From Minivan to Maserati: Why We Must Watchdog Our Elected Officials

President Truman’s words of wisdom still ring true today. At the Federal level, it’s difficult to monitor the gained wealth of those elected officials because of the propensity by American voters to elect wealthy individuals into office. However, at the local level, it is somewhat easier to track the happenings of our elected officials.

We see our city council members in our community, eating at restaurants, attending school events, shopping at the local grocery store. In general, the average resident does not pay that much close attention to their council members. The hope is that we do not have to pay close attention! We like to think that these individuals have the best interests of the City in mind and that they govern ethically. But Tracy residents cannot be so laissez faire.     

Tracy City Council’s Ethics Struggles

It says something about a City when it takes a San Joaquin County Grand Jury and Judge to force the city council to adopt a “Code of Conduct” because of actions by its elected members. To know one’s surprise, Council Member Veronica Vargas was at the heart of the Grand Jury’s investigation. In 2017, a local resident became concerned with conflict of interest issues Vargas’ had between her then employer’s development efforts in Tracy and her role as an elected official. (It’s again worth noting that the FPPC investigation into Vargas’ actions is still pending.)

The Grand Jury thought it serious enough to investigate the matter further and, coupled with the amount of public animosity demonstrated between the council members during public meetings, to “…determine if the adoption of an Ethics Policy could provide the necessary guidance to help avoid such missteps, real or perceived, from occurring in the future.” In short, the Grand Jury determined that the lack of any adopted ethics policy in Tracy was problematic and needed to be adopted.

In April 2017, the Tracy City Council voted 3-2 to reject the adoption of a then proposed ethics policy. It shouldn’t come as a shock that Veronica Vargas was the deciding vote against adopting the policy, even though she was the council member who proposed that staff draft a policy in the first place. According to the Tracy Press article, “Vargas said she felt the proposal infringed on her ability to vote on issues as an elected representative.” Read the article here.

It wasn’t until October of 2019 that the City adopted its “Code of Conduct” policy.

It took the City a year following the Grand Jury report and direction of Hon. Linda Lofthus, Presiding Judge San Joaquin County Superior Court to adopt the policy. There are many questions as to why it took the City of Tracy to adopt such policy but, in short, it comes down to the City’s lack of desire to do anything until forced to do so. It shouldn’t have to be that way but that is why the citizens must pay attention to its elected officials and City’s actions.

Here is the City’s Code of Conduct policy that we encourage you to read.

Our obligation to watchdog our elected officials

There are good people on Tracy’s city council. However, even good people do bad things. Tracy is in a continual struggle to define itself. Certain wealthy individuals want the city to become ‘their’ vision of Tracy. They are using their money and influence to persuade the city council to act on their behalf. It is important that we watch our council members to make certain they are not gaining financially from these lobbying and backroom deals. So keep an eye out for elected officials going from minivans to Maseratis!