Ice Burg in the Water... What You Don't See Gets You

Ice Burg Sighted in GT...

GrandPaTerrace advises the reader to Read the following Sun Telegram Article with a few things in mind.

ONE: Former City Manager Tom Schwab admitted to Covering up Criminal Investigation halting the results of that investigation from being advanced to proper legal resolution. THAT IS A CRIME.

TWO: Party to the above Crime is the Sheriff Department who negotiates contracts with the City of Grand Terrace.

THREE: The Law was Broken... the Courts were not allowed to provide the resolution of the Violation. Tom Schwab appointed himself Jury and Judge and the appointment was canonized by the Sheriff Morris. This is not how our government should work. It is in fact Criminal.

Remember the Watergate break in... it was the Cover Up that did them all in, not the crime its self.

Now, on to Acting City Manager Steve Berry's side of the coin.

He now complains that this was in the past and that there were not charges and it is unfair that these issues be brought to light and used against him. Here are the admissions he has made.

One: He did violate the Courts Order in the use of Community Service Labor Trustees.

Two: He provided false information on Government Records to the County Court/Jail.

Three: He offered Schwab Tinting on Schwab's Home... This is a crime in its self...

Now here is an added bit of Reality. Past predicts the Future...

Tom Schwab is implicated in the use of Labor and Tinting scandal much earlier than he is admitting to. Opening an account with a supplier, and having the tinting go on the public building did not come from actions or approvals only done by Steve Berry. Others were involved in the actions before the tinting was done. Who approved the account with the materials supplier? Who authorized the modification to the building by adding the tint. This is the stage of the criminal activity called collusion, or conspiracy to commit a crime, prior to the criminal act. So if Steve Berry wants to clear the air around him some he may disclose who gave the added help and authorizations for the tinting to proceed. He did not act alone.

Tom Schwab Hired Steve Berry:

Steve Berry was repeatedly put in the situation where he was taking "Contributions" for City Party activity, and the "Contributions" came from Developers and Contracted Service Suppliers who had projects or contracts pending decision by the Planning Commission or City Council

Steve Berry was sold a city car by Tom Schwab without proper management practices and records required for the sale or transfer or disposal of public property.

These were the "Professionals" hired to "Manage the City"... City Council Members are not "Professionals"... and must rely on the conduct, knowledge and ethics of the "Professional" they hire. Neither Schwab or Berry should be hired.

Schwab's exit with pay should be resented by everyone in the city as just an additional bit of evidence of his excessive self importance, ego and since of entitlement. He has a car and a house that was given to him as a result of his employment in addition to the income of his contract, all his medical care and all. He has been paid well to add 177,000.00 exit pay is an obscenity. He can only partially repair his reputation if he signs that check and return it to the Grand Terrace General Fund.

Schwab and Berry have been putting Ice Burgs in the water for years... With the City of Grand Terrace taking on the water from them poking holes in the Good Ship Grand Terrace, they have lived well above the local economic standard and abused their professional obligations and now admitted to crimes.

It will take a Very Skilled Professional to Find and Repair all the Damage these two have done, and avoid the results of their filling the sea of our journey with huge Debt Obligations and problems in the Redevelopment Agency that will attach themselves to the City of Grand Terrace as the Co-signer of that Debt.


The FBI or the DA or AG's Office should take the case of GRAND TERRACE Cover Up and Embezzlement and have it go to the Court System, including all parties to the action, including planning stage, actual crime and the cover up. This is just an ice burg we can see, there is more ice under the surface.



Former Grand Terrace city manager admits
he covered up embezzlement investigation in 2003
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/29/2009 07:19:02 PM PDT


GRAND TERRACE - Former City Manager Tom Schwab says he covered up a potential scandal in 2003 by quashing a criminal investigation against then assistant city manager Steve Berry, who was suspected of embezzling city funds and filing false records.

Schwab said he declined to pursue criminal charges against Berry and work release inmate John Carranza in January 2003 because he wanted to avoid embarrassment to the city. Furthermore, he said, the investigation occurred during the 2002 municipal election.

"We have never had even one hint of scandal in our city's history, and to have our assistant city manager charged with embezzlement and falsification of documents, which is what they were recommending we charge him with, would have embarrassed the city," said Schwab. "I basically asked the sheriff's department not to pursue it. As it turns out, I think it was a mistake."

According to sheriff's reports, Berry was suspected of having Carranza and employees from his window tinting business tint the windows of city buildings and Berry's personal vehicle in 2002 for profit when Carranza was supposed to be performing community service.

Berry, however, said Carranza did not profit from his work for the city and did not tint the windows of his car. He said he offered to pay one of Carranza's employees to tint his car windows separately from the work being done for the city, but wound up getting the job done at a San Bernardino auto repair shop after Carranza's employee broke one of his windows.

Berry said he did not inform the Sheriff's Department, which administers the inmate work release program from the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center, of what he and Carranza were doing.

"It was something we were doing internally. This was a painful lesson, and I learned not to repeat it," Berry said in an interview last week.

Investigation

A criminal investigation was launched in November 2002 when city officials suspected Carranza had been purchasing excess window tinting materials and tools on an open purchase order to benefit his window tinting business, Schwab said.

Berry was also suspected of defrauding the county by relaxing Carranza's work schedule and falsely marking his attendance sheets to indicate he had shown up for work on days he hadn't.

Berry said Carranza, who had been doing landscaping work for the city as part of his work release, learned the city was looking to have its windows tinted and offered to do the job at cost. He said Carranza complained that his talents were being wasted and that tinting the city's windows would better serve himself and the city.

Berry said he took Carranza up on the offer.

A purchase order account was opened in the city's name at a wholesale window tint company in Anaheim, where Carranza would travel to pick up supplies for the job.

Berry said he relaxed Carranza's work schedule because Carranza needed the flexibility in his schedule to do the job.

City maintenance worker Ruben Montano told sheriff's Detective Robert Morris in November 2002 that Carranza repeatedly failed to show up for work, but Berry falsely documented that Carranza had been showing up for work, according to one of Morris's reports.

Montano told Morris that other work release inmates had complained that Carranza had bragged to them that "he was being paid for his work in Grand Terrace."

Carranza told Morris he didn't profit one penny from his work for the city, and that he did it because he was a "nice person."

Carranza couldn't be reached for comment for this story.

In a Nov. 12, 2002 interview, Sandi Ah Sue, director of the city's child care center, told Morris that Berry had advised her that Carranza was going to tint the windows of the child care center, but Berry did not disclose Carranza was a work release inmate.

Carranza told Ah Sue that "he had tinted the windows in Tom Schwab's house and had tinted the windows on Berry's vehicle," according to Morris's reports.

Schwab said Carranza never tinted the windows of his home. He said an offer was made, but was declined.

In January 2003, Morris had county prosecutor Gary Bailey review the evidence to see what charges, if any, were warranted against Berry and Carranza. Morris did not provide the names of Berry and Carranza to Bailey, just the case information.

Bailey determined the evidence warranted charges of embezzlement, offering false instrument for record and corruption of record for Berry and a charge of receiving stolen property for Carranza.

Despite the evidence, Schwab, acting on behalf of the city, declined to pursue criminal charges, and the case was noted in Morris's report as "cleared by exceptional means."

Schwab said he never informed the City Council at the time of the investigation.

"I would imagine the City Council may have insisted that I fire (Berry) if the thing came to light, and I didn't want that to happen," Schwab said.

Schwab said his inclination at the time was to fire Berry, but Berry seemed genuinely remorseful and pleaded with him for a second chance.

City Councilwoman Lee Ann Garcia, who was mayor in 2003, did not return repeated telephone calls seeking comment.

Political feud

Berry, who Schwab hired in September 2001, has been running the city since Schwab suffered a brain ailment - a subdural hematoma - in June 2008. Berry is now vying for a permanent appointment to the city manager's position.

But Schwab said he has fully recovered from his ailment and wants his old job back. He is accusing Berry of underhandedly maneuvering for the city manager's job while he was holed up in the hospital and at home.

"I found that Steve severely lacks a sense of ethics and integrity," said Schwab. "And I guess it should have been clear to me after he had done that, that he really doesn't have an ethical boundary that he's not willing to cross."

Berry says Schwab is being vindictive and indecisive, and has already negotiated an exit package with the city, which includes $177,000 in severance pay in addition to his retirement package.

"The ink isn't even dry on his $177,000 payout, and he's now decided to come clean about a mistake he made eight years ago," Berry said.

Berry believes the recent unearthing of the 7-year-old sheriff's investigation is an obvious attempt at assassinating his character. He said the alleged incidents that occurred in 2002 were a terrible mistake and a learning experience.

"I think the sheriff's report is not evidence of guilt. They do not determine guilt or innocence, the District Attorney makes that determination," Berry said.

Last year, Schwab doubted whether he could serve full time as city manager. In November, he told Berry he supported his bid for city manager. A month later, Berry moved into Schwab's office.

In December, Schwab entered into a six-month contract with the city as a part-time consultant for the city's 2009-10 budget.

In January, Schwab had a change of heart, and asked Berry to wait until his contract ended before taking over the city manager's position.

Schwab's contract with the city ends today.

But Schwab would rather continue his role as city manager, a position he held since 1989. The city has encouraged him to apply for the position and join a pool of candidates, including Berry, in a recruitment process now under way.

"What can I tell them in an hour interview that my 20 years of experience (as city manager) hasn't already shown?" Schwab said.

The deadline for filing applications is Aug. 17. Interviews will take place shortly thereafter, and the city should announce who its permanent city manager will be sometime in the fall, city attorney John Harper said.

If Berry isn't appointed permanent city manager, he may not have an old job to return to. He eliminated the assistant city manager job in order to balance the city's 2009-2010 budget.

Schwab, however, said that can be reversed.

"The City Council can reinstate that position just as quickly as they eliminated it," he said.

Meanwhile, Berry said he has to relive a 7-year-old nightmare he wishes would have stayed buried. He worries it will cost him his job and his reputation, and questions why it had to come to pass.

"I was never even charged. There is nothing in my employee file on it," said Berry. "I believe his (Schwab's) true motivation is to damage my reputation."