Merced City Council takes steps to censure councilman after email accusations, discord
The Merced City Council took action Monday evening to curb weeks of conflict they — and several constituents — say has been sparked by Councilmember Fernando Echevarria.
The council voted unanimously, minus the absent councilman, to direct staff to draft a resolution formally censuring Echevarria, whose District 2 covers south Merced.
“If the council believes a member has acted outside the scope of his or her authority, or otherwise engaged in inappropriate conduct, a censure expresses the council’s public disapproval of the conduct,” said City Manager Steve Carrigan.
Once drafted, the censorship resolution will be served to Echevarria and voted on at the July 20 council meeting after he’s given the chance to defend himself.
The censorship would include Echevarria’s removal from any city-affiliated committees he serves on, in order to limit his interaction with the public. The censure has no specified sunset, and may be in place as long as the City Council sees fit.
Echevarria told the Sun-Star he didn’t attend or watch the streamed meeting, on account of not wanting to engage because of potential litigation issues.
What led to the decision?
Mayor Mike Murphy and the other five council members agreed a censure would be appropriate, in order to officially distance themselves from several contentious incidents Echevarria has recently become embroiled in.
They say those incidents are demonstrative of behavior that’s inappropriate for an elected official. Incidents and behavior by Echevarria noted by the council and public as being problematic include:
1. Shouting at a homeless advocate at a council meeting, and saying that homeless people who are angry about being poor are not “his problem.” Echevarria told the Sun-Star that he stands by those comments.
2. Having a choke hold demonstrated on him at a rally following the death of George Floyd. In video of the event, Echevarria is heard telling the individual holding him to do so “harder,” and then saying the words, “I can’t breathe” — words said by Floyd prior to his death.
3. Threatening legal action against Gabriela Spiva, the 20-year-old event organizer and lead administrator of the group Merced People of Color, after he alleged Spiva incited a riot against him when he left a George Floyd even. Many say video of the event does not appear to corroborate Echevarria’s allegations.
4. Making unfounded accusations against the Mayor Mike Murphy. Those accusations include that Murphy conspired with Spiva against Echevarria. Echevarria in an email also accused Murphy of creating a hostile work environment and sexually harassing a former employee. But city officials say there’s no evidence such complaints exist.
5. Complaints from constituents about the councilmember sending them inappropriate or rude emails.
Multiple members of the public attended the meeting to urge the council to support the symbolic reprimanding of the Echevarria. “This is my third meeting speaking out about the disgusting and deplorable conduct of Echevarria,” said Spiva.
But councilmembers did not need convincing. Each councilmember, plus the mayor, expressed steadfast objection to his recent behavior.
“I’m not sure censure is even close to what needs to happen,” said Councilmember Jill McLeod, vocalizing her support for Spiva and other young advocates speaking out against injustices locally and nationwide.
The council members said those incidents violate specific guidelines outlined in the City Council’s values statement, ethics and code of conduct. One section states that council members must refrain from abusive conduct, personal charges or verbal attacks upon the character or motives of other members of other city officials or the public.
“I think that his performance should be measured against our standing code of conduct,” Mayor Murphy said.
Calls to resign — or face recall — continue
For the second meeting in a row, calls for Echevarria to vacate his council seat were rallied by the public.
“I’ve never in my life seen anyone with such disregard for the complaints of the people he claims to represent, and even to the point of threatening those very people,” said De Zhou, who spoke at the meeting.
“I really hope that you do reflect on yourself and reconsider how you act and interact with the people that you’re supposed to represent, and if you do not have the capacity to lead, please take the honorable action and resign.”
Other attendees, like Jesse Ornelas, expressed disappointment over the councilmember failing to show up for a second time. Ornelas, a longtime community activist whose known as a member of the Brown Berets, said he had hoped Echevarria would take responsibility and dedicate to doing better.
Ornelas, who ran for the City Council in 2016, said he was especially troubled by Echevarria holding legal action through law enforcement and courts over Spiva, a young person of color.
“We need political representation but we also need the right political representation,” Ornelas said of having Latino members on City Council. “Just because they look like me doesn’t mean they have my people’s best interest.”
Ornelas said he will urge residents of Echevarria’s District 2 to start gathering petitions for a recall process.
Echevarria said he is still unconcerned about a recall coming to fruition, saying he has continued to receive support for many of his District 2 constituents.
Missing meetings is also at play as to whether Echevarria retains his district seat. Council members are only permitted to miss meetings with a maximum 60 day period. That means he has only until the July 20 meeting to remain absent.
Echevarria told the Sun-Star that he intends to be at the next council meeting so that he retains his seat, but doesn’t intend to make any sort of statement about the ongoing issues.
This story was originally published June 30, 2020 at 7:30 AM.
