Reso 2026-021 Discipline - Councilmember Aguilar

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23 any disciplinary action taken against her, Simon’s characterization of these emails appeared to be another attempt to disqualify Cameron from being promoted to City Manager. Like Aguilar, Simon claimed that he had heard that Cameron had mishandled an interview with a Spanish television reporter — that she had been unprofessional, but he admits that he did not know that she was merely following instructions by her supervisor at the time, City Manager Robustelli, who instructed Cameron not to speak to reporters on behalf the City. Simon is aware that the City has a Public Information Officer through whom all media inquiries should be referred, but he does not know who holds that position. Ultimately, Simon’s justifications for not supporting Cameron’s appointment to City Manager were not credible. He failed to present any legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for pushing the City Council to consider selecting a less qualified male employee over Cameron, a highly qualified female employee who had the support of nearly all City department managers as recounted by Gonzalez. During Deborah Cox’s tenure on the City Council, the City hired three City Managers. She recalls that despite qualified female applicants for the position, Simon advocated hiring a young African American male candidate who did not seem to know how to tackle the pressing issue of homelessness. According to Cox, Simon and Aguilar were opposed to hiring Robustelli, but they did not provide a legitimate reason why they preferred a male candidate who was less experienced and qualified than Robustelli. She cited these as examples of Simon’s gender bias against qualified women in positions of authority. Ultimately, the City Council voted for Cameron to be selected as the City Manager and she was not deprived of this employment opportunity. However, the foregoing witnesses’ accounts support a finding that Simon and Aguilar were likely influenced by gender bias in their support of a less qualified male employee who was not interested in the position. I. Former and Current City Council Members Contend That Simon Supported the Selection of a Less Qualified Male Candidate Over Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton as City Councilmember and Aguilar Supported a Less Qualified Female Candidate Who Would Not Likely Challenge Him Bowen claims that Simon supported a less qualified male candidate (out of a total of 18 applications) over Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton to replace Celina Reynes on the City Council after she resigned. Bowen recounted that during the February 13, 2024, Council Meeting, “Simon would only support less qualified men,” and he refused to acknowledge that Viveros-Walton was qualified for the role despite her relevant experience in public and community service. Ballew believed that the only candidate who answered all questions from the City Council Members was Viveros-Walton, who “could hit the ground running.” Robustelli believes that Simon ignored the superior qualifications of two of the female candidates, Viveros-Walton and Pcyeta Stroud. Simon nominated David Anderson, with whom he served on the Senior Commission for two years. Simon described Anderson as having “life experience,” is smart, and “stands up to issues.” Although Simon could not recall whether he reviewed the description of the City Council member’s duties and qualifications, he claims that Anderson was qualified for the position because Anderson had experience balancing budgets and dealing with community issues, which he believes is relevant to the Council Member’s responsibilities. When queried about the factors he considered when determining whether someone was qualified for the Council Member position, he stated the candidate must care about the community and presumably Anderson has demonstrated this because of his public service background. Simon stated that he could not “speak to the relative qualifications” of the other candidates, and he was “not saying that Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton was not qualified, but [he] just thought Anderson was more qualified.” Viveros-Walton recalls that in advocating for the selection of David Anderson, Simon underscored the value of “life experiences” and stated something along the lines of “smart people got us here,” as if to imply that intellectually inclined Exhibit A Resolution No. 2026-021 Page 23