[6:18] Good afternoon, everybody. This is a special meeting for April 9th, 2025, convening at 2.12 p.m., Madam City Clerk, can you please do the roll call? Councilmember Nakanishi? Councilmember Hothi? Councilmember Craig Hensley? Mayor Proto-Mia Pez? Mayor Breggman? Here.

[6:45] Mr. Mayor, I'd like to introduce the items on the agenda for closed session. The items to be discussed today are item B1.

[6:53] Public employee performance evaluation regarding one position, city manager pursuant to government code 54957, an item B2, public employee potential discipline, dismissal, release pursuant to government code 54957.

[7:11] Thank you, Katie.

[7:13] I do have a point of inquiry because we may have an option to take one item off the agenda.

[7:21] And so, Mikey, Councilmember Hovey, do we want to go through with taking something off?

[7:30] Or do you think we want to hear about public comment and then have our close session and run through the agenda?

[7:37] It is run.

[7:37] Okay, thank you for your comments.

[7:40] We will now open this up to the public starting with item B1, public employee performance evaluation and item.

[7:49] Do we do both of them at the same time?

[7:50] Thank you.

[7:52] Do we have the first comment?

[7:55] Yes, Mayor.

[7:56] If I may, I do have some.

[7:58] No.

[7:58] And I do apologize.

[8:00] I will be cutting the time amount down because we do have a packed room.

[8:05] Can you please raise your hand if you plan on speaking today?

[8:14] Okay.

[8:14] We're going to do two minutes a piece for each individual today.

[8:18] And we will start with the first comment card.

[8:21] Olivia, did you have anything to say?

[8:22] Yes, public comments will today be limited to five minutes per speaker.

[8:28] Members of the audience shall not engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct.

[8:32] Olivia?

[8:33] Yes.

[8:33] Two minutes.

[8:35] Yes.

[8:35] Okay.

[8:36] Sorry.

[8:36] Did I say point of inquiry?

[8:38] Thank you.

[8:38] My apologies.

[8:40] Public comment today will be limited to two minutes per speaker.

[8:44] Members of the audience shall not engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct and refrain

[8:49] from using abusive, derogatory, or slanderous language.

[8:54] If a speaker has written materials, please bring them to me, and I will forward them

[9:00] on to the City Council, and I will just know, because I didn't know this earlier, public

[9:10] comment tonight is, or today, is only on the items that are on the agenda, so there's non-agenda

[9:16] public comment.

[9:17] I just want to make that clear.

[9:19] Thank you.

[9:21] Yes, sir.

[9:23] Speaking to the rise of 10 on the phone, sit.

[9:26] About.

[9:27] Please leave us.

[9:29] Is that right?

[9:31] Secretary, I bring the issue to you.

[9:35] Yeah.

[9:36] Typically, we do do a flag salute and a prayer for regular meetings.

[9:43] Unfortunately, we don't typically do it for special meetings.

[9:47] And I believe that we're actually past the time now that the meeting has been open to do so.

[9:51] So, but this is the regular function of the city's function for, I believe, a couple

[9:56] decades.

[9:58] So, due to the number of public commenters, I'm going to call three at a time, so please

[10:03] be prepared.

[10:04] The first public comment card I have is from Ron Heberley, and then Mark Chandler, and then

[10:10] the third one is Catherine Corradi.

[10:27] Good afternoon.

[10:28] My comments are in regard to the April 1st City Council meeting.

[10:31] meeting. One of the things from that meeting was the alleged misuse of public funds.

[10:40] And I want to let everybody know that I support looking into that. That is necessary, absolutely.

[10:48] Matter of fact, City Council members have said, yeah, we're going to look into it. It has

[10:52] to be done to maintain trust. But that's not the main reason what I want to talk about.

[10:58] I want to talk about the actions and the comments from the city manager during that meeting.

[11:09] Number one, non-agent items were brought up.

[11:13] That is a violation of the Brown Act, the open meetings law.

[11:18] Number two, he purposely divulged public employee evaluation.

[11:28] in investigations, discipline, which is against the law.

[11:34] Also, number three, he accused city employees in open session

[11:41] before it went to closed session, and that is absolutely inappropriate.

[11:48] So, those are why I'm here.

[11:52] I wanted to make sure people know that that is the crux of what I want to talk about.

[11:57] It is not the misuse of money allegedly and absolutely that has to be investigated, but there is an immediate

[12:06] issue and that issue is those three items that I talked about.

[12:11] Brown Act, employee discipline comments in public, which we don't do.

[12:18] And also accusing other employees in public.

[12:24] So that's kind of how I see where we are.

[12:27] What do we do?

[12:29] If you can.

[12:33] Thank you, Mr. Heberley.

[12:34] You're welcome.

[12:35] Thank you.

[12:36] And next upon coming.

[12:43] Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and City Council.

[12:45] I mark Chandler, former Council Member and Mayor, and quite concerned about the issues that

[12:52] stand before us today, and quite concerned that a rash action might be taken that would

[12:57] to be to the detriment of our wonderful city of Lodi.

[13:02] Often changes difficult and challenging,

[13:04] but sometimes it's a creative force.

[13:06] And I want to complement the council

[13:08] and the city manager for the action

[13:10] that was taken last week to do some of the hiring

[13:14] to alleviate some of the concerns

[13:16] that have been longstanding in this town.

[13:18] So it shows that while we may have disagreements,

[13:21] we can learn how to work together.

[13:23] So it complements you on that.

[13:24] That Mr. Hebbley, I might challenge your assumptions about the appropriateness of the city manager's comments.

[13:33] There's a lot of deep city law and brown act that I'm not even sure there was an infraction.

[13:41] And I'm in possession of a memo from Mr. Jones who sent this.

[13:45] I think the city clerk would have this at outlines and great depth, the role between the city manager and

[13:51] city attorney and how the city attorney, city manager was practically forced into a whistle-blower role

[13:59] because he was being gavilled down by the mayor on items that need to be brought before the public.

[14:05] In my own personal experience, I'd like to express that organizational management is difficult, change is difficult,

[14:13] but fundamentally the organization comes first. It's not about your personality, my personality.

[14:18] It's about the organization and its mission and in this case, it is the city of Lodi and our mission to serve the citizens in the best possible way we can.

[14:27] We may have disagreements. We may not like the city manager, but that doesn't mean we can't work in conjunction to do the best thing we can for our citizens.

[14:37] Recently, I participated in a meeting with Council Member Hothi. I was joined by Nick Jones, a Ford construction.

[14:44] action.

[14:48] Thank you, Mr. Chandler.

[14:58] Mr. Chandler.

[15:00] Actually, I'm going to try to change one thing really quick, Mr. Chandler. I have a question, Madam City Clerk, I'm going to try to increase it to three because this.

[15:09] Okay, give me one moment if you would, Mr. Chandler. What is the possibility to actually change it to three minutes and have Mr. Heavardly have one more minute, and we'll move on from there. Is that possible? That way everybody has gotten. That's fine as long as everyone gets the same amount of time. I don't know if Mr. Heavardly would want to come back up. Okay, we're going to go with that option. I think we'll have enough time.

[15:30] I'm trying to be respectful of others in their opinion.

[15:34] Put Mark on for one more minute, and then we're going to invite Mr. Heberley back up and move on from there.

[15:38] Thank you.

[15:40] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[15:41] Another minute, I just want to have a closing statement here, and that is that for those of you that are advocating for

[15:48] the removal of the city manager, I can say that the satisfaction of your retribution is too high a price for the citizens of

[15:55] Lodite, who have to pay people who you were elected to represent.

[16:00] Thank you very much.

[16:01] Thank you, Mr. Chandler.

[16:02] Mr. Heberley, would you like another minute?

[16:05] All right, sorry, Mr. Catherine.

[16:15] Thank you for that.

[16:18] In conclusion, what do you do if you have someone that works for the city?

[16:23] You have an employee that you can't trust to divulge confidential information?

[16:28] What do you do if you can't trust an individual that's working for the city to not single

[16:35] people out in public?

[16:38] So it all gets wrapped up into a very difficult situation.

[16:43] The question is, is where do you go from here?

[16:47] And sometimes when a bridge gets burned, it gets burned.

[16:52] So I think for the betterment of the city that you should make a very difficult decision and replace the city manager.

[17:01] Thank you.

[17:02] Thank you, Mr. Heberley.

[17:07] I'm Catherine Karate and I'd like to thank Mayor Breggman and the esteemed council members for allowing me to speak my thoughts.

[17:15] I'm here today to address the situation that I read about on social media regarding Scott

[17:22] Carney, the city manager and the alleged accusations he brought before the city council at a recent

[17:29] meeting, that what I read on social media accusing our mayor and city council members of fraud,

[17:37] mismanagement of taxpayer funds, and other accusations, and calling for them to remove themselves,

[17:44] It just didn't sit quite right with me.

[17:47] Anyway, the way I see this is when a person on social media posts these accusations,

[17:54] he must have received it from an internal source.

[17:57] The way I see it, Mr. Carney, or some undirected by Mr. Carney, which is the way this load-eye taxpayer sees it.

[18:05] If anyone's going to make these alleged accusations, they better have proof and documentation

[18:09] of such alleged accusations, and thus far I have seen no evidence of such.

[18:16] This brings me to the importance of communication.

[18:19] It appears to this taxpayer that the meeting that instigated this embarrassing situation

[18:25] was due to lack of communication on Mr. Carney's part because of the protocol he failed to follow

[18:31] at the City Council meeting.

[18:34] This should have never gotten to this point and should have been directly discussed amongst

[18:38] our elected officials which Mr. Carney had an obligation to do. Mr. Carney elected officials

[18:45] and employees of the city of Lodi must always protect our wonderful town and know this

[18:51] type of hit job on our mayor and city council is unacceptable on many levels. However,

[18:58] these accusations hold, if these accusations hold some merit it's the duty of our elected officials

[19:04] to perform a forensic audit, to prove to the taxpayers that any and all questions regarding these accusations have been cleared and are presented to the tax-paying citizens of Lodi.

[19:16] Thank you for allowing me to speak.

[19:18] Thank you, Mrs. Grun.

[19:22] The next three comment cards I have are from Jeff Kirst, Kenneth Wheeler, and Annette McKay.

[19:42] Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I'm Jeffrey Kirst, 1930 TN to drive Lodi.

[19:48] My comments are going to be brief.

[19:50] I want to echo Councilman Chandler's comments, and the only other thing to add was that

[19:56] a lot of money was spent in searching for a new city manager, and that would have to

[20:01] be done again if he was immediately just tossed away.

[20:03] I think that maybe it should be reviewed and discussed a little further, a little bit of time

[20:07] should go by before an action that's going to cost the citizens again.

[20:12] That's all I have.

[20:13] Thank you.

[20:13] Hi

[20:19] there. I'm Annette McCay. I'm a citizen of Lodi. I kind of am appalled that some members

[20:24] of council are considering disciplining or firing somebody for revealing financial issues

[20:30] in misconduct and for discussing staff obstructions to the related financial audits and investigations.

[20:36] The financial audit has brought to light some practices that are not in keeping with the

[20:40] city's mandate to manage the business of the city on behalf of these people who are

[20:44] citizens. I expect you to put your personal agenda aside and to consider the needs of the city.

[20:50] We should be grateful to Scott Carney for the work he has done and for his willingness to see this

[20:55] through. That can't be easy. What has been revealed seems kind of ugly, but I think fiery and

[21:00] Scott will be even uglier. Thank you for providing our citizens a moment to speak.

[21:06] Thank you for your comments.

[21:10] My name is Kenneth Wheeler.

[21:11] I think the man deserves a medal for what he's done.

[21:18] There are laws put in place protecting him, according to other laws that have been stated by others have been put in place and are kind of illegitimate because they go against our constitution itself, which can't be subverted by any means and should be honored.

[21:36] So I myself have endured a lot among this council in the past.

[21:46] Not necessarily the present, but I want to commend you for some of the good things that

[21:50] you have done and especially Scott for coming out, you know, the man's first amendment

[21:58] right is the first amendment rights bringing to light what we've all known was going on

[22:03] behind closed doors is the biggest thing because everything's been suppressed continually between

[22:09] the city and the school. Things are suppressed and this man has his rights as well, a disciplinary

[22:16] action I could understand if there was something done in that regard termination would be utterly

[22:23] disgusting from my perspective in honoring what he should be doing in managing the funds that were

[22:32] obviously there was a problem. So I'd also like to point out that there were many

[22:41] others that were here before that aren't here and I think they're avoiding what

[22:48] we're living with today and now and not just give them another position

[22:52] somewhere else. So I've endured quite a bit from a member at this city council

[23:00] But nonetheless, let's get back to the same point, another point that I'd like to make in this

[23:06] set situation we've got a minute. So we elected you folks as council members, everyone again.

[23:14] We didn't elect you as mayor, we didn't elect the city manager, but there are a lot of things that

[23:21] California has changed in the state that is so illegitimate in taking the vote from the people as

[23:29] well as being able to be heard and giving a time limit on that when the meeting was scheduled

[23:36] at 2 and then start till 2 12. So nonetheless, there's time loss there and now you want

[23:43] to shrink our time down. But nonetheless, Scott, I personally would like to thank you for

[23:48] what you've done. I think you're a man of honor and it takes a set of balls to do it. And

[23:56] And it's about time somebody has somewhere around here and not covering it up is the biggest

[24:01] problem that we have amongst you.

[24:04] And this has been going on a long time, a long time.

[24:08] And I'm going to be testifying to that case.

[24:11] Thank you much for your time.

[24:12] And thank you, sir.

[24:14] Thank you, sir, for your comments.

[24:17] The next three comment cards I have are from Kelly Olds, John Slotterback, and Bob Colorossi.

[24:23] Thank

[24:44] you for your time giving us time to speak to this issue.

[24:49] My name is Kelly Olds and I am a Lord I resident.

[24:53] I want to remind you that I sent emails to each one of you last night supporting Scott.

[25:01] And the reason I did that is that I have a lot of experience in human resources.

[25:06] I spent more than 30 years of my career in human resources in both public and private human resource management, senior level positions.

[25:18] And what I've read about, I wasn't here, what I've read about, and what I've heard from others who were here.

[25:24] what happened? It doesn't rise to the level of determination. Perhaps some counseling,

[25:33] but nothing rises to the level of determination. Scott is to be commended for bringing to your

[25:40] attention some things that should be investigated. They must be investigated. And if you take the

[25:50] action of termination, you're doing the wrong thing. I do support Scott, and I do support

[25:59] the council, but you have to have to back away from this. Thank you.

[26:10] John's letter back. It's proven that we have a problem in Loda.

[26:19] Scott, I appreciate what

[26:22] that you did bring in this forward.

[26:25] Trying to keep something secret,

[26:26] the secret just isn't right in my book.

[26:30] And that seems like what people were trying to do,

[26:32] keep this secret.

[26:35] Just one problem alone,

[26:39] these credit cards spend in thousands of dollars

[26:42] and not making changes is something you shouldn't happen.

[26:57] the, actually, if things go wrong here today, different than what it should. I will

[27:05] file a complaint with a Sam Joaquin grand jury, and I'll contact the Attorney

[27:14] General on file a complaint. I don't like what's going on here. I like what Mr.

[27:21] Carter Carney is trying to do, and he needs to stay in office and do his job.

[27:27] He knew when he tackled this that he was going to have employees come forward against him.

[27:39] And I got given credit for having nerve to do what he did.

[27:44] very few people would have went through what he's what he's going to go through yet.

[27:52] And if he isn't treated right, like I said, I'm going to follow some complaints with

[27:58] the Attorney General and the Samarquean County Grand Jury.

[28:04] There's just too much already that I've seen it isn't right.

[28:08] right? You may be some things I don't know, just like Mr.

[28:13] Cardi, some may not like the way he brought this out. But, you

[28:18] know, if you're trying to get something done and you're not

[28:19] getting results, you get aggravated and you let it go. So I

[28:25] don't blame him for necessarily coming forward like he did.

[28:29] He tried to get something done, it sounds like, and he wasn't

[28:33] getting anywhere. And that will frustrate you.

[28:41] Thank you.

[28:48] Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to address the mayor and the city council.

[28:54] My name is Bob Colorossi, and I've been a very involved local citizen with years of experience

[29:00] outside of low dying areas, both in the public and the private sector. For the past 16 years

[29:07] I've been a small local businessman owner in Lodai with my wife.

[29:12] I'm also a board member of the Hutchins Street Square Foundation and a former member and

[29:17] chairperson of the Lodai District Chamber of Commerce.

[29:22] Ten months ago, I was approached and asked to volunteer my time by a member of the city council

[29:27] to participate in the search process for a new city manager.

[29:33] I was honored and thrilled to be part of it.

[29:38] Throughout the interview process, we asked all of the candidates many questions about

[29:42] their backgrounds, which were quite varied, as well as their philosophies and their

[29:48] willingness to implement change underline as needed to improve the city and its services.

[29:55] Are committee reached to consensus and

[30:00] Proposed, Scott, to the city council because of his openness, his willingness to be part of the community here and his commitment to look at everything. And based on that he was hired.

[30:14] This is not to say that there were problems or improprieties in any way, shape or form, but as someone that's led many different organizations in pretty large scale.

[30:27] All organizations and businesses should always question if there is a better and more efficient.

[30:33] way to conduct business. That's normal. In the private business world we do it every, we do it

[30:39] every day when we wake up. So, when areas are found that would be well-served by changing or

[30:46] revamping, there is almost always pushback at some level. Inately, people do not like change,

[30:54] particularly when it affects them personally, both professionally and personally, and that's that's

[30:59] just normal. So I'm not here to comment on the swirling rumors. To me, the facts should

[31:06] carry the day, not personal opinion in UNDO. My dad told me something when I was quite

[31:13] young that served me well in both public and private life. And he said to me, son, the

[31:20] truth is usually somewhere in the middle. I'm here today to encourage a city council

[31:26] to find the middle.

[31:28] Continue the audit of business operations.

[31:31] Please do your due diligence.

[31:33] Gather all of the facts and all of the information

[31:36] and then make a decision that is unbiased

[31:38] and in the best interest of the city of Loda in its citizens.

[31:42] Thank you.

[31:46] Thank you for your comments.

[31:48] The next three comment cards I have are from

[31:50] Chris Pedesto, Ryan Randtold and Denise Wyman.

[31:59] Good afternoon, Mayor and Council members.

[32:01] members. My name is Chris Podesto. I'm not normally that active in the city council and

[32:07] I do not know Scott. I've never met Scott. I was somewhat shocked last week and concerned

[32:12] when I read the articles and what transpired during the meeting. I'm not here to get into

[32:20] the behind the scene politics, but I look today. I was just looking at some general things

[32:24] on city managers. I looked up some public employment, your public employment contract.

[32:32] The city managers duties are to implement and enforce city policies, rules and regulations.

[32:37] Both HR and finance policies. As I was doing this, I found out the city doesn't even really have a HR director or

[32:44] a head HR person. That's somewhat shocked me. We're running a big business. I can't imagine running my business without HR.

[32:51] That was one thing.

[32:53] Next, per the city ordinance, provide advice as to finances and keep the city council at all times advised as to the financial conditions and the needs of the city, and at least quarterly submit a financial report.

[33:09] Secondly, make investigations into the affairs of the city, or any department, or division,

[33:15] and therefore, or any contracts or the proper performance of any obligation running to

[33:23] the city, investigate all complaints in relation to all matters concerning the administration

[33:29] of the government of the city.

[33:32] Again, I don't know the back door politics and what's going on.

[33:37] To terminate Scott, as a citizen looks like something

[33:45] was exposed and now it's being covered

[33:46] up and again I don't know the backdoor politics just as a guy on the street to do that now I think would be

[33:53] wrong and has a appearance of impropriety that just would not look good optically speaking the other

[34:01] thing is I want to hear I want to not I want to hear Scott was right I want to hear if these things

[34:06] exist if he's gone somebody else is going to come in there and it may look like a bait and switch I

[34:12] want to see this thing play out and understand if in fact she's right and there are issues and then

[34:17] I'm sure you guys will be happy to address them. Thank you.

[34:30] Good afternoon mayor and council members.

[34:32] My name is Ryan Ranchado of American Hospitality Services. Over the past decade our team has worked

[34:38] to build momentum in Lodi. We focused on long-term efforts doubling down on sports tourism,

[34:44] partnering with national organizations to invest within the community and developing hotel

[34:49] anchors that generate significant TOT tax revenue to support the city's general fund.

[34:54] We are proud to be a part of the next generation working to leave Lodi better than when we

[34:59] found it.

[35:01] As outlined in the Council's strategic vision work plan, it's clear we share the same goals.

[35:06] A vibrant downtown, while maintained parks and enhanced infrastructure, and a focused

[35:12] approach to economic development, housing, and fiscal health that is sure to position Lodi

[35:18] for long-term growth and success, but that momentum is fragile.

[35:23] When there is instability at the highest levels of city leadership, optimism begins to

[35:28] waver.

[35:29] We want to continue to support Lodi's future, but that requires trust, transparency, and

[35:34] good governance.

[35:36] Our development group has invested significant capital into Lodi despite experiencing challenges

[35:41] over the past decade.

[35:42] The laid response times and inconsistent code interpretation often posed

[35:47] challenge to projects of all sizes. Over the last ten months however we seen

[35:52] a meaningful shift, improved collaboration, responsive communication, and a

[35:58] renewed sense of alignment across city departments. That shift has

[36:02] reignited our desire to bring more opportunity to Lodi. The current volatility puts

[36:07] all progress at risk. It is caused for serious concern not only for our team

[36:12] but for others working to support the city's growth.

[36:15] We hope the council will listen to the voices of residents, taxpayers, and business leaders

[36:20] as you determine the path forward for the leadership of this great city.

[36:23] Thank you.

[36:29] Hi, I'm Denise Wyman, I'm a resident here and a retired employee.

[36:35] And we all know that doing the right thing is usually the hardest thing to do.

[36:41] There's a whole lot more to this story.

[36:43] There's a whole lot more in the background than a lot of people don't know, obviously.

[36:46] I personally feel like this was political stunt, if you will, in order to do things because there is a whole lot more going on.

[36:57] I know that Mr. Carney does back the businesses and developments in that he has their community support, but that doesn't.

[37:05] And we need a city manager, there's a whole lot more to being a city manager, so I'm trying to say it is we need somebody who can work with our businesses and our development as well as somebody who wants to do what's best for our residents and their employee staff obviously being a retired employee, I do go that way we have a great deal of employees who love and care for this city and work very hard for this city.

[37:31] What was said, every single one of them took it very, very personal because they do work very hard for this city.

[37:39] And it is funny because he talks about transparency, yet this gentleman has hired friends not going through the public process like you're supposed to.

[37:49] He's hired them as part-timer so that it doesn't have to go out for everybody else to be recruited, which means that if that position was really needed, somebody here in load, I would have probably liked to have had that position.

[38:00] supporting your own residents.

[38:03] It was also even done with his interim finance director.

[38:07] He hired him just as an interim didn't have to go through the public process once again,

[38:12] wouldn't one of your residents would have liked to have had that opportunity to work within your city.

[38:24] He had a place to bring that up with you.

[38:27] He could have talked to you about his employee in close session,

[38:31] which is where as an employer you should do for your employee.

[38:35] How would you like each one of you like it if your employer took you in front of your whole

[38:40] Business you're all of the people that you work with and throw you and just tell them that you have been in subordinate if it was true or not

[38:47] He had a place to do it in closed session with you and I absolutely believe in you as a city council that if the allegations

[38:54] He made were true. You would have them looked at as you probably will at this point to see if it really is true

[39:03] He's brought presentations before you and

[39:05] And actually told by directors and managers that they were not even discussed even though it was about their department.

[39:12] So it makes me wonder were those presentations true and correct then if he didn't talk to everybody that was involved.

[39:20] I think the biggest issue here is trust.

[39:23] Can we trust it all?

[39:25] Can we trust him now as we move forward?

[39:28] Can your employees trust him?

[39:29] If they have an issue, he has-

[39:33] Thank you, Denise, for your comments.

[39:36] The last three comment cards I have are from Jim Hicks, Carol Jones, and J.P. DuSette.

[39:56] Any other individuals do you want to speak today?

[39:58] It would make it a more expedient process to fill out a comment card in the back and give it to a city clerk at the front.

[40:07] Good afternoon, City Council.

[40:10] My name is Jim Hicks.

[40:12] I've lived in Lodai for a long time.

[40:13] My wife grew up here, and we cherish this little city.

[40:19] And this issue before is there's a couple of a lot of moving parts, a lot of which we

[40:24] as citizens probably don't even know.

[40:26] But I don't know Mr. Carney, but my understanding as he did not it, and it was probably approved

[40:32] by the City Council to do that.

[40:35] Now all these other things that may have gone wrong, those could be like was mentioned.

[40:40] Those could be disciplined, disciplinary things that he needs to be disciplined on.

[40:45] I don't know.

[40:45] No, I don't know those issues, but I'm sure each of you can do your attorneys and get

[40:50] these things figured out.

[40:51] The important thing is that we've got to make Lodi come out of this looking good.

[40:57] And we don't want a perception that there's fraud and we've had enough of this over the

[41:02] past with other things that Lodi has experienced.

[41:05] So I would just encourage you to not make a hasty decision if you need to come together

[41:12] with your attorney so they can sort out the legal stuff and whatever result you come

[41:18] up with, it's got to be something that's going to be palatable to your citizens and

[41:22] it's not going to be a blemish to our city.

[41:26] And I'm thinking the perception is so important here and whatever Mr. Carney has done with

[41:33] this audit, I think whatever came out in it, I would assume you'd want to know that and

[41:39] and you'd pursue that even if he is terminated,

[41:42] which I don't think he should be.

[41:43] I think again, I think it should be disciplinary,

[41:45] but we got to get the results of those audits looked at

[41:49] and the citizens need to know resolution of those.

[41:54] The improprieties on the other side,

[41:56] the legal sides of what he did or didn't do,

[41:58] that should be balanced out

[42:00] and disciplinary action taken on that.

[42:03] That's just my opinion, just caution.

[42:06] Don't rush into it.

[42:08] Council, and make sure it's a good perception for our city.

[42:13] Thank you.

[42:19] Hi, my name is Carol Jones, and I'm a resident of District 2.

[42:24] I just have very brief comments because the very articulate Mr. Chandler said much better

[42:31] than I could anything that I would want to say, but I support Mr. Carney very much.

[42:35] And mostly the appearance to me is that this is somewhat rash or maybe, you know, possibly trying to defend people in any defending, but it seems a rash action and it seems to look really bad to Lodi and I just want to Mr.

[42:55] finish what he was trying to do and for us to be able to see that. So thank you very much for

[42:59] giving me an opportunity to say my piece.

[43:15] Mayor Breggman, City Council members, Mr. City Manager,

[43:19] other City staff, thank you for the opportunity to have this open discussion this afternoon.

[43:24] I have with me here 250 letters that were sent to City Council members requesting

[43:32] this public comment session to occur since it was not originally on the agenda so we appreciate that opportunity.

[43:40] It was also a call for transparency in that we do want to see these audits and forensic audits continue

[43:52] because they're extremely important that we discover the extent to which the claims that have been made are true.

[44:01] And in reality, protect all of the hardworking city employees that are innocent of any sort of wrongdoing.

[44:09] Unfortunately, bringing any investigation to the close lumps, any actors that are acting outside of bounds with those that are acting appropriately.

[44:22] We also encourage or really it needs to be, the audits need to be continued by someone

[44:30] outside of the current city staff and that would be potentially one of those people being

[44:36] investigated.

[44:36] If you want the findings of the reports to be believed, we need a somebody that can call

[44:44] balls and strikes, sorry, I always use force analogies for those of you know me, but somebody

[44:50] that can be trusted by the public that the findings that come out were ultimately the findings

[44:54] of an independent third party investigator.

[44:57] The level of trust is extreme the

[45:00] Distrust is extremely high right now. You know, we as a business community have tried to communicate with some members of the council. Some have been very responsive. And we appreciate, we appreciate that. Unfortunately, if that hasn't been true all the way across the board. And so, if this is the continue, there needs to be increased transparency. Of course, never in violation of brown act or any sort of personnel confidentiality.

[45:29] issues that arise but there needs to be open communication

[45:35] through such a difficult time.

[45:37] We deserve a thriving community.

[45:41] It requires our council, our city staff and our residents

[45:44] all to have a shared vision and the fortitude to get through

[45:49] difficult times when the priorities of those three entities clash.

[45:53] We believe that the momentum that was talked about by Mr.

[45:58] to ranch odd and others is real, and an effort to take away an executive that has really

[46:05] moved the, again, another sports analogy, move the ball down the field in terms of taking

[46:10] this city where it needs to go, it would be a devastating result to lose.

[46:16] Thank you for your comments.

[46:18] Do we have any other individuals of the public that would like to come up?

[46:22] Mr. Mayor, I do have a public comment card from Alex Aliferres, but Mr. Aliferres,

[46:28] You noted on here that it's for public comment.

[46:31] There's no non agenda public comment.

[46:33] Did you want to comment on the close session item?

[46:35] Thank you.

[46:40] My name is Alex O'Lefer, as a resident of Lodi.

[46:45] This matter that the city manager brought up is important.

[46:50] And I need to remind you, according to the new whistleblower's handbook,

[46:56] by Stephen Martin Cohen.

[46:58] He's a national whistleblower expert on law as well.

[47:01] I met the guy and let me read you something, 1968, there was a court case, Supreme Court case,

[47:12] in Pickering versus the Board of Education, the Supreme Court decided on this case.

[47:18] Government workers who blew the whistle on matters of public concern were therefore protected

[47:24] from discrimination and wrongful discharge under the First Amendment's Guarantee of Freedom of

[47:30] The Pickering Decision spelled out previously, while whistleblowers needed legal protections.

[47:39] Millions of government workers from school teachers to police cannot afford to be fired from their jobs or lose their pensions for engaging in constitutionally protected speech.

[47:49] Now there's another thing I want to bring up, this is regarding, you cannot retaliate.

[47:56] Finally, whistleblowers do have protections, and all of us kind of remember, well, not all of us, but if you're in your 40s or 50s, maybe late 30s, we all remember 2002 and Ron.

[48:10] So in the infamous 2000, and I'm reading from the book, in the infamous 2002 and Ron corporate meltdown, the whistleblower Sharon Watkins sent a heads up memo to her boss, Kenneth Lay.

[48:26] Walkins believes she was doing the right thing by alerting her boss to accounting problems

[48:31] We just so happened to be the very problems that will land Enron officials in jail and cause the company to collapse

[48:40] Guess what they did

[48:44] They didn't listen to her and now we you know, we have the energy crisis in California and Enron collapse and so forth

[48:53] So whistleblowers do exist in both government, local, state, national, special districts, even private corporations.

[49:04] And this is a high-powered attorney from Washington, D.C. I personally know the guy.

[49:11] So I support Scott.

[49:15] He needs, we need to bring this information forth, retaliation.

[49:20] and it's not going to go well with the city.

[49:22] Thank you.

[49:35] As a load I resident and taxpayer,

[49:37] I expect good governance,

[49:39] financial accountability and transparency from our leaders.

[49:44] Please continue to work with city manager Scott Carney

[49:48] to successfully achieve these goals.

[49:51] Also thank goodness for the Brown Act,

[49:53] allowing public comment before this closed session.

[49:57] I initially thought a closed session didn't allow for that.

[50:02] It's highly unlikely that there are more people out there that wish to speak out today or write a letter, but didn't know it was allowable, thank you.

[50:12] Thank you for your comments.

[50:14] We have any other members of the public that would now like to speak.

[50:18] Please come to the podium.

[50:25] Madam City Clerk, would it be appropriate for me to allow a city manager speak or should I close public comments and then allow?

[50:35] Mr. Mayor, I would like to make a comment.

[50:38] Good question.

[50:39] I do just want to make sure before I close the public, Madam City Clerk.

[50:44] Mayor, you may close public comment, and then you may leave it up to anyone at the

[50:50] dies that would like to speak.

[50:52] Okay.

[50:52] Thank you.

[50:53] We will now close the public comment, 256, and Madam Craig.

[51:00] Thank you.

[51:04] Before I share the following comments, I want to say I did run my right to speak past

[51:12] our council to council, our outside council.

[51:17] And as long as I address publicly my individual approach performance review, I can do that.

[51:22] So I want to say I'm not speaking on behalf of any other council members.

[51:26] I have a professional background in government.

[51:28] I have done dozens of performance reviews.

[51:31] I've had dozens of performance reviews conducted on me.

[51:35] So what I look at when I'm doing a performance evaluation

[51:39] is a standard of looking at the job description,

[51:44] looking at any agreements, I'm sorry, you can't hear.

[51:48] Okay, I'll speak louder.

[51:49] I'm on the mic, I think.

[51:51] Agreements that are in place, I also look at any employment

[51:57] Amendment contracts, the municipal law, are ordinances very detailed on the duties of the city manager.

[52:03] I also align it to our established strategic plans and plan goals and objectives,

[52:08] which is something that was addressed in stakeholder discussions and the interviews for a city manager.

[52:17] So to that point, there are a lot of things I'm not going to read all of them, but

[52:21] The couple of the things that I think may apply at this point, actually it was interest to Mr.

[52:26] Bestow you listed some of these yourself, but the city manager in his employment contract has the duty to implement and enforce city policies, rules and regulations.

[52:37] Her the description of the city ordinance, he also must provide advice on banances to keep the city council at all times advised as to the financial conditions in the needs of the city.

[52:48] He also must make investigations into the affairs of the city or any department or division thereof or any contract or proper performance of an obligation running to the city.

[52:59] He must also investigate all other complaints in relation to all matters concerning the administration of the government of the city.

[53:06] There's a number of other financial areas that he must look into and other duties that anyone can see on the contract but for the sake of time I'm not going to go through all of those.

[53:16] What I think is important is the strategic plan that this council working with our executive

[53:23] team helped to establish when I came on council in 2023.

[53:28] And the goal that I think is most important to those of you who spoke today and even those

[53:35] who spoke on both sides of this concern.

[53:38] The goal is to create a fiscal structure to accomplish our city council's strategic priorities.

[53:43] We need to promote the city's fiscal transparency and our citizens' fiscal fluency.

[53:48] I think we are attempting to do that with Mr. Carney and the rest of council.

[53:54] To position Lodi to maintain a diversified revenue mix that reflects the economic prosperity

[54:00] of our community, to research and present new revenue opportunities for city council consideration,

[54:06] And importantly, to ensure that the elected leaders and staff retain focus on physical priorities.

[54:14] That is what I'm looking at when I'm conducting a performance review.

[54:18] So I just wanted to share that so you knew it was not arbitrary that there are specific criteria we consider in performance review.

[54:25] And thank you all very much for today.

[54:28] Thank you.

[54:33] Mr.

[54:36] Chris Podista, Mr. Low, aren't we?

[54:39] I found out I were in the business too, right?

[54:42] We had a comfortable solution to get together and get together.

[54:45] We can't do it that way.

[54:47] I can't meet with three other people and discuss issues.

[54:51] So Scott Howell, the Sentinel Editor, asked a question.

[54:56] We didn't answer because it's not proper for us to answer.

[54:59] So he said after the Tuesday, the debacle,

[55:01] they're not debacle with the issue.

[55:02] He said,

[55:05] would you answer the question?

[55:06] Were you aware of these allegations

[55:08] prior to Tuesday's meeting?

[55:11] Yes, I was.

[55:12] How did I know?

[55:13] It's because every month before meeting,

[55:16] I could speak to Scott.

[55:18] So I knew this was happening, but we never

[55:20] discussed with the City Council.

[55:22] We never bought this to any agenda item

[55:25] where I would like to discuss issues.

[55:28] And what was my initial reaction when I learned it, I wasn't too worried because I knew that the people who worked before me did a good job and it's mine, I was there before too, right?

[55:42] The concern about the CalPers and so forth is a big issue, but I think we had a handle.

[55:50] and you

[55:55] support City Manager's call for forensic audit, you say do.

[56:00] Now, we had never had the time when we analyzed Scott City Manager, City Manager, the attorney and the clerk.

[56:11] We were planning to have evaluation of their work, right? We haven't done that.

[56:17] When the issue came up, it was always on this closed session.

[56:22] When we had an issue with the party with attorney, we hired an outside attorney to adjudicate

[56:27] it.

[56:28] All that report hasn't come in yet, right?

[56:31] So, as far as evaluating whether we're going to check them out or not, the other thing

[56:35] too is the difference in depending when you've discussed spoke up last time, right?

[56:39] In America, cut them off.

[56:42] I would let them talk, right?

[56:44] I didn't think it was an infraction of kicking, firing them for that.

[56:49] That's my opinion, right?

[56:49] So that's how I've held it.

[56:52] So we haven't heard all the facts about this issue.

[56:57] How much tell you that, right?

[56:58] We just began.

[57:00] So right now, I'm telling you what I know,

[57:02] I know more from the Steve Mann's article in the paper,

[57:07] when he wrote this in all of some

[57:11] Steven's,

[57:12] I saw the debate, that's what we should have here.

[57:16] But we can't because of the Brown Act.

[57:19] So that's the reason we can't bring it out

[57:21] in the public is because we make ourself liable, if you say that.

[57:25] Every time we talk here, we make a lot of liable because if you go to court and use whatever

[57:30] words we have to support you as a person who's been in for a long time, I try not to say too

[57:36] much.

[57:40] I haven't gotten all the information of what to do as for the evaluation.

[57:45] Thank you.

[57:46] Thank you for your comments, and do we have city manager that would like to make any comments as well.

[57:58] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[57:59] I look forward to the opportunity to speak with Council later this afternoon.

[58:04] And I hope that we'll be able to invest in LoDIS future by providing the transparency,

[58:09] accountability, and resources needed to remedy the deficiencies and

[58:13] support the many earnest employees who want to deliver efficient and proper stewardship.

[58:18] Thank you.

[58:21] Any other councilmembers?

[58:23] I was going to say one thing in closing, which is when I got involved in City Council,

[58:28] one of the most profound questions that I asked myself is getting done or is getting

[58:38] something done or is good leadership the same thing.

[58:42] And I'm here to tell you they are not the same thing.

[58:45] A part of being a good leadership means that you bring people along the way because

[58:49] a mission is more important than one individual.

[58:53] And if you're focused on just getting things done and running over somebody, then one

[58:58] of the issues that you have is all your hard work will revert after you're gone.

[59:03] What I additionally would like to say is in an performance of valuation, what I would be

[59:09] be focused on personally for any one that is appointed to this city attorney, city manager,

[59:19] city clerk, city treasurer, I'm focused on number one ethics because if we're doing something

[59:28] wrong, we can figure that out. But if you're dealing with somebody that can't trust, then that's

[59:32] a different story. So that is all that I will say on the matter for now, and now we will adjourn

[59:38] to close session.

[2:22:03] Waiting for councilwoman.

[2:22:18] Patience is virtue.

[2:22:57] We are now waiting for councilmember Hothi.

[2:23:31] All right, council is convening a closed session at 430. If I may, you're returning from closed session. Thank you. My apologies. Returning from closed session at 430.

[2:23:46] And can we give the report? I will note, and if you'd like to introduce yourself, the city did hire a third party attorney, and now you may take the floor and

[2:23:56] introduce yourself. Thank you Mayor Council and members of the community. I'm Adam Lindgren

[2:24:02] outside council from the law firm Myers-Novey. This afternoon the city council took up item

[2:24:09] B1 and B2 a public employee performance evaluation and public employee potential discipline dismissal.

[2:24:17] The council did not conduct the city manager evaluation this evening and it did not consider

[2:24:24] dismissal of the City Manager. The City Council did review briefly and discuss

[2:24:31] the statements made by Mr. Carney on April 1st, warrants, and deserve careful

[2:24:42] consideration, and the City will be hiring outside counsel to take a look into

[2:24:47] the statements that Mr. Carney made. And the Council also gave direction on

[2:24:53] on a three-two vote with council members Craig and Nashamese dissenting to place Mr.

[2:24:59] Karney on a temporary administrative leave. Well, the council looks into those issues.

[2:25:05] And the council further gave direction that it would be meeting in a special meeting on Friday

[2:25:14] morning to consider the further issue of who would serve as acting city manager during

[2:25:23] the Mr. Carney's leave, and with that the council took no other reportable actions

[2:25:28] and concluded its discussions this afternoon.

[2:25:31] Thank you for that report. Do we have any council members that would like to make comments?

[2:25:38] Seeing none, I would just like to reiterate the fact that we will have a third party investigation,

[2:25:43] and we hope to have that completed within a timely manner, hoping for 45 days and going to reiterate as far as an interim, I'm sorry, I apologize,

[2:25:54] a acting city manager, we will have a posted agenda meeting for this Friday to discuss options.

[2:26:03] Thank you again, and I will see you next time.

City Council Special Meeting

Agenda

Transcript