Modesto city clerk’s long tenure ends with being escorted from building, attorney says
City Clerk Stephanie Lopez’s 20 years with Modesto came to an abrupt end Tuesday, according to her attorney, with Lopez being escorted from Tenth Street Place, the city-county administration center in downtown.
The attorney said the city also is barring Lopez from entering any part of a city facility not open to the public without the mayor’s permission.
Mike Dyer — Lopez’s attorney — said the actions came after the City Council decided in closed session Tuesday afternoon to accept her resignation effectively immediately and place her on paid administrative leave until Oct. 5, which is the date of her retirement.
The administrative leave will cost Modesto $28,300 in salary and benefits, according to Deputy City Manager Caluha Barnes.
All of this came after Lopez, 61, submitted a letter Friday afternoon giving the city 60 days’ notice of her Oct. 5 retirement. She wrote that her employment contract requires her to provide the city with the advance notice. Lopez had been city clerk since May 2008.
Lopez in her letter repeated her allegations of being mistreated and of being punished for being a whistle-blower for raising concerns about a previous city attorney’s billing practices. The attorney has said the concerns are without merit.
The city released an investigation in 2019 of Lopez’s allegations. The investigation substantiated little of Lopez’s allegations but revealed turmoil at the top levels of city government. Lopez has said the investigation was incomplete and biased.
The investigation resulted in the city investigating Lopez. That investigation concluded she had emailed public documents without having the city attorney’s office first review them and included comments critical of city officials, primarily the then city attorney, in her emails.
The previous council voted 4-3 in December to reduce Lopez’s $141,024 salary by 5%. The current council voted 6-1 in July to continue the 5% reduction for an additional six months. Councilman Tony Madrigal voted “no.”
‘... it was vindictive ...’
Lopez has said the documents she provided were public records, and the city investigated her to punish her.
She wrote in her retirement letter that she had hoped to work an additional year or two before retiring and had hoped the new City Council “would change the current hostile environment and actually address the issues of past improper billing,” but said she learned that would not be the case after meeting with Mayor Sue Zwahlen and Vice Mayor Rosa Escutia-Braaton, who are both new to the council.
Dyer said he expected Lopez to work a couple of more weeks to help with the transition in the city clerk’s office before the city placed her on paid leave until her retirement.
“I think it’s horrendous,” Dyer said in a Wednesday phone interview on how his client’s tenure with Modesto ended. “I think it was vindictive and meant to embarrass her.”
He texted a copy of a letter from Zwahlen to Lopez spelling out the details of her resignation, including immediately turning over all city property, including keys and identification cards, and that she could not enter city property not accessible to the public without permission. The letter states Lopez is to be available by phone if the city needs her during normal work hours.
Lopez and Dyer sued Modesto and former Councilman Doug Ridenour in March in Stanislaus County Superior Court, alleging harassment, mistreatment and retaliation. Ridenour, whose council term ended in late 2020, and the city have denied the allegations.
Barnes, the deputy city manager, said Modesto would have no comment regarding Dyer’s allegations on how Lopez was asked to leave Tenth Street Place.
Ally of former mayor
Lopez was seen as an ally of Mayor Ted Brandvold, who failed in his attempt for a second term in the November election. Zwahlen was elected mayor in a February runoff election. The three other new members of the seven-member City Council were elected in November.
Brandvold did not always trust city officials and presided over a bickering and divided City Council. Lopez has said she was seen as a whistle-blower for bringing her concerns about city practices and spending to Brandvold.
Zwahlen last week declined to comment on Lopez’s allegations in her retirement letter because she said it was a personnel matter. But she read a statement at Tuesday night’s council meeting.
“Tonight in closed session, the City Council took up the matter of the city clerk’s resignation,” Zwahlen said. “The council on a vote of 6 to 1, with council member Madrigal voting no, accepted the resignation.
“Accordingly, the council agreed at the request of (the city clerk’s) counsel to place the city clerk on paid administrative leave until Oct. 5, 2021, effective immediately. We thank her for her service to the city of Modesto and wish her the best in her retirement.”
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
