HomeMy WebLinkAbout220425 1253 Fwd_ Clarification Regarding _Council Member's Representative_From:Frances Marquez
To:Michele Magar
Subject:Fwd: Clarification Regarding "Council Member"s Representative"
Date:Monday, April 25, 2022 12:52:54 PM
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Peter Grant <pgrant@cypressca.org>
Date: April 25, 2022 at 12:00:02 PM PDT
To: Frances Marquez <fmarquez@cypressca.org>
Subject: Clarification Regarding "Council Member's Representative"
Council Member Marquez,
As you know, among the City Manager’s responsibilities are protecting the city and
Council Members from harm/liability and ensuring the city complies with the Charter
and City Council policy. Unfortunately, Mr. Kung’s contact with RCS, which the city
assumes is a misunderstanding, is cause for concern related to each of these City
Manager responsibilities.
As you are aware, Mr. Kung is not a city employee, nor a properly vetted volunteer, and
may not identify himself in any manner that implies he represents or is employed by
the City of Cypress (e.g. “from a Council Member’s office”).
The Charter establishes, and the Code of Ethics reinforces, that members of the City
Council do not have “offices,” staff or individual authority. The city’s administrative
service does not engage with third parties on-behalf of individual Council Members and
Mr. Kung’s contact with RCS is inconsistent with the January 26, 2022 memorandum
that structures your interaction with the city’s administrative service.
Finally, and in addition to the concerns detailed above, emails included in the city’s
response to Keep Cypress United’s Public Record Act Request makes it clear Mr. Kung is
engaged in political/campaign activities on your behalf. The Political Reform Act, city
policy and the Code of Ethics prohibit the use of city resources for those purposes. This
is an area where municipal and federal government differ (as you know, it is common
for staff in a federal elected official’s office to also work on political campaigns). Mr.
Kung’s political activities prohibit city employees from working with him.
If you are interested in providing an intern/mentor experience in your capacity as a
Council Member, please let me know and we can schedule an in-person meeting to
explore options.
Peter Grant
City Manager
City of Cypress
Office 714-229-6680
Cellular 714-335-1685
pgrant@cypressca.org
From: Frances Marquez <fmarquez@cypressca.org>
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2022 07:26
To: Peter Grant <pgrant@cypressca.org>
Subject: Re: Phone Call - Funding Available from Congressman Lowenthal
Your summary of the facts is accurate. What more do you need to know?
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 21, 2022, at 10:37 PM, Peter Grant <pgrant@cypressca.org>
wrote:
Council Member Marquez,
Can you please shed some light on this phone call and the gentleman
representing that he is “from Council Member Frances Marquez’s office.”
If you’re aware of a funding opportunity from Congressman Lowenthal,
please email the details.
Thank you,
Peter Grant
City Manager
City of Cypress
Office 714-229-6680
Cellular 714-335-1685
pgrant@cypressca.org
From: Jeff Draper <JDraper@cypressca.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2022 17:35
To: Peter Grant <pgrant@cypressca.org>
FYI…Recreation staff received a phone call today a few minutes before
4:00pm from John Kung. Mr. Kung stated he was calling from Council
Member Frances Marquez’s office and wanted to know if we were
interested in pursuing funding from a bill authored by Congressman Alan
Lowenthal. As this call was received on Recreation’s general phone line,
office staff referred Mr. Kung to the Recreation Director who was
unavailable at the time of the call. Mr. Kung left a contact phone number
of (562) 977-7656.
Jeff Draper
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2022 4:00 PM
To: Jeff Draper <JDraper@cypressca.org>
Subject: Phone Call Re: Funding Available
John Kung from Councilmember Frances Marquez’s office called this
afternoon asking if we were interested in pursuing some kind of funding
from a bill authored by Rep. Lowenthal. John’s # is 562-977-7656.