RANDY ECONOMY: MY WORLD: Councilman Jere Melo: City of Fort Bragg in Shock over Murder of Councilmember; Suspect is Aaron Bassler

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Councilman Jere Melo: City of Fort Bragg in Shock over Murder of Councilmember; Suspect is Aaron Bassler

Councilman Melo

The City of Fort Bragg is in shock over the murder of Fort Bragg City Councilmember Jere Melo yesterday morning on private timberlands east of town. In his capacity as a security contractor for

Suspect Aaron Bassler

a local timber company,

Jere was investigating a marijuana grow operation when he was shot to
death. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office is handling the homicide investigation and a
suspect has been identified. A multi-agency effort is underway to capture the suspect, a local
man who is believed to be armed and dangerous.
A suspect has been identified as Aaron Bassler, and a manhunt is currently underway, according to the City of Fort Bragg website.
City officials, employees and residents are devastated by the loss of Jere, their close friend and
colleague. According to Fort Bragg Mayor Dave Turner, “Jere was the best of us. No one gave
more of himself to our community. The shock of his death is too fresh to begin to realize all the
ways we will miss him. Today I mourn for the loss of a dear friend. I know I speak for the entire
Council and all of our City employees in extending our deepest condolences to Jere’s wife
Madeleine and family. Words cannot express our sadness. The City will be dealing with the tragic loss of Councilmember Melo for some time."

Councilmember Jere Melo was first elected in 1996, after serving a 4-years term on the Planning Commission. He served as Mayor Pro Tempore in 1998 - 2000, and he served as Mayor, 2000 - 2004. His regional duties include service as a board member on the Mendocino Local Agency Formation Commission (12 years), Fort Bragg Fire Protection Authority (8 years), and as the Chair of the Coastal Cities Issues Group for the League of California Cities. Councilmember Melo also previously served on the League of California Cities Board of Directors.

Councilmember Melo has lived in or near Fort Bragg since 1966, when he began working for the Union Lumber Company as a forester. He was raised in the City of Mt. Shasta, and he attended the University of California at Davis and Berkeley, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Forestry in February, 1964. He received a commission in the U.S. Army upon graduation from Berkeley and served in South Korea and in NORAD on the continent. Upon his employment with Union Lumber, the Army assigned him as Company Commander to the local Army Reserve unit, and he served six years in the reserves.

Jere and Madeleine are active in several local organizations, the Episcopal Church, Mendocino Coast Sports Foundation and the Fort Bragg-Otsuchi (Japan) Exchange Association.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Meet Randy Economy

You may know me from my role as the Senior Advisor and Official Media Spokesman for the Recall Gavin Newsom campaign that established a worldwide blitz of interviews. I conducted more than 2,200 media interviews on behalf of “The People’s Recall” during a 10-month period from November 2020 to September 2021. The iconic magazine Mother Jones in a dramatic feature article called me “A ‘Superhero Pirate’ Radio Host, (and) Gavin Newsom’s Strangest—and Most Dangerous—Threat. Meet Randy Economy, the man behind the effort to recall California’s governor.” I appeared on more than 330 media outlets around the world in my capacity with RecallGavin2020. Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Newsmax, NBC Nightly News, ABC News, as well as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, and dozens of other media outlets aired featured reports on my work on behalf of “The People’s Recall.” I am and will always consider myself to be a journalist. Sometimes I think I bleed ink. My talents as an Investigative Journalists in California earned me FIVE top awards from the prestigious Los Angeles Press Club in 2013, 2014, and 2016. I am tenacious. My reporting over the years has led to the prosecution of several elected officials in California. While working for a tiny community newspaper in Southeast Los Angeles County, I worked doggedly to expose the biggest public corruption case in Los Angeles County history when I unearthed a massive pay to play scheme inside the Assessor’s Office that led to the arrest of then Assessor John R. Noguez and four others. However, politics has been in my DNA since I was a child. I have worked on more than 300 political campaigns as a consultant and advisor since 1982 for candidates from all sides of the political spectrum including Democrats and Republicans, and even Libertarians. I am also a small business owner, serving as the President and CEO of Hot Water Studio & Production, LLC. My company works with media outlets across the state, nation, and world exposing public corruption via several new media platforms. I have also overcome personal challenges. I am legally blind with zero vision in my right eye and only 40 percent vision remaining in my left eye. I sometimes wear an eyepatch due to my failed vision. (Hence the nickname of “America’s Political Pirate.”