City Council Scolds One of its Own

Embattled Watsonville City Councilman Emilio Martinez was formally reprimanded by his peers on the council Tuesday night, even though Martinez was a no-show at the council meeting.

The 5-1 vote in favor of reprimand amounts to a slap on the wrist or a letter in Martinez's file.

The reprimand is for a phone conversation Martinez reportedly had with a constituent, Elias Alonzo, on Feb. 28. Alonzo went to the council afterward with his wife, Heidi, to report the incident. Both said they felt threatened by Martinez.

As a result, Councilman Manuel Bersamin requested an ethics investigation. But the probe stalled repeatedly as Martinez requested more time to get his files in order and retained legal counsel. In the end, Martinez never met with the ad-hoc committee charged with investigating him.

"He has not refused to meet but he has declined to meet without a variety of additional information," City Attorney Alan Smith said.

Tuesday evening was supposed to be his moment to explain himself, but instead, Martinez emailed City Manager Carlos Palacios a few minutes before 5 p.m. to say he would miss the meeting, because of "personal reasons," Smith said.

Without the dialogue, the meeting became a free-for-all, with residents and council members weighing in on the reasonableness of an ethics investigation for the long-serving Martinez, especially while the city is facing a dire financial situation.

• Watsonville resident Mark Ruso: “I was going to wear a referee’s shirt with a whistle, because that’s what I think you guys need.”

• Alonzo: “I wish to set the record straight” and said he didn’t offer a $50,000 bribe to Martinez on behalf of businessman and philanthropist, Geroge Ow Jr. “With God as my witness, I have never offered nor received bribes, and neither would George Ow Jr."

• Watsonville resident Juilan Garica: “I’m embarrassed as a citizen that you have brought this action and caused this city to be the laughingstock of Santa Cruz County.”

• Bersamin defended filing the code of ethics violation on Martinez and said Martinez has had numerous opportunities to explain himself: "This is not a kangaroo court.”

• Vice Mayor Eduardo Montesino addressed Martinez directly: “You could have been here. You don’t live that far … I know you said for 'personal reasons,' but I know you’re watching. I still encourage you to follow the process. … It would have been nice to hear your part of the conversations, since we only get it through the newspapers or your lawyer.”

• Councilman Lowell Hurst got applause for: “Can’t we all just get along? Can’t we agree to disagree without being disagreeable?”

• Mayor Daniel Dodge: “Personally I don’t think we should have a code to be responsible adults." He also criticized the time spent on the ethics investigation while the city has so many other issues to deal with. "This has hijacked the conversation."

• Councilwoman Nancy Bilicich summed it up: “This sends a message we need to clean up our act. … We need to move forward.”

Up next? Dodge said the ad-hoc committee to look into ethics violations could become permanent, and Bersamin said several times during Tuesday's meeting that he's ready to be investigated if anyone wants to put him in the hot seat.