Political Discord Prompts Call for City Council Team Building

The fallout from months of political discord was on display at the Los Alamitos City Council meeting Monday night.

The council grappled with how to move beyond accusations of corruption lobbed at city leaders during last year’s election season. Council members also expressed concern that the city is developing a bad reputation as an employer after the City Clerk recently departed amid frustration at being caught in the middle of the political battles on the council. While bruising political debates are common at the council meetings, somber acknowledgement of their impacts is rare.

“Maybe we need to look into a team build (event) or something like that so we can be more effective at the jobs we do,” said City Councilwoman Gerri Graham-Mejia.

“It was Hurtful. It was Wrong.”

With a split vote, the City Council voted Monday not to ‘receive and file a report’ by the city manager in which the city found no cause to seek state bar sanctions against a Los Alamitos resident and attorney, who accused City Council members of corruption at a council meeting in June of 2010. It was largely a symbolic vote, expressing the council’s dissatisfaction with the issue. Mayor Kenneth Stephens and Council members Marilynn Poe and Troy Edgar were all three targets of the criticism made by Brad Sheridan, who supported their political opponents, Council members Warren Kusumoto and Graham-Mejia. Stephens, Poe and Edgar voted not to accept the report, and Kusumoto and Graham-Mejia dissented.

Instead, the council majority demanded a public apology from Sheridan.

Sheridan spoke at a City Council meeting in June of 2010 and alluded to the possibility that Edgar, Stephens and Poe could face criminal prosecution if they approved a trash franchise agreement with Consolidated Disposal Services after having accepted campaign donations from the company.

However, the district attorney never did opt to file criminal charges, and a judge in an ongoing civil trial threw out a claim alleging wrongdoing by the council members.

“A vote for a ‘receive and file’ is a vote for a smooth-over,’ said Edgar, who echoed Poe in her demand for a public apology from Sheridan.

Poe brought her campaign and personal finance statements to the meeting and offered to show them to anyone. She accused her critics of knowingly spreading misinformation about the trash contract and campaign donations.

“There are people in the community who feel that if you keep lying, people will start to believe the lies,” Poe said. “We need to get beyond this kind of thing because we need to show what is really great about Los Alamitos.”

Stephens noted the personal and professional damage the accusations have had on his life.

“It was hurtful. It was wrong,” he said.

“It cast aspersions on our character, our reputations, and it caused me a great deal of inconvenience in my job,” Stephens said. “Maybe I am just a little tired of having lies and accusations and half truths used so often against public servants…when you affect our family and our jobs, it’s wrong.”

Graham-Mejia has said she would not want to see the city pursue any actions against Sheridan, who could not be reached for comment Monday night.

“All of us have sustained damages from what people have said, but that goes along with having these seats,” she said. “It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s a great city and worth all the sacrifices you have to make.”

Staffer Caught in the Middle

City Clerk Adria M. Jimenez recently left her position after about a year and a half on the job. At Monday’s City Council meeting, council members suggested that she was fed up with the council’s bickering over the council meeting minutes kept by the City Clerk. A major duty of the City Clerk is to record notes from the meetings. At the start of each meeting, the council approves the minutes from the previous meeting, but there is usually some disagreement on the Los Alamitos City Council over the way the meetings are recorded. Some council members have expressed concerns that their comments are slighted or mischaracterized in the meeting minutes. Along with the City Manager and City Attorney, the City Clerk is one of three people who report directly to the council.

“I think we just need to be honest with ourselves as a City Council that we are responsible for one of our three people leaving,” said  Edgar. “I think we need to try hard in the future and make a better environment so we don’t have turnover in that job.”

However, Poe suggested that the city might have a hard time finding someone to take the position.

“I know that in the circle of city clerks, there have been rumors, and I fear we may have a bit of a reputation,” Poe said. “It might be hard to find someone to fill the position.”

The city will explore filling the position with a contract hire or sharing the position with another city such as Long Beach as a cost saving measure.

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Does the council need to work on team building? Shoud Brad Sheridan issue an apology?