New councilmember brings public to training

Newly elected councilmember John Pallares shared parts of his first out-of-town training experience with his Facebook friends as he traveled to Sacramento for what he thought was going to be a weekend training with colleagues; however, he went alone as his colleagues were ill and unable to attend.

Pallares was attending the New Mayors and Council Members Academy by the League of California Cities, of which Wasco is a member. Pallares said that he livestreamed his journey for those in Wasco who might not have the opportunity to visit Sacramento to see some of the sights of our Capital.

His hotel was about a block away from the Hyatt Regency, so he was able to do some walking to and from his hotel. He added some humor to his live streaming by bringing along a stuffed companion with him. His companion resembled the monkey from the [BEGIN ITAL]Curious George[END ITAL] books. This companion showed up at various spots during his live streaming and added some humor to the broadcast. Viewers suggested the name Curious George to Pallares, but he said he didn't have name for it.

His days started early, and he shared his daily schedules, which included workshops on the Brown Act, sexual harassment and ethics. Pallares said the two workshops he was most interested in were the Brown Act and Ethics. "If I call a council member, and we talk about a particular city-related subject, and I then call another council member to talk about the same city-related subject, that is a violation of the Brown Act even though we aren't together talking in the same room."

Pallares said his eyes were opened to a lot of important issues regarding the Brown Act. "What can be illegal is surprising," he said.

The ethics portion was interesting to Pallares because ethics are very important to him. "I want to do things for the right reasons," he said.

For the most part, Pallares enjoyed the training, but there was one thing that prevented it from being a complete success, "I was really frustrated when people at my table were talking while the speaker was talking," he said. "I had to move from one table to another in order to listen to the presentation."

"These trainings are great networking opportunities to meet other newbies/veterans who can always be a resource when we need them the most," said Mayor Alex Garcia. "We have to do these trainings every couple of years." Garcia attended the same training in 2017.

"I'm grateful to have the opportunity to attend and learn," said Pallares. "It was almost overwhelming at times. I feel the live sessions were better than the online training for my learning style.