Las Vegas Review-Journal

First-time legislator finds self in spotlight

Hearings on sexual harassment start this week

- By Iathleen Ronayne The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Assemblywo­man Laura Friedman had no idea a sexual harassment scandal was about to explode at the California Legislatur­e when she was elected last year or that she would help lead the response.

Starting Tuesday, though, the firstterm lawmaker and former movie producer will lead a series of public hearings aimed at cleaning up a culture at the Capitol that women say allows sexual harassment to go unchecked.

Friedman, a Glendale Democrat, was appointed chairwoman of a subcommitt­ee tasked with evaluating the Legislatur­e’s anti-harassment policies and recommendi­ng ways to strengthen them. She got the role in June, months before allegation­s of rampant harassment burst into public view.

Nationwide, dozens of politician­s, Hollywood executives and actors, and media personalit­ies are facing accusation­s of sexual misconduct, sparked by a wave of allegation­s against movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

At the California Capitol, no specific incident appears to have spurred the creation of the Assembly Rules Subcommitt­ee on Harassment, Discrimina­tion, and Retaliatio­n Prevention and Response other than a need for a once-a-decade update of the chamber’s policies. Nearly five months later, the Tuesday meeting is its first.

“I couldn’t tell you whether anybody suspected there would be issues,” Friedman said. But “we now have a committee primed and ready to go and take a deep dive into our policies and trainings.”

Skepticism persists about whether the Legislatur­e can police itself after allegation­s of repeated bad behavior by Assemblyma­n Raul Bocanegra and Sen. Tony Mendoza, both Los Angeles-area Democrats.

Bocanegra is accused of groping or kissing several women without their consent over a period of years, even after he was reprimande­d for such behavior in 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported. Bocanegra, who has not denied the allegation­s, said he would not run for re-election. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced he would expel Bocanegra if an investigat­or verifies the new allegation­s.

The Senate, meanwhile, said it will hire an outside investigat­or to look into complaints, including claims that Mendoza invited a young woman from his office to his home and often held one-on-one meetings over drinks and dinner with another. His behavior was twice reported, once to the Assembly and once to the Senate. Mendoza has said he would never knowingly abuse his authority.

The Legislatur­e’s approach so far is “not very confidence-inspiring,” said Adama Iwu, a lobbyist for Visa who launched the campaign We

Said Enough in October to spotlight harassment.

More than 150 female lobbyists, staff members, lawmakers and political consultant­s signed on to the movement. Iwu has criticized the Senate and Assembly for not working together.

Friedman plans to open her first hearing with a review of the Assembly’s existing harassment policies, including how complaints are investigat­ed and discipline is determined. The policy says complaints can be handled by an employee’s supervisor, the rules committee or an external investigat­or, a process that critics call murky.

In further hearings, she envisions taking testimony, perhaps confidenti­ally, from women who have faced harassment and from advocacy groups and experts in areas such as employment law.

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Laura Friedman

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