Being advised by Chris Cote about school bus safety is rather
like Al Capone lecturing on income taxation or Jack-the-Ripper on
cutlery. While we can all agree with the message, the true identity
of the messenger can be gleaned by his convictions in the criminal
courts and the litigation trail he laid down as owner and operator
of Sierra Valley Bus Lines.
Being advised by Chris Cote about school bus safety is rather like Al Capone lecturing on income taxation or Jack-the-Ripper on cutlery. While we can all agree with the message, the true identity of the messenger can be gleaned by his convictions in the criminal courts and the litigation trail he laid down as owner and operator of Sierra Valley Bus Lines.
I recall one driver who agreed to testify, who said that when the CHP surprised Mr. Cote with an inspection of his bus fleet, it had the PUC investigator along with them to order the fleet off the highways due to numerous safety violations and drivers’ hours-of-service violations, and holding valid interstate operating authority, Mr. Cote decided to keep running with “Gamblers’ Specials” to Nevada casinos with the same fleet and same drivers.
His cunning evasion of state regulators apparently so impressed NBC’s Nightline editors, that they ran the story in prime-time on national television. In fact, his conduct was so egregious that the PUC brass had the Legislature enact what has been called the “Cote Amendment” to the Public Utilities Code.
As special council for GUSD it took from 1988, when he stole money from the classes of ’88 from GHS and Brownell School, until last February before I completely enforced the nondischargability judgement that the victims obtained against him in his bankruptcy case.
Cheers for the message, but jeers for the messenger. Caveat viator!
Joseph P. Thompson,
Tres Pinos
