The sequel to the "shiny medals" controversy surrounding Carmel City Attorney Glen Mozingo last summer is now out. Not in theaters—it's in Monterey County Superior Court as part of a lawsuit demanding Carmel hand over records it repeatedly denied to journalist Royal Calkins.
Almost exactly one year ago Mozingo was hired by the Carmel City Council to replace long-time city attorney Don Freeman, who announced his retirement in February 2017.
Despite spending most of his career doing estate and trust work Mozingo made multiple claims on his resume purporting to show experience in municipal matters.
His resume also listed that he received two medals, the United States Congressional Medal of Distinction and the United States Gold Medal. The Weekly reported July 13, 2017, that they aren’t actual congressional accolades, but rather gifts from the Republican National Congressional Committee, usually in exchange for donations.
Both medals are identified in Calkins' lawsuit, filed on Monday, July 9, by his Carmel attorney Neil Shapiro, and supported by a new organization formed by Shapiro called Transparency in Government.
Pointing out that one requirement in the agreement between the city of Carmel and the new city attorney was that the “City Attorney shall be truthful with the city,” the suit claims that several representations made by Mozingo on his resume “were anything but truthful.”
Case in point: The two medals Mozingo claims to have received from Congress for work on highway funding legislation.
“That statement was and is not true,” Calkins’ suit asserts.
Calkins and Shapiro also lay out an argument for issues with other claims made by Mozingo, including that the attorney served as lead counsel for the firm Mozingo and Patel for 37 years, between 1979 and 2016. Calkins uncovered public records that show Mozingo’s partner, Kinnery Patel, wasn’t licensed to practice law until 2003.
Other Mozingo claims include him serving as a special counsel for Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates, which Calkins was unable to confirm in his reporting for the nonprofit news website Voices of Monterey Bay, and that Mozingo was never the subject of a malpractice claim. Calkins found at least two lawsuits filed by former clients claiming negligence and fraud, which are forms of legal malpractice.
Carmel records show that Shapiro tried unsuccessfully on May 1 to get copies of records Mozingo either shared with the city when he applied for the job last year, or records or correspondence from Mozingo or third parties the city council members considered in making their decision to hire him.
On May 22 the city provided a copy of Mozingo’s resume—which was already available to the public—and stated there were no other records to disclose.
On June 4, the City Council met in closed session, during which Mozingo reportedly presented the members with documents and other items—including the two medals—that supported the claims on his resume.
The Weekly and Calkins each followed up with separate Public Records Act requests asking city officials to produce copies of the records Theis detailed in her statement.
Those requests were denied to both outlets, partly after the city claimed it did not physically have copies of the records in question. Mozingo reportedly showed them to members of the council, then took them away, during the meeting.
(The Weekly has made two follow-up requests for those records and has been denied both times.)
According to attorney David Snyder of the First Amendment Coalition, as reported by the Weekly on June 14, just because the city doesn’t have physical possession of the records doesn’t mean officials aren’t required to provide them when requested by members of the public.
Calkins’ suit points out that that any records “used” by agencies are in fact public records. Under the California Public Records Act, the city has a responsibility to provide the records, and he has a right to see those records and obtain copies of them.
The Public Records Act also specifies that anyone denied access to records they believe are public has a right to sue for injunctive or declaratory relief from the courts.
Calkins is asking the court to act quickly, in light of the upcoming election on Nov. 8. Three members of the council that approved Mozingo’s employment—Mayor Steve Dallas and council members Carolyn Hardy and Theis—are up for re-election. The filing period for the November election starts next week.
The matter is on the court's schedule for 10am, Thursday, July 12, in Department 13 of the Monterey courthouse.
“It’s kind of ridiculous we’ve had to go to court just to force the issue to try to get some basic public information from someone making big money who supposedly works for the public,” Calkins says.
Mozingo did not immediately reply to a request for comment.