On Tuesday, the Stockton City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to allow councilmembers to use the city logo on individual communications that may not reflect the city’s official position.
It’s just one of several noteworthy items on Tuesday’s agenda, which also includes votes on the city’s latest response to the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury and on whether to fly the LGBTQ+ Pride flag at the start of Pride month in June.
City logo
Most Stocktonians are likely familiar with the stylized blue “S” and all-caps “City of Stockton” lettering stamped across envelopes, official announcements, city vehicles and more, representing Stockton’s government.
Yet the seemingly-benign logo came to the attention of San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury investigators last year after a councilmember published, on official city letterhead, information about an internal investigation the city refused to release at the time, citing attorney-client privilege, according to the grand jury report.
“It should be noted that the City made no official news release,” the report said.
In March 2024, District 1 Councilmember Michele Padilla issued a press release on official city letterhead discussing an internal investigation into leaks from a closed-session City Council evaluation of former City Manager Harry Black’s performance, The Record reported.
On the grand jury’s recommendation, the City Council adopted new rules in June, holding that the official letterhead may only be used “to communicate the official policy, position, or actions of the City or City Council, not individual Councilmember positions or opinions.”
In particular, councilmembers can’t use the official Stockton logo on communications about their personal opinions, support for or responses to constituents, or any other individual statements, the rules say.
But, if passed, Tuesday’s vote would delete that line from the rules, allowing councilmembers to use the logo, a copy of the new proposal included in the City Council agenda shows.
Grand jury response
Also on Tuesday, the City Council is set to release its latest update about what else it’s changing in response to the grand jury’s bombshell 2024 report on intimidation and unethical meddling at City Hall.
Released in June, the report largely focused on 209 Times, a website and collection of social media pages owned and run by a Stockton political consultant, and that sometimes presents itself as an impartial news organization.
According to the report, people linked to 209 Times allegedly “created a work environment of fear” at City Hall, and “the efficient and ethical governing of the City of Stockton is under attack by both external and internal forces.”
“This must be stopped,” the report concluded.
As a result, the grand jury urged Stockton to adopt new rules aimed at boosting transparency, including about who’s behind City Council campaigns; at investigating threats and ethics complaints; and at preventing councilmembers from leaking confidential City Council information, among others.
In August, the city sent the grand jury its first progress update, highlighting problems it had already fixed and saying it was still addressing others.
At the time, the city promised the grand jury another update in April. But the update was never sent “due to staffing changes,” according to a document attached to Tuesday’s council agenda. The document doesn’t specify what those changes were, or how they prevented the city from sending the update.
If approved, Tuesday’s update seems to change tack on the city’s August promise that officials would draft potential new rules placing Mayor’s Office staff under the same mandated employment rules and laws as other city staff.
“The Grand Jury has also found that those appointed to work in the Mayor’s Office are not bound by the same employment rules as other city staff and therefore are not held to the same standards as city employees,” the June report said, without providing further detail.
Instead, Tuesday’s update says the grand jury’s recommendation to do so lacked sufficient information.
Otherwise, Tuesday’s update highlights additional changes the city has made, such as requiring councilmembers to sign confidentiality pledges before participating in closed-session meetings.
The pledges, signed by all current councilmembers, are attached to the agenda. And the update promises the grand jury another progress report on remaining issues in September.
Pride flag
Last, the City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to raise the LGBTQ+ Pride flag on city flagpoles during the first week of Pride Month in June.
During Pride Month, LGBTQ+ people honor the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising, which kicked off the protest movement that won LGBTQ+ people many of their modern rights and protections in the U.S.
Stockton’s City Council hasn’t always supported raising the flag. In June 2023, a move to fly the flag was effectively defeated after a tied vote, with one councilmember absent.
A week later, the City Council approved the policy in a 4-3 vote, council minutes show. And last year, councilmembers again supported raising the flag, with only then-Mayor Kevin Lincoln voting no.
Tuesday’s vote would also have city flagpoles fly the emblem of each U.S. military branch on the anniversary of its founding.
The City Council’s open session starts at 5:30 p.m. today at City Hall.