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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/17/15 Supplemental testimony from H. Longacre to Items-2 & 3 of the 6:30-PM, November 17, 2015, Mayor-called Special Closed Session meeting. Page 1 of 3 City Clerk and City Manager's office: This is Supplemental testimony submitted for Items 2 & 3 of the 6:30-PM, November 17, 2015, 'ceremonial-Mayor Petty'- called SPECIAL closed session meeting. Please include with any agenda materials packets possible and the Granicus Internet agenda postings for the meeting. Thank You. Sunday, November 15, 2015 (Corrected to indicate Items 2 & 3) To: Hermosa Beach City Council (Carolyn Petty, Hany Fangary, Peter Tucker, Michael DiVirgilio), City Clerk Elaine Doerfling, City Manager Tom Bakaly, and Contracted City Attorney Michael Jenkins. From: Howard Longacre, a Hermosa Beach resident. Regarding: A bald-face sleazy closed session being called by ceremonial Mayor Petty that represents no obvious emergency of health and safety to the community but in fact appears to be 100%, a political 11th-hour attempt at something prior to the new duly elected council, as now preferred by the voters, being seated in 7 days, and with two councilmembers participating who clearly the electorate no longer support, notwithstanding Michael DiVirgilio not having run. Ceremonial Mayor, Councilmembers, and others: Please consider carefully the following important matter(s). Additionally, everything contained herein are my views and opinions no matter how they may be stated. Items 2 and 3 of the subject closed session agenda pertain to ongoing litigation and have appeared multiple times on recent closed session agendas. In fact they appeared just 6 days ago on the November 11 closed session agenda, which itself was an adjourned-regular meeting of the November 10, 2015 meeting, and which itself was supposedly the last action-taking meeting of the sitting council whose council makeup has essentially ended. There is apparently nothing involved in the health and safety of the community with respect to these two items 2 & 3. In fact both items seem to represent more of a political nature to this outgoing council, and representing an attempt by the present de facto former council majority, two of its members just up-for-re-election and, all things being considered, who were both dumped from the council due to their no-longer acceptable performance. These two councilmembers, 3-termer Peter Tucker and 2-termer Michael DiVirgilio, should not participate in this meeting as such. The votes are in. They are both out. There is no likely chance of the vote changing, or the election being recommenced anew. Supplemental testimony from H. Longacre to Items-2 & 3 of the 6:30-PM, November 17, 2015, Mayor-called Special Closed Session meeting. Page 2 of 3 This meeting is a transparently-bogus closed-session meeting for the current sitting council to give direction at the 11th hour and/or vote on something that could clearly wait seven days for direction and/or vote to be taken by the people's new duly-elected representatives. The calling of this meeting by ceremonial Mayor Petty is a bald-face example of sleazy Hermosa Beach government in action; Government operating far too long under the misguidance of No-Bid-Contract-City-Attorney-For-Life Michael Jenkins, who I view as the single most-contributing factor in the breaking of the oil contract with Macpherson Oil by a prior city council, some two decades ago, with that contract-breaking being due to his cavalier and very poorly-given or even respected counsel. Yet, incredibly, there Jenkins sits, still making money off Hermosa's resident and business taxpayers while he himself is too good to live in Hermosa Beach, but has chosen to reside in Manhattan Beach, and even locate his offices in Manhattan Beach, a city itself evidently not interested in utilizing his counsel for their city. One has to give Mr. Jenkins credit as he's obviously an absolute master at feeding Kool-Aid to councilmembers and convincing them that they are the greatest at making the big decisions and enjoying his secret annual dinners that he has for them or buys for them. Nonetheless here Jenkins still sits (when not nodding off), now quite-evidently, presiding over a sleazy 11th-hour, likely politically-motivated, closed session. Anything goes with big-shot Hermosa politicians following Jenkins counsel. Ms. Petty obviously believes that she, along with Tucker, DiVirgilio, and Councilman Hany Fangary can give legal direction or take a secret vote far better than the new council would be able to in a mere seven days. Who is fooling whom? Whether technically legal, or not, this meeting is the epitome of Hermosa Beach sleazy government in action. All on council should recognize that this meeting thus is nothing less than again a bald- faced attempt at an un-ethical, last-second, politically-motivated action by a council no longer supported by a majority of the voters as clearly demonstrated by the election held on November 3. Following on the next page is an image of this sleazy Special meeting's agenda, as displayed on the city's website at the time of this writing. To view the latest version of this agenda, click on or utilize the following direct link to the agenda at the city's Granicus domain website. http://hermosabeach.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=6&event_id=1602 All councilmembers should absolutely abstain from this de facto politically-motivated, and mistakenly-called by ceremonial mayor Petty, secret meeting, whether they in part orchestrated this meeting or not. Clearly some or all of you can't tell right from wrong Supplemental testimony from H. Longacre to Items-2 & 3 of the 6:30-PM, November 17, 2015, Mayor-called Special Closed Session meeting. Page 3 of 3 and are perhaps ethically challenged. Further any action you take in secret at this meeting could perhaps be challenged. Of course that would be just more work for Mr. Jenkins, would it not? Following here, is a view of the agenda at the moment of this writing.