George Beattie surprised some folks last November when he resigned from his post as president of San Jose’s police union. He surprised some more people a short time later when he then withdrew his retirement papers. Apparently, Beattie thought he had hit the mark for a larger retirement payout. Unfortunately for him, his math sucks and he came up short. Beattie returned to a full-time job as patrol lieutenant, but he was moved over to swing shift. As a bonus, he was reunited with his old union nemesis, Sergeant Bobby Lopez. Not too long ago, Lopez tried to overthrow Beattie and current Police Officers Association President Jim Unland in an unsuccessful coup to form a new union. Lopez, a former POA president who also may have withdrawn retirement papers recently, now has Beattie as his boss. Neither talked to Fly about the situation, but as one wag says, “It’s like putting two scorpions in a bottle.”
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I hope the Officers on both sides of this event do not get into a mud slinging knock down fight. I would like to see if the San Jose Police Officers Assoc & The Fraternal Order of Police can come together. The city loves these types of stories. The fear of the organizations working with each other is the biggest fear. Thanks Fly! Both sides please never say never. Both your organizations will be here for years to come. I know and support both of you.
Georgie thought that he could get rich larger early retirement after all the police officer givebacks as POA Prez gave to Deb and Chuckie
All giveback and 25-30% officer contributions cut his retirement down or didn’t Deb and Chuckie didn’t take care of his ” wink wink ” early retirement retirement he thought he was getting
Life is the sh*ts when your ” political buddies ” don’t take care of you after helping them out as ” wink wink ” promised
Poor George, he can’t help it. He thought getting his golden early retirement and leave everyone on POA sinking ship was ok
Beattie’s staying? Gosh. I thought all the officers were fleeing from SJPD because of the lousy pay and benefits. They can make so much more with another department or in the private sector. This just doesn’t make any sense. It defies everything I’ve learned here on SJI about San Jose and how miserly we are towards our public employees.
Officer D,
But isn’t the seniority system, insisted upon by the employees themselves, the main reason we’ve been hemorrhaging officers, not command staff?
And just like our own education system which seems to now exist largely for the benefit of foreign countries whose people have learned that they can get a world-class education provided by the naive generosity of Californians, I have to question whether the people of San Jose aren’t being taken advantage of by running a police academy that is in many respects a training ground for police officers who have no real roots in or loyalty to San Jose and will ultimately sell their services to the highest bidder. In today’s mercenary world, maybe WE should be that City that scarfs up the officers who’ve been screened and trained at the some other city’s expense, rather than the other way around.
My husband was a police officer here for over ten years. He was loyal to the city, and actively recruited other people to join the force. In his last few years here though, his loyalty to the city started to wane when the city government started chipping away at not only his paycheck, but his enjoyment of the job. Being villified in the press, while the city pats those who actively break the law took it’s toll on his loyalty to the city. He didn’t want to leave, but he saw that things were only getting worse, and decided to seek employment elsewhere. Now he works for a city that pays for all of his equipment and uniforms, and also has police and fire appreciation days. Citizens smile and wave at him, and people actively seek to make their community better, rather than blame the police for doing their job. He makes a little less than what he did here, but the treatment he receives from his community and city outweigh the loss. Can you give me any example of how this city has tried to retain any of its police officers?
Loyalty?
I’m sorry to hear that our City lost another good Officer because of the politics in SJ. While it may seem like no one in SJ appreciated your husband’s service to us, I for one thank him for putting his life on the line for my family, my friends, our community, and me.
Having said that, I couldn’t agree with you more on everything you’ve said about the shabby way our Officers and Fire Fighters have been treated in the media, by community activist groups, by the City, by some citizens, and by some electeds. They deserve better treatment by all of us.
Sadly, this article about George and Bobby only exemplifies how poorly these public servants are treated within the PD as well. It seems that the leadership in the PD lacks the wisdom, and integrity to treat its Officers with the respect and support they deserve. I know both of these men to be decent, caring, loving men who follow their hearts, and who try to do the right thing.
To see them thrown together in such a heartless manner when their jobs are tough enough as it is is simply alarming to me because it is only serving to create a hostile work environment for both of them.
I reviewed the Officer’s Duty Manual and looked under their section regarding “Moral.” I can say with certainty that their supervisors have failed miserably in following their own code of ethics.
Please thank your husband for me, and I wish you, him, and your family all the wonderful things you deserve. I wish him much luck, and happiness in his new position. Tell him I said to be safe out there.
Loyalty?
So let me see if I’ve got this straight. Your husband got his police training courtesy of the SJPD academy. Now he’s putting that valuable training to use in another town. He WAS loyal to the City of San Jose but then he stopped being loyal right about the time he became vested for a retirement pension, having served 10 years.
OK I think that pretty well proves my point. Thanks.
“He WAS loyal to the City of San Jose but then he stopped being loyal right about the time he became vested for a retirement pension, having served 10 years.
OK I think that pretty well proves my point. Thanks.”
All it proves that your brain is skewed. You are always making statements where you do not know what you are talking about…and you have done it again. They are vested at 5 years…not 10. Why don’t you ever try to research facts before making stupid statements? You continuously do it over and over. Idiot.
John once again you made a point but not the one you put forward. Do you even read post before responding?
There is no mention of vested pensions nevertheless you categorically disregard the gist of Mrs. Loyalty post.
Mrs. Loyalty wrote a heartfelt post followed by a sincere and respectful response by Kathleen Flynn. Yet you seize the moment to discredit them with fallacious information.
Mrs. Loyalty I wish you and your husband well, Kathleen I enjoy reading your post and respect your opinions. John your pattern is apparent and agenda suspect.
Actually, if you paid attention to what I wrote, he had been with the city for OVER ten years….12 to be exact. And thank YOU sir, for proving my point as to one of the many reasons why he left…..people like you who think public safety do their jobs simply for the paycheck.
Easy boy. Easy now. I stand corrected on this detail-this detail that does nothing to alter my point. So the guy racked up another 12.5% before his loyalty faded.
Get rid of the defined pension benefit for public employees. Have them save for their own retirements like people in the real world. Then we won’t have to waste time arguing over ridiculous concepts like “vesting periods”.
You decry the officer for placing the well being of his family over loyalty to the city yet you want the city to adopt a private industry retirement and benefit model? Let me explain something to you, the City of San Jose does not use CalPERS for public safety retirements, they have their own system. Public safety members who are in CalPERS can jump from agency to agency because their retirement contributions remain in the same system. Loyalty is sold to the highest bidder. This is akin to the private sector where a person with a 401k system can also move from corporation to corporation and many times take their package with them.
We can see how loyal private sector people are. It is quite common to hop, skip and jump across the private sector landscape choosing those jobs that have better pay, perks or benefits. Why isn’t anybody screaming about loyalty there? Yet, you want to mimic this model and have police officers also use the 401k system? If you think an officer is prone to jumping ship now when they are locked into San Jose’s custom retirement system, just wait until they can haul their 401k with them wherever they go. The best way to generate loyalty to an organization is to treat your employees well, pay well, provide a good working environment, and a good career path. All of these were present in San Jose until Reed and Figone started their campaign of public safety vilification.
You seem to think that public safety employees are supposed to place their home lives behind the well being of the citizens they serve. If you want that to be the case, you have to pay for it.
Remember the police industry standard to prevent officers from leaving one department for another they had to sign a contract that bound them to work for something like 3 years? If the officer chose to leave before the 3 year commitment was satisfied then the officer would be billed for the amount his/her training cost that agency?
Anyone ever hear of anything like this occuring in the Utopian Private sector?
But I am sure it could exist somewhere. Bay area law enforcement agencies see movement all the time. I know of no local agencies that require a commitment upon hiring other than those that might offer a cash hiring bonus, which is not entirely unheard of around the SF area. Traditionally, many police officers would cut their teeth on a smaller agency and then seek a larger agency with more work opportunities in order to advance their careers.
San Jose has never been the top paid but always had decent benefits by comparison to other agencies. However, the attraction for San Jose was lateral career movement with many different units to work, a great reputation as a professional agency with very sharp workers, upward movement through promotions, an appreciative citizenry, and strong morale.
Each one of these positives was a draw pulling many laterals towards San Jose. As a result, San Jose could afford to pick the best of the best from the many applicants. All of this has been reversed under Reed and Figone. Every benefit of working for San Jose has been removed or is on the way out. Morale is in the toilet, pay is being cut, benefits are under attack, units are being disbanded, staffing is at an all time low, time off is impossible to get unless you call in sick, and the list goes on.
Now San Jose is bleeding good officers to agencies that historically complained of being a training ground for staff that would bail out and move to San Jose PD. This isn’t going to stop any time soon as other agencies are now far more attractive to work for. Reed’s biggest folly is assuming that every city and every law enforcement agency is in the same situation as San Jose. Not so, just like the private sector some companies still thrive and hire the best. Others fight for table scraps as they can’t attract the cream of the crop.
In this regard so many whiners on this forum are getting their wish. Public safety is moving towards a private sector model and San Jose is going to find that they are not Google, eBay, Apple or any other successful company. They are more akin to the failing giant corporation selling off property and buildings and maintaining a skeleton crew. Good luck attracting good workers.
John Galt,
I don’t think financial compensation is what draws people to jobs like Police work. If that were true, we wouldn’t have so many good people around the country serving in Police work, as Fire Fighters, or in the military, or as teachers. I think it is fair to say that the amount of loyalty an employee gives to their employer comes from the way they are treated by said employer, not just how much they get in pay and benefits.
Even you can’t deny that long before retirement, and pay became an issue, that the SJPD was blasted in the media, on this blog, and others, and at Council Meetings for years by these so called “activist groups,” for simply doing their jobs.
They’ve been called murders, racists, and a whole host of other things that aren’t true. I was deeply disappointed that these groups were allowed to get a way with these unfounded accusations and even given credibility by a few Council Members, and our new Police Chief. During all these years, no one on the Council came forward publicly to defend our Officers; until Mayor Reed made it clear during his State of the City Address that enough was enough.
Shortly after years of harassment by these “groups and the media,” the City began publicly blaming City employees, especially Fire Fighters, and our Police Officers for the City’s budget crisis. They were villianized in the press, and over spending by our officials was completely ignored. These City employees made a lot of concessions that even you have failed to acknowledge John. And even after making these concessions, they are now faced with an illegal ballot measure!
Having said that, I can’t think of many jobs that require you to put your life on the line everyday, that cause you bodily injury, emotional harm, require you to miss family obligations such as the birth of your first child, seeing your children grow up, missing anniversaries, your spouse’s or child’s birthdays, or spending the holidays with your family, that don’t give you fair financial compensation in the private sector. It is only government jobs like Police, Fire, and the Military that do this!
I think loyalty is a two way street, and I think we need to start treating employees and their families who dedicate their lives to public service a lot better because they deserve our loyalty and respect. None of us would be able to walk the streets, or sleep safely in our beds at night if it weren’t for the dedication of our Police, Military, and our Fire Fighters.
If you think I’m wrong about this John, then enlist in one of these professions and see for yourself what it feels like to be underpaid, and underappreciated for your service to an ungrateful public.
In fact, when police officers are hired, part of the testing process is to conduct intense psychological profiling. Officers that are ultimately selected fit into a profile that includes a strong sense of loyalty, commitment and altruistic motives for pursuing a career that can result in death or serious injury.
Police officers recognize that there will always be a percentage of the population that dislikes them, criticizes them at the drop of a hat and even those that would just as soon kill them just because of the uniform they wear. However, most officers have been able to take comfort in the fact that they knew the silent majority supported them and when the chips were down, good people would rise to the occasion.
Officers know they won’t get frequent pats on the back. Officers know that they won’t get stock options from an appreciative boss, work sponsored parties, junkets to exotics locales, or perks from their organization for being a good employee. Officers recognize that the only advancement they will receive will come from nasty battles between their union and the city.
Be that as it may, public safety workers are willing to put up with the negatives because they are mostly true believers. They know that most of the people they serve are good folks, honest in their hearts and with the same goals of having safe communities to raise their families. But, Chuck Reed has irrevocably changed that dynamic. His campaign of public safety vilification has turned even the most dedicated citizen against police and firefighters. He has painted them as greedy, corrupt, overly expensive burdens on the taxpayers and not worthy of support.
Now that the dynamic has changed, officers are finding it quite difficult to counter-balance the negatives of police work with the positives as those positives are rapidly being dismantled by Reed and Figone. Like any employee in the private sector, officers now have to constantly re-evaluate their jobs and keep one eye on the employment ads knowing that perhaps their current employer and working conditions have become intolerable. And, it further exacerbates San Jose’s problem when most other agencies are welcoming SJPD members with open arms and an appreciative supporting community.
“In today’s mercenary world, maybe WE should be that City that scarfs up the officers who’ve been screened and trained at the some other city’s expense, rather than the other way around.”
I find this statement so weird. YOU have been really out their in past post speaking out against their pensions and salaries and what they get…and now you say this?????????? You talk out both sides of your mouth. How do you think that could even happen unless they retain their decent salaries and pensions, which you have been against. Which is it? You want to put down their salaries and pensions or do you want to pay them decently and “scarf” them up? You can’t have it both ways. They are NOT going to stay here for beans, so scarfing is out of the question, right now. If you want to scarf, then you need to educated the communities so they will stop believing the administration’s lies and have their salaries restored…and no, I am not an officer.
Bravo! Very well said Mr Galt
@GAlt: “…a training ground for police officers who have no real roots in or loyalty to San Jose and will ultimately sell their services to the highest bidder….”
“… In today’s mercenary world, maybe WE should be that City that scarfs up the officers who’ve been screened and trained at the some other city’s expense, rather than the other way around…”
John I realize that you are a constant champion of the idea that the public sector should have to play by private sector rules when it comes to hiring and firing and pay and benefits and pesnions and 401k’s… That is all great but lets follow this to its logical conclusion:
IF OTHER agencies are scarfing up the quality officers that the “Police Academy” is producing* AND they are able to “scarf up” said officers due to higher pay and benefit packages than SJPD is/was offering – Then it stands to reason that SJPD will be left to hire something LESS than the BEST and will have to make due with sub-par service.
TO be clear about this – CONTRARY TO WHAT THE MAYOR AND THE MERC HAVE TOLD YOU TO BELIEVE: SJPD IN ITS PRIME offered lower pay and benefits(including pension package) than anyone around – and still was the model of police departments around the whole F’ng WORLD because of the overall quality of people we hired!
* FYI the SJPD Academy was one of the very first things to go extinct under this mayor/councils budget cuts – there hasn’t been an SJPD academy in 4-5 years and its certification was allowed to lapse – further, no cops have been hired in that time hence no recruits have attended any other academy for basic training…
Like the private sector, the public sector has to compensate reasonably in order to attract quality. SJPD’s hiring process was able to screen for candidates who possessed those altruistic qualities that tended to supercede shortcomings in the pay and benefit package.
MAYOR REED and a majority of this Council and the City Manager in direct concert with the San Jose MercuryNews have followed Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov’s (AKA:Lenin) maxim to the letter, that: “a lie(s) repeated often enough becomes the truth.”
How do you propose to attract the best and brightest from other agencies who pay more in wages and benefits INCLUDING pensions?
Perhaps your angst, while justified, is misguided. I work in government and find the bloat and waste appalling. However, my disgust doesn’t lie with the workers, it lies with the entitlement programs and self-perpetuating excesses created by those at the top. There will always be plenty of crime to address. There will always be injuries and fires to respond to. But our politicians haven’t met a social program they don’t embrace, no matter that there are far more important problems to deal with. We have the same problem in DC where politicians spend their hours searching for ways to spend public money on expanding government and enacting new laws/programs to justify their existence.
Instead of focusing your anger at the public worker and their well deserved benefits, you should be targeting our moronic leaders and their foolish policies.
I hear everything you all say and I respect it. I appreciate and honor the nice lady’s husband’s 12 years of service.
Of all the responsibilities of a city government there is none more important than that of law enforcement. If ANY public employees should be given a defined benefit it’d be police. But none should. In my opinion no politician has any business burdening taxpayers 20, 30, even 50 years or so down the road that way and those that do have a much different idea about what constitutes good government than I do. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that with the rise in pensions there’s also been a rise in government waste, corruption, and incompetence. We keep electing activist politicians who have no notion about limitations or restraint of government power and we now see where this has got us.
My gripe is with irresponsible government, not with police officers. But bad government and public employees are inextricably entwined and it’s impossible to discuss one without discussing the other.
John, it’s a lot easier to absorb a pay cut or higher insurance premiums or retirement contributions when you’re making a lieutenant’s pay, which is 33% higher than an officer’s pay. The department hasn’t been hemorrhaging command staff; it’s been hemorrhaging officers – probably over a hundred in the last year, and at least 70 since July of last year.
The department recently announced that they are hiring again. This is going to be problematic, since I can’t think of a single officer who’d actively recruit for the city (they’d recruit for the PD if it were a separate entity from the city, though). It’s also problematic since the PD is no longer POST certified to run its own academy, a past practice which helped to ensure that training was well above par compared to most of the rest of the state.
Why would the City lay of seasoned officers, last year, only to turn around and hire new officers, this year????????????
Reed and Figone have wanted to lay off as many officers as possible all along. This is due to the goal of hiring new officers with reduced pay and benefits. Reed and Figeon don’t give a rat’s patootey about law enforcement skills. They view public safety as a necessary evil and an inconvenience to spending more money on ball parks and other pet projects. The fact that San Jose PD has now become a joke among law enforcement professionals is irrelevant to them. They just do not care. And, as crime becomes more problematic, they will simply blame it on laziness, the economy, or anything other than their own malfeasance.
Was this a slow news day or what? If you know George you know that on duty he is an even keeled guy. I really don’t see him doing anything untoward to Bobby.
Also, Bobby was retiring but did back out. Maybe because if he retired he would no longer have a pulpit from which to be heard. Who wants to give airtime to a forgotten retiree? An active sergeant has a little something but a retiree is yesterday’s news.
Not surprised at all that both made grabs for money after all the posturing about how poorly the cops are treated in this city.
Blah, blah, blah. Cops have less and less credibility withe the public in San Jose. They cry wolf and then expect us to act as if they are our only saviors. Crime is up and service is down, don’t they have any pride? Do MORE and maybe the public will swing back your way. We have always been union friendly in San Jose but with the unions (led by public safety union leadership) becoming more and more self serving and whiny its easy to abandon them like we feel abandoned by them.
Personally, I with both had actually left. They don’t want to be here they shouldn’t get to take a spot that some younger and still eager cop wants andwould do well in.
There are still GREAT officers in the ranks. Clear out the crusty, tired, complaining bloated & greedy ones and make room for the men and women committed to protecting this city.
Many community and neighborhood leaders worked with Bobby and POA members in past
Bobby worked very well with city, community and neighborhoods groups on lots of issues when he was on POA Board and showed up frequently at meetings. You could call and Bobby or someone else would call you back that day or next
We have not seen POA at community and neighborhood meetings for last 1-2 year or so Calls to POA about community issue are ignored or not returned
San Jose has too many problems for officers to be fighting among themselves which does no one or San Jose any good
Bobby, who has years successfully working with community and neighborhood leaders, and POA should work together to benefit everyone and San Jose community
Resident,
“San Jose has too many problems for officers to be fighting among themselves which does no one or San Jose any good.”
I agree, so why did Bobby, and George’s superiors put them in this position? Why would they want to create a hostile work environment by putting two men together that they know don’t get along?
Are they trying force Bobby into retirement so he can’t run for POA President again? Or are they trying to get revenge on Bobby for speaking out against the POA and the SJPD on behalf of his colleagues?
“Bobby, who has years successfully working with community and neighborhood leaders, and POA should work together to benefit everyone and San Jose community.”
Agreed. Bobby always has and still does great work in the community that the SJPD doesn’t acknowledge or reward him for. Given how bad they treat cops who volunteer, may be that’s why the POA doesn’t do community work anymore.
I know George and Bobby. They are good guys who care about the PD and the public they serve. I’m disappointed that George didn’t work with Bobby when he took over as POA President. Together they could have gotten a lot of good things done for their men/women.
From my perspective, before Bobby resigned, they made one hell of team as President and Vice President of the POA. I hope the two of them can iron out their differences for the good of the PD.
In the meantime, I hope Chief Moore does the right thing and reassigns Bobby to a new supervisor because I think it falls on him to correct this injustice toward Bobby and George.
what I dont understand is wasnt Bobby Lopez a Union Guy ? So why did he go off and start up the “Frateranal Order” ? He does realize that it weakens both unions…..right? strength comes from numbers not separation. so how could someone ,who was such a union guy createa competing union? word on the street is he was bitter about not being re-elected . also that he hated working with SJFD and looked at it as some form of betrayal. wouldnt working together with all unions benefit all unions? Just seems to me that i these times and conditions all of us should stand together as one union voice. I am just asking
First let me just say that they are both intelligent individuals and I trust they will figure out their professional working relationship.
Expanding on that, I hope that Sgt. Lopez and the POA can work together for the benefit of ALL the SJPD Officers.
Friction between the POA and Sgt. Lopez can only help the politicians further degrade the SJ Police Department. Any and all friction within the POA and the SJPD as a whole just plays into the hands of the politicians. During the budget/pension dramatization by the politicians they never mentioned that the Officers funded the pension with between 19 and 23% from their own paychecks, depending on the year, and that some years the City never had to fund ANY additional money into the pension plan for the SJPD Officers. No, the politicians painted the good Officers as greedy and undeserving of such a pension plan.
Back to Lopez: Lopez brings a lot to the table. He has deep of support in San Jose that extends well beyond the Hispanic Community and is willing to use that support for the benefit of ALL SJPD Officers. At one time he was considered one of the top 5 most influential individuals here in San Jose. Often he was often called upon as a liaison to work with various segments of the community on behalf of the SJPD.
IMHO it would be best for the Officers of the SJPD and for that matter all the Citizens of San Jose if the POA and Sgt. Lopez could work together. Perhaps the fact that these two gentlemen are working together professionally will allow them to work things out regarding the POA issues.
Let us hope as it will benefit all of us and our community.
In My Humble Opinion,
One Enigma
I think your missing the point. As a department member I voted for Bobby. He didn’t start a union. He started a regional organization such as the one we currently pay into in Sacramento. We need a concentrated voice working with all unions in the Valley. I have bought into that idea. When San Jose falls which it will under the current direction, every department in the valley will be following suit. I might remind you one thing that is going around the department membership..“WHAT HAVE WE WON?” I think you will see a ground swell of support with the FOP at the community level in Santa Clara Valley. This support will always be behind the rank an file of ALL departments in the valley. Just my comments.
Im not for one guy or the other ….it just seems to me that EVERYONE would benefit from these two guys setting their differences aside and work together. hopefully these two can get it together and work with all unions in the city .these two could bring all union workers together
““hopefully these two can get it together and work with all unions in the city .these two could bring all union workers together”“
Power is in numbers. If ALL of the unions can get together, this would work wonders for what needs to be done to right things. George and Bobby…we need you back together for the good of all city workers and unions.
Fly,
I am surprised you blocked my previous comments in the the past but it is Ok to say “his math sucks”. Are you getting a job with the Mercury news?
How about a post about the BS today about the council grand standing about, WE WILL RID OURSELVES OF OUR PENSIONS AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE. Now that is a crock, they know this will cost the citizens more to cancel their pensions than it is worth to keep. Looks good in the News but will not happen. But if it does the cost for getting out of Calpers will go right back to money out of the city budget.
How about some good investigative reporting about how the city council is the RDA, how they just gave themselves more money from”affordable housing”.
How about where the 3 billion spend went, how about the RDA (city council) still owes 3.8 BILLION DOLLARS for current projects.
How about the city still owes 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS for the airport upgrade.
How about the city council “borrowed” 18 million from the “general fund” to pay for god knows what and how it will be returned and when? How much else is unaccounted for?
I can go on but let a few other comments post first.
The POA presidents are not the problems with the cities mismanagement of city funds. They are just fighting for what was promised us for years in negotiations that were agreed to in contracts. And I do not want to here Chuck or any other council member blame it on past councils. Contracts were signed!
They knew the long term effects to delay salary increases. Chuck was on these councils and signed off. Constant benefited from this contracts. How he sits on the retirement board is still a mystery!
And Vice Mayor stating it is what it is, wow, great way to think outside the box.
Put em in the cage and name em. NY PICANTE VS THE CRUSHER. In the end we will see a yellow streak all the way to New York Ciiiiiiiiity. Winner take all. Refing this will be “Moore Worse than Ever” On the bell will be “figure it figone”. Cleaning the mats after, will be club unland. Brought to you by Don the King Promoter.
I’m a POA member and have been for decades, however A “Union Guy” who has the vision to create a regional juggernaut that can actually help the troops I’m all for.
The POA reeks of impropriety and has failed it’s membership.
The POA has alienated itself from the public as well as membership. Associations in major cities have relationships that span from grassroots organizations to global iconic corporations.
Lopez has shown the ability to communicate with a diverse group that would love to have the opportunity to work with the POA and support public safety.
The current and former president have showed NO interest in diversity, grossly mismanage members funds and have severed every relevant relationships within the community.
SJPOA has become the laughingstock of the County, if not the State and the fracture runs deep.
Pretty publications, email technology “BLAST”, telephone communications, grand foyers, contributions to nowhere (political fund} and support of irrelevant local politicians comes at an expense SJPOA members cannot afford to pay.
Why do I continue to get a glossy color Vanguard publication sent to me monthly when society has gone paperless?
SJPOA+FOP= Strenghth not fracture.
I’d encourage all to work together.
We agree to agree. I think George and bobby were led down a path by a certain individual. This guy during his entire career has gotten into units with a very humble attitude. Once allowed in he sought out and became friends with the shot callers. Slowly he picked one guy after another off by turning one against the other. Before long he was only one off from the top. Once the opportunity came along he strikes and takes over. Asked any unit he has worked. In the end when time is up he will meet the people he has stepped on and apoligize. I know, I have first hand knowledge. It’s not about what is best for the people its whats best for him and the power. J. it won’t be long before the troops see through the veil you hide behind. Bobby and George you got punked! Get back together and become the team you once were. #1 in the state
Does this mean the rumor that the POA is missing lots of cash is not true that monies spent building and money collected to fight Reed have returned?
I never believed Beattie would leave. No doubt he was told if he wants a promotion he had to step down that Figone would block any promotion as long as he remained as part of the POA. Its just a side show with all the top leaving San Jose beattie has a huge shot at a two more promotions before he retires. thats 30% and a chance to be chief after leaving San Jose. Why would he leave now … I am going to bet he has I love Deb tattoed on his butt and she paid for it.
The POA does indeed need a full outside audit. Not numbers provided by the current or especially last CFO. We as patrol members were told 50.00 extra a month was needed for political work. We were then told that they had to cash bonds recently as they had no money. The plot thickens. Show me the money! Maybe thats the real reason George left with the Attorney. Maybe a grand jury investigation over Union Dues.
Both men are professionals. Is there an actual “on the job” problem or are you merely stirring the pot attempting to create one to validate your piece of writing?
Would you agree the SJPOA is at the lowest community rating it has ever seen?
“The POA and FOP should close ranks and start getting things done.”
Excellent point!
Publicly airing the dirty laundry of any fraternal or labor organization is dirty pool and should be beneath the membership’s dignity. Reed and Figone are giggling like school kids at the success of their divide and conquer campaign. First it worked with the citizens and the public safety members that serve them. Now it is working again within their own ranks. Go ahead, cannibilize yourselves and see where you are in 5 years. The POA and FOP should close ranks and start getting things done. Petty politics will be the downfall of once great organizations.
You people are despicable,
Amen to that!
Perhaps you might talk with both of them and bring them back together? Have you tried?
Kathleen (Despicable)
“Perhaps you might talk with both of them and bring them back together? Have you tried?”
Yes I have. I did awhile back. Bobby was willing and George said he’d think about it, but didn’t offer much hope. ;-(
Mr Galt I would ask you if were really as naive as you sound but your comments prove my point.
The key phrase here is public servant not public slave.
the city of San Jose didn’t give anybody anything they paid for a potential police officer and it was his job to get through a police academy which he did.
His loyalty was not to the city but the citizens until the city made it impossible to stay.
The sad thing is that if this keeps happening we will become Oakland that make you happy