City Council votes to censure Rod Tam 9-0 over meal-allowance violations
The City Council voted 9-0 today to censure Councilman Rod Tam over his city allowance that he used for meals that "appeared not directly related to a specific council issue or councilmember duty."
Councilman Charles Djou introduced the resolution. Tam also voted in favor of the censure.
Tam, a two-term councilman who is running for mayor, previously acknowledged there may have been "math errors" that led to some misreporting. But he admitted to no wrongdoing.
Paying for meals in itself is not considered an offense. But the city Ethics Commission said Tam could not properly explain how many of the meal descriptions were directly related to specific council issues or his council member duties on more than $10,000 of meal charges.