Isleton City Council structure shaken up, meeting turns to chaos

CBS News

6 hours ago

There's political drama in the Delta, after the Isleton City Council ousted the mayor as part of a reorganization, naming a new mayor and vice mayor from within the council.
Tensions were high at a chaotic meeting on Tuesday, where CBS Sacramento's camera was rolling.
As the meeting went on, insults, opinions, and frustrations were shared by councilmembers, city staff, and members of the public who were in attendance in a packed city hall.
Expletives were regularly thrown into comments and grievances from all sides. At the center of one of the most contested items was the now-former mayor, Iva Walton.
Walton was accused of continuing to operate an outdoor dining area at her bar, Mei Wah Beer Room, after her encroachment permit was denied. At one point, Walton said: "It feels like dumping when her [councilmember Aleida Suarez] wife calls me a 'bad dog.' "
Suarez responded: "You call us coffee b-----," adding, "this isn't about he said she said. This is about code of conduct."
At times, other members of the public blurted out expletives as councilmembers spoke to each other, at times, outlining negative or untrue social media posts made about each other.
Isleton has a $4.7 million debt, and a recent grand jury report outlined systemic issues that put the city on the brink of bankruptcy. Tuesday night, before chaos erupted, the council voted to send a letter of request to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors requesting an $800,000 loan to address some of their immediate debts.
Members of the public expressed concern amid the tense exchanges and council upheaval that the perception of their city may be impacted if they receive the county loan.
"We just have to look at the future and how the person that's going to give us a loan and looks at what you guys are doing now. There's a TV camera here, there's a reporter here. How do you want to look to the public?" one speaker said.
CBS Sacramento took the concerns about the impacts of the meeting to the city's acting finance director, who said on Wednesday that the city manager spent most of the day doing "damage control."
"Change is going to be painful. This city has operated for one way for decades. To put them on the right path, it's going to look really rocky," said Jessica Bigby, acting finance director of Isleton.
The now-mayor, David Kent, told CBS Sacramento it was good to get all of the thoughts, feelings, and opinions out in the open.
"A bit of a deviation of sort of the standard session you would expect, but it was healthy and necessary in my opinion," said Kent.
In a statement to CBS13, Walton said she believed the proper procedure was not followed, "and the complaints were largely personal attacks and had nothing to do with the leadership I brought to the chair/mayor council position."