Former PG&E Contractor Pete Bennett file papers to run for Walnut Creek City Council but Walnut Creek Officers escorted him the building with loaded weapons.
Part 1 is covered by a East Bay Times Editorial. Follow The Unarmed Constituent, The Unarmed Candidate and the The Bennett Kidnapping Incidents which is directly linked to Police Officers currently and formerly employed in Walnut Creek.
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There’s blame on both sides for the Walnut Creek City Council’s dysfunction.
Consequently, although there are three council openings in the upcoming election, we endorse only two candidates, incumbent Loella Haskew and Kevin Wilk, former member of the transportation and arts commissions.
We cannot back either of the other two candidates, incumbents Bob Simmons and Justin Wedel, because of their actions during their current terms.
It’s a shame. Walnut Creek is on better financial footing than most cities, although its pension debt continues to rise. Nevertheless, Simmons, Haskew and Wilk want to eventually put a sales tax hike before voters. We remain to be convinced of the need.
We back Haskew and Wilk despite their sales tax push. And that issue doesn’t determine our rejection of Simmons.
Rather, it’s the heavy-handed way he and Councilwoman Cindy Silva behaved during a 2013 child sexual abuse investigation. The probe stemmed from revelations that a part-time usher coordinator at the city’s Lesher Center for the Arts sent a 13-year-old inappropriate social media messages.
State law requires administrators and employees involved with children’s programs to report suspected child abuse to authorities. Walnut Creek police claimed that city employees failed to do so. The independent investigation showed otherwise.
But the investigation concluded that City Manager Ken Nordhoff impeded the probe by evading questions and had placed four employees on leave while remaining silent about his own knowledge of the case.
After the council learned of the findings about Nordhoff, Simmons and Silva tried to derail the investigation, City Attorney Bryan Wenter told this newspaper after he resigned over the incident.
In a meeting with Wenter, the two accused him of abusing his power, and his upcoming job review was mentioned. Simmons and Silva claim they were just trying to speed up the investigation.
Even if their account were true, Simmons and Silva had no business acting on their own to direct the city attorney. That was unacceptable. Making matters worse, Simmons was evasive when we asked him about the incident this week.
As for Wedel, he went overboard in the opposite direction. He felt Nordhoff should have resigned and, as recently as November, publicly upbraided the city manager. It was counterproductive.
Nordhoff should have been punished short of termination. We know of no punishment. Last week, more than three years after the investigation, he announced he is leaving to take another job.
We wish we could back Wedel, even though we disagree with him on many policy issues. Walnut Creek needs divergent and younger voices.
One of the most promising, Kristina Lawson, the top vote-getter in 2010, opted not to seek re-election in 2014 because of “an unproductive and toxic environment” on the City Council.
That must change.
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