Rep. Shooter apologizes
Official expresses regret for conduct, but denies most serious allegation
Arizona state Rep. Don Shooter apologized to fellow House members Tuesday at the start of mandatory sexual harassment training required in large part because of sexual harassment and other misconduct complaints made against him.
The Yuma Republican apologized for conduct he acknowledged was “jarring, insensitive and demeaning,” but denied the most serious complaint — that he tried to pressure Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita into having a sexual relationship with him.
“It is important for you to know that while my actions have unintentionally offended some, I have never attempted to touch anyone, made obscene gestures at a woman nor sought a tryst or sexual relationship,” he said.
Ugenti-Rita, a Republican, was sitting three rows in front of Shooter as he read his statement and appeared shaken at times, looking down most of the time. She left the House floor soon after Shooter stopped speaking but returned later and declined to comment on his statement.
Shooter said many of the other complaints which followed Ugenti-Rita’s were “sincere” and revealed how his behavior had been perceived in many instances. “I now know that comments intended to be hospitable, harmlessly flirtatious or outrageous — and above all intended to be humorous — were not humorous at all and caused people to believe I did not value them as individuals.
“I’ve taken all this very hard because people who know me well know that under all the clowning, the schtick I put on, I care a great deal,” he said.
An investigation into Shooter’s alleged misconduct by outside counsel is ongoing, and he has been removed as head of the appropriations committee.
Republican leaders in Yuma said they appreciated Shooter’s comments as a good first step in addressing an issue he created with his behavior in the Legislature. Everyone must still wait to see what the investigation’s findings are and whether it will lead to any sanctions against Shooter, they added.
“I believe that legislative leadership tasked responsible individuals with investigating any complaints of this nature involving any legislator, and it’s imperative that we all recognize that those individuals should be permitted to do that,” said Yuma County Recorder Robyn Stallworth Pouquette.
Beyond that, she praised Shooter for his speech and the reflection he said the entire Capitol was undergoing when he said, “Our legislative community is currently going through an intense period of self-evaluation on the topic of how we treat each other, where we have been failing to do things right and how we can do things better.”
Pouquette said, “Self-evaluation can be used in any situation for any person, and there will be a benefit if it is done with clarity and honesty. Only
Mr. Shooter knows how he wishes to utilize self-evaluation in this particular situation, and I commend his willingness to do so.
“For reasons only Mr. Shooter knows, it was important for him to make the comments he made today, and it is refreshing when you observe any public official taking responsibility for any behavior or scope of behavior in a public way,” she said.
She noted Shooter also spoke about the importance of extending respect to and valuing everyone. “I would hope that we will all, as public officials, extend respect and value to everyone AT ALL TIMES (emphasis hers), women and men.”
Russ Jones, chairman of the Yuma County Republican Party and a former state legislator, said the process of reviewing the complaints and handing down any penalties still has to unfold.
House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, a Republican, issued the chamber’s first written policy on harassment shortly after Ugenti-Rita made the allegations public in November. In the following weeks, a series of other women came out with stories of boorish, crude or insensitive behavior by Shooter.
“I’m glad they’re going through training there, I think it’s long overdue,” Jones said. “I know we do that in the private sector, we do that in our own company, kind of making sure there’s mandatory training,” he said.
“So it’s good that the House is going through that. I’m glad he made an apology, and until the due process and he’s had his full day in court and whatever the findings are, I don’t want to make any comment,” he said.
Jones said Shooter has not attended any local party meetings since the first accusations came to light, and there hasn’t been much discussion about the investigation by local party leaders in the last two months.
Democratic Rep. Charlene Fernandez of Yuma called Shooter’s remarks “very, very shocking and surprising” as the mandatory sexual harassment and ethics training got underway Tuesday morning.
“I just thought, number one I didn’t think that was the time or place. The investigation’s still going on so I definitely don’t think it was the time. The timing was off,” she said. “It was very, very uncomfortable for the victim.”
She did say it was a good thing for Shooter to apologize, but she wasn’t going to praise him for owning up to something he shouldn’t have done in the first place.
“I think he said a couple of times that people didn’t understand his sense of humor, and that you need to speak up. So I felt like it was putting it on someone else, you don’t understand where I’m coming from, so you need to speak up.
“And then it kind of went from bad to worse,” she said. The training from House and state attorney general’s office lawyers was “excellent,” she said, but the ensuing discussion included questions and statements from some members she felt were dismissive about the women who have been victimized by sexual harassment.
The discussion by lawmakers about the written policy on reporting harassment allegations became contentious at times, with Shooter questioning how far back such allegations could reach.
“Every crime except murder has a statute of limitations,” he said. “It seems to me we’re never going to put this behind us if we don’t have a cutoff date.”
Democrats objected, saying women who are harassed often don’t come forward until others do so as well, and that can take years.
“And then he said something like well, you know, you live with this hanging over you,” Fernandez said. “And my colleague, Rep. (Reginald) Bolding, D-Laveen, stood up and he said, ‘You don’t have anything hanging over you if you behave. If you don’t practice that behavior you don’t have to worry about something hanging over you.’”
Mesnard said the conversation about statutes of limitations will continue, but told members to remember that the ethics policy he put in place is just that, a policy.
“There is nothing in here that is going to throw you in prison,” he said. “This is not the law.”
No state Senate members have been accused of sexual harassment or misconduct, but all 30 members went through training in recent weeks.
The session came a day after Mesnard told members on the opening day of the 2018 Legislative session that male legislators need to consider their actions.
“Let’s treat all women — regardless of their background, their age, their political affiliation, their role in the process — as ladies, as we would like anybody to treat our wives, our daughters, mothers, sisters,” Mesnard said.
The training covered sexual and other workplace harassment, ethics and other legal issues that affect lawmakers. The session ran long and will be completed next week.