As a fan of Netflix’s House of Cards and its vicious power grabbing couple Francis and Claire Underwood, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate metaphor to describe the current state of politics in Moreno Valley. This week California Attorney General Kamala Harris, gave a group of concerned citizens permission to sue the city over the council’s appointment of Yxstian Gutierrez to the empty council seat formerly held by Marcelo Co who resigned and has since plead guilty to taking a $2.36 million bribe.
The citizens argued that the city violated the Brown Act and open meeting laws when it appointed Gutierrez without public input or discussion and that Gutierrez’s home was not part of the district in 2010 when Co was elected. However in 2011 when boundaries where changed to reflect the new census, his home became part of the district. The residents said the 2010 boundaries should still apply.
According to AG Harris, “The voters within the old boundaries were the ones who elected the council member for that term, not the voters of the part of the new district that lies outside those boundaries… In sum, it appears to us that the district boundaries used when the former council member was elected are to be used for the remainder of his or her unexpired term when filling his or her vacancy.”
Like my fellow HOC aficionados I will continue watching the Moreno Valley House of Cards political theater to see if it will be a sudden collapse or a gradual tumble.