The Ontario City Council voted Tuesday to consider removing Mayor Pro Tem Alan Wapner from major regional board appointments after FBI investigators raided the homes of Wapner and county Supervisor Curt Hagman.
The 3-2 vote — with the mayor pro tem and Councilwoman Daisy Macias voting “no” — followed a nearly hourlong procedural battle during which Wapner challenged the agenda description under the state’s open-meeting law, arguing that the phrase “boards and commissions” gave the public no meaningful notice that Mayor Paul Leon intended to strip him of his seats on the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, Omnitrans and the Ontario International Airport Authority Board of Commissioners and other public agencies.
“Nothing in board and commission appointments informs the public that the mayor intends to remove an incumbent from three major agencies,” Wapner said.
Leon framed the action as a temporary measure to protect institutional focus, not a judgment of guilt.
“It’s not about rushing to judgment. It’s about operational focus,” Leon said, adding that he had received “countless calls from other elected officials in the region” urging Wapner’s removal. The mayor emphasized that the city is “fully cooperating with the FBI and federal authorities” and that the federal warrants remain sealed.
City Attorney Ruben Duran clarified during the meeting that City Hall itself was not served with a search warrant and no city offices or records were searched. Wapner, for his part, stated for the record that he has “never been named a suspect, a subject, a target of any investigation” and that subpoenas served to the airport and the city don’t reference him by name.
Wapner did confirm that his house was searched July 28 but said he did not know why FBI agents were there or if they had found anything.
The council voted to place the removal item on the Aug. 18 agenda after a failed motion from Wapner to continue the matter to a meeting with more advance notice.
Councilwoman Debra Porada supported the mayor’s call for Wapner to lose his seats, stating that board assignments “are not personal entitlements” and that the airport “is one of the most important economic assets of this region.”
Councilman Jim W. Bowman agreed, saying that “anytime there’s a cloud that’s serious, that’s put upon trust, it’s important to take a pause.”
Macias, who opposed the motion, argued that “the only reason why they want to remove” Wapner from the board assignments “is because the FBI is involved.”
Beyond the Wapner controversy, the meeting surfaced broad demands for governance reform. One public speaker, the president of Fair Ontario, introduced what he called the Ontario Public Integrity and Right to Know Act, a proposal that would require campaign finance records, lobbying disclosures, ethics filings, contracts and public land transactions to be posted on the city website. The speaker said the act should apply to the mayor, city council, elected city clerk, city treasurer, appointed commissioners, senior staff and city representatives on outside boards.
Multiple speakers called for campaign contribution limits and term limits. An executive director of a regional immigrant justice organization submitted a petition signed by more than 100 Ontario residents requesting both reforms.
Leon expressed support, saying it was “absolutely time to bring term limits, contribution limits, and all of the things that we need to have to make this city a better city for everybody.”
No formal action was taken on any reform proposal Tuesday.
Hagman, the District 4 county supervisor who is a member of the Ontario International Airport Authority, did not respond to a request for comment.
”While I do not believe I have done anything that warrants modifying my role as a public servant, I recognize that the ongoing attention surrounding me has the potential to distract from the important work of the county and the organizations I have been privileged to serve,” Hagman wrote in a July 30 letter to Dawn Rowe, who chairs the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, and obtained by the Southern California News Group. “For that reason, I am planning to temporarily reduce my involvement in the Boards, Committees, and Commissions to which I have been appointed while focusing on the duties I was elected by the voters to perform as a member of the Board of Supervisors.”
The FBI’s Los Angeles office did not respond, either, and has not made any public announcements about the investigation.
The AI platform Civilio assisted this report.
