Two new councilmen have been sworn in to the East Palo Alto City Council, but one of them is complaining about procedural irregularities that prevented him from voting on a development plan.
“The concern that I had with the swearing-in was they did a full agenda with expired city council,” said newly elected Councilmember Mark Dinan told the Bay City News Service. “They were sworn on Dec. 8, 2020, and their terms expired in four years by law. They should not have been voting on anything of substance yesterday. It should have been purely ministerial, which is handing off the torch.”
The November election saw incumbent Carlos Romero, Dinan and Webster Lincoln edge out their opponents in a crowded City Council race with three open spots. Romero reclaimed his seat while former mayor Antonio Lopez and councilmember Lisa Gauthier exited their positions.
It is disputed whether outgoing council members can continue to vote on resolutions despite more than four years having passed since taking office.
East Palo Alto’s municipal code mirrors state law, which states that the terms of elected city officers “shall be in accordance with state law for a term of four years from Tuesday succeeding their election and until their successors are elected and qualified.”
New council members are considered “qualified” once they take their oaths.
City Manager Melvin Gaines wrote in a statement that until the old council certifies the election results and new council members are sworn in, the prior council is “still within their rights under state law to meet and conduct business.”
Such business the old council decided on included adopting a final plan for the future Ravenswood Business District, or RBD.
“They voted on some very, very big issues and that included the RBD which was part of the consent package,” Dinan said. “They didn’t discuss it, but it was voted on and just approved. And that’s a billion-dollar development plan for East Palo Alto. It’s a very big deal. Old, exited city council had no business voting on it.”
Dinan said that he and Lincoln’s swearing-in was delayed to the end of the meeting because the prior council did not want the two to influence the passage of the final RBD plan.
“They didn’t want to do the swearing-in at the beginning for us, because then myself and Webster would have voted on the RBD,” Dinan said. “When you do that, you’re doing it with two city council members whose terms have already expired.”
But Gaines said that the old council voted on the RBD plan on Tuesday because it was originally supposed to be addressed at a prior meeting that ended up getting canceled.
“The items on the Dec. 17 meeting agenda that the outgoing council members voted on were on the consent calendar,” Gaines wrote in his statement. “Many of these items were holdovers from a previous meeting that had been cancelled due to unexpected absences.”
Lincoln and Dinan sat in the audience, eagerly waiting to be sworn in and recognized for their win.
However, hours went by as council members heard public comment on unrelated matters and issued a proclamation for the city’s Little League team for winning their district’s Fall Ball championship.
“I would question a city reorganization meeting where they would spend more time on honoring a worthy Little League group team than on the actual reorganization itself,” Dinan said. “It’s great what they achieved but yesterday was not the time or place to do that any more than it would be to do a proclamation before a wedding.”
After the new council was sworn in, council voted unanimously to elect Councilwoman Martha Barragan mayor. Barragan has served two years on the council.
They were split on deciding who should be vice mayor. Romero was in favor of appointing Councilmember Ruben Abrica. However, the two freshly sworn-in councilmembers and Barragan selected Dinan to assume the role in a 3-2 vote.
During the vote for vice mayor, Romero commented that he thought seniority should take precedent in the decision. Abrica has served as mayor three times and was one of East Palo Alto’s first councilmembers when the area was incorporated in 1983.
“I think it should be somebody who is a little more seasoned than Mr. Dinan,” Romero said. “I will have to vote ‘no.'”
Although Barragan voted for Dinan to be vice mayor, she reiterated that Dinan and Lincoln should initially defer to the council members with more time under their belts.
“I believe that we will also be leaning into the most experienced in our staff, in our council, and also keeping in mind what the constituents want from us,” Barragan said.
Ravneel Chaudhary, who ran unsuccessfully in the race for a council seat, closed out the meeting by calling on the members to move past their potential differences in order to get things done and move East Palo Alto forward.
“I recognize that members of this council may not always align politically and that each of you bring distinct visions for the future of East Palo Alto, and that is perfectly OK,” Chaudhary said during public comment after the reorganization ceremony was complete.
“I am hopeful that this new council will build on the accomplishments of his predecessors, setting aside personal egos to collaborate and address the critical issues facing our city,” he said.
Those audience members look pretty excited that their White Knight has come to rescue them!
The dissatisfaction with the old council’s final actions has left both new council members and the citizens who voted them in feeling frustrated. The old council (along sat Romero) Held everyone in the room hostage. The community, well-informed and tired of the old guard, has had enough of Romero and Abrica. Their tenure, marked by gaslighting and self-serving decisions, has outlived its usefulness. They were repeatedly elected due to name recognition alone.
Lincoln and Dinan, the new council members, represent a breath of fresh air. Wilkerson, who also ran, praised both for their success and highlighted the outgoing council’s rush to push through the RBD issue after stalling it for over four years. It became evident that Abrica and Romero had been leveraging their non-real estate acumen to the city’s detriment, benefiting only a select few.
Their actions have nearly eradicated the middle class, leaving a silent majority struggling. Managing a city of 2.5 square miles shouldn’t be this challenging, but it is when leadership is one-sided and exclusionary. The audience took offense when Romero belittled the new council members, who entered with more knowledge and degrees than their predecessors. Dinan, with years of experience chairing the PWTC, and Lincoln, a trained data scientist, and successful entrepreneur, bring valuable expertise to the table.
Romero’s increasing tendency to bully and demand loyalty is concerning. His attitude towards Lincoln, in particular, seems rooted in a perceived threat to his long-standing influence. The city manager, Gaines, must adapt to a new era where Romero and Abrica no longer hold sway. Chaudhary, the youngest to run and endorsed by Abrica, may not fully grasp the true politics of East Palo Alto. His future political aspirations seem tied to Abrica’s endorsement of him during the election.
The community hopes for a shift in attitude and a focus on inclusive, effective governance moving forward.
The previous council studied the business park plan, debated it, and this final vote was just a formality. Not sure why this clown thinks he can re-do the previous council’s work.
It’s a big conspiracy, don’t you know? Mark sees conspiracies around every corner. Hey, Mark, have you seen any drones?
@Ron,
The City Council may have studied the plans, but I doubt it. Go back and read what Abrica said—nothing! He bows his head to Romero, and so does Gautier, voting with Romero 95% of the time. Romero is a bully. Let’s see if he has the guts to try and bully Lincoln and Dinan. For decades, all the Councils have lacked expertise in urban planning. This is why this council hired a design company without properly vetting them, spending more money after the fact. They never considered anything beyond what Romero constantly did: gutting projects, dragging things along slowly, and blaming the Sanitary District for delays. Romero has been caught lying about the Sanitary District on numerous occasions, and because the Council lacked the resolve to fight back, he got away with it.
If the Council believed they made the right decisions, why did they hire that design company at the last minute to give them advice on plans they were about to approve? The Council has consistently approved several projects within the 2.5 square miles that make no sense. For instance, why approve three water supply wells within this small area, one of which is known to be contaminated? Where is the water coming from? Probably from the same place that PAMW Co. water comes from. This has been one of Romero’s baseless attacks on that company. The Council could have created one large unit further away from residential areas. The same goes for housing projects. Romero is known for creating housing that is small and unattractive, similar to his work in San Francisco, where he was eventually asked to leave.
East Palo Alto has reached its housing 40% capacity limit, yet Romero continues to invite more impoverished people into the town. We need to focus on cultivating what we have and sharing resources with the existing citizens who have suffered for years. Romero’s projects reflect his misguided morals and do not benefit the community. The past councils consistently refuse to use the laws and ordinances on the books where tax revenue can feed the city. But they won’t. Why? Because it hurts the poor people who break the laws.
You can criticize Dinan, but his ideas are forward-thinking and benefit the current residents who are not impoverished. The middle class has suffered enough. Outsiders want to impose their environmentalist agendas on our community, but we need leaders who will prioritize the needs of our citizens. The past Councils lack the knowledge and competence to make informed decisions. We finally have three good candidates who will take the time to investigate and do right by the citizens, rather than focusing on their egos and bringing in more undocumented individuals. This attitude has drained the potential of East Palo Alto. We need new perspectives and leadership for ALL people, including the gentrifiers who join the middle class that has been here since the 50s.
Dinan will bring entertainment and not more housing that adds to parking and traffic issues. He understands that most citizens do not want multiple families crammed into single-family dwellings. It’s time for a change. And YES, the horrible project that has been approved can be UNDONE.