Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, it's 7 o'clock and I'm calling to order the meeting of the San Leandro City Council.

If you're able to join me in the Pledge of Allegiance by rising, that would be much appreciated.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

elimination under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, Madam Clerk, your announcement, or roll call first, please.

Council Member Aguilar.

Council Member Azevedo.

Present.

Council Member Bolt.

Present.

Council Member Simon.

Present.

Councilmember Vivero Swalton. Present. Vice Mayor Bowen. Present. And Mayor Gonzalez. Present.

The City of San Leandro conducts orderly meetings to fulfill its mandate.

Discriminatory statements are conduct that would potentially violate the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and or the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

California Penal Code Sections 403 or 415 are per se disruptive to meeting and will not be tolerated.

Please see the City Council Handbook and City Council Meeting Rules of Decorum for more information.

And we'll take a pause here to address a technological issue. One moment please.

Test.

So let's try that again.

Are you able to just do you still hold the echo?

It's going to go.

So what I'm going to do is for the sake of convenience of those watching online, I'm

going to go ahead and read the clerk's announcement.

If you would like to make a public comment during the meeting, you can do so in person

or via Zoom.

If you're present in the meeting, please complete a speaker card and submit it to the city clerk

before the item is presented.

If you wish to participate in public comment via Zoom, you can use the raise your hand

tool.

when the item is called.

During the public comment session, speakers will be invited

during the public comment session,

speakers will be invited to speak

and will have a set time to share their comments.

A countdown timer will appear for their convenience.

And when time is up, the microphone will be muted.

All raised hands outside of public comment

will be lowered to avoid confusion.

Once public comment is open, hands may be raised to speak.

There will be a 30 minute window for public comments,

which will take place under item seven, public comments.

As per the published agenda, after this time is up,

council will proceed with the rest of the meeting's agenda.

If you've not had the opportunity to speak

during the initial 30-minute period,

there will be another chance to do so

after item 12, city council reports.

At this point in time, we'll move to item number three.

Is there a report on closed session?

Thank you, Mayor.

No reportable actions were taken in closed session this evening,

but direction was provided to staff.

There are no recognitions to be undertaken today, so we'll move to our consent calendar.

Is there any council member who would like to pull an item on the consent calendar?

Council member Aguilar, you are recognized.

Thank you, Mayor. If no one has anything to pull, I'd like to move the consent calendar.

Thank you. I've got a motion by Council member Aguilar to move the consent calendar. Council member Azevedo.

I'd like to second that.

Okay, so we have a motion by Councilman Regular, second by Councilman Razzavito.

Do we have any public comment on this item?

Mayor, we have not received any comment cards and we don't have any hands raised on Zoom.

So we'll close public comment, come back to Council for further discussion.

Seeing none, let's vote.

All votes are in. The motion carries unanimously.

Thank you. At this point in time, we'll get item number six.

City Manager, I believe you have a report.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, Council members and community members.

I'd like to share a brief volunteer opportunity with the community.

The City of San Leandro will conduct its homeless point-in-time count on Thursday, January 22, 2026, from 5 to 9.30 a.m.

This is a federally mandated census of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in our community.

We need community volunteers to help make this effort successful.

Conducted in partnership with Alameda County, the point-in-time count is more than a survey.

it directly impacts the funding San Leandro receives to support unhoused residents and homeless services.

The more accurate the count, the better we can serve our community.

Training will be provided to all.

To get involved, please visit sanleandro.org forward slash P-I-T.

You can also find informational flyers directly outside council chambers this evening.

Thank you very much, Mayor.

that. Oh, sorry. Thank you. I have one more announcement. Beginning today and running

through February 28, 2026, the main library is hosting the I am American or am I not exhibit

on loan from the Fred Korobotsu Institute. We hope you have a chance to explore this

important exhibit about constitutional rights. And if you can join us for one or more of the

events associated with this exhibit. Information about the exhibit and the

additional events are located on the library's website, sanleandro.org

forward slash library. And Mayor, that concludes my announcements. Thank you.

Thank you very much. At this point in time, we will go to public comment. It's a time for

folks who wish to address the council on matters that are not on our agenda,

but are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council. Do we have

any comment cards or hands raised mayor we do not have any comment cards we currently have one hand

raised on zoom okay so we will close in-person comment and open up online public comment

melissa wang you're the first speaker hi do i how much time do i get two minutes within the two

Okay. Well, this is completely unscripted, but first of all, Happy New Year to everyone.

So I just heard that there's volunteers, a call for volunteers. That's a good segue to what I have.

I have repeatedly asked for a budget task force. It sounds like we have a major deficit in San

Leandro, and I don't understand why you are not calling any public members to be more engaged.

I'm not talking about when you have a forum and people have time and they show up.

We're talking about a group of people who could really understand and be advocates for the city.

I know it's difficult to manage a budget, definitely for a city, and I can't even understand the volume of work that needs to be done.

But we need some other transparency and oversight, and you need the public to really understand.

And please consider having a budget task force, a small group of people who can truly help understand the city's budget, be advocates, and really show some transparency for the public.

That's all I want, and I really have been asking for years.

We are in a new year, and I would hope that there would be major consideration.

Because after that, maybe you would see some additional volunteers for other opportunities as just presented.

But I'm just saying, so thank you very much for hearing me out, and I will continue my crusade until we get some additional transparency on the budget. Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next speaker is Irina Kim Eubanks.

Hi. Can you hear me?

Yes.

And I'm not quite sure, but am I allowed to speak on item 10B at this moment?

This is the time for non agenda comments item 10b will come later.

10b will come later. Okay, thank you. Sorry, I will comment later then.

Thank you. The next speaker is Leo West.

Thanks to all the successful campaign to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.

The appointed county attorney decided to drop the charges against San Leandro police officer

Jason Fletcher.

Officer Fletcher should be reinstated with full pay and reparations.

The family of the criminal should be sued for defamation of character against the officer,

the police department, the city of San Leandro, and his people.

Thank you. Mayor, that concludes the comments from Zoom.

So we will close our public comment and move to our next agenda item. We do not have a public hearing or presentations today, but we do have some action items.

For 10A, we are here to discuss the appointment of the Vice Mayor for 2026. Madam Clerk, I believe you are doing this introduction.

Thank you, Mayor. Yes, the agenda item before the City Council this evening is a motion to designate a Vice Mayor. This is pursuant to the City Charter Section 310 or 310, which requires that the City Council designate one of its members to serve as Vice Mayor at the first regular meeting in January.

Okay, so at this point in time, what we'll do is we'll take nominations.

After the nominations are complete, we will move to public comment on this item,

and then we'll come back for discussions and or a motion.

So at this point in time, Council Member Bolt will proceed with you.

I'd like to nominate Council Member Viveros-Walton.

Okay. And then Vice Mayor Bowen, please.

I would like to second that. I was going to nominate Council Member Verres Walton.

Okay. Seeing no other hands at this time, I'll move to public comment on this item.

Mayor, we have not received any comment cards on this item and there are no hands raised

online.

So we'll close the public comment and I'll come back to council for any additional discussion

or motion.

So that was a nomination.

So now we have currently one nominee and I'm just looking for a motion to have council

appoint the individual council member.

I'd like to appoint Councilmember Rivera-Walton to Vice Mayor.

So I understand that to mean that you are making a motion that we appoint Councilmember Rivera-Walton as our Vice Mayor.

Vice Mayor Bowen.

I'd like to second that.

So we have a motion by Council Member Bolt with a second by Vice Mayor Bowen to appoint, for the City Council, to appoint Council Member Votus Walton as the Vice Mayor for the year, calendar year 2026. Is there any discussion? Council Member Simon.

I will be abstaining on this item as my vote through the democratic process on vice mayor is not protected.

As a minority vote in the January 2025 vice mayor vote, I have been oppressed.

Until our full council takes steps to improve our council democratic process, such as restorative justice mediation, which I will speak on more on the next item, I will abstain my vote on vice mayor.

Seeing no other hands raised for discussion, please vote.

All votes are in.

The motion carries with one abstention from Councilmember Simon.

Okay.

Okay, so we will at this point in time move to item 10B.

Item 10B involves a potential action to potentially waive, or I guess waive or not waive,

attorney-client privilege with respect to investigation report of Vice Mayor Bowen's complaint to the Human Resources Department.

We've got City Attorney Rich Pierrotta presenting on this item.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for describing briefly in brief what we are here for,

which is whether to waive the attorney-client privilege

applicable to an investigation report.

The council may do so under California Evidence Code Section 954

because the council is the holder of the privilege

and only the council, through a majority vote

of the total number of members of the council,

may waive the privilege. Staff's recommendation is just for the council to be clear if it desires

to waive the privilege as to whether the waiver of the privilege that applies to the record

is waived as to the whole report, including exhibits without redactions, the whole report,

including exhibits with redactions, the whole report without exhibits without redactions,

and the whole report without exhibits with redactions. All that's described in the

associated staff report and that the motion be clear about that if it is if it moves forward at

all finally should the attorney client privilege be waived it is only to the investigation report

and potentially the exhibits to the report that was prepared and submitted by jane cow of hr law

consultants and not to any other documents records or advice provided by jane cow or any other

attorneys related to the report. So that be clear as well. Finally, again, should the attorney-client

privilege be waived regarding the report, the report will be accessible to the public through

the city clerk's public records webpage in the items of interest section. That concludes my report.

Okay, at this point in time, prior to getting into discussion and clarifying questions,

we're actually going to take public comment. So we have public comment on this item.

Mayor, we have received one comment card and there are currently four hands raised on Zoom.

Okay, let's proceed in person first, please.

The first speaker is Sarah Bailey.

Good evening.

the public has not seen any part of the investigative report into vice mayor bowen's

complaint made a full year ago this month against council member simon and aglar for among other

things harassment bullying gender bias this isn't fair to us the disciplinary hearing is coming soon

and to participate fully the public is supposed to see the report this isn't about punishment

It's about transparency and the public's trust.

Releasing the port to us is the right thing to do.

Attempts to bully or diminish Vice Mayor Bowen have made it more difficult for her to do her job,

including represent me, her constituent.

To be a functioning council able to lead San Leandro,

you have to be welcome.

You have to welcome and, I hope, actively encourage respectful debate.

Vice Mayor Bowen has always said she made her complaint to change the council's culture, which has unfortunately been fashioned into an old boys club.

Please show us that you want to change the culture.

Release the redacted report so the public knows what's going on during the disciplinary hearing coming up.

Please restore the public trust.

It's the right thing to do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes our comment cards from in the room, Mayor.

Okay, so let's close public comment in person and move online, please.

The first speaker is Rachel Radin.

Hello and greetings, Council.

My name is Rachel Radin and I am here to urge the City Council to immediately release the official HR report stemming from the

Vice Mayor Bowen's January 2025 complaint against Councilmembers Simon and Aguilar.

It has now been a full year since that complaint was filed, and the public deserves transparency

regarding the findings and any accountability measures taken. Allegations involving bullying

and discrimination are serious. They demand openness and not silence. Mayor Gonzalez,

this is a moment of leadership, and I want to address you directly, especially since I strongly

supported you in your election. You were elected to serve the people of San Leandro and to uphold

the integrity of this council. That includes ensuring that concerns raised by your own

colleagues are taken seriously and handled transparently, just as they would be for any

other city employee or resident. When investigations involving elected officials are kept from public

view, it sends a really troubling message that accountability depends on who holds power.

That is not the standard the city should accept.

As both a resident and a parent of two lovely young boys, I want my children to grow up

in a community that models equity, integrity, and respect for all.

Withholding this report sends the opposite message about whose voices are protected and

whose concerns can be quietly set aside.

San Leandro has an opportunity to lead by example.

And Mayor Gonzalez, I have faith that you can lead this council by affirming that transparency

and fairness are not optional.

They are foundational to good governance.

I urge you to vote to release the HR report.

Our community deserves clarity

and our community deserves accountability.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Deborah Acosta.

Good evening, Mayor Gonzalez,

and Vice Mayor Bowen and council members.

My name is Deborah Acosta. I'm a member of the League of San Leandro Voters.

Tonight's vote is not about punishment, personalities, or outcomes.

It's about whether this council will allow its own disciplinary process to function as the law requires.

Under Administrative Code 1.13.115, discipline must occur in a public noticed meeting

based on factual allegations with meaningful public comment.

That is impossible unless the investigative findings are placed in the public record.

Council Member Bowen filed her complaint one year ago.

For months, this council has delayed putting the findings of the resulting report in the public record.

As a result, we are now scheduling hearings without facts,

asking the public to weigh in without information,

and prolonging instability that is pulling focus away from the people's business.

Waiting attorney-client privilege does not determine guilt.

It does not dictate discipline.

It simply allows transparency.

So this counsel, staff, and the public can move forward together.

If parts of the report require interpretation, transparency is even more essential.

Assumptions can differ, but withholding the facts is not acceptable.

Mayor Gonzalez, as presiding officer, you have an affirmative duty to ensure a fair and lawful process.

Releasing this report is how trust is restored and how this council gets back to the critical, critical role of governing.

Tonight, residents ask for one thing.

Allow the process to proceed as written, in public, with facts, so we can finally move forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Irina Kim-Eubanks.

Good evening. Good evening, Mayor Gonzalez, council members. My name is Reverend Erna Kim-Yupanks.

I'm a resident of District 3, San Leandro pastor, and mom to two kids in San Leandro schools.

And I'm also calling to release the independent investigation findings regarding harassment,

retaliation, and gender bias by Vice Mayor Bowen to the Human Resources Department.

And as a spiritual leader in this community and somebody who feels the weight of compounding

moral crisis we are experiencing, one of the personal convictions I have is to do everything

I can to speak out and make an impact on a local level. And because I care about the integrity of

our city, the reputation of its leaders, I want to call for the release of the findings of this

investigation. I'm somebody who has experience as a restorative justice practitioner, both in schools

and in the prison context. And the foundation of any restorative process is always truth-telling.

I believe that like myself, all of you hold the conviction that misconduct should never be excused, should never be tolerated.

But I also hope that you would act in a way that upholds the truth-telling process, that transparency and accountability will be the foundation of our public trust in you as our servants.

Not releasing these findings, especially when the council has full agency and authority to do so,

erodes that public trust and it hinders any restorative process by impairing truth-telling.

Considering that the investigation is now complete and the city council has its findings,

I believe these findings should be released so that appropriate actions can be taken at the disciplinary hearing

and that the public can know fully the picture.

In this climate we live in, I believe it's important to do all we can to uphold transparency, fairness, and truth-telling.

Councilmember Bowen has done her part to improve the culture of this council, and I hope you will do yours. Thank you.

Thank you. Your time has elapsed. The next speaker is Jessie.

Good evening, Mayor Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Bowen, and Council Members.

My name is Jessie Rubin.

I am a resident of San Leandro and an active member of the League of San Leandro Voters.

I am here to speak about process, not personalities.

Under San Leandro Administrative Code 1.13.115, any council discipline must occur in a public notice meeting based on factual allegations with an opportunity for meaningful public comment.

That cannot happen unless the investigative findings are available to the public.

For months, this council has delayed releasing the report tied to Vice Mayor Bowen's complaint.

As a result, we are now discussing discipline without facts and asking the public to participate without information.

And that is just not how accountability works.

Waiving attorney-client privilege does not determine outcomes.

It does not prejudge anyone.

It simply allows the process this counsel adopted to function as intended.

If parts of the report require interpretation, transparency is even more important, not less.

This delay is preventing the council from returning to the people's business and is eroding public trust.

Tonight, I respectfully ask the council to allow the report to be released with appropriate redactions, ensure the disciplinary process occurs openly as required by law, and finally, let the city move forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Melissa Wong.

Hi there. Good evening again. So I agree with the few individuals who are watching or commenting,

and this is completely off script because I didn't know how I was going to say this,

but I do know that it hasn't been a fair process, and I've mentioned that many times.

So if the report needs to be released, my hope is that each reader reads without judgment.

um unfortunately with this time lapse a lot of people have fill in the gaps they hear a word

and they react because they have their own experiences in life um I read the last report

and I know this isn't last report but I was concerned about many actions and conduct that

have been in public and I'm still wondering why we didn't speak up or address each instant at the

time of occurrence. So if you have to release the report, I hope that everybody reads it. I read it

twice last time, and I still didn't understand why that became a report that people used to vote.

So I hope that people read it with objectivity. And I hope that if there's any lessons learned

that we all learn, whether it be a word that was said, an action that was done, anything,

because after one year, what happened last year, I still don't know what it is that went wrong.

And a lot of these things happen in public or even in closed session with several people.

And I don't know what happened, whether or not there were anything that was addressed

before it came to this. But I trust the city to make sure that this is it. And we learn from it

all of us. Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Yelena.

Thank you so much. Well, with this holiday break, I had an opportunity to speak with a lot

more individuals throughout the Bay Area. And one interesting thing that I, a pattern that I noticed

that was happening is that when folks found out that I was from San Leandro, there was a common

theme. They would say, why, what is happening with the city council and where does the mayor

stand on this issue? And I just wanted to relay that because I really hope that tonight,

Mayor Gonzalez, you have the opportunity to show that you are respectful of transparency,

of process, and of your fellow council members, and that you vote for the release of the report.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Mayor, that concludes the raised hands on our Zoom call.

We'll close public comment on this item and come back to council members for

clarifying questions and discussions council member simon thank you in general i believe

investigation reports should not be released from a personnel confidential confidentiality

practice however in this circumstance as confidentiality as required by city admin

procedure ap 1000 harassment discrimination retaliation and abuse of conduct confidentiality

was violated by Councilmember Bowen as well as witnesses, impacting the validity and accuracy

of the findings and slandering my name as well as Councilmember Aguilar. Plus, much of the report

is based on a main witness with a potential financial gain and is biased. With witness

statements not taken under oath, witness statements taken from unrecorded closed session meetings,

which I have a major disagreements on what was said in those closed session meetings,

and as a main witness has already been shot down by the courts November 20th 2020 2025 ruling in

the anti-slap motion on similar claims that were made in this investigation report we are considering

releasing tonight in this circumstance I support releasing the whole report including exhibits

without redactions so the public can read every word and make their own opinion on the situation

and not just rely on a summary or unfounded findings by the investigator.

I will repeat, I urge the public to read every unredacted word

and not rely on a summary or unfounded findings by the investigator.

In the interest of transparency, let the public see it all,

fully unredacted, including exhibits,

and I will have more to share on the report and the situation

once the public reads every word of the fully unredacted report.

Because of the violation of the admin policy AP1000 and violating confidentiality of this investigation by Councilmember Bowen, I could file a request for discipline against Councilmember Bowen, putting us through another year or potentially another $100,000 plus investigation.

However, I will not.

This will not solve anything.

Again, in the interest of transparency, the public should also be made aware of the monetary costs of this investigative report we are considering releasing tonight.

The cost of the investigator alone, not including staff time or other costs, costs are constituents of San Leandro $135,000.

And each of you council members have a copy of this report that was produced by HR that shows this cost as well as additional costs for other investigations.

Since 2022, under the former city manager, the number of investigations citywide has increased up to 450 percent from two investigations a year from 2019 to 2021 and jumping to eight in 2022 and then nine in 2024.

I am requesting a summary of the number of investigations and costs from 2019 to present, information I've requested from HR, our council has in front of you here.

I request this information also be made available to the public for full transparency, along with the fully unredacted investigation report.

Imagine how many people we could have helped in our city with that level of spending.

Even more important than releasing this report is finding a solution, a way for our council to efficiently and effectively resolve differences while strengthening our ability to work together, focusing on the business at hand.

What we've gone through in the past two years is not an efficient or effective way to run our city and definitely not a way to resolve differences.

We have to come together to do better for our constituents.

This is going to sound personal. However, constituents have come to me and said it's like watching their parents fight up here the way we're acting and behaving on council.

That's very painful and completely unnecessary, what we're putting our constituents through.

I'm committed to working with each and every one of you on council to find a solution for us to efficiently and effectively resolve differences

while strengthening our ability to work together, focusing on the city business at hand.

As I mentioned in the previous vice mayor item, I recommend that our council participate in restorative justice mediation.

I believe this is a tool that will help us accomplish our goal of working together effectively for our constituents.

This should be a high priority for our council for us to properly serve our city.

I have to give credit to one of our public speakers who has mentioned this item a number of times, Doug Spaulding, restorative justice mediation.

Can I continue? I'd like another minute.

Yeah, please proceed.

Thank you. Another minute and a half.

Restorative justice mediation, give you a snapshot of that, is when we have gaps in empathy, trust, and respect between professionals.

It calls attention to the need for more strategic and practical ways of addressing interpersonal conflict.

Restorative justice is an evidence-based practice that focuses on bringing individuals with ongoing conflict or tension into direct mediation.

Restorative justice stands in stark contrast to the punitive and often retributive ways that the American judicial system frequently engages with individuals, particularly those who are black or Latino, leading to further marginalization.

And this is the process we will be going through on January 20th to discipline myself as well as Councilmember Aguilar.

And unlike traditional conflict management interventions, restorative justice focuses on establishing truth and reconciliation.

And again, I heard that comment from one of our public commentators tonight.

Truth, how important it is.

Because of all the things that we've gone through over the past two years, specifically the past year, directly between our own council members,

I would love for our council to sit down and, before we sit down, to support placing on a future agenda item a discussion on moving forward with restorative justice mediation.

So in summary, I would like to move three items.

First is to release the whole report, including exhibits without redactions.

Second is release the summary of costs of workplace investigations that we all have here in front of us today so the public can see that.

And third, I'd like to place on an agenda as soon as possible an item to consider restorative justice mediation for our council.

So I'm going to look down at council roll.

Coming to council member.

Regulat.

Thank you, Mayor Gonzalez.

I would like to second what council member Simon had put forth.

Thank you. So we have a motion by Councilmember Simon to produce the investigative report in its entirety, exhibits everything unredacted, to release a summary of costs that have been presented to Council, which I understand and I will confirm now from City Manager.

this is the city's data that staff has compiled that's what's been distributed so i'm getting

that's correct and the third element or the third motion uh would be for us to agendize

maybe you can restate that last part to agendize agendize a discussion to consider

restorative justice mediation for our council okay so at this point in time i'm going to pause

because I just want to make sure that we're all within the Brown Act parameters, etc.

So I'm going to come to the city attorney to just do a check.

First thing is that this summary of workplace investigations is already a public record.

So it doesn't require a motion to release.

So because it's been provided to the full council, it'll be made available to the public.

I presume upon request.

But it doesn't require a motion to release it.

so is there is that the totality okay so then i'm going to come back to councilman assignment

for your point of clarification please proceed yes i understand it's public information but i

would like to include this with the investigative report so it can be easily accessible to

the public to be totally transparent on this process and so by that i assume that the

investigative report would be placed under the items of interest on the the public uh public

requests portion of the city clerk's website and so you would say that this spreadsheet would

accompany that correct thank you yes yes thank you uh council member bolt please

yes um thank you for that answer about the summary of cost

Mike it because this grew a little bit and and changed

when you're saying have it with the report there are two different things

I don't mind having a second tab but is it like okay so that's what you say okay so two different

tabs one you click on this you see the report another link tab whatever you you click on that

and you see the, okay, all right, I'm with that, all right.

Vice Mayor, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just a few questions and then some comments.

I am, in previous comments by Council Member Simon,

I believe he threw out several accusations.

I would like to follow up with city attorney to understand the process for

going on record to accuse me of, I think,

I wasn't actually clear as to what the accusations were.

I think slandering, which is serious.

And I would like to be able to follow up on that as well as with AB 1000.

So that's the first question.

City Attorney.

So, Vice Mayor Bowen, you can, this is, the statement was not made in the context of a

request for discipline, and he, Council Member Simon was clear that it was not made in the

context of a request for discipline.

So at this moment, it's just part of the legislative discussion, and you can respond to it here,

or at any other time.

Okay.

Thank you.

appreciate it if Council Member Simon would follow up with any information, particularly facts,

to back up any of the accusations that he has, including slandering and breaking confidentiality

AB 1000. And a few clarifying questions. The independent investigation and report

findings that we have, who authorized that independent investigation?

city attorney the complaint was received by the hr director with the city manager

i was present as well and then the hr director through the city manager informed the council

and the council directed the scope of work and authorized staff to procure an investigator

or independent investigator to investigate the complaint.

So to confirm, this city council,

the remaining members of the city council,

minus Council Member Aguilar, Simon and I,

approved the independent investigation staff

to be able to go and procure the investigative attorney

to do the independent reports.

And the reason why we use that process and why we are now talking about releasing the independent investigation is because the council is the body that holds the council accountable and can discipline.

So staff could not discipline the council and the public, aside from a recall or voting to not elect a council member, cannot hold the council accountable in terms of discipline.

Can we confirm that as our process?

The council holds the council accountable.

Correct.

Okay, and so that's why we the council have seen the independent investigation

findings now that it's been completed. We have all had access to it and now the

council has voted for January 20th to hold an internal discipline hearing per

our own adopted process to be able to use the findings to be able to make a

decision about what sort of accountability, what sort of training, what sort of

actions we can take to course correct any findings that were in the report.

Is that, I just want to... I think that's a good summary of how this plays out, this

disciplinary process. Okay, and so I just want to clarify some of the information

that has been stated by colleagues on the council to, I just don't want it to be

unclear to the community why exactly it is the council that needs to be but has

seen it and needs to be able to speak to the findings publicly January 20th

discipline hearing is going to occur and we will be taking action upon the

findings for the purpose of transparency and for the public to be able to

understand we need to be able to speak to it in a clear way I'd also like to

ask to confirm our internal discipline policy the reporting process of a

council member myself or any other council member to request or to report

misconduct or a violation is it also the same process that any member of the

public would also go through council to city attorney let me amplify that answer

a little bit is that the public can't file a complaint but it has to be taken

up by a council member to the full council. So it just can't go directly from a public to the

council. Right. So then it would be taken up by a council member and then they would go through the

same process of having the council approve an investigation, see findings, make a decision

about the findings, and then appropriate any follow-up. That's one of the options the council

can do. The council can authorize an investigation or the council can, under section 1.13.115,

take discipline short of censure.

Okay, and I would hope that if a member of the public

or anybody or any other council member

were to go through this process,

we would also want to be as transparent

and release information about an investigation

that we especially have approved

and spent taxpayer money to be able to execute.

execute. The one thing I would like to add, since we were all given this information,

and I don't know how to be able to speak about it since it has not been, I don't know if it was

on the agenda prior. This is the first time I'm seeing it. But if we're going to put the summary

of workplace investigations, I think that we also need to be able to put it with the correct

context. And so if we look at number of investigations conducted by an external

investigator for the council. I want to clarify that there have been two and both investigations

have included the very same individuals that are included in this investigative report.

And then I'm going to ask you to pause there for just a second. So I do want to clarify this data.

The way that it's presented, one might get the impression that there have been

four council investigations, two in 24 and two in 25. Is that the intention?

I'm going to city manager.

Hello, Ms. Mayor. Thank you. I would have to ask

HR Director Emily Hung to come to the front as the person who prepared

this information.

And just for the record, this is the first time that I think any of us is seeing this

information. In the future, I would ask that if we're

going to discuss information, that we'd be able to see it before it comes to this body.

So to clarify, the two number of investigations conducted by an external investigator for

counsel represents the complaints for each council member.

So it's the number of complaints taken in and investigations that follow.

So we hired one investigator.

We paid an invoice to that investigator, but it covered two individuals.

correct. Is that the case for all of the other numbers on this sheet? No. So for

example line number four external investigator employee there are five in

2024 is it possible that that's one investigation involving five employees

or is that five separate investigations? Those are separate investigations. So

they all involve just one person each? Yes each separate investigation.

And that's completely separate from what happened in 2023?

Five different employees in 2023?

Yes, I did not repeat numbers if they carried over into different years.

I hope that clarifies, because I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page on what these numbers mean.

You would like to clarify, city manager?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Just for, because you asked the question, does one row mean the same thing for the different row?

And Director Hung, if you could just clarify my clarification,

is that each of these numbers represent the number of complaints to an individual.

That's correct.

So if it's five, there's five complaints on five individuals,

and for the council there were two individuals that had a complaint against them.

That's correct.

Okay.

If you would please proceed, Vice Mayor.

Thank you.

Okay. So we've got two members of the three members of the public. Does anybody want a copy

of this while we're talking about it? Okay, at least one request. So if you could print it out,

please. So just to confirm, there have been in 2024, two investigations that were done against

council members. It is the public information that the two council members that were investigated

were council members Simon and council members Aguilar. And in 2025, another investigation by

difference if an investigator was commenced against Councilmember Simon and

Councilmembers Aguilar. Director Hong if you could share since we're speaking to

the cost of this and I also am shocked by the difference between the cost of

this year's investigation versus last year's investigation and I also want to

clarify that to city manager or to city attorney the cost of this

investigation who approved that budget or who approved that expenditure so that

would that's just a city council approved that expenditure minus council

member Simon Aguilar and myself correct okay so I just factually that's that's a

fair comment I'm going to ask them council member Simon were you in the

room when we approve the budget? The approval of the budget, yes. So let me just, I'm going to

reframe it. So we approved, I remember having a discussion in this room specifically about the

approval of the budget for these investigations. I don't know if you were here, but we definitely

had a discussion in this room. If I could just clarify, the approval of the contract for

this investigation came to the council in open session and I don't remember who was present at

that meeting but it was this body who approved it in open session and the budget for that yes

okay thank you and just one quick follow-up question then to Director Hung it would in terms

of cost of investigations, can you share generally what increases the cost of investigation?

For example, the 2024 investigation lasted six months and was significantly less.

My investigation lasted almost a year and is significantly more.

And so I'm wondering what goes into the cost of an investigation.

And yes.

What goes into a cost of investigation includes the interview of the subjects, the witnesses, follow-up conversations, review of documents, videos, emails.

I believe in this current investigation, the number of meetings were, video recordings were watched, and then the number of, amount of time to review all the materials, do the analysis, writing of the report.

Okay, thank you.

And then in terms of the redactions, in previous investigations, and I recognize that as council members and public officials,

the practice may be different than an employee.

okay but what what sort of um uh what is the process and what kind of information

um needs to be redacted if any i mean that's a question for city attorney yeah so we'll come

to city attorney for redaction what should be could be instead of redacted so in the context

in this particular context it's a council investigation process this is totally separate

and apart from employees.

You are not employees of the city, obviously.

It's up to the council to decide what would be redacted.

The standard procedure for employees,

I would defer to Ms. Hung as to what would be,

but typically investigation reports are not shared

with the complainant or with the subjects,

sort of subject.

With employee investigations, that's correct.

reports are normally not shared with the complainant it is it may be shared with

the subject if there is disciplinary action that is taken based on the report

okay thank you council member Simon I saw you in queue or have you withdrawn

yourself okay okay so anybody else would like to speak at this time okay so I am

going to offer a couple of comments myself I am a bit concerned a lot of

what's been happening here is a little bit surprising because we've had

council members saying that they want to release a document that they didn't

want to release. For me personally, without going into the basis for legal advice, but we received

very clear legal advice on what we should do. It's unambiguous, and I came into this meeting

expecting to vote consistent with the legal advice. Given what has changed here, I suspect

that we will be releasing attorney-client privilege on this item, but I'll just let that be.

Secondly, I am quite concerned about how the words in this report will be interpreted.

So I reinforce Melissa Wong's words that says, read the report with an open mind.

I am quite concerned that those that want to see one thing will see what they want to

see and those that don't want to see it will reach a completely different conclusion with

the same facts.

So that is my ask.

Number three, I am quite concerned about an allegation that has been made in these chambers

that I guess you're technically former Vice Mayor Bowen has breached confidentiality.

And so I am going to ask Council Member Simon, have you reported this breach of confidentiality?

proceed yes I have did you do so in writing at the November 3rd council

meeting did you do so in writing can I finish no you may not did you submit it

in writing I would like the ability to speak I asked you a question I would

like to speak please sir did you submit it in writing per our process

I would like the ability to speak.

Okay, then I withdraw my question to you.

Because without submitting evidence, what you are doing is essentially slandering a council member.

You should be sharing evidence.

I have not received any evidence from you.

I will ask city attorney if he has received evidence of a breach of confidentiality from you.

City Attorney, have you received evidence of a breach of confidentiality?

No.

City Manager, have you received evidence of a breach of confidentiality?

No, sir, I have not.

Okay, so at this point in time, neither the Mayor, the City Attorney, nor the City Manager

have received evidence of breach of confidentiality.

I am disturbed.

At this point in time, there is no further discussion, and so we will vote.

There are three motions on the floor. We're going to take them as a package if it passes

as a package unless someone specifically requests to break them into three motions.

The motions that have been made are to release in its full unredacted form the entire report

with exhibits for the report of October 31st. That's the date, correct? October 31st, 2025.

Secondly, we have been asked to provide as part of that production onto the city clerk's website, where the report will also be added, the summary of workplace investigations.

And at number three, the third motion is to agendize soon a restorative justice process, as originally stated by Council Member Simon.

I'm only here summarizing what has been offered.

I'm not here trying to repeat it verbatim.

The record will be exactly the motion that he stated.

Okay, so I'm going to come to Council Member Walton, new Vice Mayor.

thank you i think the first two motions are um third topic specific and and but the third one

actually think it should be taken separately because i actually don't think that that

particular approach works for a group of people um you know i facilitated restorative justice

conversations but usually there needs to be agreed i mean i won't go into that but i would

like to vote on the first two motions together as a package since they relate to one another

and then the third one either take separately or agendize it for a future meeting but not

vote on it as a package of three motions.

Okay, so what I'm taking is that you have made a motion to segment, to bifurcate the

question into two separate questions where original motions one and two would be voted

on first and motion three loaded on second so that's your motion that's your request is there

a second for that motion clarity who seeks clarity city manager okay please proceed thank you mr

mayor the reason why i'm asking for clarity is because council member simon's request is to

agendize for a future discussion the consideration of restorative justice the reason why i'm making

I want to make that clear due to Vice Mayor Vivares Walton's,

what you just said, you're requesting what he's already requested,

which is it's an agenda for discussion not to decide today to have the restorative discussion.

So I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew what the actual request was.

So in light of that clarification, would you like to modify your motion?

Please proceed.

that's fine I don't know what that's fine means you're leaving your motion in

place and looking for I will withdraw my motion okay thank you vice mayor

that's right to clarify the first two parts is topically related I am unclear

how agendizing restorative mediation process for the council is related to

releasing the findings for the purpose of a disciplinary hearing on the 20th. A

conversation discussion about what sort of training the council should and could

undergo separate to this investigation or next the 20th disciplinary hearing

makes sense doing it at the 20th disciplinary hearing if appropriate to

do training makes sense I am unclear specifically what the third item the

third motion actually means and if we're trying to agendize potential training as

as a avenue of restoration as this council

and how we work together,

why would that not be an item 11

or for the purpose of our upcoming team building,

priority setting workshop?

I am unclear about that,

why we are going to take a vote on that at all.

And so we'll go to city attorney.

I'm gonna try to just summarize

make sure that you and I are on the same page. The topic is do we waive attorney

client privilege for purposes of having information, certain information public

for the disciplinary hearing? How is item three related to waiving attorney

client privilege? City attorney.

In the context of how Councilmember Simon described the purpose of the training as it relates to discipline, it is that.

But I do agree with City Manager that it's agendizing just a discussion about restorative justice mediation.

The Council can decide that's not appropriate. We don't want to move forward with that.

But it's just agendizing the discussion of that.

that's why I take an agreement with the city manager the motion to be my question is or I

think our question because I as I framed it tell me if you disagree with this characterization

it's why is that not an item 11 why is that related to the waiver of attorney client privilege

okay city manager so the so the council could decide to vote no on agendizing a discussion

to consider restorative justice mediation and then council member simon can bring it as an item 11

that will then go to your referral process but because we are talking about an item this evening

that he has now tied a nexus to as a thought,

he's bringing it to you, he's asking you.

But the council has the option to vote no on his ask.

But if you vote yes, then it would come back as a discussion

to do it or not.

You could still say no then.

But it's when you're in a meeting,

the council, and many times before,

has said we would like something in addition

to what we're being asked to do right this minute,

which has some sort of nexus.

The council can say the restorative justice mediation does not have a nexus to what you're talking about tonight.

That is your decision to make.

But I do think the question was a Brown Act question, if I'm not mistaken.

And so I'm going to ask for a legal interpretation on that.

Yes, please proceed.

I do think that it's within the bounds because the discussion has been about the release of the report as it relates to the discipline request that's coming before the council on January 20th.

This is all the way back to December 8th.

So this item is connected to Vice Mayor Bowen,

Council Member Bowen's request for discipline

as the basis for the facts for the 20th.

Okay, then my clear, that's fine.

My clarifying question is,

we, to Council Member Simon,

the agendizing of a discussion

around restorative justice mediation in general

for the council is that you just want us to be able to talk

about potentially implementing a process

for going through restorative justice mediation.

What exactly is being asked to be put on the agenda?

That we go through a restorative justice mediation

about something in particular in general,

or that we just have a discussion about

restorative justice mediation

as an avenue for conflict resolution?

And would we then include other possible trainings,

remediations, mediations, because there are many,

that we would also like to consider?

Okay, so we're going to seek clarification from Councilmember Simon since it is your motion.

If you're open to that, please proceed.

Yes, I believe the city manager and the city attorney have answered the question as well.

It is just a place on the agenda to discuss the, to consider restorative justice.

it's just the place on the agenda to have a discussion to consider having restorative justice

mediation and i would like to call to question the vote okay you have made three separate motions

so i'm gonna well let's just do this before you do that i'm gonna look hold on

Which motion are you calling the question on?

All three.

I asked you, which motion are you calling the question on?

One, two, and three.

No, which one?

There are three separate motions, and I'm asking you, you're calling the question on which motion?

City Attorney, can you clarify the process?

I do think that you have a motion that included three separate actions.

And right now, that's what's on the table.

Are you calling the question on all three?

Yes.

Or on...

Yes.

I heard three separate motions.

Are you saying that it's one motion, city attorney?

There was an attempt to bifurcate them, but that has been withdrawn.

That's bifurcate as to voting them.

Okay.

Is there a second?

To call the question.

Okay.

motion from council member

council member

Simon with a second from council member

Aguilar to call the question on voting

on all three simultaneously

this is just a cut debate

fair enough

to stop debate

Mayor were you ready for the vote

please vote

all votes are in the motion carries with five yeses two no votes mayor gonzalez and vice mayor

Riveros Walton voting no. Please vote on the on the adoption of the three motions.

On the three motions.

all votes are in and the motion carries unanimously

item 11

have we had any requests no request item 12

councilmore Simon

yes i would like to make a comment on an issue of concern i am very disturbed on how our meetings

are run i am not allowed to speak i would like to get my point across on previous agenda items

i have been silenced and this is not the first time this has occurred many times before

We talk about transparency to our public, yet I'm not allowed to speak.

Very, very disturbing.

I think that should be the, like we want, transparency, the foundation of our meetings, of our city's ability to get our point across and not shut down.

I do want to clarify and make a statement.

And to make it very clear.

on november 3rd of 2025 i in this meeting you can go back and watch the video if you'd like

i made the comment that council member bowen she had violated the city policy on confidentiality

in public november the 3rd 2025 i made that comment and i asked the city attorney and the

city manager why is nothing being done about it the city attorney and the city manager said that

that is up to the council. That's our role as a council to enforce that breach of confidentiality

of AP 1000. So I felt, as I mentioned in my comments earlier tonight, that I do not want to

file discipline against Council Member Bowen because I do not feel that it will resolve any

of these issues. So I just want to make that very clear. Again, I'm very disturbed that I'm not

allowed to speak and the future mayor I would please request you to allow me to

finish my comments

councilmember Bowen please

Thank you, Mayor. Sorry, I've got to find my notes. I just wanted to, a few things.

I want the community to know because this is a very stressful thing for many families in the

community but the city of San Leandro has pushed up the date to enroll in summer activities including

summer camps that aligns with many of the other camp registrations in the Bay Area so January

17th at 9 a.m. you will be able to sign up for Tiny Trees and all of the camp

sessions at Capturebo as well as the many others throughout the city and so

the you can find the activity log live now with the offerings and the San

Leano Times there will be insert in that on the this Thursday and then you can

also go to the city website to find out more information as well because it is a

a high priority activity and to-do item for many parents that are already very

stressed out about that. The other thing that I want to give a shout out to is

the library. I spoke to constituents who were at the New Year's ball drop and who

are also going to many of the other events that are lined up for the new

year including the exhibit that the city manager mentioned regarding Fred Tihiramatsu and with

significance to the city of San Leandro and certainly right now thinking about who is an

American and who belongs is incredibly important. The last thing that I want to mention to get on

the community's radar is that I have been communicating with the chair of the community

police oversight of the review board and a review and discussion around plot

cameras and and the use of it to ensure that we are utilizing it in a way that

is going to be safe for our residents that that meeting will happen February

18th and the community is encouraged to send in comments to show up to the

meeting that is something that has come up in council meetings and certainly I

of the community is concerned about.

And the final thing I want to mention,

if in response to Council Member Simon

regarding November 3rd, I realized that the incident

that the Council Member is alluding to

is my announcement that I have filed

a request for internal discipline,

which has to be done publicly

because we are public officials, Council Members,

And so in order for me to be able to share my complaint,

I have to be able to say it out loud.

So I would really question whatever accusation is,

again, being thrown out there

without any real information to substantiate.

Thank you.

Council Member Simon, are you back in queue?

Yes, I don't want to back and forth

with Council Member Bowen, so we'll,

And please don't, because this is announcements.

Correct, correct.

So I don't want to go back and forth.

I disagree with your comment.

However, I do want to announce to the public, once a month, second Saturday of the month, I have community chats.

And normally, I've held them outside, either at Porky's Pizza or at the pickleball courts or in the greenhouse.

But this coming up Saturday, on January the 10th, at 8.30 a.m., I will be having it at the Manor Grill on Manor Boulevard.

in the manor area of San Leandro.

And we'll have a special guest.

Police Chief Everett will be there as well

to share and talk with the community.

So I'd like to invite all to come out to my community chat

if you're interested.

Thank you.

Okay, seeing no others, I'll wrap this up.

A reminder to the community

that on Saturday, January 10th,

we will be, within the community,

there will be a memorial for Stephen Cassidy

at the Performing Arts Center of San Leandro High School,

and that is at 1 p.m.

We will be having the subsequent week

a Martin Luther King celebration

at, I believe, the Marina Community Center.

Is that correct?

At the Marina Community Center.

I think doors open to the public at 10,

and that oratorical celebration,

poetry, reading, and the like

will begin at 1030.

Members of the public are again invited.

And then the subsequent week

we'll have the ribbon cutting

at the Stephen Taylor Sanctity of Life Pavilion

down in the Marina Park area.

And I will close by just saying

I have spent a lot of time over the last three years

telling public commenters in this chamber

that they may not slander council members.

I have said explicitly to speakers, if you have evidence of corruption, if you have evidence of fraud, you bring that to the city attorney.

Otherwise, it is slander.

We cannot investigate and we will not tolerate people making accusations against council members that are slanderous.

That will not happen in this chamber.

if it's a council member or a member of the public if you have an accusation against a

council member you bring evidence and you share it so that it can be dealt with we will not

tolerate assertions of violation of law or corruption and say but i don't want to pursue it

with that we are adjourned

Thank you.