Derek Palosaari was unanimously appointed as the Cottonwood City Council’s new council member on May 22.
Palosaari is filling the seat of former council member Tosca Henry who resigned in March. Palosaari is a real estate agent working out of Sedona and will be effective as a council member upon signing his oath of office.
Palosaari is a 1992 graduate of Mingus Union High School. He has been in real estate for 13 years and a licensed Realtor and Sedona branch manager for Realty ONE Group Mountain Desert since October 2021.
Councilwoman Tosca Henry resigned from Cottonwood City Council effective Friday, March 31, after being first elected in 2016.
UPDATE: “Cottonwood Council refuses to condemn Councilman Palosaari for sexual misconduct”
The Cottonwood City Council failed to approve a resolution condemning Councilman Derek Palosaari’s conduct towards female employees of the city with a 3-3 vote at their Dec. 19 meeting.
According to an investigation by the city’s Human Resources Department, Palosaari has engaged in multiple instances of sexual misconduct, specifically “instances of unwanted touching,” of female employees of the city since taking office on June 6.
Resolution 3245 stated “At the city of Cottonwood’s annual Employee Appreciation Event on December 8, 2023, Council Member Palosaari approached a female employee, grabbed her by both shoulders, pulled her close to him, and made an inappropriate comment about her breasts.
“The employee freed herself from Council Member Palosaari’s grip and walked away.
“The employee’s husband was with her, witnessed this exchange, and immediately reported it to the City’s Human Resources Director.
“Council Member Palosaari admitted his conduct to the employee’s husband, the Human Resources Director, the City Attorney, and the City Manager.”
The investigation found other instances of inappropriate conduct by Palosaari to female employees. The resolution states that these include “inappropriate comments to female employees about their clothing, their bodies, and their weight, and two other instances of unwanted touching. One involved squeezing an employee’s shoulders. The other involved leaning into an employee from behind and sniffing her hair.”
City management has prohibited Palosaari from entering non-public city spaces where city employees work.
All employees have been instructed to report any inappropriate conduct from Palosaari that they either witness or experience.
The resolution states that Palosaari’s conduct may violate state and federal law, the laws of the city of Cottonwood and his oath of office. Upon taking office as a council member, Palosaari swore an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, the constitution and laws of the State of Arizona, and the City Code and laws of the City of Cottonwood.
Palosaari’s mistreatment of female employees will be reported to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office under the terms of the City’s conciliation agreement in Dever v. City of Cottonwood, a prior case that involved sexual discrimination.
