When Kristine Ridge abruptly resigned as Santa Ana’s City Manager last October, Mayor Valerie Amezcua praised her for her service and Ridge wished the city success.
“Ms. Ridge served this City very well,” Amezcua said in an October statement. “And we are particularly appreciative of her leadership to the City and community during her tenure as City Manager.”
But a redacted legal claim filed by Ridge last year before her departure paints a much darker reality of the inner workings of city hall and the grip the Santa Ana Police Officers Association has on some of its leaders.
To read the claim letter, click here.
The claim that officials long resisted to make public is giving residents a rare look behind the scenes of a town where the police union routinely spends heavily on local elections and public safety costs keep shooting up.
In October, a majority of city council members opted to settle the claim behind closed doors without launching an investigation into the allegations first and pay Ridge over $600,000 instead of fighting her in court.
Both parties also agreed not to talk to the press or public about it beyond a mutually agreed upon press release.
It’s a claim that the city resisted handing over to the press for six months and at least two elected officials say they have only seen it once.
That is until it was first obtained by Knock LA and reported on last week.
The claim, later released to the Voice of OC on Monday after an initial request for it in October, reveals damning allegations that elected officials went to bat for former police union leader Gerry Serrano and the unions’ interests and pressured Ridge to boost his pay and pension.
Ridge also accuses Amezcua of violating the state’s open meeting law and creating a hostile workplace.
The settlement and the allegations are triggering all sorts of questions for city hall at a time where leaders are warning of a looming sales tax cliff that could tear up public services.
Questions most officials won’t answer including Amezcua who did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
An Over $600,000 Claim, An Active Investigation & an Ethics Complaint
Councilwoman Jessie Lopez said in a Monday phone interview that she was the lone vote against settling the claim.
“It very much felt like it was an attempt to cover up disturbing allegations and evade accountability for those responsible – for why now taxpayers have paid over half a million dollars,” Lopez said
Ridge’s resignation came amid an unsuccessful recall election against Lopez sponsored by the Police union and supported by Amezcua last year.
Lopez said based on her own experiences with the police union, she believes Ridge’s claims are credible.
“We saw a lot of that play out last year with the illegitimate recall that I faced for refusing to comply with the majority’s agenda to give more money and power to the police union, which is a prime example of the toxic atmosphere within city hall,” she said.
She also said officials themselves were not given the claim.
“The City Attorney’s office did not release it to us because it was part of a confidential settlement, and the council was advised to not violate personnel privacy or disclose privileged information [because] we could face – as individuals – legal claims and be responsible for damages,” Lopez wrote in a Monday text.
Councilman Ben Vazquez said in a Monday phone interview that the decision to settle the claim was made because it would have cost about the same to fight it in court.
“It seemed like it was a broken relationship and we wanted to give Kristine Ridge her due,” he said. “It was time to move on.”
He also said the council voted to settle the claim without an investigation into the allegations first.
Councilman Johnathan Ryan Hernandez said in a Monday phone interview that he can’t speak about what is discussed in closed door meetings when asked why the city settled the claim.
“As a fiduciary for the city, our goal is to also protect the taxpayers resources,” he said.
Hernandez also said that there is now an active investigation into Ridge’s allegations and into the Mayor as part of the settlement agreement.
He has his own concerns about the mayor.
Hernandez filed a separate ethics complaint against Amezcua last year alleging that the mayor violated the Brown Act as Amezcua tried to fire Ridge and former Police Chief David Valentin.
He said his own experiences with Amezcua align with Ridge’s allegations and called on Amezcua to resign
“I saw the mayor violate the Brown Act. I have filed a complaint myself on the mayor having serial meetings, where she has talked to more than three council members, leading into the strategy to give POA the full control of the city by firing the city manager and the police chief,” he said.
“It’s clear that we have a mayor who isn’t serving the interests of our residents, but rather the interests of the people who got her elected.”
The rest of the city council did not respond to requests for comment as to why they decided to settle the claim.
Amezcua’s campaign, along with the campaigns of City Council members David Penaloza and Phil Bacerra, were heavily funded by the Santa Ana Police Officer Association’s political action committee.
The police union spent roughly $218,000 on mailers and digital ads in support of Amezcua’s 2022 campaign.
They also spent a total of $92,000 in support of Penaloza in 2022 and spent a total of $82,000 in support of Bacerra.
[Read: How Beholden Are Santa Ana Lawmakers to the Powerful Police Union?]
Is Something Rotten in Santa Ana?
In her claim, Ridge alleges she faced a repeated pressure campaign from elected officials to “take care” of former police union president Gerry Serrano and his pension as well as faced discrimination and harassment.
“Ms. Ridge has also been repeatedly directed to provide Mr. Serrano with a higher paying salaried position without regard to civil service provisions nor qualifications,” reads the claim.
“Ms. Ridge has been very vocal in her opposition to these demands, and has spoken out repeatedly about her concerns of misuse of taxpayer’s dollars provided to the Police Officer’s Association.”
Voice of OC attempted to reach Serrano on his cellphone Monday but the person who answered the phone told a reporter he had the wrong number and hung up when asked for his name.
Serrano isn’t the only name that appears in Ridge’s claim.
Amezcua’s name is mentioned in the claim 14 times.
A section of the claim document is heavily redacted and alleges Amezcua requested Ridge agendize an item to be discussed behind closed doors that Ridge said was a violation of the Brown Act – the state’s open meeting law.
Due to the redactions, it is unclear what the request was.
Ridge also alleged in her claim that Amezcua prohibited her from speaking during labor negotiations with the police union and that the mayor made discriminatory remarks against her.
A Police Union Takeover of City Hall
Ridge’s departure from the city came about two weeks after Valentin announced his retirement this year – citing “corrupt and compromised politicians” and “compromised staff.”
[Read: Santa Ana Police Chief to Retire Amidst City Hall Tumult]
He had served in the role since 2017.
Valentin’s predecessor, Carlos Rojas, was left his role as police chief after union-backed Santa Ana City Council candidates gained a majority of seats in the 2016 election and succeeded in ousting Rojas’ boss, then-City Manager David Cavazos.
[Read: Former Santa Ana Police Chief Sues, Claiming He Was Pushed Out By Mayor and Police Union]
Serrano and the police union opposed both Ridge and Valentin and launched a public legal battle accusing both of impropriety and abuse when he faced resistance to boost his public pension that City Hall deemed improper.
[Read: Santa Ana Officials: Police Union Boss Threatens to ‘Burn the Place Down’ to Boost His Pension]
City Hall leaders, in response, called Serrano’s lawsuits an intimidation campaign.
The former police union leader parted ways with the city last summer.
City officials have yet to hire Ridge’s or Valentin’s permanent replacement.
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.
•••
Since you’ve made it this far,
You obviously care about local news and value good journalism. Help us become 100% reader funded with a tax deductible donation. For as little as $5 a month you can help us reach that goal.