US House candidate, SJ Supervisor Tom Patti facing possible censure for ethics violation

San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti is facing another censure as the findings of a confidential ethics investigation will come before the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors Tuesday for a decision.

County documents state the board ethics committee finds Patti’s undisclosed conduct reflected in the confidential report violates the Board of Supervisors code of ethics — Patti attempted to end the ethics committee’s work at the Sept. 13 board meeting and documents state he declined to be interviewed by investigators — and recommend a censure, a formal expression of disapproval.

The Board of Supervisors voted Sept. 13 to censure Patti upon accepting the findings of another confidential ethics committee investigation report stemming from Patti’s behavior toward Camille Zapata, former chief of staff to Supervisor Kathy Miller.

Zapata resigned from her county post in April after the board did not accept the initial investigation from county-retained Modesto-based attorney Kathrine R. Boyd that found Patti retaliated against Zapata at several public board meetings from complaints she filed against him with Human Resources.

Related: Staffer who filed harassment, retaliation complaints against SJ Supervisor Patti resigns

The latest ethics committee investigation and allegations against Patti remain protected by attorney-client privilege — the county retained attorney Morin Jacob of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore law firm to conduct additional investigation — and are not public. The board can vote to make the report public, but the current sitting board has not previously shown willingness waive attorney-client privilege for ethics investigations. The full investigation into Patti’s behavior toward Zapata was kept private.

October surprise 

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Patti is running as a Republican to represent the 9th Congressional District in Washington and will face off against Democratic Congressman Josh Harder in November. The Oct. 4 discussion on the latest ethics investigation into Patti comes days before ballots will be mailed to voters.

The complaints resulting in the Oct. 4 findings against Patti were filed in May 2021 by Miller, a Democrat set to term out of her seat in November. The two supervisors have regularly feuded on and off the county dais and have both filed ethics complaints against each other, although Patti is the only one to have findings sustained against him.

At the Sept. 13 board meeting, Patti said the current code of ethics has led to slanderous accusations against him and political targeting, and new language should be written and “immunized from being hijacked for political motive.”

Patti self-disclosed at the Sept. 13 board meeting that one of the allegations against him in the latest confidential investigation is bribery. Harder has since paid for a billboard stating, “SUPERVISOR TOM PATTI UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR BRIBERY,” to read like a headline in the Stockton Record, one this newspaper has not printed.

Record reporter Ben Irwin covers Stockton and San Joaquin County government. He can be reached at birwin@recordnet.com or on Twitter @B1rwin. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow. 

This article originally appeared on The Record: Tom Patti faces SJ censure for ethics violation amid race for Congress