December 8th, City Council Meeting
We had a great meeting last night. Several of us had an opportunity to voice our opinions before the council. I stood up and gave a recap of some of the issues that people had brought up at our informal community meeting a couple of weeks ago. The council tried to address some of the items but I found that many of their responses were not credible and they attempted to cast blame on the prior city administration. Two of the most astonishing things that I discovered at this meeting are that our city financial records appear to be in a state of chaos, where computers are lost, records can't be found, and somehow that has prevented us from creating a budget for the past year. Yet, the lack of a budget somehow has not stopped them from approving large expenditures. I guess our city's checking account has money that magically appears in it every month. How can we trust these people to manage our city? Most responsible, successful people that I know are able to manage their income and expenses to live within their means. Apparently, these people think that as long as the checks keep clearing we should be OK.
My favorite of the night though was the Mayor's outright statement that he believes he is entitled to have the city pay for his wife's travel costs on all of his business trips. He thinks that because he travels so much and spends so many hours away from home on city business that we should be compensating him by paying for his wife's expenses. This is outrageous! Before running for office he was well aware of the fact that the office of Mayor does not provide a salary or compensation, it is strictly voluntary. Yet, here he is telling us that he deserves this perk because he works so hard for us. According to him, he will be reimbursing the city for his wife's travel expenses, but my feeling is that he has finally realized that he has been caught and is now trying to find a way out to cover himself. I loved the story that was broadcast on Eye 29 later that same evening, he was questioned about this and he clearly lacks any credibility.
We finally served the mayor and councilmen with our Notice of Intent to Recall forms. So the recall process is officially underway. Thanks to all the people that supported and signed our paperwork. Each Notice of Intent required 20 signatures, we collected 23 just to play it safe. Although we easily could have collected 50 for each candidate. For those of you who called us requesting to sign it but didn't get an opportunity to sign it, don't worry, you will have another chance once we begin recirculating the recall petitions.
Anyway, last night's meeting was fun and a bit entertaining. I think next time I will bring my soda and popcorn to watch the show.
posted by Rafael Rodarte @ 7:21 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Three cheers for the younger class.They show lots of potential as future leaders of the cmmunity.They are not city council members,but have knowledge of what is going on in the city and that's more than what can be said about the present council members.A good example of that was shown at the city council meeting on Dec.8th, when council members were asked questions ,they turned to someone else for answers.Do correct me if I,m wrong,but when council members are voted into office shouldn't they have knowledge of city business.
12/10/05 Rose Mary
I cannot stress what a relief it is to have the recall underway. Citizens of Mc Farland, this is your chance to have your voice heard! This young couple has dotted their i's and crossed their
t's. Proficiency is their strength. Please keep your eyes posted for the announcement of the next meeting and bring a friend. THE MAYOR MIGHT FINALLY FIGURE OUT THAT HE DOES NOT HAVE 100% SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY----APPARENTLY IT WASN'T CLEAR TO HIM THAT THE 23 WHO SIGNED THE RECALL WERE CITIZENS OF MC FARLAND. Let's get some people elected for our city governement with common sense, and integrity. We need to have say in what our Mayor does. The mayor should not be able to do as he pleases, by doing so, he has ruffled some feathers because his actions have not been entirely trustworthy. Come on now, his parents were the co-grand marshalls of the 2004 Christmas parade. I would like to know the composition of the committe who chose them and I would like to know the identities of the citizens who were nominated and which citizens made the final cut, based on applications submitted, etc. Wait--maybe this information is also lost on the 1985 computers that were tossed. If we don't question their activities and decisions then we are not holding them accountable. As for my thoughts on Manuel and Vidal: both should have known they would be recalled along with the mayor-one barely moved back to Mc Farland and his relative is part of the Mayor's 9th Street henchmen who worked all summer getting the absentee votes and the other's wife worked closely with the Mayor himself out of the WIC office on 11th Street during the campaign. You may be shocked that I have written this because if you haven't noticed by now, I am not afraid to sign my name to anything I know is acurate and true and likewise, I do not participate in speculated gossip and rumors. I was just able to witness both incidents and reported the latter on more than one occassion to the appropriate supervisors. One person cannot do it alone but together we will. (See top of entry for name).
how many of the 23 signatures aquired for the recall are realatives to ben garza??
HI,
This is Julie Rodarte, I'd like to answer the last question asked. There are 6 signatures who are related to Ben Garza on the intent to recall. I am his daughter and my husband also signed. My sister and brother signed and so did my grandmother and grandfather. The community members,including my family, who have supported a recall did so because they feel that certain members on the council have made poor decisions that have negatively affected our community.
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