A scathing civil grand jury report accused the Stockton City Council of infighting, mistreating city staff and letting personal politics get in the way of city business.
It also raised questions about hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars set aside for internal investigations.
The report said the city council budgets $500,000 a year for investigations, and in a typical year, $200,000-$300,000 is used.
But the entire amount was gone in the first half of the 2025-2026 fiscal year and the grand jury said it could not confirm exactly how much was spent.
"As of the date of the release of this report, the 25–26 CGJ has been unable to verify the amount spent on SCC investigations," the report said.
The grand jury said council members called for several internal investigations, but found little to no proof that they actually helped the city.
The report described a council divided by constant arguments, public attacks and disrespect toward city employees. It also accuses members of using social media and press conferences to attack each other and push personal agendas.
It concluded that all of that has hurt public trust, made it harder to run the city and helped drive experienced employees out.
"The first investigation was about $50,000 that was approved by a mid-level management, and it didn't go through the proper channels, in my opinion, and so that was the very first investigation," Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said. "Somehow it switched to it was an investigation of one of those that were on council, and it then snowballed from there. As a result of that investigation, more investigations were created, and those investigations, I believe, were retaliatory. I think that they were unnecessary. I think they were a waste of time, and they were, you know, potentially a witch hunt."
Vice Mayor Jason Lee, who was at the center of that first investigation and has called for others, was not available for an interview, but said in a statement that the report confirms deeper failures in leadership, but leaves out important context.
"There is a meaningful difference between personal attacks and public accountability, transparency and public accountability," Lee said. "Transparency, public accountability and speaking honestly to constituents are not acts of misconduct; they are obligations of public office."
The grand jury is now calling for mandatory governance and ethics training, stricter social media rules and steps toward creating a city ethics commission.
The city council will have 90 days to document how it plans to address conduct, professionalism and decorum.
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