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15 comments
It was a very bad look for a public official who penned a column in the latest edition of the Pioneer, whining about people not liking him. Hopefully, the next mayor of Clayton will be a little more thick-skinned.
This official played dirty to get himself into the mayor’s set ahead of schedule. He will always be remembered as the guy who was so fixated with power, he broke Clayton’s tradition.
Maybe he wasn’t well liked because it had everything to do with the fact that he, and others on the City Council, conspired right off the bat to rob a dedicated, long-time, and eminently better qualified Council member, Wan, of Wan’s turn as Mayor. Never a good look for a public official making “back door” deals. Goodbye and good riddance, crybaby, Don’t let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you. The people have spoken.
ROJAS,
It sounds like he followed the lead of the Concord City Council and Pleasant Hill City Council because they both also skipped over the next person in line to be Mayor at some point in the last decade.
But he always talks about “doing the right thing.” What a joke! From the minute he stepped on the Clayton City Council all this guy has been about has been about himself. Now he is whining that he not liked by everyone.
Anybody here remember the story of the death of Timothy Lee, who was found hanging from a tree near Concord BART in 1985?
I do remember the story. Because he was a black gay man, some people assumed he was lynched by kkk-types in a hate crime.
Investigators found a suicide note, found no evidence he was assaulted, found tree bark splinters on his pants consistent with him climbing the tree himself, no witnesses… but the tragic event and protests gained some national attention and an FBI investigation ensued. Both local police and the FBI concluded this was an unambiguous case of a suicide.
I ask the question because I was amazed to read recently that some local people, including our newly elected Concord City Councilmember Laura Nakamura, were trying to bring this tragic event back into public awareness as some sort of police investigation failure/conspiracy.
Suicide brings great grief to family members and sometimes brings denial, so I can understand why family members might want to cast doubt on the conclusion reached by CPD and FBI. I just don’t understand why a newly-elected city council member would speak at a rally supporting this narrative.
Not familiar with any info on a current recent rally or speakers but I do recall that part of the reason the conclusion of the investigation was called into question was that the death occurred on the same night CPD arrested one or two white men dressed in KKK hoods and robes for stabbing a black man. Also that the investigation report was heavily redacted. So a little different than people just assumed he was lynched.
Important to note the two suspects in the stabbing were already in police custody at the time of Mr. Lee’s death.
The circumstances surrounding the stabbing were part of the reason people suspected a lynching. It wasn’t an assumption based merely on his race and sexual orientation as you were trying to allege.
I think in reality we all know exactly why a newly-elected city council member would speak at a rally supporting this narrative….In this area the far left is in charge and as a part of their narrative there is a racist around every corner and behind every door. Reality has nothing to do with it….they likely don’t even believe it themselves but it is one of their rallying cries and it does often get people stirred up….They want us all to distrust and dislike one another. Sadly it is just good business to them.
Mike McDermott,
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What “rally” are you referring to? Do you mean the “Memorial March” that took place in early November? I know that Concord City Councilmember-elect Laura Nakamura attended the “Timothy Lee Memorial March” but wasn’t aware that she spoke at the memorial, if we are speaking of the same event, can you please tell us what she said at the rally that you mentioned.
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You failed to mention that family members want a new investigation and that according to family members there apparently was evidence collected in this case that the family questions and believes points to others being involved in the death of Timothy Lee.
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I remember this case, but not the investigation results, my great-grandparents lived just a few hundred feet from where Timothy Lee’s body was found, and i remember one of my middle school teachers telling the class that “Concord was well known for having racial problems.” She probably told that to 200 kids that day.
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Based on your current and past posts you lead readers to believe this has soothing to do with Laura Nakamura being “both-police” while giving us no information other than she attended and spoke at a rally, but it’s possible that she was just being supportive of the family and/or some segment of the Concord gay community because past Concord City Councilmembers and past Concord Police Chief’s didn’t do enough to satisfy the family and gay community members about the findings of the investigations.
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I’m just wondering if this is how the next 4-years is going to go, are you going to question everything that Laura Nakamura says, does, or event she attends with innuendo because you’re unhappy that she defeated Councilmember Tim McGallian?
TBK, no doubt you read the same article I did in the Clayton pioneer indicating councilmember-elect Nakamura had attended and spoke at this march, and that other city council members were invited but (wisely) declined to attend.
Do you honestly want your tax money spent re-litigating a closed case like this with no new evidence… just implausible conspiracy theories.. in order to satisfy a family’s sense of loss? Feel free to write that check.
Laura Nakamura is a very nice person. She ran a very smart campaign. I hope she learns the complex constraints of governance and votes in the best interests of the average Concord resident.
I have never been shy about criticizing our council members’ decisions when I feel that is appropriate, and I also will complement them when I feel they get things right. I hope there are many issues where I can support her decisions but I will definitely speak up if she persists with her past anti-police positions.
After 40 years of living here and raising my kids here I still care about this city and our people. We are hard-scrabble, kind, hard working families for the most part. I will object to politicians from the left or the right who do dumb things and/or try to divide us by race, gender, religion, sociology-economic status, or other categories.
If it hasn’t already been done, CPD and the FBI could just release a less redacted version of the investigation report to address legitimate questions that I see now in the Pioneer article referenced (names misspelled in suicide note, strap used for hanging didn’t belong to him, potential cigarette burns). Wouldn’t require much taxpayer money to do that. Don’t recall much else myself about the incident except it happened same night as a black man was stabbed by a hooded man or men and that the investigation report that was released had the majority of pages fully redacted.
Agree all councilmembers should be held accountable. Agree Mike McDermott has done this in the past. Although Nakamura is not yet officially elected so she is not yet acting as a representative of the city. But her attendance at the rally demonstrates what I said about her before – she is out in the community for real with real people and looking to hear real suggestions from everyone. She isn’t one to look for “sanctioned” political events to attend that tend to be photo ops to make politicians look good.
Is this where the memorial tree is planted off of Mt.Diablo Street along the grassy patch by the BART parking lot before the Police Station?? I remember when it was planted. I recall the murder was unsolved at that time.
Mike McDermott,
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For some reason I haven’t yet received the latest edition of The Pioneer even though I’m on the odd month delivery cycle, but I just read the online article. I was actually aware of the “Memorial March” because I was in the downtown Concord area on the day of the memorial and was given a flyer and spoke with a couple of the marchers as they passed.
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There were a few things you mentioned that were misleading and/or implied something that was misleading:
-This Memorial March took place before the November 08, 2022 election, so Laura Nakamura was still a Concord City Councilmember candidate and not yet a Concord City Councilmember. The current Concord City Councilmembers were also invited to attend, and presumably the 2 District 1 challenging candidates were also invited. You made it sound as if this memorial was nothing but an obvious anti-police political rally and that Laura Nakamura was the ONLY Councilmember that had the poor sense to attend and speak at such an event.
-As I previously stated, I was aware that Laura Nakamura attended the event but was unaware that she had spoken at the event. From my reading of the article it didn’t state what was said by Laura Nakamura. You implied as though Laura Nakamura’s words were obviously anti-police.
-From my recollection the article also didn’t refer to the event as a “rally.” Your use of the word “rally” made this event sound like a political event and not a memorial with a candlelight vigil.
-You said that those that attended this “rally” wanted to cast doubt on the CPD and FBI findings, you gave a descent answer why family members might discount the findings, yet you don’t know why non-family members that attended this “rally” have concluded the findings to be wrong for almost 40 years. Your position seems to be CPD is always right and must be believed.
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I don’t like what government spends most of my tax dollars on as it is. I never said a new investigation needs to be opened. So, i won’t be writing any check! This has been an issue for almost 40 years, so the current and past Concord City Councilmembers and Concord Police Chief’s have obviously FAILED to convince family members, some segment of the greater-Concord gay community, and some segment of the greater-Concord population at-large haven’t and don’t believe Timothy Lee committed suicide, but believe he was tortured and murdered. Working to satisfy the concerns of those that believe a murder took place isn’t a bad thing. Let’s face it, the 1989 election of Lloyd Mashore to the Concord City Council didn’t help matters in this case.
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Since you began posting your pro-McGallian – anti-Nakamura comments just prior to the election you have continually implied, misled, and misrepresented the decisions, positions and political power held by Laura Nakamura. Do you really believe that’s the best way to bring people to your viewpoint. I probably don’t agree with Laura Nakamura on quite a number of things, but her election was worth getting rid of Tim McGallain.
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