After deciding to censure Mayor Sharon Kwan last week for alleged misconduct, the Arcadia City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday on reprimands and also a reorganization of the public meeting format and rules of procedure.
Prior to the regular meeting’s 7 p.m. start at City Hall, 240 W. Huntington Drive, the council will attend a closed session at 5 p.m. to discuss a possible lawsuit resulting from the censure and meeting format changes, which include placing limits on speaking time during segments for public comments among other prodedural rules.
At a special meeting Aug. 26, the council voted 4-1 to censure the city’s first Asian American female mayor for allegedly:
- “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.
- “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.”
Two additional censure accusations the council considered last week did not make it into the final resolution up for a vote Tuesday evening:
- “Relying on ChatGPT to conduct City Council meetings, thereby abdicating her responsibility to exercise independent judgment as presiding officer and maintain control over city business by personal judgment and not mere computer manipulation.
- “Abdicating her sworn elected responsibilities and duties by being manipulated and controlled by third party unelected persons, and concealing and denying that conduct and practice, informing city staff that (former Mayor and Councilwoman) April Verlato must accompany her to all events, and by politicizing Coffee With the Mayor to malign other councilmembers and give Ms. Verlato a platform to air her grievances, rather than conduct the actual business of the Office of the Mayor.”
Kwan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Previously she called the censure action “a smear campaign against me because I reported Councilmember David Fu to (the city’s Human Resources Division) for sexual harassment and discrimination. … This is part of the broader problem that women in office face everywhere.”
Following the censure vote, she said, “The City Council was not at its best. I heard the residents and the overwhelming majority of the speakers last night said they want to see City Council stop this bickering and get back to the business of the City of Arcadia.”
Verlato has said the council is trying to silence Kwan for questioning city finances and characterized the censure charges against Kwan as:
- “Young women spoke in support of Mayor Kwan.
- “Mayor Kwan stated she donates over $1,000,000 in scholarships to veterans to attend college.
- “Mayor Kwan asked questions about the City budget.
- “Council manufactured accusations Mayor Kwan disparaged first responders.
- “Mayor Kwan reported to HR what she felt was inappropriate touching and gestures made by Councilman Fu in the hopes that City staff could explain to Councilman Fu without creating animosity between the two.
- “Mayor Kwan offered an assisted listening device for an elderly constituent.
- “Mayor Kwan talks and the rest of council doesn’t like it.”
In a mass-email Monday, Verlato wrote, “At the end of the day, the Council is setting a dangerous precedent, one that the City of Arcadia won’t be able to come back from, all because of something she said that people may differ on whether or not it was ‘bad.’ This subverts the voice of the voters if each council member is subject to conform their speech to the majority of council members and not reflect the voice of the voters they represent.”
Verlato also said residents in Kwan’s council district have hired attorney Cory Briggs “to represent them in a lawsuit against the City and the individual council members voting for censure. When Council says that the words coming out of Mayor Kwan’s voice is offensive to them, they are saying that the voice of (Council District 2) is offensive to them. … It’s not up to them to effectively ‘remove’ her if they don’t like what she has to say. That’s up to the D2 voters.”
Verlato is accepting donations for an estimated $300,000 in litigation costs. She said she will not take a fee, and all funds will go toward the potential lawsuit.
The council meeting is available for viewing on the city’s website, which also has additional information and documents related to the censure.
