How and why Hughson is in disarray

So many allegations are made at Hughson City Council Chambers these days it’s hard to keep track. Accusations and counter-accusations fly like ordnance and no one is immune.
Even Janet Rasmussen, chief of Hughson Police Services, is subject to rumor. David Whiteside is no longer a candidate for city manager pro tempore. Joe Donabed is technically still city manager, but in all likelihood a lame duck.
And speaking of lame ducks, City Engineer David Chase hasn’t been seen for weeks, if not months. City staffers say much more will be revealed about Chase and Donabed, adding that they can’t talk on the record just yet.
Meanwhile the crowd is getting into it. Council chambers was packed last Monday, the first time since the water tank controversy erupted in ’06. For me it was exciting to see citizens finally get involved. Usually people won’t consider a council item unless it hits their pocketbooks. And you can’t blame them. City council meetings are often uninspiring at best. But now we’re seeing a genuine concern for the city.
And how did it all start? Months ago, people started talking and sending emails, saying councilmen Thomas Crowder, Ben Manley and Doug Humphreys were planning to get rid of Donabed, Chase, Rasmussen and City Clerk Mary Hemminger. Hemminger apparently foresaw the chaos to come and decided to resign. Sources say the councilmen wanted to replace her with Lisa Whiteside, city employee and wife of David.
Then I started noticing more and more animosity between Donabed and the three. Crowder in particular, seemed to question everything Donabed did. The three also asked a lot about City Attorney John Stovall; how much he was charging for his services and so forth. Crowder wondered how much city staff was spending on coffee, Cantrell’s retirement benefits and pizzas. Votes on various issues were either unanimous or 3-2, with Mayor Ramon Bawanan and Councilman Matt Beekman in the minority. Every Monday night there were closed sessions after the regular council meetings. Then there were closed session before and after the regular council meetings. I began seeing that contract negotiations between the council and Donabed were the subject of these closed sessions. Then I heard David Chase had his water treatment license revoked by the state. Then David Chase disappeared. Doug Gorman, Operating Engineers union rep, started showing up at council meetings. Whiteside started showing up. Donabed disappeared. Next thing I know, Thom Clark, building and planning director/parks and recreation manager, was also acting city manager. Dominique Spinale, management analyst, became deputy city clerk. No one has replaced David Chase yet.    
I’ve been told a city employee took a hard drive home from work. An IT guy noticed it and called the sheriff. Another source claims Donabed audio and videotaped his employees and the city council without permission. Along those lines, former planning commissioner Candice Steelman said prior to a Jan. 12 closed session, that Humphreys and Crowder were accidentally tape recorded as they stood waiting in city council chambers. They had been excused from the closed session due to conflict of interest. They started conversing with Debbie Paul, city finance director. They didn't realize the city clerk’s audio tape was still rolling because the meeting had not yet adjourned.
“In short, it was a conversation not worthy of members of
a city council,” Steelman stated.
Steelman said Humphreys asked Crowder if council members are “grooming people for dismissal.” Crowder replied that “heads will roll” through the efforts of himself, Humphreys and Manley.
Another source said Bawanan had all the locks changed at city hall without notifying staff. On Nov. 10, Stovall told the council he'd been summoned to testify before the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury. I asked him what for, he said he didn’t know, but he did know he couldn’t talk about it.
The city got a letter from a Fresno attorney representing Donabed, seeking evidence and data from records; this after Crowder told the Chronicle in April, “I do have the prerogative to ask for clarification and seek the truth in some things that have been alleged to our city administration and this is willful misconduct on their part.”
According to Donabed, the matter of complaint investigation into the affairs of the city and any department thereof or complaints concerning the administration of the city government is the duty of the city manager by law. He added that Hughson Municipal Code requires the council to deal with the administrative services of the city only through the city manager except for inquiry.
Donabed said since hearing the general allegations and since there were no specifics to what Crowder was referencing, “and in an effort to maintain confidence in our local government and to ensure transparency in government as I am entrusted to do, I believe it is important to investigate these allegations and to seek the assistance of a body that is not connected to the City of Hughson.”
Donabed said he would be seeking an appointment to discuss the matter with the civil grand jury. He will also be requesting the jurors’ involvement in assisting with the investigation with the ultimate goal of ensuring open, honest and credible city government.
“In fact I support any committee, either the civil grand jury or a committee of the city council to seek and find the truth in all cases where allegations are made, against city administration or elected officials,” Crowder said after hearing about it. “The important thing is to get an unbiased investigation into whether alleged actions or failure to take action was properly documented and handled in a manner consistent with the law which protects the interest of the city.”
With all that in mind, Bawanan directed city staff to look to the League of California Cities for a temporary city manager. This after Clark had been doing the same for a temporary city clerk. At any rate, the council could be taking the final vote on Donabed’s fate at the Nov. 23 meeting, this after giving him 30 days notice and suspending him for 30 days, effective Oct. 23.