Palmdale Mayor Richard J. Loa was stripped of his title and removed from all committee and city assignments Tuesday night, pending an investigation into “confidential allegations.”
The dramatic move unfolded during a contentious city council meeting.
The events began when City Attorney Alexandra Halfman requested Loa recuse himself from a confidential agenda item, citing an alleged conflict of interest. Loa questioned the addition of the item and its confidentiality.
Following an hour-long closed session, Councilwoman Andrea Alarcón introduced an emergency agenda item based on “information that was just recently brought to light,” she stated.
Despite Loa’s objections, the council — excluding Loa — unanimously voted to remove him from all committees and committee assignments and strip him of his mayoral title, pending the outcome of the investigation.
In a statement released Thursday evening to KTLA, Loa called his dismissal “political theater,” and said his removal was not the result of a “legitimate process,” but was instead a power grab by his former colleagues.
“The council added a so-called ’emergency item’ in violation of the Brown Act and proceeded in closed session, without notice, evidence, or public input. That’s not how democracy works,” Loa wrote in a list of grievances provided to KTLA.
He continued by saying he has not been told by any members of the council what he’s been accused of, alleging that the council engaged in a “secret trial” that lacked due process.
“If this is how they treat the Mayor, imagine what they’re doing to staff and residents behind closed doors,” the statement reads.
Loa was appointed to the Palmdale City Council in 2018 and served as Mayor Pro Tem three times before becoming mayor on Jan. 1, 2025.
In 2022, the city eliminated direct mayoral elections, opting for an annual rotation among council members. However, in April, the council voted to scrap that system, allowing the mayor and mayor pro tem to be chosen by a majority council vote and granting the council authority to replace a mayor mid-term. Loa was the lone dissenter in April’s vote, according to the Antelope Valley Press.
Mayor Pro Tem Laura Bettencourt will assume mayoral duties in the interim.
Loa, meanwhile, says he plans to continue to fight the decision and claimed the truth would eventually come out.
“I will not be intimidated into silence,” he said.
