So Much for a Return to Civility; Amante Still Mayor of Tustin

January 18, 2011 Uncategorized 5

So much for the Rally for a Return to Civility in Tustin in the wake of the 2010 elections; the 3-2 Republican majority has re-appointed Jerry Amante as Mayor of Tustin. And with the position comes favorable commission assignments for Tustin City Council members.

Amante has listed his goals for 2011 and it includes:

  • Implementing a strategic plan to guide City government for the next decades.
  • Maintaining a balanced budget to sustain the City’s core services during the continued recession.
  • Supporting business in Tustin through economic development and constructive ordinances and regulations.
These goals look a lot like previous Amante initatives and have been a failure this far. And Amante announced a number of commission appointments, some of which will pay himself and his allies on the council handsomely for their participation.  These appointments include:

Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency
Amante/Murra

Growth Management Areas
Amante/Nielsen

Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee
Murray/Nielsen

Orange County Council of Governments
Nielsen

Orange County Fire Authority
Nielsen/Murray

Orange County Library Board
Gomez/Murray

Orange County Sanitation District
Nielsen/Amante

Orange County Vector Control (multi-year appt.)
Murray

Santa Ana River Flood Protection Agency
Gomez/Nielsen

Santa Ana/Tustin Joint Powers Agency
Amante/Nielsen

Senior Fund Board of Directors
Gomez/Murray

Southern California Association of Governments
Nielsen

Tustin Unified School District Liaison
Nielsen/Murray

Water Advisory Committee of Orange County
Murray/Gomez

While it’s certainly nice to see Mayor Amante appoint new council member Becky Gomez to some commissions, not a single appointment for Council member Deborah Gavello.  Fascionating.  So for those protesters who showed up at the city council champbers last month, your voices left on Amante’s deaf ears.  Just saying….
(photo courtesy of OC Register)

5 Comments

  1. Great post. Despite Gavello’s flip flop on council benefits, her political future just got brighter. Amante’s petty bullying tactics here and in the past towards Gavello can only help her win re-election. Frankly, people are tired of hyper-partisan, junkyard dog politics on city councils.

  2. Wow. Misogyny runs amok in Orange County. Heard about Espinoza in La Habra, Quirk in Fullerton and someone in Costa Mesa (Foley?). This is disgusting.

  3. I attended the rally and the council meeting afterwards. Amante seemed subdued but the control-freak came out in him as he repeatedly demanded that “demonstrations” (his term for light applause) stop. Apparently his idea of civility is complete control by the Mayor. He should be reminded that the Mayor is a largely ceremonial post. His attacks on Gavello will continue long after he is gone by the republicans left on the dais, as long as they maintain that majority. It is a shame that Irvine doesn’t have a requirement that their police officers live within the city limits.

  4. Notice that his lapdog and puppet John Nielsen got put one two boards that pay a very nice stipend. Becky Gomez did get a few token appointments ( one meets about 3-4 times a year and another once a year at most). Remember also that Jerry set-up Nielsen’s wife to run the Tustin Community Foundation — ( that’s a paying gig partly funded by the city, I guess no conflict of interest?) No surprise at that– they ( Nielsen’s) need the $$

  5. PS– I suspect that Amante remained mayor so that John Nielsen can rotate into the Mayor’s role next so he ( Nielsen) can be Mayor during his re-election year in 2012. He will face a tough re-election especialy if Worley-Hagen jumps into the race. Expect Amante to credit Nielsen for everything to build his resume.

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