Tustin : Residents Demand That Councilmen Resign

Wearing black armbands, about 40 residents Monday night demanded the resignation of Councilmen Earl J. Prescott and John Kelly because of their behavior at an earlier council meeting.

“There is no place on the Tustin City Council for boorishness, there is no place for those who hold the public in disdain,” said Gerald Feldman, an electronics engineer and six-year resident of Tustin. “Therefore, there is no place on the Tustin City Council” for Kelly and Prescott, he said. “We are calling for their resignations.”

Marge Kasalek, a member of Citizens for a Responsible Tustin Council which was formed after a Sept. 18 council meeting, called Prescott’s behavior at that meeting “outrageous.” It began, she said, when he turned his back to the audience and, with his feet propped on a glass display case, appeared to fall asleep for 20 minutes, she said.

Prescott said the next day that he had injured his back while remodeling his cabin in Big Bear, was in “a great deal of pain” and had almost stayed home that night.

At the Sept. 18 meeting, Prescott and Kelly walked out of the council chamber during discussion of a new shopping center, forcing the proceedings to stop until they returned a few minutes later.

“We primarily want to let them know we are sick and tired of the way the city is run,” Kasalek said. “We want to put dignity back into the Tustin City Council.”