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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22-SEPTEMBER 28, 2025
NO. 242
VOL. 13,
Residents ask court to overturn Arcadia council’s censure of mayor
Elon Musk has criticized environmental regulations. His companies have been accused of sidestepping them.
By Joe Taglieri
By Taylor Kate Brown for ProPublica
joet@beaconmedianews.com This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
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rcadia residents are seeking a court injunction to overturn the City Council’s censure of Mayor Sharon Kwan. A third resident not named as a plaintiff was the suit’s process server and spoke at the council meeting Tuesday before handing court documents to City Clerk Linda Rodriguez. “To date we’ve lost about three weeks of productive work for our city,” Benny Yee said. “Three weeks where nothing of real substance was accomplished.” Yee called the allegations and claims against Kwan “specious” and “fabricated” allegations and accused Councilman David Fu — who initiated the censure and represents District 1 where Yee resides — of “a personal vendetta”, and we see it clearly as he has aligned with other council members all in pursuit of his selfindulgent drive to remove the mayor” against Kwan. “After weeks of political theater, it is high time that we take back the City Council and restore the mayor’s leadership,” Yee said. “Mayor Kwan, stand your ground,” he added. “Do not back down. Do not let this nonsense distract you from leading Arcadia. And to the rest of the council, the choice is simple: lead, follow or get out of the way.” Council members did not respond to requests for comment. During public meetings, state law prohibits council members from directly responding to general public comments that are not about specific items on a meeting’s agenda. Deputy City Manager Justine Bruno said the city does not comment on
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Arcadia resident Benny Yee hands documents to City Clerk Linda Rodriguez as he serves the city with a lawsuit over the council’s censure of Mayor Sharon Kwan. | Photo courtesy of the city of Arcadia
pending litigation. Cory Briggs, attorney for plaintiffs Stephanie Aiken and Laurie Thompson, Cory said they “are suing because the censure was punitive and retaliatory, contrary to federal and state law. “The plaintiffs are residents and taxpayers in Arcadia and believe that the council majority’s illegal actions are impeding Mayor Kwan’s ability to best serve their interests,” Briggs said. On Sept. 2, the council voted 4-1 to censure Kwan for alleged misconduct that included: “Weaponizing and exploiting children, induced to give false and uninformed statements for political purposes of embarrassing the City, and Councilmembers, and to escape responsibility through the use of shills and strawmen,” according to the council’s
resolution. “Demeaning the military service of veterans by stating she has done more for veterans by asserting she made unsubstantiated charitable contributions, and arguing that these were more valuable than respect and appreciation. “Knowingly falsely alleging financial impropriety by claiming there is concealment of the City’s true finances and asserting that City staff is misrepresenting financial information to the City Council and public, and claims that the City staff is lying to the public, for the political purpose of undermining public confidence in City staff and the Mayor’s colleagues. “Disparaging first See Censure Page 28
responders, and council colleagues by accusing them of impropriety and corruption because labor organizations chose not to support her. “Making unfounded accusations of sexism against Councilmembers and staff whenever disagreements arise to deflect argument against her ill-conceived and unfounded positions on substantive issues. “Discouraging public participation by mocking and belittling constituents, including elderly residents, by implying their incompetence and deafness, simply because they were politically adversarial to her or expressed a conflicting viewpoint, attempting to intimidate opposing viewpoints and to squelch dissent.
efore and after the 2024 election, Elon Musk made it clear he disliked environmental regulations and considered them a barrier to innovation, especially given the quick timelines his companies prefer to operate on. The billionaire spent more than $250 million to help elect President Donald Trump and, in the first months of Trump’s second term, Musk led the Department of Government Efficiency, making cuts to the federal bureaucracy and regulatory staff, including environmental agencies, before a dramatic falling out with the president. Musk-controlled companies have also developed influence in Texas, a state already known for a lighter touch on environmental regulation. In addition to his lobbyists’ successful track record in the Texas Legislature, Gov. Greg Abbott cited Musk as inspiration for the state creating its own DOGE-style office. A new investigation from ProPublica, the Texas Newsroom, the Houston Chronicle and the Texas Tribune has found Musk and a Houston-area member of Congress have pushed Texas and local officials to hire Musk’s Boring Co. for a $760 million flood control project in the city. Reporters Lauren McGaughy and Yilun Cheng found that Rep. Wesley Hunt helped pitch Boring’s involvement even though the company builds tunnels narrower than the ones
extensively studied by flood control experts for the project. An engineering expert warned that the volume of the tunnels the company is proposing may not be sufficient during a flood emergency. Another said that the proposed tunnels, which would be built at shallow depths, could interfere with existing utility lines and bridge foundations. Boring has described its project in pitches to lawmakers as an “innovative and cost-effective solution.” But experts and some local officials question whether Boring should be awarded the contract. One Democratic county commissioner told the newsrooms that Musk shouldn’t be involved in the Houston project, arguing he has shown “blatant disregard for democratic institutions and environmental protections.” Hunt, Musk and representatives from Boring did not respond to the newsrooms’ request for comment before publication of the Aug. 28 story. After publication, Hunt and Musk defended the project on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. Musk claimed that the tunnels would cost less than alternatives and that additional tunnels could increase flow, but he provided no further details. Officials in Houston haven’t decided on a contractor for the tunneling project yet, and it remains to be seen which environmen-
See Environmental regulations Page 03