The Daly City City Council slammed its colleague, Councilmember Pamela DiGiovanni, in a contentious meeting Monday night, saying that she has continued to act inappropriately toward city staff after she was censured last year for alleged bullying.
“Pam needs to take accountability,” said Vice Mayor Teresa Proano in a heated discussion. “It’s abuse that needs to stop.”
At the uncomfortable, tense meeting Monday night, the council was tasked with determining if DiGiovanni is in compliance with the conditions and expectations handed down to her after her censure in October 2025.
“We’re here to talk about things that have happened that is wrong,” Proano said. “Pam needs to take responsibility on her actions.”
The turmoil began when in January 2024, the council formally admonished DiGiovanni after the release of an independent investigative report, which contained 21 accusations from interviews with city employees regarding abuse, harassment and bullying.
The report followed a 2022 allegation of assault from Councilmember Juslyn Manalo, accusing DiGiovanni of slamming a door on her back. The case went to court but was dismissed, according to court documents.
The 2024 report sustained 18 of the 21 accusations, alleging that DiGiovanni treated city staff unprofessionally and in a hostile manner, used city vehicles for personal purposes in violation of city policy, and improperly demanded police to remove patrols at city events.
DiGiovanni was warned that if the behavior continued, the city would proceed with a censure.
“All the council asked her to do was say she was sorry,” Proano said.
‘Power got to her’
Following the admonishment, the city began receiving additional complaints accusing DiGiovanni of making culturally insensitive remarks toward staff during city events, directing an off-duty city staffer to help her with a personal dispute, and getting into a public verbal confrontation with another council member at a school event.
“Power got to her, and abuse became her way of governing,” Manalo said at Monday’s meeting.
In October 2025, DiGiovanni was censured and barred from using city vehicles and sitting on any council or regional committee. She also received a list of requirements to follow, including a mandated training on anger management and professional conduct.
Nearly one year later, city officials say that DiGiovanni has not completed the training and thus has not satisfied the conditions for reinstatement to committees. City staff also said they have continued to receive reports of intimidating behavior.
Several members of the audience held up signs reading “Pam Resign!” and “Council Act Now.”
Daly City Recreation Commission chair Fernando Montanes gave a lengthy speech during public comment on behalf of several members of the public.
“You have bullied, harassed, and attempted to intimidate and exclude community members, staff, and your colleagues,” Montanes said to DiGiovanni. “This issue has been going on for years, so many people have come forward with the same pattern of misbehavior and misconduct.”
Others in the audience spoke out in defense of DiGiovanni, saying they’ve had positive interactions with her in the past.
“You have bullied, harassed, and attempted to intimidate and exclude community members, staff, and your colleagues. This issue has been going on for years, so many people have come forward with the same pattern of misbehavior and misconduct.”
Fernando Montane, Daly City Recreation Commission chair
“When Pamela is available, she hangs around with me and my Filipino friends at Serramonte mall,” said Grace David, DiGovanni’s dance teacher. “I felt the need to defend Pamela, because what I’ve witnessed is that she’s the one getting bullied, they turn the truth around and say she’s the bully.”
Proano discussed several instances in which she had hostile interactions with DiGiovanni. She said that just a few weeks ago, DiGiovanni allegedly ripped a microphone from her hand at an event. She also said that DiGiovanni accosted her at a school event.
DiGiovanni calls investigation ‘witch hunt’
Councilmember Rod Daus-Magbual also ripped into DiGiovanni, urging her to take accountability.
He discussed an instance outlined in the investigative report where DiGiovanni allegedly borrowed $500 from someone for a work tablet for her first City Council meeting in 2018. The person kept coming back to City Hall to ask for repayment, but DiGiovanni allegedly repeatedly refused until eventually throwing a crumpled-up wad of $200 on a counter in the city clerk’s office.
DiGiovanni sat throughout the discussion, shaking her head and refusing to look her colleagues in the eye.
When Mayor Glenn Sylvester gave her the floor, she denied all the allegations and said that there is a lot of information being left out that would clear her of any wrongdoing.
She said that she has not completed the anger management training because of stress, recovering from an illness, and that it would be “an admission of guilt.”
She called the investigation a “witch hunt” and said that Monday’s meeting to assess her compliance with the censure conditions was “politically driven” since she is running for reelection this November.
“I know my heart,” DiGiovanni said. “There’s a lot of parts left out, but that’ll be substantiated going forward in the future, and it will be all revealed.”
Sylvester said that although he always gives the benefit of the doubt, the numerous allegations against DiGiovanni coming from city staff and commissioners are “a definite problem.”
After some back and forth, the council approved a resolution clarifying that DiGiovanni has not met the conditions of the censure. Everyone except DiGiovanni agreed.
“Honestly, this is a waste of time, money, energy spent,” Daus-Magbual said. “We should be talking about something else, but we’ve got to set precedents here because this has never happened in Daly City Council.”
