‘It’s a good day in Sacramento’: Community reacts to councilman Sean Loloee’s resignation
News of Sean Loloee’s resignation has spread across Sacramento, with several community activists and organizations rejoicing the decision after the embattled Sacramento City Councilman resigned Thursday.
The resignation, announced in a video message posted on YouTube, comes less than a month after Loloee was indicted by a federal grand jury on fraud, obstruction and other charges.
“I’m stepping down because of the recent politically-motivated circus that Mayor Steinberg has created and his attempt to cover up his many shortcomings as the mayor of Sacramento,” Loloee said in the message. “I love this city and my district too much to let the mayor use my situation as a distraction. It is not fair to Sacramento and its constituents.”
The resignation announcement follows meetings between Loloee and Mayor Darrell Steinberg last month, which led Steinberg and several other council members to publicly call for Loloee’s resignation in late December.
Federal investigators also determined Loloee, 53, does not live in the district that he represents, which The Sacramento Bee first reported in June 2022.
“It’s a good day in Sacramento,” said Ramona Landeros, founder of the Benito Juarez Association. “This was too much of a distraction for the City Council and North Sacramento deserves a chance at better representation.”
Loloee was elected in 2020 to represent the 2nd District, which primarily consists of North Sacramento and is nearly 40% Hispanic. Landeros is running for the District 2 City Council seat in this year’s election.
The federal indictment included allegations that Loloee employed undocumented immigrants, including minors, underpaid them, and threatened to have them deported.
Steinberg has not yet named a person the council could appoint to serve the rest of the term, which ends in December 2024. It would likely not be one of the nine people who have filed papers to run for the seat next year, in order to not give any one candidate an advantage.
Loloee may have been facing pressure from council members that if he did not resign, the council would call a meeting and vote to vacate his seat. State law allows councils to vacate seats of elected officials who live outside the areas they’re elected to represent.
Maria Grijalva, an activist and owner of the Latino Info Resource Center, called the resignation a “relief.” Grijalva has worked closely with former Loloee employees, advocating on their behalf because many are hesitant to speak out publicly.
“This was an embarrassment to the city,” Grijalva said. “The nightmare is finally over.”
The Sacramento Central Labor Council, a local union, also released a statement applauding the resignation. Last month, Fabrizio Sasso, executive director of the union, called for Loloee to step down at a City Council meeting.
“This is a good step forward for Sacramento and the first step towards justice for the workers at Viva Supermarkets,” wrote the Central Labor Council on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Landeros and other activists called for Loloee’s resignation for months, with some publicly speaking at a November City Council meeting. They spoke in place of former Loloee employees, who said they were underpaid, threatened with deportation, and did not receive breaks while working at Viva Supermarkets.
“That’s the new form of slavery in this country,” Landeros said.
In December, Loloee was federally indicted on many of these same allegations. He has continued to deny the criminal charges.
Landeros said she received messages from former workers on Thursday. Some were pleased with the news, while others felt hesitant to celebrate because of the pending court trial.
“We’re not all the way there yet,” Landeros said.
Loloee’s residency has been in question since his 2020 swearing-in that took place via video conferencing, a COVID-19 precaution. He attended the online event from his wife’s $1.4 million Granite Bay property, then lied about it. He has maintained he lives in a Hagginwood house within his district with his employees — where 911 calls for guns and parties are frequent, and over a dozen vehicles and a mini-excavator are parked, ongoing violations of city code.
Loloee is due in court on Feb. 12.
The Benito Juarez Association, a nonprofit civil rights organization, is working with about 25 former Viva Supermarket employees who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Landeros said the organization continues to be a voice for the workers, who are still hesitant to talk for fear of retaliation.
Steinberg in a Thursday afternoon news conference at City Hall said Loloee made the right decision by stepping down.
“These serious criminal charges are simply incompatible with continuing in public office, which is why I think he did the right thing in resigning,” Steinberg said.
Loloee announced his resignation just before the agenda was set to be posted for next week’s council meeting. A majority of the council had called for Loloee’s resignation and could have been planning a vote to vacate his seat.
Steinberg said he did not get a heads-up prior to Loloee’s announcement.
“He made his own decision,” the mayor said. “I think he made the right decision.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2024 at 11:10 AM.
