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Oakdale councilman spending a lot of time away from city
OAKDALE, Feb 10, 2012 (The Modesto Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Councilman Jason Howard is spending more time in Grass Valley than the Stanislaus County city he was elected to represent.
Howard took a job with a Grass Valley firm in late December and stays with family there during the workweek. He returns to Oakdale on weekends and for council meetings.
Howard announced his resignation at Monday's City Council meeting, saying he would step down June 1. By then Howard and his wife will have moved to Grass Valley, which is more than two hours from Oakdale.
Howard, 32, said he wants to stay on the council until June 1 because he does not want to leave his colleagues in the lurch as they face some critical decisions, such as how to replace interim City Manager Greg Wellman, who is leaving June 30, and the potential reorganization of Public Works.
Howard, elected to the council in November 2010, added that he can continue to give his full attention to the city's business.
"It's not like I flipped a switch and all of sudden stopped caring about Oak- dale," said Howard, who has lived here about 19 years. "I really believe I signed up to do a job."
Mayor Pat Paul, who campaigned with Howard in the November 2010 election, said she has no problem with him remaining on the council for a few more months.
"I'm glad he's going to stay until June," she said. "There's a lot for the council to get through. I really appreciate him on this council. He's so smart and he's given us so much of his time. He just questions things. He's so thoughtful and so prepared and brings such a different perspective."
Councilman Tom Dunlop, who has clashed with Howard at times, said it's hard to weigh in because he does not know whether the law requires Howard to resign sooner. Dunlop also said it's a personal decision, but if it were him, he would resign now.
"I'd err on the side of being conservative," he said.
It's not clear what the law requires in this circumstance. The secretary of state and California League of Cities declined to comment on the situation and referred inquiries to the city of Oakdale. The California Fair Political Practices Commission said it does not deal with these types of issues.
City Attorney Tom Hallinan said he would not look into the issue unless instructed to by the council. Howard said he has asked an attorney to provide him with guidance on what the law requires.
Howard said he did not seek to move. He and his mother and three other partners own SpectSoft, an Oakdale company that writes software for the TV and movie industry. He said he and the other partners voted to sell the company after an especially tough year.
"We all saw the signs," he said, adding that the opportunity to work as a software engineer for a Grass Valley firm was too good to pass up.
Hallinan said the council has 60 days from Howard's resignation to decide whether to fill his vacancy by appointing someone or holding an election. Hallinan said Howard's successor would serve for the balance of Howard's four-year council term.
Bee staff writer Kevin Valine can be reached at kvaline@modbee.com or (209) 578-2316.
___ (c)2012 The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.) Visit The Modesto Bee (Modesto,
Calif.) at www.modbee.com Distributed by MCT Information Services
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