Stockton City Hall has been anything but calm lately. What started as a paper trail has turned into a political showdown, with Vice Mayor Jason Lee demanding answers and City leaders ducking for cover.
Lee says he’s holding receipts; documents showing that former interim City Manager Steve Colangelo may have stepped way out of line by promising a Stockton nonprofit hundreds of thousands in city funds. Now, days later, no one’s owning up, and the tension is thick enough to cut.
Now, last week, Lee shook things up when he sent local media four documents one of them a letter on official city letterhead dated June 30, in which Colangelo allegedly committed Stockton to financially support Service First of Northern California, a social services nonprofit.
That letter reads:
“This letter serves as an official commitment from the City of Stockton confirming our intention to provide matching funds to support the Service First of Northern California Recovery Center project.”
Normally, only City Council can greenlight spending above $100,000 but Lee says this commitment went out without their approval. He also pointed out that Service First’s CEO had donated to Mayor Christina Fugazi’s campaign records show at least a $250 contribution.
Service First didn’t pick up the phone when Stocktonia reached out. Colangelo stayed silent too.
A Meeting That Never Happened
The letter sparked public back-and-forth between Lee and Fugazi. The mayor argued the document wasn’t an official financial commitment and said she’d already returned the campaign donation.
But things really blew up last Thursday, when a special meeting called to address Colangelo’s alleged misconduct collapsed before it began.
Fugazi and three other councilmembers didn’t show two of them had even voted to hold the meeting earlier that week. That left only three members present, not enough for a quorum.
“I think there is a desired effort to prevent this conversation from happening,” Lee said after the meeting was canceled. “The only problem with that is, that I’m not going anywhere, and the issues aren’t going anywhere.”
The remaining councilmembers agreed to reschedule for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Where’s the $824,000 Coming From?
Here’s what has everyone scratching their heads: the state’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) tentatively awarded Service First $8.2 million back in May to build a recovery center downtown.
According to Lee, that state letter mentioned Service First had already secured an $824,000 “cash match,” a crucial requirement for the funding.
Lee’s claim? That the matching funds Colangelo promised in June were meant to cover that same $824,000.
But here’s the catch: the state’s tentative award came two months before Colangelo’s letter. Meaning, Service First couldn’t have used it to qualify for the original funding. They must’ve had an earlier commitment but from who?
City spokesperson Tony Mannor said he “(has) not identified any City Council authorization for matching funds.”
That’s a bureaucratic way of saying: no one approved this money.
Stockton’s Economic Development Department didn’t return calls, and DHCS declined to clarify who was listed in Service First’s application as the provider of the match.
County Says They Passed
Lee also circulated a May 31 email where Service First reached out to San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors Chair Paul Canepa, asking if the county could help cover the match.
Canepa says the county didn’t have funds for it. “We couldn’t find any forms of funding for it,” he told Stocktonia. County spokesperson Hilary Crowley confirmed no county money went to Service First.
So far, no one has confirmed whether the $824K ever left city accounts or if it was even real money to begin with. Lee admitted after Thursday’s canceled meeting that he doesn’t know if any payment was made.
Meanwhile, the state’s final approval of Service First’s $8.2 million award was still pending as of October. Lee says he believes the state is aware of the ongoing concerns.
Council No-Shows and Public Frustration
Earlier this week, council had actually voted 5-2 to hold the special meeting. Lee joined Councilmembers Michael Blower, Mario Enríquez, Mariela Ponce, and Michele Padilla in favor. Fugazi and Brando Villapudua voted no.
Then came Thursday and Ponce, Padilla, and Villapudua were all no-shows, without notice. Ponce later said she was at work. The others haven’t said why they skipped out.
But the public showed up roughly 20 people, including members of the San Joaquin County Grand Jury.
They didn’t hide their frustration.
“It really shows a lot about who they are,” said Rena Rodgers, who serves on Stockton’s Measure W Oversight Committee.
“This just shows they’re really not about the people,” added Yolanda Amen, president of Mata’irea Polynesian Culture Preservation. “But I don’t think they know how strong we are, and this is just going to make (us) come out even harder now,” she said. “We’re going to get the answers we’re asking for.”
What Comes Next
As Stockton waits for Wednesday’s rescheduled meeting, the city’s left with more questions than answers. Right now, no one’s talking except Vice Mayor Jason Lee. And he’s made one thing clear: he’s not backing down.
In his words,
“the issues aren’t going anywhere.”