TRACY, Calif. —
Tracy Mayor Dr. Nancy Young will join other members of the Democratic Club to rally before a special city council meeting on Tuesday against what she alleges is a corrupt effort by three city council members to fire the city manager.
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Young claims that the council members are moving to fire city manager Michael Rogers, who is Black, as part of a “systemic racial attack” in San Joaquin County’s second-largest city.
That assertion prompted one of the council members named by Young, Mayor Pro Tempore Eleassia Davis, to counter that “this is not about race, this is about accountability.”
| VIDEO BELOW | Tracy’s mayor explains why she’s calling for a protest before Tuesday’s council meeting
The 5:30 p.m. rally opposes a proposed change to voting rules within the council. The agenda for the 6 p.m. meeting states it would allow the city manager to be removed by a simple majority, meaning three council members in agreement instead of four.
The ordinance states the city manager had failed to inform the council of actions regarding homelessness efforts, and he allegedly abused emergency authorities.
“This blatant systematic racial attack on our city manager and on the people of color in Tracy is from the same three councilmembers who have already dismantled racial equity work in our city,” Young said in a statement.
Young is the first directly elected female mayor for the city and the first African American person to be elected mayor.
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KCRA 3 reached out for comment to the three council members named by the mayor: Davis, Dan Evans and Matt Bedolla.
Davis, who is also Black, said the mayor’s characterization of her move as being part of a racial attack was “a blatant lie. It’s disheartening.”
“How can you pull the race card when we’re all in the same deck? You’re Black, he’s Black, I’m Black,” she said.
Davis said an issue she has with the city manager is that she hasn’t gotten updates on her items surrounding development and infrastructure.
“Right now, he seems to think that he works simply for the mayor, and that’s not how this works. You work for the body of the council,” she said.
“I believe in accountability and being fair across the board,” Davis added.
Evans said he wanted to hear from colleagues and members of the public before deciding which way he would vote. But he also expressed displeasure with the city manager, saying he was given “very little detail” by Rogers on why 39 shelter units for the unhoused weren’t open yet.
“Facts aren’t racist, and I have been bringing facts ever since December to this community about what’s going on,” he said. “We need more transparency.”
Still, Mayor Young told KCRA 3 that the new vote is an attempted power grab meant to silence the public voice that would undo reforms put in place in the city after similar actions.
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She cited a 2019 San Joaquin County Grand Jury report that recommended the supermajority voting rule for terminations to protect Tracy city employees from “power politics and shifting alliances.”
The grand jury acted in response to multiple complaints after a 3/2 voting block in the council resulted in unexplained terminations or forced resignations of staff that included a city manager, assistant manager, and police chief.
“The entire community was in an uproar after the city manager was let go, an African American after a Hispanic police chief was let go,” Young said.
The Tracy City Council adopted the supermajority recommendation in 2019.
“Here we are, fast forward, and now we have another great city manager, African American, who we brought in from out of state, who is doing a stellar job,” Young said. “He just got an outstanding review earlier this year.”
Young said it’s “not acceptable” that there has been just one day’s notice before a vote to introduce the new ordinance, which she said is targeted at the city manager and does not include the city attorney.
“It was only after the fact that people had rallies and were upset,” Young said of previous city staff firings and resignations. “And we could not change what had happened even though people tried and tried to bring people back. This time I wanted to make sure that our citizens are aware ahead of time.”
Evans countered that he and his two colleagues are acting “to put this city back in the hands of our residents again,” alleging Young and another council member are “under the influence from big developers in Tracy.”
Bedolla echoed a similar theme in a statement that said, “what’s being considered is ultimately about a Council majority not being bound by the petty politics of the past.”
Those who cannot attend the Tracy council meeting in person can watch it online by visiting www.cityoftracy.org and clicking on the city council agenda tab.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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