Some attendees to a Capitola City Council meeting Thursday wore signs in support of Councilmember Melinda Orbach, who faced an alleged code of conduct violation. (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Local)

CAPITOLA >> The Capitola City Council unanimously dismissed an allegation of misconduct against Councilmember Melinda Orbach Thursday night. But the conflict between Orbach and rail trail activist Kevin Maguire remains unresolved, with each alleging they were harassed by the other. 

The conflict began in April, after Orbach said in a city council meeting that Maguire had tried to track down her home — a statement Maguire said is slander and which prompted the complaint against Orbach. 

Orbach said that while she regrets naming Maguire, she was trying to defend herself against what she saw as a threat against her family. 

Multiple supporters of both Orbach and of Maguire at Thursday’s meeting called for better civil discourse in Captiola, which has become increasingly divisive over plans for the Coastal Rail Trail. 

“We can all recognize, I think, with real sadness, the poisonous atmosphere that has dominated political discussion in our country these days,” former Santa Cruz mayor Cynthia Mathews said at the meeting. “It’s not good for the country. It’s not good for Capitola.”

In the coming months, the city council is expected to consider a tort complaint from Maguire against Orbach, the first step towards a potential lawsuit. 

The complaint against Orbach

Orbach’s allegation of harassment stems from an afternoon in April when Maguire and another member of the community group Concerned Citizens of Capitola canvassed an area of east Capitola ahead of a city council meeting about the rail trail. 

Capitola residents have split over whether a trail should replace the train tracks on the Capitola Trestle or the route be diverted onto Capitola streets to leave room for a passenger train. An ordinance adopted by Capitola voters in 2018 prevents the city from diverting the trail from the rail corridor. 

Maguire knew Orbach lived in the area he was canvassing, he said in an interview with Santa Cruz Local on Thursday, but he wasn’t trying to track her down. While passing out fliers urging neighbors to rally against a proposed trail along Park Avenue, Maguire said he struck up a conversation with resident Louis Cannarozzi.

Maguire asked if Cannarozzi knew Orbach, and Cannarozzi said he did. Maguire said he then asked Cannarozzi to pass on a flier to her. 

But Orbach said she had been told by a neighbor that Maguire had asked where she lived, something she took as threatening. 

In an interview, Cannarozzi confirmed he was the neighbor who spoke with Maguire and Orbach, but declined to speak further about the interaction, citing the potential litigation. Ahead of the council meeting, Cannarozzi wrote a letter in favor of dismissing the complaint against Orbach, but did not describe his interaction with Maguire.

Maguire said he doesn’t see how his actions could have been perceived as harassment, and chalked up Orbach’s reaction to “a personal issue.”

“She’s had other outbursts in council,” he said. “She gets pouty I think, at times, if a vote is not going her way.”

At the meeting, some current and former female elected officials in Santa Cruz County said they had experienced harassment while in office. That harassment, they said, was in part due to their gender, and they opined that Orbach was likely experiencing the same. 

Santa Cruz City Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson said in an interview that some constituents speak or act disrespectfully to women leaders, “when they wouldn’t do that to a man.”

During Orbach’s time in office, Maguire has consistently criticized Orbach for political positions he said are out of step with her constituents, including on the rail trail. But he said that criticism has nothing to do with her gender, and that he has good relationships with the two other women on the council, Margaux Morgan and Susan Westman.

Although the city requested mediation for Orbach and Maguire through the nonprofit Conflict Resolution Center of Santa Cruz County, a center representative Wednesday evening wrote that the case “had been assessed for mediation and found not to be amenable to the process.”

Capitola resident Kevin Maguire addresses the council about what he considers slanderous statements from Orbach. (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Local)

Thursday’s council meeting

More than two dozen people spoke at Thursday’s meeting, most in support of Orbach. 

But several Capitola residents, including Maguire’s wife Theresa Maguire, urged the council to uphold the code of conduct by affirming the complaint so it can move forward. The document forbids council members from “abusive conduct, personal charges or verbal attacks.”

“If this council allows violation once, where is the line drawn?” asked Theresa Maguire. “This is not about politics, gender or race. It is about conduct.”

Councilmember Westman said at the meeting, “Disagreements over political differences are not the same as intimidation and threats. Freedom of speech allows all of us to express our opinions about government decisions, even very strongly.”

Councilmember Gerry Jensen said newly elected council members need more training, and the code of conduct needs to be more clear. 

Mayor Joe Clarke said while naming someone from the dais is inappropriate, the complaint “has turned into a huge distraction.” He added, “All of this is not good for the betterment of our city.”

Following the meeting, Kevin Maguire said he was still open to mediation, and that he would not pursue the tort claim if he received a full apology from Orbach for mischaracterizing his actions. 

In an interview later Thursday evening, Orbach’s husband Matt Orbach said he approached Kevin Maguire after the meeting, and came away hopeful that the two families could meet to see each other as people, and not as political opponents. “It’s hard when you don’t have those human connections,” he said.

Editor’s note: we have updated the story with the correct spelling of Cynthia Mathews, former Santa Cruz mayor.

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