According to an employee of The Garret who asked not to be identified, Scozzola, 44, was seated at the bar across from a table of women and was staring at one of them so intently she asked him to stop. The employee said Scozzola later wrote an apology note to the woman on a napkin.<\/p>\n
Chris Giangreco, a San Jose resident who was in The Garret at the time, spoke about what he\u2019d seen at the Feb. 3 council meeting the next day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was leering going on to the degree that the object of this man\u2019s attention basically said in front of the whole bar, \u2018Hey, knock it off. Stop it,’\u201d Giangreco told the council. \u201cAnd it kind of stopped, but it did continue. And it wound up being kind of a running joke at the bar.\u201d<\/p>\n
When reached for comment, Scozzola told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight he would provide a statement in response to questions surrounding the vice mayor transition and incidents with police, but did not do so. He is up for reelection in November, should he choose to seek a second term.<\/p>\n
After The Garret incident, the council scheduled a March 3 vote to consider stripping Scozzola of his vice mayor position. Councilmembers voted 3-2 to do so, with Anne Bybee, Terry Hines and Sergio Lopez voting to take away his title, and Mayor Dan Furtado and Scozzola voting no. Scozzola had started his one-year appointment as vice mayor in December 2025.<\/p>\n
Furtado said he didn\u2019t want to excuse any inappropriate behavior, but felt the action was premature. He told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight he has not seen any problems with Scozzola\u2019s performance of his council duties or received any complaints from residents.<\/p>\n
But Bybee saw it differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not condone the behavior that was alleged, and I believe that the vice mayor has failed to address the allegations at our council retreat and at our meeting tonight,\u201d Bybee said at the meeting. \u201cSo it\u2019s unfortunate that our vice mayor is not willing to explain his actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell Police Chief Gary Berg appeared briefly at March 3 meeting. He said officers reviewed security video from The Garret showing Scozzola at the restaurant for more than three hours drinking numerous alcoholic beverages.<\/p>\n
\u201cI let you know absolutely everything and my perspective and all of that during our council retreat and I don\u2019t see any reason to discuss it further,\u201d Scozzola said at the meeting when other councilmembers asked for his response.<\/p>\n
He added people can interpret behavior in \u201cwildly\u201d different ways when it comes to what is and isn\u2019t appropriate.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people are hyper-conservative or hyper-liberal and most are somewhere in between,\u201d Scozzola said later in the meeting. \u201cSo I don\u2019t think it\u2019s fair to try and use some kind of metric when it ultimately just boils down to everyone\u2019s personal opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Campbell-City-Council-1024x768.jpg\")
The Campbell City Council on March 24 unanimously appointed Councilmember Anne Bybee (far right) as its new vice mayor. Photo by Mike Langberg.<\/p>\n
Hines said Scozzola acknowledged several actions of great concern during a city staff and council retreat after The Garret incident came to light. But that wasn\u2019t enough to make it right.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge black mark on our city and is an embarrassment to our wonderful town,\u201d Hines added at the March 3 meeting. \u201cAs a city councilmember, we are held to an even higher standard, and we must be accountable for all of our actions and perceptions of our actions. The pattern of actions by Mr. Scozzola is not a one-time event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell police<\/a> have previously interacted with Scozzola.<\/p>\n In March 2025, police arrested Scozzola for disorderly conduct outside an unnamed bar on Orchard City Drive. The police report said Scozzola \u201cwas refusing to leave the bar . . . and (was) determined to be too intoxicated to care for his safety.\u201d<\/p>\n In April 2024, an acquaintance of Scozzola contacted Campbell police to say Scozzola had threatened to shoot another acquaintance. Officers obtained a gun violence restraining order<\/a> and searched Scozzola\u2019s apartment, according to a police statement, and found 13 firearms and \u201capproximately 15,000 ammunition rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
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