Politics & Government

Walnut Creek's Top Administrators Were Evasive During Internal Investigation, Report Concludes

Report concludes Ken Nordhoff was elusive and self-protective in answers to investigators.

An investigation into city department heads and their handling of alleged inappropriate sexual messaging between a city employee and a Danville 13-year-old concluded that the city’s top two administrators—City Manager Ken Nordhoff and Assistant City Manager Lorie Tinfow--and director of Human Resources Sally Rice were evasive and in some cases dishonest with the investigator.

The investigation also concluded that three other department heads—Lesher Center for the Arts Director Scott Dennison, Arts, Recreation and Community Services Assistant Director Kevin Safine, and ARCS Director Barry Gordon--were forthcoming and acted in a reasonable and legal manner when they found out about the alleged inappropriate conduct of employee Jason Pedroza.

Pedroza was fired on November 3 of last year after Dennison found out Pedroza was being investigated by Danville police for sending inappropriate texts and Facebook messages to a 13-year-old cast member of the production.

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What occurred after that was the subject of the investigation. It focused on the actions of city administrators and how they responded to the allegations.

Read more details about the case from previous Patch stories here. And a Contra Costa Times story about the investigation is here. Read the full report here. 

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