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https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/01/09/17/8321528-6573905-image- a-6_1547055571738.jpg

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Accused of misconduct and urged to resign, John Duran wants an
investigation to establish the truth

Pressure is mounting for West Hollywood Mayor John Duran to
resign amid allegations that he sexually harassed fellow members
of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, West Hollywood City Council members Lindsey
Horvath, Lauren Meister, and John D’Amico posted statements on
Facebook lamenting how the scandal is impacting the city and
urging Duran to step down.

“West Hollywood as a city is suffering as a result of the
numerous and repeated allegations against Mayor Duran,” Meister
wrote. “I believe that Mayor Duran should do what’s best for the
City—in this case, it would be to step down from the position of
Mayor, and perhaps, step away from the Council position so that
he can focus on these issues and the City can focus on moving
forward.”

On Wednesday, Duran told the Los Angeles Times that he believes
he is being targeted unfairly by council members, and that the
public should wait for the facts before making a judgement.

“I think, unfortunately, one of the problems with the #MeToo
movement is that any accusation against somebody is treated as
truth without any investigation,” he told the Times. “I think
every accusation of sexual misconduct has to be taken seriously
to protect victims. But once the accusation is made, there has
to be an investigation to determine what the truth is.”

Duran, who has served as mayor of the city since 2018, has been
accused by multiple current and former chorus members of groping
and sexually inappropriate comments. Jason Tong told the Times
that he left the choir after Duran slipped his hand inside
Tong’s underwear in a changing room before a performance.
Another chorus member, Brian Phillip Nichoalds, said Duran
slipped his hand under his waistband and made “sexually charged
comments” to him. He also alleges that no action was taken by
chorus leadership after he’d reported the incident.

In the interview with the Times, Duran denied any misconduct. “I
haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not going to resign,” he said.
“They’re going to have to wait for the investigation to occur
and reasonable minds to go through the accusations and draw
conclusions.”

But the city’s political apparatus appears to be angling for a
quicker resolution. On Monday, Robert Oliver, vice chairman of
the city’s Public Safety Commission, resigned in protest after
other commissioners failed to condemn Duran. “I’d like to know
why the rest of the commission would stay silent when we have
the second, third and fourth allegation against the mayor of our
city,” Oliver said at a public meeting.

Duran was previously the subject of a 2016 sexual harassment
lawsuit by his former City Hall deputy, Ian Owens. The suit,
which was settled for $500,000, alleged that Duran made sexually
inappropriate comments to his deputy, who he had initially met
on Grindr. Owens claims Duran told him, “I would bottom for you
any day,” and that he was tasked with updating Duran’s address
book with men he had slept with, noting each man’s penis size
and sexual skills. At the time of the lawsuit, Duran was also
reprimanded by fellow Councilman D’Amico for cruising Grindr
during public meetings.

After the first of two black men died at prominent Democratic
donor Ed Buck’s home, activists claimed that Duran—who spent
more than a decade as Buck’s attorney—dissuaded sex workers from
testifying to investigators about the donor’s conduct, according
to the Times.

Duran denied these claims in an interview with the publication.
“I don’t have any sway over the Sheriff’s Department’s
enforcement of the law or the African American [Los Angeles
County] DA Jackie Lacey making her determination on whether or
not to file charges,” he said.

In an interview with WeHo Times blogger Paulo Murillo, published
February 13, Duran denied the Tong incident, referring to the
chorus member as a “skinny Korean kid with pimples on his cheek.”

Correction: This post has been updated to accurately reflect the
nature of Duran’s comments to the WeHo Times.

https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/john-duran-west-hollywood-
resign/

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