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Why did a majority of Santa Ana officials vote to quietly pay out former City Manager Kristine Ridge over $600,000 after she alleged elected officials pressured her to boost the pay and pension of former police union president Gerry Serrano?
It’s a move that Mayor Valerie Amezcua on Monday hinted may have ignored the advice of the city attorney.
The mystery continues unraveling in the wake of an investigation into two separate city hall ethics complaints – one into allegations that Amezcua created a hostile workplace for Ridge and the other into allegations that Councilman Johnathan Hernandez interfered with the planning of community events.
At a special meeting Monday abruptly scheduled a week ahead of the election, Amezcua underscored that the whole city council – not just her – voted to settle the claim filed by the former city manager.
“Six people up here voted to pay that city manager $600,000. Let me say it again, six people. There was only one who abstained, and that person’s not here tonight,” said Amezcua, referring to Councilwoman Jessie Lopez who did not vote in favor of the payout and was absent Monday.
In later remarks on the dais, Amezcua came close to disclosing what the city attorney advised council members, hinting that her legal advice wasn’t followed.
“I will not share with you what the city attorney directed or recommended that we do. So I don’t want to violate anything,” said Amezcua. “Her advisement was not taken and we voted on an investigation.”
Earlier this month, Carvalho announced at a public city council meeting that investigators could not sustain allegations that Amezcua violated the city charter, code of ethics, harassed Ridge or interfered with her work.
[Read: What Did Privately Hired Investigators Find in Two Ethics Code Probes at Santa Ana City Hall?]
Amezcua, who is up for reelection, wasn’t the only one investigated.
Monday’s special meeting was scheduled to discuss what actions city council members wanted to take against Hernandez after investigators found enough evidence to sustain allegations that he violated the city charter by interfering with city staff’s work to plan the Juneteenth celebration, the Chicano Heritage Festival and Indigenous People’s day.
[Read: Will Santa Ana Officials Admonish Councilman Johnathan Hernandez Ahead of Election?]
Another allegation that Hernandez tried to solicit donations for community celebrations was not sustained by investigators.
The redacted findings for both probes were released to Voice of OC minutes into Monday’s special meeting.
‘Corrupt And Compromised Politicians’
Ridge’s departure last year came weeks after former Police Chief David Valentin announced his retirement in a letter, seemingly pointing to the police union’s political reach over city hall – a group that routinely spends big in local elections.
“Corrupt and compromised politicians, compromised staff and/or beholden individuals, groups and agendas should never impact your integrity, discernment or your genuine commitment to doing the right thing in pursuit of equity, service and justice for our Santa Ana community,” Valentin wrote.
His predecessor, Carlos Rojas, alleged in a 2017 lawsuit against the city that he was forced to resign as part of an effort by former Mayor Miguel Pulido and former Police Union President Serrano to push him out – an allegation they denied.
In a redacted claim that city officials kept improperly hidden for months, Ridge also alleges Amezcua asked her to agendize a closed door discussion that Ridge said would have violated the Brown Act – the State’s chief open meeting law.
Due to the redactions in the claim, it is unclear what that request was.
Hernandez previously told the Voice of OC those redactions relate to the complaint he filed in 2023 accusing Amezcua of violating the Brown Act – California’s chief open meeting law – amid efforts to fire Ridge and Valentin.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer found insufficient evidence to substantiate allegations that Amezcua violated the Brown Act, but Hernandez said he was never interviewed.
Ridge, reached out to through her attorney listed on the claim, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
According to the investigative summary, Ridge did not respond to requests to be interviewed for Amezcua’s investigation.
Why Did Officials Settle?
Since Ridge’s claim went public in April, Voice of OC has asked elected officials multiple times why they decided to pay out the former city manager rather than fight the claims in court – in a city that is expected to lose $30 million in annual tax revenue in five years.
[Read: Why Did Santa Ana Pay Out Over $600K to Settle a Claim Alleging the Police Union Runs City Hall?]
Earlier this month, Councilman David Penaloza, who has received financial contributions from the police union in support of his previous city council campaign, told Voice of OC he could not speak to the decision because it was a closed session matter.
“It is what it is. It was over a year ago, and it was the role of the majority of the city council,” he said.
Councilman Ben Vazquez, who is running against Amezcua for mayor, said in a phone interview earlier this month the decision to settle the claim before completing an investigation was to save on costs and protect the city.
“I regret not doing that now and voting that way,” he said.
Councilwoman Lopez, the only one who voted against settling, said in a phone interview earlier this month the decision to settle the claim before doing an investigation impacted the probe.
“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.
“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.”
Hernandez said in a Tuesday phone call that many of the allegations against Amezcua are true and called her corrupt and also said he voted to pay out Ridge to save the city money.
“I supported paying it out because I believe that if we would have went to court we would have paid millions of dollars,” he said. “I wish we would have investigated the matter before paying out any settlement.”
Hernandez added that the two investigations were not thorough.
Councilwoman Thai Viet Phan, who works as a city attorney in a different city outside OC and is running for reelection, and Councilman Phil Bacerra did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Amezcua also did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. She has previously told the OC Register she voted to settle in order to save the city money.
Earlier this year, officials approved a police pay raise as part of a new three and half year contract slated to cost the city over $27 million.
[Read: Santa Ana Police Get $27M Contract Amid Looming Revenue Cliff]
‘Gerry’s Girl’: What Did Investigators Find in The Amezcua Probe?
Investigators with Hanson Bridgett wrote they reviewed hundreds of emails between the mayor and Ridge, both of their personnel files and interviewed Amezcua and two unnamed witnesses.
Investigators say Ridge refused to participate in the probe.
To read the redacted findings, click here.
According to the redacted findings in the investigation, the request for a closed door discussion was to discuss someone’s employment, but the name is blacked out. Amezcua denied that ever took place.
Amezcua also denied to investigators that she told any council members or staff that she wanted Ridge fired and recalled having lunch with Hernandez where he had asked her a question.
Due to the redactions, Hernandez’s alleged request is unclear.
“Amezcua said to do so Ridge would have to be fired first, because only Ridge had the authority to (redacted),” reads the findings.
Hernandez called Amezcua’s remarks to investigators political theater and said she had met with him to talk about her strategy to fire Valentin and Ridge, trying to use the police killing of his cousin Brandon Lopez to get his support.
Amezcua told investigators that she first met Ridge at the Little Onion Restaurant in Santa Ana and the then-city manager immediately brought up the police union calling Amezcua ‘Gerry’s Girl’ and said the problem between Serrano and Valentin was they were always comparing the ‘size of their dicks.’
Amezcua, whose mayoral campaigns have received significant financial backing from the police union, responded that she wasn’t Gerry’s girl and she supported first responders.
Investigators say Amezcua denied Ridge’s allegations that she created a hostile workplace environment for the city manager and said Ridge did not treat her well.
Amezcua told investigators that Ridge made the allegations because the mayor was endorsed by the police union and hated Serrano.
Investigators wrote they found Amezcua’s statements to be credible.
“While Amezcua’s explanations were inherently self-serving, the investigators found them to be plausible and logical,” they wrote.
Meanwhile, one of the unnamed witnesses, a city employee, told investigators Amezcua was not particularly kind to Ridge and would often question Ridge’s authority.
What Did Investigators Find in The Hernandez Probe?
Investigators with Hanson Bridgett wrote they reviewed hundreds of emails including emails between Hernandez and city staff, interviewed Hernandez, the complainant and five unnamed witnesses.
To read the redacted findings, click here.
In their findings, investigators write that Hernandez interfered with the planning of community events and would hold meetings with vendors and community based organizations without city staff.
“Hernandez attended meetings uninvited, directed staff on who should be handling certain aspects of the event and interfered with the City’s ability to choose and negotiate with vendors for the special events,” reads the findings.
Investigators also sustained allegations that Hernandez violated the city charter and code of ethics by directing city staff as opposed to going through the city manager.
They also said they determined that the person who made the complaint against Hernandez is credible, but said there were allegations that were overreaching or knowingly lacked factual support.
Investigators also said they did not find Hernandez to be credible, calling his explanations self-serving and displaying an apparent bias to staff.
“Hernandez would often evade the investigator’s questions and go on long tangents, causing the investigator to have to re-ask the question on multiple occasions,” reads the findings.
“Hernandez’ continuous attempts to skirt the investigator’s questions and frame the narrative in a manner favorable to him greatly undermined his credibility.”
What Happens to Hernandez Now?
Hernandez, who is up for reelection Nov. 5, has said 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.
On Monday, Hernandez said the root of his investigation began with allegations that he tried to solicit donations for the celebration – allegations investigators couldn’t sustain.
He also lambasted Monday’s special meeting as a political act.
“This is a decision that is entirely political. The people who are advocating for this unfortunate city council meeting are largely funded by the POA and in this case, you have somebody in the mayor’s seat who I filed a complaint against and that was never investigated. This is a retaliatory investigation,” he said.
Hernandez shared with the Voice of OC a letter from the OC Heritage Council – which has organized Juneteenth festivals in OC – saying they felt intimidated and bullied by city staff.
To read the letter, click here.
Amezcua said Monday’s discussion was not political and the city council has a responsibility to address this type of conduct.
“Our job is not to intervene and step in where the city manager or city staff or city directors have responsibility to conduct their business,” she said.
Councilman Penaloza said for decades the city has ignored elected officials stepping out of their roles.
“Unfortunately, we’re here because of your constant interference with administrative matters. Ask all the parks and recs and staff that have told us that there was a hostile work environment created,” Penaloza said.
“It’s time that we start following the law.”
Penaloza has previously said violating the city charter is a misdemeanor and requested that the city attorney prosecute Hernandez.
Councilman Bacerra agreed and said Hernandez needs to be held accountable, adding Hernandez could face a misdemeanor charge.
“We ran for office to be policy makers, not to avoid policy, not to skirt policy, but to follow policy,” he said at the meeting.
“I don’t care whether this is before election day or after election day, whether it’s an even number year or an odd number year, we need to hold council members accountable, because, if not, our staff is not going to be able to perform the functions that we need them to do.”
Councilman Vazquez said the OC Heritage Council and organizers for the Chicano Heritage Festival and Indigenous People’s Day weren’t contacted by investigators.
“This investigation is lacking, where we need more witnesses, where we need more interviews to be done,” he said at Monday’s meeting. “This, of course, is politically motivated. We could have waited until November.”
Councilwoman Phan – a city attorney herself – said it wasn’t the right time to hold the meeting.
“I received a request for a special meeting out of the blue, and then I received the redacted report tonight on the dais. I have not had time to review it. I have not had time to look through it,” she said.
“I want to make a fully informed decision, because I have no problem holding anyone on this dias, including myself, responsible for doing anything that would harm staff or that would violate our charter.”
Ultimately, the council members voted 5-1 to kick the discussion on what actions to take against Hernandez to their November 19 meeting weeks after the election.
Bacerra, who has received financial contributions from the police union in support of his previous city council campaign, was the dissenting vote.
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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