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Michael Fitzgerald
Mike Fitzgerald is The Record’s award-winning metro columnist. His column runs in the paper three times a week. Born in San Francisco, he was raised in Stockton. His column covers diverse beats including, sometimes, the offbeat. Read FullCategories
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The hypocrisy of J. Clark Kelso
J. Clark Kelso, the prison receiver seeking to foist three new prison facilities on Stockton, issued a statement recently characterizing Stockton as unwilling to negotiate.
“I remain hopeful that the litigants will come to the table with reasonable requests during the settlement talks,” Kelso said in a press release explaining his petition to move a lawsuit to stop his plans to federal court.
That’s a good one. Chamber CEO Douglass Wilhoit, one of the Chamber parties who initiated the suit, sent Kelso the following e-mail on Oct. 29.
“Dear Mr. Kelso:
“On behalf of the Board of Directors , the members of the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce and the citizens of Stockton and San Joaquin County, I thank you again for meeting with us.
“The Chamber is eager to continue meeting with you in an effort to reach a mutually acceptable plan (italics mine) in regards to the Medical/Mental Health Prison complex including the cumulative effects of the planned Re-Entry Facility adjacent to same! As you saw on Tuesday October 27th, we can make it happen with both location and attendees. People will participate if they truly believe they are not wasting their time for a “feel good” meeting but a real “roll up your sleeves” meeting that will, in both the short and long term, bring results that are a win-win for all parties concerned.”
Wilhoit went on in this amenable tone.
“In order to have the most effective and useful meetings I recommend that you and I, along with folks from CDCR and a few representatives of our local community, sit down in a timely manner for a comprehensive planning session to fully determine the best individuals to be involved in the long OVERDUE discussions, the topics to be considered, time frame for us to plan (together), outcomes to be achieved and to give folks a reasonable amount of time to calendar and to prepare for the meetings!
”Please realize that your decision to abruptly and quietly approve the EIR and project placed the Chamber and other concerned entities (including the entire community) in a very awkward position. Nevertheless, the Chamber eagerly accepts your kind invitation to continue meeting about the situation.”
If that isn’t “reasonable,” I don’t know what is. Kelso — Mr. Reasonable — never responded, Wilhoit says.