The East Bay Municipal Utility District Board of Directors voted Tuesday to elect an interim vice president to temporarily replace Director April Chan while an investigation takes place into an alleged racially-charged confrontation between her and a Black artist over a parking space reserved for directors.
As directors prepared to discuss the temporary removal of Chan, President Marguerite Young abruptly recused herself and retreated to a backroom as supporters of Chan yelled at her for escaping public accountability.
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“Why? Why? You’re the president! We have a meeting. You need to be present for this!” said Tuan Ngo, a community activist who helped recall former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and had turned to helping Chan retain her title.
More than 20 speakers defended Chan’s character and criticized the directors’ actions as politically- or racially-motivated, since Chan is the only Asian director on the board. Many of Chan’s supporters held signs that read “Demand Fairness” and “Protect Asian Voice” during the heated public meeting.
“What I see here is upsetting, it’s upsetting to the entire Asian community,” Ngo said during the meeting Tuesday. “You have an incident in a parking lot over a parking spot that has been politicized to target somebody who’s representing over 200,000 constituents in her district.”
On March 27, Oakland artist Tiffany Conway-Cornelius had parked in a director’s parking space to remove her art exhibit that had been showcased on the second floor of the district’s Administration Building. A district staff member had given her approval to park in a board member’s space while she gathered her artwork, according to the artist.
Chan reportedly entered the parking lot and asked Conway-Cornelius why she had parked in the spot designated for board members. Conway-Cornelius said she was uninstalling her artwork and claims Chan then told her she was going to report her to security for parking improperly. Conway-Cornelius said she demanded Chan’s information and that she was going to file a complaint against the director. She alleged Chan’s actions were racially motivated.
Conway-Cornelius’ allegations were discussed at the next district board meeting on April 8, where the board reviewed how to respond to the incident.
The artist told the board that Chan was “attempting to put me in my place as a person of color.” The board voted to open multiple investigations into the incident, and Chan volunteered to temporarily step down as vice president until the May 13 board meeting so the investigation could be completed, though she was hesitant to relinquish her title for longer than a month.
The tension on the board reached new heights on Tuesday. Chan supporters criticized the board, and many claimed its consideration to temporarily remove Chan as vice president was a violation of due process.
When the discussion returned to the board, Chan attempted to read letters of support into the record but was interrupted by Young’s abrupt recusal, handing off the gavel to Director Andy Katz. The letter, penned by the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Democratic Caucus, explicitly called out Young for another heated exchange on the board in April.
“It is jarring to see Director Marguerite Young’s actions at the April 22 board meeting. She introduced a non-AAPI member to speak about AAPI Heritage Month,” the letter said. “Only after Director April Chan protested was she allowed to speak.”
Director Valerie Lewis tried to temper high emotions in the room. She said Chan was not being punished and had retained her position on the board, but the directors were obligated to act fairly on behalf of Conway-Cornelius while the investigation played out.
The board unanimously voted to elect Director Luz Gomez to replace Chan pending the results of the open-ended investigation. Young recused herself from the vote and Chan abstained.
“Saying we need to fill this seat is odd,” Chan said during her remarks to the board. “For there to be a rush to fill this seat does not make any sense at all.”