Published October 22, 2014 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette
For the second time in two years, candidates' lawn signs decorate
Lindsay’s streets and neighborhoods, telling us it’s time to make up our
minds. I see it as a sign of
improvement, though not everyone feels that way. Perla Soria, who was elected to the school
board two years ago, mentioned that she received an anonymous letter during her
campaign saying the signs had ruined the town.
There were no lawn signs before the
2012 election. No one ran against the
sitting city councilmembers; they simply re-appointed themselves to those
positions and saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars in election costs. Of course, that carte blanche situation cost
the community millions in wasted grants and loans that have strapped and will
continue to strap Lindsay for the next 40 years.
It also cost us in community
participation, a dearth from which we are still trying to recover. The words “openness” and “transparency” were
not uttered before the Townsend dynasty collapsed - there was no point. It wasn’t until the recall effort was
launched, triggered by the appointment of Rich Wilkinson as permanent city
manager under the leadership of Mayor Murray, that what was wrong with Lindsay
was identified. It was closed to citizen
participation, and opaque to public scrutiny.
Even the press couldn’t find a way in.
The two incumbents running for city
council are the last two non-elected appointees from Mayor Murray’s reign. At least they were forced to run - we can thank
the other candidates for making that happen.
Danny Salinas was appointed somewhere around 2001 to fill the vacancy
left by John Stava, who was the only councilmember to cast an occasional “no”
vote until Steven Mecum and Roseana Sanchez were elected in 2012. From Danny’s appointment onward, Scot
Townsend and crew got whatever they wanted from the council.
Under Mayor Padilla, with leadership
from Mecum and Sanchez, things are beginning to change. When citizens do attend city council
meetings, they are treated with more respect, although the rules for engagement
are still preventing real participation.
The staff can no longer rest assured that their desires will be met with
Council’s automatic approval. But what
Council truly needs is one more pair of eyes examining the staff’s proposals
for flaws and half-truths, one more good mind open to solutions appropriate for
our community, one more good heart willing to take on the task of opposing the
insider machine.
Lorena Vazquez, in her candidate’s statement
printed in the Sun-Gazette’s Oct. 8th issue, said “transparency is the number
one issue.” She also listed the need to
create an environment, both at council meetings and city hall, where the
citizens will be treated with courtesy and respect and their concerns
addressed, as well as much-improved street and sidewalk maintenance, water
quality, and police protection, which she believes is hampered by poor
morale.
I agree with her on all these
points, and know that Lorena has the chutzpah to work to make things
better. She stood up against the wall
erected to protect Scot Townsend’s departure and was one of the avid workers on
the recall campaign. She has invested in
herself through her education and positions of employment, and these things would
make her a real asset to the Council. I
think we would begin to experience Lindsay in a new way if she were elected.
So use your ballot wisely: vote to make Lindsay OPEN to its residents
and responsive to our needs.
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Trudy
Wischemann is a writer who misses going to the polls in November. You can write to her with your concerns c/o
P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.
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