Cotati council votes to censure Barich

<p>The Cotati City Council has voted to censure one of its own.</p><p>Councilman George Barich will receive a “letter of disapproval” condemning his recent conduct, which included the unauthorized use of city stationery to write President Obama and posting a racially charged picture on his personal Web site.</p><p>Mayor John Guardino said Barich acted unilaterally in crafting a letter objecting to Obama’s stimulus package and showed a lack of discretion in posting a picture of himself in an Afro wig and black makeup.</p><p>“I think that Mr. Barich’s actions have been insensitive and culturally inappropriate,” Guardino said during a council meeting late Wednesday.</p><p>Barich said the official rebuke, which would include no actual penalties, was “ridiculous and unbelievable.” He said it was within his First Amendment rights to post anything he wanted on his Web site.</p><p>“I feel the council is heading down into dangerous territory,” Barich said.</p><p>Lawyers with expertise in municipal affairs said the action has few long-term implications.</p><p>“It’s very uncommon,” said Neal Costanzo, a longtime city attorney in the Central Valley towns of Chowchilla and Selma. “It doesn’t really have any teeth other than the fact that it’s likely to impair the public perception of this elected official.”</p><p>The council voted 4-1 authorizing Guardino to draft a letter that could be approved at a future council meeting. The panel said their intent was not to censure Barich but to say “no” to his conduct.</p><p>City Attorney Rich Rudnansky said censure is reserved for violations of law, involves punishment and isn’t appropriate for incidents that could raise free speech issues.</p><p>But other legal experts agreed the difference between the council’s action and censure was purely a matter of semantics. “Reprimand and censure are the same,” said John Flitner, a Sonoma County municipal lawyer since the mid-1960s.</p><p>The decision came after a lengthy public hearing at which a number of Barich supporters criticized the pending measure, which had been brewing for several weeks.</p><p>Before the meeting about a dozen people protested outside City Hall, carrying signs including “Barich for mayor” and “Restore a sense of humor in Cotati.”</p><p>Barich has said his Web site photo was a harmless picture from a Halloween event when he dressed as a soul singer.</p><p>But on Wednesday critics said the incident was not funny. A group of residents is trying to get a Barich recall measure on the November ballot.</p><p>In a previous meeting, members of the local chapter of the NAACP said the blog was racist and demanded that Barich resign.</p><p>Councilwoman Janet Orchard, who has been the most outspoken council critic of the blackface incident, said Barich’s behavior cast the city in a bad light.</p><p>“We’re not on Saturday Night Live,” Orchard said. “We’re city council members.”</p>