The Patterson IrriTator

The comprehensive seven-part Grand Jury Report is now out, as well as the initial reaction from the report’s targets.  Since the Irrigator has made it clear that they are not interested in really exploring what its findings truly mean, the Irritator team is willing to take on the case.

But before we get into the Grand Jury, keep in mind that the City Council will be meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, July 12), providing the public’s first opportunity to let the Slate know how you feel about the Grand Jury findings.

For this article, we will focus on the findings associated with our former Mayor Becky Campo.

The Grand Jury found:

1. Campo resided in a home outside of the city going back to 2008, and that she admitted as much both in direct testimony as well as in written correspondence to a constituent.
2. She inappropriately used her position to pressure staff on a variety of issues, from urging Cleve to fire Rod Simpson, to attempting to speak for the Council unilaterally by trying to sign off on a proposed bar expansion.   This also included holding an illegal meeting with Smth and Farinha, at which they threatened to fire Morris if he didn’t agree to fire Simpson.
3. She committed multiple Brown Act violations by engineering and/or participating in various votes behind closed doors, from the firing of Morris to the awarding of $27,000 to Ramos during the DP Health Clinic fiasco without having any documentation regarding Ramos’ legal fees.
4. She appointed a personal business associate to the Planning Commission
5. She failed to comply with state law by not taking the required ethics training every two years.
6. Along with Annette, she attempted to pressure Cleve Morris into hiring Dominic as an assistant planner, prior to his eventual appointment to the Council.

Of all these offenses, perhaps the most significant is her residency problem.  Becky claims to have proof of her residency, but for some reason she never took the opportunity to present that proof to the Grand Jury.  She also can’t explain the email she sent in 2008 in which she indicated that she wouldn’t be able to run because of her residency.  By failing to live in the city from 2008-2010, the Grand Jury found that her time as mayor during that period is invalid, that she should return the $9,300 in salary she made during that time, and that the city should review all 3-2 votes during that period that may have gone another way had we had a legitimate mayor in office.   We all know the last two years were marked by a number of 3-2 votes, including Cleve’s firing and the Ramos payment.  It will be very interesting to see how the city handles the major headache that the Grand Jury just gave them on this front.   Speaking of the city, it is very troubling that the latest Irrigator article quoted Becky as saying she had met with with the City Manager and City Attorney to “go over options.”  Regardless of her residency standing as mayor, she is no longer mayor, and if she’s actually seeking legal counsel from the city at this point, the city’s problems are only going to get worse.

The Grand Jury report also confirmed what many have long suspected; that Campo operated like being Mayor gave her extraordinary powers to approve projects, muscle staff and carry water for her developer and business friends.   She was able to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes for many years, but now the truth is coming out and the damage she has done to the city will take many years to undo.   This is probably why we have seen very little of her around town since leaving office last year.

Despite the Irrigator dropping the ball, the Modesto Bee has has done a good job looking into the report’s ramifications.  See their latest editorial here.

Stay tuned for additional analysis of the Grand Jury report.  The focus of our next article will be Annette Smith.