Letter: Former mayoral candidate buys $250 in rally goods

I went to the Hollister Freedom Rally over the weekend. Friday was the first day it opened up. I purchased over $250 of merchandise, to help support our local vendors and businesses. I try my best to always shop local and give back to the community.
In Friday’s paper from July 3 they wrote “it is going to draw huge crowds and be a big success.” I did not see it this year, what they said it would be. It was a lot less people out there. I feel it has a lot to do with the company you pick to work with. I did not see very much advertising again. You have to catch the people’s eye and let them know we’re on the map. We need promotion. I feel were losing out. It’s just not the same like it used to be.
A lot of times they have people do things for them and it’s not paying off. They think it is, by having the taxpayers pay for all this. Let’s get down to the truth and be honest to the people. If you can’t do that, then how can you be a city leader? When I have run for mayor, I am not running for my health, I am running to help make changes and see what I can do for the people and the city to enhance it and make it a great place.
True story: I called the Mayor on June 25 and he was having dinner and said he would call me back. I did not get a call back until Sunday, June 28. He was trying to figure out how I got his number. But it’s the same number I have always had. I just wanted to go over some things with him; he answered some fairly but went around a lot of my questions. He mentioned something about being a volunteer for the food bank, because I have been trying so hard to be a volunteer in the city, and they always push me away. He said I will never be a volunteer in the city. By the end of this conversation I felt hurt and felt the mayor was abusing his authority towards a citizen. It is unethical. He has used this twice on me, when I ran for mayor and again now.
 I also asked how could he use his authority to make the ex-city clerk the grand marshal, for the fact he was there when Geri Johnson told me off at the meeting, Christine Black heard her a few times when she would threaten to throw me in jail when I was first filling out my paperwork to run for mayor last year. I just really don’t get how the city is, when the workers are going around speaking and treating citizens this way. When I talked to the mayor about Geri, and about someone turning me in to the FPPC, I asked him if he had anything to do with it. He just laughed at me and said, “Oh well, you will never find out”. Our city is so confused they cannot even solve one problem. We cannot even fix things that happen. They always say they balance the budget but it’s always in the red. There will be a time when the people get tired of all the mishaps and senseless acts. Especially, using the youth for youth city government. The kids are the future but, when it comes down to major decisions, we have major problems and these problems are for the adults.    
Keith Snow, Hollister