Placerville Mayor Stripped Of Title For Alleged Crimes

PLACERVILLE (CBS13) - The city of Placerville held its first city council meeting since the city's mayor was arrested. At the meeting, council members and the public demanded his resignation.

Dave Machado is charged with perjury and conspiracy after he voted on a redevelopment project then bought land in the same area.

"He should not be our mayor. He should not be on city council. And I would seriously look at each of your records and see what else dirty laundry that you should come forth with," said one resident.

Placerville residents had a fiery message to the city council: force Mayor Machado to resign and remove the alleged disgrace.

"Now, what Mr. Machado was accused of, what has done or is accused of doing, has disgraced the entire council – all of you guys sitting up there," said Placerville resident Rodney Stanhope.

There's growing concern in this city that Mayor Machado is a liability.

"The people feel this is just the tip of the iceberg," said a resident.

The misconduct allegations have culminated in his recent arrest on felony charges of perjury and conspiracy. The allegations centered on a property that Machado purchased in October 2010, just a couple months after the city council adopted the surrounding area as a redevelopment zone, eligible for taxpayer dollars.

Prosecutors listed 30 alleged "overt acts" that show Machado transferred the property into his son's name, used his power as mayor to improperly influence city officials, and "obtain preferential treatment," and doing illegal work on the property to "avoid detection of unpermitted work by a Placerville building inspector."

Machado apologized earlier this month at a city council meeting, but tonight he was a no-show.

"I'd like to apologize to everybody for any of my actions," said Machado.

"A man is still innocent until proven guilty," said Councilwoman Wendy Mattson.

Matson believes Machado should step down, but she is asking residents to respect the due process.

The mayor's office is not an elected position, but council-appointed. Tonight, Machado's fellow council members removed him from that office, but he remains a councilmember.

Some people believe the city council's decision has no teeth.