Napa Board Ousts Trustee Amid Restraining Order Fallout

NAPA VALLEY, CA — A unanimous Napa Valley Unified School District board vote has removed Trustee Julianna Villegas Hart from office, ending months of public controversy that included a formal censure, allegations of misconduct, and questions about whether she still lived within the district area she was elected to represent.

The Napa Valley Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to remove Trustee Julianna Villegas Hart from office after determining she no longer resided in the trustee area she represented, according to reports.

During a brief presentation at the board meeting, NVUSD legal counsel Mary Hernandez told trustees to declare a vacancy in Trustee Area 7.

Hernandez told the board that Villegas Hart no longer lives in her district, according to reports. When that is the case, as a matter of law, the seat becomes vacant, Hernandez said.

Villegas Hart was not present for the vote. She was elected in 2022 to represent Area 7, which includes neighborhoods in northwest Napa. Her term was scheduled to expire in 2028.

"First, she said her residence was going to be temporary," Trustee Cindy Watter said after the vote, according to reports. "Then, she moved to another place in the same area, and it looked like it was permanent," according to reports.

The action follows an April 22 board vote that formally censured Villegas Hart for what Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti described as "disturbing and erratic behaviors" and harassment of district staff, according to reports.

During divorce proceedings earlier this year, Villegas Hart moved from the family home in the district, reportedly placing her outside Area 7 boundaries.

Villegas Hart has also announced plans to run for Napa City Council this fall.

The removal vote marks the latest chapter in a governance dispute that has played out publicly inside Napa Valley Unified, culminating in the loss of Villegas Hart's seat less than four years after voters elected her to represent Area 7.

The board's removal vote comes weeks after trustees publicly rebuked Villegas Hart in an unusually severe censure resolution that accused her of threatening retaliation against district employees, berating staff members, violating confidentiality rules, and repeatedly disregarding board directives.

According to the censure resolution, trustees alleged the conflicts stemmed from repeated disputes with district employees over a reduced stipend tied to missed board meetings, unannounced visits to district offices, hostile interactions with staff, and contentious text messages sent to Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti.

The resolution referenced a March 31 letter from Mucetti that warned Villegas Hart had caused "significant discomfort" among classified employees in the district business office. Mucetti alleged the trustee discussed personal marital issues at length, raised her voice, used profanity, and became angry after learning her March stipend had been reduced because she attended only one board meeting.

Mucetti further linked the incidents to what she described as reports of "disturbing and erratic behaviors" raised by community members, according to the letter cited during the censure proceedings.

Trustees characterized the conduct as an escalating pattern of verbal hostility, workplace disruption, and refusal to follow established governance procedures.

The censure resolution also alleged Villegas Hart threatened retaliatory action against employees enforcing board bylaws, ignored directives requiring communications to flow through the superintendent, and sent messages that included phrases such as "Total bs" and "Don't tell me what to do. You work for me."

Trustees additionally cited alleged violations of closed-session confidentiality and resistance to reviewing legal requirements governing confidential board matters.

Villegas Hart has denied the allegations. She argued the district had failed to pay her full monthly stipend for March and April and characterized the censure as an attack on her "personal freedom of speech."

"This is a sad statement on the state of the NVUSD," Villegas Hart said at the time. As the board's only generational Napa local, she said she had faced repeated efforts to pressure her into resigning.

"This is not the first, nor I suspect, last attempt," she said. "I'm not concerned."

District leaders defended the censure as a workplace protection measure, arguing the conduct undermined employee safety, disrupted district operations, and exposed the district to potential legal liability.

Bay City News Contributed to this report.
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