Lemon Grove files for restraining order against City Councilman Arambula

Lemon Grove officials have asked a Superior Court judge to issue a workplace restraining order against City Councilman David Arambula on behalf of City Councilwoman Yadira Altamirano, who has accused Arambula of harassment.

The order, filed Nov. 10, asks for protection of Altamirano and her husband, one adult child and two minor children.

At a hearing last week, however, a judge denied the request for a temporary restraining order, instead scheduling a hearing for Dec. 30.

In court documents, Altamirano said that late in the evening of Oct. 30, Arambula was sending her texts that appeared accusatory and possibly about his campaign for re-election, but that she was unable to get clarification from him. She said he then “sent me a series of harassing and threatening text messages.” Altamirano also alleges that Arambula called her to “cuss me out using swear words” during phone conversations the two had following the texts.

Arambula called the request for a temporary restraining order “unquestionably meritless” and “a frivolous attempt to further tarnish my reputation.”

Among other requests, documents ask the court to order Arambula not to harass, intimidate, threaten or assault Altamirano or anyone named in the order; not to follow or stalk them; and not to contact them in any way “if the matter does not relate to City of Lemon Grove City Council official matters or business.”

It asks for a stay-away order of at least 100 yards from Altamirano and her family, her home and her vehicle.

Documents signed by City Manager Lydia Romero and attorney Stephanie Lowe say Altamirano “is fearful that any actions directed to her will have an impact on members of her household.”

The City Manager’s Office on Tuesday issued a statement that the decision to request the court order “was not made lightly.”

The statement from the city said that while the court looks into the matter, Lemon Grove is pursuing its own independent investigation, and offered no further comment.

Arambula was elected to the City Council in 2016. He is running for re-election this year. In the current vote tallies he is last out of four candidates vying for two open council seats. The voting is expected to be certified Dec. 3.

The City Council appointed Altamirano in December of 2019 to finish the term of Matt Mendoza, who resigned with a year remaining. She did not run for a seat in this year’s election.

Altamirano declined to comment Monday, but in court documents she wrote, “Since October 30, 2020, I have been worried, afraid, anxious, and experienced a lot of stress that (Arambula) will harm me or or my family. It is extremely hostile and causing me great amount of stress. I have not been able to eat or sleep well for the past week, worried that he might follow thorough with his threats.”

Arambula called the request “a politically-driven strategy made at the height of a competitive campaign by members and supporters of another candidate for City Council in order to improperly gain an advantage in the eyes of the voters.”

He noted that the hearing scheduled for Dec. 30 “will be moot since neither party will be employed by the City of Lemon Grove at that point and this particular petition to the Court is specific for individuals who work together.”

Two new City Council members are expected to be sworn in at the second City Council meeting in December.

Court documents include more than a dozen pages of text messages between the two, some of which are written in Spanish. Altamirano said Arambula called her “dumb, stupid, and retard (‘mensa,’ ‘sonsa,’ and ‘tonta’) in Spanish.”

When asked about the text messages, Arambula said, “You are asking me to further perpetuate a frivolous petition by asking me to publicly litigate a meritless claim that a court has already found to lack the necessary facts to issue a preliminary order. No new facts exist and the petition will be dismissed in my favor and against the petitioner.”

Lemon Grove City Councilwoman Yadira Altamirano

(Karen Pearlman / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Among the texts that Altamirano cites in court documents as causing her alarm “and have me fear for my safety”:

• “You are one of my few mistakes. I misjudged you. I really thought more of you.”
• “You have no idea what is about to be exposed.”
• “And rest assured, we wont give you a pass.”
  

In the court documents, Altamirano said that during the text messaging, Arambula referenced a shooting at a friend’s house and that his girlfriend “was hit in the head with a wooden piece.”

“I do not know what this has to do with me and expressed that in a text message to (Arambula),” Altamirano said. “He initially responded that it had nothing to do with me but later on he wrote, ‘You are ‘them’ Yadi. YOU, and only YOU, did this.’ I do not know what (Arambula) was referring to.”

Altamirano in court documents said that later, Arambula called her five times, the first time “to cuss me out using swear words,” and that the call dropped after 38 seconds. She said his statements did not make sense.

Altamirano said that the next time they spoke, for 13 minutes, he still did not make sense. She said he implied that she owed him something “because he supported my appointment to the City Council and that whatever I had done (I still do not know what he believes I did), I had done him wrong.”

“He stated to me, ‘I’m not going to let you get away with this. I’m going to come after you.’ I took that to mean that he was going to follow through to do something to me... in a violent way.”

Court documents state that after Arambula was notified on Nov. 9 that the city was going to court to seek a workplace temporary restraining order, he offered a proposal for settlement. No settlement was reached, documents say.