Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - BrentwoodPress_08.22.08 - Index

august 22, 2008 brentwoodpress.com | 19A
Content from page 16A
itself. I have strenuously objected to the secret
manner in which it was done.
Between its inception and the event
itself, CSD held three regular CSD Board
meetings (and two special CSD Board meetings
on the No-Ski/Tow matter). The ZIP
Code event was never discussed openly in any
board meeting in order for the townspeople
to be informed and allowed to participate in
a discussion of the event.
During the planning, and when the costs
were incurred, there were no funds available
to pay for this event. Two months after the
event occurred, the Board of Supervisors
made available to the people of Discovery Bay
Keller Canyon Funds in the amount of $5,000
to be used as approved by the BOS; $3,426.07
of the $5,000 was eventually used to pay the
costs previously incurred for this event.
In a board meeting, long after the event,
in response to questions by Director Dove,
the general manager stated that Mr. Piepho,
president at the time, at the outset of planning,
identified Keller Canyon Funds as the
source of funding for the event. Mr. Koehne
also said that two (unidentified) board members
were appointed by some (unidentified)
person to represent the entire board to plan
and execute this event outside of any open
board meetings.
Now CSD stubbornly refuses to identify
who appointed the two directors, and who
Letters from page 16A
this type of abuse and has saved the city over
$26,000 a year.
I feel it is my responsibility as city
treasurer to look for abuses and correct them.
This was not done before I was elected. As
this election moves forward, I hope that Janet
Davis will refrain from personal attacks that
are not factual and stick to the issues of the
treasurer’s office.
As for Robert Kalafates’ statement
about his concern for Antioch’s portfolio
value and decline in revenue, the city has
spent over $20 million in capital improve-
the directors were, for me and Director Dove!
For what possible reason would CSD hold
that information secret? To provoke letters
and a lawsuit?
It is CSD’s conduct that has caused the
letters and the lawsuit. This lack of transparency
and clear violations of the law are
just some of the content of my letters and
the lawsuit. I will not tolerate this kind of
conduct. Will you?
Mr. Mankin’s letter, like most letters
critical of my letters and lawsuit, is too full
of errors to address them all. Indeed, they
do not deserve being dignified by a response.
However, one of his errors must be addressed.
He erroneously says of me, “Twice a
judge has not agreed with him …” The truth
is, it is difficult for an individual to have
“standing” to sue a public body. My first
lawsuit was too personal about my home’s
plumbing, so I withdrew it. The judge never
acted upon it. CSD asked the judge to throw
out my second attempt, by a demurrer, and
the judge said that he would do so unless I
amended it. The judge was right.
I did amend the second lawsuit to the
current one, for “declaratory relief.” Simply
put, that means that I say to the court “I believe
the law says ‘this’ and CSD says the law
says ‘that.’ Your honor, tell us who is right.”
see Content page 20A
ments in the last few years and the interest
rates on T-Bills have fallen from over 4
percent to less than 2 percent in the last three
years. Income will be less with less capital to
invest and lower rates of return, something
Mr. Kalafate doesn’t seem to understand.
The city has sound investments, all
within city policy. The city has received an
award every year for its Finance Department
and investment portfolio.
Let’s keep the office of city treasurer
non-political, honest and forthright.
Donna Conley
Antioch City Treasurer
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