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Selma City Council recesses into closed session on city manager evaluation
Summary
After a public commenter urged the council not to remove City Manager Fernando Santillan, the Selma City Council recessed into closed session Feb. 3 to discuss the city manager's performance evaluation and labor negotiations under California Government Code.
Selma City Council on Feb. 3, 2025, recessed into closed session to discuss the city manager's performance evaluation and labor negotiations following public comment urging the council not to remove City Manager Fernando Santillan.
The closed session was called under California Government Code sections cited on the record: 54956.9(d)(4) (litigation-related closed session authority as referenced), 54957.6 (conference with labor negotiator) and 54957 (public employee evaluation). The public portion of the meeting ended after the council recessed; the city attorney said an oral report would be provided if there were any reportable actions.
Blanca Mendoza Navarro, a Selma resident who spoke during the public-comment period, told the council she was addressing "the closed session item ... that has to do with the city manager performance evaluation." She said Santillan had just received an evaluation in December and urged council members not to make "unrational decisions about the city manager's position," warning that such moves would be "detrimental to the city and the city's growth." Navarro also listed turnover among recent city managers, naming DB Houser, Ken Gray and David Elias, and described Fernando Santillan as the most stable in recent years.
Council members who answered roll call at the start of the meeting were Council Member Avalos, Council Member Oseguerra, Council Member Trujillo, Mayor Pro Tem Guerra and Mayor Robertson. The agenda for the special meeting included two closed-session items the mayor read into the record before the recess: a conference with the city's labor negotiator and a public employee evaluation for the city manager.
The record of the public portion ends with the council's recess into closed session; the transcript provided does not include any subsequent reportable action or a return to open session. The city attorney had said an oral report would be given if there were reportable actions following the closed session.
