Ooops. Sorry. Not much going on this week around Tustin. That is probably because Jerry and the Kids are on Hiatus for a few weeks. There sure has been much going on around us, though. My blog mentor told me I should post regularly so here we go.

Our friends over at the A Bubbling Cauldron blog have been up in arms over the antics of their mayor and his cronies on the dais. Mayor pro tem Jim Righeimer has been busy trampling the local public employees union over missing campaign signs, intimidation of teenage athletes and “gun-toting” private investigators. We don’t know where he got the gun-toting part from. Jennifer Muir, spokesperson for OCEA and CMEA, while readily stating reasons for having a private investigator look into the missing signs, adamantly denied the investigator was armed with anything more dangerous than a pen and notepad. Knowing OCEA General Manager Nick Berardino’s aversion to guns, we don’t doubt Jennifer in the least. In fact, there was probably a “no guns” clause in his contract.

Does any of this sound familiar? Costa Mesa has three hard-right, ultraconservative council members who march in lockstep to rule the city, largely without the public’s input (unless you count the chamber of commerce as the public).  They have a blowhard mayor that berates citizens and their very own yes man. I watched a 30 second clip on the Cauldron that showed Righeimer spewing lies about the local public employees union. These are, by the way, the same folks who refuse to take any responsibility for the death of Costa Mesa employee Huy Pham. Some of this makes our city look like a quiet hamlet.

Of course, we know that is not true.

Mayor Jerry Amante, his right arm, John Nielsen and his very own gun-toting enforcer, Al Murray, have been blasting the citizens of Tustin because he, apparently, doesn’t think we know what is good for us. Time after time, Amante has been seen ranting from the dais at citizens who oppose his point of view. The division between citizen and elected official has gotten so bad that a recall effort has been mounted. Last weekend, they were out in force obtaining signatures around the city.

Although we were originally not enthused with the recall idea, we have since changed our minds. The recall effort was borne of a frustration with the egotistical majority on the council and their waste of tax dollars. Their efforts to minimize citizen input as well as the lawsuit between the city and TUSD has given many cause to think about how much longer we can afford this mayor. Amante is quick to point out that the recall effort, if successful, will cost the city over $150,000. He, of course, does not mind spending your tax dollar to defend an indefensible and senseless lawsuit brought out of neccessity by TUSD. That lawsuit, by the way, is costing the Tustin taxpayer on both ends. Legal fees have more than tripled for the city, largely due to Amante’s controlling attitude and, it seems, outright hatred for TUSD board members. We are looking for an update on the Recall Amante effort but the website has not been updated in the past week. Sherri?