City of Cotati Leaving Us Vulnerable

Are you happy with the City of Cotati board members? One would like to think that they are doing the bidding for our city. Our city is already bankrupt and their duties should consider that when making decisions. Unfortunately, we have a board who voted yes, knowing in advance that the California Supreme Court voted to eliminate the RDA funds allocated to all of California. Well, our board decided that they were going to allocate 3.5 million dollars in RDA funds, knowing full well that they were most likely not going to see that money.

As I have mentioned before, I live in Cotati and have noticed the blatant disregard for the views of our citizens. Yet, it is very obvious that they allow people who have contracts from outside our city to speak freely and as long as they like. Cotati citizens are fed up. We are not being heard by the very people we place in authority. Something has got to change. Cotati no longer employs volunteers to clear the brush away from creeks(such as Laguna. It took about three months to get someone to come and wack the trees and grass. In fact, after they cleaned it, they left trees for weeks with no one coming out. It got to the point that the trees were dead and could easily start a fire. My condo is very close to the creek. Finally, they were removed, but it was not a easy chore. I was advised that this happens all over Cotati.

My other pet peeve as you might notice is the fact that they do not enforce rules and regulations. Too many times have I heard stories of dogs not on leashes and many times attack other dogs who are on leashes. I cannot blame the dog on all instances as it is up to the owner to keep their dog on a leash at all times, unless there is no one around. I have experienced this myself, but there was no cop to be found. Even if I did call a cop, the event was over and the person would probably deny it anyway because the cop did not see it. My other issue concerning dogs is the fact that there are many dog owners who do not pick up after their dogs and when these laws are not enforced, more dog owners do it as they see no consequence.

Does the City of Cotati know that they are putting us at risk? Do they know we only have one police officer on duty per hour? It really irritates me when they visit the bars each evening and rarely if ever swing by the condos and apartments for a drive around to make sure everything is ok. My condo experienced a series of car break in's. I spoke to several cops about adding patrol at night. I was told both times they would swing by. They never did. The people of Cotati can not rely on the police. It is a sad state of affairs. Instead we have our city council who live in other places except for Cotati, who receive funds for a car to drive. This is money we don't have.

I really believe we need to have people who not only have property in Cotati, but they must have lived here for 5 years to be able to serve on our board. If anyone in Cotati believes our board members have done a good job, I would like to hear from you. I believe we need a recall effort to remove all of them and to let us have our city back. Yes, it will cost $24,000, but it is nothing in comparison to the silly decisions such as the roundabout which would have cost us 3.5 million.

I encourage you to visit my website at http://cotatipooppatrol.webstarts.com.