.
The Pulido Shill site run by our founder is in hysterics this week: “Save Paul Walters!” screams their top banner ad. “It Is Time to Save Our City Manager Paul Walters!” trumpets the first of a dozen similar stories posted this past week. Oh my God! What sort of danger is poor Paul Walters in? Does he need us to raise funds for an unusual cancer treatment? Does he need a bone marrow transplant which only the rarest among us could provide? Has he been falsely accused of some capital crime and needs one of us to vouch for his whereabouts on New Year’s Eve?
“But I NEED him!” quoth the small dark one.
No, no, settle down. The former longtime Santa Ana Police Chief, current City Manager, and inseparable cat’s-paw of Mayor-for-life Miguel Pulido, is only facing a performance review from the increasingly Pulido-resistant Council, and MAY end up being replaced by another city manager more distinguishable from the Small Dark Lord. That’s all, nothing life-threatening or otherwise horrible. Whether or not it’s a good idea to replace Mr. Walters we can discuss later, but he and his doppelganger and their allies have really been screwing the pooch of late in their efforts to keep him there. And if the Orange Juice doesn’t tell you about it, who will?
First of all, that quote I attached to him in the image up above – those are not his words, but he DID send it out under his name, with his stamp of approval, to multiple e-mail recipients. Let me back up.
Mr. Walters’ lovely Japanese-American wife has a brother, Tim Hirota, Mr. Walters’ brother-in-law, who may be turning out to be one of those “friends you wish you didn’t have” for Walters. Hirota, who wrote for this blog for a short time, but now sticks to his own “Brainy Cattle” blog, is the kind of unreconstructed, gleefully “politically incorrect,” last-decade Republican that the GOP is trying to get away from – not only hateful to liberals and unions but contemptuous of gays and immigrants. [update – Hirota disputes these characterizations here, not too convincingly.]
On Jan. 7 Hirota sent out a clarion cry to his entire e-mail list, which still includes me, begging all his Santa Ana readers to come to the Council meeting that night and support this unjustly threatened fine public servant, Paul Walters. I wrote him back asking, “Shouldn’t you mention to your readers that the chap is your brother-in-law?” and Tim was all “Nah, doesn’t seem relevant, I knew him before he married my sister anyway.” Apparently at the same time, he wrote a letter to the Register on behalf of his brother-in-law which got a little nastier. So far, no reflection on Walters, right? Except that Walters liked that letter so much he forwarded it to HIS whole e-mail list of supporters – as follows:
n=”left”>From: Walters, Paul [mailto:PWalters@santa-ana.org]
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2013 12:18 PM
To: ………
Subject: Fwd: Letter to the editor, Paul WaltersI wanted to thank you all for the support you have given to me and my family. I don’t know what the future holds for us but I wanted you to know how we have appreciated you phone calls and emails. Thank
I have attached a letter that my brother in law wrote to support me for your information.
Paul M Walters
Begin forwarded message:
To: Tim Hirota <timothyhirota@sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Letter to the editor, Paul WaltersThis is an open letter to the members of the Santa Ana City Council who are in the process of attempting to remove Paul Walters from his position as City Manager.
It is my understanding that Mr. Walters has executed his duties professionally and competently. I also understand that he was a key figure in successfully salvaging the city budget and preventing bankruptcy. Additionally, in his MANY years as Santa Ana’s Chief of Police, he made Santa Ana a safer, friendlier place to live. I am a life-long resident and I’ve seen the change for the better.With these observations in mind, you MUST PUBLICLY explain – to the people of this city – why this termination would be warranted
He has NOT been accused of wrongdoing, mismanagement or dereliction of duty.
If the City Council cannot present reasonable and verifiable proof, I suggest that the people of Santa Ana IMMEDIATELY begin a recall effort of ALL City Council members:
- Ward 1: Vincent Sarmiento
- Ward 2: Michele Martinez
- Ward 3: Angelica Amezcua
- Ward 4: David Benavides
- Ward 5: Roman Reyna
- Ward 6: Sal Tinejero
Short of any proof, one can only assume that the Santa Ana City Council seeks to remove Paul Walters – not on the basis of poor job performance or for the “good” of the City of Santa Ana, but because of personal vendettas towards him or because they are using him to exact punishment upon someone else to whom he is connected in some way (of course, what else CAN we expect from a council which seeks to make Santa Ana a “sanctuary city”, thereby subverting their constituency in favor of illegal immigrants…).
Tim Hirota
Santa Ana, California
What a controversial and divisive letter for a City Manager to send out – the Manager of a city that’s so overwhelmingly Latino – given that Latino citizens and voters are overwhelmingly sympathetic to the plight of their undocumented cousins and friends. Is someone going to ask Walters what he was thinking at least, at tonight’s big showdown meeting?
And tonight should be a zoo, just like the January 7 meeting, which was packed with hysterical Walters supporters, many of whom had been begged to come by a panicked Pulido telling them the council majority “wanted to get rid of Walters” – a probable Brown Act violation by the Mayor since all discussions that far had been in closed session (and a decision at that point hadn’t been made anyway.)
THIS is how pathetic it got: A group of folkloric dancing kids, and then a group of martial arts kids, showed up and gave their darling performances…and then were asked to say “Thank you Paul Walters.” Observers say that this seemed to confuse them, as they had no idea who Walters was, but after a little more prodding they did indeed repeat “Thank you Paul Walters!”
And this all comes just two years after Walters, in the words of Santa Ana ethics watchdog Francisco Barragan, “disregarded the highest level of ETHICS (as expected from a Chief of Police per the CA Police Chief Association); and as required by the City’s own Code of Ethics, when he entered at the very LAST minute the political fray in a very NEGATIVE WAY on behalf of Mayor Pulido in the November 2010 Mayor’s Election rather than remaining neutral as a paid employee/police chief.”
Hear Paul Walters negative campaigning:
Well, has Paul Walters been a good City Manager though? I don’t know, that’s for you Santa Anans and your council to decide. Apparently he helped balance the budget after years of deficit, though on the other hand he did that partly by DEFERRING several multi-million expenses from last year into this year and next, so it was only a temporary fix.
It seems that the main reason the majority is THINKING of replacing Walters is because he is so inseparable from the dictatorial Mayor, who uses his staff connections to perpetuate his power throughout City Hall at the expense of the rest of the democratically elected council. Is this a legitimate reason to get rid of a City Manager? I know you guys have been passionately debating that elsewhere, well, you can do it here too!
Personally I like anything that helps abridge the power of a big Orange County mover-and-shaker like Mayor Pulido, who has his fingers in way too many pies across the county and state, second only to Curt Pringle, and has become staggeringly wealthy during his 20+ years running Santa Ana. He’s been unremovable not only as Mayor but on the OCTA Board where he continues to be one of the most stubborn and outspoken advocates for putting toll lanes on the 405 (and after that, all OC freeways.) I didn’t mind seeing him taken off the Great Park Board last month, even if it took a Republican coup. And I remember well how we barely shamed him out of drawing a half-million-dollar “finder’s fee” for helping Governor Schwarzenegger sell – and then lease back – a shitload of huge state-owned buildings in a scheme we dubbed “sleasing.” God knows how else he’s used his position to gather so much wealth.
But all this wailing and rending of garments about poor Paul Walters and the injustice of it all – he is not going to be left up on the hillside to be eaten by wolves. If he’s let go he’s got a fine lavish retirement ahead of him – his police chief’s “3%-at-50” full salary for life, plus probably a six-month severance package. The bigger this sturm and drang gets, the more you know it’s Pulido feeling like a stuck pig as more and more levers of power gradually slip from his hands.
I just wanted you all to know about that offensive Hirota dispatch that Paul Walters felt fine about passing on, and I’ll leave you with some more words from Francisco. Meanwhile, as I write, I see that Adam E, who’s been following this a lot closer than I, appears to have just produced a masterpiece on the topic which I’m going to go check out now.
Here’s Paco:
With respect to the Evaluation of the appointed officers by the City Council:
A) It is a BEST PRACTICE for the City Council to periodically review any of the appointed officers, i.e. Paul Walters.
B) I think the City and the City Council would be BEST SERVED by a “continuance” of the National Search for a City Manager. It may result in the City obtaining a superbly qualified City Manager with either the strong background and/or experience helping other cities navigate the type of issues that Santa Ana will face. As I stated, I see this as a $25,000 VS $25 million to $60 million question.
The City had previously paid or authorized about $25,000 for a national search for a city manager, and this was stopped without the full knowledge and approval of the City Council. The significant issues that we face as a city are: the $25-56 million that the CA State Dept of Finance may want from the City of Santa Ana, and the several millions of dollars more that were DEFERRED through accounting maneuvers into this fiscal year and next.
C) It is proper to for the City Council to CONSIDER Paul Walters’ PAST ETHICAL lapses and Lapses in Judgment, in addition to his NEW ACTION SUPPORTING DENIGRATING T language about this CITY COUNCIL.
Or it may turn out that except for his ethical lapses and sound judgment, Paul Walters may be a strong candidate for continuing his role as City Manager.
Some other areas on which to evaluate Paul Walters or any other City Manager candidates:
1) Support for an Independent Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC). Anaheim, had several fatal police shootings some of which left the impression of being UNJUSTIFIED. In reaction to this, the community protested and some went to the extreme of attacking/damaging several businesses.
Both Anaheim Police Chief John Welter and Mayor Tom Tait are open and supportive of an Independent CPOC to increase the community’s trust and PREVENT or Minimize recurrence of violent protests.
2) Issue of Homelessness. There are about 4,000 single homeless veterans throughout Orange County, and Santa Ana being the county seat, many of them congregate here in Santa Ana.
Faith-based groups and not-for-profit advocates want to work with the City to address homelessness and a CLEAR and PROACTIVE vision must be articulated and implemented by City leaders (City Council; Mayor and City Manager). Is there a vision and resolved leadership to solve it by Paul Walters in conjunction with local governments, agencies and community partners; Yes or No?
3) Economy and Business. Does Paul Walters or other candidates demonstrate a strong economic and business background and experience in attracting businesses to grow the economic base and increase opportunities for its citizens, youth and businesses?
4) What is being done to encourage civic engagement by our youth, so that they do not fall prey to the temptation or lure of negative options i.e. youth gang involvement.
5) How strong is Paul Walters in doing outreach to the various not-for-profits and in facilitating their involvement for the benefit of the City?
– Francisco Barragan.
Some have said that – “A national search to find the best person for the job of City Manager … is a good first step.”
The most recent national search for a City Manager failed due to the dire financial circumstances of the City at that time. Former City Manager and coward Dave Ream fled the scene of an impending financial disaster for which he and the entire council at the time share blame.
Paul Walters helped pull the City from the brink of that financial disaster – he deserves the gratitude of the entire City for those efforts. He has helped pull the people of Santa Ana together in many ways. As a faithful servant of the people Paul Walters deserves to be treated with dignity and respect – not as the council’s political football.
Yes, dignity and respect. I think Pro-tem Tinajero, who seems to be tilting toward removing Walters, has given him major props for his accomplishments so far.
The good man will be living on his full salary for the rest of his life, as a retired police chief. I don’t get all the exaggerated tears.
“The good man will be living on his full salary for the rest of his life”……… Hmmmmm
Correction: “his full spikedsalary”
Well, thanks to your socialistic unions. I do not mind if it would be private sector money but it will be all extorted from very poor which you are trying to help.
What losers you liberals are.
Mike,
A political football is a political topic or issue that is continually debated but left unresolved. The term is used often during a political election campaign to highlight issues that have not been completely addressed, such as the natural environment and abortion.
There are many reasons that an issue may be left unresolved. Examples are:
The issue may be highly controversial with the populace rather evenly split on both sides. In this case, a government has no clear positive action to take.
A government may want the opposite of what the majority of the people want. By not making a decision, the government creates time to attempt to convert the public opinion.
Government may be split on a decision and neither side is willing to give in to the other.
A minority group in government may be opposed to a decision and will use a method to delay a decision, such as a filibuster.
Politicians may be attempting to draw the issue into public debate in order to gain their own popularity at the polls.
Where does a possible decision to have a national search for a city manager fall into the definition of a political football.
The council has not been undecisive on this issue and has moved on it in a expedient manner.
The credit you mention for the manager is also appropiate for the council. After all they contribute to these discussions a a high level…………..they make the final decisions.
The council also needs to be treated with dignity and respect. Do you agree ?
The Pulido hired attack dogs are doing what the council is not doing. The attack dogs have the job to demonize the council. The council has not done this to the manager in fact they have publicly stated his good service .
Walters/Hirota “sanctuary city” e-mail and the manager’s wife has publically stated the council is revengeful, know nothin’s and on a political witch hunt………..where is the dignity and respect for the council here.
I don’t need your condescending instructionals lomeli and this council deserves neither dignity nor respect for their unprofessional behavior in this episode.
From Tim Hirota:
What’s your middle name??
A friend of mine sent a link to me this morning (thanks, “M”) from The Orange Juice Blog:
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2013/01/some-things-santa-ana-should-know-about-their-city-manager-paul-walters/
Rather than commenting on the piece, which I’ll leave to you folks to read for yourself, I’d like to simply correct a couple of deliberate mischaracterizations my friend, Vern, laid down.
And, since he was gracious enough to offer these mischaracterizations in a public forum, I thought it’d be nice to respond….in a public forum.
Here’s the quote:
“Hirota, who wrote for this blog for a short time, but now sticks to his own “Brainy Cattle” blog, is the kind of unreconstructed, gleefully “politically incorrect,” last-decade Republican that the GOP is trying to get away from –not only hateful to liberals and unions but contemptuous of gays and immigrants .”
Now, to be sure, some of this he got just right. I am ABSOLUTELY politically incorrect. Deal with it.
“Last decade Republican”? Yeah, ok…..that’s an opinion, which carries as much validity as MY opinion that “no, I’m a Conservative, who (like MANY others), is seeking to rid myself of the Republican Party….or, more accurately, rid the GOP of the Liberal ‘fifth column’.
On to the fun part…..
“…not only hateful to liberals and unions but contemptuous of gays and immigrants.”
Hateful to Liberals? Sorry. Nope. “Hate” is an emotion; one which requires focus and effort. A better word would be “indifferent”; I’m indifferent to, and about, Liberals.”
Hateful to unions? Sorry….needs some clarity here. I have no particular love for private sector unions (and have commented on this in the past), I recognize that, SOMETIMES, they are quite necessary.
I DO see no use whatsoever for PUBLIC unions. In fact, the public sector union, if anything, serve to prove that Governments are corrupt. And the public unions are part of that corruption.
“…contemptuous of gays…”. Fabrication. Nothing more. I am on record as believing that I do not care how people conduct their private lives, as long as a) they accept ALL responsibility for their decisions and b) in the scope of their decisions, they do not violate the rights of anyone else.
How do gays fit into this? Certain groups/organizations of gays are intent the creation of laws which specifically favor them. This is both unconstitutional against what Liberals profess to believe about equality. (If you’d like more on this, I’d be happy to expound).
So, to be clear: It’s not the “gay”, it’s the deliberate irresponsibility for one’s decisions and the attempt to violate the rights of others in doing so.
And finally…..
“…contemptuous of…immigrants.”
Please note that Vern didn’t say “ILLEGAL immigrants”. This, folks, is intentional; intended to portray me as someone who is “contemptuous” of ALL immigrants; both legal and illegal.
And, again, I have a LONG record…MANY writings….defending those here legally from those (like Michele Martinez and Lou Correa) who wish to forsake their own constituents in favor for those here ILlegally.
Now, I don’t actually expect reasonable response from the OJB folks.
After all, I’d NEVER want to be accused of disturbing their blissful slumber of ignorance….
What’s your middle name, Vern, old buddy?
….shame, shame….
Hirota: out.
OH…..and one more thing…..thank you for spelling my name right! 🙂
Oh. I was just gonna link to that.
So … as I was gonna say, let the reader be the judge!
http://brainycattle.blogspot.com/2013/01/whats-your-middle-name.html
(Hi Tim! These pingbacks show over there, I’m assuming?)
Vern’s middle name is “Trouble,” with a capital “T.” That or “Hirota.”
Sorry, but this section:
supports Vern’s description of Hirota. I won’t even bother refuting these points here, unless upon his request.
“Hateful to Liberals? Sorry. Nope. “Hate” is an emotion; one which requires focus and effort. A better word would be “indifferent”; I’m indifferent to, and about, Liberals.””
Indifferent to liberals? ROTFLMAO! Tim Hirota has dedicated his ENTIRE BLOG to liberals, in fact it’s SERIOUSLY CREEPY how obsessed he is with LIBERALS.
Tim Hirota is an angry, bitter person, oh he’ll deny it, but only a frustrated, angry and bitter person would write multiple posts a day (that no one is obviously reading as there are virtually no comments) bashing, blaming and name calling … liberals.
It’s kinda hilarious though, how completely unaware and delusional he is about it.
I think we got him some nice traffic today though, as everyone wonders, “Who’s this guy that dragged Paul Walters into the illegal immigration debate at such an opportune moment?”
Yeah, that was 15 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.
Often in business, the right person for the turnaround is not necessarily the right person to go after and achieve the next success factor. Sometimes they are but often they are not. Often, they acknowledge this themselves and help in the transition. Seems like he certainly helped to stop a downward spiral- whether from accounting gimmicks and deferrals or not is up for debate.
I should know more about Mr. Walters, but unfortunately do not. I would like to see fewer thefts in our neighborhood though and fewer folks who do not have a warm bed to sleep in and a meal to eat.
Regardless of the position, private or public, executive or rank & file, everyone should be able to advocate for what they are worth to an organization. Often, it is healthy and keeps people focused on the right success factors, IF one is truly a team player and wants the best for the organization.
So… Tim promoted his piece about THIS piece with the slogan “A wonderful example of liberalism.” His blog’s subtitle is “Liberalism in the crosshairs,” which I assume mean that he aspires to shoot liberals or liberalism. In that context, I’m guessing “brainy cattle” is his description of liberals.
Here’s the problem: Whether he realizes it or not, his going to the mattresses for his brother-in-law is really going to the mattresses for more continued power for Miguel Pulido. And if he studies my paragraph which provides a partial list of reasons to be against more power for Pulido (which I’ll re-post below) Hirota may well ask himself, who’s really functioning as the “liberal” here (in the pejorative sense of big-government waste, arrogance and overreach) – Vern, or Hirota?
I s’pose I’ll go post this onto Hirota’s site too … reluctantly, as I’ve got so many saucers spinning across the blogosphere already….
Vern,
what does the hero of the Latino people, Art Pedroza, have to say? NOTHING! What a useless tool he is. What a fraud he is. Now he is uniting with the Usual Suspects in trying to save Paul Walters. What this proves once and for all is he and the Usual Suspects are not opposed to corruption in our city. Of course the Usual Suspects proves that when they supported the recall of Nativo Lopez and then were silent when Rob Richardson and Audry Noji led a school district where three high schools had worse test scores than Juvenile Hall. All are hypocrites.
How many Henry Gattes are there now? This one, the anti-Pedroza model, seems to be a later spinoff of the more prolific Pulido-shill original.
As far as Art … I imagine, knowing where his bread is buttered, he will close his eyes and whistle a happy tune.
Lame.
As long as we don’t have to listen to Francisco “Paco” Barragan orate again, I don’t care if they hire Godzilla!
That was painful.
Mayor Pulido just recessed the meeting.
I suspect the Council will hold firm and remove Walters. I hope I am wrong.
I am going to try and find “Paco” and congratulate him on a well written/spoken speech.
Clearly he is intelligent, just not used to speaking publicly. perhaps Greg and other DPOC members can help him. It will go a long way.
“If you can’t act: read” Bill Walton did it, so can Francisco.
My apologies for the harsh (but bruttally true) review.
Vern – It was very unfair of you to put those words in a balloon with Walters photo – Walters did not say those things.
As the article explains clearly, he sent those words out to hundreds – thought highly enough of them to do so.
Did anyone ask him about that tonight? Maybe he just clicked “send” without reading it closely and regrets it? That would be nice to know.
You know that many low information readers don’t get into the weeds of an article – that was low-blow headline journalism – not fair.
Um, NAH. And I’ve thought about it. There’s really very little difference between making up some words yourself, and finding someone else’s words so agreeable that you pass them on to all your friends. Either way it shows what you think.
WOW! ABC just report that Paul Walters got fired! Only 1 vote in his favor, “lack of communication with the city managers office.”
Impossible. Pedroza clearly said weeks ago that Tinajero, Amezcua, and I think it was Sarmiento would side with Pulido. He may have even guaranteed it!
Oh, wait — Adam E. says it’s true, so it’s apparently true.
Impound the shredders and lock the filing cabinets! Now maybe we’re going to see what a real “forensic audit” looks like.
SAPOA 1
Residents 0
Nah, that’s just Pedroza’s story. He’ll say anything in defense of Walters and Pulido because he’s on Pulido’s payroll. And blaming everything on unions is one of the trusty arrows in his quiver.
I disagree.
I think the upcoming police contract is paramount to the firing.
Even some of the springers have alluded to it. Further, this could be easily dispelled if they were willing to talk.
This is traditional petty politics fueled by more special interest pressure.
It’s pretty hard to dispute that notion, especially when the council doesn’t communicate with the public.
Well, they arent allowed to talk about Waltersgate. But Michele M is coming to the next Los Amigos meeting next Wednesday…you should send me a list of questions for her.
@ Vern Nelson:
Thank you for this post.
I don’t get any pleasure in calling out the unfortunate behavior by Mayor Pulido and Paul Walters (forwarding a very negative divisive political message, written by his brother-in-law) , but I think we should not stand for Unethical or Very Likely Illegal Behavior just because we like the outcome or the person doing it…because what happens if they do the same Unethical or Very likely Illegal Behavior and we don’t like the outcome or the person?
We in the community must be consistent, and not only call out our elected or appointed officials, but also support them when they do something correct or to guide them toward better behavior that results in an overall long-term improvement for the community…My comments at last night’s City Council are below:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Good Evening City Council and Staff:
I want to commend you the City Council majority for your recent efforts to bring greater transparency and openness to make our city government more responsive to our citizens.
I think that your efforts to assert the will of the Council’s majority (an Elected Body) is a step in the right direction.
Thank you!
I also want to express concerns about 2 main troubling developments – I do this both as a private citizen of Santa Ana, and on behalf of Los Amigos of Orange County.
But before I do, I want to remind the council about Citizen Participation.
Per Part 1, Art IV, Div 1, Sec. 412 of Santa Ana’s Municipal Code.
Basically, No citizen shall be denied the right personally, or through a representative to present grievances at any meeting of the City Council, or to offer suggestions for the betterment of City affairs.
And what I will be talking about is directly relevant to the actions of two individuals that fall under the jurisdiction of the City Council, and that must be addressed to better the City.
I want to talk about the Unethical & very Illegal behavior by Mayor Miguel Pulido & Paul Walters, City Manager.
With respect to MAYOR MIGUEL PULIDO. My concerns and that of the Community, and I understand from some of you, is that there are strong indicators/”proof” of Mayor Pulido disclosing items from Closed Session, in violation of the Brown Act, which is a Misdemeanor.
• I was present two weeks ago and heard Mayor Pulido calling someone directly and telling them to show up and bring their people because this City Council wants to remove Paul Walters. Other people called me asking my opinion as to what they should do.
• Mayor Pulido is on record as Denying that he did that.
• I also asked during my comments at last Council Meeting, and several members of the audience confirmed that Mayor Pulido had called them. And because of that, as I said before in my communications to you, as difficult as it is for me to say, Mayor Pulido is lying.
• And I also understand he has called some of these people to deny the calls, and he is beginning to claim he did nothing wrong.
• Mayor Pulido’s actions and claims are questionable.
The next matter of grave concern are the actions of PAUL WALTERS. It appears he also disclosed items from Closed Session because of communication made, in violation of Brown Act, again a misdemeanor.
• I find it amazing that Paul Walters has demonstrated through his communication not just a Lack of Judgment unbecoming a City Executive, but also Contempt of this City Council, and a level of Recklessness and Disrespect towards this City Council and our citizens by the NEGATIVE POLITICAL COMMUNICATION he sent out from his official city account last January 7 at noontime – asking for recall of City Council members, plus mischaracterizing our citizens as “illegal immigrants”.
• This is the SECOND DOCUMENTED case in TWO years time, that Paul Walters has demonstrated unethical and very likely illegal behavior using either his Police Affiliation and Rank; and using his position and resources as City Manager?
• Putting aside Paul Walters previous long-term honorable service, how many UNETHICAL and ILLEGAL Acts is Paul Walters allowed?
• Is he allowed One Unethical AND Illegal Act per year? Or None?
• What chilling message that this send to staff…that 2 of the Top elected and appointed officials of Santa Ana can act without impunity, and that they can think they are above the law?
None of us should stand for Unethical or Very Likely Illegal behavior.
And the best way to put this to rest, and on behalf of Los Amigos of Orange County, I ask
1) for you the City Council to call for an Official Investigation of the actions of Mayor Pulido and Paul Walters, and
2) explore the various disciplinary actions that may be necessary, i.e. Pressing Charges, and which may include the removal of Paul Walters as City Manager.
And Separately, I want to ask that you re-start the National Search for a City Manager that you previously paid for.
I know that you have to consider and weigh Political Considerations and undue pressures from certain groups vs Doing the Right Thing, but if you stay focused on doing the RIGHT THING, you will NOT go wrong, and will continue to have the support of the overall community.
Again, thank you!
xxxxxxx
Paco
My comments only and not those of any group.
At Los Amigos this morning, many mixed feelings were expressed about these developments. Although it’s generally understood why the majority took this step, many there have had very good experiences working with Paul Walters in the past, and hope he returns to being Police Chief.
So I checked out Mr. Hirotas blog spot.
And I found a big picture of “Liberals” in the Crossfire.
That usually symbolizes the desire to shoot and kill something.
It doesn’t symbolize indifference.
This is one reason why Police Chiefs do not make ideal City Managers.
Police Chiefs come from a culture of Security and Maintenance of Violence but not nurture and growth.
If the Police Chief is trying to escape stereotypes of Police Culture in order to be more accepted as a manager, then the Police Chief should try to avoid these kind of associations, (family supporters that like to put people in the crossfire, literally and figuratively in the crossfire).
Well, at least they payed an attention to my speech last night.
That is good!
Paul Walters Mayor Miguel Pulido have been hovering over this city for over 20 yrs, and many feel that we need a refreshing change, new blood, new ideas. Having Walters as city Manager could be a conflict of interest. Walters and Pulido have too much ties here in the city and many feel that they are making partisan decisions and citing on behalf of friends. A nation wide search is a good idea and a good investment for a new city manager. Its a drop in the bucket compared to the salaries these top officials get. His severence package is a sweet deal. I dont feel bad for Paul Walters at all. He should retire completely. He is like a dark cloud in the city right now.
Walters should just leave, enough with all the special treatement!
Police Commissioner/ City Manager/ Police Chief!! C’mon let others have the opportunity at working for the city.