Planning Commission requirement: Live inside the dashed line
Editor’s note: To be fair, as noted on twitter, the planning commissioner’s residence is too close to call at the moment. We will be pulling certain documents, not limited to city docs, to put this puzzle together.
According to the City of Patterson’s Municipal Code, planning commissioners be a resident of the city. See below.
2.40.030 Members.
A. Said commission shall consist of five members.
B. Qualifications. Each commission member shall be a resident of the city. Officers, elective or appointive of the city, shall not be eligible for membership on the planning commission.
On many occasions, we have questioned whether the mayor actually lives within Patterson city limits. However, this time it appears that a Patterson Planning Commissioner may have been in violation of section 2.40.030, upon appointment.
Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pinpoint the subject of this inquiry, but we are currently compiling a list of city and county documents that will surely raise some questions.
What Next said,
December 29, 2009 @ 12:00 AM
Hmmmmm, now that you mention it, there is a planning commissioner who does live outside the city limits. And, you know what else is coincidential about it? This is mayoral appointee also just happens to “work in the same building” as the mayor.
Me thinks that there will be some rattling of cages in the next few days. Can’t wait to see the fallout from this one. I don’t think they current administration will be able to sweep this one under the carpet.
Now, the race is on. Can the mayor save enough face by quickly pushing the health center move, or will this new revelation snowball and derail her attept to save her legacy?
Being the optimist that I am, I am betting that finally the citizens will win one. There is going to be some big housecleaning.
On that topic, I had a chance to have a chat with a couple of people today that have already started filling out the grand jury papers. They suggested that I tell all my friends to do the same. They want there to be a big number of forms submitted to really show the grand jury that the citizens are tired of the status quo and the corruption.
OldTimer said,
December 29, 2009 @ 10:55 AM
I am of the opinion that the world of corruption that has been going on behind the scenes is now beginning to crumble. Each week another tidbit comes to the surface about the dealings (dirty dealings??) going on in city hall.
This latest tidbit about an appointed commissioner not living within the city limits just adds to the pile. Becky, of all people, should know what living within the city limits means, with everything she has done to maintain her position as the mayor. And then she goes and reshapes the planning commission in her favor, yet neglects to ensure her pawns meet the standards set by city law/ordinance. It seems like she was too eager to stack the commission to take in to consideration how she should stack it. Maybe she should have looked at the other agents on the Real Estate listing posted on the connect the dots discussion. Maybe she should have picked another one from that list, or their spouse, that lives within the city limits.
Looking back at Elias’ comments about his departure from the commission, the way Luis was dropped from the commission, and then the associations with the two appointees, I find it very hard to believe that the grand jury would not find issues with just this item. Add to that everything else that has been going on, and I think the grand jury would have quite a list to hand to the DA regarding our little community.
Everything that has been brought forward hasn’t even required a very deep look. It is all mostly public record. Can you imagine what can be found, what skeletons there are in the closets of not just the mayor, but two or three of the other council members, if one were to probe a bit deeper?
Case in point 1: There has got to be a reason why three of them refuse to listen to their constituents regarding the health center move. As stated, it seems that there are only three people (not counting John Ramos) who are against the move. (Five if you add both Logan and Ramos) Every resident that has gotten up to speak in front of the council has spoken in favor of the move. Public opinion is for the move. Over 1400 city registered voters are for the move. Three people in power are against it. If they have valid reasons for not wanting the move, they should let us, the residents, know. Otherwise it continues to look like they are holding their own agendas, which we have seen in Hughson, is something the Grand Jury looks in to.
Case in point 2: The “job review” of Cleve Morris. Could their witch-hunt against Cleve actually be what the Grand Jury would consider “conspiring against city staff”? That is another issue that the Grand Jury found that the city council members in Hughson did to warrant their list of infractions. I am still of the belief that they didn’t fire Cleve because of the enormous turnout in his favor. I would love to have been a fly on the wall to here the discussions in closed session before they brought Cleve in. I can only imagine how Becky and Annette were trying to figure a way out of their plans to fire him.
We could go on and on and on with what the Grand Jury might find problematic with some of our current council members. There are multiple instances of the three issues the Grand Jury found in Hughson, the flagrant and openly breaking of state laws (the Brown act), the conspiring against their staff, the promotion of their own agendas. Add to those the way they, she, stacked the planning commission, and you have more ammunition than the Grand Jury is probably used to. Have them look in to our city attorney and his actions and in-actions, and they could probably write a book instead of a report.
As these tidbits become more known, I don’t know that we will have to wait till the elections. We may see some resignations before then.
The OldTimer
the recorder said,
December 29, 2009 @ 11:00 AM
Can someone please explain how Patterson Financial is setup? Stanislaus County business license says R.V. Campo, Inc. is dba Patterson Financial. When I followed the link to RV Campo I got this:
http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/corpdata/ShowAllList?QueryCorpNumber=C2409302
the recorder said,
December 29, 2009 @ 11:03 AM
I forgot to add the fictitious business search link. http://www.criis.com/webtemp/75.42.85.104/10755.00102317.f1.htm
OldTimer said,
December 29, 2009 @ 11:42 AM
Thanks for that info, recorder.
Tie in the agents listed in the broker listing to the documents presented above, with the DBA of Patterson Financial in the broker listing, and you get the reason why the planning commissioners appointed (an agent and another agent’s spouse) just happen “to work in my office”. They work there because they are, in effect, employed by Patterson Financial. As is quite often the case, when you work for a business, you usually have your office in their office. Not always, but that is usually the case.
Only if you choose not to look at the documents could you come to the conclusion that it is only coincidental that they, or their spouse, just happen to work in that office.
Only if you refuse to look at the documents could you not think that there was a conflict with the appointments.
Which brings me to another question regarding appointments. Who appointed Ramos to the GPAC and then who made him the chair? Inquiring minds want to know. (Mainly out of curiosity at this point. There is enough other ammunition out there with the three amigos that I am just curious about this appointment.)
the recorder said,
December 29, 2009 @ 12:15 PM
I believe each councilmember got a pick, either Smith or Campo appointed Ramos, the other appointed Slick Willie, the vice chair.
The city has pulled all the GPAC information from its website. They also pulled full agenda packets that include the December 2nd meeting appointment of Ron West. Maybe you guys could pull that doc to see if he was still living by the river. Assuming this is who we’re talking about.
OldTimer said,
December 29, 2009 @ 12:10 PM
After seeing the new twitter entry above about clarifying the documents, wouldn’t it be funny if you can be on the planning commission while living outside the city limits, yet you can’t vote on the initiative for the health center move because you live outside the city limits?
That would be craziest enough to qualify for Patterson Politics.
the recorder said,
December 29, 2009 @ 12:22 PM
I don’t think there is any question that West lives in Patterson now, the question is when did he make this move, probably one the eve of his application or appointment.
His current address is on this link, sort of wicked that the only stan co. commissioner voting in favor of West…………………….Ramos.
http://www.co.stanislaus.ca.us/PLANNING/pl/agenda/2009/07-02-09/Minutes%206-18-09.pdf
What Next said,
December 29, 2009 @ 12:39 PM
Even if he is within the city limits, the fact that he is in business WITH Becky and not just working in her office by coincidence says a lot about this group of politicians. The fact that the IrriGator accepted the “they just work in my office” without doing their due diligence as the community media speaks a lot for the sad state of affairs we are currently in.
The public records show that one commissioner and the husband of another, work FOR the mayor and not just in the office as the IrriGator was led to believe, and then reported to the world. That is yet another attempt to muddy the waters, to decieve the public, and control the politics in this communityl.
Even taking out the residence issue with West, you still have way too much perception of corruption than one would expect to find. And this without, as the OldTimer stated, digging too deep and just doing simple public document searches.
Whoever was the first to tie Patterson and Chicago together politics-wise was right. Welcome to Chicago Style Politics folks.
The Patterson Irritator said,
December 29, 2009 @ 3:09 PM
We agree. The bottom line is this, the Mayor and Co. knew they were going to push Molina and Funez out. Conventional wisdom would tell you that the city of Patterson, with over 25,000 residents, surely has within it, a potentially well qualified candidate for planning commissioner, heck they eventually appointed Rodriguez who applied during the same round as West. Ultimately, they chose someone who snuck into the city overnight versus a long time resident. But why did they need another planning commissioner when two (molina/funez) commissioners seemed to be rather active? Classic stacking of the deck.
The Irrigator’s refusal to at least scratch the surface on this one is bothersome, however we didn’t expect much since they didn’t really dig when the mayor was living out town at her house on Marshall Avenue.
Ben Franklin once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.” A few residents of Patterson continue their support for this mayor, they will continue to get the same results, a mayor that is unethical and abuses her power for the economic gain of her benefactors. Insanity.
red state said,
December 29, 2009 @ 3:27 PM
Is the world going to end in 2012 too! You liberals are getting your panties in a bunch for nothing. The only way I would agree with this nonsense is if Ron West didn’t live withing the city. That county weblink said he lives in Patterson, so what’s the big deal? This city needs jobs, if this site spent as much time thinking about how to generate jobs versus trying to skin the city council, we’de have enough jobs for all. Wal*mart will bring a ton of jobs, Becky and Annette are for jobs, that is why we support them, not insanity like you think.
What Next said,
December 30, 2009 @ 10:18 AM
For nothing? Let’s take a look at it this way. Who has the mayor placed on the planning commission? One person that works for her and another that is married to one that works for her. I would say that is more than nothing. The two agents that work for her both make money for her. This is most definitely a conflict of interest. For her to say, in a deceitful manner, that they just work in her office is a flat out lie. They work FOR her, plain and simple.
My question to you is this: Do you have blinders and ear muffs on? Do you actually believe what you said above?
OldTimer said,
December 30, 2009 @ 12:58 PM
WOW!! Are you out of touch with reality, or what?
You talk about jobs and how Campo and Smith are working to bring jobs with the Wal-Mart (Which, by the way, public opinion is still very much against this project). What about their refusal to help bring jobs by fighting the initiative? What about their refusal to allow the health center to move which would enable them to hire more people and bring in the specialists and those that work with/for the specialists? What about the other jobs that they have fought against creating?
The only jobs these two want to bring to town are only those that bring in money to them and their backers. They will fight tooth and nail to stop anyone else from bringing in jobs to this community. They have fought and will continue to fight bringing in anymore jobs.
You say we are getting our panties in a bunch for nothing. I am guessing that you would consider the Brown act nothing. I would say that anyone who knowingly makes a decision to break a law is doing more than “nothing”. But then, coming from the communist red-state view that you seem to have, the politicians are above the law. Holding on to the views that the politicians are above the law would be the only reason that you could ignore their actions and consider them nothing.
Again, you say we are getting out panties in a bunch for nothing. Would you not be offended if someone purposely deceived you? How else would you explain the fact that Becky misled the community when she said that one of the appointees and the spouse of another appointee to the council “worked in her office”? Wouldn’t you consider the factual statement to be “work for me”? There is a big difference between the two and the relationship explained. And, wouldn’t you consider it a bit concerning that she would appoint two people that she can financially gain from to the planning commission? I would consider that more than just a simple lie. And I would definitely call it more than “nothing”.
These actions and appointments are the norm in a communist red-state. They aren’t the norm here, in the US.
It is these items and many others that make up a long laundry list of what needs cleaning in the current administration of our community.
It is these items and many others that, in most people’s minds, is more that “nothing”.
P'd_off said,
December 29, 2009 @ 6:52 PM
Could you be any more of an apologist for the slate, red state? Forget about the residency aspect of all these allegations, how can you as a citizen of Patterson, turn a blind eye to all these allegations? You seriously believe that new jobs is really the answer to Patterson’s problems? You, and the slate, are so far out of touch with the citizens of this town it isn’t even funny.
the recorder said,
December 29, 2009 @ 11:40 PM
A dedication to my fellow Patterson residents.
Scott M. said,
December 30, 2009 @ 10:00 PM
what a joke! this is one of the most pointless arguments i have seen. get your gps out and walk the city boundries.
then get back to us on wether or not they are within the city limits. get a life people. where were you during the election? where was your candidate? I assume on the loosing end.
using your definition of insanity, this web site is insane. it continues to blast local government figures with no change or difference in the out-come.
also, please source your facts. until you do so we can only assume that they are not such.
What Next said,
December 30, 2009 @ 10:29 PM
Hey Scott,
Instead of coming in and harrassing the natives, why don’t you get a life.
First off, it is OK to disagree with us. But, before you start slinging the insults, why don’t you give us some facts. Sure, West lives within the city limits now, but, there is some concern about the timing of his move.
For the sake of this argument, let’s say that he moved in PRIOR to being appointed. Fine, then that becomes a non-issue.
Do you have any facts that will counter anything else that has been discussed here? If you do, present them and I am sure we would love to hear them. I for one an open to the facts.
For the most part, we have gone to great lengths to source our facts. When you do decide to present us with contradicting facts, we ask that you presetn your sources also. Most of the facts that we have presented have come from public records, which includes among other resources, the mintues of the city council meetings, articles found in print (IrriGator and Modesto Bee), the Department of Real Estate, and many others.
Also, before you begin to blast people, read everything. You won’t look so much like an idiot. If you had read all the posts, you would see that, for the most part, it became evident that West does live within the city limits. Can you explain the other issues that have been discussed in this thread?
Do you have any counter points that you can give us?
John D.
Scott M. said,
December 30, 2009 @ 11:11 PM
John D.,
i would love to personaly talk to you. as a NATIVE myself i think it is completely silly to focus attention to such pointless arguments. the fact that an un-nammed, uneducated person considers me to be an idiot is not only ammusing, but unsupported. especially comming from someone who considers “copy and paste” a form of sourcing.
objective vs subjective.
look it up.
since i am an idiot, please connect the dots for me on how becky lied about the persons whom work in HER office, and how she can gain financially from the appointments. details please, maybe some pictures as i am stoopid.
all the best,
Scott M.
Scott M. said,
December 30, 2009 @ 11:33 PM
while your at it, show me where it is written that the mayor may not appoint anyone who works for them. also would love to see if she appointed anyone illegally.
this may keep the witch hunters occupied for 24 hours.
bottom line: she is OUR elected official. to think that she is able to appease 25,000 occupents is utterly silly. while i may not approve of some of her decisions or actions, i certainly did nothing while i had a chance (ie election time). there is a time and a place. if you wish to de-fame our mayor over trivial boundaries and appointments, please do. next time show some effort when it counts.
all the best,
Scott M.
P'd off said,
December 31, 2009 @ 2:15 AM
What’s funny is the house on Marigold owned by West, seems to be unoccupied. I drive on Marigold easily 3 to 4 times per week and the house looks like any of the other abandoned houses in this city, save for the lawn being mowed.
Scott M. said,
January 3, 2010 @ 5:41 PM
4 days and counting…
Scott M. said,
January 4, 2010 @ 4:18 PM
5 days…
The Patterson Irritator said,
January 4, 2010 @ 6:18 PM
Take your pick…..on page 24…thanks for counting, it’s going to do wonders for our blog stats. In the meantime, we’ll patiently wait for a post that originated in Patterson:)
http://ag.ca.gov/publications/coi.pdf