Council critics played politics with city manager

Council critics played politics with city manager

Having lived in Thousand Oaks for 33 years, I feel comfortable saying that I have never seen the supporters of an outgoing city employee behave so poorly. The same old group of people who go to the city council meetings to politicize everything have spent the last month running offensive and inaccurate newspaper ads trying to destroy the good reputations of their political rivals.

These people show no regard for the people of Thousand Oaks or the gravity of the situation. They see every issue that comes before the council as a means to attack council members just because they see things differently. Not wrong, just different.

Councilmembers Dennis Gil-lette, Jacqui Irwin and Andy Fox make the hard decisions as good leaders always do. As a business owner I know that making personnel changes is never easy for anyone—especially when someone has been around as long as the city manager has.

It was obvious to even the most casual observer that Gillette, Irwin and Fox were trying to spare Mr. Gatch any embarrassment. The usual group of single-minded troublemakers are the ones making this a political issue. It’s not, it’s a personnel issue.

I support and respect Dennis Gillette, Jacqui Irwin and Andy Fox in their efforts to keep our city the great city we all love and as employers to effectively handle personnel issues for the best interests of us all.

Patti Neyman

Thousand Oaks