By Roger Phillips
The Record (Recordnet.com)
STOCKTON - Mayor Anthony Silva was smacked with the bulk of the criticism in a searing 17-page report released Monday afternoon by the San Joaquin County grand jury, but the Stockton City Council was not immune from the scolding.
The report delves into the council's recruitment process last year during the search to replace retiring City Manager Bob Deis, as well as Silva's well-publicized November leak of the top candidate's identity before a deal was done.
Silva supported David Garcia for the job, but the Coachella Valley city manager dropped his candidacy after the leak, and the Stockton position ultimately went to Kurt Wilson, the interim replacement after Deis retired. In December, the City Council admonished Silva for his leak.
"The release of confidential information by the Mayor potentially exposed the city to substantial financial liability, subjected the City to ridicule and lowered public confidence in the city's legislative body," the grand jury report said.
On Monday, Silva declined a request to answer questions about the report, instead sending a text message.
"I don't agree with everything in the report as it is not 100% accurate; however I will respect the findings of the Grand Jury and move forward with restoring our City," Silva wrote. "I thank the men and women of the Grand Jury for volunteering their time.
"Sometimes everything doesn't work out the way we plan; but I am very pleased with our current City Manager Kurt Wilson and Stocktons future looks bright!"
The grand jury also criticized Silva for inadequate supervision and training of "seven to eight" volunteers working for him at City Hall. The report said the lack of supervision and training of volunteers, as well as their access to City Hall computers, created the potential for breaches of confidentiality and attorney-client privilege.
"The Grand Jury could not determine if the volunteers have access to confidential e-mails or attorney-client files," the report said. "The Mayor was unable to name his volunteers and did not provide those names to the Grand Jury when requested to do so.
"A Mayor's volunteer had access to the draft press release being prepared for possible release on November 5, 2013. This draft had confidential information on the finalist's name and employment terms based on closed session documents."
City Hall released a statement Monday in response to the grand jury report but otherwise was silent.
"The premature release of identifying information during recruitment can cause consequences to a candidate not selected by damaging their relationship with their current employer," the statement said. "The City Council, City officials and City employees take issues related to confidentiality very seriously.
"In October, the Council Legislation/Environmental Committee immediately began the process of strengthening the current policies and adopting reforms to address the disclosure of Closed Session information, including penalties for the release of confidential information. These reforms were adopted by the full Council in December."
The report specifically says leaders from Stockton's fire and police unions knew who the top candidates for the city manager position were weeks before the information should have been public. Kathryn Nance, who heads the police union, agreed with the grand jury's finding.
"All members of the council knew and were aware that the names of the city manager candidates were known by a number of members of the public weeks in advance of the Mayor's disclosure," Nance wrote in an email. "Yet none had taken any action, either in open or closed session to address this concern or take steps to address the disclosure."
The grand jury report said all council members were aware top candidates' names had prematurely become public, but none did anything about it.
"It's a dilemma you always deal with when things are leaked from closed session," Councilwoman Kathy Miller said Monday afternoon. "There are multiple people in the room. Unless you actually witness someone leaking, it's very difficult to do anything about it."
Councilwoman Dyane Burgos Medina said she and other council members were late to realize the names of leading city manager candidates were floating around publicly.
"By the time we realized what was going on the information was being reported on the news," Burgos Medina said.
The other four council members did not return phone messages.
The grand jury concluded its report with a strongly worded statement that included two bold-faced sentences and an exclamation point. The conclusion deals with confidentiality breaches and a city manager recruitment process it says was "hijacked" by the council.
"Details of closed session labor negotiations are known by employee unions before the next negotiating session," the report says. "Details of sensitive financial negotiations mysteriously are known by the public and the media.
"The entire City Council needs to stop pointing fingers and start showing the public that it is serious about confidentiality requirements! ... Any action at this point rests solely with the citizens of the City of Stockton. This is not an issue that can be solved through a legal process, it is a political process. How much more of these detrimental activities will the citizens of Stockton tolerate?"
Contact reporter Roger Phillips at (209) 546-8299 or rphillips@recordnet.com. Follow him at www.recordnet.com/phillipsblog and on Twitter @rphillipsblog.
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