Jones decided to rehire a fired city manager and give him $1.8 Million taxpayer dollars even after the city's issuer refused to cover the payment. Based on a single threatening letter, Jones gave his friend nearly a tenth of the city's unallocated general fund. Jones also voted to raise the city manager's base pay to $215,323 with annual 4% raises. Then Jones helped the change city rules to require an unprecedented 5-0 vote to protect the "once already fired" city manager from any future termination.
On June 15, 2022, our Los Banos City Manager was wrongfully terminated after only eight months on the job by a 3/2 vote without cause, a performance evaluation, attorney review, or release of liability and all claims, opening the city up to substantial legal jeopardy. The ensuing public backlash led to the replacement of the mayor and a council member, who both voted to terminate the city manager. To avoid a costly legal battle, Los Banos settled with our improperly fired and current city manager for $1.8 Million and a release of any claims against our city. Recognizing his successful track record, we rehired him for $215,323 with an annual 4% raise, less than his initial predecessor's salary of $217,000 with a 5% annual raise. There was a mass public safety exodus during our city manager's absence. This led to a 15% raise for Los Banos police officers and 10% for non-public safety employees.
Los Banos has lost several high-level staff members because of the city manager's actions and Jones inexplicably disparaging conduct during meetings.
In the past few years, a considerable number of employees working for the City of Los Banos have retired or moved on to better positions in other municipalities or corporations. It is important to note that any insinuation that these departures were caused by anything other than normal career progression or personal decisions is unfounded and should be disregarded as mere conjecture or political opportunism.
In March, Jones hatched an expensive scheme to solidify his grasp on power by voting to put two initiatives on the ballot at city's cost. The first would have changed the mayor's term from two years to four. The second would have removed the independently elected city clerk and place that position under council control. Los Banos voters rejected both.
In California, only a few cities have an elected city clerk or two-year terms for the mayor. Suppose an elected city clerk refuses to work. In that case, the only options are a costly recall process or waiting for the next election to replace them. Having a four-year term for the mayor allows for continuity with the city council members, who also serve four-year terms. These were commonsense reforms that have been mischaracterized for political purposes.