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.
The resolution as written stated “The Mayor and Council of the City of Cottonwood condemn the behavior of Council Member Derek Palosaari in the strongest possible terms. Council Member Palosaari’s behavior toward female employees is indecent, immoral, and in the opinion of this Mayor and Council, demonstrates that he is unfit to hold office.”
Under Arizona state law, council lacks the power to remove Palosaari from office. However, the resolution — based on the evidence presented in the city of Cottonwood’s investigation, its conclusion that the incidents occurred and Palosaari’s admission of guilt — required the City Coucil’s affirmative vote to become a formal and official condemenation of his actions.
Councilman Stephen DeWillis wanted to table the item and go into an executive session at a later date before councils should vote to condemn Palosaari.
Palosaari, who attended via Zoom, stated, “I was shocked and blindsided at the way this has been handled. I need to understand the investigation. I need to be there so I can defend myself in person, be heard and have the opportunity to seek my legal counsel…“
Palosaari alleged Douglass and Elinski knew that he was going to be out of town for the meeting, but provided no evidence. Councilwoman Lisa DuVernay asked City Manager Scotty Douglass if he had prior knowledge that Palosaari wasn’t going to be there, and Douglass said he did not.
“You want to be judge, jury and executioner on this gentleman,” said Michael Mathews, the newest councilman who had been sworn into office a hour earlier.
“He has a right to stand here in front of us personally and defend himself,” Mathews said. ”You’ve already judged him guilty and convicted him.”
As a political body, a city council has no judicial power.
DuVernay stressed the importance of the presumption of innocence and allowing Palosaari a fair chance to defend himself against accusations.
Elinski said he was free to make a statement about his actions as he was present at the meeting remotely.
Palosaari had earlier declined to meet with Douglass, Winkler and Elinski to discuss the matter before Tuesday’s council meeting when given the opportunity, Elinski said.
Vice Mayor Debbie Wilden said that the city has an obligation in reporting this to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, under the terms of the city’s conciliation agreement in Dever v. City of Cottonwood.
In the case, a Cottonwood Police Department officer alleged discrimination was conducted against her due to her sex and a disability. After a state investigation that concluded in May, Cottonwood City Council agreed with the findings the officer had filed and promoted her to the rank of detective and paid $67,142.92 in compensation. The city also agreed to implement a series of sweeping changes to employee policies addressing sexual harassment and discrimination.
Mathews asked if Palosaari was guilty, why wasn’t law enforcement involved? The victims did not press criminal charges and instead filed complaints with the city’s human resources departments, therefore law enforcement was not involved. The victims can still decide to file assault charges against Palosaari or sue the city in civil court for sexual harassment.
“I’m not defending him, but you’re not providing anything other than accusations and they’re very, very serious accusations of the highest degree,” Mathews said. “If you can convince us through the evidence that these are true, I will have no problem voting with you to condemn those actions but right now it is inappropriate.”
“Our job is to condemn the behavior of a colleague who is acting inappropriately,” Elinski said, adding that the city conducted an investigation into Palosaari’s action. “He admits to behaving in this way, I think it’s condemnable. I’m shocked that my colleagues don’t.”
DeWillis then asked Palosaari “I’m going to ask you outright … did you do any of these things?”
Despite already admitting to having done what was said of him, Palosaari did not deny committing the acts against female staff. Instead, Palosaari replied “The whole story is not out there and any attorney will tell me not to say anything and I’m not going to because they’re going to use it against me.”
Councilwoman Helaine Kurot said that she would have preferred having an executive session to get more details on the matter.
“If he’s admitting that he did any part of it, that’s a problem,” Kurot said. “That’s absolutely a problem.”
Douglass said that the investigation was fairly straightforward and that there were several witnesses.
“As the City Manager, I am responsible for ensuring that all city employees are protected and afforded a workplace free from bullying, discrimination and harassment,” Douglass said. “If a city employee has engaged in this type of activity, as a city manager I’m able to take action up to and including dismissal and this would have reached that for me. I understand the concerns that council is bringing up right now but I need to protect my employees.”
Palosaari left the meeting, claiming he was boarding a plane before public comment where five residents voiced their opinion on the item. Four condemned Palosaari for his actions and the council for not voting to condemn him. A fifth resident demanded due process for Palosaari before a condemnation vote.
“Palosaari himself said that he did and said those things to those women so in my mind, it couldn’t be any clearer that this council needs to condemn the behavior at the bare minimum,” Elinski said.
Kurot, Wilden and Elinski voted to approve the resolution while DeWillis, DuVernay and Mathews voted no. The motion failed on a tied vote.
Dever v. City of Cottonwood
Per the Dever settlement, Cottonwood agreed to modify its nondiscrimination policies , including ensuring its policies:
- Prohibit discrimination and/or harassment based upon sex, race, national origin, color, religion, genetic testing, disability or age
- Prohibit retaliation against any employee or applicant for engaging in protected activity under any applicable federal, state or local law, including filing a charge of discrimination with a federal or state agency and participating in an investigation or proceeding
- Affirm a commitment to provide a work environment free of discrimination based on sex or disability Cottonwood will be required to conduct an interactive training by a qualified trainer for employees, supervisors, managers and staff about:
- The provisions of the ACRA, Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act that prohibit discrimination and prohibit retaliation
- How to recognize and appropriately respond to sexual harassment in the workplace
- Cottonwood’s policies and procedures as defined in the settlement agreement
- The dissemination of the Civil Rights Division’s antidiscrimination frequently asked questions to each attendee
- A detailed description of internal and external mechanisms for employees to complain about workplace discrimination and retaliation
- Information about myths and stereotypes regarding mental health-based disabilities
- Information about how workplace statements or actions that perpetuate myths and stereotypes about individuals with disabilities or perceived disabilities and gender-based myths and stereotypes can create a hostile work environment and trigger an internal and external investigation
- Directions on how to file charges of discrimination with the division or EEOC, including the division and EEOC’s contact information
