This report it so vitally important as our city’s day-to-day operations are being affected. Presidents of (3) Upland Employee Unions are publicly declaring that Upland’s City Manager is allegedly committing offenses which include; harassment, serial bullying, bribery, retaliation, violating and breaking labor laws, creating a hostile work environment, intimidating employees, allowing employees to be physically battered at work, as well as, allegedly trying to suppress evidence and witness testimony.
So after two weeks of utter insanity, where we had a regularly scheduled city council meeting on Monday, February 25th, which was followed 7 days later by a specially called, closed session city council meeting on Monday, March 4th, that cycle has just repeated itself! In an encore performance and back by popular demand, we just had another regularly scheduled city council meeting on March 11th, where a mere 6 days later on a Sunday night March 17th, we just had another specially called, closed session city council meeting. In this Upland Report we will be covering this once rare occurrence of having 4 city council meetings in any one month, which is fast becoming the same old situation, week after week. Plus, we’ll uncover who the ball and chain is and the cause, for all of this continual upheaval and chronic dysfunction.
I promise you this report is NOT much ado about nothing. The public outcry by the masses, showing the strongest possible support for Upland Police Chief Darren Goodman, proves this hoopla is definitely something unprecedented and all roads lead back to City Manager Jeannette Vagnozzi. If you are unfamiliar with Jeanette Vagnozzi’s Saga, she’s possibly the most unpopular and contentious City Manager in Upland’s sorted history. Which would put her at the top of the long list of dubious characters, who have held this job title of Upland City Manager. One of which, was even charged with perjury, embezzlement and falsification by a public officer.
For the thousands of new Upland Report readers, I will provide a brief overview below of who Jeanette Vagnozzi is, how she got her position as Upland City Manager, explain why we haven’t been able to get rid of her and what we can do about it. Afterwards, we will launch right into why she and Mayor Debbie Stone, have put Upland’s beloved Police Chief Darren Goodman, in their cross-hairs just last week and what we the people are doing about that. But first, I will give a little taste of what is to come, so you know what to expect after we get Jeanette Vagnozzi’s hot mess of a summary out of the way.
On Sunday, March 17th, our new Upland City Council met for the 4th time in a month and went behind closed doors again. Ever since our newly elected council took office on December 10th, 2018, it seems the topic of their closed session meetings is routinely, about City Manager Jeanette Vagnozzi. The Vice President of Upland’s Police Management Association, spoke to our council on 3/17/19 before they retreated behind closed doors to evaluate Vagnozzi’s job performance, yet again.
The VP of UPD’s Management Association, made some remarks which were so incredible, it nearly knocked me off my chase lounge as I was writing this. You know how sometimes, something you hear gives you the chills, it was exactly like that. It was just beyond, beyond, beyond and one of those moments when you have to say, Lord have mercy, somebody get me some water!
Holy smokes, UPD is filled with a whole bunch of badasses. The video is below but some of what he said, I just had to transcribe into a written format so everyone can start to see, where this Upland Report is going. Please allow me to quote the words of Upland’s Police Management Association’s VP, who said,
“The recent incident that Sgt. Moe Duran talked about, causes us to question our city’s leaders support of our mission as a Police Department. We are beside ourselves, that our city manager and / or Mayor, would demand the Chief apologize before having a true account of what transpired during that event and it seems to be unfair, to say the least. Their actions show both of them, lack leadership and have a clear disdain for Chief Goodman and the Upland Police Department. And why would they have a problem with the Chief? Maybe because he refuses to hate their enemies or refuses to go along with their cronyism, or maybe because he committed to serving all Uplanders equally and not just their chosen favorites. Their disdain caused them to condemn the Chief and his subordinates, instead of evaluating the incident for its facts. A true leader, would have realized a public apology was premature, if necessary at all.”
Enjoy this sneak peak below, of all that is yet to come in this week’s edition of The Upland Report, before we go back to introducing the thousands of new Upland Report readers, to who Jeanette Vagnozzi is and how in the world, Upland got in this bad of shape.
And in this video, this Board Member from Upland’s Employee Association, tells our city council on 3/17 that,“OUR CITY EMPLOYEES, WOULDN’T FOLLOW VAGNOZZI OUT OF A BURNING BUILDING!”
As a side note to our existing 6,000 readers, I have become aware that Vagnozzi is very displeased that the Upland Report is now being distributed via email, to thousands of Upland residents. Little does she know, it’s approximately 12,000 Upland registered voters. Apparently, since Vagnozzi is not an Upland resident, I presume someone who is, forwarded her the email they received. I do have a hunch which one of her minions it could be. The top of the list would be the fellow below, who goes by a FB handle which includes the word “Meltdown.” I did see Mr. Meltdown at the last council meeting and I was sure to let him know, one more threatening email from him and I’ll report his ass to UPD. 
NOW BACK TO UPLAND’S PROBLEM CHILD, CITY MANAGER JEANETTE VAGNOZZI
Jeanette Vagnozzi has been employed by our city for approximately 3.5 years. She has been our city clerk, deputy city manager, human resource director and our election official, all at the same time. Now she’s also our new city manager. She is seen as one of the chief architects and the enforcer of years of hostility in our city, zero transparency, no accountability and makes dealing with Upland City Hall an utter freaking nightmare for 99% of Upland residents, including me. Truth be told, that is exactly why there is an Upland Report today. Who knew in 2017, it would all come full circle and right back to her!
Ms. Vagnozzi also represents the old guard who ran CorrUpland with an iron fist, that were all removed by the voters from their public offices on November 6th, 2018! That was a herculean effort and took an army of Upland residents organizing in all districts, to beat incumbents who were well funded, already had massive name ID and city council seats. It was months of blood, sweat and tears for so many residents working together to beat all the odds and it was truly historic. Radio stations like NPR and newspapers far and wide, covered what we did in Upland because it was next to impossible, to have done.
It was clear on election night being November 6th, 2018, that Janice Elliott had beaten Yvette Walker for the Upland District 2 Seat. It was clear that both Ricky Felix and Irmalinda Osuna had beaten the incumbent Gino Fillipi for the Upland District 3 Seat. But it was too close to call in Upland District 4 between incumbent Carol Timm and her rival Rudy Zuniga. When residents woke up on the morning of November 7th and realized that every establishment candidate, in every city council district had lost, it was like watching the scene below from the movie the Cinderella Man! In fact, it was even better. The election contests the incumbents ran against their challengers, trying to hold onto their council seats were utter bloodbaths for their rivals, who were brave enough to run against that kind of corruption and cronyism!
The only survivor from the old council was Upland Mayor Debbie Stone. The only reason she survived is because she was not up for re-election in 2018, but rather November 2020. It would take 7,400 signatures to recall her before then and no one deserves to be recalled more than her! Now that she and City Manager Vagnozzi put UPD’s Police Chief Darren Goodman in their cross-hairs last week, the residents are ready to take the Mayor out by recall and finally, remove the head of the old power structure, while it’s still gasping for it’s very last breath.
Right before our old city council had to leave the dais forever, the very last thing they did, was to appoint Jeanette Vagnozzi as the new city manager on November 28th, 2018. This denied our incoming council from selecting their own city manager and has proved to be just about the worst council decision in Upland’s history. That act was also seen as declaration of war, as far as our city employees were concerned and they have shown up at every council meeting since Vagnozzi’s promotion. They have declared to our new city council that 100% of UPD has no confidence in Vagnozzi and 92% of all other city employees, don’t either!
What’s even worse is the contract the outgoing council gave Vagnozzi, has a base annual salary of a whopping $205,368.00 + a host of lofty additional compensation that is worth roughly another $25,000 annually + benefits of no less than $86,690.97 and brings Vagnozzi’s total annual compensation to an obscene $311,000! That’s a kick in the teeth to the employees she manages, who have not received a cost of living increase in 11 years! But it gets even worse as the old council, added a clause to Vagnozzi’s contract which starts on page 96 here, which is a provision that our new council can’t fire her for 90 days, after their last member was sworn into office.
The sweeping power shift after the 2018 election, left a vacancy on city council which was just filled by the appointment of Bill Velto on January 28th, 2019. So we are looking at April 28th, before our new council could even fire her and when they do, her contract dictates they will have to pay her a 6 month severance package to leave. That adds up to $102,683.99 of 6 Months of Base Pay + $6,753 Medical + $9,241.56 Contribution To 457 Plan (Equivalent To 401k) + $24,879.96 Leave + $2,150 Car Allowance = $145,706. Plus, her grand prize for being fired is a lump sum payment of $145,706, plus, that doesn’t include the required contribution to CalPers (her retirement fund), which is approximately $11,321.02 MORE!
Ms. Vagnozzi has won the Upland lottery ladies and gentlemen and Mayor Stone and City Attorney James Markmen, helped her do it and they’re both still sitting on the dais, right next to her. The three of them believe we’re all so stupid, that no one will question the legality of that 90 day provision where she can’t be fired until then, which I believe is utter bullsh^&. Please allow me to tell you why.
The provision below under Severance Pay in Vagnozzi’s contract, says if she is willing and ABLE to do her job and our new council fires her, then she is owed 6 months severance pay and this stipulation NEVER goes away and is applicable over the 3 year term of her contract. So there is no additional risk of firing her now or after the 90 days “CAN’T FIRE HER” provisional period!
Furthermore, there is a loophole to get out of having to Vagnozzi her a 6 month severance at anytime during the next 3 years, whereby if she is unable to perform her duties which are clearly outlined in the Upland Municipal Code, which the no confidence vote by 3 employees unions have made her UNABLE to effectively perform her duties, she is owed nothing upon being fired.
In addition, the nature of at-will employment, is that it can be terminated anytime for any reason, so Markman’s 90 day no firing clause, has no teeth and no financial penalty, other than the same 6 months severance pay for firing her at anytime during the next 3 years. Furthermore, Markman’s 90 DAY NO FIRING CLAUSE is inconsistent with the Upland Municipal Code 2.04.260 and therefore, unenforceable and fatally flawed.
Based on the Upland Municipal Code above, additional terms can be added to a city manager’s contract, but only if those additional terms are consistent with the city’s existing municipal codes, which is NOT the case with this 90 days CAN’T BE FIRED, provision.
The Upland Municipal Code 2.04.240 below, has this to say this about terminating a city manager and anything outside of this, is inconsistent with the code and therefore, should be fatally flawed and legally enforceable. That is why Markman has no financial penalty listed for the 90 days where she CAN NOT BE FIRED. The only penalty is the same 6 months severance for the life of the entire 3 year contract now, or whenever she is fired, unless she is unable to preform her duties at the time she is fired.
Based on the Upland Municipal Codes above, our council can fire their at-will city manager tomorrow by calling another special closed session, where they hand her a 30 day notice and ask her to go home on a 30 day administrative leave, effective immediately. Next, our city council should fire our city attorney effective immediately and hire another city attorney tomorrow, who could easily prove Ms. Vagnozzi was unable to perform her duties at the time she was fired and who defend the City of Upland in court, against her!
ALLOW ME TO NAIL THIS HOME!
There are excellent legal and allowable reasons why Vagnozzi can be fired and owed NOTHING! Upland’s Municipal Code clearly outlines Jeanette Vagnozzi’s DUTIES and therefore, perfectly demonstrates for all of us, why she is unable to perform them! Per her contract if she becomes UNABLE TO PERFORM HER DUTIES, she can be fired and is owed NO SEVERANCE PACKAGE! Since all of 3 Upland Employee Unions Have Voted No Confidence In Her, makes her completely UNABLE to perform her most basic duties as described in Upland Municipal Code 2.04.090 & 2.04.170, below.
In addition, under Upland Municipal Code 2.04.170, the way she handled the alleged employee physical battery incident and is now being allegedly accused of bribery, plus, witness and evidence suppression, demonstrates her willful misconduct, gross negligence and a complete dereliction of her duties. These facts clearly demonstrates she is totally UNABLE to perform her most basic duties!
Let me just say how familiar the bribery accusations above are, where if the city employee would agree to not talk and stay silent, he could be at home right now doing whatever he wanted to be doing and still be getting paid. Just like if he was still at work full-time at Upland City Hall. This week, I also learned had I just stayed home and remained silent after a meeting with Vagnozzi on March 6th and not criticized her going forward, she would have finally done her job after 2+ years of outrageous conduct, by eliminating an environmental health hazard for my family. Instead, she has now also violated a resident’s Constitutional Rights and is being discriminatory and retaliatory against residents, as well as, her own employees. GREAT JOB JEANETTE!
When Vagnozzi tries to sue our city for her 6 months severance package, any attorney worth his/her salt, when defending Upland would file a motion to dismiss her lawsuit, based on her having been UNABLE to perform her duties at the time she was fired. There would be a summary judgement hearing in a few months, with her lawyer and the city’s new lawyer, in front of a judge.
The city’s lawyer would be able to present the judge legal pleadings containing segments of our municipal code, her contract, applicable labor laws and ask a judge to rule in favor of the city and dismiss her legal action. Any judge could find compelling evidence to dismiss her lawsuit, based on the fact that 100% of UPD + 92% of all other city employees, have lost all confidence in her! That means she was UNABLE to effectively do her most basic job description, as outlined in the Upland Municipal Code, at the time when she was fired.
Our worse case scenario, would be she’d get the same 6 months severance package, as she would at anytime over the next 3 year, if council ever fired her. Anyone can write a contract to say anything they want, but that does NOT mean anything they want is legally enforceable and binding. Case in point, non-compete clauses in contracts are added in all the time, but they are illegal in California. So that provision in a contract would be ruled fatally flawed and unenforceable. Markman even acknowledges this by stating in the contract, if any part of Vagnozzi’s contract is found to be unenforceable, the rest of the document is still enforceable until ruled otherwise, by the courts. 
We’ll close this history lesson, with comments from two Upland residents from 3/17, who were both finalists for the prior council vacancy, now filled by Bill Velto on 1/28/19. In the video below, please find Lois Sicking and Former Upland City Councilman Glenn Bozar. Bozar also went head-to-head with Debbie Stone for the Mayoral race in 2016 and unfortunately for all of us, Stone won.
NOW, WE CONTINUE WITH WHY THE MOST BELOVED POLICE CHIEF IN AGES, IS NOW ALSO BEING BULLIED BY OUR CITY MANAGER & MAYOR!
HOW ABOUT NOW?
You know, many people believe we can’t fire Jeanette because no one else wants to come to work in Upland and take this on. To that I say touché but… many cities when faced with this sort of crisis, will have their Police Chief take the helm as the Interim City Manager, simultaneously. This gives a city council the time to identify a permanent replacement. Hell, Chief Goodman has turned UPD into the crown jewel of the city in a few short months. He has cleaned up our city, he has done the utter impossible by gaining the full trust and support of all the sworn UPD personnel, plus, the trust and support of all the residents! Our Police Chief is so great, it is like he was sent to us from Heaven or at least another planet.
Plus, according to this article, “Goodman holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC) and has completed his doctoral studies at USC’s Rossier School of Education. In 2015, he graduated Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Senior Executives in State and Local Government. He is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security; a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Public Safety Leadership Program; and an adjunct-professor at California State University San Bernardino.”
HELLO! UPLAND, ANYONE HOME! CHIEF GOODMAN CAN SURELY HOLD DOWN THE FORT, UNTIL COUNCIL FINDS A PERMANENT REPLACEMENT!
I do feel badly for Goodman, even suggesting this and putting this idea out into the universe because I’m sure he would be much happier, only running UPD. But the reality is, he is here already and able to step in and take the helm at a moments notice, until council can right the ship permanently. Because Goodman is such an all-in kind of guy and has such a firm handle on his department, I do hope he would consider this epic crisis, as one of those times, where his services are most needed. If I were one of the four normal people on Upland City Council today, I would be going to Goodman with hat in hand and humbly asking….
All I can say is, I hope we’ve all learned from the events of the last week, if anyone messes with the People’s Police Chief, the wrath of the entirety of UPD’s sworn personnel, plus, a multitude of angry residents unlike the folks running Upland City Hall have ever seen, will rain all hell down upon them. Unfortunately, our highly unpopular and now wildly fledgling Mayor Debbie Stone, plus, her handpicked new City Manager Jeanette Vagnozzi, somehow thought otherwise and that was a political fiasco and utter nightmare of epic proportion, for the both of them, all last week.
Sadly, I don’t think that will deter either of them, because when you’re desperate and have nothing to lose, you end up losing your mind! Yet anyone who is in any Upland Facebook Group, or on Twitter, saw this bloodbath unfold all last week, which accumulated and accelerated right up until the time that council went into closed session again, last Sunday night on March 17th. Some of the public comments that night bordered on the edge of a freak show, as ousted Councilwoman Carol Timm’s former Campaign Manager, plus his adult daughter, showed up to defend our Mayor and City Manager. The insanity that ensued when the word “NAZIS” was used by one of them, is something everyone should see!
Yes, I repeat, the word “NAZIS” was used to describe Upland residents who support everyone on city council besides Mayor Debbie Stone and who LOVE & SUPPORT our Chief of Police, Darren Goodman!
To the woman in the video above, who’s remarks were so callous, utterly ignorant and insensitive to everyone, I would like to PUBLICLY SAY, SHAME ON YOU!!!! Instead of our Mayor and City Manager demanding a public apology from our beloved Police Chief Darren Goodman for absolutely nothing, they should be demanding a public apology from her!!! Ironically, as the daughter of a Historical Museum Curator, she appears to be in desperate need of a remedial history lesson.
As the granddaughter of a WWII veteran myself, I’ll happily be her history teacher, as most of the world still remembers who the actual NAZIS were and what the NAZIS did! God knows, my grandfather made sure our entire family would never forget. I guess that’s normal when someone receives the Purple Heart for their injuries suffered when their ship was sunk in the English Channel, by a torpedo fired from a German submarine filled with NAZIS! I guess that’s normal for a man who bravely fought in both the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of the Rhine against the NAZIS.
I guess that’s normal for a man who served in the 15th Army as an inspector of the NAZI Concentration Death Camps after the war ended, who witnessed the unspeakable sites where the atrocities of mass genocide took place, when the NAZIS were exterminating millions of Jewish people. I guess that’s normal for a man who rose to the rank of Full Bird Colonel, who went on to serve in the White House as the Special Military Assistant to the Joint Chiefs, in two administrations and that’s normal, for the rest of humanity as well!
As the granddaughter of that man I would like to say to her, “Madam, your comments are heinous, inexcusable, hateful and revolting. As one of countless Americans living in the City of Upland today, who were deeply offended by your outrageous public statements on Sunday, March 17th, you owe everyone an apology.”
Calling residents NAZI was so insulting, appalling and disgusting, not to mention totally baseless and completely unfounded, that both Councilmembers Janice Elliott and Bill Velto, tried to shut down that completely off topic rant and were flatly ignored by our Mayor. For that, the only person on the dais that should be recalled is Mayor Debbie Stone! Her recall is sorely overdue. I am hardly alone in applauding the actions of Councilmembers Elliott and Velto in their attempts to regain control and civility in their council chamber during that insane NAZI tirade. As everyone I know, has done the verbal equivalent to a standing ovation all over Upland Social Media ever since.
For the record, the woman who is calling at least 1,500 Upland residents Nazis, is doing so because they simply joined an Upland Facebook Group Page called the Upland Coalition of Concerned Citizens. The UCCC or UC3 for short, has ZERO NAZI MEMBERS and is a highly productive citizen’s watchdog group which supports public safety and transparency in local Upland government. Ironically, the resident who was calling UC3 members “NAZIS,” had a UC3 Director, who was signed up to speak right after her.
Resident Mike Nuñez approached the mic, he introduced himself as a UCCC Director and he asked very simple and direct questions being, “Can Jeannette Vagnozzi effectively do her job at this point despite the dark cloud hovering above her? Can she perform her duties and serve me as a resident and tax payer? At this point I think she has become a liability to the taxpayers of Upland.”
I am still so shocked 4 days later, after first hearing the NAZI REMARKS, as 1 of the 1,500 other Uplanders who are also members of the UC3 Facebook Page! I am also a member of every other FB Upland Group Page in town, such as;
Upland Politics, Virtual Neighborhood Watch, The Real Moms of Upland & Surrounding Areas, FYI Upland, You Know You’re From UPLAND When…, Save Cabrillo Park, Stop the Sale of Upland Memorial Park Land, Upland Trees, Upland Uncensored, Upland Truly Uncensored and Upland UNCENSORED. I also admin the following FB Pages being Upland District 1, Upland District 2, Upland District 3, Upland District 4 & The Upland Report Community Blog. To find out which voting district you live in and join the other active residents also living in your same voting district, this prior Upland Report has a map to help you locate your district, based on your address.
Ironically, the one FB Group Page in Upland which is the most gestapo like bar-none, is called Upland Community. That group is run by a Rancho resident who was Gino Filippi’s Campaign Manager last year. Her FB Group Page is where she and the resident throwing around the word NAZIS, plus several others, attack any resident who defends themselves or any new city council member who succeeded in removing their friends from public office last year. Word to the wise, avoid Upland Community like the plague on Facebook, because it is.
In reflecting on how and why in the last week, we have just had another city council meeting and another specially called closed session meeting only 6 days later, I have come to realize that one meeting had very much to do with the other. I attended the March 11th Upland City Council Meeting and it was epic. I actually spoke during the public comment section at the end of the meeting, to tell everyone on city council with the exception of Mayor Debbie Stone, how proud I was of each of them and how hopeful I was again.
So what the hell happened between a great regular city council meeting on 3/11 and 6 days later on Sunday 3/17, they had to meet again and go into closed session on a Sunday evening? Well we can only speculate because no statement was made again by our city attorney when council emerged from closed session on Sunday 3/17. However, no one could have overlooked how our City Manager and Mayor, appeared to be gunning for our Police Chief all week. Since our City Manager has the hiring and firing authority over our Police Chief and with 100% of UPD having voted NO CONFIDENCE IN CITY MANAGER VAGNOZZI, many residents were very worried that Vagnozzi may have wanted to fire Chief Goodman!
And the mere thought of losing Goodman was more than most residents could handle and all the social media sites were exploding in speculation and outrage. Let’s remember that Chief Goodman is now in the rarest of positions, to have the support of nearly everyone in Upland. Does anyone remember Upland 8 months ago? Does anyone think there is less blight? What about less transients on the bike trail, in our public parks and loitering at our shopping centers? I do! In fact the difference is absolutely shocking.
Consequently and also remarkably different, in the last few months with the new council being sworn in, we have been able to rid the city coffers of Martin Thovenell’s $9,000 a month consulting contract, the $3,500 a month contract for our former city’s social media monitor / PR Consultant, plus, the $3,000 a month to a homeless advocate / liaison. That homeless advocate was a piece of work. He was a failed city council candidate from years ago and while being the city paid homeless advocate for the last 2 years, he seemed to spend most of his free time, attacking everyone on social media who was criticizing our former city council in anyway.
You are sure to bump into him, on the always unfriendly, Upland Community Facebook Page. He also attacked all the anti-establishment candidates, who ended up winning in 2018. So needless to say, his contract was NOT renewed. He did however, apply for grant money last year because he believed Upland has a crisis which was, Upland has no Homeless Shelter. And low and behold, the Shelter Grant was approved and our new council at the last council meeting on 3/11, had to determine how it should be spent and who should get it. The shocking part to many residents was that Vagnozzi and Mayor Stone, seemed to be giving the wildly unpopular prior homeless advocate, a way back into being further compensated through federal grant dollars.
Many people in Upland don’t know, that the prior paid homeless advocate was a part of the old guard that residents clearly wanted out of city hall. Many residents also don’t know, that under his prior homeless program, which was funded by the City of Upland, our city offered to become the host city, for all of San Bernardino County’s Homeless Court Cases. Then, the City of Upland gave the controversial paid homeless advocate, a city van to use to transport the homeless to either homeless court in Upland, or court ordered community service in Upland. The problem was, the homeless were dropped off somewhere after doing community service, where they slept outside in Upland because they were homeless. This became a crazy web of something close to running an involuntary servitude ring, if you ask me.
Now that his Homeless Shelter Grant had come in, it appeared that Vagnozzi wanted to award those grant funds to another man, who works with our former contentious homeless advocate and two other local groups, who also work with him. So at the council meeting on 3/11, our city council really dug deep, to figure out all the inroads and determine exactly what was going on. That did NOT go at all how Vagnozzi and Mayor Stone wanted it to. You can feel the tension in the room, just by watching the video, which is an hour and a half long, here. All four Councilmembers being Janice Elliott, Bill Velto, Ricky Felix and Rudy Zuniga asked so many great questions, trying to get to the bottom of this and determine exactly how the money would be spent.
So the very next week, it seems awfully suspicious that our Mayor and City Manager, would be calling for Chief Goodman to make a public apology, for nothing more than his officers contacting another city and having been granted permission and advised, to bring a homeless man there to spend the night and help him get off the street. That sounded and smelled like political payback to everyone and UPD and our city employees came out in full force, to defend Chief Goodman from our Mayor and City Manager, at the closed session meeting on 3/17.
Plus, Vagnozzi & Stone had two other reasons for a little UPD payback because of what happened at the 3/11 council meeting. The first reason was that all of UPD + the lion-share of all other city employees, finally got their nominee appointed by a 4 to 1 council vote, for their Employee Board of Review. That ordeal took 4 months and 2 city council meetings and from all accounts, it looked like it was never going to happen. In fact, when it did happen, I think Stone and Vagnozzi were more surprised than our city employees and their appointed Review Board Member.
The second thing that must have pissed Mayor Stone and Vagnozzi off, was when the President of Upland’s Police Management Association asked for clarification regarding a statement made by Mayor Stone early in the evening. Stone had previously stated that the council gives direction to our City Manager Jeanette Vagnozzi, about how our council wants her to deal with our city employees and their bargaining unions, in the now failed labor negotiations. Stone’s statement seemed to imply that the labor negotiations have stalled not because of Jeanette Vagnozzi, but because our council is not allowing Jeanette to deal with them.
This was a shock to the system, as we have 3 brand new city council members and a fourth being Janice Elliott, who has been on the dais for 2 years, who fully appeared to have no clue what the Mayor’s bizarre statements meant. For those that read the Upland Report or who watch our city council meetings, you’ll already know that Councilwoman Elliott has no problem calling bullsh&%, when she realizes that someone on the dais has dumped a truckload of it into the council chamber.
In the video below, Elliott even produces her cellphone and declares she will be emailing all her fellow council members to gain clarity on this important issue for everyone. Elliott seemed truly concerned about the city employees and explained how she was chastised by a prior city manager, who told her she could have no contact or involvement with our employee labor unions at all. Elliott described having been admonished for simply delivering a message from the President of the Upland Police Office Association, to our then former city manager.
You know, things are so crazy, residents are starting to wonder if Vagonozzi and Stone are now trying to get rid of UPD, like they did Upland’s Fire Department, in 2017. With the Fire Department give away, having recently fallen apart, does Upland need to get rid of something else? Our fire service, may be provided again courtesy of the City of Upland, instead of SB County. So what are they planning now? No one really knows. But it seems pretty damn clear, Jeanette could give a damn about anything, anyone in Upland has to say about her. All she seems to care about is staying in her city manager pay bracket for 12 months, so she can have her pension be based on that huge lofty salary we are paying her.
I’D LIKE TO ASK VAGNOZZI ONE MORE TIME, WHY WON’T YOU JUST GO AWAY?
What we do know is, no one is going to stand for the disrespect Stone & Vagnozzi just showed Chief Goodman and UPD. No one is going to stand for anything happening to Chief Darren Goodman. What 99% of Upland residents do stand for, is showing Vagnozzi the door and helping our Police Department feel supported and protected from anymore City Hall dysfunction. Therefore, I would urge everyone who feels the same way to please attend:
The Rally In Support of Chief Goodman, Our Upland Police Department & All Upland Employees this Monday, March 25th, between 5PM – 7PM in front of City Hall, located at 460 N. Euclid, in downtown Upland.
After the rally, come inside and join your friends, neighbors and other concerned strangers, as the next city council meeting starts at 7PM, immediately following the rally. This is our city and everyone is needed to right this ship. Without all hands on deck, our city will continue to drown in cronyism and corruption and all of us, will either sink or swim together. I want to sincerely thank everyone who takes their valuable time and reads these reports. Without the readers, there is nothing to report. I cannot begin to express how humbled I am to hear from so many of you. It is my most sincere hope that our paths will cross, so if you come to the rally or city council meeting please find me, so that I may have the honor to thank you in person.
“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.” — Thomas Jefferson
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