The Sun Post did an article Friday, December 12, featuring Joe and two other political activists in the area, Georgianna Reichelt and J. "Chaka" Santos. I'd put a link to the article here, but the Sun Post hasn't been online for a couple months. You remember Santos, the angry mayoral candidate whose frequent outbursts at Lathrop city council meetings make him the person I'd most like to see voted off the island. I think the most interesting thing out of the entire article is the information that the Sun Post interviewed Santos in the offices of TCN Properties, the developer who is rumored to have funded much of the vicious campaign to unseat Mayor Kristy Sayles in November. The article doesn't say why Santos was interviewed in their offices (does he work there?) but it does say that Santos doesn't see his involvement with them as a "conflict of interest." Hmm.
The last Lathrop city council meeting was a festive occasion compared to the previous one. The mayor and new city council members were sworn in, everyone's families were there. New guy Chris Mateo seemed totally shocked and in disbelief that he had actually won the election and was almost speechless. I met Mr. Mateo in person two days later at the Lathrop Christmas tree lighting and he still seemed in shock, though he was very nice and friendly and was even able to name an economist! I hope Mr. Mateo is an independent thinker and doesn't get ensnared into the dirty politics that plague Lathrop.
That might be too much to hope for.
Word on the street is that Councilmen Oliver, Dhaliwal and Mateo are are in a big hurry to hire a new city manager. Their choice is Glenn Gebhardt, a former city employee who, since 1999, has worked for the group behind River Islands development headed by Susan Dell'Osso, another of Lathrop's landed gentry developers and a friend of Laura Thimler.
So let's see. You have a dissenter and bully regularly attending council meetings, who has some kind of ties to TCN Properties, a big developer who has made no secret of the fact that they feel they have been treated badly by the Lathrop city council. Now you have an employee of another big developer in the running for city manager and there's some kind of urgency to hire him.
I think whenever there is any kind of hurry to get something approved in the absence of a real emergency, that it's usually to get something done before anyone has a chance to question it or think about it. Make an end run around any objections before they can occur. The waterboy strategy. Mateo has been on the city council less than two weeks but he's already been corralled by Oliver into pushing an early vote to hire a new city manager.
The next Lathrop city council meeting is Tuesday, December 16 starting at 5pm with the closed session regarding the hiring of the city manager. The regular meeting starts at 7pm.
Monday, December 15, 2008
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.......BUT WAIT!.......Our newly elected mayor will fix all this.......right?.......Why must you people attack a guy like Chris Mateo?...Chris served in our military during the Viet Nam War and returned home to work for the federal government delivering mail until he retired and moved to Lathrop.......Now he is getting involved with his new community and giving back.......He made no promises other than to do his best and be honest and unbiased in his decisions. You guys crack me up.....someone shows up with some intestinal fortitude and decides to get out of self and give back and you guys try to knock him to the dirt.......His sacrafices and those of others like him in times of war and peace have given you the privelege to say such things about others.....What have YOU sacraficed to give you the "right"?...I have a secret for you Jackie...... There are people that are willing to put themselves out in the public eye. There are those as well that sit on their laurels and point out percieved shortcomings of others.....You people at Mantecalive are like Rush Limbaughs.......point out what YOU think you see as wrong......yet offer NO solution or participation to correct ANYTHING.....You people here at Mantecalive thrive off the bad mouthing the good deeds of others in this community.......your words are stinkin' up the place........why dont you use your gift of writing to build people up rather than run them down? There is nothing special about this web space.....
ReplyDeleteDan Mac Neilage
.......And shame on you for insinuating ANYTHING derogitory towards Susan Dell Osso...you couldnt hold a candle to the classy, giving person Susan is to our community. What is the matter with you people.....what are you smoking before you post an article!
ReplyDeleteDan Mac Neilage
Hello Dan, Thank you for your comments. I don't think I disparaged Mr. Mateo in any way. He DID seem shocked that he had won the election; afterall, he was an unknown running against a well-liked incumbent. He also joined with Oliver and Daliwahl in calling a special rush meeting (only 24 hours notice) to hire a new city manager and he's only been on the council two weeks. I don't think it's attacking him to point that out.
ReplyDeleteI haven't said anything derogatory about Susan Dell-Osso. She has a very impressive resume and she does head-up River Islands and Glenn Gebhardt does work for her.
I think the public has a right to know who is being considered for the powerful and high-paid position of city manager and whether there is a conflict of interest.
Jackie........WRONG AGAIN!!!!.....No special meeting was called.....it was a regularly scheduled meeting and the topic was asked to be discussed about a couple of people that are and are becoming available due to economics.....Chris had nothing to do with scheduling the meeting......The fact of the matter is that Kristy took it upon herself to interview Glen outside of city confines for an hour and a half......SOOOOOO.......WHO is doing the dirty deeds here?......Chris attends a regularly scheduled meeting with ALL council members present ..........and Kristy calls her own personal meeting by herself away from public view.....HHHMMMMMMMM?
ReplyDeleteAnd lets not beat around the bush here.....If you did not intend to direct any crap towards Susan, you would have had NO reason to say...."friend of Laura Thimbler".....you have been quite clear on your opinion of Laura Thimbler and her clan of Village Idiots as YOU put it....Susan and her husband have done more for this community than you could ever imagine.....
Jackie.......you have a genuine gift for writting........you are articulate and concise and allow for an easy read......why must you tear good people down instead of raising the awareness of the community of the quality of citizens we have?........Maybe just leave the "word on the street" where it belongs rather than quote it as gospel.........
Dan Mac Neilage
I think you're confused. The regularly scheduled meeting started at 7pm. Oliver called a special meeting 24 hours prior with the consent of Councilmen Daliwahl and Mateo to specifically discuss the hiring of a city manager. If you'll look at the link to the special meeting agenda on my original post, you'll see that a note at the bottoms says "This meeting was called by the majority of the City Council per Government Code Section 54956." The issue date on the agenda is December 16, 2008.
ReplyDeleteThis meeting was NOT scheduled prior to December 16. The Brown Act requires 24 hours notice to call a special meeting and requires a majority of the council(at least 3 in this case) to request the special meeting. Usually the calling of a special meeting by councilmembers is reserved for emergencies. I'd like to ask Oliver what was the emergency?
Joe talked to Councilman Mateo yesterday about the meeting and he said something about it being "already scheduled anyway." Perhaps Mateo was confused or misled as to what the Brown Act requirements are for calling a special meeting because is brand new to the council. In any case, he indeed joined Oliver and Daliwahl in requesting this meeting which I will say again was not regularly scheduled.
In an article in the Manteca Bulletin Wednesday, Oliver admits to calling the special meeting "the day before" because he saw an "opportunity" to hire someone for city manager even though the city hasn't even begun recruiting yet.
Jackie, instead of repeatedly using my name while calling me others without having ever afforded me the opportunity to speak for myself, why don't we get right to the heart of the matter? either we have met and I just don't know who you are, or you have decided you just don't like me without ever having met me face to face. Let's change that. Let's actually meet and talk, so the next time you speak about me you will be able to know the person you are speaking about. Frankly, I couldn't care less if you like me or agree with me about anything, but to use my name and personal life to intrigue a few readers is irresponsible and unfair. Are you game for a one on one in person?
ReplyDeleteLaura
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteClosed session and open session city council meetings ARE "regularly scheduled" council meetings. Mr Oliver asked to have the topic added to the agenda and it requires either a request from the mayor or atleast 3 council members. Mr Oliver called Kristy and she agreed to call Lathrops' city attorney to have it added as a discussion topic of the future hiring process for the position of city manager. At the end of the day she said to was too busy to call the attorney.... yet found an hour and a half to conduct her own interview of Glenn away from all other council members.Oliver called and 2 other members concurred because they thought it "might" be a smart move to consider a few qualified potential candidates. Why dont you question Kristys actions......YOU brought up Chris Mateo......Susan Del Osso........Laura Thimbler........Glenn Gephart.......TCN.......Chaka......and Lord knows whom else you would have wanted to implicate........All of which people you do not even know.......talked to or have first hand knowledge of what kind of people they REALLY are.........Talk to these people face to face and you will be surprised of the quality of folks you will actually meet.........this might be helpful in having a phone # or contact info for the next time you want to solicit what you "hear on the street" and atleast let them defend what this site so quickly assumes they know of others.....
Thats what happened on Tuesday.......Sadly there was no sinister plot against the hierarchy of our mayorship..........
Dan Mac Neilage
I spoke with Councilman Mateo 'cause I happened to meet him the next day. He offered conflicting accounts of how the meeting was called. First he said it was "scheduled" and Councilman Oliver was just calling to let him know about the "scheduled meeting." When I pointed out that it wasn't scheduled and that Councilman Oliver didn't have the authority to call a meeting he then said he approved "because the meeting was already scheduled." In other words, it didn't sound like he had any idea. Finally, he did say he "approved" of the meeting so he could "listen to the issues." But it's unclear if he specifically entered an "approval" on the record or if he meant he just approved of the idea of a meeting in his mind. But whatever.
ReplyDeleteAt least he wasn't ready to just approve some guy -- he told me he wanted to see some resume and references and give it consideration; lucky for Lathrop.
It did seem like an attempt for someone to pull a fast one and hope the "new guy" would just go along with it.
I'm not so sure about the "sinister plots" but if there's not some kind of conflict of interest with having a principal for one of the land developers appointed as city manager I don't know what is.
The topic of Hiring a new city manager was NEVER addressed......The council discussed instead to impower Carey Keaton to "Interim" from "acting"......you do not believe there is a conflict of interest by agreeing to discuss the topic at council and then conduct your own private interview? This is a prime example of the genesis of the distrust directed towards our mayor here in Lathrop. NO MORE SECRET MEETINGS!.....If things are to change and people agree to work together for the betterment of their city rather than personal gain..........then it has to be out in the open void of all this secrecy and smoke and mirrors..........
ReplyDeleteDan mac neilage
Not to beat a dead horse, but "special meetings" are not regularly scheduled (hence the term "special") and Oliver admitted to calling a "special closed session meeting" to explore an "opportunity" in his comments to the Manteca Bulletin last week.
ReplyDeleteFrom a direct quote in the Bulletin article on December 18, "Oliver said Monday that he asked for a special council meeting to discuss the hiring of a permanent replacement for Quiring because he has learned about “an opportunity that I fully believe is good for the city.”"
The Bulldog misquoted the Waterboy........When I read the story, I called and asked
ReplyDeleteWhat was misquoted? Did the Record
ReplyDeletemisquote Councilman Mateo too? You guys all need to get your stories straight.