Sedona releases investigation into police chief, former mayor

An investigation into whether the city of Sedona’s police chief and its former mayor harassed each other has come to a close.

The city hired an outside investigator after the former mayor, Scott Jablow, and Sedona Police Chief Stephanie Foley accused one another in a contentious back and forth. The conclusions:

• Foley did not harass Jablow.
• As mayor, Jablow created a hostile work environment for Foley and undermined her leadership at the department with the goal of forcing her out. But Jablow’s discrimination was not gender-based.

The investigation also cleared him of other allegations of sexual harassment and misuse of city funds. Jablow stepped down as mayor two weeks ago after the city council censured him for unethical conduct among other allegations.

Read the full report on the Sedona city website.

Hear Michel Marizco on The Show with host Lauren Gilger

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Full conversation from The Show

LAUREN GILGER: Sedona might have a reputation as a New-Age mecca of yoga and meditation, but its city government has been embroiled in internal controversy for months as its mayor and police chief have exchanged accusations of misconduct. Late last month, the mayor resigned after being censured by the City Council. Now, a review made public late last week reveals the, now, former mayor Scott Jablow created a hostile work environment for the city's police chief, Stephanie Foley.

The report was conducted by an outside investigator and found that Jablow undermined and interfered with Foley's management of the Sedona Police Department. It concluded that he tried to force her removal. While that was happening, social media posts accusing Jablow of misusing city money and sexual harassment also came up. There were accusations that Jablow brought an "old-school, East Coast mentality to the city government."

And while he was cleared of those allegations of misusing funds and sexual harassment, they paint a picture of absolute turmoil in the government of one of Arizona's most picturesque cities. With me to discuss all of this is KJZZ's Michel Marizco, who has been covering it all for us. Michel, good morning.

Michel MARIZCO: Hey, good morning.

GILGER: OK, so there is a lot to unpack here. Let's start with Jablow's resignation.

MARIZCO: Yeah, thanks, Lauren. Yeah. This fight simmered for a long — finally came out into the open during a council meeting Sept. 10. Here is the City Council after it came out of an executive session: "Jablow has engaged in conduct that violates the Sedona City Council rules of procedure and has lost the confidence of the council staff and the public. And whereas these actions include, but may not be limited to: one, interference with city staff and departments; two, creating — fostering — a hostile work environment.

GILGER: There are some serious condemnations of the mayor here, Michel, but was there a sense that things were kind of more personal between Jablow and the City Council?

MARIZCO: Yeah. So, Jablow — at the time — was deeply personal. There was a lot of back-and-forth with the city manager, of course with the chief of police who had herself filed a 157-page complaint against the mayor. And yeah, he didn't resign. He, in fact, he refused to resign, as you're about to hear, at least at that city council. He apologized profusely. He apologized to the community, saying he overstepped his role to staff, to the city manager. But, this is what he also said.

JABLOW: I will leave it to the voters. I will not be resigning. I feel that it's the voters who put me in place. If a recall takes place, I will follow that and see where we go.

MARIZCO: So, he stressed that he served Sedona since 2014 and said that he felt he accomplished positive things for the city.

GILGER: OK, so the council voted to censure him and overruled him. And then, of course, he resigned two weeks later. Let's back up for a moment, though, Michel, and just remind us first how this all began.

MARIZCO: So, back in March of last year, Jablow was accused by the former city manager of pushing for these automated license plate readers to be installed throughout Sedona. The Sedona Red Rock News, one of the area's news services, published the public records conversations that showed those behind-the-scenes-talks that were happening. And, in those conversations, Jablow was accused of pressing city officials hard to get those cameras up and running.

And then ultimately last month, the City Council rejected those cameras. They were being installed by a company called Flock. And they rejected Flock's cameras and then severed its contract with that company.

GILGER: OK, so now we have this investigation that's come to light nearly a month later. What does it say the mayor did?

MARIZCO: So, yeah, the investigation found some of that old-school mentality the council complained about. Chief Foley made her accusations this summer in that 157-page complaint I referenced. She accused Jablow of targeting her since she was promoted to chief more than three years ago. That included micromanaging her, undermining her with staff and attempting to intervene with the police department's policies.

Jablow is former law enforcement himself. His bio says that he worked for the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey for 30 years before coming to Sedona.

GILGER: OK. And so the city has turned to the vice mayor to take up the remainder of Jablow's term. But does this, kind of, end the strife there within the City Council, Michel?

MARIZCO: Hmm. I don't think so. Sedona has been wrestling with issues related to its growth, to its short-term rental programs, how to find housing for people who work in town but can't afford to live there. Recently, the public safety with the Flock cameras came up. There have been issues with the housing director for the city, and, you know, we'll have to see how the new city leaders get along, not only with themselves within the council, but also with the administrations.

GILGER: Okay. So, before we let you go, Michel, you actually got the former mayor on the phone to talk about all of this. Tell us what he had to say.

MARIZCO: Yeah. Jablow, first off, he said he doesn't regret his decision to resign.

JABLOW: No. I mean, I do, because it's the end of a 11-year career that I've given to the community. But, I feel that to lose the confidence of five of my council members, and by the way it came about to the public, it just is time — or was time.

GILGER: But since resigning, Jablow has continued to criticize the City Council. Is he standing by what he said?

MARIZCO: Yes. He said the city officials blamed him for pushing him towards obtaining those license plate readers the council later rejected. He said he looked into the cameras because of his expertise as a law enforcement officer.

GILGER: Alright. Sounds like the sort of remark the city council accused him of before. So, that is KJZZ's Michel Marizco joining us with all of the goings on in Sedona. Michel, thank you.

MARIZCO: Thank you.