Lawyer in homeless lawsuit demands to depose Sacramento mayor and city attorney

A lawyer suing the city of Sacramento over its handing of the homeless crisis is demanding that the city attorney recuse herself from the case because she is a “material witness,” and is seeking to depose both her and Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

Ognian Gavrilov, who sued the city Sept. 19 along with Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, sent a demand letter Friday to City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood and wrote that her plan to represent the city in both lawsuits is “alarming and outrageous.”

“You are a material witness in both actions,” Gavrilov wrote, adding that he believes her office has information on why no citations have been issued by police for homeless residents blocking sidewalks, camping illegally or violating city code sections.

“The City Attorney’s Office is charged with the task of prosecuting code violations related to the homeless encampments overtaking our city.” Gavrilov wrote. “It appears you and others within your office have personal, discoverable information concerning the source of the directive to the police not to issue citations.

“Further, you and your office intentionally concealed from the public and the City Council that the police have been expressly directed not to enforce the law. You and your office are hereby on notice that you must preserve all communications concerning any directive to the Police Department regarding homeless encampments and the growing homeless crisis.

“Further, you and your office are on notice that you must preserve all internal communications concerning homeless encampments in general, and any directive(s) to the police regarding the homeless and homeless encampments in particular. Govern yourself accordingly.”

Gavrilov also contends that Alcala Wood cannot legally represent the city in either lawsuit.

“Because you are a material witness in the actions, it is clearly inappropriate and unlawful for you or your office to represent the city moving forward,” he wrote. “Please confirm that you and your office will cease any form of representation on behalf of the city related to the actions, and that the city will retain outside counsel forthwith.

“Further, please confirm that you have expressly informed the City Council that you are a material witness in the actions.”

The letter also says Gavrilov intends to depose both Alcala Wood and Steinberg before the end of October and asks for proposed dates by Wednesday.

“If we do not receive proposed deposition dates by close of business on October 4, we will personally serve you and Mayor Steinberg notices of deposition and will conduct the depositions on dates of our choosing,” Gavrilov wrote.

Representatives for Steinberg and the city did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday, but city officials have accused the district attorney of politicizing the homeless crisis rather than seeking to work together to address the growing number of camps downtown and in other areas.

“No local government in the Sacramento region has done more to address the crisis on our streets: 1,200 new emergency beds, ordinances to protect sidewalks, schools and other sensitive sites; a legally binding partnership with the county; thousands of new affordable housing units-to name a few,” Steinberg said after Ho filed his lawsuit.

“Frankly, we have no time for the district attorney’s performative distraction from the hard work we all need to do together to solve this complex social problem plaguing urban centers throughout the state and nation,” Steinberg added. “The city needs real partnership from the region’s leaders, not politics and lawsuits. Let’s just do the work.”

Friction between the D.A. and the city has been building since July, when Ho said he planned to investigate what he sees as a lack of action by city officials to address homeless problems and enforce its own code sections, including a prohibition against blocking sidewalks.

Ho says the city attorney informed him in an email that police have issued only one citation since the sidewalk ordinance was adopted in August 2022.

“SPD is simply not issuing citations for unlawful camping, unlawful storage, sidewalk obstructions or any Sacramento city code sections related to the homeless encampments,” Alcala Wood wrote in the email. “Our data indicates no citations have been referred to our office for prosecution with the exception of a single ‘general release’ citation.

“For that reason partnering with your office to support SPD in becoming more comfortable in issuing citations is a good approach because as you know — we can’t prosecute cases if no cases are sent to us.”

Ho and Gavrilov sued the city for creating a public nuisance by allowing homeless camps to spread throughout various neighborhoods, and Gavrilov’s suit claims there is a “Steinberg Decree” that “prohibits police and other city officials from clearing dangerous homeless encampments that clutter the sidewalks and pollute local neighborhoods.”

“The Steinberg Decree has transformed this once bucolic tree-lined city into a rotting cesspool of decay and despair, the suit says.

The city has rejected such claims, saying officials have relied on voluntary enforcement of the sidewalk ordinance thousands of times rather than issuing citations.

“The mayor did not direct the Police Department not to enforce the sidewalk ordinance,” Steinberg Chief of Staff Mary Lynne Vellinga said in August. “When they initially passed the sidewalk ordinance the entire City Council made it clear that they preferred that the city seek voluntary compliance and cite for a violation only as a last resort, particularly as unhoused people often lack the capacity to pay fines.

“Last Tuesday, the council and Mayor Steinberg voted in favor of a more rapid enforcement approach in which police were specifically directed to enforce the city’s ordinances, and the council authorized the city manager to use overtime to enable them to respond to the many demands around the city.”

A spokesman for City Manager Howard Chan also has noted that the city has responded to thousands of calls using voluntary compliance successfully.

“Over the past year, the city has been enforcing its sidewalk ordinance, responding to more than 4,500 calls for service regarding blocked sidewalks and building entrances,” spokesman Tim Swanson wrote in an email. “This work has been conducted in accordance with the City Council directive to avoid fining or booking people in jail who are cited and to prioritize outreach. ...

“Also, please note that this time frame includes two periods when the city was ordered by the federal court to halt enforcement.”

“Through the ongoing work of the Department of Community Response, Code Enforcement and the Sacramento Police Department, the city largely has been able to achieve voluntary compliance when addressing these violations without issuing citations.”

Ho’s lawsuit and Gavrilov’s, which was filed on behalf of business owners who say they have been hurt by the homeless crisis, were filed separately in Sacramento Superior Court.

But both Ho and Gavrilov filed a stipulation last week agreeing to consolidate the cases, arguing that “these matters are nearly identical with respect to factual and legal issues and their consolidation will result in increased efficiency and the preservation of judicial resources.”

City officials have yet to file a formal answer to the lawsuits.