'With Great Sadness' Jeff Wieler Resigns From City Council

PIEDMONT, CA — Piedmont City Councilman Jeff Wieler has resigned from his post in the wake of controversial social media posts he made about Democrats, Black Lives Matter and transgender people.

Wieler, who said he is announcing his resignation "with great sadness" after receiving obscene hate mail and veiled threats of violence, said he will ask City Administrator Paul Benoit to read his letter of resignation at the City Council's next meeting on Tuesday.

Wieler had been Piedmont's mayor until Sunday, when he announced his resignation from that post but said he planned to stay on the City Council until his term expires in November 2018.

The council had been scheduled to have a special meeting on Monday night to consider removing him as mayor, but the meeting was canceled after he announced his resignation from that job. Vice Mayor Bob McBain stepped up to become Piedmont's acting mayor after Wieler resigned from that post.

Benoit said the council will vote next week to elect a new mayor and vice mayor.

Benoit said on Monday that city offices were swamped with angry emails and phone calls after the contents of Wieler's social media postings, which have since been removed, were made public.

In his resignation letter, Wieler said, "Throughout my service on council, I strived to do what was best for Piedmont and tried to be fair and open to everybody's opinions. I challenge people to find a single instance
where my personal opinions affected any vote or action I've taken."

Wieler said, "I want to say I'm proud of the contributions I've made to Piedmont. I helped reform Piedmont's parcel taxes to provide funding for our high quality municipal services and to help retain the skilled people who provide them."

He said, "I've contributed on at least seven civic committees, and spent nearly 12 years on the City Council, missing sessions only when hospitalized."

Wieler said he's written a column in the Piedmont Post for 14 years "with the aim of providing a clear, easily-read discussion of issues facing Piedmont" and "Nobody has ever accused me of inserting personal political biases into any of my hundreds of columns about Piedmont's civic issues."

Wieler said, "The City Council and staff have important issues to deal with, from cell towers to labor negotiations to garbage service. It would be unfair to the city and a personal betrayal of my principles and past
efforts if I allowed this circus to continue distracting residents, the council, and city staff. I also don't need any more obscene hate mail or veiled threats of violence."

He said, "I apologize for helping create this situation. Continuing to fight the situation might make me feel better, but will not help our community."

Benoit and McBain weren't immediately available for comment on the process for selecting someone to replace Wieler on the council.

— Bay City News; Image via Patch Archive

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