{"id":27247,"date":"2024-12-21T16:25:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T23:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/?p=27247"},"modified":"2024-12-23T09:05:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T16:05:27","slug":"east-palo-alto-city-council-reorganization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/east-palo-alto-city-council-reorganization\/","title":{"rendered":"East Palo Alto City Council reorganization ceremony marred by procedural irregularities"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"East
East Palo Alto City Council shakes up, two new council members were sworn in Tuesday, but procedural irregularities were present at the ceremony. (City of East Palo Alto via Bay City News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Listen to this note:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two new council members were sworn into office at East Palo Alto City Hall on Tuesday, but procedural irregularities were evident at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

The reorganization of City Council following the November general election was delayed with outgoing councillors voting on issues beyond their term end date and moving unrelated items off the consent calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concern I had with the inauguration was that they did a full agenda with the expired council,\u201d newly elected Councilman Mark Dinan said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cThey were sworn in on Dec. 8, 2020, and their terms expired in four years by law. They shouldn\u2019t have voted on anything substantial yesterday. It should have been purely ministerial, which is passing the torch.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the November election, Carlos Romero, Dinan and Webster Lincoln prevailed over their opponents in a crowded race for City Council with three vacant seats. Romero regained his seat, while former Mayor Antonio Lopez and Councilwoman Lisa Gauthier left office.<\/p>\n

It is unclear whether outgoing councillors can continue to vote on resolutions despite more than four years having passed since they took office.<\/p>\n

East Palo Alto\u2019s municipal code mirrors state law, which states that the terms of elected city officials \u201cshall be in accordance with state law for a period of four years beginning on the Tuesday following their election and until their successors are elected and qualified.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Newly elected City Councilman Mark Dinan is sworn in at East Palo Alto City Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in East Palo Alto, Calif. (City of East Palo Alto via Bay City News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

City Manager Melvin Gaines wrote in a statement that until the old council certifies the election results and the new council members are sworn in, the old council \u201ccontinues to have the right, under state law, to meet and transact business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among those matters, the former council decided to adopt a final plan for the future Ravenswood Business District, or RBD.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey voted on some very, very big issues and that included the RBD that was part of the consent package,\u201d Dinan said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t discuss it, but it was voted on and approved. This is a billion-dollar development plan for East Palo Alto. It\u2019s a very big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dinan believes his and Lincoln's oaths were delayed until the end of the meeting because the previous council did not want either of them to influence the approval of the RBD's final plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t want to do the oath at first for us, because then Webster and I would have voted on the RBD,\u201d Dinan said. \u201cWhen you do that, you\u2019re doing it with two council members whose terms have already expired.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Gaines said the former council voted on the RBD plan Tuesday because it was originally supposed to be addressed at an earlier meeting that ended up being canceled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe agenda items from the 12\/17\/24 meeting that the outgoing councilmembers voted on were on the consent calendar,\u201d Gaines wrote in her statement. \u201cMany of these items were holdovers from a previous meeting that had been cancelled due to unexpected absences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lincoln and Dinan sat patiently in the audience, anxiously waiting to be sworn in and recognized for their victory.<\/p>\n

However, hours passed as council members heard public comments on unrelated matters and issued a proclamation to the city's Little League team for winning its district's Fall Baseball championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would question a city reorganization meeting where they spent more time honoring a worthy Little League team than actually reorganizing,\u201d Dinan said. \u201cIt\u2019s great what they\u2019ve accomplished, but yesterday was not the time or place to do it, any more than it would be the place to make a proclamation before a wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Newly elected City Councilman Webster Lincoln is sworn in at East Palo Alto City Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024 in East Palo Alto, Calif. (City of East Palo Alto via Bay City News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The meeting was unusual compared to previous East Palo Alto City Council reorganization ceremonies. In the past, swearing-in rituals after elections have always focused solely on recognizing outgoing members, ushering in new candidates and naming a new mayor and vice mayor.<\/p>\n

Dinan and Lincoln were finally sworn in after Lopez and Gauthier were honored. They cast their first official votes as new councilors in the election for mayor and vice mayor.<\/p>\n

The new council unanimously promoted Councilwoman Martha Barrag\u00e1n as mayor. Barrag\u00e1n has served two years on the council.<\/p>\n

They were split on who should be vice mayor. Romero was in favor of appointing Councilman Ruben Abrica. However, the two newly sworn-in councilmen and Barragan chose Dinan to take on the role in a 3-2 vote.<\/p>\n

During the vote for vice mayor, Romero said he thought seniority should come first in the decision. Abrica is a three-time mayor and was one of East Palo Alto's first council members when the area was incorporated in 1983.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it should be someone with a little more experience than Mr. Dinan,\u201d Romero said. \u201cI will have to vote \u2018no.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Barrag\u00e1n voted in favor of Dinan being deputy mayor, he reiterated that Dinan and Lincoln should initially give up their position to councilors with more experience behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we will also rely on the most experienced members of our staff, our board, and also taking into account what the voters want from us,\u201d Barrag\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n

Even though Dinan's time at City Hall started on a sour note, he is excited to get to work as the new deputy mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply honored to join the City Council and doubly honored to be selected to serve as Deputy Mayor under my friend, Mayor Martha Barrag\u00e1n,\u201d Dinan said. \u201cI look forward to working with everyone at City Hall to address community concerns \u2013 housing, parking, economic development, parks and all the issues raised in the campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ravneel Chaudhary, who ran unsuccessfully for a council seat, closed the meeting by calling on members to put their potential differences behind them in order to get things done and move East Palo Alto forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recognize that members of this council do not always align politically and that each of you brings different visions for the future of East Palo Alto, and that is perfectly fine,\u201d Chaudhary said during public comment after the reorganization ceremony had been completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am hopeful that this new council will build on the accomplishments of its predecessors, putting aside personal egos to collaborate and address the critical issues facing our city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With information from\u00a0Bay City News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You may be interested in:<\/strong> \u201cIt has been an honor to be your mayor\u201d: Joaquin Jimenez, at Half Moon Bay transition ceremony<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Escucha esta nota:   Dos nuevos concejales juraron el martes su cargo en el Ayuntamiento de East Palo Alto, pero las irregularidades de procedimiento se hicieron presentes en la ceremonia. La reorganizaci\u00f3n del Ayuntamiento despu\u00e9s de las elecciones generales de noviembre se retras\u00f3 con los concejales salientes votando sobre temas m\u00e1s all\u00e1 de la fecha […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-27247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cover","8":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27247"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27274,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27247\/revisions\/27274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}