The Yuma City Council voted Wednesday to formally censure Councilmember Arturo Morales "for alleged disclosure of confidential Executive Session information."
The vote was 5-1 with Councilmember Morales voting "nay". Councilmember Karen Watts was not present due to travel.
The vote does not remove Morales from office. He will remain through the end of his term in December and is not running for re-election.
Resolution R2026-035, as presented during the regularly scheduled council meeting, said the decision to censure was made "finding such conduct to be inconsistent with the duties of office and the public trust and removing Councilmember Morales from all discretionary Council privileges."
Some members of the public said afterwards the resolution was not made available to the public at least 24 hours before the vote nor was it read in full prior to the vote. KAWC will ask city staff for clarification on this matter.
Mayor Doug Nicholls said Councilmember Morales would be limited in his public duties representing the council outside of their meetings. Generally, councilmembers attend ribbon cuttings and other public events on behalf of their fellow councilmembers.
Fellow City Councilman Mark Martinez said in a previous council meeting that the council reviewed information presented regarding allegations of a potential executive session privilege violation by Morales.
He's accused of disclosing discussions from executive sessions with council candidate Henry Valenzuela or possibly other members of the public.
A censure is a formal acknowledgment that the governing body does not agree with the statements or actions of one of its members.
Councilmember Morales maintains he has not done anything wrong.
Fellow councilmembers said at Wednesday's meeting the discussion and vote on whether to censure Morales did not come easy but was necessary as they must keep each other accountable. They also expressed a desire to move forward and focus on serving the people of Yuma.
—-
Stay tuned to KAWC for more on this and other Yuma City Council news.
