Selma voters re-elected their mayor and elected two new councilmembers on Nov. 5. However, questions about when they can be seated — or if they’ve already been sworn in — have led to a change of city attorneys, allegations of illegal meetings, and action from police.

The growing Fresno County community with a population of 25,000 — a 6% increase in 10 years — is 17 miles southeast of Fresno along Highway 99.

Top city officials — including the city manager and now-former city attorney — said Mayor Scott Robertson’s attempts to seat the new city councilmembers was illegal. Even the Fresno County District Attorney jumped into the fracas.

The city’s political drama could be settled tonight, Dec. 19, 6 p.m. at Selma City Hall, or linger into the New Year.

An Illegal Meeting?

Robertson called a special meeting on Dec. 12 for Jim Avalos, Santiago Oceguera and himself to take the oath of office.

To do so, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office said, the city council needed to declare the results of the Nov. 5 election first. It has not done so.

In the Nov. 5 election, Robertson won another term, Avalos defeated incumbent Blanca Mendoza-Navarro in District 1, and Oceguera won the open District 4 seat.

County election officials certified the election on Dec. 3. The city’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Jan. 21, 2025 — the Dec. 16 and Jan. 6 meetings were canceled long ago.

Robertson carried on with the Dec. 12 meeting to install the newly elected councilmembers despite having neither a quorum to start the meeting nor the election declaration. The meeting began with Robertson and returning councilmember Sarah Guerra on the dais.

Mendoza-Navarro, Beverly Cho — who opted not to run after redistricting meant she no longer lived in her district — and holdover Councilmember John Trujillo did not attend.

The Mid Valley Times reported that City Attorney Megan Crouch objected, clashing with Robertson. Crouch determined that without a quorum, the meeting could not continue.

Crouch, Deputy City Manager Jerome Keene, and City Clerk Reyna Rivera left, and the live stream stopped recording.

“The action that was taken at the last council meeting was in violation of the Brown Act (the state open meeting law) because they did not have a quorum to do business,” Crouch told GV Wire.

As the meeting continued despite the city attorney’s protest, Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig conducted the oaths of office. The new council then met for a closed session that was on the agenda, voting 4-0 to oust Crouch and install Neal Costanzo as new city attorney.

The issue of whether Crouch’s firing was legal is moot. She and her firm, Griswold, LaSalle, Cobb, Dowd & Gin of Hanford, resigned Monday.

Crouch did not offer a reason for her resignation, but said the city now has no attorney.

Police Order End of Meeting

The Mid Valley Times also reported that Selma police attempted to break up the Dec. 12 meeting.

“More controversy arose, however, when Selma police officers instructed the council members and the remaining residents to vacate the premises. Two police officers present said they understood that there was a meeting, a fact that residents kept repeating, but they were instructed by their sergeants that the closed session meeting was not open to the public and ‘the building is not open to the public at all, even though the mayor and the council members told you that,’ ” reporter Serena Bettis wrote.

After Robertson and Costanzo complained, police relented to allow the council to finish its closed session discussion. The results — the change of city attorney — were announced outside the building.

Police Chief Rudy Alcaraz deferred any comment to City Manager Fernando Santillan.

“We were advised by our legal counsel, the city attorney, that moving forward with any city business — there was no legal meeting taking place. It was outside of the normal operating hours of City Hall and allowing people to assemble for a meeting that is not legal to take place would have been exposed the city to further liability … They were well within their right to vacate the premises,” Santillan told GV Wire.

Santillan did not directly give the order, he said, as he was not present at the meeting. He said he was not sure who directly gave the order.

District Attorney Writes Warning Letter

The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office sent the Selma City Council a letter on Tuesday, warning that it may have violated state law when it swore in its new council.

Victor Lai, head of the DA’s Public Integrity Unit, wrote that the city council needs to vote to accept the elections results first, pursuant to state law, before installing a new council. That did not happen.

“The District Attorney’s Office is not taking sides in the local politics of your municipality, nor does it have any desire to do so,” Lai wrote. “What is of utmost importance to this Office, however, is the rule of law.”

Lai warned any business conducted by the new board “opens the City to potential liability for the decisions undertaken without a quorum.”

That includes firing and hiring a new city attorney.

“My assertions match, (the) same as the district attorney who has now backed up what I was saying. So I think that pretty much says it all,” Crouch said.

Robertson scheduled another special meeting tonight to officially declare the results of the November election.

Is City Manager’s Job in Jeopardy?

For now, Santillan is the city manager. Also on the agenda in closed session tonight is a performance evaluation.

Last month, the Hanford Sentinel reported the council voted 3-2, to change the contracts of Crouch and Santillan, requiring any removal done by a 5-0 vote. Costanzo called that provision “patently invalid.”

“It is one of the best tools to keep a solid attorney in the city of Selma,” Trujillo said, explaining his vote. “I look at the best interests of my community.”

Despite the 5-0 provision — and only a 4-0 vote the new city council made to fire Crouch and hire Costanzo if that stands, Crouch said “it’s a moot point because we never had any intention on enforcing it and we don’t plan on enforcing it.”

Does Santillan think his job his in jeopardy?

“I don’t know. Again, that’s a question for the councilmembers. I have a 5-0 contract that requires a unanimous vote (to fire). I don’t know what the council is is going to want to do. As it stands right now, I’m city manager and I’m operating as if I’ll be here to the end of the term of my contract, which is 2032,” Santillan said.

Why the Urgency?

The issue of approving the election declaration and installing a new council could resolve itself, if Robertson waited until the next regular meeting on Jan. 21, 2025.

It is unclear why Robertson is being so insistent on installing the new council now.

Long ago, the city council canceled its regularly scheduled meetings of Dec. 16 and Jan. 6. It is a common practice for the Selma council to forego its December and early January meetings because of the holidays.

In 2023, the city council — elected in Nov. 2022 — took the oath of office at the Jan. 17, 2023 meeting.

“It doesn’t make sense. What’s the urgency? That’s the bigger question,” Trujillo said.

“That’s something that the mayor would have to answer himself. I think it’s all taken us by surprise about how this whole process has played out, you know, potentially unnecessarily,” Santillan said.

Robertson and Costanzo didn’t respond to questions about why waiting until January is not an option.

Who is Selma’s City Attorney?

While Crouch and her firm may no longer represent Selma, there is a question of whether Costanzo does. Santillan said the meeting to hire him was illegal.

The city manager considers Crouch still the attorney, since quitting requires 30 days’ notice. Crouch said she will not be at tonight’s meeting.

“Practically speaking, we don’t necessarily have a city attorney at the moment,” Santillan said. “(Costanzo is) not actually our city attorney because any action to install him was not was not valid because obviously of the lack of quorum.”

Santillan said it is likely there will be no attorney on hand tonight, at least officially.

Other Councilmembers Do Not Plan to Attend

Mendoza-Navarro and Trujillo tell GV Wire they will not attend tonight’s meeting. Mendoza-Navarro has a prior engagement; Trujillo said he will be attending a party with his family. Santillan said Cho will not attend tonight as she is ill.

Mendoza-Navarro called last week’s meeting “illegal.”

“It’s not any any secret that we’ve been told that we’re manipulating the system and different things. And here it is, that this new council is actually doing that,” she said.

As for the Dec. 12 meeting, Mendoza-Navarro said she was at a work retreat. She is the executive director for the Madera Housing Authority. Trujillo said he had meetings with clients for his tax preparation business.

They informed the city that they would not be present, and there would not be a quorum on Dec. 12. Robertson moved forward anyway.

Mendoza-Navarro and Trujillo said they plan to attend the next regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 21, 2025.

Costanzo Says Everything Is Legal

Costanzo fired off a rebuttal letter (on his law firm’s letterhead), saying Lai is interfering in city matters.

“It appears that is exactly what you are doing,” Costanzo wrote.

The letter said that Cho, Mendoza-Navarro and Trujillo “reused to agree to the setting of a special meeting,” and no-showed on Dec. 12.

Constanzo, in detail, argued that everything the council and Robertson did complied with the law.

“The actions taken .. were perfectly legitimate; but even if it were not, your office has no jurisdiction whatsoever to offer gratuitous comments about its view of procedures,” Costanzo wrote.

The Mid Valley Times reported Costanzo has served as Selma attorney twice previously. He was terminated in 2018, rehired, and terminated again in 2021.