Last Updated on May 14, 2024 by BVN
Hardy Brown, Sr.
Allow me to give you my opinion of this bogus censure from two flawed investigations on San Bernardino Councilmember Kim Calvin and the Black Community.
How did San Bernardino’s mayor and council get to this bogus 4-3 vote to censure Councilmember Calvin, alleging she leaked information of Closed Session meetings, while ignoring three others who are named in city manager candidate Steve Carrigan’s $2 million claim filed against the city?
The First Investigation: The city of San Bernardino contracted with the Laguna Niguel-based JL Group, LLC. From what I can see, this law group has no Blacks as partners or on staff. This group was hired with our taxpayer’s money to do the first Personnel Investigation Report (hit piece) on Councilmember Calvin that was released by the mayor and council back in December 2023 just before the March 2024 election.
This report was for violating a rule of interacting with staff, which is something Councilmember Ted Sanchez said he does regularly when he talks with police officers.
One of the partners in JL Group, not that it should matter, is a former police officer. I list his “police service” because Carolyn Tillman, a former candidate for city council, had mentioned the “underbelly” of the San Bernardino Police Officers Association in her comments at a prior council meeting and there might be a connection.
Councilmember Sanchez is quoted in the hit piece in The Sun on December 7, 2023 as saying, “The report speaks for itself and I hope the voters of San Bernardino take this seriously.” This makes it a political hit piece paid with public funds, in my opinion.
Like I mentioned earlier, the first, personnel investigation report (hit piece) on Calvin came from an “UNNAMED FORMER EMPLOYEE” alleging that Calvin created an unfavorable work atmosphere, when Calvin requested information from him, without going through the city manager.
To my knowledge the unnamed former employee filed this complaint after leaving the city and it has never been revealed to the public or Councilmember Calvin. The report was released to the public with a 5-0 vote in Closed Session when Councilmembers Calvin and Ben Reynoso were absent, according to a press release posted on December 7, 2023. That announcement came after the council meeting on December 6, 2023, with a Closed Session agenda item on page 7, which states: CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL SIGNIFICANT EXPOSURE TO LITIGATION PURSUANT TO GOV. CODE 54956.9 (D)(2)(TWO CASES)
According to the Fowler v. City of Lafayette Case of California, as explained by the law firm Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud, Romo (AALRR) on 3/9/2020, where they wrote: “Pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (“Brown Act”), local agencies may meet in closed session to “confer with, or receive advice from, its legal counsel regarding pending litigation when discussion in open session concerning those matters would prejudice the position of the local agency in the litigation.” (Government Code § 54956.9(a).)
Litigation is considered pending when a “point has been reached where, in the opinion of the legislative body of the local agency on the advice of its legal counsel, based on existing facts and circumstances, there is a significant exposure to litigation against the local agency.” (Government Code § 54956.9(d)(2).).” This is the same Gov. Code listed on the council meeting agenda.
AALRR goes on to say: “We understand that many public agencies, when dealing with closed session agenda items for threatened or pending litigation, simply list the number of cases pending and do not provide any additional information. The Fowler decision rejected this practice,” end of quote.
Based on AALRR’s analysis of the Fowler Case, San Bernardino City Council might have violated the Brown Act when they listed the issue as “two cases” without naming the potential cases, on the agenda, then discussing the personnel issue concerning Councilmember Calvin without her and Councilmember Reynoso being present, then voting 5-0 to make the report public. The very next day, a summary of the report was posted on December 7, 2023 and appeared as a headline story in The Sun with a quote from Councilmember Ted Sanchez.
This action by the council was part of a scheme to help defeat Calvin on election day in March 2024 and malign and disenfranchise the Black citizens of San Bernardino’s 6th Ward.
Some of the questions I have are: Was Calvin given a copy of the complaint? Was there an explanation of the details of the complaint? Was she told who filed the complaint? Was she given her Due Process? I believe the investigator should have produced a more detailed explanation in the report or the full report should be released, instead of an executive summary.
Stay tuned for more on the second investigation next week.