Cypress City Councilwoman Frances Marquez is suing the city, three of her council colleagues and City Manager Peter Grant for alleged harassment and retaliation for her support of changing the city’s election system.
Marquez, who is running for a seat on the OC Board of Supervisors, said in a statement last week that she is speaking out against corruption.
“That’s why I supported the transition to district-based elections to ensure all voters in Cypress have an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice that are reflective of the diversity of our community,” reads her statement.
“As a result of my support for voters’ rights, the majority on the Cypress City Council and the City Manager retaliated against me. Let me be clear: I will not back down, and I will not be deterred.”
In her civil rights lawsuit filed in federal court last week, Marquez also alleges Mayor Scott Minikus, Councilmembers Anne Mallari and Bonnie Peat as well as Grant unlawfully censured her and adopted policies that prevent her from doing her job.
She also accuses the city of refusing to indemnify her from lawsuits in litigation.
To read the legal complaint, click here.
Grant emailed a statement on behalf of Minikus Friday.
“The City has not been served with the lawsuit and it would be premature to provide any substantive response. Nevertheless, the allegations appear to be without merit. Rather, they represent yet another effort by someone to blame others for their failure to follow the laws and procedures that apply to all local elected officials,” reads Minikus’ statement.
Mallari and Peat did not respond to email requests for comment Friday.
City Attorney Fred Galante also said in a Friday phone call that the city has yet to be served the lawsuit.
“It would be premature for me to even comment on the lawsuit,” he said.
Cypress’ Voting Rights Lawsuit
Marquez’ federal lawsuit comes after city officials agreed to pay over $835,000 to settle a California Voting Rights lawsuit accusing the city’s at-large voting system of disenfranchising Asian American voters and calling on the city to switch to district voting.
[Read: Cypress To Pay $835k In Voting Rights Lawsuit Settlement]
In an at-large voting system, residents can vote for as many candidates as open seats. That means if there are three open city council seats, then all the city’s residents can vote for three different candidates.
But in a district-based voting system, the city is separated into different geographical zones.
With this method, residents can only vote for the candidate who’s looking to represent the district that they live in, with the candidate also having to reside in the district.
Lawsuits like this are common across California, but not one city in the Golden State has ever fended off the legal threats.
Many cities decided to change their election system as soon as they got a letter threatening a lawsuit.
But Cypress refused — instead voting 4-1 to reject a letter demanding the change in 2022.
Marquez was the dissenting vote.
At the January city council meeting when the city decided to settle the lawsuit, Minikus publicly accused Marquez and Councilman David Burke of being close to the plaintiffs of the lawsuit and leaking the city’s legal strategy before refusing to let them respond.
At the next meeting, officials voted to admonish Minikus for his comments.
[Read: Cypress City Council Admonishes Mayor For Accusing Colleagues of Misconduct]
Marquez Censured Twice
Marquez was censured twice by her council colleagues in the months after Cypress received a legal threat accusing them of violating the California Voting Rights Act.
The official condemnations, she says, attack her right to free speech.
The first time Marquez was censured for allegedly violating the state’s public records act, a couple of city policies and codes, as well as for disclosing closed session information – all of which she pushed back on.
[Read: Cypress City Council Censures Councilwoman Frances Marquez]
The second time she was censured for allegedly violating various sections of the city’s civility, conduct and governance code and campaigning at Cypress High School – which she also denied.
[Read: Cypress City Council Again Censures Councilwoman Frances Marquez]
As part of the second censure, Marquez was fined $100, her stipend was suspended for three months and she was removed from two regional boards and a city subcommittee.
Minikus and Mallari voted in favor of both censures.
Peat was not on the council at the time, but her husband Jon Peat was and he voted in favor of both censures too.
Marquez said in her statement despite the alleged retaliation from her colleagues, she will continue to do her job.
“I will continue to call out corruption and work tirelessly to provide the highest quality of service delivery for every resident of Cypress.”
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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