“Attack is the best form of defense” sums up the disappointing pattern in Morgan Hill’s response to Councilmember Yvonne Martínez Beltrán’s complaint against Mayor Mark Turner.
Instead of thoughtful engagement with her allegations—which everyone admits included unwanted physical contact by the mayor, in front of witnesses at a council meeting—city officials and segments of the community immediately mobilized to put Martínez Beltrán and her motives on trial. She was labeled a “frivolous litigant” and a “bully,” and subjected to a campaign of personal disparagement, with years-old grievances resurrected to discredit her—while the serious underlying conduct was deflected or minimized.
This would be dismaying even if the city’s internal process had been flawless—but it was not. The investigation declined to interview all relevant witnesses, ignored persistent patterns of exclusion and marginalization described by Martínez Beltrán and others, dismissed context as “irrelevant,” and rushed key public hearings during a period when council was traditionally in recess—against the requests of the NAACP, Martínez Beltrán and concerned citizens.
The fact that the investigation reported “no evidence of assault” is hardly vindication: it is a reflection of a process designed to answer only narrow questions, while sidestepping the broader context and impact. The city’s own records show Turner did touch Martínez Beltrán, a fact confirmed by all parties, even if the report chose not to weigh meaning or pattern.
But even if we set aside every shortcoming of the process, the way this was handled by our leadership is unacceptable.
Rather than allow for honest review or reflection, Mayor Turner and his supporters responded with public and private attacks. In his own words, Turner branded the complaint as “lies,” and said, “when one instigates falsehoods, she should do all she can to be present to answer for her bad behavior,” and dismissed those supporting Martínez Beltrán as “buying into the false accusations.”
Worse, Turner threatened to strip her of her Mayor Pro Tem role while the complaint was still unresolved, using his office as both shield and weapon.
This is not leadership, it is bullying by official power, and it sets a chilling tone for all who might consider speaking up about workplace misconduct in the future.
Physical contact that is not welcomed or invited is always worthy of scrutiny—especially when one party holds higher office. But Morgan Hill’s message is clear: bring a complaint about those in power, and you’ll find yourself under public attack, your career on the line, your credibility questioned at every turn and your experience of being touched effectively dismissed.
No matter where one stands on the intricacies of process or evidence, we should all agree that character assassination and threats of reprisal have no place in our civic culture. Attack should not, and cannot, be our community’s standard for responding to complaints of misconduct, especially when the facts show unwanted physical contact did occur.
Morgan Hill deserves transparency, fairness and a government that is as concerned with justice as it is with its own reputation.
Jennifer Blalack
Morgan Hill
Editor’s note: The Times has previously reported that the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges in relation to Councilmember Yvonne Martínez Beltrán’s complaint against Mayor Mark Turner.
f the investigation had been more thorough, the attorney hired by Christina Turner and Don Larkin to represent ‘the City’ would have discovered that Mark Turner has a documented history of using unsubstantiated or totally fabricated claims to attack individuals that dare voice their opposition to his actions as a Public Official.
What happened on Feb 7th should have never been investigated as an isolated incident because the public record documents a pattern of improper conduct attempting to discredit, intimidate, and malign others for his own political benefit.
His attacks are not isolated to ‘just’ his formal political opponents but sadly, he has tried to discredit and vilify the very people he has an obligation to serve: Morgan Hill residents, even those who may not have voted for him, or that he has personal animosity toward.
There is no more grotesquely cynical example than this which requires no investigation, no interpretation of what a video shows and no reliance on witnesses who discredit themselves:
https://youtu.be/KG2pc11rgG4
There was no person who showed up at city council meetings and “spewed ugly hate speech”. Not almost every time. Not once. The totally fabricated and hypocritical claim was intended to discredit anyone whose speech Mark Turner hates because it doesn’t support many of his misguided decisions.
Whatever exactly happened when Mark Turner initiated an inappropriate physical action against Council-member Yvonne Martinez-Beltran on Feb 7th was not an isolated incident. It was the continuation and escalation of a pattern of behavior. A pattern that is an embarrassment to the City of Morgan Hill