Grand jury finds infighting continues to keep Tracy City Council from serving the public

Five years after the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury released a report revealing bad behavior and infighting between Tracy City Council members, a new grand jury report found that little has changed since then.

This month, the 10-page report titled "City of Tracy: Public Trust Still Not Restored" was released. The grand jury found that "members of the Tracy City Council have been unable to govern effectively and have failed the citizens of the city they have pledged to serve."

According to the document, the five-member city council continues to face the same problems outlined in the 2018-2019 grand jury report, including council members displaying unprofessional behavior toward each other during public meetings.

"The 2022-2023 Civil Grand Jury received a complaint regarding the continued personal animus between council members displayed openly and unprofessionally at council meetings," the report states. "The source of many disagreements revolved around philosophical differences in Tracy’s growth, leading to a lack of consistent vision of Tracy’s future and distrust between council members and developers."

The Tracy City Council is the city's governing body and is primarily responsible for establishing policy, adopting new laws, levying taxes, and awarding contracts. It comprises Mayor Nancy Young, Mayor Pro Tempore Eleassia Davis, and council members Dan Arriola, Mateo Bedolla, and Dan Evans.

The mayor couldn't be reached for comment regarding the civil grand jury's findings.

Young and Arriola served on the city council when the last grand jury report was released, along with current San Joaquin County Supervisor Robert Rickman, current California State Assembly candidate Rhodesia Ransom, and Veronica Vargas.

What does the grand jury report about Tracy's government?

The new report does not name any council members, and while it critiques the city attorney for "unprofessional conduct," City Attorney Bijal Patel isn't named in the document either.

Among the grand jury's findings is that the Tracy City Council violated the Ralph M. Brown Act, California's open meetings law, by discussing personnel issues in an open meeting and posting personnel issues on a public meeting agenda.

The report says that "some Tracy City Council members have created a toxic work environment within city hall by spreading accusations of corruption and alleged illegal activities by upper management staff and other council members."

The grand jury also blasts the council for creating a void in city administration and leadership through multiple resignations. The report notes that six city managers and four city attorneys have been in Tracy in the past five years, making it difficult for city leaders to solidify measurable performance goals and objectives.

The report singles out the city attorney for spending a significant amount of time reviewing and modifying work from various city departments. The grand jury claims this has caused project delays, increased project costs, and harmed the city's reputation in the business community.

The report adds that the city attorney has "publicly berated, belittled, and humiliated" city employees, resulting in "an atmosphere of fear and low morale." This has led to the resignations of numerous staff members and caused a backlog of work in the city attorney's office, according to the grand jury.

To "ensure a more harmonious and productive city council and improve the morale and efficiency of city staff," the grand jury recommends that the Tracy City Council seek in-depth and continuous training on how to apply the city's code of conduct. It also recommends further training for council members to understand the requirements of the Brown Act.

Report urges Tracy to get outside legal help

Additionally, the grand jury suggests the city hire an outside legal firm to help clear the backlog of work in the city attorney's office, and hire more staff for that office. It also suggests the city attorney be given training in personnel management.

Elected officials cited in the grand jury report must submit a written response to all findings and recommendations within 60 days of receipt of the report, and city officials submit a response within 90 days.

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow .

This article originally appeared on The Record: Grand jury finds infighting continues to keep Tracy City Council from serving the public