The city manager named Police Ombudsman Bob Aaronson as the independent instigator and he has been hard at work interviewing past and current Davis firefighters.
However, on the council agenda this past Tuesday was an item authorizing an additional expenditure of $35,000 to Mr. Aaronson in order to conduct this investigation.
“Mr. Aaronson’s charge for investigations is $195 per hour plus expenses. Staff had hoped to keep the cost of the investigation below $25,000. It now appears likely that cap will be exceeded as he has already spent many hours interviewing employees and others affiliated with the Fire Department. There has been more interest than we originally anticipated from employees and others to meet with Mr. Aaronson to talk about the Grand Jury findings and it is apparent that for Mr. Aaronson to complete a comprehensive and fair report, additional time and costs are required. As the total amount for the project is now expected to exceed the amount the City Manager is allowed to authorize without Council approval, staff requests that Council approve the attached resolution to authorize the City Manager to execute Amendment #1 to the original contract, which would extend the contract with Bob Aaronson in an amount not to exceed $35,000.”
This item was placed on the consent calendar, however Councilmember Lamar Heystek pulled the item from consent and proceeded to ask the City Manager, Bill Emlen, a number of questions about this contract extension. One of the more surprising responses was the acknowledgment that Bob Aaronson’s base contract which awards him with $60,000 as a part-time Ombudsman, would not be sufficient to conduct an independent investigation even of the Davis Police Department.
It was my understanding that the reason he was hired was expressly to do these sorts of investigations into the police department as warranted. This has led to further questions about the position and what the position is supposed to do and whether the position’s focus has shifted from its original intention. For instance, Bill Emlen mentioned that Mr. Aaronson was instrumental in helping the department to resolve the issue of videos in squad cars. While it is great that Mr. Aaronson could provide that assistance to the department, it does not seem to be the role that he was hired to do. There would seem a number of individuals better suited for the role of fixing the video systems in squad cars.
That said, I have been one of the most outspoken advocates for conducting this independent investigation and I have at this point full confidence in Mr. Aaronson’s ability to conduct it and really believe he was not only the best option but the only option to produce a report that would have the necessary impartiality to convey confidence no matter the outcome. Nevertheless aspects of this contract were concerning. During a conversation with Bob Aaronson, he recommended I interview him on the record about these concerns so that he could address them to the best of his ability.
According to Bob Aaronson there will be two different versions of a final report on this incident:
“One that I will anticipate being released publicly and one that I will anticipate being held confidentially.”
He hopes to have this completed perhaps by the end of October if not sooner.
“My hope at this point is to be done within the next 30 to 45 days. How it plays out after that isn’t my call.”
When Councilmember Heystek asked Bill Emlen what the $35,000 cost was covering, Bill Emlen gave vague and non-specific answers.
Bob Aaronson told me that he would not be provided with support staff on this investigation.
“The investigation includes extensive interviews, document review, basically in my view, I am studying the fire department. It’s hard always to predict what I’m going to decide is relevant to an aspect of the investigation. I am interviewing current employees. I may or may not interview some former employees as well as interviewing people outside of the fire department. In my experience investigations are labor intensive. There isn’t a substitute for that.”
Unfortunately he believes that these types of investigations are costly.
“The core problem is that an investigation, I don’t care who conducts it, is very labor intensive. It winds up being very expensive no matter who conducts it.”
In fact, it is more costly than even the $35,000 implies.
“The $35,000 does not represent the entire cost of the investigation, because basically I have shifted hours out of the police ombudsman area in order to try to keep down the additional costs. So I would estimate I’ve probably shifted 20 hours so far.”
The basic cost of this investigation probably runs from $50,000 to $60,000.
“If it’s going to be a thorough investigation it’s going to cost. Frankly if a jurisdiction I didn’t work in called me, and made this proposal, fire department, about 50 employees, you’re probably going to have to interview most of them, some former employees, there’s this grand jury report, and there’s basically a Jackson Pollack picture of the issues, it’s not a single issue, it’s all of these confused, convoluted issues, I’d probably quote them that it would be at least $50 to 60,000 maybe more.”
I did not ask him, though I should have, what work he was doing as Police Ombudsman was being scrapped because of the fire investigation.
However, this additional contract was necessary for a variety of reasons, one of which was that he couldn’t use all of his hours as police ombudsman to conduct this investigation.
“It wouldn’t have been feasible for me to try to complete this investigation and basically steal all of my hours from police to do it. In fact, I suspect that certain bloggers would take issue with the fact that the oversight of the police department had fallen off the edge of the table because the fire department investigation was taking precedence.”
He suggested that if he had attempted to do that this would have been an eight or nine month investigation based on the number of monthly hours he would use.
“If you read the contract, I think it more or less lays it out. I don’t think anyone envisioned that the contract was going to actually encompass the hours that it would take to conduct my own investigation. That for the most part that contract is there to interact with the public, to review citizens complaints, to do a certain amount of ride-alongs, to basically be involved as oversight as opposed to first line investigation.”
Mr. Aaronson also emphasized to me that this is a very rare occurrence. In Santa Cruz for instance, he has had one independent investigation in six years. That is the highly publicized case where the police illegally conducted surveillance on peace protesters.
“I would be surprised if this comes up [independent investigations by the ombudsman] more than every third or fourth year. I suppose there is a remote possibility if the city was satisfied with my report that they might use me more. But my general experience is that it’s with that frequency.”
While Mr. Emlen suggested that Mr. Aaronson would possibly need an additional contract to conduct these type of investigations into the Davis Police Department, Mr. Aaronson somewhat downplayed that possibility.
A chief difference between the police department and the fire department is that the police already have investigators capable of conducting these kinds of investigations. They have investigators that primarily do arson investigations, but most fire departments, particularly small departments like Davis do not have professional standards units like those that exist in police departments.
There aren’t people who work for the fire department that have the level of expertise. There are people in the police department that have the level of expertise to conduct a competent, thorough investigation.
As a result in a case like the Buzayan case, Bob Aaronson would like operate more as an auditor than as the primary investigator.
“There are instances where if the decision were made that I felt comfortable with, that the police department would do the initial investigation in something like the Buzayan case.”
However, the question as to whether he would need an additional contract to conduct his own investigation appears to be answered in the affirmative.
“I could be involved and it wouldn’t necessarily require an additional contract. On the other hand if I were asked to be the lead investigator on it, it would probably require an additional contract.”
In the role of auditor, he believes for the most part, he can review the case and have a general sense if the the investigation was done correctly.
“In my view there’s a way, that once I know the given investigator and I know the quality of their work product because when I audit an investigation, I’m listening to things in their interviews and I’m comparing it with the transcripts and the summaries. Then I go through their analysis with a fine-tooth comb. I’m making sure that they’ve gathered all of the evidence, and talked to all of the witnesses. So I suppose it would be possible to sneak something past me, but it’s pretty hard.
I listen to the recorded interviews of the witnesses, because typically that will tell me a lot about what the investigator did or didn’t do. If I have a heightened level of concern in a given case, I might insert myself more. But generally speaking I find that auditing is a way to provide the oversight function in a cost effective way.”
It is the cost of these investigations that drives the form of them.
“In an effort at cost savings, both in Davis and also in Santa Cruz, the vast majority of investigations are conducted by city employees and I audit those investigations.”
He continued,
“Part of the reason I’ve taken the job here and I’ve taken the job in Santa Cruz, and when we first did the interview I discussed this, this to me is an experiment in trying to find a way to provide cost effective civilian oversight to jurisdictions that couldn’t support a fulltime function. If you sit down and look at some of the bigger jurisdictions, they spend a lot of money. And even those aren’t even doing their own investigations. This is the big difference around the reason why something like the office of citizen complaints in San Francisco is such a huge budget line item for San Francisco and on the top of that, they have a terrible backlog. If you want to do an investigation thoroughly, you’re going to have to pay for it.”
Notably he added:
“You are basically asking for a fancy French meal at McDonald’s prices. And that’s really hard.”
However, Bob Aaronson did reiterate that while he was trying to conduct this in a prudent fiscal manner, he was confident he would do an effective investigation.
“I’m not going to do a substandard job.”
He elaborated on this:
“I really relish working as the police ombudsman here in Davis. A concern I had very early on, in taking on this additional assignment was that something in the additional assignment would sour people to the extent that it would undermine my ability to go forward as the police ombudsman. One way to have that sour would be to force the city to pay more than they can reasonably bear. Part of the difficulty is that some of the allegations that are raised, are allegations that if true might mean that there are employees that have lawsuits against the city. Six figure law suits. How much do you want to expend investigating six figure lawsuits?”
During the meeting on Tuesday night, Bill Emlen mentioned that Bob Aaronson had paused his investigation while the contractual matter was being ironed out. Bob Aaronson was able to clarify this point.
“One of the things I most fault big investigations for is how much time it takes for them to be completed. So if I have time on my schedule when I’m available for some given assignment I like to really plunge in. I think I got ahead of everyone else. I would up doing a lot of work, conducting a lot of interviews in a relatively short period of time. It became apparent to me that although city officials had been alerted to what the expense was going to be, those things hadn’t been moved into place.”
Mr. Aaronson told me that he’s probably interviewed between 25 and 30 people already.
He emphasized the fact that the fire department has been extremely cooperative in this entire process.
“A positive sign is that there’s no question that the fire administration has an interest, it has been expressed to me, in as thorough an investigation as possible. They’ve encouraged employees to come and talk to me.”
Moreover, he has not felt that the fire department has tried to thwart his efforts.
“I haven’t gotten the impression that the fire department is trying to shut me down or push me away in any way, shape, or form.”
Finally he also emphasized that citizens should not be concerned about the quality of the service provided by the fire department.
“If there are people in the public that having heard things are concerned about service to the public, the piece that I can share at this point, neither the grand jury report nor anything that I have seen in my work suggests that the public is being disserved. I think that the quality of fire service in the city of Davis is high.”
That has been my experience and belief as well. Whatever issues exist in the fire department, quality of service and work product are not among them.
However the ability of the city to provide vital services is not infinite. The amount of resources consumed by a single department and allegations of misconduct on their part are of great concern to the taxpayer and citizen of Davis. The cost of this investigation, as small as it is in the scheme of things, is just another reminder of the consequences of the failure to resolve issues at a more basic level.
Hopefully the Grand Jury report’s recommendations will be thoroughly reviewed and implemented to the extent possible. I do not remain optimistic that much can be resolved in terms of the issues raised by the report in the short term. I can only hope that whatever the result of Mr. Aaronson’s investigation, that the city takes his findings seriously and acts on them when necessary.
—Doug Paul Davis reporting
The Ombudsman is a private consultant, billing by the hour. His invoices should be public. DPD, ask the City for them.
The Ombudsman is a private consultant, billing by the hour. His invoices should be public. DPD, ask the City for them.
The Ombudsman is a private consultant, billing by the hour. His invoices should be public. DPD, ask the City for them.
The Ombudsman is a private consultant, billing by the hour. His invoices should be public. DPD, ask the City for them.
“Mr. Aaronson’s charge for investigations is $195 per hour plus expenses.”
That is an outrageous amount of money, and paying him by the hour, not by the total job, is risky — you just give Mr. Aaronson a strong incentive to take more and more hours to do his work, all without oversight.
My suggestion to the city would be this: forget Aaronson for this kind of a job. There are literally dozens of retired city managers in our area who work as independent consultants and would be well capable of doing this report. Call all of them up and hire the one who can and will do a respectable job for the least money. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire project, including “expenses” could be done for 20% of what Aaronson is charging.
“Mr. Aaronson’s charge for investigations is $195 per hour plus expenses.”
That is an outrageous amount of money, and paying him by the hour, not by the total job, is risky — you just give Mr. Aaronson a strong incentive to take more and more hours to do his work, all without oversight.
My suggestion to the city would be this: forget Aaronson for this kind of a job. There are literally dozens of retired city managers in our area who work as independent consultants and would be well capable of doing this report. Call all of them up and hire the one who can and will do a respectable job for the least money. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire project, including “expenses” could be done for 20% of what Aaronson is charging.
“Mr. Aaronson’s charge for investigations is $195 per hour plus expenses.”
That is an outrageous amount of money, and paying him by the hour, not by the total job, is risky — you just give Mr. Aaronson a strong incentive to take more and more hours to do his work, all without oversight.
My suggestion to the city would be this: forget Aaronson for this kind of a job. There are literally dozens of retired city managers in our area who work as independent consultants and would be well capable of doing this report. Call all of them up and hire the one who can and will do a respectable job for the least money. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire project, including “expenses” could be done for 20% of what Aaronson is charging.
“Mr. Aaronson’s charge for investigations is $195 per hour plus expenses.”
That is an outrageous amount of money, and paying him by the hour, not by the total job, is risky — you just give Mr. Aaronson a strong incentive to take more and more hours to do his work, all without oversight.
My suggestion to the city would be this: forget Aaronson for this kind of a job. There are literally dozens of retired city managers in our area who work as independent consultants and would be well capable of doing this report. Call all of them up and hire the one who can and will do a respectable job for the least money. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire project, including “expenses” could be done for 20% of what Aaronson is charging.
While I agree the price is steep, the hours are capped and I believe that Mr. Aaronson is sincere in trying to do this as economical as possible.
In addition, a former city manager does not have the investigative expertise to do an investigation of this magnitude.
While I agree the price is steep, the hours are capped and I believe that Mr. Aaronson is sincere in trying to do this as economical as possible.
In addition, a former city manager does not have the investigative expertise to do an investigation of this magnitude.
While I agree the price is steep, the hours are capped and I believe that Mr. Aaronson is sincere in trying to do this as economical as possible.
In addition, a former city manager does not have the investigative expertise to do an investigation of this magnitude.
While I agree the price is steep, the hours are capped and I believe that Mr. Aaronson is sincere in trying to do this as economical as possible.
In addition, a former city manager does not have the investigative expertise to do an investigation of this magnitude.
I agree with what Rifkin said.
As far as a retired city manager “not having the investigative expertise to do an investigation of this magnitude,” I disagree. Experienced city managers are exactly right for conducting this kind of an audit.
I am not entirely familiar with Mr. Aaronson’s expertise in municipal management, but unless he has been a city manager, I would doubt his expertise in analyzing and criticizing the management of the Davis fire department, which is what this is about.
If a city manager is doing the job well, a large part of that is analyzing the work of his department heads and other subordinates. When those people work as consultants, they can quickly come in and see what was done right or wrong.
I agree with what Rifkin said.
As far as a retired city manager “not having the investigative expertise to do an investigation of this magnitude,” I disagree. Experienced city managers are exactly right for conducting this kind of an audit.
I am not entirely familiar with Mr. Aaronson’s expertise in municipal management, but unless he has been a city manager, I would doubt his expertise in analyzing and criticizing the management of the Davis fire department, which is what this is about.
If a city manager is doing the job well, a large part of that is analyzing the work of his department heads and other subordinates. When those people work as consultants, they can quickly come in and see what was done right or wrong.
I agree with what Rifkin said.
As far as a retired city manager “not having the investigative expertise to do an investigation of this magnitude,” I disagree. Experienced city managers are exactly right for conducting this kind of an audit.
I am not entirely familiar with Mr. Aaronson’s expertise in municipal management, but unless he has been a city manager, I would doubt his expertise in analyzing and criticizing the management of the Davis fire department, which is what this is about.
If a city manager is doing the job well, a large part of that is analyzing the work of his department heads and other subordinates. When those people work as consultants, they can quickly come in and see what was done right or wrong.
I agree with what Rifkin said.
As far as a retired city manager “not having the investigative expertise to do an investigation of this magnitude,” I disagree. Experienced city managers are exactly right for conducting this kind of an audit.
I am not entirely familiar with Mr. Aaronson’s expertise in municipal management, but unless he has been a city manager, I would doubt his expertise in analyzing and criticizing the management of the Davis fire department, which is what this is about.
If a city manager is doing the job well, a large part of that is analyzing the work of his department heads and other subordinates. When those people work as consultants, they can quickly come in and see what was done right or wrong.
One more thing. A retired fire chief from outside Davis could also run this investigation. The only problem there is you are more likely to have a conflict of interest, because the retired fire chiefs in our region probably know the woman in charge of the DFD.
One more thing. A retired fire chief from outside Davis could also run this investigation. The only problem there is you are more likely to have a conflict of interest, because the retired fire chiefs in our region probably know the woman in charge of the DFD.
One more thing. A retired fire chief from outside Davis could also run this investigation. The only problem there is you are more likely to have a conflict of interest, because the retired fire chiefs in our region probably know the woman in charge of the DFD.
One more thing. A retired fire chief from outside Davis could also run this investigation. The only problem there is you are more likely to have a conflict of interest, because the retired fire chiefs in our region probably know the woman in charge of the DFD.
That’s an interesting point Greg, but I guess you would have to convince me that fire management is sufficiently different from his expertise in police department management that he could not reasonably be able to translate one to the other.
My memory is fuzzy on his complete background, but he’s been around city governments for a long time, including I believe as an assistant city attorney, so wouldn’t put that past him.
The other point of course is how much of this investigation needs to be based on the specifics of fire department management?
That’s an interesting point Greg, but I guess you would have to convince me that fire management is sufficiently different from his expertise in police department management that he could not reasonably be able to translate one to the other.
My memory is fuzzy on his complete background, but he’s been around city governments for a long time, including I believe as an assistant city attorney, so wouldn’t put that past him.
The other point of course is how much of this investigation needs to be based on the specifics of fire department management?
That’s an interesting point Greg, but I guess you would have to convince me that fire management is sufficiently different from his expertise in police department management that he could not reasonably be able to translate one to the other.
My memory is fuzzy on his complete background, but he’s been around city governments for a long time, including I believe as an assistant city attorney, so wouldn’t put that past him.
The other point of course is how much of this investigation needs to be based on the specifics of fire department management?
That’s an interesting point Greg, but I guess you would have to convince me that fire management is sufficiently different from his expertise in police department management that he could not reasonably be able to translate one to the other.
My memory is fuzzy on his complete background, but he’s been around city governments for a long time, including I believe as an assistant city attorney, so wouldn’t put that past him.
The other point of course is how much of this investigation needs to be based on the specifics of fire department management?
Was there some sort of extension granted for the response to the grand jury until late October?
According to a post you made earlier “The law requires the city to submit a response within 90 days of the Grand Jury’s report. That means by the end of September. However, Mr. Emlen would like that to be done much sooner. “Our goal is to respond to the Grand Jury’s report much earlier than is required by law.”
The end of October from Aaronson sounded like the earliest the response would be available.
Was there some sort of extension granted for the response to the grand jury until late October?
According to a post you made earlier “The law requires the city to submit a response within 90 days of the Grand Jury’s report. That means by the end of September. However, Mr. Emlen would like that to be done much sooner. “Our goal is to respond to the Grand Jury’s report much earlier than is required by law.”
The end of October from Aaronson sounded like the earliest the response would be available.
Was there some sort of extension granted for the response to the grand jury until late October?
According to a post you made earlier “The law requires the city to submit a response within 90 days of the Grand Jury’s report. That means by the end of September. However, Mr. Emlen would like that to be done much sooner. “Our goal is to respond to the Grand Jury’s report much earlier than is required by law.”
The end of October from Aaronson sounded like the earliest the response would be available.
Was there some sort of extension granted for the response to the grand jury until late October?
According to a post you made earlier “The law requires the city to submit a response within 90 days of the Grand Jury’s report. That means by the end of September. However, Mr. Emlen would like that to be done much sooner. “Our goal is to respond to the Grand Jury’s report much earlier than is required by law.”
The end of October from Aaronson sounded like the earliest the response would be available.
Our CC and School Board hire “consultants” to do surveys/polling at the drop of a hat for this range of payment(and more).
Our CC and School Board hire “consultants” to do surveys/polling at the drop of a hat for this range of payment(and more).
Our CC and School Board hire “consultants” to do surveys/polling at the drop of a hat for this range of payment(and more).
Our CC and School Board hire “consultants” to do surveys/polling at the drop of a hat for this range of payment(and more).
Sounds like you want the job to go to the lowest bidder. Remember you get what you pay for. That’s why you live in Davis and not in South Sacramento.
Sounds like you want the job to go to the lowest bidder. Remember you get what you pay for. That’s why you live in Davis and not in South Sacramento.
Sounds like you want the job to go to the lowest bidder. Remember you get what you pay for. That’s why you live in Davis and not in South Sacramento.
Sounds like you want the job to go to the lowest bidder. Remember you get what you pay for. That’s why you live in Davis and not in South Sacramento.
It’s great that Aaronson is doing the investigation. Retired city managers would be sycophants and would not be trusted to do a truly independent investigation.
Investigations take a lot of time.
Thank you for this story DPD.
It’s great that Aaronson is doing the investigation. Retired city managers would be sycophants and would not be trusted to do a truly independent investigation.
Investigations take a lot of time.
Thank you for this story DPD.
It’s great that Aaronson is doing the investigation. Retired city managers would be sycophants and would not be trusted to do a truly independent investigation.
Investigations take a lot of time.
Thank you for this story DPD.
It’s great that Aaronson is doing the investigation. Retired city managers would be sycophants and would not be trusted to do a truly independent investigation.
Investigations take a lot of time.
Thank you for this story DPD.
“I am not entirely familiar with Mr. Aaronson’s expertise in municipal management, but unless he has been a city manager, I would doubt his expertise in analyzing and criticizing the management of the Davis fire department, which is what this is about.”
I completely disagree with this statement. They may be inclined to simply say that everything is okay without being thorough, straightforward while conducting an honest report.
“I am not entirely familiar with Mr. Aaronson’s expertise in municipal management, but unless he has been a city manager, I would doubt his expertise in analyzing and criticizing the management of the Davis fire department, which is what this is about.”
I completely disagree with this statement. They may be inclined to simply say that everything is okay without being thorough, straightforward while conducting an honest report.
“I am not entirely familiar with Mr. Aaronson’s expertise in municipal management, but unless he has been a city manager, I would doubt his expertise in analyzing and criticizing the management of the Davis fire department, which is what this is about.”
I completely disagree with this statement. They may be inclined to simply say that everything is okay without being thorough, straightforward while conducting an honest report.
“I am not entirely familiar with Mr. Aaronson’s expertise in municipal management, but unless he has been a city manager, I would doubt his expertise in analyzing and criticizing the management of the Davis fire department, which is what this is about.”
I completely disagree with this statement. They may be inclined to simply say that everything is okay without being thorough, straightforward while conducting an honest report.
I forgot to add that I would not trust our current city manager to conduct an independent investigation himself if he were retired. Look at the financial problems we are facing now.
I am glad that an independent investigator that has experience is conducting the investigations.
I forgot to add that I would not trust our current city manager to conduct an independent investigation himself if he were retired. Look at the financial problems we are facing now.
I am glad that an independent investigator that has experience is conducting the investigations.
I forgot to add that I would not trust our current city manager to conduct an independent investigation himself if he were retired. Look at the financial problems we are facing now.
I am glad that an independent investigator that has experience is conducting the investigations.
I forgot to add that I would not trust our current city manager to conduct an independent investigation himself if he were retired. Look at the financial problems we are facing now.
I am glad that an independent investigator that has experience is conducting the investigations.
Rifkin said “That is an outrageous amount of money.”
Not really, Dave Rosenberg billed Lt. Gov Gray Davis that to write proclamations over 10 years ago. Beginning attorneys are billed at higher rates than $195/hour. Many professional athletes make much more as do actors, surgeons and good looking hookers. My mechanio charges $100/hour. It all depends on your skill set so what seems like a lot of money to someone with a low value skill set might actually be well priced. Don’t forget a sandwich at the Farmers Market on Wednesday costs 10 bucks. War and corruption and financial bailout all make your money worth less through inflation. $195/hour not a lot of money anymore.
Rifkin said “That is an outrageous amount of money.”
Not really, Dave Rosenberg billed Lt. Gov Gray Davis that to write proclamations over 10 years ago. Beginning attorneys are billed at higher rates than $195/hour. Many professional athletes make much more as do actors, surgeons and good looking hookers. My mechanio charges $100/hour. It all depends on your skill set so what seems like a lot of money to someone with a low value skill set might actually be well priced. Don’t forget a sandwich at the Farmers Market on Wednesday costs 10 bucks. War and corruption and financial bailout all make your money worth less through inflation. $195/hour not a lot of money anymore.
Rifkin said “That is an outrageous amount of money.”
Not really, Dave Rosenberg billed Lt. Gov Gray Davis that to write proclamations over 10 years ago. Beginning attorneys are billed at higher rates than $195/hour. Many professional athletes make much more as do actors, surgeons and good looking hookers. My mechanio charges $100/hour. It all depends on your skill set so what seems like a lot of money to someone with a low value skill set might actually be well priced. Don’t forget a sandwich at the Farmers Market on Wednesday costs 10 bucks. War and corruption and financial bailout all make your money worth less through inflation. $195/hour not a lot of money anymore.
Rifkin said “That is an outrageous amount of money.”
Not really, Dave Rosenberg billed Lt. Gov Gray Davis that to write proclamations over 10 years ago. Beginning attorneys are billed at higher rates than $195/hour. Many professional athletes make much more as do actors, surgeons and good looking hookers. My mechanio charges $100/hour. It all depends on your skill set so what seems like a lot of money to someone with a low value skill set might actually be well priced. Don’t forget a sandwich at the Farmers Market on Wednesday costs 10 bucks. War and corruption and financial bailout all make your money worth less through inflation. $195/hour not a lot of money anymore.
Former City Manager, Antonin, left before they fired him for incompetence. He does not and did not have the skills or ambition to do an investigation like this.
Former City Manager, Antonin, left before they fired him for incompetence. He does not and did not have the skills or ambition to do an investigation like this.
Former City Manager, Antonin, left before they fired him for incompetence. He does not and did not have the skills or ambition to do an investigation like this.
Former City Manager, Antonin, left before they fired him for incompetence. He does not and did not have the skills or ambition to do an investigation like this.
Mr. Aaronson works for the City half time and some other City the other half of the time. Who’s getting short changed in this process?
Mr. Aaronson works for the City half time and some other City the other half of the time. Who’s getting short changed in this process?
Mr. Aaronson works for the City half time and some other City the other half of the time. Who’s getting short changed in this process?
Mr. Aaronson works for the City half time and some other City the other half of the time. Who’s getting short changed in this process?
Rumor has it that ole Rosie Conroy has again given unoffical approval for firefighters who drink to excess to sleep it off at the fire station.
Where did the rumor come from? From a firefighter.
Given that scenario I think Mr. Aaronson’s funding should come directly out of Ole Rosie’s paycheck.
Rumor has it that ole Rosie Conroy has again given unoffical approval for firefighters who drink to excess to sleep it off at the fire station.
Where did the rumor come from? From a firefighter.
Given that scenario I think Mr. Aaronson’s funding should come directly out of Ole Rosie’s paycheck.
Rumor has it that ole Rosie Conroy has again given unoffical approval for firefighters who drink to excess to sleep it off at the fire station.
Where did the rumor come from? From a firefighter.
Given that scenario I think Mr. Aaronson’s funding should come directly out of Ole Rosie’s paycheck.
Rumor has it that ole Rosie Conroy has again given unoffical approval for firefighters who drink to excess to sleep it off at the fire station.
Where did the rumor come from? From a firefighter.
Given that scenario I think Mr. Aaronson’s funding should come directly out of Ole Rosie’s paycheck.
Dave Rosenberg? He’s always been paid far more than his skills are worth.
Dave Rosenberg? He’s always been paid far more than his skills are worth.
Dave Rosenberg? He’s always been paid far more than his skills are worth.
Dave Rosenberg? He’s always been paid far more than his skills are worth.
The hourly fee being charged is not out of line.
If it turns out that most of the GJ allegations were false then the city will be paying a lot due to very sloppy (and unsupported) work done by the GJ. Then Aaronson will have another job to do – investigate the GJ.
The hourly fee being charged is not out of line.
If it turns out that most of the GJ allegations were false then the city will be paying a lot due to very sloppy (and unsupported) work done by the GJ. Then Aaronson will have another job to do – investigate the GJ.
The hourly fee being charged is not out of line.
If it turns out that most of the GJ allegations were false then the city will be paying a lot due to very sloppy (and unsupported) work done by the GJ. Then Aaronson will have another job to do – investigate the GJ.
The hourly fee being charged is not out of line.
If it turns out that most of the GJ allegations were false then the city will be paying a lot due to very sloppy (and unsupported) work done by the GJ. Then Aaronson will have another job to do – investigate the GJ.
And if they turn out to be true?
And if they turn out to be true?
And if they turn out to be true?
And if they turn out to be true?
Do you have an answer to the question raised earlier concerning the investigation response deadline? At first it was thought to be late September now it’s late October at the earliest.
Do you have an answer to the question raised earlier concerning the investigation response deadline? At first it was thought to be late September now it’s late October at the earliest.
Do you have an answer to the question raised earlier concerning the investigation response deadline? At first it was thought to be late September now it’s late October at the earliest.
Do you have an answer to the question raised earlier concerning the investigation response deadline? At first it was thought to be late September now it’s late October at the earliest.
And if they turn out to be true?
Then the investigation is well worth it and the FD is hosed.
And if they turn out to be true?
Then the investigation is well worth it and the FD is hosed.
And if they turn out to be true?
Then the investigation is well worth it and the FD is hosed.
And if they turn out to be true?
Then the investigation is well worth it and the FD is hosed.
I spoke to Bob Aaronson again. He told me that the city does not need to wait for his report in order to respond. All the city is required to respond to is the recommendations which are pretty cosmetic.
The city is going beyond this requirement to actually look into the allegations.
I spoke to Bob Aaronson again. He told me that the city does not need to wait for his report in order to respond. All the city is required to respond to is the recommendations which are pretty cosmetic.
The city is going beyond this requirement to actually look into the allegations.
I spoke to Bob Aaronson again. He told me that the city does not need to wait for his report in order to respond. All the city is required to respond to is the recommendations which are pretty cosmetic.
The city is going beyond this requirement to actually look into the allegations.
I spoke to Bob Aaronson again. He told me that the city does not need to wait for his report in order to respond. All the city is required to respond to is the recommendations which are pretty cosmetic.
The city is going beyond this requirement to actually look into the allegations.
I hope Bob Aaronson is better at investigating the Fire Department than he is at giving you advice on the requirements on responding to a Grand Jury final report.
Penal Code Section 933.05 states:
Elected officials are required by law to respond to each recommendation contained in Final Report(s) within 60 days of issuance. Other County or City entities must respond to each recommendation within 90 days.
1. Response One: The recommendation has been implemented, with a summary explanation of how it was implemented.
2. Response Two: The recommendation has not been implemented, but will be implemented in the future, with a time frame for the implementation.
3. Response Three: The recommendation requires further analysis, with an explanation of the scope of that analysis and a time frame for the officer or agency head to be prepared to discuss it, (less than six months from the release of the report).
4. Response Four: The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or reasonable, with an explanation therefore.
I hope Bob Aaronson is better at investigating the Fire Department than he is at giving you advice on the requirements on responding to a Grand Jury final report.
Penal Code Section 933.05 states:
Elected officials are required by law to respond to each recommendation contained in Final Report(s) within 60 days of issuance. Other County or City entities must respond to each recommendation within 90 days.
1. Response One: The recommendation has been implemented, with a summary explanation of how it was implemented.
2. Response Two: The recommendation has not been implemented, but will be implemented in the future, with a time frame for the implementation.
3. Response Three: The recommendation requires further analysis, with an explanation of the scope of that analysis and a time frame for the officer or agency head to be prepared to discuss it, (less than six months from the release of the report).
4. Response Four: The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or reasonable, with an explanation therefore.
I hope Bob Aaronson is better at investigating the Fire Department than he is at giving you advice on the requirements on responding to a Grand Jury final report.
Penal Code Section 933.05 states:
Elected officials are required by law to respond to each recommendation contained in Final Report(s) within 60 days of issuance. Other County or City entities must respond to each recommendation within 90 days.
1. Response One: The recommendation has been implemented, with a summary explanation of how it was implemented.
2. Response Two: The recommendation has not been implemented, but will be implemented in the future, with a time frame for the implementation.
3. Response Three: The recommendation requires further analysis, with an explanation of the scope of that analysis and a time frame for the officer or agency head to be prepared to discuss it, (less than six months from the release of the report).
4. Response Four: The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or reasonable, with an explanation therefore.
I hope Bob Aaronson is better at investigating the Fire Department than he is at giving you advice on the requirements on responding to a Grand Jury final report.
Penal Code Section 933.05 states:
Elected officials are required by law to respond to each recommendation contained in Final Report(s) within 60 days of issuance. Other County or City entities must respond to each recommendation within 90 days.
1. Response One: The recommendation has been implemented, with a summary explanation of how it was implemented.
2. Response Two: The recommendation has not been implemented, but will be implemented in the future, with a time frame for the implementation.
3. Response Three: The recommendation requires further analysis, with an explanation of the scope of that analysis and a time frame for the officer or agency head to be prepared to discuss it, (less than six months from the release of the report).
4. Response Four: The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or reasonable, with an explanation therefore.