Tom O'Malley
The Atascadero City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to appoint Tom O’Malley as the city’s next mayor.
In November, voters approved the election of future mayors.
Councilmember Bob Kelley was selected as Mayor Pro Tem.
I wonder what the deal was with the Fonzi (Al & Roberta)-Sturtevant (Brian & Karen) team? They obviously didn’t want Kelly to have any positions. Clay nominated Kelly for mayor protem and then Sturtevant (who has NO experience with city government) nominates Clay. HMMM. Then Fonzi votes yes for Kelly “for the unity of the city.” What the hell does that mean? She must be running for the mayor position and is trying to position herself for 2012. I think Kelly has done a good job as councilman bringing positive changes to the city while at the same time taking a low profile.
I found it interesting that Clay didn’t offer much, if any support, for Fonzi nor did O’Malley actually.
Should be interesting to see what the next trick is up their sleeve.
I didn’t catch this on channel 20 and this is the first that anyone has mentioned how the votes went. So Clay, Kelly and Brian voted for O’Malley. Who did O’Malley vote for?
When you say that Clay and O’Malley didn’t offer much support for Fonzi, I take it that you’re saying they didn’t second her nomination of Kelly?
What I would really be interested in knowing is how they suddenly decided to change the rules and go back to electing the mayor among themselves and WHY?
Is it me, or does this photo of Tom look like a mug shot?
It’s just you, it doesn’t look like a mug shot to me at all but I did notice that the photo is probably recent and that he appears to have lost weight and aged a bit, just like the rest of us. Except in some cases, like mine, we have gained weight!
Bulwark – The article states a fact. No opinion. It’s all the people who responded who added their spin/bias. It is true that a policy ( I think unwrittern) of allowing every council person to be mayor was changed. I believe Fonzi was picked out of turn to be mayor it should have been O’Malley and then Fonzi or Kelly.
Tom O’Malley wants to be elected mayor in 2012. If he was selected mayor next year it would look like a three year term while the people of Atascadero justed decided on a two year term for mayor. He does not want to be perceived as going pig.
Bob Kelley’s comment during a City Council meeting earlier this year disqualifies him to be mayor, forever. When the Council was discussing climate change his contribution was, “the sky is blue when I get up in the morning.” Brilliant.
The other choice in 2012 is Jerry Clay. In a City Council session his comment when the council was discussing an anti-whaling initiative was, “what’s next, fish?” More brilliance.
So we’re going to finally see some legal action on the Gearhart affair in the next month or so?
There are a few on this site that keep repeating that, but simply repeating it doesn’t make it so.
I hope that is the case but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Say all you want about reasons for any indictments to happen, it’s white collar crime that apparently has involved powerful and well connected local folks and that simply gets treated differently by the law. Period.
As for those brave but anonymous vigilanties on this site that have already tried and convicted O’Malley of being involved with Gearhart’s illegal activities, don’t you think he would think twice about accepting an appointment as mayor if he thought he was about to be named as an accomplice or accessory by the DA or the FBI? Sort of like Bruce White resigning suddenly after this site outed his association with Gearhart.
I appreciate Karen’s work on this site and agree that with CCN’s presence we are all better informed
But that doesn’t keep me from thinking that so many of her articles are written in such a manner as to bait those who lurk here. Myself included, I guess.
Yeah, he would. You clearly don’t know O’Malley well.
I don’t think that they thought this decision through very well. The FBI will be starting to put people on the black and white buses shortly after the New Year. They have to start taking action by first week of February, at least that is my understanding. Now between O’Malley and Kelley, which one do we all think is going to be visiting the grand jury? Perhaps they believe that Wade and Warren will be held responsible for everything?
What the heck is going on with these council members? The process of the council electing one of their own as mayor was thrown out the window years ago. We have been rotating every since. There used to be real “hissy fits” between some of them, as I remember one council member that felt she should serve as mayor despite having been newly elected to the council and forgetting the fact that Luna had served for many many years and had never been selected by three of the stinkers to fill the position. It was down right STUPID and irritating.
It was supposed to be Bob Kelly’s turn to serve as the mayor so how come O’Malley went and got himself elected to fill the spot? Who is changing the rules and why? O’Malley has already got to be our mayor (I think he has served in that capacity twice in the past) and he should have waited another year for his turn in my opinion. Give Bob Kelly the gavel!! I think he’s funny and O’Malley talks too much.
Cindy, who was the hissy-fit throwing council member? I don’t recall…
I didn’t mention her name because she has since passed away.
Understood. Thanks for responding.
Gee … I wonder how successfull OMalley is going to be now that Kelly Gearhart has left town? Your going to have to reach into someone elses wallet right Tom?
Let’s see how long he lasts in this position. I’m thinking Mr. O’ will have to go. I bet, under different circumstances, Kelly Gearhart would have voted for him too!
Mayor huh? In Atascadero, that qualifies him to be the assistant to the city’s “Citizen of the Year”, right? Or would that be assistant to the assistant of the “Citizen of the Year”? I’m not sure if City Manager Wade McKinney has made his final decision on that yet.
Reporter Karen Velie, (805) 234-1703
Reporter Ben Di Gugliemo
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