Vice Mayor calls Vallejo council to order; council moves into closed session on city manager evaluation and litigation

The vice mayor called the Vallejo City Council to order at 5:03 p.m. and the council immediately recessed into closed session to discuss the city managers performance evaluation and three pending legal cases, the city attorney said.

The councils city attorney read the closed-session agenda, citing a public employee performance evaluation under Government Code section 54957(b)(1) "regarding the city manager," and conference with legal counsel on existing litigation under Government Code section 54956.9(a). The attorney listed three Solano County Superior Court matters involving the People of the State of California and the City of Vallejo: cases naming Mary Beckes, Guadalupe Mendez et al., and Robert Chang et al.

Before the closed session, the vice mayor oversaw roll call as the clerk read the roster of elected officials. The vice mayor announced that Mayor Soresu and council members Lehi Du and Macias were absent. The vice mayor also instructed staff to start a two-minute public-comment timer and explained that members of the public could sign up at the speaker kiosk or raise their hand virtually via Zoom.

Staff confirmed there were no in-person or virtual speakers by the end of the two-minute period. "Seeing none, go ahead and close the public session and commute us back to the closed session," the vice mayor said before the council recessed. The vice mayor also noted the mayor had texted that she would not join the meeting.

The meeting moved to closed session and no open-session votes or actions were recorded in the transcript provided. Any formal actions or disclosures coming out of the closed session would be reported in accordance with state law and the councils subsequent public minutes.