San Bernardino police lieutenant says officers violated trust
04/09/07, By Chris Richard, The Press-Enterprise
Senior San Bernardino police executives demanded that a restaurant cut its bill for a banquet by 13 percent, frightening the restaurant staff and so embarrassing other officials that they offered to pay the difference themselves, a city memo claims. Eventually, the Police Department paid the full $9,154 bill. But in a memo to Police Chief Mike Billdt, the lieutenant who organized the event says the attempt to force a discount of almost $1,200 violates a basic trust.
"What occurred here is no different, at least in my opinion, than a patrol officer soliciting a gratuity," police Lt. Don Soderbloom wrote in the memo. "We asked for and expected a quality product, and after we received it weren't willing to pay for it. To say that I am troubled by what transpired would be an understatement." In a brief interview, Soderbloom confirmed that he wrote the memo. He declined further comment.
Assistant police Chief Frank Mankin said he challenged the bill because it included a charge for wine, an expenditure prohibited by city policy. What the dispute shows, Mankin said, is that "we are good stewards with the public's money."
Soderbloom's three-page memo, detailing last-minute attempts by Mankin and police Capt. Theodis Henson to reduce the charge for the Feb. 9 banquet at the Castaway Restaurant, draws less-favorable conclusions.
City officials have hosted the annual dinner to honor San Bernardino's reserve officers for the last decade. In the memo, Soderbloom points out that the reserves deserve the gesture. This fiscal year, the volunteer officers will bring in a quarter-million dollars in revenue and save the Police Department almost half a million in salaries.
Originally, the restaurant agreed to serve up to 150 people for $8,500, with the stipulation that it could not allow any additions to the guest list after Jan. 29. But by Jan 31 an additional 27 people, including police administrators, Mayor Pat Morris and his staff and City Council members, said they also wanted to attend. Restaurant General Manager Luis Luna agreed to waive the deadline, but said he would need to raise his fee to accommodate the extra guests, the memo states.
Then on Feb. 8, the day before the banquet, officials started questioning the bill, Soderbloom wrote. He said restaurant staff were visibly upset, but said they would lower the charge. "I was not, however, willing to compromise my integrity, nor my standing in the business community by failing to honor a commitment," Soderbloom wrote. "I thought it unconscionable to so much as entertain asking a businessman ... to accept less than that which was agreed upon, particularly when he was upholding his end of the agreement."
Both Soderbloom and City Councilwoman Wendy McCammack offered to make up the difference. "I felt it would be a black eye to the city in the business community, if that was the reputation we were going to have, by not completing the transaction per the original agreement," McCammack said. She said demanding a lower price was "comparable to soliciting a bribe." Mankin said neither he nor anyone else who sought to reduce the charge did anything wrong. "I think it's egregious for people to make comment without having all the facts at their disposal," he said.
On Friday, Luna said the bill dispute has continued to trouble him. He said he strove to provide high quality food and elegant service, with meals prepared to order at individual chef's stations. For other clients, he's provided similar meals at double the price, and never had his bills questioned. Luna said he had meant the reserve banquet as a thank-you gift."This wasn't just about making money," he said. "It was a way of giving back." Luna said his restaurant has served the banquet for the last four years, and until this year, city officials never questioned wine being included with the overall cost of the meal, Luna said.
Mankin said that could be true. This is his first year as assistant chief. "Neither Chief Billdt nor I were the chief administrators of this organization in years past, and we were not intimately involved in monitoring these funds," he said. "It's important to us that people know we are going to be monitoring these expenditures to insure that city money is not used for alcoholic beverages or anything that would be inappropriate."
In the Feb. 8 discussion, Luna said, Mankin claimed the department could only afford $7,960 for the banquet, and the appropriateness of the wine was not discussed. "It was always about the money," Luna said.
Later, during the banquet, Luna said, Henson counted guests, then told him the department should be billed for only 139 meals. That would have meant that an additional discount on top of the cut Mankin had demanded Mankin confirmed the tally."There had been some additional numbers added late in the equation, and we wanted to be good stewards of the people's money," he said. "That conversation notwithstanding, the man presented us with a bill, and at that point, we thought it was appropriate to meet the obligation. And we have."
Luna said his primary concern now is to make sure no one in law enforcement thinks it was he who made the dispute public."I was pretty angry myself, but being the type of person I am, I was going to let this go," he said. "I didn't want this to reflect on the restaurant or harm my relationship with the Police Department."
Reach Chris Richard at 909-806-3076 or crichard@PE.com
Retrieved Ap;ril 10, 2007 from http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_D_bmeal10.3c5009a.html#
Senior San Bernardino police executives demanded that a restaurant cut its bill for a banquet by 13 percent, frightening the restaurant staff and so embarrassing other officials that they offered to pay the difference themselves, a city memo claims. Eventually, the Police Department paid the full $9,154 bill. But in a memo to Police Chief Mike Billdt, the lieutenant who organized the event says the attempt to force a discount of almost $1,200 violates a basic trust.
"What occurred here is no different, at least in my opinion, than a patrol officer soliciting a gratuity," police Lt. Don Soderbloom wrote in the memo. "We asked for and expected a quality product, and after we received it weren't willing to pay for it. To say that I am troubled by what transpired would be an understatement." In a brief interview, Soderbloom confirmed that he wrote the memo. He declined further comment.
Assistant police Chief Frank Mankin said he challenged the bill because it included a charge for wine, an expenditure prohibited by city policy. What the dispute shows, Mankin said, is that "we are good stewards with the public's money."
Soderbloom's three-page memo, detailing last-minute attempts by Mankin and police Capt. Theodis Henson to reduce the charge for the Feb. 9 banquet at the Castaway Restaurant, draws less-favorable conclusions.
City officials have hosted the annual dinner to honor San Bernardino's reserve officers for the last decade. In the memo, Soderbloom points out that the reserves deserve the gesture. This fiscal year, the volunteer officers will bring in a quarter-million dollars in revenue and save the Police Department almost half a million in salaries.
Originally, the restaurant agreed to serve up to 150 people for $8,500, with the stipulation that it could not allow any additions to the guest list after Jan. 29. But by Jan 31 an additional 27 people, including police administrators, Mayor Pat Morris and his staff and City Council members, said they also wanted to attend. Restaurant General Manager Luis Luna agreed to waive the deadline, but said he would need to raise his fee to accommodate the extra guests, the memo states.
Then on Feb. 8, the day before the banquet, officials started questioning the bill, Soderbloom wrote. He said restaurant staff were visibly upset, but said they would lower the charge. "I was not, however, willing to compromise my integrity, nor my standing in the business community by failing to honor a commitment," Soderbloom wrote. "I thought it unconscionable to so much as entertain asking a businessman ... to accept less than that which was agreed upon, particularly when he was upholding his end of the agreement."
Both Soderbloom and City Councilwoman Wendy McCammack offered to make up the difference. "I felt it would be a black eye to the city in the business community, if that was the reputation we were going to have, by not completing the transaction per the original agreement," McCammack said. She said demanding a lower price was "comparable to soliciting a bribe." Mankin said neither he nor anyone else who sought to reduce the charge did anything wrong. "I think it's egregious for people to make comment without having all the facts at their disposal," he said.
On Friday, Luna said the bill dispute has continued to trouble him. He said he strove to provide high quality food and elegant service, with meals prepared to order at individual chef's stations. For other clients, he's provided similar meals at double the price, and never had his bills questioned. Luna said he had meant the reserve banquet as a thank-you gift."This wasn't just about making money," he said. "It was a way of giving back." Luna said his restaurant has served the banquet for the last four years, and until this year, city officials never questioned wine being included with the overall cost of the meal, Luna said.
Mankin said that could be true. This is his first year as assistant chief. "Neither Chief Billdt nor I were the chief administrators of this organization in years past, and we were not intimately involved in monitoring these funds," he said. "It's important to us that people know we are going to be monitoring these expenditures to insure that city money is not used for alcoholic beverages or anything that would be inappropriate."
In the Feb. 8 discussion, Luna said, Mankin claimed the department could only afford $7,960 for the banquet, and the appropriateness of the wine was not discussed. "It was always about the money," Luna said.
Later, during the banquet, Luna said, Henson counted guests, then told him the department should be billed for only 139 meals. That would have meant that an additional discount on top of the cut Mankin had demanded Mankin confirmed the tally."There had been some additional numbers added late in the equation, and we wanted to be good stewards of the people's money," he said. "That conversation notwithstanding, the man presented us with a bill, and at that point, we thought it was appropriate to meet the obligation. And we have."
Luna said his primary concern now is to make sure no one in law enforcement thinks it was he who made the dispute public."I was pretty angry myself, but being the type of person I am, I was going to let this go," he said. "I didn't want this to reflect on the restaurant or harm my relationship with the Police Department."
Reach Chris Richard at 909-806-3076 or crichard@PE.com
Retrieved Ap;ril 10, 2007 from http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_D_bmeal10.3c5009a.html#