2 officials resign amid blog hubbub
Two days after a city commissioner was removed from his post, two other commissioners who had been criticized for comments on an Internet blog are resigning.
Art Pedroza and Luis Rodriguez, both members of the Housing and Redevelopment Commission, gave notice Wednesday. The other commissioner, Thomas Gordon, was removed by the City Council on Monday.
The three have been contributors to orangejuiceblog .com, which has been critical of city government. Last month, city officials asked the bloggers to tone down the criticism.
Pedroza said it appeared that there was no room for dissent in the city government and he saw no reason to continue serving on the redevelopment commission.
Councilman David Benavides disagreed. “I think we are trying to make our government more open, and having commissioners is one way that we can get different voices in our government. Someone who steps down is giving up that opportunity,” he said.
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-- Jennifer Delson
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