The following was drafted immediately after the early August town hall meeting.
This is a plea for clarity and civility. Several times I've changed my thinking about the lien payment for the community pantry because I received new information.
When I left the town hall meeting, I thought, so the Council did know about the lien, according to what was said at the meeting. Then I read Beverly Michael's article in the Citizen and she said, we agreed to the purchase but not to the lien because we didn't know about the lien at that time. So that seemed acceptable. Then I read someone's letter to the editor saying the Council should have known and implied there is no excuse for their not knowing about it. I remembered that I had recently signed a contract that contained a mistake that cost me a thousand dollars. Neither I nor a friend caught the error. Further, I heard a nationally known physician say, the best doctors make mistakes, and if they tell you all those mistakes were in the early part of their career, they are lying.
So, if the Council members made a mistake, I would prefer not to blame them.
The three absent counselors were called cowards and evil at that meeting. Concerning cowardice, a reliable source told me that one of the three council members had told Mayor Garcia that they would attend the Town Hall if it were held in a neutral place with a neutral moderator. That did not happen.
Regarding the firing of Donald Jaramillo, I have nothing against him. He was always pleasant and receptive at our morning Coffees with the Manager. However, I know very little about why he was fired so I can't speak to that.
In terms of clarity, I have heard several people say they wonder if somebody was doing the seller a favor by paying the lien, and where was our attorney during all this? More information about this could stop that thinking from becoming a rumor and further harming faith in our city officials. I do believe that even if the State had agreed to reimburse us, why should they do that when the State has so many other needs, just as our city does.
If the issues of the lien and the firing are not resolved, I would appreciate a second town hall where the moderator states up front that they will shut down any name calling and ask for a civil discussion. I admired Mayor Garcia during one of the few city council meetings I was able to attend when he remained calm and supportive when someone expressed anger toward him. He even offered to go with the person to look at the situation. That is the kind of leadership that we need, especially at a time like this.
In closing, I recently spoke with someone in Grants whose family has lived here for generations. He said that his neighbor's little girls' bikes were stolen out of their yard. He said his children didn't need their bikes anymore so he gave them the bikes. You gave them or you sold them, I asked. I gave them he said.
I would like to think that people who are generous materially are often generous in spirit. I believe there are many people like that in Grants. The more there are, the less name calling there will be.
Sincerely, Judith Andreica Grants