South Bay Councilmember Remains Under Fire Over Claim Of Threats

LOS ALTOS, CA — A dispute regarding a South Bay councilmember who accused the Black co-founder of a local racial justice organization of sending her threatening texts during a city council meeting in November may be heading to mediation.

Lynette Lee Eng, a Los Altos city councilmember, has not addressed the controversy publicly despite numerous speakers calling for her to apologize in each subsequent meeting. More than 30 people commented on the matter in each of the last two council meetings, all but a handful supporting Kenan Moos, a Los Altos resident who heads the Justice Vanguard organization

Mayor Neysa Fligor announced during Tuesday’s meeting that Lee Eng and Moos have agreed to explore mediation in an attempt to resolve the matter. Both parties will agree on a mediator and the city will help to facilitate.

“I would like Councilmember Lee Eng to make sure that this mediation is taken seriously and she will make the effort needed to come to a resolution with the Moos family,” said Toni Moos, Kenan’s mother, in a public comment during the meeting.

After not voting for police reform initiatives during a Nov. 24 meeting, Lee Eng received texts from Los Altos resident Kenan Moos expressing disappointment that stated in part: “Your name will be all over the papers.”

Lee Eng announced publicly after receiving the texts that she was concerned for her and her family’s safety. The texts, later made public, did not contain physical threats toward the councilmember or her family.

Since then, Moos has called into council meetings to address Lee Eng, claiming that he has a target on his back as a Black man who was falsely accused of making threats. During Tuesday’s meeting, Moos talked about experiencing racism growing up in Los Altos, where only a fraction of 1 percent of the residents identify as Black, according to the U.S. Census.

“I am not a thug or a criminal,” Moos said. “My experience with Councilmember Lee Eng was another such example of people perceiving the worst because of the color of my skin. A Black man, again perceived as a threat.”

Moos’ organization, Justice Vanguard, led several protests for racial justice last summer. The college senior was chosen as a Los Altan of the Year recipient by the local newspaper, the Los Altos Town Crier, for his work.

The incident has touched a nerve in the quaint, affluent Silicon Valley suburb, where controversy in council meetings often centers around proposed housing developments and not discussions about race. But calls for action and accountability after the killing of George Floyd, which led to — among other changes — the removal of the school resource officer program at Los Altos High School, have brought the issue of racism to the local level.

Fligor, who is Los Altos’ first Black mayor, read a prepared statement at the start of Tuesday’s meeting where she urged unity and hoped Lee Eng and Moos could settle their differences in mediation.

“We are one community,” Fligor said. “And we celebrate, embrace and promote diversity here in Los Altos.”

Fligor added that she would continue to welcome public speakers and ensure all voices are heard while conducting the city’s business during council meetings, which have been lengthened due to the large number of public commenters on non-agendized items.

“Although we may disagree at times, let’s do so in a thoughtful, respectful and honest way,” Fligor said. “Let’s work together on the things that unite us and push back against the things that divide us.”

In an interview prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Moos said that he was open to mediation but was concerned about whether the two sides would agree to a mediator. Moos suggested asking someone like LaDoris Cordell, a retired Superior Court of California judge who moderated police task force meetings with community members last year, to serve as a mediator.

Moos added that after more than three months since the incident, an apology from Lee Eng isn’t enough.

“I don’t care for an apology,” Moos told Patch. “She needs to admit what she did was wrong in the public record.”

Moos also called for Lee Eng to issue a signed statement of wrongdoing and resign from the council. Lee Eng, who has served on the council since 2016 and won reelection last year, has not responded to requests for comment on the matter since November.

In the previous meeting two weeks ago, when Fligor offered Lee Eng the chance to respond to the 30-plus speakers calling for her to apologize, Lee Eng said nothing. On Tuesday, as she has done every meeting during public comment addressing the incident, she looked away from her screen, avoiding eye contact with the camera. And again, after 30-plus speakers asked for her to address them, she did not.