Many residents oppose Councilman Scott Peotter, but some wonder if a recall is the right thing to do.
I believe there are three compelling reasons why a recall is critical to our city;
First, Peotter has violated his oath to defend the Constitution and has compromised the rights of the residents to petition our government. When he added 3,700 unnecessary pages to the Museum House petition, he was trying to stop all of us from exercising our right to petition our government. What’s next? Residents must stand up for our rights.
Second. Peotter simply refuses to obey the law. Twice, he violated the city contribution limits. This is a serious offense and the penalty is removal from office. Twice he violated the state Political Reform Act and is currently under investigation by the FPPC. On more than seven occasions he used the city seal contrary to local law and continued to do so citing a perceived “loophole.” He violated the Brown Act by disclosing confidential information that could have cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Because the city attorney believes he is prohibited from prosecuting and the city council has not appointed a special prosecutor, he thinks he can simply get away with it. We cannot tolerate lawlessness by our public officials. We must hold them to a higher standard.
Third, there is the potential for Peotter to do lasting damage over the next two years. In the upcoming budget, he wants to eliminate funding for several projects. These include traffic improvements, public safety buildings, and libraries. He wants to sell the old city hall site eliminating a long-term revenue source and potentially opening up the option for high rise condo development on this site if the hotel is not successful. He wants to slash revenues by $3.5 million to create justification for more service cuts. He wants to take funds needed to reduce pension liability and speculate in the stock market. He wants to update the General Plan, so that it will reflect his high-rise vision of our city, and he wants to replace our outstanding city management with those loyal to him. Our city could be changed forever in the next two years.
Some worry about the cost of a special election, but this is small compared to the millions in lost revenues and costs if even some of Peotter’s ideas are implemented.
Visit recallscottpeotter.com for more information.
Lynn Swain
Committee to Recall Scott Peotter
Big Canyon
