Petaluma Councilwoman Allegedly Served Recall Notice

Former Petaluma Council Candidate John Hanania claimed to serve Petaluma Councilwoman Janice Cader Thompson with a recall notice, for her poor behavior as an elected representative

Yesterday, former Petaluma Council Candidate John Hanania posted to Nextdoor: Good evening Petaluma, Janice Cader Thompson was served recall papers tonight at 9.35 pm Eric Danly tried to prevent me from serving her papers. He escorted her out to her car, I have the whole thing on video.

I reached out to Mr. Hanania to request further documentation and a copy of the video, but have not yet received a response.

Petaluma Councilwoman Janice Cader Thompson has remained in the spotlight for recurring, outlandish shenanigans.

Petaluma Police, local constituents, and even fellow Council colleagues have vocally expressed their dismay.

---

On April 22, 2025 a recall petition was created, and currently has 559 verified signatures.

Councilwoman Cader Thompson has verbally attacked Councilman Alex DeCarli due to opposing views on agenda items.

The incident was captured on video:

---

Cader Thompson was seen in another video harassing local business owner for not supporting her preferred candidates who want to change Petaluma's Historic Downtown zoning to allow high-rises with no parking.

---

Per CounterPunch:

In April 2024, Petaluma Residents claimed Cader Thompson privately lobbied her colleagues on the council against supporting a ceasefire resolution — apparently in violation of California’s Brown Act which prohibits non-public discussion of such matters by councilors.

On November 28, on behalf of the city council, Cader Thomson presented a proclamation at Sonoma State University honoring the 40^th anniversary of the Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series. “The City of Petaluma joins communities across our nation in raising awareness about the importance of Holocaust and Genocide education,” it proclaimed. Of note, that organization studies genocidal violence in Rwanda, Cambodia, and Bosnia, but not Palestine. Also of note, as the existence of the proclamation reveals, the council weighs in on moral and international issues outside its legislative authority.

On November 30, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area (JCRC Bay Area) emailed an “Action Alert” to Cader Thompson (“Dear Janice,” it began), which she forwarded to Pocekay. According to the paranoic Alert, “On Monday, over 30 million people witnessed the unprecedented chaos that took place as the Oakland City Council considered a resolution about the Israel Hamas War. The meeting featured over five hours of public comment plagued by antisemitic jeering, the perpetuation of conspiracies, and a general lack of decorum. And now, San Francisco’s Supervisor Dean Preston is working with the same antisemitic groups to introduce a similar resolution of the Board of Supervisors meeting next Tuesday.”

The Action Alert advised Cader Thompson that governmental bodies considering the ceasefire issue must, “Condemn the October 7th massacre, call for the immediate release of all hostages in Gaza, acknowledged that Hamas is an impediment to any sustained ceasefire, and support on-the-ground efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians closer to a shared future of coexistence and prosperity.” The Alert did not specify how such a rosy future might emerge from a pulverized Gaza and the illegal Israeli settlements of the Occupied Territory of the West Bank.

California’s Brown Act prohibits a quorum of legislators from discussing city business outside a duly noticed public meeting. That means that four or more Petaluma city councilors are not allowed to serially email or in any way communicate about ongoing or possible agenda items. Public records show that Cader Thompson repeatedly emailed all of the council members individually and collectively (creating a quorum) on matters relevant to the ceasefire resolution, which she strongly opposed.

On January 19, Cader Thompson emailed the entire council a link to a column by The New York Times’ Bret Stephens, headlined “The Genocide Charge Against Israel is a Moral Obscenity.” The headline adequately describes Stephen’s Islamophobic stance.

On January 23, Cader Thompson emailed another Bret Stephens column to council members. In it, Stephens stated, “If Hamas builds the entrances to those tunnels inside private homes, schools or hospitals, those places all become military targets. … Hamas bears the blame for every death in this war.”

During January, Cader Thompson continued to email a quorum of council members about the ceasefire resolution. The texts included,

-Theorizing that ceasefire proponents have a hidden agenda: “Defunding Israel? I always said first they want resolution, second defund Israel. Would may seem innocent, may not be [sic].”

-A link to a January 31 Bret Stephens column calling to, “Abolish the U.N.’s Palestinian Refugee Agency,” in which he falsely states that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is “infested with terrorists.”

-A link to a January 30 podcast by a notorious Islamophobe, Sam Harris, “5 Myths about Israel and the War on Gaza.” Cader Thompson wrote, “I’m asking the Council to please listen to the attached podcast. It gives a clear understanding of the complexity of the Middle East and Jihadist worldwide. For the city council to spend more time on a resolution on a very complex is irresponsible and dangerous [sic].”

The Harris podcast advocates for waging total war on the people of Gaza, “However horrific, even unthinkable, sometimes war is necessary … But there is no way of waging it without a massive loss of innocent life … But there are certain groups of people that have kicked themselves loose of the Earth—and they can’t be reasoned with or incentivized. And this is where the use of force becomes necessary. … There is simply no good way to fight an enemy of this kind. When you are fighting jihadists, your own scruples—the shame and horror you feel at killing noncombatants—become another weapon in their hands. Jihadists are very clever.”

According to an email exchange with Cader Thompson in late January, city councilor Karen Nau “warned” Petaluma police chief Brian Miller that ceasefire activists were planning to stage a protest at a local pro-gun control forum which congresspersons Huffman and Thomson were schedule to attend. “This group says they will be peaceful, but that might not include others who show up and want to be part of a loud protest,” Nau told Cader Thompson, who transmitted a separate warning about the event to Miller. Huffman and Thompson cancelled; the peace protest was, well, peaceful.

In an interview with this reporter on April 22, Shribbs said he had asked City Attorney Eric Danley if Cader Thompson’s serial emails about ceasefire issues were violating the Brown Act, as appeared to be the case to him. “Danley wouldn’t tell me if it was a direct violation or not,” Shribbs said. Danley subsequently told Counter Punch that he had found “no evidence of a prohibited serial meeting” in the Cader Thompson emails and replies because “the communications give no indication of a collective […] discussion by a quorum.” By way of clarification, the Brown Act prohibits a quorum to even “hear” about an actionable item from one of its members outside a public meeting. The Cader Thompson emails and replies by council members clearly document a serial platforming or hearing of her position on the ceasefire resolution to the full council.

Cader Thompson declined comment.

---

Related Articles