Newsletters: Subscribe | Log in
Petaluma

Torliatt’s candidacy


Published: Friday, November 6, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 5, 2009 at 3:39 p.m.

Editor: “What have you done for the taxpayers of Petaluma lately” is the question voters will pose to Petaluma Mayor Pam Torliatt now that she has announced her plans to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Sonoma County Supervisor Mike Kerns.

During these tough economic times, every candidate seeking this office will run on their record of creating jobs, something Petaluma Mayor Torliatt really can’t do — or at least not so far. Under the mayor’s leadership, jobless numbers and the city’s budget deficit have hit all-time highs, resulting in draconian cuts to public service and city staff. While the mayor can’t be held accountable for all the city’s economic woes, the small business community and the city’s public employee unions have openly questioned whether the mayor truly understands the impact the city’s anti-business reputation and the lack of economic planning is having on keeping and attracting new employers that finance local public safety, parks and other public services cherished by the community. One only has to point to other cities weathering the national recession to see that some of Petaluma’s problems are self-inflicted.

Illustrating this point is the mayor’s mission to derail the Target and Lowe’s retail projects at a time when most major retailers have shelved expansion plans all together. Working with her allies on the City Council, Ms. Torliatt has taken the extraordinary step of firing an entire Planning Commission, one that may have been predisposed to support the projects. According to two studies commissioned by the city, the projects combined would have created more than 1,000 permanent jobs and hundreds of temporary construction jobs, pumping millions of dollars into the local economy and city coffers.

With the June 2010 election a ways off, there is still time for Mayor Torliatt to establish herself as a thoughtful and consensus-oriented leader who facilitated new job opportunities and restored economic stability to city services. If not, voters may judge the mayor on the time she spent saving feral cats and not protecting jobs. The mayor should be reminded that people vote, cats don’t.

Fred Levin, Santa Rosa


Comments

Only moderator-approved comments are shown on this page. To see all comments, please visit the forum.
    Post a comment | View all comments on this topic.
  1. afry says...
    November 6, 2009 1:11:07 pm

    RE: Link

    Mr. Levin, Your off base regarding the feral cats ....Mayor Torliatt did not stand up for them either.

    Report this post

  2. alive says...
    November 7, 2009 6:27:49 am

    Which one of you forum folks wrote this one? Come on, fess up.

    Report this post

  3. Elle says...
    November 7, 2009 2:45:22 pm

    I agree with Mr. Levin on most everything. Personally, I am sick and tired driving out of town for every thing I need other than groceries and a birthday card. After so many years on City Council, Mayor Torliatt needs to be accountable for that - as is David Glass. Huge loss of revenue for this fragile city.

    Mr. Levin's last paragraph about the mayor and feral cats needs to be addressed.

    Both Torliatt and Glass passed a feral cat ordinance in 2004 - when there should never have been any ordinance for feral cats. Period. That was a blatant misuse of tax payers money - passed on false pretense.

    When City of Petaluma decided to build the water recycling plan into wetlands, they negotiated with Fish & Wildlife who objected to the project. Building a state-of-the-art water recycling plan in the wetlands causes huge damage to the wetlands and wildlife. So, Petaluma Council threw in the feral cats into the pot to mitigate the damage. In addition, the City promised to clean and rebuild better wetland areas. They called in the most expensive landscaper in the country. Did you hear about the landscape design of the sald marsh harvest mouse? The eyes of the mouse alone cost tax payers $60,000. Another huge misuse of public funds, and one reason for our water rate increase.

    Coming back to feral cats: Scientific studies clearly established that loss of habitats (such as the water recycling plan) is the primary cause of wildlife depletion - not feral cats nor any other nonnative specie.

    When we learned of the massacre going on in the wetlands (Petaluma killed almost 500 cats the first them month of 2007) we commanded an end to this cruelty. And this is how this mayor and city council, probably afraid of national adverse publicity, tried to pacify a group of feral cat advocates and to prevent us from spreading the stories about Shollenberger Park and Ellis Creek killing fields.

    I could go on and on and there is so much more to tell about this council majority, but I have other things to do. I do want to let you know, Mr. Levin, that Mayor Torliatt did not protect feral cats and onother bad ordinance was voted in October 19. Another loss to this city.

    Report this post

  4. Michael says...
    November 7, 2009 3:30:51 pm

    Fred, you're right, cats can't vote HOWEVER, people do. When you get lied to by the Mayor who promised that there would be a round table discussion between the feral cat advocates and the bird advocates and this promise gets totally ignored, that's something to hold her accountable for.

    The number of feral cats being killed at tax payer expense went up 41% after the 2004 ordnance was put in place, the new ordnance doesn't change that. In other words the city of Petaluma will keep on killing cats at the expense of a city employee's salary.

    Will the voters forget? I certainly hope not.

    Report this post

  5. SocialJustice says...
    November 7, 2009 4:09:58 pm

    seems a little (no considerably) over the top.
    Mr. Levin, Seeing that you are from Santa Rosa, we appreciate you taking the time to write a letter to the editor about our Mayor, but it begs the question, Why? Then I read you are Sonoma Co Taxpayers Asso Executive Director, and you protect us from run-away taxation, hold local government accountable for their spending, review their budgets and monitor expenditures, have saved Sonoma County taxpayers millions of dollars, and your only interest is us, the taxpayers of Sonoma County. WOW this is great. Can you find out and explain to the taxpayers of Petaluma why bullfrogs, red foxes, skunks and raccoons must be exterminated in Petaluma? What are the costs? Who is paying for this? Why the public has no input? Feral Cats, otters, mute swans, who is next on the chopping block, and how much does it cost the taxpayers? The question to Mayor Torliatt can also be asked of Mike Oâ??Brien and Mike Healy, what got done while they were on the City Council? Not Rainier. Should we vote for John King? Thanks for looking out for us.

    Report this post

  6. tnerd says...
    November 10, 2009 9:50:58 pm

    Too much on feral cats. A travesty. It's also verrrry interesting to see what Ms. Torliatt says about the financial situation she leaves Petaluma for larger forums (County!). If only revenue sources - REAL revenue sources - the kinds with $millions - had as much attention as feral cats, green stuff, the asphalt plant.

    Maybe she'll improve if/when she becomes a supervisor....

    Report this post

Next Article in Community-Letters

  • Break from noise

    EDITOR: Before you voice your opinion regarding the conditional use permit to amplify music and extend hours for Aqus Café in Petaluma, the homeowners of that neighborhood would like to express their grievance concerning the current state of noise...