As we continue to receive silence from Mayor Lily Mei and city council in regards to the Danaj scandal, it is important to remember our goal:
Transparency in regards to the hiring, firing/forced resignation of Danaj, how the embezzlement was discovered, whether there have been more irregularities in regards to Danaj and/or other members of local government including our elected officials, and who knew what, when.
And now knowing that the DA prosecuting this case is the sister of the defendant's lawyer, we question if this will be a full investigation with a fair trial.
Therefore, our goal is to push for an independent investigation into the City of Fremont and all involved in the cover up, with financial audit, and this investigation be conducted by an entity outside of the City of Fremont and the Alameda County District Attorney's office.
In order to do this, we need more voices to push for action. In addition to sending emails and calling the district attorney's office and city councilmembers as outlined in our last update, we encourage you to contact media with your concerns, as well as Ro Khanna, our Congressional representative covering our district. Please consider writing to the media and Rep Khanna--it will take less than 5 minutes if you choose to copy/paste the templates below). Please also share. THE MORE VOICES WE HAVE PUSHING THIS ISSUE, THE MORE LIKELY WE WILL GET ANSWERS.
Here are some contacts, with sample template (feel free to copy/paste, modify, or write your own):
MEDIA LETTER CAMPAIGN:
KPIX: Newstips@kpix.com
KRON4: BreakingNews@kron4.com
NBC Bay Area: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/submit-tip/
SFGate: ariana.bindman@sfgate.com , eric.ting@sfgate.com
Dear [ ],
I am writing about a growing concern in the city of Fremont in regards to former city manager, Mark Danaj, who resigned last year and has now been charged with embezzlement. Despite Danaj's hiring contract stipulating he would receive no severance if he voluntarily resigned or was fired for "willful misconduct," the City of Fremont still paid him a hefty severance worth over $360,000 despite not being contractually obligated to, and the mayor signed a bad faith NDA in the separation agreement preventing city council and all involved from speaking on this matter.
Now with the embezzlement charge, Fremont's mayor and elected officials continue to hide behind this bad faith, legally unenforceable NDA (in violation of the Brown Act) to not address citizen concerns, to the point that citizens may need to resort to legal action to invalidate the NDA, just to get their elected officials to speak to them.
Furthermore, the office who will be prosecuting Danaj is the Alameda County District Attorney, Nancy O'Malley, who is the SISTER of Danaj's defense attorney, Danny O'Malley. Nancy O'Malley is also listed on Fremont Mayor's state senate run webpage as an endorsement, so we have concerns that if the corruption extends to Mayor Mei, whether O'Malley's alliance will protect her from scrutiny.
There is a petition circulating asking DA Nancy O'Malley to recuse herself due to this conflict of interest, and for Fremont's city council to recognize that the NDA violates the Brown Act (Code 54959), is legally unenforceable, code 54957.1(7)(e). Our ask if for our elected officials to be open with their constituents. It seems ridiculous that potentially the only way citizens can get their elected leaders to speak to them is by suing, so we hope that you can help us investigate to understand why the City of Fremont gave such a large severance to an employee now charged with felony embezzlement, and why they are hiding behind a bad faith NDA that violates transparency laws to refuse public transparency.
Here is the petition for more information about the issues, including comments from residents: https://www.change.org/p/fremont-city-council-demand-transparency-from-fremont-city-council-in-regards-to-severance-of-mark-danaj/u/30408413
Regards,
[Your name]
[Your contact]
WRITE TO RO:
Here is the link to Ro's contact form: https://khanna.house.gov/contact
Here is a letter template (feel free to copy/paste, modify, or write your own):
Dear Ro,
I am a resident of Fremont and one of your constituents. I have a concern in regards to Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, whom you have publicly endorsed, in regards to her actions surrounding the resignation and now criminal felony charges pending for former city manager Mark Danaj.
Danaj "resigned" after a special closed city council meeting in September of 2021. Despite his contract stipulating that he would only be paid a severance if he voluntarily resigned or was fired for willful misconduct, the City of Fremont still paid him a severance worth over $360,000 despite not being contractually obligated to. Even more concerning, there was a bad faith NDA written into the separation agreement, that was signed by Mayor Mei and Danaj, to which all involved are held to. This NDA is not only in bad faith, as Mayor Mei and city council are claiming it prevents them from providing transparency to the public on this matter, it violates the Brown Act, specifically codes 54957.1(7)(e) and 54959.
We have also learned that the office prosecuting Mr. Danaj, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley, is the SISTER of Danaj's defense attorney, Mark Danaj. Nancy is also listed as an endorsement on Mayor Mei's state senate run website.
We are very concerned about whether their will be a fair investigation and trial given the conflict of interest in regards to the DA, and the possibility of a cover up in the form of the bad faith NDA. We ask that there be an independent investigation and financial audit conducted into not only Mr Danaj's activities, but that of the mayor and city council, so that the public can have trust in the integrity of its local government and processes.
Here is a petition that describes the concerns and irregularities, as well as citizen comments: https://www.change.org/p/fremont-city-council-demand-transparency-from-fremont-city-council-in-regards-to-severance-of-mark-danaj/u/30408413
Thank you,
[your name]
[your contact]