‘He is so dangerous’: Sacramento councilman faces resignation pressure after federal raid
Following last month’s federal raids on his grocery stores and homes, pressure is increasing on Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee to resign.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, several Latino activists in North Sacramento went to the podium for the first time to urge Loloee to resign.
Alfonso Caro, a local activist with the Benito Juarez Association, said he has talked to Viva Supermarket workers who said if they complained about not receiving breaks they were legally owed, Loloee would threaten them with deportation. The allegations mirrored those made by U.S. Department of Labor officials in a civil federal lawsuit filed in April 2022.
“You have no idea who is this man who is sitting here as a council member,” Caro told the council in Spanish. “He’s so dangerous ... In this city, the council members, because they have money, they can be above the law? This man threatened us. That’s why I’m speaking here this moment.”
Carolina Flores, retired social worker and activist, said workers have told her similar stories.
“I’ve heard stories about people being threatened, I’ve heard stories of people being stalked,” Flores told the council. “People being followed into the night ... people have come up and told them, ‘you better shut your mouth if you know what’s good for you.’ These are elderly people. These are people who have very little money and very little power in this community and this is allowed to happen.”
Throughout the public comments, Loloee shook his head and laughed. Several times he got up and left the chambers, patting the shoulders of Mayor Darrell Steinberg and City Manager Howard Chan on his way out. He did not give a statement at council and did not immediately respond to a message from The Bee seeking comment Wednesday.
Sacramento Democratic Party calls for resignation
In addition to the Latino activist groups, several influential Sacramento organizations are also calling on Loloee to resign.
The Democratic Party of Sacramento County Tuesday sent an email to the council calling on Loloee to resign, following a vote by members last week.
“We believe that residents of District 2 deserve a council member who is not embroiled in scandal and whom they can trust,” Andrés Ramos, chair, said in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “The recent raid on Mr. Loloee’s homes and businesses by federal agents related to allegations of wage theft, forced labor, child labor law violations, and human trafficking, in addition to ongoing ethical questions surrounding his residency, demonstrate that he has broken trust with his constituents and failed to uphold the standards that residents rightfully expect of their council member.”
Last month Fabrizio Sasso, executive director of the Central Labor Council also called for Loloee to resign. Sasso went to council Tuesday to elevate that call. He also called on the council to censure him.
“It’s unprecedented in the history of this city that any council member has been subject to invest by multiple federal and state agencies,” Sasso told the council. “We understated no charges have been filed yet but ask yourselves this — would multiple federal agencies spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars without cause? The City Council has a responsibility to hold their own members accountable for ethical concerns and misconduct.”
Loloee told The Bee last month he does not plan to resign. Loloee does not plan to run for re-election, sources told The Bee, but his term does not end until December 2024.
Steinberg could remove him from boards and commissions. Loloee currently sits on the Sacramento Regional Transit Board and the council’s Personnel and Public Employees Committee. Steinberg’s Chief of Staff Mary Lynne Vellinga declined to comment on whether Steinberg is considering removing Loloee from those bodies.
