What does a censured council member mean for Hanford?
Mar. 5—HANFORD — While the Hanford City Council has censured one of its own, residents should know that it won't change how the city is run, operationally speaking at least.
"Procedurally, nothing will change," City Attorney Ty Mizote said Friday morning.
One of the main purposes of a censure, Mizote said, is to allow a governing body, like the city council, to state its opinion or its position in regards to the conduct of one of its members.
"If a member of a governing body engages in conduct that is considered objectionable, the governing body could use the censure process to express its feelings about the conduct," Mizote said.
Governing bodies move forward with censures because they could end up being liable if they do not take action to correct the misconduct.
In the case of Hanford, the council decided to censure City Councilman Art Brieno to show that it denounces his alleged behavior towards Community Development Director Darlene Mata, which was outlined in an investigative report conducted by a third party.
After reviewing the report, the council felt a public censure was appropriate for his alleged misconduct.
"The council members wanted to make it clear that said conduct is not permissible, accepted or will be tolerated," City Attorney Bob Dowd said Tuesday during the council meeting.
Council members do not have the authority to remove a fellow member from the city council — that authority lies solely with the voters in an election or through the recall process.
Despite being censured, Brieno remains a council member and continues to possess his authority as an elected official.
"His ability and right to vote as a council member on various city matters still exists," Mizote said.
While most jurisdictions follow a similar approach in terms of the censure process, individual censures outline specific terms in their resolutions.
In the censure resolution against Brieno, he is required to go through sensitivity training in conjunction with the city manager.
Mizote said because the investigative report conducted in this case revealed Brieno made a number of gender-related statements, one aspect of the training will be about gender-related issues. Another aspect of training will be on conflicts of interest, since the investigation also revealed that Brieno allegedly represented personal clients in some of his conversations with city staff members.
Another stipulation in the censure is that Brieno must go through the city manager when he wants to talk to city staff members.
Mizote said the requirement was put into place essentially to minimize damage, protect city staff members and that it reflects the council's desire to take action to eliminate the possibility of future harassment.
"At this point, the city wants to try to minimize future problems," he said.
At the end of Tuesday's meeting, Councilman John Draxler asked the City Attorney's office to look into what other steps the council can take against Brieno moving forward. Mizote said he is now the process of researching that question.
The reporter can be reached at julissazavala@hanfordsentinel.com
