Longtime city exec quits after texts probe
Phoenix Government Relations Manager John Wayne Gonzales resigned Monday following a city investigation that uncovered a “pattern of advances towards women” that “was so pervasive that city employees and women from other cities were warned about him.”
Gonzales, who had worked for Phoenix for 18 years, served as the city’s liaison between the state, neigh-
boring cities and other governmental bodies.
In May, an intern for the Phoenix Budget and Research Department filed a sexual-harassment complaint against Gonzales with the city’s Equal Opportunity Department. The city launched an investigation and interviewed former city interns and employees from other cities that worked with Gonzales. It revealed a pattern of unprofessional behavior toward women dating back years.
City investigators found evidence that Gonzales sent inappropriate text messages to female colleagues, attempted to influence women with his city position and treated female interns differently than male counterparts.
Gonzales’ comments “skirt the very razor’s edge of sexual harassment,” the city report concluded.
Gonzales did not return a request for comment for this article.
Several of the women interviewed shared textmessage conversations with Gonzales in which he was “overly personal and unprofessional,” according to investigators.
During a text-message conversation with an intern, Gonzales asked if he could “share something private” and then asked the woman if she was at home. The intern told investigators that she was scared when he asked if she was home because she thought he might know where she lived. The woman blocked his phone number.
When investigators asked Gonzales about the messages, he said he did not remember sending the texts because he had been drinking. When he saw the texts the next morning, he said he was embarrassed, did not read them and immediately deleted them.
An employee from another city said Gonzales once sent her a number of pictures of him with his ex-girlfriends and talked about his dating history.
Gonzales told investigators that if he had done that, “I only would have shared it with someone I considered a friend. No one brought it to my attention that it was problematic.”
A second female employee from another city provided investigators with a text-message conversation that included multiple inappropriate comments even after the woman tried to put an end to the conversation.
“I’m being very careful how I say this, but I do think of you ... I do need you,” Gonzales wrote around 9 p.m.
He then asked the woman, “you want influence ... don’t you?”
The woman responded that she wanted “fulfillment and purpose” and that she knew where her career was headed and told Gonzales, “Good night.”
Gonzales tried to continue the conversation for another hour.
“If I asked for clear definition as to what we could do together, would you like it?”
“Second, does anyone know besides us that we’re talking this way?”
“But I have you’re interest, no?”
“Be honest.”
“Be honest ...” “You know you are better than your surroundings. You know you are ...”
“You’re feeling constrained, aren’t you?”
The woman did not respond. Gonzales told investigators he did not recall the conversation.
Investigators also found that Gonzales made comments to at least one intern and a colleague from another city “suggesting he had the ability to influence” their careers.
During one text-message conversation with an intern, Gonzlaes asked if she craved influence and told her, “if you want to be a political presence, hang with me.”
The intern told investigators she was concerned that Gonzales “was so connected that he might be able to convince someone not to hire her,” which is why she didn’t shut down conversations with him immediately.
Gonzales told investigators he didn’t remember making the comments because he had been drinking.
An employee from another city shared a conversation with Gonzales during which he asked her if she was “really happy.” When she told him she was, he said, “Good to know. I will stop considering you for Phoenix items. Even if you have an advantage, I’ll dial you out.”
Gonzales told investigators he didn’t recall making the comments.
“He used his position and perceived influence to pressure (interns) to go out with him,” investigators concluded.
Three of the six female interns investigators interviewed said Gonzales asked them out to lunch or events after work hours. One of the interns provided documentation that Gonzales asked her out five times over a 10month period, “even though she continued to decline his offers.”
“I thought it was weird that he only asked me and not the other intern,” the woman told investigators.
The only two male interns that served in the office between 2014 and 2018 said Gonzales never asked them to lunch or events after work hours.
Investigators said “there was nothing overtly sexual or offensive in his communications with women,” but Gonzales did ask female interns and colleagues out on dates.
That alone is not a city policy violation, the report said, but it was clear Gonzlaes was attempting to develop “more personal relationships with these women” and did not have similar interactions with the male interns. The interns and colleagues did not directly report to Gonzales.
Investigators determined that Gonzales’ behavior was not limited to one person or a single incident. It was a pervasive pattern that women inside City Hall and other government circles were cautioned about.
“His behavior made women so uncomfortable, they felt the need to warn each other about it,” investigators concluded.
A female colleague from another city said “she had been warned by different colleagues that he liked ‘young, cute girls,’ ” investigators wrote.
Some city staffers investigators interviewed indicated that “for a long time,” Gonzales had a reputation of asking out female interns.
Women from other cities who were interviewed confirmed that “people in the intergovernmental network warned new women” about Gonzales, the report said.
Despite his reputation, no one had made a formal complaint about Gonzales until the intern earlier this year. Investigators said they interviewed Gonzales’ current and past supervisors, who said they had not witnessed the behavior or received any complaints.
At the time of his resignation, Gonzales’ immediate supervisor was Frank McCune, government relations director. Deputy City Manager Karen Peters oversees the department.
City spokeswoman Julie Watters said city management “took swift action to investigate” as soon as the allegations were reported.
“The results showed a troubling pattern of inappropriate behavior. Harassment, in any form, will not be tolerated,” Watters said. “Anytime you have a situation like this, it’s an opportunity for self-examination to improve processes and culture, and on the opposite side, it’s an opportunity to recognize and thank those who spoke up.”
Investigators concluded that although Gonzales crafted his messages in a way that was not overtly sexual in nature, “the texts remain highly suspect and thoroughly unprofessional.”
The HR Department recommended the city remove Gonzales from the Office of Government Relations and either suspend or terminate him. “This behavior is unacceptable and threatens to damage the city’s reputation with our partners,” investigators wrote.
On Aug. 28, Denise Overstreet, acting HR director, sent Gonzales a letter informing him that the city intended to terminate his employment. She gave him until Aug. 31 to submit a written response before the city made a final decision.
In his response, Gonzales said, “I regret and apologize for my actions, regardless of my state, which offended others and reflects poorly on the city.”
He said in the letter that he believed termination was an extreme punishment and asked the city to look at other discipline such as “reassignment, counseling, demotion or suspension.”
Gonzales asked that if the city denied his request for a less severe discipline, he be given the opportunity to resign.
Watters said the city received Gonzales’ response late in the day on Friday and told him someone would follow up on Tuesday, because Monday was Labor Day.
Before the city could follow up, Gonzales submitted his resignation on Monday.