It didn’t work so well.
As you can see, she had places set for 100 people, there were 43. Present. Of those 43, it was reported to this blogger that roughly 20 were young ladies (probably from a local college or political club) and 5 members of Spiegel’s family were among those present.
This means then, that the number of donors present was around 18. Subtract Supervisor John Taviglione and Staff and you are down to 16. Then, when you realize that typically existing donors get to go too, she may have had 10 would-be donors present. Ouch.
Her opponent, Eric Linder has reported out $68,000 worth of large dollar donations this week alone.
It looks like Spiegel has worse problems than the mess she helped create on the CA-91 Freeway where $1.4B was spent to make traffic worse.
It also looks like JT’s efforts to tie up his loose ends on the way out the door are not working out the way they were planned either. Eric Linder was not supposed to have run for supervisor, it was supposed to be Spiegel against the crazed Penny Newman in the runoff.
Spiegel would have had a much easier time dealing with Newman.
It gets better. I noted that the latest installation in John Taviglione’s pet project – the KPMG Audit of the Sheriff’s Department just so happens to be in Jurupa Valley. JV is the station that serves the whole area around Corona, they also manage the contracts for protection in the Cities of Norco, Eastvale and Jurupa Valley themselves.
It is alleged that JT made a deal with the corrupt sheriff (that he once referred to as a child) to “cooperate” with the KPMG audit of JV, in exchange the corrupt sheriff gets JT’s endorsement.
It is convenient, is it not, that the latest installment is the station that services almost all of the same area Karen Spiegel is running in? One of the biggest issues is crime, namely the terrible service provided by the critically understaffed RSO.
We’ve chronicled that Stan Sniff is playing games to rig the audit results. It appears that KPMG may be in on the game. Some super cynical people believe that JT has a job lined up with KPMG post retirement. On the surface, the sudden unholy alliance of JT and Sniff appears to have a nexus with JT picking his successor for supervisor and of course Karen Spiegel is alleged to have promised Jobs to JT’s current staff should she win the race against Eric Linder. Never, ever discount the power of ego. In the ego-driven game of politics it is my number one calculation.
There is a second problem. Stan Sniff is bleeding out politically. In addition to going on a rage to torch the Riverside Sheriff’s Department on his way out the door, (Which appears to include initiating disciplinary proceedings on several staff that are Chad Bianco supporters) Sniff is flailing around trying to raise resources.
Well, it was not as well attended as Mohammad’s previous effort. Not even close.
My source indicated that there were some 60 people in attendance. My favorite captain Kurly showed up for about 10 minutes. They did not indicate that any local elected officials were in attendance.
(Blogger’s Note: My favorite Saxophone-wielding mystery woman was not there either…)
Several deputies also showed up, again leaving soon after arriving. There is and has been a standing edict that RSO employees are expected to show up and kiss Stan Sniff’s ring when he has events. It is unclear how many of them actually support the Sheriff or if they attended for self-preservation.
It has been made clear to this blogger that Karen Spiegel and her minions running for Corona City Council are being set up for endorsements by the Riverside GOP. While I am not sure about this, they all have strong connections to a talk radio host named Donald Dix. Dix disdains your intrepid blogger as he is a hardcore Stan Sniff supporter and was a hardcore supporter of a failed governor candidate that I destroyed on this website. Also among their strong allies is the Vice-Chair of the Riverside GOP.
It is common for machinations to occur behind the scenes in a campaign, it is not common to be able to daylight many of them. Knowing who the players are is not a bad thing.
Fauzia Rizvi is a Corona City Council Candidate who is a past officer of the Norco-Corona Democrat club for example. She is running with two other candidates in Corona on a liberal democrat slate for Corona City Council. (David Husted and Jacqueline Casillias are the others) Karen Spiegel appears to have recruited 3 pastors to run for City Council in an attempt to shut down the candidacies of conservatives she does not like. With the presence of the left-wingers in each race (one of who has law enforcement support), there exists a strong possibility of vote dilution leading to the election of one or more of the democrats to the Corona CC. This is what happens when those in office try to control stuff.
In Norco, led by former Soap Opera Star Kevin Bash, they have put a sales tax increase measure on the ballot. All 5 Council-members have drank the Sniff Kool-Aid. It is the only City where Sniff has the unanimous endorsement of the council. The nexus of this and the Jurupa Valley Station KPMG audit also can not be ignored. (Nor can the sudden transfer of 14 deputies out to that station to put an artificial band-aid on the staffing and overtime crises either)
We are going to continue to open up the sausage factory of Riverside politics to public scrutiny. Stay Tuned.
It is clearly time for Karen Spiegel to exit, “stage right”!
Because of the city contracts, KPMG can’t touch staffing or hours because to do so would violate the contract for services, so it’s questionable why KPMG is going to Jurupa with such a small county area for the audit. But I would not be surprised if Taviglione did get some form of employment from KPMG (possible as a consultant) when he leaves office. And I wonder what kind of deal Karen Spiegel got from the Mission Inn to host that event. Spiegel only cares about herself, and “what’s in it for me” and does not deserve any of our votes. Like at what has happened to the Corona Police Department, they have vacancies that are not being filled. Anyone that supports Sniff will not get votes come November.
We don’t need Gas Tax Karen as our next county supervisor. She supported Legislation (SB 1) that increases the gas tax by 12 cents a gallon, and also increases vehicle registration fee’s by $175.00. Karen Spiegel is someone Riverside County can’t afford to put into office. Karen Spiegel needs to just go away to her double wide on Green River Road where she belongs.
The event seemed to have taken a nose dive from last year where dignitaries made an effort to attend. This time no dignitaries, no belly dancers, and very few donations. But hey,
a MVUSD Pre-K teacher who is very well aware Stan protected a Deputy who sexually molested kids was present to support her favorite Sheriff.
They were expecting 200 people, but they were lucky to have no more then fourty people and this includes the bar tender, cigar maker and the catering service help.
I was also informed that Josephine Ortega the owner of El Felonasco was MIA at the event. Seems her love for Sniff has gone way down to the point that she F-you Stan’s political signs from being posted at El Felonasco.
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of leaders in society,over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system, that authorizes it, and a Moral code that Glorifies it!
The old guard of Riverside County is nauseating, get the hell out for the good of the people.
But you know; It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts.
S/Sniff and co-conspirators, who will you see in the mirror when your titles are ripped from you by the fed up masses who are tired of your stench. Hope you see your faces as we see them. Truly ugly site.
Sniffcompoop & his Wrecking Crew have to know their time “managing” is coming to an end and they have no one to blame but themselves. As all politicians have promised as they take over, Sniff said he’d eliminate favoritism and treat all fairly. Instead, he came back and ruled with a vengeance like a puny kid who was stuffed in his locker one too many times.
His “chosen” minions have been no better and were worthless as they went up the ranks. Sniff has impregnated the department with scoundrels, incompetent captains, and division I have never experienced before in my 29 years with this agency.
I e one year left, just enough to assist our new sheriff get in office then I’m out. Fighting crime has been a challenge in and of itself, but the bullshit Sniffcompoop puts in front of the fan has made this job fun no more.
SUPPORT BIANCO FOR SHERIFF!
BIANCO FOR SHERIFF – 2018!!
John S,
The goal is to leave the department in shambles. Send a message BOYCOTT the picnic.
Sniff did promise to be fair… A campaign promise he failed to keep over and over again.