Updated 2:48 p.m.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg on Thursday publicly called for City Council member Sean Loloee to resign immediately, intensifying a request he made privately for weeks.
In a statement, Steinberg said he has talked with Loloee about the 25-count federal indictment and expressed concerns over how it affects his ability to serve as a council member.
“While Councilmember Loloee has the right to due process in a court of law, the fraud and obstruction charges filed against him by the federal government are incompatible with his continued service in public office,” Steinberg said in the written statement.
Before and since a federal grand jury handed down the indictment on Dec. 14, Loloee has resisted calls to resign. Immediately after the mayor’s office issued the statement Thursday, a communications firm working with Loloee issued a statement saying he won’t resign.
“The recent challenges that have played out in the media are a misrepresentation of who I am and how I run my business and I vehemently deny any charges,” Loloee said. “I look forward to my day in court, where the truth can be heard. The very essence of our democracy lies in the principles of due process and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.”
Loloee also said he plans to be “fully engaged” as he completes his term representing District 2, which includes Del Paso Heights, Hagginwood, Old North Sacramento and Woodlake. His term is set to end in December 2024 and he isn’t running for reelection.
But Steinberg said he has asked the city attorney to determine whether Loloee can legally hold office while he follows a court order. A federal judge on Dec. 15 ordered Loloee to live at his home in Granite Bay, not the house he owns in Hagginwood. The judge gave the order because Karla Montoya, Loloee’s co-defendant and general manager of his grocery stores, is living at the home Loloee owns in Hagginwood.
The U.S. Department of Justice also identified Loloee as a resident of the Placer County community of Granite Bay, where his wife owns a house. City and state laws require council members to live in the district they represent.
“Councilmember Loloee should put the city first,” Steinberg said in the statement. “We have too much important work to do on behalf of the people of Sacramento for more distraction and controversy."
Steinberg isn’t the first city official to call for Loloee’s resignation. Fellow Council member Mai Vang urged Loloee to resign in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, the same day he pleaded not guilty in court.
After Steinberg issued his statement on Thursday, Council member Caity Maple also called on Loloee to immediately resign.
“The charges levied against him are both well-founded and serious, and the people of District 2 deserve better,” Maple said on X. “Our City deserves better.”
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