By Mike Aldax
The Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) city council majority voted Tuesday to halt an emergency attempt to formally censure Mayor Eduardo Martinez. The motion followed a wave of community outrage over the mayor’s social media activity, specifically his sharing of conspiracy theories regarding a December 2025 terrorist attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.
Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda and Councilmember Jamelia Brown led the effort to add the censure to the agenda. They argued that an emergency vote was necessary under the Brown Act because the offensive posts were discovered after the official agenda had already been published.
“Many of our residents feel unsafe,” Brown said during the meeting. “We have a responsibility to answer to the public… We can’t have justice wait for people who have expressed harm and feel unprotected.”
Zepeda added that the censure was intended to help “heal the community” by setting a conduct standard and starting a path toward reconciliation.
The RPA-aligned members, including Claudia Jimenez, Sue Wilson, Doria Robinson and the mayor himself, voted against the emergency motion. They argued the move was “bad public policy” because it bypassed rules requiring the public receiving 72 hours to review proposals. Councilmember Wilson raised procedural concerns, stating she had not read the full resolution and refused to be pressured into a “last-minute” decision.
Mayor Martinez rejected the emergency motion, dismissing it as a punitive measure. “This is not about healing. This is about being punitive,” Martinez said. “This shows a lack of respect for the rule of law and the protocols we have in place to ensure the public can participate.”
A large crowd of residents participated in the meeting, with roughly 160 speakers weighing in on the controversy. While members of organizations such as Temple Beth Hillel, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and StandWithUS criticized the mayor, members of groups including the RPA and Jewish Voice for Peace defended him, characterizing the censure attempt as a politically motivated overreach.
Because the motion failed to reach the required two-thirds majority in a 2-5 vote, no formal action was taken Tuesday. The censure is expected to return for another vote at the next meeting on Jan. 20.
