Stockton City Council will meet in closed session Tuesday to discuss the appointment of a new city attorney, marking the first formal action on the position since the resignation of City Attorney Lori Asuncion earlier this month.
The agenda lists the item as “Public Employee / Public Employee Appointment: City Attorney,” a personnel matter authorized for closed session under California law, which allows local officials to privately consider the appointment, evaluation or dismissal of a public employee.
Asuncion’s resignation was accepted unanimously during the council’s first meeting of the year, where Assistant City Attorney Taryn Jones was subsequently named acting city attorney.
“I am honored and pleased to have served the City of Stockton and its residents for the past 18 plus years,” Asuncion said. “I want to thank the mayor, City Council, residents and businesses of Stockton for allowing me the distinction and honor to have served the people of this wonderful city.”
The council did not provide a public explanation for Asuncion’s departure or why the council had opted to revue her job security, which took effect immediately.
Councilmembers Brando Villapudua, Michelle Padilla and Mariela Ponce requested a closed session review of Asuncion’s performance and potential dismissal at the council’s Jan. 13 meeting . In emails, both Villapudua and Padilla also independently asked the city clerk not to publicly attribute the item to them, even if their fellow councilmembers asked who had put it on the agenda.
The move to consider Asuncion’s job came amid a continuing conflict between Villapudua and the city attorney, as shown in a series of emails obtained by Stocktonia dating back at least six months. It is also at least the second time Villapudua has requested a review of Asuncion’s job.
Other councilmembers said they were blindsided by Asuncion’s possible dismissal. Michael Blower and Mario Enriquez told Stocktonia they had no prior knowledge the city attorney’s job would be up for discussion and described Asuncion as “invaluable” to city operations.
The friction around Asuncion unfolded alongside separate disagreements about transparency, including a dispute between Mayor Christina Fugazi and several councilmembers over a performance review for newly-hired City Manager Johnny Ford.
Fugazi had called out Councilmembers Blower and Enriquez and Vice Mayor Jason Lee for putting a review of the city manager on the agenda without a public explanation as to why they felt it was needed.
“City Manager Johnny Ford has been in this role for roughly six weeks (29 working days). In that short time, he has demonstrated professionalism, steady leadership, and a clear commitment to serving Stockton,” Fugazi wrote. “There has been no public explanation that would reasonably justify placing his performance review on the agenda at this point.”
“For transparency, this item was placed on the agenda by Vice Mayor Jason Lee, along with Councilmembers Mario Enríquez and Michael Blower,” she added.
Blower later noted the lack of a similar request for transparency from those councilmembers who wanted to review Asuncion’s job.
“The hypocrisy on display by the mayor is truly astounding. She calls us out for putting an innocuous check in on the agenda and says nothing about the people who added an item to dismiss our honest and ethical City Attorney,” Blower wrote on social media following the release of the meeting’s agenda and the mayor’ publicly calling him out. “I guess she believes in selective transparency. (By the way, two of the council members who requested that be put on the agenda asked to be anonymous. Gee, nothing too shady about that.)”
Theses disputes among those on the dais revived concerns about instability at City Hall following a turbulent 2025 marked by high-level resignations and public infighting.
The city has since posted an official recruitment for the city attorney position, advertising an annual salary between $278,536 and $327,690. Applications close Friday, three days after this week’s council meeting.
Asuncion had served in Stockton’s legal department for 18 years, including just over three years as city attorney, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is also reportedly a finalist for the top legal job in Antioch, where the City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to hire her at a proposed salary of about $288,000 plus $225,000 in benefits, according to the Antioch Herald.
Any action taken behind closed doors must be reported out when the council reconvenes in open session, meaning the public may learn more about the position’s future at Tuesday’s meeting.
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