From: Deborah Lynch
To: Thomas Philbin; Natalie Verlinich
Cc: Deborah Lynch
Subject: Last night"s Housing Commission meeting and discussion of "un-aggendized" events Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025 1:40:07 PM
Attachments: Outlook-edy3gxxc.png
Thomas:
The following is my attempt to sort out the verbal boxing match that occurred at our Commission meeting last night and I am pretty certain my understanding of what happened and why is accurate.
I have spent a good deal of time thinking about what happened at our meeting yesterday. I even listened to the posted audio of our meeting, to ascertain that the issue I was trying to explain my position on, to the outburst of Chair Gordon, was warranted. Her actions were unwarranted, almost staged, and patently unprofessional. You should know that I bit my tongue to avoid a shouting match or massive argument, primarily in the interest of allowing the meeting to continue with Commission business, without further actions that could only be described as negative, unprofessional, and non-productive. At first, I was shocked by her vitriol and aggressive actions, but then realized that this had been building up for quite a while, as I am the only Commission member to date that has been willing to speak out even when it is at odds with her, especially since the departure of both members Gray and Marasco. Gail (Chair Gordon) completely lacks the ability to deal with any dissent or disagreement with her personal politics (to whit, her sarcastic comment to me, "Well, I completely agree with you on this issue, believe it or not!"), or any subject that she does not wish to see discussed, that disagrees with her position. It should be apparent to you and staff at Santa Monica, that this conduct has been going on for some time now... this time however, was over-the-top.
Her outburst was not just unprofessional, and not in the best interests of the Commission or Santa Monica, but it bordered on aggression and even harassment; if this same event had occurred at a place of employment to me, I would be seriously considering registering charges against the actor. This is the kind of behavior that needs to be discouraged and avoided...it breeds resentment and almost always causes unintended consequences. Know that I will NEVER allow anyone to attempt to place their words in my mouth. Her insistence at rewording my comments to what is acceptable to her was abominable. I will never become a mouthpiece for someone, especially one who has been, at least in the past, remiss to speak her own opinion out loud. After she herself insisting that I speak to the issue at hand, she then proceeded to constantly interrupt and attempt to force her words in my mouth as to my intent.
She then did her absolute best to try to convince everyone present that I was the one who had caused the problem by creating an overly emotional tantrum! The Housing Commission was never intended to be run as an autocracy or a dictatorship - it intends to be a collaborative agency, with the Chair as a leader (facilitator) who officiates technical procedure. It is the reason there are seven members required...not 1 or 2! Each member has a voice, a subject matter expertise, and this has not been encouraged by Chair Gordon.
And finally, her insistence upon allowing a non-member of the Housing Commission to speak to Commission Agenda items is beyond the pale - in past meetings, Gail has been adamant about not encouraging or allowing this behavior, but here, because she has been in almost constant contact with this person and seemingly become a friend, it is okay?! NOT. It does not matter that she is a Commissioner on the Disabilities and Ageing Commission - it does not give her the right to continually force her opinion, and basically control the narrative of our meeting, especially as we were not in Public Content. I believe I remember you even trying to explain this to her.
The paper I left with you last night, states my understanding and opinion as to the appropriate conduct for any advising Commission or Committee members, and delineates the proper authority of the Chair and Vice-Chair. At the least, it should never be that of a Commandant; perhaps as an Officiate, but never to discourage participation and erase original ideas or opinions from Commission members. And it should never be a game of one-upmanship! Going forward, any future involvement between myself and Gail would be detrimental to the goals of the Housing Commission and all individuals involved therof. As I mentioned to you last night, this is the point at which I think is appropriate to terminate my term and offer my resignation, and I apologize for the need to do so.
Sincerely,
Deborah Lynch
Santa Monica Housing Commission
[email protected]