Regarding the peasants, “Let Them Eat Cake!”

The popular history of the French Revolution and the causes surrounding it center on King Louis XVI (1774-1792) and his queen, Marie Antoinette. The prevailing and unquestioned philosophy was that elites should rule society. The arrogance and ignorance of the French royalty and their indifference toward the austere plight of the peasantry is summed up in that one fateful statement that has been attributed to the tactless Queen of France.

When informed by a member of her court that the peasants were starving and had no bread to eat, Marie Antoinette’s legendary response was, “Then let them eat cake.”, and, even though this statement is controverted by scholars of the French Revolution, they all agree that this statement represented the acrimonious relationship between the Royalty and the proletariat.

Now we transition from France in the late 1700s to Chino, California, USA, in the year 2005 anno Domini.

In an article written by Mason Stockstill and published in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the headline reads, “Repairs needed after CIM riot”. This story articulates the damage that was inflicted on the physical plant of the East Facility of the California Institution for Men by the rioting inmate population on September 22, 2005.

However, as I have written in prior columns on this blog, there has been a historic lack of maintenance at this prison over the decades and it still continues to this day. The repairs that are spoken of in Mr. Stockstill’s article, as reported by Tim Shirlock, CIM’s Public Information Officer, are the ones that made it to the paper and they represent the small tip of a fiscal iceberg which threatens to sink Warden Poulos’ ship which has just come in.

Further, nothing was learned from the Manual Gonzales tragedy as a multitude of uniformed staff have yet to be issued stab-proof vests, thereby inviting future tragedies.

The logical question that arises is whether or not Sacramento has ever provided or is now providing the California Institution for Men with sufficient maintenance funding to properly continue their mission of providing safety to the public or the staff working at CIM. Prison maintenance appears to have taken a back seat to Warden Poulos’ creature comforts while Warden of CIM.

In the front of the California Institution for Men are approximately 10 State owned houses which serve as the, low rent, taxpayer subsidized, residences of the, highly paid, Warden and his Court, and Warden Poulos has recently begun preparing his house for his occupancy.

As Warden Poulos reported in his recent meetings with line staff, this preparation includes a new fence around, and a paint job for, his Warden’s Mansion. However, there are reports from CIM insiders that these repairs are far more extensive than Warden Poulos admitted at these meetings.

Reportedly, there is to be a complete renovation of this house including, but not limited to, all new major appliances, new paint, a new fence, and modernized bathrooms.

It seems odd that the prior residents of this house didn’t see the need for this level of, taxpayer subsidized, home improvement. More unusual still is the timing of all of this restoration.

If these reports are discovered to be true, through a proper external investigation, it leaves one to wonder just how much the necessary renovations of the prison will have to be split with the King’s new castle.

Perhaps the Inspector General could investigate and ascertain the veracity of these reports?

Perhaps the new Warden considers his own creature comforts to be a part of his fiduciary responsibility to the public. After all, Mel Brooks said a mouthful in his movie “History Of The World, Part I” in which he stated, “It’s good to be the King.”

Lorraine Bradley
http://prisoncorruption.blogspot.com