Dawson Should Step Down – A Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor:
I’m writing with regard to the issue of the Town of Discovery Bay CSD Director, Brian Dawson, being arrested for assaulting his wife & destroying property and now claiming he will not resign his CSD seat, which I feel is ridiculous.
This is what was printed in the Discovery Bay Press: “Dawson, who has a history of bipolar disorder, didn’t deny the charges but said that a perfect storm of factors – including being off his medication because he couldn’t afford the prescription – contributed to the incident.”
In my opinion there should be no question about Brian Dawson’s immediate resignation from the DB-CSD. The fact that he has not already resigned says a lot about him as an individual only interested in himself.
It is unfortunate he has a mental health problem. It is too bad he says he can’t control himself and, it is too bad he turned violent toward his family. No doubt it is a bad situation. But that does not change the fact that he should not be a DB-CSD director. What happens the next time a “perfect storm” erupts, maybe during a public CSD function? (Twice before, Dawson has almost come to blows following Town meetings)
Not resigning, under the circumstances, is selfish and arrogant. This community deserves a fully staffed and fully functioning board to make the necessary decisions regarding our significant rate dollars and the environmental/human safety aspects of the water/waste treatment system. We don’t need impaired board members who are violent, exhibit irrational judgment and who are dealing with huge and ongoing legal/personal problems.
Dawson needs to quit playing victim and quickly and quietly resign so that he can deal with his legal, medical, and family situations. Anything less than his immediate resignation is an injustice to both our community and his family. This is a guy who needs to be thinking about others instead of his political ambitions. He blew it big time; his political career is over. He needs to move on and quit being an embarrassment to our community.
Brian Dawson has been David and Mary Piepho’s chosen guy. Shame on them for not looking after him. Shame on them for not giving him a few bucks for his medication to prevent violence. Shame on them for not recognizing the harm to the community and telling him it is now time to get out of politics. Since they worked so hard to get him into local politics I believe the Piephos owe Discovery Bay a public apology….. unless of course Dawson, his lack of judgment & violent actions exemplify the kind of individual they support to hold public office and represent our community.
Everyone needs to recall – the Piephos went to great lengths and selected Dawson (through the BOS in Martinez) into an open CSD seat over a recently retired senior financial executive of a billion dollar aerospace firm. And that happened in the same time frame the town was being dinged by its audit firm for having deficient financial expertise. In my opinion it was wrong for David Piepho and Mary Piepho to manipulate the system (they went against the will of the sitting majority) to seat him on the CSD in the first place.
In addition, it was wrong for Dawson to run for election, knowing full well the potential problems and consequences related to his mental impairment without disclosing them. As the sitting county supervisor who championed Dawson’s original CSD appointment through the BOS, if Mary Piepho does not issue a public statement seeking his resignation then she should consider herself unelectable next year. And she (or anyone else) should not claim this is a private matter. No way, not after an elected official is hauled off to jail for violence and not after he said what he said in the newspaper.
—- Jeff Barber, Discovery Bay
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If the residents (owners and renters) who live in Discovery Bay want to make a difference in restoring the peace an tranquility to our previously wonderfully calm and friendly neighborhoods, I am afraid that we are
going to have to wait out the terms of both Mary Piepho and Brian Dawson. In order to clean up this mess, Mary Piepho needs to go and well as Brian Dawson, but there is NO money to even fund the necessary things we need to do to keep our community well appointed (Great golf course, clean parks, relatively low crime) let alone try to recall Mr. Dawson. This would be costly with probably the lowest voter participation EVER, And speaking of petty crimes. People who live on the DBCC course need to watch for a woman who has been caught and identified, who drives around and roots through peoples’ INDIVIDUAL recycle bins and STEALS the plastic.. While this might sound benign, our garbage rates are set in part based on our participation in the recycle we turn in. She lurks on St Andrews and Edgeview. She told us that she
“had knocked on EVERY single door, to get permission.” In out little group of homes, that would mean that all of the dogs SUDDENLY became completely deaf? We have a puppy who is still learning the difference between the TV door bell and the real door bell, so I do not believe her story. Take from this what you will.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.