Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
SANTA ROSA — The city’s human resources director has filed for a restraining order against Mayor Nelson Kotiar, alleging he has “created a hostile work environment” by allowing sexual harassment, threats and intimidation to take place in violation of the city’s personnel policy ordinance.
Monica Young, a city employee since May 2022, filed the complaint March 30, two days after her “partner,” P.J. Salazar, was fired as a special projects employee for the city. Young said in her complaint she fears “more retaliation and (a) continued hostile work environment, as well as further emotional distress.”
Kotiar was served with the complaint summons on March 30. The case has been assigned to 4th Judicial District Judge Abigail Aragon. A merits hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. May 2 at the Guadalupe County Courthouse.
Before that, however, a pre-disciplinary hearing was scheduled to determine whether Young’s employment would be terminated or other disciplinary action should be taken.
The Santa Rosa City Council had a special meeting on April 3 with an agenda that included consideration of Young’s complaint and a corrective action plan for City Administrator Martín Martinez in both a closed executive session and in the open meeting, but they were removed from the open-meeting agenda as action items after the mayor’s request and a 4-0 vote of the council.
On March 31, Young requested she be allowed to speak in public comments at the special council meeting, but the agenda had been released without public comments on the agenda.
Her complaint, however, was left open for discussion in the 1¾-hour closed session. No action was taken on either issue pertaining to Young and Martinez.
City Attorney Daniel Rubin said after the meeting that Young’s complaint had been turned over to the Municipal League, which will represent the city in the civil case.
As for Kotiar, he responded to a reporter’s question by saying, “The truth will come out.” He declined to comment further on the matter.
On April 4, Young was notified in a letter that she was being placed on paid administrative leave — an “immediate suspension in contemplation of dismissal.”
The basis of her suspension, the letter stated, were four memos — three filed March 27, another on April 3. An effort to obtain copies of those memos was denied, with the city considering them “exempt” from the state Inspection of Public Records Act.
In the letter, Young was told of her right to have a “predisciplinary hearing” with the mayor before 5 p.m. April 7, prior to his decision on whether to terminate her employment with the city.
Young was initially hired as parks and recreation supervisor in May 2022. She was offered the HR position about a month later.
In her filing in district court, Young said she was sexually harassed by a city employee on four days in December, though she didn’t identify the employee.
“This was reported and nothing was ever done,” she wrote in her complaint. “I was forced to continue working with the individual.”
Then, on March 14, she said she was “made aware of some employee misconduct and was told to conduct (an) investigation.”
During the investigation, the employee “attempted to intimidate me and impede on functions of my duties.” She filed a written complaint as per the city’s ordinance that serves as its personnel policy, but “nothing was done and the employee was allowed to continue to intimidate and harass others.”
On March 27, she said she asked for a meeting to address her concerns, but within hours after the meeting, she was given “3 memorandums, 2 of which were completely false,” and the next day “my partner was terminated for no reason other than retaliation for me speaking up about wrongdoings.”
“The defendant (Kotiar) has violated my human rights, created a hostile work environment, continues to harass and retaliate against me, and caused substantial emotional distress,” Young concluded in a page-long narrative she wrote for the complaint. “The defendant’s pattern of conduct is intentional and intended to terrorize me with no lawful purpose.”
On April 4, Young’s partner, P.J. Salazar, told The Communicator his firing was directly related to Young’s complaint. Prior to his employment with the city, he said the mayor “had been begging and begging me to come to work for the city. But then he pulls this kind of s---,” Salazar said.