Vallejo council convenes special meeting, moves into closed session on multiple litigation matters and city manager review

At 5:03 p.m. the Vallejo City Council convened a special meeting and moved into closed session to confer with legal counsel about multiple litigation matters, discuss labor negotiations and carry out the city manager’s performance evaluation.

The presiding mayor opened the meeting and asked the city clerk to conduct roll call. The clerk recorded several council members as present and one as absent. Council Member Paul Maris confirmed he was attending remotely and said, “I am suffering from a contagious illness, and that's why I am attending virtually right now.”

The city attorney then read the closed-session agenda items aloud. Item (a) covered anticipated litigation involving significant exposure under Government Code section 54956.9 (the agenda referenced numerous potential matters). Item (b) listed anticipated litigation as to initiation of suits under paragraph (4) of subdivision (d) of Government Code section 54956.9. Item (c) named an existing case, Yeager Vineyards LLC v. City of Vallejo, for conference with counsel. Item (d) listed multiple existing litigation matters, including litigation involving the City of American Canyon and a Measure K CEQA matter being heard in Marin County. Item (e) named Monterosa v. City of Vallejo in the U.S. Eastern District of California.

Item (f) addressed labor negotiations under Government Code section 54957.6. The city attorney identified the agency’s designated representatives as Andrew Murray, the city manager, and Stephanie Cifuentes, the human resources director, and read a list of employee organizations that may be discussed, including the Vallejo Police Officers Association and the International Association of Firefighters Local 1186. Item (g) listed a public-employee performance evaluation under Government Code section 54957(b)(1) for the position of city manager.

The mayor opened public comment on the closed-session items, noting people could sign up in person at a kiosk or raise their hands online; no speakers came forward. The council then closed public comment and adjourned into closed session.

Because the meeting moved to closed session, the council did not take any public votes or make publicly recorded decisions in the portion of the record provided. The matters announced for closed-session discussion include pending litigation matters and personnel and labor matters that, under state law, are generally discussed behind closed doors.