Police union asks Campbell council to consider recusal after member’s confrontation near patrol vehicle

Matt Ryan, speaking on behalf of members of the Police Officers Association, told the council on June 16 that several officers attended a POA meeting at the community center while on duty and had parked marked patrol vehicles in the community‑center lot. Ryan said that as officers were preparing to leave, "a member of this council approached one of the patrol vehicles, yelling at it, wanting to know why it was at the community center" and “strongly implying that they needed to leave the community center.”

Ryan characterized the meeting as protected union activity concerning wages, benefits and working conditions and said the officers were conducting themselves professionally. He said the timing — occurring while the city and the POA are in active labor negotiations — raises the appearance that employees who attend union meetings could face hostility for participating. Ryan asked that the implicated council member voluntarily recuse themselves from further participation in negotiations between the city and the POA.

The request was made during the public‑comment/oral‑requests portion of the agenda; no formal response was recorded in the transcript and council did not move to take immediate action on the recusal request during the meeting. The matter, as raised by the POA representative, remains a request rather than a formal complaint or documented finding by the council.

Records of formal recusals, conflicts or personnel actions would need to appear in subsequent council minutes or through a formal complaint process to create enforceable restrictions on participation.