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The Sabatino Report www.thesabatinoreport.com
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Former Mayor Carmen Sabatino has moved from your car radio to your computer. Go to www.voiceofmodesto.org at 10 this morning and click on Blog Talk Radio. The program is interactive and you can either call or text into the program. The program is on demand anytime of the day or night. April 29, 2009 Six Fresno cops are arrested and their drug unit is shut down. *** Federal prosecutors accuse DeLeon of lying to FBI. What a waste of time and resources. When will investigators be investigated. Will Birgit Fladager protect them? *** City will not raise sewer rates. Proposition 218 requires that citizens cannot be paid more for services than it costs the city to provide. Was the city intending to charge more for sewer service and have now changed their mind or are they now providing service at a loss? Does this make sense? *** Election violations on Modesto’s Measure M will soon be revisited. George Petrulakis, Mayor Ridenour and Modesto City Council owe a full report on fraud of Measure M. They spent over $30 thousand of your money for the cover-up. More on Modesto violations and State Supreme Court deliberations on the issue. *** From the Curry Coastal Pilot newspaper in Oregon. A local judge should read this. City manager fined for election violations: Milliman vows to appeal state decision 
‘I adamantly disagree with this finding.’– City Manager Gary Milliman The state has found Brookings City Manager Gary Milliman and five other city employees guilty of misrepresenting a ballot measure to voters last November – a violation of Oregon’s election code.
But Milliman adamantly disagrees with the finding and plans to appeal, not just for himself, but for the employees. “I feel compelled to request a hearing on behalf of the other employees,” Milliman said Monday. “There is no reason to believe they were doing anything wrong.” 
‘Everybody loses when public employees break the law.’ – Pat Sherman Milliman, who faces a personal fine of $150, said the issue is a matter of interpretation. “The state interpreted it one way; I interpreted it another way,” he said. At issue is a promotional mailing the city sent to voters several weeks before the Nov. 4, 2008, election that attempted to explain Brookings Measure 08-61, an amendment to the city charter concerning how water service will be provided to annexed properties. Voters ultimately rejected the measure. The mailing was written in a question and answer format, commonly known as a “FAQ” and also included information on the city’s police levy on the Nov. 4 ballot. Milliman said it was created to answer citizens’ questions about the ballot called into city hall. Oregon Office of the Secretary of State Elections Division launched an investigation after receiving a complaint Oct. 29 from former Brookings Mayor Pat Sherman. Sherman resigned as mayor in March 2008, saying the city manager refused to act on her concerns about “serious” problems within the city’s financial department. She has been an outspoken critic of Milliman since, speaking at city meetings and writing letters to the Curry Coastal Pilot. In her complaint to the state, Sherman claimed that the city violated state law by mailing to residents what appeared to be a misleading information piece entitled “Information on Ballot Measure 8-61,” and posting similar information on the city’s Web site. “The so-called ‘information mailing’ does not blatantly promote the measures, but the mailing contains misinformation,” Sherman said at the time. State law prohibits government entities from advocating for or against any ballot measures. Sherman claimed the ballot question and summary was intentionally misleading – that it failed to make any reference to the fact the amendment would remove the authority of the voters to appoint a water provider other than the city. This is not the first time Sherman had an issue with wording related to the ballot measure. In September, before the city’s mailer was sent out, Sherman filed a last-minute petition with the Curry County elections office for review of the ballot measure itself. Curry County Circuit Court Judge Jesse Margolis called an emergency hearing to decide the matter in time for the ballot filing deadline. Sherman’s effort was partially successful. The city agreed to add words to the ballot measure to make the clarifications that she felt were needed. However, that change in wording, Sherman told the state, was not included in the mailing the city sent out a few weeks later. In December, after voters rejected the ballot and, in response to the state’s inquiry, Milliman said the mailing was written as an impartial explanation of the measure and was not intended to be an all-inclusive analysis. On April 13, the state released the results of its investigation, finding that the city’s mailing did not include the “precise” wording as found on the ballot measure and that failing to do so “could appear as a deliberate attempt to withhold information from the electors.” The state further ruled that the mailer “affirmatively mischaracterized the measure’s affect.” Specifically, the state found Milliman had violated a state election law that prohibits public employees from being involved in promoting or opposing any measure – which carries a $75 fine for a first offense. City employees Joyce Heffington, Lauri Ziemer, Patti Dunn, Robin Clyde and Rhonda Gardiner were also found guilty of violating the same law; however, the state decided to waive the fine in each case after it determined they were simply following orders. “We did our job as we were told to do – we had no reason to question what we were doing,” Brookings City Recorder Joyce Heffington said Tuesday. She added, “Gary’s been really good about this and I appreciate what he’s doing (to clear employees of wrong doing).” City employee Rhonda Gardiner declined to comment and the three other employees were unavailable. The state also found Milliman guilty of violating a state law that prohibits an employer from requiring public employees to promote a political measure – which carries a fine of $100 for a first offense. Additionally, the state chastised Milliman for not having the city attorney review the document prior to publication. The state advised Milliman to do so with any future election-related material, and offered to review future election material itself – an offer that Milliman will gladly accept. “From now on, before we publish any information related to an election, I will send it through their office,” he said. On Monday, Sherman said she was satisfied with the results of the state’s investigation. “The Secretary of State didn’t accept Gary Milliman’s arguments for breaking the law, and the citizens of this community shouldn’t accept it, either,” she said. “There are no winners in this matter. Everybody loses when public employees break the law.” Milliman, however, feels differently. “The public information mailer, which was sent to all city water customers, was not an advocacy piece, but was intended to respond to questions received by water customers on the effect of Measure 08-61 on their water bills and taxes, and why the Charter provision was originally enacted,” he said Monday. “Essentially, the finding by the Secretary of State is that, because we did not include precise language written by Pat Sherman ... the publication misrepresented what the measure would accomplish. I adamantly disagree with this finding.” He defended his employees, saying they are “extremely motivated to serving the public.” He added, “Inasmuch as the ‘violation’ relates specifically to the wording of the information, and I was solely responsible for the content of the mailer, I will be requesting a hearing to seek the removal of those employees from this action.” Milliman sent a memo to the mayor and city councilors on April 16 explaining the state’s findings and his intent to protest them. The memo read, in part, “The notice states that ‘This office advises against delivering information in separate information pieces.’ Thus it appears that the Oregon policy is that a city should not be communicating with its citizens on ballot measures ... even those that the city council has placed on the ballot ... except through the ballot summary written by the city attorney.” On Monday, City Councilor Dave Gordon defended Milliman, saying that it was an “honest mistake.” “It wasn’t intentional on anybody’s part,” he said. City Councilor Jake Pieper agreed, saying “It seems as though a mistake was made, but it’s not a big deal. Well, it is a big deal to Gary because it is the first black mark on his record.” City Councilor Dave Kitchen said there was no evidence showing Milliman was trying to be disingenuous. “I think all Gary was trying to do was make it easier for people to understand the measure,” he said. City Councilor Ron Hedenskog said, “The findings have no merit at all. I know that Gary disagrees with it and plans to do something about it. He will keep us informed.” Attempts by the Curry Coastal Pilot to reach Mayor Larry Anderson were unsuccessful. Carla Corbin, the compliance specialist with the state who conducted the investigation, said Monday that this type of state election violation is not uncommon, especially in small, rural cities. “Is it a big deal? To the person who filed the complaint, yes,” Corbin said. “But I have yet, in all my years, run into someone who violated the law purposely.” She saw her findings as “a training tool – an opportunity to educate city officials and employees about the law.” She explained, “Ballot measures in small towns are a big deal. The towns need the money. People get very emotional about it. But people have to remember that what’s factual is not always impartial.” Milliman and the other employees have until May 5 to file requests for hearings with the state. In such cases, a state hearings officer will sit down in an informal setting and listen to all sides and make a final recommendation, Corbin said. Corbin said that there may be a question about whether Milliman and city employees violated another state law, which doesn’t fall under the auspices of the election division. That law addresses the potential inappropriate use of public money or equipment for promoting the measure. “That is an issue handled by the local District Attorney or the attorney general,” Corbin said. On Monday, Sherman said she has passed a copy of the state’s findings to the Curry County District Attorney’s Office. On Tuesday, District Attorney Everett Dial confirmed he had received a packet of information from Sherman, but he had not looked at it yet. “I will review the material she sent me and I may call the state to get more information,” Dial said. Milliman declined to comment on the issue.
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Politics 
