SAN CLEMENTE — Anthony Rubolino, a resident who said his character was tarnished by a City Councilwoman after he spoke during public comments at City Hall using a holstered machete as a prop, is asking she be removed from all public committees and not be involved in appointing a fifth member to the City Council.

On May 21, Rubolino told the City Council that Councilwoman Kathy Ward “appeared to use her political position via a formal police report to intimidate a private citizen.”

“I urge the council to consider Kathy Ward having to recuse her vote for an appointment to fill the vacant City Council seat,” he said. “I also urge the council to consider a censure to express formal disapproval of her actions and to immediately remove her from any and all appointments, committees, or positions, to further prohibit any additional damage from occurring.”

In an email, Ward said late Tuesday, “It is surprising that someone who brought a weapon into a city council meeting would publicly announce he had been reprimanded by the sheriff for breaking the law. My report to the sheriff was confidential, and on that I have no comment.”

Rubolino, speaking during the public comments section of the May 21 council meeting, recalled a March 6, 2018 meeting in which he appeared in the council chambers with a holstered machete to illustrate an incident involving a homeless man at North Beach.

“The riverbed was cleared of the encampments in early 2018 which resulted in many individuals being given motel vouchers in San Clemente,” he said. “Suddenly, the town had multiple unknown faces of varying states of mental states wandering town. One such individual had a machete holstered at his side and was seen openly drinking hard liquor at North Beach, walking the pier smelling of feces and urine per an eyewitness, and one family reported seeing him sitting curbside at 7-11 sharpening his machete so they didn’t even get out of their car.”

Rubolino said he brought a holstered machete to the council meeting to illustrate his concern about what was happening in town. Following the incident, Rubolino was given a verbal warning by Lt. Mike Peters, then police chief for San Clemente.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s police report on the incident, Peters told Rubolino that carrying a machete into a public building was a violation of the criminal code and “per spirit of the law, Rubolino was not cited.”

On Jan. 11, 2019, Ward filed a report at the San Clemente police station about the incident. In the OCSD report, Ward said she continued to feel uneasy about Rubolino, who she said “frequents City Council meetings.”

Ward referenced the 2018 incident in the police report. She also stated that on Dec. 4, 2018, Rubolino spoke for three minutes during public comments and mentioned the machete again. In the police report, deputies confirmed that Rubolino did not have the machete with him on this occasion.

“Kathleen said that she had been thinking about the machete Anthony brought into the city council meeting and that she was getting a physical ‘reaction’ from it,” the OCSD report states. Ward told police she wanted to document it in case of further incidents.

Ward also told police Rubolino had mentioned her in social media posts on Facebook which were causing her concern.

Rubolino said he brought the incident to the attention of the City Council on May 21 because, he said, Ward continues to display behavior not suitable for someone sitting on the city’s dais. “I cannot see how Kathy Ward can continue to fulfill her role as a council member,” he told the council.

Among other incidents, Rubilno said Ward labeled the city’s police force as “wussies” when it came to addressing the city’s homeless situation, in a written statement via a private email to KFI-AM’s “John and Ken Show.”

“Our council cares very much about the situation. It wasn’t until the sheriff’s wussed out on us that our programs stopped working. Homeless in our city are contacted and offered services,” Ward wrote in an email delivered at 12:53 a.m. March 21.