Sacramento councilman swore at constituents who asked for update on city investigation
Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee is catching heat for a profanity-ridden email he sent to a group of constituents who asked officials for an update on their investigation into whether he lives in the district he represents.
“I would love to respond to this bullshit e-mail,” Loloee wrote Tuesday to a group of North Sacramento residents pushing for an investigation into his residency. “What f****** coalition!!!”
The city launched an inquiry into Loloee’s residence in early July after The Sacramento Bee reported that another family lives at the home where Loloee is registered to vote and that neighbors to the property said they had not seen the councilman there.
The group of 16 North Sacramento leaders Monday emailed Mayor Darrell Steinberg, City Manager Howard Chan, and other council members, asking for an update on that investigation.
“We believe these allegations cast a negative light on our district and thus need to be called out as false or pursued if true, based on the investigation’s findings,” the email from the coalition read. “As these allegations were made in June of 2022 and we are now well into September, our coalition is requesting a simple status update to pass on to our constituents. When can we expect this investigation to conclude? When can we expect investigation results to be publicly available?”
About 45 minutes after the coalition sent the email, Loloee responded to the coalition with the profanity-ridden note.
Several hours later, Loloee apologized.
“I messed up,” Loloee wrote in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “And I’m sorry, no excuses. I’ve already apologized to (the constituent who sent the email) for my language and hope he remains open to working together in the future.”
Sacramento residents criticize email
Several members of the public criticized Loloee for the email Tuesday afternoon. Black Lives Matter Sacramento posted a screenshot of the email on Twitter, asking others to share it.
“Sean Loloee’s response was another perfect example as to why he is not deserving of his position as a representative of District 2,” said Tanya Faison, founder of Black Lives Matter Sacramento. “Here he is being investigated for multiple things and he has the audacity to respond to his community with vulgarities ... Loloee needs to be removed from the seat. The fact that this has not been done shows how spineless our council and mayor are.”
Flojaune Cofer, chairwoman of a committee that advises the city on its use of a special sales tax, asked Steinberg and Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby to publicly criticize Loloee for the email.
“As a member of a Council that has so vehemently required decorum from public commenters for years, I hope he’ll be similarly admonished *from the dais tonight* for his incivility towards his constituents,” Cofer wrote on Twitter.
The council rules of procedure discourage members of the public from swearing during public comments.
“While members of the public may speak their opinions on city business, personal attacks on members and city officials, use of swear words, and signs or displays of disrespect for individuals are discouraged as they impede good communication with the council,” the rules read.
Occasionally when members of the public swear during their comments, Steinberg interrupts them and reminds them not to use profanity.
Separate investigation into financial disclosure
The city has declined to share the name of the law firm performing the investigation or provide a time frame for when it will be complete.
The unnamed firm is focusing on whether Loloee lives in the district he represents, which is required by law. If he does not live in the district as he claims, the council can vote to declare the seat vacant and replace him.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission is also working with the city on its investigation, focusing on whether Loloee failed to report rental income from the property on financial disclosure forms required of elected officials, said Jay Wierenga, an FPPC spokesman.
When The Bee visited the house in early June, a man there said he and his son rented the house from Loloee. Loloee’s wife owns a $1.4 million house in Granite Bay.
This story was originally published September 13, 2022 at 3:11 PM.
