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The Woodside Town Council has yet to determine mandatory training requirements in response to an independent investigation that found that Councilmember Paul Goeld had revealed closed session information to former Town Manager Jason Ledbetter.
The July finding was made after Ledbetter released a 14-page whistleblower report alleging members of the Town Council engaged in gender and racial discrimination, violated the state’s open meeting law and delayed housing projects.
During an October Town Council meeting, resident Tom Johnson asked for an update on when the training suggested by the town’s special counsel would be completed and who would be conducting it.
In response, interim Town Manager Pam Antil said she could not respond publicly, however Mayor Brian Dombkowski volunteered that he participated in an extra two hours of the Fair Political Practices Commission’s ethics training. He invited other council members to share as well, and Goeld, Dick Brown and Hassan Aburish confirmed they has also completed the same training.
Town records show that Goeld was the first to complete the additional training in early September, followed by Dombkowski the next day. Aburish finished it in late September and Brown in early October.
This training, however, was not discussed or approved by the council, and all elected officials are already required to complete it annually. All members of the council were in compliance before town special counsel Rick Bolanos’ recommendation, Antil said.
She told The Almanac that she recommended each council member retake the FPPC training and attend the League of California Cities’ New Mayors and Council Members Academy in Sacramento in January 2027.
Councilmember Jenn Wall, who has not retaken the training, called for a formal discussion to decide how the Town Council can move forward with the recommendation made by Bolanos.
In July, the town special counsel reported that, in closed session, the council received Goeld’s apology and accepted a recommendation that additional training be conducted concerning the town’s code of ethics and conduct.
During that same meeting, Goeld publicly apologized for disclosing closed session information on Ledbetter’s hiring process after he was hired in April 2025. Then he recused himself from a discussion on the investigation’s report. In his absence, the public scrutinized the council for not reopening the investigation and holding Goeld accountable. Wall and Aburish were the only councilmembers who were in favor of holding a hearing to consider whether a censure or a reprimand should be taken against Goeld.
Three months later, there has not yet been a public discussion on the type of mandatory training the council should take.
“I’m relieved that the topic of ethics training in response to the sustained finding against Paul Goeld is finally getting the attention it deserves,” said Wall in a statement to The Almanac. “I appreciate the Woodside resident who raised this during public comment. He is right to wonder why nothing has happened.”
Since the training is in connection with the whistleblower report, Antil said she would schedule the discussion on the council’s ethics training after the town’s first mediation with Ledbetter during the first week of November. The mediation is in response to Ledbetter’s $2 million claim alleging the town fostered a hostile work environment and gender discrimination.
“This is also best scheduled after the new council is seated, particularly since the current council, except for Councilmember Wall, has already completed additional ethics training recommended by the special counsel,”Antil added.
Incoming council members Lyle Weaver for District 2 and Dan Druker for District 3 will be succeeding Dombkowski and Brown in December.
But Wall disagrees with the position that some members of the council and the town manager appear to take on the unofficial recommendation.
“Any attempt to pass off retaking already mandated ethics training as the council’s response to the sustained finding is disingenuous and ethically questionable,” said Wall. “The council needs to decide as a body what training is warranted, and that decision must be made in the open, not behind closed doors.”
