Mayor Who Honored Stormy Daniels With Key To City Hit With $500,000 Anvil.
Why does it always have to be this way with far left California Democrats?
The extreme far left mayor of West Hollywood, John Duran, the same mayor who recently honored
porn star Stormy Daniels by presenting her the key to the city last week, for her role
in leading the fake "resistance" to President Donald Trump, seems to have a bit to hide.
Breitbart News is now reporting that the "good mayor" faced sexual harassment claims back
in 2016, which led to the city having to pay out $500,000 on his behalf.
Because this was before the so-called #metoo movement which was established by the far
left with the idea to use it against President Donald Trump Duran escaped having to resign
because of his shenanigans.
In a ceremony, Mayor Duran declared May 23 "Stormy Daniels Day" and gave her a symbolic
key to the city.
He then added, "Our values have been under threat by the Trump administration for the
past year-and-a-half."
And praised Daniels and her attorney, Michael Avenatti, for fighting back.
Fighting back from what?
As you can hear below at the 4:23 mark, not everyone at the ceremony was happy about this
spectacle.
The woman who made those comments above was later asked about them.
She added, "I'm definitely not a fan of '45,' however, what happened between [Stormy
Daniels] and him happened about 12 years ago, so what does it matter to me now?
And I don't see her as a feminist leader."
Now isn't it just great that a man who caused the city to have to pay out $500k because
of his own actions is now giving a porn star the key to the city and hailing her as a champion
for women's rights and a feminist leader?
Whatever happened to the feminism where women were told not to use their looks or body in
order to get ahead in life?
Is Stormy Daniels really the person liberal women of today want their daughters to look
up to?
Or is this just the case of a horny mayor who wanted to get close to a porn star for
whatever reason he might have?
Here is more on this Mayor Doran via The Los Angeles Times:
"But in February, West Hollywood agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a sexual harassment
lawsuit against the city and Councilman John Duran.
The suit was brought on behalf of Ian Owens, whom Duran hired as his deputy after meeting
him on Grindr, the smartphone dating app for gay and bisexual men, and then having s*x
with him.
Now, some residents and politicians in this mecca of gay culture and the home of the Sunset
Strip counterculture are wondering if City Hall's famously cheeky attitude about s*x
needs to be checked a little.
Councilman John D'Amico, who like Duran is gay, said he often looked over during public
meetings and saw Duran "trolling for men on Grindr."
"This is not gay-life excuse time, or 'This is how we do it because we're gay,'" D'Amico
said at a council meeting.
"This is we-live-in-the-21st-century time, and treating people with respect and care
and following not just the letter of the law but the spirit of the law is … part of who
we are as a city."
As part of the settlement, Duran and West Hollywood admitted no wrongdoing, but a private
investigator's report commissioned by the city dinged Duran for openly talking about
his s*x life and making "inappropriate" comments that "were sexual in nature"
in the workplace.
Duran publicly apologized last month for hiring "a friend," but he has repeatedly denied
sexual harassment.
He conceded in an interview that had the lawsuit against him and the city gone to trial, West
Hollywood's "unique culture" might not have translated well with many members of
a jury outside of the city.
"I'm not a stuffed-shirt politician," Duran said.
"Yes, my humor is bawdy and funny and outrageous, but, you know what, so is everything else
in this town.
I could not get elected in Downey."
Indeed, West Hollywood council members occasionally engage in the kind of risque talk that in
more strait-laced towns could possibly cost politicians voters or get them recalled.
Here, residents sometimes playfully join in the banter during council meetings, whether
it's a play-by-play about a visit to the gynecologist or riffs on porn collections.
But in an email, Owens said Duran crossed the line.
"I appreciate that West Hollywood is an open place that does not discourage free expression
of sexuality and have nothing against that," Owens said.
"However, conflating free expression on the one hand with bullying and demeaning a
human being on the other is dangerous."
In the heavily redacted 129-page private investigator's report obtained by The Times through the state's
open records law, Owens — whose name is blacked out but whose statements mirror those
in his lawsuit — said Duran solicited him for s*x and showed Owens nude photographs
on his phone of men he'd slept with.
Owens said Duran made objectifying comments about his appearance, telling him he didn't
"have to worry about things because I'm pretty."
Duran, in the report, said Owens had been a trusted friend and that they indeed had
had intimate conversations.
Duran said it was Owens who sent him "really g*****c" explicit photographs.
In the report, Owens also accused Duran of having s*x in his City Hall office, which
Duran denied.
"I have never, ever had s*x in the council office at City Hall," Duran told The Times.
"Why would I?
I have a home."
Duran also said that he was not ashamed of using Grindr, which has an instant messaging
function, and that he was on it regularly not just for sexual reasons but also to chat
with people around town.
The independent investigator, Steve Rodig of Anaheim, wrote that Owens had a duty to
report any harassment but never did so until he was placed on paid administrative leave
last year after being accused of bugging a colleague's office.
Rodig found that Duran was "outspoken" about his personal life, but there was not
enough evidence to show he s******y harassed his deputy.
Owens said city officials have mischaracterized his accusations after the settlement was reached
and that the investigator's report was "unfairly redacted" to favor the city.
On March 30, Michelle Rex, the former deputy to D'Amico, also sued West Hollywood, alleging
the city retaliated against her for substantiating Owens' sexual harassment allegations and
other complaints by firing her.
She is represented by Owens' attorneys.
In Rodig's report, people interviewed by investigators said Duran was well-known for
saying suggestive things.
One interviewee, whose name was redacted, gave an example in which a member of a swim
team sat in the front row of a council meeting in a Speedo swimsuit and Duran joked that
he was distracted.
"It's like, oh gosh, I can't believe he just said that type of thing, but everyone's
kind of snickering," the person said.
"It's very like eighth-grade humor to a degree."
Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor and president of the Los Angeles City Ethics
Commission, said cities should be allowed to create a culture that reflects the community,
but there's "a difference between being open and being lewd, and you have to walk
that line."
"People who decide to run for office and be public servants owe their constituents
a little bit more in terms of behavior," Levinson said.
"No one has to be Mother Teresa — that's an untenable standard — and we should allow
for variations in terms of what's appropriate in West Hollywood versus Fresno….
We should allow those leeways, but you don't want constituents to feel uncomfortable."
Steve Martin, a former West Hollywood councilman, said that residents are embarrassed by the
scandal and that such issues have caused people outside the city to view it as "silly, immature
and corrupt."
"People are dumbfounded that in the world of adults this is the norm, and it doesn't
matter whether it's gay culture or straight culture, it still isn't right," said Martin,
who is also gay.
"We've become such a soap opera."
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