TITLE
Recommendation to request City Council to censure Councilmember Jeannine Pearce for her conduct as a member of the City Council that has reflected poorly on the City of Long Beach and raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City's Code of Ethics.
DISCUSSION
BACKGROUND:
Information that has been publicly released resulting from a Long Beach Police Department investigation regarding Councilmember Jeannine Pearce raises serious concerns about her actions as a Councilmember.
The investigation stems from an incident on June 3, 2017 involving Councilmember Pearce and her former Chief of Staff, Devin Cotter.
Members of the City Council refrained from commenting on the matter while the criminal investigation was ongoing into allegations of domestic battery and driving under the influence against Councilmember Pearce.
While that portion of the investigation has concluded with no criminal charges being brought against Councilmember Pearce, the information that has been revealed raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City's Code of Ethics.
According to Long Beach Police Department reports that were made public, both Councilmember Pearce and her former chief of staff made statements to the police that they had been dating for approximately 3 years, and some of the statements indicate that the .
relationship continued up until about three months prior to the June 3 incident.
Councilmember Pearce hired Mr. Cotter as her chief of staff in July 2016, which indicates that she hired him at the time that she was in an admitted dating relationship, and that dating relationship between a supervisor (Councilmember Pearce) and subordinate employee (Mr. Cotter) continued throughout the duration of his employment.
The City of Long Beach's policy on unlawful harassment complaints defines sexual harassment in part (Policy 2.2, II, B), as follows:
"...When...
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