"Sheriff reviews diplomas in flap over raises"
The investigation was prompted by a complaint that Sgt. Jim Fuda, 52, a candidate in the race for sheriff, received a 2 percent pay raise after submitting a bachelor of arts degree from a bogus online university.This doesn't look good for Fuda's challenge to Sheriff Sue Rahr, who was appointed by former Sheriff Dave Reichert upon his election to Congress, and who is endorsed by nearly every leading public figure in the state, from Christine Gregoire to Dino Rossi. Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at September 02, 2005 10:03 AM | Email ThisThe Kingsfield University Web site issued thousands of diplomas, taking in millions of dollars before it was shut down in 2003 by the Federal Trade Commission.
Fuda said yesterday that he received his degree in public administration from Kingsfield.
Any man, father, or woman that cares about her sons, who votes for Sue Rahr is committing an act of self-mutilation. Learn a little about Rahr's role (and especially Reichert's) in the enforcement of anti-patriarchy legislation in the form of domestic violence laws and the horrible practice of forcing fathers out of their children's lives through bogus claims of abuse in family court before you vote for nazi Rahr.
A much better candidate for anyone that cares about these issues and generally would like someone with the best credentials (as opposed to the most politically correct) should check out Greg Schmidt.
Posted by: BananaLand (aka Iguana) on September 2, 2005 11:44 AMUnless you like a ton of resources focused on nonviolent criminals and using the dept as bill collecter for the state...then stay with current regime or better yet go with the Snohomish County Sheriff Bart who gives snotty child like responses when tax payers want answers to serious issues.
Posted by: Andy on September 2, 2005 12:31 PMIt appears that someone is trying to make this into an issue when it truly isn't........ I mean - so what if this guy got himself a degree at a college that later turned out to be unacredited? It's obviously not his fault! And a measly 2% pay increase shouldn't warrant a UofW degree! He probably knows more *real* hands-on public administration than anyone in the Sheriffs department with a similar degree from an acredited college!
Rahr leans way to the left (this is why the endorsement from Gregoire).....Fuda would be the choice of most law enforcement officers! I honestly don't know anything about Schmidt.
I know people in other police departments who have worked with Fuda. - They say he's the one they are going to vote for!
I am going to vote for Fuda.
Posted by: Deborah on September 2, 2005 07:46 PMHmm...I don't see an endorsement for Rahr from David Irons or Steve Hammond....but I DO see an endorsement from good ol' Ron Sims......That speaks volumes! I'm voting for Fuda!
Elected Officials:
Governor Christine Gregoire
Former State Senator Dino Rossi
Former Sheriff and current Congressman Dave Reichert
Former Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn
Attorney General Rob McKenna
King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng
King County Executive Ron Sims
King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn
King County Councilmember Jane Hague
King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert
King County Councilmember Carolyn Edmonds
King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer
King County Councilmember Dwight Pelz
First, full disclosure.
I am an acquaintance (not a "friend", as the Times said) of Greg Schmidt. I have three months off work, so have some excess bandwidth. For kicks and giggles, I made a public disclosure request of ALL the candidates, and got 500+ pages on each of the King County employees, Rahr and Fuda, and only 80 pages from Seattle PD, who employs Greg Schmidt. Hmmmmmm. Also, please note that Rahr allowed more than was required by law to be disclosed about her, to her credit.
So, I am going through this stuff, and find a couple of interesting things. First, Sue (Go Cougs) Rahr was busted on a petty charge of using company email for personal use when she was Chief in the City of Shoreline for sending a Clinton joke--a really good one--to someone. It was her second violation of the rule, and she took an unpaid leave day for it as a sanction. BFD. Interesting that the first time she was busted for mis-using company email, it was for replying with “thanks” to a fellow KC employee not in the sheriff’s department, who was not disciplined. So much for equity.
Why are they wasting time investigating this kind of petty crap, instead of using the resources to catch the puke that ripped off my $99 car stereo last month? If she would have picked up the phone, and told the joke on the company phone, it would have been ok. But I digress.
The only other interesting thing about the sheriff’s candidacy is her contributors. She certainly is plugged in to the Seattle elite. Folks contribute to campaigns, based on my experience as a three time elected official, because you can do something for them, or prevent what your opponent will do to them. Or, because you are just a friend wanting to show goodwill, and making a nominal contribution. Now, Rahr’s contributor list shows amounts way beyond that, from folks who, frankly, it won’t make a tinkers damn bit of difference to regardless of who gets elected. Big money folks contributed the max, way beyond what could be reasonably be expected. I mean old and new Seattle names, besides the Governatrix, a former Secy. Of State, former US Senators, small town mayors outside of King County that want to run for state senator, known rad-fems that and the like. Very interesting mix and lotsa bux.
When I had Fuda's file, I was reminded that in both our frivolous youths, just a year or two ago, that he was busted back to patrolman for a year, for a) filing a false expense report, b) lying to the prosecutor and c) failing to rat out his partner over $300 bucks in drug buy money that disappeared. The “blue code” seems to be alive and well with Mr. Fuda.
That suggests to me a lack of veracity, and brings questions to mind as to his suitability and temperament for the top cop job.
So, my index finger is turning red paging though all this stuff, when I come upon a Highline Community College transcript, where I note he got B and C grades. I also note that the Sheriff was inconsistent in what they redacted on various docs. Some places grades are redacted, some places they are not. Pretty sloppy work, as either they disclosed stuff they shouldn't have, or didn't disclose stuff they should have.
Anyhow, I get to a diploma from the prestigious Kingsfield University, which had a stench about it to my brilliant and observant mind. Turning bullshit filter up to "high", I made a note of this doc, and also noted that he went from an 'average' student to one who graduated Cum Laude, and with Distinction. Hmmmmmmm, I said, scratching the three hairs left on my head.
So, the next doc is the memo saying give the ol' boy a 2% raise.
Fine. I go back to my trailer court hovel, and crank up the squirrels that power the internet, and discover (on a German website, no less) that this university is a diploma mill, closed by the FTC in 2002-2003. I additionally note that three states who boldly identify "diploma mills" on their state's education website mention that this is one of those schools. Illinois, Michigan, and Oregon are the states, if ya wanna know.
Being an inquisitive fellow, I call a nice lady in the cop shop’s personnel department, and ask if the pay bump depends on it being an accredited university, and she assures me it does. When I drill down and ask how they check it out, she replies the HECB. Well, the HEC Board doesn't give a rat's about out of state institutions, and I mentioned that. Her response was that the guy who usually does the checking retired, and she gives me to some young fellow, who assures me again, it must be an accredited institution, and assures me that he checks them very, very carefully.
Ooooooooookkkkkaayyyyy.
Trucking back down to the cop shop to re-review the disclosed documents and verify that I saw what I thought I saw, I got copies this time. The legal department’s AA, a very sincere woman named Michelle Monohon, from Tacoma, is sitting next to me, and for giggles, I hold it up, point it towards her, and say, “Hey, Michelle, you ever see a diploma mill diploma? You are looking at one right now.”
She, rejecting the ‘blue code’, and being a good public servant, but unknownst to me, tells her boss as she is required to do, and that kicked off the investigation.
Seems that Ms. Rahr’s management failed to write a good policy, as the requirement that the degree be from an accredited institution is NOT in policy. In fact, it is in the labor union contract, where it is not spelled out clearly either. Sloppy, sloppy stuff.
So, Mr. Fuda could skate on this one, even though the Sheriff’s spinmeister, Sgt. John U., says it could be fraud. Tough cop talk methinks, on his part.
Now, if Mr. Fuda thought it was "cool" to have this (non) degree, please ponder this: It is NOT listed on his campaign website, www.jimfuda.com., even though his Highline CC degree is. How cool is that, as my young sons would say.
Ok, the Geezers fingers are tired, but thought you may want to know the rest of this story. I did not make the complaint as reported in the Times fishwrapper on Friday. Michelle did, rightfully. It was not my intention to cause that, in fact, I didn't even consider that she would be required to report, just trying to engage in social conversation with a person who showed utmost courtesy in delivering and facilitating my public records request.
When Fuda takes my tax money, but doesn't do the work to get the degree it represents, and when he fully embraces the "blue code" by covering up for his corrupt partner, lies to the prosecutor, and files false expense reports, he is not the man I would encourage anyone to vote for.
Except maybe George Janovich, but he died. Yeah, George would like Fuda.
The Geez
Posted by: The Geezer on September 4, 2005 11:36 AMIf Schmidt is going to be so great for KCSO, then why did he only receive six votes from the KCSO guild? And on Fuda taking your tax money, c'mon, come up with something more original. That's right up there to telling a cop, "I pay your salary." And why hasn't Schmidt been endorsed by his own guild as a qualified candidate to lead KCSO? I missed that on his website.
Posted by: Jimrocks on September 4, 2005 07:25 PMThe Sheriff's union endorses Jimmy becuase they don't like the Reichmeister's hand chosen one, and because Fuda fully embraces the blue code, and will most likely cover their arse if they screw up.
Good cops, giving service and value for their pay, never give me grief. Those who fraudulently rip off the system to get extra money do.
If Jimmy is so proud of his "degree", and thinks it legit for getting a raise, howcome he doesn't mention it on his campaign website?
I smell troll.
Okay, if KCSO's guild doesn't like Rahr, then why not endorse Schmidt? You still haven't answered my question. And have you ever been in law enforcement? Because you keep talking about this "blue code." If you have ever been a cop, you would know that what Jim Fuda allegedly is accused of is NOTHING what cops do out there and get away with. If SPD is anything like several PD's I know, you don't move up the food chain at the expense of other cops' careers. No candidate is perfect and who knows what is going to happen when he/she (whether it be Fuda, Rahr or Schmidt) gets elected, but all I know from being a cop, is that you cannot serve two masters, whether it be a city manager, mayor, city, county council versus your department and all its employees, without offering a sacrifical lamb. The question is whether or not you are willing to sell your soul to get what you want (politically or otherwise)and are willing to live with the consequences. What I do know is that cops just want the equipment and resources to do their jobs effectively and safely so that they can go home to their families at night and it speaks volumes when they back somebody that they know is willing to give them that. So in terms of the "blue code," yes it does exist in some bad terms and in a lot of ways good terms too. Because I am willing to vote for somebody who is willing to provide the officers and resources so that you, me and the rest of King County safe. Jim doesn't need to run for Sheriff, he has 32 years in and judging from his tenure, is a LEOFF I eligible retiree. It would be my guess that in his 32 years that he has remained a Sergeant to remain in touch with the beat cops in order to have a sense of connectivity with them so that when he does run for Sheriff, he knows what they want, how they want it done and most of all, that he knows their heartaches, frustrations and pride of being a deputy for KCSO
Posted by: Jimrocks on September 5, 2005 10:21 AM