Elk Grove City Council offers praise, not censure following Councilmember Sergio Robles’ drunk driving arrest

Councilmembers Spease, Brewer do not address his public drunkenness

Ignoring the seriousness of being arrested by Elk Grove Police for drunk driving, the Elk Grove mayor and city council last night chose not to proceed with a censure of District 4 City Councilmember Sergio Robles. The freshman representative made history on May 20 as the first Elk Grove City Council member arrested while in office.
The actions came during the mayor and city council members’ reports on their activities. Strangely, City Councilmember Darren Suen was absent from this proceeding.
In January 2021, under the then-recently elected Mayor Bobbi Singh-Allen, the city council approved a resolution outlining when a member should be censured. During her 2020 campaign against former Mayor Steve Ly, Singh-Allen advocated for the censure of Ly for what she said was political bullying.
According to the resolution, “A censure is a formal determination by the City Council that another City Councilmember has violated a law, regulation, City policy, the City Code of Ethics, or has engaged in other misconduct while serving as a City of Elk GroveCouncilmember.”
While Robles violated a law – drunk driving – which led to his arrest by Elk Grove Police and booked into Sacramento County Jail, and violated the city’s long-established code of ethics, during their discussion of Robles’ transgression, Singh-Allen, Brewer nor Spease suggested that a censure proceeding be initiated.
During their comments, Vice Mayor Kevin Spease and Councilmember Rod Brewer addressed Robles’ public drunkenness, and they did not condemn the behavior. Instead, they offered words of encouragement.  
Speaking first, Spease did not condemn his drunk driving arrest but said he “needs to get better.” He also implied Robles had lost face.
“Trust is earned in teaspoons but lost in buckets,” Spease told Robles (see first video below).
In his comments, Councilmember Rod Brewer told Robles, “I support you” and “You’re a good man; you’ve done a lot of good work in the five years I’ve known you.” (see second video below)  
“This is a stumbling block; we’ve all made mistakes,” Brewer said as he looked at Robles. “Hell, I’ve made mistakes.” (see second video below)
While Singh-Allen also encouraged Robles, she was the only council member to condemn his drunkenness. Singh-Allen referenced a statement released Tuesday, May 23, calling Robles irresponsible and reiterated her disappointment with his decision to drive drunk. (see the third video below)
Saying she had “deep, profound disappointment of you deciding to get behind the wheel when there are so many options available to all of us.”
After hearing his colleagues’ comments, Robles spoke but did not say he would modify his alcohol consumption. Robles also continued to say he was cited and not arrested for drunk driving by Elk Grove Police (see related story).
After the city council comments concluded, Singh-Allen called a five-minute recess. Interestingly, Councilmember Darren Suen appeared at the meeting after being absent from the earlier proceedings.