Protesters, including one of Foppoli’s accusers, call for the mayor to step down.
The brother of embattled Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli called on him to resign his elected position Sunday because of the allegations of sexual assault detailed in reports in The Chronicle.
Joe Foppoli, the mayor’s older brother and fellow executive at the family’s winery, said he is “shocked by the allegations” but would not say whether he believes them.
“Elected officials should be held to higher standards of moral character and no matter what comes out, he has not done that and he needs to step down,” Joe Foppoli said. “This is not good for the community. I’m so disappointed and disgusted.”
The remarks came during a small rally Sunday outside the family’s Christopher Creek Winery near Healdsburg in support of the women who have accused him of assault. The rally drew nearly a dozen people outside the winery, including Sophia Williams, one of Foppoli’s accusers in The Chronicle’s reports, who held a sign that read “Mayor your own body.”
Joe Foppoli, who is chief operating officer of Christopher Creek, said he already told his brother Friday that he had to step down as the winery’s chief executive officer and said his brother “reluctantly” agreed.
“Dominic will not be part of his winery moving forward,” Joe Foppoli said.
A Chronicle investigation of Foppoli published Thursday detailed allegations by four women who said the 38year
old politician and winemaker, who has been Windsor’s mayor since 2018, sexually assaulted them in incidents from
2003 to 2019.
A fifth woman accused Foppoli on Friday of sexual assault during a threeyear relationship
that ended in 2004. She made the accusations in a video interview from her home in Florida, saying she was com
pelled to speak publicly after reading The Chronicle’s investigation.
Santa Rosa resident Hollie Clausen, 32, said she organized Sunday’s event to stand with the survivors.
Foppoli has denied the accusations. In a statement released Saturday night, he called the allegations “unfounded” and driven by politics.
He made clear he would fight growing calls from an array of North Bay elected officials to resign, including every member of the Windsor Town Council, all eight of the other Sonoma County mayors and the two U.S. congressmen who represent the region, Reps. Jared Huffman of San Rafael and Mike Thompson of St. Helena.
Joe Foppoli said he last spoke to his brother Friday.
“He’s obviously very upset and scared, and he obviously feels wronged. He feels things are being portrayed differently than they really were,” Joe Foppoli said. “I told him regardless of any of that, and I don’t believe the worst accusations about you, you clearly have been living a lifestyle that I don’t personally agree with. And the fact that I found out that these kinds of parties and things may have been happening here after hours that I wasn’t aware of, I’m disgusted by it.”
“I’ve worked personally to create a family friendly environment that I can bring my teenage children to,” he continued. “My cousins work here. None of what I’ve found in these articles are what I’ve been striving for.”
He would not elaborate on what he meant about not believing the worst allegations about his brother. He said Dominic Foppoli is staying with friends, but did not elaborate further.
Williams, who attended the gathering Sunday with her two children, ages 4 and 5, and her husband, said it was important for her to come out.
“Hearing him deny everything, it just feels like we need to keep the momentum going until he’s out of office,” Williams said. “It makes sense that his ego would be too big to (resign). I think it’s just going to make things worse for him to drag it out.”