Letter: The Real David Jinkens

As a longtime resident of South Lake Tahoe, I find it very concerning that former city manager David Jinkens is running for City Council.

During this campaign, David Jinkens has continually touted his experience as a city manager. He has stated that his experience is one of the reasons the voters should elect him. However, he rarely shares any tangible accomplishments during this time. And our local media seems to have failed to ask about this same experience. Let’s take a closer look at the experience David Jinkens thinks deserves your vote.

Let’s start with South Lake Tahoe where David served as city manager from 2001 to 2010. Most importantly, in 2007 the infamous hole-in-the-ground was created under the leadership of David as city manager. The use of eminent domain displaced local business owners and left a glaring hole in our community for more than a decade now. This mistake has potentially cost the community millions in tax revenue annually, money that could have paved our roads and built local housing. This is just one example of the many problems our community now faces that David Jinkens had a hand in creating during his time as city manager. The same problems he now claims he will solve as a city council member.

Next, let’s look at how David Jinkens’ time as our city manager ended. In early 2010, then-city manager Jinkens informed the city council that he would not seek an extension of his employment agreement with the city. At the time, it was reported by the Tahoe Daily Tribune that this was expected. However, about six months prior on July 1, 2009, the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported that, “two South Lake Tahoe City Council members called for the resignation of City Manager David Jinkens during a special meeting on Tuesday morning for his alleged lack of oversight over hundreds of thousands of dollars the city spends annually for outside legal help.”

In addition to the above allegation, then councilmember Crawford also “filed an El Dorado Civil Grand Jury complaint near the end of 2009 regarding Jinkens handling of personnel issues with the city, including now Assistant City Attorney Jacqueline Mittelstadt and reinstated South Lake Tahoe Police Officer Johnny Poland.”

Ultimately, there was an investigation conducted by the El Dorado County Grand Jury into the City of South Lake Tahoe Government under David Jinkens' leadership. While the full report is too lengthy to summarize here. I encourage all voters to read it. I do want to highlight some of the more concerning findings that relate directly to David Jinkens. These concerning findings include:

- The City Manager used intimidation to retain control over parts of government. The City Manager attempted to keep the Finance Director under his direct control. He informed the City Attorney that he could make the Finance Director’s complaints against the City Attorney “go away” if the City Attorney dropped the suggestion to move the Finance Director under direct control of the City Council as an “at will” employee.

- During a contentious June 30, 2009 City Council meeting it was suggested that the City Manager should resign. Testimony received indicated the City Manager later threatened to file a Worker's Compensation claim, hire outside counsel, and sue the City.

- Council members and senior staff are unwilling or afraid to address and deal with the existing hostile work environment. In a matter that involved an inappropriate written poem (involving sexual comments from one Council member to another), the City Manager and the City Council failed to take action until questioned by the Grand Jury.

- City Council members and City officials have varying degrees of understanding and openly disagree with the Brown Act. Although bound by the laws of the State of California to obey the same, some violate them on a regular basis.

- Some City officials engaged in avoidance and obstruction during the Grand Jury Investigation.

David Jinkens' time as city manager was not the gold star performance portrayed in his campaign ads and materials. It was a time in our city fraught with bickering, infighting, harassment, a hostile work environment, legally questionable practices, disdain for the laws of California, and the use of eminent domain leaving literal holes in our community.

Unfortunately, this seems to be par for the course for David Jinkens as a city manager. Before coming to South Lake Tahoe, David worked as a city manager since 1974 in the cities of Soledad, Oroville, Avalon, Manteca, Morgan Hill, and Elk Grove. An impressive resume for sure. But again, let’s take a closer look at that experience.

David Jinkens was the city manager of Manteca from 1983 to 1996. On January 14, 1996, the Manteca Bulletin reported that “Manteca City Council and Jinkens agreed to part ways following a five-hour closed-door meeting,” and that “Jinkens was on leave for more than two months while the city investigated allegations that he mistreated five employees and showed favoritism in promoting the city’s business services coordinator Marcia Cwick.” This incident was further explained on September 11, 1996, in the same publication, reporting that the “allegations of mistreatment [were] lodged by five female employees.”

Much like South Lake Tahoe, the damage done by David Jinkens wouldn’t be felt until long after he had resigned. On August 10, 1999, the Manteca Bulletin reported that “former city manager David Jinkens failed to inform previous elected city leaders about deficit spending in the municipal sewer account, setting the stage for a possible 6.5 percent rate hike.”

Following his departure from Manteca, David Jinkens became the city manager in Elk Grove in 2000 departing shortly after in September 2001. According to the Sacramento News & Review on October 4, 2001, David’s time in Elk Grove was full of the same strife and power struggles that he had in Manteca and South Lake Tahoe.

Now, I ask you, my fellow neighbors and voters, is this the type of experience that you want in a city council member? Look at the legacy of David Jinkens that is still visible in our community today. Do you want more dysfunction, holes in the ground, and pothole-filled streets?

Signed,
Rachel C.,
Concerned Citizen