City Government

Kernighan Moves to Censure Desley Brooks

Published

11 years ago

July 15, 2013

Councilwoman Desley Brooks, District 6

At the City Council’s Rules and Legislation Committee meeting on last Thursday, Council President Pat Kernighan requested a special council meeting to censure Councilmember Desley Brooks for allegedly violating the City Charter.

< p>Brooks, along with Councilmember Larry Reid, have been under fire since the City Auditor Courtney Ruby released a report in February citing wrongdoing on both members alleging they had attempted to steep a public contract to a local construction firm.

Citing City Auditor’s Report and a recent similar Alameda County Grand Jury report, Kernighan asked for a Motion to Censure Councilmember Brooks to be placed on the agenda “regarding certain of her actions pertaining to the Rainbow Teen Center,” located in Brooks’ district.

However, District 4 Councilwoman Libby Schaff, in an email to City Administrator Deanna Santana, also discussed city business and exactly what she was going to ask a staff member to do. This action directly violates section 218 of the Non-Interference Clause of the city’s Charter, according to some observers.

Schaff’s email was included in the City Auditor’s “Non-Interference in Administrative Affairs Performance Audit,” but action against her has not been taken possibly because it falls into “grey areas,” according to a spokesperson from the City Auditor’s office.

According to a source at city hall, Ruby “chose to ignore” Schaff’s violation because it was outside of the scope of time she was looking at.

The Post has received inquiries, asking: what constitutes a gray area? Is this a case of selective enforcement of the charter, or is this a move seeking to find fault with minority members of the council? How can the council censure a member when it does not even have a censure policy?

The special meeting to discuss Kernighan’s censure motion is scheduled for Tuesday, July 25 at 6:30 p.m in the city council chambers.