Councilwoman Sullivan Admits Outburst Was Unprofessional

Councilwoman Robin Sullivan acknowledged Tuesday that her angry outburst at a council colleague was unprofessional, but said her comments this week were triggered by attacks on the legitimacy of her Latino ancestry.

“I don’t think I acted professionally. But I did speak my mind,” Sullivan said of statements to Councilwoman Laura Flores Espinosa and a City Hall audience Monday night. “Sometimes it’s more important to stand up for yourself and your family than to worry about how you’re going to be perceived.”

Santa Paula residents both condemned and defended the two-term councilwoman, an attorney and the Republican challenger to Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) in the fall election.

“She’s running for Assembly, and if she pulled this up in Sacramento she’d be a laughingstock,” said businessman John Wisda, whom Sullivan blasted for smirking at her from the audience Monday. “The proper response should have been to stick to the issue.”

“This whole thing is just tragic,” rancher Bob Pinkerton said. “Elected leaders need to show restraint and the ability to listen to all sides of whatever is on the table.”

But Sullivan’s defenders said it was time someone stood up to Espinosa’s pattern of unsubstantiated attacks on her council colleagues.

“Ms. Espinosa chooses her words very carefully,” Councilman Jim Garfield said. “She did, I think, downgrade Robin and Robin’s heritage, but the issue is much bigger than that. Ms. Espinosa has been saying to everyone who will listen that she, and therefore Hispanics, are not allowed a voice on the council.”

Garfield said he has studied the council’s records and determined that Espinosa gets to speak on nearly all the issues she requests, but that she is often on the losing end of 4-1 decisions.

Sullivan’s comments came after the City Council authorized spending at least $100,000 to fight a federal lawsuit that alleges Latinos are inadequately represented on the council. Espinosa is the only council member who agrees with the charges in the lawsuit.

Sullivan lashed out after Espinosa accused her of overplaying the fact that she is one-fourth Mexican. Espinosa maintains that Sullivan has never gone out of her way to represent Santa Paula’s Latino community and is using her limited Mexican heritage only in an attempt to sway the federal voting rights case against the city.

Espinosa also accused Sullivan of being out of control following her outburst and said she feared for her safety. Furious, Sullivan called Espinosa “insane” and threatened to sue her for character defamation. Sullivan also told news reporters that she would sue them if they implied that she had threatened Espinosa.

Espinosa maintained Tuesday that her own comments were justified and said again she believed Sullivan was “emotionally unstable.”

“She was hostile to the audience. She was yelling at everyone,” Espinosa said. “This woman is just frightening.”

The council’s Latino representation is a factor in the lawsuit filed last week by the U.S. Department of Justice. It would force the city to shift from a system in which all city voters select all five council members to one in which members are selected only by residents of their own neighborhoods. That would result in at least two Latino-dominated council districts.

Sullivan’s outburst, which many say raised questions about her judgment, also gives Jackson an issue on which she may try to capitalize in their race.

But Sullivan said she did not think her comments would hurt her in November.

“After being on the council eight years, losing my cool one night should not be an issue,” she said.

She also contended that Jackson is “known for losing her cool.”

But the 35th District incumbent said she never resorts to such outbursts.

“I can tell you, I’ve never been in a position where I’ve gotten into a shouting match with a colleague or members of the community,” said Jackson, adding that Santa Paula residents are poorly served by such public displays.

But Bob Larkin, a veteran county Republican Party official, said Sullivan surely had a right to defend herself.

“If someone is being blatantly insulting, council members don’t give up their rights to respond because they’re public officials,” Larkin said. “Sometimes people act like you give up the right to be treated decently when you run for office.”

Most of Sullivan’s colleagues also defended her reaction.

“It was justified,” Councilman Don Johnson said.

But he said outbursts like Sullivan’s “just can’t happen anymore. I don’t think we should be doing that kind of stuff.”

Mayor Richard C. Cook said the fight reflects poorly not only on Sullivan and Espinosa “but on me, for not taking control of the situation. It made us all look bad.”

Cook said he didn’t cut off Sullivan because he believed Espinosa’s comments deserved a response.

“I was listening to what she was doing and was trying to make some snap decisions,” Sullivan said. “Usually I just let it go. I’m trying to make this judgment call.

“I thought either I can let it go again or I can respond to it. I stand by what happened last night. I’ve been through so much with her.”