THE VOICE OF MODESTO

 Did you read what the Modesto Bee Opinions said?  

 After the rash of negative press that the Bee launched on me just prior to my 2003 re-election campaign for Mayor of Modesto, most people forgot the positive report they gave me on my first hundred days in office back in 2000.  I have reproduced it for you and it is below.  I honored the pledges that I made to the voters back in the 1999 Mayor’s race, and this editorial  acknowledges that.  You can be sure I will also honor my pledges as your next County Supervisor!

The Modesto Bee

Sunday, April 9, 2000

OPINIONS

 So How Has He Done So Far?

 Many politicians wrap their campaigns in promises of change, but few specialize in follow­through after they’re elected. Carmen Sabatino is an exception.

We have assessed the Modesto mayor’s first 100 days on the job, and it’s no overstatement to say that he’s changed the complexion, and direction, of Modesto government.

Since taking office in January, the new mayor has addressed his central campaign promises with vigor. And Sabatino’s leadership, both in style and substance, contrasts sharply with that of his predecessor, Dick Lang.

Last fall, Sabatino won office on a return-to-basics platform: Repair crumbling roads, stabilize the city’s budget and refocus the City Council on open government.

Although it is too soon for definitive conclusions, he has made progress on all three pledges. Staff members are studying the condition of both city roads and the street maintenance budget. And Sabatino said he will ask the council for a 25 percent boost in street-repair spending, with the money to be siphoned from city operations of lower priority.

On the fiscal front, a Sabatino-appointed panel of accountants has scoured Modesto’s fmancial records and expects to armounce its findings soon. We anticipate a clear and constructive analysis.

Sabatino has infused City Council meetings with candor, as well. Gone is the impression that most of the council’s decisions coalesce behind closed doors. Now, council policy debates­questions and quarrels, doubts and disagreements-are laid bare for all the public to see.

The frankness is refreshing, but it has its trade-offs. One of the knocks on Sabatino is that he sends too many harsh words careening through the council chamber. Some constituents fear that the disrespectful public exchanges among council members may leave the council too fragmented to be effective. Must not the wheels turn in the same direction if the cart is to move forward?

Of course, the reconfigured council is still learning to work together, and Sabatino still is adapting to his role as driver of the cart.

Already, he has begun to steer public policy in wholly new directions. The most striking example, perhaps, is his pursuit of district elections and term limits for council members (another of his campaign promises). The transformation of how, and for how long, council members are elected would require Modestans to approve a change in the City Charter.

With Lang as mayor, the issue wouldn’t have seen the light of a public vote. Last year, a committee appointed to review the City Charter essentially sidestepped the question of whether to elect council members by geographic districts. Political insiders of all stripes believe the committee was carefully stacked against consensus for such sweeping changes to the status quo.

Yet in February, Sabatino forced a council vote on his vision of district elections (six districts with a citywide mayor) and term limits (eight years). The cOlmcil rebuffed him 4-3 (and we, too, opposed the proposal), but Sabatino generated enough momentum that his supporters soon will circulate petitions to put the issue on the November ballot.

In another veer from precedent, the new mayor has challenged Stanislaus County over partnerships that he deems tilted in the county’s favor. Most prominently, Sabatino has blasted an arrangement under which Modesto pays the county $400,000 in annual rent for land under a joint project that converts solid waste to electricity. Why not simply buy a half-interest in the property from the county and halt the rent stream, Sabatino asked. Why not indeed?

Lang, whose fall campaign was managed by county Supervisor Ray Simon, probably would never have risked antagonizi ng the county this way.

But Sabatino is not tethered to-nor is he personally or politically invested in-past council policies (good or bad). And that is a plus in a community that desperately needs to focus on, and plan for, the future.

At the same time, Sabatino’s wholesale dismissiveness of the past-and of his longer-serving colleagues-is counterproductive.

The mayor ascribes the frequent council infighting to a post-election power play. “The big-time players (in the community) want to get some signals about where the power is on the council,” he said. “And the incumbents are trying to show that they have the power.”

Sabatino himself may be doing the same thing.

In any case, the mayor has built good relationships with city staff members, and he needs to duplicate that success with his colleagues on the council-as well as with new City Manager Jack Crist, who reports to work April 17.

Crist’s hiring was a bloom of rare lmanimity on a council that often has as many opinions as it does members. (Asked recently if the council unanimously agrees on anything these days, Councilwoman Kenni Friedman quipped, “the minutes.”)

But while Crist could well be a unifying force, the council ultimately bears the responsibility for synchronizing the wheels of government.

That is not to discourage council members from disagreeing over the best course for any given city policy. Disparate views are particularly constructive when they flush out all sides of an Issue.

But we calion Sabatino, as the council’s leader, to set a tone of diplomacy on the council, much as he has set a tone of openness.

And, as the Northern San Joaquin Valley becomes more cooperatively and regionally focused, the council must extend a similar courtesy to Stanislaus County, as well as to other cities and counties. Challenging the equity of partnerships is welcome when merited, but statesmanship remains vital to cultivating trust and goodwill.

Just as the mayor can set a diplomatic tone as head of the council, he can shape a climate that encourages council members to think big and think ahead. Repairing roads is a basic function of government and obviously must be done. But a preoccupation with routine operations will not

Ii ft this good community into something truly great. Only bold plans and a willingness to take calculated risks can do that.

On that front, Sabatino has begun to advance some strong ideas, including bundling the proposed performing arts center with other amenities, such as a museum, !MAX theater and riverfront development. We urge the mayor and council members to continue contemplating plans of this type and scope.

One hundred days into the Sabatino administration, we are hopeful about what the mayor and council might achieve, cooperatively, in the next 100 days and well beyond.

There is a better way- and I proved that during the four years that I served as Mayor of Modesto.  In my four years as Mayor, we delivered four balanced budgets, while putting more police officers on the beat.

The special interest groups organize and put pressure on elected officials – and they usually get their way.  It’s time that you – the beleaguered taxpayer – has a champion in government.  I did it once, and I can do it again. 

Working together, we, the citizens, can put Stanislaus County back on a stable financial footing.

Let’s get going in the right direction!

Carmen Sabatino,

Mayor of Modesto 2000-2004