On Wednesday I hosted a townhall in order to take
questions from the community. Typically
during regular Council meetings, Councilmembers are limited in how they can
engage with the public. Dialogue is
generally restricted, and we can only address items that are on the agenda. I wanted to provide an opportunity to have an
actual dialogue where folks could ask questions and actually get responses.
The event was targeted for 1.5 hours, but went a little
over 2. For the most part the event went
well. There were a variety of questions
from participants, ranging from the general budget outlook, specific budget
actions as it relates to pension costs, Council behavior and decorum, current
and historical activity related to the Olivia project, and questions regarding
the newly adopted Master Fee Schedule.
Prior to the start of the Townhall, I noticed both Councilmembers
Cloven and Tillman were in the audience.
I inquired whether it was permissible that a quorum of the Council was
present and Councilmember Tillman indicated she had vetted it and stated that
as long as she didn’t participate it was within the constraints of the Brown
Act. This is why I found it odd that
throughout the evening, it appeared that Tillman was feeding questions to
Tamara Steiner, the editor of the Pioneer.
During the Q&A period, Tillman became so animated that she raised
her hand to speak, but then seemed to remember she couldn’t participate and instead
appeared to whisper in Steiner’s ear. I
asked rhetorically if that was collusion, though it does call into question the
objectivity of the Pioneer when its editor allows herself to be used as a
mouthpiece for a sitting Councilmember.
There were questions that discussed decorum and my role as
Mayor in enforcing it. Things like cell
phone usage, and how Councilmembers engage with staff and others. To these I generally responded that while I
am presiding over the meeting in my role as Mayor, all five Councilmembers are
equals and I do not have the ability to direct someone else’s behavior. In addition, while some may support interceding
more forcefully when there are incidents they disagree with, I asked folks to consider
if they would feel differently if that were to be applied to incidents they
agreed with. If I were to step in and
stop one Councilmember, I would be in position to do that for all Councilmembers
and that was not something I think I or others would be comfortable with.
There were also questions around the newly adopted Master
Fee Schedule. Some were of a similar
flavor that had been asked and answered already in different fora. Others took objection to my article in the
Pioneer where I detailed how the CBCA had for the past 15 years, had charges
for use of city facilities waived entirely and simultaneously charged vendors a
base rate and a percentage of their sales for the privilege of using those same
facilities and streets. I had earlier made a revenue sharing proposal however it was rejected without discussion and
no counter proposal has been made.
I have been trying for months to meet with the CBCA leadership
to discuss the potential of a new MUA that is mutually beneficial to the CBCA,
the City, and the taxpayers of our community.
After proposing several dates, the latest communication I received indicated
it may be “a while” due to medical reasons.
I will continue to seek out a time where we can come together and work
towards the betterment of our community.
With the questions around decorum and the deriding of
certain behaviors, I found it incongruous when an audience member loudly stated,
“you’re full of shit!” I identified that
comment specifically as an example of the behavior that folks had previously
criticized, but no admonishment was forthcoming.
Overall, excluding the aforementioned cursing, I thought
the Townhall was a productive Q&A session and look forward to more opportunities
to address folk’s questions. Feel free
to reach out directly and I will try to address any questions you may have.
