Public commenters urge removal of Ron Morrison; council enters closed session on litigation and personnel
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Summary
Speakers at a National City council meeting urged accountability in the city manager and city attorney roles and called for 'the exit' of Ron Morrison; the council then entered closed session to discuss litigation, threats to police services, and public‑employment items for the city manager and city attorney.
Mayor Morrison called the National City council to order and opened the meeting’s item‑specific public‑comment period, after which the council went into closed session to discuss litigation and personnel matters.
Two public commenters focused on accountability in the city manager and city attorney roles. Luisa, identified by the clerk as a speaker, told the council that those positions “are critical in protecting the city from waste, abuse, and fraud” and urged that legal guidance be timely and independent to preserve public trust.
A second resident who addressed the council sharply criticized current management, saying the city had spent “over $50,000” on a nationwide search for a new city manager and alleging a “$10,000,000” harassment lawsuit. The resident urged “the exit of, as everybody knows, of Ron Morrison” and accused that same individual of intervening improperly in city projects and pressuring the city attorney not to enforce open‑meeting and public‑records laws. The commenter characterized that interference as “appalling” and said it undermines impartial governance.
The record does not establish whether the “Ron Morrison” named by commenters is the same individual referred to elsewhere in the meeting as “Mayor Morrison”; the transcript identifies a speaker as Mayor Morrison but does not say that Mayor Morrison’s first name is Ron. The accusations reported above were made by public commenters and were not proved in the meeting transcript.
Before adjourning to closed session, the city attorney read four closed‑session items listed on the agenda as 5.1–5.4. As read aloud, the items included initiation of litigation, a threat to public services or facilities involving the National City Police Department, and two public‑employment items concerning the positions of city manager and city attorney. The city attorney cited government‑code provisions during the reading as recorded in the meeting transcript.
The mayor moved the council into closed session and said the council would report out any findings from that closed session at the end of the meeting. No formal vote or disciplinary action was reported in the open portion of the meeting recorded in the transcript.
