Friday, July 13, 2012 – 10:45 a.m.
It took less than forty-eight hours for the San Bernardino financial collapse to become a political football for those in county government who love to grandstand.
We’re gonna investigate! Yes sir we are!
As a matter of fact, we already have an ongoing investigation!
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney and San Bernardino Police Department is investigating the financial dealings of the city.
Press statements galore, gossip and speculation.
San Bernardino Mayor Patrick Morris says he’s upset that Sheriff-Coroner Rod Hoops issued a press release acknowledging an investigation.
Morris, who is a former superior court judge and prosecutor, has a point.
The announcement, done with the concurrence of District Attorney Michael Ramos, a press monger himself, only threw more gas on the fire.
But let’s be realistic. None of the aforementioned agencies come close to having the expertise and qualification to engage in such a financially complex endeavor.
Not even close!
The only qualified agencies possessing the necessary skill are the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Both the FBI and SEC need to assume exclusive jurisdiction here.
No “joint” task force with local law enforcement, unless they want everyone knowing everything they’re doing.
There are too many political cross-ties between involved parties.
It’s likely, unless officials personally profited from criminal misconduct, that any investigation will show; information was withheld from the public; restricted funds were used to aid the city general fund; and there was inadequate or improper disclosure to bond investors.
But it’ll take the feds to ferret this out, not local law enforcement.
Will there be a domino effect? Is San Bernardino County sinking into the abyss of darkness, to rise no more? Or will we manage to muster up the courage to take revenge on those who have lied and knowingly given us false security?
Then we have the San Bernardino County DA and Sheriffs investigating, not much comfort given their “investigative” reputation- yes, another joke reminds me of them:
The local sheriff was looking for a deputy (to help investigate San Bernardino’s financial collapse), so Gomer – who was not exactly the sharpest nail in the bucket went in to try out for the job.
“Okay,” the sheriff drawled, “Gomer, what is 1 and 1?”
“11″ he replied.
The sheriff thought to himself, “That’s not what I meant, but he’s right.”
“What two days of the week start with the letter ‘T’?”
“Today and tomorrow.”
He was again surprised that Gomer supplied a correct answer that he had never thought of himself.
“Now Gomer, listen carefully: Who killed Abraham Lincoln?”
Gomer looked a little surprised himself, then thought really hard for a minute and finally admitted, “I don’t know.”
“Well, why don’t you go home and work on that one for a while?”
So, Gomer wandered over to the pool hall where his pals were waiting to hear the results of the interview. Gomer was exultant.
“It went great! First day on the job and I’m already working on a murder case!”