On Tuesday, the Richmond City Council punted an emergency item request to place a censure on Mayor Eduardo Martinez relating to antisemitic conduct.
The social media posts made by Martinez was in relation to the Israel-Gaza conflict and the Bondi Beach attack. The postings drew an open letter response by the JCRC Bay Area calling for Martinez to resign. There was also a “unity letter” issued by nearly 80 Bay Area elected officials, including 40 from Contra Costa County.
Meanwhile, Richmond City Councilmember Jamelia Brown called for the mayor to resign while Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda called for a censure. Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor John Gioia called the posts “deeply offensive, disrespectful, antisemitic and unacceptable” – he called for a public apology and urged the city council to censure.
According to the staff report, Councilmembers have received thousands of emails requesting formal removal or impeachment against Mayor Martinez.
The staff report added:
In December 2025, following a violent antisemitic attack, in Bondi Beach, Australia, targeting a Jewish religious celebration, in which there were 15 victims, the youngest, a 10-year-old and the oldest an 87-year old Holocaust survivor were killed, Mayor Eduardo Martinez shared and amplified social media content that advanced conspiracy theories and generalized claims attributing responsibility for antisemitism and violence against Jews.
The content shared by the Mayor echoed widely recognized antisemitic tropes, including collective blame and conspiracy narratives, and failed to distinguish between the actions of a government and Jewish people as a group.
The 2024, antisemitic incidents reached record highs across the United States. Locally, a survey conducted found that 42% of Bay Area Jews reported witnessing or experiencing antisemitism in the past year. Statewide, anti-Jewish hate crimes rose by 53% in 2023, according to the California Department of Justice. The Mayor’s messaging further compromises safety of the Jewish community in Richmond and in the greater Bay Area.
The dissemination of such content by the Mayor of Richmond, in the aftermath of a deadly antisemitic attack, caused substantial harm, fear, and distress within the Jewish community and undermined public confidence in the City’s commitment to protecting marginalized communities.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Mayor Martinez has amplified antisemitic rhetoric in his LinkedIn account. He has promoted false-flag conspiracy theories to tacitly supporting the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.
Jewish community organizations, civil rights groups, faith leaders, and residents have unequivocally identified the Mayor’s actions as antisemitic in effect and have stated that such rhetoric contributes to an unsafe and hostile environment for Jewish residents.
Over 80 elected officials and community leaders from Contra Costa County and the larger Bay Area have called for Mayor Martinez to resign, should he be unwilling or unable to take concrete steps to repair the harm and restore trust, as listed below.
Councilmembers have received thousands of emails calling for the Mayor to resign, some, in part to “the Richmond community does not feel safe or secure under Mayor Martinez’s leadership”
During Tuesdays council meeting, Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda brought forward the proposed censure of Martinez and presented the item – highlighting why it’s an emergency item, see staff report.
“Waiting until the next meeting will continue to cause harm to our community and many of our Richmond residents feel unsafe about the mayors’ actions, plus we have a lot of people here to speak on the item potentially,” stated Zepeda.
The item was voted down in a 2-5 vote but could return at a future meeting. How they voted:
- Mayor Eduardo Martinez – no
- Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda – Yes
- Councilmember Soheila Bana – No
- Councilmember Jamelia Brown – Yes
- Councilmember Claudia Jimenez – No
- Councilmember Doria Robinson – No
- Councilmember Sue Wilson – No
To Place the Censure on the Agenda or Not – Council Discussion
Councilmember Sue Wilson attempted to explain the standard for placing “last minute” items on an agenda and the Brown Act. She believed it didn’t rise to the standard of an emergency item while stating she didn’t believe there would be harm coming from waiting two-weeks. She said she would vote no.
“While I want to acknowledge there is a lot of anger and frustration on every side of this issue, I do think its really important that we properly agendize council items. I have not read this censure proposal,” stated Wilson while stating it had been circulating in the community and people were telling her about it. “I have never seen it before, to ask me right now to make a decision on it I think is bad public policy.”
Councilmember Claudia Jimenez acknowledged there was harm in the community for many reasons which doesn’t get to the point of being placed on an agenda. She was in favor of the item coming before the council under proper rules. She suggested the public could speak during open forum. While admitting it’s a complicated issue, she said it didn’t meet the standards of an emergency item. She said she would vote no on placing it on the agenda and no on a potential censure.
Councilmember Jamelia Brown said when they talk about emergency items, its something they didn’t see coming and they didn’t anticipate this item.
“I think if you have a pulse and you’re in the City of Richmond, then you know what’s transpired, you know what is going on,” stated Brown. “To say you didn’t have an opportunity to read a resolution does not negate the fact that we have a responsibility as a council to answer to the community. This resolution is not about assigning intent or punishment, but about acknowledging the harm, that there is a consensus on the council that harm was done. This resolution is about restabilizing our community, whichever side you are on. It’s about restabilizing the City of Richmond, being one Richmond. Its about fulfilling our responsibility as a council. We don’t get to escape and say we didn’t have time to read or we don’t want to take out time to the resolution. It’s not really dense. It’s a quick read. Again, I think we have a responsibility to answer to the public. We can’t say that justice can wait for people who have expressed harm and expressed feeling unprotected in our community and as the citing government we don’t take heed to that or we don’t rise it to the level of seriousness so while it may not impact you directly, it impacts someone. And when someone is impacted, we can’t tell them how to feel, how to not feel offended. Or you need to wait to have a resolve.”
Brown said she would be voting yes on the resolution and had called for the mayor to resign but said the censorship was the least the council could do – noting the council could put it off but harm doesn’t go away when you impact someone or the community.
Vice Mayor Zepeda argued the item did meet the standard for an emergency item noting the council had heard other items that met lesser of a threshold – noting they thought it was important for the community.
“We are not censuring the mayor from speaking; this is actually trying to heal the community. Some of the actions, he has already started doing from what I understand,” stated Zepeda. “He already started talking to the Rabbi, he is already started looking into how to start healing. So, a lot of that is already in there, we just want to solidify it. As a council, this is on us.”
He said the item could return on January 20th, everyone would have to come back again, but the council would be continuing to not help heal for another two weeks but could start the healing as early as today.
Councilmember Doria Robinson called the comments by the mayor “wrong and they were absolutely antisemitic and they were disappointing” and caused harm and made people feel unsafe. She called the posts “wrong” and that she has expressed this to the mayor.
Robinson called the resolution going beyond what she stated as the resolution calls for the mayor not doing his job which included:
- Not participating in regional committees (for one year)
- Taking part of his salary and doing other things with it
- Has language that criticizes political speech
“This to me needs more time,” said Robinson. “I think we do need to say and send a clear message about what those reposts did. I don’t think I would be overstepping to say that I think the mayor understands this. I think this needs more time and we need to do it right so I will be voting no on this tonight.”
Councilmember Soheila Bana said she condemned hateful language and actions in all forms including antisemitism and islamophobia.
“I stand firmly against hate and intimidation directed at any community. What the mayor said on LinkedIn was hurtful and deeply troubling to many in our Jewish community. The fear, pain and distress expressed by any community targeted by hate must be taken seriously,” stated Bana. “As a councilmember, my responsibility is to focus on the safety, dignity and well being of all Richmond residents and work towards solutions that help heal our community rather than deepen wounds because in unity we rise.”
Mayor Martinez stated he was not going to speak to the item but shared his concerns over process – suggesting Vice Mayor Zepeda and Councilmember Brown came to his office in an attempt to discuss the item and potentially make changes to the item. Martinez explained he told the two he had already spoken with another councilmember on the item but he kept insisting (potential Brown Act Violation).
“I had to become a broken record saying I’ve talked to another councilmember, I’ve talked to another councilmember,” shared Martinez. “So, I don’t think process is being taken seriously here. It’s amazing to me that he would come to me at the last minute to talk about changes and he would not talk to me at the very beginning to find out what I thought, what I did, what we could do together to move forward. None of the people who put this on had any conversations with me about that. Instead, they chose to do something which they say is not punitive, but it is punitive. Because of the lack of respect, lack of rule of law, I will have to vote no.”
After a roll call vote, the item failed on a 2-5 vote.
“I realize that this is a vote for the rule of law, and that it will come back properly agendized,” stated Martinez.
Public Comments
There were more than 125 public comments, including at least 45 online which were both in support and against a censure and resignation of Mayor Eduardo Martinez.
Censure Resolution: Click Here
Meeting Video – Click Here
Previous
- Dec 23, 2025 – Unity Letter in Response to Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez’s Antisemitic and Hateful Rhetoric
- Dec 19, 2025 – More Calls for Richmond Mayor to Resign After Antisemitic Posts
- Dec 19, 2025 – Open Letter: Antisemitic Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez Must Resign
