{"id":1947212,"date":"2025-08-07T18:03:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T18:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1947212"},"modified":"2025-08-07T18:03:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T18:03:38","slug":"stockton-city-manager-to-probe-use-of-funds-without-approval-for-entertainment-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/stockton-city-manager-to-probe-use-of-funds-without-approval-for-entertainment-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Stockton city manager to probe use of funds without approval for entertainment event"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong>STOCKTON\u2019S CITY MANAGER\u2019S OFFICE <\/strong>this week announced the launch of an internal investigation after discovering that $50,000 in public funds were used without the city manager\u2019s knowledge or approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The funds came from the city\u2019s Risk Mitigation Fund and were used for a recent entertainment event, according to the announcement. The investigation aims to determine whether any city policies were bypassed as well as evaluate reports of a sitting council member \u201cactively engaging between city staff and event promoters, rais[ing] serious concerns about the appropriateness of such involvement.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>The allegations appear to be aimed at Stockton Vice Mayor Jason Lee, who performed in May at the event Wild \u2018N Out Live Tour featuring Nick Cannon at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/localnewsmatters.org\/2023\/10\/25\/more-than-simply-changing-the-name-stockton-arena-gets-makeover-rebranding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Adventist Health Arena<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lee, a Stockton native, founded Hollywood news and gossip site Hollywood Unlocked. He <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/localnewsmatters.org\/2024\/11\/10\/lee-declares-victory-in-stockton-council-race-ponce-and-enriquez-also-lead-their-districts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">won his City Council seat<\/a> in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s made me extremely happy to see the smiles on the faces of people who live in my city,\u201d Lee wrote in an Instagram caption accompanying photos of him performing in May to his 1.2 million followers. \u201cHonestly, being an elected official is not fun. Not sure it supposed to be fun. I have felt like quitting many times because of how toxic and fake it is. But you reminded me WHY I decided to do what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"\/>\n<p>On Tuesday, Lee responded to the allegations in a separate Instagram post.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: Nick and the Wild \u2018N Out team came to Stockton as a favor to ME \u2014 to turn this city up and prove that we deserve world-class partnerships,\u201d Lee wrote. \u201cThe attacks on our hardworking city staff for simply doing their jobs? Beyond disappointing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The show\u2019s impact<\/h2>\n<p>In a hearing Monday, the City Council\u2019s Audit Committee discussed the allegations of fund misuse.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At the hearing, Jason Perry, general manager of ASM Global Stockton, Adventist Health Arena\u2019s venue management company, shared that the funding was used to entice the show to perform in Stockton. The night before the performance, Rip Micheals, a member of Wild \u2018N Out\u2019s lineup, called to inform Perry that the show was planning on pulling out of Stockton due to a projected loss of $300,000, Perry said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was like we can\u2019t. Stockton cannot afford that. Stockton cannot afford another show going away, especially one of this large magnitude,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn 2025, alone, we\u2019ve lost 16 shows as a result of some of the federal mandates that have come down,\u201d he elaborated, citing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement limiting sales and visas for shows playing in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Contributing to the deficit, some of the show\u2019s attendees bought tickets on Groupon for as little as $6, Perry said, calling them \u201cthe cheapest ticket ever in the history of the venue.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Perry highlighted the show\u2019s positive community impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArenas are economic engine drivers and that is exactly what happened here, we drove the positive economic impact in our community at all levels,\u201d Perry wrote. \u201cThe use of the funds, appropriately done, were with the understanding of how it was set-up by council several budget cycles ago.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Calls for Lee\u2019s removal<\/h2>\n<p>City Councilmember Brando Villapudua on Wednesday shared a letter he sent to Stockton City Attorney Lori Asuncion asking her to intervene into the \u201cdeeply troubling matters\u201d regarding Lee. He clarified that the letter was from him only and did not reflect the official position of the city or the council.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the letter, Villapudua alleges Lee\u2019s conduct has \u201cdemonstrated a sustained pattern of behavior\u201d that may violate the city charter and other laws. Villapudua cited allegations of formal records of staff filing hostile work environment complaints against Lee, verbal abuse, disrespect and intimidation \u201cbehind closed doors,\u201d and a documented history of \u201cpublicly berating staff.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis request is grounded not in speculation but in a growing body of evidence, admissions, and behavior,\u201d writes Villapudua, adding that it \u201cdirectly undermines the legal, ethical, and operational integrity of our city government.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, Villapudua raised questions about Lee\u2019s possible conflicts of interest, him possibly being \u201cfinancially interested in any contract\u201d made in an official capacity, and abusing public funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Villapudua is asking for a full forensic and legal review of the Wild N\u2019 Out event, an investigation into Lee\u2019s associations with Micheals, ASM Global, and a company called 5120 Entertainment. He asked that he disclose any gifts, payments, travel or reimbursements related to the event. He also asked that Lee be removed immediately from the audit committee.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not a symbolic request,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a matter of legal integrity.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Finally, Villapudua requested an emergency council session regarding the removal of Lee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lee, at the hearing Monday, underscored the importance of transparency.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was this conspiracy theory that I somehow took $50,000 from the city or asked you all to give me $50,000,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIt\u2019s about really having these conversations out in the open because we have nothing to hide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Steve Colangelo, Stockton\u2019s interim city manager, also highlighted the need for public disclosure in a press statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe city is committed to transparency and accountability,\u201d Colangelo said. \u201cThe public can be assured that this matter is being taken seriously and will be addressed appropriately.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Story map\" style=\"display:block;border:none;visibility:visible;width:100% !important;height:300px;\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/embed.bloom.li\/article\/map?zoom=close&amp;post_key=RCph83xH67QfNGkx59LK\"><\/iframe><noscript><iframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.bloom.li\/article\/map?zoom=close&amp;post_key=RCph83xH67QfNGkx59LK\" title=\"Story map\" style=\"display:block;border:none;visibility:visible;width:100% !important;height:300px;\"><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-bio --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source localnewsmatters.org \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STOCKTON\u2019S CITY MANAGER\u2019S OFFICE this week announced the launch of an internal investigation after discovering that $50,000 in public funds were used without the city manager\u2019s knowledge or approval.\u00a0 The funds came from the city\u2019s Risk Mitigation Fund and were used for a recent entertainment event, according to the announcement. The investigation aims to determine [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1947213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[339606,339607,339608,314921,321639,25517,21741,22034,315362,304678,339609,339610,339611,339612],"class_list":["post-1947212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-accountability","tag-audit","tag-budget-deficit","tag-city-manager","tag-complaints","tag-economy","tag-entertainment","tag-events","tag-funding","tag-investigation","tag-jason-lee","tag-public-funds","tag-san-joaquin-county","tag-stockton"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Stockton-city-manager-to-probe-use-of-funds-without-approval.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1947212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1947212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1947213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1947212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1947212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1947212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}