Lodi Council to discuss city manager's future a week after he made claims of widespread misuse of public funds

Apr. 5—The city's top administrator could be looking for a new job next week.

The Lodi City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, April 9 at 2 p.m. to conduct a review of City Manager Scott Carney's performance during closed session. The council will also consider removing him from the position.

The meeting comes a week after a special meeting to review Lodi's mid-year budget, where Carney read a prepared statement alleging that city attorney Katie Lucchessi and city clerk Olivia Nashed edited staff reports without his knowledge or approval.

Carney claimed the pair redacted parts of his approved reports to protect some employees, and that internal reviews of purchasing activity revealed evidence of widespread misuse of public funds and city credit cards to purchase personal items.

He said that there was resistance to his investigation among staff and that there was evidence the city had been failing as a steward of public trust.

Mayor Cameron Bregman ordered Carney to stop speaking before he could finish his statement.

On Friday, Bregman said he stopped Carney from continuing because he began speaking about ongoing personnel investigations and a non-agendized item.

"The current city manager, without any attorney/client privilege may have released confidential information directly to the public at our April 1 meeting," Bregman said. "The City of Lodi wants transparency through this process, but never at the expense of breaking the law. No one is above the law, and we're exploring options related to this release of information."

In speaking about personnel matters publicly, Bregman said Carney opened the city up to litigation that could cost "millions of taxpayer money."

The Brown Act forbids city staff and elected officials from discussing personnel matters that are not placed on an agenda.

An email to Carney seeking comment was not returned to the News-Sentinel Friday.

Vice Mayor Ramon Yepez said he was saddened that Lodi residents had to witness what he called the "unprofessional conduct" Carney displayed on Tuesday, and stood behind the mayor's decision to stop his statement.

Yepez added the council is committed to investigating all claims made in order to ensure Lodians have no reason to fear widespread fraud or cover-ups at city hall.

"The city council is committed to investigating all claims to ensure Lodians have no reason to fear widespread fraud or any cover-up at city hall," he said. "The people of Lodi deserve a city manager who leads a healthy organization, not someone who creates disruption by intentionally disclosing confidential information and inserting accusations into an agenda item introduction. I'm confident that Carney's allegations will amount to nothing."

Public works director Charles Swimley said Carney's statement was a "reckless and unprofessional" attempt to dishonor not only the staff positions he mentioned, but all of the city's employees.

Swimley said he always had confidence in the ethical conduct of the former city manager and assistant city manager, and that he stands behind the current city attorney and city clerk.

However, he said he had grown less confident in the conduct of the city's current administration.

"This past Tuesday during the current interim assistant city manager's finance update to the council, I had to interject and question a slide that was presented as truth regarding solid waste billing deficiencies," he said. "The slide alleged the city was not in compliance with the solid waste contract and contained numbers that were grossly overestimated. If the administration is going to allege non-compliance, they should at least do their homework by actually reading the contract, or better yet, ask the department that is responsible to avoid the spread of inaccurate information. The public and our employees deserve better."

Councilwoman Lisa Craig-Hensley told the News-Sentinel Tuesday night that she was relieved problems within the city had come out and supported Carney's efforts.

Craig-Hensley said she also didn't agree with how Carney was shut down before he could complete his comments, stating a community member has a right to spend five minutes at the podium under public comment.

The council hired Carney last May to replace former city manager Steve Schwabauer, who retired in 2023.

Prior to coming to Lodi, Carney served as the deputy director of administration for the California Department of Health Care Services for three years. He also served at Stockton City Hall from 2014 to 2020 before taking a sabbatical.

Wednesday's meeting begins at 2 p.m. at Carnegie Forum, 315 W. Pine St. It will also be livestreamed at www.facebook.com/CityofLodi.