Overview: San Bernardino City Councilmember Kim Calvin has been the target of a “hit piece” report by JL Group, LLC, a law firm with no Black partners or staff members, allegedly hired by the city using taxpayer dollars. The report was released by the council in December 2023, just before the March 5, 2024 election, based on Calvin allegedly “violating a rule of interacting with staff.” However, Councilmember Ted Sanchez has repeatedly stated during council meetings that he talks to police officers daily, which is a clear violation of the same rule. The Clayton Report has revealed similar behavior from Sanchez, and potential Brown Act violations by four councilmembers. An investigation by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is needed to restore credibility and trust between the City Council and the community.
Hardy Brown
I closed Part One of “Here We Go Again” with this statement: It was clear to me then, and even clearer now after reading the Rochelle Clayton report, how she was treated by Sanchez and his gang on the council.
This week’s column centers around two key issues. First, Councilmember Sanchez’s violating the rule against interacting with staff without going through the City Manager. And second, potential Brown Act violations by four councilmembers.
Back on May 14, 2024, I wrote an article titled, “A Bogus Censure That Maligns and Disenfranchises Calvin and the Black Community,” where—as a taxpayer and retired Human Resources Manager—who volunteered nine years on the San Bernardino City Unified School District Personnel Commission and four years on the San Bernardino County Civil Service Commission–I raised several concerns.
In that article, I noted that the city contracted with JL Group, LLC, a law firm based in Laguna Niguel in Orange County, CA. From what I could tell, this law firm has no Black partners or staff members. Yet, this group was hired—using our taxpayer dollars—to conduct the first personnel investigation report (or “hit piece”) on Councilmember Kim Calvin. That report was released by the mayor and council in December 2023, just before the March 5, 2024 election, and was based on Calvin allegedly “violating a rule of interacting with staff.”
Ironically, Councilmember Ted Sanchez has repeatedly stated during council meetings that he talks to police officers daily—clearly violating the same rule.
Now, in the Clayton Report, employees describe similar behavior from Sanchez. When he enters City Hall, staff say, “Theodore is in the house,” as he walks from office to office, gathering information and directing employees to provide data and reports—without communicating with the City Manager.
According to Clayton, “Theodore Sanchez has specifically gone to employees to seek information in order to accuse me of violating policies and procedures. He continually goes into the Finance Director’s office to seek information, reports, so he can present the information publicly and make me look unprepared and unqualified. He did this as recently as the January 2025 meeting about the lease agreement on the Vanir Tower. I only found out about it because the Finance Director sent me the lease information Sanchez had requested—she sent it to me, not him.”
Clayton also stated: “The Finance Director has reported to me that this has caused her stress, and she is fearful of reporting it. She continually asks me to keep it confidential, fearing retaliation due to Sanchez’s position as a councilmember. Her office is next to his, so she whispers during conversations to avoid being overheard. She’s concerned about him hearing confidential information and how he might use it.”
Now I, Hardy Brown, want to know: Will there be an investigation into Sanchez for “violating a rule of interacting with staff?”
Now on to Sanchez’s sidekick, Councilmember Fred Shorett. Clayton said the following about him. “It was at a dinner meeting on Tuesday, December 3, 2024 (the night before the December 4 Special Closed Session for the Acting City Manager appointment), that Fred Shorett met me for dinner. Before the meeting where four council members had contacted the city clerk to place the item on the agenda, Shorett asked if I would be willing to step down as Acting City Manager. We spoke for quite some time. He told me he liked me in the City Manager role and that he’d probably talked with me more than with any other city manager. He said, ‘When I talk to you, what you say makes sense. But then I talk to Theodore…’ and that whatever Sanchez says also sounds agreeable to him.”
The next morning, December 4, 2024, Shorett sent Clayton a text saying: “I had a thought I’d like to run by you that we didn’t really touch on last night.”
Clayton called him back, and he asked directly if she’d be willing to send an email stepping down as Acting City Manager and returning to her Deputy City Manager role. She refused, stating that no other executive employee had the capacity to take on the role. When she asked who Shorett had in mind, he said a few names had been “thrown around,” but no one had been selected.
Clayton responded with concern. “I told him my fear is that the four councilmembers who placed this item on the agenda have already identified an external candidate for Acting City Manager, and that person would come in and fire me. I cautioned him that if four councilmembers came in with a predetermined candidate, that would be a Brown Act violation.” This ends the quote from the Clayton Report.
In my opinion, this is the same type of Brown Act violation that Sanchez, Shorett, Ibarra, Figueroa, and Tran committed to force Charles McNeely out during his short tenure as Interim City Manager so they could hire Charles Montoya.
This situation must be investigated by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office to restore credibility and trust between the City Council and the community.
Here We Go Again – Part 3 coming next. Stay tuned.