SAN BERNARDINO, CA — 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).
San Bernardino City Council Censures Councilmember Treasure Ortiz
