A majority of the City Council in National City on Tuesday voted to censure Jose Rodriguez, who voters re-elected to a second term last month, for allegedly violating several city policies.
Officials voted 3-2, with Rodriguez and Councilmember Ditas Yamane in opposition. The censure, brought forth by Mayor Ron Morrison, serves mostly as a public declaration that officials disapprove of Rodriguez. But it could potentially strip him of serving on regional boards and commissions. At its next meeting, the City Council is expected to decide who will serve on which outside groups. Rodriguez is an alternate on the San Diego Association of Governments board and serves on its Shoreline Preservation Working Group.
Several residents testified that Rodriguez has been a true advocate of National City’s most vulnerable, especially mobile home renters and those who lost their homes during the devastating January flood. He spent countless hours cleaning up in the aftermath, organized workshops informing residents about resources and successfully pushed policies to protect mobile home tenants from rent hikes.
“The biggest point is that we supposedly misused public funds for campaign purposes,” said Rodriguez. “Some people call them campaigning, I call them doing my job. “
Councilmember Luz Molina said that while she appreciated hearing from the public, “There are more problematic issues here beyond the actions that the council member took.”
In a memo to the City Council, Morrison claims that Rodriguez used public resources, from giveaways to reimbursements and hiring staff, for campaigning.
Part of those assertions stem from when the City Council agreed to give themselves $100,000 each to spend in their districts annually. Officials came under fire for spending some of those funds before developing a policy regulating their use.
At a November 2023 city event about park improvements, Rodriguez purchased about 300 turkeys and gave them away to residents. The city reimbursed him $7,120, despite Morrison and at least one former city staff member raising concerns about the transaction being a gift of public funds.
State law says that all expenditures of public funds must support a government’s functions and purpose. Food distributed at public events is usually donated or paid for by sponsors. At the time, Rodriguez said that the city funds did go to an event the city sponsored, therefore serving a public purpose.
Rodriguez also spent $47,000 of his $100,000 council fund to contract with Cordero Coaching and Consulting, a company established by Cindy Lopez. She established the firm in February. Days after the consulting contract was signed, a local Democratic Club she led endorsed Rodriguez for District 2.
This summer, Rodriguez hired Lopez as his executive assistant using a portion of his council fund. He also employed three other assistants, two of whom did ad work for his 2022 mayoral bid.
His 2024 campaign had sent out emails that promoted workshops he hosted as a council member on issues he campaigned for and worked on from the dais.
Morrison’s memo also said that Rodriguez used media “to cause a hostile environment within the community in the form of bullying and non-inclusive intimidation that has cause(d) members of the community including a City Commissioner to feel that they and their families are threatened.”
Rodriguez’s campaign had sent out an email with a photo of National City Planning Commissioner Liliana Armenta’s house and a hung Trump flag.
“We can’t allow someone who openly supports Trump to make decisions for our community,” the email read. It erroneously suggested that Rodriguez’s opponent lived there and supported President-elect Donald Trump.
Armenta has publicly stated, including before the City Council at a previous meeting, that the campaign email brought negative exposure to her home. On Tuesday, she reiterated her concerns.
Additionally, the memo said that Rodriguez has had a “total lack of remorse or change in actions when concerns of his character and actions are brought to his attention.”
Councilmember Marcus Bush, one of Rodriguez’s closest allies on the dais, asked Rodriguez if he saw “any issues wrong with what you did.” Rodriguez did not respond; instead, he said the topic had long been dragged out despite winning the election. He earned 73% of the vote in the two-person contest.
After the vote, Molina said she was “walking away from here with no confidence that you are able to uphold the respect that this office requires. … I am willing to work with you, but not if you continue this behavior.”
