From: Laurie alderman
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 1:34 AM
To: Kevin Patterson <[email protected]>; Laura Sparks <[email protected]>; Damien O'Bid <[email protected]>; Chris Simmons <[email protected]>; Susan Harvey <[email protected]>; Sylvia Lemus <[email protected]>; Kay Rivers <[email protected]>; Ben Ford <[email protected]>; John Bakker <[email protected]>; Noah Housh <[email protected]>; Craig Scott <[email protected]>
Cc: George Barich ; Michael Ceremello Ceremello
; Adina Flores
Subject: Citizens business comment November 26
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Well, another person confided to me this weekend that they are considering moving out of Cotati because of the selective persecution/enforcement of laws in Cotati against people who voice an opposing opinion. Many people are afraid to come to city meetings because they know that there will be personal consequences hurled at them in return. You all on the council seems to be in another world, not knowing what your city staff and hired guns, i.e. attorneys Robert Smith, are doing which is so horrific to its own citizens.
I have been threatened with financial ruin almost constantly for at least five years by your attorneys, but they are empty threats as my income is SSDI mostly and I have no assets in my name. Damien O'Bid in the last few weeks found a new way to retaliate against me.....threaten the taking of my 87 year old, wheelchair user, medically fragile mother's property who has lost most of her sight and hearing in the last year.
For 52 years, the stop sign at West School and Maple has been two feet into her property. With no proof, Damien said that the public right of way into our property is 5 feet in. Not a shred of evidence to be had. This was because during the construction, our property was damaged by the sidewalk construction in front. Luckily, the crew liked us, respected our property lines, and fixed the damage to our property. The stop sign will be moved into the new configuration.
How low can you get to threaten my mother's property? If people have issues with me, such as Damien does, take it out on me, not my elderly mother. She reads every word of my emails to the City.
Let's move on to your other long term target, George Barich. He's been working two jobs to pay his attorney fees for his code enforcement hearing to continue.....it's set up that people are guilty until proven innocent since 2019. He's spent about $30k in the last year to defend against fines now tolled to over $1.5 million for 8 supposed code violations. It's a guilty until proven innocent situation as far as code violations now. I've been asking for intervention for a year now, to not one action taken by any of you. At any time in the last year, you could have intervened. Instead, you all let this go into election season. You also allowed an overage of $53k on Robert Smith's contract for fiscal year 23/24, when he needed Damien's approval (and funds approved by the council) for any overage over his contract. I think the FPPC, state bar, and the district attorney will be interested in your lack of intervention and how this misappropriation of funds has happened when I had been informing you all for a few months now of this overage.
George's attorney, Carleton Briggs, was in a horrific car accident about 3 weeks ago. He's also my supervising attorney as a paralegal. He's lucky to be alive. John Bakker did express sympathies, but no one else. Nobody in the city reached out, and Mr. Briggs had to initiate a stay on the proceedings from the ICU. It would seem that once again, the City of Cotati staff and attorneys are using this to their advantage. How low can you all go to take advantage of an attorney being in the ICU?
I watched an elderly lady almost be hit during construction because of having to walk in the road because both sidewalks were under construction . My paratransit bus was almost hit because of the new configuration and lack of traffic controls, allowing people to whip around the newly formed corner. We still do not have stop signs placed appropriately. I was promised traffic patrols by a Cotati police officer. I saw one patrol in 3 weeks. Do you even care about human lives? It doesn't seem so.
The citizens are watching what happens to people like George Barich and me for speaking out against the council and the city staff. That's why you have empty chambers of anybody that opposes you all. Everyone knows there will be personal consequences. It's happened over and over again, i.e. selective code enforcement after speaking out. I'm just the latest target in a long line of people targeted by city staff like Damien. Most move away to greener pastures and to be treated like human beings.
Maybe instead of this agenda that had little on it, you could have addressed some of these issues. Obviously, you all don't really care.
This lack of care for the welfare of your citizens, is unconscionable to me.
Do better,
Laurie Alderman
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