Fire chief’s suspension tied to city auction bidding

SAN BENITO — Fire Chief Raul Zuniga apparently bid at a city auction before he was placed on paid administrative leave.

Now, John Shergold, Zuniga’s attorney, wants to know if the city has set guidelines regulating bidding practices.

But the city has not set such a policy, City Commissioner Esteban Rodriguez said yesterday.

“My client has committed no violation of any policy, law or statute and is being falsely accused,” Shergold said in an interview.

On Aug. 8, City Manager Manuel De La Rosa placed Zuniga on paid leave pending an investigation.

De La Rosa has declined to disclose the reason behind his decision to place Zuniga on leave, calling the case a “personnel matter.”

City Attorney Ricardo Morado, Mayor Ben Gomez and Commissioners Rene Villafranco and Carol Lynn Sanchez did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

Earlier this week, commissioners postponed action on confirming De La Rosa’s removal of Zuniga’s title until they approve the second reading of an ordinance that would create more Civil Service positions.

The same day, Shergold requested Morado provide a copy of guidelines regulating the city’s bidding policy.

“I assume that you as city attorney developed the guidelines and procedures to be followed and adhered to for my client to follow since it appears there is no set policy on this issue,” Shergold wrote to Morado in a letter Tuesday.

In a June 20 meeting, commissioners approved Zuniga’s request to authorize the fire department to auction surplus vehicles and equipment.

But the city did not set guidelines to regulate the bidding, Rodriguez said.

“There’s no policy in our books that says an employee or family member cannot bid on anything the city puts out for auction,” Rodriguez said. “If we had policy in place, maybe this wouldn’t happen.”

In his letter, Shergold also argued the city’s police department should not have investigated Zuniga in connection with bidding at the city auction.

“The investigation has an appearance of conflict and is biased since the police chief’s employment is under the control of the city manager and ultimately the city commission, the same group that approved the surplus bidding in the first place,” Shergold wrote to Morado.

Shergold argued the city failed to warn Zuniga that any statements he gave could be used against him.

“The tactics used by the police department to elicit information under pretense of an administrative investigation, although my client is not employed in the police department, only provide further evidence of bias in an appearance of conflict,” the letter states.

Shergold argued an outside agency should have conducted the investigation.

“Any investigation that was conducted against my client when city officials were involved in authorizing bidding on surplus items should have been conducted by an outside investigative agency not connected to the city to avoid any appearance of conflict or bias,” Shergold wrote.

Rodriguez also said the police department should not have conducted the investigation.

“I never understood why our PD did the investigation,” Rodriguez said. “I thought we should have gone with an outside agency so there’s no bias.”

On Sept. 5, commissioners are expected to reconsider confirming De La Rosa’s removal of Zuniga’s title.

“I want due process to take its course,” Rodriguez said. “If we’re going to do something, do it the right way so it doesn’t come back and haunt us.”

Zuniga, a 32-year department veteran, has served as fire chief since 2012.