This week the Vallejo Sun reported on a trove of new records in the Vallejo police badge bending scandal, how the city of Vallejo needs to repay millions in federal housing grants, the surveillance advisory board's discussion of gunshot detection systems, and how voters will be asked to decide on a new sales tax in November.
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Records show Vallejo police paid for repaired or replacement badges for officers in shootings
A Vallejo police officer who shot and killed a man in 2011 obtained a refurbished badge from the manufacturer in 2017, instructing the Berkeley-based badge-maker to straighten the point above “E” in Vallejo, and billed the repair to the police department, according to records obtained by the Vallejo Sun.
The Sun reviewed nearly 1,200 pages of invoices and emails from the Ed Jones Co. that also show that other officers who had been involved in shootings later obtained cheap replacement chrome badges instead of their standard sterling silver badges. Most of the invoices were billed directly to the Vallejo Police Department.
The invoices show that officers may have obtained the refurbished or replacement badges in an effort to obscure a tradition of some officers bending the tips of their star-shaped badges to mark on-duty shootings years before it was made public. Recent court testimony indicates that badge bending was known to police command staff as early as 2016, but it was not revealed publicly until 2020, when a fired police captain disclosed it in a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Former Lt. Kent Tribble recently testified that he started bending his fellow officer’s badges when he joined Vallejo police from Concord in 2003 and typically would bend those badges at a bar across the street from Vallejo police headquarters on Amador Street shortly after a shooting. Tribble said that he considered it a way to help officers feel better after a traumatic incident and to recognize that they had handled themselves professionally. “I think it was a way to signify the fact that we would stand up and do our job,” Tribble testified.
The badge-maker’s records that the Sun reviewed could have offered numerous potential avenues of inquiry for the department’s internal investigation. But former Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano, whom the city hired to conduct that investigation, testified in March that he did not pursue the badge-maker’s records. Instead, Giordano testified, he sought records of individual officers buying badges but never actually saw an invoice from the badge-maker. Get the full story here.
City of Vallejo to pay back $2.6M in housing grant funding for ‘administrative errors’
The city of Vallejo has been asked to pay back $2.6 million in federal grant funding associated with a permanent supportive housing project, city officials said Friday.
Officials said that “a series of administrative errors from 2019 to 2021” led to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) to request Vallejo to pay back the grant funds intended to support the 75-unit Sacramento Street Apartments project.
“We are frustrated and embarrassed to learn that a series of former management’s missteps on the City’s behalf resulted in the loss of a portion of the grant funding towards this project,” Assistant City Manager Gillian Hayes said in a statement. Hayes further said delays in purchasing the property and construction contributed to the federal government asking the city to return the money.
Hayes said the city is currently “working to assess the status of all our existing Housing grants in an effort to ensure there were no further oversights under past management.”
Hayes also said that the city is working with HUD to negotiate a repayment plan “that will have the least impact on city operations.” She said the city is looking at unallocated grant funding or using unused American Rescue Plan Act monies to pay back the federal government. Get the full story here.
Vallejo surveillance board rejects gunshot detection system
Vallejo’s surveillance advisory board declined Wednesday to recommend that the Vallejo City Council accept 80 to 100 gunshot detection devices as a way to combat gun violence in the city.
In a 5-2 vote during a special meeting Wednesday night, the board rejected an offer from Atlanta-based Flock Safety to pair the devices with automated license plate readers already installed in Vallejo. Board Chair Naomi Yun and board member Lisa Chen voted to accept the devices.
The city council has final authority over acceptance of the devices and will discuss the issue at an upcoming meeting.
The surveillance board members took issue with a lack of data on the relatively new technology, which has been installed in Flint, Michigan, and the greater Atlanta area. They also raised concerns about privacy and how much audio the devices pick up when not in use.
Vice Chair Andrea Sorce said she had concerns about officer escalation and how some residents may be impacted by arriving officers responding to a shooting. Get the full story here.
Vallejo City Council places sales tax hike on November ballot
Vallejo residents will vote in November whether to enact a sales tax hike to pay for road repair, addressing homelessness, and cleaning blight in the city.
A divided Vallejo City Council voted Tuesday to place a seven-eighths-cent sales tax increase on the Nov. 8 ballot. But the process didn’t go smoothly as councilmembers Pippin Dew, Katy Miessner, and Vice Mayor Rozzana Verder-Aliga expressed frustration toward Mayor Robert McConnell and Councilmember Cristina Arriola, District 6, who voted not to pursue the tax.
“Anybody that votes ‘no’ on this tonight, that voted ‘no’ on Measure G, when they vote ‘no’ I want to know what their answer is for those problems,” said Dew.
Measure G was a similar general sales tax measure on the ballot during the November 2020 election which barely failed as 50.57% of voters rejected the proposed tax hike
On Tuesday, Dew said increasing the sales tax was the only way to collect needed revenue to address critical issues in the city.
“We need the money. We have worse streets and roads, we have more homeless people, we have more illegal dumping, and garbage all over town,” Dew said. “The only way to fix that is to increase our revenues.” Get the full story here.
Vallejo reaches agreement with Syar over Blue Rock Springs project
After four years of negotiations, a settlement has been reached to allow a proposed housing subdivision and redevelopment of the Blue Rock Springs Golf Course to move forward.
The Vallejo City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the settlement between the city, Syar Industries — which operates out of the Lake Herman Quarry — and developer Blue Rock Springs, LLC. Blue Rock proposed to redevelop the city-owned golf course with a new 18-hole course, a new clubhouse, and the construction of a residential subdivision consisting of 615 homes over 92 acres fronting two sides of Columbus Parkway.
“Syar was displeased and expressed concern with the fact that the residential use was coming closer to their quarry operation,” Assistant City Manager Gillian Hayes said. “They were not pleased with that.”
The quarry includes an asphalt plant, active quarry pit, a rock processing plant, a concrete batch plant, and other related operations.
When negotiations stalled, Syar filed a legal claim against the city over the proposed density and location of homes near the quarry. Syar also sponsored an initiative to block development of the area. Get the full story here.
In other news:
- A woman in a long-term care facility is the county's 3rd Covid-related death since May, according to the Fairfield Daily Republic
- A preliminary hearing date has been set for a Solano man charged with killing a Benicia market owner in March, according to the Vacaville Reporter.
- A Solano County civil grand jury investigation found that little has been done to address homelessness in the county, suggesting the lack of oversight and accountability "opens the door to the potential for a homeless industrial complex that benefits the nonprofits without accomplishing the task at hand," Todd R. Hansen with the Fairfield Daily Republic reports.
- I-80 overnight closures are coming to Vallejo next Thursday and Friday, the Vallejo Times-Herald reports.
- Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District says storm grates are being stolen, Thomas Gase with the Vallejo Times-Herald reports.
- Solano coronavirus cases, hospitalizations climbed over last weekend, according to the Fairfield Daily Republic.
Upcoming events:
- The reptile roundup comes to Vallejo on Saturday as the event will benefit local rescue group, reports Sean McCourt with the Vallejo Times-Herald.
- Mare Island Art Studios is hosting a garage-sale-like event and fundraiser throughout July, the Vallejo Times-Herald reports.
As always keep up on VallejoSun.com for the latest news.
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Scott Morris
Scott Morris is a journalist based in Oakland who covers policing, protest, civil rights and far-right extremism. His work has been published in ProPublica, the Appeal and Oaklandside.
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