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A.G. manager Adams’ job on line again

November 14, 2014

AG Sign-3by DANIEL BLACKBURN

A special 6 p.m. meeting of the Arroyo Grande City Council Wednesday will feature the possible dismissal, discipline, or release of embattled City Manager Steve Adams, as well as the unveiling of the results of an independent investigation commissioned by the council.

Chuck Hookstra of Ventura’s Sentra Group will make a public presentation of findings of the probe into a July 3 City Hall incident involving Adams and a subordinate employee, Community Development Director Teresa McClish. The pair was found in a darkened office near midnight by police officers responding to an emergency call from McClish’s husband.

The incident fueled community dissension after Mayor Tony Ferrara was accused of attempting to fashion a cover-up of the incident and of being dismissive of city residents and police officers who expressed dissatisfaction with the official disposition of the affair.

That civil unhappiness led to a vote of no-confidence by the Arroyo Grande Police Officers’ Association in both Ferrara and Adams. Then, a swiftly-organized campaign evolved to support a write-in candidate, Jim Hill, to challenge Ferrara, who was planning on running unopposed after a decade and a half as a city leader.

Ferrara now trails in the vote count to Hill; final results will not be known until early next week. Ferrara is the newly-elected president of the League of California Cities, a position he will lose if Hill prevails.


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I may have missed it in the early days of Jim’s campaign does he have ideas of what he would like to do or what to work with.

I imagine he is now on a crash course to learn everything he can about AG’s govt.

I really hope all works very well for the new Mayor.


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Term limits

Attorney and Auditor contacts out to bid every 4-5 years,

so as to have a fresh set of eyes

Meet for coffee once a month or so to listen to the residents concerns

OUTSIDE the formal setting of a council meeting.

Audit of sanitation district


These are a couple that come to mind quickly.

There was a position statement from Jim on this site earlier in the campaign which will tell you more as well.


We need to keep in mind, that Jim will be ONE vote on the council.

Pressure must be brought to bear on the rest of the council to be independent.

Many of them are about to lose their fearless leader–they will need to learn to become independent thinkers, as they were elected to be.


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Except ONE was not elected. This Councilwoman has only occupied that appointed seat for a year and has done NOTHING to contribute to the Council or the City other than to agree with anything her puppet master (Ferrara) has told her to. Not to mention bolster and incite City Employee discord by perpetuating the Tea Party Lie, and blaming the Police Associations labor negotiating tactics having anything to do with the entire incident. She has put her opinion in writing, attaching herself to a clearly unbalanced, and volatile Facebook page and Website that insinuate the same outlandish BS that Adams, Ferrara and Carmel have been trying to get everyone to buy, blaming everyone but the CLEARLY GUILTY. She is entitled to her opinion, but she is not entitled to LIE and question others integrity in the shadows with like minded conspirators who avoid the truth for their own personal agenda.

Am I CLEARLY AUDIBLE Kristin Barneich ? PLEASE RESIGN !


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I second that!


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While Ferrara likes to help his buddy Tompkins get things done here in AG, it appears that Irons likes to help himself in Morro Bay.

How is Irons not called out for what is clearly a conflict of interest?


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Why waist time with public comment has not the public already commented by their VOTE-Write-in?


Shorten the meeting and get to the results faster and not drag it out to midnight so that we are all fresh as we watch HISTORY being made. By Wednesday the final vote will be in and the long and time consuming count of the write-ins will be shown by names not just a total count.


We there or be Square!


In other words come from far and wide since all of this affects the entire county! Yes it does because the assignments of the APCD and SLOCOG are VERYYYYY affected by who is mayor!!!!


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We can only hope that many of those who voted for Jim Hill will attend Wednesday’s meeting.

Tony should be able to see,

not only by the 3116 votes for Jim Hill,

but the faces in the audience,

just how desperate Arroyo Grande is for change.


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As exciting as the Arroyo Grande meeting will be on Wednesday evening, it is also important to show up to the Sanitation District meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the OCSD chambers. Bring a video recorder. Ask why they voted to sue the State.


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Of course, this Wednesday meeting is a sham….surely Ferrara and Adams have already discussed agreed to the terms, and date, of Adams’ “resignation.” In fact, Adams may have already found a new position elsewhere. The meeting is just for public show.


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So then, let’s all show, for the “show”.


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It looks like the results of the election were not enough of a slap in the face to the current City Council and City. For the Special Meeting on Wednesday regarding Adams and the “Second Investigation,” look at the order in which they set it up. They are starting with public comment, closed session, and then lastly a presentation from Chuck Hookstra from Sintra Group regarding the investigation. If I recall correctly, they had Attorney McMahon do his first investigation presentation after public comment as well. Why in the heck isn’t the order starting with the investigation presentation, public comment, and then closed session?


There has been a lot of activity lately. According to his recent interview on 920Kvec, if Jim Hill is successful with his write-in Mayor candidacy, he may start as early as December 9th. So on Election Day, after 18 months without a permanent fire chief, it gets announced that one has been hired and starts on December 8th. Then you have the south county sanitation district. The board which includes Ferrara, the day after the Election, decides to file a lawsuit against a 1.1 Million dollar fine having already spent an estimated 750k fighting it, instead of just paying the settlement offer of 300k. And then now we have what appears to be the conclusion of the second investigation, involving arguably one of the best all-time examples of how NOT to handle a potential city scandal from start to finish, all wrapped up before December 9th. Wow, talk about government in action.


Wednesday night’s council meeting should be very interesting…


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Sad Insider

We value your insight..


We are waiting for the truth to be revealed.

Tony will never APOLOGIZE for the rude and arrogant attitude which has permeated all City dealings.

Adams is either gonna say sayonara or they are gonna finally fire his ass on Wednesday.


Tony is toast and Joe is gone too.


But… This city will need to expose all so they can move forward.

And as far as a new city manager?? Who wants to walk into that sh#t pile ?


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Any action taken by Ferrara now

has to be considered in the same light

as the actions of Adams-who is also, finally it appears, on his way out.


Whatever Tony and Steve are doing basically amounts

to scrubbing the computers before they take their much awaited leave.

Sure do hope someone at the city has seen this coming

and doing do diligence…and a backup.


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And as someone pointed out at a party last night,

Tony’s buddy Nick Tompkins has his project coming before the planning commission on Tuesday.

Have to think Nick can’t be too happy with Tuesday’s election results. Talk about friends in high places, Nick just lost his!

He still has a couple of projects to get through AG,

how about that market in the village, Nick?


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Oh no. Nick is not alone. He still has Adam Hill.


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bahahahahahahahahahha Adam Hill……..what a JOKE!


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Do not be so sure the reinvestigation will go the way you want it to.

The city, after all is paying for this.


Notice it is not a report, just a presentation, no different than when the drought realistic lady Verdin came to chat.

There will be no public comment been if there is public outcry.


The POA and their families must attend. This is about their good name.


Where’s the staff report?

Asking someone from out of town to “just hang out” and wait until closed session is over means they already know what is going to be decided in closed.


Tell me Sad Insider,

Has Steve packed up his office yet?

How much has Big Tony been in closed doors with Stevie?

Has Hookstra met with the 2 of them?


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If nothing else, these officials have all been put on notice of what a small “fringe” group of people can do. This has been an amazing turnaround and empowering feat. Little victories like this help keep hope alive when facing uphill battles. It’s just a good feeling when the good guys win. Big Kudos to CCN for keeping it real.


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Interesting timing … perhaps one of Ferrara’s final acts as mayor will be to step in front of the bus for Adams.


Couldn’t the report have waited until the new mayor/council was seated next month?


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My guess is Ferrara wanted to have the Adams-gone deal finished so it would look better to the League…or the news news reporters.


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Speaking of the League…who wouldn’t have wanted to be a fly on the wall at THAT meeting yesterday?

Aaaaawwwwkkkkwwwwaaaarrrrddddd!


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CCN…….Have you contacted The League for a response?


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Interesting development.


It makes me wonder if Ferrara is trying to coverup the coverup…cleaning house, so to speak, before he has to deal with the League of CA cities. While there are a lot of Ferrara’s actions he may have to discuss, the most obvious one is why Ferrara agreed with a promise of a resignation from his city manager when it is clear Adams’ contract as City Manager should have been terminated soon after the July 3rd “incident.” That will, as Mr. Ricardo used to say, require a lot of ‘splainin.


Or maybe he has had word that the grand jury report regarding his actions is going to be scathing, bringing up issues that may be more serious and beyond manipulation by Ferrara and the downward spiral of his power base.


Or maybe Ferrara just wanted to throw Adams under the bus first before Adams could do the same to him.


Whatever, it is clear that, before you can say “indictment,” Ferrara’s choke-hold on the city, its workers, and its residents is melting before our very eyes.


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I have a feeling that Ferrara is going to end up in very big legal trouble over something the public is not yet aware of. That guy’s closet has to be a real ossuary.


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Oh yeah

Getting excited to hear him spew his sh#t one more time,

He always steps in it when he lectures us so.


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I agree. A lot of his trouble post-coverup initiation could have been avoided if he had just taken a Midol before he went into a city council meeting.


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I and many other share those same feelings. Let the digging begin.


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Sometimes I think we would be better off with a dictatorship than with all these elected officials running amuck. Me as dictator of course…


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Jim Hill favors term limits. This would have not allowed Tony’s death grip on the City to become so strong.


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Both Adams and McClish need to be terminated.


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One mor……


City Attorney Tim Carmel


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QUOTING SAMLOUIS: “Both Adams and McClish need to be terminated.”


—————-


Yeah, well there is THAT.


Perhaps Ferrara didn’t want to do it at the same time because it would reinforce the idea that he is trying to cover-up the cover-up.


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Does McClish have a conduct unbecoming the Community Development Director clause in her contract?

Surely she can be held to the expectation of not embarrassing the City…or something!

When all is said and done, Steve’s golden girl is just as complicit as he,

it takes two to tango.


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The funniest part is that her husband is running around MB telling everyone, “Oh nothing happened”, it was just all a big mistake” ……..Poor guy is just in a big ass state of denial.


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Yeah, and the check is in the mail, this is only a cold sore, and I promise…..


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