Blogger’s Note – I waited until after Chad Bianco was sworn in to post this piece. This piece has been at least 6 months coming…
Those of you that have been reading this blog regularly for at least the last 16 months will note that I have been writing about former Sheriff Bob Doyle off and on in parts of posts. A lot of times it had been for background. It is time to set the record straight.
Imagine having been smeared by a powerful local officeholder and the local media for 12 years with little or no recourse. This is what has happened to Bob Doyle.
We’ve re-told the story about Sniff’s termination by Doyle when he was an Assistant Sheriff. Sniff was fired for insubordination for refusing to carry out two lawful orders, one related to tazers and another related to patrols.
Sniff himself acknowledged when he got fired that he was surprised it took Doyle as long as it did to fire him.
No one knew, including Doyle himself that he’d get a chance to serve at the State level a mere 10 months later. (in 2007) No one knew that Sniff would be appointed Sheriff. Only in the last year+ has the truth about Sniff’s manipulation and diabolical behavior come out.
Let’s be real – I know that Doyle is not a choir boy. You don’t get elected to major public office without an ego or a mean streak. What I do know is that Stan Sniff smeared Bob Doyle mercilessly and retaliated against anyone he knew was friends with or a supporter of Doyle.
Bob Doyle was also one of my sources for corroborating info in my blog. His perspective helped me fill in some key gaps as I was piecing together a psychological profile and an accurate history of Sniff pre-Sheriff. I was initially skeptical as I knew Doyle had an axe to grind, however, when he told me that he approached me because he was outraged over what Sniff and Crew did to my wife… this was a clear indicator that regardless of his motive I could trust his information.
As I got to know Bob Doyle, I also became convinced that many within the department had formed their opinion of him based on incomplete information. As such, Doyle’s endorsement was never actively sought by Bianco’s team.
Stan Sniff terminated almost all of Doyle’s top people, though a few managed to escape to other areas. This provides absurd context to the blatant bias of the Desert-Sun attacking Bianco for planning a similar action. Sniff made it clear that a pre-requisite for employment in his senior management team was a visceral disdain for Bob Doyle. A lot of old-timers I have spoken to agree that this is a fact.
Sniff changed the narrative on his termination and a lie had been believed for years that made him look like a victim. As best I can tell, retaliatory PERS and Terminations were not common under Doyle’s Tenure (though there appear to have been some). As documented, they occurred en masse under Sniff. The local media was deign to remind people of how Sniff was victimized by Doyle before getting appointed Sheriff.
Only Bob Doyle would know the story about Sniff deliberately withholding information from John Taviglione regarding the failure of his son to complete training for a special team he wanted. Taviglione ended up being the third vote to appoint Sniff. To this day Taviglione is either willfully ignorant of how he was played by Sniff or he was complicit (implying some sort of backroom deal). It is the opinion of this blogger that the exposure of the dirty dealings leading up to the appointment vote some 11 years later was a factor in Taviglione ultimately endorsing the corrupt Sheriff after castigating him publicly for years. As you recall, Sniff’s manipulation of the information caused a meltdown by Taviglione toward Doyle as Sniff’s insubordination involved his refusing to do his job of communicating with the Board of Supes for the areas affected by his duties as Assistant Sheriff.
Doyle was accused of getting away with a DUI. This is false. Doyle was accused of affairs while serving as Sheriff, something he vehemently denies. Doyle was accused of covering up misdemeanors committed by his cronies, again something he denies, and I’ve seen no evidence to substantiate any of the above accusations (suggesting Doyle has been smeared for years). As a contrast, I’ve been able to prove many similar allegations against the corrupt sheriff.
Bob Doyle has been vindicated by the 16.58% humiliation of Stan Sniff. #1 the first time Sniff faced real and organized opposition, he folded like a cheap lawnchair, suggesting his regime was a paper tiger. #2 Sniff had been allowed to pin a lot of his failures on Doyle. The voters, when informed of the facts held Sniff accountable for failing. #3 for the first time in a decade or more, Doyle was able to gain a measure of defense and response to a lot of the institutional lies perpetrated about him by Sniff
I am going to close the book on Bob Doyle now. He is retired and living in Texas with his family. The last time I communicated with him, I told him to stay close to God and his Family. I also admonished him to go do some fun stuff in his retirement (like gardening), and to close the book on the Riverside Sheriff’s Drama.
Again, Bob Doyle is not perfect or blameless. He is however someone I believe to be a good man who was forced to live with smears for years that he could not defend himself from. Enjoy the rest of your life Sheriff Doyle and thank you for helping me with the information you gave me, it is appreciated.
… before Chad Bianco can fire them I guess. We’ve detailed how Jason Horton and Christopher Brandon Ford have been interviewing with other agencies (including Menifee).