as published 6.14.05 in the Desert Dispatch, a letter to the editor from Patrick Aleman, Barstow:
"...The proposal might have stalled but these players, including Mayor Dale and Ron Rector, have been "going places," for sure. In documents available online and through public records requests, and after listening to the tangled web woven by the key players in public reports and testimony, Mayor Dale and Ron Rector have been getting out of Barstow in high style.
"In fact, Dale and Rector have been shuttling back and forth to San Francisco and elsewhere, sometimes in a private Lear Jet that takes off from Palm Springs, enjoying fancy food, and getting up close and personal experiences with privileges, all paid for or provided as gifts from BarWest. They're getting a taste of the privilege normally afforded to wealthy owners of major sports franchises, or those people who own major theaters, concert halls, or arenas that host major stars or musicians. The closest glimpse most of us here in Barstow will ever get of that privilege is what we might see when we're channel surfing and come across reruns of TV's "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."
"I have raised questions about things like free trips on private Lear Jets and my questions go ignored by the mayor and senior staff. When I inquire about how many visits Mr. Rector has paid to the Detroit area, or if any of his expenses were reimbursed or paid for by BarWest or if he was taken out on the town or received tickets to sporting events or concerts or given VIP favors at the local casino, Rector gets red in the face, fuming red, and I get ignored. Rector carefully implies he is in Michigan on family trips and nothing more. The mayor nor any other official will confirm whether or not they've been hosted in Detroit.
"Most offensive is the arrogance Dale and Rector exhibit when they fail to report these gifts or any others they might have received from these millionaires or their associates to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) as required by law.
"It was the discovery of the random memo to file that pointed to one of the Lear Jet trips. The purpose: BarWest insisted the pair go along on the field trip to San Francisco to help convince former assembly speaker Willie Brown to accept Barwest's lucrative lobbing contract. Since when did Willie Brown need to be "convinced" to take anyone's money? Or worse yet, help me with the connection on just how Mayor Dale, a local GOP big-wig, was going to have any influence over fat-cat big deal Democrat Willie Brown. Oddly enough, there are no other records of expenses from that entire trip for the usual things like mileage reimbursements down to the Palm Springs airport and back, airport parking, dining, taxi or limousine service -- nothing accept the one random memo to file I stumbled upon."
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