Vice Mayor Dominic Caserta went out on a fragile limb at City Council in September to challenge Mayor Lisa Gillmor.
He made a passionate plea for a pragmatic and practical position to prevent the posibility of our public province being pushed into poverty.
Having sat on prior Councils, Caserta has a very good understanding of where our money comes from and where it goes (or where it should go).
Caserta’s outrage was justified.
He has spent the last year and a half, trying to support a Mayor who has an agenda known only to her three allies on the dias.
Finding himself in the minority with Council Members Pat Mahan and Pat Kolstad on many votes, such as the Stadium curfew extension, his frustration level reached boiling.
Why should Santa Clara turn up its nose at an $800,000 weeknight stadium event that would require a one hour one time extension?
This is money that could be used for our libraries, our senior services, park improvements, the new swim center and support of our youth soccer programs. Not to mention our structural deficits.
Now, the Council majority didn’t blink an eye when they approved a $3 million lawsuit payment later in the evening. That payment is now being reviewed and may be challenged.
Some folks thought Caserta was being a little irrational.
No, what was irrational was our Council turning down an $800,000 stadium event that would come to our general fund. You can’t be rational dealing with irrational behavior.
It’s not like these weeknight events are scheduled every week. We are talking about three or four times a year and two of those would not be on a school night.
There are rumblings around town that the Mayor, and her majority, want the 49er Management Company (MANCO) to fail so her Council can negotiate a new more lucrative contract with another company.
What a novel idea. Shut down performances at our stadium, then file another law suit against MANCO for non-performance, then try to break their contract and appoint another management company.
That makes about as much sense as the current moritoriun for new development on the El Camino.
But then, who said our City was being led by a rational Council?
Caserta had it right and his frustration with the irrational behavior of this Council majority was understandable.
Caserta has been well behaved until a few months ago when he didn’t vote with the Mayor on another issue. That was when Mayor Gillmor sent him a text during the Council meeting saying she was withdrawing her support for his County Supervisor race.
“My way or the highway” only works for the short term. With such irrational and illogical decisions of leadership, our appointed Mayor’s term in office could be a short one.
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