Residents press council to remove March news release and apologize after local controversy over 'landing spot'

During the public-comment period multiple residents demanded that the town update or remove a March news release and issue an apology regarding statements about a local program referred to in public testimony as the “landing spot.”

Pam Blake told the council the web-posted letter should be taken down and asked for an apology; she said the landing spot had been cleared by an investigative firm and that continuing to carry the statement on the town website was wrong. "The letter, it needs to come down," she said.

Carrie Phantom said the Placer Union School District had completed its investigation and "deemed the allegations unwarranted and cleared the landing spot of any wrongdoing," and she urged the council to remove or update the town’s news release accordingly. Alicia Watkins and other speakers repeated that investigation findings and described threats and fallout: Watkins said a local pastor and his husband “had to flee their home because of bomb threats.”

Other commenters criticized council members’ public appearances and social media posts. Several speakers asked that any council member acting as a school liaison be reassigned if they cannot represent all students impartially. The council took the comments as public testimony, but no formal action (removal or apology) was taken during the meeting; staff acknowledged the comments would be part of the record and could be referred to future agendas.

Those remarks reflected sharply different views in the audience: one commenter said local protests in 2020 involved outsiders and did not damage town property; others said the council should treat the matter as an error of official communication and correct the record. The town council did not vote or take formal disciplinary action at this meeting.