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The City of Westminster is suing two sitting councilors, Amy Van West and Nam Quang Nguyen, for repeatedly disrupting meetings and creating a “dysfunctional and noisy” atmosphere.
“The Mayor has no control over their unruly behavior and repeated efforts to obtain their compliance have been unsuccessful,” the complaint states. “As a result, the City Council ends its meetings without accomplishing its mission, meets late into the night, and generally leaves those who care about responsible and effective City Council operations frustrated.”
In the lawsuit, city leaders are asking the court to resolve the issue through mediation and for the two city council members to pay their legal costs. If that doesn’t work, the city is seeking “declaratory relief” along with an injunction against Van West and Nguyen.
A trial date is set for May.
Van West and Nguyen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
How we got here
Mr. Van West and Mr. Nguyen will be elected to the City Council in 2022, typically with the same number of votes.
Westminster has a long history of controversial meetings, which have reached a fever pitch since the election of Van West and Nguyen. Earlier this year, the City Council criticized Van West for a long list of violations of city policy, including reprimanding Diaz residents.
Three recent meetings lasted more than 10 hours, some of which extended into the early morning hours, according to the complaint. The complaint also cites six instances in which two City Council members spoke out of turn and interrupted others.
Other treatments
To improve interruptions, the city council voted to introduce a “time limit policy” that allows councilors to speak on a topic for five minutes without interruption. But the complaint says Van West and Nguyen violated policy and “undermined the City Council’s ability to handle public business.”
The city also passed a “decency ordinance” that requires council members to “respectfully request” to be heard by the speaker and “respectfully wait until granted.” ”
The ordinance had its first reading in October, with Van West and Nguyen voting against it. A second reading is scheduled for later this week.
