Cotati letterhead used to blast stimulus

<p>Using a city letterhead, new Cotati City Councilman George Barich on Wednesday shared his dim view of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package with the president.</p><p>Barich sent an e-mail to Obama with an attached letter saying the $819 billion package is fiscally irresponsible and will plunge the country further into crisis.</p><p>The councilman said he had been refused city stationery for the purpose by City Manager Dianne Thompson, so he created his own version of the letterhead.</p><p>The two-page letter decries any increase in the national debt and says creating government jobs is a step in the wrong direction. Barich said he wrote it as a counterpoint to one signed by Councilwoman Pat Gilardi in December supporting elements of the stimulus package.</p><p>That letter, which endorsed the parts of the stimulus package intended to assist local governments, was on stationery from county Supervisor Mike Kerns’ office and was signed by a number of mayors and Kerns himself.</p><p>Barich said he asked other council members to support his position but none did. He described the letter as a “personal letter from one civic leader, elected by the people, to the Commander in Chief of our nation.”</p><p>“No other issue will impact the future of our city more than this one,” Barich wrote in an e-mail to colleagues. “Together, or individually as city leaders, we have an awesome responsibility to stand up and be counted at this historic point in our town’s history.”</p><p>Barich’s letter drew angry reaction from at least one city resident at a City Council meeting Wednesday.</p><p>Jeanine Johnson said she was disappointed that Barich used city letterhead despite the city manager’s refusal to give it to him.</p><p>“What were you thinking?” Johnson said. “I’m so disappointed.”</p><p>Contact Staff Writer Paul Payne at 762-7297 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.</p>