The El Monte City Council on Wednesday, June 25, censured Mayor Jessica Ancona following allegations that she led an effort to intimidate a critic and limit free speech rights in violation of both state and federal law.

In a 6-1 vote with Ancona dissenting, the Council approved a censure of the mayor, an official reprimand by the City Council  “when a member’s violation of law or policy is determined by the City Council to be a serious offense,” according to the corresponding resolution document.

“To everyone who stood with me, thank you. To those who tried to break me, you failed. I’m still the mayor of El Monte,” Ancona said at the council meeting Wednesday night.

The censure resolution follows disputes between Ancona and resident Gabriela Leos, who filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 alleging that Ancona and the city interfered with Leos’ First Amendment rights through retaliation, negligence, and, in violation of state law, the use of threats or intimidation to limit Leos’ right to free speech.

Leos accused Ancona of contacting Leos’ employer to get Leos fired from her job, and using a gang member to threaten Leos.

The city recently settled the case for $175,000, as well as $100,000 in lawyers fees and a public apology from the Mayor due July 5.

Around the time of the lawsuit, Leos and other El Monte residents called for an investigation “into this abuse of power by the head of this city,” as Leos said at a City Council meeting in Nov. 2023. According to the resolution document, a request to censure Ancona was received by the city clerk on Jan. 27 of this year.

At a special meeting the same day, the City Council decided to hire an independent investigator to look into the matter. After receiving the results of the investigation, the City Manager and City Council agreed “there was substantial evidence of wrongdoing by Mayor Ancona.” The evidence merited an April 11 hearing where Ancona was offered the opportunity to present evidence in self-defense.

Following the hearing, the hearing officer determined there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Ancona had not only reached out to Leos’ employer in retaliation for Leos’ criticism of the mayor, but also falsely represented that Leos had made a disparaging post during business hours, according to city documents.

Both the hour-long public comment and the censure discussion Wednesday night was contentious, as audience members hurled expletives at one another. Ancona had to silence her own supporters throughout the meeting as they jeered at council members.

“This politically motivated process is costing our city over $100,000…that money was used to pay for hearing officers and to hire an outside attorney,” Ancona said.

The mayor’s supporters said the censure was a costly political act, but Leos did not agree.

“This is not a political smear campaign. This actually happened,” Leos said in public comment. “There is a pattern of abuse that these two have been doing in this community for years, attacking other candidates, attacking other residents, other people, to spin the story so that [Ancona] can stay in charge.”

Council member Martin Herrera also countered Ancona supporters’ accusation.

“Make no mistake, this is not a politically motivating attack by a faction of the council, it is a concerted effort of the entire body,” Herrera said.

Council members Shella Crippen-Thomas, Cindy Galvan, Viviana Longoria and Julia Ruedas as well as Mayor Pro Tem Marisol Cortez condemned the mayor’s behavior during the censure discussion. Ancona supporters jeered at the council members multiple times as the council members spoke.

Herrera noted that the litigation and settlement costs for Ancona’s behavior has amounted to approximately $600,000 in litigation and settlement cost legal fees to the city. But unaddressed by lawsuits are what Herrera and Cortez call abusive and bullying behavior directed at city staff and council members.

Herrera said there were attempts to address the bullying behind closed doors but those private conversations have gone ignored.

“In my mind, continuing to engage in that type of bullying behavior despite those warnings really represents a dereliction of the mayor’s fiduciary duty to the city, and that is what warrants this censure today,” Herrera said.

Herrera said one of his biggest worries was that the censure would tear the council apart during an economic crisis and amid the presence of federal immigration agents in the city that has made residents fearful, so he made it a point to tell Ancona he would support her after she acknowledged the mistake.

“The six of us, we’re doing what needs to be done for this community, and we’re going to continue to do what needs to be done for this community,” Herrera said in an interview after the vote. “So she wants to be bitter about it, I can’t make her feel any differently.”

The issue came to more public light at a council meeting back in 2023.

One resident said she came to the meeting at the time after seeing a video in which Leos, recording Ancona at a public event, is approached by a large man allegedly known as a gang member.

The resident said Ancona could be seen nodding her head in Leos’ direction before the man points at Leos, then walks over and asks why Leos was recording.

There did not appear to be any overt threats, but Leos, in court filings, contended the interaction was meant to intimidate her and that she began to fear for her safety. The lawsuit alleged Leos began recording because someone from Ancona’s group recorded her first.

Leos and Ancona’s quarrel began in October 2022, according to the lawsuit.

Leos alleged she was passing out fliers on a sidewalk near Lambert Park when Ancona pulled up and yelled that Leos “can’t be campaigning here.” Though Leos publicly supported Ancona’s political opponent in that year’s election, the lawsuit at the time stated that the fliers were for a community-based organization that Leos volunteered with.

When Leos explained this to Ancona, the mayor allegedly replied, “I wouldn’t put it past you,” and the exchange ended. That night, Leos wrote an email to all of the City Council members, including Ancona, in which she detailed the interaction. She referred to Ancona as a “chola” and several other expletives in the email.

Leos alleges Ancona forwarded the email to her employer, which launched a six-month-long ethics investigation that ultimately exonerated Leos. The lawsuit states Leos suffered from post traumatic stress disorder because of the stress of the investigation.

According to the council’s censure resolution, Ancona will have to participate in ethics training under California law, workplace sensitivity or similar training, and will be removed from internal and external committees for the remainder of her term in office.

“Let me be clear, I take full responsibility for my actions related to that matter,” Ancona said Wednesday night. “In a moment of high tension during a challenging election season, I made a misstep. While my intent was never to cause harm, I now recognize how my actions may have been perceived and the standards to which I, as an elected official, has been held.”

Staff Writer Jason Henry contributed to this article.