Citizens attending the Wildomar council meeting on April 11th were treated to a disgusting display of juvenile, petulant behavior by all city council members present. Advised that they shouldn’t do something they had their dear little hearts set on, they threw what amounted to a childish, uncontrolled temper tantrum…and not for the first time.
Sitting behind the dais in their oversized chairs and fussing with their new IPADs like children at play, they chose to exhibit their outsized egos and utter distain for one of Wildomar’s citizenry by berating and insulting a community activist who had the unmitigated audacity to call their attention to the fact that they were trying to do something illegal and potentially harmful to our environment.
A couple of the self-important council bullies proceeded to verbally attack a citizen and constituent; calling this person out and heaping their distain on her using raised voices, rude language and threatening gestures that were entirely inappropriate in a public meeting.
During of this ‘mad dog’ attack, the public was treated to hearing out-and-out lies and misrepresentations about a letter of concern presented to the council at their March 14th meeting. This letter made no threats, but carefully delineated concerns about the council’s intention to ram through a questionably legal zoning change and CEQA exemption that would likely have resulted in embroiling Wildomar in yet more costly litigation.
Read the letter of concern displayed at:
These concerns were serious enough to prompt the new city attorney, Tom Jex, to stop that vote, and subsequently lead staff to recommend tabling the action indefinitely. It is hard to say exactly what advice the city attorney dispensed to the council on this matter, as it was all said behind the scene in a closed session.
So much for having the city’s business conducted in open public meetings! There was no discussion of these carefully researched concerns during the public council session. No explanation or evaluation was offered by either the city attorney or members of the council.
Wildomar’s highly paid city management and staff members sat back during this outrageous attack and did nothing to intervene or mitigate the council’s outburst of offensive vitriol. The city manager and city attorney remained strangely silent, and some staff members actually appeared to enjoy and condone the despicable behavior of the council.
This should lead Wildomar's citizens to question just what we get for the big bucks these people are paid from the taxpayers’ pockets. The city attorney and planning director are supposed to understand the law, and if necessary explain it to the council to ensure they don’t stumble blindly into legal trouble at the expense of the taxpayers.
One of the more absurd remarks made by Mayor Pro Tem Walker, was to confess that he didn’t understand the concerns or the law. Obviously that was the one true part of his obnoxious outburst. This council does not understand the law; preferring to remain uninformed about it so that they can go about the city’s business in blissful ignorance…the outcomes and costs to the city for their actions be damned!
Tim Walker’s remark that “We have water – it’s not that big of a deal,” demonstrates his complete ignorance of the environment we live in.
Unfortunately this “attack dog” behavior on the part of Wildomar’s council is a scenario which has become all too common. It is no wonder that the public has grown reluctant to express their concerns about what is happening in their own city. Who wants to expose themselves to being publicly bullied by their elected officials?
Wildomar’s council seems locked into a vicious cycle of total disregard for the law and what is good, long term planning for the community. They repeatedly display distain for the very laws they are sworn to support and defend.
This is evidenced by the large number of lawsuits the city has had to defend and the long record of defeats it has suffered. In an attempt to justify the city’s incorporation and very existence, this council grasps at any development project which might provide them with more money to squander. We are presented with one poorly planned project after another with no concern for whether it is properly vetted or can pass muster under CEQA law.
So I‘m going to pick myself up, dust myself off, and continue to speak out against the atrocious attitudes demonstrated last night by the stupidity and arrogance of this council. They may believe that they can rule Wildomar through intimidation, but at some point the public will wake up and dare to speak up.
After all, Wildomar is our city.
