Vallejo contracts outside law firm for review after ACLU letter

VALLEJO – The Vallejo City Council voted to use an outside law firm to consider whether it must respond to and conduct an investigation into “recent allegations” in a closed session meeting on Tuesday.

City Manager Andrew Murray reported after a short closed session meeting that the city will contract with Renne Public Law Group to review what councilmembers called “recent allegations.” The firm will recommend whether an investigation should take place and collaborate with city staff to draft a public response.

While the city was not specific about which allegations the firm is reviewing, councilmembers referenced recent news reports by the Vallejo Sun and other media outlets, including last week’s release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California with a letter calling for an independent investigation into City Attorney Veronica Nebb’s office. 

The ACLU mentioned the city attorney’s office’s destruction of evidence in police shooting cases and delays of the police commission and questioned whether Nebb’s office was aware of Vallejo police allegedly withholding evidence from criminal defendants and hiring an officer who was disqualified by a background check.

Within the same week, the city attorney’s office filed a petition with the state Supreme Court to prevent the release of an investigation into officers bending the tips of their badges to mark shootings after a unanimous panel of California’s First District Court of Appeal ruled in the ACLU’s favor that the city must release the investigator’s findings.

Avram Frey, deputy director of the criminal law and immigration project at the ACLU, called the City Council's action a "sham" in a statement late Tuesday.

“We called for an independent investigation of the Vallejo City Attorney’s Office in light of serious allegations of misconduct. Instead, the city council has tasked a law firm with close ties to the city attorney’s office to investigate whether a ‘formal’ investigation is even warranted," Frey said. "In a word, this is a sham. And the council violated the Brown Act by making this decision in secret. The people of Vallejo deserve better.”

The city has contracted Renne Public Law Group before in 2023 to investigate whether the use of force incident involving Officer Brad Kim, who shot and wounded Jamazea Kittell in June that year, followed department policies. The results of that investigation have not been released as criminal charges are still pending against Kittell.

Several public speakers were frustrated by the meeting being held without Mayor Andrea Sorce and Vice Mayor Peter Bregenzer present, and criticized how quickly the closed session special meeting was called without a public reason. It was announced at 5 p.m. on Monday to discuss “significant disclosure to litigation.” Sorce wrote a Facebook post earlier Tuesday criticizing the special meeting’s timing, saying she did not know the topic of the meeting but heard about it from the public notice posted Monday. 

Vallejo resident Daniel Boone said the special meeting should not take place without all councilmembers present.

“Since this council was impaneled in January 2025, the public has heard over and over again about transparency and openness and building trust in the community,” Boone said. “The public has no idea what you’re about to go do behind closed doors. Continue those matters to a later meeting when all councilmembers can be present.”

Councilmember Charles Palmares moved to continue the council meeting to avoid discussing any business in closed session until a later date. The motion failed as no councilmembers agreed, with Councilmember Tonia Lediju saying that the “allegations” necessitated speedy action to advise the city manager on next steps. 

“In the last week and a half, we have had various reports and allegations made which the city attorney cannot be involved in,” Lediju said. “We need to give our city manager directions on what to do next so there can be a city response.”

Councilmember Alexander Matias agreed, saying that in situations requiring immediate response, the municipal code allows for special meetings to be held even if not all councilmembers are present. He said that multiple “articles” had dropped within the last several weeks that put pressure on the city to respond.

“Are we supposed to keep waiting, and then there’s no response from the mayor’s office, no response from the city manager’s office? Is that how a city should be run?” Matias asked. “Not doing anything is unacceptable.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments from the ACLU.