Letter: District 1 deserves a true advocate on city council
– A lot of people ask me why I am supporting Linda George. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I was told that someone else would be a great choice for appointment to the city council when the seat became available last year. I am very involved politically and so many people were complaining that the city council meetings were contentious, that we needed peace, cooperation, and someone who would still be conservative but able to work cooperatively with the other members of the city council.
This is exactly what did not happen and frankly, I was bitterly disappointed. I was highly supportive of this person, thinking that when John Peschong retired I would have a great candidate to promote. However, when the parking vote came up and this person voted for paid parking it was apparent that we had major problems. A lot of people told me they felt they had been deceived and this person represented themselves differently before their appointment.
I was exactly correct about my assessment that things were going in the wrong direction. I just saw Brown Act Violations, agenda irregularities, bad advice from the city attorney, and most alarming an alliance with a city manager who made bad policy decisions. Not a word of protest, just going along with the status quo. I also saw that there was bashing going on, the mayor said not to come to him for help with parking anymore, and lately a lot of mean behavior to the one city council member who consistently stands up for the public interest.
The vote on the FBO for the airport was especially troubling. This District 1 appointee during the parking debacle claimed to be concerned about the budget and need for revenue but she accepted the inferior bid for FBO. The extra revenue that ACIJet generated would have been a great benefit to the city. The other bidder needed a loan and asked for the city to make infrastructure changes. ACIJet also brought in millions of dollars worth of sales to the city and that is now endangered. Vendors also note that although ACIJet bent over backwards to accommodate the city they were treated poorly. When the city asks for bids this is going to dampen enthusiasm.
If Linda George had been appointed she would have worked with Chris Bausch, voted against paid parking, for ACIJet and to go after the city attorney for bad advice on the parking program. She would not have been influenced by the city manager to make poor decisions and would not have tolerated bad legislative practices. She is serious about the need to make Paso great again. I’d rather have someone who is a non-conventional candidate than someone who just has an R after her name but votes wrongly. Please support Linda George for Paso Robles District 1 City Council. She is the true voice for her district.
Gary Lehrer
Templeton
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