Lake County Government Watch

****************Rivero for Sheriff**************
Here we go again!
Garzoligate
Perdockgate
Racism complaints
misuse of funds

****************Rivero for Sheriff**************
 

Good morning, first item at hand today, Rivero for sheriff poster, the only comment we took down was concerning the black uniform color, we would like the blog to continue in the higher level of incompetence we have been discussing, therefore the uniform color is not germain enough and deep enough to spend time on the blog with it. Your posts are fine however it is not going to move us towards the removal of Mitchell and Hopkins being removed. Hope that works for you.

Next point on comment from James Henderson, if you go back to some comments posted yesterday, you will see we are hinting at a federal agency being brought in, certain facts and information is being readied for presentation in that direction. So the answer is yes this direction is being looked at. We are currently in communications with certain people at a local level within our county government, and attempting to sway them in this direction. Updates will be posted as events happen in this area.

We are also interested in what ever information is available on the Santor's of which their name has been posted several times, and we have certain needs for further information in that area. Anyone helping in that area would be appreciated.

Thanks for the post's X, hey give us some details on some of the discrimination issues you witnessed over the years that would be a big help.
 

Also to James in answer to the supervisors, again if you go back a couple of days on the blog, you will see letters which were posted that were sent to the supervisors, and various other information concerning proceeding along those lines you mentioned. It is interesting we are thinking that we might set up a FAQ section on the site, as it is difficult to go back though the posts of many weeks ago and see that many of the questions being asked have been posted, we will look into that as an addition to the page.
 

I understand that the board of supervisors only have control of the money. But do they not have a voice? Not asking questions of how that money is spent. Do they not represent the citizen? Or those that are dishonest with their duties.With a personnel matter and can't talk about it allow those that misuse their office to flourish, thus the Dinius case.Because there is no oversight you have bureaucrats accusing another for one of their own.Then to justify it after its done.Now that's a real loss knowing right from wrong.
 

Exactly James and we have been hammering on the Supervisors, they do have a voice, they choose not to use it, this is why the Dinius lawsuit is so scathing, they had been warned about Mitchell and Hopkins over and over, now when the shi* hit the fan they are trying to look proactive, when we know it is just ass covering for not doing what they should have done many many months, and they have been given that message from our group. We are also asking them to put out a joint statement from all the supervisors indicating that Mitchell and Hopkins should step down. We do believe the board is scared of Mitchell and like to use the excuse of not being political however we have seen through that ruse, and do not by it.
 

Keystone Cops? (To poster Jan 12, 5:21) It's more like the cops who are stoned (on booze and drunk with their own power) and have the keys to a copter, the evidence locker or can falsify records of the innocent and the keys to the city with the court, the judge, the building department and any other agency that is forced to play along or with the "cops" get "stoned" in the workplace with virtual rocks.

Mitchell's mob has rocks in the head, and stones where their hearts should be, they are not brave, honorable or honest or have metaphorical "stones".

Now THAT is more like the reality.

It isn't pretty, nor is it funny slap stick! I thank God that the Lovelace group is on to them and will purge them from the system and our community.

Now THAT will be news for the Bee or the Observer. Good news.
 

Sorry to all,new to the sight, this dishonesty goes a long way with this local system.
 

Here we have yet another instance of Hopkins and the supervisors wasting a great deal of public money only to have the charges dropped. When will the nightmare stop, we again call on the board to collectively ask sheriff Mitchell and Hopkins to remove themselves from their positions asap.


Attorney Jeremy Dzubay announced on Tuesday, Dec. 8, that all environmental charges against Charles Lawrence Fowler by Lake County District Attorney Jon Hopkins have been dropped and Charles Fowler will have no conviction on his record concerning CR 018694 and CR 911760. CR 911760 was filed Jan. 18, 2007 and CR018694 was filed May 1, 2009.


A civil complaint Fowler filed against the Lake County Supervisors is currently on appeal concerning these violations. Fowler said, "I still question the resources expended on harassing me that could have been used to help some one in need who is homeless. Instead they were trying to make me homeless."
 

No need to be sorry James, we need people like you on board with us. Your information and insight is important to us. Thanks and continue to follow and post with us.
 

*********Rivero for Sheriff********

Loveless I think you reconsider what you just deleted. Little problems can build into larger ones. I believe any misuse of funds, weather big or small should be post.

Uniform change cost a lot of money. It was a department wide change that also included the correctional officers. There was no need for this and is another example how Mitchell's handling of even small things get out of control.
 

I don't understand why some of you are so fast to put all the blame on Dave for the flight training. If he was trying to "get away with something", wouldn't he try to hide what he was doing? Garzoli in no way tried to keep his flight training a secret. It was common knowledge in the department and many "outsiders" knew about it also.It was reported that the contract with the helicopter company said something similar to "including but not limited to" flight time related to grows. Why the "but not limited to"? Did the SO use the helicopter for thing other than "grow operations"? Search & Rescue, find fleeing suspect, etc. If they did, then they would have had to state on every invoice what the services were for. Search and rescue time would have to be paid out of a different fund than time looking for grows, or perhaps flight training. I am curious as to what the company states on their invoices. If the SO did not use the helicopter company for other things, then why the "but not limited to"? Could "but not limited to" mean flight training? Either way, I don't believe these bills could have been paid by the auditor per Garzoli's request. I may be wrong, but I think that payment request must have come from someone other than Dave.

I am a bit surprised to hear that none of the BOS was aware of the flight training. Are none of them concerned about the number of grows in this county? If they were, they would have discussed eradication efforts with the SO and I am fairly certain that they would have learned of the flight training. Or maybe even seen Dave walking through the office wearing his flight suit. Dave's no dumby, he wouldn't do that if he thought what he was doing something wrong?

I think having a pilot in the SO is a good idea and would save the county money in the long run. Multi-tasking to get some of the flight training also saves the county money. Lots of money. If I recall, the amount of money in question of being spent on flight training alone is a drop in the bucket compared to the almost $100,000 total spent. I am not saying it was right to pay for helicopter hours spent solely on flight training out of the DEA money, if that is indeed what happened. Just saying it why not kill two birds with one stone and get some training in while looking for grows. It's too bad more people don't think to save the county money by multi-tasking.
 

FLASH REPORT TO THE CITIZENS OF LAKE COUNTY SEEKING JUSTICE AND TRANSPARENCY IN OUR COUNTY.

We have been investigating the relationship and conditions that exist and the opinions of leadership and officers in the local CHP organization in relation to Rodney Mitchell and the sheriffs department. What we have discovered is this is not a good situation. It has been reported that the divide between the CHP and Mitchell is terrible and is growing, as all of you may have noticed the CHP in all areas of the current events damaging our county has been quiet, this is by design, and they do not want to enter the fray publicy. Behind the scenes it is reported by current officers that the CHP is very uneasy with Mitchell and many of the corrupt officers working in the department. The CHP from a higher level have been instructed not to discuss nor offer an opinion on these ongoing events. From the inside they are hoping for his demise along with Hopkins. There may be some who have various issues with the local CHP, but in this instance their stance is clear. Now we have a situation where we do not have a cohesive relationship between our local CHP and the sheriffs department. We are continuing to investigate this matter and bring it out in the open as much as we can. We would like to request that if there are any CHP officers willing to post either on the public forum or the g-mail account which is sheriffmitchellwatch@gmail.com to please do so, we appreciate any and information you may be able to provide.
 

We don't disagree it was an un-necessary use of public funds, in regards to the uniforms we were only stating that you had posted the uniform information once already, and we felt that was enough. You are correct the mis-use of funds by the sheriff department is scathing and has been for many years, this of course goes again to the issue of the supervisors who "are only in charge of the money".
 

Come on post 9:48 get a clue, either you do not have all the facts or you do not quite understand the workings of Mr. Garzoli, if you want to say conceptually some of those ideas are fine, then ok make that statement, but do not for an instance give credence to Garzoli. Perhaps you did not read the personnel postings from the various forums we discovered on the internet, and the conversations Garzoli was having concerning the helicopter situation. He was told he was illegally flying, he was told that what he was doing was wrong, and list goes on and on. He has been working the county for his own dime for years, and posing it as attempting to assist the county. Do not be fooled become informed concerning Garzoli, who now of course is on admin leave. We appreciate your posts as always, and we know it is difficult to go back through all the thread to see the information that has been discovered. But this issue has been throughly investigated and Garzoli is a flake from the word go.
 

********Rivero for Sheriff********
The first post was not me.

As for CHP, the rift only applies to management-v-management. In the field, we (LCSO) have no problems working along side of CHP officers. We have a few problems with their policies, but not the officers. They have a tough job giving tickets. Lets face it, nobody wants a ticket.

One policy I don't like is when someone reports a reckless driver to CHP. The first thing CHP asks is if the driver tried to veer towards you? If the answer is "yes", they drop it and tell you to call the Sheriff's because it is an ADW. In 12 years, reviewing thousands of reports, I can't remember ever seeing the DA charge someone with ADW involving a vehicle that merely drove towards a person. Now striking is different and than CHP investigates it. That really gets on my nerve. CHP handles vehicle crimes and should handle ADW with vehicles too!
 

We agree with you concerning the CHP and perhaps we did not present it clearly they (upper management CHP) are very concerned about Rodney, this is the message we wanted to express, however we did get information indicating the CHP officers did have issues with those SO's close to Mitchell in the corruption ring. However you are correct the big rift is with Mitchell and how low the opinion of him is with upper management at CHP.
 

Why does the CHP pass on ADW? Is not that not like saying, he attemted to shoot me but missed so no investigation needed?
 

******Rivero for Sheriff*******

One would have to had worked with Garzoli to understand that he has to be the center of attraction on everything. He wanted to be a computer crimes investigator, received the training and was the only one. When he found out how hard it was, he dropped it like a hot potato. He never intended to have any other deputy become a pilot. I never heard him state this in the office even when I told him I would like to be a pilot too. Besides, it is Steve Brooks that puts his heart and sole into the marijuana extraction process. Steve does a great job in everything he has done and has received numerous community awards for this. If anyone would be trained as a pilot, it would be Steve, not a lieutenant who is supposed to be a manager.
 

CHP states ADW is not a traffic offense. Give me a break.
 

Post 10:14 sounds weak to me on the CHP's part, not that we want to go into a long discussion on ADW, just thought it was interesting, and doesn't make much sense. And wouldn't it be nice if upper management CHP and Mitchell had a working relationship so these kinds of issues could be worked out. Thanks again Rodney.
 

POST 9:58, I am new to the forum and admit I have not read thru all the posts from start to finish. You say this has been thoroughly investigated. Can you tell us who authorized payment to the helicopter company for time spent on flight training alone? Did the auditor pay the bill per request from garzoli? Is he authorized to make this request? And what did the invoices from the helicopter company state that the flight time was for? I'm pretty sure they would have had to indicate this so the funds come out of the correct budget unit.
 

10:13, Steve is a great guy and seems like the logical choice. But are you implying that no one at the MO knew about dave's flight training? I know that is not the case. Why didn't someone above dave put a stop to it?
 

Post 10:26 the biggest question still on the table and the one we have not gotten an answer for is who signed the check? It is the lynchpin on the totality of the issue. In referencing the Garzoli forum conversations, we showed clearly that Garzoli was in collusion with the idea that he could get his pilot training on the taxpayers dime, of that their is no doubt, the Board of Supervisors were discovered to have a huge oversight loop hole in their oversight process regarding this level of funding, and got caught with their pants down. The helicopter owner has said publicly Mitchell was aware of the activities of Garzoli and the suspisous nature of his activities. If you go to the archives of lake co news or the record bee concering the recent BOS meeting on this you can get the full details on the current status. Hope that helps.
 

10:13, It seems you do not like dave, but I am unclear as to whether you think he did something wrong. You state that you told garzoli you wanted to be a pilot too. Was it your opinion he was not doing anything wrong when you told him this?
 

10:35, Thank you. The issue of someone being able to mis-use such a huge amount of public funds for so many years is an even bigger problem, in my opinion. Is anyone doing anything to prevent this from happening in the future? No one seems to be outraged about this. It appears that many people cannot see anything past bashing LCSO.
 

Post 10:52 the supervisors are taking alot of heat on this one, it is in many peoples opinions enough that they should be voted out of office, and this has been stated many times. In the past of course the intellect level of the supervisors has been up for discussion, and now in the present people are asking the same questions, it is a rare ocassion where the students are teaching the teachers but in this case the public seems to be miles ahead of the business and oversight acumen of the supervisors, sad to say the least.
 

Garzoli making comments about getting "his pilot training on the taxpayers dime" may be in bad taste, but isn't proof that he did anything wrong. Department heads send their staff to get training "on the tax payers dime" all the time. It's a part of doing business. Departments even have a "training budget" for this. Of course, payment for any training "on the tax payers dime" needs to be authorized by the department head. Don't we really need to find out who authorized payment before we can assign blame? Hasn't anyone made a public records request for this information yet? Not even the news papers?
 

10:13, Yes almost everyone knew about Garzoli's training. Do you think in your wildest mind that a deputy would go up against not just a lieutenant, but a person who backed Mitchell's campaign, who has numerous relatives in the department and his father-in-law is a retired LCSO captain with still more power?

If you think not, look at Beland. He simply testified to what happened and management crucified him and drove him out of county. Then the three caballero's who reported racial injustice in LCSO. A simple answer to the EEOC complaint would clear it all, but it never happened. I for one don't think there is a racial issue, but I now question it since Mitchell won't release the EEOC complaint findings.

*************Rivero for Sheriff**********
 

Taxs payers time for training.
No person at LCSO has ever been sent to training on such a large scale. The helicopter flight training is very expensive. We had the chance to get two helicopters from the Army for free about 10 years ago, but the cost of operating it was to expensive so it was not done. If the helicopter itself is to expensive, than why in the hell would LCSO want to pay for flight training? The other question is if this was approved, a lieutenant is the last person for that job.

We can't even get computers in the cars or more than one repeater channel for the entire county?

***********Rivero for Sheriff*************
 

beating a dead horse post 12:00 Garzoli is on admin leave, Mitchell and Garzoli are throwing each other under the bus, the DEA says case closed we just want the money, along with the helicopter company. The county is up for the 100,000 and they have sent the reports to the AJ, DEA, and FAA for review. Garzoli's logs book entries are missing, he crashed the helo, while doing unauthorized training reported as looking for pot. We can go on and on and on. All the reports are available, that party is over. You will never see Garzoli in uniform in this county again. Were not sure how much more you need on this one, but if you try to put a new saddle and a new set of shoes on a dead horse what you got? A dead horse with a new saddle and new pair of shoes.
 

By the way the comment on the local newspapers, you should realize the newspapers in the county are very slow on the uptake. We decided many months ago not to rely on their reporting acumen. We have investigators and a number of inside and outside people working with us. We have investigations underway on Judge Martin, and a host of other activities on-going, the news papers are good at reporting information they have been handed but don't do a whole lot in the way of investigative work. It is the way of this small county.
 

Assuming that Garzoli never "doctored" any of the grant paperwork, then everyone who reviewed the grant before it was signed is guilty of not reading the wording close enough. Sheriff, his command staff, his finance manager, the board of supervisors, kelly cox, and whoever under kelly, and the dea. If the wording was in there and it got passed over, that isn't Garzoli's fault. Being thrown under the bus because other people don't take the time to thoroughly read a document that has a lot of money attached to it isn't his fault. Problem is, no one else will take responsibility or accountability for not catching that when they read it.
 

If this is truly an information forum, why do posts connected to particular people that are not of a positive nature getting deleted. Seems to be its more of a political agenda forum than an information forum.
 

You know we would love to prosecute the trial of Garoli right here on the blog, but you continue to sidestep the facts we are presenting, now you have moved to the document reading, if you are heading down the road of poor Garzoli being a victim of bad oversight and he really thought everything was ok, on and on and you are heading down a deadend. Please go back up and read post 12:30 if you are testing the waters to see how it is going to turn out for you or for the actual Garzoli, so far I would say you don't have a snowballs chance in hell of getting around this. So although we do not want to run through an entire blog on prosecuting the Garzoligate trail right here on the blog. I would suggest that you or Garzoli come real clean concerning Mitchell and throw that sucker under the bus as hard as you can. Now if you want to post and communicate with us in that regard on the private e-mail account we will be happy to get an investigator with you and figure out what the best move would be, if you are just asking for the sake of a friend, and trying to put all the pieces together, it isn't going to work. Remember as well there is going to be other significant information coming out, from the likes of Beland, and others which are going to be first hand reports on this issue.
 

12:23 - I can see why a deputy would not to say anything, and don't blame them. When you say "almost" everyone knew, does that include anyone that ranked higher than garzoli at the time? Do you believe that he did not get approval from anyone higher up on the food chain? I'm not trying to be jerk. Just want to get the facts. It just doesn't seem possible that he could get training for so long without approval from someone higher up. If he did get approval from someone, then he shouldn't be taking all the heat. After all, if I go to my boss with what I think is a great idea for expanding or improving the department and I get approval to for training to help further my vision, I wouldn't think to ask permission from BOS before the training. I would think that my supervisor/boss would not approve the training if it was against policy or forbidden in any way. Right? Hopefully that make sense?
 

Post 12:45 you have it wrong, we are not designed to be a political forum, we are designed to be a remove Mitchell and Hopkins forum. Therefore we have asked the citizens to scale back on the Rivero Mitchell bantering, as first of all we all know, bozo the clown would be better then Mitchell and Hopkins, so that debate is a mute point. Our concentration is on removing Mitchell and Hopkins and other corruption issues in the county. So you have perceived it as just the opposite of what it is. Nice try though.
 

Post 12:53 you need to go to post 12:29
 

Amen 12:43. I just don't see it possible that he could have done all this without anyone higher up giving their "stamp of approval". And if they gave it without taking time to know what they were "stamping", that's not on dave.
 

You all almost got the idea, it is not just Dave it is collusion with Mitchell and Dave along with the incompetence of BOS oversight. A three way hit that is going to hurt the citizens of the county. Period, but don't try to paint the picture of poor Dave, that is like trying to sell screen doors for submarines!!
 

Two quick notes from the Lovelace group, we are not allowing Caps and profanity as much as we possibly can, even though Lovelace will admit to some of those infractions. That having been said, we as well are not allowing the Blog to be used extensively for a Rivero/Mitchell debate. As we have said over and over, there is no question you cannot keep Mitchell nd Hopkins in place to indicate such is the case, would be to show pure ignorance and lack of moral judgement as well as intelligence. The time for canidate debate will come in the future, our hope is that Mitchell and Hopkins will not be a part of that debate when the time comes.
 

So Dave if that has been you or an individual posting on your behalf, we do invite you to post to us on the g-mail account, (you would be amazed at who has) if you feel it would be a positive move. We have many people who can assist you if you are going to come down on the side of removing Mitchell from his position. The offer is open.
 

I can not state for a fact that any other manager knew about Garzoli's grant writing, but Garzoli usually goes directly to Mitchell. This is because the lieutenant's do not answer directly to captains. This is why I question the lack of military experience in a paramilitary organization. It is impossible to state that Bauman, Perdock and Brown did not know of Garzoli's pilot training since all of them have a private weekly meeting together. Numerous times Garzoli would go to those meetings wearing the flight suit with "PILOT" on it. Yes I've witnessed this several times.

Also, Mitchell had to sign off on the grant. Therefore there is no possible way for Mitchell to state he did not know. He already had one prior problem with Garzoli and his access to outside funds when Garzoli purchased the OES Command Post trailer with Homeland Security funds without BOS approval. So you see, Mitchell had two incidents of misuse of funds by Garzoli.

********Rivero for Sheriff************
 

Excellent post 1:30 points well taken, and well put we agree 100%, with your comment.
 

Nice to see that so many have now found out how bad this local system is. To have your congressman Mike Thompson tell you that he can't help because "its a personnel matter." So all became part of the lie of those I reported. I give my true name so all know I tell the truth. That is why I say this goes far beyond Mitchell or Hopkins, they all hide for each other.
 

Correct James, and we have also said over and over Mike Thompson not only speaks with a forked tounge he speaks out of both sides of his mouth, if that is not bad enough both sides don't show much intelligence.
 

I see only one person that could be a better sheriff than Mitchell, Rivero, Markham or McClain. That person is Chief Burke. I understand that Burke has a handful with LPD, but he has the experience of LAPD and a law degree. It's too bad he won't take up the calling.
 

1:30 - Are you telling me that the auditor's office paid for these things per request from garzoli? I have been involved in purchasing and have always had to get the department heads signature. I couldn't just go buying whatever I want and have the auditor cut a check. I know for a fact, they wouldn't do it. There have been occasions where we needed to purchase something for the department and the department head was out. We had to wait. The auditor wouldn't even accept a signature from or the word of the "second in command". And what we needed to purchase didn't cost much. Maybe $100. Are you really telling me that they accepted garzoli's signature to pay for these things? If this happened, someone should probably start looking at the auditor's office. While they are at it, maybe they could find out what the auditor did with the missing invoices?
 

One more thing... although I have done purchasing for the department, I would have no idea if or when a purchase would have to get BOS approval. I think it is the department heads responsibility, to know when that needs to happen and not sign off on the purchase until that happens.
 

Post 2:05 there is a system that was in place with the county that is a very standard system of oversight in regards to tracking grant monies, now the catch is there is a system, the fact of the matter is the system was not utilized, that system now (to late) has been changed so that the individuals in this case Mitchell are not the ones over=seeing the use of grant monies. Now the system will be a "removed" individual will sign off on all monies spent and how they are spent in regards to grant monies, to put it simply the "fox was watching the hen house". You are thinking under the idea that this county was operating in a normal business enviromment, such as many of us at higher levels in a company have been involved in. This has not been the case here in this county, the sharpest sticks in the wood pile have not been running the store, and thus you have the "opportunities" for this kind of corruption. Needless to say but we will say it again the citizens in this county in the past have not been the coldest icecubes in the tray either, thus the elected officials and others in this county were not held accountable by SOP's that would have stopped this level of problem.
 

"we as well are not allowing the Blog to be used extensively for a Rivero/Mitchell debate."

And of course one of the ways that you are accomplishing that is by deleting the posts which point out the many, many reasons why Rivero is a terrible candidate for sheriff. Assuming for the sake of the argument that Mitchell is a crappy sheriff (and there is ample evidence of that), there is plenty of evidence to show that Rivero would be as bad, if not worse. If this were the only forum in Lake County then maybe you could pretend otherwise, but as soon as Mitchell starts making appearences with Rivero (and believe me, he will) then Rivero's flaws will become apparent to the voters. Then where will we be?
 

January 17, 2010 2:25 PM I don't understand why you don't understand that it is about removing Mitchell and Hopkins and not a campaign site. Why don't you start a up with Mitchell and down with Rivero or ? Then you could have it your way.
 

Didn't he try that once and it didn't work because he couldn't find any Mitchell supporters?
 

When I put in a purchase request, it has to first get approved by a manager, than the finance manager will review it with the sheriff and sign off on it.

All purchases over $100,000.00 must be approved by the BOS. That's what got Garzoli in trouble the first time. He thought since Homeland was paying for the $200,000.00 plus trailer and truck he didn't need approval. You think after that miscarriage Mitchell would have learned. Now we got Garzoligate.

********Rivero for sheriff*********
 

This is posted on our front page:


This is a forum for detailing the corruption in Rodney Mitchell's Lake County Sheriff's Department and Jon Hopkins' District Attorney's Office.
 

Garzoli: Misuse of county funds.
Garzoli: Sexual harassment.
Garzoli: Damage of county property (totaled patrol car).
Garzoli: Posted sexually suggestive photo of wife on his office wall.
Garzoli: Accessed porn sites on other deputy's computers.
Morshed: Sex on duty.
Morshed: Stopped Beland from giving a PAS to Perdock.
Morshed: Failed to report a school fight.
McMahon: While intoxicated, points a loaded gun at another deputy.
McMahon: While intoxicated, passed out in front of another deputy's house.
Brown: Covered his car wreck.
Brown: Escorted off Santa Clara property for harassing a deputy.
Perdock: Accessing reports against a direct order.
Perdock: Lied to investigators about being at a bar.
Perdock: History of retaliation.
Perdock: Interfered in boating investigation.

Mitchell, knew all of this and took no action until pressured by the public.
Mitchell, lied to BOS about knowledge of the DEA grant.
Mitchell, Fired Beland for telling the truth.
Mitchell, Posted racial photo next to his office door.

**********Rivero for Sheriff***********
 

Hey Rivero for sheriff, please be sure you are not posting the same information over and over, even if it is in a different format. We want to push for new every enlightening postings. Thanks
 

I disagree, you must show time and time again the major blunders of Mitchell. If you have new news that's great and you add it. But if Mitchell (like Hopkins) keeps low, people tend to forget some or all of the blunders. Remember, Mitchell is having fun running the Lande stuff over and over again without ever stating the outcome of the EEOC complaint.

Also, if any other person would run against Mitchell, I'd put "Rivero or XXXX for Sheriff".

*********Rivero for Sheriff*********
 

Lovelace, if this is not a political forum why do you allow the **Rivero for Sheriff**? This is becoming free political advertising which is as loathsome as pop-ups.
 

I see my Rivero for sheriff catches your eyes. As I said, nobody else has the guts to go against Mitchell. Put someone else in the race and I will freely stop with the comment, but ask yourself something my fellow LCSO deputies, if Rivero is elected sheriff, what will happen to you? If he is the only one brave enough to go against Mitchell than you should do one of two things.

1. Support him for sheriff.
2. Keep Mitchell and stop visiting this site.

It's simple and there is (as of now) no other option.

****Rivero for Sheriff*******
 

The individual who is posting with the moniker Rivero for sheriff is also posting defined facts to attack Mitchell. If you wish to use Mitchell for sheriff as your Moniker you can. What we don't want to get into extensively is a back and forth multi posting disucssion on the two canidates. If you can look at the post which question the integrity of Mitchell item by item and indicated why it is or is not the truth again you may do so. Since you know who this person is using that Moniker he exposes himself and you know his MO, if you used the Mitchell Moniker you would be exposing yourself on each of your posts. What you do not see the Rivero for sheriff poster doing is a lot of verbage on the positive attributes of Mitchell, only that he is the choice right now. He may change if someone else were to come into the race. I know it is difficult to refute the claims againist Mitchell, as he is simply not a leader his department is falling down around him, he has internal strife in all areas, is costing the county a great deal of money, you may refute those claims if you want to, but you are not going to be standing on very solid ground. But give it a run if you wish to. We do not want to close off discussion but if your only claim that there might be someone better then Rivero, you may be right, again this group at this time is not laying claim to any Mitchell replacement. Be quite aware however that if we actually get into the full blown election and Rivero is the man running aganist Mitchell then of course Rivero gets the vote. If any other person were running there would be many posts pro and aganist that individual. So this is not that unusual.
 

However they are correct to the Rivero for sheriff poster, in that following our line of thinking we like your factual posts, in fact we think you would be more effective with out the Moniker, as you lose many peoples attention, if they believe you are just Mitchell bashing, you would get more readers of your posts without it. Think about it, the important thing is what you are posting aganist Mitchell and Hopkins. As all of you can see administrating the is a sometimes tenous thing. And a balancing act which is difficult at best.
 

Isn't it unfortunate that it is the very LCSO their LCSD's that has brought the bashing down upon themselves and their families heads. Now, LCSDs you're in court, the same type of court you always tell the public that they will have their "day" in. One difference however, your court is the court of "public opinion" and I hate to tell ya but you have been found guilty, guilty of losing the public's trust after you took an oath to protect & serve. There will be no appeal for you....now whos the scumbag?
 

The rhetoric supporting Mitchell seems to come from those who have a false feeling of security by being in his inner loop of petty thugs and crooks. Warning to anyone turning a blind eye to corruption: No one is safe when there's a fox in the hen house. You might feel secure by grabbing on to his tail but be careful when he turns his sights on you.
 

As I have come to know Mitchell's better,it is clear why those in the sheriffs department would have fear. Officer Rivero is a honest person. The excuses about Officer Rivero is just that, excuses to keep the status quo.This local government that would keep the dishonest and belittle the citizen needs to go.If not we will just eat more cake.
 

You are correct post 4:42 we call it tipping over the apple cart. Again and we have pointed this out several times, this will be the first time in an election if Mitchell and Hopkins stay in the race, that the sheriff cannot use the reason on the public that the troops support him so therefore the public must vote him in. The public now understands that only internal Mitchell supporters within the SO support him and in fact the majority of officers do not. As well Mitchell has no support of the local CHP, which is not good. The DSA for the first time is a non-factor their endorsment is a not a concern as the public see's they are just Mitchell yes men, and of no value to the LE system or representing the troops as a whole.
 

Dear Jim Beland...... Ooops, sorry, Dear Blog Administrator,
Is it your plan to get your job back by helping Frank..... oooops, Francisco, win this election by only posting the lies your group spins? This election can be won by Frank, ... sorry, I did it again, Francisco, by sticking to the issues. In the few minutes you let this post appear on your blog, Jim, let me give you advice. Stick to the truth, not lies. If all the card are put on the table, the more qualified candidate is going to win. This "angle" your side has picked, is a loser. Just some advice, for what it's worth. Start the clock now.
 

Ahhhh here we go another post from a corruption supporter early in the morning before heading to their shift. And the guess is the blog is now run by Jim Beland, ok that makes the number up to 12 that have guessed. As we said there is a 1000.00 prize for the first person who guesses just one person who works in the lovelace group. But alas post 6:49 you are not the winner, a good try though. Concerning Beland and your comments, you are not going to have the last laugh, when it is all said and done and Mitchell/Hopkins are out and the county is healing and during the process of that happening, you will we suspect find the Mr. Beland was a factor in Mitchells downfall as well as further demise of Garzoli. You can speculate and whine all you want to. The intense scrambling we see from the inside, and we mean from the inside is a level of internal strife that is ripping the LCSO apart. This is again the Mitchell leadership, and as the end draws nearer you will see more and more of it.
 

I have said what I have said and I use my true name. Those that use "Its a personnel matter" to hide their errors, are dishonest. I will also say that if Mr. Rivero is in truth what you think he is,then I have no one to vote for. I am for Mr.Rivero for I know what Mitchell is. This local government has the arrogance because the AG of California allow the despots without condemning them. There is never good government with bad leaders.
 

Post 6:49 really you used the words best qualified canidate will win, you really are not suggestion in a display of pure ignorance that Mitchell is qualified in any manner to run the force right? Please the entire department is in chaos, the CHP rejects the Mitchell leadership, we should say the non-leadership, and he is costing the county and its citizens untold amounts of money. You have to be serious if you post here, you really cannot be throwing your hat in the ring for Mitchell right? Re-think your position you look so very ignorant when you make those types of statements. Such a silly little man, wake up, be truthful to yourself, your spinning a tale, you can't possibly really believe.
 

FLASH TO CITIZENS OF LAKE COUNTY: We have received a report. We will not name the individual however we will tell this tale of corruption concerning Mitchell this information was given to us in a direct face to face conversation. This person was reported by various sources to have been contemplating running for the sheriff position. When Mitchell heard of this he invited the individual to lunch at Perko's, they both arrived in their own cars and as each got out Mitchell walked up to the person and said, "I have heard you are going to run for sheriff?" The individual said what have heard is that people are suggesting that I run, Mitchells reply..This is a direct quote. "If you run for sheriff I will destroy you". This is a direct factual quote, if the individual who gave this information wishes to say so on this blog we invite them to do so. That is their choice, but the truth of the story is accurate and did occur. This has happend we understand several times, we believe roughly the same thing happened to Markham as well. And any of you who would profess Markham over Rivero, are still ok with Mitchell even if he did this to your choice. Can't be can it, you cannot support Mitchell in light of this situation can you? If so ignorance is bliss indeed.
 

If you are associated with the Lake County Sheriff's Office or the Lake County's District Attorney's office, we want to see your comments on our forum. If you are a concerned citizen, if you have accounts of L.C. Law Enforcement engaged in felonious behavior, or if you have been wishing to file an official complaint but literally have nowhere to turn, we want to see your comments here as well.


In anticipation of what the future was going to unfold we posted this message which is still in place on the front page of our site. The time has come and has been ongoing now for several months in that what we anticipated happening, is indeed unfolding. For all of te good LE's in Lake County, who are tired of living under the spell of the Mitchell/Hopkins regime, please fell free to post either on the public thread, or through our secure e-mail which is sheriffmitchellwatch@gmail.com, many of your co-workers have and are providing much needed information from inside the walls of the Mitchell compound, please do the same and help your brothers in the force and the citizens to return this county to an honest and just system of law enforcement, working in concert with the citizens of this county.
 

Come on now James, what are you afraid of? Mitchell's time is over, but why run on missleading the general public? The truth will allow the issues to be discussed. If you and your group were not afraid of the truth, you would allow all posts to appear on the site. Why misslead and lie... unless your side is not self-confident enough to discuss the truth. Don't misslead. Don't lie. Your side will have more than enough "evidence" to win. I would support your side 100%, if it wasn't for your current stand. Perdock is not an issue. Garzoli is not an issue. Mitchell, his errors in judgment, his screw-ups (Which are several) and Mitchell's lies, are the issue. Come on now, racial profiling.... you will lose more votes then you will gain. I am not taking a side. I am attempting to give your side the insight you need to win this election. If you read 0649, carefully, you will see this. Nowhere in that post, did I approve of Mitchell, what I said is if the issues are discussed, the most qualified side will win. The fact that you deleted the post, shows me that you and your side are not in the mind-set that your side is the most qualified. You don't win an election by telling the voters that "the other guy" is worse then our-guy. You win an election by telling the voters, our guy is the better guy. Prove Mitchell's lies. Lies against the BOS. Lies against his troops. I'm sure this "truthful" post will be deleted, but why?
 

And the walls come tumbling down, you know the song boys go ahead and sing it. Three part harmony well maybe not harmony, but the three of Mitchell/Hopkins/Garzoli, oh heck Perdock chip in there to.


As was noted at the Jan. 5 meeting, the DEA approved the operational plan, and although DEA officials said they had overlooked the flight training request and probably wouldn't have approved it, they nonetheless considered the matter for 2009 closed.

However, Farrington's letter explained that the use of the funds for helicopter training began before the 2009 approval from the DEA. The administrative review presented earlier this month showed Garzoli had begun flying on county time in 1995. Within the last few years, particularly 2008, he had amassed numerous flying hours.
 

Jezzzzzzz that is great timing post 7:40 now you look really stupid, let's see if we can quote you, Garzoli is not the issue"..Since 1995 flight hours being used. Oh my my, listen post 7:40 if you want us to take your post down, which again sounds like a Garzoli post, we will so you do not look so utterly stupid, Listen don't try to save Garzoli, we have so much more on him, we can't wait to post, but of course it is all in the timing, be careful Garzoli your going to nibble the ends of your fingers off.
 

What would sheriff Rivero do? He will change the working conditions within the sheriff's office by using a merit system not the GOB system. Fail to do your job or poor performance your gone. Racial slurs gone. One of the best ideas he has, will be initiating a citizens complaint committee, he wants to work with the community in hearing their voices and their concerns. Big difference between Frank and Rodney. You won't see GarzoliGate under Franks watch either that leaves when Mitchell leaves. Thats what I see with Frank. Vote Rivero.
 

Nice conversation at Perkos by Mitchell. "I will destroy you" lol, coming from someone who the public has already destroyed, but they can't seem to get the clue thats quite halarious! Does Mitchell think the public will whatever lies he may have about this person? Wow, he has really made his arrogance official!
 

Has anyone posting on this site posted anything, even a crumb, showing support for Hopkins?
 

You must be joking no one absolutly no one wants Hoppy to be reelected
 

Does anyone know if Channel 8 will air the BOS meeting tomorrow at 900? Up for discussion is Garzol. Last week the plug was pulled on Tv8 (public Tv) because some accused it of putting on a political hate agenda. Jeff Smith a Board Supervisor, is also on the PEG board who oversees public tv helped in pulling that plug says he represents your interest. Really?
Don't forget tv8 was locked out from getting there equiptment just hours before the debate.
 

James Henderson.....what is your opinion of LCSO? Including Mitchell, Rivero, Kenner, Gregore ,etc? Who have you had dealings with?
 

Morshed having relationship seems moot topic he is single just like Rivero so if he is guilty of sex what does that make Francisco and his GF

I sm not necessarily a Moreshed fan just keeping it real
 

Morshed was married when he was bangin the clerk.....FYI
 

Serious question:

What are the qualifications to become a sheriff?
 

Qualifications for Sheriff
Must be a resident of Lake Couny
Must be over 18 years old
Not convicted of a felony or a crime involving domestic violence.
Be in possession of a POST certificate
 

Were to begin? In my opinion Mitchell has no moral fibber. It would be my hope that he is not indicative with those that follow him. He has had a long time to build buddies.Officer Rivero, I have met him about four times and think I know why there is opposition. He seems to be a forthright person and most have a had time understand that. The others I'm no aware of. I will add this because it can't be said enough. There is no rights in Lake government on the complaining process.Perdock,Garzoli are out on your dime because there is a personnel matter and not fired like most would on the outside would be. I cut the board of supervisors no slack,they are hired to fix what is not working not become part of it. The oath took by them is diddle squat.
 

I agree, Rivero for Sheriff. The problem here is everyone is after Grazoli, what about the man that gave him his Okay to fly...Rodney himself. I only hope that Garzoli gets to where he has had enough and rolls over on Rod buddy. I can't imagine that he is such a great leader that Garzoli will take the fall for him completely. So far that is what is happening. I can only imagine what Rod has over Dave's head to make him keep quiet. Does anybody know?
We need to move forward in this community and the only way to do that is to clean house with a new sheriff and DA. Get out and vote, lets show these power hungry losers who is really in charge, we the people.
 

Glad to see the "For Sheriff" postings. To bad none have the guts to stand up to Mitchell.

Well lets go over Mitchell's mismanagement again:
1. Garzoli;
(a) Crashed a patrol car at 100MPH just to get home early. His passenger has medical suffers medical problems to this date.
(b) Purchased a 200k trailer without BOS approval, then had to purchase a truck just to pull it.
(c) Wrote a DEA grant to benefit just himself for a helicopter license.
(d) Purchased a flight suit on DEA grant money.
(e) Hangs a photo of his wife in a sexually explicit photo on his office wall.

2. Morshed
(a) Has sex with a LCSO clerk while on duty.
(b) Fails to report a school fight
(c) Ordered Beland not to PAS Perdock.

3. Perdock
(a) Lied to investigators in the Bismark Dinius case.
(b) Interfered in the boating investigation.
(c) Stated he was never at a bar on the day of the accident. Several persons put him there.
(d) Accessed the boating report when told not too.
(e) History of retaliation.

4. Brown
(a) Had his father take him away from a car crash so he couldn't be charged with DUI.
(b) Had to be escorted off the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office property by deputies for insulting and threatening Lande.

5. McMahon.
(a) While on paid travel, gets drunk, pulled and pointed a loaded weapon at Howe.
(b) Promoted to sergeant 18 months after (a).
(c) Showed up at Davidson's house uninvited, drunk and passes out in a ditch in front of the house.

What a great leader Mitchell has displayed here. Can't supervise him men, refused to speak with the public during the debate and in case non of you are aware, Mitchell even refused to debate Rivero in any public setting.
*************Rivero for Sheriff*********
 

Why did you leave Predock off the list?
 

Post 11:52 "in any public setting" like never? Repeat, are you certain you're correct?
 

Yes the last part is true. Rivero has sent Mitchell a letter challenging him to public debate. Rivero also made that challenge on his website, but Mitchell refuses. Mitchell knows he can not have a debate with Rivero because the public will ask why Mitchell can not manage his management. Mitchell would have to confess he is a poor leader and Mitchell would have to admit his supervisors are out of control.

******Rivero for Sheriff*******
 

Oh the Cops debate was just for cops. I don't consider that a public debate.
****Rivero for Sheriff*****
 

I have no knowledge of the Perko's incident. All of my comments are factual and that is why the pro Mitchell can't fire back except to make fun of my sign off signature. As always, I challenge anyone to prove my statements wrong and I will answer back.
****Rivero for Sheriff*****
Oh 12:01, can you please review your post, I had a little problem reading it. I do love the lard-butt comment at the end :0)
 

and kicking should be are kicking
 

January 18, 2010 12:28 PM I agree with are kicking.
 

Well, after watching Mitchell and Rivero at the candidate's forum a week ago, I predict that Mitchell will in fact try to make as many appearences as he can with Rivero, because he is a much better speaker then Rivero, and frankly Rivero came off as kind of creepy and inappropriately angry. Additionally I think Mitchell will be able to establish that a lot of Rivero's talking points are baloney. Remember, Mitchell has been a politician longer then Rivero.
 

January 18, 2010 12:42 PM We are going to elect a Sheriff not a Politician. If Mitchell is such a good Politician? He should run for Governor.
 

I think you are wrong 12:26, Mitchell and Hopkins get kicked around on topix really bad. Nobody posting over there is supporting those two. You have to same posters who are saying the same things all the time. The difference is over on topix you can be traced and also deleted too. Over on topix people are more careful not to libel and that goes both ways. I have seen some outright crap written by the currupt LE supporters against good people here too. Fair is fair. Also it is obvious you are DA/LE/spouse/friend, how many DUI's have you or your friends had...none right?? Yet every time I see any of you people out and about, you have a drink in your hand. Any pictures taken of LE/DA's off duty and still more drinks....hummmm but not a darn DUI in the bunch...oh thats right, you all get a pass....and the rest of us are scumbags.
 

Anyone have any figures regarding the number of citizen complaints filed against the SO/Deputies during 2007, 2008 & 2009? How many of those complaints were acted upon and who does the actual investigating of these complaints?
 

Oh, so you are saying it's ok to libel here. The LE supporters are only writing stuff about Frank on here. "Any time I see you people"...well, I don't drink, I don't hang out in bars and since I'm disabled, I rarely get out.
 

In Lake County California DUI is a business and money maker and it has NOTHING to do with public safety! That is why you don't see or hear of any Lake County law enforcement personnel or their family members getting arrested for DUI. They DO get arrested in other countys but then it is covered up and the public nevers hears about it. They are placed on probation within their departments and sat at a desk until they finsh their classes in another county and get their licenses back. The rest of us get to be on the front page of the paper.
 

1:24PM Got names?
 

1;17 When did I write that they "hang out in bars"...I am saying I see LE/DA at places like e.g. fundraisers, taste of Lakeport, concerts in the park, concerts at other venues etc. You are wrong about just seeing things written here about Rivero, Mitchell and Hopkin, there has been a lot of libelous crap written about many other people by the LE/DA corruption supporters on here too. Where were you to defend them?? Also, ANYTHING I have ever written on here is the absolute truth and I have the proof to back it up! All in good time, all in good time!
 

1:32 as a matter of fact I do. In Mendo County, Lake County Sheriff Dept. Corrections Officer David Lance was arrested and convicted of DUI last year. Lance's sister is LCSD Darren Daskin's ex wife.
 

The truck had to be purchased because of the weight of the MEOC. That's simple enough to understand and as good an explanation as there is; because its the truth.
 

Post 1:39 PM

Kudos to you...I too post only the absolute truth. It's not libel if true but so many posts are a portion of what one hears and the truth gets distorted.
 

DeShone???


1:24, not true. Just a few years ago one deputy tried to avoid his supervisor, but the supervisor found him and the deputy had alcohol on his breath. He was given a PAS, but the reading was under .08 BAC. That cop was taken off duty, sent home and later left the department in lieu of disciplinary action.
 

Limit 1:50 ?? Hahahahahahaha at 9:00 p.m. at the 2009 "Taste of lakeport" LCSD Brian Martin was "shit faced" and could barely walk. I saw him stumbling behind his very unhappy wife as they left the event. Nice display there.
 

Post 1:50 PM

Kudos to you and thanks for putting your money where your mouth is. Are you qualified to run for sheriff? We need honesty, integrity, experience, loyalty to the public and someone with a Post Certificate.
 

1:54 Is DeShone a former deputy? I've never heard that name here in LC.
 

I feel what the cops do on their own time is their own businesss! they have a right to be human stop making them robots and unhuman....when off duty they are relaxing and socializing...stop the bashing of their off dury gossip you seem to be dwelling upon.
I will concurwith you and even say hi 5 if it is factual on duty first hand knowledge....I have also been to many of the events as an invited guest and the guys and gals have a few......... never have I seen any too over the edge to drive, I am a non drinker and feel I know a drunk when i see one
ED
 

Where can I get a poster with pictures of all the Lake Co Deputy Sheriffs?
I like the Lakeport Police site, they post pictures of their officers.
 

2:12, he was drunk enough to be arrested for sure but since he is a LCSD he got a pass! I have seen people arrested even when their spouse(s) was there to care for them and get them home. Double standard! I don't know about Lance, don't care either FYI.
 

What the hay...the count on this site is going backwards???
 

Rivero for Sheriff, the DDA was in court on Friday saying that he didn't know where Rivero was. The other officer, Curran, showed up, and the defense attorney and defendant were there. Who told you that the DDA canceled?
 

To poster 2:12 being drunk in public is a crime and people are arrested for it in Lakeport all the time. I have seen people walking home, not bothering anyone and arrested.
 

Lot of posts going up today, first things first, the Lovelace group is going to ask "Rivero for Sheriff" to stop using the Rivero for sheriff moniker on your postings. We have no issue with the information you are posting and everything we have looked at is factual. However we are not running this site as a campaign site for anyone, this is a site to bring down Mitchell and Hopkins, therefore if you are posting leave off the Rivero moniker as part of your posts, The tendency is that when folks first come on the site that will think it is a Rivero campaign site, and it is not and deters from our goal of bringing Mitchell and Hopkins down. It also is not fair of us as we do not want this to be a campaign site for any individual right now, so in fairness we are going to ask you to cease in using the Rivero for sheriff Moniker, we have a lot of work to do to remove Mitchell and Hopkins and the factual aspect of your posts is great. If the Rivero for sheriff moniker is on your post or others such campaign type vergage for any individual will be removed. You can post the positives and negatives of any individual as usual. Thank you for your cooperation on this.
 

Yes the count did go backwards as we removed the Rivero for sheriff posts back a few posts and we removed the other for sheriff posts that went up. Just trying to keep it real.
 

Oooops sorry a few posts got deleted from both sides actually, you can re-post something if you see it missing, just checked on the backpages and saw what happened , only 3 or 4.
 

Heads a couple of members of the Lovelace group are in a meeting as we speak, we will not tell you who the meeting is with, but my my my would you be surprised, there will however be some information steming from this meeting we believe will be able to be posted if we get the ok from the individual. Will let you know.
 

FLASH THREE POSTS COMING IN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT RAN AN ARTICLE ON MITCHELLS PROBLEMS IN LAKE COUNTY, WE ARE HEADING UP AND DOWN THE STATE WITH THIS ISSUE. WE WILL MAKE THREE POSTS IN A ROW ON THE ARTICLE.

FIRST POST:

Lake County sheriff faces first reelection challenge in 16 years

Published: Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 3:57 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 3:57 p.m.
( page 1 of 3 )

With his department under siege on multiple fronts, Lake County Sheriff Rod Mitchell is facing his first reelection challenge in 16 years.

“There's so much trouble. People are unhappy,” said Deputy Francisco Rivero, his challenger in the June election. Rivero has leveled allegations of racial discrimination, cronyism and mismanagement against the department and Mitchell, who oversees a $27 million budget and about 200 employees.

The department also is facing a threatened lawsuit stemming from a fatal boat crash involving a deputy and rebuke by county supervisors over another deputy's use of marijuana grant funding for helicopter flying lessons.

Mitchell has countered most of the allegations against his department on his department's Web site: www.lakesheriff.com.

And he said Rivero's criticisms are self-serving, false and have damaged the department's reputation.

Mitchell said he's done a good job leading the department and has no qualms about asking to be reelected in June.

“I have kept my promise to aggressively pursue criminals and I bring experience that matters to a very important job at a very challenging time in our county and in our state,” he said.

But some Lake County residents are unhappy with Mitchell's tenure.

“We need to effect change,” said Lenny Matthews, one of about 30 Rivero supporters who gathered outside a private candidates' debate held for law enforcement agency personnel on Monday night in Kelseyville.

The sheriff's department has been plagued for several years with mishaps and allegations of wrongdoing.
 

POST 2

( page 2 of 3 )

With his department under siege on multiple fronts, Lake County Sheriff Rod Mitchell is facing his first reelection challenge in 16 years.

“There's so much trouble. People are unhappy,” said Deputy Francisco Rivero, his challenger in the June election. Rivero has leveled allegations of racial discrimination, cronyism and mismanagement against the department and Mitchell, who oversees a $27 million budget and about 200 employees.

The department also is facing a threatened lawsuit stemming from a fatal boat crash involving a deputy and rebuke by county supervisors over another deputy's use of marijuana grant funding for helicopter flying lessons.

Mitchell has countered most of the allegations against his department on his department's Web site: www.lakesheriff.com.

And he said Rivero's criticisms are self-serving, false and have damaged the department's reputation.

Mitchell said he's done a good job leading the department and has no qualms about asking to be reelected in June.

“I have kept my promise to aggressively pursue criminals and I bring experience that matters to a very important job at a very challenging time in our county and in our state,” he said.

But some Lake County residents are unhappy with Mitchell's tenure.

“We need to effect change,” said Lenny Matthews, one of about 30 Rivero supporters who gathered outside a private candidates' debate held for law enforcement agency personnel on Monday night in Kelseyville.

The sheriff's department has been plagued for several years with mishaps and allegations of wrongdoing.

One of the most public began the night of April 29, 2006 when a speed boat driven by one of the department's chief deputies, Russell Perdock, slammed into a sailboat, killing one of the passengers and injuring several others.

Perdock, who was off duty at the time, was never charged with a crime, angering many boaters and residents.

Instead of Perdock, Carmichael resident Bismarck Dinius, who was at the sailboat's tiller at the time, was tried for boating under the influence and causing great bodily injury because he was intoxicated and allegedly failed to ensure the boat's lights were illuminated.

Dinius was acquitted last year and this week filed a complaint with the county — a precursor to a lawsuit — alleging Lake County officials, including Mitchell, turned a blind eye to Perdock's culpability and instead tilted incriminating evidence toward Dinius.

Mitchell said he had no part in criminally charging Dinius. He asked investigators from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department to oversee the investigation and said charging decisions are made by the district attorney, not the sheriff.

A small but vocal group has been calling for both Mitchell and District Attorney Jon Hopkins — also up for reelection in June — to be removed from office.

Mitchell's critics say he should not have allowed Perdock to immediately return to work, where he had access to investigation documents and, potentially, evidence.

Even as the Dinius case was drawing to a close, new problems were brewing for Mitchell.

Rivero and two former deputies last year accused the department of condoning racial profiling, discrimination and cronyism. They went public with their accusations in November.

Mitchell called the allegations unfounded.
 

POST 3

( page 3 of 3 )

With his department under siege on multiple fronts, Lake County Sheriff Rod Mitchell is facing his first reelection challenge in 16 years.

“There's so much trouble. People are unhappy,” said Deputy Francisco Rivero, his challenger in the June election. Rivero has leveled allegations of racial discrimination, cronyism and mismanagement against the department and Mitchell, who oversees a $27 million budget and about 200 employees.

The department also is facing a threatened lawsuit stemming from a fatal boat crash involving a deputy and rebuke by county supervisors over another deputy's use of marijuana grant funding for helicopter flying lessons.

Mitchell has countered most of the allegations against his department on his department's Web site: www.lakesheriff.com.

And he said Rivero's criticisms are self-serving, false and have damaged the department's reputation.

Mitchell said he's done a good job leading the department and has no qualms about asking to be reelected in June.

“I have kept my promise to aggressively pursue criminals and I bring experience that matters to a very important job at a very challenging time in our county and in our state,” he said.

But some Lake County residents are unhappy with Mitchell's tenure.

“We need to effect change,” said Lenny Matthews, one of about 30 Rivero supporters who gathered outside a private candidates' debate held for law enforcement agency personnel on Monday night in Kelseyville.

The sheriff's department has been plagued for several years with mishaps and allegations of wrongdoing.

One of the most public began the night of April 29, 2006 when a speed boat driven by one of the department's chief deputies, Russell Perdock, slammed into a sailboat, killing one of the passengers and injuring several others.

Perdock, who was off duty at the time, was never charged with a crime, angering many boaters and residents.

Instead of Perdock, Carmichael resident Bismarck Dinius, who was at the sailboat's tiller at the time, was tried for boating under the influence and causing great bodily injury because he was intoxicated and allegedly failed to ensure the boat's lights were illuminated.

Dinius was acquitted last year and this week filed a complaint with the county — a precursor to a lawsuit — alleging Lake County officials, including Mitchell, turned a blind eye to Perdock's culpability and instead tilted incriminating evidence toward Dinius.

Mitchell said he had no part in criminally charging Dinius. He asked investigators from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department to oversee the investigation and said charging decisions are made by the district attorney, not the sheriff.

A small but vocal group has been calling for both Mitchell and District Attorney Jon Hopkins — also up for reelection in June — to be removed from office.

Mitchell's critics say he should not have allowed Perdock to immediately return to work, where he had access to investigation documents and, potentially, evidence.

Even as the Dinius case was drawing to a close, new problems were brewing for Mitchell.

Rivero and two former deputies last year accused the department of condoning racial profiling, discrimination and cronyism. They went public with their accusations in November.

Mitchell called the allegations unfounded.

He took the unusual step of posting detailed responses to the allegations, including audio and video taped interviews on the department's Web site.

Now Mitchell is facing criticism from the Lake County Board of Supervisors for the actions of a lieutenant, since demoted to sergeant.

Sgt. Dave Garzoli for years logged helicopter flying time while conducting marijuana operations.

Mitchell said he knew about that. What he didn't know was that Garzoli also was flying when there were no operations, at night and outside of the county's borders, and using marijuana eradication grant money to pay for the practice.
 

SORRY 4 POSTS MAY BE SOME REPEAT

Until last year, such use of the grant money was not approved and the county faces the prospect of repaying some of the grant money.

Garzoli's unauthorized flights came to light when the helicopter he was flying was forced into a “hard landing” just outside Lake County last summer.

“We're asking the Attorney General for a review,” said Supervisor Rob Brown.

Garzoli has apologized to Mitchell and Mitchell for not knowing the extent of the flights. But Rivero said there's no excuse for ignorance.

“If he didn't know, that's also negligent,” Rivero said.
 

And, you guessed it, the walls come tumbling down, come on boys sing it for me. Basic down beat, and the walls come tumbling down.
 

Mitchell said he had no part in criminally charging Dinius. He asked investigators from the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department to oversee the investigation and said charging decisions are made by the district attorney, not the sheriff.
 

Supervisor Jeff Smith said county employees and department heads have a
responsibility to report budget items to the Board of Supervisors,
which is ultimately responsible for spending.
"Any employee using taxpayer funds in a way they should not be used needs to pay the consequences," Smith said.
"Elected officials have to answer to the people for their actions and
have to answer to us for budgetary items and where the money goes,"
Smith said.
District Attorney Jon Hopkins said he hasn't kept track of Garzoli's helicopter use and has not filed a case on the issue.
 

I agree with Sheriff Mitchell. Deputy Rivero's accusations are self serving and have been disproven by many members of the Sheriff's Department. Is someone really going to try to tell me the four taining officers are all bad? Please! Employees are not unhappy and it is easy for one to deduct that it is in fact Deputy Rivero who is trying to cause problems with the department that employs him. If one sits back and views what it is that Deputy Rivero has done, it is easy to see the type of person he really is. Rivero for Sheriff, you are wrong. Post 12:42, absolutely correct, Rivero looked foolish.
 

To post 1/18/10, 7:22 am. Yes, Mitchell did make that comment to me, Kip Ringen. It occurred in 1997, just before his second term. He had heard that I was thinking of running for Sheriff. He asked me if I was going to run and I told him I was thinking about it. He then told me, "If you run for sheriff, I will destroy you."

Here was my problem at that time. If I would have lost the election, Mitchell could have terminated me without cause. At the time I had 19 or so years in law enforcement. I decided it was safer to not run and to continue with my career and put in enough time to receive my retirement.
 

To: Rivero for Sheriff, the DDA was in court on Friday saying that he didn't know where Rivero was. The other officer, Curran, showed up, and the defense attorney and defendant were there. Who told you that the DDA canceled?

Well first of all, the DA himself, Hopkins, was not there. The DDA did cancel him. If you were there than why didn't you report it to a supervisor as per policy. Curran has Rivero's cellphone and could have called. Our office is connected to the courts so any deputy could have pulled his name up. Why, because you're full of it and don't waist our time.
********Rivero for Sheriff*****8
 

Post 2:24, yes and I never said people don't get arrested for public intoxication. From what you explained seems to not fit the elements. California Penal Code section 647(f) is the section you should read. I've arrested a lot of persons walking home in that condition, but nobody was around to help that person. If he appears to be a danger to himself (unable to know his location or so far away that he could be struck by a car) he is arrested. The difference is that almost all of those type of arrests are for safety and no charges are filed against that person. The violator is just placed in a cell to get sober and released per 849(b)(2). He doesn't even have to pay a dime.
 

Kip, I have known you for years and find it very hard to believe that you support Rivero for the right reasons. I would like to know what it is that you know that makes you think he would do a better job than you at Sheriff.
 

So, in your opinion, because Rivero is the lesser of the two evils, you are going to vote for him? Thats a good voting practice. How about just not voting?
 

Let's see if Rivero himself will get on this thing and clear it up. If he forgot and admits that and that a message was left asking where he was and that he needed to be in court, then I would say he is a man of integrity and has broad enough shoulders that he can admit when he screws up and makes a mistake. If that did happen and he disputes it, then I guess we have to decide whether his integrity comes into question. How about it Rivero, gonna set the record straight?
 

Hey Rodney,
Check out the meaning of Martin Luther King Jr. day. You will find out about the civil rights, totally ignored by you. Racial profiling does not come from your officers it comes directly from you and goes down to the line of command. There are no allegations they are all facts proven during the past 16 years of dictatorship. The luckiest guy in Lake County is former D.Atty, B. Gary Luck. He saw right through your rotten core in the Bismark Dinius prosecution case; that's the reason and the only reason he was not interested in running for re-election. I hope tomorrow you will get a no vote of confidence from the Board. Your trouble started 10 years ago womanizing sex on duty, lying, discriminating, hypocrisy cover ups and wasting tax payer's money, arrogant answers, etc. etc... and not only during the Rivero's short 2 years. I complained to Kip Ringen 10 years ago, he knows best where your bones are buried, everyone of them, including fingers and toe nails from day one of your regime. Resign your fat lazy ass with your active sex muscle and take your buddies along: Hopkins,Art Mann, Rob Brown, Jeff Smith, Record-Bee. By the way, criminal charges are made by the District Attorney under your dictatorship as seen over a long time period including selective prosecutions. You and only you is the instigator of the down fall of Lake County. I only wish you would take a moment to reflect on the embarrassment that you have caused to yourself, your family and our County and and all Sheriff departments across the United States. My sincere respect to the Lovelace group to clean up this County from a local virus that has no cure. Diane Fridley, what is the dead line to file for sheriff election?
 

4:50 pm, you didn't answer my question. Who told you that the DDA canceled Rivero?
 

"The luckiest guy in Lake County is former D.Atty, B. Gary Luck. He saw right through your rotten core in the Bismark Dinius prosecution case; that's the reason and the only reason he was not interested in running for re-election." 6:07, your credibility is somewhat adversely impacted by the fact that the deadline to enter the June DA race was in March, a month before the Dinius case happened. So unless Gary Luck has a crystal ball (he doesn't, he's a Raiders fan) he had decided not to run long before the Dinius case. Nice try though, good hustle, good effort, good luck in your future efforts to make stuff up.
 

Morshed and McMahon, Remeber when you wanted my wife's son, whose was hiding in the back yard? You knocked my wife in the face with your elbow to get past her. She lay there bleeding. When I tried to help her you made me leave the room. Then you handcuffed her, then you grabbed her by the hair and sprayed mace in her face for along time. We filed a complaint. It took three months to here back from you, Morshed, only to have you laugh in my face. It was denied because we got your officers names mixed up. Your day is coming.
 

6:56 PM So very sorry for the treatment your family received. Even if you got the names confused sounds like you provided the names of both deputies on site and our Sheriff should have taken action simply by questioning both of his deputies. Morshed has a habit of being a cocky Adam Henry based on what I've personally seen.
Hope your stepson has his act together now.
 

4:59 Thanks for clearing that up but in truth it doesn't seem fair sometimes.
 

Page bump will post a cut/paste of prior to continue thread.
 

Nice post 7:06, thanks.
 

Tomorrow everyone possible should attend the BOS meeting. We need to make a presence to show that the people of this county will not put up with Mitchell and his incompetent management. Make sure the BOS asks the AG's Office to investigate all of them for Garzoligate. Hey and maybe we could even get them to look into the Dinius/Pedock mess.
 

The earlier post did say DDA not DA
 

4:50 pm, you didn't answer my question. Who told you that the DDA canceled Rivero?
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 6:28 PM
"The luckiest guy in Lake County is former D.Atty, B. Gary Luck. He saw right through your rotten core in the Bismark Dinius prosecution case; that's the reason and the only reason he was not interested in running for re-election." 6:07, your credibility is somewhat adversely impacted by the fact that the deadline to enter the June DA race was in March, a month before the Dinius case happened. So unless Gary Luck has a crystal ball (he doesn't, he's a Raiders fan) he had decided not to run long before the Dinius case. Nice try though, good hustle, good effort, good luck in your future efforts to make stuff up.
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 6:39 PM
Morshed and McMahon, Remeber when you wanted my wife's son, whose was hiding in the back yard? You knocked my wife in the face with your elbow to get past her. She lay there bleeding. When I tried to help her you made me leave the room. Then you handcuffed her, then you grabbed her by the hair and sprayed mace in her face for along time. We filed a complaint. It took three months to here back from you, Morshed, only to have you laugh in my face. It was denied because we got your officers names mixed up. Your day is coming.
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 6:56 PM
6:56 PM So very sorry for the treatment your family received. Even if you got the names confused sounds like you provided the names of both deputies on site and our Sheriff should have taken action simply by questioning both of his deputies. Morshed has a habit of being a cocky Adam Henry based on what I've personally seen.
Hope your stepson has his act together now.
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 7:06 PM
4:59 Thanks for clearing that up but in truth it doesn't seem fair sometimes.
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 7:49 PM
 

# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 4:50 PM
Post 2:24, yes and I never said people don't get arrested for public intoxication. From what you explained seems to not fit the elements. California Penal Code section 647(f) is the section you should read. I've arrested a lot of persons walking home in that condition, but nobody was around to help that person. If he appears to be a danger to himself (unable to know his location or so far away that he could be struck by a car) he is arrested. The difference is that almost all of those type of arrests are for safety and no charges are filed against that person. The violator is just placed in a cell to get sober and released per 849(b)(2). He doesn't even have to pay a dime.
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 4:59 PM
Kip, I have known you for years and find it very hard to believe that you support Rivero for the right reasons. I would like to know what it is that you know that makes you think he would do a better job than you at Sheriff.
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 5:16 PM
So, in your opinion, because Rivero is the lesser of the two evils, you are going to vote for him? Thats a good voting practice. How about just not voting?
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 5:26 PM
Let's see if Rivero himself will get on this thing and clear it up. If he forgot and admits that and that a message was left asking where he was and that he needed to be in court, then I would say he is a man of integrity and has broad enough shoulders that he can admit when he screws up and makes a mistake. If that did happen and he disputes it, then I guess we have to decide whether his integrity comes into question. How about it Rivero, gonna set the record straight?
# posted by Anonymous : January 18, 2010 5:39 PM
 

To Rivero for sheriff poster, we have taken down you comments with the Moniker. You are taking away from the public the information you have for the sake of a campaign slogan. That isn't something you want to do. Post information, but again, we are not in a place to go full tilt into campaign, mode, nor do we want to allow scope creep, here again is our position statement from our front page.

This is a forum for detailing the corruption in Rodney Mitchell's Lake County Sheriff's Department and Jon Hopkins' District Attorney's Office.

The topics are wide and varied, and we are reaching hundreds of people in a very short period of time. You Might have noticed the Press Democrat indicating a group of citizens was pressuring the BOS to step up to the plate and ask them to step down, or some such statement, It would create huge public confidence when the BOS needs it most.

So please work with us and accept our request and we thank you for cooperating with us. We are on the same team.
 

Lets look at this from a management point of view. You own a car dealership. You have a sales manager, parts manager and service manager. Each manager has one supervisor and six employees. You just found out your sales manager has a photo in his office of his wife in a sexually explicit photo with a dog, for all the customers to see. The parts manager just doubled his yearly parts order in the middle of a recession and your service manager got drunk at the dealership convention and pulled a knife on the Regional Sales Rep. Now would you actually keep those guys on duty? Well replace those names with Garzoli, Perdock and McMahon.
*****Rivero for Sheriff******
 

kip Ringen run for sheriff?! What a joke!!! You got a pair I'll say! To write something like this about yourself and make us believe it's someone else writing it! HA!! The same Kip that'll run his mouth about you just so people will talk to him.The guy you can't stand to be around unless he's feeding you information about someone else's business?! Act like your friend, turn around and tell anyone else things about you that he just learned?! He is a back stabber! A liar; a medlar.He's more interested in others lives and gets a thrill knowing he can fuck it up for them! Man he wouldn't even be able to do the job,he'd be over there asking Rivero how something should be done.How to do it and so forth.He needs someone holding his hand....or it just wont be done!
 

6:39PM You are right Gary Luck decided not to run long before the Dinius Case. Hopkins did not run, he was installed unopposed I called that appointed. That's also the reason Hoppy delayed the case to protect your former boss Perdock from prosecution on reckless killing. So stay off the boose it will affect your decision making on duty. You may want to look into the crystal ball on RKM's future and yours. No officer, no need to make up stuff, all proven facts. RKM stands for Racist, Klansman, Mitchell.
P.S. Get help for Mitchell's virus.
 

For Lovelace,

I have spent a small amount of time viewing the posts on this blog; primarily because, for me at least, I find it silly to “strike while the iron is hot” yet hide behind anonymity. For that reason, I will be more than glad to identify myself. My name is Robert Zehrung. I was a Deputy Sheriff/Detective with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for approximately eight years. I left in 2005 due to a severe illness, which left me incapable of performing as a Peace Officer. Otherwise, I more than likely would still be employed there.

My career did not begin at LCSO rather it ended there. I began my law enforcement career in a very small, very rural town in central North Carolina in the early 90’s. I then moved back home to California, put myself through yet another academy and was hired by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. I met Rodney Mitchell in 1997 and he personally recruited me; which I am still thankful for. I am not what most of you would describe as one of his “Cronies” far from it.

While at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office I made many friends within the department and I’m sure a few others did not like me. I made many community friendships, both neighborhood residents and business owners alike. I even had my detractors; among them the famous or infamous Nine Green… he made it clear that he did not like me.

Many things have been said about the Sheriff and other department employees; some accurate some completely off the wall, but always anonymously. The only reason I am writing this is simply because people that I know very well are now beginning to be maligned by this blog or should I say its users. Let me address a few of these particular people based on my knowledge as a former employee. Keep in mind that I cannot account for recent issues that have happened or occurred or for that matter been adjudicated in Court.

(Continued in my next post)
 

Rodney Mitchell: I still think of him as a friend; however, he is the proverbial Captain of the ship and from what I can tell, in my opinion, the only thing he has failed to do, was to fall on his sword for specific mistakes that have taken place. Now I’m not talking about the blanket “It has been a rough or tough year” but addressing more specific issues. As for the ongoing issues related to Racial Profiling, maybe arguing, using the department website, was not the greatest idea. In my opinion, a simple “No comment” would have sufficed.

Francisco Rivero: I do not personally know this gentleman. I think it was ill-conceived to go to the media with his allegations. Did this hurt him or help him? We’ll have to wait and see.

James Beland: Jim is a close personal friend. I did not work with him when he was a Sergeant; however, as a Deputy I would say he was average, friendly, knowledgeable, but also somewhat argumentative. Some people in the department did not like him. In the end, he has become an unwilling pawn. Yes it is true what some of the bloggers have stated. There have been other employees accused of much worse, even criminal, behavior yet they are still employed or remained employed. In my opinion Jim was let go because he was an embarrassment to the department during an already embarrassing situation/trial.

James Bauman: Captain Bauman is and more than likely will remain a good supervisor. I have nothing negative to say about him.

Cecil Brown: I still feel that I am professionally friendly with Cecil. I am somewhat befuddled by his meteoric rise to his current rank given the fact that just five years ago, he was still a Deputy Sheriff II. I have friends in other departments with far more experience in the field yet they test repeatedly just to make Detective; some have been patrol officers for ten years or more.

Brian Kenner: I was Brian’s primary FTO. I found him to be, singularly, the smartest person I have ever trained. To hear that he has made Sergeant does not surprise me in the least. As for his reason for leaving the “Major” Crime Bureau I cannot speak because I do not know.

David Garzoli: In my opinion, during the time that I was employed by LCSO, Sgt Garzoli walked the halls of the department with impunity. Was he arrogant? Yes, somewhat. Am I surprise by his downfall? Not in the least. Yes, he wrote a public email to the Sheriff expressing his sorrow at shedding such a bad light upon the department. However, you have to deal with the But-For factor. But for the fact that he broke the helicopter, would he feel so contrite? I doubt it.

As for racial profiling…well lets see. I worked in North Carolina where I personally witnessed African-Americans referred to as the N-word and Puerto Ricans as wetbacks, spics and beaners (even though the locals were too ignorant to realize that Puerto Ricans were legal citizens.) Believe me I personally witnessed a, still, racially divided south and officers that believed it was the way things were supposed to be.

While at LCSO when I had a Hispanic arrestee who either did not understand me or pretended to not understand me, I would list them as Juan Doe. Does that make me a racist? God I hope not. Don’t let my German last name fool you… I am half Mexican.

If you want change then register to vote and make it happen. That is why we live in a Democratic Republic.

Now I fully expect the anonymous posse, who claim to know me, to begin writing things about me (Mostly negative would be my guess). Don’t bother, I am too busy and I don’t read the blog that much. Please feel free to call me. I am living in Santa Rosa, I cannot be hard to find. And for those employees who post on this blog… well you know how to get a hold of me. If you call please don’t be a coward and say something then hang up. Let’s have a calm debate.
 

Now Perdicks little daughter is harrassing people on facebook. I know this person responded back way too nicely, stating that she should do the world a favor and get a life, as she didnt know her facts, and too bad she didnt inherit her moms genes. Daddys little girl, how special.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Alexa Perdock January 18 at 4:32pm Report
Hi,
you have no idea who I am but I'm sure you're smart enough that you can figure it out by my last name. What you wrote about my dad was really immature...please learn how to grow up. My dad (if you haven't figured it out yet) russ perdock has always been a good dad. Just because it's funny to write a recipe that everybody else in clearlake has joked about doesn't mean it won't get old. Trust me...it's really old. I am so tired of people like you who don't know my dad except for what the media says. You have no idea what so ever what really happened the night of the crash. It should have been a simple case, but because of the simple fact that my dad is a sheriff it's been blown totally out of proportion. So please do the world a favor and drop it.
 

http://www.cuttingedgehelicoptersusa.com/flight_training.html

check out the costs for garzolis little amusement ride
 

Thanks Robert...good post.
 

Yes, I thought the Rivero for Sheriff crap was no longer allowed. Who enforces the rules here anyway? And as for Zehrung, nice post.
 

Mr.Zehrung: With your long glowing remarks you made, I thought you were talking about people that I have not come to know. It could not be the fine folks in the sheriff department. Sir, what you say thy were there not now. The fog of they can get away with anything,There is a personnel matter. Because of what you believe they were when you knew them,that justify their actions. We all make mistakes but how those mistake are handled is the true test and Sir I say they failed. This department has no process in place to report those that are employees that abuse their authority.Sir to the point go blow you smoke at someone at others. The more I hear you people talk,to justify the more intolerant I get. Their consumed with own arrogance. like you I use my name but unlike you I know the sometimes good people do bad things and would never try to justify by what they were. Flush all that need flushing.
 

This is Lovelace, There has been a lot of posting over the past two days, we want to address a few items, catch up on a couple of comments, and do a few Admin items. First of all in regards to Rivero for sheriff poster, thank you for cooperating on our request, if we have missed the removal of any campaign moniker post or some go up and don't go off quickly, stop your whinning, there are a few times in a day when a lovelace group moderator will not be on the blog, so chill out relax, upkeep is done as soon as possible.

The majority of Roberts post which was more of a personality overview of individuals and overall was fairly correct. The one thing we have noticed which is becomming more and more clear is this. The officers who were in the LCSO anywhere from 4 to 10 years ago and are no longer with the LCSO due to retirement or other reasons for leaving, in many cases are actually unaware to a large degree of the corruption and deception that has and is occuring in the sheriffs department. Several of these people that we have had conversations with who now have been brought into the light, are actually saying man I did not know all this was going on. And indeed it is true, there was and has been an internal network in place where those that were not thought to be in the know with the Mitchell operating procedure and the corruption associated with it, were indeed kept out of the "know" they came in everyday did there job, and were seen as not being able to be brought into the Rodney fold. We have all gone to school highschool generally, and not been a part of a certain click of kids, we did not really now what they did, we thought they went to school like we did and did not give it much thought, no one came up to those not in the know and said hey you should join us, they simply were perceived as "not worthy" of the activities which the group was undertaking. This is the case and has been in the sheriffs department for many many years. To some degree Robert is of that make, but in his case he has "profiled" some of the current cops well, others he is simply not informed enough about nor has he gathered the detail of information we have as citizens here. Now he we suspect got the Press Democrat article of yesterday and that may have caused a response on our blog. We think the post was good but a bit naive, we encourage Robert to post more if he feels compelled.

To those individuals who are suspicious of anonymous posting process. We choose this method of the blog, as it is very critical to a start up operation where you are uncovering such deep corruption, as well the initial reports which still come in said over and over you better watch out if you are going to revel and investigate all of this it could be dangerous. Some ignorant people in La La would say no the greatest cure for that is to post your names, wrong, wrong wrong, easy for you to say, your not taking the risk we are and believe me there is risk. If anyone underestimates the potential of the Mitchell mind to hurt you are badly mistaken. You may not like it, but until we finish the business at hand this will be the format. Now in due time the great and wonderful OZ we call Lovelace may be reveled, but at this point don't hold your breath. This blog has been very very effective, and we have made great strides in moving the actions and gathering the people together to engage in this activity and investigation.

We will continue on the next post
 

Lovelace continuing: I wonder how many of you know that we have had direct contact with individuals who tell us that many supervisors over the past few years and recently have received messages from officers inside the force telling them to watch there back as Rodney and the corruption force is getting angry. This is an actual fact. Now we know this has happend to several supervisors many times, and have they brought this out into the open? No, now you want to talk to us about being couragous, and stepping into the light. Think again, we you supervisors revel ALL this information and do not keep it under wraps then perhaps you can throw stones at us. We have accomplished more and uncovered more in the past few months the both our local papers put together, and filtered information to a number of entities in our local government. So we would warn you not to be to quick in trying to hammer us.

We do not know the age of Perdocks Daughter in regards to the face book comment, we do not want children posting on here nor do we want their post transferred to here, if she or any other person is older the 18 fine, public forums and public e-mails are far game in a legal perspective. If a child posts on here and we don't know it the of that there is nothing we can do. Children love their parents in ways and with a depth that is amazing, all of us have seen instances of child abuse happening, and the child screaming for their mom when being taken away, it is their security and very difficult for them they would rather take the hurt and keep their parents then see them taken away. Therefore we would perfer not to have child posting on the blog.

Will conintue on next post
 

Robert, I find no history of you being here with the exception of 2000-2001 when you married Julie.
 

Now as for the perception of the aspect of being anonymous, all should remember the name deep-throat from the famed watergate era. It was only in the past few years that this individual's actual identity was reveled, two reporters were the main operations investigators in their research of the Nixon regime. Several reporters and investigators remained and to this day are anonymous. Only two of the reporters reveled who they were from the beginning. Do not be so afraid of Anonymous postings and reportings sometime it is necessary when the danger is high enough. For those of you who do not believe the capabilities of Mitchell and his band of corruption supporters, you are living in a world of illusion.

The e-mail post of the listening device at the sheriffs station was a real e-mail a device was found, and when Rodney sent the second e-mail down-playing the whole thing, we received instant information that it was placed their By Rodney, accidently discovered and a tale of a phone call at night to Brown was developed. Rodney was spying on his own people or at least trying to.

You think there is not danger, and the need for Anonymous posting, think again.

There are several meetings scheduled over the next few weeks we have set up, we are sorry to say that we have not gotten permission yet to post some of the information, these are higher level conversatons if you and we as well as those we talk with have to be very cautious in this regard, but in due time we will get the word out on these situaitons, they run deep into the heart of the Mitchell regime, and include the DEA, their corruption and many other areas. The collusion is scary.

Finally to all who are posting from both sides of the fence, this blog has come a long way the tenure and presentations are far more professional and upfront then when it first started, we have worked hard to bring this level of communications to the county, and we appreciate everyones postings from both sides. We urge everyone to post and keep the lines of communications open, we are going to be hitting very hard in the next 2 months, please do not take offense and cease to communicate with us, it is not going to be a pretty picture, and during times like this some blood must be spilled, Mr. Mitchell has spilled enough over the years now the shoe is on the other foot. It is the way it has to be.
 

Last lovelace post, get to the board meeting today!!!! The weather if very difficult we understand, many of you put a lot of effort into this blog and your ideas, get down to that court room and scream out if necessaary that the board needs to ask for Mitchell and Hopkins to step down. They tell the citizens to do a re-call they need to step up to the plate, get on it and step up to that mike and tell them what they need to do.
 

Zuhrung was a deputy, a Community Resource Deputy for the Nice, Lucerne area and a detecive. He received several awards from the public and ran the hostage negotiations unit.

I agree with his post, but my career with LCSO is longer. I totally agree with his statement on Beland. A pawn in the Bismark Dinius/Perdock incident.

As for Garzoli, he loves himself and I can't say anything good about him. From his photo of his wife, accessing porn site to crashing the helicopter. Lets not forget, Mitchell signed off on that grant and to think he had no idea of Garzoli's action is a lie.

Bauman is a quit person who takes forever to make a discussion. Although friendly to get along with, he is moved around more than any other manager. This seems to me that he has internal problems with Mitchell.

Brown was an FTO than ran the Backgrounds Unit. He promoted all the way to Captain, but never served as a field supervisor. I've seen him do things like use job assignments as punishment like putting Ringen behind a desk directly in front of Mitchell's office doing clerical duties to Beland doing duties that just a few weeks prior was done by a volunteer.

Mitchell can't supervise his management, can't except blame when he screws up and can not answer public outcry until it is overwhelming. Rivero is the only person who is willing to go against Mitchell and that is why he gets my vote.
******You know who*********
 

You know who your getting closer to compliance, if you can just leave the ego aside, it doesn't matter who you are, you can state it in your messages, that you are a former sheriff as people do and that type of thing, but really your information is far better served without the identifing moniker. Again we do not need to cast a vote for Rivero each time we are submitting information on the corruption of Mitchell and Hopkins, your message is taken with a greater degree of acceptance by virtue the facts you post, if people see you as just a supporter of a canidate your message loses its punch. Much better however see if we can take the final step.
 

Mitchell failed to supervise Garzoli or review a prepared grant. Mitchell was not tasked with researching or preparing the grant, just approving it. He failed to properly supervise Perdock by allowing Perdock access to the investigation. Mitchell had the authority to control access to that report by anyone. He admitted to that and did not do it. We had deputies accused of crimes in the past and were cleared. Those reports were locked immediately and only persons involved in the report has access to it. Mitchell also had every right to go to the scene, but had no right interacting with Perdock right in the middle of the investigation. Mitchell also had the right to deny Perdock's mechanic access to the boat, but did not. We elected Mitchell to manage the Office of the Sheriff. Manage means just that. When three sergeants try to investigate a captain for a homicide was wrong. As in the past, Mitchell should have called for another agency to respond. As I've said before, there are several deputies from Napa and Sonoma who live in the Hidden Valley area.

Hopkins had the right (yes he did) to prosecute Dinius, but only for DUI. Dinius was well over a .08 BAC and had no right being on the water, but he was not the Primary Cause of Collision. Look at the impact point (in accident reconstruction we call this the AOI-Area of Impact). The AOI is at the rear of the boat. It is simple to come to the conclusion that if Perdock was traveling at a slower speed, the impact would have been the rudder area or a complete a miss. Don't take my word, as a CHP officer or you deputies can ask Martin who has investigated hundreds of accidents at Pismo Beach. As far as I care, both caused the fatality, not one. To charge only one was wrong and should have been left to the jury to determine fault.

So, Rivero for Sheriff and Anderson or Rhoades for DA. Any other way just makes the mismanagement continue.
 

Thanks to 9:19 post for laying the entire situation on the line. A rational voice is always appreciated.
 

To Robert Zehrung: Your detailed personal account and OPINIONS are suspect. You obviously have not been victimized by the Mitchell regime so your insistance that anonymity is unnecessary is ridiculously off base. To the Perdock daughter: Shut up and sit down!
 

Nieve: Yes I've worked with him since he started with LCSO. I even remember when he ran into a tire on 29 near Hofacker Road. Am I Rivero? Nope and to prove this, read on. I've been a deputy for over 10 years. I remember McMahon, Morshed and Hall in the SED unit, Zuhrung riding around Nice on a bicycle, Wolf and Hockett being harassed by Pick and Thomas flipping his car on 20 when he hit the ice. Deshong intoxicated on duty, Hommer running the Explorer program, Harvey running the POA site better than anyone ever has (I still can't stand him) and others. Now how would Rivero know that?

Rivero managed two mortuaries, fought and won against a corrupt politician that took 12 years for a verdict in SFPD. He was a detective with SFPD, most likely 15 times the size of LCSO. He is able to interact with not only the minority, but Hispanic's in general. Do all Hispanic's agree with Rivero? That would be stupid to say yes, but the majority seem to support him.

To the Zehrung comment: He is on the nose. He untitled to his opinions just like ***Rivero for Sheriff** did. Don't hate the messenger for just stating the facts, put some facts of your own up or sit down and shut up.
 

manageing dead people is not like managing those still living
 

dead people are easy to please,
 

it's the living you need to have respect for you
 

Rivero's history in S.F. means nothing. That was a long time ago and that department was probably a hundred times worse that the LCSO is accused of being. I've yet to see one deputy who supports Rivero identify themselves. If he's the man, then be proud and quit hiding until you see who makes it. Unless you fear it wont be Rivero.
 

you won't see any one of them not by name they have to protect themselves from backlash,the good ones and I know many of them they are init to do what the public expects, guess I seek out those the not my cup of tea and those seems to have moved on I just ignored or said a hello out of being cordial, but people make no mistake the mass of the good ones outwright what is said her blanketing all of them...it is just not the case.
I would leave My name but none of you would know me so just know I only speak the truth/My opinon as it is what I have seen and what I know nothing second handed like I have seen. Not I heard from someone who heard Etc etc.
 

12:13 PM I've yet to see one deputy who supports Mitchell identify themselves. If he's the man, then be proud and quit hiding until you see who makes it. Unless you fear it wont be Mitchell
 

Other than Ringen, who is no longer with the department, you can say likewise about those supporting Rivero. Nobody has given their names for obvious reasons. So mister ***rivero for sheriff***, what's your name? Be proud and quit hiding like 12:31 said...yeah can't do it...then don't expect the ones supporting Mitchell to come forward.
 

2:37 PM Why would a Deputy that supports Mitchell worry about being reprimanded by Mitchell for identifying themselves? I would think he would welcome the support.
 

9:19, just like a lot of Chippies you are not clear on the law regarding dui with injury. It isn't whether Dinius caused the accident, the question is whether his actions were a substantial factor in the injury. Doesn't have to be any particular percentage, doesn't even have to be mostly his fault. Hopkins had a drunk guy with a prior sailing without lights; as I understand the theory, if Dinius had the lights on then Perdock would have avoided him, as he avoided another sailboat earlier that evening. There was no evidence that Perdock was under the influence (and there arguably still isn't) and the most he could have been charged with, realistically, was a misdemeanor. No one on this blog has ever come up with any reason to get rid of Hopkins other then the Dinius case. The only reason Rhoades and Anderson can give for voting for either of them is that: 1. he's not Hopkins and 2. sentence bargaining. Neither of them can explain what they would change or do differently because neither of them have any idea of how that office operates.
 

I talked to the part of my family that is Hispanic and they have no idea who Rivero is.
 

12:26, there in lies the problem I have. They wont identify themselves because they don't exist, just like Rivero's fictitious self serving accusations.
 

To: January 19, 2010 12:48 PM
Look who's calling the kettle black. I don't see your name and you support Mitchell? Like I'm really going to give you my name. Look what happened to Beland. As far as I know he hasn't spoken bad about any of you guys except Mitchell. At least so far that we know.

For the "Dead People Comment". You're a deputy and a coroner. Name me one mortuary in Lake County that is ran by one person. There is none. It takes an owner, cleaning crew, salesman, clerk, mortician's and delivery persons.

So what's your name smart ass.
 

I gave my name and I am for Officer Rivero. This mess started when a officer did not take a report that there were others that saw lights on the sailboat. His job was to take the report not tell those that the lights were off.so it starts the next day. The thought that the system can be used by powerful people and there is no oversight give me great pause.
 

Poor Poor January 19, 2010 12:48 PM
The Rivero for Sheriff slapped you one. I agree, lets see your name and I bet he will respond with dirt on you. As Eastwood says, "Go ahead, make me day."
 

Mr. Henderson, I fear that you too know nothing of Rivero other than it is a name other than Mitchell. Do some research before you commit. If your feelings are that Mitchell is wrong, well then I tell you, two wrongs wont make it right.
 

I have it on good authority that this site is run by and for none other than Rivero whoda thought, makes sense now why somethings stay and others get axed it is all make clear now.
 

12:48 isn't going to give their name because that would send the s**t flying. I was told Mitchell's wife was the only reason he was ever elected to begin with. She is well written/spoken. Saddly her health is poor and she may not be up to helping him as she did before. However she still has her lap top and knows how to use it. I think she is "wow" on topix.
 

I like it when he said, "I already gave you my name", yeah sure. If that was so, you would simply repeat it.

Rivero is not Mitchell. You really want another four years of Mitchell and his mismanaged SS supervisors like Brown, Hall and Garzoli? Oh wait, Garzoli is about to be tossed to the wolfs. Brown got escorted off the Santa Cruz Sheriff's property after threatening Lande. Mitchell refuses to release the EEOC findings and now Morshed has filed an EEOC complaint against Mitchell. Oh this is better than a soap opera.

You don't like Rivero, get off your butt and run yourself or get ANYONE else. Nope, you or anyone else can't because Mitchell will destroy you.
 

brown faced the liar get the story told right....then left
 

To:January 19, 2010 2:05 PM
You have it on good authority, but once again another person who refuses to give names on the Mitchell side. I stopped by John's Market in Kelseyville the other day and spoke to several Hispanic's. I was surprised that they not only they knew about the race, but all supported Rivero. I then stopped at 2 Jack's and found the same comments. To my surprise, after spending most of the day at Kelseyville Lumber, not one Hispanic supported Mitchell. Yes a few did know Rivero, but only one did not support Rivero only because he wants to hear him first.
 

2:14 you are the reason Mitchell will lose! You are as ingnorant as your posts.
 

To: brown faced the liar get the story told right....then left

Yeah right, you can't even get your facts straight. Call the IA office at Santa Cruz and ask yourself. But if you do, tell use the name of the person you talked too. But once again you won't, cry about Rivero, support Mitchell and refuse to give your name.
 

Post 12:50, it’s true that there is no evidence that Perdock was drinking that night, but that’s really the problem, isn’t it? Independent oversight would never have allowed Perdock to stand guard over his own blood sample, not allowed Dinius to be breathalized when Perdock was not. Certainly Perdock could have been charged with negligent homicide. Then the courts could have sorted it all out. Mitchell never filed a criminal complaint against Perdock; had he done so, Hopkins would have had to make a decision to pursue that case or not. Since Mitchell failed in his duty, Hopkins was not put in that position. The fact is that the court found that Dinius was not guilty; Hopkins charged a man who turned out, according to our constitution, to be not guilty of the crime of which he was accused. If he’s not guilty, then who is? The conclusion is clear, Mitchell should have filed a criminal complaint against Perdock and a Jury should have had the opportunity to dispense justice accordingly.
As for the Dinius case being the only grievance with Hopkins, I would strongly disagree. But then, isn’t covering up one murder grounds enough to remove him?
 

Post's are looking fairly clean, no caps, can't hear ya yelling anyway. No Monikers as in campaign, and focus on the Mitchell Hopkins corruption. By the way, and again if others have corruption information on other people, no matter how it is and it is factual post it.

We are still asking the question of what happened to the three people who reported seeing Perdock drinking at the Konocti harbor shortly before the crash. Any information.

Let us ask a question, if several higher level local government people in our county have received warnings about watching their backs becuase Mitchell is mad, and these warnings came from inside the sheriff's office what are we to think, this has not been made public knowledge, but has and did happen.

Since we now hear the story that the hidden microphone was a fake put there to freak people out, is that just another cover-up and do we still hold out the possibility that it was Mitchell, he got caught and this is the spin that came out. If if that were true, the turmoil it caused sure points to the internal unrest in the sheriffs department.

As all of you may have perceived concerning the upcoming Dinius lawsuit, it is over, it was over and done when it was filed, the county will lose and they will lose big time, The not quilty result of the first Dinius trial, and all that is going to come out in the civil trial which will be far more damaging to Mitchell as Civil Trials leave much more open to be presented then a criminal trial you know this is a done deal.

All of you need to start stating your position as the election start-up draws closer, We have been saying for a month now, Markham is not going to run, there are no other's in the wind. Now if Mitchell and or Hopkins step down prior to the election, and with what is going to come out between now and then this is a real possibility. This would paint a real interesting possibility. Think about this if you are biting your tounge because you do not like Mitchell but you say you do not like Rivero, and if you support Mitchell openly you will look like a fool. You should be working with us to remove Mitchell, no one, I mean no one will step up to the plate unless they have a lock in that Mitchell will not win, Therefore your support of Mitchell on the blogs and other places means you yourself are stopping potentially good people from entering the race. Remember Mitchell told Ringen he would destroy, Markham got hammered by Mitchell for even thinking about it and he isn't a cop anymore.

It appears that The Mitchell folks should do everything they can to remove him, the department and your choices would be far greater. Now note to Hopkins, you want to make sure you win, bury Mitchell in the public and you will have your victory. Something to think about from the Lovelace group.
 

2:19, the sad thing is that you are fighting a losing battle. The fact of the matter is, the man can not do the job. Just because one can run a mortuary does not mean one an run a LE agency. Find another candidate!
 

They just found one on the up with Mitchell, Down with Rivero Site. check it out.
 

Post 219 you need to read our last Lovelace post, if you can't follow that then let us know we will try to explain it to you, your ignorance is showing otherwise, just trying to help ya out.
 

3:49 PM Where is this site you refer to, I'll check it out in a heart beat if you tell me how to find it. Thanks
 

There were more than 3 people that saw Perdock at Konocti; Joe Glebe has probably moved since he was head super at Konocti and Konocti is closed. Dennis Olsen testified at the hearing; I hope he is doing ok......he is a wonderful guy who was broken and tormented by his ex-wife; so he's probably staying away from all evil at this point; I pray for his recovery...and the main witness was John Yashki Jensen;
he didn't mind telling his story but he didn't even know there was a "story" as he doesn't follow newspapers....he is a professional water skier...and it took us months to track him down; as we only has his nickname "Yoshi"....and that is why this information took so long to get. All of the other witnesses refused to
talk; NO WAY....they refused. Thank God, Yoshi, could care less; although he was scared to repeat his story; he came through with it and in my eyes he is a Hero
and so is John Flynn for actually finding out who Yoshi really was; and contacted him. Otherwise, this information probably would never have come out. It was all based on FATE...........a conversation I overheard; mentioning Yoshi; came to life
just by pure luck............or bad luck from whatever side your looking from.
The other witness was declared "heresay" but because of her "heresay", the others talked.....knowing she knew; they had to talk. It was great investigative work!
It doesn't matter anymore anyway..........what was said has been said and it was the TRUTH.......and everyone knows the truth now; Perdock WAS at Konocti and he
lied about being there. The only thought by everyone who saw him, was "Sure hope he wasn't drinking as much as he usually does."
 

TO: 3:23 PM
Oh really! Wow Mitchell was nothing more than a vegetable handler at Safeway and a paid reserve cop before being hired by LCSO. Then he was a patrol sergeant with no responsible of handling budgets or supervising managers before being elected to sheriff.
Wow I see how you look up to Mitchell's good management skills. Handling all those banana's all day gave him great experience to be a sheriff! Lets see, make Morshed a sergeant, Garzoli a lieutenant, Perdock a captain and Brown a captain. A sexual harasser, a government funds abuser, a lier and a no street experienced captain. Wow great choice Mitchell lovers. At least when Rivero ran the mortuary, he made sure a mortician's were experienced and knew his job.

I love it when Rivero haters stick their foot in their mouths.
 

Rivero4sheriff
Are saying that all the voting hispanics hang out in Kelseyville? Are you profiling? Are you using company time to do political canvasing for Rivero?
 

3:49 PM Where is this site you refer to, I'll check it out in a heart beat if you tell me how to find it. Thanks
 

"As all of you may have perceived concerning the upcoming Dinius lawsuit, it is over, it was over and done when it was filed, the county will lose and they will lose big time, The not quilty result of the first Dinius trial, and all that is going to come out in the civil trial which will be far more damaging to Mitchell as Civil Trials leave much more open to be presented then a criminal trial you know this is a done deal."

Isn't this a tad premature? First of all there has to be a civil trial, which is going to be kind of difficult because there's the issue of immunity to get past. This suit (once its filed) will probably not get past summary judgment, assuming it gets past absolute and qualified immunity. Just because someone says something in a lawsuit does not make it true. That's what the process is about.