Lathrop City Manager Steve Salvatore categorically denied the allegations made against him by City Councilwoman Minnie Diallo in a legal response this week.

And he’s asking the San Joaquin County Superior Court to award him the cost of his legal fees incurred while defending himself against allegations that he claims are baseless.

Salvatore, who has been at the helm of Lathrop for 14 years, was served with paperwork last week to appear next week in San Joaquin County Superior Court in Manteca. The summons came in response to Diallo’s unsuccessful attempt to secure a temporary restraining order against Salvatore that would prevent him from being within 100 yards of her – meaning that he couldn’t attend in-person meetings of the Lathrop City Council.

San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge W. Stephen Scott denied Diallo’s request, citing that she hadn’t met the burden to prove that the facts in the case “sufficiently show acts of violence, threats of violence, or a course of conduct that seriously alarmed, annoyed, or harassed” her.

“I have read the declaration that Councilmember Minnie Diallo as filed in this action,” Salvatore’s response, which was uploaded to the court’s document database this week, said. “I deny that I have ever threatened or been responsible for any acts of harassment involving Ms. Diallo that would necessitate or justify the issuance of a restraining order.

“I believe this action is politically motivated by Ms. Diallo and I do not believe that there is any factual accuracy to her declaration or petition.”

Salvatore also took issue with some of the characterizations of the events that transpired after the Lathrop City Council meeting on Oct. 11 – where former Lathrop Manteca Fire Chief Gene Neely and his wife Rozelle approached Diallo and proceeded to have a terse exchange following Diallo’s no vote on Neely’s appointment to the Measure C Oversight Committee.

Specifically, Salvatore disagreed with the way that Diallo framed his intentions when asking if somebody was able to walk her to her vehicle following the exchange the Neelys – something he says he recommended not because he feared for her safety in regard to what had just transpired, but because it was late at night.

“I was present at a council meeting on Oct. 11, 2021 and at the end of the meeting I did inquire as to whether someone was present to walk Ms. Diallo to her vehicle due to the “late night,” not because I felt there were any safety issues associated with the former fire chief as her declaration suggests,” Salvatore said. “It is my general policy to ensure that all individuals are safe especially when leaving the meetings.

“The City of Lathrop contracts with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department to provide a deputy at its meetings, but for reasons unknown to me one was not present at the meeting on Oct. 11, 2021.”

Salvatore claims in his response that he has never “done any thing to be abusive to a Councilmember, Citizen of Lathrop or for that matter staff,” and acknowledges that he has been critical of Diallo in how she talks to city staff – in a way that he described as “condescending” – but noted that his criticism was always intended to be taken as constructive.

With much of the tension on the council stemming from the city’s decision to move forward with its longstanding plan to launch its own police department, Salvatore said that he believes that Diallo’s motivation is “political” in nature and that the matter be dismissed and she be sanctioned for using the court to that end.

“I believe Ms. Diallo has a ‘political agenda’ in that she has been at odds with myself and other Councilmembers, and I am aware that she has attempted to have me removed from my position as City Manager,” Salvatore’s response reads. “I believe her use of the Court process to do that is sanctionable and an abuse of process.

“I am requesting an award of attorneys’ fees and sanctions against the petitioner for using the Court system to try and gain leverage politically.”

Salvatore is being represented in the matter by Albert Ellis of Stockton-based legal firm of Hakeem Ellis and Marengo. While it appears that Diallo initially filed her request for a temporary restraining order on her own, she is now represented by San Joaquin County Attorney Allen Sawyer.

Lathrop was at one time known for its raucous politics, but Salvatore has presided over a period of relative calm in the city’s history – navigating Lathrop through the challenging financial times linked to the collapse of the nation’s housing market.

Over the last 10 years Lathrop has grown by almost 60 percent and has emerged as one of the driving forces in the South County’s economic resurgence. Earlier this year the California State Auditor’s office listed Lathrop as the 6th most financially stable city in all of California.

Manteca, in comparison, was 136th on the list, while Tracy came in at 295th out of 471 cities surveyed.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.