Monday, April 2, 2018 – 08:00 a.m.
The San Bernardino County Public Attorney’s Association (SBCPAA) has been hijacked by rogue leadership and the rank and file members are furious according to multiple sources inside the union. It is well known in local political circles that the public defenders that make up slightly less than half of the population of the SBCPAA loath District Attorney Mike Ramos and that a vast majority of the rank and file deputy district attorneys also feel very negatively about Mike Ramos, so it came as a surprise when it was announced that the union had endorsed Mike Ramos for reelection. Recent investigative reporting has uncovered why. The membership was never asked who they wished to endorse, if at all, in the district attorney race.
Incumbent and embattled District Attorney Mike Ramos is facing his first real challenger ever in 17 year veteran deputy district attorney Jason Anderson. While Ramos has been dogged for years by rumors of sexual impropriety (that has led the republican party to disavow him) and recently had the crushing defeat in the Colonies case, where the office he oversees spent north of 50 million dollars by some estimates in a miserably failed prosecution that jury members who heard the months long case said should never have been brought. Anderson brings a clean record and previous electoral success having been elected a city council member in Ontario.
The popular Anderson has attracted early campaign donations from private and public attorneys as well as retired judges and has the support of a locally-funded pro-business group political action committee.
Given the tough nature and likely losing prospects for Ramos, the prudent course for a union whose membership in large part depends on the District Attorney’s support for their caseloads, pay and benefits would stay neutral and out of the line of fire of the incoming new boss. But that is not what the current leader of the union Doug Poston has decreed.
Poston who took the job from the previous well-liked leader of the organization, Mike Abacherli, by frightening members about the spending of resources during Abacherli’s tenure is now poised to spend money lavishly on a likely loser in Mike Ramos. That he strong-armed the board in a closed meeting to endorse Ramos, a board that he purged of members that were not loyal to him in a communist-dictator like fashion shortly after he assumed power.
One member that spoke on condition of anonymity said, The board met and without consulting the membership at all in a closed session led by Poston, and without some board members present, were pressured by him to endorse Ramos because he got them a 3 percent raise from Ramos is ironic because that raise was negotiated previous to his leadership of the organization.
Poston does not have a good history of spending the union’s money as he urged support and got it for Supervisor Janice Rutherford in the past when he held leadership of the Union PAC. Rutherford, in one of her first critical votes as a Supervisor voted to impose a cost-cutting and unpopular contract on the attorneys. The membership believed Rutherford was likely going to be targeted for removal by the SBCPAA board, but instead it appears they are poised to financially support her after endorsing her and taking a high-profile position at her lavish campaign kick-off over the weekend at the Auto-Club Speedway NASCAR event. Poston it seems does not learn from his mistakes.
Rutherford is facing a nearly impossible challenge to her reelection as she faces a popular and much better funded challenger in Mark Steinorth who currently serves in the assembly. Steinorth has approximately two times as much campaign funds on hand as Rutherford and also has the support of significant outside groups and political action committees that are poised to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to see Rutherford booted from office.
Another deputy district attorney said the rank and file is not being consulted and would lose their minds if they were aware of what Poston is doing. The vast majority of union members can’t stand Rutherford or Ramos.
The reason members desire to remain anonymous is that they fear reprisals if they go public against the district attorney or Poston.
Mike Ramos rewards women for having sex with him with promotions and attacks the careers of people who oppose him. Go ask Grover Merritt how things are working out for him at the office after he opposed Ramos for reelection.
Another member said. People also fear that “anyone who opposes Ramos will be kicked out of the union by Poston and his toadies on the board leaving the without representation and then when they are disciplined on some phony accusation by Ramos or Gardner they will be faced with having to pay huge legal bills to defend themselves.”
Why Poston would lead the union down a rat hole by supporting two likely losers that will put the union in a terrible position when it comes to negotiating for pay and benefits is unknown. But one source summed it up this way.
“Doug is a creature of Ramos, he must have been promised something.”
I have a recommendation for the Attorney’s Association. Let the member ship vote on endorsements and let women participate on the PAC committee. Both of these things world eliminate the obvious appearance of impropriety here. I would also encourage a rule that PAC members be excluded from promotion for at least a year after voting on contributions. What I see here is a really slippery slope.
Oh look, Little Ceasar came out of retirement to speak. Once you have retired, no cares what you think.
“No cares” should read “No one cares”.
The unions continue to screw themselves because they are as corrupt as those they endorse. The unions have accomplished almost nothing in the last ten years. A few have benefited for their corrupt actions. Let them suffer.
Sgt doofus-dirtbag, dennis stout has always looked out for the interest of the employees in the DAs office. Did he prosecute you for misconduct?
#5, you mean like this:
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/oct/04/local/me-53386
Why doesn’t the union have public interviews of the candidates, perhaps in a forum large enough to accommodate a crowd? A first set of questions could be asked relating to how generous the candidates think the taxpayers should be in remunerating the public attorneys, what their benefits should be, what the office’s promotional and disciplinary criteria should be, who the candidate’s proposed appointees as assistant DA and deputy DA and as heads of the various office divisions will be and what the manpower commitments to the various offices around the county are to be. There could be a set of questions on the candidate’s basic philosophy, what his/her prosecutorial priorities are, what she/he thinks the minimal filing criteria on a prosecution should be, whether the candidate supports or opposes the death penalty and, if he/she is a capital punishment supporter under what circumstances, whether the office should expend resources on filing civil cases or seeking civil remedies where criminal filings may be problematic, etc. These could be videotaped and provided to the membership, which could be given time to ruminate on the contents and then make a vote reflecting contemplative consideration rather than a snap judgment. After an endorsement is delivered, the video[s] of the interviews could be made publicly available.
Can someone explain why this sort of open and deliberative endorsement process, or something better than the somewhat flawed and weak model I just drew up on such short notice, would not be reasonable and better than the process used, which has now shed doubt on whether the union leadership is truly reflecting the collective judgment of the membership?
#6 I would agree with you but the unions aren’t going to expose Ramos to potentially tuff question he can’t answer. Remember he runs from depositions and court appearances.
If these candidates running against Ramos have nothing more to offer than the standard I’ll put more criminals in jail, we need tougher policies on gang violence blah blah they will lose.
Don’t care how much money they spend if they are going to run a PC campaign and play nice with Ramos it will be a waste of time.
Jerry Brown is a serious obstacle to Law Enforcement at the moment releasing crooks as he sees fit and ALL jails are over crowded.
Not a word on the Sanctuary State laws from either candidate.
So far status quo.
I’d hate to see them step in any elephant shit.
SgtM, You sound like a dirt bag campaign consultant. Who else would have a library of Times articles from 17 years ago. You also failed to address my suggestions. Was this an attempt to divert attention from this very serious issue? By the way, why don’t you use your real name. What are you afraid of?
Speaking of Union disasters, I hear the great Labor Rep/Law Professor, 18 year veteran of SEBA Michael Eagleson has left SEBA and now taken a job with Teamsters Local 1932.
Time to find a new crowd to try and impress with your self written expertise?
His battle hardened history fit right into one little file when he moved to his new office.
If SEBA finally showed him the door better late than never.
If 1932 is supporting Mike Ramos that speaks volumes.
Dirtbag milstupid, you obviously dont have the faintest idea of what you’re talking out. There are actually some of us who were actually there and know the facts. You are living proof that the internet is truly democratic, any idiot with a keyboard can play.