FORT BRAGG, CA., 12/17/24 — In a Dec. 16 special meeting of the Fort Bragg City Council, called to vote on the consent calendar, which was overlooked at the regular Dec. 9 meeting, several citizens spoke in public comments supporting Marcia Rafanan, who was voted in as vice mayor on Dec. 9 over the spoken objections of councilmember Tess Albin-Smith.
Wearing a long-sleeved brown T-shirt that read “Marcia! Marcia! Marcia! I stand with her,” Verna Escola said she’d watched the city council meeting in disbelief. “For you to say Marcia cannot read and write English speaks volumes on the fact that you don’t really know her,” Escola said to councilmember Tess Albin-Smith, who listened to speakers demanding she step down with a grim face. “You said that it’d be nice to have a person of color in a leadership role, but Marcia’s not that person… You are part of the problem. This country is in a huge hate everybody [mode], and you are promoting that.”
Escola went on to describe Rafanan’s work with developmentally disabled clients at the nonprofit Parents and Friends. “Our developmentally disabled clients depend on her to be their voice and their advocate, and she does that with great love from her clients. She speaks for everybody. She is who Fort Bragg is. She’s the majority of women, moms, parents working 80 or 90 hours a week to live on this beautiful coastland. Marcia is what the city of Fort Bragg needs. She’s aware of our struggles to live here and what it takes. So to knock her down with insults and discrimination is not to just do it to her but you did it to the majority of Fort Bragg.”
Rafanan’s older sister Bernadette Rafanan spoke in a tightly controlled voice: “You knocked down Native Americans by saying my sister can’t read or write? That is wrong of you. And about colored people? We stick up for the Latinos. We stick up for the Native Americans. We stick up for everybody here in Fort Bragg. That’s how we were raised here. We stick up for everybody here. You need to resign. If you don’t resign, it’s going to cost $30,000 to $40,000. Your racism and your hate need to go, Tess.” Bernadette Rafanan was speaking about the estimated costs for a recall election that several subsequent speakers said was already in the works.
After several more speakers expressed their objections to Albin-Smith’s criticisms of Marcia Rafanan, Albin-Smith took the microphone. “When you make a mistake, and I made a really big one, you have to own up to it,” she began, reading from a sheet of paper. “…I do want to apologize for comments I made about your qualifications for vice mayor,” she said, turning to Rafanan, who listened stoically. “I did not intend to hurt you or offend you or your supporters or the public…. I was expressing my concerns over her comparatively limited experience when compared to Lindy Peters… And that’s the mistake I made, a big mistake. I deeply regret making comments that undermined Marcia’s character. I do understand that I offended her and her supporters. I want to say that I’m actually quite proud of Marcia being the first woman in nearly two decades to sit as mayor or vice mayor, and it is exciting that she is now the first female of color in that role as well…. I apologize for sharing my poorly worded concerns, publicly disparaging Marcia’s qualifications for the job…. I value and respect Marcia, and I’ve enjoyed working with her on the council. I promise to be more mindful of what I say in the future, and I will support you 100 percent in your position as vice mayor…” At that point, Albin-Smith put down the paper and said, “We have to get past this somehow, and I don’t know if you can ever forgive me.”
Rafanan chose to take the high road, speaking first about a local dentist who was retiring after 37 years treating Fort Bragg patients, and then thanking those who came to her defense. “This has brought a lot of people together,” she said. “The love and support this city has shown this past week is unbelievable. It shows how small Fort Bragg is and how big it is… It just shows the community love we have in this small city of ours.”
A round of applause followed before Mayor Jason Godeke noted that he was glad that Albin-Smith had apologized. “The community doesn’t expect us to agree on all the issues, but the community does expect us to be functional, and that means working together.”
In an instance of that, the consent calendar passed unanimously, and the singular meeting ended after only 21 minutes, surely a record of brevity.
Please find related coverage about this subject from The Mendocino Voice below.
Tess Albin-Smith is a representative of Soroptimist, should she be lifting women up vs ripping them down? Given all her education she should know that intelligence come from more than just college. What is her perception of intelligence if she is just knocking people down.
Her fellow Soroptomists should demand she resign from that group as well or kick her out if she refuses.
Tess somehow forgot that Jessica Morsell-Haye served as Vice Mayor a mere two years ago! Marcia certainly wouldn’t have forgotten.
Goodbye Tesd
Im not a resident of Fort Bragg but I visit at least twice a month and I feel as if Fort Bragg is my second home and I was appalled to read something a council member said she should either resign or face a recall because there is no room for hate.