Arcata Councilmember Brett Watson, four months after getting the "Humboldt Janssen Malloy special" for his DUI case, is now being investigated for potential violations of the City Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy.
If Watson had any morals, ethics, was capable of shame and actually cared about the City of Arcata, he would voluntarily step down from serving on Arcata City Council.
Press Release:
The Arcata City Council has received a report of potential violations of the City’s Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy by Councilmember Brett Watson and has hired an outside investigator to investigate the alleged violations.
The City is committed to providing an environment for its employees that is free from discrimination or harassment, and through its Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy, has adopted zero tolerance of such conduct. This Policy rests on the fundamental precept that each employee, City Council member, Commission member, Committee member, vendor and contractor must treat others with respect, dignity, and professionalism.
In a typical matter of this type, the City protects potential victims and witnesses from potential retaliatory conduct by the person accused of discrimination or harassment by eliminating all interactions between the accused person with the potential victims and witnesses to the greatest extent possible.
Usually, the accused person will be either placed on administrative leave or, if possible, re-assigned to work duties that remove them from interacting with potential victims and witnesses. Because Councilmember Watson cannot be placed on administrative leave, the City Council adopted special protocols through which he may interact with City staff to continue performing all of his duties as an elected official while having restricted contact with potential victims and witnesses.
At this time, no finding has been made as to whether a violation of the City’s policy has occurred, and we are committed to due process throughout this investigation. Although this involves an elected official, it is a confidential personnel matter and the privacy of the potential victims and witnesses must be protected. The City is unable to disclose the nature of the potential violations, the names of the potential victims and witnesses, or the special protocol applicable to Councilmember Watson.
Investigations, by design, are conducted independently and develop based on each witness’s information; therefore, they do not have a specified timeline. The City will seek to balance the public’s interest in knowing the conduct of its elected officials against the privacy rights of the affected employees. Once the investigation is completed, the City will determine what, if any, additional information can be disclosed to the public.
Previous post:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/09/arcata-mayor-brett-watson-hires-patrik.html?m=1
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