{"id":58502,"date":"2018-02-10T04:51:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-10T04:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=58502"},"modified":"2018-02-10T05:54:31","modified_gmt":"2018-02-10T05:54:31","slug":"sexual-misconduct-accusations-against-california-assemblywoman-twist-gender-dynamics-of-metoo-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/sexual-misconduct-accusations-against-california-assemblywoman-twist-gender-dynamics-of-metoo-movement.html","title":{"rendered":"Sexual misconduct accusations against California assemblywoman twist gender dynamics of MeToo movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sexual misconduct accusations against California assemblywoman twist gender dynamics of #MeToo movement<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

A Los Angeles-area assemblywoman has voluntarily taken leave of her seat Friday after facing allegations of sexual harassment, an unusual twist of the gender dynamics shaping the misconduct controversies engulfing California’s state Capitol.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens) denied allegations that she made inappropriate advances on two men: a then-legislative staffer and a lobbyist. In a statement, she said she would take an unpaid leave of absence from the Legislature while she faces an investigation into her conduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

“As I’ve said before, any claims about sexual harassment must be taken seriously, and I believe elected officials should be held to a higher standard of accountability,” Garcia said Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 40-year-old lawmaker now finds herself in a stark reversal of roles, from vanguard of California’s political #MeToo movement who shared her own tales of being groped while in elected office to one of very few women to be publicly accused of sexual harassment. She was so prominent last fall that she appeared in a Time magazine photo collage portraying the “silence breakers” as part of its Person of the Year issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only one other woman in American politics is believed to have found herself in that position in the current climate: Andrea Ramsey, a Democratic congressional candidate in Kansas, who denied wrongdoing but dropped out of her race after allegations of misconduct from her past reemerged.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sacramento was jolted by the allegations against Garcia, which were first published Thursday by Politico. The publication reported that Daniel Fierro, a former legislative staffer for Assemblyman Ian Calderon (D-Whittier), alleged Garcia stroked his back and buttocks, and reached for his groin at a legislative softball game in 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fierro told Calderon about the incident several weeks ago, and the assemblyman then reported it to the Assembly Rules Committee, which initiated an investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Every allegation must be taken seriously and once I became aware of Danny’s story, I felt I had an obligation to report it,” Calderon said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fierro told The Times he was initially wary of speaking out publicly due to the unusual nature of his complaint.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I worried before [the story published] it would be treated or received differently because of the gender dynamics involved,” Fierro said. “There is clearly a culture that affects both men and women in the Capitol that needs to be improved on and made stronger so the Capitol can do the good work that it has to do.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Politico also reported on an unnamed lobbyist who said Garcia, who is unmarried, propositioned him and attempted to grab his crotch at a fundraising event in 2017. The lobbyist told the publication he did not report the incident formally.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fallout continued Friday, with Garcia’s decision to step aside causing vacancies in several key roles. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon tapped Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) to fill in as acting chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. Female legislators conferred on calls about how to fill Garcia’s post as chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus but did not designate a new leader.<\/span><\/p>\n

The harassment allegations threaten to derail Garcia’s burgeoning profile in state politics. A former math teacher, Garcia became a prominent community activist in southeast Los Angeles County by railing against exorbitant salaries paid to city officials in Bell.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was elected in 2012 to her district, which neighbors Bell and includes Cerritos, Montebello and Artesia. In her upstart campaign, she bested fellow Democrat Tom Calderon, a former assemblyman, in the primary. The man she defeated is the uncle of the legislator who reported the Fierro allegation. The two Calderons are not on speaking terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Garcia has continued the rabble-rousing in the Legislature, with a reputation for blunt talk and defying Sacramento’s staid conventions. (For a time, she dyed her black curls purple.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Championing a pet cause of providing free menstrual products to students in low-income schools, she spoke openly about her period on the Assembly floor and toted a self-fashioned “Tampon Barbie.” She later brandished the doll at a signing ceremony with Gov. Jerry Brown.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, Garcia has aligned herself with environmental justice advocates who seek to clean up pollution in local communities. She authored legislation to pay for toxic cleanup around the shuttered Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon. She battled with oil companies and union laborers over a high-profile 2016 measure to closely link air quality improvements to the state’s cap-and-trade program to combat climate change. The legislation failed, but Garcia pushed Brown to include air quality measures in the final proposal to extend cap and trade’s life.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Her entire elected career \u2014 and previous to that as an activist \u2014 has been the tip of the spear, charging forward to give voice to the underserved and voiceless,” said Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), a Garcia ally. “When you play that role, you make yourself a target.”<\/span><\/p>\n

In a Capitol that has tended to close ranks in times of controversy, Garcia has adopted a more vocal posture. In 2016, she called on then-Assemblyman Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina) to step aside after a judge issued a temporary restraining order against him amid domestic violence allegations.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was quick to call for the immediate resignation of then-Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) in November, after The Times reported that multiple women accused him of unwanted advances. And she was outspoken about the allegations that state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) behaved improperly with female staffers, declaring she would not work with him and criticizing him for working while on leave during an investigation into his conduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/politics\/la-pol-ca-cristina-garcia-sexual-harassment-investigation-20180209-story.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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