ENCINITAS — An Encinitas resident has filed a formal complaint alleging the City Council violated the state’s open-meeting law during its Aug. 20 meeting when members voted to address a series of recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in the city.
In an Aug. 27 letter to Mayor Bruce Ehlers and the council, Cardiff-by-the-Sea resident Garvin Walsh demanded the city “cure and correct” the action, which he said was taken without proper agenda notice as required under the Brown Act.
“A cadre of extremists are promoting the false notion that ICE is rounding up people because of their skin color,” said Walsh, a member of the San Diego County Republican Party Central Committee. “It’s not true. These are targeted, individual arrests — criminals and people who’ve already had their day in court.”
The complaint stems from three arrests near Park Dale Lane Elementary School. On Aug. 20, ICE officers detained a Guatemalan national under a longstanding final order of removal during a vehicle stop two blocks from the school’s campus, according to ICE.
The man was later confirmed to be a parent of a child in the Encinitas Union School District. A video of the arrest spread on social media, sparking outrage as many questioned whether the arrest was lawful.
Two days later, on Aug. 22, protesters at the same location observed ICE agents return to the same intersection and arrest two men working for a landscaping company, including Yohan Diaz, 28, who has lived in the U.S. since childhood and is the father of a 12-year-old student in Encinitas, family members said.
According to ICE, Diaz has a criminal history including child cruelty, assault with a deadly weapon and DUI, and remains in custody pending removal proceedings. A second man, Limber Hernandez-Verdugo, a Mexican national who entered the U.S. illegally, was also taken into custody during the operation.
The back-to-back arrests, all of which were later confirmed lawful enforcement actions, fueled protests outside City Hall and drew criticism from residents, advocates and some public officials.
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer called the operations “ambushes” that endangered children and Deputy Mayor Joy Lyndes described the events as “traumatizing” for the community.
Protesters held signs reading “ICE Melts” and “Protect our community…from deportation,” while advocates led chants of “Show me what democracy looks like” and “No one is illegal on stolen land.”
During a special meeting held just hours after the latest arrests, Lyndes introduced a motion directing staff to pursue eight actions, including launching a bilingual “know your rights” campaign, requesting federal records of ICE activity, and exploring legal challenges with other municipalities.
“If there’s ever a need for an emergency item, this is it in my view,” Lyndes said during the Aug. 22 meeting. “We can’t not shout about this. We really have to step up and be heard.”
Inside the packed chambers, the tense meeting was punctuated by outbursts, applause from the overflow room and public comments demanding greater transparency and accountability.
The council unanimously approved the emergency item, which was not listed on the posted agenda.
Walsh said the public was denied proper notice and a chance to participate — a violation of the Brown Act’s guarantee of open meetings — since the ICE activity was not included on the council’s 72-hour agenda.
The letter states that the council improperly attempted to invoke the Brown Act’s “immediate need” exception, which requires a two-thirds vote finding that immediate action is required and proof that the need arose after the agenda was posted.
“It wasn’t the City Council’s finest moment,” Walsh said.
During the meeting, City Attorney Tarquin Preziosi said it was clear the incident that prompted the council’s action occurred after the agenda was posted, making it eligible for discussion without prior notice.
According to Walsh’s letter, however, Preziosi’s “27-second response” was “wholly inadequate,” failing to cite a statute, explain requirements for a two-thirds majority vote or caution that the exemption must be narrowly applied.
“Mr. Preziosi’s failure to apply the brakes led to a rush to judgment that prevented the Council from obtaining the facts related to the incident, which turned out to be legitimate law enforcement activity,” the letter reads.
The complaint further alleges that notice of the agenda change appeared to be distributed selectively to only those in support of the item, further compounding the alleged Brown Act violation by raising civil rights concerns under the First and Fourteenth amendments.
The Coast News contacted a city spokesperson for comment, but did not receive a response.
“They got buffaloed by a hysterical mob and misled by the City Attorney,” Walsh said. “The whole thing was a setup.”
Ehlers, who declined to comment on the specific allegations in the letter due to threats of litigation contained within it, told The Coast News he believes the council has “wide latitude” in what it considers an emergency.
“I don’t think we overstepped our bounds,” he said.
Earlier this week, city officials spoke with ICE officials, including Sean Gibson, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations for San Diego and Imperial counties, and Patrick Divver, ICE’s field office director.
According to Ehlers, the city requested that ICE provide advance notice of enforcement operations and issue post-incident “holding statements” describing the operation, although Gibson cautioned that details may be limited in some cases due to ongoing investigations.
“The goal here is to make sure that Encinitas residents have due process and do not have to live in fear,” Ehlers said.
The city has since launched a “Know Your Rights” webpage, now live on the city’s website, which includes links to county, state, and federal resources intended to support community members and help them understand their rights.
Walsh, in consultation with private counsel, demanded that the council rescind its Aug. 20 action and provide written confirmation that it will follow the Brown Act’s agenda requirements going forward. If the city fails to comply within 30 days, Walsh wrote that he will consider legal remedies, including a petition for writ of mandate and injunctive relief.
“The public’s right to meaningful notice and participation lies at the core of the Brown Act,” Walsh wrote. “This violation deprived citizens of that right and undermined the transparency of government decision-making.”
The City Council will discuss the letter during a closed session on Sept. 2.
2 comments
I’m confused. Is this column a news report or an editorial? The only perspective reflected here is that of Garvin Walsh, who, in addition to being a Republican party hack, an editorial contributor to the Coast News with 14 columns under his belt, all doggedly attacking Democrats.
Garvin is right.
These actions are basically telling illegals that they have safe zones where ICE can’t operate, that is aiding and abetting.
Barring face coverings is a Far Left mantra that puts law enforcement in danger from doxxing and threats to their families. Like them or not they are doing their job and should be able to do it in safety.
Lawsuits? Is this Encinitas or San Francisco?
Help people learn about ICE actions? You mean warning those here illegally so they can avoid arrest?
This sounds like it was written by AOC.
They should simply have said that avoiding arrests at schools with young children is preferable.