What do they talk about behind closed doors?
As the drama surrounding the police department and its embattled chief, Michael Billdt, unfolds, we expect that more and more of the governmental discussions about it will go behind closed doors.
Billdt, pictured below during happier times ...
Courtesy City of San Bernardino
That's unfortunate, but it's probably legal.
Officers of the law have plenty of protection from the Ralph M. Brown Act, the state law creating requirements for government business to be conducted free and open to the public.
And that partially explains how Billdt's predecessor, Garrett Zimmon, could get forced out (fired, allegedly) while for months much of the public just assumed he had a medical condition, which was the city's official position.
Jason Pesick and I have co-authored a piece that will run over the weekend and explore what government officials can and can't talk about in secret meetings.
We don't know what the outcome of this situation will be ... but we do know that the best government decisions are the ones that happen out in the open, not in secret closed door meetings.
Secrecy appears to be the standard. Unless reporters like Robert Rogers and Andrew Edwards are willing to uncover the secret meetings, the public will never know how they are being deceived. It's not necessary to agree with everything they report. But, it is the only way we will have any idea what the powers-that-be are doing to assault our civil righs.
I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing it, but Mayor Morris and Chief Billdt are manipulating the employees and citizens of San Bernardino, as well as the City Council. They think we're all stupid and can't see past their lies.
There should be no secret meetings. The people invovled in the secret meetings were appointed/elected by the citizens of the city. We should all know what they know. The police officer's association has publicly announced its intentions. Chief Billdt needs to go. The mayor is the person who needs to make that decision. The police officers have spoken. The citizens who care to voice their opinion have spoken, several members of the city council have spoken! What else does the Mayor need to hear? Is he that incompetent or ignorant that he cant see the writing on the wall?
The tide of change is not going to occur with another mediator. FIRE THE CHIEF!
I feel sorry for Chief Billdt. He should never have been promoted with his bogus degree. We should be pointing the finger at those that approved his promotion. They are the bungling idiots. He may or may not be an effective chief, it's hard to say since there is so much corruption in the dept. It's full of little gods and kings each lording over their domains and greedy for more power.
I have a great idea! The city should charge an entry fee for the public to attend the "behind closed door" sessions - the money can go to balance the budget and pay for all the coming lawsuits.
Where do I get my ticket?
Let's see... What do they talk about behind closed doors? Well... Based on recent history it must be about how they can ignore and discount every concern and criticism in the police department.
I'll buy one!
To the anonymous who said they feel sorry for the chief.....i understand you wrote that "tongue in cheek", but don't feel sorry for the chief. He did whatever he had to do in order to reach the highest level within the police department. This has been building for the 30 years he's been with the department. The administrators he brought up with him are just as self-centered and egotistical as Billdt.
You can't entirely blame Billdt and the others who have bogus degrees from a now defunct college. They were accepted as meeting the minimum requirements for management positions within the department. The problem is that the Chief is only interested in meeting those "minimum" requirements. He's not willing to exert himself and "SET THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE." "SETTING THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE" is the phrase printed on every SBPD police car.
Chief Billdt knew that the chiefs he worked under had legitimate college degrees. He knows that the chiefs from the surround agencies also have legitimate degrees. Still he never made any effort to obtain a degree from a reputable college. In my opinion that says volumes as to his character.
Not only did he make no attempt to get a real degree in the last thirty years. He recently changed the policy so that no one else can get promoted with a bogus degree like he did. In other words, if the policy Billdt just enacted had been in place 20 years ago, he would not be where he is today. It's a clear case of "I got mine, so screw the rest of you."
To annonymous above:
You are correct that Billdt could not get promoted under today's policy. However, you are incorrect about why he changed the rules. They only changed because of all the cheaters like him who recently got promoted. The rest of us finally got sick of it and raised a stink. He only changed the policy because of pressure. After all, four or five out of the last nine sergeants promoted had phony almeda degrees. Billdt's legacy won't be the helicopter. It will be the dozens of ranking officers who he encouraged to cheat their way into the ranks.
Then the only thing left to do is change the rules in such a way as to make it impossible to use the bogus degree's for any future promotions ...... period!
The only reason Chief Billdt changed the previous education requirement is because the Police Officers Assocation pushed the issue. The members, most of whom have more integrity than Cheif Billdt, complained about the previous "buy your degree" policy. Therefore the policy was changed to reflect those degrees accepted by POST.
The officers who had "fake degrees" and promoted during the last testing cycle were the last group to slide through with "minimum" qualifications. This is the one thing that Chief Billdt has actually done to better the department. Unfortunately, many of his subordinates (read patrol officers) have a college degree that he still doesn't have. As such, there are probably a bunch of officers who are more qualified to run the department than he is.