Summary: Embattled Cathedral City Mayor Kathleen DeRosa put in one of the poorest performances of her career last night with her cynical and craven effort to sidestep her responsibilities as an elected official and cast an up or down vote on Cathedral City’s historic marriage equality resolution. Though she claims to be a leader, DeRosa has managed to violate just about every canon of good leadership, displaying the kind of cynicism and cravenness we have come to expect from her during the nine bitter winters of her reign. She has run out of steam, she has nothing new to offer, and it really is time for her to emulate the example of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. She should not let the door hit her posterior on the way out.
By: Paul S. Marchand
Embattled Cathedral City Mayor Kathleen Joan DeRosa put in one of the poorest, worst and most cravenly cynical performances of her entire time in public office last night when she abstained from voting on the Council’s historic resolution in support of full marriage equality, a resolution that passed with the "aye" votes of every other member of the council present. The word “weasel” comes powerfully to mind.
Judging from the well-nigh uniformly unfavorable comments accompanying the Desert Sun’s story this morning about DeRosa’s action --- or failure of action, she has certainly managed to put her foot in it.
Council member Stan Henry, formerly police chief in Cathedral City, also managed to put his foot in it last night. Apparently, Henry thought it more important to attend a police chiefs banquet in Palm Springs rather than fulfill the duty his constituents elected him to fulfill. In the words of Ricky Ricardo, “Stan, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.” He needs to say his peccavi to the residents of this city with respect to his volitional Sede Vacante last night, and to do penance therefor.
Yet, if Stanley Henry insulted his constituents by absenting himself from his duty to attend a gathering he plainly thought was more important than doing his job, the embattled Kathleen Joan DeRosa insulted her constituents with an epic, coruscant display of calculated political cowardice and cravenness. To describe her performance as an “epic fail” is almost to understate the case.
During the Council vote on the marriage equality resolution, DeRosa read into the record an obviously preprepared statement by which she attempted to justify her abstention, claiming essentially that she had no right to vote and that Cathedral City should not be taking on this issue.
Yet, there remains a significant question as to the lawfulness of her decision to abstain. When I was a freshman member of the Council, we were told in no uncertain terms at ethics orientations and in other contexts, that --- unlike members of the California Legislature, which has carefully, nay, hypocritically, exempted itself from much of its own ethics legislation --- we have a duty to vote unless there exists an actual conflict of interest which would make our voting unlawful. As a general rule, a conflict of interest arises as and to the extent that a Council member might have some kind of pecuniary interest in the matter up for a vote.
DeRosa articulated absolutely no legally cognizable basis for one of the most weaselly performances by which a politician has ever disgraced Cathedral City’s council chambers. By trying to sidestep the issue, and by making obviously mendacious protestations of her support for some sort of ego-defined “equality,” DeRosa has managed to send a message to Cathedral City’s queerfolk that our rights should, by divine ordinance, be lesser things than the rights of our straight neighbors. She also sent a message to every queer boy and girl in Cathedral City struggling to come to terms with his or her sexuality that they have no friend in Kathleen Joan Leone DeRosa.
Of course, DeRosa tried to take the coward’s way out, trying to link herself to President Obama’s “evolution” on the issue of gay marriage. Her claim that she is “evolving” is unbelievably craven. Last night was the time for her to have completed her so-called evolution, and to have demonstrated that she is in fact the leader she has so often claimed to be. Real leaders take stands.
But we should know that despite her claims of leadership, Kathleen Joan DeRosa is no leader. Had she been a true leader, she would not have tried to weasel out of taking responsibility for having told Cathedral City restauranteur Mark Carnevale to “go fuck [him]self,” at an October, 2012, candidate forum at DiGS Bar here in Cathedral City. DeRosa first tried to deny the occurrence, then, when flat denials proved unavailing, she acknowledged the incident, but claimed she had been “set up.” Real leaders don’t point fingers; they take responsibility.
We haven’t seen DeRosa take a lot of responsibility. Her mayoral style has been to fix the blame, not fix the problem. To the extent that she can throw city staff under the bus, she will do so. Her reputation for vindictiveness is unbecoming a so-called leader, but it precedes her throughout the entire Coachella Valley.
She also has a reputation for blaming her poor leadership and bad manners on being from New York. I call bullshit. First, most of my own extended family are New Yorkers; my late father was born and raised in New York City, and in the nearly half a century we had together as a family, I never saw him display the kind of sheer nastiness that I have seen too often from the reigning Mayor of Cathedral City. Second, we are no longer in New York. We are in California, with a different culture and a different mode of interpersonal interaction; those who come here need to adapt themselves to our autochthonous ethics and values, and to leave their condescending colonialism behind. DeRosa has been unwilling or unable to do so.
My own critique of DeRosa’s poor, ego-driven performance as mayor is no secret. I opposed her for the mayoralty in 2008 because I felt she brought nothing of value to the table. Since then, many of my fellow residents of Cathedral City have adopted in varying measures a similar critique. Plainly, DeRosa is running out of steam. After nine long winters, perhaps it is time for DeRosa, like Henry, to give prayerful consideration to the example of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, whose pontificate formally ended earlier today. Given DeRosa’s frequent invocation of her Roman Catholic belief structure as an excuse to oppose equal rights for her queer constituents, she may profit from the example Josef Ratzinger set for his followers.
Kathy, when the time comes for you to leave, don’t let the door hit your posterior on the way out.
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Paul S. Marchand is an attorney who lives in practices in Cathedral City, where he served eight years as a member of the city Council. The views contained herein are his own, and do not constitute legal advice. They are certainly uncongenial to the reigning Mayor of Cathedral City. Mr. Marchand is aware that his blog posts critical of the mayor are being monitored by the Cathedral City Police Department, which is self-evidently keeping watch on Cathedral City’s political dissidents.
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