Lawsuit accuses Solano Supervisor of ethics violations

Solano County Supervisor Mitch Mashburn is accused of violating the California Political Reform Act, the Brown Act and other provisions of the Government Code, in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed last week in the U.S. District Courth for the Eastern District of California by his former District Representative Amy Sharp.

"Supervisor Mashburn repeatedly, and illegally, tied fundraising for his political campaigns to his votes on key policy issues and projects before the Solano County Board of Supervisors," the lawsuit alleges. "Specifically, Supervisor Mashburn intentionally delayed, and even prohibited, scheduling meetings with applicants for County projects who had not contributed, or, in Supervisor Mashburn's opinion, had not contributed satisfactorily to, his reelection campaign. Additionally, Supervisor Mashburn intentionally stalled projects whose proponents had not, in his mind, sufficiently supported his 2024 reelection campaign."

A process server served Mashburn with the lawsuit at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors Meeting during public comment.

Sharp filed a complaint for damages last Friday, alleging that Mashburn wrongfully terminated her, violated her First and Fourteenth Amendment Rights and violated the California Labor Code. The suit alleges that Mashburn violated Sharp's "right of intimate association and right to free speech, and in retaliation for actual and anticipated protected whistleblower activity."

The lawsuit also alleges that Mashburn withheld critical information from other members of the Board of Supervisors while serving as Board Chairman.

"Such withholding of information from fellow board members was for Supervisor Mashburn's own personal benefit and/or for the benefit of his political supporters and donors," the lawsuit reads. "Such withholding of information created, on numerous occasions, a situation in which it was impossible for at least two duly-elected board members to make informed decisions concerning County business, a violation of the Brown Act."

Asked by The Reporter, Sharp said the two supervisors whom she knew Mashburn to have withheld information from while Chair were Cassandra James and Wanda Williams.

The lawsuit directly names Solano County as a defendant, as well as Dannette Mercado, a District Representative currently working for Mashburn's office and a former employee of the Solano County Sheriff-Coroner's Office. Anonymous defendants numbered 1-20 are also included in the complaint, as Sharp claims their names remain unknown to her.

"Plaintiff will amend this complaint to set forth the true names and capacities of these Fictitious Defendants when they are ascertained," the complaint reads. "On information and belief, Plaintiff alleges that each of the Fictitious Defendants participated in the acts alleged in this complaint to have been done by the named defendants."

The complaint also claims that Mashburn and Mercado engaged in campaign-related activities using county computers, in county buildings and on county time. Mashburn also allegedly had Mercado complete mandatory ethics and harassment trainings for him, which would call into question his legal standing to serve on numerous regional boards and commissions that require those trainings.

"In one instance, while holding a meeting with a constituent inside his supervisorial office regarding said constituent's project, Supervisor Mashburn requested that the constituent post his political campaign signs on the constituent's property," the complaint claims.

Mashburn also allegedly granted Mercado access to Sharp's personnel records and timecards and allowed Mercado to approve timecards for Sharp and herself. Mercado works as a private investigation firm, according to the complaint, and conducted a background investigation on one of Mashburn's children's teachers at his direction on county time while in his office.

"Furthermore, Supervisor Mashburn's well-observed, and apparently inappropriate relationship with another employee severely and negatively impacted his ability to perform the functions of his elected and appointed positions," the complaint reads.

Sharp also alleged that Mashburn engaged in "threatening and intimidating behavior" in order to get his way for more than four years.

"For example, Supervisor Mashburn would make promises to county staff about future promotions, only to then mock those same employees behind closed doors," the complaint reads. "Supervisor Mashburn would refer to female county employees and elected officials as ‘trouble' rather than learning their names, and he would degrade female County Supervisors as ‘less- than' his male colleagues."

Additionally, Sharp alleged that Mashburn and Mercado admitted to her that they misappropriated jail resources and would mistreat inmates at the county jail while employed with the Solano County Sheriff-Coroner.

"During Plaintiff's employment, Supervisor Mashburn and Ms. Mercado displayed the booking photos of former inmates in their county office spaces and ritualistically mocked those individuals, including on protected characteristics such as physical and mental health diagnoses," the complaint reads.

Sharp claimed she began researching whistleblower protections in late April and early May of 2025 on a county-issued computer, which should still hold records of those searches. She scheduled a meeting with Mashburn on May 16 last year to discuss her concerns.

"However, during the May 16th meeting, Supervisor Mashburn shifted the focus of the meeting's intended purpose and told Plaintiff that there is a ‘rumor in the building that (Plaintiff's husband Daniel Sharp) is working for California Forever or Flannery," according to the complaint.

Daniel Sharp, a political and public affairs consultant, served as lead negotiator on a construction labor agreement between California Forever and Northern California Carpenters and Napa Solano Building Trades Council. Amy Sharp informed Mashburn of this, the lawsuit claims and he said that if Sharp's husband were working for California Forever, she would need to quit her role in his office.

"Supervisor Mashburn also threatened that if Mr. Sharp began working for California Forever, he would ‘burn you both, and you'll never get another project through the county,'" the complaint reads.

In a statement released Tuesday, Sharp said she felt a duty to call out an elected official abusing the public trust, and anticipated that the lawsuit would uncover much more about his misconduct as a Supervisor and with the Solano County Sheriff's Office.

"When I confronted Mr. Mashburn about this conduct, I was terminated under false pretenses. And when I repeatedly asked the county to investigate, it refused to do so," Sharp wrote. "Throughout my life, I have known many public officials and peace officers whom I admire, respect, and trust; Supervisor Mashburn is not one of those people."

Sharp said she hopes that her lawsuit will give others the resolve to seek justice against public officials violating the public trust. She said she does not know of any other Government Claims Act cases received by the county regarding Mashburn, but said she looks forward to proving her claims before a jury of her peers.

"Based on my knowledge alone, his behavior leading up to his 2024 re-election campaign and since then makes him no longer fit to hold public office," she wrote.

A civil lawsuit presents only one side of a dispute. Mashburn, Mercado and the Solano County Counsel's office did not respond to requests for comment ahead of this article's print deadline.

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