Friday, September 14, 2007

Before the facts are in w/update

The Humboldt Democratic Central Committee is a political animal in more ways than one. And this week, in their partisan zeal, they decided to send a letter to the Attorney General demanding he look into "the push."

HCDCC Subcommittee on Education and Communications Chairperson Greg Conners said the group’s hope is that the attorney general will investigate “and the appropriate action will be taken based upon facts that can be confirmed.”

"based upon facts that can be confirmed" - Fascinating statement. Because nothing has been "confirmed" yet. First Glass filed a report, then he decided to press charges. Then EPD appointed a senior homicide detective to look into the matter, and presumably an investigation is underway.

Before the results of that investigation are known, the HCDCC pounces. Seizes this golden opportunity to bring down the man that brought down Tom Daschle. And, depending on Jerry Brown's own integrity, he may seize this opportunity to punish a politcal foe of the democrats.

And, When reached by phone on Thursday, Gallegos said Arkley has contributed to his campaign and he considers him a “friend.”

“To avoid an appearance of an impropriety, I think it’s best the AG’s Office as opposed to me” pursue the matter, he said.


Meanwhile - the Attorney General's Office has tacitly refused to get involved here with Paul Gallegos, deeming all criticism of him to be strictly "political." But the stack of complaints will add up sooner or later, and the decimation will reach a point where the Attorney General has no choice but to intervene, maybe even have to send in a team to run the office until it can be stabilized.

Yet the HCDCC cares naught. CAST, the Victim Witness Unit, an unbelievable list of plea bargains, a Grand Jury report that left no doubt as to what was happening, yet the HCDCC chose to endorse the man. Even though, in that case, the facts were in.

It's very telling.
***
UPDATE:
I'd have to say things are going to get even more interesting. The Journal's Town Dandy reports: We had a good time meeting last week with Steven Glazer, the public relations man retained by Eureka kazillionaire Rob Arkley to put forth his case in the now-infamous Avalon incident (see "Town Dandy," Sept. 13). We'd heard from KSLG's John Matthews -- the first local to score an interview with Glazer, we believe -- that the fellow actually serves as mayor of the East Bay town of Orinda when not flacking. That intrigued us. Then, when Glazer showed up and we embarked on the customary getting-to-know-you chat, we were even more astonished to learn that in the turbulent ’70s he had served as press secretary to then-Gov. Jerry Brown and embattled California Supreme Court Justice Rose Bird.

But Glazer was in town to talk Arkley, and we worked our way quickly to the point. Eureka City Councilmember Larry Glass, the alleged recipient of Arkley's shoves and "I will destroy you" threats, had gotten all the good press so far, Glazer said -- he realized that. Now the Arkley family wished to tell its side of the story, so they retained his services. He had already worked with them in some unspecified capacity on the Marina Center, the big box-anchored development proposal that will be making its way before the City Council sometime soon.

Basically, Glazer wished to make the case that Glass was an asshole from way back, especially to Arkley's daughters. Though he could not discuss what happened that night at Avalon, he could say that this alleged rudeness to the Arkley daughters was what so exercised the father that night, when he met Glass face-to-face for the first time. He provided a statement from one of the daughters, to the effect that in their meeting with Glass, back when he was giving away "anti-Arkleyville" stickers in his shop, Glass had called the daughters "collateral damage" in his war with Arkley. (Glass told the Times-Standard that he didn't remember the conversation that way at all.)

Fine and good, we said, but it doesn't really cut to the heart of the matter, does it? The accusation on the table is that Glazer's client physically assaulted and verbally threatened an elected official. What of that?

Glazer said that Arkley had apologized for the incident, contra Glass' assertions. He then read a section of an e-mail that Arkley sent to Glass the morning after. Strangely, though, he would not give me a copy of that apology. He said that I should get it from Glass -- that it was Glass' place to give it to me. It was then I realized that I was in the spell of some kind of master PR mojo that I didn't really understand. To me, it was like -- Dude, you have information? Great. But I don't really feel a burning desire to play Blue's Clues with you.

But then the City of Eureka released the e-mail in question in response to a Public Records Act request from the Times-Standard. We were able to horn in on their work. You probably read the full e-mail in Wednesday's T-S. Suffice it to say that it did, in fact, say "[M]y apologies for last night." The e-mail also reiterated that from Arkley's point of view, it was all about the hurt to his family: "It is hard for me to express the pain and outrage that I feel when my wife and daughters are needlessly brought in, as you did."

For Glass, it wasn't enough. "'I'm sorry I pushed you, I'm sorry I dissed you, I'm sorry I called you a liar a million times,'" he said Tuesday. "None of those elements were there."

27 comments:

  1. Greg Connors is very transparent. he's a rabid (liberal) democrat that seems to hate all things Republican or conservative. He takes pleasure in saying that his dad was a former DA or DDA like it gives his opinion more weight. He and his wife were so quick to comment (and support Glass) on the Eureka City Council race even though they live in Loleta. I guess it doesn't matter since I Glass lives in the County too.

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  2. "based upon facts that can be confirmed" - Fascinating statement. Because nothing has been "confirmed" yet."

    So if a woman makes a complaint and files a report about an ex-boyfriend who is stalking her,the police shouldn't do anything because nothing is confirmed until they get his side of the story?

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  3. Hey, Rose - take it easy. You can change the names on the Arkley/Glass thing and forget who belongs to any particular political party, and it would still require investigation. That's my opinion. If you think it should all just go away, that's fine. You have your opinions, too.

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  4. From today's Wall Street Journal:

    In a withering critique of his fellow Republicans, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says in his memoir that the party to which he has belonged all his life deserved to lose power last year for forsaking its small-government principles.

    In "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World," published by Penguin Press, Mr. Greenspan criticizes both congressional Republicans and President George W. Bush for abandoning fiscal discipline.

    The book is scheduled for public release Monday. The Wall Street Journal bought a copy at a bookstore in the New York area.


    Mr. Greenspan, who calls himself a "lifelong libertarian Republican," writes that he advised the White House to veto some bills to curb "out-of-control" spending while the Republicans controlled Congress. He says President Bush's failure to do so "was a major mistake." Republicans in Congress, he writes, "swapped principle for power. They ended up with neither. They deserved to lose."

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  5. Oh, I don't think it is going away, Greg. I just find it interesting that you guys have decided to be more of a MoveOn.org kind of body than anything else.

    I'd be interested in your learned take on tow things - one - the then sitting City Councilman/Mayor of Arcata floating a $1,000 bribe for a reporter to do a hit piece on a sitting County Supervisor... I didn't see the HCDCC making any mention of that being wrong...

    And, seriously, look at Salzman/Stoen and Gallegos' plan to use the DA's Office to solicit, accept and use special interest money to privately fund a public lawsuit - I didn't see the HCDCC taking a position on that. What do you think about that plan?

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  6. Would you have voted for Tom Daschle Rose?

    Just curious...

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  7. Does Mr. Conners think the letterhead from the Humboldt Leftist Democrats is really going to get Arkley prosecuted?

    How about this? Why not ask the AG's office to investigate to find out all the people assaulted by Mr. Cotton at the Rescue Mission. Seveal of those were actually assaulted in anger.

    There is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. And is it true a Detective is working on this misdomeanor gaggle?

    And once again, Mark you're nothing short of an AH. Big surpise.

    As I understandt it Councilman Glass is assaulted at this gathering where alcohol is served. He notifies the police, not for a formal report but as an "incident". He then goes to the media and puts his story out ther for everyone to hear. Then after a day or two (and coaching by who knows who) he tries to report the "crime" directly to the DA? Then he reports it to the police department and goes right to the detectives? You'd think a city councilman would know how the system is supposed to work!?

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  8. No, 11:44. I was revolted by Tom Daschle's partisanship. There are a rare few who fit in his category. If I had the money, I would have contributed just as Mr. Arkley did. I would have considered it to be doing the country a service.

    Frankly, I don't think the current practice of elected officials doing everything to discredit and stop the other party instead of simply attending to the people's business (NOT PARTISAN BUSINESS) is so incredibly wrong and so incredibly damaging to us as a country that it leads to the "throw the bums out!" and "a pox on both their houses."

    We're a long ways from that Jimmy Stewart ideal we all like to think about, and I don't know how you ever get back there. You try to do it by voting for people who don't march in lock step. Then we, as a nation, may have a chance.

    Sorry you asked?

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  9. But I'm sure you condone the clear partianship of Gonzales, Brownback, Ross, Craig, Rove, Cheney, Bush...

    The list goes on and on

    Call it both ways, as you always say

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  10. You're so quick to jump to conclusions. No.

    But I equate Rove and Carville, and I like them both. They're smart, intuitive and successful

    I do think Gonzales got a raw deal - and how many was it Clinton fired? 63? Something like that. Gonzales - 8? Why the screams over the 8 and not the 63?

    And that's a good example of the partisan attack machine that will be the death of our country if we don't rein it back in.

    And, by the way, I was against the impeachment of Clinton for the same reasons. Hillary shoulda killed him for what he did - but she has her reasons for allowing it to go on...

    In retrospect, I think he should have been strung up by his toes, but for different reasons.

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  11. By all means the police should take a report or even book a suspected rapist if their is probable cause. Then an indepth investigation and a trial if needed.The Duke rape case should remind us that we do not need a local group of political activist,left or right, to put pressure higher up to fource that outcome. The same is true in Arkley/Glass. If you can't see that you're as blind to your own bias as Arkley is to his drinking problem.

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  12. Mom - he pushed me.

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  13. Uh - not every schoolyard disagreement deserves a full investigation.

    I would rather have the cops spend their limited resources on murder, burglary, assault, rape, robbery etc.

    EPD now has a detective wasting time on this pissing match instead of investigating really important matters. But hek, the HCDCC didn't think that violent crime like murder, robbery, burglary, domestic violence, rape, etc was important last election so it doesn't suprise me why they are acting so lame on this one.

    Just a one issue group.

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  14. What does the EPD have to with the Arkley/Glass situation?

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  15. You're kidding, right?

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  16. Ok Konkler - please explain the "partially" part?

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  17. OMG... Rose - you gotta read this letter in the ER. I don’t know how to link it so I just posted the whole thing. Feel free to delete this part and insert the link.

    “Couple finds some strange things in the Balloon Track 9/17/2007 Dear Editor,
    While hiking down in the Balloon Track, we came upon a large, circular burned-out area that registered “hot” on our metal detectors. Nearby was an old barn, and upon investigating, we found several large, black cars, including a black Cadillac Escalade. All were hidden under sheets of mysterious tinfoil-like material unlike anything we had ever seen, and certain to be of interest to Homeland Security.

    Covering the walls of this barn were various candid photos of Larry Glass, some with red circles and lines drawn through them, leading us to believe we had stumbled upon some sort of hideout for the vast right-wing conspiracy that is now targeting Glass. Also displayed were photos of little green men with large eyes. Initially we thought these might be the mysterious strangers chasing Glass around the courthouse, but upon closer inspection, we decided these were constituents of Glass.

    We feel it is our duty to warn Glass that he must be careful not only of black Escalades, but of all black cars, and even those that are silver, because they might be covered in the mysterious tinfoil-like material. We hope this new discovery does not increase his paranoia.

    Richard and Maureen DeLorme
    Eureka”


    Who would be driving a black Cadillac Escalade around the courthouse several times. Well a local criminal attorney and gal pal of the DA owns one. Circling the block to get one of those precious parking spaces....oh but Glass (aka Capt’n paranoid) spins this as he is being tailed. This is too Salzmanesqe not to laugh...Next he will be saying someone broke into his house and turned up the thermostat.

    Kudo’s to Richard and Maureen for making my morning Java more fun!

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  18. So you don't believe Glass's claim that Arkley told him that he was having him followed?

    What else do you believe he is lying about?

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  19. It's EPT and she will circle 20x to find a parking place.

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  20. Who gives a shit if Arkley told him he was being followed. Glass has got to grow up and using Salzman in this manner makes him really look ridiculous.

    Yes 10:51 - Elaine Profant-Turner has a black Cadillac escalade. She is an attorney and would be circling the courthouse for a parking place, but Captn’ Paranoid (aka Glass) would spin that as he is being followed.


    Christ he needs to get a life and get back to doing business.

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  21. Please explain in detail how he's using Salzman.I don't expect a response,but do feel free to if you wish.

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  22. Uh Mark - Glass is not using Salzman...it vice versa...

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  23. Uh Mark - Glass is not using Salzman...it vice versa...

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  24. So in other words,you have nothing to back up your claim.That was expected.

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  25. HCDCC is not the Democratic party central committeee, it is Moveon.orgs central committee.
    IMHO

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  26. Greg Connors is not a liberal Democrat. Greg Connors used to be a Republican who supported George Bush, Sr. If you think Greg Connors is a liberal, then you must be to the right of Mussolini. Or Giuliani. Wait! You probably think Giuliani is a liberal too, you idiots. This blog is without a doubt one of the lamest blogs ever. Rose, you need to get a life. And get over your obsession with Salzman already.

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