From: Michael Ceremello
Sent: Thursday, July 3, 2025 11:57 PM
To: Damien O'Bid <[email protected]>; Susan Harvey <[email protected]>; Sylvia Lemus <[email protected]>; Ben Ford <[email protected]>; Laura Sparks <[email protected]>; Chris Simmons <[email protected]>; John Savage <[email protected]>; FAC David Snyder >;
Laurie alderman >
Cc: Kevin Patterson <[email protected]>; George Barich < >; Adina Flores < >; Steve Ngo
<[email protected]>; Michael Hilber < >; David Rabbitt <[email protected]>; John Bakker
<[email protected]>; Carleton L. Briggs Attorney at Law <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Tuesday's agenda item to restrict speech further.
Unfortunately for you all, and I mean primarily the council, Damien continues down this same path of interpreting citizens standing up for their First Amendment rights and the rights given us to address the council on "any item of interest" as a "disruption". Considering the fact of Mr. O'Bid stating in an email that PRA requests are a waste of his staff's time, Mr. O'Bid is not qualified to continue as a public servant serving the citizens of Cotati. He needs to be removed from his position at your earliest convenience "for cause". If Mr. O'Bid refuses to acknowledge that citizens have a right to know what their government is doing and how it has acted through the lead code sections of the Brown Act and the entire California Public Records Act, then he needs to find employment in some other industry which doesn't include public interaction.
Considering that this council has altered its agenda at least twice in response to legal objections to illegal actions by this same body, "any reasonable person" would have to ask "why". The first alteration was an attempt to silence one individual, George Barich, which was a violation of his First Amendment rights to address his representatives over "redress of grievances". The second alteration is a response to the fact that the council was breaking government code while making up their own version of what would be allowed for comment and what would be lumped as one, thereby prohibiting the public from conveying full argumentation on subjects of interest to them.
When you are elected to public office, you don't gain some superior status over your fellow citizens. You are supposed to be working with your citizens for the betterment of your community rather than attempting to silence individuals with opposing viewpoints. As I have attended many different council meetings in many different communities, I find that elected officials' egos have destroyed the capacity to truly serve citizens who are residents and taxpayers of their towns.
One last thought. Place the Pledge at the beginning of the meeting where it belongs and leave the Land Acknowledgement at the end. I will continue to refuse to "chant" it with you all until such a time as you truly believe in "liberty and justice for all" instead of the few who are your friends and supporters.
MJC