Posted on 06/06/2004 12:10:49 PM PDT by John Jorsett
There was a lot more going on behind California Highway Patrol boss Dwight "Spike" Helmick's announced exit last week than met the eye.
The truth is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's people had been looking for months to get rid of Helmick, who had been in the job since then-Gov. Pete Wilson put him there in 1995.
Among Helmick's alleged sins:
-- Dropping his GOP affiliation and listing himself as an independent after Democrat Gray Davis was elected governor.
-- Getting way too cozy with the CHP officers' union and playing favorites in promotions.
-- Going along with Davis' "cosmetic'' homeland security plans -- like the idea of using CHP officers as sky marshals on commercial flights inside California.
-- And being a bit too open with the press.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
In Virginia, you don't identify with a party. You just register to vote.
I like this system better than the one in California (where I used to live).
Good riddance.
As a former CHP officer, I can say this was long overdue.
What was happening was a " Good ol' Boy network". That meant, if you kissed up to the right people, you got your promotions, regardless of allegations against you, or your KSA (Knowledge, Skills,and Abilities). There were some who entered with the idea of going from Officer rank to Commissioner.
Being a cop is one of the most thankless jobs I can think of. As just an average member of the public who is very grateful that some folks are willing to take that on, THANK YOU for your time spent as an officer.
This press report has a menacing edge to it, I would say.
I am 28 year veteran of government service, I am sure you would agree that once a person gets appointed to a position such as Chief of the CHP then politics runs the show. In my parts workin in that level a person serves at
the pleasure of the Governor and can be replaced anytime
its desired. We had aproblem in my state of changing Appointed positions to career slots after all the political toads, cronies and such were inplace, trying to
protect their power base by claiming career status.
My tears for this guy do not exist since he was in all
counts a political appointee.
It shows that Arnold is not afraid to get rid of those who need to be dismissed.
Didn't he summarily fire the head of DMV, when that guy was dragging his feet implementing the car tax reduction after Arnold signed it into law?
Good for Arnold, I say.
I think Davis and Bustamante used the CHP in campaign appearances at tax payer expense, with the consent of the Chief. The Chief sold out, it was time for him to go. He lost sight of why he was where he was.
I agree -- the press just failed to grant Arnold his due here. It seems they want to make him out to be a power-wielding, impersonal leader who operates on the basis of rumors instead of for good reason. I support our CHP and our governor. The press is flaky about both and appears to be taking the kid gloves off in opposition to Arnold. He needs to be ready for a lot of negative publicity, even the trumped up variety.
Here on the Central Coast, we lost two fine CHP officers, Rick Stovall and Britt Irvine, who drowned in their police car when a section of Hwy 166 collapsed under them. This was in 1993, the El Nino year. It was in the middle of the night when they were out investigating the road conditions on 166.
This was a tragedy that most of us on the Central Coast remember vividly. Thousands turned out for their funeral - it was truly inspirational, an outpouring of love and gratitude for their ultimate sacrifice. They will never be forgotten here.
This has nothing to do with the original post, but I thought I'd say it anyway.
One time in the early 70's I blew thru a car windshield on a Hwy 17 in San Jose. It wasn't my fault, but that didn't really matter at the time. I was bleeding profusely, and I thought I was going to die.
I ripped off my shirt and held it to my eyebrows, which were all messed up.
A CHP officer showed up and held his hand on my chest. I couldn't see. He told me that I would be okay.
He was, at that time, my link to life.
I love the way you rewrite history.
Arnold fired Gourley after Arnold had been in office one week. It was reported that Gourley was was known for his crackdowns on deceptive finance practices and misleading advertising by car dealers, some of Arnold's largest contributors.
And then there was that DMV deputy director Arnold appointed, Jack Corrie, who quickly disappeared when the educational background on his resume wasn't matching up with reality.
Go Arnold!
You are the one who needs to get your facts straight.
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=5132&catcode=33
"Schwarzenegger, sworn into office just a few hours before, had signed an order rescinding the tripling of the car tax Davis put in place in June. Schwarzenegger said the cut would take effect immediately.
But by Monday afternoon, word was getting back to the new governor's press office that the DMV was saying it didn't know when the tax cut would take effect. It might take 30 days to reprogram the computers. And there was a law that appeared to require 60 days notice of any change in the car-tax rate.
Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's communications director, saw Batjer at the Chamber of Commerce's inaugural luncheon and passed the word along. Batjer decided to act. She did so before she made it back to the Capitol, axing Gourley and accelerating the appointment of a longtime Capitol troubleshooter, Chon Gutierrez, as the new director."
As soon as the law was taking effect, car sales soared, helping CA economy.
The difference is that mosquitos are dumb. Our adversaries are not. But we have the advantage of the mosquito. To them we are a nuisance, or it's just a job. To us it's life and death. Persevere, as shall I.
Business Wire, Nov 24, 2003 p5716
DMV Announces Another Major Breakthrough on Governor Schwarzenegger's Slashing of the Car Tax.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2003 Business Wire
News Editors/Business Editors
SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 24, 2003
The California Department of Motor Vehicles today announced another major breakthrough in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's effort to give Californians even faster and easier access to his two-thirds reduction of the car tax.
The department has completed the highly complex and time-consuming reprogramming of DMV computers to the lower rate in just one-fourth the time it usually takes. They did in seven days what, in the past, has frequently taken up to 30 days.
The DMV began mailing out car tax bills at the reduced rate today, and the first of the lower bills should begin showing up in mailboxes later this week. Californians receiving the new bills will no longer need to recalculate the amount due or pay the higher fees and wait for a refund.
Customers who have already been billed at the higher rate can use DMV's vehicle license fee (VLF) calculator on the department's Web site at dmv.ca.gov to automatically recalculate their bills to the lower amount. They can then write a check to DMV for the lower amount rather than waiting for a refund.
Beginning today, DMV field offices are also on-line at the reduced VLF rates. But to reduce lines and wait times, DMV is strongly discouraging customers from going to field offices to renew routine vehicle registrations.
At Governor Schwarzenegger's urging, DMV technicians worked around the clock for much of the past week and managed to complete the reprogramming in a neck-snapping seven days.
"This quick turnaround is the kind of service and performance Californians expect from their government," said DMV's new Interim Director, Chon Gutierrez. "It's proof positive that government really can work the way it's supposed to when we put our minds to it. It happened because a lot of dedicated, hardworking folks here at DMV made the changeover an urgent priority and put in some very long hours, including overnight and weekend shifts, to complete the job in record time. They have made things a lot easier for Californians."
All that remains now is to mail the automatic refunds Governor Schwarzenegger has ordered for everyone who already paid the higher rate. The latest estimate is that refund checks should be sent very early in the new year.
>>>To us it's life and death. Persevere, as shall I.
Yup. :-) As shall I.
You are quoting a bunch of Arnold bashers, who are trying to find ulterior motives.
I gave you an article, which accurately recounted the events.
DMV chief doesn't want to implement Arnold's new law, he gets fired immediately. It sent a powerful message to the other Davis holdovers, who tought they will just sit and obstruct what Arnold tries to do.
The world of Arnold, according to F.O.
Category: Fiction
Amazing. The guy was gone... the refunds were in process.
I specifically DIDN'T post the articles bashing Arnold... even though I found quite a few.
Schwarzenegger Terminates California's DMV Director
"Schwarzenegger, sworn into office just a few hours before, had signed an order rescinding the tripling of the car tax Davis put in place in June. Schwarzenegger said the cut would take effect immediately.
But by Monday afternoon, word was getting back to the new governor's press office that the DMV was saying it didn't know when the tax cut would take effect. It might take 30 days to reprogram the computers. And there was a law that appeared to require 60 days notice of any change in the car-tax rate.
Rob Stutzman, Schwarzenegger's communications director, saw Batjer at the Chamber of Commerce's inaugural luncheon and passed the word along. Batjer decided to act. She did so before she made it back to the Capitol, axing Gourley and accelerating the appointment of a longtime Capitol troubleshooter, Chon Gutierrez, as the new director."
Who is ignoring facts? You post a he said/she said article that you choose to believe (kind of like that Debra whatserface re: illegal aliens getting driver's licenses). Since the DMV issued a release that all computers had been reprogrammed by November 24 and refunds in process, I choose to believe that the rumors re: them not being able to accomplish the objectives is less than believable. Those changes had to be in process and very far along to have been implemented one week after Schwarzenegger fired Gourley. On the other hand, Arnold received huge sums of money from people that were being scrutinized and penalized. That sounds like a more believeable motivation for firing to me.
Copyright Orange County Register Nov 20, 2003
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a new director of the Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday, putting a career government administrator in charge of repealing the increase in the vehicle license fee, and ousting a director known for his pursuit of fraud.
Schwarzenegger fired DMV Director Steve Gourley within hours of taking office.
Gourley had revoked or suspended the licenses of 440 car dealers for violating consumer regulations, making him an unpopular figure in an industry whose leaders gave $600,000 to Schwarzenegger's campaign. Consumer advocates worried that the change in leadership shows a pro-business bias on the part of the governor.
But Schwarzenegger's spokesman, Vince Sollitto, said the new governor wants his own man to run the agency responsible for two priority issues -- refunding the car fees and repealing a law allowing illegal immigrants to get driver's licenses.
"The governor wanted someone there with a great deal of experience and in whom he had trust," Sollitto said. "A number of the governor's priority issues touch on this agency, and two he addressed his first day in office."
(snip)
Auto dealers contributed almost 9 percent of Schwarzenegger's campaign funds.
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