National City leaders may soon consider censuring Councilmember Jose Rodriguez, who voters just re-elected, for alleged repeated violations of the city’s code of conduct.
On Tuesday, Mayor Ron Morrison is set to ask his council colleagues to schedule a vote to censure Rodriguez for “a pattern of violations,” including what Morrison and several of the public have said are questionable uses of city resources for personal gain.
A formal decision could be made at their Dec. 3 regular meeting if the majority agrees to take up the topic.
In a statement Monday, Rodriguez said Morrison’s attempt to censure him was “all politics and sour grapes, Trump-style.”
“I’m not gonna let these selfish actions distract me (from) doing work of the people,” he said. “Election is over, get to work.”
Voters on Nov. 5 elected Rodriguez to serve a second four-year term. He was first elected at-large to the City Council in 2020 and earlier this month he was chosen to represent the newly drawn District 2. He beat Randi Castle-Salgado, a city Planning commissioner, by 73%, according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters’ latest tally.
Due to state open meeting rules, officials won’t be allowed to discuss the details of the proposed censure at Tuesday’s meeting. But Morrison said Monday that a “more detailed report with all of the different points” would be released at the December meeting.
Several of those points “are part of the public record already,” Morrison said, adding that “whenever those different issues were addressed with him (Rodriguez), he just deflects and tries to just make excuses.”
The City Council came under fire last year for agreeing to give themselves $100,000 each to spend annually in their districts before establishing rules for how to spend those public funds. Some of those expenses raised questions but one that Rodriguez made was at the center of a public debate over what some have termed “slush funds.”
At a November 2023 city event about park improvements, Rodriguez gave away about 300 turkeys and was reimbursed more than $7,000 by the city.
The state Constitution prohibits any gift of public funds, which says that all expenditures of public funds must the government’s functions and purpose. Food given at public events is often donated or paid for by sponsors. National City’s Code of Ethics and Conduct states, “ shall not use public resources not available to the public in general, such as City staff time, equipment, supplies or facilities, for private gain or personal purposes.”
Morrison had declined to sign off on the reimbursement and a former city staffer also warned staff not to process the payment. Rodriguez argued then that the city funds did go to a city-sponsored event, therefore serving a public purpose.
Rodriguez also used part of his $100,000 to hire four assistants who essentially helped him campaign for office, critics argue. Two of them did ad work for his 2022 mayoral bid and another leads a local Democratic Club that endorsed Rodriguez’s re-election in March. Rodriguez’s 2024 campaign had sent out emails, for example, promoting workshops he hosted as a council member on topics he campaigned on and worked on from the dais.
In a previous interview, Rodriguez rejected claims that he misused public funds and that his assistants were tied to his campaign.
“If I campaign on issues in 2020 and in 2022, this is me delivering on these issues,” he said then.
It’s unclear how far a censure may impact Rodriguez. The move could “basically say we don’t condone your behavior,” Morrison said, or his colleagues could bar him from appointed positions, such as serving on outside boards and commissions.
National City officials have censured council in the past, including when Morrison was a council member in 2020. At that time, the City Council ordered him to publicly apologize for a meme he reposted on his Facebook page that said, “Due to COVID, we’re gonna need people to riot from home and destroy their own s—.” He was also removed as an alternate to the San Diego Association of Governments board.
The National City council meeting begins at 6 p.m.
