Though he was absent from the April 21 town council meeting, in many ways Mayor Dominic Foppoli continued to loom large over proceedings. True to his statement last week, Foppoli stepped back from his mayoral duties and left the running of the town to his Vice Mayor Sam Salmon, and councilmembers Debora Fudge and Esther Lemus.
Lemus had been absent from the previous meeting Foppoli had attended, as she is one of six women who have accused him of sexual assault. She will also be recusing herself from any matter detailing the allegations against the mayor.
After concluding normal town business — the council discussed the assessments of the lighting and landscape districts — council members had multiple suggestions for items to add to future council agendas. All of the items suggested relate to either the allegations against Foppoli, the position of mayor itself or establishing policies surrounding if an elected official is accused of misconduct.
Fudge wanted to explore the town sending a letter to the state attorney general who has taken over the Foppoli investigation (Lemus is a deputy district attorney the local district attorney has recused her entire office in the matter) regarding the possibility of implementing a grand jury process under government code 3060 to look at accusations against a city official for willful misconduct in office.
Fudge also wants to revisit the district election process in the town. She wants to redraw the town from four districts to five districts and eliminate the elected mayor position, and she wants it to happen before the November 2022 election. Redistricting will be occurring anyway ahead of that election, due to the recent national census.
Lemus wants to work through a significant overhaul of town systems relating to misconduct.
“In light of current events, we need to create procedures if an elected official is accused of misconduct. We need a system of investigation and reporting findings and also internal practices for addressing emotional and psychological harm and trauma as a result of that misconduct,” she said, adding there was a group convened after the shooting death of Andy Lopez that helped create community healing events and take additional actions to promote trust building.
The meeting concluded with MacNab thanking the remaining three council members for their continued work. “I want to thank you for showing leadership by moving the business of the town forward,” he said.
All of this town business and moving forward comes amidst new allegations, not against Foppoli but against the remaining council members, as the San Francisco Chronicle has published a new article which seemingly contradicts some of the town’s narrative surrounding the 2017 and 2020 emails it received regarding Foppoli’s alleged behavior.
