A Stockton resident stepped up to the microphone at a City Council meeting and read Mayor Christina Fugazi for her treatment of Councilmember Jason Lee, calling his removal as vice mayor a “public display of racial silencing.”
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The speech came two weeks after the Stockton City Council voted 4 to 2 to strip Lee of his vice mayor title. In Stockton, the vice mayor is a council member appointed to fill in for the mayor and help lead meetings. Lee, the Hollywood Unlocked founder who won the District 6 seat in November 2024, was appointed to the role by Fugazi in January 2025. He has said the council ratified that appointment through December 31, 2026, under the City Charter.
Lee tried to resign from the vice mayor post before the vote, but a motion to accept his resignation failed 4 to 3. Fugazi then moved to remove him outright. The council also voted 6 to 1 to pull Lee off its Audit Committee, where he had been questioning city spending. He still holds his District 6 seat representing South Stockton and Weston Ranch.
Fugazi and other officials have accused Lee of treating City Hall like a reality show and pushing city business on social media for engagement. At a news conference the day after the vote, Fugazi defended the removal, raised concerns about checks tied to Lee’s nonprofit that were returned for insufficient funds, and alleged that Lee made threats involving recordings of her. Lee has said Fugazi accused him of “pimping out” Stockton, and he called the phrase a racial trope.
The resident picked up exactly there.
“Jason Lee was successful long before he entered office, and you all benefited from his influence,” the resident told the council. “You benefited from his access, and you benefited from his pool to be able to have the ability to reach the people.”
According to the speaker, the city’s leaders never expected Lee to push back. “What you expected was for him to come in and go along, get along,” the resident said. “You expected for him to be the good Negro and speak when spoken to is what you expected.”
The resident argued that Lee became a target once he started challenging the council. “The moment that you realize that he actually had a thought, he was no longer of use to you,” the speaker said, before turning directly to the mayor.
“So who exactly is pimping who, Mayor?”
The resident called Fugazi’s remark “racially motivated” and “defamatory,” saying it “was meant to degrade him as a black man in public service.” The speaker said the same about the council’s refusal to let Lee resign, describing it as a move designed to “humiliate him instead.”
From there, the resident questioned whether Fugazi should be leading the city at all. “Are you fit to lead as a mayor? That’s the question that Stockton should be asking, because this city is in complete chaos,” the speaker said.
The resident pointed to a council member facing sexual assault allegations and to children being killed in the city, and accused the mayor of focusing on the wrong fight. “Yet your only issue right now is that Jason Lee has a podcast,” the resident said. “There’s other fish that you should be frying.”
The speaker then addressed a council member by the name Michelle, saying children were killed in her district. The resident said the family of Amari Peterson is about to face the first anniversary of their 14 year old son’s murder and claimed the council member had not called the family to offer condolences. Poli Alert has not independently verified the sexual assault allegation the resident referenced or the details of the Peterson case.
The resident warned the council that the community is paying attention. “Division starts at the top, and we’re watching,” the speaker said. “And the city deserves better.”
The speech closed with a message straight to Lee. The resident called what happened to him “the modern-day lynching” and said it “was meant to break you,” then invoked Harriet Tubman.
“When you hear the dogs, keep going. When you hear the torches in the woods, keep going. And when you hear the screaming, keep going,” the resident said. “I say to you, Brother, keep going.”
