Leo for Pasco

It's a no brainer vote yes!

What I see here is a lot of people who expect Leo to be what they want him to be. On his fb page they call him a republucan, as if thats a bad thing. First, he’s in a non partisan position. He doesn’t work for any party. He’s a father and a Christian. As Christians we are taught to help lift up our community and help others, but no where are we taught that we must agree with everyone we’ve helped, to be allowed to exist or to be viable. His first responsibility is to his Savior, then his wife and family, then to his country and community. I see others confused that because Christians and Republicans are so demonized that they must all be awful people, therefore they are commanded to revile anyone who steps off the liberal plantation. Have you ever stopped to realize that maybe the problem isnt Leo, but the way you’ve been told to think. Many of you admit how he has helped you, but you’re emotionally wounded, because he may not seem to agree with DEI principles. Not one of you stopped to think, maybe you’re wrong? Maybe good people don’t have to agree on everything and that maybe our emotional well being is our responsibility, not Leo’s or anyone else’s. There have been zero comments that gave any evidence or even a thought that Leo did anything inappropriate. It seems to me that the pot stirrer in this case is someone who ran against Leo and lost. That his biases have made him see wrong where there is simply disagreement. I can say that I dont agree with everything Leo has voted for, but it doesnt make him unfit for office. It makes him a human being with his own values, strength’s, and weaknesses. I read where some of you claim he is powerful and you’re just weak victims therefore he has a responsibility to bend to your emotions, so you can be happy. As a city councilman he is not powerful. He’s 1 of 7 votes. It actually makes him vulnerable. He’s a “PUBLIC SERVANT”. He’s not a public boss. What you want is to control him. Its YOU who wants HIS God-given power, not the other way around. Unless ypu have proof of real wrong doing, youre only looking foolish in the eyes of others when you blame him for your emotional fragility. Reposting what a friend of his posted about his concern for the schools response to an issue that hurt his daughter, is not unbefitting a city councilman. It actually shows that he cares about our young women and how they are feeling and concerned that the school is not addressing those issues in a good way.

I noticed they didn’t include the positive commentor who stood up for you.

The initial post made expressed concern and asked for clarity on Pasco School District's policy. Your words didn't attack anyone, it was those in the comments that came with bullying behaviors. And as more info was available, you continued to be transparent in what was occurring. Thank you Leo for asking the hard questions even while those complaining that you were a bully rally around you with pitchforks.

Nothing wrong with trying to help members of our community. Keep up the good work Leo there will always be haters.

I support you Leo. I just hope more parents speak to their children about any incidents like this that could happen and that they make sure their children know they can come to them or a trusted adult when they feel uncomfortable. I wish our schools focused on educating our children with the core subjects to get them through and on to whatever it is they choose after HS. Our schools need to stop educating our children about race, gender and religion.. it’s not their place to do so. This is my opinion and I know not all will agree but that’s something we all need to live with.. we will not all ever agree on everything.

Haters gonna hate. I don’t even care for conservative politics, but I know firsthand that Leo Perales has been good for my birth city. Sensitive snowflakes run around being victims all the time. Stay strong

Public comment Brian Verhey: “My name is Brian Verhey. I’m a resident of District 3, and as a resident of Pasco District 3, I’m here today because the integrity of this body is being eroded by persistent behavior by Councilman Leo Perales that falls well below the standard we expect from our elected leaders and can open the city up to lawsuits, which would ultimately be paid by the taxpayers. Effective governance relies on trust, yet we’re seeing recurring misuse of the council title to target private citizens, invite chaos, and cross professional boundaries. First, regarding social media. There is a documented pattern from the councilman using the city councilman-branded platform to amplify hearsay and unverified claims. Most recently, he posted about a student in Pasco schools who was being bullied, when the school district verified that the claims were not true and gave him a courtesy call, by the way, to allow him to take it down if he would like to. Where the father initially did personally witness …unclear wording… use his platform to vote or post …unclear wording… I’m referring …unclear wording… it is a form of intimidation. It is the weight of the city used against individuals in their own neighborhood. Regarding city staff and high turnover in various departments, the digital record at this point points to a genuinely hostile environment in many departments. This includes an email sent to another public official, not in the city building, containing a direct threat to see them not reelected when they ran for reelection. That email did come from the City of Pasco email account. This is not an isolated incident involving one post or one email. It represents a documented pattern of using city-branded influence to bully, spread misinformation, and foster a culture of fear among city personnel and the general public. Let me be very clear. If these activities were done on personal email and on a personal Facebook page, or at least one that’s not branded Pasco City Councilman, then I would not be standing here today. But because that has been done with City of Pasco branding in multiple cases, using both official and branded channels, I am forced to ask the council to consider two separate actions. One, I need them to strengthen and enforce social media practices and explicitly limit the use of the councilman title on personal accounts that are used to target private citizens or spread unverified rumors. Also, I believe that this history is egregious enough that I would recommend that Councilman Perales be removed from his outside committees, as the City of Pasco should be represented by someone who has all people’s interests in mind, and that we should be neutral or positive on outside leadership boards. Thank you for your time and hearing of this matter.”

Leo, I want to start by saying this clearly so you don’t misread me. I am not angry at you. This is not me coming at you because I think you failed me or didn’t help me, and now I’m reacting. I’m actually thankful for you, genuinely. You show up in a way most people in your position don’t. You communicate, you use social media, and you are ahead of a lot of your colleagues in that way. People aren’t sitting around reading everything anymore. We want answers in the moment. We want to know what’s happening right now, not days later, not buried in paperwork or meetings most people can’t attend. You’ve stepped into that space when a lot of others are still stuck in the past. You meet people, and you listen. You gave your time to me, to my neighbors, to my community. And time is not small. Time is everything. You even donated money to our GoFundMe; that’s time away from your own family. You didn’t have to come sit with us, but you did, and I will always give you credit for that. I’ve told you before about Ender’s Game and how the way we win matters, and I still believe that, which is why I’m coming to you like this, honest, not hostile. And Leo, we have history, real history. People have accused me of worshiping you, of acting like we see eye to eye on everything, and that’s never been true. We don’t agree on everything, and we never have, but I’ve always respected that you showed up anyway. I stood up for you when others were coming at you. I defended you when people said you handled things wrong. I’ve also called you out publicly. I called you. I told you about the hate regarding the NAACP grand opening, and you asked what was going on. You engaged, you listened. I remember the backlash, the hate around that, and I told you thank you. I meant that then, and I mean it now. I appreciate you for taking my calls. And I’ll be real with you, helping people is exhausting. It just is. One minute it’s something small, like a neighbor upset about a dog in their yard, and the next minute it’s something real, something heavy, something that’s not even in your jurisdiction, but you still feel responsible for it. You carry all of it, the small, the ridiculous, the serious, the heartbreaking. Whatever your motives are, that is only something you know in your heart. The reason I’m even writing this is because, Leo, I see my dad in you. Not in a surface way, in a real way. The beliefs, the bluntness, the confidence, the humor, even that “say it and let people deal with it” energy, I grew up in that. My dad was old school. Right was right, and wrong was wrong. And then somehow, in the same breath, he was the man who raised me on God’s love, had me knocking on doors raising money for people, and believed in helping your neighbor no matter what. That contradiction lived in him every single day. We talked about everything. My dad was a Trumper. Before that, we listened to all sorts of politics like Ross Perot and Rush Limbaugh, all of it. Nothing was off limits. We went head to head on everything, and somehow, out of all of that, we stayed connected. I will never forget the first time I saw that contradiction collide. He saw someone he didn’t understand, couldn’t place them into the box he was used to, and he made a crude, over-the-top comment about them without hesitation. I remember standing there stunned, thinking, did that really just come out of your mouth? This man who raised me on kindness, just casually being harsh toward someone he didn’t even know. Looking back, it wasn’t just cruelty. It was confusion and discomfort colliding with beliefs he had never been forced to question. That was my dad. That was my relationship with my dad. It wasn’t a model for how people should treat each other, but it was real. And somehow, even through all of that, we loved each other deeply. That’s the part people don’t understand. We were magnets. We could push each other away harder than anyone else, say things that cut deeper than anyone else, go silent, go distant, go no contact, and still something pulled us back together every single time. It wasn’t clean, it wasn’t pretty, but it was real. But here is the part that matters most. Because of my life and how people see me, there have always been assumptions. I don’t know if my dad ever fully understood whether I was he, him, she, her, they, them, or anything in between. And I don’t know what he thought in the end. And I’m okay with that. Because it didn’t change how he loved me. It didn’t change how he saw me. It didn’t change that I was his, even if it challenged everything he believed. But the world doesn’t always love like that. This past year, I was called racist slurs, and I was called an “effing lesbian.” Whether I am or not is not the point. The point is how quickly people use words to reduce someone, to make them feel small, and to make them feel like they don’t belong. And when people are treated like that over and over again, when they are mocked, rejected, or pushed to the margins, it has real impact. I know what it feels like to be at a point where you don’t want to be here anymore. That is not politics. That is reality. And that is something people in the LGBTQIA+ community face at higher rates, not because of who they are, but because of how they are treated. So I have to ask this honestly. If we say we are pro-life, if we say we value life, then that has to be consistent. If you say you are a man of the people, then these are your people. Your neighbors. Your community. Your people’s children. Get to know the LGBTQIA+ community. Sit down with them. Have dinner with them. Get to know who you represent, whether you like it or not. We don’t have to agree on everything. That is not the goal. The question is whether disagreement means exclusion. Because right now, whether intentional or not, some of the language and alignment out there is landing in a way that makes people feel like they don’t have a place here. This isn’t about winning an argument. It’s about whether someone feels like they should stay here. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about politics for me. It’s about people. It’s about whether someone feels seen or invisible, whether they feel like they belong or like they are on the outside looking in. And if my dad, with everything he was, everything he believed, everything he struggled to understand, could still love me the way he did in the end, then there is room for all of us to do better. And in all of his imperfections and all of mine, we made life unforgettable, in every way, like “Unforgettable” sung by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole, a father and daughter, imperfect, complicated, and still connected. Thank you. Amber Waid Carter

I'm still looking for any accountability on your part for amplifying a rumor. Did I miss it?

Public comment Amber “Good evening, council members. I’m here to talk about, obviously, conduct. I am a person who actually lives with mental health challenges. I do have a mental health disorder, so I feel like I can speak about that. And I have personally survived multiple suicide attempts. The first took over 200 stitches to repair my body to save a life I did not want at the time. Waking up after attempt after attempt is one of the most humiliating things a person can experience, and I have a mark for it. I have been told, ‘If you really wanted to die, you would be dead.’ My own landlord, Leo, somebody who you have stood beside me to protect me against, told rumors about how I attempted six suicide attempts in six months. That is not true, but those words still cause damage. So if council publicly speaks about mental health, especially involving children who are not yours, this is not a talking point. It has consequences. Whether their parent shares something or not, the moment you amplify it, you take ownership of that impact. Words from this council carry weight. You can have your beliefs and still not be cruel, but the way this is being handled matters. You have a choice. You can stand between harm and the people you serve, or you can contribute to it. If you are pro-life, then protect life at all costs. Please remember that Manson did not do any harm. It was his followers who did the harm, who carried out his wishes and did the actions, whether he stated that or not. And this is… I will let you look at this, because this is the damage that is happening to our children, and for the hate that everyone in this room has received on some personal level, whether it is the color of your skin, the way you look, we all been the victims of hate. This cannot be a result of that hate. And I’ll just let you look at this for my remaining few seconds.”

Public comment Daniel “Hi, my name is Daniel I just wanted to come in. I had two quick things I wanted to mention. One, I just wanted to mention that with our leaders in City Council, I think it’s very important that we’re using proper channels before we comment and share things publicly. We don’t always have the facts, and there’s a time and place for certain things, and social media is not always the right forum to share information. It is something that spreads misinformation, leads to bad outcomes, and erodes trust in elected officials. And I think that’s something that as Pasco citizens, we hold you guys to higher standards. So I just ask that council members all remember that we look to our leaders for guidance on these things. So decisions, inappropriate comments, or things that should stay in private, and then when more information, proper channels are followed to find out what actually happened, please do some sort of decision, then the decision is made. So it’s kind of a roundabout way. But the other thing I want to talk about is Cinco de Mayo…”

Public comment Marie, online commenter: “For some reason, it’s not allowing me to click on the microphone. Accept me. So sorry about that. I appreciate the opportunity today. Marcy is a colleague of mine. We’re collaborating together, and one of the things I wanted to bring up tonight regarding the email that I sent council back on April 1st. I planned to get a meeting done tonight and couldn’t get there. I apologize for that as well. I understand I made a lot of requests. I understand that there are a lot of …unclear wording… things that it’s not done unintentionally. The reason to ask for everything that I can possibly think to ask for is because collaboration was needed. Those are questions that should be asked when I send an email like that. I’m totally anticipating leadership on the community question, what’s going on, to respond back. And I do appreciate that. What I want, though, is to see the leadership extend into looking at the problem. These are not unique. They’re not individual. Hundreds of these cases are happening, and that should tell you something about what’s going on in your community. If it doesn’t, then I’m more than happy to send more information and everything to let you know. It’s something that I feel very, very important to share with people because of what’s happening and the families that are being destroyed. I titled that email urgent because every day that there’s court, every day that there are family court decisions being made that are attacking families, separating them completely, people haven’t seen their children in over a year, years, not just months. That is not what the courts are supposed to be doing. It is not about separating families, but that’s the main thing going on. And now I think it’s clear that, you know, I said there’s a lot of stuff that is impacting things, and I’m hopeful in seeing the leadership for our communities, collaboration processes, they can be looked at, and there’s things that maybe you might be interested in having input on. Right now, we’re working on legislation. We’re working on building up …unclear wording… currently there. I’ve stopped the apps that are happening …unclear wording… Those haven’t stopped yet, I’ll put it that way. So that we’re able to look at our families and say we’re doing the best we can do, that we’re not separating everybody, that’s causing the worst thing that can be imagined. So I’m trying to talk. I did not begin processing tonight. I couldn’t. So I appreciate the time tonight. I’m good at answering questions, so feel free, and I will provide you my phone number to her. Thank you.”

Public comment “Hello, my name is Other people with me today wanted to talk about Leo Perales’ behavior. I remember the feeling I felt when I was on Facebook and I was scrolling by, and I saw the comments left on that post. I remember thinking to myself that, and I was surrounded in this council, and I see I’m the youngest person here. I know intimidation works, and I know how scary it is to speak up to people who feel very scary to speak up to, because we look at them and we feel that sense of smallness. I have a bunch of friends who I shared the story with, what was happening, and we all felt the same resentment, as well as thinking that all these people who we know, they don’t have the same experiences as us, are speaking for situations that they have never gone through. As a daughter of an immigrant, I know how hard it is to go through life day by day and having to face unimaginable situations, and it makes me deeply sad to think of your brother, also Hispanic, is representing us in such a negative light, when I know so many people in our community are actively against him. And I’m sorry if this is all over the place because I didn’t think I was going to speak, but I just want the council to know that there’s a lot of people, a lot of young people, and not just in Pasco, not just in Kennewick, but people throughout the state that feel the same way as me. Oftentimes, sometimes we feel so small that we feel like we can’t do anything about people in power, and I can attest that so many of my friends, so many of my online friends, when I was telling them about this story, they said how important it is to show up to events like this and tell you guys how we feel. Because I know oftentimes the city has low voter turnout, and we feel really scared to just talk about how we feel and how we want better people to represent us. Because I know he doesn’t represent me. I know he doesn’t represent my friends, and he doesn’t represent my family. And I hope that after this, you guys can hold him to accountability and make sure that what he’s speaking about isn’t just listening to a rumor, or making sure that it’s not just through a Facebook post, making sure that there’s validity in his comments. Thank you.”

Public comment Unknown Female Commenter, speaking in support of Councilman Perales: “Thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor and City Council. I am here actually to speak in support of Councilman Leo Perales. The First Amendment is clear. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech. So it is religion. It is a belief without scientific proof. The Library of Congress records all scientific studies, those that are just theories, those that are peer reviewed, and those who are in the process of peer review, and there is no case that proves girls and boys are born in the wrong bodies. Not an attempt to even gain peer review. No matter what hormones or surgeries are performed, their chromosomes stay the same. I have no idea what Councilman Perales believes about transgender issues, but he shared a concerned father’s post about how a high school dealt with a situation involving his daughter that he was unhappy with. From what I understand, from what we had heard earlier from a commenter, that father and that daughter felt bullied, and that’s why they took down their post, not because they felt that they were wrong to post. Councilman Perales does not lose his First Amendment rights to post things on his social media page just because he’s on the City Council. He did nothing wrong. He didn’t even comment about it. However, this push to force others into other people’s belief systems is immoral and wrong, especially when it’s being forced by a government agency, such as our schools. The word Congress implies government in the First Amendment, and forcing girls to share private spaces with boys is no different than forcing a Muslim girl that she cannot wear her hijab. It is forcing the government religion onto unwilling participants, and it needs to stop. Anybody that has a concern with our daughter has every right to post that as well, and there’s nothing wrong to share that. I want to thank you, Councilman Perales, for standing up for families who do not share their beliefs. Now, I don’t know any other things that have happened with Mr. Perales, but I will say there is a process for those who have complaints to file a complaint with evidence, and not hearsay, because I’ve seen hearsay. It is immoral when you try people in the court of public opinion instead of using facts in a court-type system, because you think you may know the truth, but you may not. Thank you.”

Public comment Marcy Torres: “Good evening. My name is Marcy Torres, and I am the owner of Gutter Girl, and I am an advocate in this community. I’m here today to speak to you about Mr. Leo Perales. His behavior towards community members in this community really is heartbreaking, and I cannot understand how someone would treat the community the way that he treated not only people in our community, but business owners. People in this community need to be held accountable. We expect better from elected officials. Harassment for businesses struggling is not fair. There’s so many things that we’re doing in Pasco. The parade was amazing. Why are we allowing people’s behavior to separate and bring conflict into our communities? There should be no room for that in this community. I have never seen so much hatred spewed to people in our community before, and I’m just here to ask that we hold him accountable. We deserve better from elected officials, and I think there needs to be some actions to hold him accountable for the things that he’s doing. And I have story after story after story of what he has done to different people, and I really would not want to come here every meeting to let you all know the things that are happening. I would like for Mr. Perales to be given the opportunity to make a public apology and do the right thing for our community, because if I start coming here and exposing everything that has been brought up to my attention, this is not going to be okay. So please, I’m here to ask you to expect more from our officials. Thank you.”

Amber seems to be a little brain washed progressive... a key board warrior. What a clown out of touch in her community.

You fucked up by placing a target on a child. If that was your child and a politician blasted your kid on social media how the fuck would you feel? You don’t have accountability for shit. And it’s clear.

So many useless council members. Atleast Leo actually makes some informative post. Even though the AI crap is cringe.