Ex-Milpitas Official Tom Williams Butts Heads in Millbrae

Anyone who dealt with Tom Williams during his tenure as city manager of Milpitas could’ve warned Millbrae when it hired him on for the equivalent position last year.

But the Peninsula ‘burb had to learn the hard way—in a told-you-so moment brought to you by everyone who’s ever sued him for harassment—that the bureaucrat hired to lead the city has a terrible temper and a penchant for bending the rules to get his way.

On Monday, lifelong Millbrae resident Marcia Perez emailed Mayor Wayne Lee about an upsetting phone call earlier that day from Williams, who allegedly threatened to “come down hard” on them for blight and hurled a barrage of insults and false accusations for 30 seconds before she could get a word in edgewise.

“His abrasive and coarse approach had me very concerned,” she told Lee. “We just do not act this way in Millbrae.”

Though Perez introduced herself by name at least three times, she says Williams insisted on calling her Ms. Sanchez, repeatedly interrupted her and questioned whether she’s even from Millbrae. She is—not that it matters. “Regardless of where any of your business owners live, we should be treated with respect,” she wrote.

Perez says she asked Williams why he didn’t just email her “like a city normally does.” Based on his track record in Milpitas, she concluded that it’s because he’s “learned not to create a paper trail.”

“It should be noted he has a dark history of unethical dealings with property developers,” Perez stated. “My mother is almost 90 years old—does he smell vulnerability???”

The call was more than just personally insulting, Perez said: it made her worry about retribution, since he oversees the city’s planning and permitting division. “I fear,” she said, “that the city of Milpitas’ nightmare is now ours.”

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4 Comments

  1. Too bad he could not take a civility lesson from the past City Managers from San Jose who enjoyed great support from the staff. They had long tenures recently.

  2. A bad apple indeed. Who in their right mind would have ever hired this offensive, combative troublemaker?

  3. CORRUPT OFFICIAL! Before he was terminated by the city of Milpitas, Williams hired two corrupt Federal Police Officers, (HOMELAND SECURITY GRADE) Che Hill to run Milpitas Code Enforcement and Kevin Barandes as A code Enforcement Officer, to harass me, because I was “causing problems at city hall”, as Barandes put it. Barandes was told “to shut me up or have me arrested, my choice”. Both filed false statements with SC County Superior Court to obtain an illegal search warrant, saying I continually refused him entrance to my house. (I gave Barandes a tour of my house 3 days earlier. I have proof). Hill also used that illegal warrant to obtain an illegal abatement notice and hired a local junk removal company to steal everything in my house. They used 4 trucks and spent 8 hours,. I filed a complaint with the FBI against ALL three for collusion with Federal Police Officers. A FELONY OFFENSE! I also filed a complaint with the California State Attorney General against the City of Milpitas.
    Anyone who deals with Williams will lose in the end. Plan for a few years in Federal custody, Williams. you deserve nothing less. My name is GEORGE LUND.

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