San Leandro council approves compromise to release redacted investigative report, schedules disciplinary hearing

The San Leandro City Council voted to allow access by council counsel to an unredacted independent investigation report and to release a redacted public version after a future privilege vote, while scheduling a disciplinary hearing for Dec. 8.

The 4-2 vote came after more than an hour of discussion about timing, fairness, attorney-client privilege and whether restorative conversations could resolve the dispute. Councilmembers Viveiros Walton and Bolt moved and seconded the substitute motion, which allows each councilmember to review the report and permits the report’s attorneys to view the unredacted document in person before the council votes on waiving privilege on Nov. 17.

Mayor Gonzales and Vice Mayor Bowen, along with multiple councilmembers, framed the action as a compromise intended to balance transparency for the public with due-process concerns for councilmembers who are subjects of the investigation. Vice Mayor Bowen said she could “have those conversations” about restorative steps and later stated, “I cannot ask someone to waive what they haven't seen,” explaining her preference for giving members time to review the report before a public privilege waiver.

City Attorney Rich Pirotta advised that the 10-day notice rule applies only to censure proceedings and that an executive summary of the independent report is also attorney-client privileged, meaning any public release of that summary would require the same privilege vote as the full document.

Councilmember Simon and Councilmember Aguilar argued for additional review time so members and their attorneys could examine the full report before any public release; they raised scheduling and counsel-availability concerns and said they would vote no on waiving privilege at this meeting. Councilmember Regalado and others emphasized fairness and the need to avoid rushing councilmembers’ review.

Under the substitute motion, the council set Nov. 17 as the date on which the council will consider waiving attorney-client privilege for public release of a redacted report; the council scheduled a disciplinary hearing, short of censure, for Dec. 8. The motion also permits the subject councilmembers’ counsel to review the unredacted report in person at City Hall prior to that Nov. 17 privilege vote.

Votes at a glance: Motion to allow counsel in-person review of the unredacted report, to release a redacted public version following a privilege vote, and to set a disciplinary hearing for Dec. 8 — Passed, 4-2 (Councilmembers Simon and Aguilar voted no; Councilmember Azevedo absent).

Councilmembers and city officials said they hope the timetable will give members time to prepare and will allow the council to consider both disciplinary options short of censure and restorative approaches before any formal action is taken.