Modesto City Council expects Monday to discuss discipline, dismissal of city clerk
The Modesto City Council is scheduled to hold a special meeting Monday to consider the discipline, dismissal or release of longtime City Clerk Stephanie Lopez related to an investigation of her city emails.
The investigation identified about a half dozen emails Lopez sent to three people that included public documents and-or comments critical of city officials, primarily then-City Attorney Adam Lindgren.
The investigation stated the city clerk sent documents before having them vetted by the city attorney’s office. But Lopez stated she was sending documents that clearly were public and in response to requests under the California Public Records Act.
And Stockton attorney Mike Dyer, who represents Lopez, has said the critical comments were an expression of the frustration Lopez felt in being hindered from doing her job because Lindgren was not always at City Hall. He commuted from the Sacramento area.
The City Council is scheduled to meet at 4:30 p.m. The agenda states the council will meet in closed session to discuss anticipated litigation and “public employee discipline/dismissal/release.” Lopez said she is the public employee, and her attorney has said suing the city is an option.
These public employee matters are normally closed, but an employee has the right of having them held in public. Dyer said in Sunday text messages that he and Lopez will ask the meeting be held in public, they plan on attending, and hope to be allowed to speak.
This has been a mess for the City Council.
The investigation of Lopez comes after the city investigated last year Lopez’s claims of mistreatment by the city manager, Lindgren and Councilman Doug Ridenour. The investigation found no wrongdoing except Ridenour had referred to Lopez, 60, and two other female employees as the “mayor’s girls,” but it revealed distrust and dysfunction at the top levels of city government.
Lopez issued a statement after the city released the investigation in November stating it was politically motivated and retaliation by the city manager and city attorney, who saw her as a whistle-blower for sharing concerns and information with the mayor regarding “questionable expenditures, overspending/extension of contracts, purchasing practices, costly legal services, etc.”
Lopez and her attorney, Dyer, say she continues to be harassed. Dyer and Phil Wright, the attorney representing the City Council in this investigation, have discussed settling this matter, but Dyer has said a dysfunctional council has prevented any kind of resolution.
Mayor, councilwoman boycott closed session
Mayor Ted Brandvold and Councilwoman Kristi Ah You left a Sept. 1 closed session discussion regarding Lopez because they did not believe she was being treated fairly.
Lopez also believes Ridenour should not take part in the current investigation because he has a conflict of interest from the previous investigation and is retaliating against her. Ridenour has denied that, and Wright stated in a memo to the council that Ridenour can participate.
This comes as Brandvold, Ah You and Ridenour are among the seven candidates on Tuesday’s ballot for mayor.
Both investigations have been costly for the city. The Bee reported in early September that Modesto had spent about $96,000 on both of them, with more spending expected for the second investigation.
The City Council voted 4-3 at last week’s meeting to authorize an additional $25,000 in spending for Wright’s law firm, Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard, through December 2021.
Brandvold, Ah You and Councilman Tony Madrigal voted against the additional spending. Ridenour and council members Mani Grewal, Jenny Kenoyer and Bill Zoslocki voted in favor.
The meeting will be held over Zoom. More information about the meeting, including attending, is available at agenda.modestogov.com/OnBaseAgendaOnlineCouncil.
Click on the link for the meeting and follow the instructions on how to attend.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
