Residents raise concerns about a P.G. cop, and the city’s talking points tell them to go away.

Residents raise concerns about a P.G. cop, and the city’s talking points tell them to go away.

Good afternoon. 

Mary Duan here, and today’s focus is on the city of Pacific Grove, which just ended its relationship with a police officer who brought a lot of unwanted and negative attention to the police department, and which is likely going to get sued as a result.

In June, based on a citizen’s complaint about bumper stickers representing anti-government and pro-militia sentiments on a police officer’s vehicle (which was parked on city property), Police Chief Cathy Madalone placed the officer on paid administrative leave as an outside law firm was brought in to investigate. About $23,000 later, he was cleared and returned to the job. 

In December, Weekly reporter Pam Marino and I received screenshots of the officer’s verified Parler account, which included hateful posts stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter” and “Free Kyle Rittenhouse,” in reference to the white teenager accused of murdering two protestors at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 

On Dec. 4, the officer was again placed on leave pending the outcome of another investigation. 

It’s not entirely clear whether that investigation was completed, or what it found. But today, Jan. 13, Madalone issued a video statement in which she announced the officer is no longer employed by the city in any capacity, declining to provide details because it is a personnel matter. But on the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo, Vallerie Gonzalez (it’s not clear if she’s the officer’s wife, sister or other family member) announced Officer Michael Gonzalez had been “unlawfully terminated” from the PGPD, is in contact with an attorney and plans to sue.

Between the first investigation and now, the city spent a great deal of time hearing from aggrieved members of the public, who spoke at numerous city council meetings about P.G.’s history of racism. They shared their fears and concerns about having an officer rocking bumper stickers that included Molon Labe (a pro-2A rallying cry borrowed from the Spartans meaning “come and take them”—them being firearms) and The Three Percenters, or III%, a far-right militia group whose name comes from the misguided belief that only 3 percent of colonists took up arms against the British during the Revolutionary War. Percenterism is one of three core components in the anti-government militia movement, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. 

The city council’s response, it appears, included telling the aggrieved members of the public that they couldn’t talk about the situation due to it involving “personnel matters.” 

But it also appears that between the first and second incident, the city hired Cole Pro Media, a public relations firm, at a cost of about $30,000 to feed them talking points and possibly negate citizens’ concerns. Some of the citizens filed a Public Records Act request with the city and obtained the talking points. In an email to the city from citizen Randy Fairgarden, who shared it with the media, he lists some of those talking points. Here they are: 

“I respect your point of view; this is intended to be a safe space where the public can make their views known. Even if those views are critical of city actions. However there comes a point where we have to take a hard look at the reality of the situation; continuing to bring this up has become counter productive and does not allow us to move past this as a community.”

“We talk a lot about inclusion and equality, but we are picking and choosing who we want to include and disregarding a person who may not fit into our worldview. Rather than immediately resort to discarding someone for making a mistake, let's turn this into a teachable moment for him and others who may share his point of view.”

“To suggest there are malicious people that are part of any racist organizations working in our city government is a serious accusation and not supported by any credible evidence.”

“In fact, a thorough third party investigation was conducted and although the findings are not subject to public disclosure by the city, we understand that the officer was not held liable as his actions were protected by the First Amendment.”

“Regardless, the officer voluntarily made the decision to immediately remove the decals. Despite how we feel about his actions, I have enough faith in the process put in place to accept the findings and use them as an opportunity to improve.”

“An emotional response is not the appropriate response and does not benefit anyone. Let's not allow the actions of one person to tarnish the important work our police department is doing in keeping this community safe.” 

“We support our Police Department and Chief Madalone.” 

As Fairgarden puts it: “Cole Pro Media was encouraging the mayor, and by extension the entire city government, to tell the citizens he serves it's time for us to shut up and accept the decision made about this officer.”

That email was sent before today’s separation between officer and city was announced, and while the group Community Before Cops sent out a release saying they and the group P.G. City Watch were happy to hear the news, representatives also announced the situation was by no means over.

“Part of our demand is an investigation into the entire department,” says Chelsea Lee. “[Madalone] did not name the officer, he can move to another department. She did not condemn white supremacy, something we’ve been repeatedly asking from the entire city.

“What about the people who worked with him for three years and saw his ideology plastered on his car? I’m sure they saw his statements, and I’m sure some of them were with him on social media,” she says. “The conversations between the city and Cole Pro Media were about telling us the best ways to shut up. I don’t specifically know what their thought process was, but to me it looks like, ‘how do we spin and cover this up?’” 

-Mary Duan, managing editor, mary@mcweekly.com