Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee lives in his district, outside investigation finds

A three-month investigation into Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee’s residency has concluded that Loloee lives in his council district and hasn’t violated any state or city laws.

The investigation — prompted by multiple reports in The Sacramento Bee and other media that showed another family lived in Lolee’s house and that neighbors did not recognize him — found that the councilman does in fact live on Nogales Street in North Sacramento, within District 2.

“Councilman Loloee’s domicile is the Nogales Street property consistent with Sacramento City Charter,” says the report, submitted to the city attorney’s office by Melinda Guzman, a Sacramento attorney who was commissioned to investigate the councilman’s residency.

The report follows months of reporting by The Bee and other area media outlets indicating that Loloee didn’t live at the Nogales address and didn’t have a residence in his council district. The Bee also reported that Loloee’s wife lived in Granite Bay.

Loloee had insisted he lives in the Nogales home but said he would welcome the outside investigation. Loloee was elected to the council in November 2020.

Guzman determined that the Loloees purchased the Nogales home in March 2019 and lived there during parts of 2019 and 2020. But the councilman’s wife and children moved to Granite Bay after the house was vandalized and they received phone calls urging them to “go back to where you came from,” according to the report. Loloee and his wife are Iranian.

Even after his family moved out, the councilman “continued to reside in the Nogales Street home as his primary residence,” the report says.

“He maintains his clothes, shoes, work areas, and personal belongings in his room and bathroom” of the Nogales property, the report says. “The closet is full of his clothing, business suits and shoes.”

The Bee’s reporting found that another family was living in the Nogales home. Guzman’s report said the councilman, who is a grocery store owner, allowed one of his employees to live at Nogales Street rent free for an extended time period but continued to live there himself.

The family’s name is redacted in the report. Karla Montoya, general manager for Loloee’s grocery stores, has confirmed she and her family live there.

The employee and her family “has lived in one section of the house and Councilman Loloee lives in another section,” the report said.

Loloee gave conflicting statements to news organizations during the months that reporters looked into his residence.

For instance, Loloee in June referred to a man who said he lived at the house as a “former tenant.” The city investigation suggests the family has lived at the house since the fall of 2020, which is consistent with The Bee’s reporting on one of the family member’s voter registration records.

In that news story, Loloee also said he temporarily moved his family to another home in the City Council district, where they lived together. That information does not appear in the city investigation into his residence.

Loloee in June also gave a misleading account about where he took his oath of office when he was sworn in to the City Council. He told a reporter he took the oath at a friend’s in East Sacramento.

Online photos suggest the swearing-in ceremony took place at his wife’s home in Granite Bay. When asked about those photos, Loloee said where he was sworn in was “nobody’s business.”

The Bee and Capital Public Radio separately have obtained descriptions of police calls regarding the Nogales Street home. The documents do not show a report of vandalism.

Loloee remains under investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission, the state agency that enforces campaign finance laws, according to spokesman Jay Wierenga. The FPPC opened its investigation into Loloee after receiving a complaint that alleged he did not report income on a so-called Form 700, which is an income-disclosure document required of elected officials and certain government officials.

City officials said they accepted Guzman’s findings. “I am satisfied that this inquiry was thorough and conducted in a professional manner,” said City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood, who hired Guzman to run the investigation.

“My colleagues and I commissioned this independent inquiry to give the public clear answers to the questions raised about Councilmember Loloee’s residency, and to give Councilmember Loloee a fair chance to clear his name,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said in a written statement. “The inquiry was independent, thorough, and definitive. I look forward to moving forward and continuing to work with and help CM Loloee on behalf of our District 2 residents and businesses.”

The report was released barely a week after two voters announced they would launch a recall effort against Loloee.

Loloee released a statement expressing gratitude for his supporters.

“We have many challenges to resolve and many opportunities here in District 2. With these distractions behind us, we can now move forward with restoring our local economy, investing in our commercial corridors, and combating our homelessness crisis,” he said in a written statement.

It is time to return to the business of our district and the City of Sacramento.

This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 12:27 PM.