01.03.19

PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS
BRIEFS
SELLER BEWARE
JURY ORDERS PASADENA POLICE
OFFICER TO PAY $750,000
BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN
A Los Angeles jury last week ordered a veteran Pasadena
police officer to pay a salesman $750,000 who claimed
the officer pointed a gun at him after a sales pitch that
PPD Chief John Perez
turned potentially deadly at the officer’s home.
According to a City News Service (CNS) article,
Omar Segura, a 37-year-old door-to-door salesman, testified last week at a
civil trial in Los Angeles that Pasadena police Cpl. Sam De Sylva aimed a gun at his
head during an allegedly “racially motivated confrontation” at the front door of De
Sylva’s home in Santa Clarita in 2015.
The jury reached its decision in favor of Segura, who is of Panamanian descent
and a resident of Stevenson Ranch, a neighborhood of San Clarita, after deliberating
for two hours.
The incident began after Segura came upon the policeman’s home while going
door to door on Jan. 2, 2015 in efforts to sell him a security system.
After a heated discussion, Segura claimed he showed De Sylva a permit allowing
him to sell in the area. According to Segura, De Sylva snatched the document from
him, then when Segura tried to get it back he pulled his service revolver and made
him get on the ground, where he remained until sheriff’s deputies arrested him. He
testified he did not know De Sylva was a police officer until deputies arrived.
De Sylva is a 17-year veteran of the Pasadena Police Department who is
currently assigned to the office of the chief as the policies and risk management
auditor.
In an email to the Pasadena Weekly, Pasadena Police Officers Association
Treasurer David Llanes said that De Sylva’s wife was suspicious of Segura and had
asked him to leave several times.
“Many of us have been victims of eager, unprofessional, rude and overly
aggressive solicitors who come to our doors uninvited and continue to push their
wares, even after being asked to leave,” Llanes wrote.
According to Llanes, after Segura refused to leave De Sylva became concerned
about the safety of his wife and kids.
“With two young children at her side and her husband unavailable at the moment,”
Llanes wrote, “was it unreasonable for the spouse of a police officer to be
scared — knowing her husband faces an untold number of daily threats at home
and work?”
De Sylva testified that he drew his weapon after Segura ignored repeated
orders to leave the property.
Police Chief John Perez said the department had completed its internal affairs
investigation into the matter, but could not discuss the results due to state law
which seals police officer personnel records.
However, “We stand by Cpl. De Sylva 100 percent,” said Perez. “He is well
respected in Pasadena and in the community where he lives.”
De Sylva has denied any of his actions were racially motivated, as Segura
claims. n
DATA CITY
PASADENA NAMED ONE OF THE TOP
DIGITAL CITIES IN AMERICA
BY ANDRÉ COLEMAN
The Center for Digital Government (CDG) has named
Pasadena one of the top 10 digital cities in the nation.
This is the fourth time Pasadena has been recognized
as a technically progressive and innovative community
when compared to other cities of similar size.
Pasadena tied for sixth place with Hampton, Virginia. for cities with a
Phillip Leclair
population between 125,000 and 249,999 people. Only two other California cities
ranked in the top 10 — Rancho Cucamonga and Corona came in ninth and 10th
place, respectively.
“Pasadena continues to invest in many technology initiatives to improve
citizen services, enhance transparency and encourage citizen engagement,” said
Phillip Leclair, chief information officer for the city’s Department of Information
Technology.
“The survey’s focus on transparency, cyber security and enhancing digital
services aligns directly with the city’s digital strategy,” Leclair wrote in an email.
“This award is a great honor and an outstanding achievement for the city.”
The Center for Digital Government is a national research and advisory
institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local
government.
The winners were based on a survey focused on the top 10 characteristics
of a digital city: open, citizen-centric, collaborative, secure, staffed/supported,
connected, efficient, resilient and innovative, with use of best practices.
“This year’s Digital Cities Survey winners are leading the nation when it comes
to leveraging data to improve a wide range of city services and initiatives,” Teri
Takai, executive director of the Center for Digital Government, said in a prepared
statement . “Thanks to the efforts of these innovative cities, citizens now benefit
from enhanced services as well as improved transparency and privacy protection
efforts. Congratulations to the winners.” n
BUZZ KILL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
to have the voters make this right and I have tried
so diligently, tirelessly and faithfully to show the
benefits to the community if done right, and have
been totally deceived, disappointed, and punished.”
Szameit’s supporters attended the Dec. 17 City
Council meeting to send a message to the council.
“There are 1,294 patients that are registered
voters in Pasadena that have agreed to take a
petition to their neighbors in support of Golden
State Collective and vote in unison in upcoming
municipal elections,” he said.
According to Szameit, a judge has refused to
file a contempt order against him several times in
court and has demanded the two sides meet and
confer. However, he claims the city has ignored a
settlement offer by his attorney.
“Instead, an effort was made to find a judge
unfamiliar with the case to sign a warrant to
smash, arrest and humiliate citing criminal
activity such as finding firearms associated with
narcotics trafficking,” Szameit said. “The arrests
will be investigated for civil rights violations based
on the treatment they received while in custody
and handcuffed for three hours over a medical
marijuana land use violation, which has been in
case management for over four years.”
In November 2016, state voters approved
Proposition 64, which allows for the recreational use
of marijuana and its sale for those purposes to people
21 and older. That law went into effect in 2018.
By then pot was already being sold and
consumed legally in California for medical
purposes.
The Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety
Act — approved by California voters in 2016
— allows for medicinal use of cannabis, but it
also guarantees that cities can pass their own
ordinances regulating marijuana dispensaries.
In anticipation of the state law passing and going
into effect in 2018, the City Council in July 2016
passed an ordinance barring dispensaries from
operating in the city.
But the city was forced to rethink the issue
last year and place Measure CC on the ballot to
thwart efforts by cannabis proponents, including
Szameit, hoping to place their own initiative on the
ballot, which could have overturned the ordinance
and potentially flooded the city with marijuana
dispensaries.
Nearly 60 percent of the voters cast ballots in
favor of Measure CC, which repeals the city’s ban
on marijuana dispensaries and allows up to six
dispensaries in the city. The ordinance also limits
the dispensaries to one per council district.
The dispensaries must be at least 600 feet away
from residential neighborhoods, schools, churches
and parks. Plus, dispensaries and cultivators
cannot operate within 1,000 feet of each other.
“The voters of Pasadena have made it clear that
they wish to allow cannabis operations within
THE COUNT
As of Monday, 3,064 days after the war in Afghanistan ended …
2,228
American military
service members
(0 more
than last week)
were reported
killed in Afghanistan
since
the war began in
2001, according to
The Associated Press.
2,000
remaining US troops
will be leaving Syria
quickly, according
to CNN. Trump
announced the
withdrawal after
declaring victory
against ISIS.
the city, but with reasonable regulations such
as distance separation from residential areas,
schools and places of worship,” said City Manager
Steve Mermell. “In January, the city began taking
applications from those seeking to operate within
the parameters established by the voter-approved
ballot measure. Mr. Szameit has had every
opportunity to comply with the city’s regulations.
However, he has instead chosen to violate the law
to make profit and is now demanding that he be
rewarded for this with a permit to continue his
illegal operations. That simply is not right.”
Eighty-nine of 482, or fewer than 20 percent
of California cities, allow the sale of cannabis
for recreational use, according to the California
Cannabis Industry Association, and 82 of Los
Angeles County’s 88 cities prohibit retail sales of
recreational marijuana, according to the LA Times,
quoting an attorney specializing in cannabis law.
Prior to the 2016 election, state officials
predicted that legal cannabis would generate up
to $1 billion a year in revenue. But based on tax
records, the state is expected to bring in $471
million this fiscal year.
“The cannabis industry is being choked by
California’s penchant for over-regulation,” Dale
Gieringer, director of California NORML, a prolegalization
group, told the Times.
“It’s impossible to solve all of the problems
without a drastic rewrite of the law, which is not in
the cards for the foreseeable future,” Gieringer said.
As in other cities, Pasadena’s battle against
nuisance marijuana dispensaries at times seems to
yield little results. Owners, much like Szameit, have
ignored cease and desist letters and fines, instead
fighting the city in court.
In one case in Pasadena, an illegal dispensary
began operating in a space adjacent to a Pasadena
liquor store on North Lake Avenue, less than a mile
away from two elementary schools and one middle
school. The owner of the liquor store, who has been
cited by the city, owns both spaces.
But after Measure CC passed, the city’s Code
Enforcement Department began going after
property owners that were renting to the owners of
the illegal businesses.
Earlier this year, the city passed an ordinance
allowing city officials to shut the power off at illegal
pot dispensaries, a tactic that has worked in other
communities. A similar ordinance was used in
Anaheim to help shut down 18 illegal dispensaries
after 161 others were closed. Of those remaining 18,
nine closed within a month of the city turning off
their utilities.
“Our lawsuit will be heard across California. We
have had tremendous support and will begin the
process of collecting signatures to right the wrongs
of the unfair cannabis ordinance that creates zero
community benefit and is basically a ban based on
land use restrictions,” Szameit said. n
1
Syrian officer was killed
during an ISIS attack in
Syria on Wednesday
when terrorists
opened fire on the
Syrian Arab Army,
according to The
Associated Press.
2
people were killed in a car
bomb attack in Iraq
on Christmas Day.
ISIS has claimed
responsibility
for the attack,
according to
Reuters.
— Compiled by
André Coleman
8 PASADENA WEEKLY | 01.03.19