Read Ledbetter’s report
Read Woodside’s initial response
BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
Woodside Councilman Paul Goeld violated the state’s open meeting laws by telling Town Manager Jason Ledbetter how the council came to hire him, according to a third-party investigator hired to look into a series of scathing allegations by Ledbetter about the council.
Ledbetter demanded $400,000 to leave his post as town manager and to keep his blistering report under wraps, the town said on Feb. 19, after Ledbetter made the report public. In it, Ledbetter claimed he was manipulated to stop subsidized housing projects and that two council members would make disparaging, racist and sexist remarks about others on council.
As a result of the series of allegations, the town hired David Stallard, an attorney with the Stallard Panebianco workplace investigation firm, to look into Ledbetter’s complaints. His report substantiated only one of 10 claims in Ledbetter’s report — that Goeld violated what’s known as the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law — by telling Ledbetter about his hiring process.
Stallard interviewed nine witnesses and reviewed emails, text messages, photographs and a video recording, according to his report. Before interviewing every witness, he advised them to say if they were concerned about any retaliation.
Goeld admitted during his interview with Stallard to telling Ledbetter that Councilwoman Jenn Wall complained about his hiring because he was a white male from a conservative area over dinner, Stallard wrote. Ledbetter was previously the city manager of Yreka, in Siskiyou County.
Ledbetter’s report also claimed that Mayor Brian Dombkowski and Goeld would abuse their positions and tell Ledbetter not to comply with the Housing Element, a housing quota under state law.
Dombkowski and Goeld contradicted the allegation and along with the fact that council had approved the Housing Element, “make it unlikely Ledbetter was pressured as alleged,” Stallards’ report said.
Ledbetter accused Dombkowski and Goeld of referring to Palestinians as the “original” n-words at a dinner at the Village Pub he was invited to, but there is no evidence to prove that Stallards wrote.
“It was implausible that Goeld would use such language as it was a public place where a public figure using such language could have been heard by others and would have been noticeable due to it being an upscale restaurant,” the report stated.
Ledbetter’s inability to recall other memorable moments from that day made his allegation less credible than Goeld’s denial, according to Stallard.
Ledbetter also said Dombkowski allegedly used derogatory terms when talking about Councilwoman Wall, like referring to her chest as “marbles on a billiards table,” but three other witnesses denied it, including two who showed bias against Dombkowski, Stallard wrote.
Ledbetter was hired by the council last April, and his contract is set to expire in May 2028 with a base salary of $300,000. Ledbetter is currently on paid administrative leave, and the town is reviewing whether his “threats” to publicly release his report can be a reason to fire him under his employment agreement.
Ledbetter previously told the Post that he asked for his severance, benefits, and continued health insurance to be paid for a year, totaling more than $400,000, and the council rejected his demand.
The Post has reached out to all five members of the Woodside town council for comment. This article will be updated if they respond.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office has also completed its investigation of any Brown Act violations by council, according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. The DA’s office will be disclosing the findings of their report next week, Wagstaffe said.
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