Part I

After noticing what appeared to be some real problems with the plan to buy rifle suppressors for SPD including some strange things about the bid that was recommended by SPD to be approved by the City Council I decided to fill the City Council in on the obvious. Maybe its just me that thought it was real, real, strange WE were going to be buy from a SPRINKLER COMPANY. Of course, I happened to know who owned that company and the owner’s relationship to the Spokane Police Department and the Spokane Police Academy, so I shot this email off to the City Council and OPO on September 11, 2017 figuring someone would have sense enough to look into it and because we are talking about taxpayer money they would perform their due diligence.

Needless to say I’m quite used to City Government ignoring any information I give them about problems in City Government, as a matter of fact I kind of like it when they do because I can just sit back and watch them fall flat on their face (stay tuned), but I did get a little bit excited when I got this email from Council member Beggs.

***To be fair some City Council members do respond occasionally, Karen Stratton is very diligent about it and Council member Beggs and Fagan do occasionally, Council President Stuckart does sometimes.

 

So now, I’ve got a Lawyer and Council member that it appears is going to look into the glaring problems, like perhaps, contract conflict of interest, bid rigging, violation of State and Federal Laws, etcetera so surely a Lawyer would take one look at what was presented to Council and Mayor and say “Wait just a second, why are we buying rifle suppressors from a SPRINKLER COMPANY?”  Well, I should have followed my instincts and remembered the old adage that lawyers can’t track an elephant with a nose bleed in a snow storm, that’s why they hire Investigators! So where did they get the “more data” they requested… from the people that wanted to buy the suppressors in the first place of course.

So after getting all the new data from SPD and not independently investigating what was really going on they all vote for SPD to give $115,202.88 to a SPRINKLER COMPANY for suppressors, and to quote one Council member “I already voted for it so what can I do now?” The answer of course was LOTS! Will the LOTS ever happen, it is very doubtful as it would be far too embarrassing for the City Council and Mayor after having been warned yet again about a serious issue and not acting with due diligence.

Would a reasonable person, even if they didn’t know or remember, that they approved contracts for and wrote checks to T&B Sprinklers many, many, times look at the Agenda Sheet and Briefing Paper and ask why are we buying rifle suppressors from a SPRINKLER COMPANY? Wouldn’t it make sense to at least find out what T&B Sprinklers is all about and who Robert T Bro is before you wrote the check, or do you just rely on what the SPD tells you? At least it was only $115K plus as opposed to the $150K plus for the boulders placed near where Robert T Bro and I went to High School.

 

From the standpoint of just a Citizen of Spokane, and not an Investigative “Gadfly” it makes me wonder just how many of these “Good Ole Boy/Girl” contracts we are paying throughout the City along with all the “Good Ole Boy/Girl” exempt hires.

It doesn’t take a week to find out what T&B Sprinklers is all about, it only takes about five minutes to find out that T&B Sprinklers is a sole proprietorship that does SOMETHING, maybe with sprinklers, at the Spokane Police Academy and is owned by Robert T Bro a former SPD Officer who is a “Range Master Assistant and Armorer” at the Spokane Police Academy. Of course if you are too busy to take the time to do it, you could have one of those Assistants we Citizens pay to do that kind of stuff take care of it for you.

This really ain’t Rocket Science, anyone can do it!

***If you are wondering why T&B Sprinklers Workers Comp account is closed, it is elementary my dear Watson, they don’t have any employees.

 

Wouldn’t it make since to see if this SPRINKLER COMPANY turned SUPPRESSOR SUPPLIER had ever done business with the City in the past? Well of course it would but if you did that it might get a little stinky.

So if you actually took the little time it takes to check things out you would have found that T&B Sprinklers has been doing some kind of work at the Spokane Police Academy for years and years, so the obvious question you would ask Chief Meidl and Assistant Chief Lundgren, who know full well all about it, before you voted to buy rifle suppressors would be… “How come we are buying rifle suppressors from your SPRINKLER guy?”

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/e83221fe-4850-40cf-afa5-b1b985b23c83

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/34520510-2e1c-4b53-a004-13c31f701e4e

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/b5156570-8357-4127-b1fd-06ef04cb8998

 

One nice thing about the T&B Sprinkler contract is that SPD will of course have all of the submitted applications and invoices at their fingertips so if this is independently investigated as was suggested it will be a piece of cake… right?

 

I suppose someone could also ask Chief Meidl and Assistant Chief Lundgren why Four Seasons Landscaping Inc. who has the contract for SPD landscaping, mowing, snowplowing, etc at the Academy couldn’t just handle the Sprinklers along with all the other stuff. But I suppose that question would be one of those that would open up a whole can of worms the City Council would be real fearful of getting into, say for example if Robert T Bro the Spokane Police Academy Rangemaster Assistant and Armorer was getting greased for that work via the contract with his T&B Sprinklers… absurd right? Well if you think it is absurd you should read the email below about hiding FTEs (Full Time Employees)

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/ef57105e-6707-4665-aeb4-9674068cab8c

 

It sure doesn’t take but a few seconds to read the actual bid and see that the references the SPRINKLER COMPANY provided was the SPD Range Master, recently promoted Lt. Rob Boothe (another story for later) and Ozzie’s guy Deputy Brian Moen, which might have been a bit of a clue. So where does Council President Stuckart’s likely opponent in the Mayoral Election, Ozzie, who has been politicizing on everything he can find stand on Rifle Suppressors?…Oh that’s right, now I remember!

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said his agency had looked into purchasing the devices for their firearms, but hasn’t moved forward not only due to costs but also how citizens might react to their use.

“Those are serious concerns. Especially in this day and age of things that are going on with the public and law enforcement,” Knezovich said.

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/oct/07/spokane-police-will-add-suppressors-to-rifles-citi/#/1

Maybe T&B Sprinklers can get the County bid if Ozzie decides to get them since his guy is on-board?

 

 

Gee I wish I had a Federal Grant to pay my SPRINKLER GUY Alex Jones, I have a Blowout scheduled soon so I’ll ask him if he knows of any Federal Grant money available to me I could use to pay him. This Sprinkler stuff for SPD gets pretty expensive sometimes.

In Part II we will look at how easy it is to find out exactly who a bidder is, who is “looking into this”, the answers being given by City Employees about this mess, like for example the Sprinkler Guy is the only one we could get these Razzu Suppressors from and other cool things.

YES, YES, I know too much information, too much data to absorb, too much documentation, I’ve heard it before and yes, the City Council has all of this and more.

 

I REPORT YOU DECIDE!!!