Mayor Hanna tied to Murder Suspect

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7/27/11 – On July16, 2011, Banning resident Demario Jackson was arrested and has been charged with murder of a Beaumont resident. Public record shows that Jackson had funded  Banning Mayor Barbara Hanna’s  2008 election campaign and also had ties to Council member Debbie Franklin : both bent over backwards and gave a then 22-year old Jackson an uncollateralized $ 550,000 loan, which he has since defaulted on .

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DEMARIO JACKSON :  A “BUSINESSMAN”  ?

On July 22, 2011 Demario Jackson made the front page of the Record Gazette:  “Shooting suspect is Banning businessman” we are told (source). However, this headline somewhat distorts the real story :  Jackson was booked as a murder suspect, not just a “shooting suspect”. He has since been charged with murder.  Is the paper trying to downplay the real story ?

Was Demario Jackson really a “businessman”  who wanted to “redevelop Banning”, as the Record Gazette wants us to believe ? If you believe that, we also have a bridge for sale  –  in Brooklyn, NY.

Now charged with murder, this article will show how Jackson maintained tight political connections to several corrupt Banning politicians, who went out of their way to hand him over half a million dollars in public funds .

Specifically, in 2008 Jackson was given $ 450,000 for the Hendon building,  68 N. First St., Banning and another $ 100,000 for 124-144 W. Ramsey St. . Both buildings are pictured in our article on “Banning Redevelopment Disasters”, (view article).

Jackson was only 22 years old when he received a total of over $ 500,000 in City loans.  How many 22-year olds do you know that can walk into City Hall and walk out with over half a million dollars ?

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DEFAULT

Through his company, Bottom Line Properties LLC ,  Jackson issued two promissory notes, guaranteeing repayment of the loan ( see OPA documentaion pg. 35 + 46). The two buildings that Jackson allegedly wanted to “redevelop” were still unfinished when they went into foreclosure last year. Jackson never repaid even one dollar of the $ 500,000+ City loan.

In 2009, after it became clear that Jackson had defaulted, remarkably the City never tried to recover the money from him. Neither Jackson nor his company were ever sued by the City over the default. Furthermore, no Banning City council member is on record ever even asking even a single question about the whereabouts of over half a million dollars in taxpayer funds given to now accused murderer Demario Jackson.

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LONG HISTORY OF CRIMINAL CHARGES AND ARRESTS

Aside from the murder charges now filed against him, on different occasions between 2008 and 2010 Demario Jackson was either arrested for and/or charged with  :

• Carrying loaded firearm on person or in vehicle ( case # BAM10001763 )

• Resisting arrest ( case # BAM10001763 )

• Driving under the influence  ( case # BAM10002103 )

• Assault with a Deadly Weapon  ( case # 200953430 )

In particular, Jackson was arrested in December of 2009 for assaulting his lender on the Hendon Building, Ignacio Reyes. Reyes, who previously had sued Demario Jackson for fraud in civil court, says he was severely beaten by Jackson in front the Hendon building (see police report). Jackson was arrested by Banning Police for “Assault with a deadly weapon”, but the DA subsequently dropped the charges.

Reyes further claims that Bob Botts witnessed the incident. When we called Botts to confirm this claim, he immediately hung up the phone. Reyes also says that when Demario Jackson was unable to pay his mortgage, he tried to settle the debt by offering Reyes a machine gun in lieu of the payment.

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BARBARA HANNA ACCEPTED MONEY FROM MURDER SUSPECT

Public record shows that Mayor Barbara Hanna accepted donations from Demario Jackson during her 2008 campaign. Jackson gave Hanna not one, but two separate donations :  $ 200.00 on June 30, 2008 and another $ 260.00 only 3 days later, for a total of $ 460.00 ( see Hanna’s filing pg. 6 ).

Jackson was one of five individuals who donated to Hanna’s campaign after she had voted for these individuals to receive a cumulative total of $ 2,500,000 in city funds (see story for details). Simply put, murder suspect Jackson took advantage of the fact that Hanna’s vote could obviously be bought.

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BANNING CULTURAL ALLIANCE CONNECTION

No organization represents Banning’s corrupt good-old-boys-network better than the Banning Cultural Alliance. Founded by council member Bob Botts in 2006, this mega-parasite has gotten their dirty hands on over 1.2 million dollars of our taxpayer money. A 2010 Grand Jury report (view) found that the Banning Cultural Alliance owed the City over $ 162,000 because they did virtually nothing for the money they were given.

By calling for a “cease and desist”, the Grand Jury has essentially identified the Banning Cultural Alliance as a cesspool of corruption in Banning. We certainly concur and have long said that anyone affiliated with this organization should be met with great suspicion.

Does it really surprise anyone that wheeler-dealer and suspected criminal Demario Jackson allegedly was involved with the Banning Cultural Alliance ?  The Record Gazette reports that he was one of their “talent” judges. Is he going to judge their “talent” from prison next ?

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MORONGO CONNECTION

Suspected criminal Demario Jackson is the son-in-law of Maurice Lyons, a powerful Morongo tribal leader. After holding leading positions as Morongo chairman and vice chairman for many years, Lyons was voted out of office just a few weeks ago. Another member of Lyons’ family, Gary Lyons jr., has been convicted of murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, ( source here and here).

It has long been alleged that the Morongo Tribe buys control of Banning politics by donating large amounts of cash. In this picture we can see Maurice Lyons presenting a $ 250,000 check to the “City of Banning”. Property owner Lloyd Fields, who owns 41 acres on Fields road , says he cannot develop his property because the City of Banning has illegally allowed the Morongos to block Fields road. Fields has repeatedly stated he feels that the Banning City Council are “stooges of the Morongo Tribe”.

It is a fact that the Morongos have their hands in Banning’s elections : last year the Tribe was by far the largest contributor to Debbie Franklin’s  re-election campaign, according to Franklin’s own filing (pg. 3). It is also

noteworthy that in the same filing, Franklin misleads an unsuspecting public by falsely listing the Morongo donation as coming from a local “Union”, instead of an “Indian Tribe”.

Mayor Barbara Hanna has not only accepted money directly from Demario Jackson, but has also admitted receiving gifts from the Morongo Tribe ( see filing pg.3). Then we have former Mayor Brenda Salas: she too voted to approve the Jackson loan. Rumor has it that relatives of Salas are members of the Morongo Tribe.

Semi-senile Council member John Machisic also voted in favor of funding Jackson ; he too has a long history of showing unconditional support for the Tribe. Bob Botts was absent during the vote, however, there is no reason to believe that he would have voted differently. He too is a strong supporter of the Morongo Tribe.

Debbie Franklin was the very Council member who made the motion for Demario Jackson to receive the $ 550,000 loan ; this indicates that the matter was of great importance to Franklin. Brenda Salas seconded the motion. The record shows only minimal discussion by the Council  ( see CRA minutes pg. 12 +  13 ) . No questions were ever asked about Demario Jackson’s background or qualifications by any Council member. The vote was unanimous.

The above should also explain why the City never brought any claim against Jackson for  repayment of the $ 500,000 :  The Jackson loan has all the makings of a “quid pro quo” and smells like another very dirty deal.

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CONCLUSION

The Banning City council bent over backwards to give the 22-year old son-in-law of a Morongo tribal leader over half a million dollars. The now 25-year old has since defaulted on the loan and has been charged with several crimes including murder. Should we be surprised ? Knowing how Banning operates, we probably shouldn’t.

We should, however, keep in mind that not even the City of Bell gave away over half a million dollars to a 22-year old kid, no questions asked.