By: Mike Fong and Laura Solis, Lower Valley Matters, lowervalleymatters.com
On June 23, the City Council rejected a resolution introduced by Mayor Hilda González that would have established new “communications and responsiveness” standards for councilmembers. The resolution outlined requirements for councilmembers to notify the Mayor of their absences from future meetings and a 48-hour window for responding to correspondence from the Mayor. Mayor González said such standards were necessary to avoid “operational stagnation” and “financial liabilities” on the part of the city. A second companion Resolution was also introduced to allow for the City administration to pay certain bills prior to Council approval.
The Vote: Resolution 2026-05 to impose communication and responsiveness standards failed by a vote of 2-3. Councilmembers Susie Muñoz and Juan Isiordia voted in favor of adopting the resolution and Councilmembers Judi Montes, Alfredo Reyes, and Israel Bustamante voted against it. Resolution 2026-06 to allow for the City to pay certain bills before Council approval passed 4-1 with everyone voting in favor except Councilmember Montes.
Lack of Quorum Results in Late Fees. During a workshop meeting on June 23, Mayor González stated that she was proposing the resolutions “in response to communication that we have been challenged with…between the mayor’s office and city council.” Tension appeared to have been building over a lack of timely communication from councilmembers to the Mayor alerting her and the City Clerk about absences from meetings. The last straw appears to have been a recent meeting in June where quorum—the minimum of councilmembers needed to conduct official business—could not be met. The lack of quorum was unexpected and left the City unable to pay its bills on time, leaving the City’s taxpayers on the hook for late fees and fines.
Records obtained from City Hall reflect late fees from June totaling $122.02 and include the following:
- Spectrum Business bill late fee for internet service of $8.95;
- Water, Sewer and Garbage late fees for multiple departments totally $113.07.
For context, the city’s monthly outlays are typically over $100,000. Councilmembers are routinely excused for absences from council meetings given schedule conflicts. There are currently no formal consequences for missed meetings (excused or unexcused) or expectations for how many meetings councilmembers must attend.
Debate. Mayor González justified the need for the resolutions, stating that she “had recently noticed a pattern of avoidance by councilmembers to respond to me via email, text messages and phone calls…you are effectively obstructing the city’s ability to operate effectively.” The Mayor went on to cite delays on accepting a rapid response grant, acting on the Granger Heights sub-division, and the late fees as examples of why the Council needs to set clear expectations.
Mayor González asserted that “I shouldn’t have to create these policies, you are all grown adults,” and added later, “I have to produce some kind of expectations that you will understand.”
Councilmember Isiordia noted “we’re paying late fees for our unprofessionalism.”
Councilmember Montes pushed back on the need for the resolutions. She asked whether the City’s lawyers had looked at the resolution and stated that the proposed policies to allow for payments to be made to avoid late fees if Council couldn’t establish quorum were insufficiently clear.
In response, Councilmember Isiordia stated “Let’s be professionals. This is not going to be needed if you just show up to the meetings.”
Despite the failure of the resolution regarding communication standards, Councilmember Muñoz asked to revisit the topic at the next workshop on July 14. However, at the next workshop, when Councilmember Muñoz raised the topic for discussion, Councilmember Montes said the issue was already voted on and failed, and there was nothing more to discuss. Councilmember Reyes stated that past councils would have adopted such a policy if it was necessary, and Councilmember Bustamante stated that if such a policy were to be adopted, similar expectations and consequences should also be in place for City staff given they too have incurred late fees or made mistakes with city finances.
No further action was taken and the issue appears to be tabled indefinitely at this point.
Record of absences. Councilmembers’ attendance at the 15 council meetings recorded online this year are as follows:
- Bustamante = 15/15 meetings (100% attendance)
- Isiordia = 15/15 meetings (100% attendance)
- Muñoz = 14/15 meetings (93% attendance)
- Montes = 11/15 meetings (73% attendance)
- Reyes = 10/15 meetings (67% attendance)
Because there is no record of the June 9 meeting, which we believe was the meeting where quorum couldn’t be reached, we cannot confirm who was absent.
You can watch the Granger City Council meeting where they discuss this issue online at:
https://reflect-midvalley.cablecast.tv/internetchannel/show/1043?site=4
And..
https://reflect-midvalley.cablecast.tv/internetchannel/show/1050?site=4
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