40 Reasons to Recall Andrew Hamilton

God flooded the Earth for 40 days and nights. Moses lived for 40 years in Egypt and later spent 40 years in the desert. During that time he spent 40 days and nights on Mt. Sinai. The first 3 Kings of Israel ruled for 40 years each. David defeated Goliath on the 40th day of the combat. Jesus was presented to the Temple when he was 40 days old. Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days. There are 40 days of Lent before Easter.

I could go on, but you get the point. The number of 40 is significant. Generally speaking Biblical scholars believe that 40 (whether days, months, or years) covers a period of tribulation. And we’ve been suffering these past few weeks as I slowly list the behavior and votes of Andrew Hamilton which support the idea that he be recalled.

We began over a month ago listing "A Reason a Day to Recall Andrew Hamilton". Once we reached 20 reasons we paused to see if there were some trends. There were -

• Conduct unbecoming
• Lack of compassion
• Lack of concern for the City and the people
• "Phony" Conservative values
• Conflicts of interest

Now we've had the time to go through and consider 20 more reasons, so it's appropriate to pause and see if the profile is the same. Bear in mind the reasons were never displayed in any particular order (by date, by severity of offense, by amount of money he lost the city) so it's entirely possible for one set of themes discovered in the first 20 to be different from the next.

LACK OF CONCERN FOR THE CITY

First time out we found 7 reasons that reflected this trait. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"As Mayor, Hamilton had the worst record for attending city events. He earned the nickname "Mayor M.I.A." (Click)

In the next set of 20 reasons we found 3 reasons that matched this category. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"Hamilton has the poorest record for offering new ideas during Council meetings (based on “Council Assignment List”). In the first 3 months of 2017 when more than a dozen initiatives were put forward, Hamilton initiated none."

That's a total of 10 reasons or fully 25% of the 40 reasons listed. Quite frankly it's disturbing that someone would occupy a City Council seat and avoid showing up at City events and ribbon cuttings, and avoid offering suggestions during Council meetings.

PHONY CONSERVATIVE VALUES

First time out we found 6 reasons that reflected this trait. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"Hamilton calls himself a “fiscal conservative” yet he voted to spend $250,000 more on street sweeping and the company that gave money to his campaign got the contract instead of the lower bidder (5/19/15). This is how special interests impact our pocketbook."

In the next set of 20 reasons we found 4 reasons that matched this category. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"Hamilton calls himself a “fiscal conservative” yet he refused to vote to ask City staff to cut the fat from the $40,000,000 plus annual budget. Just a 5% reduction would have meant a savings of $2,000,000 per year."

All told, in our first 40 reasons, Hamilton's 10 votes helped waste, spend or otherwise cost the City more than $6,000,000. That's an incredible amount. In many cases his votes appeared to have been stimulated by special interests, pleasing the County Supervisors or companies that gave money to his campaign.

CONDUCT UNBECOMING

First time out we found 4 reasons that reflected this trait. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"As Mayor, Hamilton threatened citizens with Police action because they were talking after Hamilton had ordered that people be silent. Imagine being ordered to be silent when you came to your City Hall to exercise your constitutional rights."

In the next set of 20 reasons we found 5 reasons that matched this category. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"As Mayor, Hamilton ordered residents not to applaud, not so laugh, and not even to speak. He then tried to institutionalize these rules, but fortunately failed (12/15/15). Even his own Gang wasn't prepared to support such harsh measures."

Conduct unbecoming totaled 9 of the first 40 reasons, putting it in 3rd place in terms of frequency.

LACK OF COMPASSION

First time out we found 3 reasons that reflected this trait. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"Hamilton voted against allowing Meals on Wheels to operate from a rarely used room in City Hall. This means that dozens of needy seniors did not get their hot meals. (6/2/15). Hamilton thought it was OK for them to wait 3 years until the new Civic Center gets built. Is this what we expect from our representatives? It would have cost the city $0 to do this, but what a difference it would have made to a few dozen senior citizens."

Included in this category was his vote against a no-kill animal shelter.

In the next set of 20 reasons we didn't find any reasons that matched this category.

PERCEIVED CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

First time out we found 2 reasons that reflected this trait. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"The developers and the building industry spent tens of thousands of dollars to put Hamilton in office and keep him there, and in return Hamilton voted 100% of the time for any proposal that added extra homes or bedrooms to the City, even when those proposals were opposed by staff and or the residents."

In the next set of 20 reasons we found 5 reasons that matched this category. Perhaps the most serious one was -

"Hamilton voted against prohibiting city contractors from giving money to Council candidates. (2/3/15) He gets $$$$ from these companies and votes to give them contracts and contract extensions, even though this seems morally and ethically wrong."

This category totals 7 of the first 40 reasons.

JUST PLAIN DUMB

In the list reasons #21 to #40, three (3) of them didn't fit conveniently into the categories already identified. These were -

• "Hamilton voted against creating a Traffic Commission (2/7/17) even though everyone knows how much traffic and parking are residents’ concerns, and even though many of our neighboring cities have Traffic Commissions."
• "Hamilton voted against allowing residents to decide whether or not Council members should get pay raises. (3/7/2017)"
• "Even though we are very busy and sometimes go beyond 11 pm in our meetings, Hamilton voted to eliminate 2 Council meetings in 2017 (9/20/16). Thankfully I got the Council to agree to keep the meetings."

SUMMARY

So here we have them.

6 categories of votes and behaviors that should not be seen in a City Council person.

1. Lack of concern for the City and the people - 10
2. "Phony" Conservative values - 10
3. Conduct unbecoming - 9
4. Conflicts of interest - 7
5. Lack of compassion - 3
6. Just plain dumb - 3

FWIW - the total is more than 40 since some votes/behavior counted in more than 1 category.

This is an incredible list and something no public official should have as his record. Next time we'll continue with more reasons. When we exhaust the list we'll start a qualitative analysis.