Embattled Pacific mayor blamed for police shortage
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PACIFIC, Wash. -- When his own officers slapped on the handcuffs, Pacific Mayor Cy Sun swore he had done nothing but fight corruption.
Now one of those arresting officers has quit, and a hiring freeze ordered by the mayor has the police department hamstrung.
"The situation that exists now has been stressful for all of my officers," said Edwin Massey, acting chief of the Pacific Police Department.
The small-town police department has seen its numbers dwindle from 11 sworn officers down to eight before the month's end. Staff are working extensive overtime to keep the city covered, but some locals worry they'll burn out.
"We got an officer consecutively working seven days, 12-hour shifts. What kind of condition is he in? What's his morale like? how long is he going to continue to put up with that?" said Tracey Apata, a local business owner.
They mayor says he is willing to replace the officer who just resigned, but the hiring freeze stands. However, a legal move is in the works to force him to lift that ban.
"Again, I say bring it on," Sun said.
But the political fight is leaving Pacific vulnerable. Police say a recent spike in property crime could be tied to a scaled-back force.
"With less officers, they are spending more time catching up with their reports, with their investigations," Massey said. "They spend more time in the station, and less time out on the road."
Adding to the troubles, the mayor also faces a recall effort. He says he is only doing what voters asked.
"They asked me to clean up corruption, and that's what I'm doing. And the more I dig into it, the more I see," said Sun.
Now one of those arresting officers has quit, and a hiring freeze ordered by the mayor has the police department hamstrung.
"The situation that exists now has been stressful for all of my officers," said Edwin Massey, acting chief of the Pacific Police Department.
The small-town police department has seen its numbers dwindle from 11 sworn officers down to eight before the month's end. Staff are working extensive overtime to keep the city covered, but some locals worry they'll burn out.
"We got an officer consecutively working seven days, 12-hour shifts. What kind of condition is he in? What's his morale like? how long is he going to continue to put up with that?" said Tracey Apata, a local business owner.
They mayor says he is willing to replace the officer who just resigned, but the hiring freeze stands. However, a legal move is in the works to force him to lift that ban.
"Again, I say bring it on," Sun said.
But the political fight is leaving Pacific vulnerable. Police say a recent spike in property crime could be tied to a scaled-back force.
"With less officers, they are spending more time catching up with their reports, with their investigations," Massey said. "They spend more time in the station, and less time out on the road."
Adding to the troubles, the mayor also faces a recall effort. He says he is only doing what voters asked.
"They asked me to clean up corruption, and that's what I'm doing. And the more I dig into it, the more I see," said Sun.
http://www.kval.com/news/local/Convicted-of-murder-in-1979-elected-to-City-Council-in-2007-140801093.html http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2012/01/cy_sun_mayor_of_pacific_who_wo.php ⢠Here are some facts that are more current: Pacific Public Safety Director John Calkins was charged with drunk driving and intimidating the arresting officer; he testified in court that he doesnât drink beer, while I have seen a photograph of him doing just that; he is accused in a deposition of requiring employees to view porn; he also failed a polygraph examination on whether he threatened an individual with a hand gun, and he was investigated for tampering with a witness. He proposed writing more speeding tickets not for public safety, but to raise revenue. His department practiced racial profiling. When a house burned to the ground on his watch, he bellowed at a city council member for asking why. When I published the claim that he was related to then-Mayor Howard Erickson, he bellowed at me in a city council meeting, denying the allegation. But according to the people who disclosed the relationship, it was Mr. Erickson who made them aware of it. No-one ever hauled him up short for this and other rude behavior until Mr. Sun put him on administrative leave for bellowing at the cityâs treasurer about a month ago. By the way, Mr. Calkins testified in court under oath that he canât raise his voice, so he couldnât have yelled at the arresting officer at his DUI stop. Or at me, either. I must have imagined it.
Superior court says...
http://www.auburn-reporter.com/news/168993626.html
I work in Pacific, the crime is the same. Whatever
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I don't live there and the info I have is primarily what has been reported. What I would be interested to see though is what the actual citizens of Pacific think about all this. If they feel he's doing what they elected him to do, then so be it...... if not, recall him.
 @The WA Mama I live in Pacific and voted for Mayor Sun and am glad I did.  I think the Mayor is doing a fine job and he should keep up the good work.
@OttoMobile @The WA Mama If he were doing a fine job, it would not require the intervention of the Pierce County Supeior court.
to WA Mama
Glad you asked. Here are the facts. Much of what is below are lies.
1) never was any corruption. nothing to "clean up". But since Jan. 1st Cy Sun is the corrupt one.
2) According to the July statistics. Property crimes have doubled over previous July
3) Recall is in the hands of King County Prosecutors office. Petitions will be signed very soon.
4) The cops never sit where these people say they do.
5) The recall signs are on personal property
6)Â Tracey Apata does not operate the Recall Cy Sun blog website.
7) Nobody is standing in his way of doing anything. Truth is he is doing nothing. Nothing to get in the way of.
I just moved to the city of Pacific and trying to catch up on everything thats been going on with the mayor. I understand where a lot of people are coming from and I am very frustrated in the fact that they dont have a few more police officers to help. It amazes me how one person has so much power! Criminals feed off of this stuff and when they hear there is someone with less police, it gives them a chance to commit more crimes with much less of a chance of being caught. Hopefully things will turn around quickly. It truly is a good town to be in.
I don't call hanging out at the Big Foot Java, DQ, and sitting in their patrol cars next to warehouses working. Nice KOMO how you take a statement from "Tracey Apata" who is spearheading the mayors recall.
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"With less officers, they are spending more time catching up with their reports, with their investigations," Massey said. "They spend more time in the station, and less time out on the road." Baloney! Does it take the whole police force to write their reports? By law they have so many hours to complete those reports! For all the sitting in their patrol cars, they have plenty of time to complete those reports in a timely matter. In for more crime, I'm sure it's due to the nicer weather, then the lacking of patrol officers! Again, how about they drive around the city instead of parking!
 @Too funny! HEY MAN!
Big Foot Java is a great place for them to catch speeders, you in between Red Bulls and Big Foot frozen treats. Actually I catch them over at Oscars Motel.
 @Cougsfan34 Oh, I forgot to mention the library, too! That's the parking lot, after the library is close for the night!
 @Too funny! Yeah the library is good, too. But can we really call them a police force? I mean, they are 8 guys. I think we should just refer to them as the Pacific Police Squad. I have seen a few of them hang out near the drilling companies front office. The hooker....errr I mean women of ill repute come out and work that area.
Time to keep it real - ONE officer quit; not the whole force. I live in Pacific and have not noticed a spike in property crimes. Actually - things have been pretty quiet. However, if the police are reporting an increase in crime, that information could be biased. Drive by the City of Pacific Police Department, and you will see not one, but two RECALL MAYOR SUN signs planted right in front of our City property. It would be more helpful if KOMO actually shows the crime statistics, instead of reporting what biased people tell it. As for Tracey Apata, she is the leading force behind the Recall Mayor Sun campaign (she actually runs the website), so she will say anything to make things seem worse than they are, at Mayor Sun's expense. Ms. Apata does not even live in Pacific, but she wants to control what happens there.Â
The signs are not on city property as you imply. Nice twist of the truth though
Tracey Apata does not run the website
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@pnwstguy I did not say the signs were ON City property - I said they were in front of City property.Â
 @ScaredinPacific I would laugh to hear the mayor put a bigger B@O tax on her Dairy Queen for and/or upped the cost of her yearly license for more city revenue. Mayor Sun can call it the, "So good it's the Royal Blizzard Tax." hahahaha, that would be funny!!!!
I really appreciate the comic relief that the town of Pacific is extending to the rest of us.
Clean out that pitiful bunch pacific calls a police department. Â Notice how property crime goes up when police are faced with being held accountable. Â
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No different than Seattle or King County who are so corrupt the taxpayers have been defrauded out of MILLIONS. Â
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Racism! Shame on you KOMO! Tell the truth!
So, if I understand this correctly, the citizens of Pacific elected him to clean up corruption in the town! Current employees of the town are standing in his way and making it difficult to do so. Who should I side with? Duh!
Voters were duped into thinking there was corruption. Cy Sun is the corruption. He should fire his own self.
6 civil suits against him will cost him plenty of money. He should just quit before he gets further in debt.
@Russgl2 That would only be true if he's actually fighting corruption.  The problem is that at the very least, his methods show a complete lack of any 'fighting corruption' and seems like it's all 'fighting anyone who dares stand in his way'.
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Anyone who is as confrontational as he is AND is so WITHOUT any outward proof of his statements that he is fighting corruption reminds me of the types that are full of it and are merely dirtbags themselves.
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@FormerMarineSgt You obviously don't live in Pacific or you would know that he is doing EXACTLY what we elected him to do. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to see that as soon as he was elected the status quo politicians began the obstructions. Once you have lived here and experienced the corruption then you will understand it better.
 @FormerMarineSgt Yeah he could be one of those ignorant tea party people waving the misspelled sign but I still LOVE that Pacific Police have their panties in a bunch and years of bullying residents and getting away with it.Â
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When everyone is against you, you have to hold your cards close. I don't blame the mayor one bit for not divulging all the information at this point. It would give the corrupt the chance to cover thier tracks. I have witnessed the corruption he speaks of first hand - on more than one occasion. It not only involves the police force, Massey in particular, but Judge Rochon and defense attorney Krista White-Swain as well. Give the man a chance to do the right thing for the residents of Pacific. Â
 @whatjusice If you have seen the corruption first hand, then shed some light on those of us in this forum.  Sun is holding it close, maybe you can do him a favor.
@whatjusice The problem is that in his zeal to 'hold his cards close while fixing the corruption', he's destroying the town.
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If he's got proof - then let him do it the right way. Either put the proof out for the public to judge or get the city attorney to file charges against the corrupt.  Until then, he's just a cranky ol' $*$&@ who gets even with anyone who dares cross him.
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The days of a one man vigilanty 'cleaning up this one horse town' were dead and gone long, long ago. There are rules and laws that pertain to how to do this the right way - and he's not even trying to do it the right way.
Seriously....he needs to divulge the alleged corruption he is cleaning up! Â Shredding documents??? Â Excuse me, but what exactly is he trying to hide??? Â You don't shred city documents unless there is a cover up....possibly corruption on his side?? Â He has put the city....the people who live there...the officers...all in danger. How does he sleep at night?? Â One would think that if there is corruption....you fire that person, and in there place hire someone to fill the space so that the city can still run efficiently...you don't just fire everyone, break into the clerks office...shred documents...put a freeze on hiring, and then expect the city to run properly....no wonder there gonna lose there insurance in a few months. Â What is this Mayor gonna do then...police officers not being able to use there patrol cars....does he expect them to foot it all over town.....or maybe ride a bicycle?? It use to be a quiet little town, nice park, nice people....now its like its Cy Sun's little dollhouse that he can do what he wants with the consequences being felt by the people who live there. Â Lord help them all...it will take forever to recover from this damage!
Would somebody, anybody show me how a 12 to 1 ratio makes since. The money Cy Sun has save will cost 10 of millions in law suits,penaties and fines by county, state and federal gov. He says high wages paid to qualified people is corruption. SO he doesn't want to pay anybody and run it all by himself. Sounds like BOSS Hog on Dukes of hazard The damage done in 8 monthes will never be fully repaired. The citizians of Pacific will pay not the mayor or his supporters, with their math skills they wouldn't if they were paying or not.
 @slider 49 For someone taking cracks at the people of Pacific's math skills, your comment was pretty hard to make work in sensible English. The system we've allowed to be corrupted must be dealt with, and it will cost less today than later when you've paid your ticket to the Pacific court for going 25 in a 25.
I'm not taking sides here (yet). Â In the interest of fairness, I'd like the Mayor to make public the specific types of corruption he sees in his city and help the region understand what it is that he's trying to clean up.
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If he's unable to produce the specific examples of corruption, I'll join the lynch mob.
What do you see, Mayor Sun? I see the quote by Paul Simon "AÂ man sees what he wants to see, and disregards the rest."
The state of affairs in Pacific must have been pretty bad for the voters to have voted him in in the first place. Now that he is doing the job he was elected to do, I say give him some space and let him do it. I am all for firing everyone and starting over at the beginning in Pacific and elsewhere.
 @scared_citizen give him space.....will you still say that when someone tries to break into your house and the police can't respond quick enough because of the lack of police officers??  Take your blinders off....regardless of whether or not there is corruption or not....if there is you weed them out one at a time....and in there place you find someone to fill the position....you don't just fire everyone in the city and expect it to run efficiently!!
@Jiggles  By the way, if someone breaks into my house, the only reason the police will need to come to my house is to investigate the home owner who shot an intruder. As they say, "When seconds count, the police are just minutes away".
@Jiggles  Sounds like you might have been one of the people he fired. Take your corruption elsewhere.
 @Jiggles  @scared_citizen Yeah, give him space. And hell yeah, come walking through my screen door with 5 friends once. I have no problem AT ALL if I walk through gangland America, and neither should anyone else. But the only way that's gonna happen for ANYONE is if we start holding EVERYONE accountable in all things. That means our infrastructure personnel as well. Pacific has been a very bad place for years, and THOSE PEOPLE WANTED THIS GUY TO DO THIS.
Please post more information since the American People would like to know more. - AXJ
@AXJPRESS What do you want to know? If you do a search on here, you can find other stories also.
That is the way to control big govt. Fire everyone and start over! :-o
@Grumpa -you forgot 'destroy the town by completely skipping due process and open transparent government'.
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He comes across no better than the 'corruption' that his supporters are claiming he's there to fix.
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if he wants to fight corruption, fine. THEN FOLLOW THE RULES AND SHOW US PROOF.
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And stop shredding documents - by doing so, you are acting as criminally as those he claims to be corrupt.
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This guy belongs in Congress... Â
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Seriously I don't know which way is up or down with this situation, the city, the mayor, his opponents or what. Â Sounds like a good story though. Â Anyone know a news org that can get someone to uncover it?
Okay, now everyone can drive their car at 26 mph on the unpatrolled streets of Pacific.
@ScaredinPacific I like to take risks.. I'm going to drive 30 on those unpatroled streets.
 @choliscott  @ScaredinPacific I'll step it up a notch and go 31 on butte aveÂ
 @HAMSTER  @choliscott  @ScaredinPacific I'm going to go there and ride my bicycle... ON THE SIDEWALK.
Sun says he's fighting corruption. I say he just likes to fight with people. He sure conned the naive voters of Pacific.
What a nut job mayor! I can belief this idiot is still called mayor. A good example for why people should read their voter's pamphlet  before heading to the polls. We were looking to buy a house there, thank God we didn't!.
I hope the offer that resigned is Schleisman.
We are totally supportive of Mayor Sun. Â He has gotten rid of a City Clerk who doesn't meet the employment requirements for her position. Â He has saved the City hundreds of thousands of dollars. Â Mayor Sun is doing a wonderful job.
All lies
he fired the clerk because she was actually doing her job.Â
He has actually cost the city millions in grant money to be repaid
He is not doing anything. He should figure out what his job is and do that. He is not doing his job and needs to be recalled. He is a corrupt, mean tempered, out of control, stupid, frustrated old man that is going to lose everything he owns because of his stupid subborness.