In Porterville, we pride ourselves on being a community built on respect, accountability, and the belief that local government should reflect the will of the people it serves. Unfortunately, many residents have begun to feel that our mayor and vice mayor have lost sight of that responsibility.
Over the past year, countless community members have shown up to council meetings, written emails, spoken at the podium, and participated in civic conversations with one simple request: listen to us. Whether the topic has been library funding, public safety, youth protections, or symbolic political gestures, residents have repeatedly asked the council’s leadership to prioritize transparency, fairness, and community engagement. Instead, we have often seen decisions pushed through with little genuine consideration for public input.
Listening is not a ceremonial act. It is not something elected officials do only when convenient or politically advantageous. It is the foundation of ethical governance. When the mayor and vice mayor dismiss public concerns or treat differing viewpoints as obstacles rather than opportunities, they undermine the trust that makes a city function.
What’s especially troubling is that many residents who take the time to speak at meetings describe feeling talked down to, ignored, or even chastised. That is not leadership. That is not representation. And it certainly is not what Porterville voters expect from those elected to guide our city forward.
Most concerning is the pattern of the mayor and vice mayor advancing predetermined agendas, even when the majority of public commenters—and sometimes a majority of the council—express clear disagreement. Effective leaders welcome debate; they do not stifle it. They collaborate; they do not coerce. They listen; they do not declare themselves the final word.
The good news is that Porterville is full of engaged, thoughtful residents who care deeply about our future. We deserve leaders who respect that commitment. It is not too much to ask that our mayor and vice mayor honor the voices of the community they pledged to serve.
Porterville is stronger when every voice is heard—not just the voices in power.
Barbara McQuain
Thank you for sharing an honest opinion about Porterville City Council. There is no transparency with this council as much as they spit it out. Sound so much like there leader of the country.
What stands out to me about this letter is how accurately it describes a leadership style that talks at the community instead of listening to it. That disconnect is especially clear when our local leaders repeatedly fixate on LGBTQ+ and particularly transgender issues, despite residents raising concerns about far more pressing needs like public safety, libraries, and youth services.
Time and again, politicians frame transgender people as threats to women or children, even though there is no evidence to support those claims. If city leaders truly cared about safety, they would be willing to look honestly at police reports, school records, employment-related calls for service, and data from the district attorney’s office. Those records consistently show that violence against women and children is overwhelmingly committed by cisgender, straight individuals not by transgender or LGBTQ+ people.
Meanwhile, real and documented abuses of power, corruption, and violence against women continue to come from people in positions of authority often from the very political circles that claim to be acting in the name of “protection.” It’s hard not to see the pattern: marginalized communities are used as convenient distractions while leaders avoid accountability, transparency, and the harder work of governing responsibly. That is not listening. That is agenda-driven politics.
If our mayor and vice mayor truly believe in ethical leadership, they should stop using fear-based narratives about LGBTQ+ people and start engaging honestly with the community they serve. Respecting public input means addressing real problems not manufacturing moral panics.
And it’s especially troubling to see symbolic gestures like “In God We Trust” placed on city property while the basic teachings those words represent honesty, humility, compassion, and truth are ignored. Faith should never be used as a prop to justify exclusion or misinformation.
Porterville deserves leaders who focus on facts, fairness, and accountability not scapegoats.
i live 12 minutes from Porterville, just go hangout by the bus station, that town has a lot of mental health that needs addressing