Dean Grose is set to resign
from his mostly ceremonial
post of mayor of Los Alamitos
at Monday's City Council
meeting, but he intends to
stay on the council, despite
an expected torrent of
criticism for forwarding a
racist e-mail.
City officials expect an extra
large turnout at Monday
night's meeting. An additional
police
more

Dean Grose is set to resign
from his mostly ceremonial
post of mayor of Los Alamitos
at Monday's City Council
meeting, but he intends to
stay on the council, despite
an expected torrent of
criticism for forwarding a
racist e-mail.
City officials expect an extra
large turnout at Monday
night's meeting. An additional
police presence is planned,
Los Alamitos police Capt.
Bruce McAlpine told The Orange
County Register. A smashed
watermelon was found outside
of Grose's business Wednesday,
but it did not cause any
damage.
Grose said he 'fully' expects
those attending the meeting to
call for his resignation from
the City Council for
forwarding a depiction of a
watermelon patch superimposed
on the front lawn of the White
House to a small group of
people. The e-mail bore the
headline 'No Easter egg hunt
this year.'

'I've issued my
statement,' Grose said. 'I
believe the matter's closed.'
Grose told CBS2 he did not
believe it was necessary to
resign from the council seat
he was elected to in 2006.
Grose's fellow City Council
members chose him for a
one-year term as mayor in
January.
The e-mail garnered national
media interest after it was
first reported by The Orange
County Register Tuesday night
and prompted current and
former city officials to
defend the city.
Former Mayor Ken Parker told
NBC4 that 'the best thing for
him to do would be to step
down from the council entirely
so that the people of America
can see this is really not
what Los Alamitos is about.'
Los Alamitos Interim City
Manager Nita McKay said in a
statement issued late Thursday
that the e-mail 'is not
representative of our City
Council, city staff and the
community as a whole.'
'We pride ourselves in
offering unwavering
professional service to all
community members who live,
work and conduct business in
Los Alamitos,' McKay said. 'We
certainly do not condone
perpetuating any stereotype
associated with race,
ethnicity, gender or
religion.'
City employees told NBC4
Friday there have been at
least 500 calls to City Hall,
with some calling Grose
insensitive and others saying
the issue is overblown.
In his resignation
announcement, which was
distributed by e-mail Thursday
night, Grose said, 'The
attention brought to this
matter has sadly created an
image of me which is most
unfortunate ... I recognize
that I've made a mistake and
have taken steps to make sure

this is never repeated,'
he said.
Grose said he has sought
counsel from the Orange County
Human Relations Commission 'to
acquire greater sensitivity
following this incident.'
Zalen Liley, a chemist who is
black and whose office is
across from Grose's medical
equipment business, told NBC4
that he cannot understand how
Grose could make such a
serious misstep. 

'It's pretty idiotic for a
public official to do
something like that,' Liley
said. 'You'd think he'd use
more caution

Category People & Blogs

Tags Dean, Grose, watermelno, obama, monkey, shot, Myor, Los, Alamitos, , City, Council, racist, e-mail