Watchdog: Council should appoint Davis to empty seat, opposes 3% at 50 pension benefit

By Barbara Zivica

Tis the season to be merry but a pall hangs over the city of Antioch where council members were naughty, not nice. Acting like Scrooge they refused to appoint former mayor Jim Davis to the vacant council seat even though he came in third in the now certified election, getting 22.08% of the vote compared to Monica Wilson’s 23.46%. Council should have done what had done in the past with the exception of 2008 when Arne Simonson came in third and was also tossed on the heap.

Apparently Council has also chosen to do something similar as to what was done in 2008 to choose a new council member. They are asking candidates to submit applications signed by no less than 20 and no more than 30 signatures of registered voters, a FPPC form 700 Statement of Economic Interest and a statement not to exceed 400 words to the City Clerk no later than 4:30 pm on December 13th.

Applicants would then be able to speak for no more than 3 minutes each at the Tuesday, December 18th meeting at which time an appointee could be selected if they garner at least 3 votes from council.

I think it’s likely we’ll see a repeat of 2008 when someone who didn’t run for office appears and wins appointment. That person was Martha Parsons, a Democratic political consultant. Could this year’s selectee be Vincent Manuel who claims a strong background in public administration and was Senior District Representative to Supervisor Federal Glover, said to be mentor to Antioch’s new Mayor Wade Harper?

NOTE: There will be an additional Council meeting on December 27 when ALL council members meet to vote on amending the signed September 1, 2012 contract agreement with police officers and restoring the more lucrative 3% at 50 pension formula for veteran police officers and a 2.7% at 55 formula for employees hired for other city jobs. This is a dumb move. The city is already in financial difficulty. Abrogating signed contract agreements sets a very bad precedent that could haunt the city in future contract negotiations. Bah humbug.


2 Comments to “Watchdog: Council should appoint Davis to empty seat, opposes 3% at 50 pension benefit”

  1. dotherightthing says:

    I agree with Barbara’s analysis and points. Davis should be the choice for the open seat. He received an amount of public vote to be next in line. Please, City Council members, don’t play games with the voting public. As for the police deal, you are urged to keep in mind that I as a residential, tax-paying citizen want continued austere actions by the City Council members to join with all the Neighborhood Watch programs and keep due diligence throughout out city. I am sorry, more incentives don’t make police officers do their job better. It just adds more officers to get in on better deals for retirement. Police aren’t the only public servants that put their life, blood, sweat and tears on the line. what about teachers, firefighters, nurses, etc. No one deserve more benefits than anyone else as a public servant.

  2. Richard Golfer says:

    It’s just laughable ex- Mayor Don Freitas is applying for this vacant City Council seat. Voters soundly rejected his candidacy in his recent run for Mayo – he finished a weak third, and he was defeated in a previous run for Mayor as well. Voters are tired of Don Freitas, tired of him big time, but Freitas can’t seem to figure this out. Apparently, the vacant city council seat is part of that. Freitas should retire from politics now – voters are sick of him – that’s the message he should have gotten when he ran a weak third in his recent run for Mayor, but apparently he’s addicted to running for office. It’s just pathetic. At one time Freitas was a rising star in county politics, now it’s pretty clear he’s some kind of crank or nutcase. Freitas needs to get a life, his career as Antioch town busy-body wanna-be big shot is over.

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