Snapshot Gilroy City Council 2009: Councilman Dion Bracco makes
a motion to do nothing and, absent any meaningful discussion on a
key civic financial issue, it passes. No, this isn’t a Seinfeld
episode, it’s our local government in action and something is
terribly wrong with this picture.
Snapshot Gilroy City Council 2009: Councilman Dion Bracco makes a motion to do nothing and, absent any meaningful discussion on a key civic financial issue, it passes. No, this isn’t a Seinfeld episode, it’s our local government in action and something is terribly wrong with this picture.
Several motions related to a possible repeal of binding arbitration for the fire and police unions were brought up Monday and died for lack of a second. Councilman Perry Woodward, for example, made a motion to discuss placing a measure on the ballot that would repeal binding arbitration just for firefighters. No second, no discussion, just the stone cold silence that has become emblematic of this body. The Council is in complete disarray. It is a body steeped in bitter personal conflict and, unfortunately, the prevailing attitude seems to be more about grinding personal axes than governing for the good of Gilroy.
Why else wouldn’t a second be made on rescinding binding arbitration for the fire union just for the purposes of public discussion?
Is the entire Council so fearful of the police and fire unions that even to participate in a debate on such an important topic is a verboten exercise? If so, the Council should just resign and cede the governance of Gilroy over to the unions.
It’s hard to express the disappointment in leadership this Council has come to exemplify.
Councilmembers Bob Dillon and Craig Gartman hardly uttered a word, as if the public didn’t deserve to hear their viewpoints.
Mayor Al Pinheiro, meanwhile, doesn’t favor binding arbitration for police or firefighters, so why wouldn’t he second Councilman Woodward’s motion so that a discussion on possibly doing away with half the binding arbitration problem could ensue? On the other hand, Woodward
didn’t support a motion by Councilman Peter Arellano to discuss repealing binding for both police and fire.
That’s how it goes with Gilroy’s governing body these days – a parade of head-scratching snapshots.
It’s ludicrous. Clearly it’s personal, and quite possibly it won’t change until the next election. Meanwhile, Gilroy’s in a mess, and what the Council can agree on – with a 4-3 vote of course – is to do nothing on issues like binding arbitration which gives a third-party, typically an out-of-town attorney, ultimate control over the bargaining process between the city and the two union groups which eat up more than 75 percent of the budget. Again, it’s ludicrous.
But by far the worst part is that the Council is shutting out the public by not debating the issues in a public forum. That’s what they were elected to do. On the issue of health benefits for City Council members, nary a word. On binding arbitration, crickets in the background.
Really, it’s unAmerican.
