PG&E probation to end; ‘Hate speech’ in Mendo
I recently wrote a column featuring former county supervisor John McCowen’s thoughts on retiring CEO Carmel Angelo’s tenure in Mendo County.
Believe it or not, some PC lunatics called McCowen’s insider insights “hate speech.”
Are you kidding me. We’re talking politics here, not all this “woke” crap emanating from neurotics.
Here are folks comments responding to the BS hate speech charges.
Beth Bosk: I shared John McCowen’s post to both the Mendocino County 4th & 5th District group sites. It was immediately dumped as “hate speech” by the manager of the 4th District group site. Folks are commenting on it on the 5th District site, but that may be in an adjunct “Community” site established by Bruce Broderick. Retelling a personal history that involves criticism of one public official by another is not hate speech, it’s lived history.
John McCowen: A few days ago the Administrator of the District pages deleted the following comment which was considered to be bullying or hate speech: “The mismanagement starts at the top with CEO Angelo who is more concerned with rewarding her friends and punishing her perceived enemies than with managing the county for the benefit of the public.” If this is hate speech or bullying then either the Administrator lived a very sheltered life or is personal friends with the CEO.
Dickey Weinkle: I shared it on the Willits Fan Page Community page. It was approved with a notation at the bottom that it was hate speech. What a pile of poop.
Supervisor Mo Mulheren: Recent editorial comments have been “interesting.” The fact of the matter is that Mendocino County has five Board of Supervisors that represent the community and will need to decide what needs to happen next with this position. So before anyone goes jumping to conclusions please know that the decision about how to move forward, will be agendized for the January 25th meeting. This has been an ongoing discussion the last year that I’ve been on the Board, please feel free to ask questions and share opinions but know that NO DECISIONS have been made yet.
Douglas Coulter: Is it hate speech to say Adolf Hitler did great things for Germany’s economy but destroyed any who opposed him. Book burning, propaganda, censorship, intimidation all backfired to leave the name Hitler as a curse and his nation in ruins. Read the praise for Adolf from America’s media and government up until 1939 His methods work for quick results but do not endure, they create backlash.
PG&E’s probation about to end
If PG&E’s five years on federal probation was intended to rehabilitate the state-authorized electrical monopoly, it’s been mostly a failure.
With PG&E’s criminal probation set to expire as I write this on Tuesday night, Jan. 25, one can only hope that a last-minute change will keep the company under a federal judge’s supervision.
However, the handwriting is already on the wall as federal district Judge William Alsup said last week that he would not seek to extend PG&E’s time on probation because federal prosecutors did not take him up on his offer to continue probation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for California’s Northern district declined the judge’s offer, writing that a hearing was not “necessary,” citing uncertainty about the court’s ability to impose more punishment.
“The fact that the federal prosecutor will not take the judge’s lead and keep these people on probation so that they are scrutinized, so they cannot kill another person, is a slap in the face,” said Paradise town council member Steve Culleton. “It is a slap in the face to everybody that survived the Camp Fire and the 85-plus people that died.”
Disaster survivors slammed U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds and her office for deciding not to try to set a precedent, given PG&E’s repeated offenses.
Judge Alsup’s investigations of probation violations have revealed countless details of PG&E’s involvement in wildfires that otherwise would have stayed secret.
PG&E’s probation officer filed violations last November because PG&E had been charged with dozens of new criminal offenses in the 2019 Kincade and 2020 Zogg Fire.
The charges include felony manslaughter of the four people killed in the Zogg Fire.
“At this juncture, it appears that the state courts are the proper forum” for those issues, the U.S. Attorney’s office wrote earlier this month.
Many survivors of PG&E disasters have made it clear that they wanted probation extended.
If the judge were to extend probation, legal experts say PG&E would certainly appeal and would have a strong argument due to the five-year maximum set by federal law.
However, it can also be argued that since PG&E has been convicted of deadly crimes during their probation, continuing it would be more than appropriate and justified.
If PG&E’s five years on federal probation was intended to rehabilitate the stateauthorized electrical monopoly, it’s been mostly a failure. With PG&E’s criminal probation set to expire as I write this on Tuesday night, Jan. 25, one can only hope that a lastminute change will keep the company under a federal judge’s supervision.
In his comments last week, Judge Alsop indicated extending probation was a step he wasn’t willing to take without having prosecutors on record ready to defend the move if it were appealed by PG&E.
“In the absence of a motion by the United States Attorney to extend probation, the Court will not do so on its own,” Judge Alsup wrote last week in a filing that said PG&E had “failed” to rehabilitate and “has gone on a crime spree and will emerge from probation as a continuing menace to California.”
If no further action is taken, PG&E’s probation will end after on Jan. 25.
Let’s hope Judge Alsup has a last-minute change of mind and does the right thing: Extend PG&E’s probation, a move that truly would be justice for all Californians who have been damaged by its unlawful behavior for far too long.