'Terrible and toxic' - LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia blasted by former staffers

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Six months after political newcomer Kenneth Mejia swept into City Hall on a wave of progressive activism, he is facing turmoil within his office involving staffers who played key roles in that victory.

The two former staffers who were also involved in his campaign are airing grievances about Mejia's management style, with one referring to him as a "terrible and toxic (boss)."

The issues surfaced publicly this week first in a series of tweets from a former key staffer and then a detailed report from the Los Angeles Times.

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Shekinah Deocares was a staffer on Mejia's campaign and then became his city office's director of community engagement for several months.

On Monday, she posted a series of tweets detailing accusations against the controller, including him showing up unannounced at employees' homes to discuss work, making inappropriate comments about an employee's sex life and requiring employees to seek his permission to attend certain events outside of work.

"What's with politicians whose names start with K that are "progressive" but terrible and toxic bosses?" her first tweet read.

She later followed that up with: "To be clear I'm talking about @kennethmejiaLA @lacontroller who just pushed out @kyler_chin who made ALL of the resources for his campaign and office a couple months after pushing me out because he didn't value community work and thought it was a nuisance. Do better man."

The Times report detailed further accusations involving a 19-year-old staffer, Kyler Chin, described as a computer expert who helped build the campaign's data resources and then was one of the first new hires for the controller's office, as the innovation and technology director. Chin was fired on Monday, apparently prompting Deocares' Twitter storm. She had left the office in February.

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The controller's office issued a statement to Eyewitness News indicating Chin was terminated for "ongoing performance issues," prompting him and two of his friends to make "untrue claims on social media."

"The campaign that led us to office was and will always be the product of a collaborative effort that paid respect to community needs and took care of its staff. These three were part of our campaign, and they will always be a part of our team's legacy. We weren't just colleagues, we were friends (Kenneth was often called a big brother or father figure by them), which makes this situation even harder for everyone involved.

Both former staff members and five other campaign staffers joined our staff at the Controller's Office in December of 2022. Both former staff members occupied senior roles tasked with important and difficult tasks that demanded a lot of them - as Director of Community Engagement and Director of Technology & Innovation. We worked hard to empower them and enable their success while they were with the team. Both of their departures were preceded by collaborative, positive, and respectful efforts to address an inability to satisfy the demands of public service.

We understand that they're feeling angry, hurt and disappointed - and lashing out after a friend is terminated. But the accusations made simply aren't true - or so absurdly distorted as to render them false as well. None of these accusations or issues with Kenneth were ever brought up to him or other executive team members before. At the end of the day, the departure and the termination were strictly the product of work-related issues. We wish them all the best and want them to succeed. Out of respect, we will not publicly air the specifics about the performance issues that led to the departure & the termination."