City-hired Investigators have reportedly concluded that they can’t sustain allegations that Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua created a hostile workplace environment for former city manager Kristine Ridge and interfered with her work City Attorney Sonia Carvalho announced this week at a public meeting.
City officials have not released the reports nor responded to requests to review the documents.
The findings in the probe come a year after a majority of officials, including Amezcua, voted to pay Ridge over $600,000 to settle her claim in which Ridge also alleges a pressure campaign by elected officials on behalf of the police union to get her to boost former union president Gerry Serrano’s pay and pension.
[Read: What Are Santa Ana Officials Hiding in a Claim Alleging The Police Union Runs City Hall?]
Her departure came weeks after former Police Chief David Valetin announced his retirement citing “corrupt and compromised politicians” and “compromised staff.”
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Carvalho publicly announced that investigators found that the preponderance of evidence did not support allegations that Amezcua, who is up for reelection this November, violated the city charter, the city’s code of ethics and harassed Ridge.
“The truth always comes out,” said Amezcua, whose campaigns have received significant financial support from the police union, at the meeting.
“I sleep very well at night, knowing that every decision I make up here is for the community and so they ranted and raved how I did some awful things. Not one of my allegations were sustained.”
Yet if Amezcua didn’t do anything improper, it’s unclear why city officials voted to pay out Ridge’s claim – something council members have never addressed publicly.
Amezcua did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The investigators weren’t just looking into allegations against the mayor.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Carvalho also said investigators found a preponderance of evidence sustained allegations that Councilman Johnathan Hernandez interfered with city staff’s work to plan the Juneteenth celebration, the Chicano Heritage Festival and Indigenous People’s day.
Carvalho added that allegations that Hernandez, who is also up for reelection this November, also engaged in conduct related to the events that could be deemed to violate the city charter and city’s code of ethics and conduct were sustained by city-hired investigators.
Hernandez said in a Wednesday phone interview that the allegations against Amezcua were not sustained because investigators couldn’t reach Ridge and that the findings don’t list the specific sections of the city codes he himself allegedly violated.
Hernandez criticized the process as unfair – noting that members of the Black, Chicano and Indigenous communities asked him to sit in on meetings with staff about the cultural events because of concerns of racism from staff.
“The only issue that the city staff had is that I was overly advocating for my constituents. When my constituents felt uncomfortable and discriminated against, I was willing to sit in the room with them,” he said.
“If anyone reads the allegations against me. They’re rooted in me doing my job for my constituents.”
[Read: Orange County Gears Up For Juneteenth Celebrations]
Hernandez said that he is supportive of releasing the full findings of both investigations to the public, adding that officials called for the investigation into the allegations against Amezcua as part of the vote to settle Ridge’s claim.
Carvalho said a fourth allegation that Hernandez tried to solicit donations for the Juneteenth Celebration, Indigenous People’s Day and the Chicano Heritage Festival was not sustained by investigators.
“The city now deems these matters to be resolved unless an ad hoc committee gives further direction to our office, and that’s all I have to report,” Carvalho said at Tuesday’s meeting.
Ridge, through her attorney listed on the claim, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Penaloza, whose previous campaign has received financial support from the police union, said there are numerous parks and recreation staff terrified to be in the room with Hernandez and that any violation of the city charter is a misdemeanor.
“I have personally inquired about the city attorney – or the district attorney (Todd) Spitzer if needed – to prosecute this,” he said in a Wednesday phone interview. “Staff shouldn’t have to work that way.”
Hernandez said there is nothing criminal about what he did.
“The city attorney made it very clear to the council, there isn’t much that they can do to penalize me for my role in advocating for the event. There’s nothing criminal about sitting in a meeting,” he said
Penaloza said if it’s legal to release the findings of the investigations he’d support doing so and that he had not read the findings.
“The allegations against Mayor Amezcua have been so beefed up by Councilman Hernandez and (Councilman Ben) Vasquez and (Councilwoman Jessie) Lopez, because they hate her and it’s been a hit piece ever since,” he said.
Councilmembers Phil Bacerra – who also has received substantial campaign finance support from the local police union – said in a Wednesday text message after publication of this story that Hernandez’s claim that staff found his interference to be “‘overly advocating,’ shows that he does not understand our City Charter.”
“On Tuesday evening, Councilmember Hernandez falsely portrayed the investigation into his violation of City Charter Section 408 as retaliation, when the investigation was actually initiated after the City Council received a formal complaint from the former City Manager [Ridge] regarding Councilmember Hernandez’s interference with our City’s Parks Department staff,” he wrote.
Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Will The Findings Be Made Public?
Neither of the findings have been made public.
Voice of OC has filed a public records request for the findings of both investigations and asked Carvalho and City Spokesman Paul Eakins for a copy of the full reports.
Carvalho pointed to her remarks at the end of the meeting when asked for the reports. Eakins did not respond to an email, text message or voicemail requests for the reports.
At the meeting, Amezcua said that council members can go to the seventh floor of city hall to read the findings. Both Eakins and Carvalho did not respond to questions about if residents can do that too.
In nearby Anaheim, officials last year publicly released – with redactions – an over 350 page report on the findings of a city-contracted corruption investigation in the wake of the FBI corruption probe scandal.
[Read: Anaheim’s Own Look at City Hall Finds Disneyland Resort Businesses Improperly Steer Policymaking]
Carvalho’s announcement comes roughly three weeks before the November election in which both Amezcua and Hernandez are running to stay in office.
In a press release for her campaign that came out just before Tuesday’s meeting ended, Amezcua called the findings of the investigation a vindication, called Ridge’s allegations false and blamed “certain media outlets” for amplifying the allegations.
“As the first woman to serve as Mayor of Santa Ana, I have faced an unprecedented level of politically motivated attacks,” said Amezcua in the release. “Today, the truth has prevailed. I appreciate that our focus can now turn towards more pressing issues facing the people of Santa Ana.”
Hernandez said that the community events didn’t cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“My actions as a councilman have not cost the city any amount of money in lawsuits. But the mayor’s have, whether she’d like to say it or not, ” he said.
An Over $600,000 Pay Out Before an Investigation
Instead of fighting Ridge’s claim in court, a majority of officials decided to pay out the former city manager hundreds of thousands dollars and quietly settle the claim in October – something they never publicly explained why they did.
[Read: Why Did Santa Ana Pay Out Over $600K to Settle a Claim Alleging the Police Union Runs City Hall?]
Councilwoman Jessie Lopez, who is up for reelection, was the lone dissenting vote.
“I voted no because I did not agree with the council’s priority to try and make a problem go away as quickly as possible the way that situation transpired,” Lopez said in a Wednesday phone interview
She said that she still believes Ridge’s allegations but had not read the findings.
“Based on my own experience, I have no reason to doubt her,” Lopez said.
She also said the decision to settle the claim before doing an investigation impacted the probe.
“The investigator said some claims are unsustained. That is not the same as those things did not actually happen, and a proper investigation would have placed the former city manager on administrative leave. It would have assessed the credibility, and it would have ensured cooperation,” she said.
In her claim, Ridge alleged that Amezcua made discriminatory gender and ethnicity based remarks about her and that Amezcua prohibited her from speaking during labor negotiations with the police union.
Ridge also alleges Amezcua requested she agendize an item to be discussed behind closed doors that Ridge said was a violation of the Brown Act – the state’s open meeting law. Due to the redactions, it’s unclear what the request was.
To read the claim letter, click here.
Hernandez told the Voice of OC in April that the redactions have to do with a complaint he filed in 2023 alleging Amezcua violated the Brown Act amid efforts to fire Ridge and former Police Chief David Valentin.
To read Hernandez’s complaint, click here.
On Tuesday, Carvalho said the Orange County District Attorney found that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate allegations that Amezcua violated the Brown Act and they closed the matter.
A Sept. 24 letter from the District Attorney’s office given to the Voice of OC by Eakins states that there were allegations that council members shared confidential information with the police union during negotiations.
It also states that there were allegations that several officials had serial meetings related to ongoing negotiations with the police union as well as a performance evaluation of Ridge.
“There was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations,” reads the letter. “To avoid concerns regarding future Brown Act complaints, we recommend members undergo supplemental training, particular with respect to meeting requirements and the disclosure of confidential information.”
To read the letter, click here.
Hernandez publicly called out on Tuesday night District Attorney Todd Spitzer’s office for failing to contact him after his complaint, saying that Amezcua opened an ad hoc committee to investigate him after his complaint.
“This is an inside look at what happens when you oppose special interests, and when you side with the community, they will do everything and anything to try to destroy you,” he said.
Amezcua said at Tuesday’s meeting that Carvalho had told her to create an Ad Hoc committee to investigate the allegations – which prompted the group then to turn the probe over to an outside investigator to ensure fairness.
She noted the Ad Hoc committee was made up of herself, Bacerra and Councilman Ben Vazquez.
Vazquez said he supports the findings of the investigations to be released and that he had not read the findings.
“I just want to make sure that we get the investigation reports open to the public, and don’t hold off, just so we can be transparent to the public as to what has happened here,” he said. “The mayor was not exonerated or found not guilty, it was just that the arguments were not sustained.”
Vazquez said he regrets voting to settle the claim before the investigation and he did so initially to protect the city from legal fees.
“She got paid to leave basically,” he said
Who is Behind the Investigation? What’s Next?
Carvalho, the city attorney, and Eakins, a spokesman, did not answer emailed questions Tuesday night on who conducted the investigation and how much they were paid to do the probe.
Both also didn’t respond to a question on why officials settled the legal claim before launching an investigation.
When the claim went public in April, Carvalho and Eakins also remained quiet on who was conducting the probe and the cost.
Officials also kept Ridge’s claim secret for months until being threatened with a public records lawsuit – a threat that prompted release of the claim letter.
[Read: What Are Santa Ana Officials Hiding in a Claim Alleging The Police Union Runs City Hall?]
The OC Register reported that Santa Ana officials agreed to expand a contract by up to $175,000 with Hanson Bridgett LLP, a law firm, to investigate working conditions at city hall.
None of the council members that spoke to Voice of OC could immediately speak to who did the investigation and how much they paid
Carvalho said at Tuesday’s meeting the ad hoc committee can direct her to draft a memo on the process of filing an ethics complaint against Hernandez and the investigation materials were available to the council.
Police Union Spends Big Again in Santa Ana Races
Meanwhile, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association – at the core of Ridge’s allegations – is spending big on local city council races this election.
So far, the police union has spent over $130,000 between Mayor Amezcua’s reelection campaign, City Commissioner Mario Alvarado’s Ward 5 campaign and lawyer Jeffery Katz’s Ward 3 campaign – with a greater portion of the money going to Alvarado.
[Read: Police Union, Real Estate Interests Spend Big in Santa Ana Elections]
The union spent $37,000 to support Amezcua through mailers.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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