Capitola councilmember Melinda Orbach faces code-of-conduct complaint as city’s political turbulence deepens

The Capitola City Council’s tumultuous year will take another turn Thursday as local lawmakers consider whether to take seriously a code-of-conduct complaint filed against rookie councilmember Melinda Orbach. 

The complaint, filed by lifelong resident Kevin Maguire, claims Orbach misused her position during an April city council meeting when she accused him, by name, of harassment and threatening behavior. Orbach had heard from a neighbor that Maguire, a vocal critic of hers, had been in her neighborhood asking where the city councilmember lived. 

Orbach said she felt unsafe and wanted to set a public boundary. She said she regrets calling out Maguire by name, but stands by her decision to defend herself. 

“I did not think it was disparaging, I was calling out clear boundaries,” Orbach told Lookout on Wednesday. “You can say whatever you want online, but don’t try to intimidate me, whether it’s explicit or implied.” 

Maguire did not return Lookout’s requests for comment. In his complaint, he raised concern over the public nature of Orbach’s accusations, and said she violated the city council’s conduct policy that says the elected officials “shall refrain from abusive conduct, personal charges, or verbal attacks upon the character or motives of members of the public.” 

“These accusations were made without any prior communication with me, without evidence, and without any due process,” the complaint reads. “They were broadcast to the community, recorded in the city’s official meeting archive, and made in the context of a public meeting, where power dynamics are not equal.” 

The Capitola City Council is slated to vote Thursday on whether to dismiss Maguire’s charge. If the city council accepts the complaint, it will decide at a future meeting how to resolve it. Orbach could face the most serious consequences: censure or removal from her committee assignments. However, neither her colleagues, nor the city, can remove her from the council; only a recall election could do that. 

Thursday’s meeting will be the latest surge in what has been a turbulent year in Capitola politics. In January, then-mayor Yvette Brooks decided to quit mid-term and take a job as executive director of United Way Santa Cruz County. The city council later voted to appoint Margaux Morgan, who had lost her city council reelection campaign just months earlier, to finish out Brooks’ term. 

Then in May, Councilmember Alex Pedersen abruptly resigned from his seat amid a pressure campaign from the Concerned Citizens of Capitola, a local group that argued Pedersen violated city council residency rules. Pedersen and his wife had recently bought a home in Santa Cruz, but Pedersen claimed he lived in a rented home in Capitola while his wife resided in the new house. Whether Pedersen actually violated any rules remains unclear. 

The city council responded by appointing former city manager and planning commissioner Susan Westman to fill Pedersen’s vacancy. Westman led the push to put Maguire’s complaint on the city council’s Thursday agenda. 

Westman told Lookout that it’s city protocol for the city council to consider all code-of-conduct complaints against sitting members. 

“We need to bring this issue to a conclusion,” Westman said over the phone on Wednesday. “It’s taken up a lot of everyone’s time and energy and we have other things we need to be doing. Hopefully we get through it tomorrow night and then it’s over.”

Orbach sees a political link between the pressure she and Pedersen have faced. She relates some of it to her support of the county’s embattled passenger rail and trail project, which has been a flashpoint in Capitola politics for years. 

Only nine months into her first term on city council, Orbach says the pressure from Maguire and his supporters have taken a toll on her mental health. She said vacating the seat is not off the table, but said it’s important to continue representing the people who voted for her last year.

“This will be a decision between me and my family on whether this is all worth it to continue,” Orbach said. “The fighter in me doesn’t want to quit. If I quit, then a majority of the city council will not have been elected, and I really don’t want that.”

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.