The Stockton City Council this week unanimously accepted the resignation of an advisory committee member who was arrested on suspicion of robbery.
Natasha Brown, who served on the Strong Communities Advisory Committee, told Stocktonia in a Thursday interview that she was involved in a physical altercation with a woman on Saturday, but she denied stealing any property.
Brown, 40, was arrested Monday in connection with an incident that police say involved a 49-year-old woman being assaulted and robbed in north Stockton.
San Joaquin County Jail records showed Brown was booked on suspicion of first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime. Records indicate she was released from jail Tuesday, and an initial appearance in San Joaquin County Superior Court scheduled for Wednesday afternoon was continued.
The City Council was scheduled to hold a special meeting Tuesday evening to consider removing Brown from the committee, but she resigned her position ahead of time.
At Tuesday’s regular City Council meeting, Kimberly Ganner addressed the city’s elected officials, saying she was the victim in Saturday’s incident. She told councilmembers that she feared for her safety and that of her children after what she described as an assault at Brown’s hands.
She also alleged that the incident follows repeated complaints she has made to city officials about Brown.
“I should not have to fear for my safety because I exercise my voice,” Ganner said during public comments at the meeting.
Brown told Stocktonia there has been a longtime feud with Ganner and there was a physical confrontation on Saturday, but she disputed the robbery allegation. She also said she resigned her post on the advisory committee to prevent the ongoing dispute from becoming a distraction for the city.
“We did fight one on one. That’s all it was,” Brown said. “I never took nothing from that woman.”
Brown’s arrest
Around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Stockton police say a woman was walking to her vehicle in the 1100 block of East Hammer Lane when two other women approached her, assaulted her and took her property before fleeing in a red sedan.
Police spokesperson Omer Edah confirmed Brown’s arrest, but did not identify the victim or disclose what property had been taken. As of Thursday, no additional arrests have been reported in the case.
During her interview with Stocktonia, Brown acknowledged fighting with Ganner but maintained that the confrontation was a mutual altercation involving self-defense.
Brown said she grabbed Ganner’s cellphone during the fight and threw it on the ground. She denied taking the phone or leaving the scene with it.
“I didn’t take her phone,” Brown said. “Her phone was right there on the side of us, on the ground.”
Brown also questioned why police classified the incident as a robbery rather than a physical altercation, adding that she had previously reported disputes involving Ganner to law enforcement.
Likewise, Ganner told councilmembers on Tuesday that she has previously raised concerns about interactions with Brown, including what she described as retaliation, intimidation and an abuse of power.
Brown said officers arrested her at her home Monday after she contacted police earlier that day to discuss the incident with Ganner. She told Stocktonia that the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office has not filed any criminal charges against her.
Stocktonia contacted the DA’s office and the Stockton Police Department seeking clarification on the investigation and whether charges have been or will be filed, but did not immediately receive responses from either agency.
Ganner’s complaints
Attempts to reach Ganner for comment were unsuccessful Thursday. But earlier in the week, she said Brown was the assailant in Saturday’s incident.
Ganner told councilmembers that she has repeatedly raised concerns about Brown. She said she has maintained emails, letters and records of previous public comments documenting her complaints.
While she declined to discuss the details of the incident, citing the ongoing criminal investigation, she questioned whether city officials have done enough to address her previous unease.
“I do not believe the city has taken sufficient action to address the conduct I have reported, or to ensure that I feel safe as a resident and member of this community,” Ganner said.
She also emphasized that residents should be able to criticize public officials without fear of retaliation.
“Public office does not place anyone above the law, and it does not give anyone the authority to intimidate or retaliate against private citizens because they disagree with what those citizens say,” she said.
Brown, however, offered a different account of the women’s history, saying that Ganner has harassed her and her family for more than a year.
Brown said she has repeatedly contacted Stockton police, filed reports and sought restraining orders against Ganner. She also criticized law enforcement for what she described as a failure to respond adequately to her complaints.
“I called the law to help me, over and over and over and over again, and (the) Stockton Police Department failed me too,” she said.
Brown’s resignation
The City Council had originally scheduled a special meeting to consider removing Brown from the Strong Communities Advisory Committee under council Policy Section 3.04.
A city staff report recommended Brown’s removal under the city’s Council and Commission Code of Conduct but did not identify a specific violation or explicitly state whether her arrest prompted the recommendation.
However, Mayor Christina Fugazi opened the roughly five-minute meeting by announcing that the city had received Brown’s resignation.
Vice Mayor Jason Lee, who appointed Brown to the committee in 2025, moved to accept her resignation and said no further discussion was necessary because the position had already been vacated.
“The person resigned. I accept the resignation, and I want to get back to focusing on the work of the city,” Lee said.
District 1 Councilmember Michele Padilla used the discussion to remind commissioners of the standards expected of individuals serving in public positions.
Fugazi also emphasized the importance of maintaining professionalism as the council works to address city business.
“We are trying to work together as a council. We don’t need additional distractions,” Fugazi said.
The council unanimously accepted Brown’s resignation.
In an interview, Brown said her resignation from the committee, which reviews spending from Stockton’s Strong Communities Fund, was voluntary and motivated by the ongoing dispute with Ganner.
She said she had considered resigning several months earlier, but ultimately decided to step down this week to keep the dispute with Ganner from interfering with the City Council’s work.
“I’m tired of (Ganner) going down there to that place of business and harassing them when we got a lot of work to do in our city that we need to focus on,” Brown said.
Brown said she believed the matter was going to be handled behind closed doors and did not attend Tuesday’s council meeting. She said she would have appeared to address the allegations had she known the discussion would take place publicly.
“If I would have known that I was going to be a topic there, and if I would have known that they were going to lie on me, I would have been there,” she said.