Mountain House Community Services District board member Jass Singh could face a recall vote this November. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press
The group hopes to unseat Director Jass Singh in a Nov. 6 recall vote, but it must first take several steps to qualify the measure for the fall ballot. Residents have filed a petition for the recall with San Joaquin County, confirmed Registrar of Voters Austin Erdman.
Erdman also said Singh had submitted his response to the petition.
Once Erdman certifies the petition, he will tell proponents how many signatures they need to gather to put the issue on the ballot. Early estimates suggest they will need more than 700 valid endorsements.
“(It’s a) fairly aggressive timeline to get this done, but to say it could be done — yes, it certainly could be done to put it on the November election,” Erdman said.
Mountain House resident Ron Dillon, who is helping lead the effort, predicted strong support for the recall.
“You really can’t throw a rock in this town without hitting someone who wants to participate and get (Singh) off our board of directors,” Dillon said. “One of the good things about this is it’s getting a lot of people in Mountain House politically active.”
Dillon said the drive was prompted by Singh’s “erratic” behavior, which culminated in a unanimous March 14 censure by the other community services district directors.
Board members Celeste Farron, Jim Lamb and Andy Su went on record that night to say Singh sought bids for community service district contracts without proper approval and wrongly attacked another director.
“He basically accused another board member of illegal activities,” Dillon said this week. “What he was trying to do was accuse Director Andy Su of basically taking money from one of our service providers in exchange for extending their contract, which is absolutely not true at all.”
Dillon, who once worked for Singh and won a Department of Labor settlement after leaving Singh’s employ, said the director was becoming a “tremendous liability.”
“It’s not representative of our politics, or lack thereof, in Mountain House,” he said. “We’re just too small of a town for this.”
Singh responded to questions from the Press this week with an email about a contentious landscaping contract with Valley Crest, which was extended by the board without seeking a new bid by a 4-1 vote Wednesday, April 11, with Singh dissenting. He also discussed the compensation of the district’s paid staff, compensation he said was improperly raised.
He wrote that he was trying to steward the community’s tax dollars and ensure the highest standard of living for Mountain House residents.
“My only objective is to reduce the expenditure on large contracts to have MHCSD financially stable in the bad economy,” he wrote.
Singh also suggested that his efforts might have ruffled other members of the board, and there could be something personal behind the recall.
“The folks in opposition are not the general public,” he wrote. “They are the spouses, relatives, and close friends of the other directors worried about their re-election this fall.”
The seats of Bernice King Tingle, Su and Lamb will all appear on the Nov. 6 ballot. Singh and Farron were elected in 2010.
But Mike Klinkner, who was unseated from the board by Singh in 2010 election and supports the recall, insists the recall wasn’t anything personal against the man who once defeated him.
“We want to move forward. We don’t need this,” Klinkner said. “If any board member was acting like he does, we’d have a different name on that recall.”
• Denise Ellen Rizzo contributed to this report.
VICTO
This whole episode is just another joke on the town and the people. Is the landscaping contract out of line...I don't know. It's not my job to oversee the contract. Are the expenses and salaries we pay there out of line...I believe so. But unless I want to get involved and work to change things, I will just sit on the sidelines munching my popcorn and be amused. $200/month for water,sewer, and garbage along with built in taxes that will never go away. No commercial developement on the near horizon. Now even the High School construction that was to start this month is questionable. Yeah, I'm here to tell you folks, if you need some entertainment, just come visit our sub-division developement.
Or, if you want to walk through your neighborhood at night without fear of being raped, mugged, or assaulted.
Or, if you want to know you're in a community where people truly care about their family's and neighbor's future success and well-being.
Or, if you want to live in a place with highly rated schools, where educating children is 2nd only to raising them to be respectful and responsible.
I'll be glad when all this negativity is done with, so we can all go back to just enjoying the better parts of life.
@Saveouttaxmoney... I moved here because the landscape was outstanding. Taking a few pictures of dead grass in the middle of winter is a great trick... It's a lie, but a great trick... Jass Supporter all the way...
The landscaping could be better. But on a scale of 1 to 10, this is a 3 problem, not an 8.
@MHWicklund... nice of you to let them speak for themselves. We wouldn't want you making things up that aren't true or accurate. That would be a Jass like thing to do.
@Jass... I am not a family member of even friend of anyone on the BOD. Your actions and horrible behavior are what has gotten you into this situation. I just with the public would treat more unscrupulous politicians like you in this manner.
I don't doubt your intentions were good; I don't know you well enough to accuse you of such a thing. But your behavior has been shameful. Your attitude towards the people of MH has been disrespectful and condocending. We don't need people like you in politics!
Ron go and get a job and contribute to American economy instead of wasting time.
Jass,
The EDD determined you unlawfully terminated my employment, ruled against you, and granted me unemployment benefits, after their investigation of the matter. You stated to the Labor Commissioner than I illegally filed for EDD benefits. She admonished you and told you I was perfectly within my rights to file and that you, as an employer, needed to brush up on employee's and employer's rights and responsibilities, many of which you breached.
The Department of Labor also found you had unlawfully withheld wages and required you to pay them, as well as a penalty for your failure to act within the law. The Alameda County Superior Court then ordered you to do so.
Those are the facts. What you've stated above are not the facts at all, but, in accordance with your lack of morals or character, they are outright lies.
Anyhow, the effort to recall you isn't about that at all. I told the Tracy Press about my past dealings with you because I was certain you'd use it against me to dismiss my comments anyway. I figured it made more sense to be completely transparent and above board. While I do use my past experience with you to substantiate my opinion of you, it is not the sole basis for my decision to participate in this recall effort.
I believe you should be recalled (frankly, I think you should save Mountain House the time and effort by resigning, but you won't) because you are deceitful. I believe your motives are corrupt. I believe you have acted, in your role as Director, with no intention other than your personal betterment. You lied to voters during your campaign about what you could do for them. You have failed to live up to any promise you made to them. You default to character assassination and destructive politicking rather than work with the other board members and MHCSD to make this community better. You support others in their efforts to malign the board and MH residents. This is a small town and the decisions made by the board directly impact each and every MH resident. By introducing your brand of political corruption, you're making this place an undesirable place to live. Your attacks on the builders and developers impact the growth of Mountain House and dissuade folks from moving here.
I could go on and on, but, instead, I'm going to let you continue to dig your own hole. You're doing an excellent job at it. Continue to hide behind your multiple screen names here on Tracy Press' web site and on MHVillages. It's become laughable now. Trouble is, though, your imaginary supporters can't make an appearance at the board meetings…
Good luck, Jass.
-Ron Dillon
One last thing...
You say you fired me for "unethical behavior." Specifically, you told the EDD that I encouraged another employee not to work. This, in fact, is true. But "unethical?"
My co-worker, who was home and very ill, was receiving calls from you at inappropriate times of the night - at home. You were giving her orders and demanding she work - while not on the clock and while at home, sick. You're damned right I told her not to work. I told her to just not pick up the phone when you rang, but she felt bullied by you and felt she would lose her job if she didn't.
And for further clarification, I did receive my judgement from the Department of Labor last week, no thanks to you, Jass. Kudos to the Franchise Tax Board's collections department.
-Ron Dillon
You would have first had the ability to refute the claim after it was filed; a simple paperwork procedure. If the EDD disagreed with you, then the second option would be to request a hearing. Not always fun or the preferred use of one's time, but still a simple matter.
If after that the ex-employee was granted benefits, then you lost. In short, the EDD disagreed with your reasoning for termination and ruled against you. The former employee is not breaking the law by collecting.
The employer must not have kept very good records documenting all of the reasons for the termination. Simply saying "unethical behavior and lack of work ethics' doesn't cut it. That's why there are steps involved with termination and refuting EDD claims. The EDD wants to ensure that employers aren't trying to weasel their way out of wrongful terminations.
It ain't perfect, but the process is there for a reason.
But we're going to fix that...
I also know that when Jass falsely accused me (without proof) of taking money from the MHCSD for running the 2010 4th of July Parade for my campaign fund, Jass told me that the information/lie came from Eric Payne.
And I actually voted against the budget and salary increases in 2009 and 2011. Maybe you should have your memory checked.
And even though you publicly accused former GM Paul Sensibaugh of collusion and corruption multiple times (which you never proved), why did you vote for the contract to use him as a consultant? Does this mean you support collusion and corruption?
I dont think I have ever posted here before, but when someone continuously lies and tries to smear my name and the names of other good people for political purposes, I have the right to respond.
Andy Su
Board Member
MHCSD Board
*This is my opinion as a resident and does not represent the opinion of the entire board.
http://mh-landscape.blogspot.com/
Why Andy Su, Celeste Farron, Jim Lamb and Bernice Tingle are wasting our tax money. Our total tax of 2% is already too high and our water bill is more than $175 per month. Highest amongst all the cities in Bay Area, Blackhawk, Danville, San Ramon Pleasanton and San Joaquin County.
Save our Mountain House
Contrary to what this article printed, the recall has nothing to do with his desire to be a steward of our tax money, lower taxes and water bills and save money for our district. I want that too! The recall has to do with his embarrassing behavior. He has accused every director and some of their family members, most of the staff and most of the contracted companies of corruption, collusion and other illegal activities but has never EVER offered any real proof. Even some of his supporters have told me privately that some of his behavior is stupid. If there is corruption, collusion or other illegal activity, I want to know too! But dont throw that out there and not offer any proof. That is called slandering or libel.
The recall doesnt even have to do with the fact that Jass got elected based on a bunch of empty promises. None of them have been fulfilled so far. I wish people would start asking him why he has not accomplished anything in 16 months.
If anyone wants to talk to me privately about any of these issues, my personal e-mail is andy_k_su@yahoo.com
Sincerely
Andy Su
Board Member
MHCSD Board
*My post represents my opinion as a resident and not the opinion of the entire board.
Even after many people pointed out that some of his pictures and claims are false and deceptive (like taking a picture of a brand new resident lawn and comparing it to an area under repair and saying even residents do a better job than Valley Crest), he has left much of the misinformation on his blog and this forum.
I talked with the Valley Crest rep and Rajesh's "pressure" had nothing to do with the improvements that they were already doing. In fact, according to the Valley Crest rep and GM ML Gordon, Rajesh completely misrepresented what happened in the meeting. They showed him some of the issues and what they were already doing and Rajesh said he understands but he is trying to publicly take credit for the improvements.
The proper procedure, when you notice areas where you think landscaping is deficient (or other issues in our district), is to report it the the MHCSD. It is not to set up a blog and blast them before you get all the correct information. Unless of course your goal is to deceive the residents into thinking you had something to do with the improvements.
Wasting tax payer money? LOL! Just last month, Jass was praising Jim and Bernice for reconsidering this contract extension. Now they are wasting money?
Even after the new GM ML Gordon, who Jass enthusiastically voted for and said lots of good things about (we all did), spent his entire first month answering some of Jass' concerns about the extension and recommended the extension on Wednesday, Jass still voted against the extension. Why? So does Jass think ML recommended that we waste tax payer money?
I agree that our overall taxes are high (not 2%) and our utility bill (not just water) is high but the current board had nothing to do with that. Those were set up by the developers and the county supervisors way before we had a board.
This is one of Jass' money saving ideas from 2010. Fire all the police officers and hire them back at half the salary. And for dispatchers, we'll just hire some high school grads. Do any of you remember this?
Jass, if you hate this town so much, why dont you just move out?
Andy Su
Board Member
MHCSD Board
*This is my opinion as a resident and does not represent the opinion of the entire board.