October 15, 2007

The Sabatino Report

Some heard it first on the Morning Mayor Show on KMPH 840 AM at 10.

The U.S. Supreme Court tosses out City Council appeal

After seven years and the spending of over $2 million in taxpayer money, we will have district elections.

The question is will it be the Sabatino proposal or the Zagaris plan.

Below is an excerpt from the Modesto Bee in April of 2000 on the first 100 days of Mayor Carmen Sabatino’s administration.

”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 council 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.”

From today’s Modesto Bee

“Now the fight gets tossed back into the Stanislaus County courtroom of Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne. Beauchesne in March 2005 had originally ruled the voting rights act violated constitutional equal protection guarantees.”

JudgeBeauchesne signed the Search Warrant for the charges filed against  Mayor Carmen Sabatino.