Stockton Vice Mayor Jason Lee said he is frustrated with what he described as a lack of clear responses from outside oversight agencies to council referrals regarding alleged misconduct by city leaders.
At a June 22 Council Audit Committee meeting, Lee, who chairs the committee, said he will make follow-up with outside oversight agencies a standing monthly agenda item. The city has forwarded multiple referrals and inquiries to outside agencies, including the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury, the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office and the California Attorney General’s Office.
The referrals stem from a Nov. 12, 2025, Stockton City Council action directing the city manager’s office and city attorney’s office to refer potential charter violations, abuse of authority and possible misuse of public funds to outside agencies. The council identified the Sutter Street, Hunter House, Brix and BHCIP projects as part of the referrals.
“Since we’ve been here, it’s been a rollercoaster of inquiries that we’ve had,” Lee said. “I really, as a business person, have just been amazed and somewhat annoyed at how dysfunctional this government has been.”
Lee said he believed Stockton City Hall was making strides toward improvement, including the recent hiring of a chief financial officer and what he described as stable leadership in the city attorney’s office, city clerk’s office and city manager’s office. He also expressed disappointment over the pace and handling of responses from outside agencies to council referrals and said the city needed closure after a year of turmoil during which allegations were made but no conclusions were reached.
“The thing that concerns me is that you can get a speeding ticket in Stockton faster than you can get under an investigation for really extreme things,” Lee said. “I am so disappointed in how these referrals have been handled by our agencies. I really am interested in understanding why nobody has called. This is literally equivalent to being robbed in the middle of the night and calling 911 and nobody showing up. That’s how I feel.”
Lee said he would at least appreciate knowing that agencies to which the council has referred these matters are reviewing them, even if the findings show no violations.
In an update on the council referrals, Assistant City Attorney Taryn Jones said that since the last update from the city attorney’s office in March, the office has received email confirmation of receipt from the district attorney’s office and certified mail receipts from both the district attorney’s office and the civil grand jury confirming delivery of the referrals.
Jones said the city attorney’s office received no formal confirmation from the attorney general’s office but confirmed through certified mail tracking that the letter and associated thumb drive containing the materials were delivered.
“Today, in anticipation of this meeting via both email and certified mail, the city attorney contacted the same agencies to relay the audit committee chair’s request for a status update on those referred items,” Jones said. “Given the timeframe, however, I have no updated responses at this time.”
Jones said the city attorney’s office cannot compel outside agencies to respond but will continue efforts to communicate and provide updates to the committee as they become available.
In addition to multiple council referrals and inquiries to outside agencies, Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom and Sen. Jerry McNerney have asked the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee to order an audit of the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion program. The city is also undergoing a separate audit by the California State Controller’s Office covering the period of July 2023 through December 2025.
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Oversight agencies not responding to Stockton council referrals on allegations
Reporting by Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record / The Record
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By Hannah Workman, The Stockton Record | USA TODAY Network
