Temecula Mayor Resigns Amid Allegations Of Racism

TEMECULA, CA — After allegations of racism emerged this week, James “Stew” Stewart announced Thursday night he was resigning as Temecula mayor and as a member of the Temecula City Council, effective immediately.

Stewart called it quits after some community members voiced outrage over an offensive text message he sent to a constituent concerned about police brutality.

"I owe everyone an apology including our citizens of all backgrounds and ethnicities, City staff, and my respected colleagues on the City Council," Stewart said in his resignation statement. "You have every right to be hurt and offended. My typos and off-the-cuff response to an email on a serious topic added pain at a time where our community, and our country, is suffering. I may not be the best writer and I sometimes misspeak, but I am not racist. I deeply regret this mistake and I own it, entirely. I am truly sorry."

Stewart continued, "I understand that even my sincerest apologies cannot remedy this situation. Because actions speak louder than words, I will step down as your Mayor and City Council Member effective immediately. It has been a true honor to serve this great City and its citizens. My love for Temecula and its residents is beyond expression.”

The resignation stemmed from an incident earlier this week, in which a constituent contacted Stewart via text, asking about the city's response to ongoing protests surrounding police brutality.

"I am contacting you to request information about what you and your team are doing to end police violence in our community and the systemic racism in policing that is killing black people," the Temecula constituent wrote to the now ex-mayor. "This issue is very important to me and my family."

In response, Stewart replied to the citizen via text, "As you know the City of Temecula does not have its own police department. We contract with Riverside County Sheriff's Department. And I don't believe there's ever been a good person of color killed by a police officer. So I'm kind of confuse what you are looking for. Of course racism is not excepted or tolerated in the City of Temecula. Or any other of the surrounding areas that I know of for sure. I have several good friends who are African-Americans, and they love living here because how safe it is for them and their families."

A screen shot of the offensive reply made its way across social media, prompting the mayor to issue an apology Wednesday on his Facebook page, where he wrote, with typos, that the caustic message was a technology goof.

"So you all are going to hear about this," the mayor wrote. "I sent a voice text last night to a person concerned about our police officers and their sensitivity training. I am very well known for my dyslexia so I voice text everything. Unfortunately I did not take the time to proofread what was recorded. I absolutely did not say that. What I said is and I don’t believe there has ever been a person of color murdered by police, on context to Temecula or Riverside county. I absolutely did not say 'good' I have no idea how that popped up. Please forgive me for this egregious error. as you can see by the second half of the statement racism is not tolerated at any level in the city or the county."

Patch spoke to Stewart by phone Thursday afternoon. He stood by his Facebook post and said he felt targeted for something he insisted was a glitch in voice-to-text technology and lack of proofreading after a long workday.

"I am not a racist," he said, explaining he sent the text after working a 12-hour day.

The offended constituent never contacted him about his vulgar reply, according to Stewart. Instead, the mayor saw the thread on social media — like everyone else.

"I thought it was a cut-and-paste," he said of the social media post. "But I went back to the original message and I saw the mistake. I never would have said that."

Patch received multiple angry emails over the incident.

"The Temecula mayor seems to have an alarming blind spot to the issues that non-white Temeculans and RivCo citizens face daily. He seems to believe, like many white people called out on their subtle, casual racism, that excuses like 'voice to text' or 'Ambien' absolve them of their racist slip-ups. The black and brown people of Temecula would like Stewart to have some accountability in this time ...," one person wrote.

Longtime Temecula City Council Member and Mayor Pro Tem Maryann Edwards offered a statement in a city news release announcing Stewart's resignation.

“Stew is a hard-working and honest man, and the City accepts his resignation," she said. "Temecula is poised to close this chapter, and continue our long-term commitment to denounce and prevent racial injustice in any form. On this day of Mr. George Floyd’s memorial service, on behalf of my council colleagues, the City of Temecula offers our prayers and heartfelt condolences to his family.”

Stewart was elected to a four-year term in November of 2016. The city has not announced how it plans to fill his vacant seat.

Through all of the turmoil, the constituent's concerns over police brutality were not addressed. Prior to his resignation, on Thursday afternoon Stewart told Patch that he had recently met with officials at the Southwest Sheriff's Station in Temecula to learn more about what was being done in light of protesters' calls for action.

Stewart said he was told the sheriff's department is meeting protester demands. But when Patch contacted the sheriff's department Thursday to find out if there have been any demands submitted to the department by large organized groups such as Black Lives Matter, the NAACP or the ACLU, the answer was no.

"At this time we have not received any type of outline from our protestors or any type of entity like BLM, NAACP, ACLU or other larger group," Sgt. Deanna Pecoraro said via email.

Stewart said he was organizing a roundtable discussion with local black leaders and law enforcement to be held Tuesday in an effort to work through some of the concerns voiced by protesters locally regarding police brutality. He did not have specifics to offer.

Stewart said he would like to see more in the way of transparency when it comes to lethal force by police — for example public release of the district attorney and sheriff department's internal investigations into in-custody deaths.

"We don't see anything more than what the public sees," he said.