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Independent Oversight Entity Needed for City Government Officials
The time for an independent commission or agency to oversee city officials and affairs is long overdue. Presently, the only recourse to address city malfeasance, such as selective law enforcement, discrimination, unequal protection under the law, and favoritism, by the City of Mill Valley (“City”) is through the court system.
The wealthy can easily access this route, but not so for the average citizen. There is a need for another less expensive route as a path for fairness and justice for all. No accountability for public malfeasance encourages a perpetual corrupt culture, especially when the City and its officials have the luxury to use public tax money to defend itself against corruption. City corruption occurs at all levels and to varying degrees—all of which undermines the confidence of its citizens.
An independent oversight commission or agency would allow less powerful and moneyed citizens to voice city corruption, as well as disclose corruption earlier, easier, and encourage public participation. Such oversight could have also helped the residents of the City of Bell from being fleeced over several years by their government entities.
I. Independent Oversight Needed
The following are examples of the City’s misconduct, which an independent entity could have helped to resolve.
A. The City of Mill Valley used fake complaints and failed to investigate in order to revoke my home occupation permit.
The City violated its strict policy requiring complainants to complete the City’s “Code Enforcement Complaint Form” that serves to verify the identity of a complainant and accepted as true, without any investigation, the false complaints from someone using a fake name and email address. This anonymous complainant corresponded with Code Enforcement Officer Denise Stoneham and City Manager Jim McCann using this fake name and email address numerous times over the span of a year. The City used this “fake” complainant to revoke my home business permit by using intimidation tactics.
As background, the City twice approved conducting a business in my home on Lovell Avenue. I am a semi-retired 68 year old and see about 10 patients per week due to economic necessity. However, the City rescinded the approvals because of false and relentless hyperbolic allegations from this anonymous complainant who claimed that I was causing parking and traffic problems.
Through requests via the Public Records Act, I obtained the email correspondence between the City and this anonymous complainant who used a made up name and email address. The City also admitted in response to my records request that anonymous complainant was never required to complete the City’s Code Enforcement Complaint Form, which requires the complainant to provide his/her name, address and phone number—thus verifying the identity of a person who may have a valid complaint. (see http://www.cityofmillvalley.org/Index.aspx?page=426). The City’s webpage emphasizes: “NOTE: Complaints must be submitted in writing, (not by phone or voicemail). Complaint form must be filled out and received by the Building Official or Code Enforcement Officer.” Yet, in the span of a year and 10 false complaints, Code Enforcement Officer Denise Stoneham and City Manager McCann—both of whom had been emailing back and forth with this anonymous complainant—never required this person to fill out the requisite form.
Likewise, this anonymous complainant was never required to provide any proof of the allegations. Egregiously, the City also admitted that it did not investigate any of the false allegations and claimed that it did not need to do so.
The City rescinded the approval by claiming that I had violated Municipal Code 20.60.250(B) (concerning parking and traffic) and that only the Planning and Building Department (and not Fire, Public Works, or Police departments) had granted approval. I asked why the Fire, Public Works, and Police departments would withhold approval based on approximately ten clients a week coming to my home. The City never provided an answer. However, it is common knowledge there are home based businesses throughout Mill Valley. Indeed, there are countless businesses from music lessons and massages provided at homes in Mill Valley.
Throughout this process, I received numerous letters from the City Code Enforcement Officer Denise Stoneham and the City’s attorney—including cease and desist letters threatening fines. Denise Stoneham had the audacity to hurl insults at my daughter and I that we “were on a witch hunt” because we were trying to figure out why the City had not followed its required protocol, but instead used fake complaints with no proof or investigation to revoke the home business permit. This is not the first time I have encountered such biased behavior from Denise Stoneham. It was very emotionally disturbing and disruptive to receive continual intimidating letters, especially when I thought the matter was resolved.
B. There is no oversight of City Manager McCann and his staff—McCann responds to complaints against him and of course states that he and his staff acted properly.
I filed two complaints with the City Council against City Manager Jim McCann and his staff based on their egregious mishandling of my home occupation permit. Mr. McCann insisted the City acted properly by relying on an anonymous complaint without any investigation to revoke my home business permit—even backing his position using the City attorney, which was another waste of taxpayer dollars.
Furthermore, the City Council never bothered to address my complaints against Mr. McCann. Such actions show the sign of an unprofessional and unethically run city. No well-run municipality would allow the person and staff who are subject to a complaint to in turn respond to that complaint.
C. The tragic death of Walter Guthrie caused by the City’s disregard and neglect.
An independent public agency or commission could have perhaps helped prevent the death of Mill Valley resident Walter Guthrie in 2006. He was buried in a massive landslide due to heavy rains that year while trying to clean out debris from a drainpipe at the back of his house. The Guthrie’s house was completely destroyed, along with most of their possessions. Mr. Guthrie and surrounding neighbors over a period of time had continually complained to the City of Mill Valley about safety concerns, but they were ignored. Mr. Guthrie’s wife, Lisa Guthrie, was eventually awarded a $4 million judgment in the death of her husband against the City after 5 years of litigation—the City even appealed all the way to the California Supreme Court (Marin Superior Court case number CIV 062484).
D. The damage caused by flooding due to the City’s disregard and neglect.
Another example is the lawsuit filed by a Mill Valley neighborhood (involving at least 60 plaintiffs) against the City of Mill Valley because their property was damaged when the City ignored their complaints regarding flood control (Marin Superior Court case number CIV 065556). This lawsuit went on for five years draining precious resources from homeowners and wasting tax money. It was questionable whether the City even bothered to honor the settlement agreement.
E. The City chooses to ignore that vacation home rentals are home businesses.
An independent agency could also help with the complaints concerning vacation home rentals, which the City has freely allowed. Vacation home rentals are businesses in residential neighborhoods that cause traffic and parking problems, yet the City has favored and turned a blind eye to these businesses. The City Council and the City staff have chosen to ignore complaints from various citizens regarding noise and parking raised during City Council meetings. The traffic and parking issues that vacation home rentals create violate Municipal Code 20.60.250(B), which is the same Code the City accused me of violating.
Vacation home rentals have also been allowed throughout the City without any kind of formal approval from the various departments and any serious enforcement to require a business license and collection of the hotel tax. Two Council members during an August 3, 2014 City Council meeting acknowledged that vacation home rentals are businesses run out of homes in single family residential zones. Some vacation home rentals are like hotels—accommodating 16 guests per night.
F. The City chooses to ignore home owners who rent both their primary and second units in single family residential zones in violation of Municipal Code 20.90.030(L).
The City also selectively enforces Municipal Code 20.90.030(L), which mandates that a property owner has to occupy either the primary or secondary unit in single family residential zones. In other words, the property owner cannot rent out both units. However, the City has been well aware of a specific property owner on Lovell Avenue who has been renting both his primary and secondary units for over 10 years. There are two other similar violations on Lovell Avenue where again both the primary and secondary units are rented.
II. An Embedded Culture of Corruption
There appears to be a code and culture of corruption within the Mill Valley City Council and its staff. After sending letters to the entire City Council and then to two individually (Jessica Sloan and Sashi McEntee) concerning my present situation of selective enforcement of the law, the only one who bothered to respond was the newly seated City Council member, Sashi McEntee. But, I never heard back from her after she stated that she would discuss my concerns and situation with either City Manager Jim McCann or Planning Director Vincent Smith.
III. Conclusion
A privilege of wide discretion given to cities as part of their conduct in city affairs should not be allowed to include corruption. When laws are not enforced fairly and equally by governmental entities, it erodes confidence by citizens in its government officials. In effect, it amounts to tyranny with favoritism to the select. As stated under the Administrative Procedure Act, a government action cannot be “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, otherwise not in accordance with the law, or unsupported by substantial evidence.”