City Manager Speaks Out as Council Evaluates His Performance, Conduct

City Manager Mike Futrell addressed his reversal on his Pasadena job offer — and a dispute over his wife's interactions with city employees — at Tuesday's council meeting as the council discussed his future at Riverside in a closed session.

"Questions have been raised about my application to the city of Pasadena and about a letter that was sent to my home and later entered into public discussion," Futrell said during the meeting. "Judgment should be reserved until the full factual record is available. Some of the allegations involve my wife and my family — they deserve the same basic fairness, the opportunity for facts, context and records to be fully reviewed before conclusions are drawn."

Futrell continued, "I welcome accountability, I welcome transparency, but accountability must be grounded in facts, not assumptions, not rumors and not incomplete narratives."

Futrell announced April 25 he would stay in Riverside, 10 days after announcing he had accepted the Pasadena position.

Councilmembers said no action was taken during the closed session, and city officials remained tight-lipped after the meeting – with Councilmembers Chuck Conder and Sean Mill, along with Futrell, declining to comment.

Conder had addressed the matter days earlier at a Ward 4 candidate forum hosted by The Raincross Gazette on April 29, explaining that he signed the letter as the then-mayor pro tem.

"That was my duty and my responsibility," he said. Conder said he was unable to discuss the personnel matter further, citing state law, but confirmed the council would take it up in closed session at Tuesday's meeting.

"Whatever is best for the city of Riverside — and that's the damn answer," Conder said. "What's best for this city is what we will do. If he stays and it's the right thing, he'll stay." Conder said that if Futrell needed to go, the council would make that call as well.

Futrell's wife, Susan Freeman, who is often vocal on social media about her views on city issues and national politics, addressed the controversy in a Facebook post.

Freeman said she encouraged Futrell to explore the Pasadena position after a conflict between her and city officials over her communications with city staff.

"The recruiter reached out shortly after [a] deeply painful letter was sent to our home — a letter containing lies and serious false allegations — about me. Of course I encouraged him to take the call," Freeman's post said. "Mike has continued to serve with professionalism, integrity, and respect for the people of Riverside, so reserve judgment until you understand the facts and the full context."

At the center of the issue is a letter Freeman received from Conder on Dec. 11, alleging she contacted city employees through "unwanted and harassing calls, texts, emails, comments, social media posts and other communications to city employees."

The letter also alleged some city staff felt pressure to participate in Freeman's paid services, and alleged that Freeman insinuated she is "part of the city's decision-making team" despite not being a city employee.

"Your pattern of communication has been disruptive at the workplace, caused significant distress to city staff and serves no legitimate purpose," Conder wrote.

Freeman responded to Conder in an email Dec. 15 denying such behavior.

"My communications regarding city matters have been limited to civic engagement in public forums and via public discourse, consistent with the city's acknowledgment that civic engagement and public commentary are foundational to our democracy," Freeman said.

In the same email, Freeman said, "There have been a few occasions where one city employee in particular challenged me and my professional work on my private Facebook page. This same employee also requested many of my communications and leadership courses, and I gladly obliged her request free of charge, of course. There is another employee who sought my help in amplifying her voice and gaining greater standing in her career."

Resident Keith Nelson brought up Conder's letter during the meeting on Tuesday.

"The city manager's responsible … for protecting employees, maintaining professional boundaries, preserving public trust and ensuring that no person connected to him is allowed to create pressure, fear, confusion or influence inside communicating with city staff, sending training materials, seeking access and being treated internally as Mike's wife," he said. "The city manager cannot allow … [Freeman's] companies to speak on behalf of the city or the city manager itself. That alone is a breach of trust and based on the evidence now public, I believe he has breached the duties and obligations of his contract."

Several other residents at Tuesday's meeting said they were saddened when they heard Futrell would move to Pasadena and urged the council to keep him on.

"I'll be honest with you, Mr. Futrell, I was surprised when I saw you took the job at Pasadena. I was actually a little sad. I think you've done a good job," said resident Rich Gardner.

Resident Mike Sadeghian told the council he was "devastated" to hear Futrell had planned to leave.

"I don't know what happened with Mike…I hope you guys give him a chance to stay here and work with him."

Resident Art Alcaraz praised Futrell's leadership.

"Under Mike's leadership, Riverside has continued to do well, from improved services to much stronger community engagement," Alcaraz said.