Follow us
Vargas Is Making the Rounds for the Westside Specific Plan
A source inside City Hall tells us that embattled City Council Member Veronica Vargas is working hard to secure a third vote for the Westside Specific Plan, targeting specifically Councilman Arriola. Vargas knows there isn’t majority support for Sandhu’s Plan to build massive warehouses at the gateway to Tracy. She needs a third vote and believes that Arriola will move her way.
But what is more concerning is that Vargas still believes that her conflict of interest with Patterson Petroleum will no longer prevent her from voting on the matter starting in 2022. (Read more about it here.) Based on her public comments, we can infer that her contract with the company is coming to an end. However, with Vargas’ habitual unethical behavior as an elected official in Tracy, does anyone remotely believe that she is telling the truth?
Vargas is seeking to secure Arriola's vote.
Vargas’ Trumark Homes and Surland Companies’ Controversy
To help answer that question, we should start at what led Vargas to be found guilty by the FPPC this past May (read more here), in her scandal with Trumark Homes and Surland regarding the Ellis development. Vargas worked for Trumark Homes when she was elected to Tracy City Council. Trumark wanted to buy land to develop homes in Surland’s Ellis project. Vargas, in turns out, was acting the mediator in the negotiations both as an employee of Trumark and as an elected official of Tracy.
Vargas worked hard to cover her blatant conflict of interest issue regarding Trumark Homes. She sent emails to the City Manager asking to be removed from any correspondence, etc. But then she turned around and sent emails to the city from her Trumark Homes email account asking specific questions about the project. She even went as far as attending meetings between the city, Trumark and Surland. As a local developer in Tracy, Surland stood to benefit from making Council Member Vargas happy, as developers know it pays to have friends on council, and if the City Manager didn’t have an issue with it, then why should they.
The word of Vargas’ conflict issue with Trumark Homes eventually was brought to light by local attorney Steve Nicolaou, who reviewed emails from a public request and then filed an ethics complaint with the FPPC. (Read more about it here.) The Ellis deal never came to fruition for Vargas, Trumark and Surland. The reasoning behind why it didn’t come together are unknown. However, it’s safe to say that no one would believe Vargas or the developers anyway, so the reasons don’t really matter!
Vargas’ Unethical Behavior Cannot Go Unchecked
Vargas should not be allowed to vote on the Westside Specific Plan. Once a conflict of interest, always a conflict of interest. Interim City Manager Robert Adams should be on full notice not to trust her. She has been associated with, pandered to, and brokered deals on behalf of nearly every major developer in Tracy, including the Westside Specific Plan property owner Mike Sandhu. Tracy residents must continue to call for transparency on Vargas’ business dealings, particularly as it relates to the major development projects like the Westside and Downtown TOD Specific Plans. A small fine by the FPPC will not deter Veronica Vargas from moving her agenda forward. Tracy residents beware!
Vargas and Sandhu