EDITOR: I read with great interest the news story in Tuesday
’s edition of the Morgan Hill Times concerning the allegations
made about city staff and the conduct review of a council member
and her attorney. As a resident of Morgan Hill, and as a local
government official appointed by elected officials, I am very
concerned about this matter.
EDITOR:
I read with great interest the news story in Tuesday’s edition of the Morgan Hill Times concerning the allegations made about city staff and the conduct review of a council member and her attorney. As a resident of Morgan Hill, and as a local government official appointed by elected officials, I am very concerned about this matter.
Let me be clear, all appointed and elected officials should and must be held accountable for their conduct. The issue here is how they should be held accountable and investigated if facts warrant such an investigation. In the case at hand, a wealthy and influential member of our community apparently took matters into his own hands and decided to “conduct an investigation.” This same individual has represented others in very high profile disputes with the city staff and the City Council.
What should have occurred is that the allegations should have been brought forward to the City Council as the Council appoints both the city manager and city attorney. If the individual did not believe they could bring the matter to the Council, then the proper course of action would have been to proceed to the District Attorney, the state Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney or the Civil Grand Jury. These are a few of the forums in which this could have been raised.
The mayor and City Council must stand firm and not condone or excuse this type of conduct by a councilmember and her attorney. What this looks like is that someone in our community is attempting to intimidate or improperly influence the decision-making and recommendations of the city manager and the city attorney. We cannot allow this to occur in our community. Good government requires accountability through the use of existing mechanisms of review, not a vigilante approach to taking matters into your own hands, even if they are the hands of a wealthy member of our community.
Peter Kutras Jr., Morgan Hill
Editor’s note: Kutras is chief executive for Santa Clara County, appointed by the county Board of Supervisors.
