SAN MARINO >> Mayor Dennis Kneier, who set off a political firestorm when he tossed a bag of dog poop onto a neighbor’s yard, resigned his post Wednesday, just 10 days after a surveillance video of the incident went viral.
He will stay on as city councilman. Effective immediately, City Councilman Eugene Sun will assume mayoral responsibilities through June 27. The council will meet next week to select a new mayor.
In his resignation letter, Kneier admits his actions were inconsiderate, disrespectful and wrong.
“I have apologized to my neighbor for my action, and I will pay a fine for littering,” Kneier wrote. “These events continue to be embarrassing to me and to the city. Because of this, I have decided to step down as mayor.”
On June 7, resident Philip Lao found a black bag of dog poop on his side walkway on the 1400 block of Charlton Road. He reported the incident to the San Marino police and showed them a video recording of the incident. Officers later cited the mayor for littering.
On June 11, about 100 people attended a city council meeting to express their opinion about what they called “Poopgate” and Kneier’s public service record. The room capacity for Council Chambers is 49.
“This has been a challenging few days for our city, and we are hopeful that with Mr. Kneier’s decision — with his public and private expressions of regret for the incident — we could move forward,” Sun said. “I think Mr. Kneier has done quite a few positive things for our community and it’s regrettable that this happened. But I think … he will work hard to restore the public’s covenant in him.”
Kneier has served on the city council for seven years and began his second term as mayor in January.
“I’ve done the very best I can to serve the city well, and I will continue to do that as a member of the city council,” Kneier said. “I was elected to serve as a city councilman, and I will continue to serve in the position that I was elected. I’m not going to let the voters down. I’m not going to let our city down, and I think I can be an effective member of the city council.”
His term ends in November 2015.
During his time in the volunteer position, Kneier’s experience as a CPA has been instrumental in the city’s budget process, Sun said.
San Marino has done many great things in the past seven years, and Kneier said he was happy to be a part of the group effort. The city council created a strategic plan to prioritize potential changes and to make San Marino more transparent and responsive to residents, he said.
“I regret the fact that I did what I did,” Kneier said. “Some people said it was a minor thing, but I’m not making any excuses whatsoever. I’ve apologized. I will pay a fine for it, but it’s not the end of the world, and I will continue on.”
City Hall has received well more than 95 pages of correspondence from locals, reporters and out-of-state individuals.
