Council Member Speaks Out About City Manager's Treatment

Council Member Speaks Out!
About City Manager's Treatment

By JOE GOMEZ

People of Barstow deserve a response to the separation of the former City Manager Hector Rodriguez, not speculation.

I don’t care if you live in an at-will state in which you can terminate anyone at any time, it is still immoral to fire people without helping them understand what they need to improve and providing the opportunity to do so.
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Hector did not get fired, although the Mayor told me he wanted him dismissed and tried to call an emergency closed session meeting to terminate his contract sometime during the month of September, which I strongly opposed.

We have lost a good city manager, who cared about Barstow and the citizens in this community. He took the moral high ground because he is a man with integrity.

Hector Rodriguez

To understand how our local government works and my personal opinions of Mayor Lawrence Dale's management style, I felt it necessary to express thoughts in writing.

Barstow is a General Law city . It is the role of the mayor and council to serve as stewards of the city and to establish policy for the city. It is the city manager’s role, along with the support of city staff to implement the policies established by the mayor and council.

In some ways it is part of a system of checks and balances.

The mayor of Barstow isn’t bestowed with powers like the mayor of Los Angeles or New York . The people of Barstow haven’t given the mayor that kind of control.

Consider the following: Since the Mayor took office in 2000, Barstow has had six city managers. Since 2003 Barstow has had four city managers. That’s like having a new city manager every year. That kind of turn over signals deep-rooted systemic problems at City Hall.

And it doesn’t stop there — the turnover among the city’s senior managers and police officers have been equally alarming.

Think about it:

• If things are on the up and up, there’s no need for the mayor or members of this council to meddle behind the scenes in the business of city staff.

• If things are on the up and up, there’s no need for the mayor to convene so many closed-door City Council meetings.

• If things are on the up and up, there’s no need to schedule so many council meetings during the work day when people can’t attend the meetings or outside of our regularly scheduled Monday night Council meetings.

When the independent council majority appointed Hector Rodriguez as city manager in 2006, Mayor Dale opposed us. The mayor was furious!

Since Hector Rodriguez was appointed city manager more than 18 months ago, the mayor has worked behind the scenes to undo the previous council’s decision and undermined Hector’s success and decision-making.

Earlier this year the Mayor tried to dismiss Hector but there was an outpouring of support from the community for Hector. So instead the Mayor has worked behind the scenes to get rid of Hector.

Recognize that Hector wasn’t the mayor’s guy. And if you’re not the mayor’s guy, you’re not going to be in a job for very long.

This past year, the mayor fought against Hector’s choice for police chief and tried to undermine that recommendation. Chief Burns has proven in a short period that Mr. Rodriguez made great choice by hiring her.

When the mayor wanted his friends at Micromedia Filtration to take over the $15 million contract for the sewer treatment facility, he fought against Hector and the concerns of key city staff.

Now we’re back to business as usual.

Mayor Dale has a hungry, unhealthy appetite for control and leverage over the council and over those who manage things at City Hall and in our police department. Anyone who crosses the mayor or his friends, or who is independent in thought, seals their fate; including myself.

Micromanagement of city staff has kept Barstow from moving forward since the Millennium. At best, Barstow has stood still the last seven years. For every step forward, there’s been a step or two back.

At the root of the stagnation is a mayor’s leadership style that is holding Barstow back.

There’s something suspicious about elected leadership that prefers to meet behind closed doors and has to rule with such an iron fist.

He poses the management style of a dictator or director; I compare Mayor Dale’s management style to Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders.

That can’t be in the best interests of the people of Barstow. And after the last seven years, the people of Barstow are smart enough to see that.

Comments Posted
About This Article
DesertDispatch.com

Barstow Citizen - Finally, someone who has spoken the truth. If you doubt the information, go ahead and read it for yourself. Enrich your mind of all that is happening in Barstow.

I am not a Hector fan, but I agree that the mayor was running the show. Why is it that we have had so many city managers? Maybe we should ask Mayor Dale, he runs the show remember?

Why are there so many brown act violations Mayor and city councilmen. Please dont act like we dont see you in the restaurants. Remember this is Barstow, everyone talks and better yet most folks have camera phones. Smile cause you have been caught.

I would like Joe Gomez to run for city council again. We need good people involved to ensure that us Barstow Citizens dont get the short end of the stick.

RECALL DALE
RECALL DALE
RECALL DALE
RECALL DALE

316 - Dale has got to go his Mason brothers all intimidate people they are just like gang members if they don't get what they want they pressure or intimidate you they should be treated just like gang members lets have a mason sweep and press gang enhancement charges

Jeffrey - It is good that someone has come forward with what has been going on in the past couple of months at City Hall.

I also see that every comment appears to have been deleted by the "good old boy" crowd defending this corrupt administration.

Your censorship will not go un-noticed. At any rate, it would be a great idea if more people in the know would come forward and expose the current administration for the crooks they definitely are.

The more information brought to the public the better. Of course the goon squad on the right will always try to censor the truth, but the truth will still prevail in the end.

Rock Hound - Mr. Gomez's honesty is appreciated. Barstow needs honest leadership.


Robert Silva - Watch for Mayor Dale and his local attack dogs to go after Joe Gomez.

The good old boyz who meet down at Purdy's Garage will not stand for this sort of exposure of the truth.

Before you know it, they will start trying to tar and feather Councilman Gomez with their unfounded rumors and innuendo.

Whatever allegations you hear from the good old boyz about other people, you can assume those are actually the dirty deeds that Mayor Dale and the good old boyz are up to themselves.

Ask them for the proof when they feed you gossip and rumor.



Bud Campbell - I called Joe immediately to Thank him for his service. His service to the community.

Under the current Mayor's term:

Drainage problems have been created and covered up with no mention of Flood Insurance,

New residences have been created with no seismic engineering,

Children have been placed within dangerous buildings,

Real estate fraud has run rampant under the cheerleading for a casino,
Soap Mine Road residents and children have been poisoned and lied to,

Good ol' boys have constructed without paying proper fees,

Fees have been waived,

Human excrement is allowed to blow on residents.

And a Dairy watches over our water quality.

God Bless us all. And God Bless Miss California so she doesn't get too involved with these dysfunction backwards egotistical scum. Just look at their own kids.

Nick James - Councilman Joe Gomez made me think about why we have had so many City Managers. Elected members of the City Council, the Mayor included, should let the City Manager do his job and not try to micro manage City Hall.

Savanthar - For those hecklers out there that criticize Joe Gomez I say Joe Gomez would be a far better mayor than Mayor Lawrence Dale. For one thing Joe Gomez is honest and a true statesman. These are two values that run short in the current mayor of Barstow. Dale is neither honest or a statesman. He is in fact in it for himself and his buddies at Micromedia. Mayor Dale only knows how to feather his own nest and the nests of his buddies and everyone in Barstow would be a lot better off if he were out of office. Dale should resign immediately if not sooner. He is as corrupt as the day is long. His corrupt agenda does not benefit Barstow and should be abandoned completely and utterly. Out with Dale!

Olde Meanie - The Mayor needs to be "unvoted" ASAP! He has created a terrible condition within City Hall and hence for the city. His secret letter to BIA about an Indian tribe is just the tip of an iceberg.

Manuel Gurule - It's about time Joe Gomez speaks out on what truly happened with Hector. I know this is all being investigated by the District Attorney's Office Integrity Unit. I hope at the end of their investigation more light will come to this subject. Unfortunately other members of the Barstow City Council are not responsible enough to speak out on this. It harms absolutely no one to tell the truth except those that are lying. Don't get me wrong. I don't believe Hector was a Saint but I do believe he was doing his job and he held his integrity in doing so. The root of this evil begins and ends with Micromedia and the mayor's determination to give them the sewer plant contract. $15 million is a great sum of money and influences and corrupts a great deal.

Veteran - I am so impressed to hear what Joe Gomez had to say. It is about time someone said the truth! I have lived in this town for 25 years, and it seems that our current mayor wants us to be kept in the dark.

He is a sneaky man with a hidden agenda.

Who cares if Joe's article sounds like a campaign speech, at least we are getting to the meat and potatoes of the reality of what is wrong with our city. When I first moved here, we had a JC Penny's, Kmart, Sears, Rudes clothing store, and a bunch of really nice places to go. Now we have Wal-mart! That is it. This town is repressed, and when every else is thriving, we are dormant. Thank-you Joe Gomez for your honesty! It is refreshing. Also, you have my vote no matter what you are running for! Heck, I want to be your campaign manager!

TVT Weighs in on City Manager Scandal

TheVerifiableTruth.com weighs in on the City Manager Firing Scandal and the Tyranny of Mayor Dale

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Barstow's Mayor allegedly attempted to interfere with RFP process for $15 million contract

An 11.30.07 story in Barstow's Desert Dispatch suggests that Mayor Lawrence Dale was attempting to manipulate the process in order to guarantee that Micromedia Filtration, Inc. would be awarded a $15 million contract to modify the City's waste water treatment facility despite the City Council's direction to release an RFP and conduct a search for all qualified contractors.

A memo dated Oct. 30, written by Rodriguez and addressed to the council, accuses Mayor Lawrence Dale of interfering with the process, wanting to directly award the $15 million contract to Micromedia Filtration, Inc., instead of reviewing bids from other firms. Rodriguez wrote that he’d been given direction to award the contract to Micromedia in a meeting held on Oct. 18 with Dale and council member Steve Curran. Dale and Curran disputed Rodriguez’ allegations.

“The Mayor told me that the Council’s direction to me in this matter had been to write a (Request for Proposals) that would result in a contract award to Micromedia by effectively eliminating other potential bidders,” Rodriguez wrote in the memo.

Certainly if these allegations are true, this isn't the first time in the Mayor's seven year tenure in office that he has attempted to manipulate outcomes in order that his friends might receieve favorable treatment and even millions in financial gain. Clearly he's perfected that behavior in his quest to win a casino for his Detroit friends behind BarWest LLC.

One must wonder what he gets in return for such rewards to his friends because he doesn't report any campaign contributions or gifts from such individuals as required by California's political reform laws. Is his Railroad Foundation or other "charitable" affiliate benefiting?

Mayor Lawrence Dale has a history of closed doors and backroom secret deals. He's calendared an unprecdented number of closed sessions and previously unscheduled meetings.

When a previous independent Council majority voted against him on various matters, Mayor Dale was relentless behind the scenes trying to undue nearly every one of their decisions.

Mayor Dale often attempts to squash public debate and reigns over Barstow with an iron fist. Anyone who crosses the Mayor will eventually be a victim of his covert attacks and relentless need for revenge. Hector Rodriguez is the latest example.

Previously Congressman Buck McKeon had carried a an ear-mark to secure half a million dollars in new money for this project that would ulltimately be awarded to Micromedia Filtration, Inc.

end

Manuel (Gil) Gurule Tells the Truth About City Manager Rodriguez

Manuel (Gil) Gurule
Letter to the Editor
Desert Dispatch

Dear Editor,

Surprise surprise, just what I predicted would happen did happen and for the same reasons I mentioned in my letter on November 14th, 2007. It took the Desert Dispatch 2 1/2 weeks after my letter and 2 days after the City Manager was fired to finally reveal the truth on the reasons for his termination.

The memo on October 30th, written by City Manager Rodriguez, has been floating around City Hall for the past month, so it's not that hard for a newspaper that truly wants to inform its public to find. This letter was addressed to the full council concerning the interference of Mayor Dale with awarding a $15 million contract to his friends Micromedia Filtration Inc., who, by the way, was recommended to him by his dear friend, the mayor of Adelanto, who is now being investigated for embezzlement.

Instead of sidestepping the law like the mayor wanted, Mr. Rodriguez was doing the highly ethical thing by reporting this interference by the mayor to the full council. But with Mr. Dale and his puppets, this only ended with the demise of our City Manager and his ultimate and unjustified termination.

I have previously written a complaint to the San Bernardino County's District Attorney's Office and its Public Integrity Unit concerning Brown Act violations with regard to Micromedia and discussions about its contract in closed session. This complaint was sent in when it was made obvious by Councilman Joe Gomez and Councilman Steve Curran that the council had spoken in closed session about the contract with Micromedia when it was not put on the agenda for discussion. That is a direct Brown Act violation.

Hopefully the recent events on the firing of the City Manager Mr. Rodriguez, the head of the city of Barstow, will trigger a deeper investigation into his firing and the possible awarding of a $15 million bid to his friends Micromedia, something the mayor has been pushing for months and is an obvious conflict of interest to the mayor.

The article in the Desert Dispatch mentions a memo sent out by Mr. Rodriguez to the council and city department heads. This memo issued communication guidelines between city employees and city council members. City Council members are not to give direction to staff, subordinates of the City Manager. That is the city manager's job.

The communication guidelines were rescinded by the majority of the council the same day they put the city manager on indefinite leave. Strange, is it not? They now admit that the council is to stay out of the city manager's job duties, like Councilman Curran states in your article of December 1st. To me, Councilman Curran is talking with a forked tongue, or in a nicer term, being deceptive.

Hopefully this article of the Desert Dispatch on internal memos will open some eyes on what is really going on in Barstow.

Manuel Gurule



Letters to the editor, November 14, 2007

Fix Is In On
City Manager's Treatment

I too would like to voice my opinion on the misguided vote by our City Council to put our city manager on indefinite paid leave. This only means firing.

This cannot come as a surprise to anyone. The cards were dealt over two years ago when Mayor Dale and his cohort, Paul Luellig, voted against the appointment of Hector Rodriguez to City Manager. This was a blow to the dictatorship of Mayor Dale and Paul Luellig. But their efforts to stop his appointment failed. They did not get their way and with the recall of Paul, the mayor had to wait until he had his other two votes to remove Mr. Rodriguez. This came when Tim Silva, his crony, and Julie Hackbarth were elected.

One thing that makes this very suspicious is that his suspension was to take effect immediately after closed session on Monday. For those of you that don’t understand this, this was done only to silence Mr. Rodriguez from revealing the true facts behind his suspension in open session. Now that he is negotiating his departure, he’s under strict confidentiality and cannot release anything to the public while negotiating his compensation for his remaining tenure.

He was about to release some information that would not have been favorable to the mayor on what led up to this point. By suspending him, his lips were sealed and the cover-up was in effect. For those in the know, this all stems from the contract dealing with the mayor’s associates vying for building the sewer plant. Nothing more. Mr. Rodriguez held to his ethics, stood up to the mayor and wanted to follow the law. The mayor wants to sidestep the law for his friends MircoMedia.

With the placement of the mayor’s appointee Ron Rector, things will go the mayor’s way. As we have seen in the past, Ron Rector is a yes-man and will never go against the mayor. If there are any legitimate reasons to let our City Manager Hector Rodriguez go and cost the city taxpayers thousands of dollars for doing so, why then wasn’t the public notified of this prior to his suspension? It is our right as taxpayers and citizens of Barstow to know what is going on with our city government.

Manuel Gurule
Barstow

Why the City Manager Was Fired

It hasn't been much of a secret that Mayor Dale never wanted Hector Rodriguez to be the City Manager from the beginning when he voted against his confirmation.

It is no secret that Dale has been scheming to get rid of him ever since.

Dale didn't like him because he isn't white, isn't Republican, and isn't part of the old crony guard that has been running Barstow for years.

But most importantly, Dale didn't like him because Hector has integrity. He stood up to the Mayor's corruption in general while performing his duties in the most professional and competent manner in recent history.

But at the heart of Dale's contempt for Hector is the issue of MicroMedia. After throwing away 1.7 Million dollars that the City had already spent on the HDR contract, the Mayor tried to railroad the contract into the coffers of his buddies at MicroMedia. Hector wasn't about to compromise himself by going along with the Mayor's questionable schemes and Dale fired him.

Now that Barwest compromised our election process and imposed their puppets on the Council, Dale now has the power to do whatever he wants and treat the city like a cheap whore.

None of this was ever a secret and was in fact quite transparent. But finally Reporter Jason Smith has exercised a little journalistic investigation and the story is now in print for all to read. Here is that story:

November 30, 2007 - 8:53PM

Memos show disagreement between Council, staff preceded city manager’s departure

By JASON SMITH Staff Writer

BARSTOW — Internal city documents show that the termination of City Manager Hector Rodriguez’ employment contract was preceded by disagreements between City Council members and city staff over the city’s wastewater-treatment plant upgrade contract.

A memo dated Oct. 30, written by Rodriguez and addressed to the council, accuses Mayor Lawrence Dale of interfering with the process, wanting to directly award the $15 million contract to Micromedia Filtration, Inc., instead of reviewing bids from other firms. Rodriguez wrote that he’d been given direction to award the contract to Micromedia in a meeting held on Oct. 18 with Dale and council member Steve Curran. Dale and Curran disputed Rodriguez’ allegations.

“The Mayor told me that the Council’s direction to me in this matter had been to write a (Request for Proposals) that would result in a contract award to Micromedia by effectively eliminating other potential bidders,” Rodriguez wrote in the memo.

“(T)his was in direct contradiction of Council’s direction to me. As city manager, it is my charge to carry out the direction of the Council majority. For me to do otherwise would be both illegal and unethical ... Council’s direction to me was to administer an open Request For Proposals process, the ultimate outcome of which is unknown at this time.”
Rodriguez stated in the memo that Dale had spoken directly with members of Buerau Veritas, the consultant which the city hired to assist with the request for proposals process, to select the wastewater contractor.

“The very reason why I requested assistance was due to interference from the Mayor in the negotiations,” Rodriguez wrote. “This interference appears to be occurring again, likely jeopardizing the fairness of the Request For Proposals process and opening up the door to litigation.”

Rodriguez did not return calls seeking comment. Dale and council member Steve Curran disputed Rodriguez interpretation of events, calling it a misunderstanding.

“I did not direct the City Manager to create an RFP that would eliminate potential bidders for the wastewater facility upgrade project,” Dale wrote in an e-mail. “In fact, the City’s consultant Bureau Veritas is now moving forward with an RFP process that will be advertised with all potential bidders.”

Dale wrote that he spoke with the city’s consultant because he worried that the firm is not moving fast enough to choose a contractor. Upgrades to the wastewater-treatment facility were mandated by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board because of elevated nitrate levels in the water. The city could face fines from $1,000 to $10,000 per day if it does not meet the July 2009 deadline set by Lahontan.

Citing a contractual settlement, Dale declined to state if the disagreement with the city manager was related to the council’s 4-1 decision on Thursday to terminate Rodriguez’ employment contract.

Curran said the bid-seeking process for the wastewater upgrade contractor is difficult due to the unique nature of the technology that Micromedia uses in its plant.

“The council voted 3 to 2 to go with Micromedia. ‘Go’ is a misused term. When you say ‘go with Micromedia,’ do you mean the firm Micromedia, or the technology behind Micromedia?” Curran said.

He voted against the council’s July 16 decision to cancel the city’s previous contract with contractor HDR Engineering in favor of Micromedia. The city spent $1.7 million on with HDR, but allegations of project delays and rising costs led the council to switch firms. Micromedia says its plan for the facility would save the city $1,183,600 annually in operating costs or potentially reduce each resident’s sewer bill by $11 a month
Curran said he isn’t comfortable with awarding the construction contract to Micromedia because of the young company’s lack of a track record.

“Our hopes are that other companies that use this technology will come up,” he said.

Curran said that some of the concerns outlined in the memo are related to an ongoing disagreement over city staff members’ interactions directly with council members. Curran said that although he’s heard rumors, he’s not aware of council members directly giving instruction to city staff.

“I would appreciate it if the city staff would come to me and say that this is happening. All we’ve heard is hearsay,” he said.

According to the Barstow Municipal Code, the city manager is responsible for day to day
operations of the city and the management of city employees.

“The city manager works for the City Council. The staff does not work for the council, the staff works for the city manager,” Curran said.

An Oct. 26 memo written by Rodriguez to the council and city department heads issued communication guidelines between city employees and council members.

“There have been occasions when Council members have met directly with staff, and when Council members’ expressions of opinion have been interpreted as direction,” he wrote.
The memo continued, “Council members may not give direction to subordinates of the City Manager ... Staff is required to adhere to this directive. Failure to do so will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”

The communication guidelines were rescinded by a decision of the council on Nov. 5, the same day that the council voted to place Rodriguez on indefinite paid administrative leave.
City attorney Yvette Abich said that it was necessary to reverse the memo’s guidelines in order to clarify the communication policy so that council members can ask questions of staff members.

“Essentially the City Council is to work with the City Manager in giving direction to city staff, but the city staff is free to talk to city staff on the basis of inquiry,” she said.
She declined to comment further about the termination of Rodriguez’ employment contract or the circumstances surrounding his departure.

“The law says we can’t talk about personnel matters,” she said. “He’s got a right to privacy, and we have to respect that.”

Attorney Bob Conaway Defends Free Speech

After Robert Vasseur wrote another one of his indiscernible rants in a letter to the editor where he resorts to his usual meandering and always irrelevant attacks on me, local Attorney Bob Conaway responded with a letter of his own.

Mr. Conaway poignantly defended my constitutional rights to free speech and the right to dissent. Just like any elected officials, attorneys take an oath to defend and uphold the U.S. Constitution.

Thank you Bob for taking that oath seriously and being counted on the side of Free Speech!

Letters to the editor,
November 29, 2007


Barstow residents entitled to criticism

Robert Vasseur’s letter to the editor (”City manager’s removal might be justified,” Nov. 19) highlights one of the current problems facing this country — a tendency to try and make dissension and or vigorous debate something which is partisan. That we have dissension at City Council meetings is patriotism in play.

I have met the city manager, Mr. Rodriguez, and I believe he has the qualifications to serve Barstow well based on a solid resume of prior experience. If there are other problems we aren’t being told about, I suppose the Brown Act can be blamed, but whether the blame is somewhere else or not, people like Larry Halstead have a right to voice that opinion.

As long as Larry lives in Barstow, he has a constitutional right in public comment periods to criticize government operations and leaders in Barstow. As a regional director for the California Democratic Party, I have sat in council chambers and have heard Larry make it clear that while he is a member and president of a local democratic club, he does not speak for the state party and as a California Democratic Party state officer, I can assure Mr. Vasseur the Democratic Party is not organizing nor supporting a recall in Barstow nor is there anything going on except for the usual voter education process and the get-out-the-vote drives for the upcoming elections.

Barstow, party affiliations aside, appears to suffer from less than full and honest disclosure of what government is doing or thinks it’s doing in the public interest, of insider dealing that dead-ends the city with nothing to show for it except busted tribal (and or Chinese business) deals and or financing agreements (and a fat bill for attorney fees, costs, spent staff time), a sewage spill that could have been avoided (along with the fat fines the city had to pay) ... and well I could go on.

I do respect the work and dedication of Barstow’s city employees and elected leaders. I only wish Larry Halstead’s first amendment right to criticize was similarly respected, not because he is a Democrat, but because he is a fellow American.

Bob Conaway
Hinkley


"Bob Conaway's letter to the editor here is really good and to the point. The establishment never likes a whistle blower and Larry Halstead is a whistle blower when it comes to the iniquities of the Barstow establishment. Of course there will be name callers who lack substance and couldn't argue their way out of a brown paper bag, but Larry will still be there doing his patriotic duty by blowing the whistle on this crooked city establishment. Dissent is the highest form of patriotism and Larry certainly is dissenting from our current political situation in Barstow. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that and all of Larry's critics can just sit and meditate on what it means to exercise one's constitutional freedoms in this country.

Jeffrey Quillinan

In response to someone hiding behind the pseudo name of Splixx, who left a stupid comment left on the Desert Dispatch website in regard to the above letter, Jeffrey Quillinan left the following comment:


"Larry is no joke and Larry is not just "out for himself" as Splixx alleges here. I vouch for Larry's honesty in his attempts to warn Barstow of the underhanded dealings of our present City Council with regards to Barwest. Larry is a good citizens and true patriot. Splixx doesn't know what he is talking about when he posts negative things about Larry Halstead. That much is truly evident by his vitriolic nonsense here."

Jeffrey Quillinan

Katherine Siva Saubel calls Michael Malik "Devil"

It is interesting to note that for several years this battle over ancestral rights has pitted me against, not only Barwest and the Barstow Kool-Aid Club, but also the Los Coyotes Tribe. This is not only unfortunate but it pains me greatly as I have always been in favor of Native American rights and the issues that surround them. Throughout this battle I have been maintaining a position that Los Coyotes need a casino project but that it should be on their reservation or at least on their Ancestral Rights.

I have watched as Barwest Liar-in-Chief Shady Shields has manipulated public opinion at large and key participants in this casino drama specifically. When ever Shields is in attendance at the City Council Meetings he can be seen huddled with his followers. Before he was elected by Shields, Tim Silva was often seen connected at the hip with his guru Shields. School Board Member Julie Clemmer is another groupie that can often be seen under Shields wing as he plots her attacks against me.

These local politicians are easily bought off and corrupted but when you see Native Americans falling prey to the Barwest/Shields manipulations it is disheartening as yet another example of white man pulling the wool over Native Americans as they exploit their resources. Then last August the extend to which Shields influence has been able to get the younger Los Coyotes Tribal members, Shane Shapirosa and Tina Johnson, to compromise their integrity and the good name of the tribe as they stood up and repeated the lies against me that Sleezy Shields was able to get them to regurgitate was beyond offensive.

Now he had gotten these younger members of the Tribe to plot a coop against the much beloved and highly respected Katherine Siva Saubel. Corrupting Native Americans and leading a coop against the Tribe's matriarch is at the top of my list as to why I have total contempt for Barwest and the sleezy tactics they employ. These people have no shame and they richly deserve titles such as the "DEVIL". Only now, it is not just that "liberal, radical, activist" Halstead who is using these labels to describe the unsrupulous tactics of the Detroit Demolition Derby we have come to know as BARWEST. Not it is straight out of the mouth of the esteemed Tribal Leader.

From TheVerifiableTruth.com Sunday, December 02, 2007

Los Coyotes tribal leader calls Barwest's Mike Malik "devil;" says he has "seduced" younger tribal leaders

Los Coyotes tribal spokeswoman and tribal elder Katherine Siva Saubel recently called Michael J. Malik, Sr. the "devil" and said he has "seduced" younger members of the tribe to jump aboard Malik's band-wagon. Among other things, Malik's group paid younger members of the tribe to appear in Barstow as "grassroots" volunteers during the 2006 election primary:

11.01.07
"Saubel said there is a council-only meeting today to discuss the casino efforts--a meeting she was not invited to be but plans to attend anyway. A full tribal council meeting is set for mid-November. Saubel claimed the Malik has 'seduced' the younger member of the tribe and called him 'the devil himself.'

" 'I was 83 when we started this. I'm 87 now,' Saubel said. 'I think he's just waiting for me to keel over.' "

Mike Malik and Mrs. Marian Ilitch are the principals behind the Detroit-based casino syndication BarWest LLC. Malik and Ilitch have proposed building several off-reservation casinos for tribes from opposite ends of California on a site that Barwest owns in Barstow, California.

Ilitch and her husband Mike Ilitch are the co-founders of the Little Caesars Pizza franchise. The family also owns the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, MotorCity Casino, Detroit's Fox Theater and other sports, entertainment and restaurant operations.

Malik and the Ilitches are behind stalled proposals to build unorthodox off-reservation casinos in Port Huron, Michigan; Barstow, Califorina; and in The Hamptons on New York's Long Island. (see also: Detroit Free Press exposes Malik/Ilitch casino enterprises)

Members of the Bay Mills Indian Community have expressed concerns about Malik's involvement in their casino ventures as well as a business venture involving the research and manufacturing of various plastics products. Rumors have circulated among Bay Mills members to suggest the FBI is investigating the plastics venture.

In 1999 the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) failed to grant Michael Malik a gaming license and he was forced to transfer his interests in Detroit's MotorCity Casino to Marian Ilitch before the casino could open its doors to the public.

Last year, following a two-year investigation, California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) fined Malik's Barwest LLC on two counts for failing to report a $26,600 contribution Malik made to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee in 2004 -- Malik paid a $6,500 fine; and TVT has learned the FPPC is investigating numerous unreported political contributions and questionable lobbying payments Barwest's Malik made in 2006.