The Long Beach City Council Tuesday night censured 2nd District Long Beach Councilmember Jeannine Pearce (above) for “her conduct as a council member that has reflected poorly on the City of Long Beach and raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City’s code of ethics.”
On Tuesday night, the Long Beach City Council considered Agenda Item 19– a recommendation from Councilmembers Al Austin, Dee Andrews, Suzie Price and Daryl Supernaw– which requested the council to censure 2nd District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce for her conduct as a council member that has reflected poorly on the City of Long Beach and raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City’s code of ethics.
As previously reported in the Signal Tribune, in the early-morning hours of June 3, 2017, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers and eventually the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) discovered both Pearce and her chief-of-staff, Devin Cotter, in a vehicle parked on a median of the 710 Freeway, near the Golden Shore exit. When CHP officers approached the car, they found the two individuals in the midst of what Pearce’s former attorney described as a “heated” argument.
LBPD officers performed a field-sobriety test on Pearce, who had been driving.
According to police, she passed the test and officers separated the two. Officers drove Cotter home, while Pearce was allowed to ask a friend to take her home, according to a statement from the department. However, later that morning, Pearce called police to intervene again. This time, Cotter had confronted the council member outside her home.
Officers discovered that there was an outstanding warrant for Cotter related to a previous charge for a 2014 DUI, and they also arrested him on a charge of public intoxication. Cotter’s attorney said that his client spent only a few hours in jail that day and thereafter enrolled in the necessary alcohol classes related to his DUI case. The attorney also claimed that Cotter sustained injuries that day.
On May 9, a recall campaign submitted 9,462 unverified signatures to the city clerk’s office for a “Petition for the Recall and Removal of Jeannine Pearce, Holding the Office of 2nd District Councilmember in Long Beach, California.”
The recall effort must have 6,363 valid signatures from 2nd District voters to enact a recall election, possibly on the November ballot. Long Beach City Clerk Monique Delagarza and her staff are still in the process of validating that the group has collected the necessary number of signatures. If a recall election does indeed take place, voters in the district will be asked if Pearce should be recalled and, if so, who should replace her.
On Tuesday night this week, before the eight council members– Pearce excluded– were able to vote on the item, the 2nd District council member read a personal statement about the situation that has kept her in the spotlight for nearly a year.
“I know that this is a difficult night for many, but I want you to know that I understand why we are here,” Pearce said. “I know many believe the actions and decisions I have made reflect poorly on our city and on our city council. I want to begin by apologizing. I apologize to the City of Long Beach, to my colleagues on the city council and, most importantly, the constituents of the 2nd District. I am sorry that my actions, which I deeply regret, have taken attention away from the important work of the city and of the dedicated team of people who work here. I take full responsibility for my actions.”
She added that the last two years have been some of the most difficult in her adult and professional life, but that she has “undergone tremendous growth” and believes she is a stronger and better person now because of the experiences.
“For me, part of taking responsibility means self-reflection and taking actions to understand why I made the decisions I did and why I found myself part of the chaos that has characterized my time in office,” she continued. “My traumatic childhood laid the foundation for me to fall prey to narcissistic abuse. At many times I felt trapped. I know today that I am a survivor. I don’t say this to excuse my behavior, but to acknowledge that I am learning and growing– that I know now how better to recognize the pitfalls that led me into an abusive relationship where I put the public’s trust and, frankly, my life, on the line.”
Pearce thanked those who have supported her and assured her constituents that she has never ceased in serving them.
“I am proud of the 2nd District’s accomplishments, of which there are many, but moving forward, I am committed to regaining the trust and support of my colleagues and constituents that I am proud to represent,” she said.
“I accept and acknowledge this censure as a call to do better,” she said. “My hope is that once the vote is done tonight, we can move on and move forward. We can put politics behind us and focus on the work ahead. I ask that my supporters in the audience keep things civil. I know this feels very personal to you and the issues you care about. Tonight, I ask that you stand with me in accepting this censure while committing to the real work that lies ahead for us.”
During the public-comment portion for the agenda item, Jonathan Crouch, who said he is a resident of the 2nd District, criticized Pearce for having previously shifted blame to others for her own actions.
“Councilmember Pearce has slowly but surely admitted to many of these wrongdoings through the different media interviews that she has had,” he said. “For example, during a recent interview on [the podcast] the Luc & Cammie Show, she stated that on the early morning of June 3, she drove buzzed but was not drunk. Let me explain something to you that is widely known throughout our community: buzzed driving is drunk driving.”
The next speaker was Naida Tushnet, who said she is a 3rd District resident speaking on behalf of the Long Beach Area Peace Network. Tushnet said she was saddened and angry that Pearce was being censured so long after the incidents in question, especially since at least four other Long Beach councilmembers had engaged in questionable behavior, without the council’s formal disapproval, in the 30 years she has called the city home.
“I’m sad because this motion masks what’s really happening: Councilwoman Pearce is being shamed, not for the events she says are the worst night of her life […] but she’s being shamed for standing up for workers, women and other marginalized groups in Long Beach,” Tushnet said. “And the shaming is not protecting the honor of our city, but is due to the work of hotel owners and managers, large developers and others whose concerns are only for their own benefits.”
Tushnet also pointed out the irony of Pearce’s censure occurring the same day that over 40,000 voters’ signatures were delivered to the city clerk’s office to get a measure on the November ballot for residents to vote on whether hotel workers should be given personal panic-call buttons to protect them from abuse. (See story on p. 1.) Tushnet urged the council to vote against censure, claiming that move would be what restores honor to the city.
Another speaker, Sara Angevine, an assistant professor of political science at Whittier College and a 2nd District resident, called the movement against Pearce a smear campaign that she uses as an example in her teaching.
“While it’s clear that this item is more about politics than it is about ethics, it’s time for us to heal as a district in the city and move forward,” she said. “I personally find this smear campaign tasteless and sexist, and I’ve used it in my class.”
Don Sutton, who described himself as a 25-year resident of the 2nd District and owner of a small real-estate company, said that, in the last four months, four different commercial-development projects have been “turned down financially because of the instability of this council and the district and the actions of the 2nd District,” costing the city millions of dollars.
“Furthermore, I am also familiar with three different conferences that have backed out of being here in Long Beach,” he said. “That’s tourism dollars that have gone other ways because of the current actions of the individual occupying the 2nd District [council seat].”
Sutton then called for Pearce’s resignation as opposed to censure.
Several other residents shared remarks, with some expressing support for Pearce and others calling for her to resign or to be recalled. One pointed out the hypocrisy of the council members who brought forth the censure for Pearce’s alleged sexual misconduct but who last year declined to vote in favor of protecting hotel workers from sexual abuse. Another said the council should wait a few weeks before deciding on censure, since the city clerk’s office may determine that there are not enough valid signatures from the recent effort to get a recall of Pearce on the ballot. Several of the speakers questioned the timing of the censure.
When it was time to act on the motion, all eight councilmembers voted in favor of censuring Pearce. Thereafter, Mayor Garcia called for a short break, during which time the other councilmembers walked over to Pearce and hugged her.
