The Cypress City Council voted unanimously to “admonish” Mayor Scott Minikus for his attack of two Council members during their Jan. 10 meeting.
Because of the Redistricting Settlement Agreement, which was approved Jan. 10, the Cypress Council has been meeting weekly to fulfill public hearings required by the settlement (see related article).
During that meeting, Minikus attempted to frame Council members David Burke and Frances Marquez, both Democrats, as being somehow “complicit” with the plaintiffs suing the city to transition to by-district elections.
During the Council’s Jan. 17 public hearing/meeting, Minikus did not apologize or even suggest what he said was not the truth, only that “I also think it’s important that David and Frances have the opportunity to speak that they have asked for at the end of the last meeting. I intend to listen to them carefully and hope everyone will do the same,” he said.
Given the floor, Burke expressed his concern about the Mayor’s words the week before.
“I will not be made the scapegoat for something that has happened in the majority of Orange County cities,” he began.
“During the Jan. 10 city council meeting, Mayor Scott Minikus made a series of attacks against me. They were completely unprovoked, they violated multiple provisions of the city’s civility, conduct ethics and governance policy. And they seem designed to essentially ruin my reputation,” said Burke.
“In the span of just a few minutes on Jan. 10, Mayor Minikus suggested two council members and one resident had committed crimes,” said Burke.
“These were not spontaneous remarks. Mayor Minikus was reading from a prepared written statement. To make matters worse for me and my family. Mayor Minikus did this a few hours after I got back from the hospital with my wife, who had just given birth to our daughter,” he said.
“I want residents to understand the big picture here. Kevin Shankman has sued or threatened to sue at least 175 cities, school boards and special purpose agencies throughout California for CVRA violations in Orange County,” said Burke.
Those include Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Irvine, La Palma, Laguna Niguel Lake Forest Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, orange Placentia Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan, Capistrano, Stanton, Tustin, and Westminster.
“They have all been sued or threatened with a CVRA lawsuit,” said Burke. “This is a statewide phenomenon.”
He said Mayor Minikus’ remarks “were not just unprofessional, they were dangerous during a contentious moment in our city’s history, when we need common leaders who can help move us forward despite our differences.”
“He also said that none of the parties involved in the lawsuit care about Asian residents or people of color. Even though one of the plaintiffs is in fact, an Asian woman of color,” noted Burke.
He said the comments made by Minikus about him and Marquez “were explicitly prohibited by the city’s Code of Conduct” and therefore, he said the mayor should at least be censured.
In this week’s discusion, Burke stopped short of asking for Minikus to step down as Mayor but since the meeting, at least six citizens have reportedly written to the Council asking for him to step down as mayor.
“Like Council member Burke, I too, refuse to be scapegoated on this issue. I never had a plan or campaign to make our city adopt district elections,” said Marquez. “I want the next generation in Cypress to have even more opportunities than I’ve had,” she said, explaining the entire process of how she was then bullied and sidelined by the majority.
“I’ve studied this topic and I knew no one wins the fight against CVRA and it was not worth it,” she said. “We (city council) need to be inclusive, bring as many people into government here in Cypress,” said Marquez.
“You know I’m a political science professor and I wanted the council to seriously understand the importance of transitioning to district elections. Voting Rights has been an integral part of our nation’s history,” she said.
Marquez, who has repeatedly been disciplined by the majority, said she also thought Mayor Minikus’ actions deserved censure.
Council member Anne Hertz said the room was supercharged with emotion that night and thought it may have been difficult to manage the dais. “If we can do better and I think we have, but it’s not always easy,” she said.
Hertz and Mayor Pro-Tem Bonnie Peat said they did not favor censuring the mayor, suggesting it was a first-time violation, so she suggested “admonishment,” which is the lowest form of discipline in the Code of Conduct.
“I too had to take my emotions down because we all played a part,” said Peat. “I went back through and listened to the entire meeting (Jan. 10). I read through our civility policy and it honestly gave me a different perspective than the evening where there was just a a lot of emotions going on.”
“It was a hard decision, but we now recognize that it had to be made. I, too, agree with Council member Hertz-Mallari regarding the admonishment,” she said.
“If the Council sees fit to admonishing me for my statements during the Jan. 10 meeting, I will accept that admonishment to demonstrate my commitment to move the city forward in the districting process,” the mayor said.
With that, they agreed to put the matter up at a later meeting, and both Burke and Marquez were surprised to find it on the meeting agenda for the 2nd public hearing this past Monday.
This past Monday, the Council debated the same issues with mostly, the same result. Though resident Carolyn Belocot during oral communications pointed out with exact dates and instances many prior instances of similar incidents with Minikus, the major was unmoved.
“It’s not like (the mayor) he did not know better. He knew better,” said Burke. “It’s embarrassing,” said Burke.
Burke made an eloquent appeal for more than an “admonishment, saying the severity of the mayor’s accusations deserved censure. He refuted Peat’s argument that censure requires progressive errors to deserve it, providing evidence of past censures of Marquez after single incidents.
Peat countered that when there are multiple citations in the record, different standards apply.
Whatever happens, said Peat, she never wants to feel like she (and most people attending) did on Jan. 10. “I should never feel that way,” she said.
When it apparently became clear to Burke and Marquez that they did have the votes for censure, the Council voted 5-0 on Peat’s motion to admonish Mayor Minikus for his harsh words.
Also, when it became apparent that there was not the political will to remove Minikus as Mayor, Burke asked for “reassurance” going forward.
“I’m concerned about the direction of this Council. Our citizens should feel comfortable coming to the city council meetings,” he said. “We need young people to get involved to run for Council,” said Burke, saying they should not have to deal with the current “ugliness.”
“In my opinion, that kind of discourse is embarrassing to our city. It doesn’t reflect how kind and thoughtful our residents really are. Or what a great place Cypress is to live.
I knocked on thousands of doors during my campaign and had great conversations with so many of our residents, who were civil and thoughtful even if we disagreed. It saddens me that our council meetings themselves are not up to that standard. And I’m not just going to sit here while the level of discourse at our council meetings sinks lower and lower.,” he said.
“With regards to the Mayor specifically, the Mayor is supposed to be the person who sets a positive tone and maintains decorum during council meetings. The Mayor is supposed to serve as a leader within the council, and facilitate teamwork and collaboration. Someone who attacks residents or demonizes their colleagues from the dais, is not suited for that role,” he said.
“ The main reason I’m not comfortable moving forward maintaining the existing leadership structure, is that I haven’t heard any acknowledgement from Mayor Minikus or my colleagues that what Mayor Minikus did was wrong. If a council member won’t publicly commit to trying to raise the level of discourse in these chambers, then I don’t believe they should serve as Mayor. And we should choose someone who will,” said Burke.
“Cypress is too good of a city to have our council meetings be defined by personal attacks and false accusations,” as Burke pleaded with the Mayor to stop verbally attacking council members with whom he disagrees.
“It’s not okay,” he said “Not okay.”