PETITION TO TERMINATE THE CURRENT CITY ADMINISTRATOR
To: Mayor Burnett and City Council Members of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea:
The undersigned residents, property owners and business people of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, after giving careful consideration to the policies and practices currently being created and implemented by the City Administrator, Mr. Jason Stilwell, urge that the City Council request and accept Mr. Stilwell's resignation. With your receipt of this petition and the required subsequent hearing, the proposed action should be taken in the best interest of the City and its residents at the September Council meeting.
The concerns which have led the undersigned to this action are because we believe the current policies and practices have not only imposed a significant financial burden on the community, but have caused our community to suffer a loss of Carmel's history and an international reputation which has taken decades to establish.
THEREFORE: The undersigned request that the above referenced action be taken as soon as permitted under the Brown Act but no later than the September Council meeting:
PETITION TO TERMINATE THE CURRENT CITY ADMINISTRATOR
We identify below but a few actions which we believe have been contrary to both the long-term financial stability and international reputation of this community:
1. The creation of policies reflecting a lack of transparency regarding disclosure of public information as demonstrated by:
a. The refusal to produce documents in a timely fashion and in the format prescribed by law. (Resulting in the community being identified as having the "most recalcitrant government officials in the State").
b. The hiring of lawyers outside the community, at great taxpayer expense, to handle requests for public information that have been handled by City staff for decades.
2. The terminations or resignations of the newly hired City Clerk and about a dozen City employees with hundreds of years of institutional and historical knowledge, most of whom have been replaced by out-of-town individuals who have no vested interest in the community, at suspiciously high salaries and benefits, two of whom commute weekly from their homes in Redondo Beach and Ventura.
3. The deaccessioning of City art valued at more than a quarter million dollars and sold for $9,548.
4. Actions that have resulted in a number of lawsuits and unasserted pending causes of action, which expose the community to significant financial loss and litigation expense.
5.The spending of approximately $274,000 on computer experts (including a forensic expert) to support claims of employee misconduct without any identified wrongdoing, despite assurances from the Mayor that such reports would be forthcoming no later than January 2014.
6. Violation of Municipal Code 3.12.530 re splitting of contracts to avoid the necessity of complying with the requirement that contract., in excess of $25,000 dollars, receive City Council approval, e.g. the Mark Alcock contracts.
7. Failure to set priorities for the repair and reopening of the historic Forest Theater and the disposition of Flanders.
8. The City budget has paid out funds to 4 out-of-town law firms when we have a City Attorney. This does not adhere to the City's local hiring policy. The new fiscal year budget of $24,000,000 appears top-heavy as it includes an Executive Assistant for the Mayor and City Administrator (a first), and since April 2012, an increase of 10 FTE's and projected for the new Fish /Cal year of about $500,000 for IT upgrades.
9. The projected costs of $900,000 to build a new two stall restroom at the south end of Carmel Beach at Santa Lucia.
July 22, 2014
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