Carvalho Gives Gutierrez Public Comeuppance

Alan Carvalho Delivers Mayor Pro Tem Public Rebuke

CATHEDRAL CITY — Mayor Pro Tem Ernesto Gutierrez received a public comeuppance from Alan Carvalho, a resident of the community and former City Council candidate, at a special City Council meeting and special Study Session on Tuesday.

It’s not the first time Carvalho publicly chastised the Mayor Pro Tem.

Carvalho took Gutierrez to task for some of the antics he employed during his recent bid for the District 4 seat against Enrique “Rick” Saldivar.

Carvalho supported Saldivar.

“Now that I’ve gotten the nice thoughts out of the way, I wanted to congratulate the country for making great decisions this Tuesday, a week ago,” Carvalho said during  public comments. “I also want to thank the city for making a great choice. And Rick Saldivar is a wonderful choice. And I’m sorry, but I did warn you, Mayor Pro Tem Gutierrez, that toxicity is never welcomed. And I’m sorry that this happened, that you had to learn the hard way. But I told you that if you continued, that the city wasn’t going to put up with it. So you unfortunately did this to yourself. Hopefully it’s a lesson that you’ve learned.”

In the days and nights leading up to the election Gutierrez and a female friend allegedly stalked Saldivar near his home and followed around him around his neighborhood.

Saldivar told Uken Report he called police police  and they in turn called in the plate number to dispatch. The plate was registered to Gutierrez, and it was driven by a female. Saldivar has posted video of the alleged harassment and intimidation on his Facebook page. He gave Uken Report permission to use them. Police have since collected the videos.

“Remember this. This is our life lesson, and actually you’ve done us a favor. You reminded us of why we choose the right people. And this is a great council. You all put in a lot of work, I said that before. And in spite of the fact that not a great deal of people get up here to say thank you, let me be the one to speak for the silent majority to say thank you. Because somebody has to do this and we need representation that reflects the entire community. I am begging that the next election, please don’t endorse anybody. I know you can as people, but as council members, look what happens when you endorse somebody like Mr. Gutierrez. It makes us look bad. So let’s just be better. Don’t endorse any other council members. Let’s just keep it neutral. Let the public decide who’s the best candidate. I want to thank you all again. Have a great evening.”

Councilmember Rita Lamb unequivocally endorsed Gutierrez. Councilmember Nancy Ross said she “supported” Gutierrez. He later removed her from a list of those who endorsed him.

Gutierrez, borrowing the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator,” had only four words for Carvalho. “I’ll be back, Alan.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, ballots were still being counted, Saldivar has 1,140 or 47.84%; Gutierrez had grabbed 891 votes for 37,39%.

The next updated results will be posted by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 11.