Controversial Tracy City Attorney Bijal Patel at the Center of Another Lawsuit Filed Against the City

22 May 2024

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THE LATEST LAWSUIT FILED BY LOCAL ATTORNEY STEVE NICOLAOU IS THE THIRD BASED ON BIJAL PATEL’S MISDEEDS


In normal cities, the role of the city attorney is to keep the city out of legal trouble, not create it.   Tracy, as we know, is not your normal city.   As reported by the Tracy Press , local attorney Steve Nicolaou is standing-up for Tracy taxpayers and voters by challenging the 8.9% retroactive pay raise given to Bijal Patel by Councilmembers Davis, Bedolla, and Evans.   The retroactive pay raise made Patel one of the Central Valley’s highest paid city administrators with an annual salary of $279,807 with benefits. To put this into context, Tracy a city of 97,000 people pays its city attorney $279,000 while Los Angeles, a city of 3.9 million people, pays its city attorney $299,000! (The average salary of a city attorney in California is ~$187,000.)   All three councilmembers made the inconceivable statements that they would have given Patel an even higher pay raise if they had the budget.

Why Councilmembers Davis, Bedolla, and Evans rewarded Patel with a pay raise after getting her license suspended by the State Bar last July is suspect and reveals a lack of character and good judgement by the three electeds.


Talk about “rewarding bad behavior!”   Let us be blunt: Davis, Bedolla and Evans awarded Patel an 8.9 percent merit salary increase retroactively for the month she was ineligible to practice law.   Patel’s license suspension last July by the State Bar of California is the focus of the second lawsuit filed against the city. That lawsuit focuses on Patel’s suspension violating her employment agreement with the city (something this publication has argued extensively here and here ).   Once again, Councilmembers Davis, Bedolla, and Evans shielded Patel and her “slight oversight” in renewing her law license.

The fact that Patel violated her contract with the city is bad enough, but for the three councilmembers to overlook Patel’s carelessness and unprofessionalism for someone in her position is unforgivable. To give her an 8.9 percent merit salary increase for this misbehavior is astonishing and shocking.   Davis, Bedolla, and Evans are the same three who ran off former City Manager Michael Rogers because he didn’t return their emails in a timely manner and felt he was too close to Mayor Nancy Young.

The dependence on and protection of Bijal Patel by Councilmembers Davis, Bedolla, and Evans is a dangerous precedent for Tracy residents. The apparent collusion between the four is even more alarming. 

One just has to watch a Tracy City Council meeting to attest to the reliance the three councilmembers have with Patel.   Eleassia Davis and Mateo Bedolla often speak directly to Patel during meetings, particularly if the item is controversial on any level, as if they need her positive reinforcement that what they’re saying meets her approval.   She’s a safety net for the three who are clearly in over their heads.

In an election year, Tracy voters will need to decide if they want to elect real leaders or to keep Patel’s flock in power and continue to accept the controversies and lawsuits that go with it. 

And for those keeping track, the third lawsuit involves the land dispute the City Attorney started between local developer Surland Companies.   Patel has gone to war with Tracy’s local developers and businesses with the support of Eleassia Davis and Dan Evans, creating the worst business environment Tracy has experienced in decades.

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