The Total Breakdown in Most Local California Governments
Lack of leadership at local level leads to chaos, anarchy, violence, destruction
By Katy Grimes, September 7, 2020 2:20 am
California is a mess, still in COVID-19 lockdown, with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s boot on the necks of the state’s business owners and employees.
Businesses have been closed for 6 months, with far too many never to re-open. As if that is not enough damage to the state’s economy, Democrat Mayors of blue cities – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, and many others, have done nothing to prevent riots, protests, destruction of downtown businesses, vandalism, violence and injuries, all in the name of “racial justice” and the movement to “Defund the Police.”
All of this chaos and lack of leadership is leading to a total breakdown in California’s cities.
Leaders like Mayors, Chiefs of Police, County Supervisors, City Councils and schools superintendents have kowtowed to mobs, and abdicated their actual responsibilities.
“Optics” are now more important than governing.
Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn
Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn recently wrote an op ed for the Sacramento Bee claiming “In the wake of police killings of unarmed Black citizens, riots have broken out across the country.”
Hahn said, “Most protests have been peaceful. But some have not. Vandals who falsely claim to represent the Black Lives Matter movement have hijacked a righteous cause. They’ve broken windows of public buildings and small businesses downtown. They’ve smashed and looted. They’ve taunted and, at times, assaulted police.”
The Globe learned that Sacramento Police Department officers were told to stand down during the protests and riots. And they have been told to leave homeless vagrants alone.
Hahn continues: “So far, no one in Sacramento has been killed or seriously injured. No buildings have burned. There’s no smell of teargas wafting across our city, no “rubber bullets” have taken out eyes. On balance, this is a good outcome.”
Chief Hahn says nothing about the boarded up businesses in downtown Sacramento, and the permanent destruction of those businesses.
Hahn says “tough” tactics can escalate protest violence.
Chief Hahn is taking a page out of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s deflection handbook. The Globe reported:
Last weekend Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg posted a Tweet Saturday discussing how “challenging” the riots are for the city. He then pivoted to focus attention on cities in other states where riots are also taking place, but are much worse.
Many in the city say the Mayor needs to look inward and focus on his sole responsibility, which is the safety and well-being of the citizens of Sacramento. Attempting to deflect attention to other cities is irrelevant – especially to the citizens and taxpayers of Sacramento, whose businesses and jobs are being threatened by the rioters over and over again.
Deflecting on violent riots and escalating protests in other cities is no crime policy. Notably, Chief Hahn and Mayor Steinberg recently took a knee with protesters.
“Tough” tactics keep the peace and let rioters and unruly protesters know their violent behavior will not be tolerated. Taking a knee with rioters and protesters leads to Portland and Seattle levels of violence, murder, destruction and total anarchy.
Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy:
Last weekend, the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department had to step in and protect the Sacramento County District Attorney’s offices from rioters and vandals after Sacramento Police Department was apparently given a stand down order. The Sheriff’s offices and District Attorney’s office were vandalized Thursday night by Antifa, and the DA’s office set on fire.
Yet, Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy calls for “oversight” of the sheriff’s department and greater transparency, and claims “the public is calling for community oversight.”
Kennedy’s Sacramento district is rocked with huge homeless encampments, poverty, crime, destitute ghettos, some of which is protected by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, and a greatly understaffed Sacramento Police Department.
“Establishing a Community Review Commission in an authentic way to establish a greater trust between Sacramento County’s Sheriff’s Department and the community,” Kennedy said.
This statement begs the question: If there is such a lack of trust between the community and the Sheriff and his department, why do Sacramento voters keep electing him?
“Constitutional protections and case law make oversight of an elected county sheriff far more complicated than oversight of chiefs of police in cities. Chiefs of police are employees of the cities that employ them, typically reporting directly to a city manager or mayor and/or city council. A county sheriff does not report to the board of supervisors,” Kennedy said.
That’s because he reports directly to the voters.
Supervisor Kennedy just doesn’t like Sacramento’s Law-and-Order Sheriff Scott Jones, and is feeding the BLM and Antifa “Defund the Police” rioters more red meat with this shameless op ed.
Darrell Steinberg: “The do-nothing Mayor”
Nicknamed “Do-Nothing Darrell,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has tried to make-nice with Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters, only to find they despise him and all city leaders and authority officials.
His attempts to be loved by the masses have only elicited more and greater riots, vandalism, destruction, and permanently closed businesses in Sacramento’s downtown.
California Globe took photos this week of the destruction to downtown businesses, and noted so many more which appear to be closed for good (they are interspersed throughout this article).
As the Globe recently asked, “After the Mayor publicly stated he would not tolerate violence and destruction, and arrests would be made on the spot, why did SacPD officers stand down on property crimes?”
“Why did SacPD officers not intervene, or make any arrests, during the destruction and attempted arson of the DA’s office?”
“The only conclusion, after witnessing this in Portland and Seattle—also with Democrat Mayors in which rioters were allowed to destroy with impunity—is that orders came from Mayor Steinberg.”
After decades in elected office, Steinberg rightfully could be expected to rise to the occasion, and demonstrate his political chops… which are sorely lacking at this time of need.
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If only we had RICO laws (China, Child/Adult/Human and drug trafficking co-inspiring with PG&E) Just to name a few crimes that are public….that could be used to lock up every single democrat not only in the state of California but the United states…Barr is a failure at this point…
I agree about Barr. He has been worthless. If Trump wins this election, what good does it do us when criminals like Gavin Newsom and the Democratic cabal can operate with impunity?
This is not a failure due to AG Barr but rather failure due to elected democrat officials, their appointees and the people who elect them. The blame lands firmly on the people of California. As long as the voters allow these people to convince them to be elected, this will only get worse.
This is nothing new to California. Ronald Reagan fixed the mess Pat Brown created in the 60’s and George Deukmejian fixed the mess his idiot son moonbeam created in the 70’s. California is now in a horrendous death spiral, and the voters need to understand the democrats do not resolve problems but rather create them. Turn off the fake news, face facts and vote in leaders who will actually fix the problems and work for the California people and not the DNC beast.
Juggernaut, I don’t know if it is the voters, maybe it is the corrupt politicians that count the votes.
I just don’t see how voters could be that stupid for so long.
‘Course I could be wrong.
@ DJ
I agree with you 100% that voter fraud is and has been a big problem, but unfortunately many helped vote them into office and vote to keep them there. There are millions of current and retired state workers that vote for them just to keep their jobs or pensions coming in. It’s hard to believe people still vote for them after what they do but they do and I’m as shocked as you are. It really boggles the mind and especially when they start to flip out over facts that they are willing to fight you in some way over.
It would probably be impossible to calculate just HOW MUCH damage this despicable City Mayors’ Club has done to California. Not ONLY are citizens still shackled (after six months!) with phony COVID lockdown rules thanks to Gruesome & Co., but to the extent we are all now living from crisis to crisis because of riots and threats of riots, crime and threats of crime, power shortages and outages from useless city GREEN programs (whose failure was long-predicted), drug-addicted and mentally ill homeless/vagrants living in their own filth on city sidewalks in every neighborhood–not to mention the inability of everyday citizens to roam and work freely and pursue their own happiness and prosperity–it is because of the ABSOLUTE FAILURE of these puffed-up, know-nothing, weak, emotionally-troubled California Democrat mayors.
Of course many would argue that these mayors have actually done a great job because their real goal was to RUIN the cities they run in their quest for power and money and the usual false gods, to throw them–perhaps permanently–into chaos and dysfunction, so mission accomplished! It’s difficult if not impossible for most of us to really understand why anyone would want such an outcome, but it would be foolish of us to dispute the result of their efforts, wouldn’t it? After all, we’re “living the dream” now, aren’t we?
If an investigation was conducted and it was discovered that a mayor, any city mayor instructed his/her local PD to stand down while “peaceful protestors” destroyed property. And if, say the PD chief ignored these orders and his police arrested rioters despite the order, who would be in more trouble? The Mayor for allowing or permitting the destruction, or the PD Chief for ignoring the orders?
Just wondering.
If this picture wasn’t so sad it would be laughable. What a bunch of damn losers. How nice they took the time to pretend to care when their actions and leadership prove they do not.
California is a growing hemorrhoid on the rear of the USA, and at this point I’m not sure who is worse between these fools running the state into the ground or the idiots who continue to vote for them.
Let’s face facts here…
These Democrat mayors and other politicians are collaborating to foment extreme hardship on everyone for political calculus in an attempt to gin up falsified accusations against President Trump.
It’s been one baseless challenge after another since he announced in 2015 and I wouldn’t be surprised to later learn that the DCC collaborated with their political allies in the CCP to release the Covid-19 virus against the US to destroy the strong economy that was emerging under President Trump’s leadership.
China was pissed at the trade sanctions and the Democrats have been inflamed by Trump Derangement Syndrome since Cankles lost in 2016…
This whole sad situation is a political hit job and rank & file Americans are the collateral damage….
@ ExCaliExpat
I think you are correct on everything. When facts begin to emerge that completely counter what we’re being told to believe it’s almost impossible to not take notice. I started doubting this whole thing after about 72 hours and after two weeks I was done with it completely.
The problem for these idiot liberal leaders is they went all in shutting things down in a panic without considering the consequences, which they generally do since they are rarely pragmatic about anything, but are now in a bigger panic trying to keep the lie alive. Even hilter and joseph goeebbels knew eventually the truth would come out but and the lie exposed, but these crazy liberals in their infinite wisdom seem to believe they can keep it going with the help of the media. The good thing is people are not buying it. I would not be shocked to learn all of these democrats are in on the flu scam and have been from the beginning.
Those ‘taking the knee’ are pathetic and cringe-worthy . That will make itself plain to everyone over time. Thereafter one could just ignore a very stupid mistake or live with the embarrassment of being duped into supporting a psyop.
It’s almost as if these people want to be the slaves of another.
Sorry, but as I have said for years: “You get the government you deserve”.
If Trump loses, China wins. America loses.
If you were in the military, everything you ever fought for will be gone.
While these corrupt Democrats flout the law and are directly to blame I blame Republicans for allowing the environment where Democrat corruption flourishes. The Republicans knew better but decades of cowardice and inaction have allowed these creeps to get a stranglehold on this state (and this country).
The Bushes, McCain, and Romney. Gov. Boobengrabber could have made a stand but he wanted to be popular.