Reso 2026-021 Discipline - Councilmember Aguilar

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15 also compiled a long list of her priorities. Bowen recounted that during the Planning Meeting, Aguilar repeatedly exclaimed that he felt “bombarded,” “blindsided” or “offended” by Bowen in what she perceived as a personalized attack and gaslighting. At least three times he questioned why Bowen’s proposed priorities were the only ones that appeared on the agenda for the planning meeting. Simon chimed in to ask why his proposed priorities were not included. By so doing, Bowen claims that Aguilar and Simon created a false narrative that Bowen was attempting to “bombard” them with her proposals and implying that she was somehow depriving them of an opportunity to present their own ideas for consideration by the City Council. Bowen alleges that Simon and Aguilar falsely accused Robustelli of not properly preparing them for the Planning Meeting. Bowen claimed, “I was targeted at the meeting and left shaken by the experience. I followed the outlined process, did my homework, and showed up prepared to contribute in a meaningful way. Both Aguilar and Simon had a very difficult time accepting this fact and devalued my effort and ideas. Aguilar continued to repeat these claims at a subsequent meeting.” According to Bowen, the Mayor, who maintains control over the meeting, allowed Aguilar and Simon to continue complaining about Bowen’s priorities taking precedence over that of other City Council Members, even though the City Manager had previously met with each Council Member individually to explain the process and to reiterate the need to submit their priorities before the planning meeting so that their proposed priorities could be placed on the agenda and discussed at the annual planning meeting. Instead of complying with the deadline for submission of their own “referrals” or priorities, Aguilar lambasted her, while Simon created a false impression that he had submitted a list of priorities that had been omitted in favor of Bowen’s list of priorities. Bowen claims that Aguilar’s inflammatory language and Simon’s implication that only her priorities were being considered resulted in her feeling bullied and scapegoated by both Simon and Aguilar. Bowen recounted that the entire audience, including staff, were shocked by Aguilar and Simon’s behavior. Bowen recounted that Aguilar called her after this meeting and said he could tell she was upset. Bowen told him that she felt attacked by him when he claimed he was “bombarded” by her and asked him not to do this to her ever again. Despite this admonition, she claims that a few weeks later, during the next Council Meeting, Aguilar repeated this pattern when he stated once again that Bowen had blindsided him when her referrals (ideas) were placed on the agenda, implying that she had somehow deliberately orchestrated this plan to deprive him of the opportunity to present his proposals for consideration and a vote by the Council. She claims that because the Mayor did not allow her to fully respond to these baseless accusations, she could only state in response, “I did not blindside you; I did not bombard you. It’s not true; you have a problem that the spotlight was on someone else and [that] I had a voice.” 1. The Audio Recording of the Meeting Confirms That Aguilar’s Engaged in Abusive Conduct Towards Bowen, And Simon’s Comments Derailed the City Council’s Consideration and Vote on Bowen’s Priorities An examination of the audible portions of the recording of the meeting revealed that Aguilar engaged in personalized, demeaning comments that undermined Bowen’s work product and performance, which a reasonable woman would likely find hostile, offensive, and that is unrelated to the City’s legitimate business interests sufficient to constitute an abusive and hostile environment.11 Specifically, his repeated and unwarranted comments about being “bombarded” and “blindsided” by Bowen were inappropriate criticisms of her work sufficient to constitute abusive conduct. 11 There is no video recording of the April 24, 2025, Planning Meeting -- only an audio recording is available for public access. Portions of the discussion are inaudible, so it is impossible to discern at times which Council Member is speaking and what they are saying. For this reason, witness accounts of what transpired at the meeting were relied upon in making these findings. Exhibit A Resolution No. 2026-021 Page 15