The Lathrop City Council’s decision last month to appoint former Lathrop Manteca Fire Chief Gene Neely to the Measure C Oversight Committee kicked off a political firestorm that is still raging.

And while Neely says that he had the intention of using his experience as the former fire chief to champion for the preservation of the essential sales tax increase, he has decided to step away from the appointment before he’s officially sworn in.

Neely, who retired from the Lathrop Manteca Fire District earlier this year amidst a number of investigations, has said that he won’t formally seek placement on the committee that oversees the expenditure of funds generated by Measure C – the ballot initiative that passed with overwhelming community support back in 2012.

He notified the City of Lathrop of his decision on Monday.

“I thought I could offer something with my expertise since I’ve been around since Measure C was initially conceived and supported it throughout the process,” Neely said. “I helped the City and the District negotiate the 40 percent for the Fire District and held it in compliance with spending restrictions and made sure that we utilized the funds in the way in which they were intended.

“I was only going to be on the committee for a portion of a term and had plans to leave the area anyways, so I think it’s best if I just don’t complete the process.”

Neely has said that he plans on moving out of the area – which would also mean he would no longer be able to serve on either the River Islands School Board or that of the Banta Elementary School District, both of which he currently represents.

Neely has come under fire for an exchange that occurred after the Lathrop City Council voted 4-1 to appoint him to the committee – with Councilwoman Minnie Diallo casting the lone dissenting vote.

It was the comments that Diallo made before she voted against Neely’s appointment – comments about a video of a structure fire that Neely’s wife Rozelle had shared with people in the community – that prompted Neely to stick around the meeting to question Diallo about what she had said and why she voted the way she did, and that conversation triggered an investigation by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and a number of legal actions that will lead to court appearances this week.

Diallo subsequently filed a legal motion for a temporary restraining order – which was granted – and will appear in court this week on the matter.

While the optics of the former head of the district applying to gain oversight to the fund that delivers a huge chunk of money to the district’s coffers leave a lot to be desired, Neely said that his intentions in seeking the position were only to led his expertise given his unique history with Measure C itself.

Neely oversaw the district during the economic downturn associated with the collapsed housing market and faced budget shortfalls in excess of $365,000 which necessitated the laying off of firefighters and the browning out of stations. As a special district the agency receives a large portion of its operating budget from property taxes, and when the assessed value of residential properties in the area plummeted, the district’s operating budget took a massive hit.

With Measure C, the district was able to not only restore the positions that were lost due to financial constraints but also bring the browned-out stations back online and provide additional staffing at each fire station.

“We managed all of that with me and three other people – an executive assistant, a permits clerk, and a part-time battalion chief,” Neely said. “I thought that I could offer some insights having been there with Measure C from the beginning, but I don’t think the time is right.”

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.