City Council Recap: Oct. 15, 2024

TBC: Carvalho says Amezcua beat allegations, Hernandez found in violation of three city codes

CITY HALL — To recap, City Attorney Sonia Carvalho provided the public an update on the investigations against Mayor Valerie Amezcua and Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez.

To watch Carvalho’s remarks click here for speech A and here for B.

For context, Amezcua was being investigated for allegedly creating a hostile work environment, including the allegation of using racial undertones against former City Manager Kristine Ridge in 2023.

Four of the five (fifth being an alleged Brown Act violation) total allegations were investigated by a firm outside the City’s jurisdiction.

“The investigator found that the preponderance of evidence did not support the allegations, and therefore they were not sustained.” said Carvalho.

On top of these four allegations, Amezcua faced a Brown Act violation complaint filed by Hernandez alleging she met with Councilmembers Phil Bacerra and David Penaloza before the start of the closed session portion of the April 18, 2023 city council meeting. According to the agenda, the closed session consisted of conferences with “labor negotiators” and a “performance evaluation” of then City Manager Kristine Ridge.

According to documentation released in summer 2023, information dictated that Amezcua found out about Ridge’s “evergreen” clause which, in most cases, allows a contract to be renewed automatically. This was presumably added given how many city managers were arriving and departing the City during the Pulido era.

In addition, Hernandez mentioned Amezcua trying to persuade him to vote in favor of stripping Ridge’s evergreen clause and after declining, Amezcua texted Hernandez a link of an article describing an internal Santa Ana Police departmental bulletin joke regarding Brandon Lopez’s—his cousin—death by police, adding that she was “…very sorry you have to deal with this but [Hernandez] will see more promotions for these officers.” Because of all this, it appears Hernandez alleged that Mayor Amezcua was in violation of the Brown Act.

Since Brown Act complaints deal with state laws, it was referred to the Orange County District Attorney’s office, which concluded they weren’t able to find sufficient evidence to substantiate the claim according to a letter sent and read aloud by Carvalho. The Santanero has not read or confirmed the letter.

In Sept. 2023, former Chief of Police David Valentin announced his retirement. Santaneros saw the exit of Ridge and payout of nearly $600,000 a few weeks later for emotional damages and severance after the Council voted 6-1 to accept her resignation terms.

As for Councilmember Hernandez, he faced four allegations as well, all relating to his alleged interference during parks and recreation’s planning meetings for cultural events like the Chicano Heritage Festival.

Documents claim he was “overly involved” in the planning process of cultural events overseen by the parks and recreation department from 2022 to 2023. The Chicano Heritage Festival, Indigenous People’s Day, and yearly Juneteenth Festival were events outlined in the complaint.

Given that the allegations dealt with interference in administrative matters, an ad-hoc committee was established and opted to be investigated by an outside firm away from the City’s jurisdiction. For reference, section 408 of the Charter states that councilmembers cannot “give orders to any subordinates of the City Manager, either publicly or privately.”

A total of four separate allegations were investigated by a firm outside the City’s jurisdiction.

What is the aftermath of this? 

Some of the Council sought Carvalho’s guidance on next steps to which she said she’d elaborate at a later time. Some consequences could include to censure and/or remove Councilmember Hernandez from some committees, among other things. Given that the election is three weeks away, it is unlikely that the Council will vote to dismiss Hernandez.

Question remains as to why the City Council voted 6-1 to settle with former City Manager Kristine Ridge prior the conclusion of the investigations, perhaps the report has the answer.

Seniors cite poor management at Metro East

CITY HALL — Seniors living at Metro East Senior Park on the west side of town off First Street came before the City Council Tuesday to vent their frustrations as their requests to management continue to fall on deaf ears and in some cases, allege backlash for “wasting [management's] time” for making multiple reports of incidents at the apartment community.

Receipts were dropped off at the Council, with one renter having only been a resident for two and half months and received two rent increases. Aside from that, seniors have complained about "crackheads" doing illegal activities in the hallways within, dog feces in common areas, and people under the age of 62 be rented apartments.

According to one resident living there since the place opened in 2021, the complex has been through five different management agencies, with access and communication allegedly limited from the start.

First Point apartments, down the street from Metro East Senior Park, is another apartment community that see similar instances of homeless using illegal substances in or near the building.

To watch Oct. 15, 2024’s public comments, click here [Video begins at 3:38:22].

Councilmember Bacerra questions Carvalho on item-pulling procedures, then asks her not to 'interrupt' during his remarks

Councilmember Phil Bacerra became vehemently frustrated Tuesday on how item-pulling procedural rules were executed despite the Council having no prior existing rules restricting what councilmembers could say after pulling items for comment only.

After Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez finished his comment on item 21 of Tuesday’s agenda, Mayor Amezcua issued a backhanded compliment then asked a performative question.

"I do appreciate Councilman Hernandez reading out what staff have prepared for us, but it's available to the public, correct?"

City Manager Alvaro Nuñez confirmed to Amezcua that staff reports are available to the public—as all agendas are—one week in advance.

Councilmember Bacerra chimed thereafter to ask City Attorney Sonia Carvalho why it is allowed for councilmembers to comment on items on the agenda without pulling them.

"I can work with the Chair [Amezcua], I have mentioned this before," said Carvalho. I have mentioned the difference between pulling an item and pulling an item for comment."

Carvalho agreed with Bacerra that rules have to implement a process outlining the actions taken by the Council regarding commenting on items. She deferred to the Council to initiate the process, adding her suggestion of allowing comments on items by someone on the dais prior to approving the rest of the consent calendar (with the exception of items pulled).

"There's a difference between a comment and reading the whole staff report." said Amezcua.

Councilmember Bacerra responded.

“My concern is this, if we’re going to comment on an item, just pull the item... Look, if you want to make comments that you’re happy we approved X, Y, Z, do it in your closing comments when it doesn’t impact the actual item, but if we’re going to talk about the item while its live, let’s pull the item so that it’s clean."

As Bacerra continued to reiterate his reasoning, Carvalho cut in to provide a solution for setting up a discussion at a later date, to which he scolded.

“I’m sorry, please don’t interrupt me.” said Bacerra. “Don’t interrupt me.”

“Okay, I’m sorry.” said Carvalho.

Bacerra ended with asking Amezcua if she could work with staff to not allow members of the dais to only comment on items and instead just pull it in the event there are changes to be made before a vote is taken place.

“I agree with you [Bacerra], I don’t want to sit here while someone’s reading the entire staff report because we have very talented people in our community and they are paying attention.” said Amezcua.

Councilmember Hernandez defended his comments.

“There is no guideline as to how you’re supposed to comment,” said Hernandez. “I’m delivering for my constituents in Willard and across Ward 5, and I am doing due-diligence to inform our constituents of the City of Santa Ana verbally.”

Hernandez added that he was simply acknowledging the action that was done and thanking city staff for the work put in.

"My comment is rooted in thanking our city staff, elaborating as to what we approved, and I'm sharing my gratitude with each one of you because this is a collective decision we all made" said Hernandez. "This is not a debate, this is a simple comment saying 'Today, we got this done, I made a comment on this item, I thanked our City Manager,' I think it's quite procedural."

Amezcua ended by saying she will work with City staff to establish new rules on item-pulling to avoid having persistent "issues."

Behavior Chart - Oct. 15, 2024

Councilmembers Lopez, Penaloza, Phan, Hernandez, and Vazquez engaged in good dialogue without resorting to childlike behavior.

Mayor Amezcua received a 'stop and think' today meaning next time we can elaborate our points instead of backhanding compliments towards other members on the dais.

Councilmember Bacerra's tone towards City Attorney Sonia Carvalho was completely uncalled for. So much so, we had to add a new color to the chart: black.