Monday, May 07, 2012

One Noteworthy 8 May 2012 Special City Council Agenda Item

ABSTRACT:  One Noteworthy 8 May 2012 Special City Council Agenda Items, namely Receive recommendation of the ad hoc Committee and consider an appointment to the vacant City Council seat, is presented.  In a Memo to Vice Mayor Talmage and Councilmember Beach from Mayor Burnett and Councilmember Hazdovac on the Subject of the Ad Hoc City Council Vacancy Interview Committee, dated May 7, 2012, major criteria used to evaluate the applicants were based on the adopted goals of the City Council, namely Community Character, Long-term Vitality, Organizational Effectiveness and Fiscal Stability.  The concluding paragraph states, as follows:  "Of all the candidates, two present themselves as having a particularly strong ability to complement the expertise of the existing City Council, to contribute to the four goals adopted by the City Council, and to likely meet the objective of being appointed unanimously by the City Council. We recommend the full City Council consider both Carrie Theis and Steven Hillyard to fill the vacant seat. After consideration of the above information and allowing time for public input and deliberation, we believe the full City Council can make a decision on May 8th."

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
Tuesday, May 8, 2012– 5:00 P.M.
Council Chambers
East side of Monte Verde Street between Ocean and Seventh Avenues


II. Roll Call

V. Orders of Council

B. Receive recommendation of the ad hoc Committee and consider an appointment to the vacant City Council seat

NOTE:  One 2012 mayoral candidate, two 2012 city council candidates and seven Carmelites applied for the vacant city council seat vacated by Jason Burnett including Rich Pepe (2012 mayoral candidate), Tom Leverone (2012 city council candidate and third highest vote getter) and Bob Profeta (2012 city council candidate and fourth highest vote getter) and Kristy Downing, Carolyn Hardy, Steve Hillyard (Planning Commissioner), Michael LePage (former Design Review Board Member), Harrison Shields, Carrie Theis and Linda Wilde. 

ADDENDUM:

3 comments:

VillageinForest said...

Mayor Burnett and Councilmember Hazdovac wrote in their Ad Hoc City Council Vacancy Interview Committee Memo, as follows:

“Of the three who ran for office in the recent municipal election, none received a substantial fraction of the vote. All candidates were therefore evaluated equally with the committee recognizing that none of them has been elected to office by the voters of Carmel-by-the-Sea.”

Worthy public servants and political leaders understand that governance is about we, the people. Mayor Jason Burnett’s and the City Council’s choice of this selection process placed the will of the mayor and Council Members Hazdovac, Talmage and Beach above the will of the people as communicated in the 2012 municipal election. Candidates Tom Leverone and Robert Profeta garned 361 votes and 356 votes, respectively; Carrie Theis and Steven Hillyard garned 0 votes and 0 votes, respectively. Moreover, the statement that “none received a substantial fraction of the vote” as justification for evaluating all ten applicants “equally” evinces a lack of respect for the political process and the voters who voted for candidates Tom Leverone and Robert Profeta. The process should have been about honoring the will of the people, not recommending applicants based on the “City Council’s needs” and the applicants “strong ability to complement the expertise of the existing City Council.”

Anonymous said...

What a slap in the face to CRA member Carolyn Hardy. What a huge insult for Jason Burnett to not pick her. Maybe CRA is slowly starting to learn that Jason is not on there side, something they should have started to realize when Jason voted to merge the Carmel fire department with the Monterey fire department.

Anonymous said...

It is also a slap in the face to candidate Tom Leverone. Burnett's and the council's attempt to minimize the number of votes that Tom Leverone is disingenuous because it was Burnett's tactic to run as a team with Talmage and Beach and guess what Carmel voters brought it with all 3 candidates getting over 1000 votes. So, if Hillyard had run he to probably would have gotten significantly less votes that Beach and Talmage because voters could vote for only a maximum of two candidates. Maybe we should all start to learn that Jason Burnett is only on one side and it is his side, whatever advances his personal ambitions and goals.