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<p>Things are heating up at Stockton City Hall. It started with a paper trail, but now Vice Mayor <a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=black%20cosmopolitan%20%2B%20%22Jason%20Lee%22">Jason Lee</a> is demanding answers while city leaders seem to be dodging the spotlight.</p>Lee says he’s got the receipts: documents that suggest former interim City Manager Steve Colangelo may have overstepped by allegedly promising a Stockton nonprofit hundreds of thousands in city funds. Now, days later, nobody wants to take ownership, and the tension is palpable.
Last week, Lee stirred the pot by sending local media four documents. One was a letter on official city letterhead dated June 30, in which Colangelo allegedly committed Stockton to financially support Service First of Northern California, a social services nonprofit.
That letter reads:
“This letter serves as an official commitment from the City of Stockton confirming our intention to provide matching funds to support the Service First of Northern California Recovery Center project.”
Typically, City Council needs to approve any spending above $100,000. Lee says this commitment went out without their say-so. He also pointed out that Service First’s CEO had donated to Mayor Christina Fugazi’s campaign. Records show at least a $250 contribution.
Service First hasn’t responded to requests for comment. Colangelo is also staying silent.
A Meeting That Never Happened
The letter ignited a public back-and-forth between Lee and Fugazi. The mayor claimed the document wasn’t a formal financial commitment and said she’d already returned the campaign donation.
But things took a turn last Thursday when a special meeting to address Colangelo’s alleged misconduct fell apart before it even started.
Fugazi and three other councilmembers were absent. Two of them had even voted to hold the meeting earlier in the week. That left only three members present, not enough to officially conduct business.
“I think there is a desired effort to prevent this conversation from happening,” Lee said after the meeting was canceled. “The only problem with that is, that I’m not going anywhere, and the issues aren’t going anywhere.”
The remaining councilmembers agreed to reschedule for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Where’s the $824,000 Coming From?
Here’s the real head-scratcher: the state’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) had tentatively awarded Service First $8.2 million back in May to build a recovery center downtown.
According to Lee, that state letter mentioned Service First had already secured an $824,000 “cash match,” a critical requirement for the funding.
Lee’s claim? That the matching funds Colangelo promised in June were intended to cover that same $824,000.
But here’s the twist: the state’s tentative award came two months before Colangelo’s letter. Meaning, Service First couldn’t have used it to qualify for the original funding. So where did they get it? Who made an earlier commitment?
City spokesperson Tony Mannor said he “(has) not identified any City Council authorization for matching funds.”
Translation: no one officially approved this money.
Stockton’s Economic Development Department didn’t return calls, and DHCS declined to clarify who was listed in Service First’s application as the provider of the match.
County Says They Passed
Lee also shared a May 31 email where Service First reached out to San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors Chair Paul Canepa, asking if the county could help cover the match.
Canepa says the county didn’t have the funds. “We couldn’t find any forms of funding for it,” he told Stocktonia. County spokesperson Hilary Crowley confirmed no county money went to Service First.
So far, no one has confirmed if the $824K ever left city accounts or if it was even real money to begin with. Lee admitted after Thursday’s canceled meeting that he doesn’t know if any payment was made.
Meanwhile, the state’s final approval of Service First’s $8.2 million award was still pending as of October. Lee believes the state is aware of the ongoing concerns.
Council No-Shows and Public Frustration
Earlier this week, council had actually voted 5-2 to hold the special meeting. Lee joined Councilmembers Michael Blower, Mario Enríquez, Mariela Ponce, and Michele Padilla in favor. Fugazi and Brando Villapudua voted no.
Then came Thursday and Ponce, Padilla, and Villapudua were all no-shows, without notice. Ponce later said she was at work. The others haven’t explained their absence.
But the public showed up roughly 20 people, including members of the San Joaquin County Grand Jury.
They didn’t hold back their frustration.
“It really shows a lot about who they are,” said Rena Rodgers, who serves on Stockton’s Measure W Oversight Committee.
“This just shows they’re really not about the people,” added Yolanda Amen, president of Mata’irea Polynesian Culture Preservation. “But I don’t think they know how strong we are, and this is just going to make (us) come out even harder now,” she said. “We’re going to get the answers we’re asking for.”
What Comes Next
As Stockton waits for Wednesday’s rescheduled meeting, the city’s left with more questions than answers. For now, only Vice Mayor Jason Lee is speaking up. And he’s made one thing crystal clear: he’s not backing down.
In his words,
“the issues aren’t going anywhere.”
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Disclaimer:
For Education and discussion purposes. Please note no copyright infringement is intended, was recorded on BlkCosmo’s own equipment, and we do not own nor claim to own any of the original recordings used in this video and intend to use this as ‘fair use’.
