In a statement dated May 6, the Town Council of Windsor announced it has formally requested that the Sonoma County District Attorney authorize grand jury proceedings against at-large Mayor Dominic Foppoli due to his “willful or corrupt misconduct in office” related to sexual assault allegations made by several women.
This action is provided for in California State law and is a method for removing local elected and appointed officials from office for misconduct.
“The allegations against at-large Mayor Foppoli relate to behavior both outside his official duties as mayor and conduct alleged to have occurred while the mayor was acting in his official capacity,” the town said in a statement. “Based on the information available to the town, it is unclear whether the allegations against at-large mayor Foppoli, if substantiated, would constitute ‘willful or corrupt misconduct in office.’ That determination is to be made by a district attorney and the grand jury, according to California Government Code Section 3060.”
“In light of the magnitude of these serious allegations against the mayor and the facts these allegations are very similar in nature, span a long period of time, concern conduct both outside his official duties as mayor and conduct alleged to have occurred while the mayor was acting in his official capacity, and may indicate a dangerous pattern of behavior and troubling character flaws that render him unfit to hold public office, I have been asked by our town council to request that your office consider commencing grand jury proceedings against Mayor Foppoli for ‘willful or corrupt misconduct in office’ pursuant to California Government Code Section 3060 et seq,” reads the letter, which is signed by Town Manager Ken MacNab on behalf of the council.
According to the town, the letter to the district attorney was requested at its April 21 meeting. Foppoli was not present for the council’s discussion and vote. It is unclear if the DA would refer this matter to the State Attorney General.
What is California Government Code Section 3060?
California Government Code Section 3060 is titled “Removal Other Than by Impeachment” according to the California Legislative Information website. Sections of it date back to 1943, but it had some tweaks in 1972, 1998 and 2013.
While it does give the grand jury an ability to remove an elected or appointed official, it is not necessarily any quicker of a process than any of the others being pursued, such as recall, as if taken to its full conclusion requires a full trial.
It starts by requiring “an accusation in writing against any officer of a district, county or city, including any member of the governing board or personnel commission of a school district or any humane officer, for willful or corrupt misconduct in office, may be presented by the grand jury of the county for, or in, which the officer accused is elected or appointed … An accusation may not be presented without the concurrence of at least 12 grand jurors, or at least eight grand jurors in a county in which the required number of members of the grand jury is 11, or at least 14 grand jurors in a county in which the required number of members of the grand jury is 23.”
The accusation is required to ”state the offense charged in ordinary and concise language, and without repetition” and to be “delivered by the foreman of the grand jury to the district attorney of the county, unless he is the officer accused.” The defendant then must be served with the accusation and “by notice in writing shall require the accused to appear before the superior court of the county, at a time stated in the notice, and answer the accusation” in less than 10 days.
The ordinance states that the defendant “shall” attend the hearing, but doesn’t require it, saying instead “if he does not appear, the court may proceed to hear and determine the accusation in his absence.”
The accused can either deny that the accusations are true, or they can challenge the “legal sufficiency” of the accusation. If doing the latter, the objection must be in writing, if the former it may “be done oral and without oath.”
If an objection is not sustained, then it moves to trial. According to the statute, “if the defendant pleads guilty, or refuses to answer the accusation, the court shall render judgment of conviction against him. If he denies the matters charged, the court shall immediately, or at such time as it appoints, try the accusation.”
The trial is a regular jury trial, held in the same manner as any criminal trial, with witnesses being called for both sides. The witnesses may be compelled to testify via the subpoena process, just as in a criminal trial.
Should there be a conviction, then the defendant will be removed from office. The judgement and removal, and its reasons, will be recorded in the minutes of the trial.
“Any officer subject to removal pursuant to this article may be removed from office for willful or corrupt misconduct in office occurring at any time within the six years immediately preceding the presentation of an accusation by the grand jury,” reads the statue.
However, the defendant is also allowed to make an appeal to the appellate court.
There is no legal avenue available to the council to remove Foppoli itself, and so other than recall or resignation, this is the only other option for him to be removed from office prior to the end of his term in 2022.
