Citizens in Tracy, California, are expected to rally and protest in advance of a move by three members of the Tracy City Council to grab power and fire respected Black City Manager Michael Rogers.
Local residents joined by the Greater Tracy Democratic Club, Mayor Nancy Young and concerned citizens will rally at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, in front of Tracy City Hall, 333 Civic Center Dr. to rally opposition to a power grab by three council members to change council voting rules.
Tracy Residents Say Move Is Not Legal
Local residents say the move is illegal, unethical, and against good government rules and the recommendations of the San Joaquin County Grand Jury.
“As Mayor and as a citizen of Tracy, I want to draw the public’s attention that three members of the city council are attempting to engage in a power grab and overturn the recommendations of the 2019 Grand Jury on how the Tracy City Council should conduct its business in a professional and ethical manner,” Young said.
Tracy Councilmembers Dan Evans, Matt Bedolla, and Eleassia Davis are attempting to remove the super-majority voting rule for the City Manager (where 4 of the 5 councilmembers are necessary to remove either the city manager or top administrators). The 4/5 rule was put in place to protect city employees from political bullying and cronyism.
Mayor Young called the move a “blatant racial attack” to remove respected City Manager Michael Rogers, coming after these same three councilmembers have already dismantled the racial equity programs in Tracy.
The Special Tracy City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23, immediately following the rally by the Mayor, Democratic Club, and concerned citizens in front of city hall.
“The stated objective of these three councilmembers is to grab power, fire our respected black city manager, and circumvent our democratic system of majority rule, harming how our government works, our ability to provide services to Tracy residents and businesses,” said Robin Cole, president of the Greater Tracy Democratic Club.
Mayor Young called the vote “a power grab and coup attempt plain and simple to circumvent democracy and silence the public’s voice and put all the power, in the hands of these three councilmembers and their ally, City Attorney Bijal Patel.” Patel has been accused of racism against Blacks for refusing to support African American History Month in February of this year.
Mayor Young has called for a review of the performance of city attorney Patel who she believes has broken open meeting laws and conspired with the three councilmembers to grab power and change city rules.
In 2019, the San Joaquin Grand Jury recommended and the Tracy City Council approved the Grand Jury’s recommendation for supermajority votes. This provided balance and stability in city government after Tracy had 4 city managers in 8 years due to fractious political infighting. Tracy is now on its 5th city manager in 10 years.
“If these three councilmembers (Dan Evans, Matt Bedolla, and Eleassia Davis) change our governance rules back to the bad old days, it will dearly cost the citizens Tracy both financially and progressively,” Mayor Young added.
Some of the three members leading the power grab have ties to the MAGA Patriot Coalition movement and all three are supported by San Joaquin County Supervisor Robert Rickman, who was behind the firing of other Black city administrators when he formerly served on the Tracy City Council.
Zennie Abraham | Zennie Abraham or “Zennie62” is the founder of Zennie62Media which consists of zennie62blog.com and a multimedia blog news aggregator and video network, and 78-blog network, with social media and content development services and consulting. Zennie is a pioneer video blogger, YouTube Partner, social media practitioner, game developer, and pundit. Note: news aggregator content does not reflect the personal views of Mr. Abraham.