SANTA CLARA — Councilmember Kevin Park apologized for using an analogy about a dog when discussing the firing of City Manager Deanna Santana after community groups and local elected officials called him out on it this week.
Park was one of four members of the Santa Clara City Council who voted Feb. 24 in a closed door meeting to fire Santana, citing a “lack of confidence” in her ability to lead the city.
After that meeting, Park told the Mercury News the decision to oust Santana was “necessary.”
“When you get bitten by a dog, you need to heal regardless,” he previously said in an interview with this news organization. “The teeth may leave holes, but you need to remove the dog. There’s some things you have to do.”
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Park said he was “embarrassed” over his words.
“I fully accept faults for my poorly thought out analogy,” he said. “My comment was thoughtless and I regret making the statement. I will continue to work with all of the communities and individuals involved to further address the situation and to demonstrate the sincerity of my apology.”
In an interview before Tuesday’s meeting, Park said he was misquoted and wasn’t comparing Santana to a dog.
“It wasn’t about the dog, it was about the situation,” he said. “It wasn’t about the person, it was about the situation. I did add I think that is a bad analogy. Even if you love the dog, it wasn’t about the dog hate.”
Earlier this week, the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, the Asian Law Alliance, the Asian Pacific Islander Justice Coalition, ConXión, La Raza Roundtable of California, Native Voice and the San Jose-Silicon Valley NAAC called on Park to issue an apology.
“We are in complete and utter shock that any public official would compare any person to ‘a dog’ who needed to be removed,” the organizations said in a joint statement. “This language is unacceptable, inappropriate and has a negative impact beyond its intended target.”
The letter, which was authored March 6, was also signed off on by a number of current and former local elected officials including Mountain View councilmembers Margaret Abe-Koga and Ellen Kamei, Los Gatos Councilmember Marico Sayoc and former state Assemblyman Paul Fong.
Gabriela Chavez-Lopez, the Latina Coalition’s executive director, called the councilman’s comments “initially really shocking” and “disheartening.”
“It kind of went beyond the intended target because it triggers women who have been mistreated or talked down to in the workplace so I think a lot of women identified with that,” she said of the response.
While the councilman issued a public apology, he said he had been advised not to apologize to Santana directly since the council is in the process of terminating her.
That didn’t bode well with Mayor Lisa Gillmor.
“I know that your comments were not the first time you’ve made these types of comments, and they probably won’t be the last time you make these types of comments about women,” she said. “I think it’s reprehensible what you said and if that was an apology and you didn’t even apologize to the city manager, that’s unacceptable to me.”
Councilmember Kathy Watanabe, who called Park’s comments “disgusting and abhorrent” in a Feb. 26 Facebook post, wanted the council to discuss whether to admonish or censure him at a future meeting. The vote, however, failed, with councilmembers Raj Chahal, Anthony Becker and Park abstaining and Vice Mayor Suds Jain and Councilmember Karen Hardy dissenting.
Neil Datar, the chair of the city’s task force on diversity, equity and inclusion, told this news organization the task force plans on discussing Park’s comments at their next meeting.
“The city has asked us to evaluate and opine on matters of diversity, equity and inclusion in the city, and I think this falls within the parameters of that mission because we’d be advising the council on fair treatment and appropriate dialogue towards city employees in this case,” he said.
Santana’s lawyer, Alison Berry Wilkinson, declined to comment on her behalf, writing in an email that the suspended city manager has decided to “exercise the severance provisions of her contract.” That means she’s unable to make any disparaging statements about the city, the council or city staff.
Santana was hired by the council in 2017 and has been known for being one of the highest paid city managers in the state. In 2020, her total compensation was $765,152, making her the second-highest paid manager in California.
Over the last five years, Santana often battled with the 49ers over the team’s management of Levi’s Stadium and the city’s curfew for concerts and other events.
