‘Take a seat, bro’; Embattled water agency muzzled critic at public meeting, ACLU says
Already roiled by criminal indictments against its general manager and bitter infighting between board members, the embattled Central Basin Municipal Water District has now been accused of trying to muzzle critical comments at a public meeting.
After telling a Downey resident and vocal critic of the board that he was “out of order” for mentioning criminal charges against district general manager Alejandro “Alex” Rojas, and then ordering guards to eject the resident from a recent meeting, the district’s board has been accused of violating the Ralph M. Brown Act, a California law that guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in government meetings.
“It is abundantly clear ... that the Board had no legitimate or legal basis for its actions, which violated the Board’s obligation to allow public comment,” read a cease-and-desist letter filed recently by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
The incident occurred on March 27, as community organizer and water advocate Juan Martinez addressed the board during its public comment period, according to the letter and video of the event.
Rojas faces charges of money laundering, soliciting a bribe and grand theft embezzlement from his days as superintendent of La Puente’s Bassett Unified School District from 2014-17. Rojas has denied any wrongdoing.
“The Brown Act provides for people to have the right to discuss matters of public interest that are within the board’s purview in the public comment period,” said Jonathan Markovitz, a free expression and access to government attorney for the ACLU and the letter’s author. “The board stopped [Martinez] from doing that… the second it was clear what he wanted to talk about.”
Leaders of the Central Basin Municipal Water District are feuding as the agency’s general manager faces charges of bribery and embezzlement.
On Tuesday, the district responded. “[T]he District commits to permitting him and any other individuals to fully and freely participate in its public comments periods in accordance with the requirements of the Brown Act” so long as they don’t threaten anyone or disrupt the meeting, wrote Derrick Lowe, one of the district’s lawyers.
Lowe said that the board’s reaction to Martinez stemmed from an alleged “history of disruptive behavior with respect to the district,” including harassing a district employee at their home. “As such, in an abundance of caution and based on this prior conduct, the Board’s initial reaction to his attempted statements at the public meeting was to intervene when it was believed that he would simply be continuing with his prior pattern of disruption.”
Martinez said any claims that he has intimidated board members are false.
The letter comes during another tumultuous chapter for the Commerce-based water wholesaler, which serves almost 2 million residents in southeast Los Angeles. For years it was seen as a poster child of government dysfunction: Lawsuits accused officials of corruption and harassment. State auditors criticized the district for questionable contracting practices, poor leadership and violating the law. Some California lawmakers even tried to dissolve the district’s board of directors and place it in receivership.
The charges against Rojas, filed in August, have incited bitter and ongoing fighting among board members, further shattered trust from district residents, and complicated decision-making among officials.
Prosecutors allege that in 2015 and 2016 — when Rojas served as Bassett Unified’s superintendent — he schemed to divert more than $1.4 million in public money by approving invoices for work that was never done. He was charged along with Luis Rojas, the chief executive of Del Terra, a company that was hired to oversee construction projects for the school district. The two men are not related.
Luis Rojas has called the charges “frivolous.”
Board members Leticia Vasquez and Martha Camacho-Rodriguez have also repeatedly voiced concerns about Rojas remaining in his position even as he faces corruption charges.
In a video of last month’s meeting, Martinez, who is off camera, begins his public comment saying, “Please let the record reflect that I have shared an 18-count criminal complaint filed by the [Los Angeles County Dist. Atty.] George Gascón against Alejandro ‘Alex’ Rojas and Luis Rojas.”
Poor leadership, a lack of planning and widespread mismanagement have threatened the long-term financial health of the Central Basin Municipal Water District, which serves 2 million people in southeast Los Angeles County, according to a new state audit.
As Martinez says this, Alejandro Rojas looks up from his laptop and turns to board President Arturo Chacon, who then bangs his gavel and says “you’re out of order” to Martinez and calls “security.”
A California Metro Patrol officer walks to the podium, stands in front of Martinez, takes the microphone, and tells him to “take a seat, bro.” Martinez continues talking, noting that Vasquez made “very alarming” allegations against Rojas. The gavel is struck two more times off camera and someone says “remove him.”
After repeating “take a seat” a few more times, one of the officers puts his hand on Martinez’s arm and says “let’s go, sir.” The video shows Martinez walking out of the room with a guard beside him, saying loudly: “Alex Rojas, you’re being indicted on 18 counts of fraud, embezzlement and perjury. Why is this board allowing you to continue to keep your job when you’re clearly being investigated for criminal counts?”
According to the Brown Act, a person can be removed from public meetings if their behavior “disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting.” But prior to doing so, a member of the agency must warn the person that they are being disruptive and risk being removed if they continue their behavior.
No one from the board warned Martinez that he would be removed, the video shows.
“There’s really no possible justification for the board’s actions,” Markovitz said. “It wasn’t about stopping disruptive conduct. He was as calm as possible at the beginning of his comments. It was really pure censorship enforced by raw power and armed guards.”
Martinez, who has engaged in tense exchanges with board members outside meeting chambers, said this was not the first time some of the board members have prevented him from speaking about Rojas during public comments.
“I have tried to talk about this topic in previous meetings,” he said. “When the meetings were being held over Zoom, I was just being muted, so I expected this, but it was unfortunate to experience it.”
But the district took note of Martinez’s calm demeanor at recent meetings. “[I]n view of your letter, Mr. Martinez’s compliance with security on the day of the meeting, and his subsequent, peaceable attendance at the District’s Board meeting [on Monday], we have revised our prior concern about Mr. Martinez attending the District’s board meetings,” Lowe wrote.
The revision was immediate.
During Monday’s Board of Directors meeting, Martinez said he again raised concerns about Rojas’ employment status. “I was not impeded for the first time in a while and I was able to make my full public comment.”
Staff writer Ian James contributed to this report.
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