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Independent review finds no law violation in "Wild and Out" event but flags recusal concern; council waives privilege
Summary
An independent investigator told Stockton Council the Wild and Out event involvement raised no state or city-law violations, but the report criticized a councilmember's participation in authorizing an investigation into his own conduct and recommended recusal; council voted 5-2 to waive privilege and receive the full report.
Retained investigator Steven Miller of Hanson Bridgett presented the final report on the Wild and Out live event and related council actions, telling the Stockton City Council that the investigation uncovered no violation of state or city law tied to the city's involvement in the event or to the vice mayor's on-stage participation.
Miller told the council the facts showed the vice mayor had no financial interest in any contract tied to the event and received no personal benefit from his city service regarding the event. "We found no violation of any state or city law arising out of the city's involvement in the Wild and Out live event and the vice mayor's on stage participation," the investigator said during the presentation.
On the narrower question of whether the vice mayor should have recused himself from a council vote to engage an outside investigator into the matter, Miller said the law is unsettled but that the Political Reform Act and common-law conflict principles create a standard the vice mayor likely should have met: "we think the vice mayor should have recused himself from the decision to authorize an investigation into his own conduct, especially in order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest." The report characterized that recusal failure as falling short of aspirational ethical standards even if it could not be tied to a binding precedent.
Council later voted 5-2 to waive privilege and receive the complete report; the minutes and the executive summary indicate the retained firm billed roughly $50,230 for the work to date. Vice Mayor Lee, who was the focus of the probe, used his time in council comment to say he welcomed transparency, reiterated his view that the investigation had been politicized, and said it should not be allowed to distract the city from other priorities.
Some public speakers described the investigation as wasteful of taxpayer dollars and urged the council to move on; others defended the need for independent review. The council did not vote to discipline any member based on the report's findings.
