April 22nd marks one year since the Riverside D.A. and FBI raided the City of Beaumont. City Attorney Aklufi/Wysocki, City Manager Alan Kapanicas, Finance Director William Aylward, Risk Manager James Gregg, Public Works Director Deepak Moorjani, Planning Director Ernie Eggers, Economic Development Director Dave Dillon, and Chief of Police Frank Coe left office after 20 years of pillaging and City and terrorizing the Citizens.
The $400 Million in Mello Roos Bonds and Taxes collected to build a Title 22 Compliant Recycled Water Facility, three Fire Stations, Roadways, and a Regional Park is gone. There is no “$11 Million in Reserve”.
The City was left with a dozen Lawsuits and Judgements totaling over $100 Million as a result of fraud, lack of proper training, and a complete disregard for the Taxpayers’ money.
After 20 years of violating State Laws regarding bid contracts, hiring practices and employment qualifications, conflicts of interest, and even illegally using a Resale License to steal sales tax from other cities; April 22, 2015 was an opportunity for Beaumont’s City Council to establish an honest city government.
The last year has shown that Beaumont’s Councilmen are continuing the practices of the past.
In the last year the City has spent over $1.3 Million on 16 different Law Firms; $875,000 paid to City Attorney John Pinkney and the Law Firm of Slovak, Baron, Empey, Murphy, and Pinkney.
Beaumont City Council has also paid
$207,000 to Urban Futures,
$114,000 to Albert Webb and Associates,
$520,000 to Wildermuth Environmentals,
$975,000 to Urban Logic,
$125,000 to Willdan Financials, and
$160,000 to Willdan Engineering with no results.
The City of Beaumont now rents their Fire Engines and Police Vehicles from the County, there are no funds allocated for roads, and Council doesn’t even mention building Fire Stations or providing essential services.
In July, 2015, acting City Manager Elizabeth Gibbs-Urtiaga, Councilmen Orozco and Knight, along with Urban Logic stood before the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and promised to produce Title 22 Compliant Recycled Water by December, 2015, and to build a $60 Million brine disposal system by December, 2019.
The City was not able to meet the deadline to produce Title 22 Compliant Recycled Water, has no funds allocated for the brine disposal system, and failed to disclose the Notification from the Water Board that the City was in violation of the Capacity Permit.
State Law requires the City to put a Moratorium on housing development until there is sewer capacity. Beaumont Citizens have also petitioned Council to limit housing development until adequate infrastructure is built.
It is unknown how many more houses Beaumont City Council had authorized in the last year because Documents no longer list the number of houses that will be built in the Developments Approved by Council.
The documents City Attorney Pinkney claimed were from Union Bank were not Trustee-generated documents; they were the Mello Roos Bond Requisitions, which are City-generated documents. Both Pinkney and Albert Webb Associates claim that Union Bank has stated that the Bank/Bond Trustee “destroyed all of their documents”, but there is no written verification of this statement.
The City’s disclaimer that they and Union Bank have destroy government documents does not negate past criminal activity, it simply adds State and Felony destruction of government documents charges to the list.
Council is now requesting that the State Attorney General’s Office investigate Union Bank, but fails to acknowledge that it was the City’s Staff and Council that violated the Laws and stole the money.
One year after the Raids and Beaumont City Council still acts against the best interest of the City. In this Country; the government belongs to the People. Beaumont City Council must hire Staff that will represent the best interest of the People, not the Profiteers.