Dear Mayor Cutter, Council Members Cox, Hernandez, Thomas, Lee, Lopez, and Ballew:
We write this letter to file another Section 405 complaint against City Manager Zapata for failing to discipline Director Cynthia Battenberg.
In September we had filed the first complaint.
We had asked for 3 items in that complaint:
We can report on the following:
Item 1: Manager Zapata reviewed the first complaint and agreed with the prior rulings of HR Manager Hung and Assistant Manager Kay.
Item 3: Manager Zapata has told us in two separate communications that he will work with City Attorney to prepare changes to the Municipal Code.
While we are heartened by his response to Item 3, we are deeply disturbed by his lack of action regarding Item 2.
We tried to record a new complaint with the City Clerk, and directly to Mr. Zapata, with NEW allegations and evidence regarding infractions committed by Director Battenberg.
These allegations are serious and show a DIRECT violation of City of San Leandro Policy and CA State Law.
In the interest of brevity - we have placed our Case and all our Correspondence with the City online at: www.citizensforafaireastbay.weebly.com.
We encourage you to spend time looking at the evidence, the Laws, and the Recommendations.
Neither Ms. Greenwood or Mr. Zapata has officially recorded our second Complaint. There is an official policy and process to file complaints - we are being SHUT OUT of this process - and therefore the need for a SECTION 405 complaint.
Mr. Zapata made an offer to meet with us - we initially rejected that meeting - as our purpose is very clear - WE WANT AN INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATION - as he himself wrote is appropriate in a case by case basis in his MEMO to you. The process does not call for a private meeting with the accused - we should be able to file complaints confidentially - as per CA law. Having said that we offered to meet with him privately, without Director Battenberg - he has not answered our email.
We are not professional journalists. We vetted the facts of our case using the means at our disposal. We ran our facts by Mr. Zapata and Director Battenberg’s Staff. Mr. Zapata shared our story with Director Battenberg. We have not heard form her or her Attorney. We received feedback from Staff and we have put the final version up on our website - there was one change based on Mr. Smith’s response, it was not material to our case against Ms. Battenberg. We therefore have no doubt on the following:
We tried our best to have Mr. Zapata handle this internally and do the right thing as we still believe an internal professional investigation is the best way to get all the facts and truth out in the open.
Given Mr. Zapata’s refusal - we will be turning over our facts to to the public and putting our case online - www.citizensforafaireastbay.weebly.com
There is something else that this INVESTIGATION needs to accomplish besides to discipline/terminate Director Battenberg. We have been troubled by the institutional processes within San Leandro. Manager Zapata is going to revise the Municipal Code. The facts in this case need to be understood because this CASE will help shape the Code going forward.
There are several facets to this institutional investigation. One is to examine when Mr. Zapata knew about this case and if he did anything to step in prior to our filing the Section 405 violation. Specifically did he instruct Ms Hung or Mr. Kay to rule as they did? The entire debate around letting Mr. Zapata and Sr. Management self police and self judge itself is one that is important and this case needs to be understood to see how the City will change this process.
Another is in the way the City handles citizen complaints. The neighbors who originally filed the case did so under duress - they feared retaliation. And that is exactly what happened to them - we describe the Orwellian response on our website. The City did nothing to protect them and in fact added to their distress by never responding to Director Battenberg’s attorneys threat to sue them over physical evidence they turned over solely for the use of the City.
We have on our website offered Recommendations on how other cities handle these issues.
Changing the Municipal Code is not a trivial matter - it needs input and review from us the PEOPLE and our Representatives - to ensure we are creating a Charter that is consistent with our Values. We cannot leave it solely up to a hired Staff that uses the power we have given them for their enrichment at our expense.
We are living in troubling times, when people in power are abusing victims. They use their power to silence whistleblowers and threaten them. The time to take victims stories seriously and properly treat them is NOW more than ever. We see this nightly as people's faith in government is at an all time low.
We believe Director Battenberg used her position of power to bully, blackmail and threaten her neighbors and others. This needs to be recognized and justice needs to meted out to restore trust.
When we say we want a PROFESSIONAL investigation - this is what we mean:
We have conducted our investigation using the means at our disposal - the City of San Leandro with far more means refuses to investigate this case and relies solely on the words of Director Battenberg.
We realize Mayor Cutter and Council members that no one wants to get embroiled in Ethics matters. However, when faced with these serious charges one can choose to take NONE of the 5 Steps we have outlined, as Mr. Zapata has chosen to do, OR one can decide to find the truth and ACT - as consistent with City Value #1.
Once again, while we are frustrated with Mr. Zapata, we trust in your leadership and your efforts to right the ship. You have every right to express your desire to Mr. Zapata that he appoint a PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATOR (someone along the lines of the PD’s internal affairs unit) to get to the truth and do the right thing. We believe that the people of San Leandro will overwhelming demand this as well.
We believe ETHICS needs to be on the top of the City’s priorities for 2018 - the revamping of the Municipal Code and the resulting changes to process and training around the changes. This will be part of your enduring legacy as Mayor.
Thank you and we wish you and your families a joyous Holiday season.
via: email to Mayor and Council
and first class mail to Mayor Cutter
PS. Mayor Cutter can you please verify that you and the Council received this letter in email format from us as we suspect our emails may not be going through.
We write this letter to file another Section 405 complaint against City Manager Zapata for failing to discipline Director Cynthia Battenberg.
In September we had filed the first complaint.
We had asked for 3 items in that complaint:
- That Manager Zapata adjudicate the first complaint brought forth by the neighbor against Director Battenberg.
- That any future complaints that would be brought forth against Ms. Battenberg be reviewed by a qualified independent 3rd party and that he make a disciplinary action following investigation.
- That a review of San Leandro’s Municipal Code be undertaken and followed up by proper training and supervision to ensure its adoption.
We can report on the following:
Item 1: Manager Zapata reviewed the first complaint and agreed with the prior rulings of HR Manager Hung and Assistant Manager Kay.
Item 3: Manager Zapata has told us in two separate communications that he will work with City Attorney to prepare changes to the Municipal Code.
While we are heartened by his response to Item 3, we are deeply disturbed by his lack of action regarding Item 2.
We tried to record a new complaint with the City Clerk, and directly to Mr. Zapata, with NEW allegations and evidence regarding infractions committed by Director Battenberg.
These allegations are serious and show a DIRECT violation of City of San Leandro Policy and CA State Law.
In the interest of brevity - we have placed our Case and all our Correspondence with the City online at: www.citizensforafaireastbay.weebly.com.
We encourage you to spend time looking at the evidence, the Laws, and the Recommendations.
Neither Ms. Greenwood or Mr. Zapata has officially recorded our second Complaint. There is an official policy and process to file complaints - we are being SHUT OUT of this process - and therefore the need for a SECTION 405 complaint.
Mr. Zapata made an offer to meet with us - we initially rejected that meeting - as our purpose is very clear - WE WANT AN INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATION - as he himself wrote is appropriate in a case by case basis in his MEMO to you. The process does not call for a private meeting with the accused - we should be able to file complaints confidentially - as per CA law. Having said that we offered to meet with him privately, without Director Battenberg - he has not answered our email.
We are not professional journalists. We vetted the facts of our case using the means at our disposal. We ran our facts by Mr. Zapata and Director Battenberg’s Staff. Mr. Zapata shared our story with Director Battenberg. We have not heard form her or her Attorney. We received feedback from Staff and we have put the final version up on our website - there was one change based on Mr. Smith’s response, it was not material to our case against Ms. Battenberg. We therefore have no doubt on the following:
- She discussed a job opening working directly underneath her to the same Planner in Oakland who approved her variance without conditions and who actively negotiated on her behalf —> CA State Violation
- Evidence that clearly shows that Director Battenberg LIED in a Variance Application - which she signed under Penalty of Perjury. Mr. Zapata himself confirmed this violation when he requested that Ms. Battenberg fix the code violations in her basement in that MEMO he wrote to you —> City of San Leandro Violation
- Combined with the prior evidence - it is a LONG list of dishonest statements and a damaging blow to the City’s Values and Mission.
We tried our best to have Mr. Zapata handle this internally and do the right thing as we still believe an internal professional investigation is the best way to get all the facts and truth out in the open.
Given Mr. Zapata’s refusal - we will be turning over our facts to to the public and putting our case online - www.citizensforafaireastbay.weebly.com
There is something else that this INVESTIGATION needs to accomplish besides to discipline/terminate Director Battenberg. We have been troubled by the institutional processes within San Leandro. Manager Zapata is going to revise the Municipal Code. The facts in this case need to be understood because this CASE will help shape the Code going forward.
There are several facets to this institutional investigation. One is to examine when Mr. Zapata knew about this case and if he did anything to step in prior to our filing the Section 405 violation. Specifically did he instruct Ms Hung or Mr. Kay to rule as they did? The entire debate around letting Mr. Zapata and Sr. Management self police and self judge itself is one that is important and this case needs to be understood to see how the City will change this process.
Another is in the way the City handles citizen complaints. The neighbors who originally filed the case did so under duress - they feared retaliation. And that is exactly what happened to them - we describe the Orwellian response on our website. The City did nothing to protect them and in fact added to their distress by never responding to Director Battenberg’s attorneys threat to sue them over physical evidence they turned over solely for the use of the City.
We have on our website offered Recommendations on how other cities handle these issues.
Changing the Municipal Code is not a trivial matter - it needs input and review from us the PEOPLE and our Representatives - to ensure we are creating a Charter that is consistent with our Values. We cannot leave it solely up to a hired Staff that uses the power we have given them for their enrichment at our expense.
We are living in troubling times, when people in power are abusing victims. They use their power to silence whistleblowers and threaten them. The time to take victims stories seriously and properly treat them is NOW more than ever. We see this nightly as people's faith in government is at an all time low.
We believe Director Battenberg used her position of power to bully, blackmail and threaten her neighbors and others. This needs to be recognized and justice needs to meted out to restore trust.
When we say we want a PROFESSIONAL investigation - this is what we mean:
- A professional investigator to interview the neighbors and get the facts directly from the neighbors.
- That person to visit the site.
- That person to explore the relationship between the City of Oakland and Director Battenberg’s dealings with them.
- That person to understand Director Battenberg’s dealings with a private contractor and what led them to cancel a job.
- That person to look at the City’s values and policies and see if Director Battenberg’s actions are in violation of the fundamental way we choose to run our City. And that person to look at CA state law and see if any violations of those occurred.
We have conducted our investigation using the means at our disposal - the City of San Leandro with far more means refuses to investigate this case and relies solely on the words of Director Battenberg.
We realize Mayor Cutter and Council members that no one wants to get embroiled in Ethics matters. However, when faced with these serious charges one can choose to take NONE of the 5 Steps we have outlined, as Mr. Zapata has chosen to do, OR one can decide to find the truth and ACT - as consistent with City Value #1.
Once again, while we are frustrated with Mr. Zapata, we trust in your leadership and your efforts to right the ship. You have every right to express your desire to Mr. Zapata that he appoint a PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATOR (someone along the lines of the PD’s internal affairs unit) to get to the truth and do the right thing. We believe that the people of San Leandro will overwhelming demand this as well.
We believe ETHICS needs to be on the top of the City’s priorities for 2018 - the revamping of the Municipal Code and the resulting changes to process and training around the changes. This will be part of your enduring legacy as Mayor.
Thank you and we wish you and your families a joyous Holiday season.
via: email to Mayor and Council
and first class mail to Mayor Cutter
PS. Mayor Cutter can you please verify that you and the Council received this letter in email format from us as we suspect our emails may not be going through.