OPEN MARTINEZ - Preserve. Promote. Enhance. Unite.

Evidently our mayor was emboldened by the recent victory for “development” in the court decision on the Berrellessa Project. He decided to strike a blow for development OUTSIDE of Martinez city limits by signing a threatening letter directed at the citizens of Brentwood.
The content of this letter was a blatant abuse of his power as a member of the LAFCO commission. This was obviously a scare tactic to bully the residents of Brentwood into voting for annexation of property near Brentwood. The threat was that if they did not vote in the affirmative that the property in question would be annexed by Antioch.

When approached about the letter Schroder back tracked saying that he viewed the letter as informational and was unaware that it would be used for political purposes. The question is why is he signing a letter which was distributed by the developer’s consultant who was formally an executive of Shapell Homes. The letter was initially published in the Brentwood Press.

It seems like our mayor has squandered his ethical objectivity by enrolling in a ploy to generate scare tactics to forward the financial goals of large land holders and developers.

I was somewhat skeptical when I read Dr. MacDonald’s letter to the editor a couple of months ago in which he essentially said that the Martinez City Council appears to operate at the behest of large land holders and developers. I’m afraid the mayor’s scurrilous action which disregarded the rights of the citizens of Brentwood and sought to intimidate them into voting for annexing properties which would directly contribute benefits to the developers and landowners is a shameful act. I believe that Mayor Schroder owes the Citizens of Brentwood an apology.

I also think that he needs to “stick to his knitting.” Maybe re-up the loyalty oath to the Citizens of the City of Martinez to pledge an unbiased approach when considering major projects for the City.
My opinion is that the entire City Council, under the leadership of Mayor Schroeder has been “REDEVELOPMENTALIZED.” I just created a new word. Definition: Unchallenged blind belief in the benefits of REDEVELOPMENT without sober thought to the overall impact to the city or its citizens.

Jean O'Neil