Stockton Vice Mayor Jason Lee has asked the State Bar of California to investigate former City Attorney Marci Arredondo after alleging she directed the city’s Human Resources Department to offer City Clerk Katherine Roland approximately $250,000 to resign without City Council authorization.
Lee announced the complaint Tuesday and provided new details during a news conference at City Hall, saying Roland personally called him on Aug. 5 after receiving the offer and was told she had until 5 p.m. that day to accept it.
“She called me in tears, upset,” Lee told Stocktonia. “She was afraid of losing her job.”
Lee said Roland told him she was considering getting an attorney. He then went to the City Attorney’s Office, where he said he found Arredondo and the city’s Interim Human Resources Director Marie Guillory-Jones together.
“I asked them straight up,” Lee said. “Who made the phone call? Who gave the direction? Who gave you authorization?”
Lee said he was told Arredondo directed Guillory-Jones to offer Roland the money and give her until 5 p.m. to respond. He also said he believes there may be emails between Roland and human resources documenting the proposed offer. Stocktonia was unable to immediately reach Arredondo for comment Tuesday.
Stocktonia has not independently reviewed documents confirming that the offer was made or that Arredondo directed it. The Human Resources department did not respond to a request for comment.
Filing a State Bar complaint does not establish that professional misconduct occurred. Rick Coca, a spokesperson for the State Bar of California, told Stocktonia Tuesday that the agency could not confirm whether Arredondo is the subject of a complaint or investigation because disciplinary matters are confidential under state law. Coca said such investigations generally become public only if disciplinary charges are filed with the State Bar Court or if the court accepts and files a disciplinary stipulation.
Lee filed the complaint to the State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel in his capacity as vice mayor and District 6 councilmember. The complaint states that it does not represent the position of the city of Stockton or the City Council. He said his goal is for an outside agency to independently determine what happened.
“I’m not asking anyone to prejudge those answers,” Lee said in a statement announcing the complaint. “I am asking the appropriate independent regulatory authority to investigate them.”
Lee wrote in the 12-page complaint that during an Aug. 4 meeting with City Manager Johnny Ford and human resources leadership, Guillory-Jones confirmed Roland had been offered approximately $250,000 in connection with voluntarily resigning from city employment.
According to the complaint, Lee was also told that the direction to pursue Roland’s resignation came from Arredondo near the end of her tenure as city attorney.
Arredondo submitted her resignation July 21 after serving about five months as Stockton’s city attorney. Her final day was Aug. 5, the day she allegedly received the payment offer.
Lee also alleged Tuesday that the City Council never authorized the proposed payment.
When asked who gave Arredondo authority to offer the money, Lee said he had spoken with Councilmembers Mario Enríquez and Michael Blower and that neither had authorized it. Lee said he had not authorized it either but could not speak for the remaining four councilmembers.
“I didn’t give that authority. Councilmember Enríquez didn’t give that authority. Councilmember Blower didn’t give that authority because I talked to them,” Lee said.
Blower confirmed he was not informed about the offer made to Roland. Enriquez did not respond to request for comment.
Lee later said that any settlement involving city funds would require the City Council to approve the necessary budget authority.
“That did not happen,” Lee said.
Attempts to reach Mayor Christina Fugazi, councilmembers Michele Padilla, Brando Villapudua and Mariela Ponce by email were unsuccessful.
His written complaint uses more cautious language, stating that, to his knowledge, the full council had not authorized any separation agreement or approved a budget appropriation for such a payment. Lee is asking the state bar to determine whether any settlement authority existed, what funding source was contemplated and what authority Arredondo believed allowed her to pursue the proposal.
Stocktonia reached out Tuesday to city spokesperson Tony Mannor seeking a response to Lee’s allegations, including whether Roland was offered the $250,000 to resign and whether the council authorized such an offer. Mannor said he would reach out to the appropriate city offices to gather information. The city currently directs all press inquiries to departments to Mannor. He has not provided a further response.
The allegation comes days after city officials publicly described Roland’s absence as temporary and convened a special closed-session meeting to consider appointing an acting city clerk.
Mannor told Stocktonia last week that Roland remained city clerk but was temporarily absent and that there was no estimated date for her return. The City Council met Friday for nearly an hour in closed session to consider appointing an acting city clerk, but Interim City Attorney Donald Larkin announced afterward that there was “nothing to report out.”
Lee’s complaint also places the alleged resignation offer in the context of concerns Roland previously raised about what she described as political pressure involving the city’s administration of the June 2026 primary election.
According to Lee’s complaint, Arredondo had previously advised the council that Roland could qualify as a whistleblower and warned that adverse action against her could raise retaliation concerns.
Lee said Tuesday that Roland was on protected leave when human resources contacted her about leaving her position. When Stocktonia asked when Roland’s leave began, Lee declined to provide a date and deferred the question to that department.
The complaint also asks the state bar to determine whether Arredondo had recused herself from Roland’s complaint or some portion of matters involving the clerk before allegedly directing human resources to pursue her resignation.
Lee wrote that he had been informed Arredondo had recused herself but said the scope and timing of that recusal should be independently investigated.
Stocktonia has been unable to reach Roland since Aug. 1 despite attempts by email, phone and in person.
The complaint asks the State Bar to review communications between Arredondo, the Human Resources Department, Roland, Ford and councilmembers, as well as records related to the reported $250,000 proposal and any draft separation or settlement agreement.