Reality as opposed to perception is most often a Grand Canyon of disparity.
This is true with politics in Santa Clara.
The new era members of the Santa Clara City Council have reviewed the issues, past personnel appointments, outrageous salary awards, costly and horrendous legal decisions. These previous actions endorsed by Mayor Lisa Gillmor and her appointees have clouded the starting position for a return to sanity.
These new era council members have performed their examination which has been exasperating.
How did they finally deal with City Attorney Brian Doyle, who had been entrenched for years, been given a green light to make decisions that defy gravity and produce results that cost taxpayers millions?
They terminated him.
For months this column has pointed out that Mayor Gillmor’s appointment of Deanna Santana as City Manager is an embarrassment to the City and has made Santa Clara the laughingstock of the county. Her replacement of long-term Santa Clara employees with former associates left an indelible scar on City staff. These “recruits” were handed huge salaries like it was popcorn at a church social. For them, their new appointments and salaries were like hitting the lottery.
The problem with paying people beyond what they should be paid is that, quickly, they begin to think they are worth it.
It is amazing how generous some folks can be with other people’s money.
For these reasons, along with a gunny sack of others, the City Council has taken steps to terminate Santana and her roughly $800,000 compensation package.
There are rumors that Santana intends to retaliate with legal action. That might be very good for Santa Clara. If the City Council obtains good legal counsel, they could probably tie her up in court for a few years and run up her legal bills like she did to Santa Clara by relying on former attorney Doyle’s advice.
You can be thankful for the new City Council. They are acting decisively with patience, maturity, and insight.
Despite this kaleidoscope of “who would believe it” municipal malpractice, Mayor Gillmor plans to campaign again for another four years as Santa Clara’s mayor.
You must wonder what her focus will be?
She certainly can’t run on her record.
