In yet another example of royal muscle flexing, Queen Gloria trumps our Clients' Rights Advocate, Matt Pope. It seems that Mr. Pope was forced to vacate his "cozy" office in the basement of Palacio Alhambra last week due to imminent construction. Palace insiders tell us that although Mr. Pope wanted to move to an another basement office, one that would locate him in close proximity to service coordinators, Queen Gloria nixed that plan. Perhaps fearing that Mr. Pope might be "too accessible" to service coordinators, her Majesty ordered Mr. Pope to move to an office on the penthouse level, directly adjacent to the Royal Chambers!

As one service coordinator told us, strictly off the record, "it's nice to be able to talk to Matt when we pass in the hall. It draws less attention that way." The service coordinator continued "I don't think anyone would go up to the executive area to talk to Matt. It would just draw too much attention. They'd start to ask questions."

You may be wondering how Queen Gloria can dictate where the Clients' Rights Advocate holds office. Wasn't it only about a year-and-a-half ago that the CRA position was moved out of the Regional Center to Protection and Advocacy, to avoid just these situations? Well, it seems that Protection and Advocacy, Inc. is sub-leasing office space from the Regional Center! We think this is outrageous. Protection and Advocacy, Inc. can lease office space at Palacio Alhambra, through the commercial management company, just as other tenants do. Then, no one at the Regional Center could dictate where the CRA can or can't hold office.

Although Mr. Pope may have fewer visitors at his new digs, he does have a window! But even that has a catch. The window in Mr. Pope's new office looks out, over a small courtyard, directly into the window of Lady Love, the Royal Procurer!

Our advice to Queen Gloria: let Mr. Pope move into an office where he can be accessible to the service coordinators, and vice versa. Our advise to Mr. Pope: keep the shades drawn.

Your experiences and opinions may differ from ours. We encourage you to post your comments on the elarc.net™ Message Board.