A censure hearing will move forward regarding allegations against Stockton City Councilmember Michele Padilla, who allegedly used taxpayer funds to host an event where candidates for different races in the November election took the stage.
At a Stockton City Council meeting Tuesday, no councilmembers stopped the advancement of a censure meeting against Padilla, therefore moving the process to the next step — the forming of an ad hoc committee consisting of the mayor and some councilmembers.
Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln selected Councilmembers Dan Wright and Susan Lenz to join him on the committee to investigate the allegations.
Earlier this month, Councilmembers Michael Blower and Brando Villapudua submitted a request to the interim city clerk to initiate a censure hearing against Padilla.
Blower and Villapudua alleged that Padilla had used over $10,000 of council discretionary funds to host an event where candidates running for office in the 2024 November general election were able to go on stage and give political speeches.
They said Padilla was in violation of council policy that deals with mayor and councilmember discretionary funding.
“We believe that Councilmember Padilla specifically violated policy 5.10.010 section 2. B when she used council discretionary funds to host an event that was political in nature on Saturday, July 20, 2024, at Michael Faklis Park,” the letter said.
Did rally violate the rules?
According to the discretionary funding policy, the events held must have a community benefit, cannot be religious or political in nature, and can’t be of personal benefit.
In photos and videos obtained by Bay City News, Padilla could be seen wearing a “Michele Padilla city council” shirt while four candidates running for office stood beside her on stage.
On the stage was longtime educator Christina Fugazi, who is running for Stockton mayor, Mario Enriquez and Jason Lee, who are vying to represent District 4 and District 6 on the Stockton City Council, respectively, and Mario Gardea, who is running for San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.
“All of us decided to run for City Council because like you we just got tired of hearing excuse after excuse after excuse,” Lee told the audience. “It takes four votes to make things happen, count along with me one, two, three, four and all of us are aligned on the big-bucket vision of the full potential of this city.”
“(T)he fact is that this was not a political event whatsoever. There was no intention whatsoever. There was no program, there was no agenda. The candidates attended, not even knowing I was going to call them up on stage.” Councilmember Michele Padilla
According to the city, censure carries no fine or suspension of the rights of the councilmember as an elected official, but a censure is a punitive action that serves as a punishment for wrongdoing.
Community members who said they considered Padilla as a friend spoke at the meeting Tuesday to ask the council to not censure her, alleging that the councilwoman had no ill intent when bringing up the speakers at the event.
“I’ve been friends with Councilwoman Padilla for over 40 years. In that time, I’ve never seen her do anything wrong with intent to break the rules,” a community member said. “It’s obvious Councilmember Padilla is being singled out and attacked by our fellow council members.”
However, others said that they believed Padilla did not have a lapse in judgment and intentionally gave candidates the opportunity to speak.
Some said that videos showing the event portrayed exactly what took place and said the actions were definitely a violation of council policy.
Considering the evidence
The formed committee will investigate the claims against Padilla.
The committee will later bring their findings back to the full council and if the City Council determines that the claims against Padilla were valid, a date will be set for a public hearing.
Padilla was given an opportunity to speak following public comment about her potential censure.
“Yes, there were a ton of residents there,” Padilla said. “Community partners, distinguished guests. I’m sorry, I’m friends with all electeds, many of you, and all of you that I’m proud to call you friends.”
She alleged that what people didn’t hear from the videos of the events was her introducing the candidates as her friends.
“But, the fact is that this was not a political event whatsoever. There was no intention whatsoever. There was no program, there was no agenda,” Padilla said. “The candidates attended, not even knowing I was going to call them up on stage.”
Victoria Franco is a reporter based in Stockton covering San Joaquin County for Bay City News Foundation and its nonprofit news site Local News Matters. She is a Report for America corps member.
