New Resolution Brings Extra Punch
An amended agenda for Thursday, February 2, 2023 Coalinga City Council meeting has been published. It is not clear at this point when the change was made. The primary modification noted by Coalinga Press was in section 6.1: Discussion, Direction and Potential Action regarding the Adoption of Resolution No. 4139 Approving the Public Censure of Councilman Adkisson.
Initially, this resolution brought forth by Newly appointed Coalinga City Mayor James Horn, asked for Councilman Adam Adkisson to be publicly censured and admonished regarding following rules set forth by the City.
Section 1: The City Council hereby concludes that the facts concerning Councilmember Adkisson’s
conduct stated above constitute violations of:
A. The City of Coalinga City Council District Residency Policy;
B. City of Coalinga Council Rules of Procedure Decorum of City Council Members
subsection u which reads, “Council Members shall support the Rules established by the
Council;” and
C. City of Coalinga Council Rules of Procedure Decorum of City Council Members
subsection v which reads, “Council Members shall abide by these Rules in conducting
the business of the City of Coalinga.”
Section 2: The City Council of the City of Coalinga thus hereby:
1. Publicly censures Councilmember Adkisson for violating the City of Coalinga City Council District Residency Policy and City of Coalinga Council Rules of Procedure.
2. Admonishes Councilmember Adkisson to comply with the City of Coalinga City Council District Residency Policy and City of Coalinga Council Rules of Procedure.
The amended agenda added two actions to the original resolution. Coalinga Press was unaware of this change when the paper was published this week. The newly published agenda reads (Below):
Section 1: The City Council hereby concludes that the facts concerning Councilmember Adkisson’s
conduct stated above constitute violations of:
A. The City of Coalinga City Council District Residency Policy;
B. City of Coalinga Council Rules of Procedure Decorum of City Council Members
subsection u which reads, “Council Members shall support the Rules established by the
Council;” and
C. City of Coalinga Council Rules of Procedure Decorum of City Council Members
subsection v which reads, “Council Members shall abide by these Rules in conducting
the business of the City of Coalinga.”
Section 2: The City Council of the City of Coalinga thus hereby:
1. Publicly censures Councilmember Adkisson for violating the City of Coalinga City Council District Residency Policy and City of Coalinga Council Rules of Procedure.
2. Admonishes Councilmember Adkisson to comply with the City of Coalinga City Council District Residency Policy and City of Coalinga Council Rules of Procedure.
3. Removes Councilmember Adkisson from all assigned committees.
4. Requires all future travel expenditures for Councilmember Adkisson to be approved by
Council prior to being expended.
The newly published Resolution 4139 specifies that Councilmember Adkisson will be removed from all committees if the resolution. It also states that any travel expenditures be pre-approved by Coalinga Council.
Committees have been largely suspended in the wake of Covid-19 but are also on the council’s agenda this Thursday to be revitalized and utilized by the community to create stronger activities with the added help of residents who will also serve on those committees along with council members.
The existing committees are:
• Public Safety
• Cannabis
• Water
• City Beautification and Code Enforcement
• Animal Control
• Sales Tax Revenue, Expenses, and Finance
• Economic Development
The committee concept was initiated by then-Mayor Nathan Vosburg who brought the issue for discussion on July 5, 2018. At that time, Adkisson was assigned to the Public Safety (Chair) and City Beautification and Code Enforcement (Co-chair) Committees.
Coalinga Press has asked for clarification on the level of proposed punitive actions being taken on what seems to be a minor infraction. It remains unclear why the severity of this punitive action has been proposed.
