General (20)
Susana Barrios
From:Stephanie Mercadante <burglin.stephanie@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, June 23, 2026 6:45 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] On Behalf of Stephanie Mercadante, District 4, Councilmember Norma
Campos Kurtz
Warning: This email originated from outside the City of Anaheim. Do not click links or open
attachments unless you recognize the sender and are expecting the message.
For public comment on June 23, 2026:
Let's stop pretending that family and other close relationships between Council Members and City
employees don't create pressure.
Because they do.
No matter what anyone says publicly, every employee in this organization understands the reality. If a
family member of a Council Member becomes the subject of discipline, scrutiny, or an investigation,
there is pressure.
Pressure on supervisors. Pressure on department heads. Pressure on the City Manager's Office.
Pressure to look the other way. And everyone knows it.
The issue isn't whether a Council Member has direct authority over City employees. We all know they
don't.
The issue is influence.
The issue is whether people making personnel decisions believe there could be consequences for
holding certain individuals accountable.
Because once that perception exists, the damage is already done.
Employees begin to wonder whether everyone is being held to the same standard.
They begin to wonder whether accountability depends on performance or proximity to power.
And they begin to wonder whether some people are simply untouchable.
Influence doesn't always come in the form of a direct order. Sometimes it's a phone call. Sometimes
it's a conversation. Sometimes it's simply the understanding that making a certain decision will create
problems for you later.
That's how pressure works.
And City leadership knows it. They have experienced it. They understand exactly what I'm talking
about.
If this Council truly wants a culture of integrity and accountability, then it must acknowledge the
obvious: relationships matter, influence matters, and public confidence is damaged whenever
employees believe different rules apply to different people.
The moment employees believe some people are protected because of who they know or who they're
related to, the City's credibility is gone.
And once credibility is gone, no amount of public relations or carefully crafted statements will bring it
back.
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