English Should Resign Planning Commission Seat
Alice English should not be a Planning Commissioner.
She is both unfit and unqualified to serve on such a powerful city commission that makes crucial decisions and recommendations regarding future development in Tracy.
English built her reputation as a watchdog of city hall, advocating for her stance on issues, challenging those who oppose her, and accumulating political enemies along the way, including being escorted out of a city council hearing by Tracy PD for disruptive behavior.
Every community has an Alice English, and in many respects, every community needs an Alice English; an unwatched government is a dangerous one.
But this edgy and controversial role doesn’t mean Alice English should be appointed to a leadership position in the city.
Alice English is a community gadfly, not a community leader. She instigates chaos and disruption rather than thoughtfully advancing Tracy.
Community Gadfly English cannot separate herself from Planning Commissioner English.
English attends nearly every city council meeting. Depending on the city’s stance on an issue, she confronts any elected official or city staff who oppose her views. This undermines any belief that she will assess planning matters fairly and impartially.
Dan Arriola is the primary target of English’s most recent attacks; however, Steve Abercrombie and Dotty Nygard have also felt her pressure.
English spent years criticizing former Councilmembers Veronica Vargas, Nancy Young, and Rhodesia Ransom, among others.
She has also confronted and tried to intimidate other residents and speakers who have taken different positions from her.
It’s who she is – an attack dog lacking constructive ideas.
Even this publication became a target of her rage after it began calling out the misdeeds of her allies at City Hall.
TRACY CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE ENGLISH ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION MAKING CRITICAL DECISIONS, THEN TURNING AROUND AND ATTACKING COUNCIL AND CITY STAFF AT EVERY MOVE
English cannot have it both ways.
Either she is an independent-minded Planning Commissioner focused on improving the community in a positive, logical, and collaborative manner, or she is an angry Community Gadfly.
Based on her history, it’s clear that she is only the latter.
For this reason, she should resign from her position on the planning commission, or the city council should act to remove her.
ALICE ENGLISH’S APPOINTMENT WAS A STRATEGIC POLITICAL MOVE BY COUNCILMAN DAN EVANS
In his effort to exert control over the city’s local government, Councilman Dan Evans spearheaded the appointment of Alice English to the important Planning Commission.
He did so, knowing she lacked the background, experience, and temperament to be an effective planning commissioner.
It was a political appointment intended to improve her chances of winning a seat on the city council.
Because Evans, along with Mateo Bedolla and Eleassia Davis, controlled the majority of the votes on the city council, her appointment was guaranteed.
Tracy lacks effective criteria for commission appointments that can be implemented, unlike those in other cities.
An untrained but belligerent gadfly lacks the background and demeanor to be an effective leader. Certainly, her repeated defeats when running for city council confirm that the community understands her lack of qualities necessary to be effective as a public official.
Tracy is striving to move forward after the Bijal Patel disaster created by Evans and Bedolla (remember they refused to accept her resignation as city attorney).
To continue progressing, it needs to remove Alice English from the Tracy Planning Commission.