Councilor Al Lattanzi should not be allowed to vote on the mayor’s longevity pay when it comes up for a vote next Tuesday.
Doing so is blatant, outrageous, and transparently wrong.
The city solicitor should inform him to stand down, to recuse himself for to do otherwise is to perpetuate a lie.
Lattanzi participating in the debate and the vote about the mayor’s longevity, ie, the mayor’s salary, is an egregious error and a serious violation of ethical standards for the first term councilor whose devotion to the mayor above all is what matters to him.
And why not?
His son works as a lawyer for the city. His wife is employed by the city in the mayor’s office, and when not working, she is raising money for the mayor’s election efforts.
In addition, Lattanzi’s hardware store is a city vendor, reaping the benefits of his relationship with the mayor. And Lattanzi is now collecting a city salary.
Are there no boundaries for this family and for Lattanzi himself?
The council must not allow Lattanzi to vote at its next meeting when the longevity question is taken up again.
The council must demand that he recuse himself.
The city solicitor is also again misjudging her responsibility to the law by not issuing an edict that Lattanzi recuse himself on the mayor’s longevity matter.
She should do this independently…but won’t…as doing such a thing would upset her boss the mayor.
Her behavior is an embarrassment to the legal profession.
Anything having to do with the mayor’s salary and compensation should require Lattanzi to keep his mouth shut and he should refrain from voting as a matter of what is right and wrong.
Someone on the council needs to stand up and to demand that fair play rules the council.
Lattanzi should understand this on his own…but he doesn’t.