Investigation spurred by Seaside councilmember's allegations yields no evidence of sexual harassment.

An investigation launched in September into whether or not members of Seaside City Council made inappropriate comments toward councilmember and mayoral candidate Kayla Jones has concluded, and reports there is no evidence any comments constituted sexual harassment.

The investigation, which was completed on Oct. 29 by Donald Potter, an outside attorney on contract, was spurred by comments Jones made at a Sept. 6 City Council meeting in which she said comments directed at her by other council members over the past two years were inappropriate, and constituted "blatant sexual harassment."

City Manager Craig Malin said in September that because Jones used those two charged words—sexual harassment—city officials felt it was appropriate to launch an investigation to protect the city from future potential liability, regardless of whether or not Jones wanted an investigation done.

The results of Potter's investigation were made public on Oct. 30,  and "did not reveal information sufficient to conclude that conduct occurred towards Councilmember Jones that violated the city's anti-harassment policy or state or federal statutes prohibiting unlawful harassment," Potter's report concludes. 

At the outset of the investigation, Jones did not show up to City Hall for a scheduled Oct. 2 interview with Potter and a court reporter. 

According to Potter's report, Malin walked into the office of Human Resources Director Roberta Greathouse—who emailed Jones and left multiple voicemails to inform her of the meeting—and said he had Jones on the other line of his cell phone. Jones said she was working on Oct. 2, and added that "she didn't know the investigation would be a public document and she wasn't going to say anything if it was going to be a public thing that the public could dissect."

Instead, "Jones reiterated that she wants to have sensitivity training before the next strategic planning meeting, but she realizes that might not be happen," the report states.

Potter writes that Jones not wanting to participate in the process "placed limits on the investigation as an interview of a complaining party is the typical starting point to determine the specifics of the claims and sets the parameters of the particular issues to be examined."

Potter interviewed the remaining councilmembers, as well as Malin, on Oct. 3. According to his report, they said could not recall any specific comments or actions Jones may have been referring to other than "pleasantries." 

There was some question about whether or not Mayor Ralph Rubio said at one point that he liked Jones' red dress, but ultimately, Potter concluded there was insufficient evidence to determine whether those comments were made, and that even if they were, that they "constituted unlawful harassment."

With the release of the report, Jones reiterates that she did not call for an investigation, and that she specifically called for sensitivity training.  

"As much as people say it was required, it was not, we’re not city employees," Jones says, adding that she feels it was politically motivated to make her look bad before the election. 

Jones says that once it became clear there would be an investigation that would involve depositions, it "made it sound like a judicial process" that she did not want to participate in. 

"I never for one moment thought anything good was going to come from this," Jones says.

In a text message, Jones adds, "I did not threaten to sue, I did not say I was violated, I merely explained how the conduct over the past two years both publicly and privately was inappropriate…

"My goal is to move us forward collaboratively, where all councilmembers feel they are treated with respect. Not just for myself, but for the sake of anyone who wants to run for office," she writes, adding that the council "needs sensitivity training." 

A report on the investigation will be presented to Seaside City Council at a public meeting on Thursday, Nov. 1.