The Stockton City Council voted unanimously this week to appoint a member of a city committee to a second board, following comments by the member about Vice Mayor Jason Lee that some said were homophobic.
Councilmember Mariela Ponce nominated Donald Tafoya, who represents District 2 on Stockton’s Strong Communities Advisory Committee, to also represent the district on the Community Development Committee, council documents show.
Last month, Tafoya said during a City Council meeting he thought Lee wanted to take sexual advantage of someone from a television show — comments Councilmember Mario Enriquez and a member of the public said they felt expressed prejudice toward Lee’s sexual orientation. Both Lee and Enriquez are members of the LGBTQ+ community.
But on Tuesday, the City Council appointed Tafoya 7-0 to the Community Development Committee.
His appointment occurred minutes after Mayor Christina Fugazi’s office issued a proclamation recognizing Pride Month — and one month after the City Council voted to fly the LGBTQ+ Pride flag at City Hall.
“This is a great gesture,” said John Alita, Executive Director of the San Joaquin Pride Center, while accepting the Pride Month recognition. “But gestures have to go further than this, because our community — as many communities — is under attack.”
The council held no discussion about Tafoya’s appointment, as no councilmember pulled the item off what’s known as the “consent agenda” — a portion of the meeting agenda where multiple items are passed in bulk.
Ponce didn’t respond to emailed questions about her support for Tafoya — continuing a pattern she established during her first year in office of offering reporters no explanation for her decisions.
Of the remaining councilmembers, only Councilmember Michele Padilla responded to questions.
“At the time Mr. Tafoya made the remarks in question, he was speaking as a private citizen,” Padilla said via email.
However, “now that Mr. Tafoya has been appointed to a commission, I fully expect him, as I do all commissioners, to uphold the standards outlined in the City’s conduct policies,” Padilla said.
When reminded that Tafoya was already on the Strong Communities Advisory Committee when he made the comments — and asked if she thought he should be removed from that committee — Padilla didn’t respond.
Mayor Christina Fugazi didn’t respond to a request for comment.
What did Tafoya say?
The remarks about Lee occurred at a May 12 City Council meeting, when Tafoya claimed during public comment that Lee wanted to be cast in a particular television show so he could take sexual advantage of someone involved in the series.
It was unclear from Tafoya’s comments whether he was claiming that Lee was talking about a character in the show, or of the real-life actor who plays the character.
Stocktonia has chosen not to publish Tafoya’s exact words. Tafoya didn’t respond to attempts to reach him via social media and through Community Development Committee staff.
At the May 12 council meeting, Tafoya’s comment about Lee was met with gasps from the audience. Tafoya then defended his remarks, saying, “they’re words from (Lee’s) mouth, that are on the internet.”
It’s unclear what internet statements Tafoya was referring to.
It may have been a May 3 video in which Lee expresses sadness about the Netflix show “Beauty in Black” ending; in the video Lee pitches a hypothetical new season for the show starring himself and rapper Cardi B where each would have amorous plotlines with existing characters.
The video was posted to the Facebook page for Hollywood Unlocked, Lee’s entertainment company and the focus of his career before he ran for office.
At the May 12 council meeting, some expressed outrage over Tafoya’s comments and councilmembers’ reaction to them.
“A speaker is allowed to … make a very derogatory sexual comment on someone’s sexual orientation on the dais,” resident Julie Dunning said during public comment.
“We had someone from the public that was saying some homophobic remarks,” Councilmember Mario Enriquez said. “Yet nobody up here called them out on it.”
Fugazi addressed Tafoya’s comment in her own end-of-meeting remarks.
“I’ve been called all kinds of things. I’ve had slanderous things said, and I don’t like it … but in the end, they have a First Amendment right,” the mayor said of public commenters like Tafoya.
‘Dignity, courtesy and respect’
In the past, councilmembers including Fugazi have sought to strip members of boards and committees of their appointments over their public conduct.
In September, the City Council voted 4-3 to approve the mayor’s request to remove Patricia Barrett from the Climate Action Plan Advisory Committee over comments Barrett made at council which Fugazi said were defamatory.
City Council policy requires committee members to “treat each other, staff and members of the public with dignity, courtesy and respect,” and “refrain from inappropriate behavior and derogatory comments.”
In a similar example, in 2024 the City Council refused a vote to appoint 209 Times founder Motecuzoma Sanchez to the Planning Commission after Councilmember Michael Blower raised concerns about Sanchez’ conduct toward city officials and staff.
At the time, Blower further requested a vote to remove Sanchez from his existing seat on the Charter Review Commission, but Sanchez resigned before he could be unseated.
‘No place in public discourse’
In response to Tafoya’s appointment this week, Alita, the SJ Pride Center director, said he found Tafoya’s comments “deeply troubling.”
“While much of what he said was difficult to follow, there were clear insinuations directed at the Vice Mayor that have no place in public discourse,” Alita said.
The director added, “at a time when our society is facing growing division … any hint of homophobia or transphobia must be unequivocally condemned.”