Posted on 11/24/2017 12:07:11 PM PST by TaxPayer2000
Let’s be clear. Everyone in the government at the federal, state and local levels is very concerned about the ongoing sexual harassment crisis and they want you to know that they’re all over this problem. Evil shall be rooted out wherever it’s found, exposed to the sunshine of public scrutiny and eliminated, providing women with the safe, healthy working environments they should have always had. Unless, that is, you’re talking about the halls of government itself.
Out in California, the land of progressive equality and human rights, the Golden State’s legislature has been getting some polite inquiries from the state’s largest newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. Reporters there got wind of a history of sexual harassment allegations against lawmakers and their staffers, many of which may have been settled under conditions of anonymity. So let’s have a list of all of those, shall we?
The response of the assembly? Stop asking because we’re not going to tell you. (Emphasis added)
The California Legislature has refused to release additional information on sexual harassment complaints requested by the Los Angeles Times in the wake of widespread scrutiny on how the Capitol handles such matters.
Officials representing the Senate and Assembly each said late Tuesday that they were denying a request by The Times, submitted on Nov. 3, for data beginning in 2006 for “all cases involving current and former employees of the [Legislature], current or former members, or any other person who was the subject of an inquiry by the [Legislature] where the charges were found to be true, discipline was imposed or the complaints were judged to be well-founded.”
Daniel Alvarez, the secretary of the Senate, and Debra Gravert, the chief administrative officer of the Assembly, cited the Legislative Open Records Act in denying the request. The act says certain records are exempt from mandatory disclosure, including personnel files and records of complaints to or investigations conducted by the Legislature.
Did you catch that excuse being offered by the assembly? They’re citing the hilariously named Legislative Open Records Act, which states that the public records of the taxpayers’ employees in Sacramento are to be an open book… unless, of course, the records in question involve, “personnel files and records of complaints to or investigations conducted by the Legislature.”
Perish the thought! Why in the world should the public have a right to see records of investigations and complaints involving the people they vote into office and pay the salaries of? That’s just crazy talk there, fellas.
All the legislature was willing to provide the LA Times with was “summary data” which indicated that more thirty sexual harassment complaints were received regarding the august body’s members since 2006 alone. Which legislators specifically? None of your damn business, peasants. We don’t have to tell you and we specifically wrote the law that way to make sure you don’t bother asking. The only one we know of for sure so far is Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), but he’s already resigning after six women went public with such accusations against him.
Is any of this sounding familiar yet? It should, since we have a similar law at the federal level. The equally laugh-out-loud, inappropriately named Congressional Accountability Act is what allowed for sealed records and taxpayer-financed slush fund settlements for victims of members of Congress when they’re accused of discrimination or harassment. As that linked article from the NY Post reminds us, “this year alone, the US Treasury has confidentially paid $934,754 to settle sexual harassment and other complaints against members of Congress and their staff.”
So will we be seeing a list of those folks any time soon? Don’t count on it.
It happens at every level. A few years back, in our little Northern California town, the town manager, left and then we found out that it was an outgrowth of his sexual abuse of a town employee who was paid off out of town funds. But to this day, we cannot get the specifics of the situation. It’s always “confidential.”
How can this many turkeys still be alive after Thanksgiving?
CA assembly to the peons: stop asking use uncomfortable questions, or we’ll tax the crap out of you, and sic a bunch of illegals on you.
Agony and ecstasy.
I mean I have to root for the slimes — the 2nd most evil paper in the country. not fit for toilet paper.
OTOH — I hope the reporters see themselves as the next woodward and bernstein (as has EVERY REPORTER SINCE WATERGATE) and will ignore the usual “liberal line: do not pass” signs. To see the hypocrites in the legislature exposed and sent packing in shame would be a popcorn with extra butter moment.
Satan is pleased!
Sue them. Hard.
Wow! There are any number of ways to run with this.
Here is my choice....I side with with the LA Times.
They have carried enough H2O for the Democrat politicians
to solve the next 5 droughts. So has every other big
newspaper and TV outlet. The state is corrupt because
only one half of the political spectrum gets scrutinized.
The liberal side gets a pass. Make no mistake if the
conservative politicians got the passes instead then
they would be the corrupt side.
For all the media in California does for the liberal
cause you would think the Democrat powers might throw
a bone to the LAT so they can demonstrate a tinge of
objectivity. The Demos have grown too greedy. Sad.
As long as ‘they’ are on ‘my tax dollar’, I will be asking and demanding answers.
ere are five of them now!
Heh....good one. But the gobblers in Cali govt are more like stuffed pigs.
Still among the missing is AG Xavier Becerra......not an oink from this pig when Harvey Weinstein went hog wild.
Lefty doesn’t like being held accountable. Lefty prefers it when he is above the la
Due to the incestuous relationship between the media and the liberals, the latter feel entitled to issue directives to the former. And usually does so successfully.
Consider each of them a sexual predator, until they release their records to prove otherwise. Punish the whole class for the actions of the few — done all the time, nothing unusual.
Bookmark
California State Lawmaker Knew Of Sexual Harassment Claim Against Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, November 7, 2017 7:38 PM
BERKELEY (KPIX) — There are claims of rampant sexual harassment at the California state capitol.
Now, KPIX has learned of one East Bay lawmaker, who knew of the complaints, and said nothing.
State Senator Nancy Skinner is a vocal supporter of women’s rights, so her silence on the matter of Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra’s sexual harassment case is surprising.
But KPIX learned this isn’t the first time she’s been silent when it comes to sexual harassment and Assemblyman Bocanegra.
Skinner described one reason why sexual harassment is widespread at the state capitol.
“We socialize,” said Skinner. “There’s a blur between our work life and our social life.”
Just days later, it became apparent just how right she was.
Elise Flynn Gyore came forward to tell her story about an after-hours work event in 2009 when Bocanegra followed her and grabbed her breast. After an investigation, the Assembly Rules Committee decided it was “more likely than not that Mr. Bocanegra engaged in behavior that night which does not meet the Assembly’s expectations for professionalism.” he was ordered to stay away from Gyore.
Three years later, he ran for Assembly in the San Fernando Valley with the full backing of the Democratic Party. Voters, who had no idea about the prior incident, elected him in 2012 and again in 2016. Now he’s a member of Democratic Party leadership.
But before he was ever elected, a group of women tried to get the file on Bocanegra.
KPIX obtained a copy of a letter, sent on May 8, 2012 to Nancy Skinner, who at the time, was the chairwoman of the Assembly Rules Committee. It is basically the Human Resources department for the Assembly.
The letter says “we have learned…that a complaint of sexual harassment was filed against Raul Bocanegra… and Raul Bocanegra is running for Assembly in the 39th Assembly District, and we believe that voters have the right to know the facts about the people who are running to represent them.
We are asking that you please make public any sexual harassment complaints made against Raul Bocanegra, including what the investigation found of said complaint and whether or not a financial settlement of any kind was reached. The public is being denied due process in making an informed decision on their next representative without the facts of just who is this man – Raul Bocanegra.”
The letter is signed by eleven women. We spoke to one of them who confirmed, Nancy Skinner never responded to their request.
Skinner is now a state Senator representing Berkeley. For the last three days KPIX has asked for an interview, to discuss the letter. She has refused.
KPIX gave Senator Skinner’s office the option of sending a written statement explaining why she never responded to the 2012 letter, but so far, she hasn’t sent one.
Too late. The arrogant assh@les in Sacramento already did that. They apparently believe what’s left of the CA middle class get nice pay raises every 6-12 months. So they’re able to continue to raise fees, fines, assessments as those in Sacramento take turns gang banging the CA tax payers.
Out in California, the land of progressive equality and human rights, the Golden State’s legislature has been getting some polite inquiries from the state’s largest newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. Reporters there got wind of a history of sexual harassment allegations against lawmakers and their staffers, many of which may have been settled under conditions of anonymity. So let’s have a list of all of those, shall we? The response of the assembly? Stop asking because we’re not going to tell you.... The California Legislature has refused to release additional information on sexual harassment complaints requested by the Los Angeles Times in the wake of widespread scrutiny on how the Capitol handles such matters.
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