Quick Take
The Capitola City Council will consider revisions to its code of conduct for councilmembers and members of various city boards and committees after it requested a more transparent process for dealing with complaints. In September, the council heard a complaint against Councilmember Melinda Orbach, which it ended up dismissing.
The Capitola City Council is set to vote to streamline its code of conduct for councilmembers and those appointed to boards and committees in the wake of dismissing a citizen complaint against an elected official.
The revisions were originally set to be considered at the council’s Thursday meeting, but the discussion was pushed to its next meeting, on Oct. 23. The move comes on the heels of a September meeting at which the council held a hearing on a code-of-conduct complaint against Councilmember Melinda Orbach.
The complaint, filed by Capitola resident Kevin Maguire, related to a combative April 17 meeting about an unpopular design for a section of Coastal Rail Trail running through the city.
During that meeting, Orbach alleged physically threatening behavior from members of the community, some of whom she said had shown up at her work and home. She named Maguire as one of those people, a claim he adamantly disputed. The city council ended up dismissing the complaint.
That personal dispute appears to be settled, though, as Maguire and Orbach spoke at Thursday’s meeting, informing the public that they had met in person and begun to make amends. Both apologized during public correspondence on Thursday.
“That conversation reminded me how powerful simple face-to-face dialogue can be,” said Maguire. “We’ve taken steps towards healing and I believe that continuing in that spirit, we will bring true closure and understanding for everyone involved. Let’s choose empathy over outrage.”
Orbach thanked Maguire for his apology, and offered one of her own. She also said that she does not believe that Maguire’s intentions were threatening, and asked her supporters not to further that narrative.
“I think what happened here is a good reminder that the first step towards lasting solutions is to get to know our neighbors,” she said. “We are all coming at these problems from different angles, but we’re all in this together.”
The request to clarify and streamline the process for handling citizen complaints predates that September city council meeting, according to a staff report, which says that councilmembers requested changes months earlier, in July.
The proposed revisions include asking people to email their complaints directly to the city council rather than filing a written complaint with the city clerk. After receiving a complaint, the city’s mayor, vice mayor or clerk will forward it to the city attorney and acknowledge within five business days that the council had received the complaint.
Staff recommends that, within 45 days of receiving the complaint, any councilmember should be able to request during a council meeting that a complaint be publicly discussed at a future meeting. The council will decide how many councilmembers will be required to vote in favor of a formal hearing at its next meeting. If the council does not agree to formally hear the complaint within 45 days, it will be considered dismissed, and the city clerk or attorney will notify the complainant.
City staff also recommend shortening the process, allowing the council to decide on a complaint in a single meeting, rather than have a meeting to decide whether to agendize a complaint and a separate meeting to discuss it.
If the city council determines that a complaint against a member of the council or a city board has merit, it can admonish or censure that person. An admonishment is more of a formal warning, while a censure is a more serious reprimand. The council can also decide to strip someone of appointments representing the city and from boards and commissions, or request additional investigation.
Since the code of conduct was adopted in 2020, there have been five formal complaints filed amid a tense political climate within the city, including the resignation of former councilmember Alexander Pedersen in May. Pedersen resigned following pressure from the Concerned Citizens of Capitola, a local group that had argued that Pedersen violated city council residency rules.
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