The Cypress City Council held a last-minute special meeting Friday afternoon, moving forward with an attempt to censure member Frances Marquez over her response to a records request, among other things.
This was the third time this year the council weighed whether to censure Marquez. But while in the past, the council ultimately declined to do so, on Friday it voted 4-1 to place a resolution on the June 27 agenda censuring Marquez for “failing to respond to Public Records Act requests in a timely manner.”
The lengthy resolution, which council members discussed whittling down at a later date, included the two previous censure proposals: one accused Marquez of disclosing confidential information from a closed session meeting and the other of initially balking at a civility agreement.
Censure of an elected official is a formal reprimand of misconduct but carries no fine or suspension.
Inside the records request
The move Friday stems from a massive public records request sent to the city May 9. It asked for virtually every communication Marquez has written or received since her election to the council in 2020.
Responses to California Public Records Act requests are expected within 10 working days. The city asked for an additional two weeks, given the comprehensiveness of the request.
In his comments during Friday’s meeting, Cypress Mayor Paulo Morales contended Marquez has “had more than enough time” to complete the request.
But Marquez maintained she already turned over most, if not all, of the documents required. She said she believed she was adhering to a timeline approved by the city attorney.
However, the city attorney said Marquez still needs to sign affidavits pertaining to the records search. She also claimed attorney-client confidentiality for some of the requests without properly explaining why, he said.
The records request was sent to the city by Costa Mesa attorney Adam Harris. Harris did not return multiple calls, texts, or emails regarding the request.
Under the California Public Records Act, those requesting information are not required to explain why.
“It doesn’t matter who makes the request — public record is public record,” said Kelly Aviles, general counsel with statewide watchdog Californians Aware.
The letter requests “any and all communications, whether involving Dr. Frances Marquez’s private or public email accounts, phone numbers, and/or personal devices, with any and all people.” It specifically lists by name journalists, attorneys, politicians, residents and Marquez’s family members.
It also asks for bank statements, “jottings” and diaries, as well as “ideograms known as emoji (happy faces, sad faces, and other icons).”
The request goes on to outline communications regarding controversial issues that have come before the city: district voting, the Amazon Last Mile Facility, Los Alamitos Race Course, and the Valley Vista Services trash contract.
“It’s a shotgun approach,” said retired California State University administrator George Pardon, a longtime resident and self-appointed city watchdog.
Marquez said she retained an attorney at her own expense to advise her about the public records request, noting she distrusts city staff. The attorney, she said in the meeting, recently contracted COVID, slowing down the process.
“It was stressful, but I feel good about how things went today,” Marquez told the Register Friday evening. “I have faith that the residents of Cypress will see this effort to discredit me for what it is.”
In an interview with the Register prior to the special meeting, Morales decried how much public records requests are costing the city. He said Marquez “dragging on puts us at risk for a lawsuit.”
Processing records requests “usually represents about 10% of the annual workload in the city clerk’s office,” according to Friday’s agenda, but that percentage has spiked fourfold over the past several months, “impacting the organization’s productivity and morale.”
“The recent requests are expansive, complicated, request records held outside the city’s direct control and have, unfortunately, become somewhat adversarial,” the agenda said.
Aside from the censure resolution, the Cypress City Council unanimously approved hiring outside counsel to handle public records requests so the city attorney can be freed up for other matters.
The outside counsel, as needed, would be paid for using general funds, but there was not an estimate attached to the agenda or provided by the mayor when asked by the Register.
Additionally during the approximately 90-minute special meeting, the council approved items directing Marquez to comply with records requests and require council members, in general, to adhere to records requests deadlines. (Marquez voted for the general measure but voted against the one specifically naming her.)
Tensions on the council
At times Friday, the meeting veered off into an airing of grievances between Marquez and her colleagues on a bevy of issues even unrelated to the records request. There were accusations of opened mail, complaints about communication styles, and arguments about committee assignments.
Marquez is often the lone dissenting voice on agenda items, making her a bit of an outsider on the council. She is an associate professor of government at Gallaudet University and has worked for Democratic Congressman Alan Lowenthal and former Congressman Mike Honda.
The other council members live near one another and share job experiences and friendships. Two members are retired police officers, and two are associated with the local Boys & Girls Club.
In November, Marquez was the only council member to vote against a no-bid, 10-year contract extension with Valley Vista Services — running through 2037 and bestowing a 30% rate increase.
Marquez and numerous residents argued a conflict of interest, noting two council members (Anne Hertz-Mallari and Jon Peat) are affiliated with the Boys & Girls Club, which receives free trash services from Valley Vista. Months later, Marquez continues to push for reconsideration of the contract, drawing criticism from her colleagues.
Marquez, likewise, stood alone in supporting a transition from at-large to by-district council elections.
Morales directly acknowledged two people who spoke at Friday’s meeting. One of the speakers had said that a censure “could be interpreted as an attempt to remove (Marquez) from the council to replace her with someone more closely aligned.”
Public records requests potentially can be “weaponized” to pester elected officials, said Aviles. “But if you run for public office, that’s the kind of thing you sign up for,” she said.
An agency’s response may vary depending on the situation, Aviles added.
“The city has discretion over what it calls privileged information,” she said. “Conceivably, a city could throw one council member under the bus while reacting differently if another council member got the exact same request.”
That’s what is happening here, Marquez alleged in Friday’s meeting, accusing her four colleagues of acting as “judge and jury without a trial.”
“I didn’t run for office to be best friends with my colleagues,” Marquez said. “I ran to represent my constituents.”
