East Palo Alto mayor calls for civility
- Srishti Prabha
- Jun 19
- 3 min read
After a tenuous exchange between Vice Mayor Mark Dinan and Council member Carlos Romero during the previous city council meeting, East Palo Alto Mayor Martha Barragan opened the June 17, 2025 city council session with a call for civility and professionalism.
“Instead of engaging in respectful and constructive policy debate, we’ve witnessed personal attacks, inappropriate references to one another’s families, and conduct that does not reflect the standards of our community … from its leaders,” she said.
Barragan cautioned the council members, citing the council’s code of ethics, including provisions allowing for reprimand or loss of assignments.
“We have no place in this dais for disrespect or unprofessionalism,” she said.
The remarks followed a particularly contentious June 3 meeting, where the council voted 4-1 to allocate up to $175,000 in transient occupancy tax funds to the Lewis & Joan Platt East Palo Alto Family YMCA. The discussion leading up to that vote sparked a heated argument between Dinan and Romero over who had the moral authority to speak on youth services.
Romero later apologized during the same meeting for suggesting that Dinan’s child did not attend multicultural programs in the city. However, some community members noted that Dinan did not offer a similar apology for comments implying that council members without children were less equipped to understand youth needs.
“Councilmember Romero demonstrated humility by apologizing for misspeaking on the YMCA grant issue and for implying that the vice mayor’s children did not attend multicultural programs,” said resident Meda Okelo during public comment. “However, the vice mayor did not apologize for his own remarks, suggesting that individuals without children are less empathetic toward the needs of children.”
The fallout from that debate took center stage, with residents raising concerns not just about the council’s conduct but about the broader lack of transparency in how the city allocates public funds. Okelo questioned the inclusion of subsidizing YMCA memberships as part of the City Council’s priorities and reminded the council of the city’s original agreement with the YMCA, which included a requirement for a $4 million endowment fund to ensure equitable access for low-income East Palo Alto residents.
Regular city council attendee and East Palo Alto resident Gail Wilkerson Dixon echoed Okelo’s sentiments.
“I am here tonight to address a critical issue that has plagued our city for years — a severe lack of oversight regarding our city’s budgeting, grants and allocation of funds to outside organizations,” she said, calling for the formation of an independent oversight committee to review how grant funds are distributed and used.
She pointed to the YMCA funding as a cautionary example: “Just last meeting, Councilmember Romero himself rightfully expressed outrage over $350,000 allocated to the YMCA without proper accounting,” Dixon said. “This highlights the very proper problem I am addressing tonight to safeguard taxpayers’ money and ensure responsible governance.”
Resident Michael Francois also criticized the city’s relationship with the YMCA, highlighting the unusual land lease arrangement. “They’re a multimillion-dollar corporation,” he said. “They don’t really need anything from us.”
Barragan’s remarks, which followed public comment, advised the city council to refocus. “We need to listen to what our constituents are saying,” she said. “If we are to make the news, it should be for the positive work we’re doing in our city, not for petty conflicts among ourselves.”
Most importantly, she urged her colleagues to approach debate on the dais with maturity: “Disagreeing respectfully is required from all of us, recognizing that there’s value in diverse perspectives and staying focused on how our decisions impact the lives of the people we serve.”
***********************
Please click on the box below and make a donation. Whatever amount you give will enable us to "Keep Community Media Alive!"
