhappy people who are far meaner than Ann Coulter on her worst rant. So basically I guess you win. I owe up to my comments you “got me.†And so B.F.D.
I know some people who are supporting Walters – all stand up guys. I don’t know what their case is in favor of Walters but I would express to them my same concerns. You on the other hand are a piss ant nobody of significance who thinks he’s terribly clever by unmasking someone who posts comments on your blog anonymously.
You can go back to your exciting blog of 2 or 3 comments per post (ten times the amount of people who read this.) I won’t be joining you in your litter box debates. I will heed my wife’s wisdom and stop bothering to argue with idiots.
Jim —
thanks for a truly entertaining response. Most liberals I know are actually very happy people. Me, I’m grinning from ear to ear right now.
A couple of corrections; Art hasn’t been banned from this blog for reporting Walters divorce filing and Matt Cunningham already responded quite nicely to provide some context to the filing. And being a Clinton delegate is hardly grounds to throw Walters under the bus.
Its funny, but your last sentence reminds me of things my friends have said to me when I post over at Red County.
Jim, you are welcome to debate your end of things anytime you want.
Jim,
Thanks for your response. Wow they named a “chair” after you? Now that is something to aspire to.
Nobody outted you using your IP address genius, you just outted yourself.
As far as wanting to engage in debate, that is not what you were doing. You ignored every single question asked of you. You stayed on message and never diverted from it. You never did anything but smear Walters based on his divorce papers. Pretty sleazy but hey you’re a big time operator in the GOP so I wouldn’t expect anything less of you.
The only problem with your posts is that you did not do your homework and find out the facts behind the numbers. You and Pedroza used the info that suited your message. Birds of a feather.
I am not necessarily a Walters supporter and I have been quite critical of him over the years. I actually supported Carona when he ran against Walters. Boy was I an idiot. Bet you feel like that all the time.
Thanks from coming down from your throne and sinking to level of us “piss ants”. You are clearly so much better than the rest of us.
Mr. Bieber,
What’s that old line about wrestling with pigs in mud? I’ve met your wife, and clearly she is as wise as she is beautiful. You definitely outkicked your coverage, as we college football fanatics might say, and you should listen to her more often!
That being said, I have the exact same recollections as you about Walters. I walked many precincts for Carona in that first election, pulling my kids in a wagon behind me, as they handed me the brochures. I was so excited to finally get rid of that fascist Brad Gates. I am saddened and embarassed at how it has all ended for Carona, and am very discouraged by the revelations of the depths of his misconduct personally (allegedly) and professionally (almost certainly).
But while Carona apparently was a very poor choice, I saw the same thing you did with Walters in that election. The Sheriff’s Union guys who showed up at the debates and events were frighteningly thuggish and intimidating, and it was very clear that a Walter’s administration would result in the inmates running the asylum there. I’m a Republican, but more of the libertarian bent than the law-and-order side, and a sheriff as beholden to the union as Walters would be guarantees no reform in the system and no efforts to discipline those who bend the rules and do not respect individual rights.
While I recognize the overwhelming majority of police officers are good actors, I had hoped that Carona’s independence from the union meant we’d have serious efforts to bring the bad actors in line within the department. Clearly that was not the case. But we’ll never have reform in that department if we elect a sheriff that is dependent on the union for his power.
I have no idea who the best candidate is. Frankly, I think at this point an outsider is a pretty good idea. And my position has nothing whatsoever to do with the divorce papers. As a person of divorce (is that the politically correct term?), I know my court filings were filled with bullcrap and distortions, so I’m pretty sensitive to those sorts of things.
It is clearly important for a Sheriff to have an understanding of real police work and have the respect of his workforce. But while it may be standard practice for liberals to support the union candidate in a knee-jerk fashion because of broader union issues, I would hope that the other standard liberal /libertarian concerns for the rights of the accused and concern for due process and a healthy skepticism of police powers (all of which I share) would lead one to be a bit worried about a sheriff candidate supported by the union, whose primary concern is to protect their members from discipline and control by management.
and thanks for reading us Jim. You’re not alone.
Martin is the best choice…he has many years experience in LA Sheriffs, he is out of the OC political loop, and he is a good and decent man with no baggage.
Is that because he CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY THEM?
No, Art, you idiot. It’s because there’s no campaign to run.
It is this lack of judgment that makes Walters a terrible prospect to replace Carona.
OK, Chief Pedroza — what would you, with your vast law enforcement experience, have done?
Keep grasping at straws.
Matt/Jubal,
Glad you asked.
1. No horses – that is just a ridiculous thing to do. Walters has a damn fixation with horses that just makes no sense in this day and age.
2. Explain to Nativo, in advance, that his people better obey the law or they should expect to be arrested.
3. Strategically deploy officers to protect city buildings.
4. Keep enough motorcycle cops on hand to control traffic if things get out of hand.
5. Deploy city employees with video cameras. If things get out of hand use video footage to track down the perps and put them in jail.
6. Have cop cars ready to block streets as needed.
7. That’s it. Things get out of hand you call in cops from other parts of town and use mutual agreements with nearby cities and the Sheriff’s Department to bolster the troops.
8. Lastly, if things do get out of hand, you call in the National Guard if you have to and arrest any lawbreakers.
I don’t mind protesters, but I do not like people who overstep their boundaries. Again, you let Nativo know that people WILL be arrested if they break the law, and that you will start with HIM. Then you let things proceed.
The problem in Santa Ana is that the SAPD is too concerned with image and politics. They just need to do their jobs.
Example, every year the 4th of July is a nightmare in my city, with hundreds of illegal fireworks, and every year hardly anyone pays the price. Why don’t people using illegal fireworks get arrested?
And look at our graffiti problem. The cops just don’t arrest taggers.
Bottom line – Walters over deployed at the protests because image mattered more than policing. What a dope.
5,000-8,000 protesters were anticipated to appear in Santa Ana. Had they shown and Walters not have had sufficient forces on the scene, there would likely have been serious damage to property and to people. One thing that would be certain if that happened is that Art , police science degree unknown, would have criticized Walters for not having more forces deployed. As for horses, they are big assets for departments to have who have to deal with large crowd control issues. They are effective in crowd control situations. If Art is concerned with the horse poop, let’s have Miguel award Art the title of Santa Ana’s Honorary Pooper Scooper.
As for Jim Bieber claim that he’s never run a smear campaign I can only say–you wouldn’t know it by his slimy attacks on Walters on this blog. Let’s assume the divorce information is releveant using the Gustavo Standard. The next step is to find out what the information means. It’s not difficult–Jubal did it easily. But then, Jubal was seeking the truth, not necessarily some bit of information that when taken out of context creates a misleading impression to be used by someone who can’t seem to get the partisan beam out of his eye. That’s a smear and that’s what Bieber did. A bigger man would have apologized to Walters but I guess Bieber is so loaded down with awards he’s beyond that.
And as for Walters being a pawn of the unions, that’s pretty funny. The AOCDS made it clear Walters was not their first choice. Walters is the architect of the Santa Ana City Jail model that relies on correctional officers rather than front line officers for staffing. A model and plan that AOCDS strongly oppose. Some stooge. And in Santa Ana, I.A. is alive and well, something that would not happen if Walters is just a union shill.
Northcountystorm,
Ever head of mutual aid agreements? They are in place for when large scale problems develop that are beyond a local agencies ability to control. Santa Ana used them before, when a previous immigration protest went out of control.
The horses were for show. You don’t need them in these situations. Horses were used by cavalries to run down their opponents. Unless Walters was planning on doing that, why have them there?
Ironically, the Californian army, back when Mexico ran this state, was adept at the use of horses, in combination with lances. They even won a battle or two before giving up California altogether.
But today it is just ridiculous to have all these horses at these protests.
The bottom line with regard to Walters is that Santa Ana is a mess when it comes to crime. Why the Hell would you hand Walters the keys to the Sheriff’s office when he has proven he cannot do his job in Santa Ana?
Art–I’ve heard of mutual aid agreements. And they are used when the estimated risk exceeeds the capacity of the agency to handle. If the agency, be it fire or police, has the existing personnel available to handle the risk than mutual aid assistance is not appropriate. In addition, the city would have to reimburse other jurisdictions for the cost.and this would be disruptive of the other cities and jurisdictions,. most of whom are small and don’t have the extra boots on the ground to add without some disruption. You do use mutual aid if things get out of control. After that, you plan better to make sure that you have the sufficent forces available so that you don’t have to call upon outside agencies. Mutual aid usually comes in when things have gone south. Good planning encures that things won’t go south. You can’t police on the cheap any more than you can fight on the cheap a la Rumsfeld.
But Art, since you’ve supported abolishing the Santa Ana Police Department and turning everything over to the County, its not surprising you’re a critic of anything Chief Walters does.
As for horses, I repeat that horses are very useful in crowd control situations. Many urban departments have them and use them in these type situations. The “show” is the reality that people will disperse when confronted with a horse in crowd control situations. If you don’t like this than perhaps you should ask one of your favorite councilmembers, like Bustamante, to get rid of them. Or ask your favorite supervisor Janet to lobby the Santa Ana council since you’ve alienated every one of them. Since the County has joint jurisdiction with the City in the Civic Center area maybe you can get Janet to introduce a “Horse Free Zone” there.
Your bottom line is, not surprisingly, wrong and off point.
Art — NCS is right; Horses are considerable more effective than motorcycles or cruisers in a crowd control situation. They are also more environmentally friendly, less noisy, and believe or not, will try not to step on or run over people who get in their way.
Art, I get the sense that if Walters were to walk on water, you would moan that he doesn’t know how to swim.
I don’t think any one of us has selected a candidate to back for sheriff; there are so many of them after all and its likely that a number of us will be backing different people for different reasons. But that all said, Art you were played by whomever leaked the divorce papers to you. I hope you give more scrutiny to future “leaked” documents or more contextual analysis. And for what its worth, Art owes Walters an apology.