He suggested his tenant wasn’t a hero. Now the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op wants him out

The Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op has asked board member Steven Maviglio to resign after he fired off a controversial tweet Tuesday in the midst of the George Floyd demonstrations.

Maviglio, a Democratic strategist and president of Forza Communications, responded on the social media site to a post heralding his D.C. tenant Rahul Dubey as a hero. Dubey opened the Swann Street home on Monday to dozens of protesters fleeing tear gas and a mass of police in riot gear that had cornered the crowd.

As Dubey’s actions turned into headlines, Maviglio became frustrated.

“I own that home,” Maviglio tweeted. “A real hero pays his rent to the owner of the home so I can pay taxes that support our community.”

So ensued a flurry of rage, with Maviglio as the target.

“A hero supports their community,” Twitter user @mpces28 responded. “A bloodsucker extracts rent from the other side of the country and thinks they can publicly shame someone who was faced (with) a terrible situation and did the decent, civic minded thing.”

Maviglio told The Washington Post that he thought Dubey did the right thing and didn’t plan to evict him, though he said the tenant is three months behind in rent. Maviglio said he had also talked on the phone with Dubey and had a “cordial” conversation that ended with a message to stay safe.

“In retrospect, I made a mistake in commenting on my tenant’s payment issues and I’m sorry for that,” Maviglio said in a statement to The Sacramento Bee. “It was irrelevant to the issue of his taking peaceful protesters into the house and disrespectful of his privacy. Then — as now — I remain committed to working with the tenant, particularly now that I have learned through media reports that he has had a loss of income due to COVID-19.”

On Wednesday, however, the co-op issued a statement saying “valid concerns” had been raised regarding Maviglio’s comments, and that the “vast majority” of board members had asked him to resign.

“If he chooses to not resign,” the board said in a Facebook statement, “Co-op members may recall directors as per our bylaws with a petition signed by 20 percent of the active members. A recall election shall be scheduled by the Board to be completed within 40 days of the receipt of the request in the store.”

Maviglio did not say whether he plans to resign.

Maviglio’s Sacramento career spans decades in the California Capitol. His resume boasts influential positions in the administrations of former Assembly Speakers Fabian Núñez, Karen Bass and John A. Perez and Gov. Gray Davis.

He’s considered an influential campaign strategist, and has built a portfolio of powerful clients with sway in the statehouse. He’s worked for years in the Legislature on behalf of the American Beverage Association to defeat a soda tax proposal introduced time and again in the building, and is currently representing groups opposed to a rent control ballot initiative.

He also serves on Sacramento-based affordable housing group CADA and previously directed the communications team for the community policing program COPS under the Clinton administration.

Milo Fitch, who ran unsuccessfully for Sacramento County sheriff in 2018, said Maviglio was a “good guy” who helped bolster his campaign advocating for police reform.

“He liked what I had to say and I know he was supportive of trying to make some systemic changes with the way things are done,” Fitch said.

Fitch said he was impressed with Dubey’s courage, and added Maviglio’s tweet was a “poor choice.”

But, he added, the focus should be on the national effort to end police brutality against black Americans.

“It’s unfortunate there has been so many distractions,” Fitch said. “And this sounds like it’s another distraction.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 8:48 PM.