Normally, when someone commits a felony, or is exposed for being a
fraud, incompetent, and/or corrupt, you expect that person to fade into
oblivion. You certainly don’t expect them to keep their taxpayer-funded
job or get handed a lucrative public contract. But last week wasn’t
typical. Indeed, it should go down as the week of no
accountability.
It was hard to choose, but the decision by the BART Board of
Directors to award a six-figure public contract to an ex-felon, alleged
torturer, and proven deadbeat may be the biggest WTF in a week full of
WTFs. According to the Oakland Tribune, the board voted
unanimously to allow a company owned by former Your Black Muslim Bakery
leader Nedir Bey to split a $1.5 million deal to install new lighting
at two East Bay BART stations.
For those who don’t remember, Nedir Bey was arrested and charged
with torturing a man in 1994 over a real estate deal, as the
Express first detailed in a 2002 story. He later pleaded no
contest to felony false imprisonment. Yet even with this conviction, he
was able to score a $1.1 million loan from the City of Oakland thanks
to the help of then-Councilwoman Natalie Bayton. He never repaid the
money.
Yet despite this track record, the BART board decided to hand Bey a
contract last week after he pulled the race card and complained that he
was being discriminated against. As for Bayton, according to the
Tribune, she’s apparently getting a piece of the BART action,
too. She’s listed as a corporate officer for Solar Eclipse, the company
hired by the agency.
A close-second for WTF of the Week has got to be the case of Oakland
Police Sergeant Derwin Longmire. The former homicide detective will be
allowed to keep his job despite evidence that he protected his friend
Yusuf Bey IV from prosecution in the murder of Oakland journalist
Chauncey Bailey. Acting Police Chief Howard Jordan decided to only slap
Longmire on the wrist — a five-day suspension — just before
new Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts took command of the department,
according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Jordan’s decision also appears to have directly conflicted with the
findings of dual inquiries by the state Attorney General’s Office and
the police department’s internal affairs unit. State AG investigators
said Longmire’s homicide investigation had been “inexcusably lacking”
for failing to look into Bey IV’s role in assassinating Bailey. And
internal affairs concluded that Longmire “deliberately did an
inadequate investigation … most likely due to a relationship” with
Bey IV. The former Your Black Muslim Bakery CEO was not charged with
murdering Bailey until after Longmire was off the case.
But Jordan’s decision to go easy on Longmire wasn’t completely
unexpected. Jordan also had culpability in the matter. He was the head
of the investigations bureau when Longmire led the Bailey case and he
knew of Longmire’s friendship with Bey IV. According to the
Chron, Jordan also defended Longmire in an interview with state
investigators. Plus he decided to clear Longmire’s immediate boss,
Lieutenant Ersie Joyner, even though he also knew of Longmire’s
relationship with Bey IV and had failed to closely monitor him.
Our third pick for the No Accountability list is William Lovan,
nephew of fired Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly. Lovan
remained in his city job last week despite being convicted of a felony
gun charge. The irony is that Mayor Ron Dellums fired Edgerly last year
in part because of her alleged involvement in Lovan’s case. Police had
suspected that Edgerly tried to use her influence to intervene on his
behalf.
Speaking of Edgerly, a new city hiring practices report revealed
that the Oakland Police Department has invited her daughter, Erin
Breckenridge, to the next police academy, even though she’s failed to
complete it three times previously. Edgerly and former Police Chief
Wayne Tucker had come under intense criticism for allowing Breckenridge
to keep taking the academy. However, Edgerly said last week that her
daughter can’t accept the invitation because she’s battling a serious
illness.
And finally, we wrap up the No Accountability week with Oakland
Raiders head coach Tom Cable, who won’t be facing felony assault
charges despite allegedly breaking the jaw of one of his assistants.
The Napa County District Attorney’s Office said it couldn’t corroborate
the story of injured assistant Randy Hanson and said his version of
what happened kept changing.
We’ll probably never know what really happened between Cable and
Hanson. But you still have to wonder how long Cable will be able to
keep his job considering how bad the Raiders are. On Sunday, they were
absolutely destroyed by the New York Jets, 38-0. It was the worst home
loss in team history.
Three-Dot Roundup
New Oakland Police Chief Batts expressed openness to an idea by
Dellums for the city to organize legal sideshows. Batts and the
department cracked down on illegal sideshows over the weekend after
three young people were killed. … Vice President Joe Biden announced
that the federal government will use Berkeley’s innovative solar
financing program as a national model. … UC Berkeley plans to accept
more out-of-state students and fewer California residents next year to
raise funds. … The state’s true jobless rate reached an all-time high
of 21.9 percent last month. The so-called underemployment rate also
counts people who are working part-time or have stopped trying to find
jobs. … And finally, we give you WTF, the business edition: Even
though he was forced out of his job as publisher of the Oakland
Tribune several years ago for general incompetence, P. Scott
McKibben was named last week to be the new executive director of the
Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl.
