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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7649RESOLUTION NO. 7649 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA, TO FORMALLY CENSURE MAYOR SHARON KWAN WHEREAS, a censure is formal resolution of a City Council or other governing body, reprimanding a person, normally one of its own members, for specified conduct; and WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court, in the case of Houston Community College System v. Wilson (2022) 595 U.S. 468, held that a censure is a form of constitutionally -protected speech that a deliberative body may lawfully utilize to reprimand the conduct of one of its members; and WHEREAS, the City Council expects all its members, including the Mayor, to treat colleagues, staff, and the public with respect and civility; base public statements on facts and reasonably accurate and accessible information; abide by the requirements of the Brown Act and the City's rules of procedure; work collaboratively and in good faith with staff and Council colleagues; and uphold the dignity of the office to which they were elected; and WHEREAS, the powers of the City Council are in part as delineated by the City Charter, which provides at Section 405 that all powers of the City shall be vested in the Council except as otherwise provided in the City Charter; and 1 WHEREAS, pursuant to said authority, and elsewhere under California law and the City's governing documents, the City Council is empowered to discipline its officers and members, including the act of censure, which may include discipline which will constitute a disability under the City Charter; and WHEREAS, Section 404 of the City Charter provides that the Mayor Pro Tempore shall perform the duties of the Mayor during the Mayor's absence or disability; and WHEREAS, the Mayor has been provided with notice and with information related to the alleged conduct giving rise to a formal censure; and WHEREAS, at a special meeting held on August 26, 2025, the City Council received information related to conduct attributable to the Mayor and provided the opportunity to receive testimony and information to rebut the allegations; and WHEREAS, based on the findings set forth in this Resolution and all information in the record of the City Council's proceedings, the City Council determines that a formal censure of the Mayor is appropriate. NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY FIND, DETERMINE, AND RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The City Council finds that the Recitals set forth above are true and correct and incorporates the Recitals into its action. 2 SECTION 2. The City Council finds that, on information received during the proceedings and all other relevant information, Mayor Kwan engaged in the conduct set forth in Exhibit 'W', which is incorporated herein and which supports the City Council's imposition of a formal censure. SECTION 3. The City Council hereby formally censures Mayor Sharon Kwan as a result of the conduct described above. SECTION 4. As a consequence of this formal censure, the City Council imposes the following actions while Mayor Kwan serves in the office of Mayor: (i) Mayor Kwan is hereby relieved of her duties to conduct City Council meetings, and shall not preside over City Council meetings for the balance of her term as Mayor, and said act of being relieved of her duties shall be deemed a disability of the Mayor; and (ii) The Mayor is relieved of her assignments to serve on City Committees and as the City's representative on outside agency boards, except where such boards require that the City's representative be the Mayor as mandated by law; and (iii) Mayor Kwan shall not serve as the City's designated representative to speak on behalf of the City Council at outside events or to outside organizations where the City is to provide a designated representative, however nothing provided herein shall disable the Mayor from any 3 public address which is pursuant to an invitation by the party or organization specifically requesting Mayor Sharon Kwan to address that party or organization. If an unspecified speaking engagement or request is made to the City for a public address, then the Mayor Pro Tempore shall act in place of the Mayor, as a result of the Mayor's disability; and (iv) Mayor Kwan shall continue to be identified in the official records of the City as the Mayor for the balance of her current term. SECTION 5. If any portion of this resolution is found to be invalid or unenforceable, such provisions shall be deemed severed and the remainder of the resolution shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 6. This Resolution is effective upon its adoption by the City Council. SECTION 7. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution. SECTION 8. Enforcement of the consequences prescribed in Section 4., items (i), (ii), (iii) of this Resolution, is hereby stayed. The stay shall be in place until a Councilmember makes a request for the stay to be lifted, the matter is added to the agenda of the next City Council meeting, and is approved by a simple majority of the City Council. The stay may be lifted if Mayor Kwan's future conduct falls within the scope of the findings listed in Exhibit "A" or is found to be inconsistent with the CI adopted rules of procedure and decorum specified in Resolution No. 7652, passed and approved on September 2, 2025. Passed, approved, and adopted this 2nd day of September, 2025. ATTEST. - City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM* Michael J. Maurer City Attorney 5 Mayor of the City of Arcadia STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES) SS: CITY OF ARCADIA ) I, LINDA RODRIGUEZ, City Clerk of the City of Arcadia, hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution No. 7649 was passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Arcadia, signed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk at a regular meeting of said Council held on the 2nd day of September, 2025 and that said Resolution was adopted by the following vote, to wit: AYES: Cao, Cheng, Fu, and Wang NOES: None ABSTAIN: Kwan RI City Clerk of the City of Arcadia EXHIBIT 'W' FINDINGS AND SUPPORT FOR CENSURE OF MAYOR SHARON KWAN The following conduct supports the City Council's censure: 1. Weaponizing and exploiting children, induced to give false and uninformed statements for political purposes of embarrassing the City, and Councilmembers, and to escape responsibility through the use of shills and strawmen. Use of these planted audience members subverts the democratic process, by taking valuable council and staff time, and cheapening public discourse, which discourages public participation. 2. Demeaning the military service of veterans by stating she has done more for veterans by asserting she made unsubstantiated charitable contributions, and arguing that these were more valuable than respect and appreciation. Additionally, Mayor Kwan bestowed a commendation on a high school student for ten minutes of a City Council presentation for "bravery and courage," while at the same meeting demeaning a ten-year Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran. This disrespect for men and women in uniform, past and present, reflects negatively on the City and is inapposite to the values of Arcadia and its public officials. 3. Knowingly falsely alleging financial impropriety by claiming there is concealment of the City's true finances and asserting that City staff is 7 misrepresenting financial information to the City Council and public, and claims that the City staff is lying to the public, for the political purpose of undermining public confidence in City staff and the Mayor's colleagues. Additionally, the Mayor has made patentlyfalse and baseless allegations that the City's finances are headed for disaster by the City Council's conduct, or that reserves are being depleted, all without evidence, and despite being corrected by City staff with statistical evidence and City records. The Mayor has accused the City Manager and accounting staff of fraud and accounting manipulation solely because due to her own lack of diligence, and failed to obtain an accounting record which was repeatedly emailed to Mayor Kwan. Use of these shadowy and baseless allegations only serves to undermine public respect and trust for the City, its workers and representatives. 4. Disparaging first responders, and council colleagues by accusing them of impropriety and corruption because labor organizations chose not to support her. These unfair and baseless allegations contribute to loss of public trust in our law enforcement and public safety agencies, and cause meaningless conflict based on false statements made for political gain. 5. Making unfounded accusations of sexism against Councilmembers and staff whenever disagreements arise to deflect argument against her ill-conceived and unfounded positions on substantive issues. This conduct is a transparent attempt to deflect responsibility for the Mayor's improvident statements. 6. Discouraging public participation by mocking and belittling constituents, including elderly residents, by implying their incompetence and deafness, simply because they were politically adversarial to her or expressed a conflicting viewpoint, attempting to intimidate opposing viewpoints and to squelch dissent. 7. Misusing council procedures and engaging in "ambush techniques" by failing to place items on the Council agenda in order to surprise her fellow Councilmembers and city staff and failing to consult department heads before raising issues that could have been resolved administratively, for the purpose of embarrassing unprepared City staff members and undermining public confidence in these officials and staffers. The Mayor has also misstated historical Council records to attempt to infer that the city staff and Council has been malfeasant. 8. Engaging in un-collegial behavior, unprofessional temperament, and unfounded accusations against Councilmembers simply because other Councilmembers expressed a differing viewpoint. This behavior subverts the public decision -making process. By deflecting the argument and attempting to silence dissent and statements of other Councilmembers to avoid being demonstrated wrong, the Mayor seeks to use intimidation, strong arm tactics, and fearmongering in place of reasoned decision making. Q