Contact: Ian Patton

Committee Supporting the Recall of

Councilmember Jeannine Pearce
(ID# 1398531) RecallPearce.org
407 E. 3rd Street
Long Beach, CA 90802
Phone (562) 270-5496
consultant@calheightsconsult.com

Press Advisory

Long Beach City Council to Vote on Censure of

Councilmember Jeannine Pearce; Pearce’s
Council Colleagues Call Her Out on Sexual
Harassment, #MeToo Hypocrisy, Lack of Ethics;
Recall Campaign Rallying Support
Long Beach, Cal., May 21, 2018:

Tomorrow the Long Beach City Council will vote on an agenda item to CENSURE Councilmember
Jeannine Pearce for, as the agendizing memo co-signed by four councilmembers put it, "sexual
harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City's Code of Ethics." (full memo attached;
also see Agenda Item #19 on page 8 of the May 22, 2018 City Council agenda available here)

The Recall Campaign plans to be in attendance, speaking, and rallying support for this courageous
Council action. The Council meeting will be at this time and place:

Long Beach City Council Meeting

Tuesday, May 22, 2018, 5:00 p.m.

Long Beach City Hall – Council Chambers (Ground Floor)

333 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90802

A week and a half ago, the Recall Campaign completed the first phase of our effort, turning in over
9,400 signatures to the Long Beach City Clerk’s Office to put a recall election on the ballot. 6,363 are
required and the City Clerk is currently conducting her review of the signatures.

The charges behind the Pearce Recall are as follows:

• Unethical hiring of boyfriend & city sexual harassment policy violations
• Driving while intoxicated & domestic violence on June 3rd, 2017
• Corrupt Council office practices to keep staffer silent about affair
• Demanding special treatment from Long Beach Police Department officers
• Lying to the police and misleading police investigation
• Currently under longstanding, ongoing District Attorney Investigation for corruption
• Lying to constituents about the June 3rd, 2017 events on the radio
For more information, please go to RecallPearce.org.

For Release May 21, 2018

Page 2 Long Beach City Council to Vote on Pearce Censure Tuesday

WHAT COUNCILMEMBER PEARCE, AFTER DRIVING THEM BOTH WHILE INTOXICATED,

DID TO FIRED FORMER STAFFER / EXTRAMARITAL PARTNER DEVIN COTTER DURING

THE PREDAWN HOURS OF JUNE 3, 2017 OUTSIDE HER VEHICLE PARKED AT THE

MEDIAN OF THE 710 FREEWAY AT ITS LONG BEACH TERMINUS WHERE IT BECOMES

SHORELINE DRIVE:

Further info available at RecallPearce.org and

on the Long Beach Police Department’s Pearce-Cotter Investigation page:

http://www.longbeach.gov/police/how-do-i/public-records-requests/pearce-cotter-investigation/

# # #
 City of Long Beach Memorandum
NB-19
NB-19
Working Together to Serve

Date: May 22,2018

To: Mayor and Members of the City Council

From: Councilmember AI Austin II, Eighth District crL

Councilmember Suzie Price, Third Distric~
Councilmember Daryl Supernaw, Fourth District 'D.Is
Councilmember Dee Andrews, Sixth District \:r1J

Subject: Recommendation to Vote to Censure Council member Pearce

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Recommend the City Council vote to censure Councilmember Jeannine Pearce for her
conduct as a member of the City Council that has reflected poorly on the City of Long
Beach and raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and
failure to adhere to the City's Code of Ethics.

BACKGROUND:

Information that has been publicly released resulting from a Long Beach Police Department
investigation regarding Councilmember Jeannine Pearce raises serious concerns about her
actions as a Councilmember.

The investigation stems from an incident on June 3, 2017 involving Councilmember Pearce
and her former Chief of Staff, Devin Cotter.

Members of the City Council refrained from commenting on the matter while the criminal
investigation was ongoing into allegations of domestic battery and driving under the influence
against Councilmember Pearce.

While that portion of the investigation has concluded with no criminal charges being brought
against Councilmember Pearce, the information that has been revealed raises questions of
potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City's Code of
Ethics.

According to Long Beach Police Department reports that were made public, both
Councilmember Pearce and her former chief of staff made statements to the police that they
had been dating for approximately 3 years, and some of the statements indicate that the .
relationship continued up until about three months prior to the June 3 incident.

Councilmember Pearce hired Mr. Cotter as her chief of staff in July 2016, which indicates that
she hired him at the time that she was in an admitted dating relationship, and that dating
relationship between a supervisor (Councilmember Pearce) and subordinate employee (Mr.
Cotter) continued throughout the duration of his employment.
MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
May 22,2018
Page 2

The City of Long Beach's policy on unlawful harassment complaints defines sexual
harassment in part (Policy 2.2, II, B), as follows:

"... When an employment decision ... is based on whether an employee ... submitted or refused
to submit to some form of sexual conduct, is considered sexual harassment.

"The following are three criteria, which shall be utilized as guidelines for determining whether
or not certain conduct constitutes unlawful sexual harassment:
• Submission to the conduct is made either as an explicit or implicit condition of employment;
or,
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct is the basis for employment decisions affecting an
individual, such as, continued employment or decisions affecting pay, benefits, and/or
advancement opportunities, or other terms and conditions of employment; or
• Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work
performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment."

The action by Councilmember Pearce to hire an employee with whom she was in an active
relationship with, exposed the City to significant risk for potential sexual harassment and
conflict of interest.

According to press reports, the City Attorney's office had to negotiate an agreement with Mr.
Cotter for his termination of employment in December 2016, which included paid leave.

According to the Police Department, an investigation by the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's Public Integrity Division is ongoing regarding "alleged inappropriate behavior and
conflicts of interest."

In addition, the actions by Councilmember Pearce on June 3, 2017, in which she identified
herself as a Councilmember, put the integrity of the Long Beach Police Department at risk,
after several public allegations of preferential treatment were made.

In response, the Police Department conducted an Internal Affairs investigation which required
more than 300 hours of work, including interviews and a review of documents, reports,
computer data, recordings and other relevant data. The investigation concluded that the
allegations of misconduct against the Long Beach Police Department were unfounded.

While that portion of the investigation has concluded with no criminal charges being brought
against Councilmember Pearce, the information that has been revealed raises questions of her
veracity, potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City's
Code of Ethics.

Most recently, the California Attorney General has been asked to review the inappropriate use
of public resources by Councilmember Pearce's office for political campaign business that was
sent from a City email on April 30,2018.

The Long Beach Municipal Code requires all Councilmembers, City employees, officers and
MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
May 22,2018
Page 3

commissioners to agree to a Code of Ethics. This Code of Ethics includes a pledge to "make
every effort to avoid a conflict of interest" and "to exercise prudence and good judgment at all
times."

Given the information that has been made publicly available to this City Council, the actions by
Councilmember Pearce did not adhere to the City's Code of Ethics.

Censure is a disciplinary procedure under Robert's Rules of Order, naming a particular

member of the legislative body as an offender. The Long Beach Municipal Code states that
the rules of parliamentary practice contained in "Robert's Rules of Order" shall govern the
Council where applicable and not otherwise inconsistent with any provision of this Code.

The last time the Long Beach City Council censured a colleague was in 1993, when the
Council voted unanimously to censure a councilmember for "highly inflammatory and
prejudicial" statements he made in a public forum.

This is not a tool that should be used recklessly, and it is not a step that we take lightly in
invoking it now.

We request that the City Council vote to censure Councilmember Jeannine Pearce for her
conduct as a member of the City Council that has reflected poorly on the City of Long Beach
and raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere
to the City's Code of Ethics.

FISCAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact with this recommendation.

 City of Long Beach Memorandum
Working Together to Serve

REQUEST TO ADD AGENDA ITEM

Date: May 18, 2018

To: Monique De La Garza, City Clerk

From: Councilmember AI Austin, Eighth District

Councilmember Suzie Price, Third District
Councilmember Daryl Supernaw, Fourth District

Subject: Request to Add Agenda Item to Council Agenda of May 22,2018

Pursuant to Municipal Code Section 2.03.070 [B], the City Councilmembers signing
below request that the attached agenda item (due in the City Clerk Department by
Friday, 12:00 Noon) be placed on the City Council agenda under New Business via
the supplemental agenda.

The agenda title/recommendation for this item reads as follows:

Recommend the City Council vote to censure Councilmember Jeannine Pearce for
her conduct as a member of the City Council that has reflected poorly on the City
of Long Beach and raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of
interest and failure to adhere to the City's Code of Ethics.

Council Authorizing
District Councilmember

Attachment: Staff Report dated May 22,2018