Claremont Police Department Used to Push Measure CL

CPD Officer Sean Evans. Let's Hear it, Kids, for Measure CL!

Is there no advantage that the proponents of Measure CL will not press?

Another mail piece hit our mailboxes today using Sean Evans, school cop, as a prop in the advertising campaign. We reproduce part of it above. You'd think that the Claremont Police would have a policy against officers in uniform advertising for a political campaign, but then, this is Claremont. It's probably only a policy when someone outside the power elite wants to do it. Did Officer Evans have no idea he was being used?--or did he readily assent to a photoshoot in costume? So many questions...

He gave them a nice quote, anyway. Or at least the consultant in San Francisco put a nice quote in his mouth. Really. Does anyone actually say, "Local funding for student safety that can't be taken away by Sacramento is a win-win for Claremont schools."

We think this doesn't help the street cred of the CPD when one side gets to use the badge and the patch as props. We know that the police command a lot of respect in town but can't see how trotting out friendly SRO Officer Evans in the tawdry search for votes for an ill-advised, unsustainable, $95 million school bond does anything to advance the interest of public safety in our community.


Look for there to be a short flurry of noise, ritual wringing of hands, and the matter will be swept under the rug because, well, it's for the kids.

Anything goes when you're doing it for the kids, and Piper Jaffray.

And while we are on the subject of kids, we've been noticing this: there are a lot of kids in those flyers and their faces are more or less recognizable. Since we here at the Insider really do put kids' safety first, we've been careful to blur out our kids faces (or otherwise obliterate them, see below). Does the consultant have permission from the parents to use these kids this way? And is it OK to use pictures of kids and classes, apparently taken on school time, for political advertising? So many questions...

From the reverse of the Measure CL mailer

As we post this late Wednesday, the mailer is still on the website.

Ban Uncastrated Owners and Irresponsible Dogs from the Dog Park

If you see the Claremont Courier, you know what the reader below is talking about (and we try to provide some context in what follows):

Utter ridiculousness at the dog park
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 11:14 AM
From:
To:"Claremont Insider"

Hey Buzz,

Have you been following the tempest-in-a-dogpark unfolding on the letters page of the Courier? It's so ridiculous. Two men's dogs got into a fight, the owners got into a fight, and now the Courier is publishing all the mudslinging. Is this really newsworthy? Kinda feels like the Courier is feeding into the whole thing. I mean, get a load of this:

"But here's the truth, Davey Null got his law degree from La Verne, and he hasn't held a valid Bar card since 1989. Additionally, he signs his name as a resident of Claremont. The truth is that records show Davey lives in a 958 sq. ft. house in Pomona. It is what it is, and there is nothing wrong with that. No one likes a pompous, self-righteous "wanna be," Davey."

Although it is funny that someone is lying about where he lives and where he went to school, does anyone in Claremont really need to know the square footage of his house?

For this reason, I love the Courier letters page....

DN

* * * * *

What the 958 square foot reference really means is that somebody has access to Zillow and Zabasearch and can do their internet research. We know where you live.

We had been watching this and wondered if it ever was going to end.

It seems to have started not even three weeks ago with this letter wherein Mr. Null reports an altercation first between his dog, Blitzen, recovering from dog knee surgery, and a bulldog, then between the owner of the bulldog and himself:

David Null Letter

We were left wonder, were the cops called on this? There are many loose ends here, not the least of which is part about being "bitten badly on the left hand". Don't they check the offending dog for rabies when that happens?

And then this one from a Gina Ortiz throwing in against intact dogs at the dog park and also opining that residents of Ontario and Pomona are not lowlifes.

Gina Ortiz Letter

And then this one from the wife of the bulldog owner, alleging racism on David Null's part. She is not on script with the later story of her husband (see below) that Mr. Null sucker-punched the husband. Also, and we are not the ones to figure it out, this appears to be the beginning of the bulldog morphing into a pit bull. Aren't they different animals?

Laura Encinas Letter

Probably the gem of the whole sequence of letters thus far is this one from Bernard Karmatz (later referred to more familiarly as "Bernie" by Mr. Reyes.) Although we agree with some of what he says, who wouldn't? His letter goes on and on and on for 14 paragraphs touching almost every point of dispute, contention, or public policy related to The Incident.

Bernard Karmatz letter

Sensing that this discussion has run it's course, the Courier precedes these last two letters (below), which appeared on Saturday, March 26, with this editorial dictum: "The following letters are written by the two parties involved in the conflict at Pooch Park recently. The COURIER would like to alert readers that this will be the last series of letters printed on the incident. Letters relating to the conditions and care of Pooch Park are welcomed."

In the first, David Null tries rather lamely to tamp things down by stating, "I live in west Pomona on a street where I live in harmony with my mostly Latino and African-American neighbors, none of whom are low-lifes." Thanks for the clarification.

David Null Letter

And finally, the last word, and an effort that really can't be improved. In this letter Mr. Reyes brings on the whole gang and homeboy vibe, referring to "mooching turf" and his adversary "dropping" law school and Oxford like some elitist. It is in this letter that he claims that Mr. Null sucker-punched him, a seemingly relevant fact unmentioned earlier (above, Laura Encinas letter, by his wife when she recounts Null's violent acts). He doesn't like it that the aforementioned Bernard Karmatz "fire[d] a letter out of your bottom, and not your mouth" We suspect, here, that "bottom" is a euphemism, but aren't sure. We love his ending, where, after referring to David Null as "Davey" and Bernard Karmatz as "Bernie" in a way that we don't read as very respectful, he says, "I like to think of myself as a family man who is respectful to others..."

Leonardo Reyes Letter

Unlike the sensible Courier, we think that so long as these people are writing trash, they at least aren't tossing punches or shooting up neighborhoods. Bring it on in the Interwebs. Send us your comments, and if they are coherent, we will keep throwing gasoline on the fire here. (We should note that Courier reporter Tony Krickl addressed this issue on his Citybeat Blog last Friday. And he does have a comment section, as yet unused.)

10th Street Assailants Caught

Beating Victim Expected to Recover

We'd love to hear it officially*, but word on the street (and from a couple of sources) is that the two guys who robbed and beat a resident on West 10th Street have been caught and copped to the crime.

Our original correspondent tells us that the victim has stabilized and is expected to recover, which is good news if true. We wish him well. The authorities say that this is the most violent crime to have occurred in Claremont in a long time, with "an amazing amount of spilled blood".

A bit later...
We see that a real reporter has taken up this story. Read the best and most complete set of details on Claremont Courier reporter Tony Krickl's Courier City Beat blog. He reports that 3 men were arrested by the Claremont PD, and that the victim's name was Vince Gottuso.

*Nothing on the Claremont PD website as of 5 p.m. Thursday; maybe City Manager Jeff Parker plans to take credit for it in his City Manager's Update tomorrow.

10th Street Robbery and Beating Updated

We have received some additional information on the "interrupted residential burglary" that occurred Tuesday morning on 10th Street. First, and most important though, we have no further information on the condition of the 61-year old male victim who was airlifted to County USC medical center and who was reported Tuesday night to have been in ICU. We of course wish fervently for his quick recovery.

Eyewitnesses to the immediate aftermath describe his wife as understandably "hysterical" on the street outside their house on the north side of 10th Street between Cambridge and Mountain. The victim was reported to be the brother-in-law of a City commissioner.

We understand neighbors were enlisted to search the area for discarded bloody clothing--that doesn't sound very good--but our sources tell us none was immediately found.

Still, our sources tell us that police believe they may have some promising leads.

We hope so.

Crime Scene