Three Councilmembers Admit City Manager Wrong Doings Were Discussed In Closed Session

 


At the regular City Council meeting on June 14, City Councilmember Monica Manalo and two other councilmembers admitted that unethical or possibly illegal activity stemming from the City Manager was discussed in closed session meetings about the City Manager’s performance.

City Council was discussing a discrimination and harassment policy that was updated in November 2020. Eight public comments were submitted to the Council, supporting Artesia employees’ hypothetical ability to use the City Attorney as an avenue to report harassment, discrimination, or illegal activity stemming from the City Manager.

In response to the public comments, Manalo said, “I am floored that someone leaked information from the closed session meeting. They keep talking about the City Manager and admonishment to concerns.”

However, none of the comments were about whatever was discussed in these closed session meetings. The comments were about the policy and the theoretical ability for employees to report to someone if it was the City Manager who was harassing, discriminating, or doing illegal activities.

Andrew Perry, President of AFSCME Local 1520, said, “I was concerned about the policy, but I think the City Council said the quiet parts out loud. I asked residents and community leaders to submit public comments about the policy, as it affects who employees report to if they witness the City Manager doing bad things. Eight people answered the call, and I’m grateful to those individuals. But when Councilmembers Monica Manalo, Ali Taj, and Tony Lima said there was a leak, I was like, ‘Wait, are they saying they discussed the City Manager’s wrongdoings in closed session, and they’re just keeping it under wraps?”

Perry wrote a public comment to the Council that said, “Who can employees report to if the City Manager himself was engaging in illegal or unethical behavior?”

In response to this, and similar comments, Manalo asked, “How did they find out?”

To which Perry responds, “How did they find out WHAT?  What an interesting admission!”  

What were the things that were discussed for five hours in two separate closed session meetings about the City Manager, months ahead of his regularly scheduled performance evaluation?  

“I think a lot of people are going to want to know,” said Perry.

Three of the councilmembers parroted a talking point about someone leaking information about the closed session item, which was not what the public comments were about.  Those councilmembers are Ali Sajjad Taj, Tony Lima, and Monica Manalo.

Listen to the public comments for Item 25, and hear the discussion for yourself. The meeting will be up for everyone’s viewing in the next few days.

The same three Councilmembers (Ali Taj, Monica Manalo, and Tony Lima) then voted to prevent employees from reporting on the City Manager’s wrongdoings anyways, thus blocking the ability for the Council to respond to allegations against the City Manager in-house.

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