Mayor Price, heed the call – step down as Atwater mayor
Re “Atwater council has turned toxic; mayor should step aside” (Page 4A, April 17): Your April 17 editorial urging Atwater Mayor Jim Price and his pro-tem Jim Vineyard to step down must have been difficult to write. Contrary to skeptics, I believe editors and reporters take no pleasure in writing dismal news.
But when a city is experiencing near total meltdown, an obligation exists to inform its citizens. Here in Atwater, city hall functions in an atmosphere of turmoil and fear as its senior leadership is churned through a revolving door and short-term city managers. The question is, who will be next?
The nightmare begins with Mayor Jim Price, who wages nuclear war on fellow council members. He doesn’t hesitate to hurl caustic and demeaning comments at every meeting and he dismisses every constructive suggestion. It’s as if he is on a suicide mission to destroy the very city he leads.
The Sun-Star editorial board has urged Price to put an end to Atwater’s misery and resign. Along with many community leaders who are alarmed with his incompetence, I concur. Jim Price is unfit to be mayor!
Fred Warchol, Atwater
This story was originally published April 23, 2018 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Mayor Price, heed the call – step down as Atwater mayor."