Editor, Westside Express
One thing we can consistently count on with the current city council, or “gang of four,” is the new lows being reached at every council meeting.
Although Mayor Paul Llanez made the disparaging comments, the others sat in silent consent as he spoke untruths and made downgrading comments about a local business owner during his closing statement at the March 20 city council meeting.
Mayor Llanez has done this before during council meetings, making allegations that were proven false, either in his closing remarks or during council meetings, about those who have dared to question the council’s actions and motivations.
I am acquainted with the business owner whom Llanez made the false allegations about and know these statements are untrue.
I was taken aback (but not surprised) that he used the time allotted to him to give the twice-monthly mayor’s report at the end of each council meeting to belittle and spread rumors about a local business owner instead of providing a state of the city update, which one would expect to be much more appropriate and professional.
After witnessing Mayor Llanez’s deluge of disparaging comments directed toward this local business owner, who has for almost a year tried to get an answer to a question he has been seeking from the city council and staff with no results, it is no wonder that the majority of citizens voting chose to vote “no” on Measure H.
Not only was this seen as a “no confidence” vote, but it was also seen as a preventative measure to try to stop this type of behavior from continuing in our local city government.
