This section includes case files from the McCloud v. City of Santa Maria case.
This case was a Federal civil suit against the city of Santa Maria, and
its officials, and its police Danny R. Macagni. The suit was filed
in September of 2007. The suit alleges that Santa Maria's
CCW process is grossly unfair and illegal in some cases, and that Mr. McCloud
should have received his permit. The suit presents legal arguments,
and detailed research into Santa Maria's CCW practices in the form of Exhibits.
After a year of motions back and forth, the case was dismissed in November 2008. As far as I know, it has not been appealed.
I didn't bother to put these files up here because I care about a corrupt police chief in a small town in California.
The only reason I put this up here is because it is, unfortunately, a very typical example of the corruption that is widespread in CCW programs throughout this state. CCWs are issued based on the interests of the chief or sheriff, in order to gain money (donations to the Santa Maria Police Council) or local support (from a prominent local pastor). In other locations, such as Los Angeles, CCWs are issued to gain access to celebrities. In Santa Maria, there seems to be a preference for doctors and Police Council donors. But in all cases, issuance is controlled by the needs of the chief or sheriff, without reference to any public safety issues. That's what this case shows, and why it's important. It's not about Santa Maria, it's about the poisonous corrupting influence of PC 12050 (our CCW law) itself.
Santa Maria's CCW policy is written by Lexipol. Santa Maria was defended in this suit by Bruce Praet, co-president of Lexipol. A large fraction of the municipalities in California seem to be using the Lexipol CCW policy.
This case does not make any Second Amendment arguments, because it was filed pre-Heller. Any CCW cases being filed today would likely also include a Second Amendment argument.
This suit indicates how extraordinarily difficult it is to challenge CCW denials in this state. Mr. McCloud is a highly trained, thoroughly background-checked nuclear security guard. He's also a first responder for security incidents at a nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, Chief Macagni issued permits in a way that is obviously unfair, including at least two that were issued illegally. And the suit was still dismissed.
| Profession and "good cause" in Santa Maria | |
| Profession | Good cause? |
| Dentist | YES |
| Pastor | YES |
| Nuclear security guard, armed first responder to security incidents at a nuclear power station | NO |
Some applicants got it by virtue of having access to dangerous things. Let's put those into a table.
| Access to dangerous items and "good cause" in Santa Maria | |||
| Applicant | good cause is access to... | Police council donor? | Good cause? |
| Yeates | retail firearms (not assault weapons) | YES | YES |
| Dr. Ontell | prescription medicines | YES | YES |
| McCloud | loaded assault weapons and a nuclear reactor | NO | NO |
I hope this archive is valuable in showing what a CCW suit can look like, what a CCW files investigation looks like, and the kind of misconduct that is rampant in this state. Unfortunately, this archive also shows that even with all those factors, these suits are very hard to win. Obviously the plaintiff spent a considerable amount of time and money in investigating and preparing the suit (the complaint is 48 pages, with some 300 pages of exhibits). The city of Santa Maria probably also spent a considerable amount of money to deny this one highly trained nuclear security guard his permit. This is a tough fight, and cities are willing to invest heavily to deny permits, and applicants have no assurance of success.
I am not an attorney, so my analysis and opinions are, at best, those of a well-informed layman. As you can see, I have given my impressions about the players involved in this, but haven't given any commentary on the legal arguments, because those are out of my area of understanding.
All the files in this archive are in the Public Domain, and have no copyright. Some of these documents can also be loaded from Pacer.
Some of the exhibits are redacted. I have indicated where they have been redacted and given some explanation. The main reasons are that the exhibits contain various private information which does not need to be posted on a website. Also some material was redundant so I have indicated that and redacted it. In all cases I have attempted to remove identifying information like SSNs and gun serial numbers as thoroughly as possible.
Some of the records were already redacted before they were entered as Exhibits, presumably when they were copied by SMPD. In those cases you can see the redaction is made with a thick black pen. The redactions I have done have been using Adobe Acrobat Pro, so they look like a neat black rectangle. In a very few cases, their redaction wasn't as black as it should be so I've put some "black rectangle" on top of theirs. It should be easy to see which redactions are done by SMPD and which are further redactions done by me. Even if SMPD thought some information would be ok for public records, I have gone further to be more careful than they were.
From looking at these files, it's clear that there is a correlation between being a member (ie, donor) of the Santa Maria Police Council and having a CCW in Santa Maria.
Santa Maria Police Council Board of Directors (donors) list, retrieved January 14 2010. The members of the Board of Directors who also were issued CCWs are highlighted in yellow.
In this table, I list the applicants, their stated cause, and what I think is the real reason for getting the CCW.
Applicants who are members of the Police Council are highlighted in green. Note that "member of the Police Council" really means "donor" to SMPD.
| Ostensible cause, real cause | ||
| Applicant | Stated good cause | Likely real reason |
| Dr. Ryan Allen | Doctor with access to meds, threats from patients | Doctor |
| Pastor Paul Berry | Threat from terrorists due to pro-Israel stance | Influential local pastor |
| Dr. Dean Centeno | Doctor with access to meds, threats from patients | Doctor, father is a county supervisor |
| Ross Cutler | Dentist who handles cash | Member of the Police Council |
| Dr. Richard Ontell | Doctor, something about Medicare was redacted | Doctor, member of the Police Council |
| Bill Story | Handles evidence for SMPD | Connections to SMPD |
| Jerry Yeates | Works in a gun shop | Member of the Police Council |
In my opinion, the most outrageous good cause claims were Dr. Cutler and Pastor Berry. I'm sorry, denstists do not handle cash; they are paid by credit card or check. Dentists do not have access to perscription pain killers. Dentists only very rarely get called to work at odd times and places. Dentists are at no more risk than any ordinary office worker or typical middle-class resident. PC 12050 talks about "elevated risk" and dentists are probably at below average risk of violent attack.
As for Pastor Berry, many Americans are pro-Israel. That's nothing unusual. 99% of Jews are pro-Israel (even if there's a lot of disagreement about the details of what that means) and there are a lot of Jews in California. If terrorists want to target someone who is pro-Israel they will easily find strongly pro-Israel Jews in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of LA, or the Israeli areas of the valley. They will not bother some small-town pastor. His stance on Israel is so ordinary in California that using it as "good cause" is risible.
Most CCW systems in this state distribute CCWs to the chief's or sheriff's power base: supporters who are influential in the community, or donors, or celebrities. Santa Maria PD's situation is unusual in that CCWs seem to favor MDs. Maybe it's just a fluke, or maybe there's some reason for it. Maybe Santa Maria is a small enough town that MDs are considered VIPs. I'm pointing it out only because it's atypical.
The short summary of the situation is:
It's blindingly obvious to me that SMPD's issuance is corrupt. To me, the Police Council aspect of it is a critical piece of proof of the corruption. I don't understand why the Police Council situation wasn't mentioned anywhere in the complaint.
But even without bringing in the Police Council aspect, I'm surprised that the judge in this case didn't have a problem with what's going on. How can a dentist or a small-town pastor be more at risk than a nuclear security guard?
This is the complaint. Read it for the analysis and reasoning. The full name is KURT MC CLOUD v. CITY OF SANTA MARIA, DANNY R. MACAGNI, individually and in his capacity as Chief of Police, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, MAYOR LARRY LAVAGNINO, BOB ORACH, ALICE PATINO, LEO TRUJILLO, and HILDA VELA ZACARIAS, all in their official capacity as Members of the City of SANTA MARIA CITY COUNCIL; and DOES 1 through 20 inclusive.
McCloud v. Santa Maria, complaint, 48 pages
A list of the plaintiff's exhibits, with descriptions.
Lodgment of
plaintiff's exhibits, 5 pages
This is a description of the job and its requirements. This is a job with strict requirements and great responsibility. It says "carries firearm - 100%" of the time. It also includes terrorist attack response training and other duties. It requires 18 weeks of specialized training and prior military / law enforcement experience is strongly preferred. It also requires the MMPI psychological evaluation, physical fitness, drug / alcohol screening.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 1, nuclear
security guard job description, 2 pages
This document goes into more detail about the requirements for nuclear security personnel. The requirements are demanding, echoing the areas listed in Exhibit 1.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 2, 8 pages
This is a copy of PC 12050. Redacted for redundancy. It can be found at PC 12050.
This is a response to a request for Santa Maria PD's previous CCW policies at various dates. This gives some history of how the policy has been revised.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 4,
9 pages
A letter from SMPD regarding their CCW policy.
Another CCW policy document
Plaintiff's Exhibit 6,
7 pages
This is SMPD's internal instructions for processing CCW applications. It includes a processing checklist.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 7,
3 pages
This is Kurt McCloud's CCW application. It includes the standard form, his good cause statement, records from the NRC regarding his weapons qualifications (shooting tests), and medical records.
This exhibit has been redacted:
The medical records which were redacted include blood tests, heart tests, vision tests and hearing tests. All results were normal and healthy. They were mainly medical records related to his work as a nuclear security guard. For example, one is the "Audiometric Questionaire" and it indicates that his division is "security". Another is a vision test, signed by the same doctor, indicating Mr. McCloud has good vision. Another is a blood test, signed by the same doctor, indicating results that are all acceptable or very close to acceptable range. The NRC requires ongoing monitoring of any factors which could affect guards' performance, such as hearing, vision, heart conditions, psychiatric conditions, etc, and so requires these tests.
Chief Macagni's letter denying Mr. McCloud's application.
Chief Macagni's letter invites Mr. McCloud to re-apply if there are any additional facts that could change the decision. Mr. McCloud replies, asking that his application be re-considered. He attaches some excellent character references plus extensive news articles about the danger of nuclear terrorism. He is a first responder at a nuclear power plant, meaning he may be the first person to show up to possibly confront a terrorist attack on a nuclear plant.
Plaintiff's
Exhibit 10 - re-application, 47 pages
Chief Macagni's letter denying Mr. McCloud a second time.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 11, 1 page
This table is the heart of the case. Applicants were treated very differently depending on their status. This table shows that some applicants had major portions of the process waived, and in some cases were processed even though it was illegal to do so (not resident of Santa Maria, for example). This table makes it obvious how grossly unfair the process is in Santa Maria.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 12 -
comparison of applications, 2 pages
Dr. Allen lists his good cause as "self-protection" and threats from patients, especially drug-seekers. It's true, doctors do get solicited for painkillers all the time, but Dr. Allen's app doesn't present any evidence of doctors actually being harmed by such patients. Dr. Allen previously had a permit issued by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff. It might be interesting to do a PRAR to see what his application there said. I assume Dr. Allen doesn't have the "juice" (VIP status) to maintain a permit in Santa Barbara County, so he switched to Santa Maria, where he does have the connections. Santa Barbara County is home to a handful of billionaires, so it's not easy to be a VIP there. Santa Maria is a much smaller town.
Plaintiff's
Exhibit 13 - Dr. Allen's CCW application, 22 pages
Pastor Berry's good cause is that he is a pastor who is pro-Israel, which exposes him to risk of attack from Muslim extremists. (Does that mean that anyone who is Jewish who lives in Santa Maria would have good cause, because Jews are almost always pro-Israel and are very often targeted by Muslim extremists today?) Pastor Berry's website does, indeed, mention a pro-Israel stance, just like many other conservative churches today. Pastor Berry also includes a police report of an incident in which a disturbed person performed some minor vandalism of his church.
Pastor Berry's photo from his church website shows his pistol clearly "printing" under his shirt. One of his CCW weapons is the full-sized Glock 17, something which would be quite difficult to conceal without "printing" such as seen in the photo.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 14 -
Pastor Berry's CCW application, 22 pages
Another doctor, with a similar good cause: access to narcotics, danger from patients such as "friends or adversaries" of shooting or stabbing victims he has treated, and his need to be on call at all hours of day or night.
Dr. Centeno is the son of Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joseph Centeno.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 15,
Dr. Dean Centeno's CCW application, 30 pages
Mr. Cutler's good cause is that he is a dentist, and therefore he handles cash. It strains my belief that a dentist that a dentist handles more cash than, say, a convenience store owner, restaurant owner, etc. It strains my belief that a dentist handles any significant amount of cash at all; most patients pay for dental services by check, credit card, or on credit, because the cost of dental services exceeds far exceeds what you can get out of an ATM machine. It also strains my belief that a dentist is at a risk elevated above that of any other professional worker, such as an administrative assistant, lawyer, etc. But apparently Chief Macagni has determined that dentistry is high-risk.
Maybe the worthiness of Mr. Cutler's application has less to do with any risks he claims to be facing, and more to do with the fact that Mr. Cutler is on the Board of Directors of the Santa Maria Police Council, which means he donates money to SMPD for their equipment (vests, night vision gear) and training? According to the Santa Maria Police Council website, the Council has raised over $84,000 for SMPD since 2007, meaning individual donations necessary to gain access must be quite small by California standards. Lifetime membership in the Police Council costs $2,000, about as much as a table for one evening costs in many clubs in LA.
Mr. Cutler is also a range master at a gun club. I have a feeling he just likes guns and likes the convenience of a CCW, and he's enough of a VIP in the small town of Santa Maria that he got a CCW.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 16,
Ross Cutler's CCW application, 20 pages
Another doctor, another Santa Maria Police Council Board of Directors member. Obviously he hits two highly preferred classes: doctors and Santa Maria Police Council donors. He hits them to such an extent that Chief Macagni issued him his CCW even though Dr. "Rick" Ontell is not a resident of the city of Santa Maria, and he indicates that on the first page of his application, in Section 1. This is shocking and obviously illegal. A chief can only issue to residents of his city. The first thing a chief should check is that the person is, indeed, a resident of his city, by looking at Section 1 in the middle of the first page of the application. Dr. Ontell clearly indicates that he is a resident of Orcutt, Santa Barbara County, and is not eligible for a CCW from Santa Maria PD.
Orcutt is an unincorporated suburb of Santa Maria. Dr. Ontell's only legal CCW option is to apply to the sheriff of Santa Barbara County. I'm sure he chose to apply to Santa Maria PD instead because he knew he would have little chance of getting one from the sheriff, and his donation to the Santa Maria Police Council wouldn't do him any good with the sheriff. He may have VIP status in a small town like Santa Maria, but he does not remotely qualify as a VIP in Santa Barbara County, which is home for perhaps half a dozen billionaires.
Dr. Ontell's good cause is interesting. It is mostly redacted, but starts off with "because of recent Medicare policy..." and then has several more sentences which are redacted. I wonder what change of Medicare policy in early 2004 puts Dr. Ontell at such risk that he needs to carry a gun. The only change I can see is an expansion of prescription drug discounts for older patients. I can't fathom what's the connection between that and risk to a physician.
Plaintiff's Exhibit 17, Dr. Ontell's CCW application, 22 pages
Bill Story works in the evidence locker for SMPD, and that is his good cause. What is shocking about this application is how many illegal "accomodations" Chief Macagni made. For example, in violation of PC 12050, Mr. Story's CCW was issued without performing a firearms eligibility check with the Department of Justice. The check was performed 6 weeks after the CCW was issued. There are numerous other problems with Mr. Story's CCW issuance.
Mr. Yeates works in a gun shop, and that is his good cause. He's also a donor to the Santa Maria Police Council. Apparently gun shop workers who are members of the Police Council have more good cause than nuclear security guards who are not members of the Police Council.
Plaintiff's
Exhibit 19, Jerry Yeates' CCW application, 14 pages