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.

Thank you.

Okay, it's 7.01. I'm calling to order the meeting of the San Leandro City Council today

is Tuesday, January 20th, 2026. If you're able to stand, please stand and join me in

the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic of Christ's

Thanks for a nation under God, indivisible,

with liberty and justice for all.

So we do have when Council Member Azevedo joins us online,

Madam Clerk, if you notice it or if anybody else notices it,

would you please let me know?

Because he needs to make a statement

before we proceed with his participation.

Under announcements, the city of San Lano

conducts orderly meetings to fulfill its mandate,

discriminatory statements or 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 a meeting and will not be tolerated. Please see the

City Council Handbook and City Council Meeting Rules of Decorum for more information. Madam Clerk,

your announcement please. Yes, Mayor, and we'll also need the roll call. Thank you. That's even

better. Why don't we do that before your announcement? Great. Council member Vice

Mayor Rivera-Los Walton. Present. Council member Azevedo is absent. Present.

Present. Thank you. Council member Aguilar. Present. Council member Simon. Present.

council member bowen present council member bald present and mayor gonzalez present thank you

it's all accounted for and we do have a quorum before proceeding with your announcement

council member as a veto you have an announcement

yes in accordance to with california government code section 54953.8.3 a1 i'm notifying the city

council that i need to participate in this meeting for just cause because of caregiving

for need of one of my parents there's no individual over the age of 18 present in the room thank you

So at this time we will move to 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 are present at 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.

when the item is called.

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 the 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 opened, 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, the council will proceed

with the rest of the meeting's agenda.

If you have 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.

Okay, so for item number three,

is there a report on closed session?

Action taken.

Yes, Mayor, on item three C, conference with legal counsel,

Excuse me, item 3B, conference with real property negotiators.

The council voted for a limited disclosure of information regarding the closed session.

The vote was all members voted yes with council member Simon absent from that vote.

That concludes, and there will be further information from that limited disclosure

from closed session in the coming days.

Thank you.

and to be clear there are very specific language that will be used so for recognitions we do not

have any on our agenda today so we will proceed to our consent calendar would any council member

like to pull anything any item from our consent calendar council member aguilar no but i would

like to move the consent calendar okay so i've got a motion by council member aguilar to move

the consent calendar vice mayor please I'll second with a second from our vice mayor would

this would be the opportunity for public comment on this item do we have any

mayor we have received two comment cards and there are no hands presently raised online

please proceed in person

the first two speakers are Sarah Bailey followed by Liz Hodgkins

Good evening.

I don't anticipate any of you voting against repairing a wall at the Marina Community Center,

but I want to acknowledge it all the same.

The cost is over $300,000.

I'm sure the big price tag doesn't mean it's a lot of wall.

I believe it's a complicated, complex design and repair job, like many of the infrastructure repair jobs Public Works undertakes.

Infrastructure takes a lot of time, and it takes a lot of money, which is why I want San Leandro residents to support a city infrastructure revenue measure that supports public safety and roads.

The new Fargo fire station in the manor needs $15 million, plus more for the purchase of new land.

If we're going to improve our roads a little bit, we need $15 million a year for many years.

This year, public works limped by with five, $1 million bump from the year before.

This is not a situation that tightening belts can fix.

We need a $15 million.

The city's infrastructure needs far outpaced current and anticipated revenue.

I ask city staff to test support for progressive measures that don't overburden those little means where everyone pays their fair share.

All of us in San Leandro deserve good roads and safe work environments for our fire and police personnel.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Lyds Hodgins.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council.

My name is Liz Hodgins, Recreation Supervisor, and I work at the Marina Community Center,

along with other recreation staff.

I want to start by sincerely thanking you for considering this agenda item to repair

the damaged wall and address the water intrusion at the community center.

I also want to express my appreciation to city staff and leadership who have continued

to acknowledge, investigate, and work towards solutions

to this ongoing issue.

For those of us who work in this building every day,

it means a great deal to see some concrete action steps

finally being taken.

For the past three years, staff have been concerned

about moisture and mold in the building.

And as you know, the Marina Community Center

is heavily relied upon by the community.

We host recreation programs and events,

facility rentals like baby showers, quinceañeras,

and more. It also serves as our recreation hub and customer service front desk. And when the

building is compromised, it affects not only our staff, but the entire community that we serve.

I appreciate the city's efforts to repair the damaged wall and replace the stucco on the east

wing. And I support the recommended agreement and contingency to address any additional damage

uncovered during construction.

I also respectfully ask

that as the work moves forward,

other areas be evaluated as well,

specifically the copy room and AV closet

where dark spots on the ceiling

may indicate additional water damage.

Thank you again for prioritizing

the Marina Community Center.

This building is vital to our staff,

our programs, and our community,

and we truly appreciate your continued support.

Thank you.

Mayor that concludes our comment cards and there are no hands raised on zoom.

Okay so we will close in line public comment and move to online public comment.

Thank you mayor we have no hands raised online.

So we'll close online public comment come back to council members for any additional

discussion seeing none please vote.

all votes from the room are in council member azevedo may we have your vote aye thank you

the motion carries unanimously with all members present and voting aye

thank you so for item number six we don't have any reports on our agenda today

Item number seven, public comment.

This opportunity for members of the public

to address the city council on items

that are not on our agenda,

but are within the subject matter jurisdiction

of this council.

Do we have comment cards for this item?

Mayor, we have received one comment card.

Please proceed.

The first speaker is Leo T. West.

The City Council is spending taxpayer money on that Covino and company lobbies,

who are actually lobbies for the McCarthy Party.

The city should cut ties to that group immediately for the President of the United States,

Donald J. Trump, has already announced that there won't be any more federal money going

into sanctuary states and cities.

Don't waste taxpayers' money.

Under the second presidential, Donald Trump,

there won't be any more than those ruling the street.

Those illegal in the country are being deported,

and those that interfere with federal authorities

are being dealt with.

We see very clearly what's behind the resistance.

It's the corporation money that pays

for all those immigration lawyers

at the so-called community organizations.

Corporations love cheap labor,

while a thousand US citizens live in homeless encampments.

And while talking of vandals,

that pavilion the city's built to a local vandal,

Stephen Taylor, should be raised.

Resin the sanctuary city for criminals,

reinstate Jason Fletcher,

Long live Kyle Rittenhouse.

Thank you.

Mayor, that concludes the comment cards we've received.

What about online public comment?

We have three hands currently raised.

Please proceed.

The first speaker is Emily Grego.

Hello, everybody.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes.

Hi, it's Emily Grego, President and CEO of the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce. I wanted to make sure and extend all of you mayor and city council members to the best of San Leandro on January 29th and to all of those who are listening to the meeting and are at the meeting.

we have had just a wonderful just engagement of community members nominating their favorite

businesses in San Leandro and we've had an astounding number of votes for those businesses

and so we will reveal who the winners are at the January 29th celebration it's going to be a lot

of fun there's of course going to be drink and food and music and awardees and nominees and we're

going to be at the Speedway, which we are all working to breathe life into that side of town.

And so we're really excited to be over at the Speedway, which is located at Bayfair. So if

you're interested in joining us, you can purchase tickets and we would love to have you all there.

It's going to be a wonderful event. So I just want to make sure and extend that invitation to you.

Thank you. Thank you. The next speaker is Melissa Wong.

Thank you. Good evening. And I appreciate Emily making that announcement. That sounds fantastic.

It is with high urgency that I request the council consider a motion to discuss establishing a budget

task force consisting of residents from one of, from each of the six districts and a mayor's pick

for a budget task force.

This task force will meet regularly

to discuss the budget formulation,

potential deficit and opportunities for savings,

as well as analyzing budget

to actual spending and trending.

This initiative will promote transparency

and enhance public awareness.

I see this group as an advocate for the city,

but also an independent voice for the council.

Last June, I saw the city rush

to have the council approve the proposed budget for fiscal year 25-26-26-27. We have a structural

deficit. Six months after the fiscal year began, what is the status? I am aware that there is an

existing finance committee, but according to your calendar, it has been 60 days since the committee

members have met with staff. The next meeting at the end of the month will mark 70 days in between.

This task force will focus on budget and not financial reporting.

It's time for better discussions on our city budget and spending.

I hope you would consider the formation of this citizen involved budget task force and that there is across the board agreement within the council.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Douglas Spaulding.

Thank you, city clerk.

Good evening, members of the council.

I second that idea by Melissa Wong, who served so admirably on the previous budget task force, along with our current mayor.

Hey, I'm just looking at my calendar here, and I realized today was the national walkout, where we're all calling attention to the terrible situation in our country.

And I want to make sure everyone knows you can further support this by doing the same on Friday, because January 23rd has been called as a general strike in Minneapolis.

Now, looking ahead to Saturday, January 24th, I hope everyone will come out to Marina for the ribbon cutting of Stephen Taylor's Sanctity of Life Park.

And thanks to the city for advertising it so well.

There'll be food, drink. We can admire the beautiful statue.

There'll be speechifying between 10 and 12.

And, of course, we want to hear from Grandma Addie.

And there'll be continued programming from the students of the Student Justice Academy.

me. But just as an aside, you know, this past weekend, there was a big celebration about the

passing of Bob Weir. And I don't know how many deadheads are out there, if you've ever been to

a Grateful Dead concert, or you understand the community of deadheads. But I kind of come from

that background. But I want to say that around this tragic killing of Stephen Taylor, a true

community has arisen in San Leandro. And it's really centered by the students of the Social

Justice Academy. So this is a celebratory event, and I hope everybody will come and partake.

And then next month, y'all come back on Monday, February 2nd, for a second reading

of the monumental rent stabilization ordinance that this city council has crafted, which will

make a material difference for working families in our city notwithstanding all the threats of

recalls and uh you know taking it back and stuff by the real estate thank you your time has elapsed

the next speaker is mimi dean

hi there i'm here to speak tonight about sky west open space some of you probably know what sky west

open space is and some of you probably don't and some of you others are probably thinking

why do I care about SkyWest Open Space? It's in the city of Hayward. Well, let me tell you why

you should care. First of all, the city of Hayward has a GIS on their website. And in their GIS,

that's a geographic information system. It shows the area of influence of the Hayward Executive

Airport. That area of influence, which means the planes fly over it, they make noise over it,

they could pollute over it, these kinds of things.

Well, it not only goes over parts of the city of Hayward,

it goes over almost all the entire unincorporated communities like San Lorenzo,

Cherryland and Ashland.

And it also goes over, believe it or not, parts of San Leandro.

That's right.

For my friends, it goes over parts of San Leandro.

So anyway, the airport owns the former golf course called Sky West.

Well, Sky West is home to overwintering monarch butterflies, the western monarch, our monarch butterflies.

It is the number one overwintering site in the entire East Bay.

It has more monarch butterflies in the winter than Monarch Bay in San Leandro or Ardenwood in Fremont.

It's also home to the western pond turtle, our only native turtle.

Hayward has some really not so wonderful plans to basically destroy the habitat of these animals and take this 126 acre gem of open space and develop it.

So I am leading the charge and I hope some of you are on my Facebook page or you see my posts on Facebook or you're my friend and you have signed my petition to save Sky West.

Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate you very much.

thank you mayor that concludes the hands that are raised online okay so close public comment

thank you all for your comments we don't have public hearings or presentations today so we

will move to item number 10 on our agenda which is an act two or three action items four action

items i will begin with item 10a so as council members have heard from me i am looking to set

up an ad hoc committee. We'll start with 10A, which is specifically with respect to the Robustelli

City of San Leandro litigation. I have invited council members to volunteer to serve on the

ad hoc committee. I received one person who requested to participate. At this point in time,

I believe that the only person I got an email from was Council Member Bolt. Is that correct,

Mr. Bolt or Council Member Bolt yes okay are there any questions obviously the purpose of an ad hoc

committee is to have some extra specialized attention on a matter we can remain hopeful

that this will be resolved quickly but until that happens that is the purpose of the ad hoc committee

the nature of an ad hoc committee is less than a year and so we fully anticipate that this will

be less than a year any questions at this point in time

seeing none i'll go to public comment on this item

mayor we have not received any cards but we have one hand raised online

please proceed online the first speaker is douglas spaulding

thank you very much well as i see it uh the city has a real problem on its hands

and uh i don't think it's because you haven't been paying enough attention to this or give it

it enough time. The basis for Robustelli's lawsuit served as the evidence to censure

Councilmen Simon and Aguilar last year and have been resurrected in the current complaint by

Councilwoman Bowen. So the city has de facto endorsed the conclusions, you know, based in the

lawsuit, but they don't want to acknowledge them now, of course, because that's going to involve

a big payout. So the problem is, you know, we can't have our cake and eat it too, in a sense.

I think it seems transparent to me that the motivation in requesting an ad hoc committee

reflects what must be a division in your closed session. And so an ad hoc committee necessarily

pairs down the number of participants, discussants, in an attempt to cut out, I think, objections that

may be raised about, you know, one solution or another. I have not really much more knowledge,

so I don't really know where the factions lie. And my further concern, as I understand it,

as an ad hoc committee is not beholden to the same regulations of the Brown Act as your closed

sessions are this open session. So I just, I guess I'm not fully trustful of it. And I would urge you

to proceed cautiously. And as the judge often says, you know, go back to the jury chamber and

keep deliberating because at some point you do have to come to a resolution thank you thank you

mayor that concludes the hands raised online we'll close public comment at this point in time are

there any opportunity for additional questions comments seeing none i will move this item

that we set up this ad hoc committee it will not last for more than a year and will consist of

myself and councilmore bolt both of whom have volunteered to be on this committee

Do I have a second for that?

Council Member Bolt?

Second.

Okay, discussion.

Seeing no discussion, please vote.

All votes from the room are in.

Council Member Azevedo, your vote, please.

Aye.

Thank you.

The motion carries unanimously with all members voting yes and all members present.

Okay, we'll move to item 10B. This also is an ad hoc committee that we have discussed for again allowing, I'm sorry, Councilmember Bolt, did you have something that you wanted to say?

on this item since I have to recuse myself from the item I would abstain from this vote just on

the next item yes on 10b yep please is that correct I'm right okay thank you

Thank you.

Okay, so technically you don't need to step out. Should you want to step out, feel comfortable stepping out.

It's completely up to you, but you will not be voting on this item.

No vote, no discussion.

So for this item, like the other,

it's the purpose is to provide an opportunity

for greater in-depth discussion,

more time with legal counsel,

better understand certain facts and circumstances.

The time that we have in closed session

can at times be somewhat limited.

And so we've talked about the idea of setting this up again,

have sent out emails, two separate emails,

looking for volunteers.

For this ad hoc committee in particular,

we have vice mayor has volunteered to support this effort.

So that hawk would consist of myself and the vice mayor.

Do we have any questions?

Seeing none, we'll go to public comment on this item.

Mayor, we have no cards from the room,

but we have one hand raised online.

Please proceed.

The first speaker is Douglas Spalding.

Well, you know, again,

I just am a little cautious about the ad hoc committee concept.

And this is not to negate it, but I think here, actually, Melissa Wong's idea might prove very fruitful to convene a citizen's task force around shoreline development,

where you could bring in more expertise in terms of not only finance and traffic and geology,

but also cultural and civic interests.

It seems that I think kind of a wider perspective might help jog people's thinking and move the thing forward.

And that's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor, there are no more hands raised online.

Okay, so we'll close public comment and come back to council members for any additional discussion.

As seeing none, I will make a motion that we create this ad hoc committee related to the shoreline bankruptcy,

consisting of the vice mayor and the mayor.

Council member Rios Walton.

Second.

So we have a motion and a second.

Seeing no interest in further discussion, please proceed to vote.

all votes from the room are in council member azevedo your vote please aye thank you

the motion carries with six eyes and council member bolt being recused

at this point in time we'll move to item 10 c

this council discussion direction by act to act by minute order on potential disciplinary

possible discipline of council member aguilar under chapter 1.13 of the stanley under administrative

code pursuant to council member bowen's internal request for discipline submitted on october 24th

2025. for this item we have city attorney rich pureta introducing the item thank you mayor this

This will be a brief presentation on item 26-015.

Going to the next slide.

Brief overview is on October 24th,

Vice Mayor Bowen submitted a request for discipline

under San Leandro Administrative Code, Chapter 1.13.

On December 8th, 25th,

the council scheduled consideration of discipline

and they set for January 20th, 2026 today,

regular city council meeting,

after there was a Brown Act issue concerning discussion

at the November 3rd, 2025 meeting.

That Brown Act issue has since been cured and corrected.

On January 5th, 2026,

the council waived the attorney-client privilege

that was applicable to an investigation report

of Council Member Bowen's complaint

to the city's HR Director, Emily Hung.

Council Member Bowen's request for discipline

relies upon the facts and findings

of the investigation report.

Next slide.

This is a brief rundown of the disciplinary hearing procedures, and these are all contained in the San Leandro Administrative Code, Section 1.13.110.

I'll just jump down to the specific charges where the pattern of bullying, abusive conduct conducted towards her in violation of the behavioral standards applicable to city council members set forth in the city's Code of Ethics, Council commitments, and the Council Member Handbook.

This is from Vice Mayor Bowen's October 24, 2025 request for discipline.

Next slide, please.

This slide is slide four containing what are the facts.

And the facts, as Council Member Bowen had requested, would be the October 27, 2025 investigation report by Jane Cowell of HR Law Consultants.

and the findings as directed or specific to Councilmember Aguilar are as follows.

Councilmember Aguilar retaliated against Councilmember Bowen following her vote

on Councilmember Aguilar's censure at the November 18, 2024 council meeting,

and we provide page references from the report, which is available.

Councilmember Aguilar engaged in abusive conduct towards Councilmember Bowen

and then attempted to besmirch her reputation after she was physically violated by mutual acquaintance.

And finally, Councilmember Aguilar subjected Councilmember Bowen, female city councilmembers, and a female employee to differential treatment reflecting gender bias.

Next slide, please.

So, council consideration of discipline is defined by the San Leandro Administrative Code, Section 1.13.115.

The council, as a body, must determine whether discipline short of censure is warranted or to move towards censure.

This discussion, which you're about to have, is a matter of public record and must take place during an open notice and public meeting of the city council.

A council member who is the subject of the alleged violation or violations is ineligible to vote on any matter relating to a disciplinary action,

including but not limited to agendizing the hearing and adopting a resolution of censure.

and actions of the council of course require the affirmative votes of a majority of the entire

council membership this is in san leandro municipal code section 1-1-305 next slide to slide six

so the council has options here and based on one or all of the findings from slide four

the council could decide upon one or more of the following or a combination of these

or discipline that includes conditions that if not met or accomplished could lead to a censure hearing or a different discipline short of censure.

These are examples and these are taken from the San Leandro Administrative Code A through D.

I'll leave them there. They have been provided in your materials.

Next slide, please.

should the council move towards censure which is an option as well a resolution of censure

is a formal serious reprimand for misconduct often for severe violations it must be based

on clear and convincing facts supporting the allegations and misconduct giving rise to the

censure and a resolution of censure requires substantive and procedural due process under

the law under the 14th amendment next slide to slide eight so the council like i said must move

towards censure that requires an affirmative action if the council decides to set the matter

for a censure hearing it has to schedule the has to schedule the hearing no sooner than two weeks

after its determination to hear the matter and the council should not schedule the matter during any

previously scheduled excused absence of the subject council member and they can happen at

either a regular or a special meeting,

and they happen in an open and public meeting.

Next slide, please.

This is all contained in the San Leandro Administrative Code,

where the written notice to the subject council member

of the center has to be at least 10 days

in advance of the scheduled hearing,

and there are hearing procedures that, again,

are provided in the San Leandro Administrative Code

and here on this slide.

Next slide, please.

As part of the resolution of censure, the censure action could contain any or all of

the following directions to correct, directions to attend training, and the resolution of

censure contains a resolution based on clear and convincing facts supporting the allegations

of misconduct, giving rise to the censure.

It may include the imposition of sanctions against the council member as the council

deems appropriate.

And there are a list of things that may include amongst the sanctions may include from a removal

from internal or standing or ad hoc committees or removal from an external committee to which

the member has been appointed and or restrictions on city related travel privileges.

Next slide.

So tonight we are awaiting part of the first part of the action that's required under the disciplinary procedure that the council has adopted in the administrative code.

Chapter one dash 13. Does the council want to impose discipline?

If so, what discipline does the council want to impose?

Any of the items I've described in the previous slides, a through D, a combination of them, all of them, combination of items or a different unlisted item short of censure.

completion of a task or training requirements with conditions that if not completed by the time or a deadline result in going to formal censure against the council member or to move or act towards censure.

And that concludes my report and we're waiting a direction from the council.

Thank you for your presentation. At this point in time, we're going to begin by taking public comment on this item.

then we will come back for our discussions any clarifying questions and

the like so let's begin with public comment on this item

mayor we have received ten cards here in the room and there are a number of

hands raised online I'm sorry how many hands presently three four five okay so

what we'll do is we'll begin in person and then we will move online thank you

The first three speakers in the room include David Anderson, Sarah Bailey, and Michael McGuire.

Mr. We'll make one big picture comment before we start.

So there are two different disciplinary hearings today.

And I want to be very clear, public speakers are limited to speaking about the individual in question,

the actions, the allegations with respect to each individual.

So this is not the time to raise any concerns,

defenses, support, anything with respect to Council Member Simon.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

The first speakers are David Anderson, Sarah Bailey, and Michael McGuire.

Thank you.

Mr. Anderson?

Okay.

Sarah?

Okay.

This is a little confusing because we're now talking about two separate individuals.

Many of us have not written for two separate things.

The investigator of Councilmember Bowen's formal report of workplace misconduct

by Council Member Aguilar includes that he retaliated against her,

he engaged in disrespectful and demeaning conduct towards women,

and he verbally abused Council Member Bowen

and attempted to besmirch her reputation.

They must, he must, face discipline.

This is not he said, she said.

The investigator interviewed others who confirmed a pattern,

among them former Mayor Cutter and former councilmembers Cox, Reynas, and Ballou.

Public Works Director Marchese described Councilmember Sagular's conduct towards her, which I have witnessed.

The report says, Simon and Aguilar ask questions that make it appear as if the staff are not working diligently on projects,

which can be demeaning and ultimately has the effect of undermining the work performance

of of marquises when they block women of authority such as council member bowen and

director marquises from success and intentionally making them appear incompetent their constituents

and residents don't see misogyny at work instead they believe lies this undermines public trust

which has massive repercussions,

not least that lack of trust is exploited

by liars themselves for further gain

and anyone else who sees an opening

and uses it for their own agenda.

Public Works doesn't know what it's doing.

Let's go around and create our own shadow department.

Council can't do their jobs.

Let's invent a new committee.

What's ridiculous?

It's insidious.

Thank you.

Your time is up.

The next three speakers are Michael McGuire,

Moline Dupree Dominguez and Tiffany Trice.

I take a somewhat different view than the previous speaker did,

though I do think this should be a city where women are respected in their work

and all city departments, not just the city council.

This report plays politics and is loaded with bias.

I've read the report.

There is a political faction that is trying to sideline an opposing political faction

with both legislation and elections coming up.

I do not consider Council Member Bowen to be involved in this effort,

but is only desiring better treatment by her colleagues and fellow politicians,

which she deserves.

Evidence gathering in the report is selective,

and motives are imputed and never favorable ones

for views on both policies and candidates

by office holders whose job is to evaluate both.

Testimony is presented as unbiased from someone with a financial stake

in the outcome due to suing the city.

It mentions a previous investigation of council members for sex bias, where they were cleared of that charge in that same investigation, the previous one, and subsequently in a court of law.

Loaded verbs are used when discussing opposing views, with one side explaining things, while the other side is claiming or alleging them.

It takes remarks made during a policy argument out of context and calls them offensive,

implying, and this does concern me, that an elected official can never question an unelected

one over how well a policy is being carried out. It accuses politicians of basically acting like

politicians who are not always transparent about what they do, why they do, or why they don't do

something. This is unlikely to shock the public. And we can go through the report section by section,

and I'd suggest we do that in public, by the way. And we can all point out the problems with it.

It would be nice if all our elected officials, office holders were pleasant to each other while disagreeing, but honestly, this report is moving this forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speakers are Malin Dupree-Dominguez, Tiffany Treese, and Jeff Drivitz.

Hello, City Council, Mayor.

Malin Dupree-Dominguez, San Leandro resident for 18 years.

justice delayed is justice denied council member bowen's complaint came in a year ago

it has been a year the complaint against council member bowen

from council member bowen against council member aguilar is a year old the inappropriate and

unprofessional behavior investigated by this independent investigator and found to be with

merit is appalling. Simply appalling. Completely unbefitting of a public official. The facts are

clear. The need for discipline in these substantiated complaints is glaring. Furthermore,

it is obvious to me that the maximum disciplinary action is called for here in order to reestablish

public trust and make it possible for this council to proceed with its duties in good faith.

Additionally, it seems that the accused council member in question right now, council member

Aguilar is in need of serious redirection by way of discipline that results in behavioral changes.

Censure is the right move here. No more hearings. No more dragging our feet. Tonight is the night.

If this council fails to hold itself accountable to its own ethics codes, we voters will remember

at election time.

The time is today

to hold yourselves accountable

to the ethics codes

you yourselves agreed to.

Thank you.

The next three speakers

are Tiffany Treese,

Jeff Duritz,

and Deborah Acosta.

The next speakers are Deborah Acosta, Leo T. West, and Caroline Jones.

Good evening.

Excuse me.

Mary Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Bovera-Solton, and Council Members.

I'm here tonight to ask you to close this chapter in a way that restores trust and allows this city to move forward.

Councilmember Bowen's actions followed established process.

Now we ask you to do the same.

Follow the city charter and your own rules.

As San Leander's former chief innovation officer, I work to bring jobs, infrastructure, investment, and national attention here

by grounding our strategy in real assets and real commitments.

We built on the city's investment on a 10 gigabit fiber network.

We aligned with the general plan and economic development strategy

committing San Leandro to a future in advanced manufacturing and software.

We attracted partners and investors based on a simple expectation

that this city honors its charter,

follows its rules and exercises power lawfully and fairly.

Well, that trust is fragile.

When governance breaks down, when misconduct goes unaddressed, when retaliation is tolerated, when accountability is delayed, it doesn't just strain relationships.

It undermines credibility. It stalls housing, infrastructure, public safety, and economic development.

And it makes it harder for residents, staff, and partners to believe San Leandro will keep its word.

Years ago, when San Leandro lit Truth is Beauty, we asked a hard question.

What would the world be like if women were safe?

Not only physically safe, but safe to lead, safe to speak up, safe to challenge power without retaliation.

To the four of you whose votes matter tonight, this is your moment to release this council from paralysis,

restore trust with the community, and demonstrate that San Leandro lives by the standards it's set for others.

We have already named our values.

Now it's time for you to lift up to them. Thank you.

Thank you. The next two speakers are Leo T. West and Caroline Jones.

I want a clarification. I want to speak about the investigative report. Is that the time now?

Okay. The investigative report shows council members in a dogfight for taxpayers' money.

to travel here and there, thus padding their resumes for political career.

As the San Leandro Times reported last year,

Council Member Bowen was the beneficiary of extra money above her normal allocation.

I'm sure that that rubbed some Council Members the wrong way.

Then, as I said last month, Aguilar placed his game card,

Simon plays his race car, Bowen plays her feminist car.

The whole thing stinks.

I think that all three of them should be removed from the city council.

And mainly Bowen, for she may represent my district, and she's shown totally neptness.

Besides, she's never answered my emails pointing out problems.

It's just that she's been too busy traveling around the country.

Judging by the report, Bowen behavior in Florida was not very professional.

For those of us who have been around the block many times, we know that it takes two to tango.

And it seems that there was some tango going on there.

Or in English terms, somebody was laid on.

There, that concludes, apologies, one speaker card remains.

line Jones so tonight the facts are clear and frankly the national moment that we're living in

makes them absolutely impossible to ignore the independent investigation found that council

member Victor Aguilar engaged in repeated egregious misconduct retaliation gender biased

base bias bullying and misuse of power this conduct was not accidental it was sustained

It was corroborated by witnesses, and it caused real harm.

The report documents that Councilwoman Suha Bowen was retaliated against for voting to

censure Victor Aguilar.

Her leadership was deliberately undermined.

False and shifting narratives were used to block her advancement.

After disclosing being assaulted, Victor Aguilar worked to minimize her credibility and sideline

her voice.

That is not disagreement.

That is gaslighting.

We are living in a national political climate where women are routinely belittled, discredited, and dehumanized by people in political power, including our own president of the United States, where accountability is framed as persecution and where cruelty is excused as leadership.

Local government does not get to pretend that it operates outside of that reality.

So Mayor Gonzalez, city council members, that responsibility now rests with you.

Your constituents, especially women, are watching to see whether San Leandro will mirror that

national failure of leadership or firmly reject it.

Anything less than the strict censure of Aguilar sends a dangerous message that retaliation

is survivable, that abuse of power is negotiable, and that women who speak up will pay the price

while men who harm them are protected.

This is not about tone.

This isn't even about politics.

This is about whether San Leandro will draw a clear and public line and say, this conduct

has no place.

Leadership is measured in moments like this,

and the facts are undeniable.

The harm is documented.

The expectations of this community could not be clear,

and the question is simple.

Will you lead, or will you excuse?

Thank you.

Mayor, that concludes the cards from in the room.

So we will close in-person public comment

and proceed online.

The first online speaker is Susan Erb.

Good evening. This investigation report for which the city has paid over $130,000 is not something I would be able to rely on in forming a judgment.

There is a repetition which rehashes points of view and personal opinions, relying on phrases such as raising suspicions, makes it appears as if, presumes, implying.

These are not facts. These are assumptions.

Supporting another candidate for vice mayor or city council or city manager does not prove bias.

The report is disjointed and repetitive.

For example, the assertion that Council Member Aguilar opposed city funding for Council Member Bowen's participation in various programs is covered on pages 7, 8, 12, 13, 14.

Aguilar's supposed role in the claim of physical violation by a third party as proof of gender bias is covered in pages 4, 5, 8, 18, 19, 20.

Simply repeating the same thing over and over does not make it true.

I am perplexed by the inclusion of Fran Robustali's input without adequate disclosure of her conflict of interest in the matter.

I am also perplexed by the failure to disclose the public humiliation caused Councilmember Aguilar by the slide presentation prepared by city personnel for the 2024 Council Planning Meeting.

I could go on and on, but only have two minutes.

So let's look to the future.

Are we ready to move on?

Are we ready to focus on the needs of the residents and the businesses of our city?

your vote tonight will set the tone for the future.

Please consider this carefully. Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Douglas Spaulding.

Thank you. And thank you, council members, for making the report available.

Although I will note it was not completely unredacted.

reading the report reinforces the conclusion that our city council is dysfunctional characterized

by distrust animus division and factions i fear this uh legalistic process will not yield

what i've heard councilman bowen uh state she is designing acknowledgement of harms done

accountability, and healing. The disciplinary process will likely result in an increase in

defensiveness, a lack of dialogue, and further rancor. And that's precisely why for weeks I've

been beating the drum that what is important is a restorative process. Councilman Bowen shines

throughout the report as hardworking, prepared, erudite, a good communicator who is direct about

the discriminatory harms she has experienced. My friends Fred and Victor, not so much.

But I do want to take a look at one of the accusations in part four, item F. This is the

most troubling accusation against Councilman Aguilar, wherein Bowen believes that Aguilar

colluded with Daniel Parra and the abhorrent sexual battery that she was subjected to.

later on page 18 we learn the basis of this belief and i'm going to quote a golden line here as we

say as teachers according to bowen gonzalez told her that he thought aguilar might be up to something

and the two and a half pages that discuss this uh incident there is actually nothing substantial

about that accusation that somehow Aguilar set out to set up Bowen and acted in concert with

Parra. I find that very troubling. Thank you. The next speaker is Jesse.

hello can you all hear me yes okay my name is jesse rubin and i am a member of the league of

san leandro voters some may think the drama surrounding this investigation is overblown

that politicians lie and play games all the time. So what's the big deal? The big deal is this.

We cannot accept the behavior described in this investigation or the behavior that led to Aguilar's

prior censure as politics as usual. Because once we do, it becomes the new normal. Just as the

increasing tolerance of the Trump administration's bully politics created a dangerous new normal

nationwide. Your vote tonight tells us, your San Leandro constituents, what kind of behavior

and judgment we should expect from those who lead our city. It also sends a message to anyone with

political ambitions about what contact will be tolerated if they are elected to office.

If we want our city to be governed by leaders who are in it for the right reasons,

i.e. for the public good, then we must create a political environment that attracts and supports

candidates who share those values. The fact that Aguilar has repeatedly refused to acknowledge

any wrongdoing over the past several years, even after that wrongdoing has been independently

substantiated, is appalling, and it cannot be ignored. If this behavior is tolerated,

we will not deserve to be governed by council members like Zula Bowen in the future.

Show us that you care about creating a political environment where ethical candidates can truly make a difference.

Vote to continue the discipline process.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Liana Castello.

Hi, this is Liana Castello.

I'm a citizen of San Leandro.

Mayor Gonzalez and City Council, I'm speaking up tonight to request that you move forward with discipline and censure.

In this case, Council Member Aguilar is a liability.

He is not a leader.

The need for maximum and timely discipline in this case is clear based on the result of a third party investigation.

Council Member Aguilar has wasted hundreds of hours of community and council time and hundreds of thousands of dollars, all while having very little to show in terms of results to the city.

Please, I implore the mayor and the voting members of the council, show leadership tonight.

Please consider material discipline and send a message that this is not okay and we need

change and forward progress.

San Leandro community members and civil servants deserve better and we want to move forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Melissa Wong.

Hi there.

I appreciate some of the scripts that people are reading from.

I'm going to be off script.

I already, if anybody, care to look at my e-comments, pages of typos, innuendos, the lack of transparency, and really bias in the report.

It's very obvious to me.

14 witnesses and the two subjects are interviewed four months later after everybody else had their

say. And the former San Leandro officials, they have not been in San Leandro official business

for two years. They should not have seen things that are in closed session when the censure

that was the basis of retaliation occurred November 2024.

That means last year.

Council Member Bolt was only mentioned six times.

The former city manager was mentioned 78 times.

Isn't that interesting?

And some of the folks have very strong opinions,

and I appreciate that.

But you got to read the report. Look at the errors. April 20th, 2024 was the planning meeting. There was a facilitator there. No mention of that. That firm specializes in conflict and they did not intervene during that meeting.

no mention of that I was there lots of people nobody said anything including an expert on

personnel issues not mentioned that's not a fact that's a major omission and that was one of many

please look at my e-comments and I welcome any correction to them thank you thank you

the next speaker is Bella Comello

Bella, are you there?

If so, please unmute yourself.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

My name is Bella Comello.

Let me start by saying that as a woman who has experienced sexual harassment when I was young,

I empathize with the councilwoman Bowen very much.

However, I would like to say that I have known Council Member Simon for about eight years in a professional...

Can you pause that?

So, Ms. Camillo, I'm sorry to interrupt you.

There are two different hearings.

Right now, we are only addressing Council Member Aguilar.

We will be coming back to Council Member Simon a little bit later today.

Okay, thank you.

I didn't realize that.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your patience.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Christopher Bamer.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

My name's Chris Bamer.

I've been a resident for about 25 years

and my family's owned a business for about 50 years.

I went to my first city council meeting

probably back in 2000.

started again January 20, 2018,

when a certain city manager was investigated

for some sort of allegations similar to these ones.

Since that date, I think there's been eight investigations,

millions of dollars spent, hundreds of hours wasted

on our council members trying to govern themselves.

It's a joke.

Whatever we need to do to get these people out of office

and get on with official business,

we need to do quickly.

Censure, whatever it takes.

Hold a recall.

But if they were stand-up guys

and they were really these great people

that they want everyone to think they are,

they would just dismiss themselves and resign

and let us move on with real business

instead of this bullshit.

I'm done.

Thank you. The next speaker is Bob Bailey.

Hi, this is Bob Bailey. I wrote this for assuming that we both covered the same time, but anyway,

I don't claim to know Council Member Aguilar well. I welcomed his support during the campaign

to establish the Community Police Review Board and believe we share common aspirations to advance

social justice where we can. So it pains me, especially as a man, to see the evidence in

the investigator's report of a persistent pattern of disrespect and abuse for women in authority.

As a former HR director, I find the stonewalling predictable, but nonetheless disgraceful.

Nothing resembling a restorative justice outcome can come tonight without first acknowledging the

harm felt by Councilmember Bowen and other women. It doesn't matter whether the behavior was

conscious or not, well-intentioned or not, in pursuit of service to constituents or only to

self. What matters is a willingness to listen, reflect, and validate Councilmember Bowen's

experience. The city's business is, of course, paramount. We elect our representatives to be

worthy of our trust and to serve us honorably.

The council cannot function without committing to relationships of mutual

respect, despite differences.

Any action tonight will be a test, not only of what is fair,

but of what those accused are capable of doing in response.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Mimi Dean.

hello all right well this is what i have to say i read that report and i agree with the speakers

who say that there was a lot of accusations and repetitiveness and all this other stuff but i

didn't really see anything that i could quite put my finger on i didn't see any actual evidence of

facts. And for me, it's all about facts. So I'm really having a hard time with this whole process

because, of course, I agree that, you know, a lot of women, we do get treated very horribly.

But I'm not quite sure that this is the case. Myself being in politics now and serving on a

board you know there's a lot of things that get said to me that that make me sad or mad or upset

or like what the heck are you trying to talk about and really make me question the person who's saying

this to me but i just have to think about it it's it seems like it's politics it doesn't seem like

this is an issue of gender bias or misogyny.

This seems to me like this is an issue of disagreement.

And I really did try to get through that report,

and it was very difficult.

So I hope that we can resolve this,

but I disagree with the people that are saying

that these two council members should step down.

um i really think this report needed to be done differently and unbiased and um i don't know what

else to say i hope you'll um do the right thing tonight thank you thank you mayor this concludes

our hands raised online okay so we will close public comment and we will come back to council

members do you have any questions about the process and perhaps i should lay out the process

just so that we're all clear on what's going to be happening.

Then you can ask questions of either myself or the city attorney.

So I do think that we do need to just for ease so that we're all in the same, I'll call it playing field,

we'll move to accept the findings of the report.

Then we'll ask the question of whether there is a belief that there should be discipline,

because that's kind of a yes-no question.

if there is a decision that there should be discipline then we'll proceed to the question of

well what is that nature of the discipline so that's where i see this going i certainly welcome

any questions at this time council member aguilar uh thank you mayor gonzalez my question is

i am excuse me i'm excluded from voting on this correct

i'm going to go to legal counsel on that question

That's correct.

My next question is,

will I be able to give a statement?

You definitely can make a statement.

Anything else?

Council Member Simon, please.

So just to clarify,

in addition to making a statement,

can Council Member Aguilar participate in the dialogue

questions just participating as a normal council process he just can't vote

coming back to city attorney yes that's correct okay another question is can you

repeat the decisions that will be made the first one you said was finding of

just the findings of the report right because we're going to be relying on the

report so do we as a council accept the report the findings of the report and

then the the next thing would be for each individual so right now we're focused

on councilmember Eglard based on everything that has been heard and

discussed is there a desire to have some sort of discipline yes now if yes then

what is the nature of that discipline? Okay my clarification is on findings of

the report and perhaps this is a city attorney question. Does that mean we agree

with the report? That we believe that it's factual? Or does it mean that it's

been produced? What does that actually mean? Please proceed City Attorney. Thank

Mayor, as I stated, as it counts, as we stated, the findings applicable to Councilmember Aguilar

in this particular instance, the council is adopting the findings. That means we are accepting

as fact. Those are the findings in the report. Okay, so if we believe that what we heard from

quite a few council members that there are significant deficiencies in this report,

then essentially we would vote no. We do not believe this is an accurate report.

we don't accept the findings?

You have the opportunity to vote that way.

Okay. Just so I understand. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Other questions?

Okay, so just administratively,

what I'm going to do is I'm going to make a motion

to accept the findings of the report

so we can engage in the dialogue there.

Council Member Bolt.

Second.

Okay.

Any discussion?

Okay, seeing none, let's vote.

There's a discussion.

Okay, then please proceed.

Add yourself to queue.

Councilman Regulat.

Oh, thank you, Mayor Gonzalez.

Before we do that, I would like to make the statement

before you decide to vote on the findings of the report.

Please proceed.

So, disagreement is not misconduct.

Speech is not violence.

And in a democracy, the freedom to question, dissent,

and vote independently should never be criminalized.

I'm going to speak plainly today

because clarity matters. I take allegations of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation very

seriously. I always have, but I will not sit quietly while ordinary democratic disagreement

is repackaged as wrongdoing, or while my integrity is questioned based on assumptions,

narratives, and mind reading instead of facts. I do not agree with the conclusions of this

investigation as they relate to me. And let me be clear about something that seems to have

been conveniently ignored. I am LGBTQ. I am a gay man. I have received death threats.

And I know what real discrimination looks like because I've lived it.

I've been harassed. I've been beaten. I've been targeted and demeaned for who I am.

So when accusations are casually reframed as bias or harassment, not based on slurs,

not based on threats, not based on unequal treatment, but based on disagreement, debates,

and votes, I take that seriously because words matter, and misusing them weakens protections

for the people who actually depend on them.

So everything on the city council requires independence.

It requires asking uncomfortable questions.

It requires disagreement.

It requires voting based on judgment, not pressure, not politics, not fear of being

labeled for dissenting.

That is not retaliation.

That is not harassment.

And it is certainly not discrimination.

In this case, routine governance, how I voted, questions I raised, concerns I expressed, was filtered through a predetermined narrative.

Motive was assumed, intent was assigned, and disagreement was treated as misconduct.

That is not fairness.

That is not due process.

And that is not how a democratic body should function.

I also reject unequivocally the suggestion that my actions were driven by gender bias.

Disagreeing with a colleague who is a woman does not equal discrimination.

If we accept that logic, we don't advance equity.

We shut down debate and punish independence.

Here's what truly concerns me.

When disagreement becomes evidence, when speech becomes suspect,

and when intent is guessed instead of proven,

we don't create safer workplaces,

we create acquired ones

and silence has never been justice.

I'm not here to litigate personalities.

I'm here to defend principles.

I will always stand for respect.

I will always stand against discrimination

and I will also stand firmly for the freedom to speak,

to question and to govern without fear

being mislabeled for doing my job.

I stand by my record.

I stand by my integrity.

And I will continue serving the people of San Leandro

with honesty, independence, and a backbone.

Thank you.

Council Member Simon, I think you are,

were you still interested in being Q?

Please proceed.

Yeah, clarifying question.

So it sounds like a finding of fact

for Council Member Aguilar and myself.

of both different votes.

I was hoping to just accept it as one,

but if you prefer, we can segment it out.

In other words, I'm just accepting the findings

of the report so that we don't have to do it again

in the next hearing.

Okay, that's fine.

So I'll speak on my behalf then,

since that's what we're doing.

This is a different approach?

Yeah, so to be precise, I think the findings that were listed were only for Council Member Aguilar, so I will clarify my motion so that it's unambiguous.

We're accepting the findings of the report specifically with respect to Council Member Aguilar.

And I just want to confirm from the seconder, that is what you seconded.

Yes, I'm getting a head nod.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

First, I would like to say that all women should be treated respectfully 100%.

I could not agree with that more.

And we should all, every single person in this room, no matter our gender, our sex, our race, our religion, we should all be treated respectfully.

So I'm fully on board with that.

Fully on board.

So when I ask my questions, it's not to...

I mean, anything otherwise.

My first question in the report,

I hear a reference to abusive conduct.

Yet, the investigator does not define what abusive conduct is in California.

I think that's really important to throw around a strong word like that.

You should define what it is.

So I'll go ahead and read it in case people don't know what the definition of abuse of conduct is.

In California, abuse of conduct, often called workplace bullying, is behavior that is hostile, offensive, and unrelated to legitimate business interests.

included repeated verbal abuse, derogatory remarks, insults,

threatening or humiliating conduct physical or verbal,

and sabotaging someone's work performance

with a single act only qualifying if extremely severe.

It creates an intimidating, offensive environment

that a reasonable person would find unacceptable,

often requiring employer training for supervisors.

So that is the definition, which is not defined.

But I want to bring up a point that I heard a public commenter made

about the interactions during the planning workshop.

And in the planning workshop, there was a facilitator there

who was trained on facilitating a meeting.

And if that facilitator would have seen something

that was so egregious to rise to this level

that a reasonable person would find unacceptable,

then she would have said something.

But she didn't, unless someone remembers that.

there is no mention or comment about any abusive behavior from a trained professional.

So in that respect, I do not believe that this is that one example factually correct,

the way that Council Member Aguilar has been characterized in his participation in that planning session.

I would also like to...

state that there was selective use of information in this report.

And I've noticed this before in other reports done by the city.

And this is not the first time I've raised concerns with our investigations.

For example, during the vice mayor vote,

the city attorney was asked twice to clearly define what the,

adopted procedures were for vice mayor clearly define it and he did and

that procedure there was discussions on it much earlier months and months and months ago

there was nothing documented to say otherwise than what the

city attorney had presented and that's

to the letter of the t is what was followed so i don't think that you can

leave that information out that's really important information that the investigator did not mention

that the city attorney clearly defined what the process that was documented was for vice mayor

okay at this point in time we'll go to our next speaker as your your time is up is there any other

discussion on this item council uh vice mayor please just to clarify this is just comments on

the motion there's a standing motion as to whether the findings of the report with respect to council

That should be accepted.

No, not on that.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay.

Seeing no further discussion, please vote.

You'll have more time when it comes to your specific section.

all votes from the room are in council member azevedo your vote please no thank you

the motion carries with four yeses from mayor gonzalez council member bowen council member bolt

and Vice Mayor Viveros Walton with Council Member Simon voting no and

Council Member Aguilar excluded. And so to be clear your vote count will be four

two and a recusal exclusion.

Okay, thank you. I stand corrected so that it will be a 4-3 vote. Legal counsel says that he may vote on this, so thank you for the clarification.

I'll read that back into the record. The three no votes include Council Member Simon, Council Member Aguilar, and Council Member Azevedo. Thank you.

Thank you.

So at this point in time, let's move to the next question.

The question that's been posed is whether there should be disciplinary action.

And then once we say yes, no, then let's move into the nature of that discipline.

Council Member Simon.

My recommendation for discipline is restorative justice mediation.

This is what we have discussed at a previous...

I'm going to ask you to pause for just a second.

So you're saying that there should...

The way that I'm framing this question is I just want to say yes, no,

there should be discipline or there should not be discipline.

And if you want to withdraw, that's fine too.

I'm just thinking. Let me make sure I would say there is no discipline. However, I feel that restorative justice mediation is a means to resolve this situation for the full council.

Okay. So first, let's see if there's a motion for discipline. Because if there's no motion for discipline, there is nothing more to discuss, right?

Okay, I pull back my comment and I would like that to be discipline.

I think discipline should be restorative justice mediation.

So I want to be clear. So you are making a motion saying that there should be discipline.

Calling it restorative justice mediation. Yes.

Okay, so you're saying there should be discipline.

Yes.

And then you're then we'll have another motion to discuss the nature of the discipline.

So first you your council members Simon has moved that there should be discipline.

I'm going to come to see if there's a second for that motion.

Councilmember Bowen.

I will 100% second that there should be discipline.

Okay.

At this point in time, is there any further council discussion or questions about this motion?

Because it's just a yes, no.

I haven't finished my motion.

It's a multi-part motion.

No, that's not what I called for.

I called for something very specific and that's the only thing that I'm accepting.

It's a should there.

So you then said that you withdrew your motion and then you reintroduced the motion that said,

yes, there should be discipline.

So are you saying that yes, there should be discipline?

Are you staying with that motion?

I am, but I would like to finish the type of discipline.

We'll get to that in the next stage.

So the next stage will be what is the nature of the discipline?

So first, is there any discussion on the motion as to whether there should be discipline?

I just want to make sure that we, I cannot see Councilmember Acevedo.

So if he has his hand up, someone please let me know.

Okay.

Vice Mayor, would you like to weigh in on this motion?

Based on the findings of the report, I agree that we should move forward with disciplinary action.

for Councilmember Aguilar,

based on the findings of the report.

So I just want to base that that's why I'm pursuing,

I'm supporting the Councilmember's motion to discipline.

Okay.

Any other discussion on this item?

Okay, so let's vote on the motion

that there should be discipline.

And for this to be clear,

council member Ayelet, you may not vote on this motion.

Please proceed to the vote.

All votes from the room are in.

Council member Azevedo, may we have your vote?

No.

Thank you.

The motion carries with five yeses from Councilmember Simon, Councilmember Bolt, Mayor Gonzalez,

Councilmember Bowen, Vice Mayor Viveros Walton, one no with Councilmember Azevedo voting no

and Councilmember Aguilar excluded.

Okay, at this point in time, we will proceed to a motion on the nature of the discipline, and then we can explore, discuss, change, modify, whatever.

But let's get a motion on the nature of the discipline.

Councilman Bowen.

Thank you, Mayor.

And so I would like to make a motion for a letter of reprimand from the city council, a statement of disapproval and an admonition with the inclusion of an expectation for behavioral course correction and training.

Yeah, could you repeat that?

I have a letter of reprimand.

We can look at slide six.

And again, these are based on the findings in the report that we just accepted.

And I just want to thank the council for having gone through the process to seek out that report and accept the report.

B, letter of recommend from the city council that the behavior is not appropriate and should not be accepted.

a statement of disapproval and an admonition,

and as part of these actions to include an expectation

of course of behavioral correction,

so as to not repeat the behaviors.

Okay, so I've got clearly some notes here.

I'm not sure who our official note taker,

Would it be you, city attorney?

I'm happy to be so.

Okay.

Would you please repeat what you think you have heard

so we can get any remaining clarification on the motion?

So to be clear, Council Member Bowen, this is a motion.

Correct.

For a letter of reprimand, a statement of disapproval,

and an admonition, all as described in the policy

and as set out in the policy,

with expectation for behavioral course correction

so as to not repeat the behaviors.

I did hear a word training, but there was no expansion or...

To include training if needed.

I know that short of censure, we cannot enforce that,

but I hope that the council member will proactively choose

to try to learn through training

or other correct of opportunities.

Okay, so we've got a motion by Councilor Morbon.

Is there a second?

May I hear, please?

Second.

Okay, so we've got a motion and a second.

Let's engage in discussion or clarifying questions, please.

Did you have one?

Okay.

For some reason you're not coming out of the queue

and then going back in.

So my apologies, please proceed.

Thank you.

Yes, I back to my original comment.

I do believe that restorative justice mediation

is something that we should really,

really focus on our council.

And it's a tool that can help accomplish our goal of working together effectively.

And it helps mend gaps in empathy, trust, and respect between professionals.

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

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

Restorative justice stands in stark contrast to what we are going through tonight.

This discipline hearing, the punitive and awful retributive ways that the American judicial system frequently engages with individuals,

particularly those who are black or Latino, leading to further marginalization.

when vice or when councilman bowen sent her emails of concerns on

well scrap that but i do want to state that

we have to try something different i do believe that discipline

does not change behavior.

I do believe that restorative justice,

we should try something different.

That's my comment.

Thank you.

We will now go to Council Member Bowen.

Thank you, Mayor.

I really appreciate that the council has gone through the process that we have outlined and adopted as a council.

I want to share a little bit about, and I'm just going to speak from my heart, my notes are all scratchy.

The reason why I'm going through this process is because I wanted the misconduct and the harm that was inflicted upon me by Councilmember Aguilar to stop.

I have spoken to him one-on-one and have called out the behavior, and the behavior didn't change, and it actually continued to get worse.

worse and I am not going to litigate the report because I know what I experienced.

I will not be gaslit to believe that what I saw and heard and experienced is not true.

It is true and it does feel incredibly validating to have a third party independently

validate and sustain the experiences that I have experienced many of which is

really difficult to name especially if it is in isolation I certainly named

several incidences that occurred to me and they are not the only one what is

really

important to remember in all of this is that from the very beginning when I

I walked into the HR director's office I just I did not know what else to do I

needed the behavior to stop because when I come into these chambers when I come

into this building when I show up as council member that's my workplace and

it is a toxic workplace to feel like I am and again not just bias I know that

people really stuck on this idea of gender bias but harassment and bullying

and retaliation. None of that is okay. And if I don't say something, it doesn't stop. And it could

have stopped, and it has not stopped. So here we are. And the most that we can do as council members

is to regulate ourselves. And the least that I'm asking is to say this kind of behavior is not okay.

That doesn't seem like that much. The real work is changing behavior, and it is not my behavior

that it needs to be changed.

I am calling it out.

And the least that we can do

is acknowledge the harm that has been caused.

And it has been incredibly difficult,

especially with the behaviors that I described

that Council Member Aguilar participated in,

because the harm that I experienced in Florida

by a mutual acquaintance and the lies,

the full on outright lies that council member Aguilar continue to say in his investigation

and throughout this process is incredibly damaging and it's damaging not to me not only to me but to

every person every woman that has been harmed and has been sexualized and has been assaulted

I feel incredibly unsafe near council member Aguilar knowing that he was complicit and continues

to spread lies. The person that assaulted me has been charged with the crime. The things that

Council Member Aguilar said in his investigation is provable by video surveillance. It is completely

untrue. And it is wildly inappropriate that this is what we're talking about. The least a person

can do is to acknowledge the harm, whether they intended to or not. And instead, the statement is

masterclass gaslighting and I refuse to accept it.

And I am not asking for what, honestly, is that much?

That's it.

Can we acknowledge that harm has been done and that we will not do it again?

Please.

Councilor Rivera-Sewelton, or Vice Maria Rivera-Sewelton, please.

I'd like to use some of my time for us to reflect on what Councilmember Bowen.

I'll let the clock run out as we reflect on her comments.

This was not enough time for us to reflect, but I wanted for people to feel a little bit

of what was shared.

And I want us to feel uncomfortable

about what was shared.

Because it should be tough to listen to.

And it was tough for me to share her,

to listen to her sharing her experience.

Regarding Council Member Aguilar's statement,

I continue to be disappointed, as I've expressed from the, you know, from the dais about the difference between impact and intent.

And you've shared that that was not your intent. And, you know, we've gone kind of, we've, we've kind of established, I think I've been ticking the boxes on logical fallacies that have been kind of shared today.

um the first one is a false equivalency around the discrimination that you may have faced or

that you have shared you have faced and creating an equivalency about what the council member has

shared what you have experienced does not absolve from the behavior it's not it's not right

what has happened to you or what you have shared um but the fact of the matter is that the the

what has been shared in the findings of the report

don't have anything to do with what you have shared in your statement

i also wanted to

another fallacy that was shared in the statement was fallacy of relevance right where

we talk about, we appeal to emotion or unrelated points

that would kind of counter the argument,

which I think what we have all come to know now

in street terms is gaslighting.

And I continue to be disappointed

of where we are today, 14 months

from the previous conversation and then on the last time,

Council member Bowen sharing her experiences of what has happened or what she has called out in the report.

Before I get to kind of the nitty-gritty of the disciplinary actions, I do want to have a conversation.

Actually, I'll just save that for my second round of comments.

but um i would like to get a little bit of clarity because the of the three things so

i'm now moving now towards process so i'm referring to slide six um letter of reprimand

from the city council and statement of disapproval seem redundant um would like to kind of understand

a little bit about what the difference would be.

I know that C and D both have a resolution,

but they're both kind of similar.

So I'm just trying to understand

what the goal would be of,

what the expected outcome and goal would be

for each of the disciplinary measures.

I'm supportive.

I just want to understand what would be different from, because we can include corrective behaviors and actions within a statement of disapproval, because that includes recommendations for corrective action or behavior.

So I feel there's a little bit of redundancy there.

But I'm also open to, you know, understanding why the request is to have B, C, and D.

um i i'll just close by saying um i think d is um 100 supportive of of moving forward with that

i'm just unclear between b and c because they sound a little bit redundant and i just uh want

to ensure that whatever comes out of this council is impactful and actually carries out discipline

and corrective action.

So I will move to Council Member Bolt

unless you would like to offer some thought.

Move to Council Member Bolt.

Okay, so I'm going to come to Council Member Bolt.

Yes, thank you.

I've heard multiple times that the report is flawed.

The report is flawed.

And I didn't count the number of times I was in there,

but as a commenter suggested, it was six times.

What I do know reading is if it was six times,

every time I was mentioned,

I didn't have a problem with what they said.

And literally they said what I told you,

and I don't want to speak on that right now

because this is for Council Member Aguilar,

so I'll speak on that later.

But I can't sit here now and say,

I think it's flawed because everything that I read is either what I said or what I heard.

So to me, I have to take the report as it's written.

I want to give Council Member Bowen some kudos, if you will.

in the fact that when I talk to her on the phone personally, and I'm not going to discuss what we

talk about, you do a really good job of guardrails with me. And I put out there how I feel to you,

and you suggest why it may be right, or it could be wrong. And I appreciate that about you.

so understanding that part about you there are things in this report that are extremely disturbing

to me sitting up here with reports that cover the gamut and I don't want to bring all of them up

but anybody who who truly read that report and can take it in and is not in a corner

that's what's happening right now is our community has gone to their corners and

you know whether it's council member aguilar council member simon completely guilty or

no they're not they're a good person because i dealt with them in this way

this is horrible for our community even more horrible for the three people that are up here

having to deal with it personally every day.

But this is doing nothing to bring us back together.

And when I express those comments to Council Member Bowen,

she makes it really clear to me, like, I don't want this.

I didn't want this to go this way.

I just want it to stop.

And I've heard plenty of people say a simple apology can go a long way

in a lot of situations that were in here in this city.

There's a part of me that if I knew I did something

or if somebody felt I did something to them,

I'm not saying you guys did.

What I'm saying is somebody feels you did something to them.

That should sink in enough that you take that moment to say,

I'm sorry, don't make it about,

and I'm gonna be real and just say it here.

Don't make it about being gay or Hispanic or a black man.

And I win it, Council Member Bowen, on this.

Don't make it about being a woman or Asian.

Make it about being a human and being sorry for the actions you've done.

And so it hurts me because we talk about a lot of things,

and I feel like sometimes we're getting to a place where we can move forward,

and then this happens again, or this type of council meeting comes up.

And it's so draining for the whole community, no matter what side you're on.

So I just going to ask the community in the last minute, please let this be the last time.

First, let this be the last time something like this happens, right?

It has to start here before it goes anywhere else.

But then the community, let's move on from this and let's work on something that's going to help our city.

With that, I'll stop.

Council Member Simon.

Thank you, Councilmember Bolt. I appreciate your feedback.

And it's good to have differing.

I appreciate your feedback and it's good to have differing opinions.

And that's why we're up here. That's democracy.

So we can talk about things without getting angry, without making accusations, without.

Without.

out. So I do want to address the flawed report part because you brought it up and I would like

to continue. And I was cut off by the mayor and I couldn't finish. So I will follow up on you,

Dylan Bolt. Since you were allowed to speak, I will take that opportunity to speak.

I really, this is really important because this is not just this situation. We've been through this

with the former city manager case.

And there are many other investigations

that go on at the city.

And I've been offered to read the reports

and I read them and I provide comments.

I'm like, really?

This is really what's happening?

And I think there can be corrections that are made.

So I'm going to give you a correction

and point this out to you how this report is flawed.

Very clearly flawed.

witnesses are very important obviously right like you said you made statements and they went along

what we talked about got it there are other witnesses that won't even participate and it's

documented it's in this the materials that are available there are good witnesses witnesses that

are unbiased, witnesses that have relevant experience to the situation, but they will not

speak. They will, they're physically won't speak. And I'll call it to your attention,

exhibit number 33. Everyone can pull it up and look at it if you like. And it's from

former council member Karina Lopez. Why isn't she in this investigation?

that's kind of a good question where is she she has a lot of experience in working with

council member aguilar and i a lot more than the people up here why isn't she speaking

and in this email that everyone can see because her privacy was not protected

in the last investigation when everything was made public so she didn't want to participate

so we can't hear her side.

Those are facts that are completely missing.

And we're just assumed that the witnesses that you have selectively chosen

from years ago, they know all.

Not only that is the witnesses,

some of the other witnesses that would decline to speak,

their words are misconstrued when they're put into the report.

And that happened in the last investigation as well, where you present something and then

the investigator spins in a different direction.

So I think we have, and I'll talk about that more in my segment, but we have serious flaws

in our investigative process, serious flaws that will help prevent us from taking a year.

And I do feel for Council Member Bowen, this never should have taken a year for you to have

some type of resolution. That's not right. I completely agree. But I did want to hit that

point that witnesses are important. That's how this whole process is based upon. And if witnesses

are too scared or too concerned to even speak,

we got a major problem.

A major problem.

Okay, so seeing no further hands,

I just offer a few thoughts.

Thank you, council members, for speaking earnestly,

really putting it out there.

I do believe that broadly speaking, HR type investigations, having done investigations for many years, HR investigations are among the hardest to do.

Because oftentimes there isn't a whole bunch of documentary trail and you're listening to different witnesses and exploring.

I heard a statement that witnesses are not willing to share their story but I'm aware of only one

witness and that witness was displeased that there was transparency last time

but everyone on this council voted for transparency and to let that be so if we've got a problem as a

Council, because we want to be transparent,

know that that has consequences and impacts witnesses'

willingness to participate.

In the end, I do believe that there

are a number of facts that are objectively verifiable,

that statements are contradicted by objective evidence.

And so in the end, I am left to support

Council Member Bowen's recommendation,

which I believe is a balanced recommendation.

I think that ultimately,

Councilman Bolt is correct, we have to move past this.

I know that I've had multiple conversations.

And when people say things like,

oh, well, you know, the mayor should be involved.

Well, I have been involved.

I've had multiple conversations

with all of my council members about things that I see,

things that I like, things that I don't like.

But that's, I'm not gonna air all of that with you.

Those are private conversations that we have

as we try to work closer together.

That type of leadership happens behind closed doors

as we work to build relationship in different ways.

But when all is said and done, we're left

with a situation where I do believe

that what is being proposed is balanced.

I think you could have pursued censure

or something much more forceful.

But I think you have held back.

I believe that it is a balanced approach.

And so I will be supporting this motion.

Obviously we need to heal,

but that's on a possible agenda at a future date.

Right now we're talking about this motion in particular.

Seeing no further discussion, please vote.

Please proceed.

I just wanted to get clarification from council member

on kind of the outcomes in between B and C.

I just wanna be clear.

the important piece of both B and C is the acknowledgement,

the misconduct occurred is not acceptable.

That should be corrective.

If B is, if there's nothing in B that is not included,

that is, if there's nothing in B that is not included in C

already, then we don't need B.

But I just want to make sure that there is a difference

between B and C, maybe by city attorney.

please proceed mm-hmm yes councilmember Bowen there the differences between B

C&D is that there is a resolution that will come back to the council and it'll

have the language from C&D the required language if the if you wanted to include

that parts of B, you may,

but we can certainly include all the language from C and D

that was from the report.

We'll identify the findings.

Structurally, it'll say the findings.

This is why the resolution obviously is a factual document

that will show this is the facts.

And then we are the whereas clause will show the facts.

the resolve clauses will be the statement of disapproval and the admonition and it'll describe

in the resolutions resolve clauses that the council adopts a statement expressing disapproval

and or displeasure same with admonition same resolution but the behaviors that were found

by the council to be true.

Those types of behaviors are violation of law,

I'm sorry, violation of city policy,

as you described in your request for discipline.

And so we don't necessarily need to do a letter of reprimand

if that is your wish.

We can just all surround it in one resolution.

Thank you.

And then I know there are many reasons

why I am not pursuing censure,

not because I don't believe that it is serious misconduct,

because I do believe it to be serious misconduct.

But one of the reasons why I would have wanted to pursue

this unsure was that there was a possibility of enforcement

so that you could do trainings or you could course correct behavior.

and from the last slide on slide 11 you know completion of task training with

conditions that if not completed result in going to former formal censure I do

not want to go through this process again so I would I ask councilmember

Aguilar to find some part of him that can be open to reflecting and

We've talked numerous times about restorative justice, and fundamental to that is acknowledging harm that's been done to the person, and fundamentally to that is a core principle is that it is working towards that healing process.

And so I really want to ask the council member to find a way to hear the things that have been said and to hear me and to understand that this isn't about my hurt feelings.

It really is about me trying to show up and do my job.

It really is about me trying to stand up for myself and for others and to make this an environment that people could come to and work in a space that is not where harassment and bullying and retaliation exists.

Thank you.

I'd like to just kind of clarify, did I hear you say, not to diminish anything you just said,

but just to make sure that between what city attorneys said and how you answered,

are you saying that you would be fine with not the letter of reparation,

that it's all really in the statement, in the resolution statement?

Statement, yes, and the C and D.

And the admonition.

Okay, so then just to clarify, I want to make sure that my motion is therefore clear.

So my motion, or was it your, I'm sorry, your motion, my apologies, I was thinking of the prior action.

Your motion is specifically for items C and D on that, as we had previously described, and you are explicitly removing item B.

And I believe your seconder was Vice Mayor.

Do you concur? Do you still second the motion?

Yes.

Okay.

okay so with that in mind are you clear on the motion and you feel clear everybody feels clear

up here do you have a clarification

okay so to be clear I think there is an outstanding question but I would like to

from a process perspective.

So the motion is clear on C and D.

Are you seeking to participate in the formulation,

in the drafting of that resolution, Council Member Bowen?

Yes.

Okay.

So I will work with you

and City Attorney, City Manager to prepare a draft.

That will then come to the council.

the council will ultimately approve that.

So right now, this is the proposal

that we will ultimately see that final resolution

that we will need to vote on

because we don't have that language right now.

Does that make sense to everybody?

Okay, let us proceed to a vote.

Votes from the room are in.

Council member Azevedo, your vote please.

No.

Thank you.

The motion carries with four yeses from Mayor Gonzalez,

Vice Mayor Viveros Walton, Councilmember Bolt,

Councilmember Bowen.

two no's from council member simon and council member azevedo with council member aguilar

excluded at this point in time we will take a brief recess let us come back to the room at 9 12.

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 is 9-12.

We are back in session.

We are proceeding to item 10-D.

And we have City Attorney Rich Piroda presenting this item.

Thank you, Mayor. Just for, I think, efficiency, I'd like to suggest, with your permission, Council, to go to slide four, because the presentation is obviously substantially similar, except for slide four, which contains the findings specific to Councilmember Simon.

Otherwise, I can go from the very beginning end, if you like.

Please proceed. I've seen the presentation before.

Thank you. Facts and findings regarding Councilmember Simon. Again, the facts are based on the October 27, 2025 investigation report by Jane Cowell of HR Law Consultants. And the findings specific to Councilmember Simon were that Councilmember Simon retaliated against Councilmember Bowen following a vote on Councilmember Simon's censure at the November 18, 2024 council meeting.

And again, we referenced the pages in the report for you to go directly to those pages to read the findings.

The second finding is that Council Member Simon's comments derailed at the City Council's consideration

and vote on Council Member Bowen's priorities at the April 2024 planning session,

and that Council Member Simon subjected Council Member Bowen, female City Council members,

and a male employee, I'm sorry, a female employee

to differential treatment reflecting gender bias.

Again, the council consideration of discipline.

Just to recap, a council member who is the subject

of an alleged violation shall be ineligible to vote

on any matter related to a disciplinary action,

including but not limited to agendizing the hearing

and adopting a resolution of censure.

And the actions of the council shall require

the affirmative votes of a majority

of the entire council membership.

That's in municipal code section 1-1-305.

I can continue, Council, or we can go to the final slide, which is the request for action as it pertains specifically to Councilmember Simon.

So it's the exact same structure. Why don't you flip through it quickly, please?

Just to jump back to...

This is identical, correct?

This is identical.

Please proceed.

Slide seven, also identical.

so the remainder of this is identical correct correct okay so thank you i think we've we've seen

those slides before we just went through the process i think we're familiar enough

at this point in time what i'd like to do is take a public comment on this item

Mayor, we currently have eight comment cards and three hands raised online.

Let's begin with our in-person comment, please.

The first card is David Anderson, who I believe is not present.

So the next speakers are Caroline Jones,

Maulene Dupree-Dominguez, and Michael McGuire.

Am I good to go?

maline dupree dominguez still okay justice delayed is justice denied it's been a year

dragging out this process continuing to bicker about an independent investigation

that was paid for with my and your tax dollars enough the investigation is over it's on paper

by a lawyer who knows what she's doing.

Forcing Council Member Bowen to sit here week after week,

month after month is appalling in and of itself.

But dragging out this process is so disheartening to me as a citizen.

This is such a monumental waste of all of our time.

the complaint from council member bowen against council member simon is also one year old the

report is completed the findings are clear it's over let's stop litigating a report we paid a ton

of money for there is no reason to continue to argue with the findings of an independent

investigator this is the mechanism we have to move forward that's it we must honor the mechanisms we

have. Anything else is stonewalling and it appears to be incredibly motivated by a guilty conscience.

Council Member Simon's sustained systematic unprofessional behavior that is documented in

this report is appalling, completely unbefitting of a public official. The need for discipline

any substantiated complaints is glaring.

Furthermore, it is obvious to me again

that the maximum disciplinary action

is called for here in order to judge.

Thank you.

Your time has elapsed.

The next three speakers are Tiffany Treese,

Jeff Doritz, and Deborah Acosta.

I don't need to comment again.

My first comment was...

My name is Tiffany Treese. I retired in 2024 after 30 years of service. I was contacted that

an investigation had been posted to the city's website and I was in it. I was not a party to

or subject of the investigation. I was not notified or contacted. My name was publicly

posted on page 22 with false allegations against me. The matter regarded an email I had sent

praising the work of another city employee who had completed regulatory filings for which the city was in arrears.

The memo makes passing reference to the disruption and turnover resulting from a reorganization.

Subsequently, my manager delivered me a verbal reprimand required of him by Janelle.

He explained that Janelle had felt that making reference to difficulties in the city was a criticism of her

and that he had been compelled by her to reprimand me despite disagreeing with it.

The city's noncompliance was not mentioned as a concern,

and the inference made to whistleblowing is disingenuous.

At no time was I or my manager contacted to verify allegations made in the report.

Instead, the investigator viewed my personnel file without my knowledge or consent

and came to the erroneous conclusion that since the reprimand was not documented,

it did not occur.

The reprimand was not documented because it had no merit.

You have a duty to correct this.

Please remove my name and all references to me from this report.

Thank you.

The next speakers are Jeff Duritz, Deborah Acosta, and Leo T. West.

Good evening, everyone.

Jeff Duritz, representing around 265 city employees.

I really don't want to be here making public comments right now,

but you all did publicly post the investigative report and there are things in that report that

i know factually are not accurate so i felt i had no choice but to correct them um the report does

say and i don't know i can't recall exactly who or who that um people opposed the appointment

of fran robustelli with no credible reason uh as city manager and likewise uh janelle's promotion

to city manager. There's no credible reason for opposing their appointments. That is not true.

I had received really negative information from folks in Hayward from when Fran was the HR

director there that she did not work well with the union. She did not work well with employees.

I relayed those concerns. I had concerns from Tiffany. That was not an isolated incident,

what you just heard about how Janelle was dealing with our members, and I relayed those concerns.

I'm the union representative. When I get concerns like that, it is my job to relay them to elected

officials. When the investigator determined that there was no credible reason, what I would ask

you all to consider is that I didn't just tell Fred and Victor this information. I related to

other council members that this is why we have concerns. And so you all know that when it says

in the investigative report that there was no credible reason, that there actually was a credible

reason. So I'd ask you to just consider that in terms of the quality of the report, who was

sought after and interviewed and who was not and why some things were in there or not.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The last speaker card is from Leo T. West.

Mr. West.

Thank you.

Mayor, that concludes the cards from the room.

So we will close in-person comment and proceed online.

We currently have five hands raised.

The first speaker is Douglas Spaulding.

Thank you very much.

I think the report is disappointing in that it does not exactly evidence Councilwoman Bowen's righteous claims.

It is largely circumstantial.

and it doesn't really provide very specific evidence its findings are opinionated

it it uh it suffers from circular logic as a as a teacher it reminds me as a science teacher of

those many lab reports i've received where it's a hypothesis and whatever happened happened so i was

right so here we have a complaint and we interviewed some witnesses and we were right

So for this reason, teachers have used a new framework, one that maybe most people here are not familiar with, where we ask you to make a claim supported with evidence and make sense of it using reasoning or rationale.

The rationale here is clear. We live in a sexist world. Patriarchy is a reality.

OK, so let's pin that down. As I did for Councilman Aguilar's case, I'd like to just address something about.

One of the allegations made against Councilman Simon in Part 4, Section 4, Part C1.

I don't believe that taking positions and voting as a council member, no matter how contrary illogical, amount to retaliation or retribution.

I agree with his statement that he's entitled to his vote, just as voters are entitled to vote him out or any other elected official for that matter.

But for some reason, Council Member Simon's been twice elected.

City government works best when there are competing ideas and debate to reach an outcome.

And the council got it right by selecting Councilwoman Vera Swalton, by hiring Janelle Cameron, by electing Councilwoman Bowen as vice mayor last year.

I look forward to Council Member Bolt following up the Vera Swalton issue.

Your time has elapsed.

The next speaker is Melissa Wong.

Hello.

I want to be very clear that I am neutral mainly because I would not accept the investigation report.

I know that you just voted to accept it, and there are consequences for that, but not without major reservation.

and just you heard from someone who represents 250 people

that there are information that is missing or misleading.

So please, that aside,

the city and council will have to live with the consequences.

And I want to, again, note that I have a laundry list

of reasons why, and it is public record.

And I'm glad about that.

So during the November 2024 central meeting and even tonight, I question why others never said or did anything at the time of occurrence.

So at this point, you have to ask yourself, are you an enabler?

I do appreciate Council Member Bowen.

You could have asked for a lot and you didn't.

didn't. I hear you that you won an apology. I do hear that. But when I look at the report,

I cannot, or I want to find somebody who can identify two examples of a word or words, action,

specifically that is listed in the report so that the two subjects could say, for that,

I shouldn't have said that word. I shouldn't have done something. It's hard. And maybe training,

whatever it is. But I really think that everybody in the council, in the city, and maybe the public

needs the same training. Because at this point, after reading it again and again, I have no clue

what those specific charges are. So an apology, I have not sure what. Thank you. Your time has

elapsed. The next speaker is Jessie. Good evening, Council. My name is Jessie Rubin, and I am a member

of the League of San Leandro Voters. Some may think the drama surrounding this investigation

is overblown, as we have heard from other commenters. Overblown because politicians lie

and play games all the time. So what's the big deal? The big deal is this. We cannot accept the

behavior described in this investigation or the behavior that led to Simon's prior censure

as politics as usual. Because once we do, it becomes the new normal, just as the increasing

tolerance of the Trump administration's bully politics created a dangerous new normal nationwide.

Your vote tonight tells us, your San Leandro constituents, what kind of behavior and judgment we should expect from those who lead our city.

It also sends a message to anyone with political ambitions about what conduct will be tolerated if they are elected to office.

If we want our city to be governed by leaders who are in it for the right reasons, for the public good,

then we must create a political environment that attracts and supports candidates who share those values.

The fact that Simon has repeatedly refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing over the past several years, including tonight, even after that wrongdoing has been independently substantiated, is appalling and cannot be ignored.

If this behavior is tolerated, we will not deserve to be governed by council members like Zula Bowen in the future.

Show us that you care about creating a political environment where ethical candidates could truly make a difference.

Vote to continue the discipline process.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Bella Comello.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Good evening. My name is Bella Comello.

I would like to say that I have known Council Member Simon for about eight years in a professional role as a senior commissioner,

but also as a family man, a loving son, a caring husband, and a dedicated father.

In all these years that I have known him, I have not seen him to be disrespectful to any woman or man.

One thing that stands out to me about Council Member Simon is that his deep concern for his constituents and his dedication to the community.

He wants the work to be done.

my general suggestion is that

when differences arise between

colleagues that they should

be referred to a conflict resolution

or restorative

justice immediately

and not wait for

the problem festers

and becomes a wound and that we

discuss it one year later

and it

wastes a lot of our taxpayers

money. Thank you.

Thank you.

the next speaker is Mimi Dean hello hello all right so conflict resolution and restorative

justice are definitely the way to go and doing it right away not waiting a year or two years

is a really great idea um I'm going to reiterate that that report and then listening to that union

rep speak um you know come on that report was very flawed and we all know it so i serve on the

oraloma sanitary district board of directors and i got seated last december and i have been working

very closely with fred simon for the last year and i can tell you that fred simon is an incredibly

thoughtful, intelligent board member.

Even when we disagree about things,

we have had issues that we did not vote the same way on.

Fred and I sat down and talked about it

and talked about why we looked at things differently.

I have met Fred's family,

and I know that he, I've met his family,

I've met his friends.

I know that this is a person who deeply cares about community.

He deeply cares about people's rights.

He's an advocate for people.

He's none of the things that he's being accused of.

And it's really very disheartening to me, especially, you know, like I said before,

You know, well, I stand by Fred Simon and I hope you do, too, because he's a good man and he only has the community's best interests at heart.

And I'd appreciate your support for him tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Leanna Castello.

Hi, just coming back to reiterate a similar point that I did for the other topic. Mayor Gonzalez and City Council, please, please pursue a disciplinary action towards Councilmember Simon. Councilmember Simon has proven that they're a liability, not a leader.

I'm sure he's very nice and personable and all of those things, but just the constant lack of leadership and constant liability, wasted time, wasted taxpayer money, and not moving material issues forward just needs to be addressed.

We deserve better as members of this community, as civil servants, and really appreciate you moving forward with disciplinary action.

Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Corina Lopez.

Thank you and good evening. My name is Corina Lopez and I've been,

have had the honor to serve on the council where you are and I know it's a tough place to be.

I'm speaking to promote a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration. This evening I take no one's

side. I've met most of you on this topic in person or via Zoom or via phone calls and know that

you're sincere about wanting to get the council back on track and know that you're eager to promote

public policy and the community good. For that to happen, there needs to be a spirit of reconciliation

and humility. I'm not seeing that yet. I know it's a tough job and I'm confident that you can

and we'll get past this, but there have to be all the branches that are extended.

The content of what I read in the report is distressing.

However, I also know that in former reports, certain things that were very germane, in my opinion,

while I was in the council, were not included, and other things were haphazard.

I feel fortunate that I did not experience gender bias by colleagues on the council.

In fact, I had the honor of serving with the majority-led female council.

But watching this tonight and, you know, having read and talked to people, I think it is warranted to have apologies given to Councilmember Bowen.

And that, you know, she has been deeply hurt and she represents me in District 5.

I'm speaking as a woman of color, and I know the bar for us and for the two women of color on the city council is a lot higher.

We're often asked to work harder, do more, and have to prove ourselves to a higher standard, and in fact, we're double standard.

So please keep this in mind when you are looking to resolve and be supportive of one another.

Thank you. Your time has elapsed.

Mayor, this concludes the hands raised online.

Okay, so we will close public comment on this item.

It is my intention to follow the same approach that we used last time to ask three questions.

First, does Council accept the findings of the report with respect to Councilmember Simon?

Then proceed to the question of should there be discipline?

That is a yes-no question.

If the answer in the affirmative to that is in the affirmative to that question, we would then proceed to a motion and discussion around what the nature of that discipline would be.

So first, let us begin with the question of do we accept the findings of the report?

To open up the floor, I will make an administrative motion to just say I move that we accept the findings of the report.

that we accept the findings of the report specifically for as they relate to

councilmember Simon do I have a second on that motion raise a hand if there's a

second because it's hard everyone's punched in and I don't know which order

okay so vice mayor I've got a second now let's enter into a discussion on

whether we should accept the findings of the report with respect to councilmember

Council Member Simon.

Council Member Simon, I will let you go first, please.

Thank you.

I'm going to share some things that I've prepared in advance.

In addition, some feedback on some comments

that I've heard from the public on both sides.

And I understand and I respect that we have to work together

and we have differing opinions.

And that is a good thing, differing opinions,

Because if we all thought the same, then we wouldn't do anything new.

It'd be just the same old, same old.

And that's not what we want in our city.

We want better things for our city.

Regarding the validity of the report,

I must say this is a very poorly written and factually incorrect report.

I had things prepared and I'll share that first, but first I really want to hit on things that we heard from the public.

I mean, the investigator completely ignored the documentation that I gave that I had information from the union rep.

That he gave me not only me, but he gave it to other council members that there were concerns with Janelle.

and this was during a time when we were soul sourcing Janelle there was no competition

it was Janelle um and it's not I'm not trying to bash you Janelle that's not my attention

I'm just kind of go through the process so I think competition is a good thing I think we should we

should always look at all sides all the issues even if it's uncomfortable to talk about we should

talk about it. But if we brush stuff under the rug, if we rubber stamp things, then how are we

going to get better? And this investigator stated that I had no reasoning for questioning Janelle's

sole source hiring. That is a major flaw. I don't know how, what more flaw can you get than that?

and I was verbally told this,

and then I said, Jeff, I need something in writing.

I can't just verbally say something.

I need some documentation.

I submitted the documentation to council in closed session.

I submitted the documentation to the mayor

and to the city attorney and followed up,

and it's still discounted.

So for me to say that I didn't support Janelle

because of her gender is preposterous.

It's absolutely insane.

I respect Janelle as a person.

I respect her.

And at the time, I had questions

but had nothing to do with her gender,

nothing furthest from my mind.

So that is one factual inaccuracy of this report.

and talking about the validity why didn't this investigator simply call up jeff

say hey i have this letter it's been documented why didn't she for 134 000 why couldn't she make

a phone call to verify and she could have found out that she was wrong wrong and this is this is

what I've experienced since I've been on council when I very first got elected, I've been punished

for having a differing opinion. And I'm hoping you don't do that again to me here tonight,

because I'm speaking differently than what the majority of the council believes.

And I do want to go back to Vice Mayor Bowen, excuse me, Council Member Bowen. And I do want

to work with you. I do want reconciliation, like I heard former Council Member Karina Lopez.

But I would like to have my vote.

Even if there was some agreement or miscommunication and agreement, my vote is my vote.

It has nothing to do with retaliation, nothing to do with any of that.

So in a democracy, it's healthy to have disagreements.

So I really want us to continue with that.

but what I do also want to say is that,

um,

we have to think differently in San Leandro.

There's a lot of political divides which are ingrained in the fabric of old

San Leandro.

When I mean old,

I mean not even that old red lining,

which continues to paralyze or paralyze our council and our city as we've

seen the past two years,

How much time have we spent on these type of issues?

Look how much time and resources, $134,000 alone on this investigation.

And I will point out more flaws if I'm allowed the time,

since we've been doing this for two years.

Please let me have the time to point it out.

Five minutes, over two years.

Okay, $134,000.

I think we should request a refund at $134,000.

I think we should claw it back.

I think we should, like Melissa Wong has pointed out, and I really would ask each council member here to read her, I don't know what it is, three-page dissection of this report.

And thank you, Melissa.

She really put the time into it.

And like she said, she wanted to be objective.

She wasn't taking any sights.

This report has major flaws, huge.

And it's not just this report.

It's other reports in the city.

This is bigger than just me and Victor, a council member Bowen.

This relates to a lot of investigation that I've seen that I've got concerns with.

So I want each of us to look at ourselves and trying to find peace and move forward.

As a council and as a council body and adhering to a democratic process as we deliberate this topic,

considering disciplining two council members, even though it's already been done for Victor,

I wish I could have spoke more, but I was not allowed to speak.

Unfortunately, that's a common theme.

We should be allowed to speak by simply using our voice and exercising our vote.

But I'm personally committed to set aside our differences, and I do want to work with each of you for the good of our community and staff.

And I hope that each of us do the same.

At the heart of tonight's discussion is the allegations of retaliation and gender bias in the Cal investigation.

and these meetings are recorded most people know that i mean go back and watch the meetings

i don't have really much personal contact with anyone here really except for in these meetings

so watch the meetings and and decide for yourself if i'm treating councilmember bowen inappropriately

or any other female counterpart.

Now, in 2022, I voted no on Pete Ballou, a council member, a male.

This is the council member, Pete Ballou, who said,

if I was a slave owner, I would be a good slave owner.

And I informed the mayor of this over a year ago with no action.

This is one of the witnesses.

This is a so-called credible, unbiased witness.

And I would like to talk more about the witnesses, but I also voted no on a number of initiatives from Mayor Gonzalez, whether it's female or male, binary, non-binary.

I will vote based on its merits.

It doesn't matter.

It's the merits.

I question staff, male staff, female staff in the same manner.

and looking in retrospect looking on the process i do acknowledge i can have more interaction with

staff ahead of the meetings and i acknowledge that and i've reached out and i've expressed

that so i'm going to work more spending more time with staff in advance of meetings so they don't

feel blindsided but as far as the cow report again back to its in its problem it's not valid

I won't get into the weeds. I could if I'm asked to. However, this report contains mischaracterizations. It contains omitted information. It contains selective use of information.

The investigator is biased.

She has made untruthful statements.

And she badgered me during the investigating process.

And there was a video, once it's uploaded, I understand it's been taken down, of my interview, my investigation.

And you can see for yourself what it's like to go through one of these investigations and if you believe it's fair.

And I believe we should have a voice and a say if we're being treated unfairly.

And I was being treated unfairly.

And this is a term that I've never heard before.

But this report actually calls something called double hearsay.

Really double hearsay. How can an investigator, a lawyer trained, include this in a report? And let me explain to you how she's done this. I don't have the exact verbiage in front of me, but what it says is that Fran Robustelli says that Sheila Young says that I'm horrible to women at Oral Loma Sanitary District.

and I'm dismissive and this is a pattern. $134,000 again just like Jeff Durant she couldn't pick up

the phone and say hey Sheila Young is this actually correct or hey Oral Loma Sanitary District is this

actually correct? No she would not do it. Why did she not do it? What was her motive?

I know how I was treated in this investigation, and that's why I recorded it, and it's not fair.

It's not right, and it won't be fair for any one of you to go through what I went through

and Council Member Aguilar went through.

So what I'd like to do is, having spent another five minutes,

I'd like to go and hear from some other council members at this time.

If you'd like, I can come back to you after that.

Council Member Bolt, you've been waiting.

Thank you.

Yeah, there's a lot to unpack with this.

Some of it, I just, I don't want to.

I just want to throw the whole package out.

When you speak up here, Jeff, as a union man,

there's a lot of credibility in your word and I appreciate you coming here today

to speak to that I didn't know the lady and unfortunately I can't say that I even remember

that what part of the report she was in but you following because at first I was like what's she

talking about I don't know who this but when you spoke to it I'll leave it there and I take it for

what it is and so obviously feels like there's some questions with this report

although my part in this I wasn't here for a lot of it councilmember Simon it's in the report

and anybody who knows me knows I can say certain things when doors are closed

to people's face, not behind anybody's back.

It's not how I operate.

If I'm going to say something negative,

I say it directly to the person.

And there's a part of that report

that I'm not happy with the words I use to describe you,

but I did it and I accept that.

It doesn't change the fact that

you when i came on council you specifically laid out how the vice mayor was going to be chosen

in the process that was set up the prior year for you to get the vice mayor position

and you explained it to me and i said okay well that's vice mayor bowen then this is exactly who

that and you knew that and and victor was a part of that conversation as well and time went by and

we talked on the phone you said i'm not going to vote for her and i called you a dummy i shouldn't

have done that and so because it went in the report i wanted to say it here that's not what

that's not how I should speak to you.

I wish it would have stayed behind, but it didn't.

So for that part, I'll be better, I hope.

But for the other part, it still stands.

you knew the process and you did everything to

skirt the process this is for a and i'm not trying to diminish vice mayor

role in this city but to me it's a very

meaningless position with title only. And I'm not saying you two don't deserve to be vice mayor.

Anybody up here who has, you guys put your time in, you're really good at what you do.

But the process was laid out and you chose to go against it. And I told you, you would wreak

more havoc with this vote and your comments that night because you told me what you were going to

say then you would get any good out of it and you said to me exactly what you're saying now my vote

is my vote true it is and you have your vote i agree but your actions that you took and i will

say this too, just to be clear, because I said it before with Victor. I personally believe it

wasn't about a biased, a female biased, but I do believe it was very destructive and it was wrong.

You shouldn't have done it. You should have just let it go. We put too much into this to try and

do good things for the city. And then we go and shoot ourselves in the foot with these silly

little votes over meaningless positions just to get back at each other. And for the life of me,

I can't figure it out. Like we've all worked so hard in our lives in so many different areas to

get to the places we've been and very proud of everything we've done. And then we come here to

play these games and I'm using air quotes, politics. It's pointless. We're a little town.

We should be doing everything we can for the community and nothing to destroy each other.

Council Member Aguilar, please.

Thank you, Mayor Gonzalez.

I think there was a lot of things in that report that just didn't amount to truth.

There were things that were said about, you know, someone spreading rumors about affairs, someone potentially setting up to be assaulted, women who don't have degrees are dumb.

I think that's all of that is just for, I mean, for people to say those things.

That's just defamation.

You're defaming someone's character.

you're misleading folks to believe that you know certain things um because people don't agree i

mean let's be honest like the report does not support severe discipline against council member

fred simon like full stop it's it relies on assumptions perceptions and narrative not facts

not clear violations and not evidence that meets the bar for punishment disagreement is treated as

misconduct intent is guessed instead of proven and lawful counsel actions are framed as wrongdoing

and i believe you know in that vice mayor vote dylan i voted to abstain because i was nominated

i was waiting to vote on myself i think you know that's that's not accountability it's overreach i

think severe discipline is punitive and punitive action requires certainty and this report doesn't

come close. If we discipline council member on this record, we send a very clear message.

Independent judgment is dangerous. Dissent is punishable and a disagreement will be

policed. That's not leadership. That's just chilling speech. I think Fred Simon should not

be disciplined based on the flawed report that can't support its own conclusions. He should be

cleared and this council should move on. I think anything else is performative and reckless.

that's my comment thank you this is why we go to vice mayor um we need to make a

motion to extend there right at that time do you have the emotion I do I'd like

to extend it 10 30 okay so we've got a motion from councilmember virus from

vice-member go to swalton to extend it 10 30 with a second from councilmore

Aguilar, I believe. Is that correct? Thank you. Please vote.

Votes from the room are in. Council Member Azevedo, your vote, please.

Aye. Thank you.

So you may continue. Was that it? Okay, yeah.

Well, no, no, no, no.

I just, I'm sorry.

We're still counting votes.

It takes a second.

Sure, thank you.

The motion carries unanimously.

All members present and all members voting yes.

Thank you.

I just, I'm cognizant of the time

and we haven't yet voted to accept the report.

I would like to just, I don't want to,

anyway, I just, there's a motion.

I think people have started in their talking points talking about other things not related to the motion.

So I just like to move us along.

Okay. Thank you for your input. I'll go to Councilman Bowen.

Yes. I think the motion is accepted by Dean.

So we do have a motion and we do have a second.

So can we vote? Can I just comment?

I would like to make, if you don't mind, I'd like to make a comment.

Sure.

because then we can move on to a vote.

There's been a lot of discussion about the report quality and the like.

And again, I'm just going to emphasize that these are very difficult reports to do.

These sorts of HR investigation reports are very difficult to do.

I have reviewed the comments from the members of the public.

And there's always room for interpretation.

But the general principle is I find that the report is reliable.

there's been specific reference to the mayor having been provided an email so

what I'm going to do is I'm actually going to read that email into the record

because this is the email that the mayor ignored and so I want it to be very

clear what was given to the mayor

public works leaders between deeply disruptive organizational changes and a dizzying amount of

turnover every one of 10 city facilities subject to hazardous materials and task regulations

fell out of compliance needless to say this was a very serious position for the city to be in

as both an institution of government and as an oversight agency.

The undertaking to turn that situation around was enormous.

Sarah Holguin jumped in and with total commitment and a heavy lift,

mastered a data system she had never seen

and learned more about regulatory reporting than she had ever imagined.

The CUPA appreciates the speed and thoroughness with which Sarah met a tall challenge.

Regards, Tiffany Treese.

How on earth that indicates that there is some sort of improper reprimand is beyond me.

I think you read documents on their face, and those documents, this document in particular, says nothing.

So when I hear arguments about the invalidity of this report, and I see references to emails like this,

I think it's important that the record be clear.

There is nothing in the email in question that challenges the underlying foundation of the report.

Having had everyone speak at least once, let's vote.

all votes in the room are in council member azevedo your vote please

no and you know what i've had my hand raised a few times and i've never got called on

just to let you guys know my hand's up right now

my apologies please speak up do not do not be do not be afraid of just a point of order

and let yourself be heard please

thank you the votes are in and the motion carries with four yeses from mayor gonzalez

Councilmember Bolt, Vice Mayor Riveros Walton, Councilmember Bowen, with two no's,

apologies, three no's, Councilmember Simon, Councilmember Aguilar, and Councilmember Azevedo.

So to the next step in the procedure that I laid out at the beginning of this item,

is there a motion that says discipline should be applied in this circumstance,

given the findings of the report?

Council member Bowen.

I would like to make the motion to discipline.

Okay.

Is there a second on that motion?

Vice mayor, please.

Second.

Okay.

So I've got a motion from council member Bowen with a second from the vice mayor.

And hold on just a second.

Okay.

Okay, so to be clear for the motion,

it sounds like for the public,

they might not have heard the motion.

The motion was motion by Council Member Bowen to discipline.

And that's, I believe what you seconded, Vice Mayor.

At this point, we will proceed to discussion on this

if we have any.

Council Member Simon, is that, please proceed.

And then I will come to you.

Okay, that's fine.

So I will come to you, Council Member Simon.

Yes, on the email that you read,

And just so we have dialogue.

And one thing I would like to point out, I really do believe we need restorative justice

mediation because we should be able to communicate and talk.

And every time I try to finish a statement, you just cut me off and say, oh, time to vote.

But I really wish that you'd give me the opportunity to speak.

I really do.

And I request that next time.

But in the email, if you can confirm while you're looking at it, you left out the part

that says right above where it says Tiffany trees Wednesday,

May 1st to 2024,

1 31 PM right above that.

It says email that resulted in Tiffany being called to the plant manager's

office and given a reprimand at Janelle's discretion.

That's exactly what I gave to the council in closed session.

That's what exactly what I gave you.

That is a concern and that's,

that's it.

So I just wanna clarify that.

I do want to state that we have to make, and I'm hoping we can have a dialogue,

as I do believe this discipline process is not gonna solve the problems that we have on Council.

There's other work that we have to do, for sure.

And what I would like to focus on to help us here is to make structural changes on how we resolve our differences.

And I request support from my colleagues to make a positive, lasting change, not to simply issue discipline and hope it goes away.

and I do have to kind of go back to council member Bolt's comment about why did I

why did I not just vote yes and vote mayor why not just vote yes and you know let it go away

and why I did not vote yes is because I felt that council member Bowen was not fair

and not impartial, and that's what it states in the report.

And this goes back to the Local 21 business rep document

when in the investigation report previously through Robustelli,

Council Member Bowen, she failed to share this information

with the investigator that clearly showed

that that's not gender-bias rationale

by sharing concerns that the union rep had

about reprimanding inappropriately by Janelle, those concerns.

That is concerning to me.

And when I see concerns, I'm going to speak out, even if it's just a vote.

And I shouldn't be punished for a vote.

You shouldn't spend $134,000 because of vote or a year because of a vote.

I also want to point out another concern I have about voting with my vice mayor

was that I was the only person on council that was removed by the mayor.

And Council Bowen willingly accepted the position,

and I was removed against my wishes from my committee assignment.

The only one from the current council or any other council that I'm aware of.

I was on the Alameda County Stopways for just two years,

serving as second vice president, working up my leadership role.

how fair is that for me to be singled out why me when no one else was removed against their wishes

to me to be a vice mayor you should be fair you should be impartial and again i like i elected to

use my vote and to me i still can't understand how that could cause a year of investigation

or 134 000 for a vote to initiate that we should be able to even if you disagree with me

It's okay. You should respect that I have my own opinion on how I'd like to vote based upon the merits.

The other point I would like to hit on is the other allegation against me is that I derailed the city council's consideration and vote on Council Member Bowen's priorities at the April 2024 planning session.

the participation in that planning session,

that planning session was poorly planned by the former city manager.

That simple.

Never before has there not been past items that were not presented and reviewed.

And the meeting was facilitated by a professional facilitator

who never once made a remark about something she felt or heard was appropriate.

is that was appropriate me derailing a meeting because i simply stated we don't have enough

info to vet all the projects and we should be considering today the same thing happened at a

rules committee meeting on cannabis in 2025 in the sterling grant room the meeting did not have

enough information prepared presented and the mayor proposed and i supported to discontinue

the meeting due to inadequate information to continue with the meeting is the mayor being

accused of derailing the rules committee meeting? No, and the mayor should not be.

Now back to the steps for the structural changes. The first step that we've already taken,

and it's in motion. We approved to have a discussion of restorative justice mediation,

and I think that's going to help us work together, not disciplining myself or Councilmember Aguilar.

That's the old days.

We have to work with a way to build trust and respect between professionals.

And I think we can do this, and I'm committed to doing that.

And I do, again, I have to say, Council Member Bowen, you should not have waited a year for all this.

We have to find different ways to resolve the situation.

The second thing that's already in motion is the council approved recording of closed session meetings.

Again, that's another reason why this report is invalid.

So much of that information, that report is not true.

It's based upon information that was said

in that council meeting, excuse me, in that closed session.

That's not, it's simply not true.

So I'm gonna ask you to pause

because the question is no longer

whether the report is invalid.

It's whether there should be discipline.

That's the motion that's on the table.

Okay.

Thank you.

I don't believe there should be discipline,

and this is what I think we should do.

in addition to those two steps.

Okay, take steps to reform our discipline policy.

Investigations on council members

should only take place with council approval.

Bowen's claim could have been resolved much quicker,

more effectively, and less internal and public turmoil,

and less costly if the council had a decision

on going out and spending $134,000 in an investigation.

I really do not think this was warranted for this issue.

Full stop.

Second is...

Okay, but I'm not clear how this has anything to do with the discipline, right?

You've made two statements now, and I gave you the courtesy of extra time,

but that time is not being used for the purpose for the motion that's on the floor.

So I'm going to move now to Vice Mayor to go to Swalton.

Thank you.

I'd also just like to clarify for the record that we all have the same time,

and you've had twice now more more than plenty i actually the clock ran out so i don't know how

much extra but you know the report is uh you know you're trying to uh talk about your issues with

the report which i understand but i think we just you've you've had a lot of of time um so

So, you know, we've talked a lot about what politics is and what it isn't.

But at least for me, it's, you know, disagreement about what we should do.

But bad work behavior is about how we treat each other and the institution that we represent and the people we serve.

and while we do this healthy politics can coexist with respect and professionalism and

shared responsibility about the role but bad behavior cannot why this why this distinction

matters is because it protects the democratic norms by legitimizing disagreement while rejecting

dysfunction so i i propose that we raise the bar for us and for future leaders of this city um and

in terms of the discipline um there's no is there a motion on the floor the motion on the floor is

to discipline oh okay it's a yes no okay so so uh i was under the assumption that we were past that

So let's just go ahead and vote since we're running really low on time.

Okay.

Vice mayor, or I'm sorry, councilmore Bowen.

Thank you.

Just, I'll be real quick about this so that we can actually talk about what type of discipline.

I want to clarify for the public record that this council did approve an investigation

as part of the process that you have in front of you for the city council internal discipline

policy that this council including you council member simon um uh passed um that when a council

member or a third party uh from the public for when somebody files a complaint that um the council

can make a decision to take it seriously and approve a investigation which this council did

And this council also approved the budget for this.

So we as a council are tasked with regulating ourselves and doing so in the public because we are beholden to the public.

And the question of, you know, do we want discipline and why has it taken a year?

one of the things in the in the report and one of the reasons why I really felt like I had to go

forward with this is that I did reach out I did email you actually and I did explain why your

behavior and your words during the vice mayor appointment was very concerning to me and for the

record the problem is not the vote you can vote whatever way you want absolutely you could have

voted no and I would have, you know, that's it. Your concerns, you certainly didn't air with me

prior to that. What is very disturbing are the lies and the smirching of who I am and what I

did and did not do. You know, I could show the text messages to prove otherwise. So that is what's

problematic. And we keep talking about the votes. You can vote whatever way you want, but it is

actually how we behave towards each other and the lies that we choose to spread on this dais.

Okay, and I'll be the last person to speak on this before we vote.

There's been reference to the party session and the derailing of that and the like,

and there's been this narrative that has been issued where the narrative says,

well, what happened to the list of 80 or 90 or whatever referrals that existed before?

And Ms. Robustelli, in an email dated March 11, 2024, was very clear on what the process was going to be.

She laid out what we would do, talk about our continuing work, discuss progress on plans, on our work plans,

receive an overview on the city's fiscal status, review a handful of referrals that had occurred since the last retreat,

and prioritize discussions that will provide direction to staff.

What's important is that then she goes on to say,

the meeting at March 18th will be the last of any referrals that we consider at the retreat

so that we can have a manageable discussion

and continue to stay focused on what is most important to the community in the next 12 months.

Then she identifies for every single council member

the referrals that have been received but not yet addressed.

There was not an opportunity for surprise.

She was very clear in her email.

So at this point in time, we will vote.

We have a motion by Council Member Bowen,

seconded by Vice Mayor Wivotus Walton,

saying that yes, there should be discipline.

Council member Azevedo your vote please

no thank you

all votes are in the motion carries with four yes votes from mayor gonzalez council member bolt

council member Bowen

vice mayor

Viveros Walton

with two no's

from council member Aguilar

and council member Azevedo

with council member Simon

being excused

or exempt from the vote

okay so

at this point in time having

having had a motion passed that

says that there is a desire to

have discipline by the council

has voted such do I have a

motion for the specific discipline in question council member Bowen yes I

would like to make a motion to for a statement of disapproval and an

admonition I will refrain from asking for censure okay so I've got a motion for

statement if you could just repeat that I'm so sorry please just yes I would

like to make a motion to discipline with a statement of disapproval and

admonition based on the findings in the report thank you vice mayor second okay

I've got a motion and a second for statement of disapproval and an admonition.

Councilmember Simon.

I would like to share a comment that I think would make this process more fair.

I understand that I'm not allowed to vote.

I understand.

I'd probably be biased.

But I also think the person who is making the allegations should not be allowed to vote either.

I think that just would be the fair thing to do.

And I think our discipline policy needs a major revamp on it.

And that will help us to have a more fair process.

from the investigative process.

A problem, an issue that we have is that

there wasn't confidentiality.

We had members of the public coming up

and talking about this report.

No confidentiality was there.

Credible and unbiased witnesses,

as I mentioned before,

refuse to participate due to selective info being used in the report and no privacy.

And if there is a complaint of bias, badgering or harassment, which I experienced from the

investigator, the process should be paused until the situation is resolved. Instead, I was forced

to go through that situation.

I think we should consider bringing in a new investigator

that could have done a better job here.

The investigator should not be informed.

The investigator shall be informed up front

not to consider double hearsay,

testimony about what someone else said.

It lacks reliability and not allowed in court.

Then why would he allow it in city investigations?

Again, why would an investigator

or not simply make a phone call.

I do recommend that we form an ad hoc committee

on revamping the council investigation process

and discipline policy to implement the policy

and investigation process before June 30th, 2025.

I think that will really help us

better resolve these situations much quicker than a year

and expending $135,000.

Vice Mayor.

I'm just looking at the rest of the agenda and I don't know if there's appetite but I'd

like to make a motion to extend the meeting to 1045 so we can finish the rest of the

agenda beyond the disciplinary here.

Is there a second?

Councilman Regulat?

I'll second.

Thank you.

I have a motion to extend to 1045 by Vice Mayor with a second from Councilman Regulat.

Please vote.

Council member Azevedo, if you're on the call, will you please provide your vote?

It does not appear to be there.

With that, all votes are in and the motion passes with five yeses.

Councilmember Bolt voting no and Councilmember Azevedo absent.

Okay.

Okay.

So, at this point in time, seeing no further hands, I will make my comments.

My comments are pretty simple.

of what I have been listening for is something that I would call contrition or willingness to

accept some level of, you know, maybe there's a little bit of something wrong that happened,

and I have not heard any of that. In fact, what I've heard is things like, you know,

I told the mayor and the mayor did nothing, which we've read that email that there was nothing to do.

i've also heard that the mayor took me off of a committee people serve on those committees

because they are appointed by the mayor if you look in the charter that is the power of the mayor

the mayor has the authority to do that and rotating people i'll give you another example

that was not mentioned i tried to appoint someone to the airport noise commission

and my appointment was blocked by the city council.

So it's not like I have all the power in the world.

I've tried to make appointments and there was,

you know, I brought someone from the public here

to be nominated to celebrate that moment

and they were blocked by the city council.

So when I hear these things and then the investigator

looked into this allegation of racial bias. And there's a finding in the report. The report

finding says that there isn't evidence of racial bias against Councilmember Simon. So, you know,

when I hear these arguments being tossed out there, I get quite concerned that a narrative

can form where there is not evidence that supports that narrative. So with that being said,

we've got a motion for discipline that's been offered by council member bowen with a second

by the vice mayor seeing no further discussion please vote

council member azevedo your vote please

no thank you

All votes are in and the motion carries with four yeses from Councilmember Bolt, Vice Mayor

Valveros Walton Mayor Gonzalez Councilmember Bowen with two no votes

Councilmember Aguilar and the councilmember Azevedo with councilmember

Simon excluded so at this point I move to item 11 I understand that there may

be a couple of submissions under item 11 is that correct city manager okay would

you like to come from a bone please proceed and I just wanted to make sure

that we could add these to the referral to the referral list and to include

them when appropriate as staff is working on them if that's possible I am

really excited that we have the art rock art walk project downtown I actually

participated a little bit when I was walking the kids around the other day

one of the things as part of my referral that is not an urgent item is to expand

the art walk project to include significant historical points of

interest in San Leandro so that we can learn from from our history and one

example is the corner in which Fred T. Korematsu was arrested with the QR code

to include an educational context to the community and its significance the

history of Japanese internment especially during these times that's

It's clear why it's relevant now and its role in U.S. history.

So I wanted that to be part of something that we could work on in an effort to be able to learn from our history and uplift our community.

And then the other request I have is around revenue measures.

I know that we had approved previously for a survey to explore potential revenue measures,

and I wanted to explicitly include other potential revenues as part of the survey to include a vacancy tax

and any applicable sin tax, alcohol, tobacco products, cannabis, electronic cigarettes, firearms, and ammunition

were applicable to the list of potential revenue sources to be explored.

in the previous approved revenue measure survey to be conducted in in this year so those are my two

referrals for now okay and have any other uh referrals been submitted city manager

okay thank you just for the for our record the answer was no moving to item number 12

do we have city council reports calendar announcements etc

begin with council member aguilar uh thank you mayor gonzalez on january 14th i attended the

1143rd meeting of the board of trustees of the alameda county mosquito abatement district

we introduced a new trustee from the city of alameda nick kaziazik we also

So I took the office. There are a few folks that got approved by their by their council or board.

And so they reappointed trustees bought Beatty, myself, Aguilar and Slotnick.

We also did have election of board officers. So we nominated president and vice president Kashif Khadri,

a vice president secretary john bowders from emeryville and secretary just tree zlotnick

from fremont we also dissolved the ad hoc nominating committee we also approved and

updated the calpor's pay scale and we do the operations report we have no west now virus

to be important but if you see standing water please tip it over thank you thank you vice mayor

please thank you i just wanted to um uplift on january 10th um i had some of us were there

attended the memorial for mayor cassidy um i'll just say a couple of words um he poured himself

into so many corners of our community,

neighborhood organizations, civic groups,

local boards and institutions.

Personally, I'll treasure the times we spent talking about

and brainstorming about San Leandro.

The conversations were long, always lively,

and with a lot of intellectual curiosity,

which I just really appreciated.

He believed deeply in the power of the arts

to bring people together and to heal

and to tell the story of who we are.

And as we remember him,

may we carry forward the same relentless optimism

and passion for our community.

I also wanted to talk a little bit

about what my intentions and priorities are for 2026

and particularly as they intersect

with my role as vice mayor.

I want to thank my colleagues

for selecting me as this year's vice mayor.

I'm honored to serve in this capacity

and while this role is ceremonial, how we use ceremonial positions matters.

I intend to use this position deliberately to support the council, support the mayor,

strengthen the council, and to help us govern with clarity, trust, and shared purpose.

Le quiero dar las gracias a mis compañeros y a mi compañera del consejo por seleccionarme

para el cargo de vicealcaldesa.

Es un honor servir al público en esta capacidad.

My intention is to be a consensus builder and my particular leadership style is based

on that. And consensus does not mean avoiding hard conversations, but making space for them

to move together. And my commitment is to support the leadership on this council and

also align around outcomes that serve our residents.

I also promise and make an intention to make the implicit explicit.

Too often assumptions replace understanding in local government, and as vice mayor, I

will focus on making the implicit explicit, surfacing trade-offs and naming tensions

and clarifying choices.

For my priority and goals for the year, I remain fully committed to implementing rent stabilization and the rent registry, tools that protect tenants while providing transparency and predictability, fiscal responsibility with equity.

As we close the budget gap, we must balance fiscal discipline with equity, making choices that are financially sound and socially responsible.

Economic and innovation growth.

I will continue to work and sustain to grow San Leandro's innovation infrastructure, including advancing higher education, executive education, and or a professional campus, a professional education campus in our city.

And lastly, Lake Chabot Road. Residents deserve progress, and I will bring forward concrete next steps to address safety infrastructure and longstanding concerns along the Lake Chabot corridor.

I'll skip that part in Spanish.

My goal is simple, is to help our council be impactful and purposeful by building consensus, supporting the mayor, supporting all of you.

and communicating openly so we can deliver results that reflect our shared values and move San Leandro forward.

Mi objetivo como vicealcaldesa es simple.

Ayudar al consejo sea eficaz con propósito.

Al construir consensos apoyando al alcalde y al consejo y comunicarnos de manera abierta.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Councilmember Billin, please.

Thank you. I appreciate those comments.

It really makes me sad that I did not study

Chinese and any of the other languages that I have been taught in my life more

so that I could do the same. But just a few things that I want to mention.

last week I did attend the Franti Karamatsu exhibit at the library and it was incredibly

moving. One point that I want to share is that at one point Karen Karamatsu, Franti Karamatsu's

daughter, asked the audience to raise their hand if they had been interned or if somebody in their

family had been interned and I want to say at least three quarters of the room raised their hand.

It was incredibly moving and incredibly important for the times right now which leads me to

My second point is that last week I had the opportunity to fly into DC and meet with NLC leadership and the presidents of the various constituency groups to talk about the priorities for the year.

And I want to share that one of the main priority areas for APAMO in working with the Hilo president, who happens to be a Union City council member, Jaime Patino, is around immigration and specifically to be able to uplift AAPI representation in that.

if anybody's following what's going on in Minneapolis,

where ICE agents are literally going door-to-door

asking where the Asian neighbors are,

and people are being dragged out in their underwear.

U.S. citizens.

Our 14 AAPI countries are on the visa ban list.

I mentioned Laos before.

That continues to be true.

All that to say, too, is I want to remind the community

that there are Know Your Rights trainings

by many different organizations,

including through the school district.

so please reach out and if you want to reach out to me I can connect you with those resources.

The other thing I want to uplift too is to continue to donate to the San Leonardo Food Pantry.

They continue to see huge numbers of people in need who are trying to meet their basic needs.

So if you can support the San Leonardo Food Pantry especially with recurring donations that is

incredibly important for their operations. I also want to oh give a shout out. Liz Hatchkins was here

earlier this weekend was a very um intense day for many parents uh vice mayor of various bolton

and myself with our ipads and our computers and all the things to try to sign up for um child

camp for the summer although not everybody got in in our wait listed it was a smoother process with

uh obviously learnings to to um to act upon but i want to give a shout out to um city staff for

working so hard to continue to take the feedback and to help families because

that is little child care and child care means that people can work and people

can work that means that they can contribute to economic development in

our city and then I do I want to thank the council for the actions that were

taken today one of the first things to any sort of healing process is to call

out acknowledge behavior and today council members were able to be real

upstanders to really help advocate for and call out so that we can be better so

I am heartened by the comments of the council members who were able to see the

behavior call it out and choose to help us move forward in that way and the last

thing that I want to ask, I'm not sure who we are closing the meeting in honor of, but I do want to

acknowledge because it is too hard to ignore what is happening in our world. But my heart hurts for

so many people. But right now I want to acknowledge certainly Renee Good, who was murdered last week,

and the 32 people that died in ICE custody in 2025, as well as the four people that have already

died in 2026 in ICE custody and that is just not okay in the world that we live

in and I really appreciate what Alameda County is and many elected officials in

the state and the city the county and the state are trying to do to ensure

that our residents are safe. Thank you. We'll proceed to Councilmember Bolt. Thank

Thank you. Yes. I attended the state legislative caucus, a two-day event where the Bay Area

Legislative Caucus comes together and discusses new legislation coming forward for the state.

One of our representatives, Nicolo, was there. So that was good to kind of catch up with him

and talk a little bit and discuss how some of this legislation can affect San Leandro and the

surrounding cities. So it was a good event and there was a lot of cool things coming out. So

Saturday, I'm sorry that I missed the event with Nashikoto. How do I say his name?

Korematsu. Okay, sorry.

I did want to go, but I attended Stephen Cassidy's funeral as well.

And I agree. He did so much for this city.

And we learned so much, even just early childhood,

that I wish I would have known before.

But God bless his soul.

I want to thank the city council for the rent stabilization vote.

I think we did a good thing.

I'm looking forward to us getting this through the next reading.

Let's see. Oh, I attended the ribbon cutting library pods.

It was my first time seeing them in person.

And I think it's such a benefit to our city.

I appreciate the mayor and his words and Brian,

the head of the library, his words.

but to hear that those things are you know pretty much booked up every day

just shows the need and what a great thing the city has provided

um i attended the uh dr martin luther king event um very i i've told people multiple times it's

it's probably one of my favorite events that this city does uh we do it so well

um and uh i'm gonna go out on a limb here but uh liz hodgens i know she's not in the room but

there was a moment in time when a young speaker just couldn't uh get up there on his own

and you know Liz is one of our recreational supervisors and she walked the young speaker

out and held his hand and to me it said so much more about the event in the city of San Leandro

and the leadership we have I'm not talking about council leadership but I'm talking about staff

leadership and the way she helped the young speaker through the moment and you could see

him squeezing her hand and to me that's beautiful and that's truly a leadership from our staff so

I know she's not here but gosh dang it that's something that we can all be proud of in this

city and then lastly I just wanted to speak for the Stephen Taylor Sanctuary of Life

pavilion ribbon cutting this Saturday at 10 down at the marina.

I'm looking forward to this.

It's a long time coming and I appreciate the city and staff for working so hard

to get this, get this through the finish line and I'll stop there.

Council member Simon, please.

Yeah.

I wanted to also recognize staff for their work at the Martin Luther King

or oratorical event for the youth.

It was incredible.

Every year they do an awesome job.

from the setup to the running of the show,

like Council Member Bolt mentioned,

and just to hear the youth,

fifth grade, sixth grade,

speak so eloquently about the dreams

of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

And it just made all the sense in the world.

And just looking us at a council,

you know, of us being able to work

towards the goals that Martin Luther King had established,

to work together for respect.

And to hear from the youth was very powerful.

And we as adults, you know, should be able to emulate that pretty easily.

So I'm looking forward to us working together as a council,

going to the next step, going to the next level,

and doing good things for our city.

So I'll round us out and take us home.

MLK event, amazing.

thank you for sharing that story comes from a bolt i'll highlight uh teacher jamila's class

and the song that they sang we just kind of hit right in the heart library pods example of

responsive government so we heard from our people this is what we need you know we turned it around

in the form of a project and we delivered we delivered effectively and we see that they're

being used so i think it's a great example of responsive government city of san leandro we're

doing the right stuff. I do want to just uplift Meals on Wheels. You know, 2,000 meals every

single week, and they take volunteers. So I encourage members of the community, I had the

opportunity to celebrate with Kaiser Permanente team at Meals on Wheels, but they are looking for

volunteers regularly. We have so many different opportunities to volunteer in the city. Please

avail yourself of them, including the food pantry. I know that they take volunteers.

um bcdc this is a little bit off topic but i want to just talk about a change in mentality

uh the bay conservation development uh and development commission for many many many

decades the idea of dredge dredging generates spoils with sea level rise there's a fundamental

shift in the way that we think about dredging activity dredging activity actually generates

useful material for building levees, for building marshes that serve as a tidal plane between the

shoreline. It's basically how we can better address climate change. That is a fundamental change that

is happening right now in the Bay Area. I think that it's important to call it out. The whole

idea of calling them spoils is really getting to be very passe because that product can be put to

good use. I do want to highlight that the city team was in San Francisco meeting with entrepreneurs

from the biomed sector on Thursday night. We are out there when we talk about economic development.

It's not just about supporting the companies that are already here, but it's about being out there

and recruiting others to come to our city to tell our story proactively and uplift San Leandro.

and I do want to just provide a very quick update from time to time people

just want to know what's happening with our marine development then the short

answer is that we continue through the bankruptcy process one of the things

that's nice to see is that we can we are making progress in that bankruptcy

process and can report from a public hearing that was held with a judge today

that progress is actually happening so thank you to the city team our attorneys

that continue to move that process forward.

Litigation, bankruptcy, always difficult.

But know that it's not just stuck in the mud.

Things are moving forward.

So by that said, I'd like to adjourn our meeting in recognition

of a lot of the turmoil that's arising right now,

particularly with respect to immigration.

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the entire United States

or probably the world who would say that the death of Renee Goode was a good thing.

there's nothing good about that

and it reminds us about the

sanctity of life

in this coming weekend we have the opportunity

to remember

that human life is sacred

so let's take a moment to

pause and reflect

on that value that we do value

human life

any life lost

is not a good thing

so

okay so we are at 10 46 and we are adjourned