Dennis Evanosky

Lena Tam's supporters surround her on the city hall steps as the embattled councilwoman speaks to a reporter from the Chinese-language TV station, KTSF.

Councilwoman Lena Tam may lose her seat after being accused of official misconduct last week for allegedly leaking attorney-client-privileged and other confidential information via e-mail to developer SunCal and other parties against the city's interests.

Tam said the accusations are political payback for when Tam questioned Interim City Manager Ann Marie Gallant during an open session council meeting. Tam criticized Gallant's awarding of a "no-bid" financial advisory contract to contractors Gallant had worked with during her time as the city manager of Desert Hot Springs, Calif.

"It's very clear the allegations are politically motivated and are completely baseless," said Tam, who was elected in 2006 and is vying for re-election. "She alleges that I interfered with her ability to contract with different vendors. That's not the case. She does not like my asking the hard questions."

Last week Mayor Beverly Johnson and the city council, absent Tam, unanimously voted 4-0 to release a May investigatory report prepared by the city's outside counsel, Michael Colantuono, that detailed Tam's alleged wrongdoing. Gallant, who had gathered the evidence under city charter authorization, presented the report, which had been provided to the district attorney's office. Colantuono writes in the report that Tam's alleged misconduct warrants removal from office by a grand jury and possible criminal charges. A supplementary report containing further allegations was also released.

Tam has hired San Francisco attorney John Keker to represent her. Christa Anderson, a partner at Keker & Van Nest, said Tam's legal team will ask the district attorney to expedite review of the report and determine that the report is politically motivated and lacks legal merit.

"The allegations are a blatant political abuse of power by [Tam's] enemies and bureaucrats," Anderson said.

Gallant said she stands by the report and that the documents speak for themselves. Colantuono echoed her statement, calling Tam's accusations of political motivation unsurprising.

"It's not uncommon for someone whose hand is caught in the cookie jar to say that," he said. "I know Tam and her defenders don't question the authenticity of the e-mails. The e-mails speak for themselves."

The report includes several allegations of leaked attorney-client-privileged information, including a March e-mail Tam wrote to Johnson and City Attorney Teresa Highsmith and blind-carbon-copied to Councilwoman Marie Gilmore and SunCal Vice President Pat Keliher. In the message, Tam mentions legal advice Highsmith had given to the council in a closed session meeting.

Colantuono suggests elsewhere that Tam forwarded an attorney-client-privileged e-mail from Highsmith to SunCal representative Frank Faye through her personal e-mail address. In a declaration included with Colantuono's report, Gallant states Faye called her to discuss the e-mail and used the e-mail's language almost verbatim. When Gallant asked how he knew about the e-mail, Faye said he had discussed it with a third party. Tam had replied to Highsmith's e-mail saying she had been in contact with Faye and had spoken about issues Highsmith raised. Tam's reply, which included Highsmith's confidential information, also appeared to be forwarded to Keliher.

Since 2007, the city has had an exclusive negotiating agreement with SunCal regarding the development of Alameda Point. Next Tuesday, city council is scheduled to decide whether it will renew the agreement. Colantuono said Tam's leaks could harm negotiations and prevent the city from getting the best deal.

The report also claims other forms of misconduct, including several alleged violations of the Brown Act, a California open government law which states, among other provisions, that information from closed sessions cannot be released publicly without official authorization. The law also bars council members from communicating about council business outside of official meetings. The report alleges Tam blind-carbon-copied unauthorized parties and other councilmen on e-mails in furtive attempts to share confidential information and discuss and influence council matters with the whole council, respectively.

Tam vowed Monday to aggressively fight the allegations and continue her duties. At that time, city council had met only once since the allegations were released, and that was with the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority. During a closed session discussion, Tam said that Gallant along with the mayor and other city council members who comprise ARRA asked her to voluntarily recuse herself from acting in the matter, but she declined.

"I will not back down from the duties entrusted to me because of politically motivated actions of Ann Marie [Gallant]," Tam said. "I was not going to be intimidated."