Well, this is not the first time I’ve ended up with egg on my face.

Following last night’s appointment of Eduardo Gonzalez to fill the council seat vacated by former council member Patti Walker, I congratulated him. Shortly thereafter political flashbacks occurred, and I regretted my action. This appointment is another bad event in the series of catastrophic events which began with the election of Walker and her Katzenjammer friends several years ago.

Following their destruction of the carefully planned and expensive attempt to develop the last sizeable land in Fillmore (north Fillmore) the city proceeded (under a state and federal mandate) to construct a new water treatment plant. Former and current councilmembers Walker, Washburn, Sipes, Brooks, with former failed Fillmore mayor (and long time non-resident) Gary Creagle, began the most disruptive and destructive opposition in city history.

This group targeted for replacement virtually all city management and important staff leaders, especially those favoring the American Water (design, build and managed) recycling plant. First on the hit list was former 20-year (now retired) City Manager Roy Payne, serving then as liaison for a new Business Park. They succeeded here.
Next was City Engineer Bert Rapp, also a 20-years employee. He stayed on until the daily insulting treatment and disregard for his expertise became too much. Neither position has been replaced.

Next came City Manager Tom Ristau, who refused to permit the new Katzenjammer City Clerk, Clay Westling, to attend his staff meetings. Ristau saw the writing on the wall and resigned. Westling, another charter member of the Katzenjammer group, came in – and we haven’t seen council meeting minutes for many months. Former City Clerk, Steve McClary, another hard-working multitasking employee, saw the writing on the wall and also resigned for a better paying, more important position elsewhere.

After Ristau resigned in disgust, the Katzenjammers running things decided to bring in several interim and temporary folks, including city manager, finance director, and other assistants, all of which cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. City Finance Director Barbara Smith reluctantly resigned two years early due to outrageous treatment received at the hands of incompetent interim employees. The unfinished budget was dropped, then half finished only to be dropped and redone again.

After Mayor Patti Walker schemed to leave Councilman Conaway out of a crucial trip to interview the background of present City Manager Yvonne Quiring (whose contract with her previous employer was bought out for more than $300,000, after her first year as city manager in the City of Lathrop, CA) Quiring came on board in Fillmore. She quickly revealed her incompetence to such an extent that all city employees submitted a letter of no confidence (first in city history) and had it read by the city’s most prominent former mayors (Scott Lee) on two separate occasions. None of the employee’s complaints were dealt with by the council.

Then a wholesale purge of city staff and widespread layoffs of other employees took place. Since that time productive activity in the City of Fillmore has come to a virtual standstill.

Though our new water treatment plant was hailed as Project of the Year by the County of Ventura, has received national acclaim and more than 8 awards for design, function, and efficiency, Katzenjammers have never recognized its merits, and have continued to criticize the design and cost. The plant came in well under budget and ahead of schedule. The higher rate of water cost could not be avoided, as is the case with our neighbor, the City of Santa Paula’s new plant. This group, especially Washburn, Sipes, Brooks, and Creagle, continue to lambaste the plant with inane and ignorant complaints.

These people condemned the contract with Owens & Minor which will bring in as much as $1million per year, for 20 years. This was, according to these imbeciles and their friends, “unethical/amoral”, though the court found otherwise. These people fought this newspaper’s legal right to be newspaper of record, though two law firms provided detailed conclusions stating it could not be otherwise. These people are as dumb as they are persistent.
The Katzenjammers have left a trail of debt and destruction (including jobs and reputations of many excellent, long-time employees lost).

Why am I stating these facts again? Was Eduardo Gonzalez was at the center of the Katzenjammer Sewercide episode? Why else would he be appointed? Birds of a feather.

I see no help in sight for Fillmore’s city government until the November election.

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As I heard one radio commentator say a few days ago, “Parents, it’s time to take your children out of public schools.” He was referring to Senate Bill 48 (Leno-D) (the “D” stands for Democrat): “Public schools must now include positive lesions on the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) community and their contributions, as well as Native Americans, Asian Pacific Islanders and people with disabilities.”

This is the single most outrageous and unconstitutional attack on traditional Judeo-Christian moral teaching in this nation’s history (with the exception of the Roe v. Wade decision, which has taken more than 50 million innocent lives since 1973). California has become a cesspool of liberal attractions. Its social mores cannot change until the ungodly gerrymandering is cured.

No one should give a damn about what an adult does or does not do with his or her private parts – that’s why they call them private! But, leave innocent children alone for the increasingly short time they have to be innocent in this sex-crazed society. Our public schools have become a danger zone for our children.

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As for the issue of requiring an ID to vote, please view the video concerning the New Hampshire election posted here http://www.fillmoregazette.com/politics-government/video-nh-poll-workers... Does this really have to be explained?