Reso 2026-021 Discipline - Councilmember Aguilar

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17 priorities for the coming year. Gonzalez stated that he will allow each Council Member to advocate for their top two items. Simon then made a statement that was largely inaudible in the audio recording: “Uncomfortable with…” Therefore, it is unclear what he said that set off Bowen to state that she felt gaslighted by Simon and Aguilar. Simon did not engage in direct attacks against Bowen, but his statements unnecessarily distracted and diverted attention to his proposed priorities, which he claimed he submitted in prior years but clearly failed to timely submit before this meeting took place. Witness accounts of the Annual Planning Meeting support Bowen’s claim that she was subjected to bullying and gaslighting by Aguilar, and that Simon’s remarks derailed the meeting, and prevented voting on Bowen’s submitted priorities. Former City Council Members Reynes, Cox, and Cutter observed that Aguilar had disparaged Bowen for simply doing her job and proposing priorities for the City Council’s consideration as instructed by the City Manager. Cox, who observed the meeting, recalls that Simon and Aguilar “made a big stink about Bowen’s agenda items taking precedence” over theirs. Cox recalls that Bowen was “horrified about their behavior” and shared her concerns with Cox. Based on this and other incidents, these former City Council Members believe that Aguilar has engaged in a clear pattern of disrespectful and abusive conduct, and gender bias against Bowen and other women. Ballew recalls that ironically, three hours before the Planning Meeting, the City Council Members had agreed to protocols on respectful communications and then afterwards, during that Planning Meeting, Aguilar engaged in a mean spirited personalized attack of Bowen by claiming he was “blindsided” by her proposals and stating that he was not going to bombard staff with 30 proposals of his own, implying that Bowen purposefully did this to make him look bad. Ballew observed that Bowen is always prepared for meetings and is a good communicator, and Aguilar undermined and targeted her personally for doing her job. Ballew recalls that afterwards, Aguilar apologized to Bowen and claimed that it was not meant as a personal attack, but his behavior was clearly disrespectful and unwarranted. Azevedo recalls Aguilar’s agitated state and having to tell Aguilar to “calm down and stop mentioning Bowen.” Azevedo acknowledges that each Council Member needs to do their homework and submit their proposed priorities in a timely manner, which Aguilar clearly failed to do, so he “was taking it out on Bowen.” Azevedo had previously submitted his ideas last year and thought that the prior year’s list would be incorporated into the current year’s list, so he too was upset to see that they were not. Viveros-Walton recalls that before the Planning Meeting, Bowen submitted a long list of referrals in compliance with the process established by the City Manager, and that Aguilar used abusive language to attack Bowen, by claiming to be “blindsided” and “bombarded” when it was clear that they were denigrating Bowen for her hard work in compiling her list of priorities. Initially, Viveros-Walton perceived their reaction as covering up for their own lack of preparation for the meeting, but in hindsight, she now views this as bullying of Bowen since their antagonistic behavior was unwarranted. Viveros-Walton and former City Council Member Reynes have never witnessed Simon or Aguilar treat former Council Member Ballew in a similarly abusive or disrespectful manner as they mistreated Bowen, who is more closely aligned with their progressive positions on political issues. Former City Council Member Ballew described himself as the most conservative member of the City Council so naturally, he disagreed with Aguilar on a lot of issues, but Aguilar did not demean, disrespect or undermine him in the manner he observed how he treated women. Ballew described Aguilar and Simon’s behavior as disrespectful towards women. Reynes and Robustelli believe that both Simon and Aguilar are threatened by smart women and have engaged in a clear pattern of gender bias. Exhibit A Resolution No. 2026-021 Page 17