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Editor,
In the midst of the fiasco foisted on the San Mateo City Council by two of its members, we should not overlook the steady, professional performance of our city staff. They have fulfilled their responsibilities in a fair and honest manner — a difficult thing to do under the circumstances.
Our attorney has been especially good. When asked about the permissibility of making a motion to adjourn the meeting to a day and time certain, he correctly advised the council that it was permissible, but he also provided sound legal advice that this would not be in the best interest of the city.
Our city manager agreed that further delay in appointing a mayor would cause our city harm, but our manager also wisely recognized that continuing a deadlocked council meeting beyond midnight on Wednesday served no purpose. Our staff has shown their integrity by faithfully fulfilling the duties of their offices.
In contrast, what we have seen on the council is the use of a parliamentary maneuver to contravene the clear intent of the city’s charter for a minority on the council to acquire veto power over the appointment of our fifth council member — a power not authorized in our charter. When councilmembers employ methods to evade the regular order of business in an effort to achieve their political goals, they open Pandora’s box and risk making Machiavellian politics the norm. Pandora should close her box now.
Alan Mattlage
San Mateo
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(3) comments
I too was very impressed with the professionalism of the city manager, city attorney, and other staff as they dealt with the ridiculous antics of new councilmembers Lisa Diaz Nash (District 1) and Robert Newsom (District 3) on their very first day in office.
This is not about a minority on the council to acquire veto power over the appointment of our fifth council member, unless you are referring to deciding on Mayor first and allowing the Mayor to decide who the Councilmember is with the tie-breaking vote. As it is now, all 4 members have an equal vote to decide the 5th Councilmember, which will benefit San Mateo by having a balanced council, not a biased council.
Connie, thank you for the opportunity to clarify my observation. There is nothing in our charter that authorizes two members of the Council to ensure that their assent is necessary to fill a vacancy, and I use the term "minority" to refer to less than three members of the Council. The issue of a minority or a majority is not relevant to the procedure for filling a vacancy in the event that three members of the Council cannot agree on an appointment in 30 days. This is because it is no longer an issue decided by the Council. It is an issue decided by the mayor.
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