First there was the $45,000 in suspect mayoral trips around the world. Then there was the $58 million dollar deficit expecting to mushroom to $200 million. Then the crushing right hook of $1.5 million in “lost” water meters. And now this.
Looks like St. Hope isn’t the only program the feds are investigating in Sacramento. Just as many residents were beginning to aim the accountability finger at Mayor Heather Fargo for her questionable leadership oversight in connection with $1.5 million in missing city water meters, her PR team (the Sacramento Bee), has reported the arrest of an “ex” city utilities employee for apparently taking “bribes” in exchange for city property.
ALLEGEDLY the “ex” city of Sac employee accepted a $100 Home Depot gift card and a $2,000 storage container for his classic cars as a “bribe” for taxpayer-owned recyclable scrap metal.
Thwap! Another black eye for Sacramento government. Another whiff of impropriety. Another instance where no one at city hall makes a single statement about a crime connected to one its departments. Nothing. Just silence. Makes you wonder just how stinky the onion is under all those layers. Sure is quiet at city hall these days.
Despite the growing docket of potential malfeasance on Mayor Heather Fargo’s watch, she continues to enjoy what amounts to prosecutorial immunity, not just from investigations that should be launched into her violation of the city’s charter, and suspect use of $45,000 in taxpayer money (to fund trips around the world in search for “green” knowledge that could have easily been gleaned from a few conference calls and a Google search), but from local media scrutiny and investigative reporting.
Despite the Bee’s excellent reporting in some areas (the recent child abuse series is an excellent example), it’s hard to champion a paper who digs through the U.S. military’s personnel vault and turns over every rock and pebble in search of wrongdoing, but won’t do the same for our own city hall, when there are clearly SIGNS that the public’s trust (and the mayor’s position) has been abused.
I’m not on a witch hunt here. I value the efforts of all the hardworking, honest people working for our city (especially those who are about to be laid off due to fiscal mismanagement), I’m simply holding Mayor Heather Fargo to her own mantra.
Remember, Fargo asked our police department to investigate her opponent on the grounds that it was her ethical responsibility to investigate any potential crime that had been committed on her “watch.”If she truly meant that, and it was not about politics as she claimed, then why isn’t she answering the charges that she violated the city’s charter when she went over the city manager and personally asked Police Chief Rick Braziel to investigate her opponent, Kevin Johnson? And why hasn’t she paid back the money she used for completely unnecessary trips around the globe for “green the city” ideas?
Just looking for some consistency, accountability and integrity here. Kevin Johnson owned his past issues when he told a Bee reporter he used bad judgment in his past. He did the humility thing and owned it. Why isn’t Fargo owning her issues? Why does she stonewall everything and answer every question in a condescending manner intended to make people feel stupid for asking it? And while I’m on the box here, why is Fargo the ONLY employee in all of Sacramento County to have a police security detail?
And why are people OK with all this?
Still no word on the missing water meters.
It’s good to be the queen.
I don’t think I have ever had a better opportunity to use the words “SPOT ON.” I have to admit at first I was not so sure about your crticism of Fargo. You have to remember people in this town are not used to the mayor and city council getting called to task. But over these past months you have convinced me that the Fargo mayorship is nothing but a facade. The Bee has done the whole city a disservice by not providing more balanced reporting.
I want everyone who reads Joe Sacramento to stop and compare these two headlines for a minute:
Sacramento Bee:
“Ex-Sacramento utilities official arrested on bribery counts in water meter scandal”
Joe Sacramento:
“Embattled City of Sacramento suffers another black eye after feds bust underground theft ring”
This is why I read Joe.
Love JOe or hate Joe you can not deny that he offers a very contrasting perspective on these topics. If you believed everything you read in the Bee you would probably not make the connection between the city’s departments and their problems, and the mayor in charge of overseeing the entire operation.
I don’t agree with everything you say Joe but I am thankful someone takes the time to think these things through for us and offer the other side of the coin for consideration. Many times you are “spot on” just like the other reader said. This is definitely one of those times
Ok thanks, but MUST you guys have these stinky names? Is that you Danny??
What the hell are “missing water meters” - the meters still don’t exist in Regency Park. Are you referring to people who have removed city-placed meters?
Clarify, please. I don’t want to get pissed off without full knowledge and aforethought.
http://www.sacbee.com/localgov/story/1037921.html
Natomas is done. Put a fork in it. Next story.
No Joe, that wasn’t me. We need a strong mayor! Just so at the very least there’s some accountability. As things are now it’s far too easy for the mayor to just throw her hands up and go “well, I had no idea” or “that’s the job of the city manager.” Give me a goddamn break.
We need a “strong” mayor in more ways than one.
Is Mayor Fargo conspiring with Mayor Autry of Fresno?
Residents of Fresno are being annihilated as Public Works secretly replaces sewer/water lines and water meters without authorization, permits or inspections. Structures extensively damaged and haphazardly patched back - then sold as “original.” New deeds entail altered plat/parcel maps, which cover up the evidence of changed property lines. Altered legal documents, forged deeds of people never seen again, unsolved murder cover-up(s) as this continues.
Reporting this resulted in Public Works issuing a Restraining Order against me - committing perjury to discredit their own records. Death threats followed.
Where are all the water meters coming from for this barbaric operation?
Well the most alarming thing of all is how the press in Sacramento just goes along with whatever city hall reports, never once questioning them or their practices, never once calling into question their leadership, oversight, or executive culpability. We need a NEW YORK POST type publication here for the purpose of calling attention to hypocrisy and scandal when it occurs because we can not count on our local media.