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Public commenter urges council to weigh questions about City Manager Ben’s leadership
Summary
During public comment, Edward Nieto criticized City Manager "Ben," alleging an unexplained $7,000 cost, a 'slush fund,' favoritism in consultant contracts, poor flood response communication and questioned a $260,000 salary, and urged the council to consider these concerns in the manager’s performance review.
Edward Nieto, introduced by staff as the lone public speaker, told the National City Council he was dissatisfied with City Manager “Ben’s” performance and urged the council to take multiple concerns into account during the manager’s upcoming evaluation.
“I’m not pleased with Ben’s performance over the last 4 years as a citizen,” Nieto said. He identified what he called “the slush fund” and pointed to “a $7,000 unexplained cost that he actually approved.” Nieto also alleged favoritism in consultant contracting, saying he had seen agreements that looked like “Rodriguez’s cronies.”
Nieto accused city leadership of poor oversight of staff responsibilities and cited the city’s response to a recent flood as an example of miscommunication that “caused a lot of anguish.” He said the city paid too much for what he described as inadequate management: “We don’t pay for an amateur with $260,000 in pay.”
Nieto closed by asking the council to ensure the city manager’s performance evaluation reflects the full range of citizen concerns: “I just think the performance evaluation needs to consider all the concerns we have.”
The comment period closed after staff confirmed there were no remote (Zoom) speakers. The council then moved into closed session on separate matters.
