Columnist Marty Richman takes on the council and calls for Mayor
Victor Gomez to explain the city’s dealings over the past 10-plus
months with ClearSpot Energy. Says Richman: ‘It’s time for Mayor
Victor Gomez to step up and set the record straight regarding the
city’s relationship with ClearSpot Energy, which won the council’s
favor without serious consideration of other competitors.’ Read
more, and also see the Editorial Board’s opinion here as well, as
published in today’s newspaper.
For the Editorial Board’s latest on the city’s approval of the ClearSpot contract, go here. Below is Richman’s column.
It’s time for Mayor Victor Gomez to step up and set the record straight regarding the city’s relationship with ClearSpot Energy, which won the council’s favor without serious consideration of other competitors.
I’m not much for big conspiracy theories. I believe that Oswald, alone, killed Kennedy, and I don’t believe the CIA blew up the World Trade Center on 9/11. One reason is, the more people involved in any conspiracy or cover-up, the harder it is to keep it secret – especially in our society.
I’m no babe in the woods, either. There have been conspiracies and cover-ups, usually by relatively small groups. They range from Watergate to Enron to Lewinsky. They are the three horsemen – political power, financial gain and personal hubris.
Based on my inclination to dismiss conspiracy charges, I’ve been reluctant to believe there was a calculated attempt by the city council and staff members to hide the ClearSpot negotiations from the public or give the company a preferential position for supplying solar power.
Nevertheless, the excuses and time lines are making that position more and more difficult to believe.
ClearSpot recently made a convincing presentation to the Free Lance Editorial Board. One thing they repeatedly emphasized was the need to get things done before certain dates. The economic underpinnings for all these projects are subsidies or tax credits. Without those, the projects do not pencil out. But those goodies have decreasing values and expiration dates, so time is a critical factor.
The message from ClearSpot and from the city’s wild rush from first public disclosure to contract approval was “Hurry, hurry – the clock is ticking.”
That attitude, however, does not square with the latest revelation that the city has been dealing with ClearSpot, secretly, for at least seven months and it may have been much longer than that. Hollister officials have been reluctant to clarify the chain of events and timeline for these dealings. Claiming that it took many months to work out the details, but leaving only a few days for the public review, has a slightly off odor that usually marks fishy deals.
Gomez, now mayor, was the best candidate for his district’s seat in the November 2008 election and he has great potential. I’d like to see him succeed, but to do so he has to be different than most others in the past.
Here is a good place to start even if he has to do it alone.
Don’t expect either Councilman Doug Emerson or City Manager Clint Quilter to step up. It appears as though they may have been working together to limit the options that went to the council.
By her statements, Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia is primarily interested in who gets the work, not how it was awarded. Councilwoman Eugenia Sanchez has been a massive disappointment on open government matters and Councilman Ray Friend had to recuse himself due to his employment-retirement relationship with PG&E.
That leaves the truth telling to the mayor, and it’s appropriate because he represents the city government as a whole.
It’s critical to note that the city’s attitude has been that they could “bum’s rush” the public because the state’s flawed law on alternate energy allows it – which is true. The law, however, does not require it, and that’s a big difference.
How could the city think so little of the public’s right to know and the value of competition that they were willing to stiff the taxpayers for half a year?
Mr. Mayor, the microphone is yours, and I hope you tell us the details of what happened.
And how?
And why?
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.
