City managers in Riverside, CA are askeered of their irate "Subjects".

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - City managers in Riverside, CA are askeered of their irate "Subjects".

Posted: 1/6/2006 5:27:08 AM EDT

Of course everybody else, all you little people, can just go and become crime victims (jeez - is it any wonder why people want to do them harm?).

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - The city manager and two council members sought concealed weapon permits because they are concerned about violence.

More than seven years ago a gunman burst into a council meeting room and wounded several city officials. There are still fears among current officials that their jobs put them in jeopardy.

City Manager Brad Hudson said in his concealed weapon permit application that he needs to carry a gun because of "city council meetings - threats directly and indirectly. Subjects make their way up to the 7th floor who are irate."

Hudson and other top city officials have their offices on the seventh floor of City Hall.

Assistant City Manager Tom DeSantis said he needed a permit for "self protection associated with professional duties which require presence in high crime areas of the city as well as attendance at hostile and potentially hostile community meetings in high crime areas."

The applications submitted by Hudson and council members Frank Schiavone and Ed Atkison were released in response to public-records requests from The Press-Enterprise. DeSantis' application was released earlier by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

DeSantis initially obtained a permit to carry a concealed weapon from the Riverside Police Department, but it was later revoked because he does not live in the city. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department then issued DeSantis a permit.

Hudson told the newspaper public officials can be targets of violence, especially because their presence at meetings and elsewhere is known.

"There are just imbalanced people that have, unfortunately, mental disorders, and they often gravitate toward people in public positions in a violent way or in a scary way," Hudson said.

In October 1998, a former city chess coach fired from his part-time city position stormed a council meeting room and began shooting. Several city officials and police officers were injured

Schiavone, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam and a former Riverside Police Department reserve officer, said in an interview that he has had guns "for probably 20 of the last 25 years."

Schiavone said he had two incidents, one within the past three years and one from the mid-1980s, when he was threatened with violence.

"Public service should not come at the risk of personal safety," said Schiavone, who wouldn't say whether he carries a gun.

Adkison declined to comment on his permit, saying it's a personal issue.

Riverside police have issued concealed-weapons permits to 13 city residents. Police Chief Russ Leach, who must sign off on the permits, said everyone with a concealed-weapons permit issued by his department goes through a background check, a psychological examination and firearms training.

Schiavone, Hudson, Adkison and DeSantis got concealed weapons permits.

www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/13558375.htm

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - City managers in Riverside, CA are askeered of their irate "Subjects".

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