"This money should not be used for the Phillip Smith-Hanes PERS golden parachute early retirement fund" and Dave Meserve proposal tanks at Arcata City Council meeting

Public watchdog Kent Sawatasky was at the Arcata City Council meeting last night. He brought up the issue of funds from the Oversight Board; something he had brought up in December 2014.

This occurred at the end of the meeting according to Mr. Sawatsky.

"Arcata wrote another check for appromimately 2.2 million which is clawback from Redevelopment to the County for reimbursement. The County gets 1/3 of this money," Mr. Sawatsky told me. "I would really like to see this not get swallowed by PERS again. This should not be used for deficit spending. We are spending down our reserves. This money should not be used for the Phillip Smith-Hanes PERS golden parachute early retirement fund."

Mr. Sawatasky called me back and left a message and said  the exact amount will be available later today and so his numbers are around the ballpark.

A proposal to send a letter to Jared Huffman, suggested by Dave Meserve on August 19, was defeated by a 2-2 vote. Susan Ornelas was absent. Michael Winkler and Sofia Pereira voted against sending the letter.

Consider a Letter to Congressional Representatives to Encourage Their Vote in Favor of the Nuclear Weapons Agreement with Iran, Formally Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.  RECOMMENDATION. It is recommended that the Council consider a letter to congressional representatives to encourage their vote in favor of the nuclear weapons agreement with Iran, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

At the August 19, 2015, City Council meeting, Arcata resident Dave Meserve requested that the City send a letter to congressional representatives encouraging a vote in favor of the nuclear weapons agreement with Iran, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Agenda link: http://arcata.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=8&clip_id=1772
Meeting link: http://arcata.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=8&clip_id=1772

An Arcata architect, K. Boodzeh, who Mr. Sawatsky said came from the region recommended against sending the letter.

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2014/12/public-meeting-enthusiast-kent-sawatsky.html

Dec 4, 2014

Public meeting enthusiast Kent Sawatsky asked 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace to resign from the Oversight Board for stiffing the County and taxpayers and voting to benefit Arcata
Sometimes a picture is indeed worth a thousand words or more. Access Humboldt films both the Humboldt County Board of Supervisor Meetings and the Arcata City Council Meeting.

You should watch the videos. To summarize the paperwork I have from Mr. Kent Sawatsky cannot do proper justice to him calling Mark out and addressing the Arcata City Council. You will also get to see the responses from Mark and the City of Arcata.

Watching Mr. Sawatsky explain why this is unfair to the County and the taxpayers and the connection between all the agencies on video is better and less time consuming than me number crunching a lengthy history.


In Tuesday's afternoon session of the BOS meeting, Mr. Sawatsky asked Mark to resign from the Oversight Board.

"Whose interests is Mark watching out for," Mr. Sawatsky told me on Tuesday, when we walked out from the morning session of the BOS. "The County's or Arcata's?"

So what is Mr. Sawatsky's beef with Mark.? I will give you one short excerpt of Mr. Sawatsky's claim.

In 2013, the Oversight Board, which Mark sits on retroactively approved a $7, 153,857 in transfers. The remaining amount of unallowable transfers, $8,751, 168 was returned to the successor agency, Arcata. This move was not legal according to the California State Controller's office.

Mr. Sawatsky intends to pursue this weekly until Mark provides answers to the public and resigns.

Mr. Sawatsky would rather have seen this money go towards "boots on the ground" and Sheriff deputies.