Politics & Government

City Council Votes to Amend Code of Ethics

The City Council voted to amend their Code of Ethics and Values by abolishing the enforcement provision, and further discussed translating their legal advertising into Spanish.

An assortment of topics consumed Watsonville's City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, ranging from a discussion over removing the enforcement provision from the council's Code of Ethics and Values, to accommodating the city's Hispanic population by translating their legal advertising into Spanish.

Removing enforcement provisions from the council's code of ethics is an item that came up after city councilman earlier this month.

City councilman Lowell Hurst was the lone dissenter on the issue, being the only member to vote against amending the code.

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“My concern is we're sweeping enforcement and values under the rug and people have felt burned,” Hurst said. “To take the teeth out of the values and ethics code is probably a mistake and I think we should reconsider it.”

Mayor Daniel Dodge disagreed with Hurst, arguing that a code of ethics is not needed, period.

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“I believe that as council members that we should be responsible for our own actions, and I don't believe that we need a code of ethics, so I'm not going to be supporting this message,” Dodge said.

City councilwoman Nancy Bilicich sided with Dodge, reasoning that an amended code of ethics could be implemented later.

“I'm torn on this whole thing because I'd like to see people treat each other with respect, but I haven't seen this,” Bilicich said. “I think I'm going to go with you Mayor Dodge – we can implement this later if needed.”

Toward the end of the meeting the council discussed with the Santa Cruz Sentinel or Watsonville Register-Pajaronian – a topic that  quickly became another issue altogether after resident Maria Pérez asked the council to add Spanish translations to their predominantly English advertising.

“The one thing that concerns me is the access to information for the community,” Pérez said. "I would like for [the legal advertising] to be translated into Spanish, not just English, whichever paper you chose.”

Pérez said 40 percent of the Watsonville population is Spanish speaking, and that they're ill-informed about important matters because city documents are infrequently translated.

“Four out of 10 people don't know about what legal matters are being dealt with. They don't know what issues are being discussed. How would they know if they get taken advantage of?” Pérez said. “This has been a struggle for the Hispanic population since 1986, and 25 years later I'm here saying this.”

Councilman Emilio Martinez reacted positively, agreeing that Spanish translations are needed, and motioned for advertising with the Register-Pajaronian – which would cost around a couple thousand dollars less – so they could afford Spanish translations.

“If I were going to incur more costs, I'd want it to be in Spanish.” Martinez said. “If we're going to spend an extra dollar here, let's stay with the Pajaronian and spend that extra money to have it in Spanish.”

City manager Carlos Palacios said that translating their advertising into Spanish would mean double the costs.

“We need a cost estimate, [and] cost of translation also,” Palacios said. “I would suggest that that portion come back because that portion's not on the bid.”

The council later agreed to advertise with both the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Register-Pajaronian. Their next meeting will be held on July 12th, when the council will be discussing the installation of smart meters.

Residents also brought up the topics of smart meters and fluoridating Watsonville's drinking water at Tuesday's meeting. Below is a synopsis of what they said.

Watsonville resident Nick Bulaich, who is an avid opponent of the , asked the council to verify the supposed benefits of fluoride at Tuesday's meeting.

“A lot of cities are fluoridating and they're experiencing very high tooth decay rates, and no one wants to touch that,” Bulaich said. “You, as council members, should be asking, 'Why do these areas have such high rates of tooth decay?'”

Marilyn Garrett, a resident, long-time activist and opponent of , expressed medical concerns that she says stem from smart meters.

“The PG&E so-called smart meters, we're calling cancer meters,” Garrett said. “People have had to leave their homes because of radiation poisoning.”

To view the list of topics discussed at Tuesday's meeting, refer to the agenda.


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