City Council Censures Councilmember Treasure Ortiz

On April 1, 2026, the San Bernardino City Council voted unanimously, 6-0, to formally censure Councilmember Treasure Ortiz after an outside investigation found she violated San Bernardino Municipal Code Section 2.58.050(A), (B), and (B)(1), which require honesty, integrity, transparency, and conduct above reproach from elected officials.

The Mayor did not vote because, per Section 303 of the City Charter, she was not afforded a vote.

The council found that Ortiz used her elected position and City resources to promote false claims against the City and police department for her own political and personal benefit. The investigation began after Ortiz filed a bogus $2 million lawsuit to bury her arrest history, promote her City Council race, with taxpayers paying the bill.

Ortiz’s arrest history threatened to damage her politically, so Ortiz not only falsely accused the City and police of accessing her arrest records, but she also then tried to legitimize her lie with a lawsuit seeking a $2 million taxpayer payout for herself. Ortiz filed the $2 million claim in March 2025 and then sued the City in federal court in November 2025 after the City rejected it. An outside investigation found her allegations to be false and the lawsuit an attempt to obtain millions in taxpayer dollars.

Ortiz also illegally recorded police officials to prop up her false claims. California is a two-party consent state, and secretly recording a conversation without everyone’s consent is illegal. Ortiz secretly recorded Lt. Jose Loera on August 15, 2024 and Chief Darren Goodman on August 29, 2024 while trying to build evidence for her false claims that police and City officials had illegally accessed her records and targeted her. The District Attorney later filed criminal charges against her under Penal Code 632(a).

The council also found that Ortiz lied about her arrest history and falsely claimed the records were fabricated. Official records show arrests on June 22, 2006 for domestic battery [PC 243 (E)(1)] and March 7, 2015 for battery [PC 243(a)], even though Ortiz publicly denied ever being arrested. She also falsely claimed no public arrest records existed and that the records used during the 2024 election were fabricated. That lie was designed to mitigate damage to her City Council race and keep her political career alive.

She claimed she had never been arrested, and that there were no public arrest records, because she had those online arrest records deleted to try to hide them from public scrutiny. In fact, she contacted a website that contained her arrest records and asked them to be deleted.

Based on the investigation’s findings, the Council had a duty to protect taxpayers, uphold transparency, and put the truth on the public record. Censure is the strongest action the council is allowed to take under its charter.

Under California law and the City Charter, the City Council cannot remove an elected official from office. Only voters can remove a councilmember through a recall election or by voting that person out in the next election.

The censure resolution now becomes part of the official public record of the City of San Bernardino.