The Daily Bulletin's editorial staff has Xavier Alvarez-sized burr under its saddle. Friday's Bulletin editorial called for the resignation of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District board member from Pomona.
This latest call for Alvarez to step down came after Alvarez recently claimed that the Pomona Police Officers' Association somehow altered or fabricated a tape of an interview the association had with Alvarez when he was running for office in 2005. Alvarez had tried to get the association's endorsement and falsely states on the tape that he was a Medal of Honor winner.
The Bulletin's editorial said:
Normally, it would be a blockbuster of a story if a police officer claimed that an elected official had lied. But Alvarez is no normal elected official, so observers were not rocked back on their heels by Bozoich's allegations.
At the July 23 meeting of the Walnut Valley Water District where Alvarez claimed he had won the Medal of Honor, he said he was wounded multiple times while serving as a Marine during the Vietnam War. He later admitted he had never served in the military.
At the same meeting he said he has an engineering degree from Cal Poly Pomona, which has no record of him.
He has been censured by his fellow Three Valleys board members for funneling spousal health benefits to his ex-wife, who divorced him four years before he was elected to the board. Federal prosecutors are considering filing felony charges for that misrepresentation, which cost Three Valleys about $4,800. (Alvarez said last week the district was not harmed by his actions because the agency's insurer reimbursed it; a fine justification that is.)
As we've pointed out, the last bit about the ex-wife amounts to theft and fraud and are felonies, unlike the current federal misdemeanor charges against Alvarez for lying about the Medal Honor.
Alvarez has made it clear that he plans on sticking things out and being around for the duration of his term (barring the intervention of the criminal justice system). It is ironic indeed that Alvarez, whose term runs through 2009, may be in his current office longer than than his patron, Pomona Mayor Norma Torres, is in hers.
Torres is running for the California State Assembly, and given the realities of Assembly District 61, which is considered a safe Democratic seat, Torres should win the seat, assuming she wins the June Democratic primary. Torres would succeed former Pomona Mayor Nell Soto, who has been missing in action (but not in per diem) for several months in the past year.
The Goddess of Pomona recently found a photo of a smiling Torres stuffed into a one-size-too-small, gray, pinstripe pantsuit standing on the concrete median of a Pomona road overgrown with weeds. The photo captures Torres and her accomplishments as mayor perfectly.Incredibly, the photo (seen at left) was uploaded to Flickr by the Torres campaign. Pinstripes seem to be the fashion choice of the Torres political machine, and Torres protégé Xavier Alvarez may be getting fitted for his in the not too distant future.
Posts
