Be aware of assault & battery charges/2008 against Ron Basso - public record info

Hi All...

I am passing along information about city council candidate, Ron Basso, that I believe that the voting public should be aware of.

Ron was arrested in January 2008 in Rohnert Park. The charge was assault and battery. The other person involved was Mary Li, his soon-to-be-former wife.

This is public record so you can go to the Rohnert Park police station and ask for police report number 080180. They will not let you see the actual report but they will confirm the above information.

The Sonoma County District Attorney filed a misdemeanor complaint on March 28, 2008. The charge was violation of Section 242 of the penal code - “use (of) force and violence on another person”.

This is also public record. The case number is SCR 52 93 97.

There were several court appearances and ultimately at a settlement conference in June 2008, the case was dismissed.

Will a person with this much anger in his temperament be good for our city? I have my personal doubts. It has taken me many weeks of serious thought to decide to stand up in public with this information because of fear of reprisal. Ultimately, I have decided to take the risk and hope that people will see my decision to reveal this information as one taken out of caring for our town, and, in some sense, for Mr. Basso.

Paula Downing



DOB 10-22-58

RPK CA DDL C 36 23 003

January 31, 2008 - June 9, 2008

Felony Misdemeanor & Spousal Imprisonment & Battery

SCR 52 93 97

Dear Paula,
How fascinating that you waited until voting day to unleash your venom. What you wrote is an outright lie, and I hope you are proud of revealing yourself this way--a base muckraker...maybe the National Enquirer has a job for you? Ron has NEVER hit anyone in his life, he is incapable of such aggression. The way you and your coven pursued and attempted to vilify him in this campaign only shows everyone what shabby cloth you are made of.
And shame on Wacco for showing their true partisan colors.
You tried to destroy a good man's intention to help his community--why? Because he is not a failure?

The pious, sanctimonious and utterly hypocritical air that you assume smacks of Salem, and is the reason I cannot stomach your ILK, the backbiting, envious, repressive, and dog-in-the-manger crowd you run with. Sebastopol has seen better days.

Mary Li

Dear Mary Li,

In response to your comments I can only say, with much respect for your pain, that I did not lie or act out of anger. I revealed, as humbly as I could, what I found in the public record at the Sonoma County Courthouse and the Rohnert Park Police Department. Anyone can look at the records to see for themselves.

I thought long and hard about whether or not to make this information public because, obviously it is personal and involves another human being. I also knew that I risked having the kind of anger that you are expressing come back to me, although I thought it might come from Ron. Ultimately my motivation for speaking out came from fear - fear about what it would mean to have an important leader at the helm who could be overcome by overwhelming anger - especially when political issues arise that are controversial. I also felt motivated by a persistent feeling of responsibility - a sense that people should know.

We all have human weaknesses. Many public figures have had weaknesses, transgressions, personal mistakes from their private lives become public. It's a humiliating and difficult situation, but it is also an opportunity to be honest and humble and a better human being. I have always admired Ron's creative work. I wonder if his response to this situation will give me the opportunity to admire his character?

Thank you for writing your thoughts.

Sincerely,


Paula Downing

I'm happy to hear that there's at least one person who has not committed a sin - Ms. Downing. Please stand up and take a bow. Once all the applause dies down, can you answer me these questions?

What prompted you to investigate Mr. Basso at the Rohnert Park Police Department? Do you conduct routine criminal background investigations on all political candidates, then wait until election day to suddenly have a realization that all the voters need to know about this?

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Posted in reply to the post by Paula Downing:

It has taken me many weeks of serious thought to decide to stand up in public with this information because of fear of reprisal. Ultimately, I have decided to take the risk and hope that people will see my decision to reveal this information as one taken out of caring for our town...

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So, you are (or were) afraid of reprisal, but you sign your name to this post?
:hmmm::hmmm:

I am sorry to see such attacks here on WaccoBB.net.

I decided to let Paula’s post about Ron Basso go through because:

• It was a matter of public concern (Ron was standing for an elected office)
• She was presenting factual information ("This is also public record. The case number is SCR 52 93 97")
• She did not present it with anger or malice (though a small bit of judgment “a person with this much anger”)
• She took personal responsibility for her post by including her full real name.

As the director of the Sebastopol farmer's market, Paula is a well known person in the community and I’m sure she did not post this lightly.

It's true that the worst attacks on political candidates happen just before the election so there is no time to refute it. Typically these attacks are anonymous, using some misleading organizations name. Paula posted on the morning of the day before election day. Not the last minute, but pretty close. But again the personal nature of her post lead me to allow it to go through. I can imagine it was a difficult decision because she was taking responsibility for doing it.

What I found out of line is Mary Li's vicious reply. Not only does she dismiss Paula's allegation as an "outright lie" without any supporting information (are you saying that case does not exist?) she went on to tear in to Paula ("unleash your venom", "a base muckraker", "what shabby cloth you are made of", "pious, sanctimonious and utterly hypocritical air") and apparently many other people as well ("your ILK, backbiting, envious, repressive, and dog-in-the-manger crowd you run with")

I'll leave aside the various witch references ("you and your coven", " smacks of Salem") since I know there are many covens among us that quite proudly claim to be witches.

I give credit to Paula for not "reacting" to Mary's attack but rather "responding" in a sincere, measured and open hearted way ("with much respect for your pain", "it is personal and involves another human being", "admired Ron's creative work"). Without addressing the question of factual accuracy at the moment., Paula's response is a good example of "conscious communication", whereas Mary's is a good example of the opposite.

Moving on from addressing the level of communication and into the substance of the matter, Imagery's question is a good one: "What prompted you to investigate Mr. Basso at the Rohnert Park Police Department?" That seems to be an important untold part of this matter. However, given that the election is over it doesn't seem necessary to delve further into Ron's personal life.

Quote:

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Posted in reply to the post by Mary Li:

Dear Paula,
How fascinating that you waited until voting day to unleash your venom. What you wrote is an outright lie, and I hope you are proud of revealing yourself this way--a base muckraker...maybe the National Enquirer has a job for you? Ron has NEVER hit anyone in his life, he is incapable of such aggression. The way you and your coven pursued and attempted to vilify him in this campaign only shows everyone what shabby cloth you are made of.
And shame on Wacco for showing their true partisan colors.
You tried to destroy a good man's intention to help his community--why? Because he is not a failure?

The pious, sanctimonious and utterly hypocritical air that you assume smacks of Salem, and is the reason I cannot stomach your ILK, the backbiting, envious, repressive, and dog-in-the-manger crowd you run with. Sebastopol has seen better days.

Mary Li

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Wow, talk about venom, sounds like you have a couple of extra bags of it yourself. Don't pass it around though, OK?

I too wonder about what motivated Ms. Downing to poke into police records and post the "beware" statement on election day.
As a long time and close friend of Mary Li, I can attest to the fact that she has NEVER been beaten by Ron! I also know that Ron has not beaten ANYBODY. Ms. Downing simply made this up to support her position against Ron for City Council. She did not verify her imaginative conclusions after reading the report. Why didn't she seek a second source? This is a serious charge. She really should be ashamed of herself, and, you, Barry, should also apologize at the very least for accepting and posting such a charge without verification from a second source as I believe is a journalistic requirement.
People in town know that I am a friend, why didn't she contact me or someone like me who knows the truth?
Is it jealously? Hatred and jealousy of property owners? Hatred of business people who are successful? As a former fund raiser for children's education, I know that we need successful business people. We depend on them again and again to contribute to the community. Ives Pool has a nice new cover thanks to Ron, for example.
As for Mary's response can you blame her for being angry? She has no other recourse to this attack. I wish she could sue all of you liars.
regards,
Jeannette Baumgardner (not afrad to use my name!)

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Posted in reply to the post by tacitus:

Did I miss something? I thought the assault and battery was a matter of public record? Jeannette, are you saying the records are false?

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Actually, we don't even know that there was an assault and battery. All we know is that someone on wacco is claiming he was arrested and that the charges were subsequently dismissed. No trial, no guilty verdict.

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Posted in reply to the post by tacitus:

Did I miss something? I thought the assault and battery was a matter of public record? Jeannette, are you saying the records are false?

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Downing says "They will not let you see the actual report." Did the police confirm that Mary Li was "the other person involved?" If they did, they were mistaken. I would be amazed if the police confirmed that and believe it to be a fabrication on the part of Downing. I am not privy to details of the case, except for what I stated : Mary was not beaten and I know Ron is not a beater.
At any rate, the case was dismissed and I stand by my statement that Downing rushed to conclusions in her ardor to defeat candidate Ron Basso.
In this country we are still deemed innocent until proven otherwise.
JB