Stockton residents filled the city hall council chambers Wednesday evening for the rescheduled special council meeting. They want accountability and transparency from their elected leaders.

“Our city is in chaos,” Julie Dunning, who’s lived in Stockton for around four decades, said. “And I have a lot of respect for you. I really do. I know you don’t think I do. But, I do. We need to pull it together. Please. Thank you.”

“We’re tired,” South Stockton resident Pat Barrett said. “We’re tired of it, we’re done with it.”

“Make no mistake, what’s done in the dark, it’ll always come to the light. Always,” Stockton resident Tamika Small said.

The special city council meeting to discuss potential charter violations, abuse of authority, and possible misuse of public funds that was rescheduled from last week took place on Wednesday evening.

The items on the agenda for Wednesday’s special council meeting:

Council-led discussion on potential Charter violations, abuse of authority, and possible misuse of public funds, with direction to staff for next steps and possible referrals to oversight agencies.Consideration of a resolution establishing a Council Investigatory Ad Hoc Committee to review related allegations and make recommendations to the full Council.

There were around 15 people who spoke up during the public comment period. 

“I left my mother lying in a hospital bed because this is important,” Dunning said. “I see seven bright, intelligent people before me that worked hard to be our civic leaders. You had a dream. You campaigned on a dream to make our city better. What’s happened now is a sense of hurt and betrayal on a lot of levels that started with one decision. You don’t need investigations, you need intervention. And I’m not making a joke, I’m serious. This is like a marriage that has broken down. You need somebody to come in because I can tell you…pointing the finger at the other person or being able to say, ‘I told you they did that’ or ‘You see, I wasn’t wrong’ is not going to satisfy what’s in you and what’s broken.”

Donald Tafoya wants the council to “get to work” and to “work in the same direction.”

“This is the least productive council members I’ve ever seen. There is no productivity, there is no city manager, there’s no continuity to what you folks are doing,” Tafoya said. “What you’re doing is tearing the city apart. I believe that the mayor is doing the best job, from what I’ve observed. She’s doing the best job she can, considering what she has to work with.”

“Mayor, this isn’t the first time concerns about that individual’s (former interim city manager Steve Colangelo) actions have been raised,” Small said. “And each time they are, you seem to throw up distractions, baseless accusations, unnecessary investigations, anything to shift attention away from what really matters. What are you trying to hide? Are you afraid that some of this might lead back to you or those close to you? You talk about transparency, but your actions say otherwise. Your absence last week, it spoke volumes.”

After the public had their turn, serious accusations from Vice Mayor Jason Lee and Councilmember Brando Villapuda against each other led to Mayor Christina Fugazi calling for a recess.

“The truth is what we are dealing with tonight isn’t about transparency or accountability, it’s about one person, Councilmember Jason Lee, and on his ongoing mission to defame, and to slander, and to tear down the reputation of our former interim city manager,” Villapuda said. “That’s what it is and has been about from day one. And unfortunate because instead of doing the work of the people, fixing streets, improving neighborhoods, supporting real community projects, we end up spending our time putting on these congressional-style hearings where Councilmember Lee is the main attraction and star of the show, he’s turning the city hall into a reality show.”

“What I’m hearing, instead of there being questions around the packet that’s been presented, is I’ve heard all of you show up as his defense attorneys when we’re talking about their taxpayer dollars that we’re all responsible for managing and overseeing,” Lee said. “So, my point of order is the discussion should be relevant to the subject matter and it’s not a personal attack. What’s becoming personal is the cover-up that’s happening up here in front of the public.”

The mayor and vice mayor are planning on establishing ad-hoc investigation committees for separate issues. Both are calling for transparency.