The West Covina City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday to file a lawsuit against Councilman Brian Gutierrez for his alleged failure to comply with a public records request regarding his use of artificial intelligence during council meetings.
Gutierrez countered that the lawsuit is an attempt to discredit him for reporting misconduct by city officials.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that after receiving a Public Records Act request last month from former West Covina Mayor Brian Tabatabai for documents and information Gutierrez used or viewed during more than two dozen council meetings, he produced only a handful of documents that appeared largely miscellaneous, according to the city’s announcement of the legal action.
City officials also allege that despite Gutierrez’s admitted use of generative artificial intelligence in the performance of his council duties, he failed or refused to produce his prompts or chats with the AI chatbots he uses. When asked by the City Clerk’s Office to at least preserve his records of AI use, Gutierrez responded in a manner that suggested he did not intend to do so, officials said.
“We regret that the city was forced to take this action, but, as set forth in the Writ of Mandate filed last night, Mr. Gutierrez is withholding public records in his personal possession and even appears to claim that he does not need to preserve them,” Acting City Manager Milan Mrakich said in a statement Wednesday. “The City is required by state law to comply with all California Public Records Act requests, and Mr. Gutierrez actions could subject the city to significant liability.”
Gutierrez released a statement following the lawsuit’s filing.
“West Covina residents deserve transparency, due process, and public safety — not retaliation, selective enforcement, intimidation, or backroom decision-making,” he said.
“They lied to the court, saying I used a personal laptop during council meetings,” Gutierrez said in a phone interview with HeySoCal.com. “This is a misleading, malicious lawsuit. At no point did I say I was not going to comply with (the public records request).”
According to Gutierrez’s prepared statement, “This dispute began when a former mayor submitted a Public Records Act request that was then used as the basis to target a sitting councilmember. I complied in good faith by producing information I could reasonably produce and by repeatedly attempting to transmit documents when technical issues arose.
“Where legitimate legal questions existed about scope, I raised them responsibly. That is not refusal — that is governance.”
The District 1 councilman contends that “at no point did the City Clerk’s Office or the City Attorney’s Office call me — or otherwise clearly notify me — that I was still missing documents or that my production was deficient. I was never given a specific itemized list of what the city claimed was missing, and I was never given a reasonable opportunity to cure before litigation was authorized.
“Instead, the council majority escalated straight to a lawsuit against me. In my opinion, that decision was not driven by a good-faith desire to resolve a records issue — it was driven by politics and retaliation.”
A bullet-pointed entry in the city’s lawsuit document says the public records request sought:
- “Documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, presentations, notes, agendas, or draftmaterials
- “Emails or messages related to city business that were opened or viewedduring meetings
- “Web-based documents or applications accessed during meetings
- “Any electronic materials referenced, reviewed, or consulted duringpublic meetings.”
Gutierrez said he has Aspergers’ syndrome, which is a form of autism.
He has “a documented disability and formally approved accommodations” that require city officials call or verbally inform him when there is a compliance concern or an allegation that something is missing, according to Gutierrez’s statement.
“That did not happen. No one called me. No one verbally identified a specific missing document,” he said. “No one gave me an itemized list or a meaningful opportunity to cure before litigation was authorized.”
Gutierrez also criticized the law firm representing the city in the suit against him.
“I also have serious concerns about the city’s reliance on outside counsel, including Buchalter, in matters now being used to litigate against a sitting councilmember,” Gutierrez said. He listed concerns about law firm billing.
“I have not been provided clear documentation showing the procurement basis … scope limits, and total taxpayer cost for this outside counsel engagement,” the councilman said, calling for officials to disclose
• “the contract authority and procurement method used” to approve the contract for legal services with Orange-based Buchalter LLC;
• “any ‘not-to-exceed’ limits” in the agreement;
• “total amounts billed and paid to outside counsel; and
• “who approved expanding outside counsel’s role into matters involving constitutional governance and public records litigation,” according to Gutierrez’s statement.
He also denied the allegation that he used a personal laptop during public meetings, resulting in the city allegedly not having possession of his records relevant to fulfill Tabatabai’s request.
“The city’s petition claims I used a ‘personal laptop.’ That is false,” Gutierrez said. “The laptop I use for council duties is city-issued and bears a city of West Covina asset tag. Mischaracterizing city-issued equipment as ‘personal’ undermines the credibility of the filing.”
The city’s attorneys argued that “using this computer, Gutierrez routinely views, accesses, and reads materials during City Council meetings, which, on information and belief, include AI generated information,” according to the city’s petition for writ of mandate. “Others in the meetings have viewed him doing this, and it can be seen when reviewing publicly available videos of City Council meetings. Gutierrez appears to have referred to materials viewed on his monitor or smartphone during multiple City Council meetings.”
The councilman called that “speculation about how I draft and communicate, including insinuations that my communications ‘appear’ AI-assisted,” according to his statement. “Using modern drafting tools is lawful and common in public service. The issue is compliance with public records law — not stigmatizing technology use.”
Gutierrez added, “This lawsuit is being used to chill oversight and stop questions. In my opinion, this lawsuit is not truly about transparency — it is about silencing oversight. I have asked direct questions that taxpayers deserve answered, including:
• “outside counsel fees and billing practices;
• “contracting and vendor relationships — who benefits and why;
• “public expenditures tied to events, sponsorships, and vendors; and
• “whether West Covina is being pushed to accept the status quo without a deep dive into spending and governance decisions.”
Gutierrez made allegations of his own regarding City Council colleagues.
“I … have serious conflict-of-interest and transparency concerns involving the current majority,” he said. “Publicly recorded real-property documents reflect that Mayor Leticia Salazar Lopez Viado has two deeds of trust associated with a mortgage company connected to Councilmember Tony Wu. These instruments are public records and raise legitimate questions that require transparency and public accountability.”
Gutierrez also brought up taxpayer funds going to events connected with Wu’s wife.
“(The Chinese American Association of West Covina’s) own event packet includes vendor and sponsorship paperwork and invoices reflecting amounts collected and amounts marked ‘pay,’ along with an internal accounting summary indicating that funds were to be transferred to the city. …
“The city has not produced public proof of remittance — no deposit receipt, no transfer confirmation, and no ledger entry showing the city actually received the funds referenced in that packet. If the transfer occurred, the city should publish the receipt and transaction details. If it did not occur, the public deserves a clear explanation why.
“Because (the Association’s) treasurer is Councilmember Tony Wu’s spouse, transparency is non-negotiable,” Gutierrez alleged.
He also made allegations involving city contracts with architects and nonprofits as well as alleged Brown Act violations involving council decision-making on land-use issues done outside public meetings.
In an email to HeySoCal.com, City Manager Mrakich said Gutierrez’s prepared statement “goes far beyond this litigation and includes allegations against other councilmembers that are not relevant to his own failure to comply with his obligations under the California Public Records Act and his obligation to preserve and protect city records.”
The council made its decision to sue Gutierrez in a closed session Tuesday from which Gutierrez was recused due to a conflict-of-interest in the matter, officials said. The decision was announced during the council’s ensuing public meeting, and the lawsuit was filed with the court later that evening.