Lily has also been making a series of public information requests lately, again in an apparent effort to shore up support for Gonzalez.
"She called me and told me to talk bad about Jim...she really wants Tommy to keep his job...when I found out he (Tolbert) used to be a priest and is a really good person, I changed my mind and didn't speak bad about him, but she (Lily) was trying to get me to..." swim community activist Sarah Garcia stated in a phone interview yesterday.
"They played me for their own agenda because they knew how much I cared about getting the pool." she went on to say.
Garcia has been a pivotal member of the swimming community that has lobbied very hard to ensure that the flagship pool that was part of the Quality of Life bond that was passed by voters in 2012 is completed and funded properly.
The immediate question people will have is, what's in it for Lily?
Apparently Garcia has been approached and manipulated by several political figures in addition to Lily. Garcia indicated that Jeremy Jordan, former legislative aide to City Rep Niland has also worked her over pretty good.
Garcia's understanding of the Quality of Life bonds was based on the explanation of Jeremy Jordan. During our phone interview it became abundantly clear that, if Garcia's account of her conversations with Jordan is accurate, that Jordan either straight-out lied to her or gave her information that was completely slanted to the point of not even being rooted in fact.
What I can't figure out is all this angst aimed at Tolbert. In addition to the alleged effort on the part of Ann Morgan Lily on his very first day, current City Rep Michiel Noe also gave Tolbert a bit of a chinga-su-madre to his new colleague. During Tolbert's swearing in, Noe was the only member of council I could see to not give Tolbert a standing ovation following his swearing in.
Obviously Noe isn't obligated to do so, but he seems to be the only member of council that is actively trying to take shots at his colleagues.
He posted a negative article about his colleague on his Facebook page the other day. Trust me, there are no shortage of negative articles about members of city council over the last couple of years, but no matter how intense things have gotten on council, I've never seen any of them, except Noe, break decorum to the extent Noe has by sharing a negative article about a council rival.
Let me give you all a measuring stick.
Remember the whole I-don't-want-to-sit-next-to-her situation a couple of years ago between Limón and Niland? It got pretty bad between them.
But I don't recall either of them trying to trash their colleagues on social media. Not sure what is going on with that guy but since he's termed out and will never be on a ballot again, I guess he no longer cares about decorum. But he still has quite a bit of time on council with his new colleague, doesn't seem wise to start things off that way.
Maybe its because both Noe and Lily are big supporters of Gonzalez and Tolbert filed the ethics complaint.
I guess it leaves us all wondering just how much more intense its going to get on council. Just when you thought it couldn't get more dysfunctional and embarrassing right?
Noe kidding.