Community Meeting

We had a small group of McFarland residents get together last Sunday afternoon at the Mouser center patio. I would like to thank all of the people that came out and expressed their opinions. We all had an opportunity to discuss and share information about the progress that our city is making, or should I say lack of progress. Overall, it appears like everyone is unhappy with some of the decisions that our council has made, some of the excessive spending that has been taking place, and the overall direction that our city is heading in. Here is a quick summary of some of the items that were brought up:

Garbage Fee Increase:
A petition to protest the expensive contract that the city signed with Sunset Waste is being circulated by Eden Valdez. As of Sunday there were approximately 300 signatures collected. Interesting thing though, the petition was signed by councilman Cantu's own father and his in-laws. Cantu voted in favor of the contract with Sunset Waste. We expect a larger turnout at the next council meeting to express our concerns with fee increases.

Community Center Lease:
Everyone seemed disgusted with the poor negotiation of the community center lease and the fact that the city will still have to pay for the demolition to prepare the site. Also, some concern expressed over the new community center that was supposed to be built on the parcels of land by Vineyard Estates that were recently sold off for estate homes. What ever happened to this project? What are we going to use to replace the existing community center?

City manager vacancy:
Current city manager, Anthony Lopez, is supposed to leave his post at the end of December. Who will replace him? Who will be recruiting and hiring our new administrator? I pointed out that the mayor hasn't demonstrated that he is intelligent enough to oversee the hiring of an accomplished, degreed professional and I am worried about who they will select as a replacement. Also, what kind of professional would want to work for a council like this?

City Financial Health:
Why don't we have a budget for 2006? Why is the city reluctant to provide their profit and loss statements to people that have requested it? What are they trying to hide? Maybe the fact that they have squandered the cash surplus that our previous city manager left for us.

Lawsuits:
Since Melendez was elected our city's legal costs have increased significantly. The city is currently being sued by R&F Disposal. Last year Melendez drove out an outstanding city manager who he couldn't get along with. The city manager agreed to leave if the city would pay the remainder of his employment contract (~$100k). Melendez, being the bright business man that he is, decided that the city should fight this request and hire expensive lawyers, rather than reach a reasonable compromise. In the end, the city manager won an award 3 times the size of his original contract because it was clear that he was the person that was being treated unfairly. Plus the city incurred the additional legal fees to fight this. Just to think of the wastefulness and the good things that could have been done for the community with that money. Makes me wonder how the heck this guy got elected. Way to go Mr. Mayor!

Planning for Growth:
New residential projects are being approved but what about schools? With the increase in homes being built we need to begin planning and coordinating with the school board to build schools to avoid overcrowding.

Expenses:
A new $700 cell phone for the mayor? An all expense paid trip for the mayor, his wife, and the city administrator to travel to Korea, with a spending stipend for his wife? Travel costs for the mayor and city administrator to personally travel all the way to Sacramento to pay a $10,000 fee that the city owed for lagging behind on implementing a recycling program? Was it necessary for both of them to personally go to Sacramento for this?

Violation of City Ordinances:
There seems to be a lack of enforcement of city ordinances. Trucks parking off streets in areas that create safety hazards, farm animals being raised in residential areas.

Overall it was a very successful meeting and a good starting point for our next course of action. We all expressed a desire to make significant changes in our city leadership. We agreed to meet again and the next meeting has been scheduled for Saturday, December 10th, 12pm, at the Mouser center. This time we will be meeting inside the Mouser center rather than in the patio area. All people who genuinely care about the future of our community and are interested in restoring order are welcome to attend.