Dimmers optimistic things will turn around in Tracy as long as community works together
The city council in Tracy has received a lot more attention in recent weeks than usual. And although that’s not necessarily a good thing, Tracy Mayor Anthony Dimmers remains steadfast in his belief that things will get better in town.
“How do we move forward? As a community, that’s how,” Dimmers said in an interview with the Tracy Area Headlight Herald last Friday. “Nothing pulls a community together like adversity, unfortunately. It’s true for small towns all across America. The only way to survive and prosper is to do it together. As long as we’re not a community, we’re going to struggle.”
Dimmers, who is serving his first term as mayor after succeeding Stephen Ferrazzano, is leading the city through an unprecedented time. The five-member council was recently charged with determining whether or not EDA board member Jeff Salmon could stay on the EDA board. In a four-hour public hearing on July 24, the council determined there was enough substantiated evidence to remove Salmon from the board after the longtime Tracy businessman was charged with violating a number of city codes. The charges against Salmon stemmed from a business deal gone bad with roofer Jamie Mattson, who requested both he and councilman and EDA board member Tony Peterson be removed from the EDA board. Mattson had done work on Salmon’s building on the highway.
Dimmers said he doesn’t know enough about what happened in the past between people involved to determine how much personal grievances have played a part in everything that has gone on, but he knows nothing that has happened is positive.
“In the short-term, this is not productive for the city,” Dimmers said. “I don’t think anybody really wins. I know it’s been said that it’s been really personal, but when you look at it, it was just a matter of holding folks accountable for their actions.”
If, indeed, a personal dispute did flick the first domino, Dimmers said everything that has happened since at the city council level has been done on a professional basis and with the utmost objectivity. Dimmers knows there have been shots taken at the council for a lack of objectivity, but takes no offense to any such accusations, because he believes he and the council members are doing the best they can do in a tough situation.
“We have a responsibility to people in town; we have a responsibility to follow and enforce statutes and city codes, and if we don’t enforce them there isn’t really any point in having them,” he said. “That’s what makes it difficult. In a small town, everybody knows everybody.”
And that, Dimmers accepts, includes him.
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.