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	<title>bocanegra quits &#8211; CalWatchdog.com</title>
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		<title>Bocanegra quits on eve of Assembly hearing on new harassment policies</title>
		<link>https://calwatchdog.com/2017/11/27/assembly-hold-tuesday-hearing-new-harassment-policies/</link>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Reed]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Nov 2017 16:57:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California Legislature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[harassment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Raul Bocanegra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steve fox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tony mendoza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Devon Mathis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sacramento sexual harassment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bocanegra quits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bocanegra resigns]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://calwatchdog.com/?p=95269</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[UPDATED AT 1:45 P.M. Seven weeks since stories about Harvey Weinstein in the New York Times and the New Yorker triggered a wave of sexual harassment allegations around the nation,]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-94056" src="https://calwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/State-Capitol.jpg" alt="" width="420" height="316" align="right" hspace="20" srcset="https://calwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/State-Capitol.jpg 420w, https://calwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/State-Capitol-292x220.jpg 292w" sizes="(max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px" /><strong>UPDATED AT 1:45 P.M.</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seven weeks since </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/harvey-weinstein-harassment-allegations.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">stories </span></a><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">about </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">Harvey Weinstein in the New York Times and the New Yorker triggered a wave of sexual harassment allegations around the nation, California state lawmakers are on edge both about their pasts and what the future may hold.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Allegations about four named current and ex-lawmakers and a fifth unnamed one have been publicly reported. But lawmakers who faced past accusations of wrongdoing and thought they were past the risk of fallout could be in for a rude surprise if Assembly and Senate practices are changed and the results of previous disciplinary hearings and investigations are disclosed. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Going forward, all harassment allegations are going to be investigated independently – breaking with a system that long seemed to value </span><a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/california/articles/2017-11-01/ap-exclusive-settlements-cost-legislature-580k-since-2012" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">keeping dirt hidden</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as much or more than having a healthy Capitol working environment. The Assembly will hold a <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/term-lawmaker-lead-assembly-hearings-harassment-51394104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hearing Tuesday</a> on new policies and the Senate is likely to in coming weeks.</span></p>
<h3>Four accused lawmakers identified; the fifth still not revealed</h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are the accused and where they stand:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-Pacoima.</strong> Bocanegra <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article186689213.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resigned Monday</a> &#8212; a month to the day after the Los Angeles Times </span><a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-raul-bocanegra-harassment-20171027-htmlstory.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">broke the story</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that Bocanegra had been secretly reprimanded in 2009 for an incident in which he allegedly groped and stalked Elise Flynn Gyore at a time when both were legislative staffers. Since then, </span><a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-bocanegra-accusation-harassment-20171120-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">six more women</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> have come forward with allegations of improper behavior by Bocanegra. He initially said he would resign in September 2018 at the end of the next legislative session, but that </span><a href="http://www.dailynews.com/2017/11/20/san-fernando-valley-assemblyman-raul-bocanegra-wont-seek-re-election-under-fire-for-groping-allegation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">didn&#8217;t placate critics</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> who said he should quit now or be kicked out if he refused to leave. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, had promised Bocanegra would be </span><a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-assembly-speaker-anthony-rendon-says-he-1511211367-htmlstory.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">“immediately” expelled</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> if an independent investigation confirmed the allegations against him.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Former Assemblyman Steve Fox, D-Palmdale.</strong> On Oct. 18, the Sacramento Bee </span><a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article179562446.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">reported </span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">that it had obtained a copy of a settlement reached in April in which the Assembly agreed to pay $100,000 to Nancy Kathleen Finnigan, who worked for Fox as legislative director in 2013, during his only term in office. Finnigan alleged Fox had exposed himself to her and then fired her when she complained about his behavior. Finnigan’s suit was filed in 2014, when she first </span><a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article2610385.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">publicly accused</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Fox of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation. Fox denied the allegations and dismissed her as a disgruntled ex-employee.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The political career of Fox, 64, who has worked as a teacher and lawyer, may not be over. His 2012 win of a long-GOP-held Assembly seat was considered flukish, and he lost by more than 20 percent to Republican Tom Lackey in his 2014 re-election bid. But in 2016, while Lackey defeated Fox again, his margin of victory was only 6 percent.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Visalia.</strong> On Oct. 20, anonymous allegations that had surfaced on a website run by conservative activist Joseph Turner claiming that Mathis had sexually violated a passed-out staff member were </span><a href="http://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/political-notebook/article180129271.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">printed in the Fresno Bee</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Mathis denied the allegations and on Nov. 15 </span><a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article185109988.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">was cleared</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by the Sacramento Police Department, which said detectives were “unable to substantiate” if a crime had occurred.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Assembly Rules Committee, however, has hired a private attorney to</span><a href="http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/2017/11/13/assembly-hires-investigator-look-into-mathis-allegations/859894001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> investigate allegations</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of improper behavior, according to Mathis’ hometown paper, the Times-Delta.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>State Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia.</strong> Starting with </span><a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article183704591.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">a Nov. 9 story</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the Bee, three young women have come forward with allegations of improper behavior, including a 19-year-old intern hoping for a permanent job on his staff who was invited by Mendoza to come to the Sacramento-area home he lives in part-time to “review resumes.” The twist: Mendoza until recently</span><a href="http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article184893383.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> shared the home</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> with state Senate President Kevin de Leon, who denied knowing of any wrongdoing by his former roommate. Mendoza, like Fox, has denied wrongdoing. De Leon has not said what his intentions are if a pending independent inquiry finds the allegations against Mendoza credible.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The fifth accused lawmaker has so far not been identified. On Oct. 19, Sacramento lobbyist Pamela Lopez told CNN that a current member of the Legislature – a “big man” – had </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/19/us/california-legislature-sexual-harassment-allegations/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">trapped her in the restroom</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of a Sacramento bar in 2016 and masturbated in front of her.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lopez has been urged by activists to name the lawmaker but has so far declined to do so.</span></p>
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