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Patterson mayor says he is taking mayor-elect to court, claims he doesn't have high school diploma
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PATTERSON — Patterson Mayor Rodney Grogan, after losing re-election, says he is taking Mayor-elect Slade Sanders to court, alleging that he violated the law by running without a high school diploma or GED.
Sanders, a Republican, beat Grogan, a Democrat, with 55% of the vote.
In a video posted to his Facebook shortly after election results were made public, Grogan acknowledged Sanders as the winner of the election, but claimed the election was fraudulent.
Grogan alleges that Sanders does not have a high school diploma or GED, which he says violates the state charter. He continues, saying that Sanders only recently received his GED.
"We found this out on October 15th. So there was no way we could have contested the qualification. But what we're going after is the actual falsifying of the records in regard to the affidavit," Grogan said.
Grogan claims he is fighting for the city of Patterson and what's right. "It's just one lie after another lie after another lie. And so you are talking about integrity, you're talking about accountability and you are talking about transparency," Grogan said.
WBRZ has asked Sanders for comment about the allegations; he has not yet responded.
According to Patterson's charter, mayoral candidates are required to have a high school diploma or a General Equivalent Degree. This requirement was added to the charter via an ordinance in 2021.
Despite Patterson's charter, state law says that any action objecting to candidacy must start within seven days of the close of qualifications.
"After the expiration of the time period set forth in this Section, no action shall be commenced objecting to candidacy based on the grounds for objections to candidacy," the state statute says.
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