Pastor David Rhone speaks
Pastor David Rhone of First Church of the Nazarene, the local church that partnered with Operation Phoenix to provide the facilities and gym for the central center on Sierra Way, called me today.
We spoke briefly. In particular, he said he thought the blame the community was heaping on former Operation Phoenix Director Glenn Baude was misplaced, most importantly because Baude was not the guy in charge of Mike Miller, the center manager now in jail of child molestation charges.
Who was actually in charge of Miller has always been in dispute. Emails between Baude and Parks and Rec Director Kevin Hawkins show them discussing the ways in which oversight of Miller could be tranferred from parks to Operation Phoenix.
For Rhone, a respected pastor who spent much time at the center (in his church facility), the blame is clearly not Baude's.
"For those four months, during which his behavior was reportedly becoming more bizarre and questionable, Miller was firmly and completely under the Department of Parks and Recreation," Rhone said.
Rhone continued.
"Through conversations with people in management of Parks and Recreation, Miller was reporting directly to them, he didn't report to Phoenix and didn't report to the mayor," he said.
Rhone went on to say something else of interest.
After a leaked memo written by parks supervisor Glenda Martin-Robinson showed four months of serious misconduct by Miller, questions began arising as to what course of action Martin-Robinson, apparently Miller's direct supervisor at least until last month, had done about it. She has steadfastly avoided questions.
Rhone said, "Employees told me directly that the chain of command was so strong, that anybody who jumped the chain would find their job in peril," Rhone said.
Hmmm. To recap, we know Hawkins, Martin-Robinson and Baude discussed via a June 27 email possible sexual misconduct with a "minor" on the part of Miller. We don't know precisely what they did with that information, but we do know police said they weren't contacted until July 1.
We also now know of four months of misconduct by Miller, because Martin-Robinson documented it in a July 8 memo. We don't know what she did with that information, but we do know that Miller continued to work.
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Andrew Edwards. E-mail Andrew here.
Robert,
I have enjoyed your dedicated work in getting us the whole story on the going ons at Operation Pheonix. My question to you, is Martin-Robinson related to the Sonia Fischer and Jerry Martin Clan that worked at the flagship Operation Phoenix Program? Maybe Jerry Martin's Highland gun incident was a precursor to the BB gun incidents at the Phoenix Centers. Here is a tidbit for you, Sonia Fischer is Ken Fischer's (City's Public Service Departments Manager)ex sister in law. I bet he has a story or two for you about those two.
Here we go again!
Miller didn't report to Operation Pheonix and he didn't report to the mayor, we are tolod. Does the Park and Recreation Department report to the city manager, does the city manager report to the mayor?
The Morris Circle the Wagons Committee is acting as though the Park and Recreation Department dropped out of the sky from Mars.
If a person who plays a key role in the mayor's pet program is known to be acting erratically for four months, surely there must be a way to cut through the red tape and solve the problem. If the mayor has no control over the city departments, why does San Bernardino have a mayor? Is the mayor just a nominal piece of window dressing? It seems to me that, at some point, either the mayor is responsible for what goes on under his nose, or he is irresponsible.