On Tuesday, the Brentwood City Council voted 4-0 to fill its vacant City Council seat through an application process.
The move came after Councilman Steve Barr announced he was resigning from the Council because he was moving out of the area. Whoever is chosen, will complete Barr’s term which ends in December of 2018.
The council had two options where they could hold a special election at a cost between $64,682 and $96,142 or go through an appointment/application process
Of the last three vacancies, the council appointed Annette Beckstrand in January 2001 after Councilmember Steve Young resigned. In 2006, Mayor Bob Taylor resigned as a councilmember and was sworn in as Mayor. The council appointed Erick Stonebarger who was the next highest vote getter. Meanwhile in 2005, Council Member Pete Petrovick resigned and the council opted for a special election where Bob Brockman was elected.
On Tuesday, several people spoke in favor of the council appointing the third-highest vote getter in John Fink from the most recent election including Ron Reagan who asked the council to consider appointing the next highest vote getter in the most recent election.
“John Fink is that person and that reason I am interested in his appointment is because he has served this community with integrity and honor since I have been in this town,” said Regan. “My wife and I have been here for 18-years and we have watched this council and other councils do some absolutely magnificent things in this community to better this community for infrastructure. John Fink has been an integral part of that process with his service on the planning commission and his volunteer service in the community.”
Regan added he understands this process and knows what it’s about as he has worked hard in it.
“He has done what he can and has paid his dues. I think he deserves it and I think he would be a great representative for this council,” said Regan.
Meanwhile, a few speaks said the council needed a transparent process. Michael Dorn stated that the council should not look backwards and select Fink at this time and urged against an appointment tonight.
“He was not selected during that election for whatever reason and going forward in the spirit of transparency and openness, I looked at attachment C and it seems to be a very fair process,” explained Dorn. “Anybody who previously wanted to be selected, could very easily come to this process and be considered again. It would also give the opportunity for new voices to be able to add to the mix and be considered for this crucial position. I urge you to keep the process open and go with the councilmember application process.
Councilwoman Karen Rarey said she agreed with a lot of the speakers and they needed to get someone who could hit the ground running who was familiar with what was going on with the city.
“As a planning commissioner, John (Fink) knows the ins and outs of what is going on,” explained Rarey. “The community first option that Paul Seger mentioned, being part of that election, we were in front of the community; we were asked lots of questions. It was multiple nights every single week. So that is my motion is to take the next vote getter from the last election.”
Vice Mayor Joel Bryant wanted to make a decision that considered the will of the people and be aware of what they want.
“This is not an easy decision to make. First of all, there is a lot of heat up here in a lot of situations. I know john, I have known him for a long time. I met him as a volunteer for the police department, he has worn a lot of different hats here. He knows the ins and outs,” said Bryant. “This has been one of the baby Solomon moments since I heard that Steve (Barr) was going to be resigning because I am not for spending $100,000 for a six-month position, that doesn’t seem to be fiscally responsible for the taxpayer money.”
Bryant said that the entire electoral process there is a lot of vetting and voices that are heard.
“This council is going to be making a lot of important decisions in a short amount of time and we certainly want someone who is as aware of those circumstances as possible. There is also the opportunity for the people to have voiced their opinions and vetted the individuals,” said Bryant. “I don’t think we are skipping the vetting and voicing part, should we appoint the next highest vote getter. Having said that, since that election, there has been some pretty extreme changes in some of the circumstance and the condition of the city in a lot of different areas that those particular individuals were not asked about and didn’t have an opportunity to reply on.”
Bryant stated he was still not certain on what the best process was for the council, but was learning towards the third highest vote getter because of the past, the city had done that.
Mayor Bob Taylor then confirmed that Bryant was not for spending money and they then had a consensuses they would not move forward with a special election.
Bryant argued it was not his choice, but if the council couldn’t come to a decision on a candidate in the future, they would have to go to an election—as a default.
Councilwoman Claudette Staton stated she had no objections to John Fink—the next highest vote getter—but said the best way to serve the community was an application process because anybody could apply.
“I believe since there is an available seat and an application process, it would allow the city to know all the qualified candidates so we could know all the candidates and make the best choice,” explained Staton. “So I think the right to apply and having an open process and being transparent is very important in politics.”
Mayor Taylor stated things change and things are not what they used to be or what we thought they might be.
“We have some key decisions that need to be made and I am not quite sure how we are going to make them because as things come to the top, this is a key position on the council because we are each one vote and on this, you have to learn how to count to three,” said Taylor. “I am for the transparency and if there is someone out there that at least have a chance. So I am for open transparency in going for an appointment process.”
Bryant again said he was torn because the third highest vote getter makes a lot of sense to him but said he distrusts government.
“I have an intransient distrust of government which is one of the reasons why I ran in the first place,” said Bryant. “To my very core belief of a government of the people, for the people, by the people and in order to do that, it requires the input of the people. I am very torn; I have spent a good bit of time, two years, working with John.”
Rarey explained how both she and Staton were new which is why she was in favor of the third highest vote getter in Fink because there was a learning curve with a lot of items coming up.
“John is very familiar with what is going on and the growth of the city which is why I thought he would make the best choice for appointment,” explained Rarey. “We have a lot going on, two new councilmembers up here, being up a third councilperson who has no background in the city could be detrimental to this council.”
Taylor argued you could still appoint someone who knows what’s going on with the city.
Bryant asked about the process and timeline of an application process:
- Applications would be available by Monday, September 18
- Applications due by October 6
- The City would then review eligibility
- Special meeting of Brentwood City Council on Oct. 17
- Finalize resolution on Oct. 24 (appointment)
Staton said it didn’t seem like a long process and
“I can’t stress enough about transparency and allow the community to see who everybody is and who wants to apply,” said Staton.
Bryant stated that he couldn’t get away from needing to open it up to the community and it was not about the person, but rather the process.
Bryant made the motion to move towards a selection process which passed in a 4-0 vote.
3 comments
Brentwood residents should not be fooled by this ploy. This is not about transparency and openness, it’s about the Mayor and Staton trying to find their third vote to push through development and push the Deer Ridge and Shadow Lakes project.
If someone wanted to sit on the council, they would have ran for election. So now Brentwood will be stuck with someone for a year to ram through whatever city staff wants versus the best interest of the public or the most qualified candidate.
Now Brentwood gets stuck with a phony application process in the appearance of transparency. What a bunch of bull.
Brentwood continuing to show why they are the laughing stock of city councils in East Contra Costa County. This was a slam dunk decision given Finks background.
If Brentwood was as transparent as they claim, they would work to force Summerset to provide fairness to all candidates during an election, not just Bob Taylor and candidates he is force feeding them. Transparency my butt, its all fake and already have a candidate in mind and its not John Fink.
Sorry for Fink but he will never get the three votes because Taylor and Staton wont support him. Joel will do what he does best which is fold under pressure so at best Fink receives a 2-2 vote. They will likely select another candidate to break the tie and move on so they dont spend money on an election.
You read it here first!
Welcome to Bob Taylorville, or should I say Boss Hogs la-la-land. Enough is enough. Wake the F up Brentwood! You have a bunch of cartoon characters running your city.
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