Politicians: why do they do these things?

I have been following the spate of news coming out of East Palo Alto politics recently and just don’t understand most of it. To give some context for this, remember that EPA is probably the poorest municipality in the Bay Area and surely the poorest on the Peninsula. In general, these politicians are pouring dollars down some drain for no apparent reason than to keep themselves in power. Or worse.

Topping the list is the court battle the EPA police and city council are fighting and losing against Robert Cole, who apparently was dismissed from the police force for being a whistle blower but has gotten a court to reinstate him. Compounding the thousands of dollars the city has spent already, they have reinstated him and immediately put Cole on paid administrative leave even though this will mean further big legal fees as Cole is insistent on going back on active duty. Neither the city council, before which Cole appeared last night, nor the police department will comment on why he cannot be on active duty. They already have to send him a backpay check of $70,000 plus about $22/hour for doing nothing on leave.

The next news from East Palo Alto is the ongoing battle of it’s Ravenswood school district and the district’s superintendent to (a) hold on to power and (b) somehow escape blame for submitting a fraudulent petition in the related court case. Parents and the state have been suing the district over their programs for handicapped children, of which there are a suprisingly–to me–high percentage. The case has been going around for a long time but the school district seems to be almost out of time as the next (last?) deadline is in March.

And then former mayor R.B. Jones went to jail last week for taking a bribe.