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Trees Over Children
One of the reasons Transparent Tracy was started is that the average resident is too busy - too busy with their families, their jobs, their commutes, etcetera - to have to then also monitor the happenings at City Hall. The majority of people don’t want or have time to attend planning commission meetings or city council meetings. The meetings are boring and long. Items are deliberately placed on the agenda in a deceptive way. The problem though is that decisions are being made in these meetings that either directly or indirectly impact everyone’s lives in Tracy. Sure, some decisions are bigger than others, but they all matter to some degree. Take the issue over Measure V funding as an example.
At one of the recent city council meetings, the allocation of Measure V funding was a key agenda item. Measure V is the half-cent sales tax that voters approved to fund major city projects, such as Legacy Fields. As you see below, the projects the council discussed funding have been ongoing for years. The aquatic center funding or lack of funding has been going on for 15+ years.
City Council eventually agreed with Council Member Dan Arriola’s recommendation to prioritize funding for Legacy Fields. This decision is sensible because it prioritizes the needs of our youth. Little league and youth baseball are popular in Tracy. Parks where children can play sports and be active are a necessity in Tracy. Tracy also needs an aquatic center and rec center for our City’s children. But this is where things get interesting and also back to our main point.
In the Tracy Press’ article, “Council puts Legacy Fields as top Measure V priority” article of the Tracy Press, the paper made a passing yet significant reference to funding for a nature park. Read the full article. Here’s the excerpt –
It should of no surprise that the council member who brought-up and supported this recommendation to divert a significant portion of the Measure V funding from youth activities is none other than Veronica Vargas. Transparent Tracy can neither confirm nor deny whether Vargas is a park loving outdoors woman. But what we can confirm is that the main proponents of the Nature Park are Vargas’ close friends and supporters, Mary and Pete Mitrocas.
Without a doubt, the Mitrocas’ brought their desire for the Nature Park to Vargas, who has then made it her priority to secure funding for the estimated $50 million cost for the park, plus an annual maintenance fee of $1 million. She even put the Nature Park issue on the agenda in February of this year where the City adopted a master plan for the project. When the discussion of funding came about, Vargas’ minion City Manager Jenny Haruyama jumped in. The Tracy Press reported –
Haruyama does Vargas’ dirty work by recommending that a capital facility project be added to the City’s Capital Improvement Program even when the capital improvement costs for the project are unknown. Who does business like that? This only happens with insider dealing and backroom deals. As we pointed out earlier Vargas tipped the scales in favor of Haruyama getting appointed city manager, see the article here, and now Haruyama is paying back the debt.
Much like Vargas did with the Downtown TOD Specific Plan funding, she got another project tee’d-up for taxpayer funding to benefit her interests.
Vargas doesn’t care if the aquatic center or rec center ever get funded and built. Neither of those projects benefit her clients or friends. She doesn’t bat an eye in working to divert millions of dollars to fund the Nature Park. Pete Mitrocas wants trees, then Vargas will make the children and community skip baseball during the Spring and swimming during the Summer. It’s trees over children for her.
This is why we’re keeping focus on this master manipulator of Tracy City Hall. This is why we’re watching, researching and informing the community. The elected City Council should put the community first, not their private interests.