Arcadia residents are seeking a court injunction to overturn the City Council’s censure of Mayor Sharon Kwan.
A third resident not named as a plaintiff was the suit’s process server and spoke at the council meeting Tuesday before handing court documents to City Clerk Linda Rodriguez.
“To date we’ve lost about three weeks of productive work for our city,” Benny Yee said. “Three weeks where nothing of real substance was accomplished.”
Yee called the allegations and claims against Kwan “specious” and “fabricated” allegations and accused Councilman David Fu — who initiated the censure and represents District 1 where Yee resides — of “a personal vendetta”, and we see it clearly as he has aligned with other council members all in pursuit of his self-indulgent drive to remove the mayor” against Kwan.
“After weeks of political theater, it is high time that we take back the City Council and restore the mayor’s leadership,” Yee said.
“Mayor Kwan, stand your ground,” he added. “Do not back down. Do not let this nonsense distract you from leading Arcadia. And to the rest of the council, the choice is simple: lead, follow or get out of the way.”
Council members did not respond to requests for comment. During public meetings, state law prohibits council members from directly responding to general public comments that are not about specific items on a meeting’s agenda.
Deputy City Manager Justine Bruno said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
Cory Briggs, attorney for plaintiffs Stephanie Aiken and Laurie Thompson, Cory said they “are suing because the censure was punitive and retaliatory, contrary to federal and state law.
“The plaintiffs are residents and taxpayers in Arcadia and believe that the council majority’s illegal actions are impeding Mayor Kwan’s ability to best serve their interests,” Briggs said.
On Sept. 2, the council voted 4-1 to censure Kwan for alleged misconduct that included:
“Weaponizing and exploiting children, induced to give false and uninformed statements for political purposes of embarrassing the City, and Councilmembers, and to escape responsibility through the use of shills and strawmen,” according to the council’s resolution.
“Demeaning the military service of veterans by stating she has done more for veterans by asserting she made unsubstantiated charitable contributions, and arguing that these were more valuable than respect and appreciation.
“Knowingly falsely alleging financial impropriety by claiming there is concealment of the City’s true finances and asserting that City staff is misrepresenting financial information to the City Council and public, and claims that the City staff is lying to the public, for the political purpose of undermining public confidence in City staff and the Mayor’s colleagues.
“Disparaging first responders, and council colleagues by accusing them of impropriety and corruption because labor organizations chose not to support her.
“Making unfounded accusations of sexism against Councilmembers and staff whenever disagreements arise to deflect argument against her ill-conceived and unfounded positions on substantive issues.
“Discouraging public participation by mocking and belittling constituents, including elderly residents, by implying their incompetence and deafness, simply because they were politically adversarial to her or expressed a conflicting viewpoint, attempting to intimidate opposing viewpoints and to squelch dissent.
“Misusing council procedures and engaging in ‘ambush techniques’ by failing to place items on the Council agenda in order to surprise her fellow Councilmembers and city staff and failing to consult department heads before raising issues that could have been resolved administratively, for the purpose of embarrassing unprepared City staff members and undermining public confidence in these officials and staffers.
“Engaging in un-collegial behavior, unprofessional temperament, and unfounded accusations against Councilmembers simply because other Councilmembers expressed a differing viewpoint,” the censure list concludes.
Kwan has accused her colleagues of attempting to “silence” her over her “insistence on transparency, financial responsibility, and professionalism, and that’s why so many people showed up to defend me against this obvious retaliation. I know my colleagues and the city attorney are going to continue trying to intimidate me, and I will continue fighting against it because the residents of Arcadia deserve to know the truth about what’s happening at City Hall and how their money is being spent.”
Kwan also has filed a complaint with the city against Fu for alleged sexual harassment and discrimination. In his censure resolution, the councilman called the mayor’s allegations “unfounded.”
According to the Superior Court civil lawsuit was filed Tuesday, “The ringleader behind Resolution No. 7649 was Councilmember David Fu, against whom Mayor Kwan had submitted an administrative sexual-harassment complaint … at least one month earlier. Shortly thereafter the City Manager informed at least three members of (the City Council), including Councilmember Fu, that the complaint had been filed and that city would hire an outside investigator to investigate the complaint. At the time Resolution No. 7649 was adopted, the investigation of Mayor Kwan’s complaint had not been completed and she had not even been interviewed by the outside investigator.”
The suit alleges the council “knew the conclusion about ‘unfounded accusations of sexism’ to be false, or at least strongly suspected it to be unsupported by sufficient evidence, when made.”
Plaintiffs also claim the censure action, which was the first of its kind in Arcadia history, has had a “chilling effect” that “has penalized Mayor Sharon Kwan and/or otherwise discouraged her from expressing herself.”
The case has been assigned to Los Angeles-based Judge Dean J. Kitchens.
