Alameda city councilmember denies being drunk in video outside Long Beach bar

ALAMEDA, Calif. (KRON) – An East Bay council member was seen possibly heavily intoxicated on police body camera footage. Officers say she was refusing to answer questions or receive help from them when they found her outside a bar in Long Beach.

Now, her fellow council members are looking to reprimand her.

Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer is running for re-election, but this latest development has people pointing fingers – including Councilmember Spencer herself – who says she wasn’t drunk, but the target of a crime.

Spencer was seen lying outside a bar in Long Beach surrounded by police officers earlier in October. Her name tag was still around her neck, as she was attending the League of California Cities convention that weekend.

That’s where police say they found the councilmember after responding to reports of an intoxicated woman. They say when they found her, she refused to get off the ground and also refused to answer their questions.

The bodycam footage obtained by KRON4 shows her being taken away to a local hospital. This has led to calls by city council that she should be admonished.

The council is set to take a vote next week to do just that, arguing she broke the city charter’s code of conduct that night.

Supporters of the council member said Thursday night they want to see more details. 

“If that's true, you know, that's not her whole life. She’s still a person, if they want to make a move to get her ousted,” one Alameda resident who wanted to remain anonymous said.

KRON4 emailed Councilmember Spencer to her city council email. A private citizen claiming to be Spencer’s friend emailed us back from a Gmail account saying the following:

“The videos showing Trish at the scene of the incident and at the ER do not provide any consistent evidence of intoxication. They are just as consistent with a concussion and other injuries which would produce shock.”

The council member has denied she was intoxicated and claims she is the victim of an attack and had pieces of jewelry stolen.

KRON4 reached out to all members of the Alameda City Council today to chat about how they feel about the conduct supposedly shown in this body camera footage. None of them could talk on Thursday because of Halloween, but they made it known they are ready to talk about it and vote next week.