Fred Wilson: "I misspoke"
Click below for a fuller version of tomorrow's story.
In it, City Manager Fred Wilson admits to inadvertantly giving untrue statements to the press and District Attorney's investigators during their probe of the Mike Miller child molestation case.
Wilson also says publicly for the first time that he knew of BB gun incidents at the Operation Phoenix Center months before the information became public.
By Robert Rogers and Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
SAN BERNARDINO -- Confronted with inconsistencies in his account, City Manager Fred Wilson on Monday said he inadvertantly gave untrue statements to District Attorney's investigators and the press.
Wilson also acknowledged for the first time publicly that he became aware of allegations of BB gun battles involving Operation Phoenix Center staff months prior to The Sun's reports making the incidents public.
In earlier interviews with investigators and The Sun on Friday, Wilson stated he was first notified on July 1 about a police investigation into molestation allegations against Operation Phoenix Center Manager Mike Miller.
"That's also when I first became aware of the e-mail, on July 1, when the police chief informed me about both," Wilson said Friday.
On Monday, when a reporter informed Wilson that police say they were not aware of e-mails between top officials discussing rumors of sexual a sexual incident with a minor involving Miller until July 17, Wilson changed his story.
"(Chief Michael Billdt) told me about the investigation on July 1," Wilson said. "I wasn't aware of the e-mail until around July 17."
Wilson said the factual errors were unintentional, when made both to the press and the District Attorney's investigators.
"I misspoke to them too," Wilson said.
In the District Attorney's report, which cleared four top Parks and Recreation and Operation Phoenix officials of criminal wrongdoing in not immediately reporting rumors of sexual abuse by Miller, Wilson said he became aware of the June 27 e-mail on July 1, but that he could not recall who brought him that news.
Miller is in jail on $1 million bail, charged with more than 20 counts of child molestation. Operation Phoenix, the holistic anti-crime program Mayor Pat Morris launched in 2006, has since come under fire for mismanagement and numerous instances of misconduct.
When asked, Wilson also divulged for the first time on Monday that he became aware of allegations that Miller and other staffers were involved in BB gun battles at the youth centers months before Sun reports this months made the information public.
Wilson said only that he knew about BB gun battles a "couple months" ago.
"I was aware that there was an incident," Wilson said. "It was my understanding that it was being investigated and reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Department."
Wilson's revelation shifts the dynamic of responsibility. In the continually unfolding drama that previously saw department chiefs Kevin Hawkins and Glenn Baude, along with supervisor Glenda Martin-Robinson, absorbing criticism for inaction, Wilson, as the highest ranking non-elected official, may now share some of the burden.
Miller stacked up a four-month string of misconduct in addition to the bb gun and molestation charges, all of which is documented in an internal department memo leaked to The Sun.
By his own admission, Wilson was in the loop on at least one allegation.
Wilson declined comment on whether he ever informed Morris of the trouble in his signature program.
Morris adamantly denied having known of Miller's misconduct.
"No, no, I was not aware of it," Morris said when asked whether Wilson had informed him of the BB gun allegations against Miller.
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Andrew Edwards. E-mail Andrew here.
I would suggest to Mayor Morris that he use the line " I am not a crook!"
miss spoke...... lie...... whats the diff
Wow when will ALL the truth be known? It appears that one by one each of those involved with or running Operation Phoenix is coming clean, fessing up, finding religion. (Forgive me for I have sinned). Who is next on this HIT parade?
Does this mean that Mr. Wilson will replace Mr Baude on house arrest, oops I mean Administrative Leave?? Could the first swipe of the old axe been miss-directed in the wrong direction? How can you misspeak to the DA and everyone else if you were not trying to cover your own butt regardless of who else was impacted. Just what IS the truth? Will it ever be known? Yes Sir, another fine example of integrity and stellar ethics. Doing what is right, no matter how painful the first time. SB’s reputation continues its downward spiral as its leadership positions themselves for preservation. The more information that is made public the more questionable the City’s leadership become.
It seems that more and more Baude looks like the scapegoat here. Wilson lied and put Baude on leave to cover his lies. Baude who has taken the most criticism seems to be taking it for telling the truth. We know Robinson did the investigation on Miller so if that is so Miller was in the Recreation Department and not under the supervision of Baude. So if Baude says I did not supervise Miller is that not taking the blame as alleged by the Sun or is that telling the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts but telling it is the right thing to do.
How much more can the citizens of San Bernardino take? Everytime we turn around the employees of this administration are hiding something, lying, or acting the idiot in the public forum.
Is it possible to renounce your citizenship to this sinking ship without taking it in the shorts on selling your house?
Everything about the way the Morris Administration has handled this molestation scandal is pathetically sad.
You have to marvel at their inability to do even the most basic of tasks.
Take the DA report. I am sure there is no coincidence that it was released during the "Friday News Dump" or "Flush Friday" so as to bury it in the paper.
Never mind the fact that things are so bad lately for Mayor Morris that the DA report was actually considered good news!
Instead of it being buried in the Saturday paper and hopefully representing the beginning of the end of the controversy with respect to how the bureaucrats at City Hall have handled this mess, it has instead backfired and flared up even more.
That is what happens when two prominent underlings give diametrically opposite stories resulting in one placing the other on leave in retaliation. That is what happens when your City Manager lies to the DA and the media about what he knew and when he knew it.
Leave it to the Morris Administration to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory...