Mayor Jerry Amante, the Il Duce of Tustin, has his fans to but they have a twisted sense of humor when it comes to naming a website to support their dear leader. SaveTustin has next to no information and a smiling face of the Mayor with his email address and cell phone (so voters can call an ask what exactly his problem is with Old Town and TUSD?).
The site launched quietly last month and I found it several pages deep in Google while researching another Amante/Recall post.
Those with a sense of humor would realize that to “save Tustin” from this so-called fiscal conservative, Amante should be recalled. The cost of the recall election is still considerablly less than the severance package paid to the former city manager and the dramatic increase in legal fees due to Amante’s very personal lawsuit against TUSD.
And “Save Tustin” isn’t the only new blog in Town. OurTownTustin sort of agrees with us that Amante should go or does it? And the blog notes Amante’s behavior has changed. He seems “nicer” to people than usual. Remember the sage advice from those “Godfather” films — keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And then there’s Sherry Loveland, a formerl Tustin council candidate, who publishes stuff on the Recall Amante blog you don’t read about in the Register like the recent no-bid contract approved for tree trimming service. Now there are times when no-bid contracts are appropriate, but Tustin’s king of fiscal conservative couldn’t have had staff prepare a competitive bid for tree trimming? Really?
From the leaked emails we get from Jerry’s Kids (a joke, and yes team, we get them all), it’s clear they are worried. Once the required number of signatures are gathered, expect legal challenges and delays. To clear up some “facts” the Pro-Amante people suggest: Council member Deborah Gavello has nothing to do with the recall (thought we wish she would get involved!), Deborah Gavello and I are not dating as one Register comment suggested (c’mon guys I’m married!), and there is little involvement from the leadership at TUSD (and we wish those people would get onboard in a bigger way too).
The Recall Amante group is about as grassroots as you can get. The group has made significant progress in July and while August is always a tough month, expect the Back-to-School pro TUSD people to sign the petition in drives.
If you’re a Tustin taxpayer and you want to stop the costly lawsuit between the city and the district whcih is costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, the cheapest and most efficient way to do so is to Recall Amante and replace him with someone who places the taxpayers before personal vendettas. Leaving Amante in office until the end of his term doesn’t place him out of Tustin politics — he’ll continue to pull the strings to the Republican councilmen on the council as a lobbyist. But your signature on a petition and a vote to recall the Mayor can change all that.
Hey, Dan, cut me some slack. It’s my first time out and I was trying to get a feel for the place by writing a conservative article.
I have no love for Boss Tweed Amante and have said so many times using my nom de plume. I do Support the recall effort while at the same time feel that it really won’t matter how we get rid of Jerry. Sherry brought up some excellent points in a reply to my post. They are worth considering. The coat of the recall will be less than what Amante has cost us already but will it save us future costs? As a person and a mayor, Amante needs to go. Whether that will be by recall at this point is anyone’s guess. Can they get the signatures? If not, what other ways can the citizens limit Jerry’s future lobbying (his political career is apparently in the crapper).
Jeff Gallagher
Our Town Tustin