The Stockton City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to accept the resignation of advisory committee member Natasha Brown from the Strong Communities Advisory Committee following her arrest this week.
Brown, who was appointed to the committee on Feb. 1, 2025, is the cousin of Vice Mayor Jason Lee. She was arrested Sept. 28 on suspicion of first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime.
The resignation was discussed during a special meeting, which lasted roughly five minutes.
Mayor Christina Fugazi started the meeting by informing the council that they had received a notice of resignation.
“I don’t know if anybody wants to talk on that or wants to go ahead and accept that letter of resignation,” Fugazi said.
Lee moved to accept resignation
and return to city business.
“The position of the commissioner has been vacated so it seems like a moot point at this point to deliberate or discuss an item that no longer needs to be discussed,” Lee said.
He added, “The person resigned. I accept the resignation and I want to get back to focusing on the work of the city.”
Following Lee’s comment, District 1 Councilmember Michele Padilla spoke about the standards that committee members should uphold.
“I just want to remind everyone and all of our commissioners that behavior inside city hall as well as outside city hall needs to be respectful,” Padilla said. “I talk on our ethics policy all the time, so I would just hope that maybe this was a lesson learned for all the other commissioners.”
Before Lee made a motion to accept Brown’s resignation, Fugazi said, “We are really trying to push the city forward. We are trying to work together as a council. We don’t need additional distractions. We can do them all on our own, I would say.”
She added, “I also want people to be cognizant of how we set the tone and as adults and as our appointees when you guys say something, it’s like we said it. So, just be cognisant of that.”
A request for a copy of Brown's letter of resignation was not answered by Lee or city spokesperson Tony Mannor on Wednesday.
Notice of resignation
Brown said she resigned from her position because she was tired of fellow resident — Kimberly Ganner — harassing her in city hall, and believes there are bigger issues to deal with in Stockton.
Brown said she and Ganner know of each other because their children played football together, and issues arose following a situation involving Brown’s son. Brown added that she has been harassed by Ganner for a year and has been working with the district attorney’s office to get a restraining order filed against Ganner.
The animosity between the two people came to a head on Sept. 26. The incident is listed on theStockton Police Department’s commander's night report.
According to the report, a robbery occurred at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 in the 1100 block of East Hammer Lane.
A 49-year-old woman was walking to her car when two suspects approached her. Police said the suspects assaulted the woman, took her property and fled the area in a red sedan.
When asked whether Brown had been arrested in connection with the robbery, Stockton Police Department spokesperson Officer Omer Edhah said, “A Natasha Brown was arrested.”
Edhah said he had not been made aware of another suspect arrested in connection with the robbery. He also said that the victim’s identity would not be released.
According to jail records, Brown’s bail was set at $220,000. As of Tuesday, she was no longer in the jail inmate log.
Initially, Brown was to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Stockton. However, in an interview with The Record on Wednesday afternoon, Brown said an arraignment would not be taking place.
“There’s no charges found against me,” Brown said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Rosie Calderon, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office, said the office had not received a complaint regarding Brown’s arrest.
“I don't want city hall to be a target. That’s why I resigned,” Brown said. “I didn’t resign because I got in a fight with her because. That was self-defense because I have been harassed by her.”
Brown said she was told that the item on her removal from the committee would be in closed session. Therefore, she didn’t appear at the council meeting.
However, Brown said if she knew it was going to be a public discussion, she would have gone to the meeting and spoke what she believed to be her truth.
“Yesterday I woke up and said, ‘All this pain I've been through … I’m going to go ahead and step back from being commissioner until I can resolve and get this out the way,” Brown added.
Brown recounts day of altercation
Brown said on Sept. 24, she made a call to law enforcement after she and Ganner saw one another in the area of Holman Road and Hammer Lane at a gas station.
Brown said as she approached the door of the gas station, Ganner approached her, which prompted Brown to call law enforcement to file an incident report.
On Sept. 26, Brown said she unexpectedly ran into Ganner and an altercation ensued.
“It was unexpected,” Brown said. “I didn’t know she was there. She didn’t know I was there.”
Brown said she defended herself.
“There had been so much pressure built up inside of me for what I have been through,” Brown said. “We got into a mutual altercation and fought. That’s it.”
Brown said when they began fighting, Ganner had her phone in her hand, so Brown grabbed the phone from her hand and threw it on the ground.
“I’m not a thief,” Brown said. “I would never in my life rob anybody because I have a good, wealthy life of my own.”
Brown said the following day, she began receiving calls suggesting that she contact law enforcement because of allegations Ganner made in a Facebook live video.
On Sept. 28, Brown said she contacted law enforcement to ask about a warrant for her arrest, but was told there was no warrant. However, Brown said she told law enforcement she wanted to make a statement about what took place on Sept. 26.
Brown said officers told her they would contact her, but when she went home, two law enforcement vehicles appeared at her home and arrested her.
Ganner speaks at council meeting
During Tuesday's regular council meeting, Ganner, who identified herself as the victim in the incident, spoke about her interactions with Brown.
Ganner said she was attending the meeting because she was concerned about her safety, her children's safety and feared for her life.
“I have appeared before this council on several occasions to raise concerns about retaliation, intimidation and what I believe to be an abuse of power involving District 6 commissioner Natasha Brown,” Ganner told the council.
Ganner alleged she had been assaulted by Brown.
“Over this past weekend, I was physically assaulted,” Ganner alleged. "I have identified commissioner Natasha Brown [and] potential other suspects who I will not name are responsible for the incident."
Ganner said due to the incident remaining under criminal investigation, she would not discuss the details of what occurred.
“I will allow the appropriate law enforcement authorities to conduct their investigation,” Ganner said. “However, I want to make something very clear: this incident did not occur in isolation. I have maintained records of emails, letters and public comments in which I previously raised concerns about the vice mayor and commissioner Brown.”
Ganner alleged she had been stalked, assaulted, robbed, violated and harassed, but did not believe the city had taken sufficient action to address the conduct reported.
Court records show Brown filed three separate petitions for civil harassment restraining orders against Ganner on Dec. 15, 2025, Jan. 9 and June 29. All three were disposed of as court dismissals.
Additionally, Brown filed a small claims case against Ganner on Dec. 30, 2025, writing in her petition that she intended “to sue her for the damages her defamatory statements have caused.” That case was disposed of in June.
The latest case filed between the women was Wednesday, when Ganner filed a petition for a civil harassment restraining order, this time against Brown.
Record reporter Victoria Franco covers public safety in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at vfranco@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton committee member resigns after arrest, disputes claims
