Three municipal employees who denounced workplace harassment and harassment by the mayor of the city of Montebello, David Torres, say they have faced strong reprisals.
Former manager René Bobadilla affirms that he was forced to resign while Michael Chee, director of public relations, accuses Torres of “disappearing” his position as of July 1, arguing budgetary and financial reasons.
La Opinión contacted Mayor David Torres to ask for his reaction to the accusations.
This replied: “Thank you for the opportunity. I have made comments on several occasions, including at the special meetings on May 3 and August 24, 2022, recordings of which are available at montebelloca.gov.”
Both Torres and two of his allies on the Council, Councilmembers Scarlett Peralta and Georgina Tamayo, supported the mayor’s motion to end Chee’s position, on the grounds that the public affairs budget was too large.
For their part, Chee as well as the then City manager, Bobadilla, and the director of human relations, Nicholas Razo, filed a complaint accusing Torres of creating a hostile work environment.
Chee told La Opinión that he is shocked and dismayed at the actions taken by the mayor of Montebello and councilors Peralta and Tamayo.
“His action on June 14 was clearly a coordinated retaliation against me for speaking up for myself and my colleagues for nearly two years of intimidation, mistreatment and lies told and disseminated by the mayor himself.”
He added that it’s sad that young Latinos who describe themselves as progressives use old-school retaliation tactics to scare and intimidate reputable employees.
“This shouldn’t be happening. The residents and staff of Montebello deserve better.”
At the meeting where the issue was decided, Councilwoman Angie Jimenez, who voted against phasing out Chee’s position, asked her colleagues to reconsider and accept the original budget that proposed merging the Department of Public Affairs with the Department of Information Technology. Information under the leadership of Chee.
He pointed out that Mayor Torres has been very disrespectful to Chee, Bobadilla, former City administrator, and to the director of human resources himself, Nicholas Razo.
“It has caused a lot of fear among all the workers. He is a tyrant, a bully and a very narcissistic boy who thinks that no one knows more than him, and he feels empowered because his parents managed the city of Montebello for many years, ”said Jiménez.
He added that he is actually trying to protect his parents because they are to blame for putting the City in a hole.
“We know this because an audit was carried out that showed that. As a consequence, he declared war on the then manager Rene Bobadilla until he forced him to resign because when he took office he hired a whole team of professionals who found a series of irregularities from when his father was manager.
Montebello has five councilors who rotate as mayor and vice mayor.
According to the Whittier Daily News, Torres and his allies approved the same day they canceled Chee’s position, a motion authorizing the hiring of a third party to investigate a 2022 allegation that he has created a toxic environment. “A lawyer hired by the City interviewed 17 employees as part of his investigation and found that Torres was aggressive and dismissive and did not respect the line of command.
“Torres alleged that the investigation was not impartial, that it did not allow him to adequately defend himself, and that it was based on the statements of three councilors who opposed him.
“There are a number of issues throughout the investigation that, as I mentioned, were an affront to due process.”
Chee’s damages complaint was filed against the city of Montebello and then-Councilman David Torres, who, in September 2022, became Montebello’s mayor. According to the indictment, the workplace harassment not only continued, but increased.
After he publicly exposed the harassment of City Hall employees in March, a few days in April he was rushed to White Memorial Hospital with chest pain and numbness in his left arm from a possible heart attack. According to the lawsuit, doctors diagnosed that the incident was triggered by stress.