Commissioners quitting in support of Thomas Gordon

The O.C. Register featured an online article today regarding the mass exodus from City Commissions by those who support Thomas Gordon. Here are a few excerpts from Doug Irving’s article:

At least three city commissioners plan to resign their posts in protest after the City Council kicked one of their colleagues out of office earlier this week.

The Council voted 6-1, with no discussion, to remove Thomas Gordon from the city’s anti-gang commission. Council member Sal Tinajero asked for Gordon’s ouster, saying the vocal commissioner had yelled at him during an earlier meeting.

Since then, one city commissioner has submitted his resignation, and two others say they plan to do the same in the next few days. Like Gordon, two of the commissioners write for a blog site called “The Orange Juice!” that has hounded city politicians and criticized city actions.

“I just don’t want to be part of that mess at this point,” said Art Pedroza, the founder of the blog and a member of the city’s Community Redevelopment and Housing Commission. He said he was in the process of writing his resignation letter.

Another member of that commission, Luis Rodriguez, also a blogger, submitted his resignation at a meeting on Tuesday. He said he was bothered by Gordon’s removal as well as the council’s decision not to vote on a proposal to broadcast all meetings on television and online.

And Ryan Trabuco, who championed Gordon as a “caped crusader” during this week’s council meeting, said he also was planning to step down from the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Committee. He said he was moving out of town to accept a new job and would have had to resign from the commission anyway.

But the removal of Gordon, he said, “just makes me feel much better that I’m leaving this behind.”

About Admin

"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.