The Santa Clara City Council voted in a 5-2 vote to dismiss City Attorney Brian Doyle, at a special Council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 1, with Mayor Lisa Gillmor and Council Member Kathy Watanabe opposing the dismissal.
The text of the agenda description “Public Employee Discipline/Dismissal/Release without cause” is a legal description. Doyle was an at-will employee, so the City doesn’t have to state a cause for dismissing him. It doesn’t mean that there is no reason for the dismissal. It means that he can be dismissed for any reason that’s not unlawful — for example, race, age or sex.
But for almost a week, Gillmor, Watanabe, former Council Member Teresa O’Neill (who was defeated by Kevin Park in 2020 and recommended her personal friend Doyle for the City Attorney job in 2017) fostered the misunderstanding there was no reason for the action and painting the rest of the Council as pawns of the 49ers — despite that fact that four of them actively opposed building Levi’s Stadium and one of them was a leader of that opposition campaign.
In fact, Doyle’s conduct has been characterized by conduct that would make people fire a personal attorney. He encouraged the City to litigate a voting rights lawsuit — including an appeal with near zero chance of success — that cost the City over $5 million, when changing from at-large to by-district Council elections in 2016 would have cost the City at most $30,000.
In a likely breach of professional ethics, Doyle concealed a settlement offer from the plaintiffs in the voting rights case until it was too late to accept it, when acceptance would have saved the City at least $1 million.
Doyle augmented his bad legal advice by being routinely rude and insulting to Council Members and actively fostering antagonism towards the 49ers — with whom the City has a 40-year contract that Gillmor lobbied for and signed.
Doyle’s attorney, Thomas Stout, requested that the hearing be conducted in open session, “so the people of Santa Clara have complete transparency.”
This wasn’t possible, explained Gillmor. “The way this meeting was called — it’s ‘public employee, dismissal, release’ — does not allow us to do that [hear the matter in open session].” This didn’t stop people from decrying the meeting as “closed door” and willful concealment from the public.
Gillmor, Watanabe and their followers describe Doyle’s conduct as “outspoken,” and claim that’s why he was fired.
“It’s entirely fair for the City Council [to reject] how the Council acted in previous iterations” said resident Ben Cooley. “But you should not act against people who are executing the actions of that [previous] Council faithfully. Everybody seems to be doing well and it’s not something we need to be going into at this time.”
“Five people just decided to dismiss the City Attorney without cause,” said San Jose resident and Council mainstay, Kirk Vartan.
“It’s just mind-boggling to me …the pettiness of this disruptive newly-elected Council Members … are basically using it as their own personal stomping grounds to do whatever they want in an attitude of, oh, well, ‘we’re going to do what we think is right,’ but is it really right to disrupt the City business? I don’t think so.”
In an email, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Burt Field told the Council Members that called the meeting to “Drive north to the San Francisco Zoo. Smear a couple of pounds of raw meat all over your body and jump into the Lion’s Den just before dinner time… you are hanging a Bullseye on your back”
Field concluded with the admonition “Hopefully I have given you something to think about.” Another speaker threatened, “Look out Mighty Five. It’s coming.”
Residents that favored Doyle’s dismissal focused on his actions in the California Voting Rights lawsuit that cost the City over $5 million; specifically that Doyle had failed to communicate a settlement offer to the Council that would have saved Santa Clara at least $1 million.
“If the [CVRA] settlement offer was not forwarded to the Council, that should constitute cause [for firing],” said one resident. Another resident, Jeff, asked Doyle why he didn’t bring the settlement offer to the Council.
“It’s rather comical to hear so many people be so hypocritical,” said another Council mainstay, Deborah Bress. “You’re blaming people for bringing the 49ers when the person who brought the 49ers here is the Mayor Lisa Gillmor, and her cohort Kathy Watanabe. I think we should celebrate that we have a Council that has the chutzpah to call a spade a spade and get rid of a bad actor.”
Ironically, in 2016 Gillmor and her allies led defamatory campaigns to hound former City Attorney Ren Nosky and City Manager Julio Fuentes out of their jobs.
View Comments (26)
Finally they got rid of him!
It took a while, but that's the reason the city choose to elect the Might 5.
What the hell? Is Parks and Recreation Commissioner Burt Field threatening the Council members, for doing their job?
Who does he think he is?
This is very disturbing. That's grounds for termination, too, IMHO.
Where do these unprofessional thugs come from? Say no more - I know, probably more corrupt Santana/Gilmour/Watanabe "friends"...
I strongly suggest Burt Field to be the next to be fired and dismissed.
It is really amazing that there are people criticizing the City Council for doing their job and removing Brian Doyle from his office. Truthfully Mayor Gillmor should have taken this step when it was first disclosed! If this situation were to be compared to a business environment where a manager, executive, finance officer, or attorney WITHHELD information from Management and that then cost the company $1million, we all know perfectly well that that person would be terminated immediately. Brian Doyle purposely WITHHELD information from the City Council that then cost the City over $1 million. With the amount of grandstanding that Mayor Gillmor has taken on this issue, I do seriously wonder whether she knew about the settlement offer letter and agreed with Brian Doyle to withhold it from the City Council. Has she publicly stated she knew nothing about the letter? THANK YOU to the five City Council Members who stood up and took the RIGHT action! You were doing your job for the citizens of Santa Clara as expected when you were voted into office.
Winnie Sloan
Santa Clara Resident
The mighty five are puppets for the 49ers.
And is David A Dekruif a puppet for Lisa Gillmor?
Good Lord, is Carolyn Schuk on the Niners payroll too?
And, Good Lord, may I also ask: Are you on Lisa Gillmor's payroll, too?
Finally, the City Council did what we elected them to do. Ousting one of the main pieces of corruption under Msyor Gilmor with her pawn kathy Watanabe. Equality, diversity, honesty and financial stability will return to Santa Caltrain is coming. However, there is still more anti corruption work to do. Hail to the mighty 5 if that is what you call them. Keep it up.
Wesley - Quick update for you. Caltrain has been in Santa Clara for 100+ years. Also, we don't "Hail to the Mighty" elected officials any longer. That stopped in the '30's.
Take care.
I would also like to second Wesley's comments and give a very hearty: "Hail to the Mighty 5".
Burt is an opinionated outspoken person. His comments here are not indicative of who he is. Even the best of us are prone to juvenile outbursts. I hope he is not removed for this childish outburst. He can be quite reasonable, and is a good advocate for Parks and Recs. Tone matters, and that is missing here. Please give Burt the benefit of the doubt that he was not threatening council members, but rather just having a sophomoric tanturm.
Burt owes the council a public apology. If it is not offered, he ought to be fired.
Did not Brian Doyle make a comment that the 49ers were threatening his life by talking about "sleeping with the fishes?"
Field needs counseling.
Julio Fuentes is Satan in a suit. It was he who allowed the 49ers/soccer field issue to explode all over everyone (remember the backroom deal with 49ers?). This was the beginning of the bitter council divide, so Gillmor pushing him out was a good move. Can we all agree on that at least?
I agree with your assertion. Julio should have been replaced. I agree that he had no right to act on his own. But so did Doyle.