Allegations made against Mayor Valerie Amezcua including she created hostile working conditions and made racially charged remarks were found unsupported by outside investigators, while investigators found supporting evidence to multiple complaints by staff that Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez was overly involved in their work planning city events, the city attorney announced.
The City Council hired outside investigators last year to review the complaints received against Amezcua and Hernandez. City Attorney Sonia Carvalho reported the results of those investigations at Tuesday night’s council meeting. The council took no action in response.
Late last year, after four years as Santa Ana’s city manager, Kristine Ridge threatened to sue the city, alleging harassment and hostile work conditions. When Ridge resigned, in October 2023, the city agreed to pay her more than $650,000 in salary compensation and for what was described in the severance agreement as “alleged personal/physical injuries and emotional distress.”
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Ridge alleged, among other things, that Amezcua publicly mocked her because she could not speak Spanish and suggested Ridge’s ethnicity rendered her unfit to hold a high-ranking post in the city, sparking the investigation. She also said the mayor pressured her to perform acts she considered illegal and beyond the scope of her role.
A Brown Act violation complaint made against Amezcua by Hernandez in 2023 was reviewed by the county District Attorney’s office.
“In the Amezcua matter, the investigator found that the preponderance of evidence did not support the allegations, and therefore they were not sustained,” Carvalho said. “The Orange County District Attorney’s office has concluded that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations.”
Hernandez was being investigated after city staff filed a complaint that he was “overly involved” in the planning and execution of cultural events in Santa Ana, such as the Juneteenth event and the Chicano Heritage Festival. Hernandez was accused of attending planning meetings without an invitation from staff, of confronting staff members about their “lack of cultural competency” and of soliciting donations unrequested, among other things.
Investigators found that three out of four of the claims made against Hernandez were “sustained” by evidence presented, Carvalho said. The allegation about Hernandez soliciting donations for the events was not “sustained,” she said.
Hernandez previously told The Orange County Register that his involvement in the cultural events stemmed from concerns he was hearing from members of Santa Ana’s Black and Chicano communities who expressed discomfort about the events as they were being planned and complained of racially insensitive comments made by staff.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.