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Politics & Government

Letter to the Editor: Why I Won't Vote for Dan Romero

The author lists four reasons why Dan Romero should not be reelected.

I cannot vote to reelect Dan Romero due to his lack of transparency with major decisions, his discouragement of dissenting opinion, his lack of objectivity with respect to the role that the City Council has with the City Manager, and his negative approach to problem solving.

The lack of transparency with respect to land use decisions such as that regarding the Safeway deal has compromised the oversight process, one that must include the citizens. Candidate Phil Simmons is asking why, after one year into the process, we are just now learning that there are 3.5 acres at Sycamore Crossing that is unrestricted and suitable for a grocery store?  It has also been brought to my attention that the council has relied on the Planning Commission to a much lesser degree, with only half the meetings held as compared with the previous year.  This underutilized commission is an additional layer of oversight with respect to the major decisions being made that impact the well-being of our citizens and the future of our city.

The lack of an impartial investigation into the allegation levied by the State Auditor that city staff were uncooperative during their audit means that the City Council is not fulfilling its supervisory responsibilities with respect to the duties and performance of the City Manager.  If the conclusions of the State Auditor are invalid, then a thorough and impartial investigation of the matter would reveal such, with no harm done.  An investigation was warranted as City Hall is technically a crime scene.  In my opinion, our Mayor is lacking the objectivity needed for providing the necessary oversight of our government.

The premeditated, very public attack on volunteer committee members set a hostile tone for the governance of our city.  Although there were some procedural changes and additions that needed to be adopted by this committee, this should have been addressed by having the Mayor work with the respective council liaisons and City Attorney instead of relying on the complaints of citizens, myself included.  Instead, per advisement of the City Manager, the entire committee was “called-out on the carpet” and made to feel as if they were an enemy agent instead of a committee of volunteer citizens.

For oversight to be at a maximum, accuracy of information is critical.  A recent example of misinformation relayed from “City Hall” by a citizen in their Op Ed regarding the “court order to sell Parcel C and Victoria Crescent” only heightens my level of concern.  Challenger Bill Kelly exposed the erroneous information (since verified), but how was this allowed to happen?   And how can there be complete transparency and accountability if, to this day, the City has still not posted an organization chart on their website?

Lastly, our Mayor recently commented to the Contra Costa Times that he “supports the incumbents.”  This statement means he would prefer to reelect someone previously caught for falsifying their qualifications rather than someone well-qualified, but with a differing opinion.  All of the challengers are very qualified and are also very decent people, too.  Take your time to get to know them as I have done. Ask them difficult questions.  Do not rely on one endorsement or one debate.  This time, it is for 4 years, so it is worth doing the extra homework.  You can take additional comfort in knowing that in a completely transparent environment, any ideas of a council member that don’t hold water will not pass go because this time the citizens will be fully included in the decision-making process.

Dan Romero is not a bad person.  As a citizen, he helped return our government to its rightful owner and for that I am grateful, but I do not see him as being suited for a seat on our City Council.

Respectfully submitted,
Giorgio Cosentino, Hercules Citizen

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