Yet again, the Brentwood City Council is set to discuss and review its city council and administrative policy on ethics and conduct. The council will again provide direction to staff.
Councilwoman Jovita Mendoza has advocated for an updated ethics and conduct policy –including calling for censure of former vice mayor Johnny Rodriquez while creating a work-around of bringing items to the council agenda by circumventing the mayor. In April, Mendoza called for possible “policy violations” against councilmember Tony Oerlemans—in which the council voted to give itself a warning as a whole.
However, at the August 22 meeting, Planning Commissioner Dirk Zeigler called for the council to take action against Mendoza.
At the Aug 22, Dirk Zeigler spoke during public comments regarding actions on social media by Mendoza. He alleges that she was making slanderous comments about him and called for her behavior not being consistent with the cities ethics and conduct policy.
“I find councilmember Mendoza’s actions deeply offensive and troubling. They not only casts not only a shadow over the reputation of our city but also erode the fundamental principles of transparency, respect, responsible governance that our community holds dear,” stated Zeigler who added Mendoza continued to not only bully residents, but now planning commissioners. “I request the city of Brentwood and council take immediate action to issue and contemplate imposing sanctions on councilmember Mendoza in response to her actions and comments.”
According to the staff report, utilizing an outside legal counsel who is an expert in review of enforceability of State and Federal law violations could cost the city approximately $25,000.
Update the City of Brentwood Ethics & Conduct Policy:
- Benchmark other cities ethic and conduct policies, include copies of the policies in a future staff report and highlight best practices
- Benchmark policies from Cities that might have recently updated their policy or dealt with recent violations
- Review City Council option to discuss possible violations of State & Federal Law during regular council meetings and to refer to the appropriate legal agencies
- Specifically consider Council options for possible Brown Act Violations
- Once information is collected as mentioned above, hold a workshop for Council and Public discussion to recommend updated Council Ethics & Conduct Policy
According to the staff report, the city staff contacted, JoAnne Speers of S2, Ethics Strategies, an expert on ethics issues and policies. Ms. Speers provided a broad review of the Policy, and her thoughts are included in the attached letter. Ms. Speers did not charge the City for her review. She stated that the Policy “benchmarks well” and recommended four areas to consider:
- Length and Relevance: “Extensiveness” (or length) can be a double-edged sword. Longer documents—particularly those with less relevant information– are more difficult for busy elected officials to keep top of mind.
- Terminology: The code has language that may be ambiguous or overly broad.
- Process: To be maximally effective, it can be helpful for those whose conduct is to be guided by the document to have the opportunity for input into its content. A good practice is to give Councilmembers the opportunity to review, revise and refine ethics codes periodically.
- Implementation: Most of the time, implementation is a staff function. This is less so with policies that pertain to the Council’s values and behaviors, since Councilmembers in their words and actions are the policy’s implementers. There are some additional practices the Council can consider in enhancing its implementation processes.
Supporting Documents
Previous Stories
- June 27, 2023 – Planning Commissioner Dirk Ziegler called for action against councilwoman Jovita Mendoz
- May 24, 2023 – Brentwood City Council Votes to Give Itself a Warning on Policy Violations
- May 10, 2023 – Request Made to Censure Brentwood City Councilmember
- Feb 13, 2023 – Brentwood Councilwoman Shoots Back at “Poor Losers” and Unprofessional Bullies
- May 16, 2023 – Brentwood City Council Votes to Sanction Vice Mayor in Split Vote
- May 15, 2023 – Brentwood Vice Mayor Accused of Sharing Closed Session Information
- Oct 12, 2022 – Brentwood City Council Continues to Tackle Ethics and Conduct Policy
- Sept. 29, 2022 – Brentwood City Council Seeks to Amend Policy to Circumvent Mayor in “Censure” Process
- Sept. 19, 2022 – Brentwood Councilmember Calls to Censure Vice Mayor Johnny Rodriquez
