Reso 2026-021 Discipline - Councilmember Aguilar

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8 Councilmember and Aguilar supported a female candidate who likely would not challenge his authority, reflecting gender bias. Although Bowen contends that Simon has undermined Public Works Director Sheila Marquises, who takes issue with how Simon and Aguilar have addressed staff, Marquises is not certain that their behavior is driven by gender bias per se. D. Simon’s Claim of Race Discrimination and Aguilar’s Claim that Bowen’s Complaint Was Motivated by Retaliation Are Both Without Merit. Simon’s claim that Bowen’s complaint and his censure by the City Council are the result of race discrimination is without merit. The same Council Members that Simon alleges to have engaged in race discrimination against him (including Bowen, Gonzalez, and Viveros-Walton) have supported the hiring of Cameron and other African American employees whose hiring Simon opposed. Witnesses recounted that Simon had previously claimed that he has been denied opportunities due to race discrimination — like the recent decision by the Mayor to allow Bowen to replace him on the Alameda Stop Waste Board, a position he has held for a number of years. His only evidence in support of his race discrimination claim in this instance is that he is currently the only Black member of the City Council. Aguilar claimed that Bowen raised her complaint in retaliation for his objection to the City’s funding of an event held at the public library years ago, before Bowen joined the City Council and when she was on the Arts, Culture, and Library Commission, while running a non- profit organization that received a $5,000 grant from the City for an event at the Library sponsored by her non-profit organization. However, when queried about the evidence to support his claim, he admitted that apart from Bowen filing a complaint against him, he did not have any evidence to support his claim. Bowen’s complaint about Aguilar’s personalized attacks and efforts to undermine her and other women do not appear to be driven by retaliation simply because of this incident years ago — before she joined the City Council. Ultimately, Simon’s and Aguilar’s contentions that they are the victims of Bowen’s alleged race discrimination and retaliation respectively, amount to avoidance of accountability for their own actions and decisions as examined in this investigation. IV. ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE AND SUMMARY OF FINDINGS A. Aguilar’s Contention That Bowen’s Complaint is Driven by Retaliation Is Not Substantiated Aguilar recounted that when Bowen was serving on the Arts, Culture, and Library Commission, Bowen also headed a non-profit, Community Impact Labs, which received a $5,000 grant from the City that was earmarked for a Family Day event at the Library sponsored by her non-profit organization. Aguilar raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest with the City Attorney about Bowen’s dual role as a Library Commissioner and Executive Director of an organization that received funds for an event to be held at the library. As a result of his intervention, Community Impact Labs ultimately returned the funds to the City after the event took place. He claims that he tried to discuss this with Bowen afterwards, but she shrugged it off and then resigned from the Arts, Culture, and Library Commission. Aguilar believes that Bowen’s complaint about him is driven by retaliation based on this prior episode, which occurred a number of years ago and before Bowen became a City Council Member.6 However, when queried about the evidence to support his claim, he admitted that apart from Bowen filing a complaint against him, he did not have any evidence to support his claim. However, Bowen’s claims based on Aguilar’s personalized attacks and efforts to 6 Neither Aguilar nor Bowen provided a specific date for this incident, but both confirmed it occurred a few years ago and before Bowen ran for City Council. Exhibit A Resolution No. 2026-021 Page 8