Carmel mayor accused of sexual harassment elected Chair of Monterey County Mayors’ Association

UPDATE 01/08/18 8:00PM:

A Monterey County mayor has just been elected to a leadership role despite recent sexual harassment allegations.

As was evident at the Golden Globes Sunday night, the #metoo movement, which has people standing up for the equal treatment of women, is spreading quickly across the country, and that includes here in Monterey County where some are outraged after a closed-door election.

On Friday, the Monterey County Mayors’ Association elected Carmel-by-the-Sea Mayor Steve Dallas to serve as their chair. Dallas was selected over the eleven other mayors from Monterey County’s twelve cities. The news comes as two women accused Dallas of sexual harassment last month stemming from events that occurred as far back as 2013. The mayor’s association says Dallas was in line for the chair position after being vice-chair last year, and he’s innocent until proven guilty.

“There’s an investigation going on, and that’s going to play out however it does, but what that will do is provide a much clearer opportunity to hear from both sides and get a complete picture. If something comes out of that that changes, if it shows any wrong doing, the Mayor’s Association could come back and look at that decision,” said King City Mayor Mike LeBarre.

“I just don’t understand why, when there are numerous documented accusations from respected community members, the mayor would make this choice. They’re making a statement that the mayor’s of Monterey County are telling women, which includes their wives, their daughters, their granddaughters, that sexual assault and harassment and inequality is ok,” said the Director of the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association Kim Stemler.

Stemler is one of at least two women who have accused Dallas of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior.

She also added that only one Monterey County Mayor voted against the decision to make Steve Dallas the new chair of the mayor’s association. That was Marina mayor, Bruce Delgado.

ORIGINAL: Just weeks after sexual harassment allegations against the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea became public, Mayor Steve Dallas has been elected Chair of the Monterey County Mayors’ Association.

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.

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.

The Monterey County Mayors’ Association announced the decision to elect Dallas as Chair on Friday Jan. 5. He will be joined by Soledad Mayor Fred Ledesma who will serve as Vice Chair.

In 2017, Mayor Dallas served as Vice Chair and King City Mayor Mike Lebarre served as Chair.

“The Monterey County Mayors’ Association was formed for the purpose of meeting to address issues of common concern to the cities in Monterey County and to promote regional solutions for these issues. The Mayors of all 12 (twelve) cities in Monterey County are members of the association. The Association elects a Chair and Vice Chair annually and maintains a policy of rotating leadership positions between the Valley and Peninsula Cities,” said the Monterey County Mayors’ Association.