Reso 2026-021 Discipline - Councilmember Aguilar

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7 rule did not require her selection, when it was the very reason why he was allowed to serve as Vice Mayor last year. Aguilar claimed that Bowen had missed a lot of meetings and was frequently tardy — contentions that were refuted by the meeting attendance records maintained by the City’s staff. Thus, by attempting to block her path to Vice Mayor and offering pretextual reasons for their decision, the evidence supports a finding that they have retaliated against Bowen. B. Aguilar Engaged in Abusive Conduct Towards Bowen, And Then Attempted to Besmirch Her Reputation After She Was Physically Violated by A Mutual Acquaintance Witness accounts and recordings of City Council Meetings reveal that Aguilar has engaged in a pattern of abusive conduct and undermined Bowen’s work. During the April 20, 2024, Annual Planning Meeting, Aguilar repeatedly claimed that he was being “bombarded” and “blindsided” by her, simply because she complied with the City Manager’s deadline and submitted her list of priorities on time, which resulted in her priorities being presented for consideration by the City Council. Simon also derailed the meeting by questioning why his priorities were not included when he evidently had not complied with the City Manager’s deadline. Ultimately, the audio recording of the meeting confirms that Aguilar engaged in personalized attacks of Bowen, and together with Simon, they derailed the Council’s consideration and vote on Bowen’s priorities. Bowen raised suspicions that Aguilar tried to set her up to be physically violated by a professional colleague at the National League of Cities Conference and then attempted to besmirch her reputation by telling people she was really intoxicated that night, implying that her behavior might have been a contributing factor. The incident prompted Bowen to file a police report against her assailant, which resulted in a charge of misdemeanor battery. When Bowen decided to address this incident at the end of a City Council Meeting, Aguilar immediately sought to change the subject and reminded everyone about the State of the City address and celebration, which Bowen believes is part of his unremitting pattern of undermining her. C. Simon and Aguilar Have Subjected Bowen, Female City Council Members, and A Female Employee to Differential Treatment Reflecting Gender Bias Simon and Aguilar have engaged in disrespectful and demeaning conduct towards Bowen and other women in positions of authority. Bowen, Viveros-Walton, Robustelli, Cutter, Cox, Reynes, Cameron, and Ballew revealed that Simon and Aguilar have exhibited disrespectful, demeaning, and dismissive behavior towards competent women in positions of authority. Both Cutter and Cox felt demoralized by Simon and Aguilar’s consistently disrespectful and dismissive treatment, and they noted their demeaning mistreatment of Bowen, providing corroboration for Bowen’s claims. Aguilar has scrutinized and undermined the City’s support and funding for Bowen’s participation in various programs over the years, but he has not scrutinized or objected to the City’s expenditure of funds for the travel expenses of Simon or other male City Council Members, which reveals a pattern of differential treatment of Bowen based on gender. Aguilar undermined the City’s sponsorship and funding of Bowen’s participation in various programs, but he did not object to the City’s reimbursement of Simon’s travel expenses, even those viewed as excessive and unnecessary by the former Mayor and former City Manager. Simon and Aguilar failed to present a legitimate non-discriminatory business reason for their support of a less qualified and less experienced male employee over Janelle Cameron who was universally perceived as qualified for the City Manager position, which supports a finding of gender bias. Bowen, Robustelli, Reynes, Cutter, and Cox recounted that Simon supported the selection of a less qualified male candidate over Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton as City Exhibit A Resolution No. 2026-021 Page 7