Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea remains silent following harassment allegations

Roughly a year and half after his election, the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea is facing allegations of sexual harassment. Kim Stemler with the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association alleges Mayor Steve Dallas made sexual remarks toward her while she was working at the Carmel Film Festival in October, but also claims Dallas has been “sexualizing conversations” since as far back as 2014.

According to Stemler, the most recent remarks happened on the opening night of the film festival when Dallas made a reference to pornography, a lewd comment about a stain on her shirt and “in mingling around I ended up near the mayor and he turns to me and says ‘how’s your sex life?'” Stemler said Thursday. “I only know this man professionally, I should not have to put up with any type of inappropriate behavior like this in a professional or social setting.”

Stemler reported the incident to the city a couple months later. She initially wanted to keep things quiet, she says, out of respect for Dallas’ family, but the city determined it was best to make it a formal complaint.

“Even though it’s uncomfortable for me, it’s the right thing to do so I really think that was it. I have not behaved poorly,” said Stemler. “What I realized, although I’ll say stop or that’s enough or roll my eyes and walk away, I am not as forceful as I would normally be because he has positional authority over me,” said Stemler.

Stemler is not alone. Cathi Clay says she lived at a house owned by Dallas in 2013. She claims Dallas, who was not mayor at the time, would come by the house unannounced and look through her windows. Clay also alleges Dallas said she could not live at the house if she changed her relationship status. She also says after moving out, Dallas lied about who he was to her real estate agency in order to get her new address.

KION reached out to city officials for comment but they did not return phone calls.