Laserfiche WebLink
1 76. On or about August 19, 2021, the SAPOA supported the f iling of a citizen <br /> 2 complaint by one of the Association members against Sgt. Oscar Lizardi for allegation <br /> 3 of witness intimidation related to an internal affairs investigation that Defendant Valentin <br /> 4 ordered against a supporter of the SAPOA/Serrano. The Defendants assigned the <br /> 5 investigation to an outside investigator, but failed to notify the complainant of the <br /> 6 outcome of the investigation. <br /> 7 VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE <br /> 8 77. On July 8, 2021, Plaintiffs notified Defendant Ridge and Motsick that the <br /> 9 Board of Directors had unanimously voted to send out a Vote of No Confidence ballot <br /> 10 regarding Defendant Valentin. <br /> 11 78. In August, 2021, the SAPOA Board of Directors issued a Memorandum <br /> 12 regarding the Vote and raised a number of issues for the membership to consider. <br /> 13 79. On or about August 25, 2021, Charles Goldwasser, who serves as <br /> 14 General Counsel to the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, wrote Defendant <br /> 15 Valentin and Defendant Ridge regarding on-duty harassment and verbal pressure <br /> 16 against SAPOA members by Sergeant Lizardi. The conduct interfered with these <br /> 17 officers' ability to perform their duties. The Santa Ana Police Officers' Association <br /> 18 requested that the City of Santa Ana issue a reminder about this type of on-duty <br /> 19 conduct taking place at the Police Department. Plaintiff Serrano, as the President of the <br /> 20 SAPOA, followed-up Mr. Goldwasser's communication with an email to Defendant <br /> 21 Motsick acknowledging that his members were reporting their working conditions were <br /> 22 becoming unbearable and reminding the City that an unchecked hostile work <br /> 23 environment, especially where the employees are armed, could result in a bad <br /> 24 situations occurring. <br /> 25 80. On August 26, 2021, during a time the SAPOA was considering a "Vote of <br /> 26 No Confidence" in Defendant Valentin, Valentin in coordination with Defendants <br /> 27 Carvalho, Ridge and Motsick, tried to silence SAPOA President Gerry Serrano by <br /> 28 placing him on administrative leave and restricting his access to, and use of, the <br /> 19 <br /> COMPLAINT <br />