A Phoenix City Council subcommittee approved a policy Tuesday that would target sexual harassment and discrimination by elected officials.
District 8 Councilwoman Kate Gallego’s effort to establish a policy gained momentum as national conversation swirled around sexual harassment. It will go before the full Council for discussion with a potential vote next Tuesday, Feb. 27.
While there is currently an anti-harassment policy in place for city employees, there is no specific set of rules for elected officials, including City Council members. Gallego hopes to change that.
“It was important to me that the city of Phoenix address a gap in our harassment policy,” Gallego said in a written statement Feb. 15. “It is important that Phoenix is proactive on this issue of national importance and not reactive when harassment occurs.”
City staff researched other anti-harassment policies at public and private organizations, and developed a set of options for subcommittee members to consider.
At the meeting Tuesday, subcommittee members agreed upon some aspects of the proposed Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy:
- An official would face sanctions for conducting harassment or discriminating against any person based on “race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, marital status, gender, gender identity or expression, or disability.”
- The Council would hire an independent investigator to look into harassment claims.
- A lawmaker who violated the policy could be removed from office by Council vote. This sanction would require a charter amendment, which means voters would have to approve it.
- The policy would be a standalone regulation, outside of the existing separate ethics ordinance.
- Complaints against an elected official would be valid going back to that person’s first day campaigning for office for the contiguous term.
- Officials, board members and volunteers would not be able to “retaliate against any person who makes a complaint of discrimination or participates in the investigation.”
Chair of the Phoenix Women’s Commission Jodi Liggett expressed her organization’s support of the effort, recalling her personal experiences with sexual harassment in city government.
“I’ve worked with elected officials in a variety of settings, from the AG’s office to being staff at the legislature, working in a governor’s office, and here at the City of Phoenix in the mayor’s office,” Liggert said. “I’m actually sorry to say, in every single one of those settings I either personally experienced harassment or witnessed it directly.”
CEO of the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Allie Bones emphasized the importance of the anti-retaliation aspect of the policy.
“Obviously if you feel like you are somehow going to be demoted, or lose your job, or have any kind of actions taken against you for bringing forward, even just an allegation, you are not going to bring that forward,” Bones said.
District 2 Councilman Jim Waring voiced his support for the policy, but raised questions about specifics, including whether someone accused of sexual harassment would be able to refuse to meet with their accuser in a work environment, e.g. a routine meeting between a Council member and department head.
The law department would, in such cases, work with the city manager’s office to “develop a protocol,” said Chief Assistant City Attorney Dan Brown.
The full Council will discuss the proposed policy next week. Upon approval, the policy would go into effect within 30 days.
“There are ways to essentially address the communication, keep business ongoing and at the same time protect the interests of both the respondent and the victim,” Brown said. “That’s extremely important.”
Contact the reporter at Faith.Anne.Miller@asu.edu.
