Vice President Mike Sisson of Pacifica Services was leader of the email group.
By Brian Hews and Randy Economy
Top executives at Pacifica Services and officials within the Central Basin Municipal Water District (CB) exchanged thousands of highly racist emails during a three-year period that disparaged Muslims, Palestinians, Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, Seniors, naked woman, obese people, liberals, immigrants, Wal-Mart shoppers, rednecks, gays and lesbians.
Hews Media Group-Community News obtained more than 2,500 emails from a public records request between Mike Sisson, a high-ranking Vice President at Pacifica Services, and several other people sent from his office computer system located at CB. The emails were written and exchanged during regular business hours, and many were also generated by Pacifica Services executive Scott Hennessey.
Pasadena based Pacifica Services is owned and operated by Ernest Camacho, a very powerful and politically well-connected businessman in Los Angeles. Camacho donated large amounts of political cash to water district official’s campaigns all over Southern California including current CB Directors Leticia Vasquez and James Roybal.
In addition to Sisson and Hennessey, others who were involved in the emails included James Cathcart, who at that time worked for HDR Engineering as well as Robert Shaffer, an attorney at Sedgwick Law Firm LLP. Both HDR and Sedgwick have secured hefty contracts granted in the past by CB officials.
Others participants in the emails included Steve Know who is an attorney at SK Law Group, Dave Hill, who at the time was a top executive at CB and who briefly served as Interim General Manager at the besieged agency, and another Pacifica official, Executive Vice President Steve Carpino.
Ironically, most of the parties involved in the “email exchange group” were also allegedly involved in the CB $2.75 Million “secret slush fund” that is now part of a massive criminal investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Attorney’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies.
Over the length of the emails, which started in 2008, the 2,500 emails reviewed by HMG-CN showed a pattern of blatant disregard by Sisson toward his consulting job at CB. In the emails, he continually makes disparaging remarks about current and past employees at the agency as well as current and former elected directors.
The emails are being sent in batches to HMG-CN; there is reportedly a staggering 16,000 emails that Sisson sent in his time at CB. Sources tell HMG-CN that over 80% of the 16,000 emails are extremely offensive.
Shockingly, during the time the emails were being sent by Sisson, he was billing CB $160 per hour; Hennessey billed CB $136 per hour.
The emails graphically show that Sisson and his email group were homophobic racists who liked to pass around offensive pictures and descriptions of people including Muslims, Palestinians, Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, Seniors, naked woman, obese people, liberals, immigrants, Wal-Mart shoppers and ” rednecks.”
Sisson, who touts himself as a Conservative Republican in his emails, also sent extremely offensive emails pertaining to President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other well-known “liberal” U.S. politicians.
CB Board President Phil Hawkins told HMG-CN in an interview on Saturday, “when HMG-CN informed me of the content of these emails I was extremely shocked and offended. This is one of the reasons why we have had trouble with this particular organization and I will be looking into these emails and contacting our lawyers for possible legal action.
When called for comment, current General Manager Tony Perez said he “could not comment due to the ongoing litigation, but if what you describe is true, I personally find it highly offensive and an affront to the values of our organization.”
A sample of some of the emails are below. WARNING, these emails contain highly graphic images and may not be age appropriate for minors under the age of 18.
CLICK HERE TO SEE OFFENSIVE ETHNIC EMAILS
CLICK HERE TO SEE OFFENSIVE SEXUALLY EXPLICIT EMAILS, PLEASE NO ONE UNDER 18!
A You Tube Video forwarded by Sisson below, warning very racially offensive:
He just hates people. He must not have a wife , daughters , sister, mother. It shows how much respect he has for them!!!