Stockton Councilmember Michele Padilla has been officially censured by her fellow councilors for using city money to fund a community barbecue where candidates running for office were allowed to give political speeches.
Padilla gave an impassioned speech during a censure hearing at Tuesday’s Stockton City Council meeting, defending herself against accusations that she violated council policy by hosting an event in July that was deemed political in nature using her council discretionary funding. The event cost the city about $10,000 for Padilla to host.
The District 1 councilor fought back tears and described the accusations against her as “a malicious, clear attack” on her character and an attempt to misrepresent her intentions in holding an event that was beneficial to her constituents.
“I had no intention, no motivation. There was no promotion, no endorsement, no ask of political activity for any specific candidate,” Padilla said. “I truly feel that no taxpayer funds were misused, and any suggestion otherwise is just a desperate attempt to undermine myself for political gain.”
However, the council ultimately voted 5-0 to accept an ad-hoc committee’s finding that there was “sufficient evidence” Padilla had indeed violated council policy “because discretionary funds were used at an event where political activity occurred rendering the event political in nature.”
During the hearing, the council discussed with city staff whether intent should be taken into consideration, but it was clarified that intent was not an element up for consideration in the censure process, just whether or not a violation occurred.
Mayor Kevin Lincoln was absent from the meeting, and, per city censure policy, Padilla was unable to vote on the issue.
Padilla’s fellow councilmembers told her during the hearing the censure was not intended as a personal attack but a consequence that any member would face if they had broken the rules as she had.
“This is very difficult, and we’re not saying you’re a bad councilmember. You’re a wonderful councilmember. It’s not at all about that. You do a lot for your community,” Councilmember Susan Lenz said. But “if we let every councilmember do this … that sets a really bad precedent.”
Councilmember Michael Blower echoed those sentiments, saying Padilla wasn’t a bad person but noted that wasn’t the point of the censure hearing. Padilla used thousands of dollars of her discretionary funding for an event that at some point turned political, he said, which “was not appropriate” per council policy.
“This is not an attack on Councilmember Padilla’s character. This is more about just the rules and following the rules and what our council policy says,” Blower said. “I think it would … set a terrible precedent if we allowed council discretionary funds to be used toward events in the future that would potentially become political.”
Blower signed his name alongside Councilmember Brando Villapudua to the initial complaint against Padilla submitted to the Stockton city clerk’s office in early August specifically citing events that occurred at her annual barbecue in July.
They accused Padilla of violating City Council policy by providing a platform during the event for local officials and candidates running for office in the November election to make speeches, some of whom addressed their campaigns and political opponents.
The event was funded using more than $10,000 in City Council discretionary money.
City Council policy stipulates that discretionary money can be spent only on resources that benefit the city and its residents and are not “religious or political in nature” or providing “personal benefit” to the member requesting the funds.
Video from the event shared with Stocktonia showed speakers on stage included Stockton mayoral candidate and former Vice Mayor Christina Fugazi, Stockton City Council candidates Jason Lee and Mario Enríquez, and San Joaquin County Supervisor candidate Mario Gardea.
The only candidate to not explicitly mention they were running for local office was Fugazi, though she was shown wearing a campaign-style T-shirt. It also was later confirmed that California Assembly candidate Rhodesia Ransom also spoke, though she told Stocktonia at the time that she doesn’t recall saying anything that was political or related to her campaign.
Gardea, Lee and Enríquez are shown in the videos describing themselves as candidates running for office. All four candidates, including Fugazi, also briefly talked about various issues, such as public safety, homelessness, Stockton’s youth, opponents and post-election plans.
Lee, who ran to unseat Councilmember Kimberly Warmsley in Stockton Council District 6, also hinted that he, Fugazi, Padilla and Enríquez would together be able to take action on the City Council. According to San Joaquin County preliminary election results, Fugazi, Enríquez and Lee are on track to win their races.
“I do a lot of education that it takes four votes to make things happen,” Lee said, before encouraging the audience to count with him the potential four-member City Council voting block on the stage with him. “All of us are aligned on the big bucket vision of the full potential of this city.”
The Stockton City Council is made up of seven members, including the mayor, thus four members would constitute a majority.
Lee also noted during his comments with some humor that he hadn’t realized he’d be required to speak at the event until the day of.
“Only Michele would trick me to come out to a picnic — and I come out in house shoes — and then ask me to come up here and look crazy,” Lee joked.
An ad-hoc committee to investigate Padilla’s actions was established in August after Blower and Villapudua submitted their complaint to the city clerk’s office, citing violations of City Council policy regarding the event. The committee was comprised of Mayor Lincoln and Councilmembers Lenz and Dan Wright.
Padilla has consistently denied she’s done anything wrong or broken any laws. In a statement to Stocktonia just after the event, Padilla said she was well aware of California state law surrounding the use of public resources and that she “can emphatically state that there was no violation.”
“Every expenditure of public funds for this event was reviewed by legal counsel from the city and approved,” Padilla wrote to Stocktonia in a statement following the barbecue. “This event was open to the public, and all community members, elected or not, had the opportunity to speak. I believe in upholding the First Amendment right to speech and do not censor community members.”
However, city documents and emails obtained by Stocktonia in July relating to the picnic showed that nowhere did the District 1 councilmember mention her event would include speeches from political candidates.
City officials also later confirmed to Stocktonia that Padilla’s expenses wouldn’t have been approved had it been known that any component of the event was political.
It’s unclear what possible additional disciplinary actions Padilla could be facing following her censure.
According to City Council policy, a censure is a formal reprimand for councilmembers who’ve engaged in conduct that constitutes a general “violation of law or of City policy where the violation of policy is considered to be a serious offense.” Censures are intended to be issued only for serious acts of misconduct and “should not follow an occasional error in judgment, which occurs in good faith and is unintentional.”
A censure is meant to “deter violations of law and serious violations of adopted City policies.” However, the censure does not carry any fines or suspension of a councilmember’s rights. The process essentially serves as an avenue for the City Council to provide a public dressing down of a member it has determined engaged in wrongdoing.
But the City Council does have additional disciplinary options outside of the censure process to address the specific violation Padilla is alleged to have committed, outlined in Council policy, including loss of reimbursement privileges, paying restitution to the city, civil financial penalties, criminal prosecution for misuse of public resources and/or being reported to state and federal tax authorities.
Padilla mentioned during the censure hearing that she’ll be glad once the makeup of the council changes in January after those who are newly elected take their seats on the dais with her. Of those who chose to censure her Tuesday, only Blower and Villapudua will still be councilmembers come the first of the year.
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