Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents accuse National City mayor of obstructing city attorney and pressuring hires
Summary
During public comment at a National City council meeting, multiple residents accused Mayor Ron Morrison and some council members of obstructing the city attorney, interfering with investigations and public‑records responses, and seeking to install a compliant city attorney and city manager.
Residents used the public‑comment period at a National City council meeting to accuse Mayor Ron Morrison and several council members of interfering with the city attorney’s independence and the city’s hiring processes.
Resident Daniel Kaye said he had "no faith" in the city's current leadership and accused the mayor of having "obstructed the chief legal officer of National City and interfered with his ability to investigate and enforce the city's laws and regulations," and of pressuring city lawyers not to enforce open‑meeting and public‑records laws. "You are now carrying out a scheme to employ a yes man for the city attorney position," Kaye said.
Louisa McCarthy, who spoke during the same public‑comment block, repeated those claims and said the mayor and some council members had created "a climate of unlawfulness" that threatened city employees' and the public's rights. "It is you, mayor, and council member Molina, who should be departing, not city attorney Barry Schultz," McCarthy said.
Marissa Cuevas raised related concerns about the city manager search, asking how a $50,000 nationwide search was conducted and whether the council intended to appoint an internal candidate who would "be under your thumb." Alex Gutrud pointed to the National City municipal code and argued the city manager must be independent, listing alleged problems he said include illegal variances, rushed closed sessions and failures to produce requested public records.
Council member Rodriguez interrupted one commenter and said some allegations were untrue and should be supported with evidence. The meeting then recessed into closed session for personnel and real‑property matters; no public vote or council action on the allegations was recorded in the transcript.
The public comments touched on legal and political disputes but did not produce any immediate council action; the council scheduled a closed session on personnel matters that the mayor said would be reported out later.
Next steps: the council recessed into closed session to discuss labor negotiations, the city attorney and city manager positions, and a real‑property negotiation; the meeting record in the transcript does not include any vote or public decision on the allegations raised.
