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Residents praise Tamale Festival; foundation member urges removal of resignation item from agenda
Summary
Several residents and business owners thanked the council for its support of the Tamale Festival, praising the new layout and staff coordination. David Radlauer, a member of the Placentia Community Foundation, asked the council to remove an agenda item that would accept PCF resignations, saying the independent foundation should handle resignations internally and that city attorneys’ conduct influenced the resignations.
Residents and business owners used the public comment period at the Dec. 16 Placentia City Council meeting to thank the city for its support of the annual Tamale Festival and to raise concerns about governance at the Placentia Community Foundation.
Craig Green, a longtime Placentia resident, told the council the festival drew “thousands and thousands” of attendees and praised the new layout and entertainment, calling the event “excellent.” Alice Shiozawa, speaking for the Placentia Rotary Club, and Rosalina Davis, representing Old Town and a multigenerational local restaurant, echoed that praise and thanked city staff, public works, police and fire personnel, and Community Services Director Liddy Gutfeld for the event’s organization. An electronic comment from Leon Stanton, owner of Tony’s Bar and Deli, was read into the record expressing similar appreciation.
In a separate public comment, David Radlauer, who said he is a member of the Placentia Community Foundation (PCF), objected to an agenda entry that listed acceptance of resignations from PCF directors. Radlauer said the PCF is an independent 501(c)(3) and that resignations had been submitted directly to the foundation, so he argued the city lacked authority to accept or reject those resignations. Radlauer asked that the item be removed from the agenda and said he had submitted formal resignation letters and legal correspondence that, he said, influenced the board members’ decisions to resign; he asked that those letters be included in the meeting record.
Radlauer also told the council that the dispute concerned ‘‘process, procedure and conflicts of interest’’ and said the foundation’s bylaws require resignations to be delivered to the PCF board to be effective. He said the agenda item ‘‘further demonstrates that the city of Placentia simply does not understand the relationship between an independent charitable foundation and the community it was designed to serve.’’
The comment period also included a request from Jeff Buchanan for the city to provide records and settlement agreements related to a past lawsuit over council districting.
The council did not take action on the comments during the public comment period. The council later completed routine business, including approval of the consent calendar and leadership elections.
