The misdirection conspiracy (September 20, 2016)
Mayor Stanton’s letter to the editor shows yet again why we need new leadership in the Town of Apple Valley, as she misunderstands and misstates almost every issue on which she touches (Puckett dedicated public servant,
Daily Press, September 20, 2016).
The report issued by the Citizens for Government Accountability was not an attack on Marc Puckett, but rather a look into the checkered work history of someone even Mayor Stanton implies is a key person on Town staff.
As for Mr. Puckett’s professionalism, Mayor Stanton needs to pay closer attention. How about when Puckett made a $12 million error on the offer to buy Ranchos Water Company? Thank goodness a concerned citizen caught that. How about the time when a concerned citizen asked where the missing commercial warrants were, and Mr. Puckett criticized her for inventing problems out of thin air? Maybe Mayor Stanton missed it a month or so later when Mr. Puckett finally tracked down those missing commercial warrants and finally made them public. And how about the hundreds of thousands of dollars of credit card charges that don’t appear on the warrant registers? Or all the wire transfers that are kept secret from the public? Or any of the other numerous counting and math errors that come out of his office? I know Mayor Stanton has been in the room when Mr. Puckett has lashed out at members of the community with false accusations. Why didn’t she speak up then?
As for Mr. Puckett’s painstaking research
into water rates, how come he keeps repeating the same falsehoods over and over if he’s so knowledgeable?
Mr. Puckett isn’t being criticized because of what the council has told him to do, but because of the way he is doing it. That’s a big difference.
Mayor Stanton believes Mr. Puckett deserves better.
Given the way he treats the public he supposedly serves, though, he’s actually being handled with kid gloves.
— Greg Raven is Co-Chair of Apple Valley Citizens for Government Accountability, and is concerned about quality of life issues.