SAN LEANDRO — An Alameda County lawsuit filed by former San Leandro City Manager Fran Robustelli accuses City Councilmember Victor Aguilar and Bryan Azevedo of receiving overtures from federally indicted Oakland businessmen David and Andy Duong to declare a state of emergency on homelessness to avoid stringent purchasing rules for tiny homes.
Though the FBI raided Azevedo’s home in January as part of a corruption probe into East Bay officials, Robustelli’s lawsuit is the first time that Aguilar has been specifically accused of communicating with the Duongs and circumventing the city manager’s authority to advance a policy that could have enriched the Duongs with a lucrative city contract.
Among other accusations in the lawsuit, Robustelli alleges that Aguilar, Azevedo and councilmember Fred Simon engaged in retaliatory harassment to portray her as “incompetent” because she refused to do the councilmembers’ bidding, according to the lawsuit.
“(Robustelli) is informed and believes that the Declaration was proposed to promote the development of ‘tiny homes’ projects in the City… because the Declaration allowed the City Manager to bypass the City’s normally required purchasing procedures,” Robustelli alleged in the lawsuit filed on June 13, 2025. “(T)heir actions were in retaliation for her refusal to condone unethical behaviors or support individual demands by these councilmembers she viewed as unethical, improper and/or unlawful.”
The lawsuit comes as the FBI prosecutes ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, her romantic partner Andre Jones and the Duongs for bribery as part of a scheme to secure political victory for Thao in the 2024 mayoral election, which would enable her to influence lucrative city contracts for numerous Duong-owned companies. They have all pleaded not guilty.
Robustelli worked for the city of San Leandro between 2021 and 2024. She declined to speak with Bay Area News Group, citing her attorney’s advice.
In a statement provided on behalf of the city of San Leandro, Mayor Juan González wrote, “While we cannot comment on the specifics of pending litigation, I want to reaffirm our commitment to transparency, accountability, and the continued service to our community.”
In 2023, Azevedo and Aguilar allegedly invited Robustelli and other city staff to tour the showroom of Evolutionary Homes, an affordable housing company owned by the Duongs. Robustelli said she told the council members that the city did not have the “funding nor the land for a ‘tiny homes’ project, according to the lawsuit. In her view, the city’s homelessness was limited; certainly smaller than that of other Bay Area cities. The city had also received $9 million in funds from the state’s Project Homekey to renovate a motel to be a shelter for homeless people in March 2023. Yet Azevedo and Aguilar continued to push Robustelli to declare an emergency.
The FBI’s investigation has sought information on the proposed state of emergency on homelessness — which was already declared in Oakland — as a key avenue that the Duongs had attempted to use in San Leandro to procure a city contract, according to FBI prosecutors. In exchange for the Duongs paying for a $75,000 negative mailer campaign against her opponent, then-Mayor Sheng Taho would allegedly use her influence to push the city to enter a lucrative $90 million contract for 300 tiny homes with Evolutionary Homes, an extension to the city’s waste contract with California Waste Solutions and a $95,000 “no-show” job for her romantic partner Andre Jones.
In October 2023, while Robustelli was out sick with COVID-19, Aguilar allegedly approached the assistant city manager, Janelle Cameron, regarding an “urgent item” that needed to be placed on the council’s Oct. 16, 2023 agenda, according to the court filing. The item sought to declare a state of emergency on homelessness by the city council, which could streamline housing development in the city. But Robustelli strongly opposed the emergency declaration because there was no “emergency,” according to Robustelli’s court filing.
“Ms. Robustelli later learned, in or around 2024, that Councilmembers Azevedo and Aguilar were being pressured by the Evolutionary Homes vendor,” the lawsuit states. “Azeveodo and Aguilar were vocal about their unhappiness with (Robustelli’s) opposition to the Evolutionary Homes proposal and the related Declaration.”
Robustelli alleges that her opposition to Azevedo and Aguilar caused them to join Councilmember Fred Simon’s effort to “harass and intimidate her,” according to the court filing. Simon had separate qualms with Robustelli, notably for travel reimbursement claims that were ineligible for a city-paid refund. These included a non-ity trip to Chicago and a desert water agency in Palm Springs. Robustelli flagged these transactions to the council, and the members agreed that it was an “abuse of public funds.”
In June 2024, “Councilmember Simon sent an email to Ms. Robustelli instructing the City to install a bench and plaque at the San Leandro marina in honor of his late father. Ms. Robustelli objected because the requested installation would be a misappropriation of City funds,” according to the lawsuit. “As these events unfolded, Aguilar and Simon became increasingly hostile and irrational toward Robustelli in an effort to cast doubt on her work and her leadership skills.”
These actions and “repeated personal attacks” caused Robustelli heightened stress and fear that she would be terminated for alleged “poor performance” in her duties as city manager. On June 21, 2024, Robustelli resigned as the city manager of San Leandro. She began as city manager for St. Pete’s Beach in Florida in July 2024. But Robustelli’s business on the West Coast isn’t over.
“Based on what she had witnessed and experienced, she concluded the retaliation and harassment would not stop,” according to the lawsuit. “The City, through unchecked actions by Councilmembers Aguilar and Simon, assisted by Mr. Azevedo… retaliating against Ms. Robustelli for refusing to surrender her authority and/or abandon her duties under the City Charter.”
Robustelli filed a government claim alleging whistleblower retaliation and gender discrimination against the city on Dec. 19, 2024. San Leandro never responded to Robustelli’s claim, according to the lawsuit.